The Eagle has Landed

Ain't she pretty? The lighting is a little more consistent with the LEDs mounted more toward the center of the moon.

Note the screw at the very bottom of the frame. I drilled three holes, using five different drill bits, starting with 1/16" and going up to 5/32", in 1/64" increments, to avoid cracking the plastic. I feel like there will be a job waiting for me at BP once they see this...

This is the completed "Lunar Lander" module (it really looks like it with the legs attached :) It is secured with steel bailing wire, copious amounts of hot glue, and LocTite (actually, Permatex Threadlocker, but commonly known as LocTite). If this sucker comes apart, I will go jump in the lake myself. I just hope I don't have to take it apart to fix it... but copious amounts of solder, and hot-glue reinforced wire joints ought to prevent that from happening.

I must admit I am impressed with the strength of the hot glue, combined with its slight elasticity, to provide a very strong, but shock-absorbing joint.

I also must admit that I am NOT impressed with Home Depot and their child brand Hampton Bay, as far as product consistency goes. The first light I bought had a pretty bluish-white glow, so I bought a 3-pack to complete the pyramid. The 3-pack, however, though it came from the same shelf in the same store, has a really hideous green cast to it. We'll probably have to correct it with some Minus Green gel if we can find it... so if you buy these for your house, beware, they might have a vomit-green color cast to them... not so good for kitchen cabinet under-lighting, but might match your fluorescents!

This is a view of what was originally going to be the "dark side of the moon," but it is now lit for 360˚ coverage... in Three-Dee... so really 360^3 degrees. Right? Why not...

And finally, my way of removing solder (and hot glue) fumes from the air. Might I add beforehand, DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO:

Obviously, DO NOT DO THIS if you (or anyone else with keys to the apartment) is planning on taking a shower any time soon. Please note that the extension cord is knotted around the shower curtain bar, thus preventing anyone from closing the curtain completely and making it quite obvious even to the lay-person that it is not safe to shower right now, if only for the sake of modesty.

However, since the cord is knotted up high where the water should (REPEAT: "SHOULD") not touch it, it is not completely unsafe to shower with this configuration. And it is plugged into a GFCI outlet ;)

I do wish we lived in a world where jokes did not require big bold disclaimers, but, in closing, DON'T RUN EXTENSION CORDS THROUGH YOUR SHOWER, THAT WOULD BE REALLY DUMB, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN!

;)