The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Category: Oddities

Who’d’a thunk it?

Asphalt vs. Truck Traffic

Spotted from our motel room on the fourth floor:

Asphalt vs truck traffic

The trash truck drives up to the dumpster, stops with its front tires barely on the concrete pad, extracts the dumpster contents, and backs away over the same two tire tracks. The crushed asphalt tracks extend halfway to the perimeter road circling around on the far right, where another crushed area shows the truck’s route into the parking lot.

Google Streetview’s history suggests the parking lot was sealed and striped five years ago. The motel predates the earliest pictures from 2007, although the tree sizes suggest the place was maybe five years old by then, so we’re looking at two decades of regular use.

As far as I can tell, dribbling hot tar along asphalt cracks does absolutely nothing except give the appearance of someone caring.

2023-07-10
Garden Bypass

Mary had been thinking of blocking the narrow path between the neighbor’s fence and her garden, so I set up the trail camera to see what went on out there when we weren’t around.

The Midnight Possum must have another appointment:

IM_00003 – Midnight opossum – 2023-06-21

Raccoons definitely use the path as a highway:

IM_00013 – Early raccoon – 2023-06-28

And, as if we didn’t have enough deer already:

Back yard deer – new fawn – 2023-06-24

My recommendation: don’t block the path, because we are badly outnumbered!

2023-07-07
Guardian Angel vs. Physics

A new wreck appeared at the corner gas station:

Guardian Angel at Work – overview

The black plate on the front may be a door panel from the other contestant, because it obviously does not match the vehicle. Perhaps the wrecker crew strapped it on to hold the debris in place?

The front end submarined under the obstacle and stopped just before the passenger compartment reached the excitement.

A view of the windshield and top of the dashboard:

Guardian Angel at Work – dashboard

The fan may have been tucked in there by the wrecker crew, along with assorted chunks of plastic and metal.

A closer look at the medallion resting on the dash, rotated for your viewing convenience:

Guardian Angel at Work – medallion

The steering wheel airbag had deployed, so perhaps the driver emerged relatively undamaged, but, as always, guardian angels seem unconcerned with property damage.

The last three years have pretty conclusively shown the various gods do not care about individuals and, in fact, their presumed acts closely resemble epidemiology in action.

Drive to stay alive …

2023-07-04
Tree Frog: I Know What I Like

A tree frog enjoyed the late afternoon sun on the patio railing during our first outdoor supper after blasting the pollen off the furniture:

Tree frog – sun on railing

After we finished, I thought the frog might enjoy a more natural environment, so I transplanted the critter to a nearby pot with some coleus:

Tree frog – coleus leaf

Although I thought that would feel better, the frog had a different opinion:

Tree frog – back on the railing

Clouds covered the sun, but apparently the railing remained the right place for a contented tree frog, at least until later in the evening.

Memo to Self: The tree frog knows.

2023-06-26
Honest, It Fell Off the Truck

A white pickup from a local landscaping company pulled onto Raymond Avenue well ahead of me:

Pickup Truck Drill Drop – A

Although it’s not obvious to you, something seemed wrong as it pulled away:

Pickup Truck Drill Drop – B

A closer look:

Pickup Truck Drill Drop – B – detail

The dark blob turned out to be a carrying case for an industrial-strength drill:

Pickup Truck Drill Drop – C

Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic and the drivers could all swerve around the debris:

Pickup Truck Drill Drop – D

I was hauling a trailer of groceries and didn’t want to stop, but hailed the driver where he pulled over just past the Hooker Avenue intersection. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the drill was missing and proceeded on his way.

When I got home, I called the company to tell them what happened. I hope they got someone there before the circling vultures landed …

2023-06-16
Going About Their Daily Affairs

The fox caught what looks like a small groundhog for supper:

IM_00307 – Fox with supper – 2023-05-25

The tom turkeys have been forming and re-forming their groups:

IM_00178 – Turkey parade – 2023-05-24

The gray cat may have spotted breakfast out there in the yard:

IM_00112 – Gray Cat – 2023-05-23

We haven’t seen a raccoon stand up like this before, so something must be very interesting out there:

IM_00089 – Standing raccoon – 2023-05-27

Off to its far right, Mary had fertilized a new pepper planting, which evidently smelled good enough to motivate vigorous digging. None of the plants sustained damage, despite being tossed around, but dexterous paws were surely involved!

2023-05-31
LED and CFL Bulb Reliability: Another Data Point

Spotted in a soon-to-be-rebuilt rest area on I-87 north of Kingston NY, a chandelier stuffed with old-school CFL bulbs of various vintages:

NYS I-87 Rest Area – CFL chandelier

The yellowish dome on the far right might still house an incandescent bulb, but I can’t tell from here.

Judging from the high color temperature and even illumination, the chandelier next to it has 16 newish LED bulbs:

NYS I-87 Rest Area – LED chandelier

What’s of interest: both chandeliers have two dead bulbs and, perhaps, the center floodlight of the LED fixture had died, too. We don’t know how long they’ve been in place, other than that the LEDs are certainly more recent, but a 6% failure rate is nothing to brag about.

From what I’ve seen, the reliability of both CFL and LED bulbs is greatly overstated and certainly do not justify preemptive replacement of a working bulb of any vintage.

2023-05-25