The graas is always greener on the other side of the fence! Why?  There's more barnyard matter there so it grows better, until you step in it!

Never mind a bailout Robert, our government get 35% of the sale price of every single new car sold, plus the value added tax on the deal. &%#&^$%^*(%&(&*

Here every ^$%&* "previously disadvantaged" is getting on, or trying to get on the government gravy train!!!  Bloody disgusting!!

Jeez Robert, I didn't think it was possible.    Please note that it was qualified to "Rumour has it...."  I'm sure if it is so bad you can find a Bandaid in your workshop, or maybe not! 

Best part about government that I've seen in a while is an article about less government on Wayne Daniel's website.

If you aim for the clouds you just might be lucky enough to hit the top of a mountain, but is you aim for the stars, you might well hit the moon!!!

My apologies.  Rumour has it that Americans sue for everything, reason for passing that one along.

I can just see the lawsuits the crazies will be thinking up.  I don't even live in the USA, but the reputation for lawsuits is just crazy!!

Example below

 
  BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY.
Charlotte , North Carolina


A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire.   Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.  The lawyer sued and WON!

(Stay with me.)

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the 'fires'.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART...

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
 

 
 
 

Every designer has a different "own" set of "rules" to which he/she adhere to. 

I just admire the diversity of design styles and approaches, from complex to "simple" or in Afrikaans, "eenvoudig" for Ry and Eric and Jack.  BTW Ry, No Nukes may not look complex, but it is a bugger to make!

The challenge for me is to solve a technical challenge when I make it.  For instance, I build with blocks, so I would say that if you use a 10mm unit, you can split that one block and put a steel pin in on Secured Knot.  Even if you use solid wood blocks, the slot need to be made the saw blade width wider, so that you can split it to put a steel pin in.  And that cut would be hidden inside when the puzzle is assembled.

The famous Sydney Opera House was designed by an architect who did not necessarily took the buildability of his design into account.  That's why there's engineers and other technical experts to solve those challenges and make it happen.

A last word from me on this:  There are theoretical puzzle analists and there are designers and there are computer programming puzzle designers and there are makers/artists.  (Sorry, I almost forgot the roudabouts/lathers/turners/penners!! )  I personally think that there is a place for all of us whatever the individual requirements, rukes or approach.  This is not a pure science and for me this hobby is for fun and fun and fun again to take me away from a high pressure job to enable me to relax. 

Since I make puzzles with glued together blocks, you can create nice effects:

Ashburr - David Rousseau

Ishino's graphic and how I am going to make it.

When money speaks, the truth is silent - Russian Proverb

[If a man does not keep pace with his companions it may be that he marches to a different drummer, however measured or far away. Thoreau]

If a man does not keep pace with his companions it may be that he marches to a different drummer, however measured or far away.  Thoreau

[Make peace with it!]

Since I only make puzzles, and to some, in a perculiar roundabout way at that, my aim is to make it as good as I can with what I have available.  As you are all aware, some puzzles have some real technical issues to resolve to actually make them.  For me, that is the challenge.  To take the design and incorporate those difficulties to create features in making a "collecters piece" that anyone would be proud to put in a collection.  (Like I did with David Rousseau's 3 Piece Cube, using the connectiong pieces to create "spots" on the outside.) And in doing so, trying to create a nice displayable symmetric as possible puzzle ON A STAND. (I have a stand fetish: How can you display a puzzle nicely without it?)

As Ry said, X-ray Vision is a bugger to assemble, took me about a month in spurts of time.  BUT, voids or not, it is a very nice puzzle.  Easy Living (RKB) surprised me with two pieces having to physically swap in the assembly, which sounds impossible in a board burr.

As an engineer, remember to always take the statistical "normal" curve in consideration: There will be a small portion of puzzles that are easy, ?10%, a bigger proportion that is moderately to fairly difficult, ?80%, and on the top end, 10%, will be those beasts.  That is the same for everything, whether it is moves, voids, whether you are fat or thin, it is just statistically impossible to have it any other way. Make peace with it!

Me, I'm just glad that there are designers out there whose designs I can make for my collection.  Some of these are just really elegant and they stand out.  Some just have a visual appeal that is outstanding.  Whatever the case may be, I make them, voids or not, nice or not.  Thanks to ALL the designers out there!!!!

Jack, All things being equal, I take my hat off to you guys doing these designs.  I will invest my time to make them as well as I can, but the designing I'll leave to you. BRAVO!! 

BTW, both your Twisters are on my list for my collection, but will have to fill numbers 65 and 66 in the line of puzzles that I intend to make next year.

Thing is, most of us fall into a comfort zone and tend to stay there.  If I can get stock smaller and as accurate, I will probably go smaller. 

I include a mail her from Alfons Eyckmans:

Hello Johan
 
I received your puzzles today, they are big, but beautiful.
They are gleaming, what do you use to do that.
when i use varnish the pieces became to big and i can not assebly the puzzle.
 
Groeten Alfons
The smaller it becomes, the more difficult it is to manipulate without breaking, especially the higher order stuff that goe through quite a lot of moves to get the pieces out.  For those the minimum I might contemplate would be a unit of 10mm, but 15mm is better IMHO.

[/quote]

Ou Toppie, are you sure that's not from what you ate for supper

 [/quote]

Boet, If a man size rumpsteak, very rare, with chips and salad makes you green with envy, go for it.

[I GREEN with envy!!!]

Very nice Eric.  I GREEN with envy!!!.