Ryan McFarland

It was pretty excruciating waiting for the results of the Instructables and Readymade Magazine mash-up contest. We were in Vietnam and everyone was relaxing on the beach and i just wanted to be refreshing the Instructables blog to see if they had posted results. They announced the date that they would announce the winners and i was finally able to quit my addictive search for internet access. When the mash-up contest results were posted we were in Bali. My submission won the grand prize - a Coby Personal Media Player, a $250 Michael’s Gift Card, and an Instructables robot t-shirt.  I am still pretty stunned.  I was hoping for one of the two first place prizes (sewing machines) and having looked through many of the other 180 entries figured that i had a good chance of winning one of the 10 second prizes (Black & Decker tool sets).  The media player has a 30 gig hard drive and a 4 inch color screen.  It has a memory card slot that uses the same cards as my Treo.  It plays music and video as well as displaying images.  If i buy an adapter for my digital camera i could use this device to store images on a long trip instead of hauling my laptop.  It has an AV output so it can play content on home stereo or video equipment and can record audio or video from AV sources also.  It even has an FM receiver.  There’s a microphone for voice recording and speakers built in.  I’m sure that i’ll find stuff at Michael’s (perhaps even a sewing machine?) to fuel my crafting needs.  And another Instructables t-shirt?  Great!  I wear my charcoal one often - this one is tan colored.  I hope i have not worn out my good fortune.  The Instructables contest that the top prize is a $13,000 laser cutter (just plug into your computer and it acts like a printer that can cut paper, cloth, or thin wood or engrave plaques or other materials) had the deadline extended.  Now i have the time to get a project completed and submitted.

Well, i finished my crutch/bike part stool today. The “upholstery” ended up being done with a piece of foam, a thin piece of plywood and a few inner tubes stretched across the top. I wanted it to be suitable for outside and to maximize recycled materials. I spent about $8 making this and perhaps 4 hours of time. In hindsight i would have made it 4 legged - the three is stable when you’re on it but hopping on and off it is prone to tipping when set at the higher leg heights. Yes! It’s adjustable! As usual, the full instructions are on Instructables - this time for the Mash-Up contest. My entry is way earlier than usual for me - the contest ends on the 25th of November but we’ll be gone. I hope to figure out one more entry to write up for the contest with a $13,000 laser engraver/cutter as a prize. Time is quickly passing for that one which also closes while we’re on our trip. I expect this project to generate some interest!

Stool prototype

Originally uploaded by zieak

Here’s my first shot at making a stool with crutches and bicycle wheels. I need to figure out the upholstery portion. The legs adjust in height while the spacing from the seat to the foot rest remains the same.

More cart bike interest from the print media….

Hi Ryan,

My name is Gabriel Knowles and I’m a journalist working for Dazed & Confused magazine in Australia. We would like to run a half-page feature on the Shopping Cart Bike in our Eyespy section. We were hoping to run the article in our December/January edition.

Would it be possible to arrange an interview with you? We could do the interview via Email or over the phone, whichever suits you the most. Either way it shouldn’t take up too much of your time.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Gabriel Knowles
Eyespy Editor
Dazed & Confused Aus/NZ

Home Improvement is probably my biggest paying hobby. The improvements we have made on the house in just a few years gave the home value enough of a boost that we could use the equity to buy Lux. I don’t really need the value of the house to go up any more though - it might actually get to the point where it is difficult to sell. But there are a few major projects that i would like to get done before selling the place.

Shed - We desperately need a workshop behind the house. Last fall i framed the walls and i should secure the building before we leave on our trip and get some significant snow. I want the space to be heated so i can keep my tools out there and not have them rust away.  We also need to wrap the deck around the back of the house - not too large - just 3 feet wide would be alright.

Downstairs bath and sauna - the current workshop and boiler room needs to be converted into a half bath for when we have visitors. We can squeeze and office area into there also. We want a sauna also. I’ve been squirreling away red cedar for over a year.

Enclose the carport - A heated garage in the winter? Pure luxury!

Vault the ceiling in the kitchen and living room - They face south and have great natural light but the ceiling feels low compared to our bedrooms upstairs. (It doesn’t just feel low - it is low!) By tearing out the sheet rock and adding structural beams to replace the rafters we could have a spacious living area and eliminate the wasted attic space currently in that area.

Spiral staircase and french doors out of the bedroom - Landing right next to the hot tub. Part of this project would be nice to add a deck over part of the house - we have a covered porch - but when it is nice a deck would be better. Especially with the view of the Wrangell Narrows from up there.

Outdoor cooking area - We grill a lot. Not just in the summertime. I’d like to put in a tile counter with a small sink and a grill mounted. Cabinets below with a kegerator and a breakfast bar to dine off to the side would become the outdoor focal point of the house.

Pond - we would like to have a pond and waterfall to the side of the front of the house.

I’m tired just thinking about all these projects. They will ALL have to wait until around this time next year though.

Last year i bought three anatomical skulls on eBay.  For our party last year i used one on the porch with a rain jacket and another was covered with pink cream cheese and slices of ham.  This year we used all three in the kitchen.  One was covered with cream cheese and then pieces of smoked salmon were stuck all over it.  Another we removed the bottom jaw and the top of the skull and filled it with hummus.  The third was embedded in a pumpkin with LEDs and marbles for eyes.  You can read all about the creation of the skull pumpkin and smoked salmon skull on Instructables.  Yes, they are entered in the contest over there.  Thanks to Tonka Seafoods for the smoked salmon i used.

I didn’t really carve a pumpkin in the traditional sense this year. I hollowed it out and put a plastic replica human skull in that I had modified. I drilled holes into the eye socket to the brain cavity and then put a battery powered LED string in which light up clear marbles. Then I draped pumpkin guts all over the thing.

Wired has a collection of 10 hacked bikes and they included the cart bike.  I sent the writer, Sonja Zjawinski, a previously unpublished picture of Tim Harrington riding it the day that I made it.  Below is a picture of Josh with the bike during an evening of testing using the cart bike to pull people in wheelchairs.  Results: F+.

Cece gave me a Dr. Seuss Stencil Fun book while visiting her in Columbia. Missouri.  This will come in handy when i finally get around to trying out bleaching t-shirt designs.

I received this message via Instructables today…

Hey Zieak,
I’m a writer for Wired News and Wired Magazine and have been assigned a story in cool bike hacks. I wanted to write about your rad grocery cart and was hoping you could email me photos of the bike our photo department could choose from as well as answer some questions I have over email. I need to file this story by the end of the week so I hope you can participate. Thanks.
-sonia zjawinski