Laser Designator and LEDs

What to say? We were exceptionally lazy this morning, but, looking back at the past few Sunday posts, I think that just may be our norm. We did eventually roll out of our chairs and get dressed. We even cleaned the house (a woman screams and swoons in the back of the audience). Now, now, don't get your hopes up, we vacuumed and picked up (moans) a little(more moans).

We did go to town. We found some sales and bought a few Christmas presents(I hope you ll want Toilet Paper for Christmas!). I also found some battery operated LED lights...my mind flashed(get it?FLASHED? LIGHTS?) to my model spaceships. So, tonight, I worked at building a ship that might incorporate these nifty little LEDs. What do you think? This is an engine nacelle:

The deflector of the starboard engine has not been glued on yet, so it looks, um, not quite right. Actually, you will need to use ALOT of imagination at this point. Trust me, it WILL look like a spaceship...eventually.

Yesterday, as I related, we found some treasure left by my BNL and Sister with our GPS. One of the pieces of treasure was a combination laser pointer/flashlight. I played with it for a bit, then Cora noticed it and stole it. She then proceeded to point out every little thing to me. "Jim, I want you to tke THAT bottle of wine and refill THAT glass." Everytime she said THAT the laser was designating it, in good military fashion, as though a laser guided bomb might be coming in. Unfortunately, she was not worried about "friendlies," and actually seems to prefer to designate frindly targets. "Look, THAT's a camera!"

The dog has become a fan of cop docu-dramas and is familiar with the laser pointers attached to SWAT guns...see how he attempted to play dead?

Cora did some laundry and decided to play Ghost, but she is NO Patrick Swazey and we don't have a clay turning wheel...at least she did not sing "Henry The Eighth I Am." This is as good as it got:

See the strange orbs in the next photo? I think it's proof of dust, but Cora considers them ectoplasmic in origin. (I am going to stop recording Ghosthunters!)
Instead of dinner, we chose to try some of the cheeses I purchased on Thursday, and little bit of BBQ pork. One of them was APPLEWOOD smoked and handrubber with Paprika! Mmmm-mmm good!!! Note, Toby is just outside of the range of my kick...he's a smart one.
Thus, it has been a nice, relaxing day. As ever, Sunday is TOO short, but that, too, appears to be the norm.

Space...The Final Frontier...

What began as a silly little enterprise and a bit of a challenge, turned out to be pretty fun and ended up being pretty neat. I mentioned a few posts ago that I had visited a few blogs that detailed how to take everyday items and make them into model spaceships. I thought it would be a fun thing to do. I was right.

I began with a superglue bottle and some styrene. I then glued it together with several different materials. One of those was the plastic string holding my earplugs from work together. Other things were the brass thingies from a Home Depot lock keying set and the thingy that reacts with the peroxide in my contact case.

Finally, last night, I got around to painting it. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Stupid blogger turned it vertical...stupid blogger. On the other hand, please imagine that the hand in the next photo is invisible...

Now, imagine flame shooting out of the ass-end of tht thing! Awesome, huh?

Not bad for my first time, I think. What do you folks think?

Imagine, if you will, a Man Who Dreamed of the Stars!

Another week begins. The weekend was just too short. Yesteday was a piece of joyful relaxation. Today began in a similar fashion. We ended up going shopping. We got some of our pictures printed at Costco. And finally came home. We took it wasy and watched several movies together, just enjoying each other's company. We just relaxed!

I built a space ship. OK, not a real one...well...imagine, if you will, a man. A man who dreams of the stars. This man was born in the wrong decade and, quite honestly, some might have suggested, the wrong planet. So, using household materials, some super glue, and his imagination, he built a small interstellar spaceship. Given his peaceful intentions, he did not arm it. It was a diplomatic vessel. It had wonderful dimensions and graceful lines.

I wandered onto a few sites last weekend that showed what a guy could do with basic garbage. He took things like a VHS tape and a smattering of other garbage and built a nify model spaceship out of it...after he painted it it looked like something off of TV. His was considerably larger than mine (~26 inches compared to 6 inches for mine). still, as a first try, I think I am doing well. I will show pictures when I am finished (don't worry, I will show the full set, beginning to end).

We also did something else, but that is a classified operation, and information is only available on a need to know basis.

I get to teach preschool tomorrow and Tuesday. A first for me. Shouldn't be much different than kinders...I hope.