Laguna Day - Eve Gets a New CNC Machine

Today was a big day here as we got a major shipment. Eve has heard me talking about CNC machines for quite awhile... and once she saw that they could be used for wood it didn't take long for her to realize that if she had one it would speed up the production of things she could make.

This machine has a water cooled spindle... that means it can run for hours without ever overheating. Getting it into the shop was a big deal... it was about 425 pounds (193 Kg) so I had to pull a favor from my buddy Wolf to get it in here.

Wolf also helped me get the shelves up for the controller and water cooling system as well as get it onto the table I built. We were able to get it completely set up and begin testing... very soon we should have video of it in action too. For now... here is Eve showing off her new machine.



The shop is really getting to a high level of completion... soon I'll be able to have friends over for classes and build sessions.

Stay tuned for more!

Sitting in St Louis - 2013

Hard to believe it's 2013 already, and February at that. I'm assigned here in the St Louis area to do some programming for the local Police/Fire, etc. I've been here a week with one more to go. It was a good thing... as I wanted to get to my storage unit and see if there were any small items I could bring back, and perhaps get rid of a few things that I know I'll never use again. Looking at the little 10x15 foot space, it's hard to believe how much is still in there... some things were expensive, but purchased for another life that is no longer a part of me. I wish I could give someone local a key and have them sell some of the things... but everyone here has a life of their own. I'll do what I can... some will end up back in Texas, and I'll have to deal with it there... some will just end up in the dumpster. Friday is a meeting with the robot group again... I'll cram as much electronic stuff as I can into the car and let them pick through it... whatever is left will get tossed.

I got to visit with family and friends, even attend one of the ROBOMO robotics meetings which are now held at the Science Center near downtown. It was great to see the guys again... some of whom did not know that I was in town... I did a presentation just like old times, that was nice. Unfortunately, being at the Science Center... when the meeting was over everyone just went home. When we held the meeting at the library, afterward we would all go to the Chinese Buffet down the street for lunch and have a great time laughing and telling stories. I miss that. I will say that now in Texas I have that again... slightly different... we meet in the evening, so several of us (I all us the Rat Pack) will meet for dinner first... then hit the meeting. So I still get the comradery that I need.

I taught myself a new but familiar programming language... BASIC-4-Android. And to date I have created 3 applications and published two if them. One is a simple link that allows people to jump to my YouTube page... if anyone actually downloads it I'll be surprised... more of a test to see IF I could do it or not. The other may actually be useful to some people... it's DEAFCOM, written to help someone speak to deaf people. It listens to what you say, then converts it to simple text. I still need to figure out how the deaf person could easily communicate back... typing is a pain... and they usually can't speak... so I have a riddle to solve.

So... it's Sunday... it snowed last night and it's cold outside. I was going to hit the storage unit again and go through more stuff... but it's too damned cold and I just don't feel like it right now. I think instead I'll do some laundry and work on some video that I want to produce. I also am designing a new camera jib crane... so I have stuff to occupy my mind for the rest of the day... and it is kind of nice to just have a quiet day to myself.

GoPro Hero 3 Black

Well this was an awesome Christmas... Eve went all out for me this year and got me a GoPro Hero 3 camera. If you don't know what that is... really? Are you serious? Then you need to go to http://gopro.com and check it out. This thing is freaking AWESOME!

Not only did she get the camera... but also some premium accessories too... the battery backpack (and extra housing backs) allows me to take extended videos... even underwater. The LCD backpack let's me use it like a conventional camera with an instant view of what I captured... also with an underwater housing. This camera is so advanced that it has WiFi... this means that it has a remote control... I can put it outside of the car and control it from inside. If that wasn't kool enough... I can even control it with my Sprint HTC phone... including a video preview mode so I can see what the camera sees. How awesome is that?

This thing is TINY too...

2.31 inches (58.6 mm)

Take a look as compared to my other cameras...

Canon A590IS   -   GoPro Hero 3   -   Canon SX130

I have no excuses now... I need to make some killer videos! And as fate would have it... I may get my chance very soon. I have to do some mountain survey work... no roads... we have to go up by helecopter. So stay tuned folks... it could get interesting quick!

I'll do an update when the video is up... I can hardly wait. And yes folks... if we get a day above 70F (21C) then I'm going to the river to try this out under my favorite waterfalls! (I would have gone Christmas day... but I was in Houston with my family.)

There are a couple more items I want to get... the GoPole 24" so I can shoot from a distance... and a web-helmet mount because Mitch Bergsma highly recommends it and shows what it can be used for in his YouTube channel. (He has some great GoPro tips if you are interested.)

That's all for now!
Jerry

Astrology Convention 2012 - New Orleans

It has been a crazy time of the year between the end of April and mid-June. Work has been extremely busy lately, we have a major client with a very high workload. Right in the middle of this I had planned to take a vacation of sorts. Eve does artwork that is astrology based, and this year there was a very large convention in New Orleans which occurs only every 3 to 4 years. The potential to make money was very large.

I say potential because we made a rather large investment in equipment, new laptop, travel expenses, art supplies, booking the convention center, etc. (Even the $3 tip every time you wanted the car... several times a day got old quick.)

We left Texas with high hopes of making a substantial profit... but so far... not so much.  The Chinese were very interested in her stuff and talked about reselling her work in China... if so, that could be just what we needed... so we wait.

New Orleans Trip

But hey... it's New Orleans... I used to live there... and Eve had never been there... so I just had to show her the sights and sounds of the city from Bourbon Street to the Audubon Zoo. Her daughter Jenny came down to visit so we all went out in the evenings and had a great time. Rather than tell you about it... let me share a video!







This video was co-produced by Eve, she picked out the music and took many of the pictures used in the ending. (Watch the whole thing... I think you will like it!)

 My Daughter and Grandkids

I got to visit my daughter Rebecca, her husband Jody, and my three grand-kids... with another on the way. I made a short video... but I was mostly playing catch and chasing the boys around... so i didn't take a lot of video... just a peek at the new house. (They were moving so Grandpaw Jerry helped with the washer and dryer... and chasing kids.)








Thanks for visiting!
Jerry

Eve's Been Busy

Eve has been very busy lately in her garden and around the house. She has been planting and landscaping  more than I have ever seen her or anyone I've known. She added a new workshop so that she could work on her sandblasting and her hypertufa. If you haven't heard of hypertufa, it is a mixture of Portland cement, pearlite, and peat moss. This makes something as hard as cement with only 1/3 the weight which is great for making things like this flowerpot.

She is really wanting to sell her new creations in the local craft fairs.  I'll put more of the craft stuff up later as she gets it ready... right now we are gearing up for a huge astrology convention in New Orleans so the other crafts have to wait. But let me show you around the house and garden a little bit.

Click the image above to see a HUGE version of it... over 3 MEG supersize.

This is the way the front of the house looks now. It was just dry dirt with a few sprigs of grass here and there only a few months ago. Eve doesn't like grass and doesn't like to mow... so she has vowed to transform the whole front lawn into a wonderland. And I believe that she has really accomplished it nicely. The biggest change has to be the back yard however.

Click the image above to see a HUGE version of it... over 7 MEG supersize.

It started off with just a few trees and a simple path to the garage. Over the last month or so she has totally transformed it. If your computer supports the Apple Quicktime plugin, you can take a complete 360 degree tour of what it looked like when her daughter Natilie was down last month here: CLICK ME

I just finished another complete 360 degree tour in even higher resolution so you can zoom in and really take a look around, here is the link for that page: CLICK ME

Here you can see Eve tending to her vines which should start to flower nicely in a couple of months. She has the garden planted so that there are flowers all year long. I do not recall a single day when there was not at least one plant blooming. She puts several hours per day into the care of the garden, and I really appreciate it and all the work she does.

The whole yard is a real wonderland... now we just have to see how it all handles the Texas heat and the drought. So far this year has been much better than last year... but things can change quickly here in Texas so we will watch and wait.

Thanks for joining us, I hope you will visit again on the next update too!

Valentines Day 2012

Usually most of us guys scramble to get our ladies something at the last minute. It isn't something we mean to do... it just happens. This year I did something a bit differently.

Right after Christmas I picked up some chocolate and put it in my closet, a week later I picked up a teddy bear. Every week i got some little thing and added it to my secret stash for Valentine's Day. The Monday before I had it planned... I usually go downtown for one of my clubs, so i would stop and get the balloons... then on the way back I would get the roses from our local store that is open until 1:00 am.

I got in just around midnight, and Eve was winding down for the evening. I decided not to wait until daylight but to surprise her right after Midnight... which was technically Valentine's Day.

I tied balloons to the stairway, set out all the goodies, and got everything ready. Then I called upstairs and said, "Honey can you come down here and help me with something?"

She was like... "Waaat... it's midnight!" I said, "Just for a minute!" She started out the bedroom and actually made it about half way down the stairs before she realized what I did. I managed to surprise her... something not too easy to do.

I took these pictures in the morning...

Now Mother's Day is on the horizon... guess it's time to start over again.

January 25th, 2012 - Working on my Office

Today is a bit slow so I am working on my office. I got tired of tripping over boxes, not finding anything, and not getting anything finished. After thinking about it for awhile I decided to go to IKEA and spend some money I didn't have. I didn't go too crazy... but I got a new wall organizer, new shelving, and while I was at it, a new chair since I do spend about 10 hours a day there. (I mostly work from home now.)

I'm still going through the 40 year collection of electronics "stuff" and will be bringing much of it to the robotics or hackerspace meetings to give away.

Meanwhile... down in Eve's office the cats have found their new favorite place to be for the winter... in front of Eve's space heater. They lay there almost all day long now. Tough life huh?

Not much else to report just yet... should have more interesting stuff very soon as I work some more on the PUMA robot arm and attempt to make it capable of running G-Code... the stuff automated machines use to cut metal and mill 3D shapes. If that works well... things will get very exciting. And from the initial testing... it's looking quite good.




See you all again very soon... one more note...

Remember the plumber incident? Well... I went outside and noticed water running down the outside wall... it was still leaking a tiny bit. Had to call them back, open up the wall a bit more, and do another repair. At least it was under warranty.

January - Plumbers

What's the difference between a bank-robber and a plumber?

I don't know either.

So Eve was telling me that the hose was dripping... fine, I fixed it. She said the faucet on the side of the house was dripping. Okay, no big deal... unscrew it and install a new one $4.95 and ten minutes.

So I get the water shutoff key, turn off the water, and put a pipe wrench on the pipe, I put an adjustable wrench on the faucet and start to turn it... about 1/8 turn and I hear SNAP. Damn it.

They used CPVC in the exterior wall.

Sure enough... turn on the water and it's a fountain out of the wall. Well damn. (Luckily most of the water went outside.) Okay... I'm thinking, cut a hole in the inside wall about 6x6 inches, cut the pipe, do it right, then cover it with an access panel. But decided to call a plumber for an estimate. He was going to be awhile... so I leave Eve at the house and go to Subway with my friend Wolf... figured when I get back the plumber should be there and we will see if he knows another way around it. If so, I'll have him do it...otherwise my friend Wolf and I would just do it.

I get back, he has ALREADY STARTED WORKING because Eve told him to "go ahead" and get started. So I get back and he hands me a clipboard... $375 for this, $120 for that, $50 for this... $500.00 to replace 4 INCHES of pipe in the wall.

Not only that... but he cuts a 16x6 hole in the wall... which really gets me upset, because I had measured EXACTLY where the faucet wa,s and put a thumbtack in the wall to mark it. I was going to cut a 2x2 inch exploratory hole... then check the situation. So yeah... the cover plates at Lowes are 6x9 or 14x14... and now I can't use either. So I have to fabricate something or patch the wall which never looks right. :-(

The pipe fitting was designed to screw to a 2x4 running horizontally in the wall... it provides all the support for the faucet. No... the folks who installed it put the 2x4 toward the outside of the house, drilled a hole through it, and stuck the pipe in from behind. So the two dinky screws are biting into 1/8 inch of wood... no support at all. (And the reason for the failure.)

I step in and attempt to suggest a new mounting method to make sure that it doesn't happen again... but Eve says I should let the guy "do it right". I tell him that I have a complete wood shop... that if he needs a bracket cut just give me the measurement and I'll do it. So he tells me a measurement and I make the cut. I ask him if he wants some screws to secure it, and if he wants me to pre-drill the holes so the piece doesn't split.

No... he has it under control... Eve tells me to go do my workout and that I shouldn't stress over it. Yeah... I'm paying $500 for $20 worth of parts for a $5 faucet replacement. So much for getting the new shelves for my office... or the new CNC equipment I was going to build... put them off until summer now I guess. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

So you can see the job he did... $500. Nice huh? Thankfully Eve got tired of watching him split the lumber with the deck screws he was using and handed him a drill and told him to drill pilot holes or it would be even worse than it is.

Bank Robbers / Plumbers... same damned thing.

Eve's Oasis #7 - The New House

So we are pretty much moved into the new place and Eve wanted to show off her new garden. I started to take some video shorts to make a new "Eve's Oasis" video for her series, but she said that I cut too much out... and that she wanted to let people see how we interact.

So... I shot about an hour's worth of video... and selected the best 1/2 hour or so to share. It covers the old place, lunch after the move, and a detailed tour by Eve of her new gardens.


Eve's Oasis #7



Here is a 360 Degree view of the back yard with the trees planted.

CLICK HERE ... you will need to have Quicktime installed.


Don't forget to leave us your comments below so we can make your visits even better.

Enjoy,
Jerry

Me in the movies???

In the movies...

So today I was Tyler Stapleton... and you might ask... "Who the hell is Tyler Stapleton?" They are filing a movie here in Austin by Andrew Bujalski called "Computer Chess" and on a whim I sent in a picture and offered to be an extra since I know my way around "vintage" computers... I actually owned about 3/4 of the machines they had there... I'm such a geek.

Here are some background references...

http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/project/computer_chess

http://www.computerchessmovie.com/

Anyway... the movie is set in 1979 or 1980... they have wardrobe there... it's all set up... show up and they dress you right? So I throw on a pair of blue jeans, a comfortable shirt, and my favorite black shoes and drive on down for the filming. I arrive and they say that I need to go to wardrobe... I walk in and they look at me, hand me a pair of oversize glasses and say "Your wardrobe is perfect."

My wardrobe?

Damn... I gotta get some new clothing!

They tell me to go two rooms down to get my hair done... my hair is a mess... as usual... so I find my way to the the hair dresser, she looks at me and says, "Oh that's perfect! Head to the waiting area."

Really?

Perfect?

I guess I need to update my haircut too. :-o

There I was all decked out in my "wardrobe" with my "80's hair cut"... ready for shooting. They handed me a name badge and suddenly I was "Kent Stapelton"... one of the electronic maintenance geeks. (Wanna take a wild guess what I do for my real life job? Yeah... Systems Technologist... aka... electronic geek.)

Art imitates life sometimes I guess.

We were at the hotel set from 8:00 in the morning until we finished shooting about 10:30 in the evening. Really, that was a long day... I didn't think I could have any modern devices so I left my phone in the car and my laptop at home... ugg.

They must have liked me... I go back for another day of shooting in the morning, and this time I'm bringing stuff to do between shooting. I met some very interesting people... and I have already been asked about another upcoming film... so if it doesn't interfere with work I may do that too. Who knows... perhaps I'll pick up a real paying gig.

If I get the chance to share any images or other information I'll keep you posted... so now my daughter Rebecca Rutherford won't be the only one in the movies. (Cheesy grin.)

In other news...

Hurricane Irene is pounding the Eastern seashore including the area where my sister Helen and brother Vincent live. Vincent is fairly inland... but Helen's house is only about 3 blocks from the beach... so I am concerned how her home will do against the storm which is due to worsen in the next few hours.

That's all for now... I'll add more as events unfold.

UPDATE: Got a text message from Helen... they are all okay.

Thanks for reading!

Our Big News... The New House!

Well folks here is the story...

Eve sent me an email which simply said, "I love this one." The email had a link to a house for sale... we had figured that it would take us about 5 years to save enough to be able to move into a new house. (We were currently renting a house.) So I was a bit surprised... but I told Eve that we should go look at it... if for no other reason than to get an idea of cost, interest rates, etc.

Eve called up to see about it, and they said that we needed to be pre-approved for the loan... I guess to keep people from wasting their time. We filled out the paperwork just to see where we were... and within a day or so they wrote back that we were approved. That was very encouraging so we set up a date to view the place.

Eve was totally in love with the place... at first I wasn't sure... but I warmed up to it once I started to look around... and the garage would make a very nice workshop... so that was a real plus. (It is slightly larger than my old garage in St Louis.) We put in a bid and it went very well... we needed about $7,000 (4,875 Euro) as a down payment. That was going to be a bit tough to come up with... but we figured that we could do it somehow. Then the lender looked closer at the paperwork... asked us a few questions... and told us that the property was in a RURAL area. Well that really surprised me... there is a swimming pool only 1/2 block away... and a golf course at the end of the road... RURAL area?

Apparently... the old lines on the map had not been changed for decades... because of that little line... we were eligible for some sort of government program... so we could get it for ZERO down payment. (Wow! I know!)

We couldn't pass that offer up... so we went through the loan process... it's official now... we go to closing on Friday, July 29 and start to move on Saturday, July 30. Life is seldom boring around us... so just to make things interesting... I got an email the next day that said that I have classes for work... and needed to fly in on Sunday, July 31st for the week. We have to turn in the keys the following weekend... so it is going to be very busy here on Saturday!!!

Eve and I are packing things now... Saturday we will cram as much as we can into a truck and start bringing as many large things as we can to the new place. We really are fairly lucky... it is only 1.3 miles (2.1 km) away. We will need to get all the big stuff over there Saturday the 30th so that Eve can move everything else while I'm away for work. (She is really going to be tired by next week!)

Once we start moving there will be pictures and videos I am sure. We are putting out the HELP! request to all our friends for next weekend (July 30/31)... it's a tight schedule... but I think we can do it with some help.

---

Here is some info on the new place...

Subdivision :	Plum Creek, Kyle, Texas 78640
County :	Hays
Price :	$160,000 USD	111,400 Euro
Size :	1892 SqFt	175.7 Sq Meters
Year Built :	2000
Lot Size :	0.177 Acres	716.3 Sq Meters
Stories :	2
Bedrooms :	4
Full Bathrooms :	2
Half Bathrooms :	1
Garage :	2 Car, 20 x 22 Ft	6 x 6.7 meters

---

As soon as we get moved in and have the chance... we will post pictures and video with details on the move. We are very excited about this... so wish us luck, or even better... if you can help with the move we would really appreciate it!

The house came with all the appliances... washer, dryer, stove, refrigerator, etc.. so we don't have to move any of that. (Yeay!)

July - Lots of things going on.

This has been a very busy month for Eve and I, she is working on several major artistic projects with her sandblasting and I have been doing some traveling again. This month I went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to do a survey for work. The actual job only took a couple of hours to perform which left me with almost an entire day to explore the area. Having never been there before, I decided to take the ski lift up to the top of Snow King mountain to see the view. If you get out there I really recommend that you do that... it is really nice up there, and there is a great trail that you can walk. It starts at about 7,800 feet above sea level and goes to 8,000 feet. Here is a short video that I made of the trip... some of it was recorded with my new smart phone. I didn't realize at the time that if I share video (live stream) it records in a much lower resolution... so some parts are smaller.

The live streams are online at: http://qik.com/askjerry/videos if you are interested.

Jackson Hole, WY




Back in Texas Eve and I decided to spend some more time back in San Marcos and she tried out her new wetsuit. She has always had a problem with getting cold... so this was the perfect solution. We had no sooner got home than my friend Wolf called and asked if I wanted to go swimming. Since Eve had mentioned that I carry on more like a 16 year old than a 51 year old... I jumped at the chance to show off, have fun, and make another video. For those of you who thought I was kidding about swimming under the rapids, I wore the brightest shirt that I own so you could actually see me do it... enjoy!





The fun and excitement doesn't end there however... my daughter Rebecca had another child... my first grand daughter... so now I have three grandchildren plus Eve's grand daughter for a total of four grand kids! (Wow!)

This is Karmin, she was born July 1st.

Here is Jody, Rebecca, and Karmin all doing very nicely.

Josh (left) and Colby (right) love their new sister.

And here is the whole happy family!

Unfortunately I had to work so I haven't been able to travel out to New Orleans for a visit yet... but I am hoping to be able to visit before too much longer.

Eve and I have a huge project going on... it's all top secret until we know for sure... so stay tuned for more information! We should know in the next week or so... keep your fingers crossed for us!

Can you believe it is already June?

Time really flies lately... I just had a 51st birthday... no party, but we did have a nice breakfast at IHOP. Eve and I have been doing so much with getting her artwork completed and designing new illuminated frames that there hasn't been time for much else lately.

I just got a new certification for work, and R56 Auditor. Basically, it's a 518 page book that tells how a communications site/center is supposed to be grounded and wired. You don't get a lot of time to view the location, so you need to photograph everything, make notes like a madman, then later in the hotel you start writing up very detailed reports. It takes much more time to do the report than the inspection.

The reporting is taking up about 70% of my time now, Eve taking another 20%... so that leaves 10% for everything else... like blogging.

I did make some progress... finally went through the hours of video that I had from Baltimore... about 12 GIG worth... and compressed it down to a YouTube video. So here, finally... are parts 1 and 2 of the April trip for your enjoyment!

PART 1 OF 2


PART 2 OF 2


I hope you enjoy them... to date this is the largest video project I have worked on.

First real Animation with Xtranormal

I have been playing with something called Xtranormal... an animation package that allows you to type text which is converted into a movie. It is a lot of fun... and with some practice you can create some interesting stuff with it.

This was my first real attempt... I wanted to make something for my grand-kids to watch... so I pulled out an audio book from Dr. Seuss and decided to have the "performers" read it to the kids. I think it came out rather nicely... but YouTube already blocked it in Germany... so if they squalk about it too much I may need to delete it.

For the moment... it's here... so enjoy!



Jerry

Note: I did list the video under the terms of "Fair Use"

This is for personal use, no copyright intended.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Much going on... but not much time for Blogging.

I've been doing quite a bit lately... out of town a bunch, working on new software, and playing with something called STATE. State is a software package put out by XTRANORMAL... it allows you to do animations without needing thousand dollar software. It has some limitations... but it's pretty kool. You can do the animations online without the software too... but you won't have as much control as when you do them with State.

I have been playing with putting live or image backgrounds into the animations using Vegas Video, another software package that I use for most of my YouTube work.

I was in Baltimore and took a great deal of video to make some posts... I completed Part 1, but still need to do Part 2. My laptop crashes from the large file size... so I'll need to compress them before I finish the second part. For now however... here is part 1.



I'll have more news when I get a chance to post it... hopefully I'll have some very interesting videos to show you with both real-world and animated actors interacting on the screen.

Houston Rodeo and Mutton Bustin' Time

I was able to get to Houston this weekend to visit my grandkids and my daughter Rebecca who just finished up from doing a movie shoot. We all got together at Rick and Terryann's to see the Houston Rodeo. The main event for us is the Mutton Bustin' which if you ever have seen the cowboys riding a wild horse, is a scaled-down version for kids 4 to 6 years old. Instead of using a horse, they use sheep (Mutton) which is a lot of fun, and can get pretty funny sometimes. My grandkids, Colby (6) and Josh (5) were both riding this year... so I just had to be there.




I had to let you all know that Terryann acted as co-producer on this video... it was fun to put it together and I hope you really enjoy it! The next day Rebecca informed us that she had an ultrasound scheduled... so we went with her on that... the new technology is called "4D" and makes a live 3D image from the data... it's pretty impressive. In this short video... you can see that some kids develop bad habits even before they are born.




We all had a good laugh when we saw that part... so I decided to share. The baby is doing great and should be born this July. The timing works out well... Rebecca has another movie role at the end of July, so she should be back in form by that time. They are shooting the trailers now... with baggy clothing... so it's all good.

I'm in Baltimore for another couple of weeks... the Cherry Blossoms are about ready to bloom... so I may have some video on that soon.

The following video is not mine... but i like his style. I want to save up the $600 in order to get Sony Vegas Video Pro so I can do all sorts of special effects like that. Currently I have the basic $50 version which has a few neat effects... but not quite the vast number of the Pro version. Anyway... check it out, the producer did a really interesting and creative video.



If you like his video... you should check out his video page... he gets a bit wild... but I like his style. ODDBALL's Video Page


Jerry

Baltimore - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

I'm working a project in Baltimore for a few weeks and needed to get out of the hotel for a bit. On Saturday I decided to take a drive to visit the Air and Space Museum. Here is a 15 minute video I put together to show you what is there. You can do a search for "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center" to find out more about it. It's a huge place with hundreds of aircraft and spacecraft inside.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

I also found another video put out by the Smithsonian which is posted here for your enjoyment.




I am going to try something different on this blog... I have added a 360 degree view for those of you with Apple Quicktime installed. If you click this link: CLICK ME  you will be taken to a 360 degree view of the main area that I created from over 16 individual images. If you want to see more virtual reality views please let me know!

Jerry 

Catching up on events - Sandblasting & Canada Trip

I have been swamped with travel the last few weeks... and most hotels will tell you that they have "High Speed" internet. Well... when you attempt to upload a YouTube video and it says "1084 minutes remaining"... that's NOT what I would consider "High Speed".

Anyway... I got back home this Saturday, and before I bolt back to Baltimore for another week... I wanted to get the latest video uploaded. (Plus the remaining Canada Christmas videos.)

Eve got interested in sandblasting... and I don't mean a little bit... she purchased a professional blasting cabinet, a CNC stencil cutter, a photo-exposure setup for photo-resist stencils, and much more. She is starting up a whole business, "Eve's Creations" which she is hoping will allow us to do really well in life. Here is a short video showing the arival of the equipment as well as Eve's first time cutting stone. As you may recall in our last video... we picked up some nice round stones from a local vendor.

Eve Gets Into Sandblasting

And... at long last... here are the four videos from the Canada Christmas that we had with Eve's family. Some of the videos may be a bit long... we had hours of video from our time there, enough that even after edits and such we broke it into four videos!

The Christmas Videos

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4


Have a great day!

Robots, Rocks, Chairs, and some Snow too.

It's been a very busy month for us here in beautiful downtown Kyle TX. There have been a lot of things going on, and we have been gearing up for spring and all that it brings with it. The other night I was at a robotics meeting ( http://therobotgroup.org ) and taught some folks how to program microprocessors.

 

I really like to teach people about electronics and such. Most times they feel that it is likely over their head... that they would have a hard time learning and mastering it. But the truth is that if you start slow... it's not really so bad.

 

We started off by putting a microprocessor into a breadboard (Atmel Tiny-26) and connecting up some LEDs. We made them blink on and off... then we used a Red, Yellow, and Green LED to make a traffic signal. After that I taught how to connect an LCD screen up and make it work.

We programmed the whole thing in a simple to learn language called BASCOM BASIC. So far I have taught about 350 to 400 people how to program like this... and it makes me feel good to know I have helped so many people. The youngest I have taught was about seven years old, and the oldest was in his eighty's.

Not everything was about robotics this time around...

Eve and Sandblasting

Eve is gearing up to start sandblasting perhaps as early as this week... some of the equipment has already come in, and the remainder should get here this week. We are both so very excited about that. Here is a video that sums up our weekend... it's a short video... and I think you'll like it.

Rocks and Chairs
(And Snow too!)

Since we are on the subject of movies... I finally got around to making the first in a series of videos from our Canada vacation this Christmas. This is about 20 minutes long and has lots of family time... there are aslo interesting and amusing videos from downtown and sights to see.

Canada Christmas - Part 1

Enjoy and thanks for the visit!
Jerry

Making Stuff Again

So today I had a friend call me up asking if I could make a part for his Cricket. I had no idea what a Cricket was... turns out it is a little machine to cut paper and such for scrap books.

 He wanted to be able to use it like a plotter to draw on paper. It has these felt tip pens you can get... but he wanted to use a fine tipped pen. Anyway... he came over with the machine, some pen holders, and a piece of aluminum rod stock. I grabbed a piece of graph paper and a pen and started taking measurements and drawing stuff. Before long we had a plan and headed to the lathe.  It feels great to have a lathe again... I REALLY MISSED being able to design and build stuff.

So anyway... off we went to the garage and started making metal pieces fly. (With appropriate safety equipment of course!)

Making the body of the pen holder.

Cutting the notch where the cricket grabs the holder.

Finishing the bottom with a nice 10 degree surface and rounded edges.

The original knife blade (top).

The Pen  (center). Should face the other way.

The finished pen holder (bottom).

The notch on the pen holder is actually perpendicular... 

but it looks angled in the image because of reflections.

From start to finish it was about 3 hours I guess... but we took our time, I explained what different tools did, and probably made it more fancy than I needed too. But it was great to use my hands and tools again. Sorry, no video of this project... I was too busy to operate the camera and turn metal at the same time. Perhaps next time! (I need to make a camera mount on the lathe... there's a project for me.)

Jerry