Blaa blaa and other insites

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:41:54 GMT

So this all friends only now... comment and I'll think about adding you.

:-)

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:54:21 GMT

An amazing elephant story...
In 1986, Dan Harrison (see picture above) was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Dan approached it very carefully.
He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.
As carefully and as gently as he could, Dan worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot..
The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.
Dan stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Twenty years later, Dan was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.
As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Dan and his son Dan Jr. were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1986, Dan couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.
Dan summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Dan's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly .

Probably wasn't the same elephant

tradition

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:33:18 GMT

It has become a Friday ritual that I burn my hand at work.

I am not that big on traditions... this is one that I will let slide...

Creative

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:24:01 GMT

So there are often things that I mean to post about... some of them quite cool topics... but I never quite get there on it.

Anyway, here's one I should have posted last week sometime..

I had this issue with people/monkeys on an the committee of an arts festival.. more on a personal level than anything to do with the festival itself.

The problem: a guy I find it hard to relate to.
As an artist/creative individual I go through my own creative process, Having worked in industrial design for a while my method is somewhat more methodical and logical than many artist... but it's a process none the less. I put myself and some materials in one side, there is smoke and explosions, and a thing comes out the other.
The person in question buys the creativity of others.
With this I had issues.
Then I had one of those "stop being such a dick" chats with myself and looked at the process for what it was.
So this guy buys the creativity of others... good on him.
He finds some pretty cool shit, he enjoys finding it, selecting the exact thing that he wants, ordering it and the suspense waiting for it to arrive. He enjoys the showing off and going "look what I found" with people going "OMG Where did you get that...?"... so he has his own creative process.
Not a creative process that I relate to.
But I don't have to.
He has a creative thing, he does it, and the festival is better for it.

...sometimes I should just pull my head in.

burner..?

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:11:39 GMT

So I think I am going to burn out soon...

It seems that in most respects, both work and private,I am striving to achieve things that are rather undervalued by others....
which leads me to think that I myself may be undervalued.

I don't know how to resolve this... or if what would resolve it is even worth the effort.

I am tired.

I need coffee

(note that it said "undervalued" this is not a woe is me thing)

Happy

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:15:58 GMT

So I have been chatting with the hottest hippie chick in Wellington...

Yes- there is one... and yes at her names mention all the hippies eyes glaze over...

anyway...

I just wanted to say that.. because people keep asking me about my goofy smile.

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:22:37 GMT

My little brother gets back from Ausy at the end of Oct.

...here the burner girls go "squee!"...

Carbon and numbers...

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:03:39 GMT

So there has been a lot of talk about carbon emissions of late.

And I got to thinking about mass transit systems.

My two models:

A carbon nasty man driving by himself in a V8 Holden.

A bus that drives from its depot to the end of it's rout every morning, picks people up on its way into a city centre. it goes back and forth all day. Then, at the completion of the last run to the outskirts, returns to the depot.

The carbon nasty man is driving himself in a vehicle that weighs 1300kg
The bus driver transporting others in a vehicle that weighs 8700kg (a 41 seater coach) .

So how many people must the bus average before it's vehicle weight per passenger transported is equal to the carbon nasty man..?

On the face of it 8700/1300 = 6.7 people
But the bus is assumed to be driven off duty for say 10% of it's travel then that becomes 7.3 people on average when on duty.

And that is to equal the carbon nasty dude driving himself around in the V8....

my car weighs 720kg... when I drive myself somewhere, it has the same vehicle mass to passenger ratio as a bus that has 12 passengers.
As I am both driver and passenger- my car is never driven without passengers and the ratio never drops below this level.
If I have one extra passenger... then I am the same as a bus with 24 people onboard...
If I have four extra passengers.. then I am the same as a bus with 60 people...

I like my car a lot more now...

Baffled

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:49:10 GMT

When intelligent people do stupid things.... they piss me off.

So I was going to buy a scooter...

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 07:24:09 GMT

but I can't ride a scooter to kapiti to see my boy... so I bought the next best thing:

Hear the roar of the almost 1 litre engine.
This is such a chick magnet...
OH yea!!!!

OMG

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:28:20 GMT

I am bidding on a car and looking at moving into a flat... something is wrong with me.

Next years bm theme sucks festering bum

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:53:06 GMT

I was undecided about making the effort to get to bm next year.

but I now think it highly unlikely.

I think someone is pissing in the oasis...

the one city in the country I would go to visit being themed on the rest of a place for which I hold in quite healthy disdain...

shrug...

truck

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:59:43 GMT

So I finally put the

steps

on the truck

Saving backwards..

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:42:44 GMT

So, for me, saving money has always been an issue.

But over the last month I have found a system that seems to work very well.

Instead of coming down on myself and locking money away when I first get payed... what I have been doing is taking off the cream at the end of the week.

So every week I reduce the money in the account I have easy access to and dump whatever I have not spent into my savings account.

No difference..? well here's the trick... the amount I reduce it to is constant (though my income varies) and the amount I reduce it to is slightly above what I earn.

End result is that there is no restriction, no "clamping down" to rebel against... I have more than enough to get by.

I am not sure about the exact psychology of how this system works in synergy with my money issues... but I am saving a weeks income every month and a half which is a nice change from the "sinking into debt" thing I was doing before.

Happy
:-)

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:40:06 GMT

Happy thoughts

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:34:28 GMT

I noticed last night that the odometer in my truck is sitting at 499316...

Are morons easier to understand..?

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 05:57:31 GMT

I was in a shopping mall today and there was a woman sitting behind us who had an asian lady with her.
Apparently the asian lady had english as a second language because the woman was doing that condescending "I'm talking to person who doesn't speak english" voice.

It occurred to me that if you speak slowly and a little louder than in needed. If you over pronounce everything...
...well:
A. You sound retarded
B. It is no easier to understand... it is just another accent that this person has to learn and is going to be a big pain in the arse for them.

..I work with people who don't speak very well...

If you just talk to them in the way that they hear everyone else talk to each other... they understand a lot better.

...unless you just like to be condescending and sound retarded...

Shrug...

oh... the new Born movie.. is a "wait for the DVD" kinda flick....

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:05:08 GMT

"No prerequisites exist for participation in our community."

curious quote.

esp from a community that asked me to submit an application.. I love irony

:-D

A great way to start of a morning of industrialisation...

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:15:39 GMT

New Hippy Kickers

Me ist smitten

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:20:52 GMT

So I went out to the matterhorn for dinner last night.

I wasn't with the subject of the smite...smittener..smittenness..

anyway..

Was a nice meal... and good atmosphere.. A small amount of conversation happened, but it was mainly about the lack of conversation... and then it lead onto the parabolics of throwing chips at people and how you can define the time of the chips flight path by the height it attains during it's flight... amusing... yes... but do not find parabolics "stimulating" as such.... well it's funny if you say it....

Anyway...

The conversation wound around to how wiped I was and how screwed the situation is.. and how it doesn't matter anyway....

hymph

The world is round

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:23:15 GMT

The sky is blue,

...and I am happy that things are the way thing are...

Housetruck

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:12:59 GMT

I have decided to sell it.

I already have a couple of buyers lined up... looks like I am going to be in a boarding house till I get my other truck on the road.

...shrug...

If anyone else wants to make me an offer.... feel free.

:-)

Trubine in tha making pic/s

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:27:38 GMT

.
Here are my pretty turbine blades...

I'll add more pics under this cut as I go...

The assembly has begun.
but this is where the internal views end... where the other blades go is super secret :-)

well the outer shielding is on... but not mounted up yet... so no trials tonight...
Off to have a shower and get ready to go out.

ponder...

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:57:17 GMT

I had dinner with a friend last night ( magic_masseuse) and was asked for some input material for some sex theripy sessions she is conducting...

ummm... okay... kewl...

I am continuing today with the turbine... going well... just started turning the first back plate

But I do have a drill press and a grinder... it's one of those things that you set running and wander off because it tends to fly out a little bit.... and a 215mm disc of 4mm plate doesn't like to stop...

I am out to dinner with another friend tonight.... wonder what this will lead to... shrug...

Have a happy day people.
:-)

making stuff

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 07:05:48 GMT

So I stated the day with three possible design concepts for my turbine fan.

Option One
The first was an easy build... would have worked fine, and I may build one like that sometime as a water turbine... but it would have only given me a compound of four and would have required high flow to reach a usable speed.

Option Two
The second was okay... complex to build but workable.

Option Three
The third was a brainfuck (Tm).... there is an anomily about rotation that I was trying to harness and no matter how I did the math... it ended with equal opposing forces untill it was up to speed...ie it would not start under it's own power and would have a minimim idle speed like an internal combustion engine.

So I started builing option two... got all the blades cut out and started laying it out.

....then I stood and looked at it.

...I had a smoke...

I drew some lines to track the flow...

...I had a smoke...

...it will self start...

Now I am having a coffee thinking about how damn effiant this thing is and the fact that I have to put some serious speed regulation in place... because it will self start even if the jet entering it is at an angle opposing it's direction of rotation, and there is opposing tesler effect...

There is a lot of brain dead cutting and welding and positioning and shit to get it done... the creatinve part is done... the fun part is over... and now we work...

6:45 on a Saturday and I don't want to leave because I am onto something... sad little hermit that I am...

I had a filled roll and piece of cake at about 12... I guess I should go find some food... but I think I'll get some more done on this before I do.

I found a little petrol burner to use as a light lamp at burning nights.... and a coffe perkulator... ripped off a second hand dealer ($20 less than he was wanting) buy waving cash at him and being quite accepting when he said no... ...he could not quite bring himself to give me the change for the coffee perculator... smirk... I love cash purchases...

i am all joybeams because of someone I have been drawn to for ages... who snogged me last night.... life is very VERY good