Woodworking, electronics, mechatronics, robotics and physics are not areas that abound in women hobbyists. However, there are some that have informative Youtube channels.
I have used the term mentor to refer to a person who teaches by showing, as in: “Do what I do, not what I say.” At the moment, I am suffering from Reader’s Block. That means that I am finding it increasingly difficult to read long books, because they just aren’t rewarding. I find it better to spend my time watching videos that show how to do something. In contrast to many (but not all) men, women are better able to explain why they are doing particular things.
Physics Girl is a channel about physics, astronomy and science-related topics. The show features fun DIY demos, unusual and cutting-edge research, space and expert interviews.
Simone’s specialty is robotics, especially those that work badly. She is more concerned about operational issues, than constructing robots. Simone is Swedish.
The channel name is Darbin Orvar, but it is named after a dog, Darwin. The human is Linn, who is a Swede living in Oregon. This is a basic woodworking youtube channel.
Mentor: Danielle Thé
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDanslo
This channel will never replace Explaining Computers, but it does have provide a young, female perspective on the broader issues of computing.
Today’s group of mentors, are more diverse than yesterday’s. These are mainly home automation and mechatronics (electronics, machining and computing) people. I have included some others here who have useful channels for learning elementary computing skills, many based on Arduino. Embedded computing is also included.
One of the differences between woodworkers and mechatronians is the latter’s inability to use their names. There are exceptions, but many do not seem to want to use their own names. I think I’ve managed to spell both Ben and Dave correctly, but I am not so sure about Ashe. I’m using that spelling because that is what comes up on the closed captions.
I will remember Wayne Campbell for his geodesic dome video, that inspired their construction in cardboard at Verdal prison, and elsewhere. The Hila Outdoor Centre is not far from Pakenham, Ontario, which is not far from Ottawa.
ExplainingComputers uploads weekly computing videos. Chris spent 25 years teaching computing and future studies in the University of Nottingham, and has written thirteen books including “Digital Genesis: The Future of Computing, Robots and AI”, “3D Printing E3” and “The Next Big Thing”. I particularly like him because of his interest in single board computers.
This is mainly an educational channel and website in mechatronics. In addition there are Arduino projects and tutorials, DIY projects, explanations about how (electronic) things work, basic electronics.
Jonathan also does DIY home automation. Sometimes, I feel that his solutions are not optimal. For example, he uses OpenHAB rather than Home Assistant. He is also disproportionate amount of time promoting his own webshop.
Ashe is my go-to man, when it comes to fixing common computer problems. He is probably not at the cutting edge of anything except keeping a computer running, but that is probably an advantage.
Jeremy is an electrical engineer most noted for his Arduino tutorial videos. He promotes sustainability, entrepreneurship and education especially related to engineering and science.
Dave says his Youtube channel is about electronics, guitars and geekery. For me, this channel is interesting despite its emphasis on music, not because of it. Musicians have to work in unconventional spaces, and their sound equipment has to work. It has to be robust. That is the key word. Much of the information found here deals with the challenges of robusticity, which can be transferred over to other areas of life.
I have passed the age when I am assigned an advisor to help and guide me. Indeed, I’m probably too old to be anyone’s tutor. Any guidance I might offer younger people would be regarded as outdated or, worse, unfashionable.
Rather than fret over life’s iniquities, I have found a bevy of mentors who are helping me, every day, to become a more proficient woodworker. If you have similar interests, they would also be willing to help you, all free of charge. Well, they might want you to become a Patreon, or send money their way to buy equipment, or sell you some plans.
In this post, I’d like to introduce you to ten of them. I am now trying to add channels where projects, problems, challenges, equipment, materials and even measurement units mirror mine.
I have not listed everyone I have watched, nor all those I subscribe to on Youtube. Rather, I am just listing those that I find inspiring, helpful and able to help me improve my woodworking skills. Certain names may also be missing because I put them into a non-woodworking category; Others because they are no longer inspiring.
Mentors are grouped by age: old fogy, middle fogy and young fogy.
I believe that my first Youtube woodworking subscription was to this channel run by Ontario, Carpenter John Heisz. It covers home improvements, especially the renovation of a 1953 Bungalow.
I was especially impressed with his advice on how to build kitchen drawers: Make the bottoms solid!
This is John’s maker channel. A lot of the stuff he makes are wooden components that can be used in a workshop. “This is a splinter off my main woodworking channel where I’ll post videos on a wider range of topics, but all closely related to DIY. These videos will usually be longer and more informal, with more detail than the full build videos on my main channel.”
This is John’s third channel. To quote him, “On this channel there are NO RULES!!! I’ll be posting whatever I want, whenever I want and you can like that, OR HIT THE ROAD!!! :D”
Matthias is one of those people who almost didn’t make it onto this list. He makes a lot of wooden equipment, some of which actually solve real world problems. He likes engineering challenges, but his design sense, especially his use of colour, differs from mine.
When I look at Jeremy’s shop, I realize how lucky I am to have so much space available. I like him because he shows people how to make equipment out of recycled, and inexpensive materials.
Channel mainly about shop built tools and machinery. Anonymous is an automation electrician by trade.
Aside: Everyone knows my geographical prowess. When I first watched one of Anonymous’s videos, I was convinced that he must be living in Bellevue, Washington. Even at that point in the video where one can read a sign “Ikke gå under hengende last”, I said to myself, this guy has Norwegian ancestry. Well, I was certainly right about that. He writes: “I am located in a small city (pop aprox 7500) in the southern part of Norway.” My guess at location is now Lyngdal, in Vest Agder, Norway.
Andreas is a biology teacher and a hobby woodworker. He seems to enjoy making things out of wood and learning new skills in the process. In each of his newer videos he has a section called “What I learned” in which he shares his insights.
Apparently, Alexa has been offended by users calling it inappropriate names. This can happen because Amazon has taken an inanimate circuit board in a plastic box given it a female name (Alexa) that can only cause confusion in a number of households, assigned it a gender (female) and developed a number of progressive social views. It (I refuse to acknowledge it as she) is now a feminist, and actively supports Black Lives Matter. I presume it will be supporting specific candidates (Democrats) in upcoming elections.
I have no objections to real live human beings supporting these causes, or even voting in elections. I do too. However, I feel no need for my robot vacuum, or any other object or device to do so. The same applies to voice agents aka voice assistants. In a previous blog, I have advocated giving a voice agent a non-name, if only to avoid confusion with living people. My suggestion was “Chirp”, who self identified as a marmot. Since marmots do not usually speak English, there should be several choices available in terms of pitch and dialect. Perhaps a voice agent should learn to imitate its user, so that females receive responses from another, identical female; and males receive them from ditto males. Better still, let people choose for themselves the speech characteristics they find easiest to hear.
“Chirp” is designed to be a sexless Wrinkles type of stuffed creature, based on a marmot, but with a microphone hidden in its nose, and with a loudspeaker hidden in its mouth. Marmots are cool, with or without optional sunglasses. (Photo and manipulation: Inklein, edited by jjron, then Debivort)
When circuit boards are given a fake sexual identify, how long will it be before these inanimate objects will be given other human characteristics? Will they be given voting rights? With those, they will be able to cast write in votes for Jeff Bezos, as POTUS.
To effect change, consumers will have to demand the de-sexualization of voice assistants. They have to use it to describe them. Even though a voice agent may sound human, it is not a living creature. Alexa (Amazon), Assistant (Google), Bixby (Samsung), Cortana (Microsoft), Jarvis (Arduino), Jasper (Raspberry Pi), Monty (Raspberry Pi) and Siri (Apple) all have to be de-gendered, with the possible exception of Google Assistant. They also have to stop making political statements. These may mirror my somewhat progressive views today, but what if they become radicalized? Am I expected to change my views?
I have considered approaching Thunderbird Design, a local textile craftsperson, to discuss making a marmot based stuffed creature, that could house a microphone and loudspeaker. This would only be used to make a point. However, it is also an unnecessary waste of resources, human and otherwise. In most cases, having something furry will just collect dust, making the interior environment less healthy. An alternative approach would be to have a picture, an animation, of a marmot appear on a screen during chirp communications. This is my current approach. A starting point was made for this almost five years ago, in 2013, with Jasper.
Jasper, Jade Marmot’s faithful assistant may be taking on new duties as animated voice agent, Chirp.
This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Weeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.
Volkswagen AG, much like this van, is no longer fit for purpose. Photo by Sean Maynard 2009-08-04 at Tofino Botanical Gardens.
I was looking forward to driving (if not owning) an electric Volkswagen Buzz. This is no longer the case. I can no longer support the immorality of Volkswagen. Volkswagen AG is no longer fit for purpose.
First, there is the Dieselgate scandal involving 11 million cars that produced more NOx pollution than authorized, harming human health and killing thousands. Volkswagen’s actions were clearly immoral.
Second, Volkswagen lead experiments on 10 macaque monkeys to test the health impact of exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2014. Again, Volkswagen’s actions were clearly immoral.
Third, Volkswagen partially funded an automotive lobby group that tested the effects of NO2 exposure on 25 healthy young people. This was in 2015. For yet a third time, Volkswagen’s actions were immoral. At this revelation, I have reached my breaking point.
In Europe, Volkswagen is not paying fines, and executives do not seem to be going to prison. So, if government cannot be trusted to punish Volkswagen, at least to the extent of the damage it has deliberately caused, then consumers will have to take matters into their own hands.
Volkswagen will have to be boycotted for at least ten years. The start date for this ten years should be the last date when illegal/ immoral behaviour was revealed. At the moment this means a boycott at least until January 2028.
Volkswagen probably should have been dissolved as a company, and had its assets impounded.
Enter Streetscooter!
Consumers are not the only ones annoyed at Volkswagen, but for different reasons, although perhaps both are grounded in Volkswagen’s arrogance. Much to the annoyance of Volkswagen, Deutsche Post has designed and built its own electric delivery van.
These vehicles allow Deutsche Post to meet demand for e-commerce deliveries without adding to air pollution in German cities. They also replace conventional Volkswagen vans.
Deutsche Post became a manufacturer when conventional vehicle makers turned down requests to build electric delivery vans, in limited numbers by automotive sales standards.
Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller is quoted as saying, “I am annoyed beyond measure. I, of course, ask myself why Post did not talk to our VW Commercial vehicles division about doing something similar.” Unfortunately, that comment misses the truth, Volkswagen were asked, but declined.
Deutsche Post bought electric-vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter in 2014, where they use over 5 000 vans and 2 200 bicycles (and tricycles). The goal is to operate only battery-powered models. In addition StreetScooter is about to sell products to third parties, like bakeries and airports.
Advances in CAM allow almost anyone to use potential parts suppliers to design, engineer and test new vehicle concepts. There is no need for a large staff of engineers, or invests in tooling and factories. This transition by first undertaken by brand name automotive companies to keep their own costs down after the global financial crisis, starting ten years ago in 2008. They farmed out research and development relating to parts and sub-assemblies. Thus, it is not the brand names that own technical and engineering expertise, but increasingly a network of suppliers. In 2018, these produce components that constitute 80 percent of a vehicle. This contrasts with about 56 percent 30 years earlier. This is a perfect situation for new entrants, such as Google and Streetscooter.
Win Neidlinger, director of business development at Streetscooter GmbH, told Reuters, “We are purposely not reinventing the wheel. We do not produce a single component ourselves. Everything comes from a supplier.”
Parametric Technology Corporation is a bit difficult to say, so it is a good thing that they have changed their name to PTC. Windchill software, made by PTC, costs 300 to 1,000 euros per user per year. It is used by 90 percent of the top 50 automotive companies. It is also used by Streetscooter to communicate with a network of 80 suppliers.
Software systems are becoming more accessible, because automakers, after spending years and millions to customize in-house development programs, have begun switching to standard systems. This is necessary to access their network of suppliers. Open architecture, interfaces and standards have all become part of an industry launched code of conduct for product lifecycle management.
Deutsche Post knew that with increasing e-commerce orders, increased inner city delivery trips would mean increased pollution, unless it switched to zero-emission vehicles.
Electric vehicles are simpler in design than internal combustion engine cars require only 10% of production staff during assembly. This dramatically lowers production costs. Neidlinger adds, “We designed it as a tool. So the fit and finish does not need to be as good as in a passenger car.” The vans are designed to last 16 years, operate six days a week, for 10 hours at a time. Some components need to be particularly robust. Doors are expected to be opened and closed 200 times a day.
The StreetScooter Work introduced in 2015 is equipped with 20.6 kW /h lithium-ion battery packs and is powered by asynchronous electric motors, The peak/continuous output is stated as 48 /38 kW and 130 Nm of torque. The range is said to be 118 km (NEFZ) or 80 km (Deutsche Post approved), but this depends on the load weight, traffic and environmental conditions. This distance is possibly adequate in inner cities, but little short for use in rural areas. Charging to 80 percent takes 4.5 hours, a full charge takes 7 hours, using a Schuko socket with 230 V and 16 A maximum. The load capacity is 710 kg. Internal cargo volume is 4.3 cubic meters. The body structure is made of steel and the exterior panels are made of structural plastics. Its unladen weight is 1 420 kg, with a total weight of 2 130 kg. It is fitted with ABS brakes and has a driver’s airbag. Dimensions L/B/H of the pickup version in mm are: 4 649 / 1 805 / 1 840. Deutsche Post board member Juergen Gerdes told Reuters, “It did not cost billions to develop and produce. You will not believe how cheap it is to make.”
With a vehicle like this Streetscooter Work pickup, I could enter the world of real men, but in an environmentally more sustainable way. Of course, real sustainable people don’t buy vehicles. This vehicle is in my preferred colour. (Photo: http://www.spijkstaal.nl/)
Compared to a Volkswagen Caddy that this vehicle replaces, there is an environmental saving of 3 tons of CO2 per year. With electric motors the total cost of ownership is no more expensive than an equivalent ICE van.
In September 2016, Deutsche Post presented a larger version, designated StreetScooter Work L, which has 8 cubic meters of space to carry up to 150 parcels weighing a total of 1,000 kg.
Enter Ford!
In July 2017 serial production started in Aachen for Work XL, based on a Ford Transit. Batteries are modular, between 30 and 90 kWh, given a range of between 80 and 200 kilometers. The charging time is around three hours at 22 kWh. Plans are to produce 2 500 electric vehicles. This would save 12 500 tonnes of CO² and 4.75 million liters of diesel. The Work XL has 20 cubic meters of cargo space for over 200 parcels.
The production of these vehicles makes Deutsche Post and Ford the largest producer of battery electric medium-heavy delivery vehicles in Europe. “I regard this partnership as a further important impetus for electric mobility in Germany,” says Jürgen Gerdes. “The move underscores Deutsche Post’s innovation leadership, it will relieve the inner cities and improve people’s quality of life, and we will continue to work on completely CO2-neutral logistics!”
Ford is probably the best placed company to work with Deutsche Post. First, the Work does not threaten Ford’s F-series of light and medium duty vehicles, which are the best selling models in both the United States and Canada. It doesn’t threaten the Ranger series either, although if the Work proves successful, there could be lost sales, here. Second, an electric Work would supplement Ford’s offerings, and attract new, electric oriented buyers.
Third, delivery vehicles are especially important for their signal effect. These are seen by the public daily. There are five positive characteristics that the Work can signal: a) range confidence; b) low operating costs; c) durability; d) operator safety; and e) environmental suitability.
I will end this post with an appeal to any readers who have connections with Ford. If Ford wants someone to evaluate the suitability of a Work in Scandinavia I would happily volunteer, especially if I could get the vehicle at reduced price. Yes, there should be seating for three, with each given appropriate airbags. Yes, it should be able to pull a 1 200 kg trailer.
Weiss, Richard (24 March 2017), “Even Germany’s Post Office Is Building an Electric Car”. Bloomberg. “Even Germany’s Post Office Is Building an Electric Car. When Deutsche Post AG couldn’t find a zero-emission delivery van that met its needs, it bought a startup and developed one. Now Europe’s largest postal service may start selling those vehicles—dubbed StreetScooters—to others, showing the potential for disruption in the rapidly changing auto market.”
This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Weeds & Seeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.
Open Source is now 20 years old, having been officially started as a label on 1998-02-03 at a strategy session in the offices of VA Linux Systems, in Mountain View, California.
More information about the open source concept, including a time line, can be found at: https://opensource.net/
This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Seeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.
This post is being written as I contemplate the upcoming meeting of the Inderøy Friends of the Earth annual meeting. This reflection is necessary since I am the group’s chairperson. I have this role due to one, and only one, attribute – an inability to say, “no!”
Attendance at the annual meeting will be low. Of the 65 members, five will probably attend. The other sixty live in fear that if they show up they will be pressed into becoming a member of the board. The five that do show up are rewarded with free coffee and cake.
The Friends of the Earth regard themselves as an environmental organization. Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure what this actually means. Regardless, here is what Wikipedia has to say:
“Friends of the Earth considers environmental issues in their social, political and human rights contexts. Their campaigns stretch beyond the traditional arena of the conservation movement and seek to address the economic and development aspects of sustainability. Originally based largely in North America and Europe, its membership is now heavily weighted toward groups in the developing world.The current campaign priorities of Friends of the Earth internationally are:
economic justice and resisting neoliberalism
forests and biodiversity
food sovereignty
climate justice and energy (Including releasing the song “Love Song To the Earth”)
…
The Friends of the Earth in each country are themselves many-tiered networks reaching from individual activists up to the national pressure group which campaigns for environmentally progressive and sustainable policies. The groups and activists at all levels also carry out educational and research activities.
Friends of the Earth groups are required to act independently of party political, religious or other influences; be open, democratic and non-discriminatory in their internal structures; and be willing to cooperate with other organizations who are working for the same goals.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_of_the_Earth
Part of the challenge of working with this organization is its cumbersome and somewhat dated name: The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature (or in Norwegian: Norges Naturvernforbund). Started in 1914 and then formally organized in 1916 as The National Association for Natural Conservation (Landsforeningen for Naturfredning), the first Chairman was Hjalmar Broch. The society added in Norway to its name in 1936, changed it again in 1951, before its current name was selected in 1962.
Apprentice activist Magnus Strømseth (19) and retired activist Per Flatberg (77) with experience from the Alta dam protest in 1981. (Photo: Unacknowledged photographer, appeared in Putsj 2015)
Per Flatberg was for many years chairperson of the Inderøy local group, and much of the population of Inderøy have expectations that the local organization will follow in his footsteps, with regular well organized protest marches and people shackling themselves to the closest bulldozer. Where alternative views are permitted, the activist is either retrieving plastic from an isolated beach, or is busy destroying invasive species being cultivated in local gardens.
Personally, I have no need for greater intimacy with any form of heavy construction equipment, have enough plastic at home, and do not dare remove any invasive sycamore maple trees (Acer pseudoplatanus) that I know personally, but are considered a threat to the local Norway maple (Acer platanoides). Interestingly, Norway maple is considered an invasive species in 20 North American states and provinces, because of its threat to the sugar maple (Acer saccharum).
At the annual meeting, the five attendees will not only be expecting coffee and cake, but also entertainment. In the past, various approaches have been used to stimulate environmental engagement. Last year, I managed to avoid the meeting by spending four weeks on Madeira. Two years ago there was a video link to speaker at another local group talking about the different types of plastic found on beaches in different localities.
To save money or, more correctly, to divert money to areas I find more interesting, I offered to speak. Another reason for offering to talk, is that it is much easier than having to listen. Originally, I was scheduled to speak about small, quiet, vertical windmills. This does not present any difficulties, except for the fact that I know almost nothing about the subject. So, I decided to expand the topic to include many of the areas I find interesting. To provide greater degrees of freedom, it was retitled, “Workshop Activism”.
To understand what activism involves, I have to resort to using Wikipedia once again: “Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society. Forms of activism range from writing letters to newspapers or to politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes.
One can also express activism through different forms of art (artivism). Daily acts of protest such as not buying clothes from a certain clothing company because they exploit workers is another form of activism. Research has begun to explore how activist groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activism
Workshop activism involves the construction of objects that will make the world a better place, directly or indirectly. Since my estimate is that half of the audience will fall asleep during the talk, only two will actually hear it. I estimate that I can double the number of people learning about this by writing this blog.
Having an academic hour (45 minutes) to disposition, means that I can either choose to bore people by talking about one subject, or try to keep people more or less awake by having eight topics, each lasting for about five-six minutes each. I have opted for the latter. Many are pairs of topics that are introduced together:
Geodesic Domes & Woodworking. Domes, like children, don’t just happen. However, unlike children, domes require forethought and planning. In my days as a prison teacher, I made numerous domes in cardboard, using this video, still one of the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv01yWHo_1o
A Typical DIY geodesic dome (Photo: Northern Homestead)
Making a geodesic dome with a skeleton of wood is a much more difficult process than making it out of cardboard. Once again, Youtube comes to the rescue. There are a lot of different people who provide videos, but Paul Robinson actually knows what he is doing when it comes to building domes. However, his videos require some effort to understand. One of the better ones that eventually explains how to construct the timber frame is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYJbQMi0XW0 Covering the dome with polycarbonate is explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM4R_PNbTEw
Hydroponic Gardening & Arduinos. Much of the material on hydroponic gardening comes from the video, Vertical Farms, featuring the work of Dickson Despommier. There is also a website: http://www.verticalfarm.com/ The practical aspects of this section will deal with connecting Arduinos to sensors (for example, temperature) and actuators (for example, vents). There will be, naturally, references made to real life Arduino driven vertical farms: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/bltrobotics/vertical-hydroponic-farm-44fef9
RUFS = Robotic Urban Farm System
Weather Stations & Annoying Designs. There are a lot of weather stations that one can buy off the shelf. However, these may not be the best solution. My intention is to show that vendor lock-in is a deliberate policy. Here I will be using the example of Torkel Jodalen’s Norwegian weather station located at Jeløy, in Moss. His website annoyingdesigns.com comments on this class of problem, and more especially with Davis weather stations. For those unfortunate enough to have purchased one, a fix is offered in the form of a 43 page pdf document: http://annoyingdesigns.com/meteo/DavisSPI.pdf There won’t be time for any of this at the annual meeting, so I’ll just show the system design found here: http://wx.annoyingdesigns.com/
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is not open-source, and has some questionable corporate arrangements, including one with Oracle. Yes, Oracle is giving schools free weather kits, but these (and only these) are also being connected through the internet to Oracle servers. If your school is not worthy enough to receive a free weather station, then your school is not worthy enough to share data. Who decides if your school is worthy? Yes, Oracle Corporation. See: https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/weather-station-guide/
There are other approaches, as Torkel Jodalen explains, so not all is lost.
A Raspberry Pi HAT (Hardware on Top) used to connect weather sensors. (Photo: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Underwater Robots & Drones. When it comes to underwater robots and drones, I will be trying to spend most of my time talking about underwater robots (which I know a something about). The main source will be Harry Bohm & Vickie Jensen, Build Your Own Underwater Robot and other Wet Projects. The book is now in its 12th edition: http://www.westcoastwords.com/build-your-own-underwater-robot.html
Hopefully by speaking enthusiastically about underwater robots, I will run out of time when it comes to drones (which I know nothing about). Just in case that approach doesn’t work, I plan on spending a few hours learning more about the use of drones to monitor the environment.
Workshop activism involves taking control of your own projects. It is finding ways to serve the environment that is independent of large corporations, and their profit-making agendas. In many ways, it is substituting time for money, but it also involves having fun and learning. The skills that are learned in a workshop won’t go wasted.
The title of this book by Bjørn Gabrielsen has been translated as, I Am Just Going Out in the Shed for a While. It is an adequate title, and despite what I regard as a grammatical error using “in the shed” instead of “to the shed”, it is better than the one used in the book’s German translation: Ich bin dann mal im Keller – Vom letzten Refugium des Mannes (I’m down in the Cellar – A Man’s final Refuge).
The author, Bjørn Gabrielsen, with microphone attached for a video about the book and his storage room. The 2m17s video in Norwegian from 2013 can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmgMQdZRZhw
I’ve given this book five stars on Goodreads, mainly because it says things that should be said. It examines an important aspect of Norwegian culture, that will resonate with, potentially, a third of the population, mostly men. One reason that this book will have fairly broad appear, is due to the variety of sheds discussed, along with related topics. Here is the list:
The first shed, a mausoleum.
The garage
Oshiira (Traditional Japanese storage location for bedding)
Boat house (Naust, in Norwegian)
Woodworking shed, with reference to Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books featuring Emil.
Allotment gardens and their sheds
New York and its mini-storage units
A secret man-cave
Keys, and the art of locking sheds
Basement rooms
Workshops
Extreme sheds,
Writing sheds
Horror sheds
Sheds and women
Waxing sheds (for cross country skiing)
Cycle sheds
Building sheds, which looks at keeping it simple, advice for hopeless idiots, regulations, Pythagoras for totally hopeless idiots, lighting, alternative energy sources, building with tarps, ice fishing sheds.
Unplugged
The accuracy trap
Lets use ice fishing sheds as an example of typical content. Personally, I have no particular interest in ice or fishing. Yet, because of Gabrielsen’s writing talent, one reads with interest and enjoyment, Roger LeCarte’s adventures on Lake Michigan in 1979 when the ice he put his shed on drifted away. The story ends with his burning the shed down to attract attention, and his rescue by the Coast Guard.
Only a small portion of the book actually pertains to my particular interests, woodworking workshops and writing sheds. However, the other sections cause one to reflect, not only about sheds, but about life and how we occupy our time living.
My polite friends tell me that I have no taste. My honest friends tell me that I have bad taste. After this post you can judge for yourself.
There are times when I want to opt for the conventional. Over the past decade I have considered having a vehicle stationed in North America for holiday use. Almost always that vehicle turns out to be a Toyota Matrix.
2004 Toyota Matrix in Solar Yellow (Photo: GTcarlot.com)
Unfortunately, most of the time something that conventional has only limited appeal. Yes, it would be good on holidays, but for me a car is an enlarged business card. When you show it to someone they should gain some insights into your personality. My adrenalin junkie persona seeks thrills elsewhere in the automotive landscape than a Toyota Matrix.
I have true affection for the Renault 4L (pronounced, Quatrelle), in hindsight. During the first two decades the Renault 4 was produced there were always other cars that seized my attention, such as a Karmann-Ghia. That said, the Renault 4 was the very first hatchback ever made, and ultimately 8 million were produced.
Renault 4 (Photo: renault4.plus.com)
Despite rumours to the contrary, I have never had the same affection for the Citroën 2CV, a four seater passenger vehicle. That is because in one’s youth people are attracted to two seater vehicles. A car was primarily a device for transporting up to one girlfriend. As a need for speed and sports cars grew less important, my preferences changed towards more utilitarian vehicles, in particular the Citroën Fourgonette and its successor the Citroën Acadiane.
At this point it should be pointed out that we did acquire an updated version of a Fourgonette, a five-seater Citroën Berlingo Multispace. This is probably my favourite vehicle of all of the cars that I have owned.
Enter Méhari
Hopefully, this is a picture of the Méhari camel. (Photo: Jonas Ardö)
Yes, this is a Méhari camel. Very nice, I’m sure. A fast, saddle camel used in competitions. However, this isn’t what I was thinking of. My mind was more vehicular, the Citroën Méhari.
This is an example of a vehicle as business card. When a Landrover 88 is just a little too upscale and far too reliable, the Citroën Mehari brings motoring down to earth, and then buries it in a hole. The above shows the vehicle as it was made in 1969, complete with plastic composite body.
The two photographs, below, show the Méhari’s interior, and the utterly simple controls used.
No one can dispute the utilitarian nature of this vehicle and its dashboard. While there may be discussions about the lack of safety features including seat belts and head rests, no one can dispute the claim that this vehicle is minimalistic.
Unbelievable as it sounds, Citroën was not alone in producing for this utilitarian market. Competition came in the form of a Mini-Moke, based on a very British Mini 850. Moke is an obscure/ obsolete term for another beast of burden, the donkey.
A 1984 Mini-Moke, made in Portugal. (Photo: DeFacto 2006-10-15 at the Alec Issigonis centenary rally at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, UK)
Fortunately, for both the environment and passenger personal safety, neither the Méhari nor the Mini-Moke are being made.
We are in an age of electric vehicles. The Citroën e-Méhari is a battery electric. It is unavailable in Norway because Citroën Norway refuses to sell them! Their blessing is needed because unlike many other EVs, e-Méhari owners are required to rent battery packs on a monthly basis.
Here is what the e-Méhari’s looked like in 2016.
Citroën e-Méhari (photo: Therese Gjerde)
Citroën e-Méhari with minimalist interior (Photo: Therese Gjerde)
The interior is very attractive, but there are very few safety features. For example, air-bags are entirely missing. The e-Méhari, as depicted here, is an unsafe vehicle. It can be argued that it is immoral to make production vehicles that lack basic safety features known to save lives.
In 2017 the interior was changed to provide a few more controls. One change was replacing a gear lever, with three buttons: forward, neutral and reverse.
2017 Citroën e-Méhari interior with just a few more control buttons.
The 2018 Citroen E-Méhari all-electric is iconically styled. It is no longer just a four-seater cabriolet. While retaining much of its 2017 appearance, there has been a generational leap in terms of equipment, comfort and versatility. The Hard Top version features side windows and an opening rear window. It is beginning to look like a real family car. The new dashboard is new and features body-coloured trim. There are also new seats with Easy Entry access to the back seats. Safety equipment includes steel roof bars and 4 airbags. Designed in Paris and produced in Rennes, it is the first electric vehicle to earn “Origine France Guaranteed” certification. In terms of electrification, it has a more powerful 166 Nm electric motor, and improved range, at 200 km.
2018 e-Méhari interior. While there are several additional controls compared to its predecessor, it is still relatively utilitarian. (Photo: Citroën)
2018 e-Méhari Hard Top with fixed roof and windows. (Photo: Citroën)
2018 Citroën e-Méhari tailgate and 85 litres of hidden storage space (Photo: Citroën)
2018 Citroën e-Méhari in Yellow Submarine (Photo: Citroën)
The e-Méhari is available in white, turquoise, orange and yellow. It is 3810 mm long, 1727 mm wide and 1624 mm high, and has a 2431 mm wheelbase. This contrasts with the original Berlingo which was 4108 mm long, 1719 mm wide and 1810 mm high, and had a 2690 mm wheelbase.
Is this e-Méhari a suitable vehicle for a 70 year old man, who wants a simple car? It has to take him shopping (7 or 13 km away) or to the train station (20 km away) or to one of three other commercial centres (30 or 50 km away in one direction, 35 km in the opposite direction). Would it be more sensible for him to buy a runabout like a Renault Zöe? Unfortunately, I’m not sure that he ready to opt for the conventional.
2018 Renault Zöe, the sensible alternative to a Citroën Méhari, available in white, light grey, dark grey, black, blue and red. No yellow.
I have owned and driven a Mazda 5 since 19 October 2012. That is over five years ago. I still don’t know where all of the controls are located. Worse: I don’t really want to know, or to waste more time learning about the car. The little I have learned these past years, is that there is nothing intuitive about the location of most controls.
I might consider buying a new EV, but the vast number of control mechanisms is disuading me. Here is a photograph of the interior of a Hyundai Kona. I will not even bother to guess what all the controls are for, but will only mention that the steering wheel has 17 control devices, in addition to its ability to steer the vehicle. There are control devices everywhere, and owners have no choice in their placement.
A 2017 Hyundai Kona with control devices everywhere. (Photo: Hyundai)
This situation arises because automotive manufacturers are failing to design cars that meet the real needs of their customers. In plain words, they are not meeting my needs! I have never actually had a conversation with living people where anyone has expressed a need for more controls.
Below, is a photograph showing the maximum level of controlling devices I want in a car. I personally refer to this as representing my personal maximum level of control sophistication.
1966 Volkswagen Typ 1 (Photo: West Coast Restorations)
The controls of a 1966 Volkswagen Typ 1 include: a speedometer and odometer, with warning lights for oil pressure and battery charging status (output exceeds input); an optional fuel gauge; two knobs in the centre of the dashboard where the one closest to the steering wheel is for lights, while the other is for windshield wipers and washer; the radio has two dials, one for selecting channel the other for volume, plus push-buttons with pre-selected channels. Not visible in the photograph is a red button that activates 4-way flashers, and the ignition, where a key can be inserted to turn on, start and turn off the engine. Non-control items on the dashboard include an ashtray and a glove box on the passenger side below a hand hold. However, the button on the glove box is a control device. On the steering wheel there is a horn (silver coloured) and turn signals. Below the dashboard on the left is a device for opening the trunk. You will also see the gearshift lever (4 speed transmission plus reverse), and the emergency brake. Not visible beside the emergency brake on the floor are heating controls. Visible on the floor there are three foot pedals for clutch, brake and accelerator, respectively. On the door is a window winder, the window above this is a “quarter window” that also has its own opening device. There is also a mechanism to open the door that is not in the photograph. This vehicle is identical to one I had between December 1966 and August 1971.
This does not mean that all proposed EVs are as messy as a Hyundai Kona. Honda has a much more austere approach.
One potential difficulty with this Honda, is that the large screen will encourage increasing the number of virtual controls. Instead of spreading over physical space, they will spread over the vehicles virtual space. One advantage of limiting people to a small screen, is that it will be difficult for designers to add additional controls. Instead, they will be forced to focus on the most important controls.
Is there hope? One potential area of hope is the elimination of visual controls altogether, and to replace these with voice control. The advantage is that the vehicle will be at the mercy of the user. Users who master a larger vocabulary of reserved words will be able to have greater control over vehicle minutiae. Those without this mastery will be served defaults. It is a situation that could suit almost everyone.
This weblog post was updated 2021/12/21. to eliminate Weeds from the title. This post formed part of a Needs, Seeds and Weeds website that belonged to my daughter, Shelagh. In addition, other things are also out of date, or my opinions have changed. Apart from the title, updating the text to a block format and other minor formatting changes, the text above this paragraph remains as it was before. Any significant content changes are found below this paragraph.
