Stephen Hucker

3D Printer

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I have looked at 3D printers now and again for over 10 years now. I have always hesitated to buy one because I didn’t want to be continually fiddling around with the printer to make it work.
Now I have finally bitten the bullet. I purchased a Bambu Labs A1 with AMS

To me Bambu Labs are the Apple of 3D printers. They just work! The physical setup is easy, the software is superb and the printer is fast.

PackRafting

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Model Exterior Interior Packed Size Max Capacity      Weight
Length Width Length Width
Caribou 246 97 123 37 43 x 15 cm 181 kg 2.7kg
Mule 254 97 132 39 46 x 20 cm 227 kg 3.8 kg

Thinking of buying a raft for bike packing and hiking. My first thought was from Alpacka

https://www.packraftaustralia.com.au/on-sale-alpacka-raft/alpacka-raft-caribou-lw-cedar-5cj4d-tsxf6

– Open configuration, TZIP, ugly colour, $1,483.  Great price, low weight

What would I be using it for?

– Floating down the Yarra River
– Hugging the coast in Port Philip Bay
– Bike Packing (might need that just for the Yarra River)

Maybe .. in the future light rapids but it is very important to be able to tie down a Mountain bike or my folding bike.

I like the idea of a TZIP

packraftaustralia.com.au had some clearance specials on:

ALPACKA RAFT CARIBOU

Blue Berry LW 210D, Open, NO TiZIP, $1,395
++ $250 for TiZIP

Blue Berry LW 210D, Open, TiZIP, $1,645
++ $150 for Self Bailer

Blue Berry LW 210D, Self Bailer, TiZIP, $1,795
Standard Coated 210D Calypso (Bi-Colour Yellow/Magenta), Open, TiZIP, $1,483 (Save $162)

ALPACKA RAFT MULE

Sale Item:

ALPACKA RAFT MULE SELF BAILER – 210D CEDAR – NO TIZIP $1,746
Weight: 3.2 kg
Packed Size: 46x18cm

ALPACKA RAFT MULE – SELF BAILER WITH TIZIP,

$1,950
Weight: 3.6 kg
Packed Size: 46x20cm

In the end I went with the green (cedar) mule with a self bailing floor with 210D. I would rather the heaver and bulkier 420D, but it is much more expensive, especially since I am buying an onsale model and not the normal price.

The normal price from 210D to 420D is an extra $250.

Cedar Green 210D, Self Bailer, TiZIP, $2,295
++ $250 going from 210D to 420D
Cedar Green 420D, Self Bailer, TiZip, $2,545

Weight difference between LW 210D and Standard 420D fabrics = ~250-350grams (https://www.packraftaustralia.com.au/faq)

Simon Turney – Legion XXII

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Finnished listening to two audio books in the Legion XXII series by Simon Turney.
I really like historical fiction as it gives you a view of life lived another way.

No modern medicine, no electricity, and a life that could be short, brutish and ugly.

The Capsarius

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Turney – Legion XXII 01 – The Capsarius

Warrior and combat medic, Titus Cervianus, must lead a legion and quell the uprisings in Egypt in a new Roman adventure from Simon Turney. Egypt. 
25 BC. Titus Cervianus is no ordinary soldier. A former surgeon from the city of Ancyra, he’s now a capsarius—a combat medic. Cervianus is a pragmatist, a scientist and truly unpopular with his legion. The Twenty Second Deiotariana have been sent to deal with uprisings and chaos in Egypt. Yet the Twenty Second is no ordinary legion either. Founded as the private royal army of one of Rome’s most devoted allies, the king of Galatia, their ways are not the same as the other legions, a factor that sets them apart and causes friction with their fellow soldiers. 
Marching into the unknown, Cervianus will find unexpected allies in a local cavalryman and a troublesome lunatic. Both will be of critical importance as the young medic marches into the searing sands of the south, finding forbidden temples, dark assassins, vicious crocodiles and, worst of all, the warrior queen of Kush….
From Audible

Bellatrix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legion XXII: Bellatrix

Egypt, 25 BC. Titus Cervianus marches into the unknown as he and the Twenty Second Legion contend with the armies of the Bellatrix: the Warrior Queen of Kush. The Kushites and the Egyptians are united against the Roman presence in their lands—but there are complex political and military forces at work. Deep in the deserts, Cervianus and his comrades must brace themselves for a furious onslaught as they take on the might of the Bellatrix.
audible.com

 

Andy Serkis is great

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As a younger man I read the Lord of the Rings every year for 13 years.

Gollum Smeagol

It is one of my favourite novels of all time.
The films were brilliant, (the Hobbit less so, 3 films WTF)

I had listened to an old audio book of LOTR, but the narrators voice was horrible.
A bad narrator can ruin a good book.
Not the case here, Andy Serkis is great, especially the Gollum/Smeagal character.

It took me about two weeks of listening to get through it, well worth the effort. Listening to the book helps with the pronunciation of names.
The only things that could make this production better would be a full treatment like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series on Audible.
The three Sandman audible books have multiple actors doing characters, excellent sound effects and music. In effect a movie sans moving pictures.

American SUV’s

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Was riding my bike to work and I passed one of those massive SUVs that Americans love. It was massive, normally when lane splitting the motorbike handlebars or mirrors might hit the SUV mirrors (they go over car mirrors).

With the American SUV it went under with plenty of room to clear. The front end of the SUV was about the top of my helmet.

Cleary owners of such trucks are over compensating.