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Home > Where To Begin? Just The Usual...

Where To Begin? Just The Usual...

November 14th, 2013 at 04:37 am

This is my past week or so:

**Mom was in a car accident. She is okay; it was minor.

**Mom's cat passed on. This was the cat we were really worried would pass within weeks of my mom's mom passing. SO, we are relieved (and very surprised) that she held on as long as she did. She did go fast and sudden though, so was kind of shocking in that regard. But I still can't believe that cat outlived mine by a solid 8 months. !! (That cat was very sick for many years; ours was only diagnosed with cancer a few weeks before she passed).

It's been a rough year for pets in our family.

**I had a scary medical thing on Monday. It turned out to be "nothing", but you know, you don't know that at the time. More on that later. It's really nothing that exciting, but was just scary when I had no idea what it was.

**I suppose the crappy luck is in my parents' court for now. I am fine and I Was able to be evaluated at a routine medical appointment. I just sped up the appointment to yesterday and so am not out any extra money for the evaluation. (I was worried I'd be sent for an MRI, so glad it worked out the way it did).

I don't like to be cheap with medical stuff, but it has been one heck of a year!!

Oh, anyway, so today was at least a little good news:

Today was the big dental appointment that I was thinking we should see out before booking winter vacation. BUT, it went about as well as it could have. BM had 2 teeth pulled (Expected).

LM may cost a small fortune next year but is currently in "wait and see" mode. I am so relieved to have a 6 month financial reprieve on that. (They did not even pull his baby tooth, which was expected today).

Yes, *only* spending $100 for a routine doctor appointment and $400 at the dentist is GOOD NEWS around here. Lately.

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So that my post is not just whiny and "woe is me" and accidents and death and doctor bills...

**I got called for jury duty and already got excused (As sole breadwinner/non-paid for jury duty). Oh - they called me in for the worst possible week of the entire year as far as work. That was stress I did not need. (I started to worry maybe my excuse was not automatic and I had used it too many times). Let's just say... "Phew!"

**Last year at this time I got some school shorts on clearance for $3.88 per pair. I hit a couple of Targets last night but no such luck. I think I just got lucky last year.

While out, we got a sympathy card for my mom. I bought the kids a couple of shirts on clearance.

**Dh made 21-ingredient-chili, which was raved about on the crockpot365 website. It was interesting... & I mean that in a good way. IT was tasty and different and good. But, I think we will toss that recipe aside as it doesn't fit our preference for "less complicated".

In case you are intrigued:

Text is http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/12/21-ingredient-chili-slow-cooker-recipe.html and Link is
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/12/21-ingredient-chili-...

It just couldn't hold a candle to our very simple/tasty recipe. Much preferred by ALL of us:

Text is http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/corny-chili and Link is
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/corny-chili

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**Last, but not least: Have you heard anything about 3D printers? Dh and my dad are engineer types and so there had been talk about this technology. I saw probably towards the beginning of the year that our library had a 3D printer. O.M.G. I think it took them a while to get staff and support for it though.

So anyway, dh finally went over there to check it out. Now that they have regular hours and information and so on.

HE found a site with designs you can take over to the printer:

Text is http://www.thingiverse.com/ and Link is
http://www.thingiverse.com/

HE found a cup holder kind of design for his new phone (a phone stand to keep in the car cup holder). & so he decided to experiment with that.

Well, it ended up taking about 3.5 hours to print. On a day where the printer was only available for 4 hours. That said, while I was in there, a guy walked in and said, "I promise it won't take 6 hours this time!" So, I guess it happens...

There are several things of similar size that only take 15 minutes or 1/2 hour to print. It seems like it is maybe a little hit and miss.

All of the above said, no one knows about it (the library printer) and it appears to be generally under-utilized.

This thing is a frugie's dream!

Practical applications:

--To make replacement parts to fix items

--To make gifts or toys (or jewelry)

--To make small practical items like key chains. Or cell phone cases.

--Useful for school projects?

The possibilities are probably endless...

Actually, there was a local news story about some young entrepreneurs prototyping their invention at the library.

Here is the 3D printer in action:

8 Responses to “Where To Begin? Just The Usual...”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    1384412748

    I've read about them. Apparently people were making plastic guns on them at one point, but after a few uses they were exploding because the plastic wasn't designed to withstand gun powder. I also saw it on The Big Bang Theory when the guys used one to make real to life action figures of themselves. Seems very novelty item-ish now, but I can see it gaining mainstream use in a few years once people really learn what they can do. Oh, yeah, and the medical industry is using them to print skin for grafts (not using plastic, but stem cells and some sort of solution). They want to get to the point where they can make replacement noses and ears on them as well and possibly organs for transplant that won't be rejected because the base material will come from the recipients stem cells. Very cool if they can do it.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1384435101

    My 8th grade daughter got to use a 3D printer at school this year. It does seem they take a LONG time to print. She brought home a very miniture pounding bench, with the pegs, like we had as kids. She was VERY excited about it. It is cool to think that a library would have one, but you point out great applications for it.

    Glad your health scare, was an not issue in the end.

  3. Looking Forward Says:
    1384441691

    ((Hugs)) to your mom and to you. Glad it was not serious.

    I've seen the 3D printers on TV. So cool your family can use one for free at the library.

  4. Kiki Says:
    1384461138

    I am sorry to hear of the health scare, your moms accident and the passing of the kitty. Difficult week!

    So, um, which local library has the three d printer? Smile

  5. MonkeyMama Says:
    1384463268

    Arden Arcade (Fulton & Marconi?). Google it for the hours? There may be others? I don't know if that is the only one or not.

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1384474355

    I remember at library school one of my professors talked about 3D printers (4 years ago.) It sounded pretty cool. Smile
    Does the library charge anything for using the printer?

  7. MonkeyMama Says:
    1384474709

    Nope - it is free!

  8. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1384483317

    cool!

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