Changes

I learned some useful skills in the lab during the winter break. I learned how to use an Allen key to drive a screw up into a hole in a collar even though I could not see through the collar to make sure the screw and the hole were lined up right. When I first tried to do that, I kept looking under the bar so I could put the screw into the hole. But looking at the screw from the side would require simultaneously judging whether the screw and the hole are the same distance away, turning the Allen key in the correct direction, and holding the key sufficiently vertical. Such coordination was too much. It turned out to be easier to overcome the impulse to look at the screw, set the collar over the screw so that it looked right from above, and turn the key.

I learned some useful skills in the lab during the winter break. I learned how to use an Allen key to drive a screw up into a hole in a collar even though I could not see through the collar to make sure the screw and the hole were lined up right. When I first tried to do that, I kept looking under the bar so I could put the screw into the hole. But looking at the screw from the side would require simultaneously judging whether the screw and the hole are the same distance away, turning the Allen key in the correct direction, and holding the key sufficiently vertical. Such coordination was too much. It turned out to be easier to overcome the impulse to look at the screw, set the collar over the screw so that it looked right from above, and turn the key.

Another skill I acquired this winter was tearing duct tape tolerably well. Previously, I was very likely to wrinkle the tape if I tried to tear it.

Another skill I acquired this winter was tearing duct tape tolerably well. Previously, I was very likely to wrinkle the tape if I tried to tear it. When we had to tape sheets of paper to the table for polishing the fibers, I wanted Ann Marie and Liana to handle that sticky business. One day, though, I found that by holding the tape against the roll at some point, I could tear off a piece right next to where I was holding it. Hold the tape down with one hand, and with the other pull the edge away from the roll. It was amazing.