As I write this on December 31, 2009, I am somewhat hard-pressed to come up with anything that made 2009 stand out. Yes, there was the worldwide recession, but technically that started in 2008, and, though many economists say we are out of it, I don’t think we’ll be completely out of it until sometime in 2010, perhaps later. There were many other things that happened in the world, but when I look back, I am only looking at the smaller scale of my life. Nothing really bad, nothing really great, status quo is always a good thing, and I am happy about that.

2010 is already shaping up to look like a good year, my wife and I will be turning 30, which, for me is not a huge issue, but for my wife I am sure it will be a grand event. The Olympics in Vancouver are coming fast, and I’m sure this will help the local economy, though we’ll be paying off the debt for years.

On a smaller scale, I’m looking forward to 2010, there are many ideas on the horizon, business related and other. So, here’s to a great finish of 2009 and a wonderful welcoming to 2010, of which we’ll be spending new year’s eve with great friends and family. I hope you feel the same.

As I currently have two webcams sitting unused in my office, I’ve put the second webcam back online. There really is no reason to run it other than in the cooler months to see the difference in weather between Cumberland and Courtenay.

This camera also does not have the pan/tilt/zoom functions my home-based camera does.

As a new feature for both cameras, I’m saving snapshots to our online Picasa albums.

As many people have recently discovered (mostly due to Dani posting a link on Facebook) I have a live streaming webcam running at our house. The view is looking out a North facing window, but the camera can vary from looking directly North as it has pan/tilt functions. The pan/tilt functions are controlled from the web, however it can get a bit hectic when many people are trying to drive at the same time.

The camera will automatically return to a North West facing position every 15 minutes if someone changes where it’s facing and the camera is idle.

I can’t guarantee that the camera will be online at all times either. As long as my production workstation and the software are on, the cam is available. I typically only have the camera online through the winter months, and when a house is finally built next door, the cam will have to be moved or be taken offline. There is also an archive of the camera for the past year or two, available by clicking on the latest snapshot to the right. A new snapshot is taken every 5 minutes.

The camera itself is a Logitech Orbit AF and the software is Abelcam. One day I’d like to get a better quality camera, but for now, this one works just fine.

UPDATE: I have a new camera that just needs to be installed. It shoots in HD so should provide a much clearer picture. I may run both cams.

Boy, talk about some crazy weather lately. I know there is all the hype about global warming and all, but over the past couple of years, I haven’t noticed it. Especially through the winters.

Last year, we were away for Christmas to the interior of BC, it was one of the coldest, snowiest winters I can remember since the blizzard of ’96. I haven’t shoveled that much snow in a long time, thankfully one of the snow plow drivers took pity on me one evening and gave a quick push to the large pile of snow at the end of our driveway. I still owe him a beer or 12.

This past weekend, we experience some severe heavy rains, of which I haven’t see since ’94. These rains caused flooding and bridge/highway closures among other things. It was to the point that the mayor of Courtenay declared a local state of emergency. I was one of the unlucky people to be caught in the slow traffic.

Today, another storm has rolled in to our area. It has been a bit cooler the past couple of days and we have had some brief spats of snowfall out here in Cumberland in the evenings but nothing too crazy. Today, after the winds and rain picked up, I noticed there was snow mixed in. As soon as I was half way up the highway connector, it was completely snowing, and not just lightly either, very heavy.

At the time I am writing this entry, it is still snowing heavily and has been for the past 3 hours. There is about 3″ of snow on the ground and still accumulating. I don’t know if this is a sign of what’s to come this winter, but I suppose it’s time to get prepared.

I am definitely not a snow-scrooge, other than shoveling too much of this heavy wet stuff, it does help to get the holiday spirit going. Sadly we are also dealing with a patio door leak that has done some damage to our house and we’re waiting on the repairs to start. Hopefully it won’t be too hectic.

Until next time…

I finally ordered the new brake assemblies this week and have now got them installed on the axle. Rather than order individual parts to fix the old Atwood brakes, which would have been a nightmare to find parts for, I decided to just go ahead and pay the few extra dollars and replace the whole assembly from the axle flange out. All that’s left to do on the axle is install new brake lines then it can go back under the trailer.

I was heading outside to let the dog out anyways so I figured I’d throw the axle up on the workbench and have a closer look. This lead to getting some tools out and seeing if a few days of soaking in penetrating oil would make it easy to get the brake assemblies off.

Well, it turns out, that was a success. I have removed all but two of the backing plate mounting bolts. Considering that I had only soaked the curb side, I didn’t even think I’d be able to get any of the nuts off on the other side. THe other two are soaking right now, and I’ll likely let them soak for a day or two before trying again. I did manage to scratch my arm when the wrench slipped off trying to get the last two nuts off so I figured that was a sign to stop.

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I was able to reassemble the hitch this morning for a final test fit to make sure all of the parts fit in their respective homes. Now I just have to get to the store to get some Never Seez and new mounting bolts/washers for the master cylinder and this part of the brake project will be done. At least until I have to connect the new brake lines, as I am sure I’ll be modifying the front shield to make it fit due to a slight change in design, more on that when I tackle that task.

For now, a few shots of the test fit.