I don't have anything particular to say, this evening. I've just returned from a team bonding exercise, aka going out to bar and having drinks and conversation.

Tomorrow is election day, and dear god will I be happy for that to be over. The previous election seasons have been a bit of a shit show, but this year takes the fucking cake. My voting has already been taken care of, thanks to the mail in ballot, which is probably the best way to vote. I was able to sit down for an hour or so and, while I was filling out my ballot, research all the various questions, what they were really introducing, and make an informed decision about my vote.

Of course, that was just for the state propositions. I skipped most of the "position" votes because I don't care or am not informed enough (even with that research), save for two:

I voted for Hillary, because I feel she's just going to be status quo. Not only that, but I can't pretend to stand behind my morals and cast a vote for Trump. Unlike my father who, despite years of decrying the man, will vote for him regardless because it's a vote for his team, which has lost in the last two elections. That's all it boils down to for him, and I clearly disagree in this regard. Though I don't think Trump would have enough political power or clout to do the heinous things he's talked about, I'm not about to sully what's left of my soul by backing the man (party affiliation be damned).

The other position I voted for was a write in. Why? Because there were only two options to vote fore: the one guy that was on there, or whomever I pleased. So I voted for my friend devbus. because it clearly doesn't matter how that vote goes.

I suppose this was slightly more than a "whatever" post, but scrolling through my Facebook feed gave me the ire to talk about how much I'm sick of this goddamned election, much like I'm sick of it every year it happens. I'm ready for things to go back to normal.

Whatever that is...

My mom does this thing on her blog called "music monday" where she chooses some song and then writes about the lyrics and how it relates to her or discussing the meaning. I'm going to do that, but with two changes:

• it's Sunday
• the song I'm choosing is sung in Gaelic and I have no idea what it means

The Best is Yet to Come - Metal Gear Solid

The Best is Yet to Come is the song you hear upon completing Metal Gear Solid. It begins playing after we've watched Snake and Meryl (or Otacon, if you fucked up) take off across the snow swept plains of Alaska. It's a lovely and haunting piece that captures the exact essence of "Alaskan Plains".

I first heard this song back in college upon completing Metal Gear Solid for the first time. You could say it was love at first... hear? and made it straight into rotation. I have a particularly vivid memory of a long walk on the Cady Way Trail on my way to deposit a living expense check. There's a point on the trail where it runs through a bunch of trees, making it feel like walking through a tree tunnel. This was on a particularly fall-like day, with the leaves turning various shades of orange and brown, and there was even a slight crisp feeling to the air. The Best is Yet to Come began playing on my phone/mp3 player and provided the most perfect music accompaniment to the scene laid out around me. Almost made the 8 mile round trip bearable...

Every year around the fall/winter months, I put this song back into rotation. Playing it a little more than usual this year, not sure why. Perhaps because it accentuates what little there is of a fall feeling in the Bay. Perhaps I'm feeling just a tad melancholic.

Or perhaps it's just a damn good song.

Eleven years ago (to the day, I believe), I began my term at Walmart, back when it was still spelled with a dash. At that time, I took this picture:

While I was visiting folks in September, I found my old vests back (which is to say my brother had held on to them all this time). Having hauled them back to the Bay with me, I decided that I'd dress up as old cashier Matt for Halloween and wore the vest to work. Here's that same picture updated for modern times:

Looking back, I realized I was quite proud to be working at that store. Moreso than anything, I was probably just happy to have a job, but looking back on it, there was something to be proud of. During my not-quite-two years there, I went from quiet coder to a sociable person who could hold his own in the world. I worked in almost every department in the store in an attempt to be one of the most versitible people there. It was also slightly self-serving in that it allowed me to do something slightly different a lot, but that shit looks amazing in the eyes of management. I topped out at cashier "management", which is really just ensuring the front-end was well manned and that cashiers get their breaks/lunch on time, gaining me the coveted red coat. It didn't last, as I went to cart pusher for the last few months there, but in retrospect, I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished in the little time I was there.

It wasn't a luxurious job, but I'll treasure what that time meant to me... always.

... or computer numerical control.

As was touched upon previously, I am the owner of a shiny CNC machine.

This thing excites the hell out of me because I basically have a tiny little wood shop robot that can make art, and parts, and gifts, and who knows what else. There's only one thing complicating the matter

Turns out it's not as simple as saying "print" like my 3D printer. No, there's much to know about endmills, feed rates, router speeds, plunge rates, and a whole plethora of maths and terminology. In the above, I tried to make a grid of holes, but these all failed in various ways. The holes were all lopsided and, towards the end of the milling operation, the whole router would take this weird turn too early and would chew up the rest of the work. I was confused and getting a bit frustrated and down on the whole thing.

Luckily, I am not the only one throwing a CNC party. In fact, I'm the last one on the bandwagon. Between myself and a couple of other coworkers, we're kind of trudging through this world together, exchanging knowledge and tidbits as we learn them. It was during these CNC talk lunches that I overheard what my problem might be.

Check the belt tension.

Well, that fixed everything. There's still some things to consider like non-manual dust collection (I currently follow the router with a vacuum hose) and contraptions to hold the stock material down. But, you've gotta admit. That hunk of cherry is a sexy piece of wood. Let's have another glamour shot.

I'm now stoked to start making a bunch of cool shit. Perhaps we'll being seeing more on the blog this month :O

In the last several months, I seem to have gotten into this kick of trying out hobbies. Not sure if it's some middle age crisis thing or what, but it's been an interesting journey.

Off the top of my head, the things I've given a shot to are:

• Making beer and wine
• Automating stuff in my apartment
• Testing out various small electronics projects (so much soldering...)
• Lots of research into arcade machine repair (lots of YouTube videos on the subject)
• Attempting actual repair of old NES machines (lemme know if you need your cartridge connector refurb'd. I can do that all day!)
• CNC milling

The electronics binge particularly has been a hell of a lot of fun. I've yet to actually fully complete a project, but I've prototype'd an LED matrix, a camera shutter timer, and a rhythm game controller. I've done quite a bit of research into circuit board etching and think I've settled on a good solution that relies on fewer caustic chemicals. I just need to design up a board to test all that out with. Combine all that with the CNC machine and I'm hoping to bring some spit and polish to those projects I mentioned.

In future posts, I'll probably elaborate more on some of these builds and what I've learned from them. In the mean time, my mad scientist desk probably needs some decluttering...