commute, fan, whinge

[gfish]

The (not so) new job continues to be okay. Mostly I'm just hating the commute more and more. This is the first time I've driven every day since high school. I hate the act of it, and the temptation towards decidedly uncivil behavior while dealing with traffic. But mostly I miss my old bus commutes. I miss being able to stare out the window and zone out, or read, or nap. I miss having a reason to walk a mile or so every day. I miss being forced to experience the seasons, stand in the rain, interact with complete strangers. Cars cut you out of reality, and I really don't like it.

In other news, I'm working on an etched brass fan for vixyish for SteamCon. Hopefully it will be spring-loaded, but I might not get to that in time (just over a week away). I'm trying a new galvanic etching process instead of using ferric chloride as before. I'm hoping this will be cheaper in the long run, as the electrolyte is reusable. Got some decent etches last night, but it takes a lot of babysitting. It's easy to develop shorts as the cruft and brass dust build up on the parts. I'll probably post some pictures this weekend.

Still not posting enough. So hard to find the motivation to write something up for real when I can just blast off a twitter update so easily. Which is fun, but decidedly lacking in depth and nuance. Blah.

Comments

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

I'd love to hear about progress on the electrolytic etching.
One of my coworkers is playing around with washing soda, which he said was the result of mostly incinerating baking soda -- meaning it's probably sodium oxide. He said it works markedly faster than baking soda, and it isn't as prone to forming clotty colloids as table salt.

As regards shorts, possibly attach a vibrator to the workpiece or put a bubbler tube below it to agitate the water and physically scrub junk off the surface?

Very sorry to hear about the commute. Cars suck, and the time we waste in traffic, burning our lives and dumping carbon dioxide, is infuriating.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I suggest a motorbike. And good gear. This will put you out in the elements, let you interact, give you HOV-lane privileges... but suck less than a long multi-bus commute. You mentioned something about riding one this past summer... have you had the MSF course?

[feylike.livejournal.com]

seconded. after riding a motorcycle for a few years, i really dislike driving in a car... just too isolating (and unwieldy)