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      Sunday, September 03, 2023


geekstuff
01:29 PM - 09/03/2023

The topic: Gobsmacked, I tell you! I’m gobsmacked!
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One of the ongoing problems I've had with 3D printing, I mean, just about every time I use the thing, is the bed is not level. If the bed is not level, the print gets off to a crappy start and if it has a bad base, chances are, it will be an okay print.

I've downloaded different testing prints (if you're curious about this check out thingiverse.com/), I've watched countless videos, and I rarely have any luck getting a good base. It's become increasingly frustrating.  Something that started out as fun, isn't.

Anyway, earlier this year I really messed up with the bed leveling and ruined the heatend. That's the piece where the filament heats up, melts, and goes through the nozzle and lays down the filament onto the bed. It was badly clogged because I had the nozzle too close to the bed and the filament backed up into the heatend and there was no unblocking it.

I ended up replacing that piece (surprisingly didn't cost much at all), but I still have the problem with the bed leveling.

I previously mentioned how slow my laptop was getting. The new laptop took very little time to set up (things I found out about newer laptops - optic drives are almost non-existent anymore, you know, CD/DVD players and my new laptop did not come with a card reader, but I found an external player that also works as a USB hub and has a slot for a card reader! yay!). I spent a week trying to get the old machine to play nice, but when I turned it on Friday, it was still ill. I did a little research and realized that the problem might be a corrupt version of Windows. And decided I'd use the download from the cloud option to start all over with a clean install of Windows 10.

And it took less than 24 hours. Here I am, typing away, this machine is running better than it has in years.

Leaving that tangent behind, I decided to keep the old laptop in the extra room and use it for working with the 3D printer. The first thing I wanted to print was fairly simple. A while back I bought some coasters. As you can see, they're made from cloth and although they claim to be "super absorbant", they also get damp on the bottom. Not something you want resting on a wood surface for any length of time.

I came up with the brilliant idea of a tray for the coaster. It's a very simple print.

I started the first print (basically a test print to see how off I was in the size I needed; in the software I use to convert these to something the printer recognizes). I did the first layer (and the first layer was very rough to the touch, not a good sign, once again, a bad job of bed leveling) and too big. I'm not great at math and I use inches whereas the print software uses metric and I screw up every time

Yesterday I spent cleaning up the old machine (getting rid of Microsoft bloatware) and installing the few programs I'll plan to run. Like Cura, the software that came with my printer (of course, this is updated, but it's the software the machine manufacturer recommends).

I resized the tray from five and a half inches to five inches, took the magnetic mat off of the printer bed, and removed the previous filament. Placed it back down and time to level. But this time, instead of using an index card, as I have for every other time I leveled the bed, I used a business card. The business card is about twice the thickness of the index card.

And my print is smooth! I am seriously stoked about this. I am looking forward to doing more work on this machine.

 

geekstuff    computer    3d printing   


catstuff
02:05 PM - 09/03/2023

The topic: Charlie update
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Costco was out of the blood thinning meds on Wednesday, so Brian went back on Thursday. I decided to not give Charlie the pill until after eight on Friday morning. I wanted to make sure in case there was a bad reaction, we could race him down to the vet's office.

All went well with the first dose. Probably because he had no idea what was happening. The second dose was okay, Brian had to hold him and keep his arms down.

This morning was not so good. There were multiple spits of the pill from the mouth, and much drooling to go with it.

Luckily, the new pill guns showed up this morning. They're kind of big, but if my finger fits in his mouth, I'm pretty sure these will, too.

He's feeling better, he was actually out in the yard this afternoon for a short time. He hasn't gone outside in over a week. He wasn't out long, but he did go out.

Keep your fingers crossed for an easier pillling tomorrow morning.

pill gun    charlie   

      Monday, September 04, 2023


catstuff
08:46 AM - 09/04/2023

The topic: Well, the pill gun was a bust
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I tried three times to get the pill into the back of his mouth, but he was able to work it up to the front and spit it out.

Then I tried with my finger, twice. Got bit.

So, I did a little research "Can you crush a pill that you can split?" and yes, yes, you can.

New plan.

The article said to make sure the cat hadn't eaten. Put the crushed pill in food and let him eat. The vet warned that one of the other clients had this medication compounded and it was pretty bitter, so I'm sure the food will be bitter as well.

I will crush the pill and put it in baby food, mix it up well, draw it up into a syringe, and try to get the medication into him that way.

He doesn't understand why we're being to mean to him. It's not on purpose, baby, believe me.

 

pill gun    not happy    charlie    catstuff   

      Friday, September 08, 2023


catstuff
01:29 PM - 09/08/2023

The topic: So, Charlie and the medicine
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I think I've got it down.

Baby food. A small amount of baby food was significantly watered down with a super crushed pill mixed in. As he laps it up, I add more regular baby food.

Which makes it yummier and yummier because it doesn't taste as weird.

So far, it's worked, what, three days now?

Fingers crossed we can keep this up.

 

catstuff   

      Sunday, September 17, 2023


catstuff
01:02 PM - 09/17/2023

The topic: It’s that time of year when you can feel fall isn’t too far away
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After a wet winter, and an almost non-existent Spring, running right into a hot summer, a cool down is nice. Each year Spring gets shorter and shorter. Summers used to have some very pleasant days, but not so much anymore. The days just get hotter and hotter.

But then...then the days start getting shorter and the sun is lower in the sky and breezes are cooler and very welcome.

The clouds came in early last night and brought with them drizzle. It has been drizzling all day. Mid 70s, a nice day, a day to binge-watch series on Brit Box. Maybe a short nap or two on the sofa covered by a light fleece blanket.

I walk around the house, looking for cats. Four in the garage. Two in the bedroom. Four in the living room. One in the family room. Three outside. And I've come to realize that the cats who lived outdoors before they came to us, having a choice of inside or out in the yard, are choosing inside.

Simon. Fury. Nooby. Ike. Loki. Even Natasha spends more time inside than out. The Avengers, who were born inside, spend more time outside than the other cats. Steve and Goose spend a fair amount of time inside. Bucky, maybe half and half.

It took Nooby and Fury a while to decide they like it just fine inside. Nooby had obviously been human social at one point, but had gone feral and it took him months to remember that humans are good. Fury was human social, but was leery of being indoors, having been pushed out of his living quarters through no fault of his own.

The two oldest, Phoebe and Charlie stay mostly inside.

When I read stories of "oh, this cat would never adjust to indoor living", I just shake my head. With time and patience, I have experienced firsthand what a cat chooses.

fall    catstuff   

      Wednesday, September 27, 2023


catstuff
08:46 AM - 09/27/2023

The topic: What a month so far
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Charlie has been doing okay, still fighting the meds. He's on to the different tastes in the food, no matter how nummy the food is.

It seems like he had another episode this weekend, sometime Sunday evening. He has his own spot and that's where he can be found the majority of the time. Around eight, I asked Brian if he'd seen Charlie. Not recently.

I searched the yard, the garage, the house and I couldn't find him anywhere.  I tried to sleep on the sofa because I knew I'd be up and down searching and didn't want to bother Brian, but sleep was out of reach. Finally, around 12:30, Charlie was back in his spot. I gave him some food and he ate.

He slept.

He ate a lot on Monday like he couldn't get full. That vibration thing was back. He was just off, all day. He ended up on the sofa. His back legs are weak so he can't get up there by himself. I put together a little stair system (a footrest and a cat condo) for him and he's using that to get up and down.

I did watch him once in the litterbox, trying to poop. Which is what I think led to his first issue. Constipation. He went a little, but later on in the day, he was able to finish.

He was a little better yesterday,  not eating so well, which concerned me. But this morning, he's back in form. He actually cried for food, so good deal. And he ate almost a full can of A/D, as well as the food that Brian had given him. He's not drinking out of his fountain but is drinking out of the fountain outside. As long as he's drinking...

I'm in the office right now, working on last year's taxes (you know, the ones that were due in April - but San Diego was one of the places that got an extension until October because of bad weather), and Brian walked in and said: "Charlie is on the sofa". 

And that's a good thing.

charlie    catstuff   

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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