Derek + Tammy

 Seen on the side of a water tower near our local Middle School.

Derek + Tammy.  While I don't approve of even petty vandalism its hard not to look at this and think "Awwwwww..."

A few blocks away.....any chance this is related?

When I'm out for walks and run across little mysteries like this I try to mentally "write the story".  You'll be happy to know that Derek made the basketball team and did take Tammy to Prom.  Of course when Aaron came into the picture it all got complicated.....

A Hot Mess

Just playing around with the robotics team's camera.  There's a lot I can learn about shutter settings and so forth.  I needed an interesting subject.  The thermometer is something I "won" in a game at our family reunion.  Not that much demand for freebies from your local landfill I should think, but I rather like it.

Note that the mercury is indicating a temperature of 90 degrees F.  For my UK friends that is about 956 degrees C I think.

It would be a very unpleasant day to be working at Landfill 33, but "The Rubbish Gobbler" seems nonplussed.

STOMP

The FIRST robotics team has continued to meet over the summer months, at least to do outreach visits.  We usually get a nice tour, sometimes there are cookies.  The robot zips around grabbing and dropping objects.  But its important to mix things up.

Today I had them do a short design/team building exercise for one of our sponsors.  Specifically a company that makes high end printed circuit boards.  Here's what I threw at them, giving them a half hour and a white board.

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Printed circuit boards are delicate.  You have to design a container to ship 60 boards into an area where there has been a major disaster.  These boards are 2cm by 6cm.

We are not saying the disaster is in Tokyo.  We are not denying it either.

The container and boards need to be protected from:

Dust

Vibrations equivalent to an earthquake

Radiation

Impact equivalent to being dropped from 10 meters height

This is an unusual set of specifications.  We are not saying Godzilla is involved.  Not denying it either.  The container must be of dimensions and weight such that two people can carry it.

いや、ゴジラ！

Public Health - Swag I can make use of....

OK, last time I poked a bit of fun at the freebies at our local Public Health office.  But fair is fair, they did have some swag I actually was happy to scoop up.  For some reason they had a big box full of really nice water proof pouches.  THREE LAYERS of ziplock, a roll up velcro top, sturdy plastic and even a draw string.

Just the stuff for geocaches.

Above is a kitchen table view.  The beige paper is special water resistant stuff useful for geocache logs.  But honestly I don't see moisture getting in there.  Ah, but there is that message on the front.  GYT - Get yourself talking, get yourself tested.  Not clear exactly what they are suggesting you test for but if you recall the bowl of condoms nearby I can just imagine.  Not a helpful message for geocaching.  Solution?  Spray paint!

A couple of coats of flat black seem to cover well and do not immediately flake off.  For one experiment I put down a base coat of spray adhesive.  The drawstring is a mix of black and green, but that should work well in most spring/summer environment covers.

I see these being useful in a couple of ways.  I've been looking for a cache type that can be hung inside of hollow trees.  This oughta do it.  Or, just have a superior water tight inner envelope for various other containers.  I've made a number of the Strange Fish series out of this 1 by 2 aluminum structure extrusion.

Always fun to have new material to work with.  I'm considering another series.  Strange Fish is a fun one but its getting hard to find new species/locations.  Perhaps an amphibian based series called Frog Hop?????

Public Health Department Rises to the Occasion...

I was at the County Courthouse recently on an administrative matter.  I walked past the Public Health office and saw that they had some swag sittin' out.  Hey, I like little individual chocolate bars......

Problem number one, those little square foil packets do not contain chocolates.  Problem number two would be much worse, if somebody took the clean/used containers for the pens literally....

On the Picket Line

Monday's post on Star Trek Strange New Worlds was written before the screen writers - and the actors to boot - went on strike.  Now, I have mixed feelings on unions in general and work actions in particular.  In the case of Kurtzman and his merry band of hacks I'd honestly say they could stay on strike for a couple of years and society would be none the worse for it.  Various public employee unions, while generally not allowed to strike, could walk off and arguably make society a better place.

But private sector unions have a long history in America.  They are important.  And, within the parameters of what they do, I support them.  Their job is to get the best deal possible for their members....while not killing off the company and tossing everyone out on the street.  

For a couple of weeks now I've noticed changes at the local brewery.  Chain link fences went up, forcing me to alter the route of my morning walk.  The union was about to go on strike.

The other day I stopped by and chatted with the Teamsters.  It was a bright sunny morning and everyone was in a good mood.  Cars were driving by and a fairly high percentage expressed their support by honking the horn.

Well, lets hope labor and management sit down and work things out.  I don't buy Leinenkugels all that often but do have a soft spot in my heart for the stuff.  We served a keg of it at our wedding lo, those many years ago.

Strange New Star Trek - An Incomplete Review

It is difficult to explain the significance of Star Trek in our culture.  In its original incarnation it was a hastily produced, low budget weekly show.  But it captured something, likely by accident, and became iconic.*

In the decades since, Trek has waxed and waned.  Many consider Star Trek Next Generation to be the ultimate expression of the optimism tempered by recognition of our fallibility that defines what Gene Roddenbury was going for.  Everything else is at best mixed.  Deep Space Nine and  Voyager have their fans.  The corpus of Trek movies has one or two very good ones and a bunch more that are just tired, expanded TV shows featuring tired, expanded cast members.

And then there is what is collectively known as "New Trek".  As there is no longer any useful distinction between TV and movies in the streaming era this encompasses the Chris Pine reboot movies, Star Trek Picard, Star Trek Discovery, something stupid called Below Decks.....and Star Trek Strange New Worlds.  All of these, ahem, enterprises bear the fingerprints of a certain Alex Kurtzman.

The "movies" have some entertainment value albeit with plenty of Kurtzmanian flaws we'll discuss presently.  Discovery was awful.  Picard awful for a couple seasons with a degree of redemption in the finale.  And then there's Strange New Worlds.

The first season of "SNW" is on Youtube.  As it is free I can certainly claim to have gotten my money's worth watching most of it.  As an OG Star Trek fan going back to the 60's I'm rating it on three scales.

1. Wokeness.  This is a ridiculous word that even its proponents are starting to shun.  But Star Trek actually has always had a Progressive streak to it.  The first episode of SNW had a few egregious moments, probably the sort of thing thrown in when you are trying to sell a pilot in Tinsel Town.  The big 21st century war that is often alluded to in the Star Trek canon is blamed on MAGA.  Also, the degree of "Mary Sue"- emphasizing the incredible abilities of women in all things - is pretty heavy.  In fact Captain Pike and even Spock are rather Beta males.**

2. Originality.  This entire series is derivative in a sense.  Pike is Kirk's predecessor as captain of the Enterprise and appears in the original series when a previous rejected pilot episode featuring him, Spock and a first officer referred to as Number One was cut up and repurposed as flashbacks.  

But I also rate things on how often they recycle old themes.  Sure, there are only a limited number of story archetypes, but still...

We get not one but two "hiding in a nebula" episodes, oft done in Trek and honestly just your basic WWII submarine movie.  There is effectively a holodeck episode where Stories Come to Life!  Outside the Trek canon but instantly recognizable is an episode that is essentially "Aliens".  We also get Landing Party in trouble.  And Space Pirates.  In fact there was exactly one episode that had the veneer of originality, one in which a remarkable child was taking on the responsibility of saving his planet.  But I recognized it.  It took the idea straight from an Ursula K. LeGuin story*** called "The ones who walk away from Omelas"

Kurtzman and his writers create nothing new.  Is it not allowed or is it beyond their abilities?

3. Memorable characters.  OK, I'm conflicted here.  It makes sense to update some aspects of characters to reflect the half century since James Testosterone Kirk swaggered around ogling crew women in miniskirts.  Any script that does not reflect modern sensibilities will not get green lit.  That being said most of the female characters have very similar traits that make them interchangeable and therefor uninteresting.  Capable.  Lost their families tragically.  Flawed but tough.  Hiding something.  Oddly while this applies to the communications cadet Uhuru, to the pilot, security chief and First Officer.....I can't recall any of them doing anything that struck me as very remarkable.  I guess a batch of totally efficient people - like perhaps highly trained Starfleet crew - would not leave plot holes that give them disasters to cope with.

The character of Nurse Chapel is weird.  Originally a stock character who got the job because she was Gene Roddenbery's wife she now has a spiffy unique uniform, the usual spunky attitude, and apparently the ability to just change people genetically.  She does way more than the doctor.  It would totally be in Trek canon for her to be an MD.

I did find the actual doctor interesting.  Smaller role than McCoy but he plays it well.  He has a daughter with a fatal illness that he is hiding and keeping alive surreptitiously. 

The Chief engineer is blind.  Gee, has that happened before?  But he is a gruff and interesting character.  Killed off in season One.  Too bad.

So how to rate all this....  It had some interesting moments.  Pretty sad when the first thing that occurs to me in summation is "It was not painful to watch".  But it lacked a sense of wonder, of exploration.  The entire plot arc involves Pike having foreknowledge of his eventual fate.  How can he function as a Star Ship captain when he knows his actions have no consequences?  Go ahead, do any damned thing, you won't have a scratch on you because you are destined to be in that reactor accident in a decade or so.  No stakes, no actual agency.  You are but a puppet of Alex Kurtzman and his hack writers.

Season two is now available on a streaming service that I have no intention of buying.  Perhaps I'll check it out when they eventually Youtube it in an attempt to hype season three.

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* Iconic is not the same as Iconian.  Oh, I do know my high level Trek cliches...

** Beta is not the same as Betazoid, although all male members of Counselor Troi's telepathic species do seem pretty "soy".  A society where men and women can see each other's thoughts and emotions all the time.....that would be an interesting one to explore satirically.

*** I thought I was pretty clever to have nailed this one but when discussing this over a beer with one of my sons he came up with the name of the short story sans recourse to Google.

A hallmark of "New Trek" is the gigantic, dimly lit, thinly populated bridge.  Can't have a vibrant, interesting, cheery world view.  Nah.  Conjure up dystopia and centuries of social distancing.  What the hell does that say about their perceived audience?

Family Reunion Part Five

 

Height chart on a basement doorway has been updated...rather startlingly.  Mosquito bit and lightly sunburned travelers are departing to North, South, East and West.  It's a wrap.  See ya all in a couple of years.

Family Reunion Part Four - Beer Rejected by Raccoons

We eat well at our family reunions.  One night it is brats, for which cheap beer is necessary for marinade.  Another night it is fish tacos.  This requires us to catch fish.  Once cleaned the fish guts need to be disposed of.

There have been several bear sightings in the area so I figured we'd take the fish guts out a safe distance into the woods and set up trail cams to see who or what came to eat them.  A can of the cheap brewski was added.  I do appreciate our local varmints.

Here's an after hours customer....

He was havin' none of that cheap swill....

I think this last image just shows him with the tail end of a bluegill sticking out of his mouth, but if you told me that raccoons have both large fangs and a demonic forked tongue I'd likely take your word for it.  Anyway, it seems he did not care for the beer.

Family Reunion Part Three - Play Ball

Three generations.  Two Canadian provinces and four US states getting together makes for a pretty good All Star Team.  The "Raccoons versus Everyone" shirt is a nice touch.  A number of us had not played ball in many years including a young lady who started the game with two cleanly fielded plays at first base.  I told her: "You have proven your worth.  You may join this Family".

Family Reunion Part Two - Dogs

 Young Dogs.

They just gotta chew on things.  They sure love sticks.

But in a pinch they'll chew on anything.  This inner tube is no longer OK.

But us old dogs, we just wanna snooze in the sun.

Family Reunion Part One - Shoes

 

A whole bunch of people.  Some of them bringing more than one pair of footgear.  On the other hand, this is not the only shoe drift on the premises.  The one on the lake side entrance has more sandals and flip flops.

They are Coming......

 

4th of July 2023

I usually commemorate the day by putting up a picture like this:

It is apt.  Nothing wrong with tipping the cap to both patriotism and capitalism, albeit the second part inadvertently involves enriching a China that wishes us little in the way of good will.

But I think this is a better sentiment for the day.  Photo taken at a Coach Pitch baseball game.  Obviously there is some variation in age group, interest level, and attention span.

But everyone is enjoying a perfect evening in their own fashion.  Its a small town, these kids all know each other.  I'm getting to know them too.  There's a kid who is advanced enough to hit screaming line drives but still gets a little tearful when they are caught (to the surprise of everyone including the kid who caught it).  There's always a kid who doesn't really want to be there.  Often as not they are a star a year or two later.  And the diminutive third baseman you see above.  He did something that over a half century of baseball experience did not prepare me for.....attempting a hidden ball trick!

Different.  The same.  Everyone enjoying things in ways that only differ in style rather than substance.  Happy 4th of July, America.

Robot Road Trips

 Summertime and it is much easier to get the kids and robot out and about in the community.

Students try out a "DaVinci" surgical robot.

Visiting a place that has the biggest printed circuit board facility in America.

Doing a podcast!  

The Campfire for which we sit

Doing a demo in a very narrow hallway space............

Obviously at 3M.

An absolute candy store for our build and wiring crew....the local electronics recycling and refurbishing facility.

To be very much continued......