there’s probably more. i’m just sleep deprived. i forget a lot of things right now.

i also have a quiz in about 15 hours. i’ll probably fail that. [whoops]

i’ve started to hone my pvc melting skills – it’s not too hard, but hold it too close & you can burn the pipe really easily. i almost set a test piece on fire about 2:30 this morning. lol. where’s graham crackers and marshmallows when you need them?!

i’m hand-making my wheels – they’ll be lighter, simple, and i can make them the exact shape i want. the front wheel is going to be free-rotating, while the back to that’ll have the brake pieces will be stationary, kinda like training wheels.

once i get the frame done, i can head down to sopo and see about attaching/installing a brake to my back wheel frames.

for it to allow mobility how i want it to, i have to take away the fork & head tube
mobility with this thing was key. and for the maximum mobility, each of the wheels need to be independent to roll & swivel on their own.

yeah, i can still make it seem like a tricycle-ish, just make the front wheel bigger than the back two. and i want to use wheels, not casters. casters are just too medical/training wheel seeming to me.

the point of the walker is to make it less medical. “medical” to me are a lot of joints laid straight into each other & welded. or even if they have curves, there are still straight head-on weld joints that are icky.

so i’m implementing smooth curves to kill the “medical” look. making it 3 wheels for balance. curved around the sides of the body for security. simple, clean lines for just that: simplicity. free-rotating wheels for mobility. ergonomic handles for comfort. and hopefully a hand brake for added security and mobility control.

but the cute other worker inside was a huge help. he gave some ideas on what i could do, just using old bike frames instead of trying to fabricate this walker from scratch with half the inventory of mcmaster-carr. and he told me to go to sopo, a bicycle co-op that helps you fix your bike yourself. he also said that  they love little projects, like they turned old bike parts into a blender once. how freaking crazy awesome is that?!

so here’s what i’m thinking. make my handles how i want them, carve out a pocket to embed a hand brake in to. the brake is executed when the handle is depressed downward. use small wheels or casters for the back wheels, like training wheel size. use a larger wheel or caster for the front wheel, like a small tricycle wheel. somehow clip the brake tubes to the head tube so that they stay close to the head tube & are still able to move. unless i can magically thread the break tubes down through the middle of the fork in the head tube. oh. and i have to attach the break somehow and make it work too.

this project is going to be super freaking awesome when i’m done. it’s just a matter of getting it done … oh boy.

No ota ny nopiaa, notta pääsen maata.

Vihiroonki! Vähäkö oli rankat kuvaukset!

Sopo Bikes is a great thing in Atlanta, so everyone should come out this Saturday to The Graveyard to see the premiere of their newest venture. It’s TV show called This Bike Could Be Your Life. The illustrations I’ve seen look incredible. Live Bands, contests, and dancing will ensue after the premiere.

John and I have a b-day party to go to but we will be heading over as soon as we can after that.

Support and Donate. Or I will get you.

Att öppenhet och transparnas är något som jag tror vår framtid består av i större utsträckning, men det måste ske på användarnas och deltagarnas egna villkor. 

Det som nu sker är att FRA vill få ett okej på att övervaka mail, chat, sms och telefon samtal som korsar Sveriges gränser trots att de övervakade inte misstänks för något brott. I dag vid cirka klockan 12 är det dags för frågan i riksdagen, och det lutar mot ett godkännande vilket jag inte kan förstå… Förstår de inte vilket typ av följder detta kan få? Debatten sänds i SVT24.

DN´s ledarsida idag är eniga med mig.

Företag och organisationer världen över rasar över Sveriges planer och Google jämför detta med Kina och Saudiarabiens kontroll på Internet. 

Självaste Säpo gav ett utlåtande som utryckte stark oro för att detta förslaget skulle kränka den personliga integriteten. 

Telia skriver bland annat i sitt remiss svar:

”TeliaSonera finner det märkligt att ett förslag som så direkt begränsar svensk konkurrenskraft läggs utan analys av de näringspolitiska konsekvenserna.”

Aldrig har det varit viktigare att bevara yttrandefriheten och den personliga integriteten. Detta lagförslag är inte rätt väg!

Blogg världen säger ifrån, Medierna säger ifrån, Nätverks så som Facebook säger ifrån, Företag säger ifrån… Borde inte detta vara en finger visning åt våra “folkvalda”? Är detta verkligen i folkets bästa intresse? 

Nej till FRA lagen på facebook. 

“La Cabana” a factory store of famous Alpina dairy brand you can find at the edge of Sopo village. Here you can get all sorts of milk, yogurt and cheese products straight from the factory which lies just about one hundred meters to the left of this picture. The Cabana is actually relatively new as last year when we went, it was just a small shed.

The best to order here are without a doubt the fresas con crema – strawberries with cream! Great flavor and freshly made. Perfect as a pre-lunch desert

After eating half of the desert and leaving the other half for after lunch, we drove into Sopo and stopped at the town square. The church is actually where we got married a few years ago. Sopo is normally very calm but yesterday they were celebrating the 355 year anniversary of the village, so it was a little more crowded than normal. Still a big difference with Bogota though!

Leaving Sopo you go through some other small villages like El Salitre and La Calera. From there the road goes up into the mountain and you will see a lot cars from Bogota parked on the side of the roads as most restaurants serve here the popular traditional plate of meat, patatoes, yuca, corn and patacon. Actually so many people went out yesterday that there were lines for parking and ordering.

About half way down the mountain on the other side, you get an amazing view of the city. You can see the different seasons in one day as described by me in an earlier post, with the sun on the left and rain clouds on the right. Really an impressive sight and a great tour taking just half a day at most.

Hoogleraar orthopedagogiek Susan Bögels vindt dat opvoedcursussen in het basispakket gezondheidszorg moeten komen. Nou ja liever dat, dan de verplichting die velen via consultatiebureau’s en kinddossiers over ons uit willen storten om ons over te geven aan de sopo’s (sociale politie). Maar we hadden toch al die centra voor jeugd en gezin van Rouvoet in de wijk? Mischien moeten we maar eens beginnen met het opvoeden van de opvoeders die de opvoeders willen opvoeden. Cursusje voor mevrouw Bögels?

p.s. Het woord SOPO heb ik, in deze betekenis, overgenomen van ene Frank die ooit in Alkmaar vrijgestelde was van de KWJ (Katholieke Werkende Jongeren).