After having a $350 electric bill its time to start working on being more energy efficient.  Some of you know that I purchased a house in Round Rock (suburb of Austin) to fix it up and resell it.  Basically live in it for 2 years, thus making the taxes less when I sell it, and take my time to fix it and decide on what to do that improves the property value and what doesn’t improve the property value.  

July, August, and September here in Austin are usually really damn hot.  We have a lot of 98-102 degree weather here and with the cost of energy going up it makes it just that much more expensive so I figured purchasing tinted film for my windows (at least the ones that get the afternoon sun) is a wise investment. Who knows, it can only help the resale value. 

Being a moron I jumped the gun and didn’t research film prior to just buying a few rolls at Lowes.  The 30% (keeps out 70% light, reflective, UV, Heat etc) goes for $32 bucks a roll x4 rolls, and a $9 dollar kit. I’m down $150 bucks with taxes etc. I bought the 3′ wide roll and it works perfect for the majority of my windows and the sliding door.  I unfortunately didn’t know how to do this stuff(applying tint) aside from watching the guy who tinted my car in my garage but apparently that gave me enough of an idea to try it myself.

The film that comes from Lowes is pretty good (Gila) and it even comes with a moron’s guide to putting on film with pretty pictures.  But of course I knew best and started with the big ass sliding glass window and cut a large section for that first instead of you know.. cutting a smaller window first to learn.  Anyway, one piss poor application and a zillion bubbles later I decided to read the instructions and actually use a razor to get the extra dirt and grit off the glass before applying the next section of tint and I decided to try a smaller window.  (Of course I actually blame the not reading of the instructions on Mimzy because whenever a woman says “lets read the instructions” a switch in the mans brain says “lets not”.) 

So, half a roll down and basically half that I’m going to have to buy again in 6 months because it’s going to peel, I decide it was one of those good learning things that you just have to learn the hard way of what not to do. Choosing a smaller window pane was easy, I first cleaned with windex and a paper towel, then used the handy dandy spray bottle of application spray(read soap and distilled water) on the window as lubricant along with a razor blade to get the additional dirt of the window.  Next I sprayed with the application spray again and then used a squeegee to remove the water.  

I happen to have a glass dining room table and it turns out this is the absolute best surface to use when removing the clear coating from the sticky portion of the film.  Basically you take two pieces of tape (masking not duck) and put them on each side of the film, press together and then pull apart.  This separates the film from the protective clear stuff.  This also allows you to figure out which side is back and which side is the sticky side.  Once you know where the back is, you spray the glass table top and press the back of the film on that.  This keeps it down as you peel the rest of the clear coating off the film. As you remove the coating spray the sticky side with the application spray (soap and water).  Note: As long as you keep this stuff sprayed down good, the chances of it sticking to something else like your clothes… or itself are reduced, and I tell you from experience.

Once you’ve removed the outer coating and you have this film sprayed down laying on your table you spray the window again and leave it.  Lift up the corners of the film, put it on the window, spray the back of the film again and then use the squeegee on the first pass.  Once you have it where you like it and more or less stuck you then take the razor blade and cut the excess film off.  Note, this is not always easy with the rubber around windows, sometimes there is some excess silicone - you might have to cut the silicone or the film around it. 

Once you have used the squeegee you may want to use the plastic tool to push out any smaller air bubbles, its really handy for the hard to get stuff.  Voila tinted window pane, you have 24 hours or less to fix it before its really stuck.

Notes: Once I got the hang of it, I was able to do about 4 panes in 30 minutes with help from Mimzy pre-cutting and removing the backing while I was cleaning and preparing another window pane.  Doing this is really not a one man job, it can be done but its really, really, difficult. That extra set of hands holding the film while you carry it really helps.

Tips:

Measure the width and height of your windows before you go to pick up the film.  (That said you can get it cheaper online but you have to buy larger quantities. (I may actually buy some online if my friends want to go in with me)

Don’t buy the application spray unless you just want the spray bottle, once you run out of what is in it, put some joy and filtered/distilled water in it. 

Buy the razor/squeegee/hard plastic edge tool kit it is worth it unless you already have pro-tools, which if you do why are you reading this?

The plastic cutting edge tool is a pain, I just cut by hand and follow the window frame, it goes faster and it is actually more accurate. 

Find someone to help you, its not a one person job.  If you can, find someone who has done this before so they can show you all the do’s and don’ts.  

Clean the window several times and then use a razor blade scraper with soap and water.  You’ll be surprised when you look at the blade that its dirty.  There are lots of things you just can’t see but you can feel them and see them after they have collected on the razor blade.  Putting this film on requires super-clean glass.

Don’t be a moron and try a big window first (like your sliding glass door). Start small and cut a small window pane first.  

Amazingly enough after doing most of the windows in my house, it’s not too bad.  It cuts down on the heat for sure and it cuts down on glare.  I might even be coerced into helping you out (for a fee).

Austin 3g Coverage

I’ve marked the areas that so far I’ve found to be the “suck zone”.  It appears AT&T’s coverage in the Austin surrounding areas is less than lacking.  I’m hoping that they improve it, you would think that being a fairly large iPhone market here that they would beef up.  What bad zones have you run across here?

From here.  As many sites have reported that Starbucks is cutting back on its stores in an effort to stay profitable, 600 stores are supposed to be closed.  Initially they stated that Austin was not one of the locations that would be cut but apparently it is.

This of course is another sign of our down turning economy but not only that Austin is on the end cycle of this complete business boom with new growth.  If you go down Parmer Lane towards 1431 you’ll notice brand new businesses and new office spaces that are for lease that are just built.  Now, I fear they will sit empty for while as the economy continues to sour.   Actually I shouldn’t’ say that, we’re still in good shape here, we just grew too fast,  businesses need a chance to stop, take stock and re-evaluate.

South Congress and Academy (1007 S. Congress) – Austin
MoPac and Slaughter (5000 W. Slaughter) – Austin

Will be the 2 stores to be closed down.  To me, I really don’t care that much because Austin has plenty of Starbucks locations and not only that we have some really good local coffee shops that have a better atmosphere.  Comment if you know of some other really good local only coffee shops.

We’ve been getting a bunch of hits for people looking for availability. As wetwired is not apple we couldn’t possibly take the time to go to every ATT store and Apple store and keep up with that stuff but because I posted about what stores had stuff when I or my buddies were in the buying process the questions keep coming.

The best method to find out availability is to go here. This is the Texas iPhone availability page that gets updated nightly. It does not include the ATT stores but you can be willing to bet that its just as sparse. Right now the best method is direct shipment to get a phone.

I can tell you that one of our old posters has given up looking for one and just ordered direct shipment.  The store salesguy explained that the lead time is 7-10 days but usually its a lot quicker.

Thinking about getting one now? Forget about it.  At least thats what friends of mine have been told now by the very unhelpful AT&T people.  I got mine, but I also waited outside at 6am.  I was number 73 at the ATT store on 1431.  I have to say the people there were much nicer than the A&TT workers at Lakeline Mall.

While some store actually received shipments today, apparently they can’t sell them today.  All AT&T is offering now is direct ship which is 7-10 days.    But let me explain what the AT&T people were trying to do to keep you inline and to make you buy today regardless of stock.

I got back to my office and my co-worker decided that he wanted to check at lunch to see if there were any left - since we had heard there was another shipment coming in today.  We decided to hit up Lakeline Mall AT&T store.  We walked up, the line was short and they took 2 people at a time into the store.  Out front was a greeter so we asked how many they had left - she said that she can’t give out their stock.  We said, ok well should we wait or will you be out of stock by the time we wait - as it could have been over an hour of waiting only to find out that its 7-10 days.  She said that she couldn’t give out the stock.  So after more questions and a bit of waiting we saw a shipment be delivered by Fedex.  My co-worker decided to ask some more questions and come to find out they couldn’t get into that shipment today and the other slightly more helpful AT&T worker alluded to the fact that he most likely would not get an iphone today.  But, they are trying to keep people standing in line so they can make their numbers for the day.

All in all pretty sucky for him - then again he also has to pay $400 because he’s already an AT&T customer.

Now you may ask, “How do you like your new iphone?”

Glad you asked.  I wish I knew but the itunes servers are dead and we can’t activate them.  The AT&T store couldn’t do it, and as of right now I’m still not able to activate my phone.