I was at the Germinator tonight for some filming were doing for IEEE..
We decided to try an expereimentI’ve wanted to try for a long time.. We took the transformer from an old microwave (DANGEROUS !!!) .. then hooked it to a piece of wood that had been wiped with a solution of backing soda.. this is what we got !
thats much more fun than i thought I’d have tonight !
nite all, nte sam
-me
“Busy.. it’s worn like a badge ” thats the way this commercial starts..
this commercial came up in yoga tonight.. nothing special, but the message resonated deeply with me.. I’ve been starting every conversation in these last couple of weeks with “I’m sorry I can’t do XX because I’me working YY hours per week .. (where XX=- something fun and YY = 70-80) .. I hear myself saying it like its an excuse.. or a great achievement.. it’s not.. it’s just expected.. Everyone I work with is doing the same thing as I do. calls start at 7AM (6AM tomorrow) and go through 7PM.. often later.. then work till 11 or 12 just to catch up. It’s nuts !
Just for sanity I knocked off work at 6 PM today for yoga and promised myself I wouldn’t do any work after that..( I had to let that slip a little to answer an email and review a draft. but other than that.. have been work free since 6PM)
I’m going to get in bed and read a book like I used to.. .. now.. where did I put all my books ?
nite all, ite sam
-me
Yesterday while we were havingg our maikerfaire up here, the bigger NYC maikerfaire was going on down in NY. I’m very proud to say that son Max was producing the livestream of both days of the festival. It sounded like so much fun !. I’m so happy that he’s so much part of the maker scene down there. We got to watch up here what was going on down there. It’s a great show. we managed to catch a few pics of max as he walked in front of the cameraman..
he’s to the left here
Im proud of that boy !
nite all, nite sam
-me
Beautiful day.. we started with a run up lib’s lookout in the sparkling cool air.. Then .. made it to maker faire around 12:30.
This is our third year.. what a great event.. what a great venue in Shelburne Farms !
there were robots everywhere.. here’s the robot wars pen
i helped on the control electronics for this one
lots more maker meets crafts this year !
I thought I was supposed to be there at 1 to start judging the champbot competition .. turns out some of the judging actually started at 11.. I was still able to help judge the effects. 
we had 9 entries.. only 4 made the whole course, but several of them had great effects .. they had a chance to drop a boy in a target submerge, and light a paper target on fire.. as well as navigate a slalom course . It’s a tough challenge !
we had a great crowd
this guy was cue.. made from a commercial RC boat
some required some help
these guys were great.. they had a controller fry .. good grace under pressure !
we tallied the scores.. and the winners were clear !
Diane and Finn came back to check out the show. It was so fun showing them around. Finn really liked making rockets !
finn loved robots too !
here’s Alayna W.. Miss Vermont.. she’s doing her elephant toothpaste demo that she used in Ms. Usa.. !
here’s freind Matt and his milling machine
from there we went to a very cool sound concert.. crystal bowls and digareedoos .. nice relaxation
just in now from watching the lunr eclipse.. what n amazing thing.. and to think it won’t happen again until 2033 !
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OK.. ONE MORE LOOK AT THE MOON .. THEN SLEEP FOR ME..
nice weekend .. !
night all, night sam
-me