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In this episode, Peter and Marcus talk with Doonie aka Geoffrey Benton.
Geoffrey was born in Frankston in 1948 when they still shoed horses in the stables near the railway station. Geoffrey attended Tech school and became an apprentice as a plastic die-maker/toolmaker.
He worked as a maintenance fitter and in later life he became a policeman, then a truck driver and has also owned several small businesses.
He retired in 2012 and went on to discover a range of activities that keep him interested and, sometimes, frustrated! These include filmmaking, short story writing, making model boats and generally beavering away in his shed for days at a time. He recently discovered the joys and frustrations of learning how to use a laser cutter and has since filled the house with tiny wooden boxes.
Then, he was bitten by the electronics bug in the form of Arduino and is now trying to combine all of his skills to one end.
He has had a lifetime love affair with motorcycles including building, restoring, racing, and touring. In the shed at the moment is a home-built 920cc V twin solo and a 1500cc Kawasaki V twin with a sidecar and trailer.
Geoffrey lives in country Victoria with his wife and two cats.
This is Stemiverse Podcast episode 54.
Stemiverse podcast is brought to you by Tech Explorations, a leading provider of educational resources for Makers, STEM students, and teachers. Go to techexplorations.com to see a complete list of our books and courses covering the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and electronics.
Show Notes
- [spp-timestamp time=”00:00″] Introduction – Introducing Doonie Benton
- [spp-timestamp time=”02:23″] Greetings
- [spp-timestamp time=”03:36″] Doonie talks about his background
- [spp-timestamp time=”05:28″] Being a classic maker
- [spp-timestamp time=”08:14″] Being a person of “the bush“*
- [spp-timestamp time=”09:00″] Doonie’s favorite tool: The laser cutter
- [spp-timestamp time=”09:26″] Doonie describes his design – CAD 2D software
- [spp-timestamp time=”10:04″] Solving problems sideways and looking for alternatives
- [spp-timestamp time=”12:31″] Doonie’s retirement experience and motorboat making
- [spp-timestamp time=”16:24″] Building stuff based on instructions vs. designing plans of his own and converting freely available plans
- [spp-timestamp time=”18:55″] Doonie’s ideal workshop
- [spp-timestamp time=”19:43″] About motorcycles
- [spp-timestamp time=”21:01″] Doonie’s resourcefulness is both a result of innate abilities as well as life experience
- [spp-timestamp time=”22:07″] Camping in the wilderness
- [spp-timestamp time=”23:21″] Doonie’s undertakings with electronics and Arduino
- [spp-timestamp time=”25:31″] What is Arduino?
- [spp-timestamp time=”26:27″] HyperCard, a programming tool for Apple Macintosh, 1998
- [spp-timestamp time=”27:55″] What has Doonie found most challenging with the Arduino?
- [spp-timestamp time=”9:24″] Peter comments on Doonie’s craftsmanship
- [spp-timestamp time=”30:44″] Doonie’s other hobbies; Short story writing, filmmaking
- [spp-timestamp time=”33:58″] Moving to Briagolong, Victoria (Australia), getting involved with the community and making a movie
- [spp-timestamp time=”38:12″] Learning things on the fly – Taking charge and getting the right people to do the right things
- [spp-timestamp time=”42:18″] The difference between pre and post-retirement activities, and knowing how to retire
- [spp-timestamp time=”45:58″] Rapid Fire Questions
- [spp-timestamp time=”46:11″] Donnie’s Favorite Author: John Sandford
- [spp-timestamp time=”47:22″] If you could put one line on a billboard, what would it be?
- [spp-timestamp time=”49:06″] What advice would you like to give to your 12-year-old self?
- [spp-timestamp time=”55:11″] Doonie’s Contact Information: Email, Facebook
*Australian idiom referring to the wilderness (Wikipedia link)