10-25-2025 — Thumb of a pinch

Howdy all. Weather chilly and wet. Drizzle again this morning. And temperatures likely staying 50 or below for the day. Supposedly got to freezing south of here overnight. Buggies are mostly at ground level trying to stay alive. A few will do flybys and/or land on windows. This weather has got to end their cycles soon. Please!!!!!

Anyway, I got some new accessories for my 3D printers to help with organization and filament handling. A dryer for one of the 3 older AMS units, that replaces the top cover, and can dry the filament as it is being used. I want it on one of the PLA AMS setups where I will be putting “translucent” filament. That box I got upstairs easily, and it is sitting in the way, in the hallway. Yep, cluttering up the hallway again.

Another accessory is a gizmo that goes on top of the printer box and holds up to two AMS units securely above, while allowing access through the printer’s top glass panel. I’ll be putting that on the PLA printing 3D printer (P1S). It will be arriving today. Also got a new Poop chute for the back of that printer. The one I kludged together, from a couple of designs I found online, works mostly okay. But it falls off when I jostle the printer, and it will sometimes clog because it is an open chute. This new one is more like a drier vent hose that is both flexible, but has a smooth inside so nothing catches. And, it magnetically attaches to the back of the printer so it won’t be jostled off as easily.

The last accessory is the biggest. For the X1 Carbon printer, I just received a storage/poop bin box that will go directly under the printer. I am printing off a poop extension chute that magnetically attaches to the printer and goes straight down into the back of the new box through a designed input space. The box has a drawer on the front that allows you to empty the waste from the bottom of the drawer through a trap door, into a waste can when needed. The other drawers in the box can hold a lot of the accessories that are scattered on the desk and table.

There is one slight problem for me though. That box/bin is solid steel and weighs around 35 pounds. I will need a second person to put it under the printer as I lift the printer straight up (and I’ll be on a step stool to do that!). With packaging, the box I received was over 40 pounds and quite large. Thus, I was rolling it up the stairs yesterday. Zero problems with that, or so I thought. When it was up in the hallway, I decided to unpack it. When I reached for my knife in my pocket, I discovered I somehow popped my right thumb out of socket and back in and it was pinching something. Quite painful. I had to “manipulate” it back to where it belongs. Also quite painful. And as of this morning, it is still a little stiff, a bit swollen, and painful at times when trying to use it.

I just can’t help causing myself injuries. So, while my tummy is recovering a bunch, I am now hurting elsewhere.

Just checked. The “waste material guide tube” (the poop chute), is 91% finished on the printer and is still doing good. Also printing a “spring steel plate storage slot” (will hold the printer bed plates on the new box/bin) and it is doing okay at 41% complete.

Oh, and also on my list of to-do-already-procrastinating items, I have an Alexa add-on switch for the light switch in the printer room, and another Blink camera to monitor things in there, sitting in the hallway. And, I still haven’t put the new wire-raceway up that will cover the one I installed poorly in that same hallway. I think there is another box there too, just can’t recall what it is.

Then, I have all my Xmas projects sitting in a huge box in the living room.

Even with all that is happening, I am feeling a touch better, and my energy is coming back, so I hope to Enjoy Life