Robot Politics

Prototyped a motorized guillotine earring today, with tape and paper clips and solder and a hijacked gamepad emulator [vid 1]. I’m pretty happy with it as a proof of concept – it’s ugly but it does what I want and works even in the current full jank mode. I did sacrifice parts of the wood framework ¹There was a medium amount of destruction in today’s build. Beside the broken wood there was a point at which the action was less guillotine and more catapult – it launched the blade a couple of feet when you pressed the button. Hence the plastic safety blade, at least while I’m testing. but that motivated me to do what I sort of always intended – model a similar part for printing. I don’t want to build this out of tiny bent wires and careful drilling, I want a robot to build it for me after I have carefully described it. That will make it much easier to assemble/prettier and will let me make more than one without going crazy. So good progess, and a good HA4H ²Shanda also did some family art during HA4H but neglected to take pictures, so you’ll have to wait to see that..

This week’s day job accomplishments peaked on Tuesday. Which is generally fine. I’ve got to get through a little SR work to make next week easy to swallow, but I’m sufficiently up-to-date on everything even with a couple of days of neglect, so long as I get an update in tomorrow. I think that and maybe a grocery run will be plenty of work for tomorrow.

I’ve got a piece of writing about my relation to systematic help, or medical care or maybe to society in general. But it requires adaptation to this audience, and re-work still feels tricky to me. I am going to actually start this process, but I’m also going to pick a time when I can afford to burn some uncomfortable attention and not try to force it out when I’m already tired and restless. So Saturday? That should be plausible.

Therapy this week was in part calming my therapist about the safety of death, after I shared part of Broken Things with them. I’m sure it triggered their suicide suspicions, and made them want to be diligent. Suicidality is made accurate in the broad sense, but also not different than anytime since I was 5 and so probably not something that requires different attention than it had last week or last year. Then I did that thing that Dave calls the “Cure for Hope” in which I can make anyone feel depressed about the world they live in, not just distantly, but directly and hopelessly. I told them this would happen and they asked anyway, like it wouldn’t happen to them. Spoiler – it made them sad and uncomfortable, like I claimed it would, which set the perfect mood for effective therapy.

I’m told that the last of my grandparents is dead, as of a few days ago. That has essentially no direct impact on me, and the global death with make it easy to keep Ben from feeling obligated to travel. I suspect I will have to talk to Pete at some point ³I’m going to see if not talking at all is an option, but in the past he has hurt Ben, stolen money, and otherwise inserted himself in ways intended to exert control. I assume that coercive behavior will continue if he finds an opportunity. What better way to cope with your fear of death and abandonment than to order the peasants to enact your … Continue reading, but hopefully I can wait long enough for Toddler Pete to be winding down. He has no emotional control even under good conditions and this will make him extra crazy. I think he’s likely the next to go (assuming Ben outlives him) so this might be the last time I have to put up with it.

ZiB

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Sent from a phone.

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