Week 293: Heliophagy

Thursday was yet another hottest day of the year, which reminds me of a classic Simpsons bit: BART: This is the worst day of my life. HOMER: The worst day of your life so far. At the Makerspace I used the laser cutter to make a replacement back panel for the chair I’m refurbishing after rescuing it from the street where someone had dumped it by the bins. Original part, broken by exposure to water, and replacement Despite my test cuts and tuning, the laser didn’t quite cut all the way through everywhere, and I had to carefully score the back to remove the piece from the sheet. Someone gave me a tip for using the laser on thick sheets more effectively, but it was too late by then. There’s a lot of sanding of the panel and the whole chair still to be done, but it’s progress. The Japanese (and Chinese) word for “solar eclipse” is 日食 (nisshoku), from characters meaning “sun” and “eat”. Something is taking a bite out of the sun, and I always liked that. “Lunar eclipse” is analogous: 月食…