Personal Interlude: “And It Really IS Just That Easy.”

St. Remedius Flyer Racks: The Extra Features

(Remember how, in the days of standard episodic television before streaming and binging, many dramas and some comedies would give a thumbnail update starting with “Previously on…”, flashing scenes so fast that people starting midway through a season or story were more confused than before? Well, that’s what this newsletter is like. Look at these as regular updates of how the sausage is made, with what, and whether or not the staff washed their hands after they used the toilet. Or, worse, if they only washed their hands before using the toilet.)

SIGNAL BEGINS

Previous subscribers and readers might remember, way back earlier in 2025, when a windfall of abandoned real estate guide bins from the Aughts led to an idle summer project of converting them into St. Remedius flyer bins. Well, that started just before an emergency kitchen renovation blocked off access to kitchen and garage for over three months. Now that the kitchen is back in order, the summer heat finally let up, and there’s enough free time to get back to work, we return to the rack conversions, already in progress.

Now that all of the florid and the flora on the flyer racks are done, they’re ready for use. The original bins had either stickers or stenciled paint on the sides and front letting passersby know about the contents therein and their price: after 20 years of blasting from Texas sun and heat, the paint had mostly cracked and flaked, and the stickers had broken into peeling fragments that mostly cleaned themselves off with a stout scrubbing with a dish brush. The problem, though, was that enough remained to interfere with subsequent stickers or stencils, sanding or other abrasion was inadvisable because of the underlying plastic turning into a fuzzy mess with any application of sandpaper, and solvents that would remove the paint could potentially damage or destroy the underlying plastic. It was time to take a lateral move and cover them with new identifiers, including a QR code, the site URL, and plenty of other extras. For the most part, it turned out well: with future flyer bins, I’m going to avoid the household cement used here, because even small amounts softened the plastic for a time and bowed it out on contact, but the new labels aren’t going anywhere.

Now the surprise for those risking coming up close to look. As a kid, I was always fascinated with little extras in toys, banks, and just about anything else, and that continued here. The original bins had all this space in the upper area and those big fake windows, so why not do something with them?

As mentioned last Personal Interlude, the final design included a big shiny momentary button, smack between the two windows. After extensive testing with LED lighting, USB battery packs, and luminous materials, particularly on how long people could mash on the button before the battery needed replacement (as it turns out, about five hours at a time), the interiors were filled with…stuff. The light for “Jungle” was a typical white LED strip, so this was visible through the windows when the light was on…

…but watch what happens when the light turns off…

With “Kirby Crackle,” the LED light strip rotates through multiple colors when the button is depressed, giving a view of the famed St. Remedius Silver Machine. When off, the luminous cloud effect is considerably more subtle: to make up for it, the Kirby Crackle on the outside and inside has an extensive coating of blue glow powder to make things more exciting when the lights go out.

And what’s next? Well, first these two need permanent homes now that they’re completed, which should happen within the next few days. After that, if these make as much of an impression as expected, it’s time for a third, mostly finished as of this writing, to debut. If you’ve kept up with the saga of the hodags, you’ll love this one.

SIGNAL ENDS

Want to get caught up on the St. Remedius story so far? Check out the main archive. Want more hints as to the history of St. Remedius Medical College? Check out Backstories and Fragments. Want to forget all of that and look at cat pictures from a beast who dreams of his own OnlyFans for his birthday? Check out Mandatory Parker. And feel free to visit the St. Remedius Medical College Redbubble shop for all of your Mandatory Parker needs.

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