It's time

I'm the type of person who tends to internalize a lot of my frustrations until I get to these breaking points where I feel trapped, angry and miserable, unable to do anything to change it. But I am an optimist (I couldn't have made it this far if I weren't) and I do believe I can change; I just haven't found the right way or the right time.

I am a person who has a need to document things so I thought starting a blog and tracking the changes and transformations I want to make might help me. This morning I did a Google search for "training for black belt" because I am in sorry shape and wanted to find some sort of program that might guide me over the next few months up to my black belt test in Tae Kwon Do. I read about this program called the Ultimate Black Belt Test that seems quite awesome to me with a lot of good ideas and I intend to use it as a basis for my own personal growth. I would even like to go through this program one day but I am not at that point yet (never mind the needing to be a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu). Life is a journey and I'll get there one day.

I really think one's goals need to be written (or typed) so that they are a reality. Just having thoughts in my head hasn't proven to be very productive. I need concrete goals and a time table. I am starting with six months (182 days including today). What can I accomplish by 19 May 2008?

1. Lose weight: 50 lbs. I am hovering around 200 lbs which is very disappointing because last year I lost about 20 lbs and have gained it all back. I have been struggling with being overweight since I was about 20. In weeks I have started having major back pain because of the weight of my breasts.
   
   
2. Get in shape. I just purchased the book Body for LIFE by Bill Phillips. It's a twelve week program for diet and exercise.
   
   
3. Crunches and push-ups - 150 every other day. I know the benefits of these exercises!
   
   
4. Jumping jacks - 300 every other day. My TKD instructor, Chad, suggested this one. It's a good way to get the heart pumping.
   
   
5. Daily meditation - 15 minutes every day. This is another thing that I know has great mental and physical benefits but I have not been doing.
   
   
6. Read at least one book each month. I've been saying for years that I want/need to read more but haven't been doing it. Admittedly, I've read one book this entire year and I have a book that's been sitting on my shelf here at work since June.
   
   
7. Attend every Tae Kwon Do class ~ four classes per week. Last year I went to TKD religiously but have let it slide to the back burner this year. In part I have gotten bored with the curriculum. But if I want to improve myself, I must improve my situation and mold classes into what I need them to be.
   
   
8. Journal daily. This is something I started a few weeks back and need to continue. I'm keeping a personal journal with entries about my feelings.
   
   
9. Blog weekly. At a minimum, I will write here about my progress each week.
   
   
10. Improve my diet by cooking dinner. No more fast food! I must make every effort to plan my meals better and eat more fruits and vegetables. At the moment, I eat an apple at breakfast and grapes at lunch. Now I need incorporate the veggies.

Let's see where this takes me!

Capacitor Requirements

Now that we have our power source determined, we can figure out what size our capacitor needs to be. First, we need to get the impedance value for our power source so we can plug that into the equation for calculating capacitance:

• Output voltage (V) : 12000 volts
• Output amperage (I) : 0.03 amps
• Calculated impedance (Z) : 400000 ohms (Ω)

Next, we'll plug the Z value into this equation:

• Frequency (f) : 60 hertz (Hz)
• Capacitance (C) : 0.0066 micro Farad (μF)

Transformer, Check!

I unexpectedly procured the keystone piece of the project today while driving back to work from lunch. Going down Lamar, Wes pointed out that there was a neon sign store. We turned around to check it out and discovered a very cool, local mini-manufacturer and repairer of neon, Hayward Neon.

Neon sign transformer for Tesla Coil project

We made acquaintance with the owner's assistant, Mitch, and let him know that we were seeking out a used transformer for a Telsa Coil project. Lucky for us, they happen to have an old-style unit (sans GFCI) that was about six years old but in great working condition rated 12kV @ 30mA. He had us come back into the workshop area to show us the unit while he tested it so we could see for ourselves. He offered to add on a plug, switch and wires while we chatted about how he came to work in a neon shop.

Final cost for this first piece was $64.95, much less than what I was finding online for the same power rating and he said we could bring it back and exchange it towards the cost of a 15kV unit if we decide to make a larger one in the future. Not the free, throw-away I was aiming for but this unit will definitely give us enough power to make a sweet, first coil!

This is where the wires attach

12k volts at 30 mA