Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Catching A Cold

On the baseball field, we used to say that “he’s so bad he couldn’t catch a cold.” Oh so funny, I know, but what about when the weather turns cold? Do you remember hearing that you should dress warm so you don’t catch a cold?

It’s amazing how long this saying has survived. Back before Louis Pasteur figured out germs in the 1860s, this was a pretty valid saying. But now that we know that germs make you sick, why would you say that the temperature of the air can have an effect on your health?

This probably started because winter is cold and flu season. You’re more likely to stay inside which means you probably have more contact with other people which means diseases spread more easily.

Of course, cold weather can hurt you physically. If it gets cold enough, you’ll get hypothermia, frostbite, etc. But just walking outside without a hat when it’s 20 degrees is not going to make you more likely to get sick.

benmartens December 18, 2014 Commentary

Fantasy Football – Week 15

The Seahawks squared off this week against the Santa Clara 49ers who were coming off their incredibly embarrassing defeat by the Raiders. You knew the 49ers were going to be angry and they looked really good for the first half. I thought the Seahawks might be in trouble. Both Gore and Hyde were running through a Seattle defense that looked like Swiss cheese. Luckily for the Seahawks, they both got injured. Six sacks of Kaepernick didn’t hurt either (though Wilson was also sacked five times.) Couple the Seahawks win with a Packers loss and we might be watching playoff games from Century Link.

In our league, my easy prediction from last week held true. Austin annihilated me as my championship hopes drifted away like a fart in the wind. Jim also topped Tim so Austin and Jim will square off for the top spot. This would be Jim’s second victory (2007) or Austin’s first. Tim and I are the only two left in the money pool so we’ll battle it out for third place and the money. The power rankings say that Austin and I will win. My money is definitely on Austin but the other game is a tossup.

  1. Austin (–)
  2. Jim ( 1)
  3. Ben ( 1)
  4. Tim (–)

Now on to the weekly awards.

  • Highest Team Score
    • This Week: Austin had 175.38
    • Season: In week 14, Austin had 187.41
    • All-Time: In 2013, Tim had 195.50
  • Lowest Team Score
    • This Week: Dad had 64.19
    • Season: In Week 3, Luke had 55.04
    • All-Time: In 2011, Luke had 47.01
  • Biggest Blowout
    • This Week: Austin beat Ben by 90.43
    • Season: In week 8, Austin beat Dad by 103.48
    • All-Time: In 2010, Luke beat Andy by 113.02
  • Closest Win
    • This Week:  Logan beat Andy by 25.68
    • Season: In Week 2, Austin beat Ben by 1.7
    • All-Time: In 2012, Jim beat Ben by 0.12
  • Highest Scoring Player
    • This Week: Odell Beckham Jr. had 36.84 for Austin
    • Season: In Week 8, Ben Roethlisberger had 56.78 for Dad
    • All-Time: In 2013, Peyton Manning scored 60.28 for Andy
  • Longest Winning Streaks:
    • Active:  Austin has a 5 game winning streak
    • Season: Ben had a 6 game winning streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Micah had an 8 game winning streak
  • Longest Losing Streaks:
    • Active: Andy has a 5 game losing streak
    • Season: Andy has a 5 game losing streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Kyle had a 14 game losing streak
benmartens December 17, 2014 Fantasy Sports

Software Engineer

I spent the first eight years at this company with the title of “Software Development Engineer in Test.” A few months back, there was a company-wide change and now there’s no such thing as someone who specializes in testing. We’re all “Software Engineers” and we’re all expected to both develop and test the product in our normal daily work. There are pros and cons to each method, but I think the switch is going to be a good move and aligns us with the current industry trends. The idea is that you’re responsible for your feature from the time it’s planned, while it’s being written, as it’s being readied for shipping, and while the customer is using it (telemetry, etc.) You own it and you don’t get to hand it off to anyone to be your safety net.

So now I’m not only out of the manager track and back in the individual contributor pool, but I’m also a “software engineer” instead of a “software development engineer in test.” They’re both pretty big changes to my day-to-day activities but I’m still loving my job!

benmartens December 16, 2014 Commentary

Work Table

I have a small work area, but I’ve often wished that I had a table I could walk around for easier assembly of projects. I’ve also felt like I should have an outfeed table for the table saw to aid in cutting large pieces of wood. I was able to accomplish both with a single project. The plans come from the November issue of Family Handyman (an excellent magazine!) It’s built out of a single 3/4” piece of plywood so it’s pretty economical. And the plans are cleverly made so that you can cut the plywood into three 32” strips. I had that done right at Home Depot so it was easy to get home and maneuver around on the table saw. Obviously a bigger table would be nice but this has already come in very handy!

I also attempted to make this into a downdraft table (think of an air hockey table in reverse.) it would help catch dust particles from sanding, etc. There are a little over one hunded 5/16” holes in the top (that adds up to the 2.5” hose size). I drilled a hole in the side for the shop vac, but it probably should have gone in the bottom. It turns out not to matter because the shop vac doesn’t move enough air to make this very useful. If I can find an old furnace motor I might try to hook that up. It wasn’t a big loss though. The modifications to the plans were minor to try this. The top was already a box to make it easier to clamp things to the surface.

benmartens December 15, 2014 Woodworking

Table Saw Dust Collection

I’ve been on a mission to get more dust into my shop vac and out of my garage. Previous projects have left a lot of dust on everything. The table saw is a pretty big culprit. I came up with a very simple solution. I cut a few pieces of 1/4” MDF and made a wedge-shaped box under the table saw. It’s all held together with tape until I’m convinced it works and then I’ll glue/screw it together. So far so good. I can use this without a shop vac attached and most of it stays in the box or I can use the shop vac while I’m cutting. A lot of dust still escapes upward from the blade but catching that requires a much more involved system. This is a good solution using parts that were already in my garage.

benmartens December 12, 2014 Woodworking

Christmas Lights

Back in October, I finally decided on some Christmas lights and bought them. I decided to go with really nice stuff and add a little bit each year since it’s a little pricey. Tim came over to lend a hand and we got them up in under an hour. I’m really happy with the end result, but I’m eager to add more next year.

On a side note, I find it interesting that the house lights show up as different shades of white. It’s not very obvious to the naked eye. The three on the left are LED and the one up by the house is still CFL. Looking at it without a camera, it appears that all the colors of white (including the Christmas lights) match which was the intended goal.

benmartens December 11, 2014 Commentary

Fantasy Football – Week 14

The Seahawks defense looked awesome for a third week in a row! The offense wasn’t stellar but in the second half, they finally got the better of the Eagles strong defense and started pushing them around. I’m feeling much better about the playoff picture than I was 5 weeks ago, especially with the unbelievable loss by the 49ers to the hapless Raiders. While the Raiders are definitely rejoicing in their victory, they probably cost themselves the first draft pick. (Though if you’ve read Scorecasting you know that early draft picks are way overrated.)

We finished the regular season with our highest average team score: 141.29! Both Austin and I set our own personal bests and we both could have topped 200 with an optimal roster. Congrats to Luke for starting a perfect roster.

The playoff picture is now set. Defending league champion, Logan, will not be repeating as he lost his game and fell to fifth place. Even if he had won he would have lost out on total points for the tiebreaker. After a season of very close standings, things finally spread out a bit at the end.

The power rankings are holding pretty steady for a second week in a row. The only change is that Logan and Jim swapped places. These are also the four teams that are in the playoffs. I’m sticking with my prediction that Austin is going to take it all. He’s averaging over 150 in the last four games! Unfortunately for me, I go up against him first while Tim takes on Jim. I think Austin and Jim will win round one and then Austin beats Jim in a central Indiana championship battle royale. But hey, as the Raiders will tell you, you never know what’s going to happen until you play the game.

  1. Austin (–)
  2. Ben (–)
  3. Jim ( 2)
  4. Tim (–)

Now on to the weekly awards.

  • Highest Team Score
    • This Week: Austin had 187.41
    • Season: Previous record was in week 10, Tim had 184.06
    • All-Time: In 2013, Tim had 195.50
  • Lowest Team Score
    • This Week: Andy had 118.56
    • Season: In Week 3, Luke had 55.04
    • All-Time: In 2011, Luke had 47.01
  • Biggest Blowout
    • This Week:  Austin beat Luke by 67.16
    • Season: In week 8, Austin beat Dad by 103.48
    • All-Time: In 2010, Luke beat Andy by 113.02
  • Closest Win
    • This Week: Dad beat Logan by 4.4
    • Season: In Week 2, Austin beat Ben by 1.7
    • All-Time: In 2012, Jim beat Ben by 0.12
  • Highest Scoring Player
    • This Week:  Le’Veon Bell had 44.50 points for Austin.
    • Season: In Week 8, Ben Roethlisberger had 56.78 for Dad
    • All-Time: In 2013, Peyton Manning scored 60.28 for Andy
  • Longest Winning Streaks:
    • Active: Ben has a 6 game winning streak.
    • Season: Jim, Tim and Ben had a 5 game winning streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Micah had an 8 game winning streak
  • Longest Losing Streaks:
    • Active: Andy has a 4 game losing streaks
    • Season: Dad, Andy and Luke had 4 game losing streaks
    • All-Time: In 2011, Kyle had a 14 game losing streak
benmartens December 10, 2014 Fantasy Sports

Miss Kay’s Banana Pudding

If you watch Duck Dynasty, you know that Miss Kay is a great cook. We tried her banana pudding recipe a while back and it has become a staple for special family occasions. Here’s the recipe. I changed it to skip the double boiler and it works fine, but if you really want the original you can find it here.

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
  • 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
  • ¾ cup of milk
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 bag vanilla wafers and crumbled
  • 3-4 bananas, sliced

Directions

  1. Slowly melt the butter and then add the sugar, salt, flour, evaporated milk and regular milk. Stir with a whisk.
  2. Temper egg yolks (add some mixture to the eggs to avoid them scrambling.) Add the egg yolks to the mixture, constantly stirring until thick. Add the vanilla extract.
  3. Place the crumbled vanilla wafers and bananas into a 9" x 13" Pyrex dish. Then pour in mixture.
  4. Chill before serving.

Warning, it’s super sweet and it kind of sneaks up on you so don’t eat too much in one sitting or you’ll regret it!

benmartens December 9, 2014 Food

DIY Irrigation Winterization

Now that we have an irrigation system, I have one more chore on the fall list: winterization. All the water needs to be blown out of the lines because I sure don’t want to dig them up again! You can pay a company $50-70 to come with a huge generator and blow out all your lines in a matter of minutes. Or you can be a cheapskate like me and do it yourself. I’ll caveat this by saying there a lot of different ways to accomplish this. What you see below is how I chose to do it.

The first piece of the puzzle is an air compressor. The bigger the tank, the better you’ll be. I have an 8 gallon one which is pretty small but worked ok for my yard.

The next challenge was hooking the air compressor up to the irrigation system. When we put it in, Tim installed a quick coupler valve. I went to McClendon’s and built the contraption in the photo below. It’s the quick coupler connector, a ball valve, a reducer and then the quick connect for the air compressor. Shove that into the valve, hook up the air compressor and you’re ready to go.

I used a combination of manually opening the valves and using the control clock. The clock kept me drier but the valve box let me be closer to the action to see when I was done. The basic idea is that you pump air into the lines, open up one zone, and let it blow until all the water is gone. The ball valve on the coupler keeps you from getting water pushed back into the air compressor after the first few blows.

Some zones only took a tank or two while others took three or four. This is a two beer job so get comfortable. You don’t want to rush it and leave water in the lines.

benmartens December 8, 2014 Home Improvement

Free Money At Safeway

Around this time of year, it literally pays to watch the gift card section of Safeway. They regularly have deals for 2-3x gas reward points when you buy gift cards. That’s a reasonably good deal, but until 12/9 they have an even better one: $10 off your next visit when you buy $100 in gift cards.

Amazon is included in the list and since we normally spend a lot of money there anyway, I threw a $100 Amazon gift card into my cart. Including the extra gas rewards, that means I just got ~$12 in free money. Sure it’s not a lot, but for almost zero effort, it’s worth it. All I had to do was come home and type the code into my Amazon account. Easy!

I didn’t see any limit to the number of times you can do this.

benmartens December 5, 2014 Commentary