Weekly Wednesday Update #6

Goal Update

Well, I’m back at it feeling stronger than last month (as an engineer, I need some data behind such broad statements, so by my Garmin watch, I set a new PR in the 5k (18:46) and 10k (43:12) during dreadmill training runs this past week). But seriously, I need to get in the pool. 28 miles behind schedule at this point 

Miles Swam: 0 [0]

Miles Run: 29.93 [126.57]

Tacos Ate: 24 [129]

Miles Biked: 70.39 [282.62]

Garmin Connect Graph - Can't get G-docs to make it look this pretty...

Things I worked on

After last weeks realization, I have been trying to FOCUS (follow one course until success - Robert Kiyosaki). Well, to be honest, it's not going that well, but hey with practice comes perfection.

I did make the 8 aluminum supports for my y-axis manually! Cut out a MDF template with my CNC machine, marked the hole locations with a center punch, pilot drilled holes with a 3/32” bit, then used a 7/32” bit to enlargen the holes and give some wiggle room while installing them.

Not my ideal way, but it worked

I have finished half of a surprise gift for a close friend, with plan/goal/statement of finishing it up this Friday.

I have also painted the electronics enclosure and began the soldering and wiring process - wow, this is going to take a while.

Spray painting outside in 25F temps (take inside to bathroom with fan to dry)

One slight problem I have encountered is the fact I did not account for the paint in my tolerancing of the holes… Last night I tried to thread in one of my aviation plugs which will connect to my CNC’s stepper motors and I can’t quite get the nut onto the threads… I have a plan to fix this slight problem, which in my brain has already turned into controller box v2. Before I begin down that rabbit hole, I am going to complete v1 and install it so that v2 will fix all v1 mistakes - FOCUS in action right? Let’s count it ;)

This weekend (while my new Z-axis belt is on it’s way) I will finish up the electronics, the workbench, and upgrade to the Z-Carve. End. Of. Story.

Favorite Podcast of the Week

The Art of Charm: Jonathan Fields | Good Life Project (Episode 584)

Great podcast where Jonathan gives some insights on how to handle your life with the good life bucket model. From the podcast notes:

“The idea’s really simple,” says Jonathan. “Think of your life as three buckets. One is called your vitality bucket. That’s about optimizing your state of mind and body. The second is called your connection bucket. That’s about cultivating deep and meaningful relationships. The third is your contribution bucket. That’s about how you bring your strength, your gifts, and your beliefs to the world. It’s about how you contribute to the world around you. And that may be the way you also earn your living, but interestingly it may also not be the primary source of income for you.”

“The good life, then, is when you basically do the work to make all three buckets as full as you can get them and then develop a daily practice of…everyday taking a quick look and saying, ‘Okay, so how full is each one of these three buckets, and what can I do today to fill them?’

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.” – Warren G. Bennis

Random of the Week

Well its been 6 weeks, time to stop this silly blog. You’re welcome!

Okay, you caught me, I really enjoy doing this to not only help me be accountable for my goals and projects, but I heard from some loving family members (thank you Dad and Grandma!) they really get a hoot out of my rambling. As I mentioned in week 2, I would wait 6 weeks until I made an investment in a better blog/website hosting option due to my OCD and perfectionism (honestly, I spend as much time formatting the posts as I do writing them). I will be going transferring my site to HostGator at some point, but with my current project, exercise, work, sleep, taco and studying load, I am going to postpone this move until I pass that PE exam!

In the mean time to calm my OCD nerves and countless minutes of editing HTML code, I stumbled (okay google ninja searched) across WYSIWYG editors (what you see is what you get). These things allow me to type up my post in google documents, copy them into an editor, format until my eyes go cross, then copy the HTML into blogger and away we go. If you google search “WYSIWYG html editor online” you will come across numerous options (272,000 to be exact); personally I just click on one and try it out. Haven’t found a preferred editor yet, but they all have worked great! Problem solved [for now]!

Thank you for reading. Please leave questions or comments below!


Time to write post: 33 mins