Michael Miles, Miscellaneous

Shopping Last Friday

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Here is a copy of the list I created a couple weeks ago with the results of my shopping this past Friday.

*Items that can be purchased at a later date.

As you can see I knocked off the large items from the list including some items I had marked as items I could purchase at a later date. All told I spend $4,209.51 which is what I expected. I am very happy with all the purchases and will post pictures of the items later on this week.

Living Room:

  • Couch
  • End Table
  • Coffee Table
  • TV Stand*
  • TV*
  • Lamp

Kitchen:

  • Glasses(4)
  • Plates(4)
  • Bowls(4)
  • Utensils
  • Dish Towels
  • Paper towel Holder*
  • Kitchen Aid*
  • Pots, Pans (Calphalon)*
  • Broiler Pan

Bathroom:

  • Bath Towels
  • Hand Towels
  • Wash Towels
  • Tub stickers
  • Shower Curtain
  • Plunger

Bedroom:

  • Bed and Mattress
  • Bed Clothes
  • Pillows
  • Night Stand*
  • Dresser*
Michael Miles, Miscellaneous

Getting ready for the move

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I was going to Mathis Brothers to purchase my bed, coffee table, end tables, couch, TV stand and night stands but Sam had to have some work done on the car so Saturday was out. He was supposed to call on Sunday so we could go but he ended up getting sick meaning this weekend was a bust. Not a complete bust, I called Chris to wish her a happy birthday and we started talking about the move and items to purchase leading her to tell me about Tuesday Morning. I had never heard of the store so I’ll let their website describe them:

“Tuesday Morning is an upscale, deep discount, off-price retailer specializing in domestic and international, designer and name-brand closeout merchandise. When shopping at Tuesday Morning customers can expect identical or similar merchandise to that found in better catalogs, department or specialty stores. Our merchandise mix of well-known name brands is divided into major categories, including upscale home decor, furniture, bedding, bath, kitchen, electrics, luggage, toys, crafts, pets, gifts, seasonal and more. Our stores provide a casual, self-serve atmosphere with a no-frills merchandising presentation.”

Chris let me know in their flyer today they have a 349.00 kitchen aid on closeout for 199.99, now that is what I’m talking about.

I also visited U-Haul online checking on what type of boxes and moving supplies I will need to pickup this weekend and found they will ship all the moving supplies I need, free of charge (50.00 or more). I ordered 7 medium and 7 small moving boxes, one wardrobe type box to hold my shirts etc., labels, tape, tape dispenser and 15 feet of static free bubble wrap. I then went on to Amazon and ordered 30 wooden hangers. All of this should be delivered by Thursday.  When Monday rolls around I should be all packed, furniture picked out, paid for and delivery arranged. That will leave the next week for setting up apt insurance, electricity, water, cable and purchasing a TV.

All of this should go relatively smoothly, I’m still nervous, excited but nervous. I haven’t had my own place in over eight years, I have spent seven of those cleaning up my debt and I want to make sure I continue to do everything correctly.

Please wish me luck! 🙂

Minecraft

My first logic gate created in Minecraft

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The ‘OR’ gate. This gate creates a signal at the output when either one ‘OR’ the other inputs has a signal. In the electronic world this means if there is a positive five (+5) volts at either one or the other inputs of the ‘OR’ gate there will be a positive five (+5) volts at the output. In digital speak a one (1) at either input, or both of the ‘OR’ gate will equal a one (1) at the output. zero (0) volts at both or all inputs will result in a zero (0) output. In Minecraft if you have a Redstone signal at either input (torch, lever, pressure plate etc.) it will result in a Redstone signal at the output. The picture below shows an active signal on the right side and the light on at the output

Minecraft Redstone OR logic gate
Minecraft Redstone OR logic gate

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Minecraft, Miscellaneous

Self Control or lack therof

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I have found the secret to loose the weight I need to loose now I just need to establish some self control during the weekend. I’m quite certain when I move into my new apartment I will have no problem with the self control because there will no free breakfasts on the weekends. I need the self control over ordering pizza and so fourth.

I spent quite a bit of time learning about working with Redstone in Minecraft this weekend. I find it strange how difficult it has been to find sources of information on building Redstone projects. Until yesterday. I found a very good four part series walking through the basics of Redstone and its interaction with other objects. It appeared that this YouTube post was for teaching a developer for the makers of Minecraft on how it is used. He did not go through actual contraptions as they could get large and complex, he went through the basics of say creating a logical ‘AND’ gate or an ‘OR’ gates inverters, logical ‘NOT’ gate as well as how the information or Minecraft electricity is transmitted. Using that foundation I created my first project today and below are some pictures.

arrowlaunchers

arrowlauncherpressureplate

arrowlauncherresults

Then next step will be to add a lever which will turn the machine off when not needed and on when the mobs come 🙂

Michael Miles, Total Gym

I found the combination

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The potato diet along with exercise seems to be the ticket. Last week I set my goal to exercise everyday of the week and eat the potato diet at the same time. I ended in a bad way and had pizza this weekend and was sick (cold or an allergy of some sort) Monday and Tuesday so the exercise was limited those two days as well as Saturday and Sunday. I had not planned on exercising those days. When I weighed myself this morning I had still lost 5lbs. Now those results I can live with!

Miscellaneous

Loosing this weight is…

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… driving me bonkers. I do great during the week and then crash on the weekend. Trying something new this week and weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes. Other items on my list:

The Book (ya, that one)
My move next month
Buying all the furniture that go with “The Move”
Accounts that go with “The Move”

Deep breath Mike……

Education

Educational Frustration

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I found this frustration in High school on into College as well. This frustration would be having to read up on topics I already know quite well. It makes the education process very boring. Case in point; I’m reading the book “ASP.NET 4.5.1 in C# and VB”, I am at “Chapter 5: Programming Your ASP.NET Web Pages” section “Data Types and Variables”. I am quite familiar with this topic and am not too keen on reading about the topic all over again. My quandary would be, if I skipped the sections I may be bored with will I miss something? I don’t know so I then go ahead and read the section boring the heck out of myself and not really absorbing the information like I should. This usually results in missing items they may have snuck in there and I don’t notice.

By the way this is a very good book and highly recommend it. It may say you can’t use Visual Studio Community 2015 with this I am not having any problems.

Michael Miles, Miscellaneous

Purchase for Apartment

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I have Compiled a quick list of the items I must purchase prior to or just after the move I am making 10/21/2016. It is a change and I am trying to look forward to it but it does put down some sort of roots here but I’m not buying a house! If I find the need or desire to in the future I can easily sell everything and return to Seattle or move to Dallas or wherever. I’m sure the list will grow but I think I have captured everything so far.

*Items that can be purchased at a later date.

Living Room:

  • Couch
  • End Table
  • Coffee Table
  • TV Stand*
  • TV*
  • Lamp

Kitchen:

  • Glasses(4)
  • Plates(4)
  • Bowls(4)
  • Utensils
  • Dish Towels
  • Paper towel Holder*
  • Kitchen Aid*
  • Pots, Pans (Calphalon)*
  • Broiler Pan

Bathroom:

  • Bath Towels
  • Hand Towels
  • Wash Towels
  • Tub stickers
  • Shower Curtain
  • Plunger

Bedroom:

  • Bed and Mattress
  • Bed Clothes
  • Pillows
  • Night Stand*
  • Dresser*

 

New site covering miscellaneous activities including my favorite activity: Blender