Menu

Subscribe

real life

A 3705-post collection

I got Beloved a gift!

It's always hard to shop for the snuggle-buddy who can get everything they want for themselves. Unless, that is, Aldi's happens to be selling 3D printers for $500.

The next-best commercial price for a 3D printer is around $1600, from Jaycar's. So this thing is literally less than half the price.

Caveat emptor - you have to at least know something about these things to get anything decent out of it. Including that it uses absolute meters of filament to print anything cool. The ten meters of filament that comes with might be enough to print out three little box robots, but we're nerds with standards.

I also visited Jaycar [Aldi's sold out of the extra filament. Big shock] and got about $75 worth of filament spools in some interesting colours. [And before you ask about our finances, I had permission to use The Card That Must Not Be Touched for this little spree]

As you can see on this video the printer has caused something of a stir, here in Australia. Aldi's has pretty much pulled a hat-trick on absolutely everyone.

For a tiny bit of background to everywhere else but Australia: Aldi's is the cheapest chain store for groceries and completely random crap. Sort of like Costco, but without the ability to buy bulk. And a lot smaller. You can rely upon the groceries, which most people do, but the crap in the middle of the shop? It's worth taking a good look every time you're in there.

Aldi's is the cheap-and-nasty store that people like Beloved usually disdain ever going to. And they're the first chain in Australia to have a 3D printer on their shelves. Er. Pallets. So they've pretty much put a lot of elevated noses out of joint.

It's taken us a few goes, but we're finally printing a little companion for Bitzer to take around. I've yet to name the blue fairy, but she's definitely going to be a girl because history is fascinating and strange :D

Of course, she's still in the printer, but it's all looking good.

Then we shall make a few things for Chaos and Mayhem. Because kids will want toys.

We have so much Thing Freedom now. It's amazing.

Progress and setbacks

I hit the 92 zone, this morning. 92.6 kilos. On one hand - hooray, I'm losing weight and that should be good for me. On the other - boo, the corset I have is now too big. And I have no idea where to get cheap and comfy corset stuffing.

I have got in contact with the corset people to see if I can swap it out for the same style in one size down. Fingers crossed that it won't break

Read more »

Spoonless...

The blockage in my lungs is not preventing me from getting air, apparently. I've been taking the nebuliser to little or no actual effect. And certainly zero relief.

I couldn't sleep because of the blockage. It's a struggle to breathe in. So, long about midnight, we had the home service doctors swing on by and take a look at me. That's how I know my asthma meds are working, even though it feels like some invisible python is crushing my windpipe. Or

Read more »

Zip ties and superglue solve lots of problems

...but not the one where I have to spend a lot of money to keep breathing.

Beloved and I restocked my medication stores, yesterday. It was quite the shopping list:

  • Ventolin nebules
  • Atrovent nebules
  • Magnesium tablets
  • Olive leaf extract tablets [I refuse to take the liquid, it is gut-wrenchingly gross]
  • Vitamin C
  • Probiotics
  • Cough syrup of the expectorant variety
  • Herbal anti-anxiety stuff

And a few items of sundry miscellany that were neither here or there. Now... how much would you expect to

Read more »

Asthma Games I Play (and other business)

I want it to be understood that a shortness of breath is something of a default state for me. Asthma creeps up on me by slow increments that are nearly invisible. I should be checking my nails for blueness, but if I do so regularly, I don't notice how much blue has crept up on me.

So I play really odd games like:

  • Is it a cough or a tickle?
  • How shallow is my breathing?
  • Do I really need my medicine or
Read more »

A cup of vegemite, a hug, and a good lie down...

Way back in the bad old days when procreation was all the justification needed to keep people from being equal... And Bex was known as an effective painkiller and not an addictive substance... the panacea of the time was "A cup of tea, a Bex, and a good lie down."

Well, I need a panacea that works because I'm now panicking about really minor things. As well as battling some asthma from Hades.

And no, dear Americans, I do not eat Australia's

Read more »

Aaaaaaahhhh...

Packing just got ten thousand percent easier. Turns out a discussion about luggage got me crosswired into thinking I could only take a carry-on-sized suitcase for all of my convention needs.

Now that I'm packing a proper-sized suitcase, all is well and I am much more relaxed about getting things together than I was, yesterday.

I'm up to the Unneccessary props, now. Things like "Maman's" photograph and the hip crank. I don't really need them for Bitzer's little routines because I've figured

Read more »

LUGGAGE!

Ok so I'm only allowed one small suitcase and one carry-on.

The small suitcase is BARELY big enough to hold the hatbox.

If I'm careful about how I pack, I can fit a lot of my cosplay extras in with the hat.

BUT - the makeup containers I have are too messy to go in with the hat [maybe if I ziplocked them into baggies?] and too big to go down the sides with other, more compactable things.

There's no real room

Read more »

Coming together!

I have some prednisone to help combat the bad asthma I've got. I should be done with it in six days, and back to what passes for normal before then.

The inside of the mask has a few more coats to go before it's prosthetic-ready. Naked paper maché is a thirsty material.

And as for the heart...

[Shown here: heart base with the springs inserted]

The final assembly is ludicrously easy, compared to the rest of it.

I got rid of the

Read more »

We're having "fun"

It seems like Mayhem's medication only really worked for one night. I found out why when I looked at the packet - it only works for kids aged 9 to 12. Mayhem is 14.

So we're seeing the doctor again about getting something to help him sleep. After I see the doctor about getting something to help me breathe.

Meanwhile, the fun and games he used to get "to keep him awake" is not happening, today. I figure if the motivation goes,

Read more »

Getting there S-L-O-W-L-Y

There is fun times to be happening today. But first, the costume checklist:

  • [ ] Dress
  • [X] Striped Hose
  • [X] Corset
  • [X] Shoes
  • [ ] Petticoats
  • [ ] Gloves
  • [X] Hat
  • [X] Wig
  • [ ] Makeups
  • [X] Makeup accessories
  • [X] Bloomers
  • [X] Functioning Heart
  • [X] Rose-enhanced Mask

Yes, dear readers, I finally figured out how to do Bitzer's Rosy Cheek(tm) and Beloved and I conquered the Arduino programming for the sparking lights in the heart.

Check out this test video:

We've finessed the code since this test run, but

Read more »

Progress with technology

Stand back and brace your routers, it's a PHOTOBLOG!

That's right, dear readers, I have done some things. First of which was shopping for a shoes, and some other bits and bobs that cost a lot of money. [Donate today and you can fund this author having food to eat during WWWC5!]

But first, the twiddly bits:

[Shown here: two Adafruit(tm) circuit boards, six 7-micropixel LED 'flowers' and two rechargeable battery packs]

These were ordered by post. The wires, wire strippers,

Read more »

The best laid plans...

I was going to go on a minor shopping spree, today. And visit MeMum to pick up those bloomers (and maybe have a gasbag).

BUT, yesterday afternoon, some dillhole thought it would be funny to push Mayhem - who then tripped over someone's bag and fell badly. The arm he landed on is still aching "just as bad" as yesterday. The arm itself is sensitive to touch. And there's purple discolouration.

I thought it might be his wrist, but it's his radius

Read more »

Finally! Sleep!

Mayhem and I have had restless nights for a majority of the week, but for different reasons. Me, because not being able to breathe tends to wake me up. And Mayhem because something, somewhere went agley and he couldn't sleep.

Medical science is still trying to find out why it went agley in the first place.

The medication finally recommended by the doctors has worked enough to give him five hours of actual rest. Yay. I recommended some meditation stuff and white

Read more »

It's 4AM and my life sucks a little

Got woken up by another asthma attack at two in the morning and didn't take a nebuliser dose until 3. I'm going to need another dose long about 6AM. This is indeed a Bad Air Day.

I'm now worried that I may cause alarm and despondency if I need to use my machine in public at Tucson. And to that end, I've warned Miss Bennett about me and put an FAQ on my phone.

I still have no idea if Bunny sees

Read more »