By bruce42, 19 July, 2005

Towers

lab notes
life
travel & leisure

Building implosions seem to be a rather festive affair; we came across families, grills, pets and press while biking outside the day-glo orange plastic barrier at the Towers Implosion. The local and regional outlets are covering the event with mobile satellite units and "chopper" mounted cameras. Videos can be found at the WOI-TV website; they even have a special content section titled "Misson: Implosion".

By bruce42, 7 July, 2005

Futility

lab notes
life

Today I attempted securing an enployment opportunity at the West Des Moines Best Buy; what a waste of my time. Melanie spotted an ad for their "Job Fair" and I decided that it might be worth checking out. I submitted to their online application forms, and upon arrival at the store, I was informed that I had filled out an application for the wrong store location and would have to contact the wrong store for employment opportunites. As the wrong store was on the other side of Des Moines, I decided that it would be far simpler to re-apply for the correct store.

By bruce42, 25 May, 2005

Bed Frame

Shop activity has been at an impressive level this week. Adam and Becky comissioned a bed frame; sleeping on the floor became tiresome. The materials employed are decidedly modern folk-art; dimensional pine lumber and galvanized steel hadware. While the structure is desk-esque, my minimal design makes good use of the materials; low clean lines, eposed hardware and linseed oil finish with a satin luster prevents the bed from looking imposing or blocky. Aside from the asthetic goodness, I'm finally receiving payment for my work. What I earn will contribute to my bandsaw fund. That, in turn, will allow me to more efficiently process turning stock. People seem to want bowls. The lathe stand is still pending, but I think I should take the time to build it. I need a sturdier platform for turning larger bowls.
By bruce42, 21 May, 2005

Lifebook

lab notes
life

This blog entry comes to you via my "new" Fujitsu Lifebook. It has a wicked hot K6-2 450 CPU and 192 MB of RAM. While it's not spectacular, it is more than enough to handle text-editing; and that's all I use to create and surf my sites. I have to head down to Des Moines tomorrow morning for a Des Moines Music Coalition web meeting. I am looking forward to what should be a productive meeting.

By heavy pie, 2 May, 2005

Hemionitis arifolia (heart fern)

So I was browsing the local Wal-Mart for an interesting plant to put in a new hanging pot... and I found a really neat looking fern. Unfortuneately, the only thing printed on the plastic pot was" "FERN 4" " So... fern. Pretty vague... by chance I caught some forum post about a "heart fern", and after some searching it is in fact Hemionitis arifolia. Unfortuneately, all I can find are pictures of the plant, I can't find a lick of information about proper care of the poor thing. I'm hoping it kicks back, but it's been losing a few leaves every day now. Though, I'm pretty sure the leaves that are shriveling were already pretty sickly looking...
By bruce42, 27 April, 2005

Spam

lab notes
life

As much as I hate spam, at least there is the occaisionally bizarre message providing morning entertainment. I think I found a new signature.

Your mission is to obey the commands of whoever is able to strike the Master Key of Electricity. That is true I once read in a book that all things are regulated by exact laws of nature.

Rock.

By bruce42, 20 April, 2005

Drupal 4.6.0

lab notes
web dev & programming

A new version of Drupal has been released, and that means I'll be updating the site. There are a buttload of changes, so the site will be down for some time while I install the new system and associated modules. Changes in the 4.6.0 release can be found here.

By bruce42, 17 April, 2005

In Other News...

lab notes
life

So far, the shop reorganization project is going well. Mel picked up a copy of Jim Tolpin's "Working at Woodworking" and it has been extraordinarily helpful. Developing an efficient workflow plan was my first challenge and I've been shuffling tools, benches to fit this new layout.

By bruce42, 17 April, 2005

Cracks and Checks

lab notes
life
science & tech

It's been a while since my last entry and I am regretting it. The past couple of weeks have definitely been interesting and of course, there is much to report. I guess I should start with shop news. I delved further into the world of bowl turning, and so far it has been quite the education. I have been experimenting with green wood turning, and while I love this technique, it has one major drawback; the wood cracks and splits terribly if it isn't properly cured.

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