Shop, Workbench, and Desktop Discipline

Since we’re going into the “slow holiday weeks” I thought it would be useful to work on self-discipline.  Which by extension includes organization  of “life parts:” in addition to finances.. 

This came up because my consigliere will be visiting from this weekend and over the Thanksgiving period.  Not a big deal, but I decided to clean up my office-lab-electronics-and ham radio room.   It was while doing this, I had some remarkable insights into one of my own character flaws.  But also a revelation about why some people are intrinsically organized while others…well…not so much.

After we get through charts and a few headlines.

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11 thoughts on “Shop, Workbench, and Desktop Discipline”

  1. This resonates with me, “Never buy anything that you don’t have a storage spot for, in advance!” My wife is a hobbyist and tends to be a collector. At the first of me hearing about some new shelf or table or new machine, that is exactly what I ask. What needs to go before the “new” item is added. That has helped in keeping the general clutter down and sometimes making the decision the “new” item is unnecessary. We don’t have the normal shed, basement, garage, or shop where much of this stuff would go to die and I refuse to even consider storage units. I see some many friends and family where those spaces become unusable with all the clutter. Also has helped bring some monies back to the household, where some of the old is sold on ebay.

  2. Trying to find the next “best 10-year investment….Ideas..
    AI – driving chip, design and software design, one play is companies that offer AI acceleration in their clouds (google, microsoft, others?). Companies on leading edge of AI acceleration hardware.
    Wireless – everything in world going wireless, SpaceX and starlink come to mind as a innovator in wireless internet, though I am not sure there is an investment play until they spin starlink off and go public.
    Elder care – Our population is aging rapidly, maybe assisted community companies. Not sure how to play the healthcare here with single payer eventually coming.
    Robotics – Companies that release tech to replace the intricate human hands at a factory speed. Have to figure companies like Foxconn will be at the leading edge here.
    Distance learning – People will come to realize most skills can be acquired using distance learning vs being onsite at a college and paying those giant costs. Still a place necessary for hands on skills, but that is probably less then 10% of most degree programs. Not sure of leader here, important for the successful ones, employers are employing graduates of those programs.

    • regarding wireless…..5G is a massive health disaster, health risks are real but not being discussed. Also the energy gains in efficiency will be lost in the tsunami of high-power transmitters that need to be installed every 3-5 houses. Or how about 3D mapping of all homes globally. Privacy eviscerated….
      5G fails on all fronts

      • “…..5G is a massive health disaster, health risks are real but not being discussed. ”

        War…. Sadly I have to agree… but then all of our technological improvements has a negative affect on our physical and mental health…

        from the massive EMF in cities.. ( ever wonder why there is so much anger and paranoia . Among the more commonly reported changes are sleep disturbance/insomnia, headache, depression/depressive symptoms, fatigue/tiredness, dysesthesia, concentration/attention dysfunction, memory changes, dizziness, irritability, loss of appetite/body weight, restlessness/anxiety, nausea, skin burning/tingling/dermographism and EEG changes. In summary, then, the mechanism of action of microwave EMFs, the role of the VGCCs in the brain, the impact of non-thermal EMFs on the brain, extensive epidemiological studies performed over the past 50 years, and five criteria testing for causality, all collectively show that various non-thermal microwave EMF exposures produce diverse neuropsychiatric effects. ) … 5g.. although it will be hazardous won’t be anymore hazardous than the new smartmeter your home has or the cell phone satalite television, the rays from the sun..or fukishima or gernoble … I actually read some pretty scary reports on fukishima and to this day won’t visit the PNW or buy wild caught fish…

        the list of studies is way to long to share.. but from what I have read I don’t think the affects will be much different than what we have now..
        the study that got my attention and concern was the one on the fukishima radiation on the pnw and the curiosity that was displayed on when they could see a rise in cancers.. it is being monitored I am sure just not public sometimes ignorance is bliss kind of like the Ed Gein investigation report.. I wished I had never read that. it makes me sad every time I think of a monster like that .. the reports and studies I have read are long gone.. similar to the ones that I had read on Mad cow disease.. those vanished almost in lightning speed.. as fast as the material on child trafficing in the NE among high rollers vanished….

    • The title of the following Washington Post article is “Democrats are Moving Left. Will America Follow?” Seeing the future requires pragmatism, not emotion. After the shouting is over, what is the compromise and what will the people do? The article might provide some useful ideas that lead to opportunities.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2019/11/12/democrats-are-moving-left-will-america-follow-perspectives-partys-dramatic-turn/

      My prediction is we’re entering an era where pronouns like “us” and “we” will be more sociably acceptable than “I” and “my”. People are tired of greed, but equally afraid of not being able to care for their families. I predict there will be a large social backlash to secure jobs over profits.

  3. Nothing can replace the exchange of learning between a motivated professor and an engaged student. Went to buy a television last night and saw a very large flat screen that was only 1/4″ thick. We’re getting close to better teleconference software and hardware that will do away with the fifth wall…no more front desks, offices, conference rooms, or classrooms. Ready for a world where avatar contacts become legal entities? It will also whittle down the number of professional students seeking higher degrees as it takes a special kind of discipline to successfully complete online classes. In time, professors will become the celebrities, and universities will become talent managers or celebrity agents.

    • On their surface, Joe, I hope not…. But I bet you intend quality will rise to the top and the current nonsense in general academia will fall away.
      I am witness to a similar effect in the building trades developing right now… It is that these people I mention are growing via instagram and YouTube. We shall see!

  4. China’s protest of the Senate passage of HR 3289 (the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019) is about the most strongly-worded diplomatic dispatch I’ve ever seen, short of a Declaration of War. I dunno if China doesn’t realize a “Resolution” is a “position piece” and has no actual force in U.S. Law, or if they’re SO touchy over HK that they refuse to permit any mention of it, whatsoever…

    Eric Ciaramella is a Democrat “operative.” Alex Vindman is a Democrat “agent.” They were both “White House leakers.” Vindman is also dirty. He has been “accepting benefits” from both the Russians and the Ukrainians for years, and is also believed to have been reaping “petro-benefits,” rumored to be from sources closer to Tehran than Moscow, although I haven’t yet found a corroborating trail to the accusation or the beneficiary. His attempt to modify the transcript of the Trump-Zelensky July phone call is the reason all such calls got transferred to a secure WH server (to which he had no access, which is why the media calls it “extra-secure.”)

    IMO he’s also a weenie…

    That’s an extremely tame personal assessment. For personal assessments of Vindman which are a lot less nice than mine, y’all can drop in on any Veteran- or Service-related forum or messageboard…

    I’m getting “double vision,” looking at all them thar trend channels.

    I’d guess “cycler” describes my style, too. I generally don’t put any tools away while I’m working on the project for which I got them out. Living around garages whilst still wet behind the ears, I learned the “clean and put away every tool, before you leave, every day” school of thought, but that seemed a waste. The idea of wasting a half-hour of potential productive time during the day to go to the racks & toolboxes, and another 20 minutes at the end of the day, just never made sense to me. I don’t like working on dirty or greasy jobs. I will clean the piece to be worked-on, if I can, and periodically wipe down tools, when I can’t. By the end of the day, the tools are clean, and the ones I’m going to need to use, on-site. One project, one tool pile; three projects, three tool piles, and each pile localized to the area or bench where work is being done (except for outside jobs, of course…)

    My desktop has a folder for “text and pdfs,” one for “media,” one for “executables,” one for “links,” and one for “misc.” Once every 6 months I sort my couple-hundred accumulated desktop icons into these folders. Every second sort, I sort and cull the folders’ contents, dropping them into more-specialized sub-folders. The July (work season) cleanup takes a couple minutes. The January (hibernation season) cleanup may take an hour or more (I do not delete the culls until I review, reread, or run a “virtual execute” on them…)

    • “Eric Ciaramella is a Democrat “operative.”
      Doe anyone find it strange that his name is CIAramella?
      Is this a calling card?
      ‘Operation Paperclip’ appears alive and well!

  5. G the few photos you have shared of your shop always looks like an adventure is unfolding. Don’t do anything to it. When do you have too many tools? Never.

    A huge bench is indeed the ONLY way to go. You just have to be careful with the age-old unwritten law. “All flat surfaces will become a catch-all.” If you can’t store it away don’t even think about setting on my bench(s). I know tough one to follow.

    The electronics bench is in the house in the toy room. Recycled kichen counters and cabinets from a previous remodel. That is where the clean work on electronic equipment and pew pew pew gear is done. Door has a seriously strong lock on it also.

  6. Dad organized his tools by toolbox. For each area he had an interest in keeping tools for, he had a small toolbox. I have gone a step beyond that. I use plastic clothes baskets to organize tools for outdoor activities. Outdoor hand tools tend to be a lot bigger than garage/shop hand tools. Fencing tools are relatively large and specialized, so dedicating a basket to those tools and supplies makes sense. I have another basket for hand cutting, pruning and persuasion tools (with a blacksmith’s hammer or a pry bar being an examples of a persuasion tool). I still like a canvas tool bag and nylon tool rolls for a compact toolkit.
    I have a couple of options for carrying tools without powered vehicles. I have a broken wheelbarrow, which I need to repair, and a bicycle trailer which doubles as a hand cart. I really need to get one of those large two wheel lawn carts which can carry a good-sized load of wood. Moving tools and supplies around quietly without powered vehicles is a useful capability.

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