Topic: Side projects and tinkering

[PatMan33]

I've been getting back into tinkering around with things now that I have a little extra time to breathe. It has been very nice and I've had a lot of victories since resettling and getting a new life started. Lately I've been buying broken equipment (that I plan to use and that I need) and reconstructing it. I've acquired a riding mower, a weed whacker, a propane grill (taste the meat, not the heat), and a really nice leaf blower real cheap because they were "broken" and all of it is now in working condition and slowly starting to look better cosmetically as I find paint that I like. And there was my surprise the other week of having to repair my sister's ATV after it ended up in the lake. :B

I picked this junked-out generator up for pennies because I suspected it only needed a little TLC and not anything major. As for the age of the machine, I can't really pin it down but I haven't tried too hard. Looks like late 90s or early 2000s tech.



Anyway my suspicion was that the carburetor was full of sludge and that the cylinders were probably gummed up as well. Sure enough I hadn't even gotten the air filter off when backwashed gasoline sludge started oozing out of the lower compartment. The previous owner hadn't bothered to turn the gas line off and drain it before letting the thing sit for a year or two. (gas turns to sludge after a while, FYI - drain your equipment if you aren't going to use it) Cleared that out, tore down and rebuilt the carb and took some extra time to ream out all of the passages, opened up the valve compartment and cracked open the head and let everything drain down and dry out a bit. Threw in a new spark plug, some new gas, and we were off to the races. It started up on the first pull... after the cord snapped and I re-tied it back to the handle. Nearly sent me tumbling into the wood pile to boot! So I'm going to buy a new pull string for a couple bucks just for good measure because I don't like the shorter string I have right now.

 

Of course to keep it gaming-related I had to charge an old 3DS that I had laying around that was dead at zero. She lit right up and I was able to play Mario Kart 7 in headache mode!

Good times and rewarding. What kind of stuff do you guys toy around with?

[PatMan33]

This weekend might be a good time to clean out the PC case. Should be low humidity with nice cool air.

It has been moved around to several locations in the last six months so I suspect it has some build-up going on. Gonna get the alligator clips and wire to ground it just in case.

[martyk]

Cool stuff Pat!  I've been meaning to do more hands on projects, but always been too busy as of late.  That, and my place downtown doesn't leave me with much space to work.

In lieu of that, I've been working on a 3D model of my apartment.  Been gradually measuring every single surface down to the mm and recreating it in blender before pulling it into Unity.  Don't have a ton of pictures handy, but I've got these two:

[PatMan33]

DUDE!! Modelling is so ****ing awesome!

I never even considered what you are doing. That sounds like a really fun idea. At first I thought you were actually making a physical model (also super duper fun and something I want to get back to) but then I realized it was a digitized 3D model. Once you have it complete your options are endless, not to mention the technological proficiency you keep up to date by working with the software. It sounds like a really well-rounded project that keeps your brain working, helps you understand your living space, and relates to your day-to-day occupation.

And those really are the best pursuits!

[PatMan33]

Putting in a bathroom this weekend and am more or less finished. The shower is installed, the sink is done, all the plumbing connects are in shape and the tile work is completed and dry. So all that is left is to install the toilet.

But my dumb ass forgot the wax seal. So... I guess no toilet today. Oops!

Guess I'll spend the rest of the time touching up some of the paint.

[sgore]

See, people say "don't blame video games," but the Sims gave me an unhealthy expectation of how easy it was to remodel a home.

Walls and floors seem like they'd be a lot easier to manage if you could just speed things along with the shift key.

[PatMan33]

The neat thing is that most of this stuff really isn't that difficult. If you have half a brain, you can more or less remodel a house room-by-room. And if you are able to learn as you go, you can build it well. The hard part is the amount of time that it takes. It takes a lot of time! But getting proficient in the skills required is straightforward.


Good time to post.

[sgore]

I was possessed by the ghost of an original XBOX controller and an old can of Surge.

[PatMan33]

[PatMan33]

Tore out a bunch of trees this weekend. And now my arms are all scarred. :u

[PatMan33]

With any luck they'll be gone in a couple days.

[Slinky]

All of this house remodelling stuff is beyond my ken as an apartment dweller, but I am very proud of my jailbroken Wii which is my ongoing tinkering project for some reason. Just now I set it up as its own FTP server so I can drop .roms and torrented movies onto it from any computer in the house.

[PatMan33]

A jailbroken Wii is a really good system to have. It also means you can play some of the "lost" WiiWare games. Check out Lost Winds if you have not already, it's phenomenal. So is its sequel.

And you can also play the entire BIT.TRIP series where it originally released.

[Slinky]

WiiWare wads were actually the original reason I jailbroke it! The concept of the entire storefront disappearing forever and all of those games becoming unavailable honestly made me super anxious. That sort of thing is the main reason I hate digital-only ****, but then again, I shouldn't complain about that after having spent $50 during this Steam sale, lmao

[PatMan33]

Got a new cordless drill today.

Commence heavy breathing.