Archives April 2025

Wasteful, Blinders

Last night I made a quick video demonstrating just how much waste is created when you do a print that has multiple colors in every layer. I printed a relatively small model. If it was printed in a single color I would guess it would be done in 5 or 6 hours however with changing colors that time ballooned all the way up to 25 hours. In addition I had two full “toilets” of waste for the print.

Taking the path of least resistance in your life is a strategy followed by many. Avoiding conflict, hard decisions, and having moral boundaries can be bumpy and uncomfortable. Living behind a white picket fence where you create imaginary scenarios that fit your sunshine and rainbows outlook while ignoring realities that don’t conform to it is a strategy that may make your life easier. Does it make it better? That is a question each person has to figure out for themselves I suppose.

Truck stuff

Last night after work Gladys’s sister Monique asked if I could help her pick up some outdoor furniture she was getting a good deal on. The place we picked up from was off Immokalee Road, my old stomping grounds. It was a lot of stuff that had the bed and back seat of the Tacoma stuffed. The ratchet straps I normally use for holding down loads were not ratcheting. The mechanism was rusty and jammed from being in the bed of the truck. Instead I just wound up crossing and tying the straps in place. It wasn’t as good of a solution but it worked, keeping the items in place for the 20 mile drive back.

Luckily the furniture was very light so it was easy to lift onto and out of the truck. Monique thanked me repeatedly for the help which I was happy to offer. When you own a truck helping your friends move stuff goes with the territory. By the time I got home I was starving. I devoured some food and then got caught up with Daredevil episodes, the end.

It’s a Cartoon World

With how the world feels like a three ring circus nowadays it’s good to be able to distract yourself by having AI make cartoon versions of your pets. I had ChatGPT convert a picture of Elsa into a cartoon yesterday. I think the end result is cute and impressive. AI can do very cool things side by side with pretty awful things, take your pick.

Last night I tended to a bunch of post trip tasks like doing massive laundry, going through my bills and picking up the scattered remains of my travel that were not yet put away. I watered the garden which is currently doing well with very healthy lettuce, cherry tomato, onions and cilantro growing in it. Yea things have swung back to normal pretty quickly.