secondsuitor

That could have gone better. I started cutting the stretcher bars to make the shelf unit, and it immediately went to crap because the bars aren’t solid; not even close to solid. I’m currently rethinking my plans for those stretcher bars. On a better more though, my theory for what I was doing wrong with the router appears to be accurate.

I put together the Pi-Top, and I’m getting an idea of what needs changing. For what it is it’s a fun little box, the leading software is definitely neat.

• Remove the educational software
• Add Kicad, Processing, and Inkscape
• Start designing a better case. I want a fan or two. I want access to all my ports. I want access to the GPIO pins.
• Consider a true HD. RPi 3 can now not from something other than SD.
• Keep the slideout, it’s fun.
• Optimize kernel

Two 15x30s upright and on the ends. One across the top. Two more forming the back. I’ll need to shave a hair off of the two on the back.

Left side will have cubes made from cool things. Tool hammers across back. Lights on the top. Add a webcam on a lamp arm.

The last few days:

• Roasted while chicken. 
• Going to make chicken stock… soon(tm)
• Finally decanvassed all those canvas stretcher bars that I had previously cut the canvas from in a pique of rage.
• I believe I just used the word pique correctly in a complete sentence.
• Wrote two non-work adulting emails.

To-do:

• Assemble Pi-top
• Build cellphone
• Work on workbench
• Build organizer for paperwork: shred vs file
• Better lighting
• Add webcam

As I’m sure you guessed, no.

Btw, much of the before is based on imperfect memory and conjecture.
Being frugal, I usually take into account shipping price and speed when deciding on a purchase. Buying a thing online at ten percent off only counts when the shopping is less than elevenish percent of the discounted price. Then we get into the why of shipping prices. Is any Amazon Prime shipping ever free as I pay every year for that? Lord knows I’d love to pay for the Grand Tour (and The Tick when it comes out), but the streaming is still rocking 33% dependent on national holidays and urgency for the show. But back to shipping.

Last summer we purchased an exercise bike. We got it through Amazon which meant that we got free shipping. If I remember correctly,  that was two day shipping. Ordered on Tuesday, ETA of Friday. Since it’s a few hundred dollars, and 150 pounds, I track it so I can make sure to get home in a timely fashion, and get it upstairs. With an ETA of Friday, figure I can assemble Saturday, perfect. Taking has it going going going all the way to Friday at 5pm, and now it’s out for delivery. At 6:45pm, it switches to delayed. Huh…

Saturday, same thing happens.

“Free” shipping, so no Sunday delivery.

Arives on Monday or Tuesday.

I assume this was a thing where the local delivery person said “nope, not going to lift that by myself”, which I’m totally fine with. It’s just that this discussion should have happened when the package entered the stream, not when it got (or didn’t get) to me.

Last Sunday (the 7th), I did an impulse (clearance) purchase at 10:45pm. As what I got was still over the free line, I went with that. Purchase is coming from Colorado, and I live in Seattle. Free shipping, should have it in hand Friday our Saturday. Perfect.

Well, FedEx doesn’t understand how snow works I guess. I’m now getting wildly fluctuating ETAs. It’s not the site’s  fault. Despite my previous comment, I don’t even know if it’s FedEx’s fault. I’m just aggravated. I have projects I’m going to work on, and instead I’m tracking a package that left Troutdale at 1pm on Saturday, and served in Troutdale at 2pm on Sunday.

/endrant

 I was going to start by taking about how I think I have Imposter Syndrome.  Reading over that article I don’t think I do. While I’m high functioning, I’m not exactly high achieving. I don’t think puerile will find me out. I don’t have to chive myself prep talks about my success.

I feel like I have a very wide skill set. The way that I’m confused though is the depth. In my youth I believed other people knew what they were doing. They had some knowledge I was lacking. With age, this disconnect has slowly improved, but only on that I don’t assume they know what they’re doing, just that they know things I don’t. 

It’s the plumber situation. I could hire a plumber. If I do, they get paid a lot  to do what that had been trained to do. If I do this, their prior (and probably flawed) knowledge is rewarded by me. Or, I could read up and do it myself. If I do it myself, I’m out the cost of research, a larger supply of tools, time, and materials. The first time will be a loss leader. The second time though, I’ll make back in spades. Every time I’ll get better and faster. 

Right now I’m building an Excel file that will export a CSV file that program can use to merge a stack of PDFs. Everything is working good (with a liberal dose of Stackoverflow, pro tip: Google Excel VBA whatever you want to do), but the files aren’t popping. I think I finally figured it out, but this is after talking it through with sine knowledgeable people. I’d this a symptom of an incomplete education? Should I have routed this question to someone else entirely? Did I finally reach my Peter Principle Plateau?

I just don’t know the answer to this kind of stuff somedays. It’s not that I’m a fake. It’s more that I’m a mental Lenny from Off Mice and Men. I don’t know when I’m about to crush it.

Once I get back to trains,  why but rail? I can get copper pipe and make rails from that. Please note that the corrosion will suck, but meh.

Couple of notes

• I could totes sell a sign of an (arrow) on etsy I bet
• Found a reference for working with tin cans: Tin Plate Girl
• Totes bummed that she hasn’t done anymore videos for a few years
• I’ll need to start doing the design work for how this will work and look