Scared Bot version 1.0

For a couple of years I've had the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot kit on my wish list. With gifts received for my recent birthday, I had enough funds to finally buy the thing.

I wanted it for my own tinkering projects. But lately I've also wanted it as an aspect of raising "geeklets". I'm going to do everything I can to expose my two girls to science, technology, math and engineering-related material. I don't want them to grow up with our society's stereotype that girls "aren't good at that."

They will make up their own minds whether those are fields they want to explore further, but my job is to make the opportunity available to them. I got this tinkering proclivity from my own engineer father, who loves to take things apart to see if he can fix them himself and who approaches every project with an "I can figure that out" attitude.

Another reason is that Audrey has repeatedly expressed a fear of robots. We're not sure where it came from. I've explained to her that robots are just machines that can only do what we tell them to do. Now I can demonstrate that to her.

I figured an appropriate first project was to make a robot that was afraid of Audrey! Thus the first project is named Scared Bot. It cruises around happily, until it "sees" something less than 10 inches in front of itself (via its ultrasonic sensor). When that happens, it jumps back in surprise. Here's a little movie.

As you can see, it was a big hit with Audrey.

I plan to post videos of all the robots we make together in the future.

Back Yard: Phase 2

Album | Slideshow

We're making good progress on the back yard. Last week we finally decided what material we would use for the garden planter and the play area retaining walls. We would have loved to use real stacked stone, but that turned out to be way out of our budget. We considered the modern equivalent of railroad ties, but for about the same cost we decided to go with concrete blocks made to look sort of like stone. I ordered the stone Tuesday and the four pallets were delivered on schedule on Friday. The delivery guy was kind enough to place them right where we wanted them, even though it meant four trips around the block on his forklift.

I started to feel like I was getting a cold Thursday night and had a cough starting on Friday. But I ignored it and got to work Saturday morning. My dad was kind enough to come over and lend me his wall-building experience. I had dug trenches and filled them with crushed rock as a footing, but I wasn't sure how to do the final prep to make sure the wall came out level and straight. Dad was a big help. He and I got the first couple of course of the garden wall laid and Dad was able to take off. I finished that wall about 3:00.

That was just about the time Carol was able to come and help, since Charlotte was down for a nap. I was starting to feel lousy, but she was excited to continue, so we kept working and finished the second wall about 7:00.

It was great to have the walls complete, but a full day of manual labor was apparently not the ideal treatment for my oncoming virus. I showered and collapsed on the sofa.

I didn't get off the sofa, essentially, until Tuesday. I had some kind of flu or very bad cold. The worst chest congestion I can ever remember having with labored breathing and a serious rattle and wheeze. Plus a crushing headache for most of Sunday. It sucked.

But we're getting closer. The next task is to distribute as much of the new dirt pile back into the planter and play area as we can. Then figure out how to get rid of the rest of it. After that we can rototill the area that will be grass and start raking and leveling it. Then we can install sod and the major work will be done. Still hoping to get there in the next few weeks.

Friday Night Pizza - May '08

Album | Slideshow

Our favorite pizza placed moved a few doors down the block to a larger space. It's now in a space where many restaurants have failed, but Pegasus has a loyal following, so hopefully the jinx won't apply to them. We've been there twice now since the move and we can report that the pizza is still just as delicious.

These Friday evenings are some of Carol and my favorite times. The kids enjoy the food and behave themselves well (actually, they pretty much always behave well). And we all enjoy the walks along the seawall and beach afterward. These are always among the times Carol and I look at each other and express our appreciation of the life we have: wonderful girls, a comfortable home, loving families. Life is good.

Back Yard: Phase 1

Album | Slideshow

When we built the garage two years ago, the schedule got very tight and I was grading and preparing the base for the garage the day before the concrete was poured. I had no time to figure out how to get rid of the dirt I removed for the garage foundation and slab. So I had to pile the dirt in the section of the yard between the house and the garage and the dirt pile (approximately 14 yards - about 20'x10'x4') has been sitting there ever since. Audrey and Charlotte have enjoyed it greatly, but it was a major obstacle between us and a "finished" back yard.

This week the stars finally aligned and Frank and Tricia were able to bring up Frank's tractor with front loader and grading blade. I prepared by demolishing the concrete terraces on the patio (probably built 50 years ago, and very ugly) and moving various stuff that would be in Frank's way.

Another piece that fell into place was that Frank learned that one can rent a "small" dumptruck without a commercial driver's license. I called United Rentals and we were in business.

So Tuesday morning I loaded about two yards of broken concrete by hand and took it to a local concrete recycling facility (they grind it up and use it again as aggregate). Then Frank arrived and the real dirt moving started. It's fairly difficult to find people who want fill dirt in the city of Seattle. Many people want to get rid of dirt. But I found one guy on the other end of town who would take two loads (the truck holds 5 yards). That barely put a dent in the pile and the dirt generated by grading the yard, so I scrambled and found another guy very near our house who took two more loads. Yet another load was all sod, which I had to pay to dispose of at a topsoil company (they compost it and mix it into topsoil).

After all that (and at 8:30pm) we still had a pretty good pile to get rid of. We loaded up the truck and Frank's dump trailer and headed to their house in Puyallup where we dumped the material in their horse pasture. Frank will spread it around later. I got home at 10:20pm, but we had made huge progress. None of us can believe that we removed approximately 35 yards of material.

Carol and I had no plans for this weekend so we dedicated the whole weekend (and the next several weekends) to trying to get the back yard done in one big push. We've been thinking about this project for two years, so we have pretty clear ideas what we want to do.

Yesterday wasn't the most auspicious day to begin. We've had colder than average weather for all of 2008 except for two weeks in February, but suddenly Friday and Saturday we had a heat wave. Saturday it was 90 degrees. Our thermometer, which is in a spot that gets heated by the house, read 108 in the afternoon. But we toiled away digging out the weeds and sod along the edges of the yard where Frank couldn't reach with his scoop. After two fulls days of work we achieved our initial goal: getting rid of everything green except the lilac bush and the birch tree (everything else was weeds or overgrown grass).

Today we staked out the flower beds along the house and garage and the raised beds for vegetables in the north part of the yard (former home of the dirt pile). We still need to stake out the play area, which will get a bunch of bark for a soft landing zone. We will install a play structure with at least swings, plus a playhouse, in that area. The main part of the yard will get new sod. Finally, a fence to close off the back yard from the alley will allow Carol to let the kids play in the yard without worrying about the occasional speeding driver in the alley.

I think if we keep at it (and we don't run out of money) we might be able to finish by mid-June. Stay tuned for updates.

Mid-May Miscellany

Album | Slideshow

My last post was about the tulip festival. It's only been a month, but that seems like ages ago!

Not long after that post it was time for me to start studying for the final for my Spring semester course. I thought I had received a B in my second course (I got an A in the first one), but discovered that I had actually received an A. Therefore I was extra motivated to get another A so I could complete the three-course certificate (in Bioinformatics) with perfect grades. I studied pretty hard for the final, but alas I only earned a B. Some of the final exam questions really surprised me. I'm continuing in the program: four more courses and I'll earn a Master's degree.

The first Friday in May was the annual fund raising auction for the Phinney Neighborhood Center where the girls go to co-op preschool. Carol donated a hand-painted foot stool. This time her theme was "ABC's" with those letters painted in large print and apples, bees and cookies as representative words and pictures. It came out great. I'm always in awe of Carol's artistic talent.

My parents made a brief appearance in Seattle at the end of April. They came home from their winter hangout in Palm Desert, CA, but only for three days before jetting off to a Mediterranean cruise. They get back this week. We squeezed in a whole-family dinner together while they were in town. The girls are anticipating their visits to the Greenlake wading pool and playground with Grandma and Grandpa.

On May 3 Carol and I took Audrey to Busytown at the Seattle Children's Theater. It was Audrey's and my first time there. Busytown is based on Richard Scarry's wonderful book "What Do People Do All Day?" It is one of Audrey's all-time favorite books and we have read from it a million times at bedtime. The production was really good and we all enjoyed it. Most of the productions at SCT are for kids older than ours, but we look forward to seeing more performances there in the years to come.

Carol's parents returned home from their winter haunts (Tucson, AZ) during the first week of May. We drove over to see them on May 9, spending the weekend. Their return tends to coincide with a 100-mile bike ride I like to do called the Inland Empire Century. This year I rode it with my friend Jason. We both prepared for the tire-puncturing tackweed with tire liners and, in my case, "slime" tubes, and it paid off. Jason got one flat due to thorns and I got none. It was a perfect day and I felt very strong all the way through the ride.

The girls were very happy to see all of their grandparents. All the way to Richland Charlotte was saying "Grandma's home!" and of course Audrey was asking, "Are we there yet?" And they were very sad to leave on Sunday when it was time to come home. Carol plans to go back over for five days as soon as the girls' preschool finishes in mid-June. The girls have a wonderful time there frolicking in the yard and playing the two pianos.

Audrey and Charlotte have also been enjoying time with their aunts (my sisters). Elizabeth babysits for us almost every weekend and Carol and I get out for a date. It's special for the girls because they get to stay up late and they really look forward to seeing her. Also, a few weeks ago Tricia and Frank took both girls overnight on a Thursday. Tricia had a full schedule of activities planned: pedicures with fancy polish jobs, make-your-own pizza at a restaurant near their house, ride on the Frank's tractor, playing in the hayloft in their horse barn and helping Tricia cook. They also got to "camp" in the living room. Since Tricia collected the girls in the morning Thursday and brought them home in the evening on Friday Carol had two full days off. She was in heaven. Tricia and Frank got to enjoy being awakened at 6:00am instead of us.

When I started writing, I thought the start on the back yard was the big news and I didn't have much to say about general family happenings. I was wrong!