Build and Rebuild. Robot Summer, 2025

The thing about school based teams is that you are always in rebuild mode.  Realistically kids are in high school for four years.  The things they need to learn to excel in say robotics, or for that matter football, etc, take years to learn.  Then they graduate.

Our FIRST robotics team has always had its foundations at the middle school level.  It evolved, or perhaps mutated, from a fun after school class where kids built small combat robots.  We've had some good years, some off years, but overall the trend line is heading up.  If we can keep the talent coming.

I have a higher than normal tolerance for middle schoolers.

This summer we are taking a batch of kids who have shown interest in robotics and are just having them build their own robot to compete in an off season event.  Obviously this is insane.  A crew of 20 with seven weeks to get it done was hard pressed last season.  Rookies who only get seven 5 hour sessions?  Aw heck, we'll get it done.

We are starting with an existing drive base.  Oh, the sides had to be replaced.  And while some of the wiring was "on board" already it all had to be checked and secured.

This frame dates back to "Howard", our successful 2023 machine.  It's pretty sturdy, also pretty heavy but since the design is fairly simple we should make weight.

The grabber device for picking up the PVC pipe game pieces.

Works pretty well.

We think we set a one day record for most parts made on our CNC.  Last year's Design Lead had a bunch of things he wanted to try on this design.  The newbies are not ready for full on design work, but learning how to secure metal for cutting, keep the cutting bits cooled, keep fingers away from spinny, sharp things.  It's all fundamental stuff.

As always, software waits for the machine to be operational.

The kids are doing well.  What we are really looking for is awareness of safety, the ability to tell the difference between shoddy and spiffy work, and of course being able to work well on a team.

So far, very good.  We'll see how things come together for that mid August mini-competition.

Hank and the Coyotes

Hank is a dog with large ears and a small brain.  So while he loves being up at the cabin he gets a bit confused.  Happily confused for the most part.  So many things to sniff at, so many things to roll in!

Sounds confuse him.  When hummingbirds come to the feeder he can hear their noisy approach but not immediately spot them.  Non specific barking ensues.

The other day my wife was playing crow noises on her ipad, in an attempt to chase away a pesky family of same.  Hank cocked his head in a bemused fashion.....more bird noises without evidence of birds.

So I decided to play him some coyote sounds.  Here's his reaction....

Hank got his name from a series of books featuring Hank the Cow Dog.  Apt, as that Hank also was a dim bulb, ever goofing up in his tireless efforts to guard the ranch from non existent threats.

In one of the books Hank went Outlaw and ran off to join a pack of coyotes.  One of the coyote gals was pretty taken with that Hank.  For this Hank, I don't see that working out for him.

Janky, Janka and Jenga

After a quarter century of building robots and related things you might imagine I'd be getting good at it.  Not really.  I lack both the patience and the base skill set.  Plus, I see building things as more of an art form.  I prefer funky and creative over cold, efficient engineering.   As a result, many of the things my hands have touched have been described as "Janky".

If the term is unfamiliar to you, well, it means roughly "slapped together, temperamental, probably made of dubious parts".  I plead guilty as charged.

I see it as a term of mild affection.

It is also a very new word, originating sometime in the 1990's, and probably as a variation on "junky".

"Junky" as in, made of junk, dates to the 1870's, while the base word, Junk is older.  Mid 14th century in fact, and supposedly derived from "junc".  This nautical term meant rope or cable, stuff that when it got old was cut up and used for caulking hulls.   A worthy form of recycling in my opinion.

Recently my eye was caught by a word that is trying very hard to be related to Janky.  Specifically, "Janka".

The Janka Scale is a way to accurately measure the hardness of wood.  Quite handy if you want to build non-janky things.  It is equivalent to the Rockwell scale for metal, and measured in much the same way.

It would be great if Janka, Janky, Junk and various other words like junk (as a ship) or junket were all related somehow.  

But, alas.  Junket derives oddly from iuncus, a Late Latin word for basket.  Junk, in the sense of a Chinese ship, comes from a Malay word jong, meaning a large ship.  Nothing to do with caulking of hulls.

And Janka was the name of the Austrian born engineer who invented the Janka test.  His surname, and that of my old pal Kim Johnke, probably derive from a variation on the name "Johan".

Oh, and when you are thinking on hard wooden objects, what about Jenga?  Sorry, Swahili this time, kugenga, meaning to build.

Word origins can be convincing mimics.

Mentioned in part because another Project approaches......

  

Fashion Dogs

Ah, Fashion Dogs.  AKA Purse Puppies.  They seem to have gone out of style these days.  In the modern era they do seem a bit gauche.  But from an etymological perspective they are pretty interesting.

The list of things I call my dog Hank is long.  I favor alliterative versions, such as "Whining Whelp".  Whelp is a marvelous word from way back, it comes from Old Saxon and goes back who knows how long.  When looking this one up I read that the more common term "puppy" supplanted it starting in the late 15th Century.  It's origins are about as clear as the family tree of Ol' Hank, but it is felt to have come from the French word poupee, meaning doll or toy.  Whether the Mademoiselles had actual little dogs they held as accessories is unclear, but in any event they treated them like small toys.  

The same word also gives us puppet, and for similar reasons.  In fact early on the two words were used interchangeably.

Having grandkids rather into bugs I wondered if pupa, an immature form of moth or butterfly, was related.  Hmm, well sort of.  It's a modern-ish creation, invented by Linneaus who in the late 1700's basically invented scientific classification of animals.  He leaned into the Latin pretty hard, and there the word  pupa, means girl, doll or puppet.  So obviously this was also the source of the later French word.

The concept of a young person also turns up in pupil, as in a student.  Oddly, pupil as in a part of your eye supposedly originated in the observation that you could see a small reflection of a person on the eye surface of the beholder!  I'd call that a bit of a reach but evidently there is a similar concept in Greek and in early English.  Reese Witherspoon sort of spoiled the effect by wearing big sunglasses most of the time.

The dog in these movies was named Bruiser.  He passed away a few years back at the venerable age of 18.  His obit is HERE.  

A Forgotten Brewery Cave - Remembered.....and Now Sealed.

Leinenkugel's brewery.  No, not the one in Chippewa Falls.  The family had lots of branches.  This establishment was run by Henry Leinenkugel and was on the banks of Half Moon Lake in Eau Claire.

A brief history of the brewery.

Like the Jacob Leinenkugel brewery up in Chippewa Falls, this one started in 1867.  It was actually run by Henry Sr. and his son, Henry Jr.  It got off to a good start, and for a time was the top producing brewery in Eau Claire.  But in 1876 Henry Jr. died, and as his father had by that point retired, the enterprise was taken over by Caroline, wife of the Departed.  Things got difficult.  Their production dropped in half, and their credit ratings were not positive.

A partnership of Frase and Lissack bought the brewery and did their best for a couple of years, but also failed.  The next owners were Carstens and Hartwig, who with additional partners ran the place until it burned down in July of 1885.  It was never rebuilt.

The newpaper article that described the fire mentions that the beer in the underground vaults was preserved.  So lets visit these "vaults".  Or actually, revisit them, as this is one of the brewery caves I have previously shown but not given a location.

While not generally known, the location did attract the usual unwelcome visitors.....

That picture was from a later visit.  The first time I crawled in it looked like a bit more of a cozy hangout for neighbors.

Yes, crawled in.  The entrance had been sealed at least twice in the past.  

Here's what the entrance looked like until recently.

Summer of 2025.

I can actually trace the history of the cave since 1885 in some detail.  I've seen a photo circa 1900 that shows the remnants of what would have been the original entrance.  It was of course a straight run out, so that beer could be hauled out and ice hauled in.  This was about the time period in which the local paper describes it as being a hideout for local delinquents who were stealing things from cabins around the lake.  

In the 20th century it was used for a time by Silver Springs, a company now known for various mustard and horseradish products, but back then they had a larger line of veggies, some of which required cold storage.  The nice cement floors and the remnants of an electrical system must date to this era.

Times more recent have been troubled.  Eau Claire has a significant problem with homelessness.  And brewery caves naturally attract people with nowhere else to be.  Both this cave and "The Cave of the Mad Poetess" have had semi permanent residents in recent years.  There have been issues.  Danger of people being hurt.  I've heard there was a sexual assault.  It's worth noting that this cave is adjacent to a public park/beach.

So the "other" Leinenkugel cave has been sealed off.  Its the right call.  Everything is still down there and now preserved, perhaps for some happy day when history is appreciated more and the troubles of the world are fewer.

After I took the last photo, Hank and I walked past the beach.  It was about 9am and a homeless guy was sleeping on the ground next to the beach house.

Well This Seems Like a Bad Idea

A sign along a rural road.

 Oh, surely you remember the Morlocks from H.G. Well's Time Machine????

These guys:

Cannibalistic troglodytes of the, or at least of a, distant future.  Living in dank caves I don't expect their home decor skills would be much.  And if you brought them a deer carcass the best case scenario is that they'd eat it.  Worst case, they'd eat you too!

Kidding aside I'm sure this family of Morlocks are swell folks.  The name btw is German and translates loosely to "black haired one".  Kinda the opposite of the Wellsian version.

One of the Heroes of this Country...

I think of myself as essentially optimistic.  Life is good, and I have accomplished a lot.  But sometimes you also have to be realistic.  Reality sneaks up in your peripheral vision.  Maybe its because both my wife and I have one remaining parent, who in each case is fading/failing.  Maybe its just going to the doctor.  Hey, even retired MDs do this once in a while.  On paper I'm in great shape.  But.....70 is not far off, and they seemed most insistent on giving me the paperwork for Directives of Care.  This is a nice way of saying they want to know what to do when, and by implication not if, I turn up in a bad way.  I get it, but it is sobering nonetheless.  

It got me to thinking.  How are we "remembered"?

It won't be in flowery obituaries.  Print Media is in approximately the same state of health as my 102 year old father in law.

I doubt it will be via the things we write and do in the nebulous world of the internet.   Everything on line is ephemeral, and on the day when I have the same physical substance as my alter ego Badger Trowelsworthy I'll be approximately as relevant.

I suppose how our spouses and children remember us counts for something, but they of course know all.  The good, the bad, the moments of both victory and disappointment.  No, I think the only satisfactory way to be remembered is by your grand children.

I've been fortunate.  All the grandkids are geographically close.  And regards the older two, the one positive of Covid lockdown was we spent lots of time with them.  Their world contained a handful of people and I was one of them.

Sometimes a song from your youth takes on new meaning at the other end of your years.  Back in the mid 1970's I had more hair, drank more beer, and had lots of years ahead of me.  I was a fan of Jerry Jeff Walker, a genuine talent.  

"Desperados waiting for a Train" is a song actually written by someone else, but Jerry Jeff did it best.  He said it was just how he'd gotten on with his grandpa.....

"Soon as I could walk he'd take me with him"

"To a place called the Green Frog Cafe."

"There was old men with beer guts n' dominoes"

"Lyin' 'bout their lives while they played."

"Yeh I was just a kid, they all called me side kick..."

The story of course goes on, finishing on "The Day before he died...."

Worth a listen, link below.

Jerry Jeff caught that train in 2020, dying of throat cancer.  Probably his hard living days did him in.  He was 78 years old.  That's how old I'll - presumably - be in ten years, when the oldest grandson will be the age at which "Viva Terlingua" was the soundtrack of my college days. 

"One day I looked up, he's pushin' 80"

"Got brown tobacco stains all down his chin"

"To me he's one of the heroes of this country,"

"So why's he all dressed up like them old men?"

Hello and Goodbye from the Dark Ages

Well, Dark Ages is not considered an appropriate label any longer.  Sub-Roman or Post-Roman are the preferred terms.

I've been puzzling over this feature for years.  Since 2010 as I recall.  That's the year I excavated the big paved road on the right side of the fence and wondered, why was there this odd curved "thing" built over the main road of the Roman fort?  Had to be Sub-Roman, but what?

The arc seemed to enclose the jumbled mass of demolition that we had to pick through so carefully back in early May.

When digging at Vindolanda there are always those who come before you and those who follow after.  A more recent crew has painstakingly cleared away the rubble.  Before this "stuff" went away it was carefully recorded, and every nook, cranny and flat surface was examined for clues.  Sub-Roman strata rarely give up much.  More on that in a moment.  From a recent session end video, here's the wall with its continuation.

It's big.  It might have used the existing earlier wall as its back side.  I am pretty sure I am seeing the other curved bit peeking out on the left side, although not having the yellow high light makes it a bit harder to say for sure.

So, what is this big, oval, decidedly non-Roman thing?

The Period 5 video round up discusses it a bit.  Here's the full video for those interested.

If you want the short version, it could be a "hall" of some sort.  Some Post Roman notable, perhaps a war lord or some such, lived and/or feasted there.  

Things that were on a Roman site after the Romans are not as well documented as they should be.  Early archaeologists were called Antiquarians, and their notion of proper excavation was to hire a bunch of local lads to swing pick axes and mattocks on their way straight down to where they thought the good stuff was.  Temples, headquarters buildings, that sort of thing.  Obvious later stuff, in addition to being more beat up by plows, was just considered shoddy rubbish to be bashed out and forgotten.

I suppose we have to cut them a little slack.  Their understanding of history had a definite "Imperial" flair to it back then, and also, Sub-Roman structures did not have much for artifacts.  When your political and economic world implodes you, for instance, stop having any new pottery.  Oh, people still knew how to dig clay and probably how to make the stuff, but real expertise was gone, the roads were no longer safe for commerce, and coinage had gone away.  

Hopefully the few bits and bobs that were found - and I only know some of them - will help tell the story of these people.  People who lived sadly among the ruins of what must have seemed to them to be a lost, advanced civilization.

Or maybe not.  Perhaps the freedom to build and to live any darned way they pleased was precious to them.

It's necessary, but a bit sad, to see delicate features like this go away as the excavations go deeper.  But they've all been carefully documented.  And besides, that mysterious arc extending out the front will be preserved forever.

Tree Shaped Tombstones - Calvary Cemetery, Sheboygan

Funny how things work out some times.  When the robotics team was over at the State Tournament in Sheboygan recently I looked at the map and saw that a cemetery was next door to the venue.  Hey, I need an occasional breath of fresh air and a few moments of quiet, so out the back door I went to get a few "Tree Shaped Tombstone" pictures.  

Above is a nice "Tree and Book" specimen.  Anchors are rather common on all such memorials, maybe Sheboygan has a few extras, being a lake port and all.  In front of this was a slightly odd one...

Death dates in the 1860's, too darn early for this style of marker.  (The one back behind it has a person buried in 1911).  Probably a replacement for something that did not endure.  Note the little subsidiary marker with MUTTER on it behind and to the right.  Lots of German in use here.  Gest. means Gestorben, or "died".

An interesting arrangement of the stacked logs.  A "rugged cross" style generally indicates a Catholic cemetery.

There were a couple of the dramatic multi section "trees".  And then there was this:

I can't quite puzzle out what is happening here.  The obvious base for the monument is the random looking collection of flat slabs to the right of it.  But what is that thing to the left?

It is tempting to consider this the base, but the imprint on it is circular, where there should be projections from the roots.  You don't see segments joined together with spacers in between.  If it is a new base waiting to be used in some rebuild program then what was its previous use?  And for that matter, where are the other two segments of the tree?  Somebody will have to put this puzzle, and perhaps this tombstone, together some day.

Old Ghosts and a New Species

Sometimes I get tips, suggestions on where I might catch a new fish species.  Of course the easiest way to do this is to launch a boat and range far and wide, but I'm trying to place a geocache near each new species catch site, so we are mostly talking bank fishing here.

I had a hot tip on a species called "Mooneye".  I've been after this one for years.

On the way down to the site I passed a really old cemetery.  Said to be haunted.

Old stones.  Felled by time, but still trying to preserve memories.

And then on with the fishing.  On about the second cast up came this guy!

Yes he does have weird eyes, but this is a Sauger.  And is a new species for me.  So of course I had to work it up for a Strange Fish geocache.  This cache container is not fish shaped - this would be a tough one to do - but does contain a handy guide to help folks tell the difference between Sauger and their close cousin the Walleye.

Strange Fish #13 - Sauger

State Championship 2025

Compressing a 32 team robotics competition into one day is no small feat.  The organizers did an excellent job.  

Stepping into the event as it was powering up I immediately got the feel of robot season.  I guess it is not buried too deep in my awareness.

Team 5826 got off to a strong start, with our first match being a resounding victory.  We were, albeit briefly, ranked number one in the state.  Ah, but this was an elite level competition.  When your robot works perfectly you might win, depending on who you are paired against.  When your robot has glitches, you won't.  As the event wore on our robot started to show its age/complexity.

We did end up playing in the elimination rounds.  As alliance selection works in a serpentine fashion there is actually some mild benefit to being ranked below mid range.  We were picked by the number two seeded alliance.

But after a brief playoff run we were out.

Lots was learned.  Essentially we have gone from a fun but unserious program to one that has climbed about halfway to the top.  We can see the highest limit of what can be done....but the slope above us is steep.  

This was also a chance to say farewell to some really outstanding seniors.  The post Covid rebuild of team 5826 has brought us our greatest successes, and these kids deserve the credit.  Where we go from here; how the team gets "built" for the third time......?  Well, these questions can wait a week or so.  Its not just the robot that is tired.

Silly side note.  A pit area near us had a cute lil' robot dog.  I'm thinking Hank would have gone insane seeing this in person....

FIRST Robotics 2025 - Off to State!

Next year FIRST in our state is switching formats.  Instead of very large "regional" competitions there will be slightly smaller District comps.  More of 'em, and as they are all in-state, with less travel costs and bother.  Then the top teams on a District basis get invited to a State tournament which could qualify you for Worlds.

It's mostly a good thing.  Although when I'm chin deep in organizing a local event next year I'll feel otherwise.

In any event, to get ready for the new system there is an official State Tournament this year.  I guess you could put an asterisk next to it as there is no Worlds qual involved.  But braggin' rights....

5826 did make the cut of the top 32 teams in the state.  Interestingly, and pleasingly, it was the two Awards we won that put us over the top.  Judges Award and Gracious Professionalism.  On top of a solid second tournament it was sufficient.

So, its off to State for us.  For the first time, and one hopes, far from the last.

Supposedly there will be a live stream HERE on Saturday.

Jacob Marley's Dog

 

How to explain that picture?

Well I had a spot I wanted to fish.  It was known for a species I've been trying to add to my list for years.  But I had the dog with and would have to tie him up.  There was a busy road nearby.  In fact there was a bridge with a highway worker on it.  We had a nice chat.  

I tied Hank to a tree, affording him shade and a nice view of the river.  I was maybe 20 feet from the end of the rope.   Attending to my angling I was bothered by his plaintive yipping, but after a few minutes it stopped.  Good.

Then the kid working on the bridge said: "Sir, your dog is up here."

Sigh.  Well, the rope was old and I figured he just snapped it.  Re-tied.  He somehow did it again.  I really wanted to fish this spot and it was too sunny to put him in the car for long.  Double tied rope.  He broke free again.  I had some fresh paracord with me.  It also failed.

I left the dangling shreds attached.  I think he looks a bit like Jacob Marley's ghost, who wandered Eternity - or at least Dicken's Christmas Carol - with chains hanging off him.

In Marley's case it was a mark of his sins.  Greed and Selfishness.

Dogs don't exactly have sins.  But virtues taken too far can become negatives.  Marley started out with commendable thrift and prudence, but took things too far, out over the dark edge.

Hank has the virtues of dogs.  He is unshakably loyal and friendly.  He wants to run free and sniff things.  I understand.  But it can be a pain in the rear.

--------------------------------

Addendum.  On the return swing of this trip up north I had a new dog containment system.  This time a plastic coated cable thing.  While attempting to fish a different spot I gave him a bit of side eye and caught him trying to chew it.  So I don't think his previous escapism was pure Hank Power.

Sir Edmund Hillary's Dog

 The property we bought for fun and hunting came with several nice and very new deer hunting stands.  That is about 15 feet up a ladder that looks to be at about a 60 degree angle.

Hank loves to visit, its the only place we let him run free off leash.  He rolls in stuff, waters other stuff, barks at mysterious noises.  He regarded the tree stand with suspicion.  When I went up to have a look around, he stood at the bottom and barked like mad.

When he stopped barking I got suspicious.  When I turned around....sure enough, he had found a way to scale that ladder.  He was very pleased with himself.  When I started to go down the ladder his expression changed.  Yes, this was yet another situation he'd gotten himself into with no exit strategy!

The Roman Province of Caput Caseum (Wisconsin)

I'm just about ready to ditch Facebook, for reasons I'll get to in a bit.  But I'll actually miss some of the silly interactions with actual (endearingly silly) people.  As opposed to interactions with Slop AI content generated by uninteresting people.

One such discussion had a fellow claiming, and I guess he was serious, that carvings in a local brewery cave were perhaps ancient in origin.  Aztec maybe, but I bet I could have talked him, her, or it, into Roman.  The entity used as its argument "Hey, you were not around then, so all you have is what people have told you!".  Nonsense, but refreshing.  Even charming.

So I feel very confident in identifying this pottery shard as Samian.  It popped up when I turned over our community garden patch.  Somehow the Romans MUST have crossed the Atlantic, lashed the slaves enough to row a galley all the way up the Mississippi and the Chippewa Rivers, took a turn up Duncan Creek, then had a picnic before presumably expiring from exhaustion and implausibility.

Hey, you were not around back then.  So you can't prove I'm wrong!

For my sane archaeology friends I must confess, the illusion only works when you look at this side of it.

Vindolanda Dig - Follow up

For those who followed my adventures at Vindolanda, here's what the last two weeks have revealed:

Of note, the video starts on the site of the mysterious Post Roman "thing".  It's hard to say, but it rather looks now like one building, and without obvious connection to the mysterious curved wall off of the front of the barracks.  Just what was going on there in the post Roman times?  Mention of a coin and its possible help in dating things seems a bit premature.  If it is a typical late Roman coin they stuck around for quite a while. 

Of course I'm going from available information, and don't want to speculate too much.  Perhaps future updates will show more.....

The late blacksmith shop I finished Period III in is not mentioned.  This could either mean they've seen enough and want to preserve/conserve things.....or that the ground is still rock hard despite some rain and it just can't be further explored yet.

Stay tuned....

Trail Cam Photos

We seem to have a fairly diverse critter population up on the new Land.

A tom turkey guarding a little patch of food stuff we scratched out to make the spot more enticing for photo ops.  The deer seems intimidated.

A cute little owl!  You only see one of his glowing eyes because he's looking over his shoulder.  Owls are very good at that.  As this is a little patch of clover we started it's likely he just scored a mouse.

It's well into spring now, so you can start to tell the bucks from the does.

Last time we were up Hank was running around like a Wild Dog.  He stopped to roll around in what I tentatively identified as coyote droppings.  Next day this was on the trail cam...

We've also had a black bear wander through, but it did not show well on camera.

You'll note that all these pictures are from just one spot, and at that, one of the most open and frequently trafficked by humans.  Who knows what is lurking deeper in the forest?

England 2025 - The Usual Odd People

Offered with minimal commentary.

Now, you might be wondering why there is no "Album Cover" photo this year.  It is after all a long standing tradition that we pose moodily for the camera in the fashion of some 70's band.  

Well its like this.  Half of the "Anaerobes" decided to spend the in between Saturday going to a big tattoo show in Newcastle.  It was rather..........well, I don't know exactly what it was but this was part of the entertainment there:

Yikes.  Could it be that the Anaerobes will split up, with one branch going sort of "Death Metal" and renaming themselves Anoxia?  Lots of flames, almost as much as on that 60th birthday cake, Pete!