What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

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Went out shopping for a new farm trailer and while there are two relatively local trailer manufacturers, both of them produce weld that look like someone snorted hot steel and then sneezed it violently into joints and crevices. This does not inspire my confidence, but I'm determined to buy an Australian product.
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Aside from going to the MDRA launch on Saturday, I've been taking a small break from rockets to build my Lego space shuttle and a couple of other nice sets I ordered, as well as playing Stellaris with the new 3.0 update and Nemesis expansion.
 
Years ago, a former colleague hit on a brilliant weld inspection strategy for shipyard inspections. At the beginning of the project, she asked the yard to make a sample weld that everyone could agree was the minimum acceptable quality. Naturally, since they were making a sample, the welders did a nice job, so the established standard was pretty good. She only had to ask the yard to bring out the sample weld a few times and even then they just caved and re-did the weld without comparing to the sample.

Out here, the going rate seems to be about $25/hour plus overtime and benefits.
 
Tried to pack a rolled up piece of wall paper my grandmother had saved for me (it's hysterical, I have no idea where or how she'd gotten it... metallic silver with "F*** (insert random thing)" written all over it in different fonts) so I could take it home in my checked bag without ruining it.
I could only find mailer tubes longer than my duffel bag, but I got them anyhow. My mother lamented our new errand to a post office.

My exact words:
"Mom, don't worry. I have the exact skillset required here. It's almost like I've been preparing for this moment for months."

Got back to the house we were staying in, pulled out the saw blade on my pocket knife, and cut a nice, straight section off, leaving exactly the planned 1/8" clearance for the wallpaper roll with the lid in place (and it fit on the cut end perfectly).

 
Tried to pack a rolled up piece of wall paper my grandmother had saved for me (it's hysterical, I have no idea where or how she'd gotten it... metallic silver with "F*** (insert random thing)" written all over it in different fonts) so I could take it home in my checked bag without ruining it.

It’s always good when your family “gets you.”
 
The local trailer guys must be getting about $1.75/Hr...
There's only so bad the guy in the story could bring himself to do.
Years ago, a former colleague hit on a brilliant weld inspection strategy for shipyard inspections...
Sheer brilliance!

Tried to pack a rolled up piece of wall paper... Got back to the house we were staying in, pulled out the saw blade on my pocket knife, and cut a nice, straight section off, leaving exactly the planned 1/8" clearance for the wallpaper roll with the lid in place (and it fit on the cut end perfectly).
The big question is, was your mom suitably impressed. (I am.)
 
There's only so bad the guy in the story could bring himself to do.
Sheer brilliance!

The big question is, was your mom suitably impressed. (I am.)
She sure was, especially since we didn't have to go find a post office on top of everything else that day!
I also managed to adequately pack a few old 78s my grandparents recorded of my mom and her brothers back when they were little kids so that I could take them home in my carryon by cutting up a random cardboard box. That earned a few more kudos than cutting the end off a tube!
Got them home and digitized one of them... Nothing's as surreal as hearing your mother as a toddler yelling at her brother all the way from 1958!
 
Test rode a few road bikes over the last couple days as I'm considering a bike and trainer to replace the rower. My oldest is also making rumblings about triathlons, and I'd love to have riding to do with him...I have no hope of keeping up swimming or running with him (my new 5K PB is only 6 seconds faster than his 1time was at age 10), but I bet I could keep up on a bike, particularly if I stack the technological advantage on that one. I am amazed at how light weight and FAST those bikes are. The power transfer is so amazingly efficient...definitely not the bikes of my youth. Like every other piece of exercise equipment, the pickins are slim right now, and the backorders are long. I have found 3 bikes in the Dallas area in my size that I am interested in, not 3 types, 3 bikes. There are a few used on Craigslist, but I definitely want the frame warranty that comes with a new bike.

Also, ran my new (post HS) personal best 5K time last night: 24:28 (7:53 per mile pace)...not gonna win any races, but not gonna be hanging my head either.

Related to all of that, my wife told me "You suck at your mid-life crisis". When asked to explain she pointed out that one typically things of a mid-life crisis as self destructive behavior, i.e. "sports car, drinking, gambling, etc...you know, fun stuff", but I went with a "Hybrid SUV, healthy diet and exercise...you know, lame stuff". All I could say was "You're not wrong."

Note: for the men in my family, 42 probably is mid-life...we are not generally a long lived people.
 
Like every other piece of exercise equipment, the pickins are slim right now, and the backorders are long.

In early March, I tried to buy my son a 20" mountain bike. It is reserved for when it is expected to hit the country in October. I did find him a used BMX bike for a decent price, but the options are slim.
 
I am amazed at how light weight and FAST those bikes are. The power transfer is so amazingly efficient...definitely not the bikes of my youth.

That blew me away the first time I rode a modern road bike, I couldn't believe the difference! Every effort, every pedal stroke was converted into forward motion. It's a great sensation of speed, I'm still addicted to road biking, very rewarding.

Also, ran my new (post HS) personal best 5K time last night: 24:28 (7:53 per mile pace)...not gonna win any races, but not gonna be hanging my head either.

Congrats!!
 
Brought one home.

My oldest rides his bike to swim practice, a d didn't know I was bike shopping. I waited outside on this, and said race you home...took him about 5 seconds to conceed the race. This thing is a rocket...so much freaking fun.

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It’s a bit chilly in the mornings recently here in Brisbane - 10C overnight but up to 23C during the day.
More wet snow yesterday. And this time it didn't melt away so quickly. A hard frost this morning, and decent dusting of yesterday's snow remains. 25°F (about -5°C), but it'll probably warm up enough to melt everything away today.

Once saw guys welding sections of high pressure pipe in the power plant system of a Royal Navy nuclear sub.
beautiful welds! 👌
Well, it dang well better be.
 
I finally finished making all the fake food and all the other props for the 2 simultaneous shows.
But this time, rather than leaving my workbench in chaos, I had a chance to shovel it off and set up for some rocketry projects.

Here is a picture of the final food item I made
 

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What I Might do today instead of rocketry is dust my submarine ...
Because ...
There’s what happens when you have 2 cats who shed like mad and you don’t dust a thing for about a year and a half.
:eek:
🙀
😹


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Oh, and the submarine is rubber band powered and it goes ...

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Nice work. I click in the thumbnail and it's obviously a pair of hamburgers with ketchup.

I was going for meatloaf, but if you say hamburger, I've accomplished my goal. Yeah, I didn't do the best job with duplicating the correct shade of red for the ketchup. It's a bit of guesswork since the acrylic medium darkens when it dries.
 
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I got a message that a local bike shop received a few children's mountain bikes they had on backorder. This was the same one I wasn't expecting to get for our son until Fall. Now one has his name on it and they should have it built up in a couple of days.

In the meantime, we still took advantage of the nice Spring afternoon and logged almost 7 miles on the Greenway path.

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