Started this book last night, and just finished reading it about twenty minutes ago. Lots of the technical details went over my head, but learning about the technological wonders of the JWST was pretty astounding. I can’t wait to see what they developed, and then deploy next. Though I guess the Artemis missions to the moon are what’s up right now.
So yeah, two books down, with a three part omnibus on deck next. Going back to space faring science fiction and war stories in the Warhammer 40K universe. Dan Abnett and a couple of Gaunt’s ghosts are in the house! Pew-pew.
I did give some thought to going back to finish Mistborn, but I’m not in the mood for magic systems just yet. Give me a couple of weeks of reading dystopian war stories and I might want a break for elemental magics, and a good heist.
I have a massive book of dragon tales I can read, as well as yet another Aliens omnibus, so I have no shortage of things to read. Also my brain is a tad mushy after 200 pages of science history and telescopes, and Spectrography discussions. I’m not a smart man, numbers aren’t my thing, so it took a fair bit of focus to read all that, and keep a through line of what it all meant. Brain is tired. Much like those days when I would write 4,000 or more words of a short story, my head would get foggy, and I’d need to dumb things down a bit before bed. Know thine limitations!
Anyway — book good. Photos lovely. Science neato. Short and Sweet.
If I had my way I would scoop these sorts of things up from the farm, take them home to my garage shop, break them down, strip off the paint, add all new hoses & fittings, fix any bearings, pins, and bushings, chase threads, repaint it, reassemble it, and enjoy watching it get a whole new life of use on the farm. A few things stick out as to why I don’t. One- can’t lift it. I do not own a skid steer, a truck robust enough to carry it, nor a shop crane to manoeuvre it once at my shop. Two- I don’t really know anything about hydraulics, systems, hoses, fittings, pressurized lines, and how the flow of fluid works within such systems. Although this being an attachment for a tractor I suspect the majority of those complications lie inside the tractor, and not this add-on attachment. Three- my shop is not big enough to house this thing which is larger than it looks up close. I also don’t have a sturdy enough work bench for that type of weight. I also don’t do any sort of metal fabrication, so I couldn’t weld anything, bend anything, mill/lathe any simple fixes, or do much of anything worth while to it in my shops current state. I do mainly wood working, and a hint of vehicle service, and household repair. It’d be fun to figure this thing out though. Repair linkages, repaint it. Carve off the stickers & decals and then reapply them when done before a thick clear coat finish was applied to seal it all in together. Fun times!
There’s this sizeable wagon I want to fix too, that if you could add a third, fat wheel to at the front, that articulated would allow you to steer it around, could be used to hold a watering barrel for those hard to reach spots in the gardens. It needs sanding, dent repair, some minor fabrication, and a paint job. Possibly new, or just properly inflated tires, and some body work so the tires spin freely. Could also be a fun project. Likely a whole lot simpler than the excavator attachment. Weigh a whole lot less too.
Book two for 2026 (Fig 2.)
In other news I finished the Jason Pargin book last night. It was fine. Glad I got through a book, and am not into another one. This is about the James Webb Space Telescope, and so far reads pretty easily. Less textbook, more biography of the processes required in bringing it to life. Also — space photography! Ooh, aah… Very nice. While I’m not sure if I can do the twelve books in twelve months this year (my eyes and all that) I’m glad to finally sit down to read this one. I love science fiction, but occasionally I need to read about real science. Not that I understand much of it, but I am glad that others do, and are able to act on it in our favour. Sweet! Also the books not that long. Fewer than two hundred pages with a lovely photo spread in the middle. Just like the New Horizons book about the Pluto mission. One of my all time favourite books about actual science. But I digress.
I spent some time yesterday priming over my poor earlier paint job of several Warhammer 40K miniatures. I intend to redo those with my air brush, and considerably more patience. Not that I am able to battle with them, I just want a much cleaner paint job for the few that I have. I might even wash, and primer over some Eldar that I have too. My first pass with yellow was unsuccessful, let’s just put it that way shall we. Hideous results. No matter. Strip the paint off, and begin again!
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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