From Ars Technica:
Month: May 2021
Mower Final Assembly
I started out planning on putting the main power wires for the blades and drive motor into a conduit and securing them. I will eventually have to do this. I wasn’t going to do the final assembly because I was waiting on some lock washers from Amazon. Turns out I found a few washers and was able to move forward.
I finished the blades PVC work and added a bit of black paint. Then I got to securing the aluminum plate that will interface the blade unit to the lift mechanism. All went well, and the sun was out and the weather was cool, so I pressed on.
Put the mower on its side to attach the lift mechanism. Even without the old 14 HP gas engine and old blades and deck it was still heavier than I expected. After some wrestling I had the lift mechanism in place and connected. At this point it was an easy maneuver to attach the blade unit, so I did. It worked surprisingly well.
Was tempted to strap on the single 12V battery, wire up the blades and give it a run, but it was getting late. Enough success for one day. Truth be told, with all the rain, I need to mow. Will be a good test. Maybe tomorrow. Not a real test. Need to wait for Lowe’s to deliver the second 12V battery.
Stoic Rules
I am surprised to see the popularity of stoic philosophy these days. When I was younger I happened across a copy of Marcus Aurelius Meditations. It was a big influence on me.
A good list of 50 rules from the stoics. One quick comment: I have seen a few translations of Meditations and really only like the Penguin Classics version translated by Staniforth.
50 Very Short Rules for a Good Life From the Stoics
Pipeline Billing Shutdown
It seems the only part of the Koch-owned Colonial Pipeline that was compromised in the recent cyber attack was the billing system. Yes, they stopped supplying fuel to a large part of the country voluntarily, because they were worried that they would not be able to figure out who to bill.
The Colonial Pipeline Was Fine, But It Was Shutdown To Make Sure Its Owner Could Still Get Paid
More Mower Batteries
Decided to order two 22ah gel SLAB batteries. Wasn’t ready to take the plunge to lithium, but decided to at least get two new, appropriate batteries. Bad news is, Lowes only delivered one battery. After some discussions, it seems the second one will be here in a week. So much for finishing up this week. The good news is the batteries are about half the size of the existing batteries so I took apart the battery mount and expect to have something simpler. Did a small bit of wiring clean up and getting the last of the PVC pipe done on the blade unit. I suppose I will get everything wrapped up and maybe test at 12V and then just pop the second battery in when it arrives next week.
Texas Teslas
Not only does Texas want to slap a large tax on Teslas, it seems it is illegal to directly sell Teslas in Texas. So vehicles manufactured at the coming Texas Gigafactory will have to be shipped across a state line, and shipped back, for local customers. Really.
Teslas from Austin factory will have to be shipped off-state before being sold in TX
New Orleans Tornado
Visiting Mom and the Sisters. Weather cool but humid. Had a tornado (literally) over our hotel last night (woke me up).
Personal Histories
I have been reading the New Yorker magazine for about as long as I can remember. I like the cartoons and I read the movie reviews every week, but my favorite are the Personal Histories. I’m not sure what the criteria is for these. Sometimes the writers are famous, sometimes they aren’t. They don’t seem to occur with any regularity, and I sometimes miss them. In fact I see a bunch I hadn’t noticed during the pandemic. In fact, on the web site I see there are two slightly different categories, one subtitled “Essays and Memoirs” (under “culture” in the URL), even thought they all seem to be essays and memoirs. You may need a subscription to read these.
Steven A. Guccione 