Indeed
So I had a super awesome weekend. Sadly it did not have an Aaron in it. It did however have grilled things. Grilled using plant matter of old. And covered in sauces. So much delicious barbq sauce. Not being one to just enjoy what was on there. I poured the stuff all over. My new favorite food is rice with bbq sauce. Though I bet I would like it with something like A1 as well. To be tried soon. I got some metal work done. It is always an adventure. As I don't have some reasonably basic things, like a bench vice. I've started to realize that a brick an duct tape is almost as good. As long as you put enough weight on top of whatever you want to stay still it doesn't move much. The problem tends to manifest itself in fine adjustments. Those suck. Then there is the lack of band saw. I can use the trim saw, but that will usually bend whatever I'm working on into a wavy mess. Or I can spend an hour with a hack saw. Being a person who would only do this if they were day dreaming the whole time and took off one of their hands with the slice of metal, this is an option that I haven't invested much time into.
My brother and I did some dumpster diving. We found the gears that we were looking for. Any day now they will be used to make a 1:2 rotation ratio for the phonocrank. Bringing it down to a nice leisurely turn. Though while bringing up what I wanted the gears for my brother suggested a band. Even though we found gears, I still like the band idea better. I can make a wheel. We even found bands. Now the question is which one will be used? Gears do have an advantage of needing less space. Though with a band it doesn't have to be as accurate. I'll bring both up and we'll just have to see which one makes it through. Speaking of windup toys. Another plan for this is to get a big spring that would be able to turn the generator for long enough to play for at least a few minutes. Still not sure where to find said spring. But with luck one will turn up. A phonocrank would be this:
http://brassgoggles.co.uk/blog/200805/the-history-of-the-phonocrank
Aaron took me on a picnic. We dressed up (just a little like pirates) and brought a big loaf of bread, with some salami and mustard to the park. We made sandwiches and ate them with cherry soda. We brought the phonocrank along, and it played old player piano music for us. A guy took our picture, and said he would send it to us, but he never did. The lies! None the less I had a super awesome time, it was a nice sunny day, and we found a spot under a tree. We ate cookies as well. And gave some to Liz who wasn't feeling well at the time. We also met some Mexican guy. He is about ten feet tall and made of bronze. Still it was nice to talk to him. Sadly he only spoke of the old days. And really wanted to eat all the salami. We decided that it was best to just move along, and hope that he wouldn't follow us. He did make a valiant effort, but being attached to a forty ton foundation eventually won out.
Aaron also pointed out a delightful thing. As I was getting ready for work one day, I was talking to him. He goes to work later than I do, so he was still in bed. I asked him how he had slept. He told me "Well, aside from you trying to shove me off the bed." Now I've only once shoved him off the bed in my sleep. Somehow doing this one time, then following it up by trying to do it many more times gets people talk about it constantly. He went on to point out "Not only did you try to shove me off the bed, you took all the blankets...and the sheets." I suggested if I was trying to shove him off the bed why would I need to take the blankets? "You put such an effort into shoving me off the bed that you push the blankets the other way. See." He says presenting some weak evidence that a third of the bed is now just mattress. Having no memory of any of these events, I'm pretty sure that he just makes them up and plants evidence to support his claims. None the less, he does tell the most delightful of stories.
By the way, everyone needs to watch this when it comes out:
http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/syfy-sharktopus-trailer-video.html
At work there was a lively discussion about the best method in replacing the water in a watermelon with vodka. I believe there was a split. One group suggesting drilling many small holes, and filling each with vodka. The other suggesting just drinking the vodka until one wasn't sure what the watermelon had in it. I was also given a giant piece of packing material as a gift today.
My brother and I did some dumpster diving. We found the gears that we were looking for. Any day now they will be used to make a 1:2 rotation ratio for the phonocrank. Bringing it down to a nice leisurely turn. Though while bringing up what I wanted the gears for my brother suggested a band. Even though we found gears, I still like the band idea better. I can make a wheel. We even found bands. Now the question is which one will be used? Gears do have an advantage of needing less space. Though with a band it doesn't have to be as accurate. I'll bring both up and we'll just have to see which one makes it through. Speaking of windup toys. Another plan for this is to get a big spring that would be able to turn the generator for long enough to play for at least a few minutes. Still not sure where to find said spring. But with luck one will turn up. A phonocrank would be this:
http://brassgoggles.co.uk/blog/200805/the-history-of-the-phonocrank
Aaron took me on a picnic. We dressed up (just a little like pirates) and brought a big loaf of bread, with some salami and mustard to the park. We made sandwiches and ate them with cherry soda. We brought the phonocrank along, and it played old player piano music for us. A guy took our picture, and said he would send it to us, but he never did. The lies! None the less I had a super awesome time, it was a nice sunny day, and we found a spot under a tree. We ate cookies as well. And gave some to Liz who wasn't feeling well at the time. We also met some Mexican guy. He is about ten feet tall and made of bronze. Still it was nice to talk to him. Sadly he only spoke of the old days. And really wanted to eat all the salami. We decided that it was best to just move along, and hope that he wouldn't follow us. He did make a valiant effort, but being attached to a forty ton foundation eventually won out.
Aaron also pointed out a delightful thing. As I was getting ready for work one day, I was talking to him. He goes to work later than I do, so he was still in bed. I asked him how he had slept. He told me "Well, aside from you trying to shove me off the bed." Now I've only once shoved him off the bed in my sleep. Somehow doing this one time, then following it up by trying to do it many more times gets people talk about it constantly. He went on to point out "Not only did you try to shove me off the bed, you took all the blankets...and the sheets." I suggested if I was trying to shove him off the bed why would I need to take the blankets? "You put such an effort into shoving me off the bed that you push the blankets the other way. See." He says presenting some weak evidence that a third of the bed is now just mattress. Having no memory of any of these events, I'm pretty sure that he just makes them up and plants evidence to support his claims. None the less, he does tell the most delightful of stories.
By the way, everyone needs to watch this when it comes out:
http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/syfy-sharktopus-trailer-video.html
At work there was a lively discussion about the best method in replacing the water in a watermelon with vodka. I believe there was a split. One group suggesting drilling many small holes, and filling each with vodka. The other suggesting just drinking the vodka until one wasn't sure what the watermelon had in it. I was also given a giant piece of packing material as a gift today.