Recently, I've been spending time helping one of my kids experience all things 'debugging' 😁 The Otto DIY robot has provided an endless array of opportunity in this regard.  It's an open source, 3D printed robot that can be built using Arduino and common electronic components.  It provides a great project that utilizes both hard and soft tech skills... and can really be useful for learning how to accept and overcome challenges. We've printed, tweaked and re-printed the body parts.  We've bent pins and broken servo motors.  The whole system can be programmed in Blockly but we're probably at least one more trip to Microcenter away from being fully ready for that!

While building the Otto, many questions came up regarding how the different electronics worked... and when do you really need to worry about potentially breaking them.  I remembered picking up and reading the second edition of this book and how I wished something like this existed when I was first starting out with electronics.  I made the recommendation of reading it to both kids.  It contains very good hands on introductions to all the major electronic components.  It also has teaser sections in the book on electromagnetism, audio, microcontrollers and programming.  I honestly can't think of a better 'intro' book on these subjects that I've seen.

I've been putting off buying an Aerogarden for what feels like forever... I always thought they were dumb, took up too much space and couldn't possibly be useful.  I was definitely WRONG.  I honestly love this thing!  After much research, I bought one with the main intent of growing lettuce and microgreens through the winter and have been harvesting from it for my lunch multiple times a week.  I haven't tried out microgreens yet, but after I do, I'm sure I'll write up something more thorough about my experience.

In the last issue, I mentioned that the Milkshake IPA had jumped the shark... I definitely still feel that way and Human Robot has become one of my local favorite breweries because of the fact that they always have several fantastic lagers available.  This time around though, the star of the show was Nordeste, their
Brazilian coffee stout aged on amburana wood.  Definitely not for the faint of heart, robust and delicious!