Make a doll for her.

Or two :-)

And I will only be able to reply: “I don’t know. I don’t know what took me so long until I finally coughed up 20 EUR and bought a set of fine Torx screwdrivers.”

“Wiha PicoFinish 267 P“, a set of Torx No. 4,5,6,7,8,9 and some other (older) Wiha and Gebra screwdrivers (1) that made me switch from the Chinese crap as pictured above (2).

The Chinese alternative aka short & black Torx screwdrivers…well, they work and for the occassional repair job they are just fine (I’ve been using mine since ~ 2001; I have a lot of these cheap Torx No. 5, 6, 7), BUT! these Wiha screwdrivers are just so much more comfortable and also FIT the screws without any quality issues. Working with good tools just pays off – I could name endless occasions when I killed a screw just because of bad tools. Stupid me! And it’s just 20 EUR. Sure, a lot of money for srewdrivers that I already had. It’s just after buying a Phillips-head screwdriver from Wiha for another project when I realized that I’d been wasting my life with bad tools so far.

Another reason for this blog post are the pair of tweezers as pictured above (3). It’s just amazing how much you can fix with these tweezers. Just the other day I read about a gourmet chef who cooks with a pair of tweezers (!) and I can only assure you that it makes a lot of sense. But also anyone trying to fix Apple products needs such tweezers. They are just as indispensable as the plastic opening tools (4).

What’s the Eggbot?
The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects…(…). [more]

This certainly has to be the GREATEST Easter present – ever. I am so lost for words, dear Simon. Asante sana!

Everyone – please have a Happy New Year!

I’ve just completed building my first magnetic loop – a special antenna that’s supposed to catch some short wave signals in this LAN-infested electric smog environment. Popular with a lot of SWLs and radio hams since many many years, so with my powerline network plug and no space for a proper antenna on the roof, the magnetic loop is my only option.

The antenna is so jua kali, built from used parts – far away from an optimal setup, but I was longing for a quick win and an answer to the question if this is doable without much further ado.

It consists of a ~ 3,5m long copper pipe that’s supposed to be (bended) circular (= loop). I guess I’ll still need to optimise the shape fo this …. egg? :-)

The feed / cable to my receiver should actually be 1/5 of the diameter of the big loop and placed somewhere near the loop, but I ended up using these alligator clips which do the job for the moment. Obviously, lots of room for some improvements – starting by the shape of the loop. The alligator clips also helped in avoiding soldered cables which would probably attenuate the signal(s) even further. The knob I am using on the rotary capacitor is a bottle cap. It’s cheap, it works, it wins!

This setup is so primitive – but I am pleasantly surprised that it really works, hence the need to blog about it. Uhmm… building antennas is like a virus – once you’re infected, you won’t stop.

the stupid Leatherman sheath

Some month ago, I bought a Leatherman Charge TTi multitool which came with a very bad leather sheath. The famous inventor of multitools once produced very fine leather sheaths, like the beautiful brown one that came with my first Leatherman Wave in 2003. But for some stupid and unknown (marketing?) reasons, their current sheaths (since 2004, actually) are either bulky, ugly or too stiff – and also do not really offer the space required for a Leatherman Charge TTi (or Wave 2004) and its bitholder. Everything fits inside but it takes a lot of force to pull the bitholder out. There’s a hole at the bottom of the sheath which is supposed to be good + so that you can rest the opened tool inside the sheath. I’ve never used this though, and also don’t like it that much.

SCHRADE TOOL, nylon alternative sheath (good, used this all the time)

Leatherman Charge TTI within the Leatherman Wave (I) sheath from 2003.
Tool fits, but + bitholder doesn’t :-(

I may not be the only one with this problem, and have in the past used a variety of other sheaths to tackle this problem (tool & bitholder in one place, see SCHRADE TOOL nylon sheath pictured above). There seems to be a market for customized solutions, and while I am sure I could easily get a modified sheath in the US or even Kenya, I just couldn’t find a good sheath in Germany (locally or imported), so I had to make my own. This time I wanted to make a sheath out of leather.

Bought this one (Victorinox L sheath) from eBay which unfortunately is too short.

Now, I don’t know much about leather and do not even own many leather products. Shoes, belts and a pouch/sheath (made from artificial leather) that came shipped with my phone. But still, there’s some sort of magic to this material that will make you want to create something out of it. I was told that my great great great grandparents once owned a tannery, so maybe it’s somewhere in the genes. Sijui.

First step was to surf around and check various online resources for inspirations. I actually already knew what I wanted to build – my first Leatherman Wave sheath from 2003 had set the standard for me. I wanted something like this…. but only bigger.

Next step: leather. Found a very nice & cheap offer for leather stripes (2-3 mm thickness) on eBay, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Ok, now how do I get this material into shape? Does it really require to be formed into shape? And when does this need to be done? Prior to or after sewing the parts together?

Sometimes you just have to do things your way. If it feels right, do it. So i dampened the leather, sealed the knife and bitholer in a plastic bag and placed it inside the leather which I then pressed into shape. Placed all of it on the heating in the bathroom and waited for it to dry up. Oh, and I used a stapler to hold it all together.

Next morning: leather is dried up and in shape. Great!

Next step: holes. Lots of them. I think there’s a wheel to mark the correct pitch between the holes, but since I do not own such an advanced tool, I just marked everything by rule of thumb and punched holes with an awl.

front

back

After the first stitches with special leather yarn, I realized that the one I used is too thin (2x, left), so I went for the only thicker one I had (3x, right).

I may not be a professional and my seams may show that I am a bloody beginner, but at least I am using two needles.

stitching on the left: too thin

both sides

next up: the main seam

big & small, wondering about the design

slowly getting there

Almost done. The white package contains the Leatherman Charge TTi + the bitholder.

I then dampened the leather again and used the wodden knob to flatten the edges of the leather. Again, I am no expert and maybe there’s a proper way for doing this, but I just looked at the old sheath and realized it had to work out somehow. Well, it did. Edges are smoothened now and quite shiny. Nice!

new sheath

new and old sheath

The complete collection: opened and closed.

You may note the nylon sheaths. These are also fine but (except for the SCHRADE TOOL sheath) only accommodate the tool itself, not the bitholder. Again, I don’t know why Leatherman does not produce proper sheaths. Something like the dark brown sheath (which imo is the best) from 2003, but bigger. You will also notice my beginner’s style and how dumb my own sheaths (noticed the blue one? :-) actually look when compared to the professional solutions.

One possible solution would probably have been to further apply some wax on the new sheath and darken it. Well, I polished it with some special leather wax, but also applied this dark brown (imo a bit too dark, damn..) leather colour onto it. Looks ok, but I also know what to improve on next time. Ah well… as long as it works it is ok. I really wish someone would seriously teach me a few tricks though, like how to get straight seams. For this, however, I would probably also require a table for my tools and a bench vice.

Working with leather is a fascinating experience!

(Wenn ich nochmal 20 wäre, würde ich mich nach einer Lehre als Sattler/Feintäschner/etc. umschauen. Bin ich aber nicht mehr und habe auch schon eine Lehre hinter mir, das reicht. Als Abendkurs in der VHS wäre eine Fortbildung in Lederarbeiten aber sehr interessant – auch wenn ich im Moment keinen weiteren Einsatzzweck für Lederprodukte habe. Nach dieser Arbeit kann ich aber sehr gut verstehen, wieso es anscheinend ziemlich viele Leute da draußen gibt, die in ihrer Freizeit Leder punzieren (= mitm Hammer Muster ins Leder treiben) und/oder ihren Indianer/Rocker/SM/whatever-Trieb damit ausleben. Is aber alles nich so mein Ding, will ja nur ein passendes Lederetui für meinen Leatherman haben. Ich vermute übrigens, dass man durch versenkte Nähte (Rille ins Leder treiben) und den Einsatz von Stecheisen schon geradere Nähte hinbekommen würde, aber das hebe ich mir fürs nächste Mal auf. Das nächste Produkt aus den verbliebenen Lederresten werde ich aber nicht mehr anmalen, oder zumindest nicht mit so einer dunklen Farbe, auch wenn das jetzt nur auf den Bildern im Blitzlicht so schlimm ausschaut..).

(pic is a bit blurry because it was taken with an Apple device ;-)

Apple-fanboy s(ch)wag for an upcoming Apple fan like me. What a pleasant surprise!

All the way from the United Arab Emirates via my dear friend Turbodave.

Asante sana, bro!

Disclaimer: this isn’t the Motter Tektura or Cupertino font, but still comes very close to the original…

Found this nice quote on a website run by an artisan who crafts and repairs Sudare – Japanese screens. The same artist goes on explaining that:

“…the sudare is basically made from bamboo, but it can also be made from 3 to 4 other types of materials. The word “sudare” is characterized in Kanji by the combination of 2 kanjis: one meaning bamboo and the other meaning “in row.” So “sudare” means “lined-up bamboo.” Well actually, if we break the word “sudare” down, “su” stands for “lined-up bamboo,” and “dare” means “hanging down” because you hang sudare down from the ceiling when you use them. “

And that’s exactly what I am going to do with these screens: hang them up in our living room (in front of the window).

The interesting story and my reason for sharing this is that my parents found them on top of a rubbish container near our house in Tokyo some…30? years ago. An older house in the neighbourhood had been demolished and careless workers threw them away, so the Sudare(s) were free to be picked up.

There’s something about modern Japanese culture and how it conflicts with old traditions that would certainly make up for a lot of interesting blog posts. Fortunately, there are a lot of Japan-related blogs out there that cover exactly this transition between the old and the new worlds.

These sudare may look a bit worn out now, also because they were kept in a very moisture basement over the last 5 years, but the bamboo material is still in great shape and 100% ok. The build quality of these Japanese sudare is just amazing – even though they may be about 80+ yrs old!

I will buy some golden tape to repair the seam at the sides.

This computer urgently needs to be fixed (Ubuntu on a USB key is a wonderful life saviour), but I was actually much more interested in rummaging in those drawers under the table.

So I found this medal from Empire State Building in the USA:

…with my name on the back, dated July 23, 1979

Today is July 23, 2009.

This coincidence just made my day. I haven’t been there since July 23 1979 and I am wondering if they still produce these medals?

The facts:

• Fellow blogger Mzeecedric inspired told me in 2005 to start my own blog. Thx, bro!
• The initial motivation arose out of frustration – a very popular German social network had rejected a few of my texts for publication so I’d told myself: “F… them. I’ll come up with my own site.”
• SEO kitu gani? I am still using the same WordPress template when I switched from using (the standard WordPress) Kubrick template. Am btw still searching for a suitable & modern alternative but people keep on telling me they like the Kikoi banner. And I couldn’t even take another shot of the said Kikoi as I’ve meanwhile used it on another project. Recommendations for an alternative WordPress template with lots of whitespace are highly appreciated!
• Renamed this blog only once – from “Kikuyumoja’s Realm” to just “Kikuyumoja”. From http://kikuyumoja.com to http://kikuyumoja.com.
• 916 posts, 46 categories, 363 tags, 3.107 comments. Still need to improve that tags thingy for older posts. Categories? Blogroll? That’s so 2005. But I still use them.
• 4 years of using WordPress – an experience that has landed me at least two decent jobs related to the creation of blogs as well as some other unpaid WordPress blogs. Those new to WordPress and the taxonomy still prefer categories over tag clouds btw.
• I am still blogging despite the invention of microblogging services such as Twitter.
• I still haven’t lost my blogging mojo.
• I’ve always tried to keep it personal instead of blogging on one specific subject range, e.g. fellow blogger Erik blogging mostly on Africa & technology (and rugby), Sokari on gender violence, racism, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and cancer, Daudi on sports and politics, and so on. It’s a balancing act for me not to blog everything that crosses my mind, but at the same time I am not too selective and try to keep a healthy mixture. I don’t know if I am that succesful with such an approach, but the truth is: I wouldn’t know how to classify this blog other than “private” or “personal”. At least, that’s how I’ve tagged my blog (and those like mine) on my Google Reader. How do you classify or categorize this blog on your linklist (if at all)?
  Also, I wouldn’t want to limit myself to one specific range of subjects. I know that it’s better to be a “theme blog” by covering only a few things (e.g. “this is a chocoloate blog where I only write about chocolate products”), but I chose not to be that. I do participate on other, theme-related blogs where I contribute to water, sanitation, health, environment, climate, technology, etc. subjects so this need for a categorized view of the world (Weinberger’s second order of order, I presume) is already covered by those sites.
• Other than the commentators, I don’t know much about the many lurkers out here. Who are you? And why are you reading my blog? Please comment! Thank you.
• This blog has been part of the Kenyan Blogosphere almost right from the start. And this although I am based in Germany (ok, been working and blogging from Kena in between) and will always remain being a German to an extent where I will require a work permit for jobs in Kenya. My Kenyan side probably is that I know more about Kenyan politics & history than the average Blueband Generation kid out there that grew up with [name of US-American sitcom] on KTN and then quickly left the country for the US or the UK for studies only to develope a need to rediscover their cultural heritage aborad because they’re also being asked about that, e.g. during marathons or once Kenya is back in the media with a negative story (hunger, poverty, AIDS, slums, scandals, natural disaster, tribal clashes, etc.) Don’t want to insult anyone here – guess it’s just a matter of interests. It’s like those immigrants in Germany who are much more German than I am (which isn’t that difficult).

Blogging is easy. Go to WordPress.com (or any other blogging platform), choose a username, register a blog and start writing. And publish it.

Do it anonymously, put your name under it -just do as you feel. But make sure your voice is out there.

My mother once asked me “JKE, who’s supposed to read all this stuff??”. – “Well”, I replied, “…I don’t know. But some apparently do.”.

That would be you, dear readers. Without you and your comments, I would probably never have taken it to this level. I owe you big times!

—

Four other things I’ve also learned during the last 4 years:

1. A blog post without a photo is like chicken soup without chicken. You feel that something is missing. So here’s the mandatory and totally random picture:

2. The world is changing faster than expected. And we will need much more visionaries out there who are able to think out-of-the-box and and are willing to take a risk. Even if it means that everyone will start laughing about them.
I wouldn’t say I am a visionary, but I’ve followed my own path during the last 4 years and am happily working freelance now on projects I really like. I like my work and what I do. Do you?

3. Things I value the most: time, inspiration, freedom.

4. Everyone likes a good story. Had this colleague at work who kept on sending me links to “potentially interesting news” for our newsletter: “Here, this link is interesting”. – “Yeah, thx…”, I replied, “but where’s the connection and where’s the story to it?”. Silence.

Twitter taught us that news may be limited to 140 characters only. 140 characters that will either be read or ignored.

Now, scientists can sometimes be very complicated. Blogging really helped me shrinking news to a necessary length – and I am still only at the beginning. I wish that colleague would twitter.

Epilogue
SEO is a horrible buzzword, suitable for bullshit bingo. Thinking about this blog post, I keep on adding new stuff to the list of facts. 4 years are an interesting timeframe to draw a line and look back. Alas, this aim to categorize the blog with something else other than “personal” still remains the hardest part for me.