Improvised construction and you

Mirai Gen · 06-10-2007, 03:43 PM

So, my birthday was the other day. I decided, you know what I want besides that tattoo? New speakers.

So I go and get new car speakers. The guy, as I'm buying them, says, "Do you know how to put these things in?" and I say, "Well, no, but I can improvise."

I had no idea what I was doing, but I just re-wired and hooked up new badass speakers in my car - totally with no previous experience. Only took me a few hours and a little bit of time, but they came out great. Old irritating popping noises my old speakers did is gone.

Ever just sit down and go, "Okay, I can fix this," and just ad-libbed it the whole way through?

Professor Smarmiarty · 06-10-2007, 05:17 PM

Oh boy yes.
Our lazy boy chairs which were a mass of springs, wires and random parts.
The old photocopier at work which was from 1980's and had chains and things mixed in with electrical circuits. That one was quite good because I could just rip bits out, see what stopped working and thus contrust how the whole thing worked.

More important is our building things though. Every year we make a gigantic effigy for guy fawkes, bigger and better every year.
Our most spectacular was 2 years ago (Guy Fawkes 4: This time it's personal)_ where we had a fully flamable gallows which would have been about 3 metres high and stringing up our effigy that was full of fireworks and exploded them in every direction.
Last year (Guy Fawkes 5: The Reckoning) was the most technically difficult where we built a little driving cart to put our effigy on and put all these fireworks facing backwards which explode and propelled our cart forward.
This year we are building a scale model of parliament/Rome to go up in flames.

Toast · 06-10-2007, 06:41 PM

All the time at work. Fixing broken shelves, improvising grid structures when we don't have the required number of pieces, replacing broken aisle fixtures, etc.

Fifthfiend · 06-10-2007, 07:35 PM

There's this ugly as sin water fountain / planter in the middle of our fucking driveway that we inherited from the bunch of jokers who used to own this place, so a couple days ago I said fuck this shit, got myself a pickaxe and I've been cracking concrete and hauling dirt for like three days now. This shit is the funnest fuckin' fun I've ever funned.

betachris_00 · 06-10-2007, 08:10 PM

I used to have a Chevette. Everything about anything that involved that car was improvised. We even had a school bus steering wheel.

Flarecobra · 06-10-2007, 11:37 PM

Well, I've helped debug a program while acting like I knew what I was doing.

Does that count?

greed · 06-11-2007, 01:05 AM

Do it all the time with computers, electronics, wiring, programs and especially cooking(I once made fudge just off inspiration and luck) among other things. And eventually you're not adlibbing anymore. Best way to learn.
Sure the process has resulted in a few mild electric shocks and some fires from the cooking, but I'm good at all of them now.

catlover20410 · 06-13-2007, 05:42 PM

Anything and everything I do. Ever.

Sky Warrior Bob · 06-13-2007, 06:41 PM

Actually, Timmy would fall into that category. (Eg - They MST3k puppet-bot you can find in my next to me in my profile picture.) See, I don't know how I got it into my head that I'd make him, admittedly I was in a real low period, and I felt I need some sort of project to get me out of my funk.

Despite the fact that he turned out decent enough, I've no real clue how I pulled him altogether, and honestly doubt I could do it all again, even if I had all the parts.

SWB

Long-Haired Narcissist · 06-13-2007, 07:15 PM

Anything I do involving cooking, computers, automobiles, and camping has a fair amount of improvised construction.

06-10-2007, 03:43 PM	#1
Mirai Gen We are Geth. Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 14,032	Improvised construction and you So, my birthday was the other day. I decided, you know what I want besides that tattoo? New speakers. So I go and get new car speakers. The guy, as I'm buying them, says, "Do you know how to put these things in?" and I say, "Well, no, but I can improvise." I had no idea what I was doing, but I just re-wired and hooked up new badass speakers in my car - totally with no previous experience. Only took me a few hours and a little bit of time, but they came out great. Old irritating popping noises my old speakers did is gone. Ever just sit down and go, "Okay, I can fix this," and just ad-libbed it the whole way through? __________________

06-10-2007, 06:41 PM	#3
Toast Existential Toast Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 440	All the time at work. Fixing broken shelves, improvising grid structures when we don't have the required number of pieces, replacing broken aisle fixtures, etc. __________________ “How dare you! How dare you stand there acting like your brand of suffering is worse than anybody else’s. Well, I guess that’s the only way you can justify treating the rest of us like dirt.” ~ Major Margaret Houlihan (Mash) “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are.” ~ Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

06-10-2007, 07:35 PM	#4
Fifthfiend for all seasons Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 19,409	There's this ugly as sin water fountain / planter in the middle of our fucking driveway that we inherited from the bunch of jokers who used to own this place, so a couple days ago I said fuck this shit, got myself a pickaxe and I've been cracking concrete and hauling dirt for like three days now. This shit is the funnest fuckin' fun I've ever funned. __________________ check out my buttspresso

06-10-2007, 11:37 PM	#6
Flarecobra Burn. Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Classified Posts: 11,017	Well, I've helped debug a program while acting like I knew what I was doing. Does that count? __________________ "Only the fool wishes to go into battle to beat someone for the satisfaction of beating someone." -A Thousand Sons Rules. Read them, know them, love them.

06-13-2007, 06:41 PM	#9
Sky Warrior Bob bOB iZ brOkeN Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: It's a nice place to visit... Posts: 3,755	Actually, Timmy would fall into that category. (Eg - They MST3k puppet-bot you can find in my next to me in my profile picture.) See, I don't know how I got it into my head that I'd make him, admittedly I was in a real low period, and I felt I need some sort of project to get me out of my funk. Despite the fact that he turned out decent enough, I've no real clue how I pulled him altogether, and honestly doubt I could do it all again, even if I had all the parts. SWB __________________ :bmage: Because breakdancing is evil, and so am I, you will click on this link: The power of evil compels you... You are in error. No one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation. Yes I know the breakdancing BM link doesn't work, and I don't care.

06-10-2007, 05:17 PM	#2
Professor Smarmiarty Sent to the cornfield Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: K-space Posts: 9,758	Oh boy yes. Our lazy boy chairs which were a mass of springs, wires and random parts. The old photocopier at work which was from 1980's and had chains and things mixed in with electrical circuits. That one was quite good because I could just rip bits out, see what stopped working and thus contrust how the whole thing worked. More important is our building things though. Every year we make a gigantic effigy for guy fawkes, bigger and better every year. Our most spectacular was 2 years ago (Guy Fawkes 4: This time it's personal)_ where we had a fully flamable gallows which would have been about 3 metres high and stringing up our effigy that was full of fireworks and exploded them in every direction. Last year (Guy Fawkes 5: The Reckoning) was the most technically difficult where we built a little driving cart to put our effigy on and put all these fireworks facing backwards which explode and propelled our cart forward. This year we are building a scale model of parliament/Rome to go up in flames.