We decided to build the next prototype in Brian’s garage in Monticello, IL. Brian has two daughters and a life, and I have no daughters and no-life, so it made sense to home base there.
We first tried to use aluminum square tube with plastic couplings, but we soon found out this was simply not going to be a practical approach. We also wanted to eliminate all wood from the unit. Wood simply does not hold up well in the elements without a lot of care and so we were trying to not use it at all.
One day while Brian was working alone, he heard a noise and turned around and there was a goat. A lovely, chubby, stubby curious goat–chewing on a piece of scrap wood. Brian lives on a golf course, so it was really the first goat he’d ever seen in the neighborhood. Her name was Pixie and she visited a while but soon returned to her own little farm which was remarkably close and well-hidden in the suburb.
We took Pixie’s interest and enthusiasm as a sign that our project was divine and destined for greatness.
Brian carried on working. Ultimately, and not surprisingly, this prototype was also not going to close the cap completely to a finished and commercially viable model. We are getting much much closer, but we still have a ways to.
earth explore 