Happy Saturday on this last Saturday of October. Yep, this time next week, it will be November. Let’s hope the Blue Jays have wrapped up the World Series by then. I like November — it’s when I was born. I got to the bar ahead of David this week, but he’s strolling in now. We’ll have our beverages, maybe a bite to eat, and we’ll see if we can crack Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “alarm.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb or an adverb or an adjective, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
SoCS by Linda G. Hill
Given all the options, we should be good to go.
“Good afternoon, David. Curley, mix, pour, distribute, whatever it is you do to give my friend a John Howell’s Special. And don’t forget the cherries.”
“Coming right up, Dan.”
“Look at you, already here, already drinking a beer and volunteering to pay. What has you in such a good mood my young friend?”
“AI.”
“Don’t tell me. You’re letting AI write your next book. Curley, sound the alarm!”
“Calm down, David. It’s nothing like that, I let AI do some programming for me.”
“Really? I thought you liked the hands-on approach to stuff like that.”
“Speaking of hands-on, here you go, David. A glass of bourbon, a snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice for your third hand.”
“Thanks Curley. Cheers, Dan.”
“You’re welcome my friend.”
“So, do tell. What bit of programming did you turn over to AI?”
“I let it help me modify the program I use to prepare the Sunday Recap of Thursday Doors.”
“I thought you automated that when you first introduced it.”
“I did, but not entirely.”
“I can see that you’re itching to tell me about this amazing triumph of automation, so go ahead — but please put this in layman’s terms.”
“Well, in some instances…”
“…Hold on, Dan. ‘Instances’ has a tech-nerdy sound to it. I asked for layman’s terms. So, think of what you’re going to say and then put that answer in layman’s terms.”
“So, layman’s terms squared?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. My program creates the table that you see each week, but some of the posts were identified by the link you would use, not an English readable title.”
“Okay. And AI fixed this somehow?”
“It did!”
“I may need more bourbon, but how?”
“I asked it to write a function — that’s a tiny program that goes in a bigger program — to extract the title from each blog post.”
“That doesn’t sound so hard. You couldn’t do this on your own?”
“I tried once, a couple years ago. I got most of them, but not all.”
“Why not finish what you had started?”
“I wanted to see if AI could do it.”
“How long did that take?”
“About twenty-two seconds.”
“Twenty-two seconds? And it worked?”
“Like a champ!”
“Nice. So, you produce the recap in less time, which is how you got here ahead of me.”
“Yep, under ten minutes.”
“Here’s another glass of bourbon, David. I thought I heard you ask for one.”
“Thanks Curley.”
“You’re welcome. Dan, you want another beer?”
“I do, Curley.”
“Here you go. How’s that clock coming.”
“Curley!!!”
“I know, David. I know, but I’m interested.”
“I made some progress, Curley. In fact, I got the clock mechanism installed.”
“Installed? So, the clock is done?”
“No. I should have said that I made the opening so the mechanism can be installed.”
“Did you test it?”
“Yes, and it fits perfectly.”
“So, what’s left? Again, layman’s terms squared.”
“Sanding. Sanding, sanding and more sanding.”
“How do you sand all that rotted stuff?”
“I don’t. It’s fine the way it is.”
“Then you’re done?”
“No, I still have to put hour marks at three, six, nine and twelve. I also have to figure out how to hang the clock on a wall.”
“You know, thinking about those hour marks made me think of a pizza.”
“Curley, how about a meat lovers pizza?”
“I’ll put the order in now.”
If you’re interested in the clock project, the slide show below should bring you up to date.
The 2 ⅜” (6.0325 cm) is the size opening I need for the clock. It’s centered on the shaft hole and I built a guide around it. 
The guide is complete 
Test piece fits nice 
Plunge router. It drops into the opening to make it a little deeper 
The bushing will ride along the guide block 
Vacuum the waste after each layer 
First pass is complete 
This cut tore up some of the face material 
Full depth of the hole chewed through some of the face material 
I glued the loose material back in 
I covered the entire layer of the opening with glue and let it sit overnight 
The opening is a little ragged but the clock is black. I don’t think it will matter 
I will cover the clock shaft eventually 
Deep enough. Removing the guides 
The opening took almost the full length of this bit 
This bit will carve a rabbet around the opening for a cover plate 
Shelf around clock opening for a cover plate 
Slicing off a cover piece for the back of the clock 
Back of the clock 
This will be the back of the clock 
Patching a cut that went off the line
No Facilities 
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