Ok... so... some of what we have here today was supposed to be ready for last week's post. But, life happened and the first bit of it is ready for today.
Lisa is pressing on with her dissertation and seems to have finally gotten a committee together and has even started educating them on what the heck she's doing. If she hasn't mentioned it already she's also recently been awarded a fairly prestigious internship for one of her conferences this year. That means she's going to be working hard, and that we will be there for longer than we first planned. Buuttt the hotel gets paid for, the registration fee gets paid for, and she gets a stipend for food and travel and such. It also means that she's becoming more of an insider for another (and larger this time!) organization that she really wants to be active with. (What do I say? Well... Vegas Baby!!! (Actually it may not be that exciting really... writing stuff...)).
On my side of the house Johnson Farm is one step closer to being published on schedule. For those keeping score that will be my second book of the year and the first novel of a series. The second novel of the series is currently planned as this years NANOWRIMO project (with books three and four to come...). I'll be talking more about this in upcoming posts...
For today's post... I'm also started on next years first book, another craft book. This one will teach about how to make and use your own 'beach' glass. It's planned as an intermediate level craft book (a step up from the last one). I am also releasing some videos related to this book (and a couple more for the last one (and at least one for the novel...). As of tonight I actually have the first of those videos out the door!
Yes, it's simple. But it's also another one on the resume (and hopefully the first item out for my third book!). I actually have had a couple people ready to jump ship to my team just from filming this one...
Three more videos are planned at this time (with the material for one of them on my desk already). So tune in in the near future and hopefully I can show you why 'hitting the bottle' might not mean what you think it means!
In the other side of life Lisa is still the ward music coordinator and keeping those singers singing and players playing.
As for myself I'm still ward clerk. Once again I have two assistants who are doing fairly well and once again there are thoughts of "when I get them trained up I can move on to something else". Of course last time I thought that they reorganized the stake and I lost all my trainees to another ward!
And, once again I am working on cleaning up the ward list. This requires calling, emailing, or otherwise contacting people who want to know who I am before they will tell me anything...
And once again one of my favorite bands has provide timely theme music for the project...
So, thank you to INSOC for the timely video! (Yes I do actually play this one while I'm working on ward list stuff!!!)
That's it for this one. See you in two...
Showing posts with label Workshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workshop. Show all posts
Monday, August 1, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Ends and beginnings...
This post is even later than I thought but there is a lot going on...
First off, Lisa is working hard on her dissertation. She really has a lot on her plate and could use some positive thoughts, prayers and other support. There's a lot with her family too (those who know know and those who don't, it's not my story to tell).
As for me (sir Patrick)...
I'm still working on fallout from the boundary realignment for the ward; I have a book that's about to come out; next month is the month taxes are due; and I'll be going to a memorial for my mom who died in January.
On the bright side... Barbecue sauce!
Since I started the low carb thing it's seemed like barbecue sauce was a thing of the past, but not so! I've been a fan of Carolina style (mustard based) sauce since my mission and I've found a low carb version that I'm working on modifying up.
Here's the basic version:
1/2 cup yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Splenda
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp white vinigar
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
It's a good basic version with a bite. I'm working on improved versions including modifications for chicken vs pork vs beef.
There will also be a red barbecue sauce later.
Sorry, no KC sauce (which in the minds of many barbecue people is really just white sugar that's been lobbed in the general direction of catsup anyway...).
I'm within strike range of getting the Chainmail book out. Hopefully it will be out before the memorial for my mom. I've got the information to do final edits at this point and two of the five videos are done.
I've got the pictures, video and audio for two of the remaining three. They just need final cutting together. The last one is one audio track away and that should be done tomorrow...
Speaking of the videos...
Here's number two...
Stay tuned for the other ones... We're going to set things on fire!
I've got a goal of two books out this year and with number one due out next month (and in strike range of it actually happening) and completed drafts for two novels (both in edits), I'm thinking it's going to happen.
As for the novels, one is at a point were I'll start worrying about showing it to people before too long. The other has a few issues that I want to work out before anyone sees it.
Occasionally people want to read a first draft and I won't let them...
With the help of Google Translate Sings here is a simulation of why...
First drafts aren't quite that bad but some days they get close!
That's it for this one folks. Always more to say...
but for arguments over 5.56 vs 300 Blackout, interesting shop projects, the adventures of people who don't actually exist, and the answer to what Lisa's dissertation is really about, talk to me after the book is out...
NO, REALLY... PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO TALK TO ME FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO...
First off, Lisa is working hard on her dissertation. She really has a lot on her plate and could use some positive thoughts, prayers and other support. There's a lot with her family too (those who know know and those who don't, it's not my story to tell).
As for me (sir Patrick)...
I'm still working on fallout from the boundary realignment for the ward; I have a book that's about to come out; next month is the month taxes are due; and I'll be going to a memorial for my mom who died in January.
On the bright side... Barbecue sauce!
Since I started the low carb thing it's seemed like barbecue sauce was a thing of the past, but not so! I've been a fan of Carolina style (mustard based) sauce since my mission and I've found a low carb version that I'm working on modifying up.
Here's the basic version:
1/2 cup yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Splenda
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp white vinigar
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
It's a good basic version with a bite. I'm working on improved versions including modifications for chicken vs pork vs beef.
There will also be a red barbecue sauce later.
Sorry, no KC sauce (which in the minds of many barbecue people is really just white sugar that's been lobbed in the general direction of catsup anyway...).
I'm within strike range of getting the Chainmail book out. Hopefully it will be out before the memorial for my mom. I've got the information to do final edits at this point and two of the five videos are done.
I've got the pictures, video and audio for two of the remaining three. They just need final cutting together. The last one is one audio track away and that should be done tomorrow...
Speaking of the videos...
Here's number two...
Stay tuned for the other ones... We're going to set things on fire!
I've got a goal of two books out this year and with number one due out next month (and in strike range of it actually happening) and completed drafts for two novels (both in edits), I'm thinking it's going to happen.
As for the novels, one is at a point were I'll start worrying about showing it to people before too long. The other has a few issues that I want to work out before anyone sees it.
Occasionally people want to read a first draft and I won't let them...
With the help of Google Translate Sings here is a simulation of why...
First drafts aren't quite that bad but some days they get close!
That's it for this one folks. Always more to say...
but for arguments over 5.56 vs 300 Blackout, interesting shop projects, the adventures of people who don't actually exist, and the answer to what Lisa's dissertation is really about, talk to me after the book is out...
NO, REALLY... PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO TALK TO ME FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO...
Thursday, October 15, 2015
What All the Noise is About
Yesss, I know I missed my usual Monday post this week (with everything going on I thought that might happen). It's all for a good cause though. One of the projects I've been hinting about and babbling about is live and about to take flight!
There are a few folks out there that have previewed this for me already, and I'd like to thank them again (you know who you are). I really did consider what you had to say with this.
What am I talking about? Well...
Watch the video and see!
I'm setting up a Kickstarter campaign here:
There are a few folks out there that have previewed this for me already, and I'd like to thank them again (you know who you are). I really did consider what you had to say with this.
What am I talking about? Well...
Watch the video and see!
I'm setting up a Kickstarter campaign here:
to fund this project. This is kind of the ultimate small press as I am putting this out myself.
If you're not familiar with Kickstarter here's how it works...
I set up the page (here's the link again...https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1094327337/chainmail-bottle-carriers-book), people go to it and if they like the project they get to contribute money and I give them something in return. What I'm giving to people is all on the page... If the funding goal is met by my deadline (3:00 AM November 15th, 2015) I get the money, put out the product and send out rewards. If the funding goal isn't met everybody walks away and nobody is out anything (it cost me my time but I learned a lot so that's a net gain already...).
I set up the page (here's the link again...https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1094327337/chainmail-bottle-carriers-book), people go to it and if they like the project they get to contribute money and I give them something in return. What I'm giving to people is all on the page... If the funding goal is met by my deadline (3:00 AM November 15th, 2015) I get the money, put out the product and send out rewards. If the funding goal isn't met everybody walks away and nobody is out anything (it cost me my time but I learned a lot so that's a net gain already...).
I'm only running the campaign for thirty days because statistically that's the best length for the campaign, and I'm ending it on November 15th to accommodate paydays and spending habits (I've done my research).
Now, here's a lesser known statistic and where I could use some help from you guys... If a project can get to 30% of it's goal ($754 in my case) the project is 90% likely to go all the way. It's kind of about people seeing it and believing it will go.
At this point it's as much about spreading the word as it is about money (actually for a future project I'm planning to do a Kickstarter specifically as a marketing thing...). If you can and are willing to put some money in that's great (again if we can hit $754 the probability of getting the rest is 90%). You will be getting some goodies out of it.
But... there's an even bigger way you can help! If you're willing to help put the word out about the project that is truly huge! I saw a thing today where someone brought in $10,000 because three people were willing to talk about his stuff.
Under Kickstarter rules I can't actually offer anyone money or other financial rewards, but I'm willing to barter with people here. I'm willing to offer some goodies, some of the stars I mentioned on the KS page, shiny rocks, and so on for people who are willing to tweet, put this on facebook or otherwise send some attention my way (there is a share button right under the video on the page (on about the same level as the location and my picture...).
If somebody really comes through with promoting this I've got a few bigger items that I could shake loose (like a couple of these carriers...)
Don't worry if I include a bottle it will be a brand new never used one... if someone really really comes through... I don't know we'll have to see on that!
No pressure, I'm not asking for anything that you're unwilling to give. I'm not asking for anything that I wouldn't do (or haven't done) myself.
I'm also very willing to share my experience and provide help in setting up a Kickstarter campaign for one of your projects. If you've never been down this road a little previous experience and advice can't hurt. And if you have been down this road, then you know the value of an extra set of eyeballs (again thanks to my previewers).
So this is the madness of the moment. I think it's pretty cool and one way or another I'm going to succeed with this thing eventually. I'm giving you a chance to get in on the act too (and yes, I really am going to list all the contributors in the back of the book).
There isn't a lot here about Lisa's projects or other stuff like that. Look for that stuff next week.
And, if you want to help Lisa out... try sending her a supportive text or email. This grad school thing is tuff!
Well this is my report.
Until next time remember,
You don't know what you can do to until you try.
And, thanks for all the support!
Monday, July 20, 2015
Back on Rubber!
This week I've been on a bit of a hiatus from doing fiction... My novella needs eyes other than my own to edit it and I got jumped by several other projects that I will talk about in this post. Typically if I put in a video it's at the end of the post (or close to it...) but, this time it's going at the top because it kind of describes the week.
So a big thank you to... well, this one has been attributed to three different people besides the makers of House and The Dandy Warhols (who own the song...). So thank you to Dutchie88, Spoenk, ZdenekLU, the makers of House, the Dandy Warhols, and the people who actually read this blog (you deserve thanks too...). And here we go...
First off this week... a bit of actual medical science! I'm down to three units of the long acting insulin and zero (0) units of the short acting on a daily basis. If I can bring the sugar numbers down a little bit (and not very much!) I can skip the insulin completely. So I've been figuring out how to do that. Fortunately I have several weapons I haven't dragged out yet!
This is fried rice. I made it. I ate it. I lived to tell the tale. The reality is there are a lot of things in Asian (particularly Chinese) cooking that you do have to watch. There tends to be a lot of corn starch and sugar in that stuff. But, if you cook at home you can control the sugar and starch levels and you actually know how much is in there so you can know how much you (or the diabetic you love...) can eat. and in this case I've cut down the rice and upped the protein and non starchy veggies so people watching carbs can have more than they think they can. And, because I use good spices it tastes good too.
Specifically the Mark 2 belt will live on as a component of a chainmaille scabbard for a cane. No pictures yet because it isn't done, but soon. Why would I want such a silly thing? Well that will be revealed even sooner than the pictures.
I've been working on one of my biggest weapons to fight the blood sugar, and get rid of that last three units of insulin. This is also the $15.00 project Lisa talked about last week... I recently went down to the DI store and bought a BSO (Bike Shaped Object) which I have been working on...
It was a BSO because the shifters, the brakes, the chain, the tires... they all didn't work.
Well, the tires were actually good, but one of the tubes needed to be fixed. The chain was recoverable and now works fine. The shifters... well... the front shifter and derailleur work just fine (with a little adjusting maybe). The rear shifter lever needs to be replaced (but the derailleur seems to work just fine...).
And then there were the brakes! Some nearly intellectually gifted person tried to fix them and messed them up... The fact that I was able to figure out how to fix them with a minimum of swearing suggests that the previous person wasn't quite as smart as he/she thought.
I do need to fix that rear shifter, but the bike is a bike again! And now I'm coming up on the level two issues; like the fact that the handle bars need to be better aligned with the front wheel, it needs a rack, I'm really out of shape...
Actually that last one is how the defeating the blood sugar levels (getting of insulin) and the cane scabbard fit into this... Two of my big weapons for dropping these last three units of insulin are losing weight (they tell me that a 5-10% weight loss can have a major impact) and getting more exercise (which helps the body use glucose in spite of insulin resistance...). Unfortunately I'm me and and sometimes my knee or back hurts (this is where the video fits in...). Dr House has a cane mount on his motorcycle... I couldn't figure out how to mount the cane to the bike conveniently so I decided to mount it to me (in the scabbard).
The bike (now dubbed 'Alley Hawk' (why must I name everything?)) is a part of my diabetes fighting regimen, a project, a story, and something to have fun with (and occasionally swear at...). It kind of ties everything from the post together and brings us back to the start.
So... One more video. This one is by Ghost Dog and the song is by Sabaton. In addition to being literally about one of my favorite WW2 battles it describes where I feel I'm at with the fight with my diabetes.
You can guess for yourself how this fits in. I've actually found several ways it symbolically fits. One that helps it tie the post together... let the Japanies (who eat a lot of rice) stand in for the high blood sugar. And the Americans, well that would be telling wouldn't it.
That's it for this one (more to say but I've said too much).
Till next time. Make, do, just don't get into too much trouble (I'd hate to miss the fun!)
So a big thank you to... well, this one has been attributed to three different people besides the makers of House and The Dandy Warhols (who own the song...). So thank you to Dutchie88, Spoenk, ZdenekLU, the makers of House, the Dandy Warhols, and the people who actually read this blog (you deserve thanks too...). And here we go...
First off this week... a bit of actual medical science! I'm down to three units of the long acting insulin and zero (0) units of the short acting on a daily basis. If I can bring the sugar numbers down a little bit (and not very much!) I can skip the insulin completely. So I've been figuring out how to do that. Fortunately I have several weapons I haven't dragged out yet!
Words N' Stuff!
I'm currently engaged in two different diabetes related writing projects (which I won't talk too much about here because I don't want to give away details that could cost me). One is filling a niche that no one seems to have noticed and the other is an improvement on already existing stuff. The second one is pretty close to being released so I'll talk about it more when it hits the market. Yep... me making money with my words... scary ain't it?Food!
Two myths I would like to dispel right away 1) diabetes means you have to avoid sugar... No, you have to control your intake of carbohydrates including sugars and starches. And I can still have them I just need to watch how much. 2) you can't eat Asian food if you're trying to control carbs...
This is fried rice. I made it. I ate it. I lived to tell the tale. The reality is there are a lot of things in Asian (particularly Chinese) cooking that you do have to watch. There tends to be a lot of corn starch and sugar in that stuff. But, if you cook at home you can control the sugar and starch levels and you actually know how much is in there so you can know how much you (or the diabetic you love...) can eat. and in this case I've cut down the rice and upped the protein and non starchy veggies so people watching carbs can have more than they think they can. And, because I use good spices it tastes good too.
Metal!
On the subject of making stuff I've also been working chainmaille. This week I finished the son of the chainmaille belt. This time it is lighter and went together faster because I used about 55% rubber rings, which are lighter, faster to work with, and stretch to fit the buckle without having to pull out rings. The belt will also stretch to fit waist lines (or so I thought...). The son of a belt looks great, but the rubber rings stretched more than I thought. When the belt is actually tight enough to wear it's got even more left over belt than the original (which I made when my waste was 4-6 inches bigger....). So that one is not exactly a complete success (but I did make a cool thing...). The mark 3 belt is already in the planning stage (more steel, less problems (I hope!)) and the mark 2 will live on as part of another project.Specifically the Mark 2 belt will live on as a component of a chainmaille scabbard for a cane. No pictures yet because it isn't done, but soon. Why would I want such a silly thing? Well that will be revealed even sooner than the pictures.
Words and metal!
Another of the writing projects is that I'm writing up (and will soon be selling) patterns for chainmaille projects. I'm only going to make a buck or two per copy on these, but hey that's a buck or two I didn't have.Why I want that scabbard...
This actually ties in everything above (except the rice...)I've been working on one of my biggest weapons to fight the blood sugar, and get rid of that last three units of insulin. This is also the $15.00 project Lisa talked about last week... I recently went down to the DI store and bought a BSO (Bike Shaped Object) which I have been working on...
It was a BSO because the shifters, the brakes, the chain, the tires... they all didn't work.
Well, the tires were actually good, but one of the tubes needed to be fixed. The chain was recoverable and now works fine. The shifters... well... the front shifter and derailleur work just fine (with a little adjusting maybe). The rear shifter lever needs to be replaced (but the derailleur seems to work just fine...).
And then there were the brakes! Some nearly intellectually gifted person tried to fix them and messed them up... The fact that I was able to figure out how to fix them with a minimum of swearing suggests that the previous person wasn't quite as smart as he/she thought.
I do need to fix that rear shifter, but the bike is a bike again! And now I'm coming up on the level two issues; like the fact that the handle bars need to be better aligned with the front wheel, it needs a rack, I'm really out of shape...
Actually that last one is how the defeating the blood sugar levels (getting of insulin) and the cane scabbard fit into this... Two of my big weapons for dropping these last three units of insulin are losing weight (they tell me that a 5-10% weight loss can have a major impact) and getting more exercise (which helps the body use glucose in spite of insulin resistance...). Unfortunately I'm me and and sometimes my knee or back hurts (this is where the video fits in...). Dr House has a cane mount on his motorcycle... I couldn't figure out how to mount the cane to the bike conveniently so I decided to mount it to me (in the scabbard).
The bike (now dubbed 'Alley Hawk' (why must I name everything?)) is a part of my diabetes fighting regimen, a project, a story, and something to have fun with (and occasionally swear at...). It kind of ties everything from the post together and brings us back to the start.
So... One more video. This one is by Ghost Dog and the song is by Sabaton. In addition to being literally about one of my favorite WW2 battles it describes where I feel I'm at with the fight with my diabetes.
You can guess for yourself how this fits in. I've actually found several ways it symbolically fits. One that helps it tie the post together... let the Japanies (who eat a lot of rice) stand in for the high blood sugar. And the Americans, well that would be telling wouldn't it.
That's it for this one (more to say but I've said too much).
Till next time. Make, do, just don't get into too much trouble (I'd hate to miss the fun!)
Monday, June 8, 2015
Gains and Losses
Well you win some and you lose some, and some times you win by losing!
This last Thursday I succeeded in losing my 'super hero socks' which is a win because now I can take showers again! (much to the relief of, well pretty much every body).
We also won by 'losing' the battery on our seven year old weed eater (it died). For about $15 more than a replacement battery we got a new weed eater (which is cutting better than the old one (even though the old one has the better replacement cord and the new one has the cheap line that came with it out of the box). The new one also came with a new, better charger that has auto shut off! This has really sped up doing some of the yard work.
I am also continuing to lose weight (which is a win unless you count the fact that I am too small for my relatively new suit coat and really need to think about buying new, smaller pants).
Of course sometimes when one person loses others lose too. Like when the person on the Tor book printing line 'lost' just over thirty pages of one of the books I ordered with birthday money... I lost too because I had to send it back and get a replacement (which delayed my reading the book).
Seriously, thirty pages! Take a look...
It jumped from page 6 to page 39...
Of course there are some just plain wins too. The other day as I was celebrating my 'lose' of my super hero socks I decided to get something silly for Lisa. I found some cheap 'taco plates' that made her laugh (win). And then this happened...
(also a win...). Of course Lisa had to try to 'out healthy' me, so this happened...
So, she's going to be around for a while longer (another win) (Note: she still has sour cream on there she just hides it better!)
One of the other things that I've tried to do is drink more water and less soda (hah! that might result in blood in my caffeine system, that can't be a good thing...). Of course I can't just have a bottle of water like a normal person (ok... I can...but I don't want to...) so this happened...
The chainmaille water bottle. Ok this is where it gets complicated kids... It's a new design I invented myself (win). It didn't work the way I planned (Lose!). But in the process of figuring out how to make the design more what I wanted I have an excuse to buy the rubber rings I've been wanting to play with (Win!!!). The mark 2 (in the works) will have a strap. The mark 3 (which happens when I get the rubber rings) will fit tighter to the bottle in ways I like better. The rubber rings will also go into a remake of my chainmaille belt (making it lighter and more colorful as well as stretchy).
Lisa really is working on her dissertation (win). She got out a statistics book and everything... of course the mere presence of the book rendered college students two doors down unconscious (actually also a win (when they're asleep they can't park like idiots...)).
Part one of my novella I'm working on is pretty ready to go. Part two is taking a lot of work at the moment but moving, but it' getting there. I have full confidence in my ability to sell books! (which results in royalties (super dollar sign win...!).
Well that's about all the wackiness for this week (WIN!!!!! (sniff sniff, yeah for you guys...I was having fun (Oh wait! I still bet to bug people on my other blog (WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ok... actually I forgot one uber wacky thing I found this week...
That absolutely preposterous little tank is an FT 17... it is a tiny cramped two man number that can be taken out by an M2 heavy machine gun (I'd like to say 'lose' but keep in mind that it is the first modern style turreted tank... back in '17 nobody had ever built one before (heck mass produced cars were really, really new!) so it was really a win!). Compared to the British things that took an eight man crew and weren't much better armed or armored it was actually not bad.
Have a good week. Lisa should be writing next week and if not I'll be back in two...
This last Thursday I succeeded in losing my 'super hero socks' which is a win because now I can take showers again! (much to the relief of, well pretty much every body).
We also won by 'losing' the battery on our seven year old weed eater (it died). For about $15 more than a replacement battery we got a new weed eater (which is cutting better than the old one (even though the old one has the better replacement cord and the new one has the cheap line that came with it out of the box). The new one also came with a new, better charger that has auto shut off! This has really sped up doing some of the yard work.
I am also continuing to lose weight (which is a win unless you count the fact that I am too small for my relatively new suit coat and really need to think about buying new, smaller pants).
Of course sometimes when one person loses others lose too. Like when the person on the Tor book printing line 'lost' just over thirty pages of one of the books I ordered with birthday money... I lost too because I had to send it back and get a replacement (which delayed my reading the book).
Seriously, thirty pages! Take a look...
It jumped from page 6 to page 39...
Of course there are some just plain wins too. The other day as I was celebrating my 'lose' of my super hero socks I decided to get something silly for Lisa. I found some cheap 'taco plates' that made her laugh (win). And then this happened...
(also a win...). Of course Lisa had to try to 'out healthy' me, so this happened...
So, she's going to be around for a while longer (another win) (Note: she still has sour cream on there she just hides it better!)
One of the other things that I've tried to do is drink more water and less soda (hah! that might result in blood in my caffeine system, that can't be a good thing...). Of course I can't just have a bottle of water like a normal person (ok... I can...but I don't want to...) so this happened...
The chainmaille water bottle. Ok this is where it gets complicated kids... It's a new design I invented myself (win). It didn't work the way I planned (Lose!). But in the process of figuring out how to make the design more what I wanted I have an excuse to buy the rubber rings I've been wanting to play with (Win!!!). The mark 2 (in the works) will have a strap. The mark 3 (which happens when I get the rubber rings) will fit tighter to the bottle in ways I like better. The rubber rings will also go into a remake of my chainmaille belt (making it lighter and more colorful as well as stretchy).
Lisa really is working on her dissertation (win). She got out a statistics book and everything... of course the mere presence of the book rendered college students two doors down unconscious (actually also a win (when they're asleep they can't park like idiots...)).
Part one of my novella I'm working on is pretty ready to go. Part two is taking a lot of work at the moment but moving, but it' getting there. I have full confidence in my ability to sell books! (which results in royalties (super dollar sign win...!).
Well that's about all the wackiness for this week (WIN!!!!! (sniff sniff, yeah for you guys...I was having fun (Oh wait! I still bet to bug people on my other blog (WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ok... actually I forgot one uber wacky thing I found this week...
That absolutely preposterous little tank is an FT 17... it is a tiny cramped two man number that can be taken out by an M2 heavy machine gun (I'd like to say 'lose' but keep in mind that it is the first modern style turreted tank... back in '17 nobody had ever built one before (heck mass produced cars were really, really new!) so it was really a win!). Compared to the British things that took an eight man crew and weren't much better armed or armored it was actually not bad.
Have a good week. Lisa should be writing next week and if not I'll be back in two...
Monday, March 30, 2015
Is that a fish bowl or my spare head???
Yep we missed last week. It was Lisa's turn but you can blame me. In two words kidney stones...my first bout with the buggers and things got complicated. But, everyone is feeling relatively better now.
This week we have two fun things for you.
First a new armor weave I've been playing with
This is scale maille. The scales are a proprietary scale made and sold only at theringlord.com, but the general design would work with a similar scale you make yourself. The materials seen here are also the exact materials used for the elf armor in the Hobbit movies...
Here's the back
As you can see this kind of scale maille is a form of chainmaille. There are two others: one where the scales are riveted to cloth or leather (like to try that), and one where the scales are laced together (tried that not as fond of it as the chainmaille kind).
Scale maille is interesting because the force hitting one scale spreads out to the scales around it, softening the blow in any one place.
Not ready to say what I actually intend to make with it (this is my first test/learning piece) but its going to be fun.
Second item:
Some time last year I bought a cheap fish bowl as part of a line of jokes Lisa and I were doing. The guy at the store thought I was kidding when I said I was going to put rocks in it but,,,
Now the scary part from today...
It's getting full! and that doesn't include the other bowl that I'm putting little stones in (or the ones that I've pulled for projects, actually made projects with, given away, left in the car after showing someone, or Lisa's private museum of natural history in her office...). So if anyone thinks I've got rocks in my head... nope they're on the coffee table!
Tumbler is on park for a couple of other projects but I doubt I'll be running out of shiny rocks for a while (and instead of playing with the tumbler in ten days that's another hour or so I have to actually make something with these things (Hopefully pictures of some of that in April))
Well, I think that's today's post.
Be nice
Be kind
Be good.
Hopefully Lisa is back next week.
This week we have two fun things for you.
First a new armor weave I've been playing with
This is scale maille. The scales are a proprietary scale made and sold only at theringlord.com, but the general design would work with a similar scale you make yourself. The materials seen here are also the exact materials used for the elf armor in the Hobbit movies...
Here's the back
As you can see this kind of scale maille is a form of chainmaille. There are two others: one where the scales are riveted to cloth or leather (like to try that), and one where the scales are laced together (tried that not as fond of it as the chainmaille kind).
Scale maille is interesting because the force hitting one scale spreads out to the scales around it, softening the blow in any one place.
Not ready to say what I actually intend to make with it (this is my first test/learning piece) but its going to be fun.
Second item:
Some time last year I bought a cheap fish bowl as part of a line of jokes Lisa and I were doing. The guy at the store thought I was kidding when I said I was going to put rocks in it but,,,
Now the scary part from today...
It's getting full! and that doesn't include the other bowl that I'm putting little stones in (or the ones that I've pulled for projects, actually made projects with, given away, left in the car after showing someone, or Lisa's private museum of natural history in her office...). So if anyone thinks I've got rocks in my head... nope they're on the coffee table!
Tumbler is on park for a couple of other projects but I doubt I'll be running out of shiny rocks for a while (and instead of playing with the tumbler in ten days that's another hour or so I have to actually make something with these things (Hopefully pictures of some of that in April))
Well, I think that's today's post.
Be nice
Be kind
Be good.
Hopefully Lisa is back next week.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Apparently...
Ok, so, two Sundays ago I broke one of my rules and actually agreed to do the spiritual thought for ward council this coming Sunday. Last Sunday they decide to put a rotation system in place for the spiritual thought in Bishopric meeting, resulting in me giving the spiritual thought for that meeting next Sunday (That's two meetings and two thoughts...). They also specifically ask me to help with the Friends of Scouting drive this Thursday. I also got word on some developments for my clerks office that I've been waiting for...
Then, while innocently taking an afternoon nap, I get a call from the bishop asking Lisa and I to speak in sacrament meeting next Sunday...
... so apparently it is all about me ;) (well, and sometimes Lisa :-) )
In other news... Friday was the much dreaded 'change the tumbler day' in Goblin Town (yes, for those of you who haven't heard that's what I named the basement portion of the workshop (anyone having a problem with it can take it up with the goblins...))
And...
This happened... (we are looking at the white circle around the center)
That is actually polish compound that managed to sneak around the inner rubber lining, the inner metal lid, the steel washer and the nut to make a nice ring around the outside. Never seen this before with my tumbler. So I wonder what happened.
I pull the rig apart and...
It was gas! Almost every set of instructions for tumbling rocks mentions burping the tumbler occasionally, this is actually the first time I've ever really needed to.
On analysis it could have been much worse (I've heard stories of lids blowing off), but I do have to do some forensic rockhounding and figure out what happened.
...so apparently even in the workshop things can get a little bit gassy :(
In other other news...
Lisa's dissertation is continuing. We're waiting to hear about a conference in Washington State. And, Lisa's article that was published has been cited in other published works!!! (kinda major it means her work is being recognized professionally (but I'll encourage her to write about that next week))
... So apparently I need to step up my game and start cranking out the books!
I'm really working on that last one... this last week I was so wrapped up in writing/rewriting the climax for this novella I'm working on that not only did I loose track of time but they sent a manager out to check on me... (Well that's what I get for writing at Carl's Jr... (On the other hand... hey, free refills on diet Dr Pepper (... so apparently my writing is motivated/fueled by soda pop (is any one surprised? (no, seriously is anyone really surprised by that one?))))).
Well, apparently that's it for this week! Hopefully Lisa gets to write next week, and I'll be back in two with a whole new box of dots and parentheses :-)
Then, while innocently taking an afternoon nap, I get a call from the bishop asking Lisa and I to speak in sacrament meeting next Sunday...
... so apparently it is all about me ;) (well, and sometimes Lisa :-) )
In other news... Friday was the much dreaded 'change the tumbler day' in Goblin Town (yes, for those of you who haven't heard that's what I named the basement portion of the workshop (anyone having a problem with it can take it up with the goblins...))
And...
This happened... (we are looking at the white circle around the center)
That is actually polish compound that managed to sneak around the inner rubber lining, the inner metal lid, the steel washer and the nut to make a nice ring around the outside. Never seen this before with my tumbler. So I wonder what happened.
I pull the rig apart and...
It was gas! Almost every set of instructions for tumbling rocks mentions burping the tumbler occasionally, this is actually the first time I've ever really needed to.
On analysis it could have been much worse (I've heard stories of lids blowing off), but I do have to do some forensic rockhounding and figure out what happened.
...so apparently even in the workshop things can get a little bit gassy :(
In other other news...
Lisa's dissertation is continuing. We're waiting to hear about a conference in Washington State. And, Lisa's article that was published has been cited in other published works!!! (kinda major it means her work is being recognized professionally (but I'll encourage her to write about that next week))
... So apparently I need to step up my game and start cranking out the books!
I'm really working on that last one... this last week I was so wrapped up in writing/rewriting the climax for this novella I'm working on that not only did I loose track of time but they sent a manager out to check on me... (Well that's what I get for writing at Carl's Jr... (On the other hand... hey, free refills on diet Dr Pepper (... so apparently my writing is motivated/fueled by soda pop (is any one surprised? (no, seriously is anyone really surprised by that one?))))).
Well, apparently that's it for this week! Hopefully Lisa gets to write next week, and I'll be back in two with a whole new box of dots and parentheses :-)
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
What did he do this time...
1st clue:
3rd clue:
And no the answer isn't knock the house down...
Lisa is getting into some larger and more interesting pieces of knitting that need to be blocked (laid out and given form) in a flat manner, so I built a blocking frame for her. This particular one is six feet on any run and can be set up in two inch increments to fit about any rectangular or right triangle piece.
Since I know there are a few knitters (and/or people who know and love knitters) out there that read this from time to time, these things are really not that hard to make.
The wood is standard 1x2 size. A good straight grain hard wood would be best but some soft woods will work (be careful of any wood that might react badly to wet yarn! (in this case react badly means thing like stain the knitting...)). Drill pilot holes for the nails that are small enough that the nails will grip well but large enough that you're not splitting the wood (remember that you're putting a lot of nails in line so a split down the middle is a real possibility if you don't pilot hole). The pilot holes also help you nails run relatively straight with no muss or fuss. The holes in this one are two inches apart.
The nails are actually the hard part... ordinary home center nails are not acceptable... the basic steel ones tend to rust and the galvanized ones are galvanized. Galvanization means the nails are coated with zinc. So, instead of rusting they flake off zinc and then rust. You can try them if you want but I avoid galvanized metal whenever possible because it will flake off if you work it enough; and since I tend to heat metal in the shop, zinc is a bad thing (it tends to vaporize and go places you don't want (like your lungs!)). The nails I recommend are stainless steel (10dx3" in this case) they are available on line, or for those of you near the coast try a good boat shop.
The sections will be tied together in what ever size Lisa needs on a project by project basis (adjustable is a good thing here).
In other news we survived stake conference last week, not sure everyone did though (in the leadership meeting the visiting general authority challenged the stake to have thirty prospective elders ready to be ordained by our next stake conference... I think leaders from a couple of wards started having heart palpitations...). Our ward's choir sang for the adult session on Saturday night and our bishop gave the first talk of that session (again people from a couple other wards suffering heart palpitations because their egos are dependent on themselves being better than our ward!)
For those wondering about how our ward got featured in conference, wondering about Lisa or I or our projects or any other related questions I submit this by way of answer (and for those who don't have any of those questions just enjoy the video...)
That's it for today...
See you next week
Monday, October 27, 2014
Post Conference Post
Lisa and I spent most of the last week at a conference (she was co chair for the conference...) so we didn't get a lot done here in the last week (That's also why she didn't get around to posting last Monday...I promise I'll bug her to write about the conference next week).
It was a really good conference (2nd highest attendance ever!) and they are going to miss her on the board next year. But, tough! We do have other things going on! (remember I'm not doing too much bragging about the conference because I want her to write about it next week.)
While Lisa was running a conference I found a very interesting glass and enamel studio. I ate at some very fun restaurants. And I got some good writing done. Most of the writing on the trip was for a novel and a novella which are interrelated. I have some non fiction going but I really do like doing fiction (at what point doing non fiction would I get to use the phrase 'buzzard bait'? If I can get it squared away I would really like to have the novella ready to launch in December (I know... planned publication date... scary)
For those who are interested here's a link for the enamel and glass studios... (they're really in the same place but apparently have separate web sites http://www.deliasart.com/ http://boiseartglass.com/
I also ran into this 'little guy' the pen is for scale
This is a piece of green quartz that I'm going to have to cut into two (due to a crack) but plan on carving. It's no surprise that it took me so long to find this one... I thought I was looking for a piece of fluorite! It was a surprise to find it there (there were only two pieces and the store didn't know they had them!).
The bench is up. And now has 2/3 of the major tools in place the swap top saw and grinder and...
my new drill press (that apparently really want's to be sideways in the blog (sorry :-( ).
The new uber band saw and some diamond core drills are on the way; so hopefully by my next post we will have some really fun stuff to show.
Well, till next time, remember if you wake up next to your boy friend/girl friend/spouse/whatever in an alternate dimension it might not be his/her fault (well, the first time at least!). Fiction writing, its fantastic!
It was a really good conference (2nd highest attendance ever!) and they are going to miss her on the board next year. But, tough! We do have other things going on! (remember I'm not doing too much bragging about the conference because I want her to write about it next week.)
While Lisa was running a conference I found a very interesting glass and enamel studio. I ate at some very fun restaurants. And I got some good writing done. Most of the writing on the trip was for a novel and a novella which are interrelated. I have some non fiction going but I really do like doing fiction (at what point doing non fiction would I get to use the phrase 'buzzard bait'? If I can get it squared away I would really like to have the novella ready to launch in December (I know... planned publication date... scary)
For those who are interested here's a link for the enamel and glass studios... (they're really in the same place but apparently have separate web sites http://www.deliasart.com/ http://boiseartglass.com/
I also ran into this 'little guy' the pen is for scale
This is a piece of green quartz that I'm going to have to cut into two (due to a crack) but plan on carving. It's no surprise that it took me so long to find this one... I thought I was looking for a piece of fluorite! It was a surprise to find it there (there were only two pieces and the store didn't know they had them!).
The bench is up. And now has 2/3 of the major tools in place the swap top saw and grinder and...
my new drill press (that apparently really want's to be sideways in the blog (sorry :-( ).
The new uber band saw and some diamond core drills are on the way; so hopefully by my next post we will have some really fun stuff to show.
Well, till next time, remember if you wake up next to your boy friend/girl friend/spouse/whatever in an alternate dimension it might not be his/her fault (well, the first time at least!). Fiction writing, its fantastic!
Monday, October 13, 2014
Wall done!
That's right! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls I have officially finished work on that @#$@#@%@#$!!! wall. Now I can see about putting in the workbench and drill press and saw. Still lots of things to do on the house (I have two electrical plugs that I need to fix, at least one light fixture to fix, I should think about new lights for the new work bench, plumbing, calk windows, paint trim...). The scarey thing on this list is there is a "bedroom" in the basement that really needs new flooring (that's not the scarey part)... Lisa and I went to Lowe's to look at options and we actually agreed on the flooring on the first shot (that's the scary part) and it was affordable (now it's really scary). Well more on the house as projects get done and new toys get in.
In the mean time I have officially determined that I can't take myself anywhere... without rock hounding that is...
I was at the pet store of all places when I came upon this little "gem". That's a Leather-man tool next to it for scale.
He cost me 2.99 plus tax... He's a mahogany obsidian that washed down a river, got scooped up for fish tank rock and now is in my rock pile. Is he a carver? Is he destined to be cabs? I don't know and I won't until I get a good idea and/or my bigger saw gets here (Rather not break him if I don't have to... Obsidian is volcanic glass so the old chisel method is not the way to go here).
Also on the rock front... Anyone remember that rock activity at the family reunion... Got some in the fine grade tumble right now...got a few other things in the works so it will probably not be finished for my next post, but hopefully I'll have some pretties from that bunch a couple posts from now : )
At this time of year Lisa and I are spending at least a couple hours an evening with our backs to each other and not talking. No... no... we're not mad at each other I've got writing projects in every stage from planning/research; to first draft; to revision; to submitted for publication (not to mention two blogs to post to) and Lisa's got her dissertation; at least two conference presentations (that I know of!); a book chapter to work on (I think she's on her last go round before publication...), a blog or two of her own; and a class she's teaching. So, we're doing a lot of talking with our fingers at the moment.
Well I'm leaving it here for tonight... Lisa should be posting next week and if I'm not back in two... well... my head probably exploded (hey, you try reading publishing contracts!!!)
In the mean time I have officially determined that I can't take myself anywhere... without rock hounding that is...
I was at the pet store of all places when I came upon this little "gem". That's a Leather-man tool next to it for scale.
Also on the rock front... Anyone remember that rock activity at the family reunion... Got some in the fine grade tumble right now...got a few other things in the works so it will probably not be finished for my next post, but hopefully I'll have some pretties from that bunch a couple posts from now : )
At this time of year Lisa and I are spending at least a couple hours an evening with our backs to each other and not talking. No... no... we're not mad at each other I've got writing projects in every stage from planning/research; to first draft; to revision; to submitted for publication (not to mention two blogs to post to) and Lisa's got her dissertation; at least two conference presentations (that I know of!); a book chapter to work on (I think she's on her last go round before publication...), a blog or two of her own; and a class she's teaching. So, we're doing a lot of talking with our fingers at the moment.
Well I'm leaving it here for tonight... Lisa should be posting next week and if I'm not back in two... well... my head probably exploded (hey, you try reading publishing contracts!!!)
Monday, September 22, 2014
Naturally?
Ok... so... the cement work that I said was going down two weeks ago... well it's happening later this week... this time for sure. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls with the help of weather and these so called humans, didn't get the cement work done as planned, but it is coming.
I actually did get the demo of the wall started, then I discovered that the folks that put the HVAC in decided the top of the door frame was an effective way to support the HVAC line, so I had to stop and get a hanger for that... weather and drama ensued and it's going to happen this week.
Two other pieces of sad news... the weather issues included an early freeze that took out the tomato and pepper plants. (Luckily I already have plenty of cayennes drying :) .
As an additional part of the fun I had a run in with a beehive today while trying to cut the lawn... five stings, no anaphylaxis... Vengeance will be mine! (actually everything is in place for vengeance I'm just waiting for first thing in the morning where low light and low temp will have the bees at their least active)
{um Patrick... you do posts with pictures, where are the pictures} Tired of looking at the wall... The above is all the fame the bees get, but yes there are pictures, and a shop experiment of the week!
Back in the good old days you could walk along the beach and find beach glass, pieces of bottles (and better yet glass fishing floats) that had been broken and worn by the sand. Unfortunately as time has moved on less glass is being used and more people are picking up trash on beaches, so there is less beach glass to find (oh, and I don't live anywhere near a beach!) So, last week I set out to create "beach" glass with my tumbler.
This is some of the first batch... The process works and I'm working on improving it.
Now if you are interested (crazy?) enough to do this you'll need some tools. I've already mentioned the tumbler (see previous posts for info on tumblers and silicon carbide grit) and you'll want some course grit (I use 60/90 split grit for this).
You'll want some other tools too...
Safety gear is a must! And no I'm not kidding with the face shield and goggles. Shrapnel constantly drives scientists and engineers nuts because it just doesn't follow the same "laws" of physics as the rest of us! And we will be making shrapnel. In fact meet our shrapnel makers!
The five gallon bucket contains as much shrapnel as possible but some will get out the top. And yes that is a good old "daddy class persuader" my eight pound sledge hammer (note if your man hood (or woman hood I don't discriminate!) is threatened you could use the 16 pounder, but I want to work a little more precise and detailed than that (er...um...precise and sledge hammer in the same sentence...???))
Now collect some glass bottles to put in your bucket.
Remember the total glass we need for one load will fit in a quart container (for a 3lb tumbler), but you might want to break more bottles to get some variety in color and shape... Now release some frustration with that hammer! While you're doing that try to make some interesting shaped pieces (sorry we don't have a definitive size answer yet... that depends on your tumbler and what you want to make...)
There we go, some nice broken glass... now wash that shrapnel out of your hair... and off your cloths... mop the floor... now we can load some in the tumbler barrel. For the first batch I filled 2/3 -3/4 full and used a standard charge of grit. I checked it after one day and ran it for another two.
I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome... but why not experiment more (since I have more glass and all...)
Doing a little research and thinking I decided to try to thicken the slurry, so for batch two I ran three tablespoons of grit and six tablespoons of sugar for two days...
Not really pleased... the grinding wasn't as good (I think one day on the first run did better), so I tossed it in again with more grit and I'm running it till I change the other barrel I'm running, on Saturday...
Some of batch one already has projects waiting and I'm thinking about other ways to play with this: varying time and grit as well as dragging my diamond saws in the mix to control the shape of the pieces that are going in.u
What will I do with it? Well, sculpture and jewelry with brass, bronze, copper (regular and enameled), stainless steel and aluminum (BA and anodized) wire (possible some chain mail in the mix). If I find some stuff that's really worthy I have some silver laying around...
In other news... we are going to pre forgive Lisa for not posting next week (come on, we can forgive her being compelled to give a 50 minute conference presentation at 8:00 AM is punishment enough!). So, I'll take next week and make her talk about her trip when she gets back...
Until next time remember... attack at dawn, that way if things go bad you haven't wasted the whole day!
Update: 9/23/14 Nailed the buggers! In a predawn strike I dumped a whole can of spray on them... No damage to our forces, battle damage assessment on the enemy to be carried out later today (Note: for any NSA/KGB/what ever other forces of paranoia read this I'm talking about stinging insects in my back yard not people! GEEZ! get over yourselves!)
I actually did get the demo of the wall started, then I discovered that the folks that put the HVAC in decided the top of the door frame was an effective way to support the HVAC line, so I had to stop and get a hanger for that... weather and drama ensued and it's going to happen this week.
Two other pieces of sad news... the weather issues included an early freeze that took out the tomato and pepper plants. (Luckily I already have plenty of cayennes drying :) .
As an additional part of the fun I had a run in with a beehive today while trying to cut the lawn... five stings, no anaphylaxis... Vengeance will be mine! (actually everything is in place for vengeance I'm just waiting for first thing in the morning where low light and low temp will have the bees at their least active)
{um Patrick... you do posts with pictures, where are the pictures} Tired of looking at the wall... The above is all the fame the bees get, but yes there are pictures, and a shop experiment of the week!
Back in the good old days you could walk along the beach and find beach glass, pieces of bottles (and better yet glass fishing floats) that had been broken and worn by the sand. Unfortunately as time has moved on less glass is being used and more people are picking up trash on beaches, so there is less beach glass to find (oh, and I don't live anywhere near a beach!) So, last week I set out to create "beach" glass with my tumbler.
This is some of the first batch... The process works and I'm working on improving it.
Now if you are interested (crazy?) enough to do this you'll need some tools. I've already mentioned the tumbler (see previous posts for info on tumblers and silicon carbide grit) and you'll want some course grit (I use 60/90 split grit for this).
You'll want some other tools too...
Safety gear is a must! And no I'm not kidding with the face shield and goggles. Shrapnel constantly drives scientists and engineers nuts because it just doesn't follow the same "laws" of physics as the rest of us! And we will be making shrapnel. In fact meet our shrapnel makers!
The five gallon bucket contains as much shrapnel as possible but some will get out the top. And yes that is a good old "daddy class persuader" my eight pound sledge hammer (note if your man hood (or woman hood I don't discriminate!) is threatened you could use the 16 pounder, but I want to work a little more precise and detailed than that (er...um...precise and sledge hammer in the same sentence...???))
Now collect some glass bottles to put in your bucket.
Remember the total glass we need for one load will fit in a quart container (for a 3lb tumbler), but you might want to break more bottles to get some variety in color and shape... Now release some frustration with that hammer! While you're doing that try to make some interesting shaped pieces (sorry we don't have a definitive size answer yet... that depends on your tumbler and what you want to make...)
There we go, some nice broken glass... now wash that shrapnel out of your hair... and off your cloths... mop the floor... now we can load some in the tumbler barrel. For the first batch I filled 2/3 -3/4 full and used a standard charge of grit. I checked it after one day and ran it for another two.
I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome... but why not experiment more (since I have more glass and all...)
Doing a little research and thinking I decided to try to thicken the slurry, so for batch two I ran three tablespoons of grit and six tablespoons of sugar for two days...
Not really pleased... the grinding wasn't as good (I think one day on the first run did better), so I tossed it in again with more grit and I'm running it till I change the other barrel I'm running, on Saturday...
Some of batch one already has projects waiting and I'm thinking about other ways to play with this: varying time and grit as well as dragging my diamond saws in the mix to control the shape of the pieces that are going in.u
What will I do with it? Well, sculpture and jewelry with brass, bronze, copper (regular and enameled), stainless steel and aluminum (BA and anodized) wire (possible some chain mail in the mix). If I find some stuff that's really worthy I have some silver laying around...
In other news... we are going to pre forgive Lisa for not posting next week (come on, we can forgive her being compelled to give a 50 minute conference presentation at 8:00 AM is punishment enough!). So, I'll take next week and make her talk about her trip when she gets back...
Until next time remember... attack at dawn, that way if things go bad you haven't wasted the whole day!
Update: 9/23/14 Nailed the buggers! In a predawn strike I dumped a whole can of spray on them... No damage to our forces, battle damage assessment on the enemy to be carried out later today (Note: for any NSA/KGB/what ever other forces of paranoia read this I'm talking about stinging insects in my back yard not people! GEEZ! get over yourselves!)
Monday, August 25, 2014
Saw this coming...the simple things are always hard...
Ok... so... my week again...
Last time I talked about needing a new saw...
Well, figured out the best saw for my needs. And that's where it all got complicated...
I found a decent price on a water cooled diamond bladed band saw. It also has optional wood and metal cutting blades (just make sure the clean up is done right!). The thing is it will need to stand on something. Lisa had the idea to put it next to the new drill press that is on my shop list. Then, she suggested I get a bench model drill press and mount both on a new workbench...
Space wise the bench should work out, and would give me a spot to move my swap top rock set up away from some other stuff, and give more storage for the hoard of tool boxes and other goodies that crop up. It turns out that some of the motors for the better bench top drill presses equal the power of the ones on a professional stone carving flex shaft (for those not familiar it's a Dremel on steroids (seriously a Dremel with a 1/3 horse motor and flexible shaft attachment)) and cheaper than the floor model that I was looking at. So the budget works...
The problem is that that wall needs a little cement work...
The first part is no problem, but I might as well get to the whole wall while I'm at it... The thing is this wall is the one that we had some water leakage on early on. It hasn't been a problem because we fixed the outside of the wall, fixed the drainage up to the wall and the mangled hose bib that was leaking against the wall, everything but work on the part inside the wall. It hasn't given us any serious problems since and I've had a couple hundred thousand other things to deal with, but now's the time.
The thing is the inside damage really is inside the wall...
As in it is center mass behind where this inside, happily non load bearing, wall buts up against the cement. That means I get to pull out a door and door frame (hinge pictured); pull out the crappy old (rotted at the bottom) 2x4s on the side; fix the cement; put up new 2x4s (I'm going pressure treated, non rotting, can live against cement 2x4s) and then put the door back up. As you can see there are some webs there so some spiders are making a living on something in the area (but the webs are dust covered and not really maintained so the food source may have dried up when I fixed the outside of the wall). By the way this is in a basement back room that is only used for storage I.E. this is not normal housekeeping!
So good news... New toys coming. Bad news... I'm involved in a work on the house adventure of the kind that is never as simple as you think (Er, um... isn't that all of them [Lisa] {Patrick hangs head} Yes, but this one I can already see is more complicated...)
While we're on the subject of crazy things in basements...
We have here a telephone wire (it's 2014 some people reading this aren't used to land lines) and next to it a fixture of mystery: it's ceramic with a circle that would say old light but instead of a screw in it has three blades inside... I have no idea what it is, but since it's not actually attached to anything I'm not worrying about it, I just want to know what it is... The bit of weirdness is over where the new bench will be and is right in front of another little thing I forgot about.. we have an extra 220 line that ends in a box with a switch (it's safely shut down but could be reactivated if we want to use it (professional checked! I don't mess with that kind of voltage!)). It had been run out through the back wall to a back yard hot tub the last home owners had and was turned off and shut down when they took it out , but I could get a plug mounted on it and have a workshop 220 line... (now I just need $9180 plus shipping and handling and a space for...
A truly ridiculous, but just about the biggest power tool to live in someones home, diamond saw with 36" blade and power feed system! Seriously I have nowhere to put this monster right now... but I still want one! And yes if you get one you need a power feed system... that's a diamond blade it can cut anything, but it's speed is measured in inches per hour and at that rate I don't have the time or patience to shove a two foot long rock into the blade.
Ok, back to reality... We did our version of Titos beef last night... used our first Dragon Cayenne peppers. Definitely hotter that the yellows, and very good!
Back to I can't believe this is really reality... I'm going to be submitting an article for publication this week. So if my next post is completely neurotic I blame the publishers!
Have I put a joke in the post yet? Ok, Two missionaries and the Pope are out fishing...[at this point Lisa shut down the post... See you next week (kidding I shut it down myself, but still see you next week!)]
Update (Tuesday 8/26) I hate being right! (only some times though!) Never quite as simple as you think, but feels good to get stuff done!
Last time I talked about needing a new saw...
Well, figured out the best saw for my needs. And that's where it all got complicated...
I found a decent price on a water cooled diamond bladed band saw. It also has optional wood and metal cutting blades (just make sure the clean up is done right!). The thing is it will need to stand on something. Lisa had the idea to put it next to the new drill press that is on my shop list. Then, she suggested I get a bench model drill press and mount both on a new workbench...
Space wise the bench should work out, and would give me a spot to move my swap top rock set up away from some other stuff, and give more storage for the hoard of tool boxes and other goodies that crop up. It turns out that some of the motors for the better bench top drill presses equal the power of the ones on a professional stone carving flex shaft (for those not familiar it's a Dremel on steroids (seriously a Dremel with a 1/3 horse motor and flexible shaft attachment)) and cheaper than the floor model that I was looking at. So the budget works...
The problem is that that wall needs a little cement work...
The first part is no problem, but I might as well get to the whole wall while I'm at it... The thing is this wall is the one that we had some water leakage on early on. It hasn't been a problem because we fixed the outside of the wall, fixed the drainage up to the wall and the mangled hose bib that was leaking against the wall, everything but work on the part inside the wall. It hasn't given us any serious problems since and I've had a couple hundred thousand other things to deal with, but now's the time.
The thing is the inside damage really is inside the wall...
So good news... New toys coming. Bad news... I'm involved in a work on the house adventure of the kind that is never as simple as you think (Er, um... isn't that all of them [Lisa] {Patrick hangs head} Yes, but this one I can already see is more complicated...)
While we're on the subject of crazy things in basements...
We have here a telephone wire (it's 2014 some people reading this aren't used to land lines) and next to it a fixture of mystery: it's ceramic with a circle that would say old light but instead of a screw in it has three blades inside... I have no idea what it is, but since it's not actually attached to anything I'm not worrying about it, I just want to know what it is... The bit of weirdness is over where the new bench will be and is right in front of another little thing I forgot about.. we have an extra 220 line that ends in a box with a switch (it's safely shut down but could be reactivated if we want to use it (professional checked! I don't mess with that kind of voltage!)). It had been run out through the back wall to a back yard hot tub the last home owners had and was turned off and shut down when they took it out , but I could get a plug mounted on it and have a workshop 220 line... (now I just need $9180 plus shipping and handling and a space for...
A truly ridiculous, but just about the biggest power tool to live in someones home, diamond saw with 36" blade and power feed system! Seriously I have nowhere to put this monster right now... but I still want one! And yes if you get one you need a power feed system... that's a diamond blade it can cut anything, but it's speed is measured in inches per hour and at that rate I don't have the time or patience to shove a two foot long rock into the blade.
Ok, back to reality... We did our version of Titos beef last night... used our first Dragon Cayenne peppers. Definitely hotter that the yellows, and very good!
Back to I can't believe this is really reality... I'm going to be submitting an article for publication this week. So if my next post is completely neurotic I blame the publishers!
Have I put a joke in the post yet? Ok, Two missionaries and the Pope are out fishing...[at this point Lisa shut down the post... See you next week (kidding I shut it down myself, but still see you next week!)]
Update (Tuesday 8/26) I hate being right! (only some times though!) Never quite as simple as you think, but feels good to get stuff done!
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