1st overland/ undergraduate expectations

 

I had never heard of this trip from London to Singapore. It's interesting to think about six undergrads from a college taking a trip like this. 

Think about the fact that those undergrads would not only need to be intelligent and adventurous, but they would need to have some practical wits about themselves. It reminds me of Pirsig' s book. Those young fellas, would need to know how to use a winch, how to adjust valves, how to adjust points, how to adjust brakes, how to repair and rebuild things, how to read a compass, how to survive in the wilderness etc. Think about this... can today's undergraduate student drive a manual shift/clutch car, change a wheel/tire, read a map? Could today's graduate navigate a tricky section of road, cross an unstable bridge, problem solve on the fly as things come up, deal with boarder agents, and navigate the political and professional requirements of the job? Could today's graduate get along with each other for a prolonged period of time? Could today's graduate simply deal with the uncertainty of the situations these six individuals would have found themselves in? After listening to students talk about the anxiety that their daily life brings to them while they live in a civilized world with a rather posh existence, I reckon this trip would be quite a stretch for most college graduates. This trip would take some serious work and require fortitude beyond what I have come to expect from most of my students. I might note, that this is not without me trying to hold what I see to be an appropriate  expectation. 

What has happened to our modern "civilization"?

latest

 Just some Land Rover inspiration for the day. I spent yesterday on campus working on the new studio while no students were around. I organized our casting room and was able to get things placed in cabinets in a logical location. I hooked up the wax injector, vulcanizer, vacuum former, electromelt and placed the 3D printers on another table in the room. I hooked up the oxy/acetylene torch. The guys that made the outside hose swapped the ends on the hoses, so I couldn't complete the job. 

The day before yesterday, I took Jill to town for her doctor's appointment. We spent the morning there, and then I took her for lunch and then back home. I got her settled in for the afternoon and then I went to the shop to work. I'm currently working on getting things cleaned up since I got all the used cabinets for storage. I 'm removing some flat surfaces from the shop so I can get rid of clutter. I knocked my extended sandblaster apart so I can gain some extra space there as well. I made some piles of tools that need to go up to the house to the basement jewelry studio and organized some tools to go to school. When I was finished in the shop I came up to the house to check in on Jill and then spent the rest of the night cleaning the basement digital fab room. I made some piles outside the room of some things that I need to part with. I'm not certain why, but I am feeling like purging a lot of stuff at the moment. I need to part ways with some stuff in the worst way. Come over if you need a 3D printer and I'll be handing them out.

All images above from https://www.instagram.com/pangolin4x4/

joy unspeakable

 

There are some interesting things here about the life cycle of an object and the people who built these having a lot of skill. It makes me wonder if things aren't built to last because people aren't well versed in the knowledge of skill, material, and process? Before you get all up in my business about skill, please understand that I'm not talking about tolerance. Yes, I know things can be built to incredible tolerance these days out of space age materials. What I'm talking about is that people who build things or who have built things that needed to last (say during World War II when your life depended on it) might have a wisdom that is associated with their level of knowledge about material, process that ultimately translates to the idea of skill or knowing one's craft. 

I was listening to Alex Honnold talk about climbing and he was asked about his climbing role models. 

For me, I've always looked up to Tommy Caldwell,

who's now a good friend of mine as well.

There's people like Peter Croft, also a hero of mine

growing up, and then now a friend as an adult.

I really like climbers who are lifers, basically.

People who have devoted their whole life to the craft

and who are still doing it, still good at it, still love it.

I'll certainly be climbing my whole life.

I mean, I just love climbing. I love easy climbing.

I love rambling around in the mountains.

Like, I'll for sure do that my whole life.

Alex's comment on craft caught me immediately. It really is about understanding that there are people in this world that have devoted their life to "a thing". This doesn't mean that those people are one dimensional or lack diversity in their life, but rather that their level of wisdom goes beyond superficial knowledge. These people end up being able to have a complexity of thought and thought pattern that goes so far beyond the basics, that they become "different"; different than other people you might encounter. They also seem to have an understanding of ALL things that ultimately is gained from the relational knowledge they have from knowing that one thing so well. They're on a different level than most people, and I would dare to say that their drive comes from an unknown place that is truly natural or innate. IT'S honest; THEY... are honest. 

 The industrialization of education seems to have created people who know facts but lack wisdom. I remember people in school that could tell me the way something should be made, as if they were reciting from a book, but they truly had no experience with making or material. You had to sometimes try and decipher if they knew what they were talking about. The internet has perpetuated this as people have become "experts" on whatever they have looked up or read about. These are the people who never had a passion for learning as much as they could about a thing but sought to assert their image by being the expert in the room. Artificial Intelligence will bring a new level of this. Will it be able to have the wisdom of the engine builder who seems to have worked on every combustion engine known to mankind, or the contractor who has built a hundred homes, or the designer/architect that has not only designed but who has built, and used his/her many creations?

This video made me question if there will ever be a product or creation that was created to have the longest life cycle possible? Will there ever be a product/creation that was designed and built to be fixed/repaired by its user? 

The video has also left me with the following questions:

Have you ever felt compelled to learn more by doing something even if it really makes no sense professionally or financially? Have you ever sought out something that most people see as folly or a waste of time? Have you ever done things that appear to make no logical sense to those around you? Have you ever just felt compelled to do something or that there was something deep inside of yourself that was creating a thirst for something that you can't explain? When pursuing this thing has time ceased to exist and you have given no care or thought to the things immediately around you except for that single pursuit? Is there an activity that you would be willing to devote your life to every single day and never get tired of it? 

If so... pursue it... and devote your life to it... and the result will be wisdom and joy unspeakable.

yet another land rover...

himilayan

Himalaya is a South Carolina company that rebuilds Land Rovers. They start to loose a bit of their charm with the interiors they do, but the outside and drivetrain is interesting to me. Cool N Vintage has the aesthetic understanding figured out better than this though.

 

land rovers from cool n vintage

I need one of these like I need another hole in my head, but I sure would like a Series I or Series II Land Rover.