Just 2 Percent

Root Cause Analysis - An Example

[WARNING: THIS IS MY LONGWINDED ATTEMPT AT EXPLAINING SOMETHING THAT HAD PLAGUED ME WITH FRUSTRATION FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS]

This year, instead of celebrating Labor Day in observance, Michelle and I participated by doing an insane amount of physical labor. On Friday, we took Gabe up to Big Bear to help clean-up the yard at the cabin.  At first glance, it didn't look like the job was going to be too hard. However, after approx. 15 trips to the dump and what had to be atleast on 1 1/2 to 2 dumpsters full of pine needles, we got the yard into decent shape. One more weekend trip before snowfall should do the trick.

We came home Sunday afternoon and after a quick nap I decided to mow the backyard lawn in preparation for a bbq the next day. Now, ever since we've lived in this house, I've had a problem with the backyard sprinklers. There has always been a few areas where the sprinklers do not cover and the grass either is dead, or just barely living.  I've tried adjusting the spray heads and or replacing them on atleast three occasions.  Each time resulted in frustration because the new sprinklers performed just as poorly as the ones I replaced.

A while ago we had Verizon come out to install phones, cable, and dsl. In the process, they broke a sprinkler line on the side, front yard. I eventually fixed it, however I did not realize that the pipe was broken in two places. A few months later, the other break (what must have been just a hairline crack to begin with) gave way and I had flooding again.  This time, I just capped off the line because I thought it would only effect the three side sprinklers which mostly just get my truck wet. Unfortnately, it also served as the delivery source for the backyard lawn sprinklers. Instead of fixing it, I reburied the line and went to Lowe's to buy a hose sprinkler and promising myself that it was just a temporary fix to get me by until I fix the broken supply line.

Another five months went by and my lawn was suffering. The problem with a hose sprinkler is that you have to remember to go out each day and turn it on. Both Michelle and I started off good, but lately had been neglectful.  After mowing my dying lawn last night, I decided I was going to fix the broken pipe. I succeeded after one unsuccessful attempt and two trips to Lowe's and one trip to Home Depot. However, as I said earlier even before the break, the sprinklers never worked quite right. After testing my repair and seeing that I had considerably low water pressure, I went on a mission to find out the root cause of the problem (while I was supposed to be helping Michelle get ready for the bbq).

At first I checked for any broken sprinklers and big leaks and even removed a very large flax plant in the process (I hate them and I am glad I killed it, would've been sweeter if it were Arbor day). Although I found a leaky sprinkler, fixing it was not going to dramatically increase water pressure. By this time, I had to start getting ready for the bbq and decided to ask my friend Mark for his advice. When he arrived I asked him what would cause low water pressure? We replied with two options, 1) Leaks, broken pipes; and 2) Two many sprinklers on one line.  I thought about number two during several unsuccessful attempts at fixing them in the past. After counting them up, we both decided that 12 sprinklers were too many for one line.

What transpired next is a good example of root cause analysis and the potentially wasteful work that almost came out from it. After a bit of brainstorming, the first viable solution was to put in a separate line and split the 12 sprinklers into two sixes. While this solution was not impossible, it would be very labor intensive and time consuming and I'd have two timers which in turn would add complexity plus increased maintenance to the system.  The second good idea generated was to shutoff as many non-essential sprinklers as we could which would increase the overall water pressure. I identified five sprinklers and we adjusted them so no water would flow. However, after the first test, still no improvement in water pressure.  What we did find was a pool of water forming in one of my planters. One of the five sprinklers we shutoff was buried deep under some bark on the edge of the property line. Through some digging in a very tight place, we uncovered a broken sprinkler head adjacent to the yard drain pipe (a long pipe running from the backyard to the front yard which allows drainage to occur in the event of flooding). Mark had noticed the unusual amount of water coming from the pipe in the front yard in an earlier attempt to identify leaks, but dismissed it as regular runoff since we were running the sprinklers continuously to find the leaks.

In the end, the problem was a broken sprinkler head in a remote area of the property, behind a giant Bird of Paradise and under decorative tree bark. Flooding, which usually is evident with a broken pipe, was masked by the fact that the broken sprinkler was right next to the yard drain so instead of flooding, the water would just drain unnoticed through the drain pipe.  Mark and I found the root cause of the poor performance, capped-off the broken sprinkler, and dramatically increase water pressure. The problem existed before I moved into the house and has continuously frustrated me over the past four years. Now, the sprinklers are working great, and I have good coverage. I am looking forward to bringing my lawn back to new life.

Michelle is addicted to Craigslist

Thanks to our friend Cindy, Michelle is addicted to Craigslist. She goes on it daily to look for used toys for Gabriel. She particularly searches for little tikes stuff. So far, she's bought an activity cube from Escondido, a motorcycle and airplane from Riverside, and three of these cool boxes with bendy wires that Gabe can move blocks and circles of wood around.

We've turned our front room into a playroom so that we can put all of his crap into one place. In order to make room, we've sold/are selling the furniture we had in that room and are using the money made to save up for a larger activity cube with a big slide and a Thomas Train table, tracks and engines/cars.

I've signed up to flickr.com. This is a website you can use to post/share photos. I learned about it from my friend Jamie. In order to allow potential buyers to view what you're selling on Craigslist, you must have your pictures saved to a website. You can get to my flickr site by clicking here.

I will post some pictures of the new playroom and some of the toys that Michelle as bought for Gabe.

The Squat Monster Has Awoken

As I have mentioned before, Saturday is squat day. It all started in early April, not wanting to attend another SIOP conference barely fitting into my suit pants, I started going to LA Fitness. I get a free membership through work and have started/stopped several times over the past two years.

Three months seems to be my survival rate. Over the past five or six years, I've started and stopped probably a dozen times, never reaching my goal weight of around 185 or 190 pounds. Actually, I have not been that weight since probably 1998, when I first started my internship at SoCal Gas. I'm at 234 pounds right now. The lightest I've been in a long time was 218 pounds when I was training to do a century ride in Mammoth with Alan and Dave. Being at that weight and arriving in Mammoth at three in the morning proved to be a bad combination. I only made it about halfway.

I'm in my fourth month now and hopefully at a turning point. I feel much better thanks to making cardio the first priority and weights second. I'm a little  discouraged that I haven't lost any weight yet, however I feel much better. I'm primarily concerned with losing inches in my waist which has grown tremendously over the years. I have five pairs of wool slacks that are my first goal. Right now, I can put them on, but tucking in a tshirt and dress shirt aren't really a good idea. The sad thing, the pants are size 36 inch waist.

Enough talking about weight and waist size and wimpy cardio training talk. As I mentioned last Saturday, I squatted 405 pounds one time, setting a new Dave weightlifing record. Yesterday, I got a late start because Michelle wanted to hit some garage sales in the early morning. I went to the gym after hanging out by the pool which isn't really a good idea. The sun takes a lot out of you.

While we were out, I picked up a new weight belt and some knee wraps after I tried unsuccessfuly to find my old ones. After a half hour on the bike and fifteen minutes hitting the heavy bag (I'm training to be a cage fighter), I went in to do some squats. I didn't feel particualry strong when I started. I warmed up with two sets of 135 (one plate on each side) for 15 reps. I then moved onto 225 (two plates on each side) and did that 15 times. I then put on the knee wraps and new weight belt, something I had to get used to. I'm not used to my big gut in the way and didn't like how the weight belt felt at first. I was surprised that my 12 reps of 315 went by pretty easily and with good form.

I decided I felt good enough to squat 405 again and loaded the plates (four on each side). I love how the bar starts to bend a little at this weight. It really starts to bend at five plates (495) althought I've never used that weight before, but used to see guys all the time at the Spectrum throwing this weight around. I got under the bar and lifted it. At first it seemed heavier than last week on my shoulders, but I decided to go for it. My first rep felt really good, so I decided to do a second. It felt even better so I tried a third. Each rep felt better than the previous. All in all, I did eight reps, a real set.

Afterward, I felt elated. It is hard to explain, but squats "release the evil" in me (a term I stole from Little Nicky). I can only relate it to the Squat Monster. A creature that has remained dormant for a decade or so but is now raging. Don't expect anytime soon a blog stating the 495 pound squat record. My back is not anywhere near strong enough right now to handle that weight. I will have to start incorporating some deadlift into my back and shoulder routine. In three months time, it might be possible. More importantly, I am really hoping that by September I will fit into my dress pants nicely.

Man Strength (sort of)

When I was 13, my grandmother bought me one of the those cement weightsets and a workout bench from BEST. I remember my first feat of strengh vividly. I put all the weight I had (it was a 110 lbs. set) on the bar and benchpressed it.  Feeling proud, I then asked my parents if I could upgrade to a cement weightset so that I could fit more weight on the bar.

In the seventh grade, my next feat of strength was at the Gibbs house in Dave's gym. Mark, Nick, Bruce, and I had a benchpress competition. Bruce was the strongest, he benched 150 lbs. I came in second at 140, and I believe Mark eked third of Nick at 135 or so. It amazes me that I remember this after 20 years have passed.

I started working out semi-seriously sometime during the 8th grade. My workout partner was my new bestfriend Mark. We worked out 3 days a week in Dave's bedroom. A lot of good memories took place during those workouts, the most memorable was doing Donkey Calf Raises to the song Happy Trails by David Lee Roth. I had tried, but did not succeed benchpressing 200 lbs. before I finished the 8th grade. Instead it took me about half the summer and about 5,000 push-ups (having attended a 10-day boot camp at Camp Pendleton, I found myself being constantly disciplined for not making my bed right, or breaking some stupid rule).

After the camp, my parents bought me a gym membership at the Spectrum. The Spectrum was a serious bodybuilding gym next to the Riverside Plaza. These were in the days before 24 Hour and LA Fitness.  A real gym with humongous guys lifting lots of weight.  Within a couple of weeks, I was benchpressing 245 lbs.

Throughout highschool, I continued to workout pretty seriously. Before I graduated, my record benchpress was 315. Not bad, but there was a guy Ernest who could bench 405, so my feat of strength paled in comparison. However, my real strong point were my legs. They've always been strong and as soon as I started working out, I quickly developed a passion for doing squats.

At my best, probably at 17 or 18, during late summer nights with Dave Gibbs, we used to have squat marathons. This is where we'd do an insane amount of sets, something like 15 or 20 going up to 315 and 365 lbs (not real heavy, but we were doing reps of 10 to 12). I had never attempted to go any higher and I'm not sure really why. Since then, I had always wanted to squat 405 (Four 45 pound plates on each side).

For the past 3 1/2 months, I've been going to LA Fitness on a pretty consistent basis.  I've attempted to get in shape over the past 6 years probably six times, once each year and only lasting about 3 months at a time. I no longer have delusions of becoming a professional bodybuilder, I just want to fit into my size 36 dress pants that I haven't worn in about 4 years.  My workout is pretty basic. I ride the bike and walk/run on the treadmill for 35 to 40 minutes and then workout with weights for about 20. Long gone are the days where I'd workout for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, six days a week. Now I'm married and have a little one that I don't get to see as much as I like to anyways.

One thing I've done differently this time around is making cardio my first priority and always doing it first so I can't skip it. The other change I've made is to make legs my first workout each week. This way, I can't skip it either.  Saturday is squat day, and I find myself rekindling my old passion for doing them. Since I started back, I've worked myself up to doing sets of 225 pretty consistently. Once my back started getting stronger, I felt confident that I could move up to 315.  Two weeks ago, I squatted 315 five times, something I hadn't done in over 15 years.

Now, if that is all to the story, I really wouldn't consider it worth posting. However, this past Saturday, I had something extra in me. I had a good bike ride and run and had a lot of energy. I started warming up on squats and felt really strong. With 225, I did 15 reps. I moved up to 315 hoping to maybe do eight, three more than the prior week. I ended up doing 12 pretty easily. I felt exhilarated. As I went over to get a drink of water, a thought was itching my brain, "Why not try 405?"  I told myself I would be crazy to try it, I've never done it before and I've only just started working out again.  As I silently argued myself, I found myself unconsciously loading 4 plates and then I just said, "What the hell" and put myself underneath the bar. As I lifted the bar, it felt heavy but not impossible. I wasn't 100% sure if I started to go down, that I'd be able to bring it back up (that's what squat racks are for). I ended up doing a pretty decent squat. Although I didn't go down as far as I had with 315, I definately went far enough down to consider it a full squat.

So there you have it, this past Saturday I did something I had never done before and I know it sounds stupid, maybe kind of childish, but I walked around the rest of the day feeling somewhat of a badass.

No Strings Attached

A few weeks ago I bought a new laptop for Michelle. I ended up getting her the Sony Vaio. I know, I know, Sony's are overpriced and I should've gotten an HP or something else. Well, I ended up getting the Sony because it was a pound lighter than the HP, the graphics card is a little better, and the display is freakin' awesome. Of course, the fact that because it is Michelle's, we can write it off on our taxes next year.

I went to Best Buy today and bought a wireless router. After screwing around trying to get it set-up using the wizard, I called the Linksys technical support. They referred me to the Linksys site and I downloaded some software to automatically set everything up. I highly recommend going this route than using the lousy wizard.

Hold for Station Identification

On Sunday, my friend Alan came over to swim and have dinner. We got to talkin' about some interesting stuff and he asked if I had subscribed to any Apple Podcasts. I had seen the advertisements on the Itunes site, but paid no attention to them. I did not see the point in paying 99 cents for radio shows. I did not know they were free.

I needed to upgrade my Itunes to the current version in order to have access to the Podcasts, something I really hate to do. Every time I upgrade to a newer version, there is a problem. This upgrade was no exception. I actually did not get the upgrade working until today, having spent a few hours on line troubleshooting/research an Installshield error.

Alan gave me a few recommendations to start off with. I subscribed to Science Friday and KCRW's To the Point. After doing some searching I also subscribed to Acoustic Tuesdays and Five Hundy by Midnight: The Original Las Vegas Podcast (I'll probably unsubscribe to this one, started off good and then sucked hard). I found the first two podcasts interesting, and the music on the third was pretty good. Another nice thing is new episodes automatically download in a given time frame when you start the program.

I've been a big fan of similar applications such as Macromedia Breeze and M Show. I like that you can search archived presentations and meetings and view them at your pleasure. I'm going to suggest to my friend Jamie who runs the SDIOP (http://www.sdiop.org) site that we record the bimonthly meetings and then podcast them. Probably won't get enough listeners to merit the time and resources, but wouldn't it be cool if we could get other I/O local chapters to do the same (probably not, but I think it could be).

Scammed at Arco Today

Driving home from work tonight and the low fuel light come on in the truck. I pulled off at Gypsum Canyon and the 91 fwy to find the nearest gas station. I reluctantly pulled into an Arco station. I am not a fan of Arco. I hate their pumps (will never take my motorcycle there), the extra .50 they charge to use your ATM, and the fact you have to go to the "community" payment booth to get gas and return for receipt. This is where I got scammed.

I got out of the truck and waited for the guy in front of me to finish so that I could swipe my card. Typically, the process follows these steps: Step 1: Select pump number; Step 2: Swipe card; Step 3: Enter pin; Step 4: Put gas in vehicle; and Step 5: Return for receipt. However, not being a regular Arco customer I did not remember that Step 1 is always 'Select Pump Number'. Instead I jumped straight to steps 2 and 3, swiped my card and entered my pin. The computer said, "Go to pump 5 to begin fueling." The problem was, I was at pump 7 and the guy before me was at pump 5. So, I went into the store and told the cashier what happened. He informed me that it is not possible to 'double book' a pump. The computer would've said, "Pump already in use."

What that SOB did in front of me was just enter his pump number and walk away. This caused me to swipe my card and enter my pin thinking that I would then select the pump number. As soon as I figured out what had happened, I was in the store and he already pumped $10-$15 in gas. As I walked out to talk to him, he jumped in his truck and took off. At the time I wasn't completely sure he was scamming me and I had a flashback to a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry David wrongly accuses (he does this a lot) someone and ends up in an argument or fight. However, on the way home I figured at $2.69 a gallon, the guy only got about 4 gallons of gas. Who the hell only gets 4 gallons of gas (If it was a highschool kid, I'd understand. I once wrote a check for gas).