I know that cosmetic things don’t improve machinery’s lifespan or behavior.
Mr Happy Dancing Bandsaw, however, was getting depressed. The main-screw for the clamp featured a polypropylene wheel with a little set-screw.
On ebay I found hand-wheels for $15, undrilled. So I had to chuck up a drill in the bridgeport and enlarge the pilot hole, then drill from the side and thread that for a retaining bolt. I used a nice 8/32 hex cap with some poly glue on it so it won’t even think to budge.
I am pretty sure the bandsaw is running faster and cooler now!
I have a friend who is often depressed and who feels that life is not worthwhile, and that she cannot accomplish anything. That’s a way I’ve felt on and off my whole life, too, and the way I combat it is by having small tasks that I can kick the shit out of, then I can stand over them, beating my chest with my great thews, roaring defiance at the world. Make sure you put down the screwdriver before beating the chest; that’s friendly advice from me to me.
When I was young, let’s just say 7th grade, my grandmother brought us a box fan she had bought at a garage sale. It was a fancy model; 3 speeds and reversing, and worked OK but the blade rubbed against the wire cage. I examined it, and the pan head screw serving as set screw for the blade was turning freely; stripped I guess. I removed the screw. The screw hole was …
not a screw hole. It was an Allen screw. The previous owner had mistaken the top of an Allen screw for an empty hole! I tightened up that Allen screw; the fan worked perfectly and I felt immensely proud.
My suggestion would be to do the things that you enjoy. If I do things I like doing, I’m going to be happy. If I enjoy my life, then that’s already good enough. Then it no longer matters that I consider living ultimately meaningless. Besides, hedonism can be at least some meaning in itself.
Since one of the most common symptoms of depression is anhedonia, that’s not a particularly helpful suggestion. In fact, it’s quite likely to be counter-productive, since you’re drawing additional attention to something that the sufferer is already acutely aware of, and that awareness is itself likely to exacerbate the problem. You’re rubbing salt in the wound. Believe me, there’s little worse than being advised to do something you enjoy when you literally can’t think of anything which fits that category.
Dunc@#3:
Shit. That was a great explanation.
Feeling like an ass over here.
Dunc @#3
It helped for me. In my life I have had periods when I was very unhappy and hated my life. At one point I got over the problem by finally ending a dysfunctional romantic relationship that was messing up my life, forcing myself to go out and make new friends in order to get over loneliness, as well as signing up for and routinely attending events that I enjoyed (at that time I tried horse riding and martial arts lessons).
At another time I realized that I felt miserable, because my full time job left me tired, emotionally drained, and with no free time for doing things I enjoy. I quit that job, started working part time, and learned to get by with below average income, which allowed me to spend more time on my hobbies and doing the things I enjoy.
Whenever I got stuck in such a negative emotional state for prolonged periods of time, my main problem became apathy and lack of energy to do something new. Even though I could correctly identify what was causing me to feel miserable (loneliness, boring daily routine, a dysfunctional relationship, etc.), I didn’t have the energy to do something and change my behavior. For example, realizing that I feel lonely wasn’t enough to make me want to go out and meet people. So I just had to force myself to go out and do something different. Day after day until I got better.
Reginald Selkirk@#1:
not a screw hole. It was an Allen screw. The previous owner had mistaken the top of an Allen screw for an empty hole! I tightened up that Allen screw; the fan worked perfectly and I felt immensely proud.
I remember when I first started encountering those. I guess they were a machinists’ thing well before they started cropping up in consumer products, but it seems that they became ubiquitous in the 70s. Or maybe it’s just that the 70s was when I got really serious about taking apart the world around me.
(The trick to allen screws is having the super weird broach for making the holes in the top. I ought to do a posting about them…)
I think Allen screws became more common when computer equipment started being a thing; so I guess 1970s – 80s.
My personal experience with them greatly expanded when I started working in a mechanical engineering lab during college.
Andreas @#5
I am glad you have been able to handle bouts of unhappiness in that way, but there is a profound difference between being unhappy, even extremely unhappy, and being depressed. When your thinking is sufficiently disordered that to you the rational solution is sucide, you are not capable of making yourself do anything, except, maybe, to research how many of the pills you have available it would actually take to kill you.
I think this thread has become an appropriate place to plug ‘Depression Comix‘, which is one of the most insightful and heartfelt exploration of the various experiences of depression I have ever seen.
It is an inappropriate place to note the incontrovertibly buttpluggy shape of the new shiny handle, but some things won’t go away until expressed…
I can’t tell the quality of the materials from the photos, so I trust you’ve made an improvement. That said, the original handle had an elegant shape a dignified color. The new one is a bit tacky.
“It is an inappropriate place to note the incontrovertibly buttpluggy shape of the new shiny handle”
Looks a bit too long and narrow for that to me
Jazzlet, @ #5: Indeed.
Marcus, @ #4: Actually, the suggestion of attempting some small, concrete, achievable task isn’t so bad, as long as you don’t lean too heavily on the anticipated emotional payoff, and you remember that sometimes people just can’t do even that, and that’s OK. Sometimes the small, concrete, achievable task is “get out of bed”.
dangerousbeans @#11
There exist long and narrow butt plugs available for sale. Thus I have to assume that some people apparently like them. Although personally I prefer wide butt plugs. Anyway, the main problem with this shape is a different one—a butt plug must have a wider insertable “bulb” and a much narrower neck, otherwise it will just fall out while you are wearing it. A butt plug shaped like this handle would fall out way too easily. The one I own is shaped like this https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1538774405-8-best-butt-plugs-njoy-pure-plug-1524599929.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=768:* Of course, the neck doesn’t have to be as narrow as in this case, but it must be narrow enough to make the butt plug stay inside also while wearing it (walking around with it and so on).
Jazzlet @#8
People can “feel that life is not worthwhile, and that they cannot accomplish anything” for various reasons and the severity of their problem can differ. I merely explained what has helped me. I never claimed to have a universal cure for depression. I’m aware that sometimes the problem is caused by the chemicals in the patient’s brain doing the wrong things, and in such situations lifestyle changes cannot help.
Hand-cranky! Also very shiny, I think you will get at least a +2 circumstance bonus on your bandsawing rolls!
I am totally with abbeycadabra on the buttpluggyness, however :D