petermcmillan.com

2019 AutoX Goals

Submitted by peterm95018 on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 12:15

I retired after 30 years of service with UC Santa Cruz this past January.

One goal I have this year is to get better at autocross. So, I've taken a few actions that I hope will lay a better foundation. Specifically, I've:

SCCA AutoX 2 022419 @ Marina

Submitted by peterm95018 on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 11:42

When evaluating driving videos ask yourself where are you at the edge of grip if you were then you're driving the car to hits mountains and if you weren't having a different car wouldn't make any difference

Also nike shoes worked great as driving shoes. Looks like someone took some photos and posted to Flickr. I'm on page 2.

Driving Notes

SCCA AutoX 1 020919 @ Marina

Submitted by peterm95018 on Thu, 02/28/2019 - 11:35

Today was my first SCCA event. I joined up last year, but didn't participate. New goal in post-retirement is to participate in as much AutoX as I can and get better.

PSM off on all runs.

Run 1 - ok. No major error PSM off 36/38. Need to be more aggressive and look farther ahead. 48.669

AutoX 102818 Notes

Submitted by peterm on Sat, 11/03/2018 - 14:42

Marina 102818

4 runs AM

5 runs PM. Camera missed run 4 in the afternoon.

AM Runs - Notes

55.527 PSM Off. Ran course @2 to the left. Tires at 36/38. Did ok but lots of places to gain speed. Pretty good between 3-4. More gas @2 into slalom. More gas into 4 before hairpin.

54.695 PSM Off. Ran course @2 to the left. Was more intense but sloppier. Be cleaner into 4 and 6. Focus on braking at 6. Lost .5 second at finish

AutoX 080418 Videos

Submitted by peterm on Mon, 08/20/2018 - 11:42

Here are some notes on driving at the last AutoX.

Here are the other runs from that day:

Migrating CSV Data - Drupal 8.5.3

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 06/27/2018 - 15:26

Building Address Project

Given a CSV file and a matching content type, here's how we get the data migrated into Drupal.

The following modules will be required:

Migrate, Migrate Plus, Migrate Source CSV, Migrate Tools, Migrate Drupal UI

Note that in this example we will import latitude, longitude into a geofield.

I had some drush migrate-import errors and needed to work with composer to get he latest dev version installed for Migrate Tools.

Creating a Jumbotron in Bootstrap3 in Drupal 8.5.x

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 06/06/2018 - 13:44

There are at least two methods to get this done. Here's the method I used and below is the outline of a method I found in the book Mastering Drupal 8.

How to Align Table Data in Bootstrap 3 in Drupal 8.5.x

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 06/06/2018 - 13:39

I wanted to create a Drupal 8 view and in one column use Custom Text to output a Bootstrap button. After much wrangling, this is what I came up with.

AutoX Driving Notes - 052618

Submitted by peterm on Sun, 05/27/2018 - 16:36

Very cold and windy all day at Marina

What Worked

Drove with PSM off on all runs
Found a sweet spot for tires at 40/42
Pretty good course read; didn't get lost
Better starts overall
Dropped times both morning and afternoon
Used the width of the course
Slalom was pretty good with concious "turn early"
Down jacket and ski hat

What Didn't Work

Drupal 8 - Importing CSV Data with Feeds

Submitted by peterm on Tue, 05/22/2018 - 11:58

For the project, http://building-addresses.ucsc.edu, I decided to combine a few training opportunities for myself into an easier to support system. As I prepare to retire, I'm going back to production systems and getting them off AngularJS/MongoDB and into Drupal which will make for easier maintenance and longer life span.

The Greenhouse

Submitted by peterm on Mon, 05/07/2018 - 10:15

At some point in our home remodeling project, we were about to lose our concrete guy due to weather. It was a El Nino year, so of course we were grading and pouring during the winter!

So we got a thought. Instead of losing our concrete guys, maybe we should expand our scope. So we had them grade what was already a pretty flat and unused section of side yard and pour a 20x20 pad. We figured at some point we'd install a greenhouse.

Creating Slideshow and Carousel in Views

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 05/02/2018 - 10:59

As I get into more photography, I started thining about how to get some shots up on this site. Years ago I had followed a tutorial to do simple Flexslider slide shows.

This time, I wanted to have a thumbnail navigation as well. I found a great series of videos on YouTube on Drupal and Flexslider. I took his basic approach of using a block for the slideshow and a block for the carousel thumbnail and modified it to use a views attachment. This article serves as my notes to self.

AutoX Driving Notes - 042118

Submitted by peterm on Tue, 05/01/2018 - 17:03

What Worked

In reviewing a few of the runs from video:

technique was better; turning earlier, braking hard like I mean it
only a couple of hiccups with over or understeer
slalom seemed pretty good

LPR PCA AutoX 042118 Slideshow

Submitted by peterm on Sun, 04/29/2018 - 09:27

I got some shots while on grid at the LPR PCA AutoX #2 April 21, 2018. Here's a slide show.

The Starting Line Autocross Class

Submitted by peterm on Tue, 03/20/2018 - 17:16

The Starting Line is a class held by the Sports Car Club of America (https://www.scca.com). After taking the Evolution School class back in October, I had been quite impressed with the level of instruction from the SCCA instructors. SCCA had a deal for $325 that included a year of membership and discounts on events. So I joined up.

Water Harvesting

Submitted by peterm on Thu, 03/08/2018 - 07:27

As part of the exterior remodeling, we added 2 tanks to the house to capture water for yard use. We get our water from the stockholders membership, but we’re on wells that can run low during drought.

Our approach was to drop in a flat 2000 gal tank under the deck as the primary source. We fill this tank with the downspouts from about 1/4 of our roof. It only takes 1-2 rains to fill this tank up.

200 Gallon Tank