Papercraft Computer Console

My computer space is not as cool as this little set up.

One of the aspects of my job as a child life skills worker is that I am on the phone plenty.  I probably spend almost as much time talking to parents, social workers, group home staff, case workers, case managers, and teachers as I do with my actual clients.

I often take calls in my car as I drive from appointment to appointment (I do inhome work) on my little bluetooth hookup. When I am lucky, I have phone meetings in my home office, aka, David's Workshop.  During these meetings, I can have my computer on, check appointments on Google calendar, pull up client notes and reports, take notes during the conversation, etc.  Its much more convenient for me to chat on the phone from the office.  My schedule doesn't always permit the privileged, but its nice when it does.

In my office, my back is to the door so anytime my wife
walks in, she can see exactly what I have up on my screen.
It keeps me honest.

A few weeks ago, I found a new activity to do while at home and on the phone when my hands were free.  I could slowly construct paper furniture for a future diorama.  Most of the time while I am on the phone, I need to be writing things down or using the computer, but sometimes I get a moment here and there.

I got the idea after visiting www.joedios.com and saw all the amazing ready-to-assmble, all-you-need-is-a-color-printer-a-scissors-and-some-glue, templates in the file section there. I pulled up some PDF files hosted at thesite that were made by JoeDios member Tracker. Tracker has made a bunch of really outstanding stuff. If you are looking for some ideas or items for action figure dioramas of your own, check out the pictures and files sections of JoeDios.  Its a treasure trove of cool.  I printed some images out on regular printer paper, and when I had time, cut them out, carefully folded the parts, and glued them together with regular school glue. The pictures in this update show the little chair and computer set up in their completed form. 

Cobra Vipers like to update their Facebook pages
and check their twitter feeds between missions to
hack into US satellite control systems.   

I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with this yet, but I have some ideas. I think someone would probably be able to construct the entire thing in 15-20 minutes.  Most of that time is just holding sections of paper together while the glue dries. But because putting this thing together was by far my last priority when on the phone, I did it a few seconds here and a few seconds there. I started this the week before Thanksgiving and finished it last night. 

Today I do not have any client meetings, but I needed a break from my school work so I thought I'd do a quick update on the blog of this little mini project.  I finished a 17 page paper yesterday and today I am working on a power point presentation.  I need to make a 10-15 minute  proposal for my graduate project, and my brain were starting to go a little fried.  Time for a break.

I hope you like this little update.  Tracker did an amazing job with his design.  It takes very little skill to make something that looks pretty slick and could be used in a lot of different ways. Tracker and other artists have created several different versions of this chair and computer design with different skins, in different colors so if you are not into the dark green/gray I have here, there are other choices.  Or you could run the thing though Photoshop or GIMP (the free, open source Photoshop!) and come up with your own ideas.

Ok- this break has gone on long enough. Time to get back to work. Take care.

Until next time,

David D.