The mourning* after the 2016 election.
The Nightmare before the Election is now possibly the Nightmare after the Election but we’ll have to wait and see how much rhetoric becomes reality as President Trump proceeds to build and manage the Executive Branch of our government. The bad news is that if he accomplishes only half of what he’s promised, we’re screwed. The good news is you can’t totally rely on anything that he says or said. One supporter told me not to worry because Mr. Trump would surround himself with smart people.
Hate to be negative here but firstly, the people he has around him aren’t our best. His vice president is Mike Pence who has advocated for conversion therapy for homosexuals and is against fair pay for women and minorities. Mr. Trump selected Chris Christie to lead his transition team. Not the best choice considering a judge in New Jersey found that there was probable cause to believe that Chris Christie had engaged in official misconduct for his part in the “Bridgegate” scandal. However, Governor Christie is included in his list of front runners for his cabinet along with a Wall Street CEO, climate change deniers (“skeptics”), Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and other bright lights from the narcissistic right. Even if he does manage to get exemplary members on his team, it’s not clear due to his performance during the campaign that he will listen to any of them. He has said that he is not interested in the experience of the current military leaders. Most of those leaders have gained their knowledge and experience under many different administrations lead by both Republicans and Democrats.
I have hope that our new president will rise like a Phoenix from this disastrous election season to lead the country to greater peace and prosperity without regressing to meaner times like many progressives fear. However, I’ve already lost a friend because of post-election vitriol. She went on FaceBook and announced that those protesting the election are LOSERS. I’m intolerant of ad hominem attacks strictly because of a difference of opinion. We can’t get through this time intact if we throw gas onto the smoldering embers of this hard fought contest. We must always discuss differing opinions with respect for the individuals involved especially during these trying times.
On a positive note, now that the election is over it is time we got rid of all of those annoying roadside signs. Traditionally, I go out on the day after every election to help in the effort by filling my truck full of them. It’s a bit of a job so I consider it good exercise which is a win but I get a second win because I reuse the plastic sign material and the rebar stakes in D.I.Y projects around the house. Notice in the picture below the use of rebar and plastic sign material in my latest Halloween prop. 
In any case, I believe for the next four years (at least) we may be cursed to live in interesting times.
*I meant to spell it that way! I’ll be wearing a lot of black for the next four years.
It has been a few months. It’s hard to believe that at one time this was a daily blog. Of course back then there were a couple of writers. I’ve still got plenty to say and hopefully there are readers who want to hear what I have to say. So how is it that over four months pass before I publish a blog entry? Notice I said “publish” there were many times that I sat down, started writing, and didn’t finish. It’s like a pressure relief valve. I sit down all fired up and a few paragraphs in the urgency to write seems to fade. I never get back to one I’ve started even though I tell myself that I’ll get back and finish it.
classroom costume contest. I was dressed as “Hot Stuff” a comic book character. It was way back in 1960. We had school Halloween parties back then and someone dressed as a little devil could win a costume contest. I wonder if things have changed much since then. As I grew up Halloween provided many opportunities to stretch my creative muscles. There were costumes to construct, of course, but more importantly we had to have a neighborhood tactical plan. We had to get to the most houses in the allotted time and a pillow case was the only acceptable option for collecting the candy. There were rules we had to follow or we couldn’t go. We weren’t allowed to eat anything homemade. All candy had to be inspected before we could eat it and we were only allowed to eat two pieces each day. If we got a good haul that meant we would have candy until Christmas! Finally in our house “Trick-or-treat” ended at the age of 12. After that age, my job was to do the handing out.
Nancy bought me a hang up clown display in 2008 and I attempted to make it come out of a box. Mercifully, I don’t have any pictures of that attempt. I started too late and the power automotive radio aerial didn’t have the >snap< I was looking for. In 2009 I started earlier and discovered pneumatics. The Clown and the Popup Ghoul were born and joined the talking pumpkin. Gravestones were put in the garden behind lumps of dirt. It was better but I made a mistake. I invited a few friends over on Halloween night to come over and see the display. It wasn’t a mistake to invite them. It was a mistake to invite them on Halloween night. There was so much going on and I wasn’t able to enjoy their visit, show off the display, operate the display, and dole out the candy.
Camp Quest AZ is over for 2016. It was great! There was a wide variety of activities for the campers and the Counselors were always on the run making things happen. As before, the staff had the help of the older campers called LTs. This year there were 9 LTs and 45 younger campers. Many were returnees and some previous attendees came back as LTs. I was in the cabin with the older boys. As a program counselor, I was responsible for running my programs and filling in when the cabin counselor had other duties. Rick was the cabin counselor but also ran programs. He was VERY busy during the week. If you want to know more about Camp Quest and Camp Quest Arizona, check out 
The fun continues…Yesterday I finished construction of Robby the Robot. As in the other Tin Can Creations projects, he is built around an empty Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup can. It’s my activity and I make up the rules. So, I decided to build all my tin can robots using the discarded container of the soup I’ve eaten almost every day for almost 13 years.
The ATtiny85 microprocessor lights up Robby’s LEDs and activates his pager motor. When Robby is switched on his eyes light up along with the two flickering lights in his chest behind the discarded car air freshener. He buzzes in short bursts while at the same time his mouth lights up with blue LEDs. Then, all the lights switch on. Finally, only the three “brain” lights illuminate at the top of his dome and rotate as if he is thinking about something important.
Thanks to one of the members of Tucson Atheists, I have a couple of empty gas cartridges. They are cool and needed to find their way into one of the Tin Can Creation projects.
In preparation for my program at Camp Quest AZ, I’ve created 3 prototypes (pictured on the left). Certainly, there will be more. The prototypes are being used to help design a viable program for the young campers because a month ago this was just an idea. Hopefully, the kids will see these and become as excited as I am to create robots out of recycled materials
. They are all based on the same empty soup can. The soup can is Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle. I have a large quantity of these cans. I have it for lunch every day. The rest of the robots are constructed of items found in my workshop and in the streets near my house.
The kids will start with a “basic” kit of parts including a couple of cans and some electronics components. They’ll also have a supply miscellaneous hardware items available. Then their imagination can take over! Here is how the process worked for me…
I needed to capture the essence of the Dalek. I started with the eye stock detail. All Daleks see the world through their eye stock. A piece of tubing, pony beads, and a blue LED were pressed into service.
Fortunately I had an old dead pen with a flashing LED that would make a great “exterminator.”
Black foam insulation tape became the skirt at the bottom. Originally, I had wire nuts on top to simulate the communication antennae but I replaced them with spare LED Christmas tree bulbs.
It was a simple matter to add a battery holder and a slide switch to power all the LEDs and…”Exterminate!”
Here the trusty soup can is flanked by two miniature plastic bottles. The dome comes off of the top of a laundry detergent container. The rear trucks are spent car deodorizers that clip on the AC vents. The front truck was made out of an empty dental floss container.
First coat of paint was black, followed by a coat of silver and a final coat of white. I cut out some blue vinyl tape, mounted the LEDs, the switch, and the batteries and it was time to shoot the engineer. R2D2 was done!
Remember the Jetsons? Here is Rosie, model XB-500 reporting for cleaning duty in the house of the future. Actually it’s another Healthy Choice soup can made up to look like something other than trash. Rosie has LED lights and fancy chrome antennae. Her arms
are small water pipes and her base is a lug nut. Look into her eyes and you’ll see painted water bottle lids. Her collar came off of a greeting card and her hat and skirt are what’s left of a duster.
In the February 25th issue of The Daily Wildcat there is an article entitled “
to pull out key words from his rhetoric and create Bingo cards. To be fair, his presentations are entertaining and sometimes he uses words and phrases to color and keep the students engaged. For example here are some of the words you might find on your Bingo card: Grope, Cheap Thrills, Wicked, Margaret, Bedroom, Fear or Trembling, Squeeze, and Virgin. Some of the words might be considered rude in polite company. The SSA hands out the Bingo cards and the students listen for the key words. When they get a Bingo, they are rewarded with a piece of candy provided at the SSA table where they’ll get a chance to talk with the club members and sign on to their email list. It’s a good time.
On January 12th, the board of directors of the Secular Coalition for America announced the appointment of Larry T. Decker (an unaffiliated Christian) as the new Executive Director of the organization. I for one am not impressed!
I just lost a member of the community today. Apparently, the subject of UFOs came up during a wine tasting party and she was upset that I dismissed the subject in such a mocking manner. Here’s her note:
AZAtheist's Blog 