…but you can bet there was cake 
What an outfit!!!
Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
No Dinner, No Movie…
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012Old Man
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012We’re heading back now, after a day at the mountain and some tubing. I’m tired:
My birthday is not over! We’ll have dinner later, then we’re off to see a fine 3D film 
The Snow Train
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012Today, to celebrate my birthday, we’re going on the ‘Snow Train’ up to Gore Moutain.
Here’s a photo of me sitting in our first class ‘dome car’ waiting for the trip to start:
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012Here’s something else I got for Christmas:
A mechanical marvel in natural wood! Here’s what it looked like when opened:
One thing is missing from the above photo – the glue! Although the kit claimed to include wood glue, no such glue was found inside. Luckily – and not so wisely – I had some superglue handy…
The instructions to make the thing were all like this:
Which is to say they made great sense to someone who already knew how to make it!
Yes I know it doesn’t seem difficult, but reconsider your impression based on the knowledge that parts were mislabeled, miscut or (in case) had the holes misdrilled. Now add to the mix the fact that the person putting it together is (unwisely) using super glue, which it turns out bonds made-in-Chinese wooden dino kit parts together in femtoseconds.
That’s the base. The idea (I think!) is that the dino reproduces a walking motion when the crank is turned…
Forming the head! It looks a bit cute even in the instructions doesn’t it?
Connecting the crankshaft to the inner leg. I did this step incorrectly at first, and removing the piece was like trying to untie the Gordian knot. This would be, of course, because I was using super glue and the incorrectly placed pieces had bonded together in less than a single yoctosecond!
But eventually, after some cursing of myself, Yossie and even God, I managed to complete the wooden robot dino-beast. Let’s even call it a BioZoid! Here he stands in all his glory:
Despite my comments this was an enjoyable build. It probably would have been more fun (albeit much slower) had I used wood glue and not super glue though. That was unwise…
What the photo doesn’t exactly show is that it didn’t work! If you turned the crank it spastically flopped a bit, but the head and arms moved not at all and the whole thing just looked uncomfortable. KLS had a great idea though – set it on fire! I had dreams of a future blog post showing my new BioZoid! resplendent in flames! A PyroZoid! perhaps?
Alas this was not to be, because while inspecting the arm/head mechanism the next day I broke it. I blame the superglue
Here’s What My Brother Is (Not!) Getting Me For My Birthday
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012Every day, when I hear Mr Postman deliver, I eagerly trot down to the box to remove what surely must be arriving any day now: a birthday parcel from my brother.
Alas, I am every time disappointed; the fated package is yet to arrive.
Since my brother is the world’s very worst answerer-of-FaceTime calls, I’m going to use this entry to send a tiny nugget of information. I am assuming Bernard, that you’re birthday shopping for me is completed. As such, I can only imagine that you must have purchased for me the following item:
As a Star Wars fan yourself, I have no doubt that Colonel Cracken is as beloved a character to you as he is me. Who can forget the battle against the Imperial Fleet in Jedi, when Lando and Nien Numb courageously flew the Millenium Falcon into the incomplete second Death Star to destroy it? True fans such as you and me surely know that success was in no small part due to the valiance of Airen Cracken, who was a crew member on that flight. As such, I have no doubt that the (long overdue!) action figure of the man himself shot to the very top of the list of items you surely wanted to give me to celebrate my birthday.
Alas, it is with a heavy heart that I must say that you’re going to have to return the one you bought, since I myself purchase this very figure today! It even now rests on my desk in a place of great pride.
And next time answer FaceTime when I call, so we can avoid these mixups in the future