The adventure has begun!

My apologies for the lack of recent posts, but the last couple weeks have been hectic. First I went to Burning Man, then I had a week to get ready to move to Boston for a month and a half. Now that I'm here and somewhat settled in, I finally I have time to catch my breath and give that promised debriefing.

Burning Man was, unsurprisingly, amazing. The art cars, mutant bicycles, sculptures, and art installations were all incredible and wonderful grist for the creative mill (I'm already working on a transforming mutant bicycle design). However, probably the most useful thing I learned there was this: if I ever have some crazy idea for a project that needs lots of space and willing guinea pigs who won't try to sue my ass off, I now know where to go.

Of course, I also met a bunch of awesome people with sexy brains ripe for the picking. I got a lot of positive feedback on my CNC shop idea, and some interest in my bicycle tire armor that I brought; if I get an etsy shop set up I might be able to actually make some money this quarter!

Thankfully, my primary venture of getting access to a shop to work on my CNC projects is also looking very promising. Last night I hung out at the Artisan's Asylum and met a bunch of cool people, several of which are very interested in CNC tech. Now, while they won't be ready to have open shop hours for a few months at least, it looks like if I rent some space (only $1 per square foot!) and pay a monthly fee I could have access to the shop now. My current plan is to rent enough space for a 4x8 machine, build it, and then take it back to Cincinnati with me when I leave using a U-haul and the handy trailer hitch on my Toyota.

Tomorrow I leave for New York to meet with family before the maker faire on Saturday and Sunday. After that I'll spend a few days with my friend Lea down in DC looking at hackerspaces and museums before catching the bus back to Boston and start working on my projects in earnest.