MacGyver’ed rig for epoxying the power button connector back onto my friend’s iBook G4 on which I was trying to simply replace the hard drive.
UPDATE: It worked! I managed to press the contacts to the board hard enough during curing that they still had conductivity after the epoxy cured!
A couple Saturdays ago, @kriskowal and I found ourselves at a meeting of the Southern California chapter of the Steam Automobile Club of America of which Kris’s father is president. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen these steam cars in action. Getting to ride on these gentle and majestic contraptions was a real treat:
Kris’s father brought the Dampf ‘Bil, a wood-burning, steam powered go-kart of sorts:
Kris explains more about how it works:
It’s a really simple car, a model of the minimal steam powered automobile, built on the chassis of a wood trash-cart. The steam generator is a Dixon Boilerworks “fire tube” boiler; it burns wood under a five gallon reservoir with tubes that allow the heated air to exchange with the water. It operates between 40 and 75 PSI. The steam drives two 5” tall double-acting steam engines, offset by 90 degrees, attached directly to the rear-right wheel with a bike chain (no derailleur). The boiler is fed by a highly ineffective hydraulic landing gear pump from a 2 gallon antifreeze container repurposed for water. The boiler also has a garden hose attachment which we use to fill the boiler when cold, and to “blow down”: use the boiler’s remaining pressure to empty the boiler.
Look at it go! (that’s me riding.)
The only problem is that one tends to get covered in soot while driving it (that’s Kris):
As you can see, fun was had by all. :)
Mean happiness: Despite the bad press infographics have gotten lately, this one is quite clever.
Caprese burgers, mashed red potatoes and green beans!
The burgers patties are made from about 2 lbs. of 90/10 lean ground beef, plus 1/4 large white onion (I might use red or sweet next time), 2 cloves of garlic, 4 oz. of mozzarella cheese (all diced) and a couple teaspoons of salt.
Atop the patties are slabs of soft mozzarella cheese (the kind you make caprese with) topped with balsamic vinegar while grilling. On top of that are slices of red bell pepper pressed into the cheese (totally cheated on the caprese here, they should be tomatoes) and basil leaves.
12 California Red potatoes (from a large bag at Costco) make up the potato salad, along with 1 stick of butter, 1/2 a cup half and half and salt—decadent, I know, but very tasty. We’ve been doing mashed potatoes in the pressure cooker. It’s faster at cooking the potatoes, and for added bonus, the steam relief valve popping cues you to turn the stove off (helpful for the multitasking-challenged).
I don’t normally have the energy to make three dishes on a weeknight, but tonight I felt up to the multitasking challenge. The results were happily nominated.
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