Month: July 2009

So I am now the proud owner of a letter sized drivers license

VA recently changed over to a new secure drivers license, so instead of printing them in the DMZ office, they just take your photo and then mail you the new card. So my drivers license is now a letter sized piece of paper until the new card gets mailed to me.

So I have some issues with this, first lets look at the practical side of this. I now have to carry a piece of paper with me when I drive. The letter sized paper doesn’t fit in my wallet. I could leave it in my car, but I don’t always drive the same car. Someone during this process must have thought, man that’s going to be a pain, lets give them something that will go in their wallet? Now here is the strange thing I know they can do it, when I did a change of address a couple years back I got a card that you could cut it down so it fit in your wallet, and carry with your drivers license.

Then I look at the reason they are going to the new secure printing center, they are doing it in the name of security, that might be all great, and the new card may be more secure, but as part of that they have now introduced a new proof of drivers license that is, 1) printed on normal paper, 2) has my signature, 3) has a rubber stamp on it saying paid, the date, and 6 character identification number on it, and thats it. It wouldn’t be very hard to make a fake version of it. So on one hand you have a nice secure card, on the other you have a piece of paper. So which do you think the forgers are going to copy? The only compensating control is that all the local cops have computers in their car so they can look up the license information, that might bring up my photo as well, but what happens when you are in a dead zone or in a different state, you are now back to proving a piece of paper is really a drivers license.

Finally, what is going to happen when I fly or go drinking. They are going to take one look at my expired license and tell me it is expired, I highly doubt they are going to going to accept a piece of paper as proof that it isn’t really expired, and I am just waiting on a new one.

Home Made Soda

I made my first home made soda using instructions from https://www.truetex.com/carbonation.htm

Most of the parts came from a keg kit I bought from someone on craigs list, I added a tire valve from autozone, and some tubing clamps and air quick releases came from Home depot.

On the left is a 5 lb CO2 cylinder, dual head regulator, and the home home made soda cap. The soda cap is made up of bottle cap I drilled a hole in then mounted a car tire valve, then 1/4 inch tubing to an air quick release valve. The third photo shows the quick release that came from the air compressor section of home depot.

I have some flavoring on order from flavrz, if they don’t work, Soda stream has from concentrate called MyWater that I can try.

If i get bored with soda, I can always build my kegerator and bar in the basement. I already have the keg tap and a beer tap, so I just need something the keep the beer chilled and build a bar.