May, 2026


I adore being an engineer.

I can’t express how much I appreciate it when a friend brings me a challenge, and then I get to drive ahead and build something beautiful to solve that challenge.

In this case, it was a spice rack – but a new design, this time to optimize space unique to the format of apartment that he (and I) have. In short, there’s a really cool slatted wall in the kitchen – I use it to store plants and little memorabilia, but our friend had the good idea that this could, instead, be leveraged into a bit of a space to store spices.

Utilizing otherwise lost space… Now that sounds like an engineer’s dream, doesn’t it?

Well. I measured, I designed, and I tested. I overengineered at first, then simplified and optimized.

I printed, then I iterated and printed again. Have I mentioned that I adore having my own 3D printer? I do – it doesn’t run 24/7, not even remotely, but it does run when it’s needed, and it helps immeasurably when it does.

How’d the new rack come out?

WELL. It fit BEAUTIFULLY, so much so that I took some of the prototypes and re-formed them into one for Andrea and I, to hold our coffee and teas.