I'm building stuff

I spent a few hours today in full geek mode, building various gadgets and thing-a-ma-bobs using the Elegoo/Arduino Uno kit my daughter got me for Christmas.

Basically, I spent hours doing stuff like this:

This is very cool. The code is based on C++ but the board itself is really minimal. It has a tiny processor that communicates with various digital and analog contact points. I write code to tell the digital contacts to either be on (high) or off (low) which powers whatever I happen to have connected to them. Those things includes motors, LEDs, buzzers and sensors. In the case of the sensors, I write code to read the on/off value the sensor is returning.

I believe the analog contacts can be told to send varying amounts of power so they are not just on or off but have value. I'll play with them in the future. Right now, I'm just trying to get an understanding of what this little board can do.

Yes, I know I'm a nerd but that's okay. I've been a nerd my entire life. I'm also a pilot, a carpenter, a mechanic, a shootist, a skier, a baseball player and a beer drinker.

I am a jack of all trades and that includes spending 35+ years working with computers.

Being a nerd is just one of many things that I enjoy doing.

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The Vet was supposed to have today off but at 1:00, she got a call saying one of her patients managed to destroy its stitches and open up the incision she had spent a lot of time stitching closed after some much-needed surgery.

I hear you asking yourself, "Self, I wonder how something like this happens..."

Well, let me tell you how it happens. The owners decided that since it was Christmas, Spot didn't need to wear the cone The Vet told them to he needed to wear. Spot, being a dog without a degree in medicine or the ability to understand any words other than "treat" immediately decided to scratch and chew at the incision until it started bleeding.

In my opinion, some people should not be allowed to own pets.

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No air frying today. We've got to make a dent in these Christmas leftovers before the New Year's eat-o-rama occurs and we end up with lots more leftovers than we know what to do with.

The Bills are in town to play the Patriots so I'll watch a few minutes of that game this evening.

While I eat leftovers and watch bad football, you can do these:

• I bet they're a big hit with the beavers.



• Oh Canada.



• No one should be shocked by this. No one...



• This is why you should only buy pants with deep pockets.



• This reminds me of that old joke, "What do you call aliens around Uranus?"
  "Klingons!"
  Ha! Get it? "Cling Ons!"
  I crack me up.