{"id":1070,"date":"2019-01-19T06:56:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T11:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scope-eye.net\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2019-01-24T16:47:43","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T21:47:43","slug":"i-did-not-have-the-place-up-and-running-in-a-week-or-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/?p=1070","title":{"rendered":"I did not have the place up and running in a week or so."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my last post, way back in March, I briefly relayed the story of the basement flood that destroyed a bunch of stuff in my old work room, most notably a few significant pieces of gear like my computer&#8217;s UPS and my air compressor. I floated the rather optimistic projection that I could have the place &#8220;up and running in a week or so&#8221; &#8211; instead the process of recovering from that incident has dragged on for most of a year. But a lot has changed, too. I&#8217;ll talk a bit about where my 2018 went and then delve into my most recent efforts at setting up my new workspace.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nThe flood was a really miserable experience for me. The power outage started as a curious inconvenience but that turned to horror when I ventured into the basement for something: Splash! Ankle-deep in freezing cold water. Horrified at the thought of my hobby stuff getting destroyed in the flood, over the next couple of days I frantically salvaged as much stuff as I could out of the water, and out of positions where the water might reach. Some decal sheets floated around, their markings floating away and attaching themselves to whatever surfaces they encountered. I removed my computer from the room before the water could reach it but my UPS was sitting on the floor waterlogged. My space tended to be kind of a mess so a lot of stuff had been on the floor, loose or in boxes. A lot of my old hobby magazines were destroyed, a lot of metal tools wound up filthy and corroded. Basically the whole thing sucked. Before the flood I was already feeling a bit low with regard to the hobby, being fresh off a failed Halloween project and a SCGMC trip without much of anything to show &#8211; afterward it was worse.<\/p>\n<p>Once the power was back and the sump pump drained the basement water, the immediate crisis was over but I had loads of my stuff that had been soaked, and was either in imminent danger of being destroyed (by mold, etc.) or destroyed already. I hired a guy to come dry out the room, hoping to avoid a serious mold issue there, and tried to deal with all the stuff &#8211; but I kind of hit my limit, I couldn&#8217;t keep dealing with the stuff non-stop. Somewhere around that point, I swore off using basement space for my hobby stuff and started working on actually moving my workspace to the attic.<\/p>\n<p>The attic space was smaller than the basement space I&#8217;d been using as my hobby area: about 20&#8242; x 10&#8242;, rather than the roughly 18&#8242; x 13&#8242; of the basement &#8211; but most critically it had low, sloped ceilings, meaning the wall space was mostly unusable. The space had also been earmarked long ago as a playroom for my daughter, so it was still completely full of toys. Despite the challenges of the space I spent a considerable amount of time coming up with a plan for how I could use it &#8211; tables wedged under the low ceilings, custom bookshelves to fit into the irregular space, etc.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_prototype_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_prototype_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I adopted this plan for the attic space: work tables in the North-West corner, a lounge space filling the South end, everything else jammed in wherever I could squeeze it in. The floor areas marked in pink are the parts of the room where the ceiling is high enough to stand.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_prototype_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_prototype_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"This render of one of my attic layouts gives a sense of the very limited space: For instance, my computer desk is against the wall, but there's no room for a monitor on top of it.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_attic_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The entrance to the attic space had no door. I tried to get someone to install one for me, but I kept getting ghosted by the handyman services I spoke to about it.\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Despite it all I think the space maybe could have worked, but those plans were more or less derailed when, needing more family space, we moved to a new house. I laid claim to one of the new house&#8217;s bedrooms for use as a workspace. This space was another step back in terms of floor space: about 12&#8242; x 13&#8242;, but with much higher ceilings than the spaces I&#8217;d been working with previously.<\/p>\n<p>However a fresh start with a new spae also meant starting from square 1 for a lot of fairly basic needs. The first problem was light: the room had no light fixtures built in, so I had to use a floor lamp. The floor lamp didn&#8217;t really provide enough light, so the space was constantly too dark. I found some compact LED lighting fixtures and set them up. For me this was a challenging project, and it dragged on for some time.<br \/>\n<a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The room prior to the installation of the lighting fixtures\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Marking out the planned positions for the lights\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Completing the physical installation of the light\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_4.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_4_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Above the ceiling, there was insulation to contend with, and the install locations overlapped the beams a bit. Fortunately with the lights I used this was not a problem.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_5.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_5_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Once the lights were in place I had to wire them together. I used this fish tape to thread wire through from one light to the next.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_6.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_6_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"As a temporary fix to power the lights I dropped a cord out of the ceiling and plugged it into a wall outlet. This meant I finally had light in the space!\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_7.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_7_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"It was a bit complicated but after some work I managed to get the fish tape from the attic down to the light switch\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_8.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_8_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Using the fish tape I threaded a new wire up through the wall, and then through the ceiling to the lights.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_9.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_9_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I set to work wiring up the end at the switch...\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_10.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_10_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"To finish the connections safely I turned off the electricity to the room. This unfortunately meant I was in the dark again, and had to do the job more or less one-handed as the other hand held the flashlight.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_11.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_11_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Rewiring the light switch was a bit of a mess due to the old adhesive tape covering the joints\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_13.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_13_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With everything wired up, the light fixture didn't sit quite right...\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_14.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_14_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"This outlet was previously switched by the light switch. With the light switch now controlling ceiling fixtures I wanted to rewire the outlet to be always-on.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_15.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_15_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"At last, the final bits of wiring...\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_16.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_16_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Success!\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_17.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_lights_17_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"And finally, a permanent solution to the room's lighting problem!\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The lighting issue held up virtually all other work on the space. I just couldn&#8217;t do anything if I couldn&#8217;t see what I was doing. But with that solved, moving in my peg-board became a pretty urgent requirement. I store a lot of my tools and supplies on the peg-board, so having it in place was very important as it provided me a way to bring those supplies over from the old house without them totally overwhelming the new place with clutter.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"My pegboard in the old basement space - it's a bit rare to see the design I painted on it as usually it's covered up by all the stuff. Note the pegboard is a bit warped because of the way I mounted it here.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"This time around I decided to use strips of wood rather than nylon spacers to mount the pegboard, to reduce the warping problem and provide better support. This is the first of the backing strips.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_pegboard_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Pegboard installed in the new workroom!\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The next project I started was to run a wired ethernet line from the workroom to our router. I&#8217;m a big believer in using wired networking where possible: it&#8217;s generally faster, and fundamentally more reliable than wireless. Also, my desktop PC actually doesn&#8217;t have a wireless card, so without wired ethernet, it&#8217;s off the network. This machine has been off the network for most of the past year, since the flood, so I&#8217;m anxious to get it back online again. This project has been a bit tougher in some ways than the lighting work, because the port I&#8217;m installing will be on an exterior wall, and the site in the attic where I can access this area of the wall is very cramped under the slope of the roof. This job isn&#8217;t done yet, but I have got my wire from the work room up into the attic. From there it needs to be threaded through the ceiling to a point where it can get a fairly straight shot down to the basement and garage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"For some reason stud finders don't seem to work too well in these walls, so it was hard to find an appropriate site for the network jack. Eventually I threw caution to the wind and cut a hole in the wall, trusting that I'd be able to make it work.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I had a hell of a time getting the fish tape down from the attic into the workroom through this hole. For a while I was worried that I'd drilled the hole at the wrong point at the top of the wall, but eventually the fish tape just helpfully popped through.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_network_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"From here, I attached the network cable to the fish tape and ran it up to the attic - and this is where it gets real dumb. I had to thread most of that 100 foot spool up through the wall. I should have just threaded it down through the wall, save some work.\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Finally, I&#8217;ve decided to incorporate a new feature into this work room &#8211; a small computer console at the work table. This could be used for various purposes like viewing instructions or reference photos, watching videos, or possibly for livestreaming. The plan for now is to use a Raspberry Pi, however, so its computing resources will be somewhat modest. I have other plans for this thing as well &#8211; I&#8217;ll go into more detail on those plans as they start to materialize. For now, I&#8217;m starting with a dirt-cheap monitor arm: I want the display and input devices to be accessible from either the painting station or the building station, so it was important to choose an install location that would have that kind of access, but also be mostly out of the way of the tools and storage at those stations.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"This is the monitor arm I bought - it's really cheap but for this job it should be quite adequate\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I start by planning out the install location, and trying to get a feel for how it'll be to work with the console at this location\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"...I also want to see where the display will sit when the arm is folded against the wall.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_4.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_4_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Based on the earlier experimentation I planned out where the mounting screws should go.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_5.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_5_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Now a sanity check - stud finders seem very unreliable in this room so I wanted to make sure the stud was really there before I drilled any big holes.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_6.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_6_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With the arm mounted, I tested out the install location with one of my monitors. The monitor I'll actually be using here hasn't arrived yet - it will be slightly smaller.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_7.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_7_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Testing interaction with the console while at the build station\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_8.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_8_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Testing interaction with the console while at the paint station\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_9.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_9_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Depending on which way you fold the arm, the monitor winds up either to the left or to the right of the screw location when it's flat against the wall. I wanted to see how the left position would work out (it conflicts with the peg board a bit but it works...)\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_10.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_10_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"When the monitor is settled in the right-side position, it neatly dodges the pegboard and the outlet.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_11.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_monitor_arm_11_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With testing done, the monitor is removed. When the new monitor arrives I'll install it on the arm.\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Finally, here&#8217;s a quick look around the room as it is now:<br \/>\n<a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The South-East corner includes the entrance and my display case with all my old builds\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The futon is a bit of an indulgence in a small space like this but I felt it was worth having an area where I could take a more relaxed approach to building. Since the build table isn't quite operational yet, the coffee table is where I do most of my building right now.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Space is at a premium here, the North-East corner contains a fair chunk of my kit storage.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_4.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_4_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The North wall has the computer desk\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_5.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_5_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"North-West corner is more storage\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_6.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_6_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The West wall has my bookcase and my CRT TV. I had wanted a CRT for gaming and was excited when I found this one.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_7.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_7_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"South-West corner has the painting station\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_8.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/workroom\/20190119_new_workroom_tour_8_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The South wall holds the build station, the peg-board, and most of my tools\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been a tough couple of years for me in the hobby, sometimes feeling like I&#8217;d totally lost my mojo or that my lofty goals might really just be out of my reach, and last year&#8217;s setbacks didn&#8217;t help. However I&#8217;m starting to feel that it&#8217;s time I broke out of that rut, let those goals get a bit lofty again and make some interesting things happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my last post, way back in March, I briefly relayed the story of the basement flood that destroyed a bunch of stuff in my old work room, most notably a few significant pieces of gear like my computer&#8217;s UPS and my air compressor. I floated the rather optimistic projection that I could have the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[83],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1082,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions\/1082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}