Diane and I had a busy day aroudn Gabes while he was at school. Diane worked to beutify Gabes gardens and yard.. and my job was to mow the lawn… Which meant gettign the lawn mower to start for the first time.. A quick trip to fred meyers to get dry gas and carberator cleaner and I was able to get the thing running.. that took far longer than actually cutting the small lawn.. It really needed it.. !
When Gabe came home we met up with Gabe and Sammantha and went to a really yummy Thai place.. On the way home we decided to stop at Movie Madness.. The biggest DVD place that I know of in the whole universe. We opted for Oppie (Openheimer) and a My Neighbor Totoro … a 1988 manga-like movie from Studio Ghibli…
WHile in movie maddness I checked again to see if they still had the Colony on dvd.. they did !// kinda funny to find your own face in a place like this
We went home and whatched Totoro.. if you havent seen it.. check it out ! Super weird and sweet !
Today was a whirlwind.. We had our second session at Canyon Crest. It’s a huge and beutifu; school.. the folks in the office were super freindly as we badged in. As we waited we noticed the lost and found…. Look at all these water bottles searching for their owners !
Angelina and I helped the students complete their schematics and lay out their Printed cxircuit boards. Diane helped alert us to anyone who seemed to be struggling. Our goal was to have most of them finishing their designs before we left.. then they’d apply for the $100 OnBoard. grants and order their boaerds. One student, Charles.. actually got completely through the process which impressed me. By the time we all had to run for our planes, the class was in a good place, We had several fiirst-time issues, but all in all.. it felt like a great success.
Our frind Alvin from IEEE SOlid State Circuits arranged a very quick ceremony before we left and gave us all plaques for running the workshop.. DIane
We got to the airport in plenty of time to catch an earlier flight to Portland. vis SFO … unfortuunately, that plane was delayed for a couple of hours due to a maintaince issue. We got to SFO just 12 minutes before close of boarding on our outbound plane. Diane and I ran.. .. no sprinted … tot he other gate at full speed.. Thanks goodness we’re both runners. We made the plane by just 4 minutes ! ./ I hate running for planes.. !!!!!
We had a peacful flight to Portland.. Gabe piced us up and we went out for a great Greek meal.. SO good sweeing Gabe and Nova..! We’re staying at a place just around the corner that we really like.. and we really like the women who own it..
We got in to San Diego late last night.. Went by the hotel where Angelina was staying to pay for her room. Angelina is an 18 year old HackClubber who will be teaching the Printed Circuit Board class and Canyon Crest Academy over the next 2 days. It was great meeting her for the first time. She’s an amazing hardware and software designer, and also a pilot . Next year she’ll be a freshman at CalTech..I know he’s going to love it and to well.
Once we’d payed for the hotel, Diane and I drove up to our AirBNB in the Santa Fe section of San Diego. It was such a beautiful area. .. Our AirBNB was above the home of two really nice below. (Roger and his wife and their cute dog). The airbnb was gorgeous !
We woke early and went for a run around the lush countryside. The plants were amazing.. ..!.. So were the snails !
Then it was time to go over to Canyon Crest high school to begin our OnBoard workshop..Canyon Crest is a HUGE public school ..// I was nervous and excited.. This is the first time I’ve tried to do this in a classroom. We met Angelina there and found Tony Mauro the (most awesome) teacher’s room. Tony made us feel very welcome. His students had just done a unit on breadboarding circuits.. so the matieral was fresh in their mind. Alvin from the IEEE Solid State Circuits society was also there.. and came with Donuts ! It was a great start to the two day workshop (Thanks Alvin !)
The plan was for each of them to build a custom printed circuit board (PCB) of their circuit. We had only 1 hour and 40 minutes for both monday and Tuesday. We had alot to cover. Angelina did an excellent job explaining the process and getting the students started.. After (and during) that .. teh students dove into their own designs. I /we were soooo impressed with these student.s .. .. Angelina and I circulated through the room helping students as needed. Diane helped us keep a watch pourt for anyone who needed more help.. We had a few hic-ups as any new program does, but by the end of the day.. nearly all of the 32 students were well on their way to their own very cutomized pcb . It was soooooo fun !
After class Angelina went off to meet friends while DIane and I went on a hike that TNoy had suggested. It was a beutiful walk along the sandstone cliffs near the shore.. Really beutiful !
Around 6 we met up with Angelina to geek out on some projects like the light up prom dress she’s making.. Then ALvin very kindly picked us up and drove us down to thso really great mexican place.. THe theme was “Luchadoros” .. the masked wrestlers I used to watch in Houston.. I was telling them about my favoret Luchadore..”Mil Mascaras” the man with a thousand masks…” .. and there was a picture of him in the bar..
Now that I think of it.. i’ll bet there were a thousand mil mascaras !
