Today I bought a brand new TV for the first time in almost two decades. The last TV was a hand down from my sister-in-law’s father-in-law. His son gave us his TV after he passed away. The brand was Vizio. We had it for almost a decade. In the past few weeks, the audio stopped working. We were watching silence TV.

Before the Vizio, my brother-in-law handed down to us a Samsung, which last 5 or 6 years. Before that I had a few hand-down tubes from my sister and her then husband. I didn’t care much for TV. I could live without it, but my mother-in-law and my kids still watch YouTube on TV.

I took the kids to Costco last evening and we picked up the cheapest one in the store, which was a 50-inch Hisense for $250. The quality looked decent on display. Another reason I went for it was the RCA connectors. I wanted to hook the audio to my refurbished Sony receiver my mother bought for me at a Sony Outlet when I was in seventh or eighth grade. Around the same time, She also bought me the Yamaha speakers at an electronic store that went out of business. I wanted to keep these equipments for many years to come. They reminded me of her.

It turned out that the RCA connectors behind the new Hisense TV were input instead of output. I should have paid attention. Fortunately, it also had a digital output. I will try the adaptor from digital output to RCA.

I hope that will work. I am still an old-school when it comes to video and audio technologies. I am getting antiquated as I am growing older. Oh well! That’s life.

Update: My wife bought the DAC 192KHz Digital to Analog Audio Converter and it works like a charm.

We haven’t done much to our driveway for more than 10 years. The other day, a contractor stopped by and give me a quote for $6,000 to redo the entire driveway. I politely declined. Why would I spend $6,000 on a driveway just to park my fucking cars? I decided to do it on my own via YouTube video. Even if I fuck it up, my cars will cover the surface anyway.

On Friday, I bought the materials. Unfortunately it had been raining. Late afternoon Sunday, the sun finally came out. I enlisted Đạo and Đán to help. We patched up the big holes and almost done filling in the cracks. The boys complained how hot it was working in the heat. They would rather sit in front of their devices and play video games. I wanted to experience what it is like to work hard so they can study hard instead.

Here’s the breakdown of what I had spent:

• 2 of 1-gallon crack fillers ($10 each): $20
• 3 of 2-gallon trowel patch ($22 each): $66
• 3 of 3.5-gallon super patch ($20 each): $60
• A steel tamper: $40

Total: $186

After filling and patching, we’ll seal it up.

Today I dodged the $150 AC service, but spent $200 for a pair of prescription glasses. My eye insurance kicked into this month; therefore, I better get an annual eye exam and a pair of prescription glasses. I chose a Huge Boss frame made in Italy. My first priority is to look at where the frame was made. I didn’t want any frame made in China. Base on my own experience, frames made in China didn’t last long. I had to paid $80 out of pocket for the frame and $120 for the lens. I kept the lens basic with no anti-glaring and no transitioning.

My optometrist is Vietnamese American. She is very nice. We chat a bit and she revealed that her oldest daughter is in her third year of optometry and her second daughter is starting medical school. Her youngest son is in tenth grade. I asked for her parental advice and she told me that she just kept telling her daughters to go to school. She didn’t want anything from them. She just wanted them to school. As a minority in America, school is the only path to success and better future. She didn’t pressure them into becoming optometrist or doctor. She just wanted to to finish school.

Reminding our kids to go to school doesn’t sound like a hard task. I will take her advice and will see if it will work. I paid $200 for a pair of glasses and parental advice. The price might be worth it.

Driving home from work yesterday was hell. The AC in my 2011 Toyota Sienna was blowing hot air even though I had it serviced less than three months ago. I called up Khang about the AC as well as replacing the timing cover gasket. He told me to bring it in the next day.

I arrived at his shop at 8:00 am this morning. He had his boy pumped freon without even taking a look at the car. After 10 minutes, the AC pumped out cold air again. I also noticed the AC light stopped flashing. He told me $150. I asked him for an estimate on replacing the timing cover gasket. He told me that he would also have to replace the water pump. My natural reaction was, “Oh really!” He went off, “Am I the mechanic or are you?” He continued, “If you knew how to fix it, you would have.” I nodded and thought to myself, “No shit!” He went on, “You have to trust me. I have many cars here. I don’t need to cheat you.” I replied with a bit of a joke, “Of course I trust you, but I am not sure if I can afford your trust.” Then he asked me, “Did I recommend that you replace the timing cover gasket? I can’t remember, but I must have said the timing valves.” I responded, “Yes you did as part of maintenance.”

I asked a follow-up question, “Will the AC last this time or will it stop working again? You did a service on it less then three months ago.” He replied, “Why didn’t you tell me? I fixed so many cars I don’t remember.” He went on, “If that’s the case, there’s a leak somewhere. I still have to charge you because your car leaked.” I nodded and replied, “Sure.” Then he said, “I am a fair guy. I am not going to charge you for the AC. Why don’t you bring your car back next week when you go on vacation and I will check everything.” Fair enough.

Now I am debating if I should bringing back my car for him to service. I do want to keep this car for as long as I can. I don’t want to keep paying for services, but I also don’t want to buy a new car. I have been thinking of taking the free shuttle to work instead. I don’t want to depend on a car anymore. The cost is just too much to maintain a car. We’ll see.

I woke up this morning and made myself a vegetable omelet to give me the energy to edge the sidewalk. After the smaller side was done, I took the kids to the skatepark. We skated for an hour and went back home for Mother’s Day lunch. We enjoyed BBQ on the deck we washed last week.

After lunch, my brother-in-law drove his family home. My sister-in-law also drove her kids home. I went back out to continue edging the sidewalk. My kids went out and helped me. We finished the job around 5:30 pm. I couldn’t believe edging the sidewalk took the entire day. Just like washing the deck last week took an entire day—even with the kids helped out a bit.

I would be lying if I say that I enjoyed doing these things. I didn’t, but I had to. I wished I could spend time doing something else. I still have more maintenance to do. Next week I have to take the kids to scouting camping. The following week, our family will have another camping weekend. I need to mow the lawn on a weekday next week.

Welcome to the summertime joy!

As documented, I replaced a headlight bulb for our 2011 Toyota Sienna on December 3, 2022. I didn’t write down if it was the driver side or the passenger side. Last night, I noticed the driver side bulb was dead. I ordered the replacement on Amazon instead of Toyota Dealer. Now I have an extra bulb.

After Toyota dealer provided a list of recommendations for repair and tune up, I took my minivan to Khang Auto for the following services:

• Replace 6 spark plugs (tune up)
• Replace right front axle
• Replace 2 lower ball joints
• AC service
• Check alarm horn

Total cost: $1,200

It was still a big cost, but much less that $7,723.93 the dealer had quoted. Another big item left to do is replacing the timing cover gasket. The dealer quote was $4,200.79. I will try to get this one done in the near future. I wanted to keep this car for as long as I can. Hopefully, it won’t cost me too much more to maintain. I don’t want to spend another $50,000 or $60,000 for a brand new car. Depending on a vehicle sucks.

Took my car to the dealer for an oil change and received the following recommendations:

• Oil & filter change, 6 cylinder, synthetic oil includes checking under-hood fluid levels and tire pressures in four-road wheels: $88.02
• CV Boot Cover Replacement: Right CV Boots leaking. Recommend replacing CV boots (inner and outer): $816.59
• Ball Joint Replacement (Lower: Boots leaking, worn): $908.25
• Alignment: $139.66
• Timing Cover Gasket: Leaking oil (Original factory seal): $4200.79
• Tune Up: Including spark plugs and PCV valve: $1150.36
• BG Transmission Synthetic Fluid Service: $420.26

Total: $7,723.93

I declined all the services except for the first item. I will be looking into an alternative shop from Vietnamese technicians.

A couple of days ago, I pulled out the manual from the Rheem water heater tank I recently installed and came across the section about open vs. closed water systems. I believe we have an open water system because our previous tank didn’t have an expansion pressure tank and it worked fine for 14 years until it started to leak. The new tank I installed didn’t have an expansion tank either and it seems to be working fine. Nevertheless, I decided to add a 2-gallon expansion pressure tank after I did some more reading and a friend also recommended it.

The installation process was not too difficult, but I made a small error. After putting the expansion water tank and the pipes in place, I turned the cold water on. The pipe that connected to the cold water line on the water tank was leaking. In order to tighten it, I had to take the expansion pressure tank out. I forgot to shut off the water before unscrewing the expansion pressure tank. Water shot out before I could shut off the valve. I had to clean up all the water before reinstalling the expansion pressure tank. As a result, the installation took longer than I had expected.

Another valuable lesson learned. I hope the expansion pressure tank will give us peace of mind and I don’t have to worry about the heater water tank for at least 10 years.

Parts

• A.O. Smith 2-Gallon Expansion Pressure Tank: $45
• Watts Water Pressure Test-Gauge Brass 3/4-in Mght Pressure Relief Valve: $13 (Our current water pressure is 50 PSI)
• Apollo Tanktee Expansion Tank Fitting: $19
• SharkBite 3/4-in Push-to-Connect x 3/4-in MNPT Male Adapter: $10

Total: $87

I woke up early this morning to get ready to go snowboarding at Liberty. I went down the basement to pick up my gears. My paranoia told me to check on the brand new water heater tank we just installed a week ago. To my dismay, I spotted water all over the drain pan. I soaked up all the water from the pan and ran floor drying fan. I checked the pipes and pressure relief valve and they were dried. When I pointed the fan at the bottom of the tank water gushed out. I knew we were in deep shit. I had to cancel my snowboarding adventure. I came right back home after dropping my eldest son to school.

My only option was to replace a new tank. I couldn’t call Tilo (the previous installer) because it was not his fault that the tank leaked. I determined to do it myself. After two defected tanks, I was done with A.O. Smith. I went to Home Depot to pick up a Rheem tank. I also bought a hand truck to move the tank myself. With my wife’s help, we transported the new tank to the basement. When we cut the box open, the tank had big dent at the top. The screws were twisted. My wife told me to get another tank and I couldn’t agree more. When we bought the second A.O. Smith tank, it also had a dent at the bottom. In retrospect, we should have exchanged it for another tank.

I asked my wife to come with me to Home Depot to exchange it. When I told the customer service rep about the defect, I asked her if I could open up the box to make sure the tank was in good shape and she agreed. We brought the new tank back home as the old tank drained out all of the water. Obviously I turned off the power before draining the water; therefore, I just had to screw the pipes back on. The hot line went in fine, but the cold line with the shut-off valve wouldn’t connect to the new tank. No matter how many turns I made I couldn’t get it in. I went back to Home Depot to get another flexible pipe to connect the pipe with the valve to the new pipe. Since the new pipe is longer, I decided to remove two SharkBite connectors Tilo had put in. I wanted to simplify the connections. Trying to disconnect the SharkBite was a bitch. I tried tapping, pulling, and it still didn’t come out. I decided to just cut the pipe off.

After connected all the pipes, I turned the water back on to make sure nothing was leaking. After the tank was filled with cold water, I connected the electric wires. I flipped the breaker back on and I could hear the tank started to heat up. I am keeping my eyes on the drain pan and keeping my fingers crossed. I hope this is it after the fourth tank.

When I took out the O.A. Smith tank, there was indeed a crack at the bottom. I had to take it back to Lowe’s to return it. My whole day was wasted on installing the tank. Then again, I am now becoming proficient at installing water heater tank.

Parts

• Rheem’s Performance 50 Gal. Tall 6 Year 4500/4500-Watt Elements Electric Tank Water Heater: $550
• 3/4 in. FIP x 3/4 in. MIP x 18 in. Stainless Steel Water Heater Supply Line: $14