knoernschild.org » Karl

The 2012 Pinewood Derby Lineup

karl — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:29:47 +0000

Our new Pinewood Derby cars are finally complete, after about 1-1/2 months of work. I did the rough shaping and painting, but Kyle and Ian both picked out their designs, sanded their cars, put on stickers, and hammered on the wheels. They look pretty nice, now we just have to wait until February to see if they drive nice.

Left to right:
Skull Candy (Ian)
The Wolverine Wedge (Kyle)
The Green Streak (Me)

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Florida Drift Diving

karl — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:42:02 +0000

I just returned from five days of drift diving in West Palm Beach, Florida. Despite Hurricane Irene passing through in the middle of our trip, it was a great time and we completed a number of good dives.

The swimming pool and cabana at The Scuba Club in West Palm Beach

A view from our suite

Scott preps his gear for our second day of diving

View of The Scuba Club from the boat

Getting ready to head out for a dive. Hurricane, schmuricane.

Thursday morning. Hurricane Irene rolls by.

So we can't dive because of the hurricane. Hey, I know! Let's go to the beach! Here Darrick discusses swimming in a hurricane with the lifeguard.

The pelicans were loving it

It was nice knowing you, Darrick.

[See post to watch Flash video]

The morning after the hurricane passed

Time for more diving!

The diving group on our way back home. (L-R): Terry, Darrick, Laurie, Tom, Scott, and me

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Pinewood Derby 2011

karl — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 22:02:09 +0000

Pack 384 held the annual Pinewood Derby today at Oswego East High School. Dozens of cars were raced, and each car was run on all six lanes, so it was an all day event.

There were many, many cars being raced. Kyle's is third from the left in the front row on the foam, and mine is at the far left in the second row on the board with the other adult cars.

Kyle's car ready to race (far left lane)

The drivers eagerly await the start of the next race

Kyle's car squeaks in second (third lane from the left)

My car getting ready to race (second from right)

First place by a full length!

3 100ths of a second ahead of the next car

Kyle's car placed second among all the Tiger scouts. Here Kyle receives his trophy.

My car placed first among the adult cars.

The Winners!

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Pinewood Derby Cars

karl — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 17:39:34 +0000

For my pinewood derby car I drew the side and top profile freehand, traced it onto the car body, then cut it out with a jigsaw. I further shaped and smoothed it with my oscillating spindle sander and stationary belt sander, then hand sanded to get a perfectly smooth and regular contour.

My car body after shaping and sanding.

The bottom is hollowed out to allow space for weights.

I cut narrow strips of painters tape to mask the body

After staining, the taped lines show as the original pine color

The finished product

I made Kyle’s car a simple wedge design to allow him to do as much of the work as possible. I cut the shape on the table saw and rounded the corners on the router table. Kyle sanded it with my help, then I inserted weights and spray painted the car. Kyle decorated it with stickers and hammered in the wheels to finish the car.

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New Lens

karl — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:43:10 +0000

I received my new Nikkor 50mm/1.4 in the mail today. It’s a beautiful thing.

These were taken in room light with the lens wide open. Now I can actually take Portraits and not just snapshots.

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More Than Meets the Eye

karl — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:22:44 +0000

Shooting for Transformers 3 is taking place in the street across the river from my building this week. The street itself looks like a war zone, with tons of rubble, smashed cars, and a burned out Vienna Beef street vendor cart. The crane with the blue box in the center of the last photo is the center of the action right now. They put a guy up on the box, raise it in the air, then he flips off while sparks fly out of the box. It looks really cheesy – makes you appreciate how much work goes into these movies post-shooting.

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Katra & Karl’s Day Off

karl — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:50:44 +0000

With the boys in Springfield at Grandma & Grandpa Ayappa’s house for a few days, Katra and I were able to have a few days to ourselves. On Thursday we followed in the footsteps of one of Chicago’s greats (Ferris Bueller) and drove downtown to visit Millenium Park and the Art Institute. Not having a red Ferrari handy, we settled for the silver minivan.

In Millenium Park. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion visible in the distance

A closer view of the Cloud Gate. If you look carefully you can see my reflection. Katra is a little harder to spot (she's wearing a white shirt).

The view looking up from directly underneath the Cloud Gate. My reflection is visible in at least five places in this one.

Self portrait

Our snack from a nearby cupcake shop. (drool)

Full view of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with a few early arrivals for a concert later in the day.

The recently completed modern art wing of the Art Institute, with the lake visible in the distance.

Part of the Chicago skyline from the bridge to the Art Institute. The building with the diamond face is the Smurfit-Stone Building (yes, that's the real name, and no, I don't think it has anything to do with Smurfs). Just to the left of it is the building where I work. The tall building just to the right is Trump's recently completed hotel.

After touring the new wing of the Art Institute, we stopped to get a drink at Cosi. That's Watermelon Habenero Lemonade. It's spicy and it is FANTASTIC.

Even the Art Institute lions are getting in on the celebration of the Blackhawks' recent Stanley Cup win.

This is the bike that Jack built.

A view of both towers of the fountain. The inside faces are giant display screens showing the faces of various people.

Most of the time, the faces are just staring straight ahead, sometimes smiling and sometimes not. Every five minutes or so, this happens!

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Purple Car II

karl — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:05:41 +0000

During a recent trip to Michaels, we let Ian pick out a model car. Naturally, he picked the purple one to coordinate with his other purple car, known simply as “Purple Car”. This was a simple snap-together model that didn’t require paint, which was a good fit for Ian’s attention span. He served as the foreman on the construction job, helping me find parts and overseeing the action. Once assembly was complete, he helped me put the stickers on the car.

Inspecting the shipping crate

Always read the instructions

Time for a test drive!

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Disney Madness

karl — Sun, 09 May 2010 02:56:29 +0000

When do you know you have finally slipped the rest of the way into insanity? When your Disney trip planning looks like this:

We spent probably three hours tonight planning meals, events, and park visits, after many hours spent reading tour guides and restaurant reviews. We used a different color post-it for each park, and yellow for events and meals at the various resorts.

Sadly, this is what it takes when you need to make dinner reservations six months in advance.

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Peeps Brûlée

karl — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:12:16 +0000

Everyone is familiar with Peeps, the archetypal Easter marshmallow treat, but I bet you didn’t know you’ve been eating them raw all this time. Yes, in order to be truly enjoyed, a normal, everyday peep must first survive a ritual rite of peephood to become the legendary Peep Brûlée.

The first step is a nice impaling, ala Vlad Tepes. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit…

Perhaps more suited for Halloween, this treatment serves well here to protect one’s hand during the second step:

…the trial by fire! Here our lowly peep is subjected to the blue flame of a propane torch just long enough to melt his sugary coating. A little browning is ok, but if blackness sets in you will know that peep was not peep enough for the task.

Once the fires have abated, the peep is allowed to cool briefly, as his once granular coating turns into a crispy, sugary layer of happiness.

Yes, once you have enjoyed Peeps Brûlée, you will never settle for ordinary peeps again.

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