Tired Feet

Halloween is over.  My husband single-handedly coordinated the entire neighborhood's events for the evening.   There were competitions, free things for the children, beverages for the adults and children, pizza for everyone, tables, chairs, plates, and napkins, plus games.  There were tents, some rented and some bought.  Tables and online voting for the pumpkin and house decorating competitions.   He's worked for weeks on it and heavily this past week.   People knew it was all him and he was very much appreciated for it.  

I was tired from helping in the small part that I did.   I don't know how he's still standing. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son went around the neighborhood with some friends.  For the past three years he's been off and away with friends and comes home with candy.  My daughter has gone with friends, but has needed assistance.  My son told us when he got home he waited and his friends and he "double dipped' and went to some houses more than once.  I think the houses knew, they mostly wanted to give out their candy so they didn't mind.  My son was in a pure black outfit with a lit outline in blue stick figure like.   He looked so good in the outfit.  It suited him. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter went around the neighborhood with her friend Ashley and a bit behind with Ashley's father and me trailing.   He and I had a nice time talking.   He's very nice and I like Monica, his wife, very much.   Monica was at home handing out candy.  My daughter was overly tired in the end, saying her feet hurt so much.  When she got home (she was a white witch in a beautiful white gown and hat) she put her feet in a cold bath for a few minutes before going to eat some candy. 

Unexpected Turn of Events

I was approached by a filament company, who wanted to have a phone call to discuss some ideas after we had swapped a few emails.   I had some ideas and had been trying to think of what I could do that would be helpful to them and interesting to the viewers we have and are likely to build.  I had come up with a plan that I tried to explain over an email.   It was related to how 3D printing was beneficial to blind people because it gave them an opportunity to feel things they might otherwise not have a chance to see. 

I was all set for the call this afternoon but when we were a short bit into the call I realized they wanted something else entirely.   They weren't looking for me to come up with a way we could work together.   They liked our work so much they wanted to know if we would be interested in producing their marketing and filament materials. 

This was a bit of a shock when I realized what they wanted, not because we couldn't do it, but because what a big honor it was that they would consider us for the opportunity.   They came to us because they said we did such quality work and it was clear we knew how to show off filament.    

Couple this with it being my favorite filament company in the world, and it seemed like a filament dream come true.   We were on a video call for two-and-a-half hours, much longer than we had scheduled.   We left the meeting after I got a virtual tour of their production facility, asking all kinds of questions about how they produced filament and discovering how and why their filament is superior in many ways.  

We had the most relaxed, easy conversation with no definite commitments made, but the inference that we would be going ahead and working things out along the way.   We're meeting back in two weeks with more ideas and the goal to set a plan in place to begin work.  

I'm very honored they would pick us.  And I'm very excited to be able to help them.   

The Big Boy Update:  My son had his student led conference today in which he told us all about what he's been doing at school.   We know he does things here and there, but it was impressive hearing about all the things he's working on during the hours he's at school.   He did a very nice job of leading the conference with his teachers on a video call to join in and help if he needed any, but he had the whole conference covered. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wants to go everywhere her father is going when he goes out—even when it's not convenient.   And that upsets her, even though her father has good reasons for needing to go without her on some of the trips.

Livestream

Is it livestream, live-stream, or live stream?  Merriam-Webster says it's livestream so I'm going with that.   Today I did a livestream.   For two-and-a-half hours I was live, doing an unboxing connecting, printing, problem solving, three camera and computer swapping between as I ope.ned up a product that has been highly awaited around the world. 

The setup in order to be able to do this is all new.   Most of the lighting, cameras and other equipment we've had, but putting it all together to do something where you're live and anything can go wrong is harrowing.   Plus, people might join that I don't know and they would comment and I would need to respond. 

I didn't announce the stream and I picked a time of day I suspected would cause no one to attend.   I intentionally made the livestream hard to find.   But people who are subscribed to the channel got notified and some joined.   We don't have many subscribers on YouTube, but we had sixteen attending.   I tried not to look nervous. 

Things went reasonably well but wow am I tired.  It's being constantly on for the entire duration.   You can't stop talking, because you're carrying on a one-way conversation the entire time.  I'm good at talking, but this was tough.  I'm definitely tired.  Tomorrow I'll know more about what to expect.   It wasn't as bad as I had expected.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has the next three school days off for student-led conferences and teacher workdays.   Tomorrow we get to hear about what he's been doing at school so far this year. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter is so excited about raising money for her school.   She is glad money is going to the school, but her motivation is definitely about the prizes she gets for hitting certain tiers.   She wants to hit the highest tier.   She's going to have to work hard to get there, though.

It's Not...Okay, It Is...

Yep, it's two in the morning again.  But I had a nap during the day.  Today's challenge was getting livestreaming working so I can do an unboxing and first print tomorrow.  We thought we were prepared until YouTube told us we had to wait twenty-four hours after asking to do the first livestream.   Had we known this one day in advance, we could have pushed the button.   But now we know. 

YouTube gave us access less than a day later and we ran a hidden livestream tonight as a test, and things seemed to go well.   Was I terrified?  Absolutely, and I only had my husband and one friend in the stream. I have a massive table in the print room only there is so much I need to have on that table for the unboxing and first print that I'm going to have to put things on the floor. 

Tomorrow I'm going to try to see if I can do this.  I may have the stream hidden and if all goes to hell then I'll delete it or edit it or do something with it.  Regardless, it will be experience, and that's something I need a lot of.   

My friend said I sounded natural.   I was hiding behind lots of words.  When I get nervous I talk even more than I normally do. 

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Dinner Time Update:  Getting the family together for dinner all at the same time has proven to be a challenge.  One of the challenges is me as I get stuck in the basement.   My husband is too flexible on this I think.  He needs to be the hammer more and get us all at the table at the same time.  He works so hard to cook healthful food for us.   He's pretty amazing.

In Person!

Yesterday I got to meet another "Maker" as the term goes for people who do 3D printing.   He and I met on Discord, which is an online group chat platform.   There are people in this particular channel which is all about 3D printing.   There are people from all around the world, hundreds in fact in this group.   

I've met people from Russia, Romania, South Africa, England, Australia and all over the US.   As it turns out, one of the people lives quite close to us.   I had a printer I was wanting to find a good home for and I asked if he'd be interested some time back.  He and his family were going to the beach this past week and on the way home they planned to stop by and pick up the printer. 

He and his family were lovely and I had just the best time talking about all sorts of 3D printing things.   It was really nice talking to someone who loves 3D printing as much as I do.

The Big Boy Update:  My son either loves to give me a hug or he is way too old and cool for hugs anymore. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter's teachers are saying she's having the best week of the year.   I'm not sure why, but I'm glad she's enjoying school.   

It Is Not Two AM Again

Okay, it is.   We keep running into late nights with the videos we put out.   We're working on starting earlier, but we have other things that keep us from getting to final filming until later.   The models were finished yesterday, we just had to set up the set, do the main filming with the models, get the lighting right, edit everything, do the voice work, add captioning, upload, tag, wait for the YouTube video to render in 4K, publish, and I am sure I'm forgetting many other steps.   

But we have it down and it's not that hard to do, it just takes a while.  And now I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. 

The Massage Update:  Sheila comes every other Monday and my children look forward to her now.   They get on her table and ask to have their audio book playing while she takes twenty minutes to forty minutes with each of them.   They don't groan when they hear Sheila is coming and they don't argue about who has to go first.   They like taking turns.   

The Track Out Fib

My daughter stayed over at Nana and Papa's house last night.   She called and was worried she wouldn't have time to finish her last book before Monday.  We told her it would be okay.   She was worried, because we told her the reading and math sent home was not optional and she had put off doing most of it until the last week of track out.  

In actuality, Brady, my daughter's Braillist, sent home some work to help with her math and reading practice, but the work wasn't required.   Tonight I sent an email to all of my daughter's teachers, asking them if they wouldn't mind supporting us with the mandatory expectation.   If my daughter comes home cross tomorrow, we'll know they saw her before getting to the email. 

The teachers don't have access to email during track out periods.   At least I believe that's the situation.   Perhaps they're encouraged to take the time and not open email.  I do know that in the past we don't get a response until after the quarter has begun. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter's fingers get tired reading braille.  I suggested when she's tired to read one more page.  Over time she can build more stamina and read for longer periods.  She happily told me yesterday that she had read two extra pages when her fingers were tired. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son says he's a nicer person when he's not on screens.   It was an interesting insight.   He tried very hard not to get angry when he had to get offline for a meal or other activity this weekend.   He almost lost his temper several times but he pulled it back and was polite every time.