Fixed the charging port on my Laptop

So I noticed the charger on my laptop was loose and not charging anymore.  I started looking at and saw it was smashed and broken.  I googled a solution and found some YouTube videos to replace the part.  I was shocked by how complex the repair was. While I was looking at it my 6 year old wandered by and said oh yeah I dropped it while plugged in.  Don't worry she is still alive... For now.  So I ordered the part I needed off amazon and got it in a few days.  Taking the computer apart wasn't hard with video help.  After getting it apart I cut the metal tabs of the old part off and removed it.  Next I removed all the old solder from the holes in the circuit board.  This part took about a half hour and was very difficult.  That's what the braided copper was for.  After doing 1 hole I would sand the tip of my solder gun otherwise it wouldn't work as well for the next hole. Eventually the new part would fit in the holes and I could resolder it.  The only issue I had was 2 extra screws.  So I took it back apart and found homes for them.  Put it back together and plugged it in and it worked great! Cost $45 which was $5 for the charging port, $24 for a good soldering iron, $8 for solder and, $6 for the copper wire.  Geek squad wanted $135.  It was actually kind of a fun experience.

Coaching

So my second season coaching soccer is over.  It's kind of bittersweet.  Coaching for 3 hours straight on Tuesdays and Thursdays was tough.  But, it was also rewarding and fun.  Especially my U8 team, they were motivated and wanted to learn.  I wish I could have had more time to teach passing and technique to them.  By the end of the season they were playing well and coaching each other on the field.  It is Interesting to me, that in the coaching class I took we were instructed not to force the kids to pass.  But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't teach passing to U6 and U8 girls.  Just teach it to them and let them figure it out on the field.  If I did anything this year I hope I helped the girls enjoy soccer and I also hope they all play again next year.  That would make my job a success.  

So now I am free to ride on Thursday nites again. Look for me at the Hub ride soon.  I will be the one attacking backwards.  

Awesome Hack of a Microwave

http://madebynathan.com/2013/07/10/raspberry-pi-powered-microwave/

It's been a year?

Wow it's been a long time.  I am going to give this blog thing another try.  This is more about my life and less about racing however.  Hope you like it.  I went thru and deleted the other blogs I was following, that weren't updated in forever.  Sorry if this is you.

Big Ring Classic Recap

This race always makes me ask the question, "If you don't have a big ring is it still the Big Ring Classic?"  I guess I just big ring it all the time?  I wasn't really sure what was going to happen this race.  I know I always say that but, I was very tired going into last weekend.  It was the end of my 2nd build month and I had been on the road.  I also rode pretty hard at Rhinelander on Wednesday and Wausau on Thursday.  So on Friday I said Eff it and just took Friday and Saturday off.  I also got at least 12 hours of sleep on Saturday.  Along with plenty of Chocolate cake from wonderful Wifes B-day.  We had an awesome weekend up north at the cabin, then made the drive down to wausau.  I signed up for the races and then warmed up 15 minutes.  I then went and supported my girls in the kids race.  It was my oldest's 4th race and my yougest's first.  They both semed to have fun and got their stickers and medals.  Then it was time for my race.  I spent my time during the introductions warming up on the kids race track and wishing I could just do their race.  Then I was lucky enough to get a call up and I lined up right next to Dan Wierzba who is leading my age group.  Don said go and I hit it really hard.  I must have really went hard because I settled in on Dans wheel and had to back it off.  I felt pretty good and let Dan lead through the first couple of corners, I honestly wasn't even sure which way the lead out went.  Dan looked a little uncomfortable with the pace and when some other guys started to pass us I went with them.  I was third or fourth into the singletrack and was right with the leaders on the start up the gravel climb.  Around this time I reached down for my bottle and realized it was gone, oh eff I am screwed it was hot.  Almost at the same time I see #18 Ben Senkerik walking down the trail with a broken bike.  I shouted out got an extra bottle and he hands one over.  What a classy move I looked around for him after the race but, couldn't find him to say thanks.  So back to the race.  The top 8 or 10 guys set a brutal pace up the gravel climb and I slid backwards.  I thought uh oh thinking this was how the race was going to go.  But, I just kept up as hard a pace as I could and kept everyone in sight.  I rode up the big Hill by Ho chi Minh with #1904 Sam Weinberg on a single speed.  It was good thing he was on a single speed because he would have destroyed me on a geared bike.  On the gravel climb on the back end of the course I ended up passing most of those guys and never looked back.  It was kind of nice being out front not dealing with too much lap traffic.  Sam and I ended up battling back and forth for most of the rest of the race.  I put in a big attack on the long downhill and got a decent gap on him which he got back by the end of the singletrack.  I still managed to enter the last lap by myself.  I was starting to fall apart by that point and I got passed by a few people.  I ended up racing next to someone at the end but, they didn't want to contest the finish so I ended up with eight overall and second in age.   My best result ever,  I guess I shouldn't be suprised I tend to do well at wausau.   Thanks to my Bike hub/Specialized team mates for the handups, couldn't have done it without em.  So now I am not sure what I am doing next? I might not do another WORs race until Kewauskum. Maybe some TOAD? Maybe somebody will talk me into something? See ya Outside...

Memorial Day was the first annual Lakeshore Tech College Crit.  Hopefully it won't be its last.  It was a really nice challenging course and really wasn't a Crit.  I think it was more of a short Circuit Race.  The race took place on the College's loop road which was closed to cars.  There wasn't much flat ground on this race, the back stretch was flat but had a chicane through a gate on it.  So this wasn't a typical race course.  I was thinking about doing two races today, but didn't feel like waking up early to hit the road.  I could have jumped in another race 10 minutes after my first, but said no way after finishing.  When I showed up they were hauling someone away in an ambulance, always a great way to start the racing day off.  There were some very fast corners on this course luckily everyone in my race were good bike handlers.  The Masters race I was in started off pretty chill with a little half lap warmup.  Then things started getting serious.  I think the BRFs started it off first with some breakaways.   People kept trying throughout the race but, I kinda decided that no breakaways were going to stick.  The course was hilly enough but, there was a strong head wind on the back straight which hurt anybodys chances of getting off the front.  There were only nine of us left with three laps to go  and one guy soloed off the front ending up with the win.  I didn't think he was going to stay away because we were slowly reeling him back but he made it.  I had decided on the last lap to be the first through the chicane.  Which I managed to do and I kept riding hard through the next two turns but was caught right after that.  I actually got a stitch in m side so I must have been going about as hard as I could.  I pretty much coasted in after that.  Finished eighth, at least I tried I guess.  It turns out the guy who won was a cat 1 so I don't feel so bad.  Good to see some of the BRFs and Andy Tegge was back tearing it up.  Hopefully I will do a few more road races this summer.  I definitely have the Troutman circled, though with it being a Wisport race the dynamic will completely different.  I looked for race results but couldn't find them.  -Later

Crystal Lake Classic

Not much to say about this race.  I wasn't expecting a lot this year even though I did pretty weel here last year.  I had my hardest back to back training days of the year on Wednesday and Thursday, and was feeling it on Friday.  Rested on Friday and hung out on the lake with my Family most of the day Saturday.  I prerode the course on Saturday and didn't really like the course changes.  I had a really nice long warmup and felt pretty good at the start, so I must have recovered somewhat.   The start for my wave was pretty chill.  I just grabbed a wheel and stuck on it.  He stayed up front for the first couple of corners then I jumped on two other guys that were making a move.  I felt pretty good riding with them and the three of us got a gap going into the singletrack.  We hit the first singletrack climb and they gapped me.  Still too fat I guess.  So I mostly rode by myself the first lap.  Had one washout on the first lap and banged my knee and lost my Bottle.  Luckily my Lovely Wife Christi was ther to do a great job with the handups.  The rain and small hail started the second lap, something I usually enjoy other than wrecking my bike.  I feel like I usually do well in a mud race.  This time the rain washed all my sweat into my eyes.  I rode for half a lap with my eyes burning and hardly able to see.  I ended up stopping and washing my eyes out with water at the second station.  The third lap went better for me as I felt more comfortable on the new course and the corners were tacky.  I ended up 3rd in age and 22nd overall, so not terrible.  My Teammates on the Elite side of things were really tearing it up.  With Jusin finishing 5th overall and Ben in 8th.  I don't think we could have gotten a better weekend even with the storms.  See ya outside...