What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

[teepot]

I went to work for the first time since July 2015. I retired at 62. That was 3 years ago. I made an off hand remark about getting a part time job at the new gun store and range that was going to open to the FFL holder I've been using a couple of months ago. Turns out he was going to be the range manager. So they called me in. Seems I had the job weather I wanted it not. Just might be interesting. Just as long as it doesn't interfere with my rocket addiction, er hobby.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Among other things:

Yes, I am aware many will find it tacky, that was what I was going for.

 

[jqavins]

Above it looks nice. Tacky depends on how much it flashes.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Above it looks nice. Tacky depends on how much it flashes.

I prefer the term “twinkle”

 

[jqavins]

I'd like to see Christmas lights that twinkle. On about 95 or 98 percent of the time, shutting off for only a quarter second at a time, each bulb independently at random intervals.

 

[ewomack]

I came down with something nasty about a month ago that didn't completely clear up until the last week or so. It wasn't covid, so the next best theory involves some kind of resilient flu. Who knows? My wife and I came down with the same thing - she had a negative Covid test, so I figured that my chances of having it seemed slim, so I "borrowed" her results.
In the what seems like a caverous interval, I:
-Read a short book on the Wright Brothers - I didn't know that they failed to keep up with their industry (due to many factors, including the sad early death of Wilbur) and their company more or less dissolved around 1916 - it was a both inspiring and uninspiring read
-Read a book of short stories by the late Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz - someone found a collection of unpublished stories in his papers - he was the first Arabic fiction writer to win the Nobel Prize
-Finished a book on Woodrow Wilson, the 28th book I've read in "The American Presidents Series" - so onward to Warren Harding
-Decided to stop writing reviews on Amazon - I had written 1,107 reviews and accumulated almost 13,000 votes just a few weeks ago and I logged in to find that Amazon had removed more than half of those reviews in a single swish - after having eliminated down votes and comments and making the ranking system overly convoluted, the random removal of reviews managed to stifle the last morsel of fun out of it for me - I wrote my first review in 2000 - I decided that I can probably find better things to do, though I did enjoy the practice for some 20 years
-Played around with Adobe Animate - I had once known Macromedia Flash inside and out, so why not pick up where I left off?
-Ate at a fantastic Tibetan/Japanese restaurant with some friends
-Re-watched "This Is Spinal Tap" for the first time in years - a lot of it was lost on my wife, who missed out on, and was never much of a fan of, the guitar rock years, especially prog rock - I would have to say that the movie now shows its age, but it's still a fun film. It might end up as more of a purely nostalgia movie in the long run
-Bought an awesome plush Angler Fish, along with a gall bladder (I lost mine about 5 years ago) and a Plague doctor
-After not being able to work on my DX3 due to sickness, I realized with much sadness that I will very likely not get it done this year since the freeze has now arrived and I have limited epoxying/painting space, so I may have to wait until next year's thaw - it is almost done, but not enough done...
-Got caught up with this thread... you people are busy!!

 

[TSMILLER]

Up at 3am, off to work at 3:30. Kept my self busy with required training and various inspections on what little crew was in. Off work at 1pm for a quick 15 minute rush home. 3 minute shower and dressed out the door again in 15. 30 minute drive to Portland for the 3 pm TSO concert. 7yo first concert, and our first in 3 years.
(He said he’s not really sure if he liked it or not!)

 

[jqavins]

Well, I'm much better today. Whether it was the (Pfizer) boister or something else, either way I'm better.

Put on a mask at work for the first time in a while. After being so much better on Friday I managed to catch a cold on Saturday. Since the company provided masks while they were mandatory, and I've got a good few left in my desk, I might as well keep the cold to myself.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Went for a run, pretty mundane for the first 5 miles, then I had this conversation with a policeman.

: Do you live this way?
: Yes on Mars Drive.
: You need to go around. There is a guy with a gun running around this neighborhood -points to one between me and my neighborhood-
: You make a compelling argument. -90 degree turn, heart rate goes up about 15 bpm and pace gets really rapid for the next couple miles-

I'm supposed to be tapering for the Dallas Marathon on the 12th, but I decided to make an exception.

 

[hobie1dog]

I went to the foot doctor this morning and got another skin graft on the bottom of my foot, number 10 so far, after that stayed inside as it was too cold just breathing the air going from the car to the condo door. My bronchial tubes started closing up coming back to the doctor's office breathing in sub 50-degree air, which leaves me gasping for air.

 

[DeeRoc29]

Drank wine

 

[Cape Byron]

Out in the rain with Akubra(TM), Drizabone(TM), and Blundstones(TM). I'm so Aussie I bleed red dirt and wallaby poo.

Still, it's the same for everyone. Witness a totally drenched King Parrot eating Davidson plums.

 

[heada]

Took the box out of the clamps, paired down the dovetails and then sanded with 120 grit. Wiped it clean with mineral spirits for a pic.

Need to sand with 180, 220, apply 3 coats of tung oil with 320 and 400 between coats. After all that I'll attach hinges.

 

[cautery]

Began building a custom parallel cable to combine our Honda eu2200i generators' outputs together for boon-docking the RV, emergency power for house, et al.

I put a junction box inline and added a female RV plug to accommodate the Surge Guard (TEP) and the RV power cord. I've placed a thermal breaker in the junction box to protect the generators, as the parallel cable connections BYPASS the generators' internal circuit protection devices.

Overall: (upside down) Still need to terminate the wire ends with right angle plugs and ground terminal. Additionally, the ground and neutral taps on the main "bus" need to be made, insulated and waterproofed. The cable ends are waterproofed with a section of adhesive-lined, heavy-duty shrink tube. The outboard 1/2" was overfilled and tooled back with clear, UV-stable silicone. Then heat was applied to seal. Silicone was extruded during process to insure all voids eliminated. Then it was tooled back flush again and left to cure.

Inside the Junction Box: Note the weatherproof circuit breaker. If you look carefully, you can see the I-bolt in the TOP of the box. This is to hang the junction box between the generators and off the ground. All penetrations to the junction box are sealed to at least IP66, likely IP67.

Be glad when this little side project is done...

 

[John Kemker]

Got one on order from eBay. I'll test it out.

As promised, I tested the :CueCat with Tellico on my Linux daily driver.

At first, I was disappointed because I forgot that the manufacturer had "encrypted" the output to tie you into using their drivers/software. However, a quick Google resolved that with a simple <snip!> of pin 5 of one of the chips, which resulted in just the barcode's digits followed by a <CR> after scanning. Not quite as quick or consistent a read as the laser on my WISard 750/850 or the RM2's scanner that we use at work, but definitely works with Tellico to read the barcode. While most of my vinyl does NOT have a barcode, enough does to make the <$10 :CueCat a worthwhile investment.

 

[jqavins]

Began building a custom parallel cable to combine our Honda eu2200i generators' outputs together...

What are you doing to assure the generators remain in phase?

 

[cautery]

What are you doing to assure the generators remain in phase?

That is Honda's job, not mine. These inverter generators are designed to be used in parallel. They self-sync when you bring them on line according to the ---> (Manual) This is a common practice.... I simply took the construction methods up a notch.

However, I applaud your caution. I will be testing this out one step at a time before actually trying to USE it. Beginning with continuity, opens, shorts, and cross-connections, resistance, etc. of the harness itself.

I have to test the generators individually first to insure that my additions of the propane/natgas conversion AND the hour meters work as intended, et al.
THEN, I will hook them together on the common propane supply setup directly from the trailer frame tap. Then, and only then will I try the parallel harness with no load. Test for proper polarity, voltage, et al. live. THEN, just plug in our Surge Guard (TEP) and let its computer test for polarity, voltage, frequency, phase, etc...

IF ALL that goes well, THEN I will plug the RV into the Surge Guard, and start load testing like I am working up a hot pistol load.... very carefully.

 

[lakeroadster]

Took this photo minutes ago...

 

[OverTheTop]

LMFAO.
Got an SMS from my wife. Cat had brought a large rat into the house. Said rat was still alive and got away. It was attempting to elude the two cats and poodle so was running around and the animals were getting in the way of my wife trying to catch the rat. The rat was almost the size of our small cat if I believe what I have heard. Eventually she catches the rat and since she didn't know what to do with it just threw it over the back fence into the neighbour's yard.

 

[lakeroadster]

LMFAO.
Got an SMS from my wife. Cat had brought a large rat into the house. Said rat was still alive and got away. It was attempting to elude the two cats and poodle so was running around and the animals were getting in the way of my wife trying to catch the rat. The rat was almost the size of our small cat if I believe what I have heard. Eventually she catches the rat and since she didn't know what to do with it just threw it over the back fence into the neighbour's yard.

So your getting your wife a shark bat for Christmas?

 

[hobie1dog]

worked up a serious case of depression over the GD bills that totally destroy the last part of my life. My finances deteriorate at the same rate as my health goes down the shi--er.

 

[jqavins]

LMFAO.
Got an SMS from my wife. Cat had brought a large rat into the house. Said rat was still alive and got away. It was attempting to elude the two cats and poodle so was running around and the animals were getting in the way of my wife trying to catch the rat. The rat was almost the size of our small cat if I believe what I have heard. Eventually she catches the rat and since she didn't know what to do with it just threw it over the back fence into the neighbour's yard.

With any luck, it was sufficiently injured to be easy prey for a snake or raptor or something.

 

[OverTheTop]

Another day, another rat. Nowhere near as exciting when I am home .

 

[teepot]

Went to Home Depot for some light bulbs and see the state of the paint isle. They had paint. Not all the colors but things are looking up. Then I got a hair cut. An exciting day in Pahrump.

 

[hobie1dog]

I moved things around in the garage a little and got the level two rocket back in the middle now the desk where I can work on it some more. Here it is the first of December and going to be 72° tomorrow

 

[OverTheTop]

The ducted heating system now has a new gas control valve fitted. Got it fixed just in time for Summer. Based on November's weather it will come in handy.

 

[hobie1dog]

five of us cigar and pipe guys got together today and sat outside in a parking space outside of the garage and enjoyed the 71° Cloudless sky that we had today in North Carolina.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Lots of work on the travel trailer this week. Among other things, we're upgrading our microwave to a combo microwave/convection oven. The new oven doesn't fit where the old one was, so I have to make a new, larger cabinet for it. I got the demo done & have the new one designed, but I have to hit pause on that project...cuz work calls tomorrow.

Also, my timing getting hired at my airline job continues to work out for me - I got awarded 757 captain today in our ~yearly system bid. It'll probably be a year+ before I do the training to move back to the 757, but I think that means more rocket motors are in my future.

Also, also, I've been doing some backyard astronomy this week & it's been going pretty well. I have about 8 hours of data/images on the Orion Nebula over the last few days, so that's cool. Hopefully I can massage all that into a nice photo.

 

[Cape Byron]

Fell in love...

 

[cautery]

I spent the better part of the day trying to figure out....

Why can no email user, on ANY domain on my cloud server, receive ANY emails from ANY GMAIL user?!?!?!?!?

Answer?? Someone or some process initiated by the people at my hosting service DELETED the IP Address assignments to BOTH of my Nameservers!!!

Thus, said deletions of setups BROKE the resolver chain leading to ALL my domains, user emails, etc, etc, etc.....
Literally a WASTED DAY because some butthead failed to DOCUMENT changes they made to MY server WITHOUT PERMISSION!!!

FRIGGIN' MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to blow something up to blow off some steam!