Another day...

Up & at ‘em… whoever ‘em’ are. We’re here in stage-four lockdown, prepping for another fun day of homeschool, this morning’s first coffee was a Toby’s Estate blend which I think is going to be the dark horse of my current various batch of coffee, let me explain…

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The sunrise, today

Sunrise through flyscreen - Straya

My friend Elly at my local cafe, Stillman, came to the rescue and handed me a 250gm bag of Toby’s Estate beans to fill the gap - very kind of here! A blend from a roaster up in Sydney;

https://www.tobysestate.com.au/

And it has stood up to the ‘one-week’ test…which is basically me opening up the 250gm bag, first impressions of the “just opened bag scent of coffee” was very pleasant and finishing the bag (there was some other stuff in between) within the week (put the last 1/5th of the bag in my grinder at 7 am today) …anyway, long story short, it was good, held up well, a decent blend.

Projects for your mental health

I’m starting a new project series today, for myself more than anything I guess, small projects we can do it home to take our minds off worrying about a pandemic, it’s a long name, not that catchy, but I think it could be important for many people, and I guess many people are doing the same thing in their own way. Maybe not even for their mental health, but… you know… doing stuff - like Ben here (he’s a baker, easy to follow)

My project will likely be home projects that you can make to help organise your life in some way, at home, and I’ll be using as few inexpensive tools as possible. Anyway, we shall see - set to start making content this week, all things being equal. (I’ve never worked out what that means)

In Review - This Week

I’m reviewing a Logitech keyboard and mouse for Mac, so far so good. I’m reviewing a couple of tablets for XP Pen, also quite good (The larger one is getting a lot of use, the smaller one needs HDMI for a video signal, so it’s not seeing much use… neither of my Mac’s has HDMI, but whatever…)

Logitech MX Master 3 & MX Keys for Mac | Review coming soon

That’s really about enough for one morning, I need to shower and then make sure the kids are ready for their home-schooling.

Sidenote, the new tripods from 3LeggedThing have arrived and they’re really nice.

Click here to take a look —-> click

Click here to take a look —-> click

Catch you tomorrow.

10 things you need in your shed

I’ve been working out of my old shed (2.5 car garage cut sort of in half) for the last few years, and I’ve built up a list of things that you need, always, your shed. (I was going to say manshed, but I don’t wanna die…)

Suizan Japanese Pullsaw

Suizan Japanese Pullsaw

  1. Multi-function screwdriver/bit set. Kids toys, electronic things, annoying stuff… Those funny-looking screws that you can never undo (They’re called hex head screws or some variation of that, depending on who you ask!) (Alternate if you’re a FatMax fan like me)

  2. A good cordless drill! Now, I have two drills, both Bosch as that’s my brand of choice, but my super-old Bosch cordless drill (the green one) just keeps on going! My new one is a Bosch Blue, got it in a kit (this one) as a drill/driver combo.

  3. A speed square! Have a speed square around at all times! This one comes in a kit with a combo square. bargain.

  4. Quick Clamps can be used for thousands of different things, from holding work-pieces to clamping naughty children in place! We’ll explore bigger clamps further down the list, but grab four of these.

  5. A good digital caliper is essential, I’ve found… repeat, precise measurements are a good thing!

  6. Titebond wood glue… This stuff is the mutts as they say in England.

  7. A good Japanese Pullsaw with a replaceable blade for cutting fine cuts in timber, I was sceptical at first, but this thing is very frequently used in my shed! (Thanks, Anthony!)

  8. Safety goggles, do not take eye safety for granted. They don’t grow back unless you’re an alien. The ones I use are kinda mini snow-like-googles, they elastic onto my head and keep things from getting anywhere.

  9. There really is a difference between good and average clamps! Pair these pipe clamps from Bessey with a bit of gal pipe and you’ll have a good rig.

  10. Drill bits! While I advise having a ‘good’ drillbit set, I also keep a cheap boxed set of drillbits around for general use, these have lasted a good while, and have been super handy!

Well, that’s my first ‘shed’ list, I hope it helps someone that’s starting out into hobbyist woodworking or similar!… My ‘shed renovation’ project started last week, so there’s lots more to come. (Don’t go to sleep yet!)

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28 Days Later, before the Zombies?

This short bit of footage struck a weird chord with me…

(Sidenote: if you’re after actual facts “what to do vs Coronovirus” click here)

Gotta say though, despite it being a large problem, the media could use a bit of “whoa there, tiger…” My 10yo coming home from school, worried, waking up at 2 in the morning concerned he has the virus because he’s hot… There needs to be some common sense in this stuff, like there wasn’t with the fires in Australia and the global reporting - the WHOLE of Australia was on fire and everyone was going to die.

But yeah, cool footage.

Zombies?

Taking time for yourself

If you work in a space that’s often clouded with toxicity, make sure you make time to get away from the ‘desk’ and breathe in the air.

By ‘space’ I mean industry.

By ‘away from your desk’ I mean down to the ocean.