For your viewing pleasure

It is that time of the year...NO! Not my annual shower, but Christmas. Rachel recorded me and my rest of my trio messing around at small group. Some modernizations of some classics.

Back in the swing of things

Since, I've been back I have been busy at work at restoring the house. Tons of yardwork and exterior cleaning, car maintenance, etc...you know normal 'man' stuff. This last weekend was my first weekend I had time to roast coffee, so with my new Christmas present, I filmed the process so the few people who follow my blog or the random stragler can replicate it at home. Remember, home roasting is not to put professional roasting companies like Intelligentsia or Counter Culture out of business, because you wont and can't. But you will be able to make as good, if not better coffee at home for cheap. Enjoy.

Did you know?

The sucky economy has caused my mutual funds to climb ~30% since like 2 months ago. Granted its still ~30% lower from its all time high, but there has been great growth.

Also Rachel is starting to look pretty pregnant. See!

Catching up Pt. 2

Then, after working on the yard. Rachel's food processor and blender broke kind of. So I fixed them both. Her food processor has got this button and a ridiculously over complicated linkage system of nylon/plastic pieces in the bowl handle and food chute that prevents the machine from turning on if the chute and bowl are chocked inside. Well the little pieces wore out and now the button would never press, therefore the food processor would never turn on. So, I opened it up and bypassed the switch. Not without first going to the hardware store and buying some tools to do it. SWEET! NEW TOOLS! Plus it was for Rachel so its a perfectly justified purchase. Now our blender we use a lot. More so than any normal human beings. Hey, its not my fault Rachel makes delicious pina coladas. That plus she uses it for a ton of other random things. So daily pina coladas, daily fruit smoothies, plus other random crap made the little plastic gear thing the motor spins break some teeth off. Alittle gorilla glue should give us another six months or so of trouble free blending (this has happened before and gorilla glue fix it for a while). I wish manufacturers would make these little pieces metal for psycho power users like us. (No pics, not that interesting)

Ok, now, my neglected PID/espresso machine project has gotten alittle love this weekend. I have a functioning circuit of the PID working with the boiler's heating elements. THE CIRCUIT WORKS! Just not reliably. It gets VERY hot. If you start it up, the elements turn on for a long time until the PID starts to modulate temp around 190F. So from 80F to 190F the elements are on pulling a lot of current through my homemade solid state relay board. So hot that it will start to boil and smoke the thermal grease between the thyristor and heatsink (thyristor being the component that carries all the current for the elements). This boiling degrades the thermal conductivity of the grease so much that when you turn off the PID and then turn it back on it will not conduct the heat to the heatsink and the thyristor will burn up. I lost a SSR this way, one is enough. To prevent this from happening again I needed an enclosure to house my SSR and provide air flow. Well I looked all over Guam for a sturdy enclosure for a week and found one at the arts and crafts store. It's an acrylic box that house a computer fan for air flow and is large enough for the fan, the relay board, two PID's, and wiring. This will be outside the espresso machine when finished and most likely be an eye sore but it will work. This bad boy set me back five bucks. Try not to be too critical of my lack of craftsmanship. As soon as I attempted to jigsaw a hole in the lid it pretty much exploded from the vibrations. It's thinner acrylic than what I am used to but I did manage to salvage most of it and it will still work.

Catching up

Yeah, yeah, yeah...It's been awhile since I posted anything. I've been busy like everyone has. But, I have caught up in my productivity this last weekend. The weather has been the worst I've ever seen on Guam this last week. Rain the entire week! No, you don't understand. It just about rained constantly the entire week. Maybe 10hrs without rain this week. From Saturday, August 1st to Friday, August 7th, nothing but rain. Fortunately out of nowhere, we were blessed by an entire weekend of little to no rain.

Rachel went out of town 3 weeks ago, and came back a week and a half ago. During that time I pulled some real long hours at work. Hence no updates during that time. Then she came back and we've been going out a lot so no updates, til now!

Last weekend we went wine tasting at Top o' the Mar. A restaurant ran by MWR here on Guam and we had friends over for a BBQ, sorry no pics of either event.

We didn't do much of anything throughout the rest of the week. I practiced for church on Thursday, two duty days, nothin' big.

This weekend I worked on my lawn. I had an area right outside my front door that was growing up whatever it could. So I killed everything living, laid some plastic/anti-weed wrap across it, put some scalloped pavers in as a border, and put bark down. Turned out awesome I think.

I'm gonna be a Dad!

Yes, my wife is very pregnant. 10weeks pregnant. Last Friday I took her to get an ultrasound and the baby is about the size of a large peanut, but has a heartbeat and is healthy. I am pretty excited, I don't care what the sex of the baby is. Here is the ultrasound results:

Past the point of no return

I have done it. I have gone all in. Bet it all on black. Past the point of no return. No looking back now.

I have completely gutted my espresso machine of wiring with the exception of 3. 1 Supplies power to both boilers, and then the other 2 are each boilers heating elements output to complete circuit. The thick white "wire" isn't really a wire at all but a thermocouple input to a PID controller (read on).

I have a picture so you can see what I am talking about.















Originally, it was a complete rats nest of wiring from the factory. It was seriously horrific. I like to think I am pretty competent about electronics, especially appliances and cars which are fairly simple creatures. But this wire job was unimaginably complicated and confusing. I would stare at it for hours and only be more confused after wards.

So I decided to go for it and completely rewire it the way I wanted to. Which brings me to a new challenge: Make the dang thing work! I may have bitten off more than I could chew by doing this. I took precautions before doing this like taking photos of the wiring before gutting it. However, the wiring was so bad, I doubt I really could ever get it back together. Rachel warned me not to do it (standard wife protocol), but she is secretly hoping I don't get it to work so we can get a new super-wamadine machine.

There was a couple things that led me down this route. 1. Stock components are starting to wear out. Like the brew boiler thermostat starting to heat too long, therefore turning itself into a second steam boiler. By the way, in case you were wondering, steam makes horrible coffee. 2. I wanted to have a digital PID temperature controller instead of a thermostat, but the PID does not play well with the contactor (not pictured, already removed). The machine's boilers would trip a standard 15A circuit breaker if they were both energized simultaneously, so a contactor/relay was wired in to essentially be a electro-mechanical power saver by switching power between boilers so they both can get hot but prevent overloading the circuit. The PID causes the contactor to cycle excessively and only the brew boiler gets hot because the contactor gets confused by the pulsing of the PID.

I believe, since the PID is a smarter way to go as far as energy usage goes that I could power both boilers without a switching device such as a contactor (since a PID is a switching device in a sense). This will simplify the overall wiring without the contactor. Then use the pre-existing switches to energize the pump and solenoid valves (orange thing and black box things respectively in the picture) as the factory originally intended. Read more about PID's here: link.

If I fail, then I am an idiot for ever attempting this hair brained scheme. But if I am sucessful, then I am a FRICKIN GENIUS!

At work I have a nickname that has to do with all my insane behavior, "Dr. Scientist". Mostly because of what I do at work, but it is a personality I have developed over the years. Sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde split personality complex. Mild-mannered "me" transforms into obsessive-compulsive "Dr. Scientist" when it comes to my hobbies.

BBQ Bro!

Ok, so I have just gotten back from an underway on Friday. Also my wife, Rachel, and I have a tradition whenever I go on an underway we BBQ. So to take a break from my espresso machine endeavors and troubleshooting, here are some shots of the last two times we BBQ'ed. The weekend prior to going underway I grilled some steaks and sausages. The steaks were alittle fatty and over cooked in my opinion. They were still good and juicy, I just prefer my steak alittle rarer, but I am pretty clueless about grilling. The sausages were amazing. We did not have both steaks AND sausages in one meal other wise you'd be reading about my trip to the hospital after a recent heart attack. The steaks were on a Friday, and sausages on Saturday. Since I got back we decided to grill burgers and they turned out great. I grill only one type of burger, and that is a bacon-cheeseburger. When the ground beef is grilling and I go and flip them (only once!) I immediately throw the cheese and bacon on the now exposed side so the flavors can mix and get all happy. I toast the buns on the grill too, it is the only way. Oh, and the shish kebabs were also out of this world.

Revenge of the fallen

No, not the Transformers, but the squirters have returned! So pay little attention to my previous post, I am having to continue the troubleshooting. The tube may just be another problem that developed around the same time as the squirting. Back to the drawing board.

Fight the squirters

My portafilter is naked.

Yes naked. That means, instead of having spouts to easily, and cleanly dispense espresso to my demitasse, I removed the spouts... using a hole saw and power drill. This allows me, the operator, to witness first hand the espresso gently fall into the demitasse. It should look like a funnel of golden-brown, thick, viscous liquid flowing down. A vortex of pure, unadulterated, liquid form of deliciousness.

Lately it has looked like a brown, watery, thin rain fall down from the basket, with random squirts of this stuff shooting in random directions, usually all over the espresso machine. Overall, making just a huge mess. I've watched this disaster everyday over the last 4 or 5 days in disgust as a cup of crema-less, "espresso" (at this point I use the term loosely) is formed. I am used to consuming a delicious, amber-colored, thick treat with a "head" of crema on it like beer, and a complex flavor of fruits and spices like a fine wine.

What I got was unfortunately, very disgusting.

If I made coffee for a living and was producing this swill for customers, I would have to resort to Hari Kari in shame. I am enough of a man to drink it at home until I solved the problem for now though (I am cheap and HATE throwing away food).

My problem strangely enough was my pump's suction tube being pulled down too far in the reservoir. It didn't allow a static head of water to sit on the suction side of the pump, supplying insufficient net positive suction head to the pump when running. This caused SEVERE pressure pulsations on the discharge end of the pump due to cavitation and caused the random spraying of espresso-swill all over my coffee command center.

I repositioned the tube, and on the next shot, pulled a mighty fine serving of the drink I have come to know and love in the morning. I must have just misaligned the tube the last time I pulled the reservoir to clean it.

All is well in my kitchen now. As for the squirters? Vanquished!

-Friendly neighborhood coffeegeek

Anatomy of an espresso machine

So you understand the inner workings of an espresso machine, a very integral part of my morning routine. This post is the glossary of many of my future posts.

First, the machine is turned on which energizes a heating element in a BOILER. The boiler does one thing and one thing only, it heats water. To near boiling temperatures. Typically about 203-206F (water boils at 212F). A thermostat will ideally, maintain that temperature range of the water inside. The boiler will be refilled and pressurized by a pump. The pump is plumbed between the boiler and a source of water such as a reservoir. The pressurized boiler will send water to a GROUPHEAD. The grouphead is the interface between your boiler water and coffee grounds.

When you grind coffee. It is then DOSED, that is, dispensed into the basket. A BASKET is a stainless steel filter with a tall lip to hold grinds. The basket sits in the PORTAFILTER. The portafilter is the "thingy" with a handle that gets inserted into the espresso machine. The portafilter locks into the grouphead. Coffee grinds once dosed to the basket are then smashed together using a TAMPER. A tamper is just a heavy metal cylinder with a handle that compresses grinds together forming a PUCK, a compressed coffee grind mass resembling a hockey puck.

That puck then has hot water, from the pressurized boiler, infused through it into a small cup or glass. The small cup is called a DEMITASSE. The water dissolves soluble ions, gases, acids, and organic matter, it entrains insoluble oils and some fine coffee grinds (very few grinds). This water is now thick, rich, smooth, and slick, butter like in texture. It has a head on it like beer called 'crema', and has undertones of fruit and spice like wine, in a volumetric quantity of hard liquor. It is the pinnacle of coffee flavor, it is espresso! Or a ristretto, but we wont get into ristrettos...

-Greg

Missions flame - Worship

I am playing for my church in the worship band. We practice Thursdays nights, and Sunday mornings prior to the service. It is a very difficult job to do correctly. My job is not to play the guitar without missing the next chord or note, or to sing with out screeching my voice, but through music, to lead a large group of people with no collective musical experience into the throne room of God with humility and reverence. This cannot be done by musical ability at all. The only way I can do that is if I do it myself, on a stage, and lead by example.

If you have ever been involved in the music 'scene' of a church then you know how practices go. The band members wander in with instruments, clueless as to the songs, the order, the key, the roles they play, etc... We as bands worry so much about how the song goes, from the intro to the ending followed by the transition to the next song. We never plan on how to worship in song. No thought is ever made. If you are part of a church band that worships on stage, it is usually a few band members going spontaneously, which is good! That is the point, right? Or if you are on a band that doesn't worship on stage, what IS the point? Why go up there at all? I like music, I enjoy playing and I enjoy singing, but you know what? Christian music really isn't that good! It is typically 5-10 years behind secular music in lyrical creativity and musical ability generally. This is from a guy who listens to 95% of christian "praise-and-worship" type music for not only practicing but for casual listening. I know it is not as good as mainstream secular music. So their really is no point in going on stage to perform a mere concert of christian music. Save you and your congregation the time!

If you could not tell I feel as if my band is the second group described in the previous paragraph.

What can be done? I used to have a bad habit of making comments that really served no real purpose other than to vent my frustration. Do not do this! I am done doing this. Again, it serves no purpose. Be a man (or woman), an adult, and take your worship leader aside one on one and tell him (or her) your frustration calmly and politely. In all honesty its usually not their fault. It's the band's fault, and your part of the band. You've let the band build up and become use to playing in this lack luster fashion, without a purpose or vision. The band leader needs to know that YOU ALL as a BAND are failing at YOUR job. Please don't turn your grown-up conversation into a B&M/complaining/finger-pointing session. It is hard being the band leader. There is some responsibility to this position and most leaders are volunteers. So they don't get paid enough to run a band AND listen to you fume and vent at them at how they have failed. Be honest with yourself, you failed too.

Next time you have a practice, or see your band leader, or call him up, tell him! Right the wrong and steer the worship back to where it belongs.

Ok, this has been a way too serious and solemn first blog about worship. I hope all won't be this down or serious. This is a topic that I have been thinking about for far too long.

Keep focused on Jesus. As Matt Redman says, "Your fame, your renown, is the desire of our souls."