Linux gamer, retired aviator, profanity enthusiast

  • 7 Posts
  • 996 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • I think I’ve done a reasonable job improving my dovetail jig.

    That 12 inch Porter Cable model; it has some problems with repeatability. The reference marks are quite wide and positioned in a way to give a lot of parallax error. There was no real way to quantify how far you’ve moved the template in and out, which meant it’s basically guaranteed to come out of alignment. So I took a knife to it. Scribed the alignment line around all the tines and put graduation marks on the brass thumb wheels. It’s a lot easier to be deliberate in adjusting this thing now.

    It still needs a few other things here and there, and I need to put those alignment marks on other templates. But it’s a start.









  • I’ve never really had a “desk job” where my job was to sit at a desk 9 to 5. But a few of my past occupations included at least some desk time, such as:

    • Flight instructor. Most of my day was spent either in the classroom briefing/instructing, or in the plane instructing/overseeing. I spent a significant portion at a desk creating lesson plans, updating logbooks, communicating with students, grading assignments, communicating with other instructors, communicating with our Designated Pilot Examiner, filling out FAA paperwork, that sort of thing.
    • Aviation mechanic. This is more of an administrative job than the posters at your local trade school would lead you to believe. An owner/operator/pilot/plane haver guy brings you a plane for an annual inspection, now you have a research project. What exact make and model is this thing? What modifications has it had during the 50 years it’s existed? Under what authority were those modifications made? Is it still in original or correctly modified condition? Are there any manufacturer service bulletins or FAA airworthiness directives issued for this aircraft, and I mean THIS aircraft, or its components? Like, they’ll call out ranges of hull numbers in these things. Then there’s recording all the shit YOU did to the plane while it’s here.
    • Project manager of a short-run job shop. First up: Meet with the customer and massage the idea they have out of their brain. 3 times out of 10 tell them which aisle in Wal-Mart they can find what they want, 1 time out of 10 explain why what they want isn’t physically or technologically possible. Once I’ve got a good idea of what the customer wants, it’s time to do some preliminary design work, research materials and prepare an estimate, deliver this to the customer. 7 in 10 times we hear back from that, get the okay to build, now it’s time to order materials, do any of the design work which may include CAD design, electrical design, computer programming, whatever. Scheduling and directing my team, contracting with any talent I don’t have in-house, the all important staring at a wall visualizing fourteen different variations on some little yet pivotal detail, and then I’d end up in the shop running laser cutters or lathes or table saws or whatever to get it built. Then the most important part: Invoicing the customer.






  • It’s actually funny going back and watching early episodes of The New Yankee Workshop and hearing Norm brag about the “new” glues that were coming available. “This is a one-part glue, you don’t have to mix it up, it’s ready to use in the bottle, it’s water proof and it cleans up with water! I wouldn’t have even tried doing this myself without these modern glues.” They avoided showing brand names and such on the show; Norm was usually careful to hold the glue bottle with the back facing the camera, but he’s clearly holding a bottle of Titebond 2, with it’s blue cap.

    And I mean, yeah. imagine building furniture without PVA glue, you change how you think.


  • I forget why, but Picard and Riker are away, Data is in command with Worf as his first officer. Data wants to be analytical and consider all options, Worf wants to fire all phasers and die in glorious battle. Data comes to a decision and gives orders, and Worf says “Finally!”

    Data asks to see him in the ready room, and then dresses him down for talking back to him in front of the crew. They hash out what they expect the role of second in command is supposed to be, and with the military shit out of the way, Data then acknowledges that this dressing down may have damaged their friendship, and Worf replies that no, he was out of line so it was his fault, that he acknowledges that he was out of line and if we can overlook this incident he’d like to continue being friends.

    Stated problems, voiced objections, addrressed objections, no personal slights, no raised voices, actual accountability expected and accepted…manliest conversation ever filmed.