I Should Be Packing. And Sleeping

I'm supposed to be packing.   I should have been packing yesterday, but I got distracted mightly by the arrival of the 3D printer my husband and I ordered last week.   It came in late afternoon and we told the children we were going to be ordering pizza (after son requested it) and then be holed up in the basement, configuring prints followed by staring at the print head moving inexorably back and forth as it slowly printed very small things for long stretches of time. 

They were great.   They took care of themselves, getting ready for bed with only a reminder to brush their teeth when it was close to bedtime.   They came down several times to see what we'd gotten up to and to find out the results of the printing we'd said we'd be doing. 

My daughter got to feel the first print we did, which failed part-way through due to a hangup in the filament we didn't realized we'd introduced.   It was a good ending though as I got to show her what it looks like inside the things the printer would be building.   She could feel the "wispies" as the melted filament left hair-thin strands as it jumped from one print area to another and the grid-like in-fill pattern inside the model. 

The children went to sleep before the second model (a tolerance test with pegs in holes) was complete.   Then we printed, "Benchy" a boat that was created to stress test the things a 3D filament-based printer has challenges in printing well.   We got that done fairly late and were decently surprised at the results.  

After that it only got later and then earlier after it was so late it wasn't later anymore.   I got some tactile dice printed with braille on a twenty-sided die and a big six-sided one for my daughter.   I printed a fully articulated octopus that is printed all together and then when removed from the print bed, is able to move freely in the hinges of the legs.   I did a few small things and we had to start over once or twice as we learned about settings, material melt temperatures and model layout too.   

When I sent the Mario and Luigi models with moveable limbs to the printer at five-thirty in the morning, I finally went to bed.   Or maybe it was six-thirty.   Suffice it to say, I got a lot more 3D printing done than I got sleep.

Today, I should be packing.  I had queued up models I wanted to print today before we go out of town and even now, I hear very quietly, the servos of the 3D printer in the next room.   The fan is louder than the printer and I frequently look over my shoulder to make sure it's still running.   Once I get this blog post written I promise (myself) I'm going to get started with the packing.   

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Blankets and Pillows Play:   Blankets and pillows are everywhere.   The hardwood floors are, it would seem, lava, and they have some highly evolved game that also includes the bathtub toys from when they were younger.   They aren't fighting.  They're having a great time together.  It's nice to see them playing so well after all his time at home without the regular interaction of friends.