Wednesday Update: Old Printers, iPhones, and a Little Nostalgia
Just been getting by this week. Nothing too bad, just the usual—school, fixing things, and generally existing. Physics is still frustrating, but at this point, that’s about as surprising as my 3D printer working flawlessly (which it still is).
Speaking of fixing things, I’ve done a couple of iPhone battery replacements—an iPhone 8, an iPhone 12, and my own iPhone SE 2020. There’s something oddly satisfying about swapping out a battery and knowing you’ve just extended a device’s life by a couple more years. You spend a few minutes peeling off those annoying adhesive strips (which never come off cleanly, no matter how careful you are), do a quick swap, and suddenly, an aging phone is back in business. It’s a nice little reminder that just because something isn’t brand new doesn’t mean it’s not worth keeping around.
"I guess that's why they call it the blues"—because seeing two Ultimaker 2X Experimental 3D printers in the school skip and knowing I would have had them if they hadn’t gotten rained on today is a tragedy worthy of a sad 80s ballad.
Yes, two perfectly good (well, previously perfectly good) high-end 3D printers were sitting in a bin, and by the time I found out, the rain had already sealed their fate. If I had known earlier, I’d be printing with them right now. But the real kicker? Sitting in that same bin was a Da Vinci 1.0A. The Da Vinci 1.0A.
If you know, you know. But for those who don’t—this printer wasn’t just another project. It was the project. The one that set everything else in motion. Back then, school was easy—too easy. I needed something challenging, something I could actually learn from, something that pushed me beyond worksheets. That printer became that challenge. It was locked-down, limited, and frustrating in all the ways that made it worth figuring out. It wasn’t just about making it print—it was about understanding why it wouldn’t, and then breaking down those barriers one by one.
That printer was my first real deep dive into firmware, microcontrollers, stepper drivers, and everything in between. It taught me how to read datasheets, debug weird hardware issues, and experiment with things until they just worked. And most pivotally? It’s how I got to know her.
Because while I was sitting there, wrestling with EEPROM settings and flashing new firmware, she was there too—not physically, but always in the background. Listening to my rants, laughing at my frustration, offering the occasional comment that made me rethink whatever problem I was stuck on. She didn’t need to understand the technical side of it—she just got me, and that was enough. It’s funny, looking back, how a locked-down, proprietary 3D printer ended up being the reason I got to know the most important person in my life.
So yeah, when I saw a Da Vinci 1.0A in the skip, my first thought wasn’t just, hey, a printer I could fix. It was, hey, that’s where it all started. And if they let me take it, you already know I will. Even if it’s in terrible shape, even if it never prints again, I can’t just leave it there. That printer isn’t just another project—it’s practically a time capsule.
Aside from that, the date for Model UN has been pushed to the end of the month. That just means another week of insanity before I spend a full day in a room with people so intense about debating that I somehow look like the normal one. At least it’ll be entertaining, though I’ll probably spend half of it wondering why I agreed to this in the first place.
And that about wraps up the week. Nothing too wild, but enough to keep things interesting. Maybe next time, I’ll have a new (old) printer sitting on my desk. Or maybe I’ll just have another rant about physics. Either way, stay tuned.
73,
Daniel