family – If we had a Marriage, These Would be its Thoughts

Halloween 2024

November 2, 2024 8:59 pm

After missing out on Halloween last year due to the whole family being sick with COVID we got to make up for it this year.

We carved pumpkins on the 30th. The girls each really participated this time with not just coming up with designs, but helping scoop guts out and Heather did almost her entire pumpkin herself.

Corinne's design used the eyes to make ears. Heather's is a cat sitting in silhouette. I added a side view of a cat to make a whole feline crew.

Corinne and Heather were both cats from the Warriors series. Heather was Firestar and Corinne was Graystripe. Jess did face paint for them to complete the looks.

Corinne's friend was supposed to Trick-or-Treat with us last year, so we made that happen this time.

I've been putting the smoke machine out on Halloween since I got it, but just a little wind will clear the smoke almost immediately. So this year I pointed the smoke machine at the ceramic jack-o-lantern we have. So smoke fills the pumpkin and then drifts outs of the eyes, nose, and mouth. It was a much more effective result.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

October 18, 2024 5:02 pm

We went out to the hills south of town last night to try to get a glimpse of the comet. I was able to detect it with the naked eye, but just barely. Just enough to be able to point the binoculars and camera at it without having to hunt for it.

Sugar Cookies

September 29, 2024 9:21 pm

Made some sugar cookies with the girls.

A Couple Days in Monterey

June 17, 2024 4:31 pm

Mom said she'd take care of our cats for a couple days so we could do a short trip to Monterey.

We stayed at the Best Western in Marina which is almost as close to the beach as you can get. So after checking in we walked down to the ocean. It was cold. I wore pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a windbreaker, and a hat. I also went to Walmart and bought a couple blankets and was wrapped in one. I was still chilly. The girls pranced about and played in the waves. I don't know how they didn't freeze, but once Corinne was shivering we packed it in and went back to the motel.

The next day we drove into Monterey to go to the aquarium. We parked downtown and walked around Old Fisherman's Wharf a bit. But before we got to the wharf we passed a patisserie and bought crepes. We had considered waiting until our way back, but it was good we didn't because they were closed then. They were pretty good, though they took an oddly long amount of time. On the wharf the girls found a cow-bench to sit on.

At the wharf there were sea lions basking, and barking, on the shore. We walked the length of the wharf and then along the shoreline trail a while before hopping on the free trolley to finish the trek to the aquarium.

Corinne and Heather have very different approaches to such places, so I went with Corinne while Jess stayed with Heather. Corinne was upset when the bat rays wouldn't come over to her for petting, but on our 3rd visit to the touch tank she was able to reach them and was very pleased about it.

Then it was back to the motel and the next day we headed home. And the day after that (Father's Day) I took Mom & Dad back to the train station.

About Time we got a 3D Printer

May 2, 2024 10:39 pm

Every so often I'd poke my head around the 3D printer space to see what was on offer and find excuses why I wasn't going to buy anything. Then I found the Bambu Lab A1 which was released last year. The company seems to have a good reputation and the A1 promises an annoyance-free printing experience. Self-leveling, self-calibrating, self-monitoring--just print things without any fuss. It has multiple connectivity options and works with industry standard formats and their software is open source (and an extension of an existing open source project).

Well, with Jess being excited by board-game organizing, Heather into 3D printing at school, and I out of excuses for why not to buy one; we bought one. It arrived today. Assembly was a bit of work, but the provided instructions were generally very clear and easy to follow.

After dinner I finished setting up and the girls anxiously waited for it to finish its self-calibration routine so we could try our first print.

Opting to keep things simple, I printed the little boat model that comes pre-installed on the SD-card. I am thoroughly impressed. It's much faster and has better detail than I was expecting.