#motor clipper

[perplexingluciddreams]

recently i got my own new nail clippers and nail file. and i have learned (after years of trying and a lot of failing) to clip and file my nails by myself!!

i hate the feeling of fingernails.

until very recently, i used a random pair of quite blunt pink scissors to roughly cut them whenever they got too long and start causing sensory issues. but i would always cut too short because i don't have enough control (partly problem of scissors, partly fine motor issue).

and for most of my life i mostly just rip off my nails or bite or chew them off. same for skin around. which usually goes too short or makes fingers bleed and sore. and jagged nails get caught on everything.

i was able to get my brain untangled enough to message mum and ask for my own nail scissors. and mum suggested clippers instead for easier for motor control. and now i have!

it is such a small tiny thing. but for me the "tiny" things are so huge. i am so proud i can do it independently now.

most self care/grooming things i can't do, or struggle a lot, need a lot help, or simply forget it is necessary. it is quite a new thing for me to be able to remember this is an option and manage to do all the steps of clipping and filing my nails safely, all by myself.

i am so pleased with myself. 😊

[fartbong-rewritten]

man this is the 2nd time my clippers have died out on me mid buzzcut. Wall clippers too so ig the motor is overheating. fucked up im getting a 2nd pair just incase

[lostbrazilian]

So uh, guess who just completed their first gunpla?

I bought this fella second-hand at a convention last saturday shortly after realizing it can turn into a motherfucking BIRD and falling in love with it immediately.

I was honestly surprised with how much fun I've had just assembling it. Normally I'm not one to enjoy these kinds of manual tasks, but even though dealing with the smaller pieces is a pain, seeing the whole thing slowly come together was so satisfying it was the only thing I could think about doing these last 2 days.

And it turned out great too! Yeah it's far from perfect: many pieces are chipped or straight up broken somewhat (like the helmet horns lol), most of the stickers I applied are either misplaced or lost entirely and I haven't dared to try turning it int the bird mode because the arm articulations seem to be off, but overall? Pretty good for a first timer with zero motor skills and a nail clipper lol

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

TVR Trident Prototype, 1965, by Carrozzeria Fissore. The hardtop version of the Trident, designed by Trevor Fiore, was presented at the Geneva Motor Show alongside the Spyder. Both were powered by 270 bhp, 4.7 litre Ford Cobra V8 engines. Despite receiving a number of orders at the Show TVR's precarious financial position meant they were unable to put the Trident into production, instead selling the rights to the car to their Bristol dealer who began building the car as the Trident Clipper

[ejzah]

A/N: One explanation for Deeks’ longer hair in certain seasons.

***

Deeks: I know we’ve been together for a long time, but I think it’s time we part ways. I’m sorry, it’s not you, it’s me.

Callen, frowning: Are you breaking up with someone?

Kensi, sitting next to Deeks: He’s practicing. For when he stops going to his barber.

Sam, in surprise: Since when do you have a barber, Deeks?

Deeks, sighing: I’ll have you know I’ve had the same barber for the last 12 years.

Callen, grinning: You’re telling me you paid someone to do that to you? I’d sue for damages, man.

Deeks, flipping his bangs: Jealousy is an unattractive quality.

Sam: Ok, we’ve established that you apparently get your hair done by a professional. Why aren’t you going anymore?

Deeks: Unfortunately, my barber, John, is getting a little up there in age and his motor and visual skills aren’t the best. My last visit, he accidentally picked up the clippers instead of scissors and clipped way too close in one section. It’s why my hair is this length right now.

Kensi, running her hand through said curls: Hey, I’ve offered to give you a trim more than once.

Deeks, crossing his arms: This hair requires a gentle touch.

Kensi: No one respects your hair more than me.

Sam: Alright, so stop going to your old barber. What’s the big deal?

Deeks, leaning slightly away: You don’t just abandon your barber. We’ve built a connection over years, I can’t just ghost him.

Callen: So, what are you going to do in the meantime?

Deeks: Hope John retires soon and learn to braid my hair until then?

[tiannasfanfic]

Close Shave

Eddie Munson x Reader (Fluff)

| Eddie & Steddie Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: Whenever you need help maintaining the part of your head that is shaved, Eddie is always happy to lend a hand.

Rating: General Audiences

Author Note: Gender neutral Reader, they/them pronouns (if any). Eddie Munson x Reader, established relationship, pure fluff. Reader has part of their head shaved with a longer section of hair, but the exact style, type of shave (side, undercut, etc) and length of the longer section is not specified.

CW: None. Reader is naked since they are about to take a shower and Eddie wolf whistles at them, but they are together and he's a flirt.

Word Count: 902

“Hey Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you come shave my head for me before I get in the shower?”

“Yeah, gimme a minute.”

While you waited on him in the bathroom, you folded the bath mat and placed it on the toilet so it wouldn’t get hair on it. Then you turned to the mirror and started pinning the longer parts of your hair back tight so they would be out of the way of the clippers.

As much as you loved having part of your head shaved, you couldn’t quite maintain it without help. You tried once and ended up making it crooked, so ever since then, you’ve asked Eddie to do it for you every few weeks.

Just as you were finishing getting your hair up, a loud wolf whistle came from the doorway. You turned to see Eddie standing there, a broom in one hand and a big grin on his face.

“Hubba hubba,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at your already naked body.

Despite his comical tone and exaggerated facial expression, the admiration and love in Eddie’s eyes betrayed his true feelings. You felt a warmth rise up in your cheeks as you chuckled at him, unable to stop yourself from blushing.

“Oh stop,” you said playfully, waving a hand at him.

Eddie smirked in response, then leaned the broom against the wall before coming over to you. As he grabbed the electric razor off the shelf and unplugged it from the charger, you turned so the shaved part of your head was facing him.

Once the soft hum of the razor started, neither of you spoke. This was a ritual you both had gone through many times before, so there was no need to.

Eddie gently tilted your head to the side slightly with his free hand, then, with the bare edge of clippers, he began to carefully trace the line on your head where your longer hair met the shaved section. He worked slowly and carefully, making sure not to catch any of the longer hair that was pulled up.

You glanced over at the mirror and smiled when you saw his reflection. Eddie’s brow was furrowed as he concentrated, the tip of his tongue slightly poking out of one side of his mouth as he shaved the guideline into your head.

After you watched him for a few seconds, you closed your eyes, your muscles beginning to relax as he worked.

The feeling of the tines of the electric clippers against your head was soothing in its own unique way. You had never felt anything quite like it before you started shaving part of your head. The small motor inside vibrated with enough power to give your skin a slight massage as the blades sheered away what little hair had grown back in. You felt the vibration even more keenly once Eddie finished along the edge of your hairline and began sweeping the razor down your head towards your neck in smooth, even strokes. It always felt particularly nice near the base of your skull, the vibration sending small, pleasing tingles down your spine.

Whenever Eddie needed you to turn or tilt your head, he’d gently nudge you in the direction he needed you to go, and you’d immediately turn that way. He’d give you a few seconds to get settled into your new stance before continuing.

Between the unspoken communication, the closeness of your body’s, and just the act of Eddie doing something so personal for you…it was intimate in a comforting way.

Granted, there was always a certain level of intimacy involved when your partner helps you shave, as well as a certain level of trust anytime you turn your razor, electric or otherwise, over to your partner to use on you. And letting someone shave your head for you, the one part of your body everyone can see that is not so easily hidden if it gets messed up? That takes an immense amount of trust on both sides.

Once Eddie was done, he ran the clippers over your head one more time to get any stray hairs that he may have missed before shutting them off and returning them to the shelf. He then dusted off your back and shoulders, sending the loose clumps of hair down onto the floor, as you did the same to your chest and arms.

Stepping out of the way, and careful not to step in the small piles of hair on the floor, Eddie reached over to grab the broom then turned back to hand it over to you. With a practiced movement, you swept around yourself in a quick circle, collecting all of the fallen hair, plus some dirt and stray fuzz, into a single neat pile. You unclipped the dustpan from its position on the broom handle and quickly swept the pile into it.

Eddie stepped back over to you then, taking the bottom in one hand and the dustpan in the other.

“Thanks baby,” you said with a smile, then leaned in to place a soft kiss on his lips.

He returned the kiss and grinned at you.

“Anytime, sweetheart,” he said.

With the task he was needed for done, Eddie slipped out of the bathroom, broom and dustpan still in hand, to leave you as you got the water started to begin your shower.

[kleefkruid]

Talking about my fine motor skills issues, in Belgium before you can go to elementary you have to do little tests to see if you hit certain milestones, and one was being able to cut out a circle with scissors.

The guy who tested me showed a bunch of circles to my mum and said "Look, eh, these are the circles her classmates cut" and my mum immediately got worried about his careful wording, but he held up a circle that was just as fine, on the higher end even. "This is your daughters... Now, the circle is fine. I have nothing to comment on the result... HOWEVER... I have never seen a child do that"

and he turned to my table where I was going ham cutting shapes at high speed, laying the paper on the table and using the scissors with two hands in the way you hold hedge clippers.

[writhe]

i worked and got a bunch of stuff done after and did a biiiig walk and did some strength-building exercises & even stretched a little & also practiced tattooing for an hour and all this meant holing myself up in my bedroom once i was home for the night (not usually where i hang out, and not super often with the door closed unless i’m asleep) & my housemates told me they thought the ‘motor’ (tattoo machine) they were hearing for an hour was some sorta sex toy & also they opened up the convo being like “levi did you give yourself a haircut with clippers” and i was like “i did indeed fuck up my hair last week but not with clippers” which was not what they meant AND, also, fully showed my hand huh

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA ocean world explorers have to swim before they can fly

When NASA's Europa Clipper reaches its destination in 2030, the spacecraft will prepare to aim an array of powerful science instruments toward Jupiter's moon Europa during 49 flybys, looking for signs that the ocean beneath the moon's icy crust could sustain life.

While the spacecraft, which launched Oct. 14, carries the most advanced science hardware NASA has ever sent to the outer solar system, teams are already developing the next generation of robotic concepts that could potentially plunge into the watery depths of Europa and other ocean worlds, taking the science even further.

This is where an ocean-exploration mission concept called SWIM comes in. Short for Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers, the project envisions a swarm of dozens of self-propelled, cellphone-size swimming robots that—once delivered to a subsurface ocean by an ice-melting cryobot—would zoom off, looking for chemical and temperature signals that could indicate life.

"People might ask, why is NASA developing an underwater robot for space exploration? It's because there are places we want to go in the solar system to look for life, and we think life needs water. So we need robots that can explore those environments—autonomously, hundreds of millions of miles from home," said Ethan Schaler, principal investigator for SWIM at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Under development at JPL, a series of prototypes for the SWIM concept recently braved the waters of a 25-yard (23-meter) competition swimming pool at Caltech in Pasadena for testing. The results were encouraging.

SWIM practice

The SWIM team's latest iteration is a 3D-printed plastic prototype that relies on low-cost, commercially made motors and electronics. Pushed along by two propellers, with four flaps for steering, the prototype demonstrated controlled maneuvering, the ability to stay on and correct its course, and a back-and-forth "lawn mower" exploration pattern. It managed all of this autonomously, without the team's direct intervention. The robot even spelled out "J-P-L."

Just in case the robot needed rescuing, it was attached to a fishing line, and an engineer toting a fishing rod trotted alongside the pool during each test. Nearby, a colleague reviewed the robot's actions and sensor data on a laptop. The team completed more than 20 rounds of testing various prototypes at the pool and in a pair of tanks at JPL.

"It's awesome to build a robot from scratch and see it successfully operate in a relevant environment," Schaler said. "Underwater robots in general are very hard, and this is just the first in a series of designs we'd have to work through to prepare for a trip to an ocean world. But it's proof that we can build these robots with the necessary capabilities and begin to understand what challenges they would face on a subsurface mission."

Swarm science

The wedge-shaped prototype used in most of the pool tests was about 16.5 inches (42 centimeters) long, weighing 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms). As conceived for spaceflight, the robots would have dimensions about three times smaller—tiny compared to existing remotely operated and autonomous underwater scientific vehicles. The palm-size swimmers would feature miniaturized, purpose-built parts and employ a novel wireless underwater acoustic communication system for transmitting data and triangulating their positions.

Digital versions of these little robots got their own test, not in a pool but in a computer simulation. In an environment with the same pressure and gravity they would likely encounter on Europa, a virtual swarm of 5-inch-long (12-centimeter-long) robots repeatedly went looking for potential signs of life. The computer simulations helped determine the limits of the robots' abilities to collect science data in an unknown environment, and they led to the development of algorithms that would enable the swarm to explore more efficiently.

The simulations also helped the team better understand how to maximize science return while accounting for tradeoffs between battery life (up to two hours), the volume of water the swimmers could explore (about 3 million cubic feet, or 86,000 cubic meters), and the number of robots in a single swarm (a dozen, sent in four to five waves).

In addition, a team of collaborators at Georgia Tech in Atlanta fabricated and tested an ocean composition sensor that would enable each robot to simultaneously measure temperature, pressure, acidity or alkalinity, conductivity, and chemical makeup. Just a few millimeters square, the chip is the first to combine all those sensors in one tiny package.

Of course, such an advanced concept would require several more years of work, among other things, to be ready for a possible future flight mission to an icy moon. In the meantime, Schaler imagines SWIM robots potentially being further developed to do science work right here at home: supporting oceanographic research or taking critical measurements underneath polar ice.

A prototype of a robot designed to explore subsurface oceans of icy moons is reflected in the water’s surface during a pool test at Caltech in September. Conducted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the testing showed the feasibility of a mission concept for a swarm of mini swimming robots. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A model of the final envisioned SWIM robot, right, sits beside a capsule holding an ocean-composition sensor. The sensor was tested on an Alaskan glacier in July 2023 through a JPL-led project called ORCAA (Ocean Worlds Reconnaissance and Characterization of Astrobiological Analogs). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

[sillysparklygal]

rock climbing asmr but it’s the sounds of people slamming into a foam mat from a 20 foot free climbing wall, the motor sounds of auto-belays, occasional cracking or popping of bones, Velcro sounds from people’s climbing shoes, occasional grunts that you can almost feel the pain of, someone absolutely guzzling water or a monster, and someone in the background asking if you have a nail clipper /satire

[agnesandhilda]

🔪 cleavers up, bring 'em here 🔪 🦴 femurs all swing on the ceiling like a chandelier 🦴 💃 she sittin' there in a white dress, looking like she should get it 💃 🎭 licking the lips of the reddest, should invest in a head clinic 🎭 🦷 he got a pocket full of incisors and pliers 🦷 😒 in a briefcase in case she get inspired, she ain't 😒 😈she tryin' to suck face off the bone 😈 💅 you should know she is prone to swallow the marrow 💅 🫀 she gettin' her eagle on down on the floor 🫀🥂 see how the drinks are flowing off of the top shelf 🥂🤵 men are flashing their belt buckle and wallet leather clock 🤵👀 and they can't stop watching they're jockin' em 👀 👠while she rockin' them 8 inch stilettos 👠 🩸 ain't into metal, just leather and lace and the taste of oxidation 🩸 😫 lay still and let her let like leeches suck 😫 😳 she might let you fuck but she want 😳 (body and blood) 🗣️ she don't need you for shit but your dick and your veins 🗣️ 🫀 and your guts and your 🫀 (body and blood) 💃 every man see she thick and they wish they could bang 💃😜 when she strut, she got 😜 (body and blood)💅 nails did, hair did, body right, teeth white 💅🔪 knives sharp, gettin' 🔪 (body and blood) 🗣️ if you a bad bitch, let 'em know you ain't out for the dough 🗣️ you want (body and blood) 👯 twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl 👯 (body and blood) 🔪 cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl 🔪 (body and blood) 🪓 kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl 🪓 (body and blood) 🥩 eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl 🥩 ☺️ she got her own home, she got her own set of power tools ☺️ 🤔 her own unmarked van, plan meticulously laid out 🤔🖌️ and splayed on the walls 🖌️ 📸 all scrawled on dated polaroids of severed heads plated 📸 💉she got vials of ketamine, rohypnol, and promethazine 💉 🥴 blunts with amphetamines and whatever your pleasure be 🥴 🤤 medically, she readily be 🤤 🍷providing the flyest of times to dine with the finest of wines🍷😱 try and you'll find cut glass to get you cut fast without cuttin' 😱♦️ she got a diamond tattoo on her upper thigh ♦️ 👀 another fine mess walks by and cuts eyes 👀 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 she let her go, she got a bad little body 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 🥵 plus a mean walk, mean ass, make jaws slack 🥵 💄but the black make-up match the black makeup 💄 🪚 bag of black clippers and steel and chrome-dip slick black handled switchblades she flips, she gettin' 🪚 (body and blood) 🗣️ she don't need you for shit but your dick and your veins 🗣️ 🫀 and your guts and your 🫀 (body and blood)💃 every man see she thick and they wish they could bang 💃 😜 when she strut, she got 😜 (body and blood) 💅 nails did, hair did, body right, teeth white 💅 🔪knives sharp, gettin' 🔪 (body and blood) 🗣️ if you a bad bitch, let 'em know you ain't out for the dough 🗣️ you want (body and blood) 👯 twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl 👯(body and blood) 🔪 cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl 🔪 (body and blood) 🪓 kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl 🪓 (body and blood) 🥩 eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl 🥩🕯️candles by the mirror, perfume on the dresser, yes sir🕯️🥀 red sheets made of satin, flowers in the bible drying 🥀🍷red wine in the goblet, golden trojan wrappers🍷❤️‍🔥chainsaw motor revving outside, bloodstains on the carpet, annie ❤️‍🔥👗 elbow-length gloves, thigh high fishnets, and the garter👗✝️ god's son crucified on her necklace, hang just where breasts heave ✝️⛓️and by the cheek, got a machine⛓️🥵 make 'em pray that the sex, life and death she doles 🥵🕺and when she body rolls, see how the party go dumb🕺💊 and the pills dissolve, tongue kiss and room revolve 💊 😵 more than a few will fall, 😵🩻 black light and new resolve 🩻 she gettin' (body and blood) 🗣️ she don't need you for shit but your dick and your veins 🗣️🫀 and your guts and your 🫀 (body and blood) 💃 every man see she thick and they wish they could bang💃 😜 when she strut, she got 😜 (body and blood) 💅 nails did, hair did, body right, teeth white 💅 🔪 knives sharp, gettin' 🔪 (body and blood) 🗣️ if you a bad bitch, let 'em know you ain't out for the dough 🗣️ you want (body and blood) 👯 twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl, twerk somethin' girl 👯 (body and blood) 🔪 cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl, cut somethin' girl 🔪 (body and blood) 🪓 kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl, kill somethin' girl 🪓(body and blood) 🥩 eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl, eat somethin' girl 🥩 (body and blood)(body and blood) (body and blood) (body and blood)

[laresearchette]

Friday, November 10, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: FOR ALL MANKIND (Apple TV+) THE CURSE (Paramount +) EVERYTHING CHRISTMAS (W Network) 9:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? AFTER THE BLAST: THE WILL TO SURVIVE (ABC Feed) BELLE COLLECTIVE (TBD - OWN Canada) THE CURSE (TBD)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA 007: ROAD TO A MILLION DINA HASHEM: DARK WHISPERS KANDAHAR TREVOR WALLACE: PTERODACTYL

CBC GEM CRIME (Season 2) LE COYOTE TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (starts today, goes until November 12th)

CRAVE TV A CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE FOUR CHRISTMASES GODFATHER OF HARLEM (Season 3, Episode 1) INTO THE DEEP THE JOURNEY HOME LAMBORGHINI: THE MAN, THE LEGEND MIRACLE IN MOTOR CITY ONE WEEK PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH SISU STILL MINE VIOLENT NIGHT

DISNEY + STAR BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT

NETFLIX CANADA AT THE MOMENT (TW) THE KILLER TEAM NINJA WARRIOR (Season 2)

2023 FIFA MEN'S U17 WORLD CUP (TSN/TSN4) 6:48am: Spain vs. Canada

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN) 11:00am: National - Draw 14 (SN) 3:00pm: National - Draw 15 (SN) 7:00pm: National - Draw 16

NHL HOCKEY (SNWest/TSN4) 7:00pm: Flames vs. Leafs (SN1) 7:00pm: Wild vs. Sabres (SN) 10:00pm: Sharks vs. Knights

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 7:30pm: Nets vs. Celtics (SN Now) 8:30pm: Clippers vs. Stars (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 10:00pm: Lakers vs. Suns

AMPLIFY (APTN) 7:30pm: Anishinaabe electro-pop artist Wolf Saga draws inspiration for his music from a painting his grandmother bought, which connects him to his culture. This episode features Richard Gracious, Janis Monture, Elder Mary Lou Smoke and Betty Albert.

THE FATHER (CTV2) 8:00pm: A man refuses assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and the fabric of his reality.

7TH GEN (APTN) 8:00pm: Matthew Monias - Mattmac: Many people know Matthew Monias by his stage name, Mattmac. Discover how this Oji-Cree blind recording artist from Garden Hill First Nation is taking the world by storm with his music and blazing a trail with his advocacy work.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF JERSEY (Slice) 8:00pm: La Finn

PLANET WONDER (CBC) 8:30pm: How the language used about climate change affects the motivation to do something about it.

A DASH OF CHRISTMAS (CTV Life) 8:00pm: To apply for her dream job at a foodie startup, an executive must learn to bake. When she recruits a handsome baker to help her, she inadvertently ends up in a Christmas Bakeoff.

FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER (APTN) 8:30pm: The inaugural NASCAR Pinty's race finally arrives at Ohsweken Speedway and Aaron Turkey proves to be a hometown hero in the historic event. Meanwhile, Joshua Hill hustles to get his car back on the track after getting into a wreck the night before.

THE FIFTH ESTATE (CBC) 9:00pm: The Girls Around Robert G. Miller: In partnership with Radio-Canada's investigative program, "Enquête," "The Fifth Estate" examines troubling claims that a Canadian billionaire had a long history of paying teenagers for sex.

TRANSPLANT (CTV) 9:00pm: Bash reconnects with the man who got him to Canada.

BEAT BOBBY FLAY: HOLIDAY THROWDOWN (Food Network Canada) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Katie Lee Biegel cracks the wishbone with Turkey Day classics and makes this holiday reunion a surprise family affair. Chefs Darnell Ferguson, Bryan Voltaggio and Michael Voltaggio attempt to squash Bobby Flay with a new turkey tradition.

CATWOMAN: HUNTED (Cartoon Network Canada) 9:00pm: Catwoman attempts to steal a priceless jewel.

VIOLENT NIGHT (Crave) 9:00pm: An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.

W5 (CTV) 10:00pm: The Mystery Bomber: "W5" investigates the identity of a would-be bank robber who exploded in a dramatic heist.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: Nothing is What it Seems: Part 1: A man walking his dog comes upon a neighbor's garage engulfed in flames; when the smoke clears, a woman is found dead with drug paraphernalia nearby; nothing is what it seems, and police are left combing through a web of lies to find the killer.

[babyspacebatclone]

The kids at my Day Care are just. So funny.

You never know what one’s going to come up with next.

I wear a travel hip bag with two main zippered pockets where the zippers “clip” into place. I have scissors, a screwdriver, pliers, tissues, nail clippers, and medicine all in one (with the scariest stuff in the internal zipper pocket). In the other main zipper pocket, I keep my phone (on silent).

The kids are fascinated by it, mostly the “shinies” (zippers) and how I put stuff in the usually empty pocket in the back to encourage them to practice fine motor skills.

But one boy, now 14 months….

I’ll take out my phone to play music - I’ve ripped kids’ songs off YouTube so I can play them off WiFi and when locked.

The kids are obsessed with the videos, so I make it a point to show “Nope, nothing to see here, listen.”

This baby is the first to put together “Phone = Fun, Phone = Hip Bag!” and start diligently indicating for me to open up the one pocket so he can get music/videos/all the stuff babies know phones can do.

I tried to trick him with the empty unzippered back pocket. He just politely watched while I showed it was empty, then started pawing at the correct zipper.

These kids are geniuses, and I’m outnumbered!

[zenosanalytic]

Paintbrush, PlasGlue, and Holy Clippers: Part >:::) : Finishing and Next Project

Ok so I forgot to mention another step before the varnish: APPLYING WATER TRANSFERS and PAINTING DECALS! This shouldn't take too long

ok so, again, this is particularly optional stuff, but Practice etc etc etc.

Water Transfers are little super-thin water-activated stickers that allow you to(theoretically) get the look of super-clean, super-fine symbols on your models without having the super-humanly fine motor control needed to create them by hand. I ONCE AGAIN did not take pictures of this process but bscl: Anything GW sells comes with a little sheet of these transfers, and they also sell supplements of subfaction-specific ones if you dont want to play whatever the Posterchild for a particular faction is(tho some, like the Eldar, are small enough that their transfer sheets MAY include everything you need, idk as I havent bought Eldar minis yet) A transfer sheet looks like this(I've already cut some out, youll see)

The process has lots of steps, but it's pretty straight forward. First, you paint the part of the minis you want to stick the decals on with a THIN NON GLOOPY layer of varnish(GW recommends their gloss varnish, 'Ard Coat, but I dont have that so I just used their matte, Stormshield). Varnish doesn't fully cure for about a day but an hour of drying time is fine for this. Then, you cut out the transfer you want, I used the tactical squad decal which is a little arrow, using whatever method you think best(I used my hobbyknife). Then you put the transfer on a paper towel or tissue and apply a goodly amount of water to it(I used my brush, dabbing it around 4 or 5 times, but if you have a dropper around that's perfect for this), and let it sit for about 30 seconds. While waiting, you wet the area of the mini you want to put the transfer on. Now poke gently at the transfer with your brush; if it moves then it's ready and if it doesnt, apply some more water and do some more waiting.

When it's ready, you pick it up with some tweezer, hold it near the area you're transferring it to, and gently prod it off the paper and onto that area with the brush. It doesn't need to be properly oriented right away; as long as the transfer and area remain wet you can fiddle with it, you have literally all the time you'd like to place it. Once its on you sort of just poke it into the orientation you want and, once you're satisfied, take your tissue/towel, dab away the remaining water, and press the transfer flat for a few seconds. Give it a few to dry, then apply another thin layer of MATTE varnish(unless you're looking for a glossy finish on the shoulders, I guess) to lock it down and you're done!

Now a problem with transfers is them bunching up, or getting bubbles stuck underneath them. There ARE chemical solutions to this, custom transfer mediums you can buy, but there are more reasonable workarounds. During the cutting phase, if you'll score empty areas of the transfer, for instance down the middle of an Ultra symbol or in the negative space made by the angles in the decal, this will reduce the pressures on it during transfer, create joints for it to bend at, and breaks in the transfer for air to escape through. Unfortunately I didn't find a vid explaining that until AFTER doing my transfers, so they may look a bit jank XD XD

ok so: Painting decals. All Space Marine chapters/legions have their own Heraldry, and canonically they include these on their pauldrons, with the other holding their squad designation. My problem is: The Nova Paladins aren't a canon Space Marine type, so no transfers for it exist. Again I COULD have just left the other shoulder blank but I didn't want to, so I painted a symbol on instead. I have a series of symbols of the NPs in me Noggin', but I went with a Circle surrounded by four triangles pointing outward at the cardinal points, symbolizing an exploding star, painted in Vallejo white.

And I forgot to take pics of BOTH pauldrons before applying the varnish -___- SO! Here are the finished models three days hence, with two layers of varnish each given a day to dry, and the pauldron heraldry Complete

As you can see, some bubbles here and there, but not bad for a first go. I'm also Pretty Ok with the Chapter/Legion Mark, tho I'd like to get better at painting tiny details like this; I tried making a stencil but I couldnt really get it small enough X| X|

Varnishing itself is pretty easy: I used GW/Citadel's Stormshield matte varnish, applying it with a regular #4 square-head brush. Don't let the varnish goop anywhere, and if it looks thick to you on the brush you can water it down with a palette, but I just used it from the bottle, occasionally cleaning and wetting it, and it was fine. As I said at the top, I did one coat on each model, setting them aside somewhere they could sit unmolested for a day when I finished, and then... let them sit there for a day to set before applying the second coat. If you wanted a glossy finish to certain parts of the mini you could use a gloss varnish there, but I wasn't looking for that here. I manipulated the models from their base while doing this, and plan to go back and varnish the sides of said base in future to protect ITS paintjob, but we don't need to hold up these posts for that.

So there's the Heavy Intercessors Finished! I had allot of fun with this learning experience and find the final results Acceptable ^v^ ^v^

So WHAT HAVE I LEARNED:

go piece by piece, mini to mini, to make sure I paint EVERYTHING the first time and avoid constant repainting of stuff Im not satisfied with

More Rigorous use of the Notebook to record what needs to be painted AND notes for these posts. For instance: write down the things you learn so you wont forget by the time you're ready to write your summation u_u

TAKE! PROCESS PICS!! Obvsl I wont be shooting video but there were allot of times when I forgot to document relevant steps in my hurry to do the next one, and I'd like to not do that in future

Keep my brushes wetter, keep a better eye on the amount of paint on the brush, and dont paint until I feel Steady.

Use different painting handles. Im Not A Fan of the GW one I have; it barely accommodated these Intercessors and the spring loading made it Finicky to get a model in and out, and FELT like it was always a split second from launching it into space.

Dont Varnish after basing. I found that, sometimes, little bits of flock or tuft would pull loose while I was varnishing the boots and get painted onto the model elsewhere with the varnish. If I base AFTER varnishing, this wont be an issue.

Alternatively: Experiment with doing bases differently and separately. This seems like a Big Deal, honestly. This raises the issue of priming tho. Maybe I could stick them to the paint platform with putty or tape at the feet? One option is using my hobby drill to drill holes in the feet of the minis, drill holes in the bases, clip some paper clips into teeny pegs, and use those to connect the minis until Im ready to prepare the bases, then take them off. I could also do something similar to connect the minis to painting handles, then detach them once I'm read to base. Hmmmm |:T |:T One of the painters I really like, Dana Howl, just glues the minis down with the basing paste as she applies it tho, so idk if it's THAT huge a deal. Maybe I just need to Accept My Destiny of painting the bases u_u u_u u_u

The prime I used here was too dark for the scheme I ended up using, I think. Next time I paint Nova Paladins, I think I'll try using a grey and white prime, and after that just a pure white prime. I've also heard things about PINK being a good prime for bright colors and especially yellow, so I might try a pink and white prime, or maybe just paint a bright pink onto the stuff I'll paint yellow later on a white prime.

So that's all I can remember u_u u_u

And now a teaser for my next project: ELVES!

with Sarge for scale OwO

I'll be painting these two Elf Rangers from WizKids' Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line of D&D Minis. As you can see they're about half the size of the Primaris Heavy Intercessors, so it should be Interesting. Im going to try to make this a quicker process, but we'll see how it works out. Hopefully I can start tomorrow so Seeya Then ^v^ ^v^

EDIT: OH WAIT!!!!!! I forgot to cite my sources by linking to the videos I studies for this project :3 :3 :3

HOW TO PREPARE MINIS FOR PAINTING: a step by step guide by Brushstroke Painting Guides

FUNDAMENTALS! A Complete Guide to Painting Minis from Goobertown Hobbies

How to Underpaint Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide to Sketch Style by Dana Howl

A Budget Starter Guide to Underpainting Miniatures: Hobby Basics 102 by Dana Howl

How To Paint a Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures D&D Human Fighter by TheMiniJunkie

How to Paint a Heresy Era Blood Angels Legionnaire by Duncan Rhodes

HOW TO PAINT KRONOS HEGEMONY: A Step by Step Guide by Brushstroke Painting Guides

How to Use: Citadel Technical Paints - Gemstone Paints by Warhammer(this is GW's official community youtube channel)

Citadel Colour - Transfers by Warhammer

Applying Transfers on Space Marine Shoulder Pads by Warhammer; the one I SHOULD have watched

HOW TO MAKE PATCHY GRASS BASES: A Step by Step Guide by Brushstroke Painting Guides

KEEP IT SIMPLE! Easy Basing for Miniature Skirmish Games by Dana Howl

Painting the Hoth Rebel Army by Dana Howl

Flock and Scatter How to Seal Your Miniature Bases by Geek Gaming Scenics. I didn't find this one's advice particularly useful, sadly, tho perhaps With Time I will realize it's Wisdoms u_u u_u u_u

VARNISHES ...and how to Use them Wisely by Duncan Rhodes

Goobertown, Dana Howl, Brushstroke, and Duncan Rhodes are honestly INVALUABLE resources for this hobby. Of the four Brushstroke and Howl will waste the least of your time: All are great, but Goobertown tends to ham it up a bit(which isn't BAD! and he makes up for it by rigorously indexing his videos in the load bar so you can skip around easily), and Rhodes likes to talk.

Rhodes covers EVERYTHING, but he's a really good source for advanced techniques, especially painting ones.

Brushstroke is not only a Good, super-informative miniature hobby channel, it's also a pretty decent ASMR one.

Dana is... Awesome. There's really nothing else to say that really encapsulates Her Whole Deal. Good painting advice(even if she mostly works with an airbrush which I dont), good color advice, good basic advice, good basing advice, Concise, Direct, and Hilarious.

Goobertown is an Endless source of inspiration for general Hobby tips and tricks(I am GOING to do magnets >:> Epoxy spooks me a bit tho X| X|) as well as being a great source for painting advice, spcl for beginners, AND he breaks down the science behind allot of this stuff. I owe to him my not getting a gloss varnish for this project because he proved it didn't really benefit you to do a gloss undercoat and matte overcoat, even though most ppl(like Duncan) will swear up and down it does something.

Ok: NOW Im done

[nickhembery]

Six month update on the Decision Time plan

Boy, things were going okay, right up until things fell off the rails.

I actually got four of the six things done.

I bought a food liquidiser. It’s a motor with three attachments, a whisk, a hand-held blender and a bowl for blending. They all go brrr. I successfully made soup and liquidised it for eating.

I bought a set of hair clippers, so I can cut my own hair. It takes a while and I actually need to use three different clippers to get it all even, so I don’t cut it very often. But I can do it myself and it looks okay.

I bought a treadmill. It was very Chinese. The instruction manual was in English but mentioned pairing the treadmill with WeChat, which you can’t get in the UK. At least I don’t think you can. Unfortunately, the treadmill didn’t work out. Being a cheap model, it wasn’t really designed to be used a lot (or maybe at all). To stop from falling apart very quickly, it switched itself off after 40 minutes of use. That’s a bit annoying when you want to walk for an hour straight so you know exactly how far you walked. So I sent it back. The 40-minute limit wasn’t mentioned in its listing or the manual, so at least I got a refund by calling it defective. I have not yet purchased a replacement.

Therapy was completed successfully. Sort of. How does one ‘complete’ therapy? By going to the therapist with only one problem and seeking to solve it. And I got half an answer. Basically, when people at work are stupid, I have to remind myself that I can’t force them to change, my job is to advise them and they are allowed to ignore me. Which is technically correct but also infuriating in its own way. That was accomplished in two sessions with the therapist. I have not spoken to them since.

Next up, certification. I found a well-respected course to do, looked through their website, did a practice piece and then priced up the course. £700. At least. The course is split over three modules, and each has two prices. One with membership to the site and one without. Naturally, the without membership is more expensive, and the cost of being a member is high. It works out cheaper to buy membership and do all three courses. And only marginally to try one course, buy membership then do the other two at a discount. All for a certificate, a line on my CV. I decided it wasn’t worth it.

So that leaves us with writing the book. That’s where things went properly sideways. At the start of the year, I had work at my house done that needed scaffolding. The work was done in a day. The scaffolding was up for a month and a half. I couldn’t open two of my windows, it blocked access around my house, it was an eyesore. It took many phone calls and emails to a) get someone to tell me what the problem was and b) get people out to actually take it away. But it was taken away, and I felt the stress leaving me and I was better, for a few hours. The same day, work announced that there were going to be redundancies, and was going to be one of them.

Getting told your company doesn’t want you around anymore is tough to take. That night I bought myself so comfort food, a box of grease in the form of a pizza. Then started a very long process. Because of the amount of people being made redundant, 40 from a pool of 80, from a company of ~200, they split up those facing redundancy into teams and asked for volunteers to represent each team. Because I’m a bit of a control freak, I volunteered. So for a month, twice a week, there would be meetings, questions, responses, write ups and spreading the news to my team. A lot of people were stressing out due to the selection process. When six people had the same job title and only two were being asked to go, you couldn’t just arbitrarily pick someone. There was a formal scoring process that had to be proposed, approved and carried out with plenty of oversight to ensure fairness. They were being stack racked by another name. I, meanwhile, wasn’t subject to scoring. I was a 1 of 1. The only proofreader in the company, so the only proofreader up for redundancy. Their plan was that at the end of the month, I would be gone... unless I came up with an alternative. So I wrote up a pitch and gave it to the HR. It was, basically, “you need me, here’s a list of crap that was written and everyone but me didn’t notice”. HR agreed that I was needed. Though, my utilisation was down. I spent a lot of time being paid to wait in case I was given something to do. So it was agreed that my hours would be reduced, I was going part time until things picked up again. Contract amendments were signed and I still had a job. Half a job, at least. At the end of the month, a lot of people were gone. Many of the 1 of 1s like me volunteered quick so they could look for a new job. In the two of six pools, various people volunteered, enough that no more people with those job titles needed to go, so that very little scoring needed to happen. In the end, only eight people had to be told to go. That’s the best thing you can say about it.

What happens when you’re switched to half-time hours? Well, you do two things. First, you try advertising yourself as a freelancer to fill the time (did you see my An Ad For Myself post?) The second is panic. The company had just been through a massive turmoil, everyone was feeling bad and I was now needing to get enough actual work in my part-time hours so as not to be made fully redundant. Yes, that was still an option. Which meant I was reliant on others in the company who were historically very bad at organising to be organised enough to give me things to do. I was freaking out. It took a few weeks, but things started picking up and things are looking up. I’m on a trajectory to get back to full-time hours in a little bit of time, another month or two.

But, all that was incredibly stressful. So stressful I haven’t done any writing for ages. I think I’m getting to the stage where I can again, soon. There’s still six months in the year. I could get the book done.

We’ll see.

[heliophile-oxon]

This headline is annoyingly clickbaitish, but forget that for a moment and look up the Swedish shipping co Wallenius Marine and their design for Oceanbird.

Think mobile, ocean-going wind turbine - but bigger - with both the angle and the surface area of the vanes adjustable and controlled from the bridge (huge servo motors everywhere to swivel and extend/retract the vanes).

(taken from a conversation elsewhere)

Person disussing this very topic:

Back to fast clippers as per the days of imperial preference, maybe.

Me, having read about Oceanbird and finding it very exciting though with absoltuely zero expertise of my own:

Well, maybe? v the Swedish shipping company Wallenius Marine's Oceanbird design: wind-powered capacity to carry some 10,500 metric tonnes of cargo (my back-of-an-envelope sums so subject to correction: roughly half the capacity of today's biggest cargo ships, making it modest but not to be sneezed at especially considering how much cleaner it is) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanbird (12 days instead of current average 8 to cross the Atlantic; 90% less emissions). "Commercial orders are expected to start in 2021, with an entry into service in late 2024".

Emphatically not suggesting we can wave climate change away with a magic technology wand, btw; if we are to have any chance of survival, humans will need to radically change our economic structures and our politics. But it's useful to remind ourselves that things like this design can help as well as, not instead of, making root-and-branch changes to capitalist models of consumption.