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3D Printing and Model Trains

3D Printing and Model Trains
While in France, the combination of being somewhere near ‘church mouse poor’ and living in a small (32 square metres / 350 sq ft) 1 bedroom apartment, I looked for hobbies that took up little space and so settled on photography (i.e. my Project 365 here) and dabbling in computer programming and to a lesser degree, artificial intelligence (my WmDOT for OpenTTD). It was quite enjoyable, but on my return to North America, I found myself with a lot more space and more geographically stable. I wanted to make things that were a little more physical and so with the encouragement of my Honey, I started into Model Railroading, a childhood dream. One of my shocks was the cost of models! A regular-ish building, measuring maybe 2x3x3 inches would cost $60! There had to be a better way…

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Golden Coat of Arms — Photo 83 — Project 365

Golden Coat of Arms — Photo 83 — Project 365
My continuing adventures took me to London and to see the Queen! Actually, the Queen was nowhere to be seen, but I did see Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guards. On the square surrounding Buckingham Palace are gates recognizing the different British colonies and on the gates of the Palace itself sit the Arms of Britain itself. I thought the gold leaf was cool and it provided a nice contrast against the grey-green iron of the rest of the gate.

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Moving Day — Photo 82 — Project 365

Moving Day — Photo 82 — Project 365

In France, many people (including me when I was there) live in low-rise apartment buildings. Typically, they are three to six stories tall with the bottom floor as retail (I lived above an insurance agent and a restaurant) and those above as residential. Many of the buildings are fairly old and so have narrow staircases and a small, if existent, elevator. Day-to-day, this isn’t too bad, but when you go to move in or out, the stairs turn into a nightmare. So the solution is to bring your own “moving elevator” on moving day! Such a moving elevator can be carried nicely on a trailer behind the moving truck and unfolds at your soon-to-be-former lodging. Point it at a window, which can be as large as your front door and is never screened, and the moving begins!

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William the Conqueror at Bayeux — Photo 81 — Project 365

William the Conqueror at Bayeux — Photo 81 — Project 365
The French love their comic books (TinTin, et al.), a tradition that may be ten centuries old! One of the oldest records in France is the Bayeux Tapestry (dating to the 11th century), which records the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, in comic book form of course! The style is actually surprisingly similar to the newspaper comics, just without the bars between scenes and the punchlines.

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A Kiss — Photo 77 — Project 365

A Kiss — Photo 77 — Project 365
We travelled to southern France with some friends and as we explored the coastline and abandoned buildings, they decided it was quite romantic! (It probably helped that this was a trip they took to celebrate their anniversary.)

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London Temple — Photo 76 — Project 365

London Temple — Photo 76 — Project 365

Located just south of London proper is the London Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From our base in France, we made a weekend trip here.

I loved how the slowly faded daylight came out as this beautiful blue.

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