Author: David T. Macknet

Leaving The Depression House

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May 23, 2025

10:28 am

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California

Friends, it’s been a looooong time since we posted anything here. Like, well over a year, long.

During that year, I’ve been a little bit short on work, to the point where we missed rent a few times. We’ve lived in a house we call “the depression house,” as it had so many things wrong with it – including a hideous landlord – that we basically just existed. I did land contracts enough to keep us going, but not to get us ahead in any way.

We had some health issues, which took up a lot of our thoughts (and money, frankly). Running around to different doctors, trying to figure out what’s what. Finally landing with a doctor who said, “oh, that’s X, 25% of the people with it don’t have the marker.” And so treatment can finally begin.

And now, I have a good job. This job, which I began right at the beginning of the year, is a full-time job, the first non-contract job I’ve had since 2005. With all of the benefits, vacation, etc.

We moved out of “the depression house” earlier this week – Tuesday, in fact. So we’re now in a house chock full of boxes, trying to figure out where everything should go. We have an awesome kitchen, with tons of storage, when we’d pared everything down to fit into the last house. It’s disorienting, to say the least.

So, that’s the goings-on. We’re still singing in choir, and I’m singing individually as well.

This house is wonderful. Eventually we’ll learn to enjoy it. Probably after we’ve unpacked. 😀

-D

Mysterious mysteries

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February 8, 2025

2:04 pm

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Kitchen Favorites

I was cooking breakfast* this morning and working on a couple of the last bits, such as shredding some cabbage, and went to put that cabbage back in its bag. The bag is nowhere to be found. Nowhere on the counter, nowhere on the stove, not in the recycle, not in the trash. Not fallen on to the floor somewhere. Not in the dish drainer. Not in the spice cabinet. Not in the veggie scraps bin. Not even in the microwave. I am certain that the cabbage came out of the fridge in a bag, because I had sliced a chunk off of it previously. Mysterious mysteries.

* Breakfast was what we call hash.

  • 2 cups spicy rice** (preferably leftover),
  • way more cabbage than you think you need,
  • 454 g of tofu (i.e. one brick),
  • two eggs,
  • 125 g of pepper jack cheese.
  1. Sear the cabbage for a bit,
  2. brown the tofu cubes on a few sides,
  3. toss the rice in and warm it through,
  4. crack in a couple of eggs and stir,
  5. throw in the cheese when the eggs are cooked or nearly so, and you are done.

** Spicy rice:

  • one can of fire roasted tomatoes,
  • enough water to bring the liquid volume including those tomatoes up to three and three quarter cups,
  • two cups washed rice,
  • one dried pasilla chile,
  • two dried guajillo chiles,
  • one tablespoon of vegetable bouillon,
  • one tablespoon of some habanero or other spicy pepper paste,
  • one teaspoon applewood smoked salt,
  • one teaspoon ground cumin,
  • three sliced green onions.
  1. Remove the seeds from and finely dice the dried chiles,
  2. slice the green onions,
  3. mix everything together in the rice cooker,
  4. press go on the rice cooker.

      5. Hope you’re well!

      -D

Nearly a year

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June 18, 2024

6:43 am

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California

Well, friends, it’s been nearly a year since we posted here. Some of that’s just life, some is that blogs have kinda gone by the wayside. Some is just not being in the habit, some more is that I don’t think that the posts are emailed out automatically & so our friends don’t see them. In any event, I’m going to try to get the photos out more frequently, and also to at least say “hello” up here from time to time.

Here, have some lizards. And go visit the photos for a few thousand more new pictures.

San Ramon 754

-D

Still Settling In

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May 12, 2023

3:24 pm

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California

It has been a very long time since blogging, or even pulling pictures from the phones. Some of that is that we’ve basically just been staying home, where nothing is really newsworthy. Another part of that is getting settled into San Ramon, including everything from unpacking to getting the yard tilled and planted.

San Ramon 42

Hello, glad you’re still here, have some pictures

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April 7, 2022

4:54 pm

1 Comment on Hello, glad you’re still here, have some pictures

Metalworking

We looked up and realized that the world here is the same, while the world internationally (Russia, Ukraine) has gone insane. We’ve not pulled pictures from the phones for … months. And we’ve generally stopped blogging here.

In the spirit of at least saying “hello,” here are a handful of photos of a chime set going through the process. The final row is the finished chimes, held in different light.

Irvington 982 Irvington 983 Irvington 984
Irvington 985 Irvington 986 Irvington 987
Irvington 989 Irvington 990 Irvington 991

We hope you’re well. I hope to write more frequently, but … well, we’ll see.

-D

The World Has Stalled

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January 18, 2022

12:03 pm

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California

Irvington 746

Life has been basically the same for several years now. Yesterday I pulled pictures off of the phones & had to decide if I wanted those year-old pictures of flowers, etc.

And then this holiday, where I basically stopped work at Thanksgiving & haven’t really resumed yet: before the year-end, corporate budgets either run out or don’t have time for services; beginning of the year, they may not have finalized budgets for the new year. So, I did a bunch of singing, some working on chimes, and that’s about it, really. Ordinary things: walks, going to eyeglasses appointments. Oh – and learning how to program in Unity, which doesn’t really feel like programming.

We keep saying we’re going to take off for Scotland & The Netherlands, or maybe Spain. We keep saying that, but then I guess it’s about risk & Covid & planes. It’s not about cost, really. I mean, if we go for a month, this is at most what we’re looking at:

Flights: $1,500
Max Accommodation: $4,000
Food: (cheaper than in the US)
Entertainment: $1,000
Total $6,500

It’s not a huge expense (and is inflated), but … I think that we just don’t feel safe, and are unwilling to risk. I think we need to get over that, though, because this is the new normal: hide, mask, test.

May you all find a way to add some passing of time to your lives. Some awareness that the world outside is indeed moving, that you’re part of that movement.

-D

More Chimes

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January 17, 2022

5:31 pm

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Metalworking

So, back at you with more windchime things. These ones are about figuring out what to do with the anodizer vs with torch. It’s about figuring out when to use Rubylith vs polishing the oxide layer away vs grinding it away with a heavier grit.

Irvington 914

The image above has some pretty bare chimes. I got the gradient by running from about 85V up to 125V, spinning the dial as fast as I could & simultaneously withdrawing the chimes from the bath. I figure that gives me a gradient of probably 90V through 120V. It’s kind of … well, hit or miss.

Irvington 915

After I’ve played with them for a bit, they’re quite a bit different. I think this is maybe 6 different voltages added after the higher voltage dip, each one progressively lower voltage. Basically, the recipe for these was to give them a good, high-voltage dip, and then to come back and polish away rings & repeatedly put the chimes into a lower and lower voltage bath. So, a sequence would look like this:

  1. Degrease with acetone
  2. Wash in deionized water
  3. Etch using Multi-Etch (doesn’t contain hydrofluoric acid, yay!)
  4. Wash in deionized water
  5. Connect everything up
  6. Place in electrolytic solution (soapy water)
  7. Power up
  8. Dial in your voltage until you’re happy
  9. Power down
  10. Wash
Irvington 926

Another example above. I’m trying to figure out a more reliable method of polishing away the oxide, to make the rings. Not sure, but am trying out rotary tool sanding disks at the moment.

Irvington 922

One here, playing with a diagonal with the lithography masking tape. I think I like this, but the tape tends to drift – you end up with a progressively tighter spiral, or a looser, etc. Also, burnishing the edges of the tape is a lot harder, as when it’s in a circle you can easily run your fingernail over the edge of the tape.

VID-20210126-WA0001

And above is a wee video, including some slow motion. I like it anyway.

I’d love to say I’ll post more … but it’s a bit of a hard thing. Once the engagement stops, there it went.

-D

Singing and Playing With Metal

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November 19, 2021

10:21 am

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Artsy Things, Metalworking

I’ve been working on titanium, mostly in windchimes. Here’s a video of me talking (slowly, for some reason) about an experimental piece where I’m playing with flame anodization, electric anodization, sanding belt textures, etc.https://youtu.be/qdLQZWlx5tg

https://vimeo.com/628398537 has me doing a couple solos, a few weeks back. 5:20 and 27:00 are my pieces (the rest is a church service).

I just uploaded a recital from this past weekend https://youtu.be/VAiQViaru-k . I’m the first 3 pieces and the last piece (25:38). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAiQViaru-k&t=25m38s is a link to that last piece.

-D

Entertainment During Corona

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September 23, 2021

4:28 pm

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Artsy Things, Metalworking

It has been a very long time since I’ve written here. Some of that’s getting out of the habit. A larger part of that is that … well, there’s just nothing happening. I’ve been singing and working on windchimes, pretty much. But I realize that I’m not even sharing about the windchimes. So, here’s a story about windchimes and how I make them.

I’ve had a windchime calculator for quite some time, but just never really got to it. I found impetus to move to titanium from brass because of this video. His chopsticks look beautiful, and onlinemetals.com would ship me some titanium… and so we began. General process:

  1. Find yourself a decent chord at https://www.onemotion.com/chord-player/
  2. Look up the lengths (chime length & length of the hang point)
  3. Cut chimes to lengths
  4. Drill them
  5. Polish the bejeezus out of them
  6. Spin them up on a high-speed drill, while heating them with a torch
  7. Use a polishing belt to strategically remove stripes (yes, while everything’s still running)
  8. Hang them up (after they’ve cooled)

Metalworking 29

Above is what one looks like while in progress. That silver titanium will quickly oxidize to a “gold straw” color, because the metal’s already hot.

The least fun in this hobby is the sheer number of drill bits I’ve broken. I bought a drill press, which should help a little bit at least, just by keeping the drill bit straight. We’ll see. It’s definitely the bottleneck in the process.

Next up as not fun is that I really ought to get a band saw. I’ve got a jigsaw (pro tip: a “fine metal” blade on the end-grain wood setting is what you want, for titanium – just chomps the metal out beautifully). It works well enough, actually. The band saw would be a luxury upgrade, when I still haven’t solved the drill issue.

Metalworking 31

It’s the blowtorch stuff that’s the most fun, of course. Developing new techniques, seeing what works and doesn’t. Using a large torch to get a base color = a consistent heat platform to build on, whereas just hitting it with the small torch will give much more variation in color.

Making little decorations to go along with the chimes (I’ll work with brass when I’m frustrated with titanium – brass is like butter, in comparison) is also quite peaceful.

At some point I’m going to buy an SMT Micro Anodizer (have a look at some of the examples there), so I can lay down straight-lined patterns, one-color patterns, or can hook it to a paintbrush and paint with electrolyte.

That’s kinda what things have been like around here. Finish work, sing a while if it’s hot, make some chimes if it’s cool. Rinse and repeat.

-D

Is this thing on?

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July 15, 2021

6:13 pm

2 Comments on Is this thing on?

California

It has been an eternity since I’ve blogged anything. Life just seems to roll on, no real change, and here we are with me not having even bothered to pull any pictures from the phones. And did I use a real camera during this time? Nope. Life is kind of narrow right now.

Irvington 865

Here’s what work looks like for me these days. Every client wants me to use their laptop, rather than giving me access through my own system. So, I’ve got a stack of laptops sitting here, which I shuffle around as needed. I’ve just purchased a keyboard/video/monitor switch, so once I go through the setup, I’ll at least have laptops with decent keyboard and monitor!

Do have a look at the latest batch of photos, on www.flickr.com/photos/wishiwerebaking . I’ve taken up a bit of metalworking, primarily making windchimes out of titanium, and there are a few chime photos up there. If you’re interested in something other than the most recent photos, www.flickr.com/photos/wishiwerebaking/collections organizes all of the albums into collections, so it’s possible to navigate. For example:

  • Europe
    • Netherlands (10 albums)
    • Castles (16 albums)
    • England (2 albums)
    • Italy (7 albums)
    • Scotland (2 collections)
      • Around and About (48 albums)
      • Glasgow (47 albums)
    • Traveling About

And on it goes from there, fairly organized. 39,153 photos.

I can’t tell you that I’ll be blogging more, especially now that email subscriptions are being disabled by FeedBurner. We’ll see how it goes.

-D