morrowlife

Here’s a big barrel full of the stuff we use a lot of here in Lardville. Photographed in the WWII “homefront” exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. I have no idea why they needed to collect lard, but apparently the uses were practically endless. Lardville must have been quite the popular town back then.

Great weekend, it being the Second Happiest Day of the Year and all. Several Loyal Readers were here, and I spoke to various others on the phone. What a great day.

Saturday was fine too. We swam again – the pool was a couple degrees warmer than Friday. Just a little chill when you first jumped in and then perfectly comfortable. Did just a little bit of work on things around the house and then spent a whole lot of time working on my digital mousebot. Not much joy there. I can’t seem to get a reliable signal out of the IR emitters/sensors. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but the output doesn’t appear to be a function of how much light is hitting the sensors, which kind of negates the whole purpose of the thing. The odd thing is that they worked okay in analog mode. Maybe I need to experiment with the voltages. Yeah, that’s the ticket. In the meantime, the project is in its box back in the garage.

Speaking of the garage, the Honda finally went to the dealer this morning for its new transmission. Cross your fingers, Loyal Readers. I feel like a member of the family is in for a heart transplant. Except the heart would be more like the engine. Maybe it’s in for a liver transplant. Or maybe its lungs. Opinions?

In any case, it’s supposed to be ready on Wednesday afternoon, and I’m anxious.

Another question: is it appropriate to pray for your car’s well-being? I’m saying yes, based on Alma 34:24-25.

Controversy of the day: Should we ask for it back? I say yes.

Lame controversy, I know. Maybe a better one tomorrow. See you then.

Here are a few giraffes grabbing a quick snack at the Detroit Zoo. The general public can feed them there, which may be fun. I don’t know, though.

Off Friday today. We got a few things done, including fixing the leaf blower, cleaning off the workbench, buying stuff at Office Max (incorrectly reported yesterday as Office Depot), checking out Loyal Reader Number One’s video-camera-on-a-board, and swimming. Also lots of relaxation. Oh, and I worked for a couple of hours too.

Tomorrow’s list is equally long. I want to wash the Miata, design and breadboard the digital mousebot, and . . . umm . . . a few other things. Swim, certainly. It’s been hot and the pool feels good right now.

Anyway. No controversy again today. Look for something really big on Monday. See you then.

Here’s a polar bear at the Detroit Zoo. As mentioned a couple days ago, these guys absolutely love it in Detroit. Can’t imagine why.

Went swimming this evening. Well, to be absolutely technically correct, the Loyal Readers went swimming and I went wading. Then we all went jacuzzifying. Swimming tomorrow for me, when it’s over a hundred degrees. Saturday too, for the same reasons.

We ended up not going camping this weekend. We just felt too pressured to spend the weekend away. Plus, it’s going to be outrageously hot. So we’re staying home and swimming.

We also have to go to Office Depot. It’s a brand-new store and we got some coupons for free stuff. Gotta use ’em. And Father’s Day is as good a time as any, no?

No new controversy today. I’m still hoping to hear from additional Loyal Readers on appropriate uses for the Brown Ray. Thanks to Loyal Reader Number Four for her humane suggestion.

Off Friday tomorrow. See you then.

Here’s the reason the South lost the Civil War. They marched too close to each other. Who can fight when you can’t even get your arms up? Picture taken at Greenfield Village during the annual Civil War reenactment.

Well. I finally got yesterday’s post up. Today. Lousy Blogger. Sorry to all my enraged Loyal Readers. Your evening was ruined, I know.

The family went to the annual ward summer picnic in the park tonight. Loyal Reader Number Four made a delicious pasta salad with chicken and mandarin oranges. Quite tasty. It was nice to visit with friends, as always.

I’m just about finished with my cost account management class. Tomorrow is the final exam, for which there are four hours budgeted. Yikes. I think I need to spend a little time studying tonight.

Today’s Morrowlife controversy: should we be developing this extreme weapon? My vote: definitely. I’d like to see it used against those kids who can’t keep their pants up. Wait a minute – maybe I wouldn’t like to see that after all. Let’s pick a different group. Any suggestions?

Here’s a truly rare car, for two reasons. First, it’s a 1942 Ford, of which there weren’t all that many made, since war production started shortly after the 1942 model year began. Second, this happens to be another one of Henry Ford’s personal cars. In fact, I believe it was his last personal car. Still can’t accuse him of extravagance. I guess he still liked any color, as long as it was black. Like his Model T, this one has various non-production features, including a holder in the back seat for a large bottle of water. Picture taken in the garage at Fairlane.

Short Shrift tonight. Home Evening is over and it’s already time for bed.

Spent part of the weekend thinking about new Arduino/electronics projects. Here’s what’s currently on the drawing board (or at least in the thinking cap):

• Finish my Arduino-controlled light-seeking mouse
• Get my unused USB print server to work as an Ethernet interface to the Arduino
• Get my new LCD display to work with the Arduino (Morrowlife comment counter and/or displayer?)
• Make a nice box for my new LCD display
• Get Loyal Reader Number One’s tiny video-camera-on-a-board working

Lots to do.

Great weekend, by the way. It was nonstop Happiest Day of the Year celebration. It was for me, anyway. I received several lovely gifts, including the above-mentioned LCD screen, a couple of beautiful ties, a great Hawaiian shirt, a new camp chair, and a cool case for my iPod. Also a little money, all of which will probably be spent at Sparkfun. Which is where the LCD came from.

The other side effect of the Happiest Day was that I got to talk to my mom and both of my brothers on the phone. They’re all doing fine – thanks for asking. Although one of the brothers was on his way to get a towed-away rental car back and the other one was waiting for one side of a downed power wire to be removed from his car and the other side to stop burning up his lawn.

Otherwise, everyone is fine.

No time for controversy today, except to say that Loyal Reader Number Three has very aptly answered Loyal Reader Number Four’s concerns on the unequivocal results of my informal survey. Thanks very much, LRN3.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.