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CNC to the rescue!

I’ve got a big box of very expensive parts that all need to be modified due to a screw-up in a circuit board I had made. Tossing either the boxes or the boards is out of the question. I can fix the cabinets with a file, but doing so takes a lot of time and does some nerve damage to my fingers.

Enter the CNC machine. I bought a 1/32″ end mill and wrote a short program to shave exactly the right amount of metal from each hole that needs fixing. Now I can do one cabinet every 4 minutes, every one of them is perfect, and it’s far less stressful on the operator (me). The only trade-off it that it’s pretty noisy, between the CMC machine and the shop vac to suck up all the metal shavings.

I love this machine… 🙂

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The French Cafe, again

I have to admit that I feel a little guilty. It seems we only dine at French Cafe on our anniversary. We’ve done so the past several anniversaries, and we have really come to regard this place as our “special evening” restaurant.

Really, though, it’s more than that. While the French Cafe is a very upscale and romantic place to eat, it’s also a place we should probably go more often. It’s one of the few places that has been under the same (local) ownership and management now since it opened over 40 years ago. Tony’s (and now Valerie’s) attention to detail and insistence on perfection is what really makes this restaurant.

The food is, as it always has been, truly outstanding. You won’t find a better French onion soup anywhere, and the escargot is good enough to convince you that snails were meant to be eaten. Their menu is varied and updated, and there is always something new to try. It’s elegant without being snooty, accessible without being overly informal. We’ve also noticed that the cost seems to be lagging significantly behind inflation; our dinner bill was lower than expected (possibly due in part to the fact that we skipped drinks and wine).

We had Chateaubriand for two, prepared tableside by an excellent waiter. After dinner was the minor spectacle of seeing our cherries jubilee prepared, followed by the even more enjoyable eating of them. And of course one of the best parts is the after-dinner stroll through the Old Market before returning home (or wherever you’re staying).

You may think French food is for snobs, you may think the French Cafe is expensive. If so, I would respectfully say you’re wrong on both counts. If you haven’t been to the French Cafe, or haven’t been there recently, make it a point to do so, and soon. You deserve it.

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Parker’s Smokehouse

It’s been tough to find really good barbecue around here for a while now. First Tony Roma’s, then Famous Dave’s slid from outstanding to mediocre to not-wort-it. Dickie’s looked promising, but I suspect their obscure location and high prices were what led to their early demise. I haven’t been to McKenna’s in recent years, so we’ll have to try them again some time. But until then…. we’ve been to Parker’s a few times now, and the food has been uniformly outstanding. If you like BBQ, this is the place to go! There are three locations that we know of — Nebraska City, Lincoln and the one we’ve been to, between Ashland and Greenwood on Highway 6. It’s not too much of a drive from Omaha, a nice unhurried run down 6 from Gretna.

The wait staff is knowledgeable about their menu and the various sauces. The ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork have all been excellent. What really surprised me was the catfish. Many places serve their catfish cooked beyond death, a heavily cornbreaded bit of fishy leather. No so Parker’s! The catfish was tender, juicy and some of the best I’ve had anywhere that I can recall (the absolute best had to be from Smoky Bones). They have half a dozen sauces that your waiter or waitress will walk you through, with some potato wedges for sampling them. The sauces range from pretty good to truly excellent. None are blazing hot, but a couple do bring a reasonable level of spiciness.

The atmosphere is very informal, but not the throwing-biscuits-at-you kind. They play decent music, though the place is loud enough most of the time it’s just background noise. It’s not objectionably noisy; you can still carry on a conversation with others at your table. Just don’t expect to eavesdrop on the next table over. Prices are moderate and reasonable, portions are average to generous, appetizers are pretty good. They do carry-out as well, though it’s a bit of a drive (or ride)… so you’ll probably want to grab a table and enjoy it hot.

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Class actions

I got a post card in the mail today about yet another class action lawsuit.  This time it’s Sirius XM.  Apparently some people (probably former XM customers) were upset that Sirius bought XM, then raised their prices.  Well, yeah.  It’s a time honored tradition.  You buy up your competition, become king of the hill, and charge what you want.  Or sometimes you buy up your competition because they were close to going under anyway, and raise your prices so you don’t follow them down the hole.  So of course they got sued for anti-trust violations, and agreed to a settlement.

Naturally the customers who were affected got…  nothing, squat, dick.  Not that I care; it didn’t affect me in the slightest.  The settlement terms basically say that groups of customers can renew their subscriptions at the current rate, people who dropped their subscription can renew without a reactivation fee, and no one gets any cash.  Except, of course, the lawyers who will without a shadow of doubt get their hefty portion of the estimated $180 million in settlement valuation.  And of course Sirius XM might possibly get a bunch of subscribers back.  It’s like the Blockbuster class action settlements…  millions of people got coupons for a buck or two, to be used the next time they rented from Blockbuster.  I bet they (Blockbuster) really felt the sting from that!

What an incredible victory for the consumer.  Or maybe everyone but the consumer.  Class action lawsuits seem to be a are pretty good business to be in if you’re a lawyer, and if you’re a cagey defendant you can twist it around to your advantage.  In the end the only people who get screwed are the customers, who have to bear the cost of the whole sideshow.

 

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The Drover

Last night I had the opportunity to have dinner at The Drover (off 72nd & Mercy Rd) for the first time in years.

If you have never tried the steak at The Drover, you really do owe it to yourself to go there.  The decor hasn’t changed much since the 60’s, but it’s clean and well maintained.  I had the 14 ounce whiskey ribeye, which honestly was about twice what I should have.  The steak was easily as good as any I’ve had outside of a Ruth’s Chris.  In hindsight, the whiskey filet would have been a better choice.

The salad bar is the original item installed in 1968, one of the first in Omaha according to the attached plaque.  It’s probably the oldest now, and is about what you would expect in an Omaha steak house.  Good stuff, but Lisa’s not going to find her Romaine and spinach there.

We had a plate of bacon wrapped shrimp as appetizers, which were excellent.  The grilled asparagus was OK, nothing spectacular, I’ve made better.  Overall, The Drover still hangs in there with their signature and rightly famous whiskey marinated steaks.  The rest of the menu isn’t spectacular, but doesn’t disappoint either.  Prices are moderate to a bit high — $34 or so for my steak, with some lower priced items.  I heard no complaints from anyone in our party of 8.

 

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Too much workie, not enough play, and Spring harvest?

Been spending WAY too much time indoors, especially in the basement.  Working on stuff, creating more work, and most of all, definitely NOT getting the bike (either one!) out for its much needed exercise.  That’s OK, though…  this is temporary, I keep telling myself.  Got a few more weeks of hard work, then I can relax at least a little and enjoy the summer.  All of this work will allow us to enjoy some much needed and long awaited leisure time, especially next winter when we need it most!

I’ve been watching the progress of our apricot tree this Spring.  For the first time in a couple of years now, the weather has not been too cold, too wet or too generally crappy — and we have apricots!  Lots and lots of them.  Right now they’re green and about the size of nickels and quarters.  Need to get some bug spray on them, as I can already see some have little nibbles taken out of the skins.  I’d hate to lose them all to bugs!

Last year we had a good number of apples, but nearly every single one was eaten by insects.  The worst was late in the year when they ripened, they were besieged by wasps.  Seriously, who knew wasps like apples?  I was knocking down the empty shells of apples, and watching a dozen or so big fat wasps come out through holes in the skin.  That won’t be a problem this year.  I’m going to remove the buds from the tree and let it spend this year growing instead of producing fruit, then in the fall I’ll lop off the lower branches.  It’s getting to be a pain in the ass to mow around.  I may prune up the apricot tree as well after this year.  I don’t know how long it will last, though; it’s a little too close to a big sugar maple and I’m afraid  the maple is about to kill it off.

Hmmm…  maple trees…  maple syrup, maybe…  ?

 

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First parts coming off the CNC machine

Last night I successfully ran my first “real” jobs on the CNC.  One was a jig to hold a number of PIcoKeyer-Plus cabinet end panels, which came out perfectly.  Then I used that to actually mill an end panel, which also worked exactly as I had it set up to do.  Today I’ll run a batch of end panels, and set up a jig to drill tiny speaker grilles in the cabinet tops.

It’s almost scary how perfectly the stuff is coming out.  I’m still learning about tool selection.  For example, I assumed a 4-flute end mill would be best for doing the cabinet because it will produce a smooth finish.  However, I think a 2-flute would be better.  I’m also learning how much material can be removed, and how fast, to get the best results.  Speed control for the spindle would be good, but for now I’ll settle for just getting the stuff done!

 

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Osama goes to his reward

We got the news last night that the asshole Osama bin Laden was finally put down by a team of Navy SEALs.  One can only hope he’s enjoying the rewards of his long and colorful life.  Personally I’d love to think our Sikh friends are right, and that he can be reincarnated as a pig — to be eaten by a bunch of Russian army veterans at a summer BBQ.

I guess now there are Muslim “scholars” bitching and whining about how and where he was buried — namely at sea, off the deck of the USS Carl Vinson.  I’m sure the Navy made certain that proper Islamic burial procedures were observed; after all, we’re not a bunch of murdering bastards with no regard for humanity, and the Navy does love tradition.  But in short, we killed the piece of shit, we get to decide where his ass gets dumped.  It’s that simple.  You wanted to see the fucker buried on land, you should have shot him yourself.

Enjoy the ride, Osama…  burn in hell, you murdering piece of shit.  With any luck your friends will join you in short order.

 

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Update on the CNC mill

I’ve now spent a few days’ worth of free time working on getting the CNC mill set up, tested and adjusted. I finally got access to the more useful forums at Lumenlab’s web site, so I have some additional measurements, adjustments and run-in to do. All in all, by the time I finally get the spindle and am able to do some real work, I should have things set up pretty well.

I’ve still got some stuff to do with getting the wiring cleaned up, and I want to get the motor driver board and power supply mounted into the controller PC case. For the time being, though, everything is going well. With e Dremel flex head temporarily and not-too-solidly clamped to the tool head, I was able to do some test cuts on a scarp 2×4 and will do some more testing after adjusting for backlash and tramming (squaring).

I’ve got a LOT of potential projects lined up. Of course the primary use for the short term will be making the holes for PicoKeyer and other cabinets. I want to make a tabletop stand.cabinet for my Nixie tube clock. I want to do some engraving and see how well it does with relief carving in wood, with the idea that I might be able to make some plaques and decorations. There will be some bits and pieces for the Harley also, starting with new bushings for the removable tour pack kit.

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Grilled Chicken-Bacon-Avocado Quesadillas

  • 3-4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 white or yellow onions
  • 2-3 Bell peppers
  • 3 ripe avocados, sliced
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, diced
  • Shredded Mexican cheese mix, 1 bag
  • Flour tortillas

I made these on the grill last night. There was some room for improvement, as always, but I thought they turned out OK. The tough part is the timing, especially when it’s 45 degrees and windy – stuff cools off fast.

I started with four large boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I sliced partway through the chicken, then sprinkled with cilantro and lime pepper and doused them liberally with Italian dressing. They marinated in the fridge for a few hours. Cut the onions and peppers into slices, then toss them in a bowl with some olive oil, a little salt and fresh ground pepper.

After marinating, grill the chicken breasts. I used a perforated veggie grilling pan to grill the sliced onions and bell peppers. Nothing is as good as veggies grilled in olive oil! When the chicken is done, slice it and cut the slices into fairly small chunks. Put the tortillas on the grill. Sprinkle shredded cheese, followed by the chicken and veggies on one half. Flip the other half over to cover, grill until it’s hot and starting to brown. Turn the quesadilla over and finish grilling. We used uncooked flour tortillas; if you use the cooked ones the timing is way less critical. After grilling add the diced tomato and avocado slices, then cut into quarters and serve.