Sunday, January 21, 2007
Snow!
So, Saturday afternoon I saw all this snow, so I figured I should do something with it. It was too powdery to make a snowman, but ah! I had some buckets in my closet! So I packed them full and it stuck together enough to make a sand castle. I also had an extra collender I had found, so I made some half-spheres as well. Some kids came by, and they may have helped if they had had gloves or something.
Falling off the swingset was fun too. Into the 8 inches of snow. Playing in the snow was a nice break from working on servo motor controlers. Do you want the PID controller to get feedback from the speed or the velocity? How do you make it smooth if position at a time is what is critical, but velocity is all you can change? Do I need cascading PID controlers?
By Sunday, my 75 gallon pyramid has fallen over.
This after noon I went and played frisbee in the snow with some people from church. It was slippery, so starting and stopping were inhibited, but diving was great! No sand burrs, just snow. When we won, we built a snow fort, and had a laidback snowball fight. The sun started peaking around the clouds, bathing everything in a blue glow, and then came out in full brilliant color, suddenly making the world have texture and depth.
There were two Audis and my car there that had four-wheel drive, and we had a big, open field with 8 inches of snow on it. We drove around in circles, sliding sideways, spinning our wheels as we turned. It turns out that you do turn left to go right. The snow fort dissappeared into the powdery blanket. My awesome-cool Mazda seemed (to me at least) comparable to the Audis. It did have it's weakness: snow and wet makes the alternator belt sqeak at low rpm.
I came home and found that my partly-fallen snow castles had been rebuilt into one, and a couple other building had been constructed using the same methods. It's not like making packed-snow blocks is non-obvious, but I may have been an inspiration to others...
After a prayer and praise meeting, we bundled up and went sledding on an overpass-created hill--one of the best ones in Kansas! I didn't have any sled, so I borrowed from others, and found scraps of broken items used by earlier sledders. The best things I used (in my opinion) were some shards of Formicia, 18"-24" wide and 6"-8" wide. I would sit on the larger irregularly -shaped, sharp-edge piece, and put my heels on the smaller one, and then zip down the hill at lightning speed. At the bottom, I would simply tumble until I stopped to keep from falling in the ditch or hitting the manhole cover. I then would dust off my bruises, and tap-dance to the top of the hill and try again. The bottom of the hill was strewn with pieces of plastic and other sharp items, artifacts of other sledders who came with tubs and sleds, and left with shattered hopes.
It was a very snow-filled weekend, and I am slightly sore, especially where my bones are close to my skin.
Falling off the swingset was fun too. Into the 8 inches of snow. Playing in the snow was a nice break from working on servo motor controlers. Do you want the PID controller to get feedback from the speed or the velocity? How do you make it smooth if position at a time is what is critical, but velocity is all you can change? Do I need cascading PID controlers?
By Sunday, my 75 gallon pyramid has fallen over.
This after noon I went and played frisbee in the snow with some people from church. It was slippery, so starting and stopping were inhibited, but diving was great! No sand burrs, just snow. When we won, we built a snow fort, and had a laidback snowball fight. The sun started peaking around the clouds, bathing everything in a blue glow, and then came out in full brilliant color, suddenly making the world have texture and depth.
There were two Audis and my car there that had four-wheel drive, and we had a big, open field with 8 inches of snow on it. We drove around in circles, sliding sideways, spinning our wheels as we turned. It turns out that you do turn left to go right. The snow fort dissappeared into the powdery blanket. My awesome-cool Mazda seemed (to me at least) comparable to the Audis. It did have it's weakness: snow and wet makes the alternator belt sqeak at low rpm.
I came home and found that my partly-fallen snow castles had been rebuilt into one, and a couple other building had been constructed using the same methods. It's not like making packed-snow blocks is non-obvious, but I may have been an inspiration to others...
After a prayer and praise meeting, we bundled up and went sledding on an overpass-created hill--one of the best ones in Kansas! I didn't have any sled, so I borrowed from others, and found scraps of broken items used by earlier sledders. The best things I used (in my opinion) were some shards of Formicia, 18"-24" wide and 6"-8" wide. I would sit on the larger irregularly -shaped, sharp-edge piece, and put my heels on the smaller one, and then zip down the hill at lightning speed. At the bottom, I would simply tumble until I stopped to keep from falling in the ditch or hitting the manhole cover. I then would dust off my bruises, and tap-dance to the top of the hill and try again. The bottom of the hill was strewn with pieces of plastic and other sharp items, artifacts of other sledders who came with tubs and sleds, and left with shattered hopes.
It was a very snow-filled weekend, and I am slightly sore, especially where my bones are close to my skin.
Labels: life
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Indestructability
Cecil, my car, seems to be nearing the end of his life. For nearly 3 years I have driven this car, and it hasn't ever stranded me. Sure, I've gotten some nails in the tires, and I've had coolant leaks, but my normal way of repairing Cecil has been to remove the offending item. The latest hose to spring a leak was easily fixed by cutting off the end of the hose, and reattaching it. Sometime Cecil won't start---just a click, but no crank---so, I jiggle the battery terminals, and it's back to normal. For the $500 I paid for this car, and the lack of maintenance I've put in, I'd call this semi-miraculous. Sure, the Japanese engineers that built this thing had a hand in making it indestructible, but God has had a hand in keeping it running. And I think He will continue until it is time for me to get a different car. But, I got a warning recently that makes me think I should start planning for imminent failure.
I flew east for Christmas, but due to some mis-management by both me and the airlines, I ended up flying home, but with my car parked in a nearby state. This worked out ok---I had a bike, and friends, and before a week had passed, I had caught a ride with a returning grad student, and got my car back. Well, almost back.
When I pulled away from the Toll Booth 3 miles from home, there was a scraping, thumping, dragging noise and feel. Cecil hardly wanted to move. I let him rest a couple minutes, pumped up my tire, and tried to get the Center Dif Lock light to go off. No soap. So, I decided to just limp home---what was I going to do? Call a tow truck? The car did go, so I just drove slow, with my flashers on. I tried driving fast, but that just made the thumping faster. Going over bumps seemed to shake it back to normal, but only for an instant. I was halfway home when there was a loud THUMP! and I instantly checked the mirror for dropped parts. Nothing fell off, but everything was as smooth as normal. Once again, I saw my car get me home. However, this showed me that maybe it is time to get a different car. And there does seem to be another whine at high speeds.
Like my car, I often feel that I am invincible, at least sort of. In college it became obvious that I could go out and play football, throw myself at the ground over and over, (I only missed once---that was an odd feeling) and come back no worse for the wear. The odd thing was, I'd come back, be walking down the hall with my hands in my pockets, bump into some decorative trim, and gouge my hand. I would often do things that should have maimed normal people, and didn't get more than superficial scratches. This I also would class as semi-miraculous. I have certain "natural abilities" that make me good at keeping from getting hurt, but where did I get those abilities? You guessed it! I was given them, just like I am given everything else. So, I am postulating that I cannot be harmed until God decides it's time.
I have an instantanious replacement awaiting me when my body finally breaks, but my car does not, yet. I am heeding the warning signs, and do not intend to venture to take it on anymore long trips. It has served me well, but the time has come for it to be replaced.
Now I have a problem. I am planning to get a different car. Will it be as reliable? Maybe, maybe not. I have often sarcasticly poked fun at people when they have trouble with their cars. "Your new car not working right? Too bad you don't have a nice reliable car like me!" "Oh, too bad about your car! I could lend you mine, it only has a quarter of a million miles on it..." Now I could be one of those people whose cars are always breaking and requiring hundreds of dollars to repair, people I have looked down upon because I have been given something that they do not have. It's always a bad idea to be arrogant about something that is not your doing---and what do I have that I haven't received? And what do I have that can not be taken away?
I flew east for Christmas, but due to some mis-management by both me and the airlines, I ended up flying home, but with my car parked in a nearby state. This worked out ok---I had a bike, and friends, and before a week had passed, I had caught a ride with a returning grad student, and got my car back. Well, almost back.
When I pulled away from the Toll Booth 3 miles from home, there was a scraping, thumping, dragging noise and feel. Cecil hardly wanted to move. I let him rest a couple minutes, pumped up my tire, and tried to get the Center Dif Lock light to go off. No soap. So, I decided to just limp home---what was I going to do? Call a tow truck? The car did go, so I just drove slow, with my flashers on. I tried driving fast, but that just made the thumping faster. Going over bumps seemed to shake it back to normal, but only for an instant. I was halfway home when there was a loud THUMP! and I instantly checked the mirror for dropped parts. Nothing fell off, but everything was as smooth as normal. Once again, I saw my car get me home. However, this showed me that maybe it is time to get a different car. And there does seem to be another whine at high speeds.
Like my car, I often feel that I am invincible, at least sort of. In college it became obvious that I could go out and play football, throw myself at the ground over and over, (I only missed once---that was an odd feeling) and come back no worse for the wear. The odd thing was, I'd come back, be walking down the hall with my hands in my pockets, bump into some decorative trim, and gouge my hand. I would often do things that should have maimed normal people, and didn't get more than superficial scratches. This I also would class as semi-miraculous. I have certain "natural abilities" that make me good at keeping from getting hurt, but where did I get those abilities? You guessed it! I was given them, just like I am given everything else. So, I am postulating that I cannot be harmed until God decides it's time.
I have an instantanious replacement awaiting me when my body finally breaks, but my car does not, yet. I am heeding the warning signs, and do not intend to venture to take it on anymore long trips. It has served me well, but the time has come for it to be replaced.
Now I have a problem. I am planning to get a different car. Will it be as reliable? Maybe, maybe not. I have often sarcasticly poked fun at people when they have trouble with their cars. "Your new car not working right? Too bad you don't have a nice reliable car like me!" "Oh, too bad about your car! I could lend you mine, it only has a quarter of a million miles on it..." Now I could be one of those people whose cars are always breaking and requiring hundreds of dollars to repair, people I have looked down upon because I have been given something that they do not have. It's always a bad idea to be arrogant about something that is not your doing---and what do I have that I haven't received? And what do I have that can not be taken away?
