From 3D printing to Fun date night

How my 3D printing assignment turned into a fun Friday Night Date night in Delray

This semester I am enrolled in  a graduate class - Introduction to Physical Computing  from Marlboro College Gradaute and Professional studies.  Our assignment this week was to complete the cycle from design to printing of a 3D object.  

I already knew that I’m not very 3D spatial by nature, so I was not surprised to be challenged by this assignment.  I had tried Sketchup a few times and  always amazed at what I have seen 5th graders do with this professional level tool.  But then again I can’t hold a candle to a 5th grader at any video game that requires 3D movement. 

Craig suggested that a dice might be a good entry point for me.  Sounded good, but  I wanted something a little more creative, than the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 on a cube, so I came up with the idea of six inspiring words on each side of my cube.  (imagine, invent, innovate, create, make, learn).

Now inspired, I was ready to tackle the task. 

Since I am on a personal inquiry about  the role of mobile tools in the “maker movement” I thought I’d give this a try using some of the AutoDesk iOS Creativity apps that I had once downloaded on my iPad.  

Although these are amazing apps,  I was not inspired by the parts available on the 123D Design iOS app.  They all felt so mechanical and robotic, and there did not appear to be any way to add text to my cube, so I proceeded to the online version of 123D design using my computer and found that it had a feature called SmartText that allowed for text extrusion.   By sticking with a cloud based product I felt like I was still within the realm of mobile since inspired students could use this tool on ANY computer that had internet access and would not have to download software. 

Unfortunately  my lack of experience did me in.  Although I was successful in getting one of the words etched into one side of an object by pushing it down into the object and using the void feature, I eventually became frustrated at my lack of understanding of how to join objects on different planes as I tried to work with the other sides.  There was so much more to learn to get this right and every piece of new learning was taking so long.  Thus  I decided it was better to complete the ‘cycle” from design to print with something simpler than to keep building my skills in using the design software.    So I settled for a small object that had the word “imagine” etched in.  I could always come back and build my design skills later. 

On to the next step in in the process.  After exploring 2  popular sites for getting objects printed on a a 3D printer (Sculpteo and Shapeway)  I learned that as long as I could get my design in a format called STL I could upload it to those sites and order my object in a variety of colors and textures. I was even more impressed when I noticed that 123D Design (and probably many other pieces of software)  had a “Send to 3D printer” feature what connected with one or both of these online printing services. 

Who ever thought you could print such creative objects such as this spiral "pot"  or custom designed fingernails.

However I was quite surprised at how small my object had to be to stay under the $10 cap we were trying to work with. I reduced the size of my objects to about 3 cm long. 

Unfortunately the turnaround time for delivery was a little too much for my mobile lifestyle and even with expedited shipping it would arrive the day after we hit the road again.  However this constraint led me to explore makeXYZ.com where people list their 3D printers locations and offer to 3D printing

services.  I found 2 within a 20 minute drive from our campground and started a conversation with a young man named Johnny Harris in Delray.  He quoted me $10  or $15 depending on the resolution plus a small service feel.  I opted for the higher resolution and made arrangements to pick up my 3D print in a public place (hotel lobby in Delray).

I now own a  $17 red piece of plastic (3 cm long) with the word “imagine” etched in.  But heck, the experience was totally worth the cost. 

The best part of the experience was hearing Johnny’s story. He is self taught with no formal training. He  bought the 3D printer because he had an invention he wanted to make and didn’t have a way to get  a prototype.  The invention ( a vegetable peeler that peeled from all sides) is now in the patent process and this young man is now building a new fancier 3 D printer. We were quite impressed with him. 

So much so that we commissioned him to model a part for our bus window screens and print 10 of them.  The $100 feel might seem a little more than we wanted to pay for 10 small plastic pieces, but we both liked the idea of supporting Johnny’s entrepreneurial journey - and if the material is strong enough to do the job of holding our screens in place, then perhaps Johnny will have lots of new customers from the Wanderlodge bus  owners around the country who can no longer get this part. 

It was our first time in Delray and we were quite taken by the creative economy in Delray.  We ended up walking around an Arts Garage  (seemed like an incubator building for artistic industry), a puppet theater, and a few galleries.  We ended up purchasing some fancy olive oils and vinegars and went in search of crusty breads. Lots of dessert bakeries, but no crusty bread until we hit a health food store and walked out with two different types of gluten free bread. The search for bread inspired us to stay for the evening.  We did happy hour at an Oyster bar and dinner at a Mexican place that had a large choice of tequilas , really fresh local ingredients, and wonderful service. 

Part of the street was closed off for a well attended fashion show featuring local designers and shops, which we watched for a while as we walked around town.  We finished up the evening lingering over decaf and conversation about how my 3D assignment turned into an unexpected but very fun Friday night date.

Holiday Traditions on the Road

Celebrating the Holidays on the Road

Living on the road involves redefining many parts of your life.  There are lots of decisions about what to hold onto and what to let go of.  The holiday seasons was yet another opportunity for redefinition as we sought out new holiday traditions.

Having a strong French Canadian heritage means that your holidays are filled with traditions from north of the border.   My childhood Christmas always centered around  le reveillon, (a holiday  feast and celebration that starts after midnight mass and continues throughout the night into morning - thus the name).

Although we’ve tempered the all night party somewhat through the years,  every Christmas I’ve spent in Vermont has included sharing a midnight toast and plenty of fun and munchies with family and friends.   The snow,  decorations, tree, gift exchange,  music and Christmas eve service all serve to put me into a holiday mood.   And there is nothing like kids and their anticipation of Santa to spread the Christmas spirit. 

This December, our bus was parked in a delightful, funky town called Cedar Key, Florida, but  there was no snow, no holiday concerts, no family tree decoration event,  and no kids around us counting down the days til Christmas.  I was finding myself lacking the usual Christmas spirit.   That’s when I decided to kick it in gear and do what I could to find that holiday spirit in our new lifestyle.

First we needed some decorations, so on our walk back from town, we picked up a red Poinsettia.  I used some colored markers to turn some packaging material remnants into a a makeshift tree, and set up the Hue wireless lights with red and green hues.

We took a trip to Chiefland and picked up the last package of ground pork available,  some baking supplies,  and rum for the eggnog.  Craig found a radio station that played Christmas music and I started to cook and bake.   When I was done I had chocolate covered caramel corn packaged in red cups and ribbon for all our new friends,  two tourtieres (Quebecois pork pies)  and a Buche de Noel.

I learned that the humidity in Florida is not optimal for keeping popcorn crunchy,  that a wine bottle can serve as a rolling pin, and that leaving the mixer behind was probably a mistake.   After 45 minutes of 'trying' to whisk egg whites into stiff peaks, Craig decided that he could find room for a mixer. 

Craig and I invited our new friends over for Christmas breakfast.  I made traditional French crepes and Craig made his amazing French toast.  Friends brought over fruit salad, Canadian bacon,  coffee, and eggs and veggie casserole.  It was a bit nippy so we ended up huddled around the communal fire pit which was conveniently located right next to our site.

                          

Later in the day, I brought my tourtiere and Buche de Noel to the campground community potluck.  They were a big hit and it turned out to be a good day.   I can’t pretend that it was all  ‘okay' since  a phone call to  the kids didn’t fill the void I felt by their absence during the holiday season — but bringing in some of my French Canadian traditions to Cedar Key did make a difference in my getting some holiday spirit.

Craig and I were scheduled to leave Cedar Key the day after Christmas, but were able to extend our stay a few extra days to surround ourselves with our new friends for the rest of the holiday week.  In those last few evenings, we got to hear Patt and her guitar entertain a local crowd at the Pelican Rail,  watch Josh and Natalie kick ass at karaoke, see Eric  apologize to Jeannette for leaving her stranded without wifi the day he unpacked his Google Glass, and enjoy some amazing clam chowder and seafood at Tony’s with Lynn & Clark and Robin & Jeremy.  Cheng worked a knot out of my neck, Jason and Kristin introduced us to Snowtinis   Chris gave Craig a private lithium battery workshop and Cherie and Chris gave us a sneak preview of a promising new project they are getting ready to launch.  Those extra three days turned out to be a great decision.

As we were getting ready to leave,  Craig suggested that we check with the office to see if they had any spots open for a quick stop back on our way to Texas.  Lucky for us,  we’ll be able to stop back in at Sunset Isle for February 1 -5.  This made leaving a lot easier! 

After saying so long for now to new friends, we drove across the state to the east coast of Florida and set up camp at Prince John County Park for the month.   The second half of the holiday week provided some of what we were missing — Time With Family.  We picked up Craig’s daughter,  Maggie at Miami airport and headed to City Place Center, in West Palm Beach for some great food, people watching, and “The Hobitt”  at the iMax.   On New Year’s day Craig, Maggie, and I enjoyed more French Canadian traditions  and a wonderful feast that included turkey, more tortieres, and tarte au sucre with my Dad, Christine, Uncle Jean, Ma Tante Helena,  MaTante Helen, Cousin Jocelyn, and other family friends.

And in less than a week… I’m flying home to hug my grandchildren!

Saying Goodbye to Cedar Key

Being "Mobile" means seeing new sights, it also means saying goodbye.  Today is our last day at Cedar Key.  The time to move on has arrived. 

We have spent many delightful hours with the community of people who have congregated here, people who we have gotten know on line before we became their neighbors here at Cedar Key.

Every evening we gather on the dock to watch the sun go down.

Sometimes we move to the dock of the Tiki Bar that is a short walk down the road.

Christmas morning we had people over to our campsite for breakfast.








Then everyone at the campground shared a potluck Christmas Dinner.

This is the community that we have said good bye to.  It was a wonderful experience that has left us with friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

Ten Lessons LEARNED from the LIVING MOBILE School of Hard Knocks

Every new stage in life involves some new learning.   No matter how much anyone tries to prepare you for a new stage of life or how much you read about your new destination; there are some lessons that are only learned through the school of hard knocks. And since this blog is about LIVING LEARNING mobile, why not share some recent “learning”.

I'm not usually a high maintenance girl,  but one thing I've accumulated over the years is a very fun and versatile collection of glassware. I knew that 9 champagne flutes, 4 martini glasses, a dozen wine glasses,  a half a dozen cordial glasses, juice glasses, beer glasses, tall water glasses,  and  the ever so practical size milk glass weren't going to accompany us on this trip, but I could not bring myself to give or sell my collection.  So these made the cut of things that would survive storage in somebody's attic.  

But that doesn't mean I succumb to drinking wine in the multipurpose LL Bean blue plastic cups which Craig has assured me can be a coffee cup, soup container, measuring cup and any other container one might hope for on the road.   I rearranged the dishes and was pretty tickled when I found room for 4 wine glasses and 2 martini glasses.  Craig just shrugged, smiled, and accommodated me.

School of hard knock lesson #1 - Stemware was not made for small RV size kitchen.

Okay…I get it, now.    So when we got down to a single wine glass,  I  had another bright  idea and measured the opening of the wooden glass holder, and found stemless wine classes that were narrow enough to fit these.

School of hard knock lesson #2 -  Stemless wine glasses are  no better at surviving the RV kitchen.   

Down to one solitary wine  glass,  I noticed a set of red trimmed goblets in a thrift  shop in Cedar Key that looked like they might survive our lifestyle. Who would have thought that plastic wine glasses would have made their way home with Lucie.  Ah well.

School of hard knock lesson #3 -  Be careful when opening the overhead bin - contents may have shifted during transit

We  have all heard it many times, but what does it take for us to actually prepare for "shifted content".   Well for me it was when my Chromebook (that was neatly tucked away in my overhead office bin)  came flying out and landed squarely on my once unblemished Macbook air (sitting on the living area table - a.k.a. Lucie and Craig's shared office desk). Who would have thought that  this wimpy little plastic Samsung Chromebook could put a huge dent into my shiny well built Macbook  Air.  Sigh!  I guess having a dent in ones Macbook is something I can live with.

School of hard knock lesson #4 - Strewn wires in small spaces are a trip hazard

Much like an old house, our old bus could use a few more outlets around the couch area. Unfortunately, that’s where I like to sit and my old Windows laptop usually needs to be plugged in making its power cord the perfect trip hazard. In a recent entanglement, my old Lenova offered just enough resistance to bend the connector so the power cord no longer fits snuggly enough to keep the laptop charged.  With just the right amount of tweaking I can get enough of a charge to do the few things I still need my Windows machine for.

School of hard knocks lesson #5 - My Macbook Air does not like coffee - not even a little sip   

Despite the fact that my coffee was in a covered travel mug nestled in one of the two cup holders on the bus ,  enough java managed to to jump out to splatter on my Macbook.

School of hard knocks lesson #6  don't assume that the shiny new red protective cover you just added to your Mac book protects it from all types of damage. Especially when that protective skin traps a dash of liquid inside so you don't know that you have actually marinated your computer for days, until the screen starts to flicker and dark and dim sections of the screen move around from left corner to right corner.

School of hard knocks lesson #7 Don't assume that Apple Care covers all possible damages to your computer

I assumed that the Apple Care I have been buying with all my Apple products was there to help people like me that are hard on their technology.  Last week I learned that all it takes is a little bit of moisture to trigger a liquid sensor that disqualifies your  $700 computer repair  from  being covered by Apple Care.    When we drove to Gainesville to retrieve my “unrepaired” Macbook Air from the Apple 'hospital", I did get to handle a new Macbook Pro Retina and was impressed by the lack of difference between its weight and that of my Air.  (something to ponder) Thankfully I can continue using the Air with an external monitor for now.

School of hard knocks lesson #8 Moving your “work space” from inside to outside sometimes requires a 3rd hand

It’s been great to bounce back and forth between inside and outside workspaces, but all that moving around requires extra precaution.   Hours after unpacking and setting up a brand new iPad mini, Craig gathered his ‘mobile’ tools to move inside when his new iPad mini slid out of his hands and landed on the cement pad outside our bus.  The screen now has a 3 inch crack.   ;-(  Thankfully Craig’s experience handling the technology needs of schools has included repairing  many iPad screens.  Parts are on order.  We’re thinking that the iPad might have had a better chance of survival if it had landed on the the outdoor patio carpet instead of a concrete slab. Note to self:  Always roll out the carpet for yourself!

School of hard knocks lesson #9   Always double check and triple check the pressure of all tires before moving to a new location

We have no idea what caused the right tire of our tow dolly to shred (8 miles before our arrival at Cedar Key)  but we took it as a reminder that we needed to be more diligent about checking the air pressure on all tires (not just the bus, but also the dolly).   Thankfully  this lesson happened on Route 24 instead of on Interstate 95.  A friendly local musician stopped and offered us both help and advice about where we might find a replacement and another local resident agreed to let us store the dolly in his driveway for a few days while we secured a new tire.  We’ve decided to take heed of this warning to double check our tire health frequently.

School of hard knocks lesson #10  Don’t ignore your body when it says “step away from the technology”

Probably the most important lesson learned so far in this trip has been to pay attention to how your body is reacting to change!  Although I was still able to use my Macbook Air when tethered to an external monitor,  it no longer served me when I wanted to move outside.  Craig lent me a new Windows 8 Lenova that he uses to support the students and teachers back in Vermont .  As soon as I started to use this slick new laptop, I found myself cursing the trackpad .  I decided that it was just a matter of my learning the new Windows 8 gestures, and that this would be a “good”  thing for me to practice and would help me better support educators who use this platform.  The more I used it the more I felt  my neck strain as my right hand tried to use a trackpad that was trying to emulate the “touchscreen” functionality built into Windows 8.  (BAD IDEA!)  Craig has deployed 100 of these Windows 8 Lenova laptops  and almost 90% of them have been downgraded to Windows 7 OS by request of the user. 

Between the trackpad and my already questionable posture,  I kept feeling the strain in my neck increase, but I kept working in 5th gear for  long hours at a stretch to support students' final projects, get grades in for my 3 online graduate courses, and also launch a few new projects before everyone left for holiday break.  Unfortunately, I am now going to be spending my holiday break looking for remedies to make my arm, neck, back strain go away and regain the range of motion I seem to have lost in my neck.

I bet that those of us living and learning mobile could add a few additional insights to this study of New Technologies, New Behaviors, and New Postures. I wonder if Steelcase might consider creating a “mobile” chair that could accommodate today’s new generation of mobile workers!

This lesson (listening to my body) has persuaded me to go ahead and order a New Macbook Pro Retina.  I wasn’t quite ready to upgrade yet, but eventually decided that adding a new member to our Apple family”  might be worth it IF

• the retina display reduces the eyestrain I’ve been feeling lately;
• the super smooth track pad combined with a few ergonomic tweaks relieves the tension in  my hand/arm/neck
• the price tag might reduce my tax liability  

But one thing I am enjoying with my new purchase is that being untethered again is absolutely helping me take fuller advantage of living learning mobile!

What is it about Cedar Key?

There is something about Cedar Key that makes the days go by slowly, yet when you think back you can't quite figure out where all the time has gone.

It is a place to lose track of what day it is, even what month it is!

As our family and colleagues back home in Vermont slog through snow storms and sub-zero temperatures we go from having to run the fan at night because it is too warm to great sleeping nights with a couple of quilts on the bed.

Every night we gather on the docks to watch the sun set with our fellow campers. 

Each sunset slightly different, but the consistency of stopping to enjoy the evening with our new friends giving us some measure of the days that are passing.

Many days Lucie and I walk the mile each way to Cedar Key's Main St, maybe to mail a package or buy a few things at the little grocery store.  Those errands in town are really just an excuse because what we really like is the walk along State Route 24 that ends on yet another dock looking out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Several evenings we have taken seats outside at the restaurants on the dock in the village to eat seafood and enjoy drinks and companionship overlooking the Gulf with people we have met at the campground. 

Most recently we watched the Lighted Boat Parade.  Even gaily decorated boats and Santa Clam can't quite spark the Christmas Spirit for a couple of New England natives.

Every day we sit at our computers working, Lucie has created wonderful resources for Vermont Schools to use for the national Hour of Code week that has seen school kids across the country be introduced to computer programming.  She has also completed the college courses she has been teaching for St. Mikes, UVM and Marlboro College.  I have been doing database work and remote troubleshooting for St Albans City School.  It is comfortable sitting outside under our tangerine tree, looking up at the palm trees to rest our eyes.  The campground WiFi is pretty good, enough for my database work.  Sometimes we switch to our Verizon connection to get Lucie the bandwidth she needs  for video conferencing with her students.

All around us there are people who are full time RVers who are working full time too, drawn by the laid back pace of this Florida Key with its good Internet connectivity.  Yet every evening we close down our computers and gather on the dock to enjoy the sunset, scritch the dogs (lots of dogs here) and discuss work and life this laid back December in Cedar Key Florida.