Last Year I:

Last year I wrote a list of things I wanted to do with this year.
Lets see how it went shall we?

Ride my bike.
About 1000 miles! 10 of them up Mt. Diablo in a race.

Go to Monterey with Becky.
January 11-13th we spent a very lovely weekend in Monterey. We went to the aquarium, Point Lobos, and stayed at a nice B&B.

Find out if I passed the F.E. exam (Cuz then next year I can take an even harder test!).
Done, time to start studying for the next on.

Celebrate the 2nd annual Robot Independence Day (March 1).
With RIPPING success, this years shall be even bigger!

Slide down a mountain on a couple of planks shouting Wooo-motherfucking-Hooooo the whole way down!!
Did not do this, maybe next year.

Party down on my 33 1/3 birthday (It is a record year).
Did not do this, I guess I'll try it again at 45.

Pull a prank.
Nope.

Prepare Beer Bash for his 5th tournament.
Yes!, and we were filmed doing it for Current TV, which just broadcast yesterday:

Cry when the 4000 soldier is killed in Iraq for a lie.
Yes, and it is up to 4,149. But hope is on the horizon.

Adapt BearScore for UC Open.
Done, and as a reward I now have to adapt it for World YMD Championships. *Runs away in terror*

Fight at UC Open.
No, but I did manage to fight at the YMD Open. I lost 19 to 20.

Congratulate a friend.
Done.

Drive a car so fast that I will never be caught!
Maybe not that fast, but I did go pretty quick. Even made 2nd place in a race.

Test for my 1st Kup in Tae Kwon Do.
Done. And I tore one off, and impressed the hell out of everybody.

Cheer the Non-(modern)Republican president elect.
Or shake my head in sorrow and tremble in fear at the continuing stupidity of many Americans.
Whoo-motha-fucking-WHO!!!!!!!

Run a sub 6:30 Mile.
Nope, but I did get under 7 min. And I ran a 5K in 23'05", and a 10K in 50'02". I'll call this 1/2.

Offer a shoulder to cry on.
Did.

Cry on a shoulder.
And done.

Travel to India to visit a friend and eat many things that where cooked in a tandoori oven.
This did not happen.

Make a woman laugh.
I did this and am proud.

Make a man cry.
I did this and am ashamed.

Tell Rebeca I love her more than anything in this life.
This I did. And less than a month later, after 13 years she walked out of my life forever.


So, to recap:
22 Goals, 18.5 Of them met, that is 84%. Solid B.
So why did this feel like one of the worst years of my life?

On TV

Here, This Shuld Help

So, I realize that morality can be a tricky subject, so I made this flowchart to help out.

The Single Most Depressing Thing I have Seen All Day

Garfield minus Garfield

Uh, Don't They Have Trucks of Their Own?

Epoch

I just put my 1000th mile on my bike.

Snicker Doodles

So, I came back from the store to find that I forgot to buy cookies.
Fuck. I need cookies. I was starting to panic, but then I remembered a trick that my mom showed me in which I can turn a few household items:



And some simple tools:


Into some 3 dozen very tasty cookies.

First we will be working with some hazardous materials, so wear protective clothing:


The first step is to lubricate a flat piece of metal, and preheat an enclosed space to 450 Kelvin (I use the stove that came in my apartment, which is unfortunately scaled in Fahrenheit)


Place 1 1/3 cup of sugar, two chicken eggs (size is important you can use another bird egg, but the number will vary I recommend using a water displacement method to calculate the volume, as it is a fairly difficult double integration), one tsp of Vanilla extract (note: be very careful, the vanilla is suspended in C2H6O (Ethanol). C2H6O is flammable and a solvent, so use precautions).


Mix until in solution.


Remember NEVER consume alcoholic beverages when operating power tools:


Sift 3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoon of baking powder (this reacts with H2O to produce CO2), and 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt through a fine mesh. USE EXTREME CARE!!!!! FINE POWDERED FLOUR IS EXPLOSIVE!!:


Slowly pour this mixture into the solution prepared earlier while mixing thoroughly to form a colloid.


Combine 4 table spoons of a 3:1 mixture of sugar and cinnamon:



Make 1" spheres of the colloid and coat the outside of each sphere with the cinnamon/sugar mixture:



Place the spheres on the lubricated piece of sheet metal 1" apart from each other (there is a chemical reaction that will make the circumference double in size). The precision is not that tight. I usually get away with just using a T-Square:


Place into the heat source for 600 seconds but be aware, if you use a kitchen oven that the temperature control is probably TERRIBLE. Fortunately there is also a color change test:


Like I said, "I USUALLY get away with just using a T-Square".

Gone Shooting

Spent the afternoon shooting with Dr Strangelove

You can't always get what you want

So, I have been looking for a dishwasher for some time. I want a 19" portable dishwasher with a butcher block top. I live in an apartment with a very small kitchen and almost no counter space, so this would be a way of getting some. The problem is I could not find one for the life of me.
So I got a 19" portable dishwasher with a horrid plastic top:


And a butcher block from my kick ass boss (Thanks kick ass boss!!)
That and a few tools:


Remove the old top. Two screws, slide and lift:



Note the troth for the raised screw holes:



Mark the hole locations and troth locations.

The screws clip into notches:



Pre-drill the holes and screw in the screws the correct amount. I used tape on the drill bit to know how far to go (I left my drill press in my other pants):



Route out the holes for the screw "bumps".
This is my router:


So I guess that is why my cut looks like this:


So, it is true that "You can't always get what you want"

"But if you try sometimes well you just might find You get what you need":

Fast Lane, Slow Lane

Ok, in our state of California, many roadways have more than one lane for each direction of traffic. These are arranged from Left to Right in order of descending speed. With the leftmost lane designated as the "Fast Lane" and the rightmost lane the "Slow Lane". If you are not sure which lane you should be in, there is an easy test. Look to your Right. Is the car on your right going: Slower, the same, faster than you?
If the answer is anything other than "Slower" you are in the WRONG place.
I hope this helps.

P.S. Pleas don't cut me off unless you plan on driving faster than me.

Surprise Ball

So my friend Anandamayi makes something called a "Surprise Ball", and she gave me one for my birthday. This is what it is:

A Pear

Feeding the Cat

But I found this note in my mail box this morning in response to asking, once again, for a list:
--------------------------------------------------
Good Day, Josh
How nice of you to feed Bumkie The Cad (drawing of what looks like a snowman, but I assume to be the cat, she claims to be an artist)

(Smiley Face)
To the dish is on the Balcony, which is other place I leave it - before steps down. Food is on your back balcony.

Take food to your house cuz raccoons

(rotate 90deg)

I'll get Food When returned
Got it
(smiley face)
--------------------------------------------------

Still Waiting

So, all of the people who said Al Gore made that movie to get famous so he could run for prez again need to admit that they were wrong.
Also Palin, after some pretty strong statements were made, needs to either admit that god does not take direct action in elections OR that god waned Obama to be prez.

Dear USA

Thank you.
Dear California, Fuck you. How the hell do you think it is OK to "restrict rights"????

Who Would Have Figured

That on a rainy Saturday, the museum that just re-opened would be crowded.
But the Academy of Sciences new digs are pretty cool.

I Have a Strange Job, Or: Digging Ditches in Texas

I have a very strange job. Sometimes I find myself in a clean room, sometimes on a construction site, sometimes locked in my office coding.
This job actually involved my using a Pic-Axe in Texas at noon.


P.S. This pix was taking downtown Fort Worth, and I was the only one who found the scene out of the ordinary.

Four Surfaces

It is true that I am not a very good machinist. But I am getting better.

Old Frend

This Sunday's was a very pleasant ride around Santa Cruz (up, down, up, down, up,...) with an old high school friend that I manage to see about once a year.
24.7 mi
2h, 4min, 57s
Max 41.5 mph
Av 11.9 mph

Were Baby Robots Come From

These images are from our first design session:

First layout what the area available is and how big the motors are


Now add the "Wheels" and "Transmisson"


There are 4 of them


The frame members have to mount to the keg, and mount the transmission in place


Figuring out where the weapon and electronics go.


Batterys (wood), wepons system (if we have the weight), electronics, (calculator), wheels (tape), motors (tubing), and trasmission (plate)