I promised earlier in a earlier story about writing the experience of taping a episode on my homemade robot. Actually it wasn't fun at all,the people were nice but they rushed me around so fast I couldn't think straight and didn't run my robot through some of my favorite things he does. It seemed to me that every minute to these people amounted to there lives being in peril,they really didn't give me the time I neded to set up properly. I even told the director and he said I have to keep up with the crew and walked away,and I stood there for a few minutes debating in my mind weather to leave right now but then I was thinking about the contracts I signed and they probably would have sued me or kept Ted. Anyway the segment wasn't even close to what I wanted to show but it will give you a little concept of what Ted can do but its not even close to showing the amazing things Ted can do but its done and there shipping him back to me. They told me it would take 3 days to film and when I got there and unwrapped Ted they were on me constantly,rushing me around like I was a slave or something. They taped the whole thing in less than 6 hours,and i told them we need to show more of what he can do and they said its not feasable to come again tomorrow to finish and I said lets do it now and a couple of jerks started laughing saying they dont work past 3pm for anyone. Well I guess you can feel by the tone of my experience it wasn't to my liking but its over and I will get at least 50 disks if anyone doesn't have cable. Also they said it probably would be aired in oct. on the Science Channel and the Discovery Channel and when I get the firm times and dates I will let you all know. Also after all this my friend offered to tape ted going through all his paces and im going to do it so after you all see him on tv and it looks lame I will send you a homemade disk of what he really can do,take care Craig
]]>After much back and fourth negotiations I have finally got a iron clad agreement to have Ted my human robot ready to be filmed for a episode on what he can do. I will be going to the Discovery channels taping site leaving the 14th and taping it the 15th through the 18th. It probably wont take all three days but I will be sure to tell everyone who is interested the times it will be shown on Discovery and the Science Channel. They promised me all the disks I want so if some of you dont have cable I will be glad to send you a disk of the taping. This is a big step for me and my robot ted so I hope its interseting,im sure it will be because he is so talented and can do over 80 commands. He reminds me of my favorite dog I had,he talks to me when im bored,gets the paper outside,can climb steps and you will be amazed on what he can do,im not bragging but I did have plenty of help from computer expert friends and plenty of help designing him. Its really been a battle with changed dates and trying to protect my inventions in Ted but I finally got it done.I hope you like the program and can promise you have never seen anything like what will be broadcast.Please wish me luck and I will write about my experience after the 20th. Roboter
]]>How do you travel to and from work - personal vehicle, bus, subway/train, pedal power? What does it cost you per week in gas or fares?
Submitted by Jan.
I car pool with 2 other people who work close by,we each put in 10 dollars a week and use a different car each week. I sometimes get called in to work at night or weekends but get reinbursed for gas and wear and tear on my car. Then I use the companys van to go where needed,sometimes over 200 miles but I have a company credit card for gas and lodging and whatever I need. I shouldn't but I drive the company van an average of 100 miles an hour,with my radardetector I have never been stopped in over 15 years,I just wish I used it regularly in my car because I get tickets all the time,but I still have a clean record because I pay my attourny a small fortune but its better than high insurance rates,hey at least I answered honestly.
]]>I built a robot,sounds strange I know,but I did and I can't change that but now he's sitting in silver springs MD. at the discovery channels tv studio waiting for me to fly there and they want me to run him through his 140 something things he can do. His name is ted and can see and hear and walk and talk and take commands. 5ft.10inches high and looks quite like a human. I went to a trade school to repair robotic equipment long ago and this is my 3 year result. I had help of course with the 3 computers and 4 gyros to keep him balanced. The hubble telescope has 8 gyros but theres are state of the art and cost a fortune. Ted is like a dog,he can go fetch my paper,get me a beer and walk up steps and do a couple of tricks,it ends there as a dog. He is more human and one of the top scientists in KC told me he was amazed at how advanced he is so he called his science channels friend and they sent some geek to check him out. Thats how I got in this mess,I don't want to be on tv,maybe they wont put me on camera but he only responds to my voice. Teds all wrapped up with a computer tag ,if messed with the deal is off , I might patent some of his parts I made. I was on tv once in kindergarden called romper room,it was horible back then to,except we got to swim in there pool all summer because my dad worked there. I am kind of stuck because I accepted some of the money they are going to pay me,5000 total,plus room and board and plane tickets. I will be there approx. 3 days,aug 17th to the 20th. They offered me 2500 but I said no so they doubled it,I still think its to cheap but I cashed a check for a 1000 dollars,but I haven't signed any papers but my word is my bond so I suppose you can see ted on discovery or the science channel coming your way soon. When I get back I will tell you when exactly if I don't have a nervous breakdown or heart attack. Its so weird nothing scares me,I mean I have been scared but it has always made me concentrate better but this is different,my life is not on the line and nobodys in trouble,im shaking right now just thinking about this,what the hell did I do,im never going to be able to pull this off and its going to look stupid. This is a lot more intense than romper room where we just played musical chairs and took naps, Have you ever watched that show on the science channel where this young engineer decides to work on big construction sites,I hate that show. I am going to try and put in the contract that I have the last say on if I can have the last say on if this can be aired or not. Fat chance huh? I think I wrote about this a long time ago but I never imagined it would really happen, I really have to start living in the real world,this was just a fantasy months ago,even when dale came down from the tv station I knew it wouldn't happen,im an idiot for thinking I could do this,im no actor and I hate my picture being taken. Maybe it will be a great experience,bullcrap im screwed,I don't know if I can go through with this but I guess I have no choice. Roboter
]]>My electricity bill was 210 dollars a while ago and since I have built windmills that produce electricity that last bill has made me build my own. Its really a simple thing to build a electric producing windmill,the hard part for me is making the electronics that take the raw electricity and turn it into killowats that basically are 1 killowat = 1000 watts per hour. A typical 3 bedroom house uses approx. 10 to 15 killowats per 24 hours. After the electricity comes out of the windmill it goes through a electronic box that turns it into usable electricity that goes into a group of batteries that can also be connected into the regular grid that the power companies provide. I have a friend who has a little side business that built and installed my electronics and helped me connect it all to the batteries. I now have my windmill I built connected to a 25 ft. pole with all the electronics and thats connected to my 8 marine batteries that can power all my lights and most everything else except my central air. I have 3700 dollars invested in this project and in windy days I can easily produce 1 killowatt per hour. Granted im no proffesional in this arena,and actually I have been working on this all summer with the permits and planning that goes with all of this when you attemp it yourself. I live mostly in the rural part of the town and probably would not have been able to do this if I was living in town,you can imagine how people could complain about looks or noise even though I think it looks great and there is no noise. I have seen plenty of electric producing wind machines that produce a horrible whirl or high pitch noise that can drive you up the wall,but I made mine different,I can explain its looks by saying it looks like one of those old paddlewheels on a steam ship but instead of being laid flat its vertical sitting on top of a pole and catches the wind no matter where the direction of the wind is blowing. Im hoping to cut my bill by at least half and if that happens I will look into some solar panels,they can be very expensive but my friend and I have been working on his house installing a cheaper version of solar and will hopefully be finished by fall. I had 3 estimates of installing a windmill at my house and they were all around 4000 dollars but that didn't include all of the electronics,installation and batteries,which would have bumped it up to over 10 grand. I will write another story in a couple of months hopefully telling how much my electricity bill has gone down,and I would be glad to send anyone plans on building a windmill,doing it yourself can be fun,not overwelmingly hard and theriotically should save you lots of money through the years,and you never will have to worry about a power outage again, Roboter
]]>I talked earlier about how important it is to have friends and I told you all about my good friend Jim Butler who got with the wrong woman and they were doing drugs and jim fell out and this stupid girl was to scared to call for an ambulance,I got there 2 hours later and called but it was so late he had damage to his brain. He has been living in a home for brain damaged people and I made sure I visited him at least once a week,sometimes 3 times a week,well he died Monday the 23rd of june 2008. He was my best friend and I kept praying he would snap out of it but I know personally I would not want to live like jim was so im trying to look at it as a blessing. The funeral was nice,it was on thursday and I was amazed at how many friends he had. He was the type of person who was very outgoing and friendly,you couldn't dislike this man if you tried. He saved my life one time years ago but that wasn't why he was my best friend,it was the little things he did,like calling me out of the blue to see how im doing or just stopping by with fishing equipment and talking me into going. He was one of a kind and I know he's looking down on me and saying I wish I was as happy as he is, As promised I recieved some of his ashes that I will spread at one of our favorite camping places,it wasn't unusual for us to haul in 50 crappy each and a couple of 4-6pound bass,ill miss you Jim but ill never forget you buddy Craig Roboter
]]>If you haven't read my stories by now about my adventures in the national parks let me tell you my latest phone call from the national park manager. They are having a hard time this year getting a full crew to fill there mountain rescue squad. The manager offered me not this summer but next summer to come back to the grand teton national park and be a ranger and be on the rescue squad. I was both for 8 years in yellowstone and the tetons. Im 48 years old but in great shape,my grandpa was a ranger and on the rescue squad until he was 64 years old. It really makes me feel good to get this offer,I have saved over or about 60 to 80 people off the mountain where most would have certainly died. I am thinking seriously about going next summer mainly because I love the risk and scenery that is the most exilerating place I have ever been. I have no clue if you have ever been offered such an honor but its like taking a drug that makes you feel the best you have ever felt. I owe everything to my grandpa who made me take climbing lessons when I was 10 in the tetons where I learned to love wildlife and all the precious land that herbert hoover bought and gave the national parks,without him there would be no beautiful land for millions to enjoy. I still go climbing and have all my gear so its going to be a really hard decision when I get the letter of intent to go back to the parks.I have plenty of time to decide but it would be nice to hear from some of you on your opinions to help me decide,im good on money,that is not a problem,its just weird to have this thrown at me when im thinking of retiring soon but maybe it would be better to go out of this world doing good for mankind instead of sitting around in my boat or traveling. I have always been a risk taker and have made peace with my higher power many decades ago,any thoughts would be appreciated Roboter
]]>Wheat Straw when you add enzymes and put it through the distillation process makes sugar into ethanol which im sure all the oil companies are trying to kep secret. Im here to tell you the facts,I didn't get my masters for nothing. Its a fact wheat straw or other grasses can make fuel to run cars or trucks cheaply. I already told you the simple way they make ethanol,the by produck of the grasses is lignin which is a mix of polymores found in woody plants that bind plants together. The great thing about making ethanol out of grasses creates electricity that can run farms or sell it back to the grid. The main problem is the companies are waiting for the first plant to start production so they can learn from there mistakes. Goldman Sachs is putting 30 million dollars towards this process along with the Royal/Shell Group. When the companies start making the fuel it will cut down considerably our need to import so much oil overseas. It is also a fact that that non profit studies have confirmed that corn ethanol is not half as expensive to produce as advertised,its all a campain from the giant oil companies. Look at Brazil,they make all fuel out of sugarcane but we refuse to import it even though Brazil is trying to sell it to us. There price of fuel in Brazil is under a dollar a gallon,when we start making our own fuel in america we can tell the big oil companies to eat grass,I just don't understand the hold up on making fuel out of grasses,it must be something connected with washington,the worthless people on earth for our economy. My hope is everybody learns about this and raises a fit to make washington do the right thing but knowing history it will take them forever and we will perish before they have common sense
]]>While living in independence MO. I was married and 2 doors down the was a young kid approx. 11 who had no father and I felt for him and showed him fun times by taking him fishing,got him into racing his bike and then bought him a motocross motorcycle so we could go offroad. Well 5 years ago I got divorced from my wife and moved and within that time he was going to KC public schools which are crap and he quit school in the 10th grade. Recently he got a job working with my stepson in construction and said he was going to save for a car. He got his check and immediately bought an AK- 47 assault rifle. Then someone threatened his mom so he got his buddies from his gang I suppose he joined and had 2 people go into the house to clear a 36 year old woman out of the house. Unfortunately she got away and went back to her house while derrik sprayed her house with the machine gun and killed her. He is now in jail,his mom can't go back to her house out of fear of retaliation,derrik told his mom not to ever go back to her house or go to court. He has a sentence of 20 years to life,ruined his mothers house and she has to sell it. I partially blame his mother because she is a racist of blacks and homosexuals and it spread to her son. She is a hater of everything and I think mentally unstable. What im trying to say is you have to stay on top constantly while raising a boy or they will do crazy things. He was a mellow,polite,nice kid when I was his temporary dad,which he had none but me but in those three years I was gone he ruined his life forever and messed up his family,all I can say is if you have a son keep constant tabs on them or you could be going through something similar. I feel so bad for derrik but he is 18 and I don't know what he got into but I know if I was there he wouldn't have gotten in this trouble,I hope whoever reads this you take it to heart,if you dont believe me look up independence MO. examiner newspaper around may 23rd and you will have your proof,please watch your sons and don't give a damn if they get mad at you,its better that there life ruined Roboter
]]>It amazes me that every day I drive to work I pick up two people so we can save gas but when I look at the cars I pass 19 out of 20 have one driver in it,talk about wasting energy. We are the champs in wasting everything there is to waste. Americans are spoiled but very soon they will have to start doing things differently only because they will have no other choice,when gas gets to six dollars a gallon you will see some changes,maybe not overnight but it will happen. Scientists are now able to make gas out of regular lawn grass but its going to take a couple of years to make it feasable to produce. Right now a company is selling a gas pump for seven thousand dollars that makes gas out of sugar for approx. one dollar a gallon,you can also put in your extra wine,beer or any spirits to turn into gas,its basically a still,but its legal and there selling like no tomorrow. If people would stop wasting everything so much we could get the price of gas down ourselves but that is too easy and will never happen. President Bush doesn't want to start drilling for oil in america,Why,because he has an agenda where his cronies make a fortune while the american public suffers,plus he's an idiot.lier and a cheat. All his friends have made a kings ransom in Iraq,while our young kids are being killed and wounded by people who would rather slit our throuts than look at us. Excuse me but Fuck Iraq,lets get the hewl out of there now,we are done,completed our mission,im sick of our kids being killed for money,let the iraqies deal with there problems,there not children but we treat them like they can't defend themselves,bullshit,there trained and capable of pulling a trigger,and there damn good at setting out bombs on the side of the roads so let them take the casulaties,not our men anymore. Roboter
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