What Does Chaudywogbaaga Mean?
August 18th, 2008Why is this blog called Chaudywogbaaga? What does that mean? Chaudywogbaaga was a word that I made up when I was a small boy (5-7 years old). My older brother and my uncle (who is 3 years older than me) also made up a word each. I don’t know if anyone remembers their words but for some reason, my father remembered Chaudywogbaaga. I think he liked the sound of it but I’ve never asked him. It was always just mentioned as a joke.
The word is also odd in that, although it is one word, it is very long to say in relation to it’s literal definition which is “Wet Wood". So now you’re probably thinking, “Why wet wood?". Hey, I was five(ish) it was random. What’s interesting is that when said, “chaudywogbaaga” has an audible quality of wet wood and maybe why the word stuck in my father’s mind.
The original reason I named this blog Chaudywogbaaga was because it is something that is intimately mine and has meaning to my family. It was odd at first putting such an abstract word and thought to a blog. At first I was thinking “Why am I naming my blog ‘wet wood’?". As I’ve thought about it, the name fits very well.
Chaudywogbaaga has been used for things that are not literally “wet wood". The quality is of something that should have been useful or could have been useful but currently isn’t. Wood is used in a fire, but if it is wet, you have to wait until it dries. There is also a little bit of a note of disappointment when it is said. Hopefully this blog isn’t a disappointment, but usually my subjects are here because they are things that I would like to do more with but haven’t been able to.
As said in my original post, this blog is to get ideas off my chest. Usually because they’re things I like but can’t use like I intended. Hopefully if I leave them out to dry, someone else will come along and be able to use them.
Skills All Kids Should Learn For Life
August 15th, 2008With so much time being spent on game consoles, Kids learn how to conceptualize 3D movement on a 2D plane, how to devote complex hand movements to muscle memory, maybe some resource handling and maybe some problem solving that I don’t think applies to the real world. Those could be considered common skills these days, so what are some skills that Kids can use to enhance their life that you don’t learn in school? Here’s a stab at the subject and I’ll probably have to revisit it from time to time. I’d like to keep the list as concise as possible so we’ll see how that works out.
Really these are skills that some Adults know and some don’t.
Click the link for the list.
Cars That Jack Up Themselves
August 15th, 2008
I can think of a thousand reasons why a car company wouldn’t do this. Legal concerns (but only because it’s something new), added cost, trying to keep the average guy from fixing his own car. I think any argument against it is garbage.
Why do cars come with a jack? Mainly so you can change a tire, not so you can actually work on the car as any mechanic will tell you. Those little scissor jacks are not something any sensible mechanic would stick his head under.
Usually the reason for these awful jacks is cited as cost savings by the car companies but I don’t think so. I think it’s more space and weight savings. Whats the cost of a nice floor jack? $200? That’s not much in the cost of a car. If someone wants a nice jack they’ll pay for it. But why would someone want a nice jack in their car? Mainly so they can work on it. So lets take it to the next level.
Hit the link for more.
Kataka Actuator
August 15th, 2008Theres no point trying to explain this thing in words. It doesn’t work the way anything I’ve ever seen work. I will say this, I want one.
It’s pretty strong as you can see in the next video but I don’t know how it would work if say held horizontal. Hit the link for the second video.
Hacking Lunch
August 13th, 2008Most people that know me, know that I don’t like being hungry. I tend to have a lot of snacks at my desk, I also avoid the vending machines because they are expensive compared to running to the store and picking up drinks in a six pack. I also have avoided the refrigerator here at work. I never trusted that people would leave my food alone.
What I’m getting at is one, I hate not eating lunch and two, I would like to eat decent food that is not expensive. I’ve used a bunch of store bought instant meals but most of the half way decent ones are very expensive for the amount of food in them in relation to if I was cooking a meal at home.
So how can I make a decent meal at work in a very short amount of time (so I actually have time to eat) that is as inexpensive as a meal I would make at home? Some ideas after the link.
What Do Humans Want?
August 13th, 2008In the world and throughout history, humans have searched for a meaningful existence. Many have looked to accomplish this through an accumulation of wealth and found it unsatisfying. Why is this? Why has the accumulation of wealth looked so satisfying but then fails to satisfy?
The answer is that the act of getting rich satisfies two of the things that humans want in life but confounds another important drive and then, simply having wealth only partly satisfies one.
There are four basic drives in humanity but satisfying them all is difficult and they can often conflict with each other resulting in a course of action that satisfies at first, but then fails later on.
Finding Love
August 13th, 2008
An essay on what love is and is not.
Finding love is not about an individual finding the love of his or her life. It is about the human expression of a little understood emotion and feelings that are associated with it. There is so much written about love that labels it as confusing or ephemeral. Much of this is false. It mislabels feelings that are tied to love but are not love in and of themselves. It is popular to think of love as an indefinable blissful state that when true will last forever. Many of these attitudes in popular culture are misleading and confuse those that pay attention to them.
This essay debunks these popular ideas and points the reader towards the real emotion and how to find it in themselves. It will discuss why love is so misunderstood and how to clear away the cobwebs from an emotion that is often overlooked for the feelings that come from it. It will also give a language for delving deeper into thesubject and provide a way of enhancing the dialogue surrounding the subject.
My First Forge
August 1st, 2008This is my forge that I am currently using. It works but barely. I built it so that I could cast and forge with it. I can get steel hot enough to form, but it’s a lot of brute work. I’ve melted 6+ lbs of copper but it took all day. That’s why I’m calling this my first forge. I have to build a new one or rebuild this one.
Treadwall
August 1st, 2008
This treadwall product is pretty cool, although I don’t know how tall you can be and still use this thing. What would it take to make this for yourself? Two large wooden hexagons on rods, some kind of heavy duty rubber belt, A dishwasher or washing machine motor, some plywood to support the belt and some angle iron. The motor would have to be geared to be able to pick up 300 lbs or so. There would have to be sufficient tension on the belt to keep it from slipping which is also why I think hexagonal or octagonal wood poles would work better.
Still I have no place to put such a contraption.
The Horse Cup
August 1st, 2008This is my first successful attempt at casting, I should have tried aluminum but for some reason I always have to do things the hard way. The cup is massively heavy. The first thing everyone says when they pick it up is “Man! You could kill somebody with this thing!” and then after pumping it once or twice “Be careful or you’ll knock your teeth out with this thing.” It actually weighs 4.5 pounds which doesn’t sound like much, but when was the last time you tried to drink out of a barbell.
