Drafting: I'm learning how to create technical drawings in FreeCAD with proper measurements and manufacturing details.

R&D: I do research on what machines we need, and use power tools to drill/saw holes in items upon request.

Somewhere, my grandfather is smiling down on me in pride. 2/

I'm becoming an ersatz mechanical engineer at the day job, which delights me.

3D Printing: I have been crowned the Print Master (I maintain the two 3D printers, set up the second one, and keep them in filament), I'm learning Blender and FreeCAD, and have designed some prototype elements. 1/

I put on a video of birds and chipmunks for the J Crew today. They did not seem impressed. Maybe they’re more documentary cats?

I am so tired. But the tax numbers have been crunched and are off to the accountant, there are clean sheets on the bed, food has been purchased, cats have been fed, dinner is ready, and I don’t have to do anything else today except hang my resin print to drip when it’s finished.

I have managed to write a little over 200 words today. The fact that my sinuses are exploding from grass pollen did not help in this achievement.

If you’re a Kindle Unlimited reader, the whole series is there for one more month before the books start falling out and going wide! So go binge it now! 😄

A more exciting angle of my Painted Lady Victorian dollhouse where you can see the dormer windows in the bathroom. I love how the slate grey shingles go with the lavender/aqua/moss green/cream trim.

find and install an appropriate hanging light on the balcony ceiling, add handles to the front and balcony doors, and build a weather vane for the tower roof. But the roof is shingled, stained, and weathered, and all the trim is on, which is what really matters.

My Painted Lady Victorian dollhouse from Real Good Toys. I added custom window/door pediments, custom entryway and balcony arches, three dormer windows, and a whole bunch of architectural trim (thank God for having a 3D printer).

And the exterior is officially 99.9% done. I still have to cut, paint, and install some trim along the dormers (which has to wait until they're glued in because I need to remove them while I'm working on the bathroom and writer's office), install the lantern lights next to the front door...

Yeah, I really loved that combination of spring pastels.

I am literally begging for nuance and understanding in this area for authors. Indies have incredibly limited options and KU is exclusive and will ban authors from publishing if their books are found on other websites. For indie authors whose entire income comes from KU, they can't just leave.

I cannot wait to see how it's going to look when it's done.

Yeah, this house is exceeding even my expectations so far. :-D

The attic floor of the Painted Lady Victorian dollhouse kit. I added 3D printed acanthus decor to the main and smaller gables as well as around the oval window, then designed and printed fish scale shingle strips for the wall.

The empty attic space needed its own decor as well. I sized various acanthus triangular decorations to fit the gable spaces and the area around the oval window, then designed fish scale shingles (a very period detail for PLs) that I could 3D print in strips and added those to the attic wall.

The modified porch and second floor balcony on the Painted Lady Victorian dollhouse kit. I didn't like the trim that came with it so I sourced the latticework topping both spaces, built columns to support it, and added wood and 3D printed trim.

I continued to go through the architectural files and kept finding all kinds of bits that would look fantastic on the house, like little drooping acanthus leaves that fit in the borders I added to the column plinths on the porches when I designed my own porch and balcony trim.

The tower bay window of the Painted Lady with added window pediments, window casing brackets, and corbels printed on a Bambu Lab A1 Mini.

The result has been stunning so far, especially with the "stained glass" windows (done with vinyl cut on a Silhouette cutter and glass paint). Lyndon took a look at it once I got the window decor and said wistfully, "I want to live in that."

3D printed architectural details in 1:12 dollhouse scale. Shown are window pediments with sunburst detail, carved corbels, and decorated window casing brackets.

As Lyndon said, real Painted Lady owners were shown a wide variety of potential elements that could be added to their house exterior and said, "Yes." PLs are ELABORATE. And now that I could print architectural elements in scale, I could make my Painted Lady as elaborate as I liked.

3D printed shower stall in 1:12 dollhouse scale. Clear doors slide open.

And then Lyndon bought me a Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printer in January. I had fun printing things like shower stalls and apothecary cabinets for the house.

And then I found a pack of 1026 architectural and furniture elements on Etsy in STL format and snapped it up. Hoo boy.

The Painted Lady Victorian dollhouse kit from Real Good Toys. It has three stories and a tower on the left side. The main clapboard walls are lavender, flat walls and window/door trim are white with lavender, moss green, and robin egg blue accents.

So I've been keeping sane by working on my dollhouse, a Painted Lady Victorian that's been sitting in the craft room since 2010. After the election I kicked into high gear to finish the outside (95% finished—all I need to do is finish shingling the roof and stain the shingles) and wire the inside.

I know things are a dumpster fire right now. But remember to drink your water, eat something nutritious, and move your body. Outlive the bastards out of sheer spite.

The word "remission" was used, and both the oncologist and surgeon gave their blessing for jawbone regeneration next year if everything remains stable. That will give me enough bone tissue for implants, so I may be chewing on both sides of my mouth again in 2027!

Phoo. Last Friday I had a CT scan and bloodwork for my jaw. Monday I had a dental cleaning (everything looked great), Tuesday I had my oncologist appointment (everything looked great) and today I had my surgeon's appointment for a scope and X-rays (everything looked great).

I have plans, yes yes…

You have my ax. Both the bladed one and the string one.

Yup—follow the thread back up to see it.

@williamledbetter.bsky.social Hey, Bill, a jackalope in the wild!

But it's all water under the bridge now. And every time I hear that thumping keyboard opening to Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, I smile because I remember how much fun it was to perform that in front of an audience.

I think what wrecked me about the attempted coup was that *I* thought we had an absolute blast playing together. We even performed a couple of times afterwards, and at least one marriage came out of that band. Like I said, I don't know why J&E wanted me out.

Oh, I cried over that. But the tenor sax player who eventually became my BIL flatly told J&E that I had formed the damned band and if I was forced out, the rest of them would leave with me. J&E backed down and we played at the talent contest. I honestly don't remember if we won or not.

We were all symphonic/jazz band vets—we were a couple of steps above a garage band. Not to be vain, but we were pretty damned good.

Until then I found out that, for reasons I still do not understand, the guys playing Jake and Elwood tried to get me booted from the band.

That I started. I ask you.

The keyboard, guitar, and bass player learned their music from the piano sheet music and the drummer (who was very, very good) learned his parts from the album as well. We practiced in my garage, much to the delight of the neighborhood kids who came around to listen.