Nerdwax - Kickstarter

Nerdwax, the Original Glasses Wax

I stumbled onto this on Kickstarter and thought it was a fun product.  Sometimes a great name is good enough to sell a product.  They were funded over twelve times their goal.  Nerdwax is wax applied to the bridge of your glasses to keep them up.  Anyone with glasses knows the constant routine of pushing up their spectacles every few minutes.  Oh gravity, you so funny.

All natural waxes are blended to create a non-slip coating to prevent your glasses from slipping off your nose.

Applying Nerdwax to glasses

The application is simple.  Just rub the wax onto the nose pad of your glasses, as if you are applying lip gloss. Only instead of smooth, moist lips...you have a sticky nose pad.  The residue can be easily removed by wiping with finger or tissue.  The all natural materials means it does no irritate the skin...at least, I have no have any problems yet.  Make sure you are not allergic to beeswax and other natural waxes.

The weather here is a little warm, so my wax is a little on the soft side.  It makes it hard to get a smooth coat of wax, as it chunks up.  I am sure once the weather gets a little cooler, it will glide on more consistently.  Placing the wax in a cool place may help.

Because of the width of the tube, I found it hard to get into the corners.  Perhaps using a smaller diameter applicator, like a Softlips tube, would make it easier in this situation.

Hard to read areas

I have been using this for about a week and it seems to work like it is supposed to.  Depending on how greasy your nose is and oh often you take on/off your glasses, the wax lasts about 2-3 days.  I think I have a pretty greasy face, so each application lasts me about a day.  Perhaps I am not putting enough on, or not applying it correctly.

I notice that I only have slipping issues on full plastic frames.  Frames with separate or rubber-like nose pads and/or temples tend to have better grip anyway.  There is no need, at least for me, to use it on these type of frames.

You use very little, so a tube could last a few months, maybe even up to a year.  If you have trouble keeping your glasses up, give this a try.  You can order from their website at Nerdwax.com for $10 a tube.  

Engine Cover Support Bracket

My design of the engine cover support bracket

Time to tackle that Engine Cover Support Bracket that I have been talking about.  This is a simple design based on the DMC Louvre bracket I mentioned in previous posts.

Preliminary sketches of the bracket

I went through a few designs, but the idea is the same:  Use the existing holes from the Louvre Reinforcement Strip install, design a bracket that will hold the engine cover.  The final piece will be made by CNC from Delrin, while initial prototypes will be made by STL rapid prototyping.

First prototype of the bracket

In order to not waste material, I designed the prototypes with holes and negative spaces.  The important parts are the mounting holes, latch hook, and recess channel.  Note there are many holes and a section missing from the above prototype and design sketches.  More exploration sketches were needed to refine the design.

Second prototype, on top

After the first prototype, I found that I needed thicker channel walls.  Also the latch hook needed to be moved about a quarter inch forward and about a quarter inch shallower.  Adjustments were made in the design and digital model.  I test fitted the latest version, and it seem to fit nicely. Time to make the final-full version.

Comparing first and second prototype with final bracket.

Since I know the second prototype fit, there was no need to print out a third.  The final version went straight to CNC to be cut in Delrin.  You can see in the photo above that the important areas - mounting holes, latch hook, and recess channel - remain unchanged from prototype to final.

I wanted to have the DMC logo featured on both sides.  The initial idea was to have negative area of the D (or C, depending on which side you are looking at) as the hook.  This is different from the DMC Louvre Brace design as the logo is negative and the have a notch cut of the D (or C) to  allow for the engine cover latch.

Notice that my cut out area is not as deep as the 'crotch' of the D.  I have stock louvre struts on my car.  It is recommended that you get longer struts if you install the DMC Louvre Brace.  This raises the louvre and allows the engine cover latch to hook on to the brace.  The DMC Louvre Brace will not work with the shorter stock louvre struts.  If I ever go with longer struts, I could cut a deep notch in my bracket.

Need longer screws to install new bracket

The channel of the bracket makes it too wide for the screws that came with my Louvre Reinforcement Strips.  This means I will need some longer screws.  Since these are in metric, and we do not have a stock of metric screws, I need to pick some up at the hardware store.

Big deal, right?  Well, here is the interesting part.  I figured they would not be over a dollar so, I used my last dollar to purchase the screws.  Yeah, I do not carry that much cash on me.  Anyway, the clerk gave me change.  At first, I thought, "hey, cool quarter".  A Fort McHenry back quarter...not that I know what Fort McHenry is...I guess I could Google it.

Then, I realized that the clerk also gave me a Buffalo nickel.  These nickels were in circulation from 1916-1938 (I Googled that).  I have no idea when this one was made as the front is almost totally worn away.  Only a faint silhouette of the American Indian head and the text was totally worn away.  You can see that the back is quite worn as well.

Installed bracket

Oh, here was I ?  Oh yeah, the bracket.  Installation is pretty straight forward.  I already did the hard work with the measurements and dry fitting the prototypes.

Remove old screws, put bracket in place, replace longer new screws, tighten nuts.  Done

Bracket holding up engine cover

The bracket does its job and holds up the engine cover.  Hey, it works!

Close up of the hook and latch

The new bracket totally negates the Engine Cover Support Slide Block.  Which is okay, since there is no more stress on the slide block and related assembly.  Now the stress from the weight of the engine cover rests on the louvre, struts, and rear quarter panels.  Again, this is acceptable since the louvres are reinforced with the strips.

If needed, I could always remove the bracket and go back to the slide block taking the weight.  For now, I like my new bracket.

View of bracket when louvres are closed.

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - September 2014

Ah, September.  Summer is coming to an end.  The days are getting shorter.  Kids are going back to school. Changes are in the air.  You know what never changes?  Fucking telemarketers will always call you.

3 September 2014
   855-608-8509 Unknown - Unknown to me, but not unknown to Google.  Text book phishing and telemarketer scam.  This is your basic telebot with some sort of credit card scam...I mean "offer".   This was a bot.  The machines are rising.  Run, everyone run...or just hang up on them.  Fuck the machines.

Update:  Please read the comment regarding the number above.  Great insight...and thanks for your contribution...sorry you were fucked by the telebot.

Many searches for this number.

Image above shows the top searches, in less than 24 hours, that lead you here.  As of this update, there have been over 100 views of this post.  Welcome.

5 September 2014
   612-351-3173  MN, USA - Well one good thing about this call...it reminded me that I need to charge my phone.  Other than that, it is the same old bullshit, telemarketers.  I kinda wish that the battery was already dead, so I do not have to deal with this shit.  I hope you fucking freeze to death this winter.  Fuck you!

18 September 2014
  541-569-4753   Lostine, OR - What the fuck is a 'Lostine'?  Surely, your town can think of a better name than that.  Perhaps it is named after a settler, John Lostine of the Telemarketer, Harasser of the Free World.  Fuck you and your bannerman, may you all rot in seven hells.  Yeah, I have been watching Game of Thrones.  You know this telemarketer shit would not be accepted in that world.  Not just because they do not have phones.  Bring me the head of every Lostine. Fuck you!

24 September 2014
  310-598-2578 Los Angeles, CA - Seems legit...only because I recognize the area code...but we all know this is a fucking terrorist telemarketer calling.  Anyway, it seems like a light month for telemarketers.  Although, there is about a week left to really rack up those frequent harassment miles.  And...fuck you!

25 September 2014
   773-217-1707  IL, USA - Ah, see?  They have to meet their quota.  It really does not matter who calls, they are all the same.  Telemarketers are one entity, one entity that needs to be crushed.  Oh on, not crushed by me.  I am just here to bitch about it on my blog, I have no power and I am too lazy to do anything, other than write about it.  I do write it for your enjoyment as well.  Anyway, fuck you, telemarketers!