One year ago today: April 6, 2014, on robot war.
Five years ago today: April 6, 2010, on Jimmy Buffett.
Ten years ago today: April 6, 2005, bad computer school.
MORNING
JZ and I did not make the Broward County Fair. Maybe he went alone, but knowing his character, I doubt it. We’ve traditionally gone there looking for women, but the results must mean that, too, is looking in the wrong places. Little joke there, folks. It is a calcified fact that in all these years, we’ve never yet met any women at that event. We do most other places we go, but not there.
I’m taking the morning off to think. And to build a wooden gear train that is the first destined to be connected to an Arduino. A straightforward little mechanism that turns the gears in a direction at a speed determined by a sensor or sensors. And that’s a gear, not an ordinary wheel, there, Nova. And to think about a day trip somewhere. It is easier, for a fact, to meet women further north from here and I do indeed like to meet women.
Chasing women should be all fun, but it isn’t. Not after a certain age. How so? Older women get more demanding financially instead of emotionally, but can't tell the difference. "If you really loved me you'd buy me something." They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I’d also add that it [what doesn't kill you] makes some people far harder to get along with. If I didn’t define that exactly, just think of the number of people you’ve met who are tough company with because they’ve “seen it all”. That’s sort of my meaning.
I understand that by age forty, every woman has been through the meatgrinder. I also understand that is the only type of women who still “like” men who are like me—but I rarely like them back. Maybe that is why I base so much on attitude, hey, I’ve been through the meatgrinder myself. Writing about it isn’t the same as going around hating people, so don't call me names. I’m not saying anyone has a right to be cruel and bitter (but if they did I’d have a darn good claim myself), but I am saying that more people will get unjustifiably overcautious than will revamp their selection process.
As for plans, JZ called to say he had gone out fishing instead, but we have a tentative option to look at a property in Lake Worth next week. And with JZ, such options are very tentative. We found a fixer-upper in Ft. Worth but need to check it out. He reports there are bad neighborhoods up there. I’ve only been in the downtown.
NOON
“I just want silence. It doesn’t mean I don’t like you, it just means right now I like silence more.” --Sam Halpern
Virgin Mobile bites. But the price is right and there is no contract. I miss around a third of my calls. The phone doesn’t ring and I’m right there. Two to twelve hours later, I get a text message about missed calls. It is rather amazing how many nincompoops think texting is something new. I decided to find something to do today, in the $25 price range, maybe a fancy museum, or a play. Nothing, that’s what I found. Zero.
Emulate the power on button. Then the shutter release. That’s it. The camera can proceed to turn itself off and otherwise operate as normal. There’s work involved finding out the default sets and such once the camera turns on. I’m doing that now and I have all afternoon.
I looked into robotics for its academic value and learned a lot about using small electric tools. Never said otherwise, but I see it would be helpful to remind a few people that what holds my interest has nothing to do with flying over-priced toy airplanes around in a circle. I was as unclear on the distinction as the next guy when I started. But that was then. At least I started.
AFTERNOON
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. We learned our welder is not strong enough to create a solid joint against metal plate more than 1/4” thick. It cannot heat the plate enough to make the plasma material “stick”. Hence we put in another hour on the scooter muffler today. This photo shows the referenced plate and the shiny spot where the muffler mount broke off on the first Hollywood style pothole.
It’s quiet, almost silent. I call it the “stealth” muffler. The muggy summer arrived already this year so this was a 2-1/4 quart iced tea job. Experience tells us if the muffler assembly holds up for a week, it will be good for two years.
The blast furnace heat caused us to zip indoors several times, at which point the talk turned to the new wooden gears. Manufactured y’day, they are prime examples that experience counts. Cut on the same jig with the same pattern, they look just as rustic as the original set. But dang, they mesh perfectly and work great the first time. Also we have dispensed with cutting spokes on prototypes. Spokes are difficult to cut and make very little difference.
EVENING
I’m denied permission to say how much this cost but it was expensive. The bike frame is completely dismantled, it is a fluke that another bicycle got into the background of these photos. You are looking at the green thing with the oblong aluminum box now welded into cutouts on the factory frame.
If, like myself, you suspect this weakens the other frame, nope. It can’t be seen directly, but that large plate in the middle of the box is ¼” aluminum and it is ultra-solid. The frame is definitely stronger than before, however strong that was. Like, how should I know?
The casing will hold 440 of the standard battery cells, that’s 220 per side. In the third photo you can see a pack of 80 batteries. These batteries are identical to what is inside the “battery pack” of most computers and portable disk players. These are soldered together using the spool of welding wire we bought by mistake last year.
I remind the reader this electric bike is not a club project. The resources of the club are available for private work, that is the only connection. I think it would be wiser to convert a small dirt bike frame. All the other systems are in place and if the gasoline motor is removed, there is plenty of space in there for electrics.
However, it could be said that I should buy components that I regularly build for my research, such as gears. You don’t learn much when you do that. The failed muffler weld taught us something. Want to hear it? Of course you do.
The bicycle lock that was to be welded to the trailer tongue is a no go. That metal, like the muffler mount, is too thick to take a weld. A fat enough bad guy, and the food stamp program makes sure we have lots, could just stand on the weld and break it. Hence, it is back to the drawing board to design a locking device that is bolted in place, and then the bolts can be welded. As for the metal, it’s the same old story. We saw all types of bed frames thrown out. But when we need one, no luck.
Up near the Russian market we found one in the alley this morning, but the full length bars can’t be carried. In the time it took to race home, me to get the battery-powered grinder and him to get the cutting wheel, the frame was gone when we got back. So there, guys, it isn’t just you.
Last for today, beware of on-line sources that say converting a camera to time lapse is easy. That appears to be only true when you have a brand of camera where the various switches that control the operations are clearly known and the metallic power lugs are exposed in a way in which you can solder them. In other words, stay away from a Vivitar. Even the battery compartment on those things is wired funny.
Last Laugh
You got a better picture? Let's see it.
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