My shopping was at the local art store, the only place to get certain products and while I was there I found this block of modeling clay. Known generically as “Plasticine” when I was a kid, I would have thought the stuff was dirt cheap. I mean, it is dirt, isn’t it? Turns out it isn’t real clay at all. And it isn’t cheap. The slab I’m holding is $2.79 worth. It came is an impressive array of colors.
At that price, I had to look into it. The formula for this stuff is a secret as it is designed to not bend under movie camera lights, but will bake solid at higher temperatures. What? Okay, in your oven, 230 degrees F, for 30 minutes. The various brands of model clay you can make at home are entirely different, most of the recipes call for an entire cup of salt, making it potentially dangerous for kids. Most unusual use of plasticine? They put a strip of it at the foul line for Olympic jumpers. If the athlete’s shoe leaves a mark, the jump is disqualified. And tidbits like that are what keep us coming back.
Interestingly, the proliferation of cameras (cell phone camcorders) in the previous few years has resulted in a decline in UFO sightings. In 2006, I was practically the only person who carried a digital camera with me at all times. I kept it on a lanyard around my neck as phone cameras were not yet available. To this day I still carry it that way. Old-fashioned? Nope. The phones were too slow to get on the store shelves in time to convert me.
“The Letter”is the Joe Cocker tune I’ve been knocking myself out over. Part of the challenge is (once again) that it is a style of muddy, rapid-fire, finger-rippling, indistinct type of bass playing that I normally would not touch. One school of thought says watch videos of live performances, where studio tricks cannot abound. But narrow-minded cameramen rarely zoom in on the bass player while anything else is going on within 300 feet. I’m quite the contrary bassman, playing every note as distinctively as possible. I can play the lines, but you know what they say: A good bass player is one who can play 64th notes, but doesn’t.
I also tussled with Cocker’s version of “Feelin’ Alright”, one of the greatest bass lines ever written by my hero, Carol Kaye. I just don’t have her touch. Listen to “These Boots Were Made For Walking” with Nancy Sinatra accompanying Carol and that is the sound I strive for. Nobody anywhere who plays a bass with their fingertips will ever be as great as Carol. That includes me. In the end, I may opt for the simpler bass runs from the version by Gladys Knight.
An early morning rain shower gave me a chance to hunt down and trap that $38 discrepancy on my books that was bugging me. No matter what I did, the accounts did not balance. It isn’t the $38, it is the chance of it being the result of a more serious error. Well, I found it. One of the formula fields in one obscure account had not been expanded to include the two extra lines added each month for an adjusting entry. Two hours later.
ADDENDUM
I like small power tools, in particular electric types. Those who say you must learn hand tools first are liars. There is no truth that you’ll cut a straighter board with a power saw if you first learned on a hand saw. Yeah, I fell for that tale, but only once when I was a kid. Yet, I have no background in power tools. That makes me self-taught and probably inefficient. Unlike a lot of people who don’t realize how convenient small tools are, I fully appreciate the invention.
This sudden interest in power tools is a backup for the 3D printer. The club has decided all the available printers are either too cheap or too expensive. They are too new and need some time. But they are here to stay. Congratulations MakerBot, who just sold out for $400 million. If a 3D printer shows up here, it will be something I bought on my own.
Live and learn. The beautiful club drill press finally revealed why we got it for $200 off. It took a while, but between noticing a slight burning smell when drilling wood, and a little too much sawdust on the table, I found it. The drill shaft is slightly bent, causing bit wobble. This is consistent with the tool being struck from the side. While it works fine on larger projects, the wobble becomes increasingly noticeable at PCB sizes. It can still be used for most work that does not require excessive precision.
Look closely at this test wrap to see the value of testing. Shown here is the 28ga jewel wire on a 22ga copper lead. The stock wrapping tool has a much easier time dealing with this more flexible product, but notice how it puts just 8 wraps rather than the orthodox 10. And it often messes up the eighth wrap as shown here. The base wire is round where most component leads are rectangular. This means the wraps cannot “bite” into the edges of the core as is supposed to happen. However, the joint is tight enough and the wire tests for very low resistance, meaning mechanically it is sound.
