Eddie's in the space time continuum

[Ember]

I know my chaotic working method doesn't do me any favours. His Lordship is of the opinion that I spend almost as much time searching for things as I do actually building. I have tried, oh how I have tried to be organized. I have several parts boxes all carefully labeled. I have small plastic compartmentalized boxes with mounting screws sorted by size, or bearings sorted by type. My gears are all sorted neatly into a little carousel that sits on the workbench, one side for crowns, one for inline pinions, one for sidewinder spurs, anglewinder spurs.

You get the picture.

But actually on my workbench any such attempts at organization last a day, maybe two at the tops and I am soon once again surrounded by chaos with slot parts at one end of the bench and a pile of scenic stuff at the other. On the whole I tend to find the biblical filing system works best for me. I'm sure you know the one.... Seek and ye shall find. Usually it works and I can lay my hand on anything within 5 minutes of hunting. OK, 10 at the outside.

Now we come to the effort of the last few days which has me absolutely stumped.

On Friday afternoon I was working on a TeamSlot Quattro for the OzRally proxy. I tend to favour Ninco NC2 motors for rally proxies, they are a nice blend of torque and power with a good acceleration through the full rev range. I used one last time I built a TeamSlot Celica. So, I took the TeamSlot s-can motor and adapter out and went to fit the NC2 only to discover the motor mount is too long. Damn you TeamSlot. So... I needed an low rev s-can motor. It was then that I remembered Harry's gift of some MT motors to try. The MT/1 should fit the bill nicely. I fiddled around with adjusting the adapter so that I didn't have to cut the motor shaft (in case I wanted to use it again) and was all set to solder the motor wires on when I got called away.

So....Fast forward to today when I have a day to myself. Perfect time to assemble the Quattro and give it a test blatt before putting the shell in a strip bath for it's makeover. I grabbed the soldering station from His Lordship's workbench in the garage, plugged it in and reached for the chassis to solder motor wires in place. But there's no motor. I know I left it sitting on the workdesk when I departed on Friday evening. But it is just no where to be seen.

I've turned things upside down looking for that motor, but it's vanished. It's like that MT/1 just never existed. I've checked drawers, cupboards, tins and boxes. I've crawled on the floor searching for the better part of a half hour. I did manage to find two M2 grub screws and a driver head, but no MT/1 motor. I've looked in the paint box, the electronics drawer, and on the display shelves. I've looked on the track, under the track and behind the power supply. I even looked in the beer fridge. It has vanished into the halls of uncertainty.

I guess I'd better order another one. Actually, perhaps I should order two.

[munter]

I am reminded of a frig magnet that said..."tidy people are just too lazy to look for stuff"

[TsgtRet]

Sounds like someone popped in using their "Someone Else's Problem" drive and snatched up your motor ("Eddie's in the space time continuum", indeed). You realize that the day you recieve your 2 MT/1s you will find the missing one. Advice: upon recieving said motors place one in your kitchen "junk drawer" (everyone in the world has one) and the other with your painting supplies, that way, when you inevitably mislay one, you will find the other during the search. :banana-rock:

[Ember]

I was hoping someone would recognize the title quote. :)

My biggest problem is really lack of space. Storage space. Bench space, Shelf space. I've got room to swing a cat if it's a really small cat and doesn't mind being beaten about the head a bit.

But I do like the idea of storing a spare in the kitchen catch-all drawer.

[2FER SLOTS]

[dreinecke]

Ah, I HATE losing stuff. I know people give me crap about my organized work bench, and it isn't always like that - but I'm DONE with spending time looking for stuff. When working on a master for a mold, I've spent days looking for a small piece of trim...only to find it rolled off the workbench and into the cuff of my blue jeans. I now keep my stuff organized.

The parts bins that are labeled are a good start. I have a carousel for the major tools and paints too. Just like RM, I use bins for each project. I also keep the worksurface clean, no matter how many projects are going on. That is the number one for me. I absolutely cannot stand having stuff all over the workbench any longer. It makes me crazy...seriously. What I do for the project on the bench is use a tray. Either a plastic one or a cardboard one. If you have a cat and buy food by the case, those cardboard trays work well. This way I can spread things for the project out and not lose them.

I was working last night and did my normal cleanup and vacuumed off the top of the bench...definitely make sure small parts are picked up before that!

A motor though...not really a small enough part to just disappear. Hope you find it!

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I am depressed. I have been the victim of pink bunnies from birth, I think. Swarms of them surround me constantly. My son has referred to it as "Ooo shiny" in which he is doing something and suddenly gets distracted like a crow that sees something shiny and reverses course in mid-air, flabbering about in the air changing direction. With me, its all about thought. Focusing my thinking without distraction is my problem.

Ember, with all your talent, I wonder if you have my wife's problem. She calls it "flat spotting". Basically, she puts things she isn't finished with in a flat spot where it won't roll away or get mixed in with other stuff. The big problem with this practice is that she puts them on a flat spot as she is distracted, which means they could be anywhere. A lot of the time, the object is on the floor, or fell to a lower shelf from where it was put down. All I can say is that artistic people have a heck of a time with this kind of thing.

[HomeRacingWorld]

have new bins too but things get so fast around here I still end up with a rabble.

But it seems to help a little. At least the piles are in more defined areas :)

[whitworthnut]

Ember, we're all listening, but I’m not sure it’s helped. Have you checked the Vogon laundromat? :geek:

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Just don't let them read their poetry!

[TsgtRet]

[Wolseley Hornet]

I bet you never looked under the sofa, Ember!


David.

[Ember]

Ahhh.... Shiny pink bunnies! I'm going to have nightmares about them now (insert Donnie Darko images here). Somehow it feels much better knowing I'm not alone.

I would swear black and blue that the motor was left sitting on the workbench within millimetres of the chassis and motor mount. I'll tackle that problem again this afternoon.

I do try to keep things bundled together. I have little plastic takeaway food containers that I put things in as I disassemble them. Assuming that they don't go straight from the car to the floor (I have a bit of a problem that means I often have limited feeling in my fingers). The container then gets the lid on, labelled with a sharpie and put in a stack. If there are parts that won't fit in the little container, then the container and the larger parts go into a zip-lock baggie and into another pile. I really do try.

At least part of the problem is having no space. I don't have anywhere to put things when I have finished with them for now. My poor little workbench is about 3'6" long and 18" wide and runs beneath a window (fluffy bunnies lurk outside) and by the time there are tools, bottles, cans, tyre truer and power supply, etc, it's full. The top drawer is always open so that I can get to the tools and bits in there. The next one contains glues, tape, solder, glue gun. Rarely required supplies in the bottom two. The cupboard in it has a top shelf with a stack of plastic people boxes, meshes and photo etches stacked flat. Bottom shelf 2 square tubs of paints. Shelving around the walls is full of cars. There is an old sideboard on the end wall of the toy room. It has two cupboards, both of which contain scenic supplies. The top of it has my shed diorama and display box dioramas and a couple of boxes of in-work projects. One drawer contains electronics bits and resin kits.The other has motors and car parts.

I've recently cleaned out the area beneath the track and plan to put some storage under there as soon as I find something that fits my budget (ie. free or close to).

But, I really do have Pink Bunny Syndrome bad. I always called it "Ooooh shiny" or shiny thing syndrome. I guess it goes along with having so many things that I want to do. I get absorbed in something to the exclusion of everything else and then realise there was something else I was supposed to be doing. So the switch flicks and I'm off onto the next thing. It's always been a problem, but I think it's getting more so now.

This missing motor is the biggest thing that has disappeared like this. And by far the quickest disappearance. To be honest, it has me just a little concerned. Time for another major clean up I suppose.

[2FER SLOTS]

"But, I really do have Pink Bunny Syndrome bad. I always called it "Ooooh shiny" or shiny thing syndrome. I guess it goes along with having so many things that I want to do. I get absorbed in something to the exclusion of everything else and then realise there was something else I was supposed to be doing. So the switch flicks and I'm off onto the next thing. It's always been a problem, but I think it's getting more so now."


Beats the carp outta being bored with no imagination. :handgestures-thumbup:

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Have you looked in the motor drawer? That's where I would have hid it from myself.