What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

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A few clever manufacturers (Panasonic comes to mind for my car CD player, back in the day) had the laser shining down

Pioneer did it in some of their changers. I'm trying to remember if the first Blaupunkt in-dash models, which used a single-disc cartridge, went in upside down. Not many did. The shop I worked for in 88-89 was a distributor for Panasonic. Their in-dash CD models were priced well and very dependable, a great value.
 
flashover training at the fire department as part of a live burn. Pretty cool to see the flames going over your head. Low is safe and cool(er)

The first time I did that, I learned an important lesson about wearing proper clothing under your turnout gear. Another guy got too hot and had polyester in his pants. He wasn't hurt too bad, but had to spend a few outpatient visits at the burn center. I don't wish those treatments on anyone.
 
Servicing the AWD brushcutter. Huge spring that activated the blade brake needed to be removed for brake adjustment. Removal: Tick. Reattachment - Spring slips while being stretched and Skippy here punches the chassis with the hand holding the pliers. Ice time!
 
Servicing the AWD brushcutter. Huge spring that activated the blade brake needed to be removed for brake adjustment. Removal: Tick. Reattachment - Spring slips while being stretched and Skippy here punches the chassis with the hand holding the pliers. Ice time!
you don't have a T-handle spring puller :questions:
 
Working around a chip shortage at work. A microcontroller has gone very hard to get. Original price $7, I came up with a method to use another type of electronic package (BGA instead of LQFP) of the chip in the same location. Pushed the button to order $200k worth (2000 parts, $100 each). At least it isn't my money I'm spending. Now I have an adapter board to lay out...
 
You're getting off easy Marty. Just got back from the December TRA\PHX launch that got rained out. Looks like at least six loads for me today.... Plus cleaning and drying camping gear and launch equipment.
 
Working around a chip shortage at work. A microcontroller has gone very hard to get. Original price $7, I came up with a method to use another type of electronic package (BGA instead of LQFP) of the chip in the same location. Pushed the button to order $200k worth (2000 parts, $100 each). At least it isn't my money I'm spending. Now I have an adapter board to lay out...

This has become 90% of my daily work stress lately. I can relate.... Counterfit op-amps that don't perform to spec, non-working parts, parts that fail prematurely, or re-designing around parts that you just plain can't buy.
 
Finally painted the bathroom downstairs like we'd been planning to do since late summer. It was surprisingly non-heinous. Saturday afternoon: disconnect the janky soaking tub drain and shift it away from the wall, clear hardware from the walls, wash, and paint trim and doors. Yesterday evening: paint walls. Today: clean up and put it all back together again. My wife did more than half the work, so I got off easy. :D
 
Spent hours this weekend fighting with garage door. The screws that held the bracket retaining the bar that connects to the torsion springs came out of the wall, and worked its way off the rod. The door suddenly "clunked" when going up, and then wouldn't come down because it torqued sideways. Took a ridiculous amount of time to get the door down so I could work on it, and when we finally got it moving it was so crooked that the top panel had the wheels fall out and it clunked me on the head. Drove me straight down into a fortunately placed chair. I'm glad I have a thick skull because that sucker is heavy. Once the door was down and the fog cleared I had to take the tension out of the torsion springs (for safety as much as anything), disconnect the cables from the door, get the offending bracket back in place and attached to the wall CORRECTLY THIS TIME, get all the wheels back on the door, reconnect the wires and re-tension the springs. It actually wasn't that smooth of a list of activities as access/clearance/patience was a challenge at varying stages, so things progressed in a 2-step forward 1-step back manner. Was also working this around a little dude swim meet, which was mercifully only a mile away, but a lot of back and forth to the pool to watch an event, then run home to mess with door, before running back for next event.

In the end it is working again, and the only lingering effects are a slight bend on the bottom of one side (older son got a little overzealous when prying the door up at one point), a diminished respect for the unknown person who hung the door originally MISSING ALL THE STUDS and a serious goose egg on my head. Really it was a miracle it hadn't slipped free before now, they literally missed every stud with the upper part of the door bracket. We've lived here for over 15 years.

I did manage to make a bunch of pull pin switch kits of all three types during the swim meet...long stretches of sitting around at those things are conducive to busy work activities. People sure do look at me weird when I break out my plastic box of switch making materials and go to work.
 
Went to the orthopedic doctor today. Got the staples out from surgery, fortnight. Still off my feet, on crutches for two more weeks. Makes it really hard to carry things, do shopping; impossible to chase rockets.
 
The first time I did that, I learned an important lesson about wearing proper clothing under your turnout gear. Another guy got too hot and had polyester in his pants. He wasn't hurt too bad, but had to spend a few outpatient visits at the burn center. I don't wish those treatments on anyone.
finally got a chance to wash my gear. Gonna need a new helmet, mine's a little melty...
 
Put a shopping list together for a bunch of soups. A few months ago I cooked 2 different soups for a group of friends. Now they're asking that I cook several more for them. I cook them up, put them in ball jars and then seal the jars with a quick dip in boiling water rather than a full "pressure canning" process. Description is then printed on a bit of card stock and tied to the neck of the jar with twine.

Split pea with ham
Rustic beef stew
Crustless chicken pot pie
Lentil with smoked sausage
Hearty chicken noodle
Broccoli cheddar (with bread bowls)
Loaded potato
Chili with steak
 
Gonna have to troubleshoot my clothes dryer today.
Yesterday it kept shutting off: Drum turns, heating element works, no exhaust coming out the back.
Might be a broken fan belt.
Not calling a repairman if I can fix it myself.
 
Put a shopping list together for a bunch of soups. A few months ago I cooked 2 different soups for a group of friends. Now they're asking that I cook several more for them. I cook them up, put them in ball jars and then seal the jars with a quick dip in boiling water rather than a full "pressure canning" process. Description is then printed on a bit of card stock and tied to the neck of the jar with twine.

Split pea with ham
Rustic beef stew
Crustless chicken pot pie
Lentil with smoked sausage
Hearty chicken noodle
Broccoli cheddar (with bread bowls)
Loaded potato
Chili with steak
Sounds good; could you send over another batch? ;)
 
I made some comfort food today, Shepherd's Pie with a loaf of bread. The house smells pretty good.

View attachment 549588

Yum!!

We've got one of our favorite comfort foods tonight in the crock pot. Wild turkey. One breast, smother it with swiss cheese, toss in a can each of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup. Top with a few cups of herb stuffing, then a cut up stick of butter on that. Simple, and really good way to handle the drier bird. Also good with tame turkey or chicken.
 
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