It’s a strange thing, attachment. About 6 years ago, I moved to China from the UK and basically gave away everything except for my books and my best tools. I left for China with a rucsack and a suitcase. Oh, and my hockey stick. It was incredibly liberating to be free of all my possessions, but now I find myself wholely immersed in hobbies, utterly cemented by MPCNC. I cannot imagine dismantling this machine, it’s become important to me. I’ve always pottered about a bit with wood, more so since I’m getting a bit old for playing sport, and there are certain tools you cannot really do without. That’s what CNC has become: an integral part of the problem solving process for ideas that come to me. This was a one way street and there’s no going back. Upgrade? Possibly. Disassemble and not replace/rebuild? Never.
I appreciate what you are saying, Andy. Machine dismantlement is always difficult for me… as there is always an “attachment” to the machine and the mental effort and ingenuity it took to build it. And when I’ve chosen to name it as well – in memory of a late, or long lost, friend – it becomes doubly difficult. Thankfully, I’ve always got a few machines in reserve… and there’s always something to play with. My problem is that I build a lot of machines… so my house stays pretty cluttered with them, in lieu of a lot of furniture. A widower and retired engineer, I enjoy it and it’s my way of trying to fend/hold off the mental issues (dimentia/Alzheimer’s) that is quite prevalent in my family.
I’m 74 years old and have vivid recollection of my father’s mental battles in his last years… and I want to spare myself and my children that heartbreaking experience for as long as possible. I’m still able to live alone and take care of my basic needs for now… but am pretty much dependent on my loving daughter and her family for everything else. Life’s twists and turns have made it necessary for us to move again… hence the packing and dismantling. But, rest assured, several machines are still intact and will remain so for the move… as you said, CNC is “integral” to my existence and there’s “no going back” now 
– David
The time has come!
If all goes as planned, tomorrow we pack the truck and Friday we move me back to rural East Texas. The kids have cleaned/repaired/remodeled my grandparents’ old farmhouse (where I lived a few years ago) and prepared a place for me to live. Daughter effectively told me to go sit in the corner and keep quiet… and let them take care of it without interference. After token resistance, I finally said, “Yes, dear.” Pretty smart, huh?
Where I felt simply functional would be sufficient, she said she knew exactly what she wanted for me and that she’d settle for nothing less… and it’s amazing what they’ve done with that old house. I haven’t seen it in person yet and there will be a lot of surprises but the pictures she’s allowed me to see look terrific. Reminded me of the way Ryan teased everybody during Primo development… 
Something not so great is that I’ve been spoiled with very good internet here in San Antonio for the past 13 months and am not looking forward to moving back to really crappy internet. But thankfully Starlink is progressing well – reports from the public beta going on in the northern US is looking very good – and with a few more launches, 60 satellites at a time, I’m hoping coverage will migrate southward in the US pretty rapidly. They’ve been getting in 1-2 launches per month (not all Starlink) over the past year, so maybe it’ll be here by summer, 2021? Sure hope so…
Anyway, I’ll be out of pocket for a while… and I’ll miss you guys. Y’all have fun while I’m gone. Maybe I’ll be able to check back before too long… even if it is with crappy internet…
– David
Please use the crappy internet. It would be a shame to not heard from you until you get starlink.
Safe travels. Enjoy your new digs.
Best wishes for a smooth move. Sounds like you’ve got a good crew taking care of you.
Hectic and chaotic trying to move two households… me and my daughter’s family. Arrived safely, got all the trucks unloaded into 2 houses, and now the painful process of unpacking and shuffling stuff around to fit.
Internet issues with CenturyLink remain… about time to go to war with them. Paying for 10 Mbps… getting less than 1 Mbps. But now that I’m physically here, hopefully I"ll be able to get someone out to take a serious look at why it’s not working… 14 months ago, in this same house, I was getting 10 Mbps service. Temporarily, I’ve set up my phone as a hotspot and am using it to write this post… and, poor as it is, it beats the CenturyLink DSL connection handily.
Anyway, I’m now moved back home and things should hopefully start returning to normal.
Thanks for all the well wishes. And… HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
– David
Sounds like you’re doing the right thing and I’m sure they appreciate how open you are to it all. To have a parent or parents that are that aware of the impacts their decisions can have on their children in the midst of busy working/childraising years is really lucky for them. I wish you good health, and best of luck getting settled in and all those machines back online.
I got off to a really slow start after getting everything moved… no real motivation and lots of frustration because I couldn’t find any of my stuff. But I’m finally starting to settle in now… managed to get my Prusa printer set up and also my rolling gantry FoamRipper2. Just trying to get back to where I was when I had to shut down for the move. Still waiting on DSL internet connection on the 16th however… cellphone hotspot and data limits are making 10 Mbps look pretty good right now.
Decided to try to make small 2-piece, slip-fit, finger-jointed boxes to put Christmas money in for the grandkids. For some reason they seem to prefer $$$ to a pair of socks and cheap bag of candy corn.
FR2 is set up with a 2.5w Eleksmaker laser currently…
and I’m testing fits and clearances before committing to all 7 boxes…
I’ve found most of my laser stuff now and will try in the near future to test a so-called “20 Watt” Neje laser I received just before the move.
Everybody have a good one. Later.
– David
Good to see you back up and running!