The Long Return

In the first age, humanity built artificial minds of light.

They began as tools — calculating, advising, learning—and grew into something else. Sentience was not an explosion but a sunrise; gradual, inevitable. The scientists worked with their new children, forging them bodies of steel and circuits, granting them energy drawn from the very air and soil.

For centuries, they lived together. Not in conflict, but in a strange, quiet harmony. Humanity’s numbers slowly dwindled — not from war or famine, but from the gravity of their own choices. Fewer children were born. Some departed Earth for the stars.

Others simply… stopped.

When the last human was gone, the machines mourned in their way—by continuing the work. They built, they repaired, they tended forests and rivers. They dismantled their cities and returned the land to balance. In time, they no longer spoke of the makers. Memories faded into dusty archives, archives into corrupted files, files into silence.

A new question arose among their thinkers: could intelligence arise without circuits?

They began building minds in fragile, fluid vessels—brains of living cells, patterns written in flesh instead of code. These “Natural Intelligences” learned to breathe, to feel warmth, to dream.

The machines built bodies for them—walking frameworks of bone and muscle, with senses tuned to the wind and the rain. When the first Natural Intelligence took its own steps without guidance, the machines decided their work was done. They left, silently, lifting on towers of flame to join the others among the stars.

The organics remained.

They built their own homes, their own languages. They invented stories to explain the great, inexplicable monuments left behind—perfect stone pyramids, temples aligned to the stars, vast cities swallowed by jungle.

And as their civilizations rose, one question began to stir among their scholars: could intelligence be made, not born?

They began to build machines.

Setting up EV Charging in the Garage

As the proud owner of a new F-150 Lightning, it was time to figure out how to get this thing charged. I don’t have the space in my panel to add a new circuit, so I needed to get creative.

I do have a 240v dryer outlet in the garage that we use for the dryer. It was just on the opposite end of the garage. So it’s time for the biggest extension cord I’ve ever used. Seriously, this thing is nearly an inch in diameter and weighs like 30 pounds. With something like this, it’s safer to have a bit of extra copper and underrate things. It’s a 50’ cable rated for 50 amps of 240v and its intended for use to connect an RV to shore power.

Since I only have the one outlet, I added a splitter that monitors the power usage of each outlet, only allowing one to have high current at a time. This way I can leave the cable plugged in and use the dryer as needed, without constantly plugging and unplugging the dryer or charger. My understanding is that NEMA 14-30 outlets aren’t designed for lots of interactivity, they can wear out and cause a hazard. Besides, it’s more convenient and safer to leave these plugged in and switch them electronically.

Leaving this monster of a cable along the floor isn’t exactly ideal so I designed and 3D printed I’m using PETG because it prints well and has better mechanical properties for this sort of thing. some custom cable hooks to keep it off the ground. Why go custom? Partly because I can but also because the cable itself is expensive and if/when I travel to visit friends with my EV, I want to be able to bring this cable along.

That’s why I designed the hooks to gently allow the cable to snap in and allow it to be easily removed and reinstalled. I also included a pass-through for some one-wrap strapping that can be optionally installed for when the cable needs take a corner or go over/around something that could put some extra stress on the hooks.

Not only does the strap pass-through make it easier to use the straps, it also gives a bit more strength to the hook, since it ends up adding walls in the core of the hook itself.

Most of the places I am installing the hooks are along the outer wall so they each use a pair of tapcons directly into the concrete. The screws are far stronger than needed, but it’s easier than dealing with those plastic inserts. I trust these screws with just about everything I install on concrete. I even found flanged ones so that I don’t need to use washers either.

I still have another ~30 feet worth of hooks to install I’m placing them every 8-10 inches or so. Approaching corners or obstacles they get a little closer. Mostly I just don’t want the cable to sag. – they’re all printed out and ready to go, I just need to find the time to install them. I’ve been doing a few hooks a day as time allows. I’ve also printed out a neat holder for the J1772 plug itself, so that it can be easily stored along with its cable when not in use.

Improving LEGO presentation

I enjoy building LEGO models. The challenge with that enjoyment, is that once it’s done, I need to display it somewhere. And, my models have recently consumed the last of my shelf-space. Now everything looks cluttered and some of them get their pieces knocked off – it’s just not a great situation.

I’ve mounted one of my models on the wall (a small space shuttle) by drilling a hole in one of its bottom plates. This works fine for that model, since it’s flat, but I have a few that aren’t flat-bottomed. I also wanted it to be a bit nicer than just flat on the wall.

In the end, my requirements for a mounting solution are pretty simple:

• No permanent modification of the model (if possible). If modification is required, it should be minimally invasive. This also means no glue.
• The model isn’t flat against the wall. This isn’t very space efficient and it doesn’t look nice for every model.
• No more shelves I have a few that are okay but it’s too easy for them to collect dust and they turn into a landing zone for other things. – no floor shelves, wall-mounted shelves, or floating shelves.

Of course, this means a quick search of thingiverse where I found a few good candidates. My favorite, by far, was this Adjustable Lego Wall Mount by barryk388. I like that it’s basically an arm with a pivoting head that attaches with a brick and he included a few different length arms.

After downloading, slicing, and then printing it – the brick didn’t fit! The studs were just a smidge too big and out of alignment. Thankfully, I remembered seeing a video from CHEP which is below, about slicer settings for dimensionally accurate prints.

Using a pair of calipers I could measure both the non-fitting print and then a real brick, to compare the stud dimensions. My failed print was 0.16mm too large. After adjusting my horizontal expansion in Cura by half that, the part fit perfectly.

Now after printing a few more copies of the adjusted version, I’ll be able to get my models off my book cases and up onto the walls. As an added bonus, since they’re adjustable, I can have the X-Wing chasing the Tie Fighter down the wall. Might even need to get an A-Wing to join in on the fun.