Greetings! 
If you are living on the East Coast and you've been buried in snow this week - our thoughts are with you! I won't tell you that I was wearing shorts out here in California just a few days ago, since I know that would drive you insane. I spoke to one of our customers this morning who lost power in their home from last Friday through Tuesday, then a power surge took out his MacBook and he dropped his iPhone in the toilet due to it being so dark- and this was on a good day. Hopefully things are getting better out there for you now that there's a break in the weather. To take your mind of your snow troubles, let's move on to discuss something that's on the minds of most American's these days, yes, your correct, I'm referring to the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.
If you have a kid in Cub Scouts, you will know just how "important" this event is each year. If you don't have a little kid that you can live vicariously through, let me give you some background. In early December, each Scout is handed a little box with a chunk of wood (pine, of course), four nails (axles) and four plastic wheels. By the end of January, the goal is to turn that block 
of wood into a screaming fast, 5 ounce work of art to compete with the 54 other Cub Scouts in your pack. For our Pack, the Pinewood Derby weekend consists of two events, the actual Cub Scout race that takes place on a Saturday, and a Parent/Sibling race the night before that is for fun and to pre-test the track to be sure it's ready for the serious racing the next day.
This year, Ethan our 8-year old Wolf scout decided he wanted to make a Skateboard shaped car and Skylar, our 6th grader, wanted to build a Twilight, New Moon car for the sibling race. With our ideas in hand, we set off for the bandsaw, drill press and dremel to see what we could create. After cutting out the wood, we had to then decide how to get space for the weights we would need to add to get the car as close to (but not over) 5 ounces. Both cars spent some time on the drill press, having holes punched deep inside of them to slide round weights into. Then it was on to sanding, primer, paint and decals. But, before I forget, while we worked on the body, we also treated our nail "axles" by spinning them in the drill press and filing off any burrs, boring out the plastic wheels and sanding down the outer surface of the wheels to remove any rough spots. Then, all the wheels went into a bag full of graphite, where they spent the next couple of weeks on the kitchen counter, being turned over and over each time a little kid walked by (this was one of their most important jobs). By the time we were ready to put the wheels on the car, the graphite had complete coated each wheel, turning them from black to silver-gray and making them incredible slick, and hopefully just as fast.
So, as a recap, here's where we started...
...and here's how they looked when we were done:
So, pretty pictures are one thing. How'd the kids do in the race? I'm happy to report that Skylar's New Moon car took 3rd place in the Sibling race and Ethan's Skateboard took 6th place out of 54 cars on race day. We had a great time making the cars, with the entire family getting involved. Just one more thing that makes Scouting with your kids such a rewarding activity.
Alright, back to the tech stuff!
Laptop Parts
Let's chat for a few minutes about Self-Repair. We have had requests for years to sell our laptop parts outright, and I'm pleased to announce that we have begun to do just that. Over the next few weeks, you'll see more and more parts begin to populate our website for those of you that wish to perform a laptop repair yourself.You'll see our complete inventory of LCD screens coming online during the next week and for those of you that are handy with a screw driver or if you have a local technician you want to have do your repair, we think you'll love our pricing. Stay tuned for more information as we develop this new product line.
You can find our LCD screen listings here.
Now, some news from Brian and then onward to the the deals!
Shannon Jean
Founder
FUTURESHOCK
Hello again!
Here's my latest screensaver: eight iPads performing a synchronized, nocturnal dance - lit by colorful sprites who weave kaleidoscopic designs on the ground!
Preview & Download Page
Enjoy and have a wonderful Valentines weekend! <3
Brian Northway
Designer/Animator
Buzz Specials
The coupons listed here are valid through 2/26 at Midnight Pacific Time. You can use the coupons and order via the links, or call 1-888-572-7372 to speak to one of our friendly humans. Coupon codes cannot be combined, but you can use them on multiple orders if you are so inclined.
Labels: Apple, derby, iPad, laptop parts, pinewood, screensaver
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment! It will be posted as soon as it is approved by our moderator.