This week has been another rush. In a good way.
Monday began another week of the grind. Since ParkinSIMS had a prototype that was fairly far along for the first week, we got into some of the nitty gritty of the design. By this I mean being forced to face the issues we ignored the week before since we had “just started,” along with some other things. I sacrificed my Selina band for the medium fidelity prototype, and sewed Jefferson and I’s bands together to create the 3-strap system. We also did some research into the legitimacy of the tests we discovered, and replaced the motor with a 12 volt that packed a greater punch.
Prototype early week 3
We were very tired in the evening, so Jefferson, James, and I ordered Papa Johns which hit different. The delivery man might have stored the pizza sideways causing the cheese to slide to one side, but we were too hungry to mind.
Tuesday was Solidworks day. I’d never actually used Solidworks before, but I was determined to learn it in order to design the cap that would cover the spinning weight on the motor. I basically worked all day trying to figure out how the software worked, how to use the 3-D printer, and then finally how to insert thread. I was somewhat successful with the first two steps thanks to the help of Douglas, but I was lost on the thread part. I emailed my CAD proficient friend to set up a zoom for the next day, hoping he could save me. That evening, Alice and I had the idea to make burgers for dinner, so we went to the supermarket, grabbed our ingredients, and then got to cheffin. She made the meat while Leticia and I cut the veggies, James and Sarah made guac, and Jake and I also made potatoes. The dinner came together very nicely, and we had some solid burgers for pretty cheap. Watching a meal come together is really rewarding. Afterward, I finished Stranger things Season 4 part one. Absolute insanity. Best episode of a show I’ve seen. Eyes glued from start to finish. Would definitely recommend.
Some chefs just cheffin
My friend answered my cry for help. On Wednesday morning I hopped on a zoom call, and he introduced to me that there was in fact a feature called “thread” in Solidworks, which did everything I tried to do manually the day before in two clicks. At least I know now. The next step was designing the rims with the thread to line up nicely. This was not as difficult, however because the 3-D printer takes two hours for the test print I was doing, I didn’t get instant feedback that allowed me to iterate quickly and visualize my errors in design. By the end of Wednesday, I was only able to start one test print. In the evening, I was going to order out, but my Dad mentioned in my family group chat that he was making chicken penne with bacon, tomato, and spinach which is my favorite dish. So, I was moved to cook dinner. Jefferson and I went to the supermarket and hand picked all the ingredients from the store, starting with the cream for the sauce. We came back and started cooking immediately. We sauced up the penne, the chicken, the bacon, and threw them all together in the pot. The final step was the sauce. Main ingredient for the sauce: cream. However, when we reached in the grocery bag to get the cream, it was not there. We frantically searched every crevice in the kitchen, unable to find the cream. In that moment, the pasta I so deeply craved was slipping out of the realm of possibility. We even considered taking others’ cream from the communal (a disgusting, vile, intrusive thought).
No cream meant no sauce. What’s our pasta without the sauce?
We theorized. From the moment we placed it in our cart, (we definitely did) to the time we got to the kitchen, where could the cream have gone? Did the cashier not see it when he was scanning items? Did it fall out of the cart? Was some civilian who struggled to find the cream, moved to take it from our cart out of desperation? Our search the answer was in vain. Whether we knew why or not, we had no cream. We had to work with what we had, nothing. To my surprise, the juices from the tomato stepped up, taking the place of the cream and creating a well moistened meal. It was delicious. Spectacular. We had discovered a tasty AND healthy way to cook my favorite dish. As with many of the greatest inventions in history, ours was a mistake. One that will change my life forever.
I went to sleep with a full stomach and a smile on my face.
Our creation
Thursday. I worked on some Solidworks and our final presentation, and we made some adjustments to our code that randomized the motor movement. In the afternoon, we did some Engi 350 work. It was a pretty typical work day. We met some of the ULACIT students who work with international students like us, and they wanted to make plans for the following evening. We were definitely not opposed. In the evening, it was Jazz night. One of Jefferson, James and I’s favorite nights. We opted to eat dinner at Selina and enjoy the tunes. It was a pleasant evening.
On Friday, we spent the morning at the butterfly garden. The plants were beautiful and the butterflies were so graceful. Walking through the garden was very peaceful.
Entrance to Butterfly Garden
I went into the nature trails beyond the butterflies, and a treacherous mud path led us to the river that flowed through the forest. To explain, I’ll just add some pictures.
Treacherous path The river with bamboo hanging over it
James in Instagram travel influencer mode
Walking through the forest was nice, and I documented all my observations on a second document. Afterward, I sat in the garden for a half hour, just watching the butterflies. Some of them even landed on me. Then, Jefferson and I were hungry but not too hungry, so we decided we would walk to get some ice cream at POPS. We went through a more residential area which was pretty cool, and once we got to the shop I ordered a cone with banana ice cream. Some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Usually, banana flavored stuff is way too artificial (laffy taffy), but this tasted so natural. It was delicious. We went back to ULACIT and then worked on the project a little before heading back to Selina. There, we met the students from ULACIT and they took us to a French restaurant in Barrio Escalante, and then we went out to a bar in La California called la Destileria which was slow at first, but as the night went on it got more fun. We left around 11:00 and got McDonalds. The combo we got came with a toy Gary from Spongebob. Walsh proceeded to throw Gary off the Selina deck. Gary was not seen again. Maybe Gary and the cream are lost together.
James and Jefferson found new uses for the McDonalds packaging
On Saturday, James, Walsh, Jeff, Jake, Douglas, and I took the bus (standing) to Jaco Hermosa (sorry for getting the wrong bus tickets guys) and ubered to Playa Hermosa and just chilled on the black sand beach while James was shredding some sick waves. Walsh, Jake, Douglas and I opted to jump over the waves as they crashed during high tide, which was a great time. In the evening, we just chilled and everyone passed out early because we were so tired from the week. Playa Hermosa is much nicer than Jaco, mostly because it isn’t as touristy and busy. The waves are also more fun to swim in.
Sunday morning, I had French toast and we spent the day at the beach again. A pretty cat joined me for breakfast.
Pretty cat
Alice, Sarah, and Leticia joined us today. The activities were similar to the previous day, except Jake, Jefferson and I decided to take a stroll down to the piece of land that sticks out between Jaco and Playa Hermosa. On the way over, I happened to get stung by a wasp that must have been at least 3 inches long and was jet black. That hurt. I was worried that it could be poisonous, but the locals said that they didn’t know of any really dangerous wasps around the area, so I just washed it with soap and carried on. If you don’t hear from me again, you know why. In the evening, we had a bussin sushi dinner to celebrate Jake’s last day. We spent the night at the pool and then at a party at the restaurant next door. The DJ was playing bangers and we had a great time. I even caught a frog with Jake.
Frog and Jake. Both cool dudes
We went back to the pool before going to sleep at 2:00 am. We had to wake up at 4:15 am the next morning. To be continued in the next post…