2024, Family, Farming Update, home

Life In 4D

71 Comments

Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben

It’s winter again for a few days in Minnesota in February. In Rochester we have a dusting of snow and we had 13 degrees one morning. Good thing I plugged in the chickens’ water bucket. I had to keep moving in my sleeveless shirt or it was almost chilly.

And at least we don’t have mud for a day or two. But now I have frozen ruts. Boy, I’m just never happy with the weather.

I am making satisfactory progress on the farm bookwork and even getting some minor stuff done in the shed. I replaced the dust collector chute on the miter saw (after a minor woodworking mishap broke the old one.) The new one is 3D printed!

That whole concept is really neat! I don’t want to get my own yet, but I’ve got a buddy who had made me several parts with his 3D printer.

I’m a hack carpenter and even with the best of intentions, things don’t always work out the best or like I thought it would work out. The worst part is feeling like I’ll be judged by better builders than me. That’s the part that hurts the most. I got some tin on a door frame and was able to finish the lower part of the steel on the north wall of the shed.

I still need to frame the window and add the upper steel on the North wall and there’s a lot to do on the East wall yet.

Spring will be coming. I’ve ordered 50 baby chicks due to arrive the first part of April. And I’ve got seed ordered, so I’m gonna need a place to put that seed. Usually, it goes on this wagon.

Anyone see a problem with this? I don’t know, last summer when I started this shop project, I guess I didn’t see this coming. As we get closer and I can get machinery back outside, I guess I’ll just have to put pallets down and pile stuff on them so I have a place on the wagon. (I don’t put the seed on the ground on pallets so I don’t get mice in it.) Maybe if I was a harder worker. But I’m also trying to decide HOW I want to put things back. Where should the bolts go? What am I doing with tools? I don’t like pegboard, and I don’t have the same wall space I had before. Maybe I need a rolling toolbox? Maybe I need the slatwall display stuff? I’m almost paralyzed with indecision!

Speaking of design choices, we’re going to have our main bathroom remodeled later this fall. We have a builder lined up and Kelly has been perusing the bathroom remodeling sites for months. This bathroom and the adjoining laundry room are mostly original to the house built in 1968. We’ve painted and done wallpaper and added a wall in the laundry room when we put on an addition in 1995. But the tile floor, and the woodwork are dated, and it is finally time. Kelly has been very patient. The plan is to take some of the square footage from the laundry room, move the washer and dryer to the opposite wall, and gain a little room in the bathroom. It’s all pretty exciting to think about. Before photo:

This is mainly Kelly’s bathroom. I have the mudroom bathroom and that was remodeled a few years ago as part of the entryway remodeling.

Years ago, I had a jacket I wore all the time. I wore it for years (it came with a free tractor!); it was comfortable and I liked it. Once day I misplaced it and a friend of mine said “oh, you mean that ratty jacket?”…and that was it; it was tainted, and I got rid of it. As I told him about the bathroom project he said, ‘When are you remodeling YOUR bathroom?’ I was kinda flummoxed. I just did my bathroom. I mean, it could use a cleaning… but… What’s wrong with my bathroom?? Maybe he meant the basement bathroom with the 1960 pink retro look. But I hear that’s coming back.

YOU CAN 3-D PRINT ANYTHING WITH ANY MATERIAL. WHAT ARE YOU MAKING?

71 thoughts on “Life In 4D”

      1. Actually, those have been done already. (50?) Years ago, someone came out with a “superball” golf ball as a gag. If you remember Superballs, the hard rubber balls that bounced like crazy, the golf balls were made with that material, then covered with normal golf ball coating and dimples. You could hit it probably 300 yds easy even if you were a hacker and normally couldn’t hit the ball 100 yds.

        Chris

        Liked by 5 people

        Reply

  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    My neighbor is a mechanical engineer with stratasys. They have 3D printers. He comes home with chains of stuff he makes with the printer and it is pretty fascinating. I will need to think more about something I wouldwant to make.

    Ben we have a bathroom project here coming soon, but we hired a contractor to install a new bathtub and a walk-in shower. After COVID and my mother’s experience in a nursing home, I could not bring her here to care for her because we had no accessible shower for her. Everything had a barrier she could no longer navigate. So, if we want to stay in our home through old age, we need an accessible shower. We can compare bathroom construction! 

    I find myself excited about the 50 chicks coming soon. You have us hooked on this ritual.

    Today I am wallpapering a wall in the living room. I need some color in here. A friend is coming over to help me with the project. Wish us luck. I must take before (and later after)pics like Ben showed above. Lou’s lower back is still painful, so I will be looking after him, too. 

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I remember my parents had a box of wallpapering trays and paraphernalia from a previous wallpapering project. One of them had labeled it “Do-it-yourself Divorce Kit”.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

      3. Sandy and I did many wallpaper projects together without incident, except the first. She would shop and narrow it down to about 4 options. I would then tell her which ones would work and how much to order. Then when I was putting it up, she would stay out of the room. We learned this system at the first project.

        Clyde

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Robin and I also put up wallpaper a few times, usually with me on a ladder and her down below making sure it was straight and smoothing out the bubbles. The controversy in our case typically came later and involved one party’s unfortunate, it was decided, choice of wallpaper pattern.

          Most our engagement with wallpaper in our homes entailed the removal of someone else’s unfortunate choice.

          Liked by 2 people

    2. We put in a huge walk’in shower in the master bathroom last year. We aren’t necessarily needing one yet, but I think it will be good for selling the house. Bathroom remodels are messy and annoying

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  4. I’m happy and very grateful to say that I have less need for things than I once did. Less is more, and I find myself looking for new homes for my possessions more often than acquiring new ones. Although, I have been acquiring knitting needles and wool yarn lately. These are found at hobby stores everywhere and it’s not necessary to invent them with a 3D printer. Maybe a new set of lungs that don’t object to every single particle of pollutant in the air these days? Maybe a smarter brain? Skinnier body? Knee replacement? At this point, all I really want out of life are experiences like travel, learning, and creating.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  6. We are making things disappear today by cleaning closets and ruthlessly tossing things in the trash. We have Monday off, so this is a great long weekend to do this. Today we tackle our upstairs study/computer/piano room as well as the bedroom closets. We had things from the basement in the study during the basement renovations. Now that the basement is finished, we can move things back downstairs. Tomorrow and Monday we are going to start on the basement and get that all organized and cleared of unnecessary unwanted stuff.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. So, do I still need the trophy I won for 1st place in Dramatic Interpetation in 1976 at the Minnesota State University-Marshall High School speech tournament? It is an ugly trophy

        Liked by 4 people

        Reply

        3. My mother kept all that stuff, and it got moved up here after we cleaned out their house after they died. I didn’t even know we moved it.

          Liked by 1 person

        5. I didn’t even know I had it! I told my kids today it was either for a soliloquy from Long Day’s Jouney Into Night or Anna Christie. I was heavily into O’Neil at the time, and worked hard on an Irish and Swedish accent for the parts. Now that the kids know, I can part with it.

          Liked by 3 people

        6. The Minnesota state college forensics (speech) tournament is being held at Concordia College this weekend. Mr. Tuxedo has qualified for the semifinals in parliamentary debate and the finals in prose and improve interpretation.

          Liked by 5 people

    2. We’re gonna have to get our basement cleaned up and out too before the remodeling. There’s a dryer vent that will be easier to do from below than above. And water pipes in the closet of the guest room…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. I know a lot of medical stuff is being 3D printed these days. Special instruments, implants, other body parts, and I think that’s just amazing and so wonderful. I could use a whole new right leg and foot, but it’s more than just printing it, unless they’ve got all the nerves, bones, and veins worked out.

    I’ve been trying to find a handle for a lock on the college drill press. The part isn’t available anymore and I’m wondering about having my friend 3D print it…but not sure it has the strength yet. Or I could probably make my own out of metal.

    I just got a tray for the center console of the car; the plans to 3D print it are out there.

    During covid, my friend was printing headbands for masks. He had 2 or 3 printers running 24/7 making them.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. it took me until this morning to get the clever title of yesterday’s post. The Lost C(h)ord. So what is the fourth dimension? The return of the pink bathroom?
    Clyde

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  9. i had to replace a toilet seat yesterday and with this leg not working well yet i told my son to do it

    i got home last night and he was gone

    deb tried and added a new dimension

    i had to take a grinder to it

    i have broken multiple porcelain toilets trying to crank and saw those impossible old bolts off there

    3 d toilet seat has possibilities

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  10. ben look at pallet racking for the shed. leave the bottom open so you can put the wagon and put the pallets up high ,create tool space . fun project

    comes in all sorts of heights widths depths it’s cheap used if you can find it and there are many companies that specialize in used

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  11. Even after reading through everyone else’s comments, I can’t think of anything that I want 3-D printed. Like others I’m spending time getting rid of stuff these days. In fact, there are going to be books leaving the house in the next few days.

    Like

    Reply

        1. Yes, we haven’t seen so many turkeys around our place the last 18 months. Because they’re all a mile down the road at this field.

          I meant to work a line into the blog about the photo, and didn’t find a good place for it. So thanks for noticing and asking!

          Liked by 3 people

      1. one in each ear is a style of its own

        i lost a hubcap then another and a friend pointed out if you put both on one side no one ever sees both sides of the car at once. with earrings it’s a little different but it could be fun

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  15. I would like to be able to take a broken plastic piece, glue it, and then put it in a chamber that would measure its precise dimensions, and print an unbroken replica. An example would be the plastic pieces that hold a metal handle to the drawer of my vintage stove. I can glue the pieces to attach the handle, but it’s not a very permanent repair.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Or the small plastic pieces that hold the ceiling of my microwave in place, They are little plugs that can be easily removed so that you can put the whole ceiling piece in the dishwasher when it needs cleaning. But I’ve lost a few.

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

    2. That’s a great use for a 3D printer. I’ll bet they could do it if they could measure its dimensions with a laser. Dental offices use lasers to measure someone’s mouth for a complete measurement of each tooth and space in order to create a dental plate or bite guard.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  16. i had a stretch where i was hitting my drives 300. it was back when taylor made introduced the metal head. my brother had one and tried it driving into the group in front of us and apologizing because i couldn’t believe i was hitting it straight as a dye and 325 yards. it was crazy. i took the driver from him and gave him money to go buy a new one .

    i played well for a while there

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a comment