All week I neglected to post this photo of the monster truck Cookie and I constructed on Saturday using the Erector Set. We were waiting for Airport Guy's arrival and Mojo was out at a birthday-party/play-date. Cookie declared his intention to "build something without con-structions" which means withou in-structions. All our other projects used the canned directions that came with the Erector Set. This one would be harder -- but we got it all together soon enough. I explained how trucks have a chassis and I showed him what I was building as a chassis. Then I told him about the axles that connect the wheels and the engine mounts that hold the motor in place. I considered explaining how a differential would work, but then I got hold of myself.

By the time Airport Guy arrived, we were attaching the very last piece -- the rounded bumper on the front-end. That bumper, and a few other parts, have already fallen off thanks to my reluctance to tighten the bolts as much as would be needed (somebody's gotta take this thing apart to do the next project).

Anyway, the gears mesh and the motor propels it and it was great fun. I'm not too sure about the structural integrity of my chassis -- a few loose bolts and all hell breaks loose. So GM has nothing to worry about. Well, actually, GM has a lot to worry about but not necessarily from Cookie and me.

The motorized projects are fun. Next step in the escalation of this hobby: remote control motors.