Random thoughts

As usual our first thought was "when do we eat," and as if in answer to our thoughts, up rolled an American Red Cross Clubmobile with hot coffee and donuts. We were beginning to love the Red Cross, it seemed like whenever we needed coffee the most, they were on hand. When World War II erupted, the American Red Cross (ARC) sought innovative ways to support U.S. troops stationed overseas. Among their most impactful initiatives was the Clubmobile—a mobile service unit designed to bring a touch of home to soldiers on the front lines. These vehicles, converted from standard buses and trucks, became a symbol of morale-boosting support, offering fresh coffee, doughnuts, and a friendly American smile wherever they went. Why donuts and coffee? Because both were deeply "American", prompting an immediate sense of home. And both were relatively easy to make in the field. Origins and Purpose The idea for [...]

I had the absolutely honor of being invited onto the Small Subjects podcast with Barry and Jim, two great dudes creating a great show. The topic was "Artificial Intelligence and Modeling". It was a fascinating conversation and I would love to hear your thoughts about AI, the discussion on the podcast and AI + scale modeling in general. Are you using AI? If so, how? If not, why? To listen, grab the show on your podcast app of choice or play it below.   https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DZQnxlz3MsSol5ECbGso9?si=1lLqpmxRRp6RZVCgaS-AkA&nd=1&dlsi=a8e4371e9b384bbf

Ingredients for four dozen doughnuts 5 cups flour 2 cups sugar 5 tsp. baking powder 1 tbsp. salt 2 eggs 1¾ cup milk 1 tub of lard Powdered sugar Combine all ingredients (except for lard) to make dough. Thoroughly knead dough, roll smooth and cut into rings less than a quarter-inch thick Heat the lard, drop rings into hot lard, turning occasionally When browned, removed doughnuts and allow excess fat to drip off Dash with powdered sugar, let cool and enjoy.

I'm excited to share that I was once again a guest on the Plastic Model Mojo Podcast. We had a great time talking about laser cutting as I start my laser cutting adventure. I've been putting it to work on the Warrengas station in a big way and it's a great new tool!   Check out the podcast here!  

I was lucky enough to be invited to be a guest on the Plastic Posse Podcast. It was a great time and a deeply interesting conversation with the guys. Check it out! Episode 102

As a wee lad, I had dreams of the perfect future career. Like we all do. But where other kids wanted to be astronauts, firemen, policemen, I wanted to be a LEGO Designer. I wanted to work for LEGO designing kits. I still remember clearly sitting on my floor in 3rd grade and talking to my Mom about what kinds of kits I wanted to design and asking if she thought that was a job that I could get. (She emphatically said "yes!") Flash forward many years and I was in Denmark a few months into my employment at LEGO as a Senior Web Designer. My boss sat across a conference room table where I presenting about how we were building programs to engage adult LEGO fans. Next to him sat Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the third generation family owner of the LEGO Company. I can't tell you how full circle life [...]

I'm going to put this right up front in this post: If you're flying with fragile items (like a scale model) and have to pass through a TSA checkpoint ASK FOR A HAND CHECK. Do not, I repeat, do not try to put it through the metal detector. I learned this lesson the (very) hard way on my way to the Rocky Mountain Hobby Expo. After telling 3 different TSA agents that the box I had with me (marked with multiple "fragile" red stickers) was incredibly fragile, not one offered for me to get this "hand check", wherein the TSA agent wouldn't put my box through the metal detector and would inspect it by hand. Instead, they all grumpily pushed me to stick the box in a bin and shove it through the xray. My spidey sense was tingling, but I pushed ahead. I waited on the other side of the [...]

I'm excited to share that I was the guest interview on the Plastic Model Mojo podcast, Episode 116! I had a wonderful time with Mike and Dave talking about scope creep and my Cylon Raider diorama build. Check it out!