AllensOnThe.Net

I was never really in to certifications until recently. And now I have two within a year. :o)

Yesterday I passed the CCNA Exam! My goal was to pass the test before Christmas, so I just did make it.

And now that that's done, I can move on to studying for my GCIH, which is the next class for my masters I want to pursue.

Last Thursday, Betsie and I went to a book fair, sponsored by the local city library. At first, we were a bit dissapointed because the selection was a lot smaller than it's been in the past. But I did find a book that has proven to be very interesting. It's "The Life and Letters of Benjamin Franklin."

I don't usually read books like that, but as I stood there in the store, I started perusing the contents and noticed it contained President Franklin's Will, which immediately caught my attention. I bought the book and brought it home and have been reading it (very slowly) the past few days.

The Will itself is very interesting, and much could be learned of his life and beliefs just by reading this one document. What is most amazing is the foresight Ben Franklin had even in his Last Will and Testament.

Originally, the will set aside 2,000 pounds sterling to "to be employed for making the river Schuylkill navigable." However, he later ammended this request in a codicil stating:

But understanding since that such a work, and that the project is not likely to be undertaken for many years to come, and having entertained another idea, that I hope may be more extensively useful...

And his idea was, indeed a great deal more useful.

His plan was to donate 1,000 pounds sterling to Philadelphia and Boston each to be placed into an interest bearing account and loaned out to young men, who had already served as an apprentice, to help them start their own businesses. He had the foresight to realize if the program continued successfully, that eventually this account would develop into a nice amount of money. In fact, he estimated that at the end of one hundred years, there would be 131,000 pounds sterling in each account. Of that sum, he requested 100,000 be given to each city to be used to improve the city and the remaining 31,000 pounds put back into the accounts to continue the scholarship program for another hundred years. And at that time, now two hundred years after his death, he gave 1.61 million pounds to the city and the remaining 3 million to the state to do with as they please.

All this aroused my curiosity and I Googled "Boston Benjamin Franklin scholarship" and found out his plan worked! From CNN.com:

"Ben Frankin's dollars fund modern scholars"

It was not uncommon in Franklin's day for the well-to-do to leave large charitable bequests, and Franklin's was nowhere near the largest in Philadelphia's history. What was uncommon, Alviti said, was the way the bequest was structured, with very specific requirements at first, then an openness to new ideas over time.

Amazing. Talk about looking ahead...

Those of you who know me, know that I am fairly well acquainted in the area of computer geekery. You may also know that in the area of home and/or automotive repair, I....er...well, let's just say my knowledge of home and/or automotive repair helps keep me humble.

Therefore it is with great joy that I am able to report that this week I made two huge strides in both arenas. Ok...maybe one fairly large stride in home (electrical) and one small step in automotive. (Note to Electricians or Mechanics: Please try not to laugh too hard, but feel free to be entertained at my efforts.)

Earlier, I reported the light in Isaac's room went out and it wasn't just the bulb. After some delay (and a great deal of reading), I made use of the continuity tester Betsie purchased last week and tested both the switch and then the light socket. The switch worked fine, which is kinda what I thought since the fan worked, too. The socket was most definitely burned out. So Isaac and I made the trek to The Home Depot and purchased a new light socket and came home and with a bit of wrangling finally was able to install the new socket into the old light+fan fixture. We turned on the house circuit that controlled the room and turned on the light and .... LIGHT SHONE FROM ABOVE!!!

But alas, the fan no longer worked. And there was great weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Actually, there was just a huge groan in the room. No real gnashing occurred.) However, after all I had learned in replacing the socket, I realized the wires just weren't connected correctly and was easily able to rectify the situation the next evening - since it was already past Isaac's bedtime.

We were all elated that the light worked again. And no one was more elated than I, especially since I wasn't electrocuted in the process.

On the automotive front, the battery in our Buick Century had been on the fringe for some time. Our good friend, Pat, from church helped us test the alternator and it tested out fine. But the battery still seemed a bit weak when starting the car. Like it wasn't going to start at all. So we finally went to Auto Zone and had them test the battery and sure 'nough - it was dying -- rapidly. So we bought a new one. (It should be noted that the only-somewhat-helpful AutoZone rep stated that changing this battery would "be a booger" since there's a frame brace (I guess that's what it's called) angling across the top of the battery, which must be removed before the battery can be replaced.) Now, I have changed car batteries before (I think). And I've changed tires and changed the oil (though I don't think it's worth the effort. Just pay the $20 and be done, that's what I say...). But for some reason this experience was a bit different.

Tonight, while the girls were out watching a movie and Isaac was sleeping, I pulled the car halfway into the garage and began looking for my socket set. After only a short time searching, I began to prove the AutoZone rep truthful. I was finally able to extract the battery and placed the new one in the battery tray and was ready to connect the side battery terminals. First I connected the neutral terminal and then made my way to the positive terminal. At which point there arose a spark from the battery which caught me quite off guard! Phooey. Now I wasn't quite sure if this part of the procedure was as safe as I thought it might be. I'd never heard of anyone getting electrocuted putting a battery back in, but I didn't want to find out. After some thought and brief (careful) experimentation, I decided it was too late in the evening to call my dad (who still knows everything as far as I'm concerned) and came up with a safe work-a-round.

I took my rubber mouse pad from next to my laptop and wrapped it around the handle of the socket wrench. Then I secured the positive terminal back into the battery. I was either right or lucky. No further sparks - and more importantly no jolts of electricty traveled through my being.

Mercifully, the car started on the first try. And I must say it sounded much better. And the headlights were definitely brighter.

This morning I left my laptop open in my recliner and walked away for a few minutes. When I came back, I found Isaac had climbed up into the recliner and started playing on the laptop.

(Also available in non-slideshow format on PicasaWeb.)

On days like today when I come home from a rough day at work, the feeling is never better than when I ask Isaac to sing me a song and he starts:

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak, but He is strong!

Ever since we've been in this house, we've had issues with the electricity. There haven't been any fires or anything major that hasn't worked, it's just always *felt* flaky... And the vast majority of the house isn't grounded, which is a real frustration - especially with all the computer equipment we have.

Those of you that know me, know that home repair isn't currently my strong suit, but I can read as well as anyone and I do have a book :-D so, I figured I can at least take a look without having to call the electrician.

So today while I was at work, Betsie went to The Home Depot and bought a neon circuit tester and a continuity tester so I could do some very basic tests on a couple of the light fixtures we suspect are bad. I did some reading tonight and learned quite a bit about basic home electrical wiring (a subject on which I was embarassingly ignorant until tonight) and it really isn't that complicated.

I tested a great deal of the outlets in our house and confirmed that even some of the outlets that have three-pronged receptacles are not grounded. We also discovered that the outlet Betsie's Mac is plugged into is grounded, while the outlet my servers are in is not. :-(

I also learned that the current minimum standard circuit breaker for normal houses is 100-amps. This house has 90. Nice.

I have some more checking to do and can possibly even make some improvements in the computer room and maybe an outlet in the kitchen. It was kinda fun testing, though. :-)

In my quiet time a couple days ago these verses jumped out at me:

Proverbs 16:3
Commit your work to the Lord,
     and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:9
The heart of man plans his way,
     but the Lord establishes his steps.

We had a fairly close lightening strike the other night and it's really amazing how strong the [olfactory sensations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction "aka odor") can be when the aquarium water pump goes out...

Just about this time every year I enjoy the extra hour of sleep due to coming off [Daylight Savings Time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time). But not so much last night. The dog was crazy. Isaac woke up screaming. And we had no idea what time it really was.

For whatever reason, our cell phones didn't update last night. And when we woke up, our Internet was flaky so we couldn't check the time there, either. After a firewall reboot and checking in several places, we finally confirmed that we had, indeed, woke up one hour earlier than we had intended. Uber sadness.....

Last night after the Tigers beat the Cardinals and Fox was showing some parting shots of the stadium before moving on, I saw an aerial shot of Comerica Park and caught something I've never noticed before:

The dirt around home plate is actually shaped like home plate! I'd never seen that before and thought it was pretty cool. You can see it [here](http://tinyurl.com/ydhn9y "Google Maps").

Simple minds, simple pleasures, I guess... :-)