Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move.

I found this great video of some less well known statements from Martin Luther King Jr. That man truly was a king.
Starting from today I intend to ponder in depth my stance on life and society and begin re-evaluating the perceptions and morals I hold to. I'm trying to find and define the border between what I believe to be my true beliefs and inherently a part of my being and spirit, and what has been engrained in me by society, culture, politics, or consumerism. I've found an excellent blog "Responsible Men - repair the past, prepare the future" which is a great source of interest and very thought-provoking. I implore you take a moment away from your job, struggles, and self-centeredness and do the same. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to sit and be alone, as did Mohammed, as did Buddha. Make time for yourself because time gives nothing back.
Nosce te ipsum  or "Know thyself" is truly one of the most overlooked and increasingly disappearing things in our world. Here are 4 other interesting things that were nicely laid for you by the Wachowski's (or perhaps more accurately Sophia Stewart)

1. The Matrix cannot tell you who you are

Neo: “I have these memories from my entire life, but… none of them really happened. What does that mean?”
Trinity: “That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are.”

The Matrix is the system you were born into. It can be your bondage, or your chrysalis.
But that system is there. That system is culture.
It will try to convince you of who you are, how you should be making a living — that you should be “making a living.”
It will try to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong. It will tell you what to believe, whether it’s dysfunctional or not.
But deep down, culture is a human construct — it cannot tell you who you are.
2. Don’t think you are, know you are

Morpheus: “What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me!”

To believe in yourself, you have to know in yourself.
If you don’t know that you can succeed, you’ll let fear, doubt, and disbelief decide for you.
To be successful, you need to see yourself succeed; you need to feel it.
3. Walk the path

Morpheus: “Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, there’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.”

You won’t know your path until you walk it. It may seem like a good idea to get a new job or end a relationship. You may be able to come up with all sorts of rationalizations as to why and how and when.
But none of that matters if you don’t know what you really want, what you really need, and why. If you can’t feel it, then “knowing” it does you no good.
Because once you do walk the path, it may not be what you expected — what you planned for on lined paper with neat handwriting, dated and signed.
Your life life is not meant to be mapped out based on what your rational mind thinks it comprehends today. Your life is meant be experienced, to be felt, to be lived.
4. There is no spoon

Spoon boy: “Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth… there is no spoon. Then you’ll see, it is not the spoon that bends. It is only yourself.”

To truly know yourself, you must see yourself in all people, all things. It’s when you stop looking, when you doubt a connection is there — that you stop learning about yourself, and who you can be.
When something happens to you in life, you always have a choice. You either respond or you react. You either connect or you dissasociate. You either integrate or you resist. You take the red pill or the blue pill. You move on or get stuck.
When you see the problem as being “out there,” you forget to look “in here” — where it matters, where it counts.

Perhaps it's time to watch that film again. Gonna need popcorn.

A new waffle iron handle.

Waffles are delicious. In fact they have such an effect on the body and mind that I'm sure when we (inevitably) live in an "Equilibrium" sort of world, they will be regarded as contraband. So what does one do when their waffle iron breaks? This is a question that has puzzled many a great philosopher from Plato to Jesus Christ*.

*Unverified source

"Don't worry Craig, there will be others"

When the first handle broke, we sensed great hardship in the future, but when the second followed suit we were sure the end was near.

I guess most people just buy a new waffle iron when theirs dies, but not me! I decided to create my own handles out of wood to replace the broken ones.

First job was to remove the old handle stubbs which were held on by solid screws really rusted and burned in. I added some good ol' WD40 and it was smooth sailing.


I then found some 1' laminated pine and cut out some basic handle shapes using a jigsaw. I knew I had to make them pretty thick so that it'd be strong enough to use, but not too thick that you need two or three people to hold it.

I used my rotary multi-tool which is similar to a Dremel 4000 for the rest of the work. If you want to do any DIY work one of these can be really helpful! I used a wood routing bit and cut down into the wood to make seats for the handle bases. They fit really snugly and I was quite happy with my work.
Next thing to do was to drill holes for the two screws and then shape the handles into more ergonomic shapes...this is high quality product!
I used my rotary tool once again for the drilling and shaping of the wood. I had some nice 2' bolts which were a perfect fit in the holes but waaay too long, so once again I cut them using my multi-tool with a reinforced cutting disc. Work was quick and (thankfully) painless.

Finally I glued on a piece of wood between the two handles to give stabilitywhen held, and that was it!

Plato would be so proud

We're back in the game and eating like kings! Don't even pretend that you don't want some waffles right about now.

Planter boxes from discarded wood

Everybody loves a good wooden deck by their pool. Even if you don't have a pool, you still probably want a nice deck to tan and enjoy a few sun-downers on.We have a wooden deck around the bottom of our pool which covers the run-off reservoir, but some wood had been removed a year ago and had been sitting outside in a heap just taking in the sun and rain. I knew there had to be a better use for it then just being weed fodder! Coming home one day I saw that a fellow DIY'er had moved them into the garage, and I realized that most of the wood was actually still in pretty good condition. "Eureka" I thought. "Planter boxes!" We have heaps of plants and some ooooold pots that needed to be changed anyways, so this would kill four or five birds with one stone. We immediately got to work measuring and diagramming.

"Let the games begin."

       We originally tried to cut with a right angle square and handsaw but it was slow work and not very precise. Instead we thought to use the circular saw that had been gathering dust on a shelf, coupled with a wobbly & poorly designed work table. Attaching it to the table ended up being quite a mission, due to the archaic design which made it difficult to work with. Regardless of the shoddy quality, this made a huge difference precision and time wise.
However, after some slow going, a lot of smoke, and some blackened ends, we realized that the saw blade had been mounted backwards. We then had to undo all of the previous work, change the blade and re-do all our tedious work. After several attempts we finally managed to get it working!

Due to the table's limitations and the complete absence of any and all guides, cutting straight and getting even lengths proved...tricky. We had to do it all by sight and feel, so naturally some of the pieces ended up slightly different sizes. Thankfully precision wasn't a big concern and the difference was only millimeters, so not a big problem. After cutting all the lengths we started to assemble the pieces. We used a Bosch cordless drill and a mix of 60-75mm (what we found lying around) screws.

Staged photo of hard work, with troublesome table photo-bombing on the right

We had a few hardships along the way; We had to pull/push/bash out some old rusty screws that were embedded in the wood.  Also because of the length of exposure to the elements, some of the boards were a little warped. This ended up making the final product a bit less than a perfect 90° on the corners, but still pretty good for salvaged wood.

After assembly of the sides, we took a look at our work and decided on using 3 more planks of the same wood for the bottom.  We finished by screwing a support made of laminated pine on each of the insides to guarantee structural integrity.

Et Voila!

Top view

Front  view

The Jones's, before the ignoble rock raid.

Only thing left to was to fill them up. I thought of buying black plastic sheeting and filling the boxes with soil, but didn't want soil leaking onto the veranda, so instead I decided to borrow some smooth rocks from ol' mother nature which we have in abundance by the ocean, thanks to this being a volcanic island (I'm kidding, we just stole them from the neighbors yard).
 I got several loads, of rocks and bought six 7L plastic pots to make three in each box. I then found plants to go inside the pots and a made a mix of universal soil and compost. I ended up not having enough rocks in the end, so I've been looking for any other nearby houses who are willing to share their abundance :-) Regardless, here we have the finished product painted lovingly by Stephie and I to go with the white theme of the veranda. Observe and Admire.

My DIY canon 18-55mm lens fix

Late last year I got my first DSLR; a secondhand Canon 450D (Rebel Xsi) including a 18-55mm IS kit lens and a 50-200 Tamron zoom. It worked great for a few weeks and then the Auto-focus (AF) on the 18-55 decided to stop working. This was just before my Christmas holiday to Europe which I was very sad about as I was going to be visiting family. Thankfully my step-dad Lanthus (who has a great photography blog HERE) lent me one to use during the vacation...thanks a lot!

When I returned I wanted to get it fixed so I researched it a bit and found out that this seems to be a very common problem. The issue with this lens is caused by a design flaw which forces the AF flex cable to be bent at a very sharp angle when the lens is at the normal position for storing. After a few years it's bound to tear! Canon will charge you upward of $100 for the repair and I thought; Forget that. I can do it! I managed to find the replacement cable online at TMART for about 3€ and they have free worldwide shipping, which was a HUGE saving. When I received the part, I found a good screwdriver, (the correct size is VERY important so you don't strip the heads. For this lens the correct size is a PH00 which you can buy HERE) and enlisted my girlfriends brother as usual to give me a hand. I though I'd make a tutorial and hope it can help someone with the same problem. I'll include photos step-by-step. There are several other tutorials like this on the web, but mine is the best!

First thing is to find workplace that has minimal dust. Next as you remove pieces place them in order so that the reassembly is easy. Finally, this job does require some dexterity and use of small parts in confined spaces, so be prepared.

1. Remove the lens from the body and put the body cap on to keep dust out. Next remove the plastic cover from the lens (on the side that connects to the body) by removing the four screws that hold it in place.

2. The cover can now be partially removed but DOES NOT come off entirely! It is still attached by some connectors which I  have circled below in red.
You have to hold it in this angled position while you remove the five FPC's (circled in green) from their slots. This can be tricky but if you use a small flat screwdriver or a pair of tweezers like I did, you can eventually work them loose. Be careful as they are delicate. It was great to have an extra set of hands for this part!
After removing these you can carefully lift out the PC board and the plastic cover. Make sure not to snag any of the FPC's on the way out. 

3. Next you can see a metallic cover for the drive mechanism. This can be removed after taking off the two screws at the ends. The other screws on the mechanism can be left as they are. I circled the two again in green.

Remove two screws

Lift out the mechanism

4. After removing the metal plate you can see inside the lens and can see the problem; the broken Flex Cable (at the tip of the screwdriver). This is what you will be replacing.

From here you need to remove another metallic sliding plate right at the base of the flex cable. This is what extends the lens during focus. Make sure it's a close as possible to the top and then remove the two screws that attach it to the body of the lens. You can then remove it completely. You can see it below in the tweezers.

 

5. You can finally remove the broken piece of flex at the base of the lens by pulling with tweezers. In my lens it was glued on quite tight, so you may have to do some real pulling to unseat it.

 

Pulling it out

Removed completely

You need to also remove the top half of the broken flex by unsticking it from the side where it sits tight on two little black nubs. you can see the holes where it is attached in the photo below.

6. Now it's time to place the new Flex cable in the now empty space. Here's the new one and you can see the covered adhesive zones that will need to be placed carefully inside the lens. remove the adhesive covers and then get to work.

You need to very carefully place this in the correct position and behind the little black clip circled in green. Getting the big part placed at the bottom takes patience and precision, but it fits very snugly. After you get it in use something like a q-tip to push it firmly in place. This is how it looks when finished.

And here below you can see a pic showing the source of the problem. As you can see when the lens is at 35mm which is the regular closed storing position it has this weird crook in the  flexible board.

It's possible that when you do this repair, you could leave the FPC outside of the black little clip and relieve that tight angle a bit. This may work, but could also possibly un-stick the FPC from it's place over time, or even get stuck when the lens moves. I left mine behind the clip, as this fix is so cheap and easy I don't mind doing it every few years! I'm planning on getting an upgrade for this lens anyways in the near future so I'm sure it'll last till then.
7. Now you just have to re-assemble the lens in reverse order and you're good to go. Mine worked straight away immediately after this fix! Make sure you put the switch back to AF instead of MF, and I wish you happy trails :)

Our cat

In May 2012, Steph and I found a little lost/runaway kitten in the garage. It was scared, hungry, and so thirsty it couldn't even meow anymore, so it had this strange croak instead. It was hiding under some pallets and didn't want to venture out, so we lured him out with some food and managed to capture the little tiny white fluffball. We gave him food and some milk and found a little bed for him. He was so tired and squeaky and still couldn't meow so we let him sleep for a day or two and waited to see if someone came by looking for a kitten. Thankfully no one did and so we decided to keep him. We got the name Bibi for him (thanks to Stephie's sister Sara), and just like that we had our first pet....together...big step for a couple (so they say). It's like having a child :) and not a planned one either. But sometimes those can turn out to be the best ones. He was so white and fluffy and very good as a kitten. We got him used to baths so he didn't mind them and tried to keep him as a house cat as long as possible....turned out to be a bit of a vicious little devil in the end.

 

Yeah he loved to fight. By now of course he's "too old" for such things, but now that he lives outside he loves to hunt. He turned out to be a Red point Siamese so quite a good looking little man. He's one of the most affectionate cats I have ever seen, and loves to be with us wherever we are. He waits in the driveway for us to come home at night and loves to just lay on our couch (or the bed when we just can't deny him it). He's been a good friend and is much loved!

Here are some pics of him, taken with my Rebel Xsi and 60mm lens

Macro photos. They are a wonder, reproducing things at life size or larger and giving us a unique view and a bit of a better understanding of our "Gulliver" status compared to little creatures.

Meet Lilit, king of Lilliput

A little while ago I was quite interested in making a macro lens for my phone camera...not out of necessity since it takes pretty crummy shots, but just for the fun of it. I had seen a few of these online and they were (in my opinion) pretty ugly. I set out to make one better and more beautiful, and I chose to do this not because it is easy but because it is hard....so anyways, the first task was to acquire a small curved lens. I got my girlfriends brother to help me out and so it began.
Plan I: We tried first with the tiny plastic focus plate from the laser under an old mouse (I am of course not referring to the ancient ball type mice, nor to it's furry living cousin above.) It was very small and looked like it would be a mission to attach to anything, not to mention very convex. We gave it a try and got it all smoothed out and then decided to attach it to a rubber washer. I needed a way to mount this on my phone so came up with a pretty ugly contraption of 1mm metal wire bent and shoved into the washer, and then some electrical tape to keep it from scratching up my phone. Here it is:

Prototype 1

I'm not gonna lie, it was about as good-looking as a Fiat multipla, but I was pretty proud of our work. I took a few shots with it, which was pretty tough as the plane of focus is so tiny and it's HARD to keep a camera steady at this magnification. Here are some shots that were not completely atrocious.
Not too bad for handheld, and I was pretty excited by what you can see on for example the drill bit at bottom left. One not-too-terrible side effect, was the black vignette from the rubber housing. I had smoothed the angle of view into a bit of a cone from the lens outward, but it still needed something to attach to so I was left with a tiny sliver of black. Then, disaster struck. I tried to attach the lens to the washer with a tiny bit of super glue, but I guess I didn't know the definition of tiny. 

Yep. Covered half the lens. Genius. There was no way to use this now so it was back to the drawing board.

Plan II: I needed an old camera...I asked around, scoured high and low, and even rifled through several random drawers, but to no avail. I finally got an old Pentax from my girlfriends mom which I stripped apart with much interest and managed to locate one or two lenses that would do very nicely. I also wanted to make a better frame this time as prototype1 had been weak and uUugly. I eventually chose a lens that had a nice curve and a bit of a fat edge to assist me and my super-glue mad hands, and to do away with the rubber washer. I spent a while looking through all my electrical wires and found a great bit of black insulated 3mm copper wire. Using some needle nose and regular pliers, I carefully worked it into a strong frame that was not too bulky but still strong, aesthetic, and easy to attach/detach. Here is the final product:
This is a perfect fit for my LG Optimus Black, but you really can bend it to any shape and size to fit any phone (maybe not those weird mid-phone cameras). Make sure you get enough of a curve to cover at least 2/3 around the diameter and then just pop some glue on and you're good to go. It has been solid since I made it, but if you have a small hard case to keep it in, this'll obviously be the best. I keep it in my glasses case. This was one of my favorite projects and actually very easy. I think I could sell these :-) Here is a collage of some shots I've taken since making this macro lens:

I like working in the garden. I'm not sure if I have green fingers or if they just haven't been washed in a while, but either way I enjoy it a lot and always get good results. Recently steph and I wanted to plant our own vegetables and herbs and decided to plant in raised beds as it rains A LOT here....Biblical flood style. We chose a piece of grass behind our bungalow with reasonable sunlight and good drainage.

We cut some thin bamboo reeds, which we stripped and then wove between thick wooden stakes to form the boundary.

We then put down 3 layers of newspaper pages to kill the grass underneath (yes laziness won the battle) followed by black plastic to keep the dirt from falling through the holes. We then filled it up with our mixture of 30%soil, 10%compost, and 60%mulch, which we covered with a layer of leaves to discourage any surprises from our cat Bibi.

After only a few weeks we already saw great growth, and of course when planting in mulch you can harvest very easily as the soil stays so airy and light. Here are some pictures of the produce.

garden bed

mache

basil

coriander

carrots

This was a fun and very tasty project, and you can do it too! Or instead try vertical gardening if you are short on space.