Re-creating the Sun -- a Fun Weekend Project

My single biggest Person Problem is my inability to consciously exercise control over when I sleep. I routinely stay up very late, often sleep 12-14 hours a day, and then complain that I don't have enough time to do anything. The latest in my long series of attempts to get myself more connected with the sun cycle is this:

This used to be my 300 watt floor lamp. Using a Rube Goldberg menagerie of various components, I was able to put it fully under automatic computer control to try to simulate the sun cycle.
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Reliable Transportation

(knocks on wood)

The Metro and the scooter have both been running perfectly for 3+ days 40+ miles. I worked on the Metro today anyway, to further insulate it against future issues, but not because it Wouldn't Go.

Gonna take the Metro to Flipside. Then to College Station. Then to fucking Dallas!

You WATCH me.

I'M UP! I'M UP!

Click pic for more pictures.

In my last post I mentioned this cool lamp I had made out of my 300-watt floor lamp. I just woke to the sound of exploding glass and the smell of burning bedsheets and melting comforters! The only reason broken, superheated glass didn't rain down directly on my naked body is because I wasn't comfortable last night with how heavy the lamp had become, so I moved it from directly above my head to the stronger side of the metal frame. As it was, I was still *very* lucky that hot shards of broken glass didn't randomly land in my eye or in my mouth! I had to poke beads that were industriously burning their way through my bedsheets with my fingers onto the floor, where they continued to melt into the carpet. I've got the windows open and the fan running full-tilt to get the toxic fumes out of my room.

Oh. And I'm out of bed.

It worked!

Sweet!

I received my car computer scanner today after several weeks of waiting. It allows me not only to pull trouble codes (the things that make your Check Engine light come on) but also to view the inputs of a bunch of automotive sensors, like the engine RPM or the the Throttle Position Sensor, in real time while the car is running. I originally thought that a malfunctioning sensor might be the cause of my recent problems before the Geo Metro Club yahoo group helped me track it down to poor grounding and possibly an overtightened belt.

So now not only am I mobile again at 35/50 mpg (when it's too far to take the 1 cent/mile scooter), but if there are further problems I can find out what's going on inside the car directly from the computer.