Blog
A collection of thoughts, life updates, projects, and images in chronological order.
Spring Break - Day 3
It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.
Finally, it's time to head back home. I'm really looking forward to it, and I'll have Ben and Rex joining for the majority of the trip. I tried to pack light this time, bringing only a few bags and a jacket.
We got everything packed and left around 10:00am.
Stoping for gas an and errand run, we finally hit the road for real around 11:00am.
We made it to Wisconsin by 5:00pm. Just in time for the huge storm passing through. There were some tornado warnings for towns a bit north of where we were headed, and we got a decent chunck of that storm, with hail, wind, and heavy rain.
Luckily the rain died down a bit, and we made it to dinner with my dad.
We got back to my mom's around 7:30, and I pulled out the CJ-7. I really just needed to drive something and was eager to pull it out of the garage. We cruised around town for a bit and stopped by the bay before heading back home for the night.
I finally was able to set up my subwoofer I got from another friend a while back, so we spend the rest of the night testing it out.
Overall, it's been another great day. Lots of plans for tomorrow, including a haircut and picking up Ángel from Milwaukee.
Created: 2024-03-04
Spring Break - Day 2
It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.
Autorama. Bigger than the Detroit Auto Show (somehow). This is definitely the event of the semester. Other than maybe industry day/student exhibition. It was a good show, with lots of cars I know little about and bikes that I know a little about. My two friends that have actual knowledge on the subject were our guide.
We weren't just there to see the show, however. Tickets were paid for by the school so that we could man the school booth and sketch for the public. It's always a great time. You get to draw whatever you want and meet new people.
While on our shift, we met Andrew Berry, a senior at LTU who is also majoring in transportation design. He was friendly, very talented, and we got a bit of a first-hand look into what it's like at another school. I've very glad we got to meet.
Of course, the rest of the day (before and after) was spent walking around the show. I don't really know many details about the cars, but here's a truncated selection of what I found most interesting.
I'm a bit embarrassed of my lack of knowledge. I'll get my friends to correct me, and I'll update the info at a later date.
My friends and I hit the road for Wisconsin tomorrow. Hoping all goes well. It should.
Created: 2024-03-03
Spring Break - Day 1
It's spring break this week, and seeing as there are lots of things planned, I figured I'd jot down the main points each day.
Today is the first day, though technically not. There were still classes, but not for me. It is still winter, so the air is cold, but we gathered a group of people and went to the weekly cars and coffee event. It was expectedly devoid of much life. There were the 6 or 7 die-hard attendies, which was still nice to see. We left an hour later when there were only a couple left.
My dad arrived around noon, and we had a nice lunch after loading up the car with the stuff I no longer needed at school and the remaining car parts.
Autorama is tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it.
Created: 2024-03-02
Midterms
We had our midterm presentation in studio earlier this week. It went well with lots of great feedback from Joe Dentale (Ford Creative Design) and Matt Tandrup (Livewire Creative Director). I think this is one of the best classes so far. Lots to still improve on, but I have a direction now.
I'm looking forward to fleshing out the details and getting a good start on the model over break.
Created: 2024-02-29
Couple of Pictures
There was a big storm a night ago, and I got a picture of the lightning lighting up the clouds.
My friend built a Y-wing from some clone battle packs. I reworked the gunner area and build a stand for it.
Created: 2024-02-29
50°F, Overcast, and Windy
I was out on a bike ride with some friends yesterday and couldn't help but notice the weather. Just warm enough to have a light sweatshirt on with a bit of wind and a cloudy sky. There is something special to me about this kind of weather. I was asked if it was because it reminded me of being outside as a child, but that alone doesn't quite capture it. It's more the transitional feeling of going from something social and fun to finally splitting up for the day and heading home. Right between the two. You know the end is near and you can feel those around you anxious to get ready to leave, but you just want to stay out a bit longer. Oddly perfect for our the events of the afternoon, though I wouldn't apply my description to the dynamic of our group. But that is what it reminds me of. A sense of longing. For the people, for the event, for a sense of normal in a busy or lonely schedule. I'm likely projecting a bit, specifically from the past, but I suppose that's the point. If I were more skilled, I might write a poem to describe the feeling, but I'm no poet. Maybe when I have a bit more free-time. Or, more likely, retired.
Side note: I've discovered how to type symbols and special characters on Mac, so I can type Ángel's name correctly now without having to copy and paste characters. Exciting stuff.
Created: 2024-02-10
First Post
New year, new site. Looking forward to working on it.
Created: 2024-01-09
Jeep CJ-7 Turn Signal Repair
A while back, I noticed that the passenger side turn signal on my 1985 Jeep CJ7 was out. The right turn signal indicator would stay solid when the headlights were turned on. I pulled the bulb assembly and found this:
The wire responsible for turning the bulb “high” was broken from what I assume is fatigue. The rubber meant to support the wire and contact pin was severely degraded and falling apart, exposing the bare wire where it met the pin. This also means the wire could freely flex at the joint, and going over bumbs or just general road vibration could have eventually wore it down. I didn't see much in the way of corrosion around the wire, so that's why I assume it was stress related.
Anyways, the bucket was severely rusted, and the gasket was a poor excuse for one, so I cleaned up the bucket with some sandpaper and gave it a light coat of lubricant to hopefully hinder the rust and cut a new gasket from two layers of craft foam. This is definitely a short-term solution, but with school fast approaching and the fact that this will be garaged for the next 9 months I wasn't too concerned. Next spring is Jeep repair time, this summer is “cobble it together until then” time. I also cleaned up the driver side bucket the same way and cut a new seal just to try and keep it from rusting any more.
Next, I got to repairing the harness. The pin was a crimp-on, and there was no easy way I was going to be able to uncrimp it for reuse. So I did the next best thing, soldering. Anyone that takes pride in soldering would probably stare agasp at what I did, but again, I'll fix it correctly in the spring. I just trimmed back a bit of sheathing on the wire and soldered it to the bare copper on the side of the pin. Pretty or preferable? No. Does it work? Yes.
Finally, everything was reinserted into the bucket. I reused the dryrotted rubber piece that was still in the bucket because it needs that to keep the pins in place and put tension on the bulb to retain it. After it was all reassembled, I put some Shoe Goo (it's what I had lying around) on the exposed end to try and prevent the same thing from happening again quickly.
Pretty happy with how it turned out given that I didn't spend anything or go anywhere other than my garage to get it done. Here's a video of it being tested:
Now to repair the muffler I blew… but that's for another day.
Created: 2023-07-20
P.S. I did end up getting a new muffler on. That'll be a future post.