Previously, I posted about why I DIY, full of ideological and good ethical reasons to preserve and restore the existing versus throwing it into the landfill and building something new out of inferior materials. Now, I want to say why I really enjoy DIY, at a visceral, riding a rollercoaster, kinda level. The conceptual stuff is motivating, but hard to… Read More »Why I Really DIY
I’m sure you’ve been there: Called the 1-800 number of a large organization and been greeted by the faintly synthesized, almost human, voice of a machine. It wants to direct your call, but babbles relentlessly, spouting information that seems designed to make customers hang up. Most of us don’t need an AI to tell us to check the website/app. Usually,… Read More »When the AI answers the Phone
The universe smiled on my DIY last week. It started in the usual way. I sat down for coffee and googled my latest idea. Thanksgiving designated me the preparer of family dinner, so I thought it was time to fix my wobbly dining room chairs. Google was quick with the answer. The first video wasn’t quite right, the chair was… Read More »Chair Repair
Peloton decided to offer its products on Amazon.1 Intriguing. Peloton sells high-end home fitness equipment and home fitness classes, often using such equipment. Recent trends in consumer products have been to sell direct to consumer (D2C), which is what the company was doing prior to the Amazon liaison. Adding a layer between the company and the customer, may increase costs, logistics… Read More »THE Distribution Channel
As the summer days get shorter and cooler, and the plants start to whither, stop flowering and quit producing fruit, I’m very sad. I hide indoors, preserving and freezing the harvest so there’s goodness to enjoy later. I wonder if I’m giving up too soon, whether there are crops that could be raised into the fall. There are still a… Read More »Fall Gardening, Bah-Humbug
Another unsexy thing I recently embraced was some salvage operations in my garage. If you know old properties, you’re probably familiar with the circa 1950’s garage. Detached, built sometime after the house and not to last, long before the modern almost-as-structurally-stable as the house outbuilding. The door isn’t tall enough for a large pickup truck. The concrete floor has no… Read More »Even more unsexy renovations: Garage salvage.
Part one of my summer reno project dressed up concrete, with a bit of insulation for frills. I called it unsexy renovations, but the climax did spew paint all over the basement, leading to a modest, post-exertion haze of satisfaction. Part two of the basement remediation has a less aesthetic outcome but is more exciting because it involves tools. And… Read More »Joist Support.
Many of us know a person, a needy, kinda demanding person, who is always looking for a ride to wherever you are going or might not be going but they need to get to. The opposite of that person is the one who joyfully chooses to take public transit. An interesting thing I’ve experienced: I take the bus to meet… Read More »Public transit – a complex relationship.
As a light return to writing science fiction, I want to conjure (had a bit of a passion for fantasy, too) the best and worst uses of emerging technology. Here’s the Venn diagram for how new tech could be used, with good, the bad and unknown applications. The question is, what’s in the middle? I’ve started with a short description,… Read More »Fun with Technology Trends
In the not too distant future, all things will be smart. All inanimate objects will have sensors that collect information, and artificial intelligence to analyze and react to the information. A first generation example is motion sensors that have the sense to turn on lights when people, or your rottweiler, enter the room. Getting a little more sophisticated, there are… Read More »How Smart do you want your Smart Things to be?