9:45 AM Update – Father’s Day New panels are in place – done before breakfast as implied: They should make 240W each – which means the only action points (into hour-long blocks) will be removing the old wiring, measure and premake the extensions, mount junction boxes, complete wiring, taping. Memo to DIY home solar builders: … Read More
A short rap on Mental Topologies is a useful (Big Brain People) prequel today. “Regular” understanding of IQ as a semi-Gaussian normal distribution” among humans is oh so terribly flawed I could just wet myself. See, dimensioning humans (rendering concepts down to 2D) is hopeless Reductionism for the mentally short-changed. Multispectral Humanity becomes apparent as a … Read More
Money first. Then a ton of interesting projects that keep us busy. We’ll do a “photo-stroll” around the shop (as of Tuesday morning) so you can get more of a feel for what Making and Doing are like outside the confines of cubicles and 300 square-foot living spaces. And why retired is usual just tired. Hosed … Read More
With the return of George2 (KF7OCD) to family lands, the interest in having a “rock-em-sock-em winter on the low frequency ham radio bands is back in focus. There’s a whole PowerPoint on what needs to be done. But when it’s warm is a great time to launch antennas into trees. Or, climbing gear-equipped sons. It’s axiomatic … Read More
Yeah, well…since we do call this the ShopTalk column, every once in a so-often, we like to actually build something. Big, important, flexible, resilience oriented toward local manufacturing and sustainability builds. What we’re doing today is a whole “soup to nuts” build of a Sainsmart 3018 Pro CNC that I’ve had sitting in the project queue … Read More
Although I got the major PITA project I’ve been putting off partly done Saturday, the real satisfaction came from wiring up the BBQ outlet this week. However, it was a fine study in how “little projects” can turn into Big ones on the clock. The idea sounded simple enough. We had run an extension cord from … Read More
My consigliere – a wizened tax attorney – is more than slightly savvy on Money. He was projecting an “economic showdown with China” as early as 1979. And here we are… So, when he called to talk about the “hollow money” problem – we both (being students of Long Wave Economics – knew exactly what … Read More
Three smallish data points today kick off our Reality Review. These are not the most gossiped thing on social, which focuses on anything Orange, and stories like Dalai Lama, 87, apologises after kissing young boy on the lips and asking child to ‘suck’ his tongue. Thanks, pass. Well, sort of… Smaller stories – the ones that get glossed over … Read More
Prepping note: The battery on the old Kubota is on its last legs. It’s a 51-R series, and they ain’t cheap. So, I was trying to get the maximum possible service life out of it. Put it on an 8-amp charger and then got into some pulse charging on top of that… Even after 2 … Read More
Ah, the Country Life. Yessir, if you live in the Big City, it’s a dream. Why, just imagine! Eating fresh food out of your own garden. Pure country air. No traffic noises. Low stress. Ultimately relaxing and rewarding…. Well, no. Not exactly. During our ShopTalk Sunday adventures will tell you the upside – and the downsides … Read More
Although I got a lot done this week, including some long-winded columns both here and on the Peoplenomics site, the two greatest accomplishments in making for a better spring were getting our income taxes done and repairing the lawnmower. “Wait? The NEW Mower?“ Yeah, buddy. The NEW mower. Which we bought from Lowes, and which … Read More
“The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” says an old (Ure) family saying. Further on it says “And it’s lined with idiots watching…” Now, we’re thinking the Road routes through Florida. At issue are misleading headlines. Like Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state | WFLA. … Read More
The ShopTalk Sunday column is about making things to eat. But not just any things. There’s the whole aspect of doing of things to perfection woven into the mix, too. Which leads directly to Tuesday’s disaster which rippled to within inches of becoming a $249 Chocolate Chip Cookie. However, many “Foodie” things are “cooking” here. 1- We will … Read More