Davis Vantage Vue Weather Station

I've wanted a weather station for quite some time.  Things have conspired against me to do it though until I worked through a few issues to make it happen.
My old house sat low in a holler and was surrounded by many large trees making it generally unsuitable to weather monitoring. Leaves and twigs plug everything, so even a rain gauge was sometimes an issue.
The house I live in now is in a very rural area, but open and much higher in elevation.  I didn't really want a weather station if it couldn't be online and my internet choices are somewhat limited.  There is no cable or DSL where I live which limits the availability of an always-on internet connection.  My internet connection for the last couple years has been cellular.  There is a data cap, but the reception is good enough I can get a reliable 4g (HSPA+) connection.  4GLTE is nearby; hopefully it will expand a few hundred yards more some day as the LTE speeds are pretty impressive.  I won't hold my breath.

In order to make cellular work for my overall needs, it has to be reliable and work with a couple devices at the same time.  So, I retired my air card and bought a used AT&T Elevate from an Amazon Partner.  I could have reupped my AT&T service and got one "for free" but used Elevates are readily available for very reasonable prices.

I had to play around with the settings to get an always on connection, but that was pretty easy to figure out.  One benefit to getting a MIFI over the smaller air card was I can put it in a spot in the house where the connection is better, giving even better speeds than I previously had.

With a stable internet connection, I needed a computer to hook my weather station to.  I have an old desktop which works and is reliable, but it is very large and I wanted the weather station to be placed in the kitchen so a large computer wouldn't do.  I poked around and found the Asus EeeBox.  These are remarkably small computers, about the size of two DVD packages stacked on top of each other.  I didn't want to pay full retail but was able to buy one of these from and Ebay Auction for around $60.  That was a steal!  It came in great shape.  While not a supercomputing powerhouse, the demands for a local stable internet connection for a weather station don't require a lot of processing power.
Originally I was looking for a very small monitor to go with it.  The plan was to hide the computer above the kitchen cabinets and then have a small monitor on the wall.  The EeeBox came with a bracket to mount it to a monitor which seemed like a better idea.  I had to drill new mounting holes in the bracket to clear the power cord on a smaller 18" HP monitor, but once that was done the entire computer with wireless keyboard and mouse combo make a perfectly small kitchen computer.  Yeah, the cords are ugly.

OK, big deal, now there is a computer in the kitchen.  I thought this was about a weather station?

I've researched weather station options for quite some time and there are lots to choose from.  I'm actually surprised there were no WIFI weather stations available.  There are options to have a very small (even smaller than the EeeBox) dedicated Linux weather server, but that seemed to limiting.
After looking at all the available weather stations, I chose the Davis Vantage Vue.  This seemed like a very good compromise on price, features and reliability.  Some of the cheaper stations have lots of negative reviews and questionable reliability.  These do sit outside all year round, exposed to heat, freezing weather, rain, etc.  There are definitely more functional units available, but this is a hobby.  I'm not trying to become a meteorologist.  I'm just a local weather nut who would like to be able to monitor weather in my back yard (even if I'm across the country).
Davis had more expensive units that I considered, but I liked the compact sensor "suite" which allowed simple mounting.  If someone is going to purchase a Davis unit, shop around.  Prices are all over the place.  I was able to buy both the Davis Vantage Vue and the WeatherLink software with data logger for nearly the same price as some of the cheaper units available.  I'm confident this was the right choice for me.

The Vantage Vue comes neatly packaged in a box with some assembly required, but it is super easy with very good instructions.  Obviously, the sensors need to be mounted outside.  I had read reviews saying the "tipping bucket" rain gauges can be negatively affected by a wobbly mount so I was paranoid about making sure I had a good solid post to mount the unit on.
After looking at options, what I ended up doing was using one of the corner posts of my chain link fence.  I bought a top rail section of fencing and put it inside the corner post.  In the area between the inner and outer post, I poured a slightly thinned slurry of concrete.  This post is SOLID - almost frighteningly so.

In order to cap the posts and make it less unattractive, I used a whole saw and hand cut the top post cap of the chain link fence and sanded it to precisely fit the top rail post.  I think this makes a very nice look. Once the weather warms, I'll probably put a think bead of silicone to prevent water intrusion and corrosion even thought it is galvanized.

I let the cement harden overnight before assembling and mounting the Vantage Vue ISS.  I'm very happy with the outside mounting of the overall unit!

With the sensors ready to go, I turned back inside to the console and computer.
The Davis console connected instantly with the outside unit.  Davis says it will receive at 1000 feet.  The sensors are only about 65 feet from the house so the connection is great.  Within a short time everything was working and I was monitoring the weather.  The Davis manuals are acceptable, they do a good job of installation, playing around with the features of the console was almost easier by trial and error once I understood the basic flow of the unit.

In order to connect the Vantage Vue Console to a computer, you must buy their WeatherLink software which comes with a data logger.  The data logger can hold months (or more) worth of data and has a USB-out to connect to the computer.  I think the data logger is the purchase, the software just happens to come with it.

The Asus EeeBox does not have an optical drive, so I copied the entire CD on another computer to a USB memory stick.  I installed the Davis WeatherLink software from the memory stick and then plugged the console into the computer (the manual says to do it in this order).  Within a few minutes, I was monitoring the weather on my computer.
I've read a lot of negative reviews of WeatherLink.  After using WeatherLink and a couple other options (as well as looking at a few more), I think I'm sticking with WeatherLink.  I don't think the software is too bad, but the documentation is poor.  Cumulus has some nice features, but I didn't really see any advantage once I played around with those two options.  WeatherLink also has some nice features that I didn't know about until I clicked around a lot and found some hints online.  I will say, I think Davis' hardware is more advanced than their software and associated documentation.
Once the decision was made to use WeatherLink, I wall-mounted the console and tucked everything out of the way.  I still need to do something with the birds nest of cords behind the computer/monitor, but I may get a UPS first (a day after I started posting weather data, we had a power outage).  Even without power, the console has battery back-up (C-batteries, haven't bought those in years) so data is collected.

 After getting the sensor set up and mounted; the console up and talking with the sensor, and the console talking with the computer, it was time to get online.
I registered my station with Weather Underground.  Weather Underground makes a "module" to directly send data from the WeatherLink software to Weather Underground.  The instructions to do this are on Weather Underground's web site and it is very straight forward.  Within a short amount of time I could see my data online.
Then I saw I could also include a weather webcam - yep, I gotta do that too!  I have a window only a few feet from the weather computer.  I had a cheap webcam I had never used that I bought for around $5.  I hooked it up and it connected to the EeeBox quickly.  Weather Underground has instructions for webcams which is also really easy.
There are several options for WebCam software.  I chose YAWCam as it did everything I wanted it to do including saving images locally on a different schedule that what is posted to online, and setting a schedule where the software is not constantly sending black night-time images.
I did find that I had to "reconnect" the webcam to the station several times on Weather Underground's web site before the two seemed tied together permanently.  Within a few hours, I was able to see my weather station history and webcam online.  Too cool!

Unfortunately, a $5 webcam takes two-bit pictures and I was taking weather webcam shots through a window and screen, further deteriorating the images.  The results were less than satisfactory.  Additionally the webcam seemed to set the light exposure when it was plugged in and then never adjusted again resulting in over and under exposure most of the time.

Looking at other weather webcams online, I knew that I could do better even through a screen.  I went to a local very good computer store and perused the options.  On the bottom of the rack was a Microsoft LifeCam HD-5000 that someone had returned, for a very big discount.  It only came with 30-day guarantee.   I figured since it was going to be on almost continuously, if it didn't work, I would know very quickly.
Picture quality isn't perfect, but probably about as good as I can get looking through a window and screen.

It took a few days before my station was seen as an option in Weather Underground.  I can now see my station online and on my Android phone using the Weather Underground website.  There are also other phone apps to see Weather Underground station data.

I also wanted to connect with the Citizens Weather Observation Program or CWOP.  This is a program which takes local weather station data and sends to NOAA for use in very short term models as well as refining local weather patterns.
This was less straight forward than Weather Underground, but instructions to do this from WeatherLink are available online.  The CWOP program started out as a way to send data using HAM radio.  Since its birth was pre-internet, the path from computer to NOAA is hopelessly complicated.  The data also goes through a quality check at some bounce in the process.  I've read many adequate pages on the CWOP and understand the basics, but not much beyond that.  This is an interface between private weather enthusiasts and the federal government.  There is evidence of bureaucracy and understanding the acronyms is not trivial:  CWOP MADIS, WXQA, findu.com, APRS...  I'm just happy the instructions to send data to the system are relatively easy.  I wish there was a single web page that explained the system in total in plain English.  There are some decent Wiki's on the subject but the text still looks like it came out of Dilbert's Jargonator.  The public-private partnership is also plagued with servers no longer in operation and links, images and pages that no longer exist.
At some point in the near future, I'll dive into this more to understand it better. For now, I know my data is going to NOAA and that the visual tools available to see my data from the program are very useful, especially in monitoring quality vs. other local stations.

Davis' info says that to see your weather it just "requires only a permanent Internet connection, a nice place to put your outdoor sensors, and a few hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket."

This whole adventure costed a bit more than I expected (<$650; AT&T Elevate, computer, monitor, weather station with data logger/software, webcam, mounting hardware, etc. etc.), but at this point, the weather station has been up and running for over a week.  I'm sending data online with webcam pics to the world.

Guns: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics But, Data.

There are two things I don't like to write about here:  Work and Politics.  This is an exception.

Guns have been in the news a lot lately.  There is a legislative push to increase background checks and the checks effectiveness, restrict magazine capacity and ban "assault" rifles.  Lets look at the assault weapons ban.  Diane Feinstein's legislation defines an assault rifle as a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine which also one of the following characteristics:  pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel.
As an aside, depending on how "detachable stock" "barrel shroud" or "pistol grip" are defined, this could ban all magazine fed rifles, now or in the future.  There are some disclaimers (the bill is 132 pages and I've read all of it), but interpretations can be just that.
Before our Dear Leaders do this, lets look at the numbers to make data driven decisions.

Disclaimer:  This is a blog, not a scholarly article so it is not footnoted as to source data.  However, data comes form credible non-partisan sources such as the CDC, WHO and FBI.  None of the data comes from sites such as i_hate_guns.com or ar15s_rock.com.
One source for much of the raw data was U.S. Department of Health & Human Services report Deaths:  Preliminary Data for 2011.

In 2011 there were approximately 2.5 million deaths in the US.  16k of those were homicides for a per 100,000 homicide rate of about 5.  This puts us in the same camp as countries such as Ukraine and significantly below the EU average of around 3.0.  We can be a mean bunch of people.  Murder (as opposed to all homicides) put the US in a similar neighborhood although the numbers get murkier due to varying definitions and reporting of murder.
The US gun ownership rate is 0.9 guns per person.  This is beyond the top of the list.  Three times Canada and the EU, and even more above the global average of about 0.25 guns per person.  We own a lot of guns.

In 2011 there were a little over 30,000 deaths by firearms in the US.  What surprised me when I looked into the numbers was that approximately 20,000 of these were suicides.  Guns are a particularly good tool for suicide, but the fix for that is elsewhere as there is an unlimited number of effective ways to take ones own life.  Surprisingly, the US suicide rate is middle of the pack (15 per 100,000) much below France's 30 and above UK's 10.  Overall, the data don't support that more guns automatically means more suicide.
That leaves about 10,000 homicides by firearm in the US.  Slightly less than half of those are criminals shooting criminals or deaths while people are involved in criminal activities.  I think the take away from that is that if someone keeps there nose clean and doesn't enjoy the excitement of the criminal lifestyle, then death by firearm rate is closer to 1.7 per 100,000 or roughly 5000 in the US.
Comparing the 5000 deaths in the US per year to other deaths (from the same source):
Falls:  25,000
Drowning:  4,000
Car Crashes:  40,000
Alcohol Induced Deaths:  25,000 (acute)
Drug Deaths:  40,000
Alcoholic Liver Disease:  16,000
Poisoning:  33,000

These data show that if a person is not involved in criminal activity, he or she should be nearly as afraid of drowning as guns.  And much more afraid of being poisoned.  Car crashes are nearly an order of magnitude above guns as a cause of death.
There are various statistics around the likelihood of gun deaths based on gun ownership (gun ownership increases the likelihood).  I believe these - absolutely.  I also suspect drownings increase with pool ownership and heroin consumption increases the chance of drug deaths.

Expanding on the homicide rate for 2011 according to the FBI:
Handgun:  67%
Rifles:  2.5%
Shotgun:  4.1%
Knives:  13%
Blunt Force:  4%
Hands/Feet/etc:  6% (I'm curious what the FBI classifies as "etc." here)
Strangling:  1.4%
So rifles are somewhere between blunt force murder and strangling.  If the government wanted to reduce murders, knives would be a better choice to go after than rifles.
I could not find any statistics that met my criteria for coming from an objective source so let's assume that every single rifle murder was done with an AR-15.  If Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer are successful in banning the AR15, the most this would affect the murder rate in the US is 2.5%.
What is the conclusion from this?  The decision to go after assault weapons is done out of fear or misunderstanding of them.  This is not a decision based on data.  This is bad public policy.  Banning assault rifles is being done out of emotion, and public policy and legislation should be done based on data and facts, not emotion.

Samuel Clemens said there are three kinds of lies:  lies, damned lies and statistics.  I agree.  But what the data says is the following:
Unless involved in criminal activity or determined to off yourself, you are significantly more likely to die in a car crash or be poisoned than be killed by a person with a gun.  This is nearly the same chance as drowning.
If we ban assault weapons and take them all away, the murder rate at most would drop 2.5%.

Disclaimer:  I'm not going to divert from data to speculation.
Let's assume Carolyn McCarthy succeeds in banning assault rifles.  This is followed by a 2% drop in murder rate and a 3.5% drop in firearm murder rate (this would be unlikely since murders previous being done by rifle would likely be done by other means, including other firearms).  Do you think Carolyn McCarthy will be satisfied?  Do you think that meets Diane Feinstein's goal?  If you do, you are delusional.  After a negligible drop in the violence rate, the next target will be some other firearm, then another, then another.  It is unavoidable because these decisions are based on emotion, not data.  Legislation should be based on what is real, not what is assumed or felt.
Part of the reason we have such a problem with violence in the world and in the US is due to emotion.  Murder does not happen out of ambivalence.  Unfortunately, emotional legislation will never help the problem.

Further Disclaimer:  I don't have data to back the following up.  I'm still thinking about what data is needed to further understand this.
So what will help?  I'm just a guy writing a blog and nobody really cares what a fat ugly middle-age guy thinks.  I wonder what would happen with an increase in scrutiny over gun sales.  I'm always a little disturbed when I see a sign at a gun show that says:  Private Sale!  No Check Required!  The National Instant Check System appears to have worked well.  I wonder what it would really take to expand this to most firearm sales?  This is not as trivial as the news makes it out to be and the cost could be phenomenal.  Having an FFL is a privilege  not a right.  As part of that privilege, doing checks for other sales at a nominal fee ($20????) could be required.  I'd bet people might pay the $60/year just to get an FFL and facilitate these sales (cost drops to $30/year after three years).

Back to data...
Regardless of what happens, the current legislative push is not data driven and will do little to nothing to make us safe.  Legislating against the madman with a gun is like legislating against the drunk driver who is also naked, having sex, sitting in the passenger seat, going 97 miles per hour in a 35MPH zone while texting about the whole thing.  Creating laws to guarantee a stop to this is not possible without affecting every other careful law abiding driver, likely making driving impossible.  Maybe that is the intent.

Ammunition for an Unsuccessful Elk Draw

Formal Results
License Type:  NONRESIDENT COW/CALF ELK
Results:  Unsuccessful

Informal Results
Ammunition Availability:  Very Limited

I'm planning to go west this year for Antelope hunting and wanted to add a cow elk to the mix.  It didn't add much (relative) to the cost, but added time to the hunt which is nice since most antelope hunts are not terribly long.  It will take a solid two days to get to Wyoming for a three day hunt which implies more time driving than hunting.  The journey is part of the adventure, but it is a small additional investment in money with a return in quality time with the addition of the cow elk tag.

Since most of my hunting is East I don't shoot beyond 100 yards very often.  I've shot a couple deer and wild boar at a greater distance than that, but not by much.  I have an excuse to spend some quality time at the range to get ready for the greater distances that can be encountered out west.

However, ammunition availability is dreadful right now.  Politics and paranoia aside, when influential politicians started talking about significant gun control, less influential politicians (and some influential individuals) also talked about removing ammunition availability, using price (tax) as a proxy.
In addition to firearms, ammunition began flying off the shelves.  Some of this is paranoia.  Some might not be.  Everything is up in the air.  Since I shoot primarily my own handloads, I thought I was largely immune to the mayhem, but this is not the case.  Just about everything-gun related is in short supply.  I almost always have over a hundred rounds ready to go for every caliber I own and components for many more.  With what I feel I should do prior to heading west, I am still a little concerned.

I've recently tallied up what I have for the two rifles I may take to hunt antelope and possibly elk and I guess I have a minimum needed.  I have a few hundred rifle rounds and about twice that many in components.  If I could just locate one more pound of the correct smokeless powder, I'm sure I'll be all set.
Ammunition availability does seem to be starting to return, albeit slowly.  A local store had a good supply of bulk .45 ACP ammo.  Higher priced "hunting" rifle ammunition is still available.  Since my shooting is currently hunting focused, the increased cost of this option is only slightly objectionable.  It will allow saving handloads for hunting.
What is frustrating is the suggestion that gun violence is going to be controlled by taxing ammo out of existence is ludicrous.  This is an option that will only affect the hunter and avid target shooter.  A lunatic doesn't need much ammo and probably doesn't care what it costs.  Suicide is an expenditure that is immaterial of cost.

The 2013 Wyoming Elk draw was this past week.  My draw was unsuccessful.  According to my outfitter, there is still a good chance at a leftover tag later this summer.  I can't count on that.  Hopefully I do draw an antelope tag, but I guess I shouldn't count on that either.

Regardless of what happens, I'll enjoy spending some time at the range.
President Obama has stated he respects hunting and its traditions.  Coupled with a widely publicized photo of him shooting an over/under shotgun.  Unfortunately, it doesn't pass the smell test that a man who never shot a gun prior to becoming president has suddenly found enjoyment out of skeet shooting.  The White House photographer might as well have used a green screen to achieve the same result without subjecting the President to the horrors of an inanimate object he objects to so much.

I'm a little disappointed I didn't draw the elk tag as I thought they were pretty easy to obtain.  I can't blame politics for not drawing it though..
Political pragmatism forces all but the most rabidly anti-gun politician claim their gun control schemes will not affect hunters.  Unfortunately, it already is.

Unintended Accelerated Consequences

Toyota is in the news this week.  It was reported by many sources that the car company has agreed to pay $29million to several states over the unintended acceleration issue.

In a previous post, I wrote a review of my 2009 Toyota Tacoma.  After rereading that review it could be perceived that I don't like the vehicle.  I do.  At the time it was the best option for me.  There are likely better options now, but revisiting that 5 years later isn't realistic.
The tone of that post is pretty realistic though.  I don't feel the need to cut a major vehicle maker any slack.
I do think Toyota is getting a horrid deal here due to overly dramatic sensationalism surround "sudden acceleration."

Many cars now are drive-by-wire.  As anyone who has ever used a computer, owned a smart phone knows silicon can do unexpected things especially when coupled with frustrating software (or firmware).  Say "Abort, Retry, Ignore" to anybody but a child and watch shudders of frustration relived with those three options.

Major car companies are under intense scrutiny in the areas of safety.  There is no doubt that Toyota has put many fail-safes in their systems.  There is no doubt they have tested these systems under every imaginable scenario except one...the idiot.  It is impossible to make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious!
What I find frightening about vehicle safety is what the general public and regulatory bodies expect of the inanimate object.  There is a push right now to possibly ban assault rifles, certain magazines, or otherwise affect lawful gun owning.  Yet, based on numbers alone, we are over 4-times more likely to die in a car accident than be shot (not counting suicides, which I won't here).  If living a life devoid of the excitement of significant crime or substance abuse, it is about 10 times more likely one will be killed in a car.  But vehicle safety is a joke.  Forget that routine traffic norms are ignored, vehicle manufacturers are making vehicles that help people park; we are encouraging people who do not have the skill to put a 2 ton vehicle in a defined area at slow speed to drive at any speed desired.

Driving tests should be done in a car from the early 60s.  Think manual transmission, no power brakes, no power steering. If you can't safely drive and maneuver that vehicle, no license.  This is similar to having a 4wd truck.  Drive in 2wd, and the 4wd is there to get you out of trouble.
Look around the next time at the state Department of Motor Vehicles.  These are the people we share the road with.

There were two cases of Toyota Sudden Acceleration that stick out in my mind.
The first was a housekeeper who crashed her bosses car.  The press paraded this example of Toyota's failure until it was clearly revealed that she had floored the accelerator and the brake was never touched.  Operator Error.

The second was James Sikes issues in California.  He claims his Prius screamed down the interstate outside of his control.  Google James Sikes and see what your top choices are.  You don't even have to go to the conspiracy sites for this one.  What is most unexpected about this story was that he was able to get his Prius up to 94MPH.  I wasn't able to find how that situation was eventually resolved, but I didn't care enough to look too hard.

Unintended acceleration?  Hit the brakes.  Even a Roush Racing 540HP Mustang can be overcome by the brakes.  To much of an idiot for that?  Neutral, or off.  Then park, forever.

Toyota doesn't get off free with this.  Once these questions came up, some damaging info was eventually revealed. As is often the case, it wasn't the {crime} it was the cover-up.  Maybe some day we'll all learn that lesson.  Until then, Toyota is $29million less rich.  The states get a few bucks and the lawyers are happy.

I'd rather see the press be $29million poorer on this one.  Want to feel even better about how the press reports on cars?  I have no opinion on Tesla, but this is pretty funny.  Maybe there is a place for Jayson Blair back at The New York Times afterall.

I had an extra day off recently and finally (after almost four years) got my Toyota recall done for the accelerator/floor mat on my Tacoma.  After a subsequent trip to the DMV, I just don't feel any safer.  Maybe I'll see if I can find a good used early 80s Audi.

Literary Masturbation

"No, I'm just kidding.  Marriage isn't really that bad.  It must be nice when you can lay together...side by side...in the dead of the night...in separate coffins." - Author Unknown

I cleaned out my wallet a short time ago.  I don't keep much outside of the essentials in it, but tucked inside a folded dollar bill (without serial numbers, but that is another story) was the following scrap of paper:

This was a snippet of text from my college newspaper that I must have been carrying around for the last 20 years.  I remember cutting this out, but don't remember much else about the article it came from.  When I was in college, the internet was still in diapers and I'm pretty sure the college newspaper was only printed in hard copy.  Distributed around campus, it was always interesting to see what was printed and the group of us read it pretty religiously.
Likely, the rest of the article is forever lost to the ether.  I did a few searches online with increasing specificity without any luck.  Hopefully the author might clairvoyantly feel a little pride that I've carried this around and found it, but it is possible, even likely that he or she doesn't even remember writing and publishing this.  The author could possibly be happily married.

My views on the subject of the snippet may or may not have changed over the years, but that is not the intent.  I expect that much like that article, most of what is written is read and forgotten or never read, much like this blog.
Most writing is some form of literary masturbation.  Done by the author and for the author.  Even if read, is likely mentally and physically discarded.
I will occasionally browse blogs.  There are a lot of talented people out there with something to say.  There are also a lot of apparently abandoned blogs out there.  The Library of Congress recently took everything in Twitter and archived it, possibly in perpetuity.  That is a lot of chaff to hold the wheat.  There are a lot of people out there who say something because they can.

"Just when you think you've graduated from the school of experience, someone thinks up a new course." -Mary Waldrip

There was an article posted recently summarizing some research that basically said we think history ends now.  That we've reached a point where we realize we've changed in the past, but will not change in the future.  This is borderline terrifying and probably a good reason to never write anything down, or save anything.

“I gave up writing when I was ten, too dangerous.” “Only if someone reads what you write and so far we haven’t had that problem.” Bill/Hank from the movie Naked Lunch

Maybe some day someone will be searching for a specific article in their college newspaper and now that text will be found by an increasingly specific internet search.
Unfortunately, all that will be found will be the wrong literary masturbation.

Toyota Tacoma Oil Change

Every vehicle with an internal combustion engine needs to occasionally have the oil changed.  I think I probably change the oil a bit more often than is needed, but it is relatively cheap insurance (although I realize it wastes resources in this time of "modern" sensibility).  I almost always change the oil myself.  I've gotten "free" oil changes at the dealership a couple times, but they still want to charge for rotating the tires, or other things which should be done.  Nothing is ever free.  The dealership also likes to try to sell other services at the same time, then berates me when I tell them I do not want my transmission oil changed (since I did it myself not that long ago).
I also like changing oil myself since it gives me an opportunity to continually scan the vehicle for other problems (rust, cables or hoses chafing, fasteners coming loose, etc.).  I had one boss who said all cars only need one oil change a year regardless of miles, but he was really an idiot.  I change on a mileage interval only, without respect to time since I drive quite a bit.  I won't list that mileage, but suffice to say that the old adage of changing oil every 3000 miles on newer cars is bunk.  You may notice an older MGB in a few of these pictures.  This (older) vehicle still gets oil changes on the 3000 mile schedule.  The MGB does burn/leak oil at a non-trivial rate so it is in a constant state of refill with new oil; this is not a replacement for appropriately spaced oil changes.
All cars come with a manual.  Read it.  If you bought a car used and it doesn't have one.  You can usually download one for free.  Read it.  It gives maintenance items not always obvious and other possible guidance.  Read it.

The first step of an oil change is to jack the vehicle up.  In some cases, it is possible to change the oil without this step, but other maintenance items require it and it does make it easier to not be crowded under the vehicle.  Jacks are for LIFTING! Jackstands are for HOLDING!  Lift the car with your jack.  Then secure the vehicle with jackstands.  Treat the jack as an unreliable coworker.  Once on jackstands, test the security of the vehicle by gently nudging it.  Never get under an improperly supported vehicle.

With the vehicle secured on jackstands, remove the oil drain plug.  Ideally the vehicle will be slightly warm to allow the oil to drain quickly, but not so hot that it is hard to work on.  On the Tacoma, the oil drain plug is 14mm.  All drain plugs have a seal of some kind, be it an o-ring, a fiber, plastic or crushable washer, or specialty drain plug.  Inspect the seal and replace as needed.  If sealed with a crushable washer then always replace.

While the oil is draining, there may be other needed maintenance items to attend to.  Many newer cars have no grease points, but the Tacoma has grease zerks on both the front and rear drive shafts.  I find it odd that Toyota chose to go this route, but these duly get greased.  Clean around the zerks and grease with a grease gun using a minimum of grease; it should not be oozing out all over the place.  The Tacoma manual also calls for the "propeller shaft" to be tightened.  I check the bolts each time I change the oil.

During the oil change is also a good time to rotate the tires.  Along with maintaining pressure, rotating tires is a great way to ensure maximum tire life.  Rotate the tires and check tire pressure.  I violate the Tacoma manual in one respect in that I like the tire pressure slightly higher than one is stated in the 2009 manual.  I recently (finally) had some recall work on my truck and the dealer decreased the pressure down to below the lower limit, and told me my tires are dangerously worn.  They are far from dangerous and in fact are near the upper limit stated by most tire companies for minimum depth and significantly above the legal minimum.  The dealer happen to be having a great sale on tires!  Since the dealer lowered the pressure so much, the TPMS light "happen" to come on a few days later during an extreme cold snap.  Effin' Dealer...
When installing tires, always use some method to achieve proper and consistent torque.  This is best done with a torque wrench, but I typically use a torque extension on an impact air gun.  These flex at a specified torque allowing tires to be put on quickly, but consistently.  I used to not believe this, but now admit I was wrong:  Inconsistent torque on wheels results in warped rotors.  Torque the wheels in some appropriate fashion.  No, you can not estimate good enough with a ratchet, breaker bar or tire iron.

The Tacoma manual specifically states to rotate tires front to back only (not crossing one set to reverse rotation direction).  I believe this has something to do with the tire pressure monitoring system, but am not really sure.  I don't really like doing it this way, but follow the manual's recommendation.

Remove the oil filter.  I had one vehicle which said the oil filter only needed to be changed every other oil change.  This is another example of cheap insurance.  I always change the oil filter with a decent quality filter.  As I've owned many vehicles and worked on countless others, some have had nearly impossible to reach oil filters.  As such, I have a large supply of every filter wrench imaginable.  I've found the larger "spider" type oil wrenches to be the best as far as universally applicable.  The pictured oil filter works well on just about all vehicles I've tried to use it on with appropriate extension and/or other ratchet unions.

Clean around the oil filter housing if applicable with a rag if needed.  Lubricate the oil filter seal with a thin film of oil and install it.  The oil filter should only need to be somewhere between tight and snug.  It does not need to be thread stripping tight.  Make sure it isn't cross-threaded, the oil filter should spin freely for a few rotations before the seal hits the sealing surface.

During an oil change is also a good time to be sure all the vehicle lights work.  How often are vehicles seen on the road with a tail light or brake light out?  A lot.  Newer headlights are usually bright enough that one can be enough in most cases.  Check all the lights.

Install the oil drain plug and refill the engine with oil.  Do it in that order.  If you change oil often enough, eventually you'll forget and drain out the new oil as it goes in.
Many people hold an unnatural brand loyalty to engine oil.  Some will wax ad nausea about the benefits or absolute horror of conventional oil or synthetic oil.  There is no end to the discussions in automotive message boards about various makers of engine oil - just groan and ignore it.  It is probably best to avoid the very cheapest oil except in a pinch but even the cheaper oils meet API minimum requirements.  Any quality oil of the proper viscosity will do its job.  What is the right viscosity?  Read the manual.  An outdated notion is that vehicles need higher viscosity as the engine ages.  Nope, use an oil in the manual's state viscosity range.

Once refilled with oil, start the vehicle and check for leaks.  Use the jack to raise the vehicle, remove the jackstands and lower the vehicle.  Drive a short distance and clean up any mess from the oil change.

Dispose of the used oil properly.  In most (if not all) locales, disposing of waste oil is covered by law as it is a hazardous waste.  It is a waste product with value and future utility.  Many places will take it for free; even if it costs a nominal fee to dispose properly it should be done.
The vehicle should be good to go for many miles.

Time Lapse: Picture a day for a Year

"The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death."  - Pink Floyd

This project started last year on New Years day.  I had to overnight an Amazon order to get the camera in time, but it seemed important at the time to begin on the first day of the year.  My plan (now completed) was to put up a time lapse camera on the back of the house and take a picture every day.  These then stitched together into a movie would create a real but dead memory of 2012.  What I pictured in my mind was more dramatic than the real thing.  I saw snows coming and going all winter, but the winter of 2012 was the winter that wasn't.  I saw grass growing, wheat growing, trees growing leaves.  All these things happened but slowly and more remote.  I saw animals in the yard, cows moving in the background and these also happened.
But, what the movie actually shows is very little because very little happens.  This is a metaphor for what a year usually is.  Every once in a while, a big year will occur in our lives where something momentous happens - either good or bad.  These things will happen though within the frame of everyday normal life. Grass grows.  Animals move.  Crops are harvested.  Snow happens.  If something important happened, it would have only been important to the camera if it happened within the approximately square mile within the lense.

This is probably a good thing.  The cows moving in the frame shows an occasional stop-motion view that looks like their movement is actually captured near real time.  It isn't of course.  The cows stoically stand in the rain, oblivious to their impending doom on the bun.

So how was this done?  I set up a Wingscapes TimeLapseCam on a 4x4 post attached to the deck on the back of the house.  The apparent "movement" of the earth during the first six months is actually the 4x4 warping as it dried.  The camera housing is listed as weatherproof, but I mounted it so it was under the eaves of the house, offering further protection.  On a relatively frequent basis, I recovered the pictures from the camera and stored them on my computer as a redundant copy.

The camera comes with software (TimelapseCam Director) to stitch the individual images together into a movie.  However, I found more flexibility with Microsoft MovieMaker.  The .wmv file format is a little bulkier than .mp4 format, but is near universally readable thanks to Microsoft's dominance (at least for now).
When I initially set up the camera, I didn't fully understand the settings so an initial few pictures were taken at night.  I did not include these in the finished project.

Personally I have really enjoyed this project.  The fact that nothing happens on camera is why I love my quiet little plot on this planet.  The sophomoric creativity was at least seen to completion.  One entire year of a picture a day.  How many of our adult projects of this level of triviality are never seen to fruition?

I'm actually going to continue this on.  Since I've been playing with other time lapse projects, I've bought a less expensive Moultrie Time Lapse Cam.  It looks nearly identical to the Wingscapes, but does not come with an adjustable objective lense.  The firmware seems cruder as well.  I'm also going to change the time program to take three pictures a day.  I'm not sure how I'll use the 3/day, but possibly this will be another showing of the seasons, as the sun moves north and south, appearing higher and lower in the sky late in the day.

2012 is over.  Outside of the next couple days, I have absolutely no idea what 2013 holds.  If it happens within the square mile behind the house, I may catch it on camera.