Some grooves don't share well.

[tugrik]

Sometimes it's the little things that one becomes most proud of... but they're so little (or so specialized) that they don't have much meaning for anybody else.

I ran into one of those today. I've blathered on earlier about my love of infrastructure and integration -- a part of my personality that can be summed up with a really bad 80's TV cliche: "I love it when a plan comes together." It can be as complex as architecting a multinational network or as simple as finding the right lightswitch for a home-fixit job. Either way, I groove on it. When I groove on something, I want to share it. The desire to go "oo, hey, World... check this out! It all works just right!" and show it around is strong. Of course, if it's just a lightswitch, the usual response is "oh... yeah. That's nice". I get a little flustered, as to me it's this terribly cool thing, but at the same time I understand it.

------

When I bought the PIAA rally lights for my GS bike, I also ordered a gadget known as an 'autoswitch'. It is designed as a replacement for the included on/off switch the lights come with. With all the other last-minute preps for the big BRAG trip I didn't feel like figuring this particular gadget out, so it'd sat in a drawer for the last few months. I installed the lights with their included switch, using velcro and strap-ties to lash it to the handlebar. It functioned, but it was just enough out of reach to make it inconvenient to use. The switch itself was designed for a car dashboard and not a motorcycle, so it lacked the waterproofing and harder case it should have had.

Today while I was waiting for sassinak to get back from the tire store with the van, I saw the autoswitch in the workbench drawer. The manual looked easy enough, so I pulled the tank off the bike and went at it. It only took about 45 minutes to do, and only that long because I did it the proper way: heat-shrink tubing, soldered joints, flush-mounted indicator light, and so forth. While this involved the unnerving task of taking a drill bit to a very visible part of my instrument cluster, the end result looks factory-clean. Everything is properly shock-mounted and sealed so I can go thrashing through mud-puddles again without fear of a short circuit.

The new switch isn't a switch at all, really. Instead, it uses an existing one already on the bike: the turn-signal cancel button. Normally one taps this button to stop the turn signals from blinking, and there's no reason to hold it. With the Autoswitch, just hold it for 1.2 seconds and the state of the attached relay toggles... turning my rally lights on or off. The tiny hole in the cluster was to mount an indicator LED that comes with the kit -- letting me know at a glance the state of the relay. Compared to the awkward (and less safe) 'lift left hand from grip, reach over and press the PIAA button carefully' motion, this is truely elegant.

When I buttoned the bike back up, I was really happy with the results... happy enough I pulled the bike out and gave it a long-overdue washing. After that I took it on a little dry-off ride around the neighborhood, complete with a fill-up at the station. Of course, most of the trip was spent flicking the rally lights on and off, happily abusing the new switch. Yes, I amuse easily.

------

While watching Adult Swim this evening with revar, I brought my little internal debate up to him. I was frustrated at not being able to relay the 'cool factor' properly, or maybe it was just that I found this really mundane thing way too interesting. I thoughtlessly phrased it like I was the only one who'd ever had this problem. He just pointed at the laptop, its busy screen filled with lines of code. He'd been hacking all day on some form of code fix -- probably a little tiny piece of background programming that noboby'd probably ever notice, but he found to be cool and satisfying. He's been doing this kind of thing for all the years I've known him. I was suddenly reminded of all the times he tried to describe what he'd fixed or discovered and I could only nod back, glassy-eyed, feigning understanding of his own personal groove.

The grin he wore was one of sadonic amusement. "Welcome to my world."

D'oh. :)

Comments

[foxmagic.livejournal.com]

Hee!

Been there, done that, know exactly how ya feel. :)

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Having it actually function, and understanding why is the only reason I keep working with computers. This unfortunately rare and tantalizing reward of getting the pieces to behave is enough to continue, even when no one else is going to understand it.