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?

Foraging Skunk, Cautious Mouse

Early one morning, a skunk dashed toward the garden:

Skunk and Mouse – fast skunk – 2023-07-15 01-49-38

If you look very closely, you’ll see a mouse watching from the end of a 4 inch drainpipe stashed along the garden fence:

Skunk and Mouse – fast skunk – mouse detail – 2023-07-15 01-49-38

The skunk went exploring near the garden gate (off to the right) while the mouse continued watching the proceedings:

Skunk and Mouse – mouse keeping watch – 2023-07-15 01-49-53

When the skunk returned, the mouse decided discretion was the better part of valor and vanished into the pipe:

Skunk and Mouse – skunk – hidden mouse – 2023-07-15 01-50-01

With the skunk gone about its business, the mouse returned to its duty:

Skunk and Mouse – mouse watching – 2023-07-15 01-50-24

Just another night at the office, out in the back yard …

2023-08-04
FitBit Charge 5 Reboot

Wearing my FitBIt Charge 5 tracker in the shower without activating its Water Lock feature occasionally produces odd results, but the most recent mishap ventured deep into the peculiar:

Jammed FitBit Charge 5

Its complete lack of buttons makes the thing completely waterproof, but also means it cannot continue when the touch / swipe interface gets horribly confused.

The recovery process requires snapping it onto its USB charging cable, then pressing the nearly invisible button embedded in the USB connector shell three times, with one second between each press: click hippopotamus click hippopotamus click.

Then it restarts / reboots and eventually all is well again.

Perhaps I can now recall the magic incantation without digging through the online help again, because I am certainly not going to suddenly remember to do the Water Lock dance before showering.

2023-08-03
Onion Maggot Fly vs. Sticky Traps: Season 3 Round 1
Six sticky traps have been out in Mary’s Vassar Farm onion bed from mid-April through mid-July, collecting onion maggot flies, other flying insects, and a bunch of shredded leaf mulch. Having just replaced all the sticky sheets, these are the results so far:
PXL_20230711_215255180 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap F
PXL_20230711_215229538 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap E
PXL_20230711_215159950 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap D
PXL_20230711_215129817 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap C
PXL_20230711_215041012 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap B
PXL_20230711_215002214 – VCCG Onion Maggot Trap A
Each image is the front and back of a single sticky sheet flipped over left-to-right; I did not keep track of the original trap locations.

If you need the original camera images to get enough pixels for itemizing the smaller dots, let me know.
2023-07-21
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