LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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Small farms

Bonnie and I went to a wedding yesterday. That was nice. It was in a small church in Virgil, NY (in between places). James and Georgie got married. Now they have 7 kids between them. I think there are five girls and two boys. The oldest is younger than 10. Everybody has to have a hobby. I had a good time.

We are working on the yard again today. I am working mostly with stone. They are plentiful and mostly in the way. I found a great use for old roof shingles. I put them under the stones in the washes I am constructing. It looks great and should keep the weeds out for quite a while. The shingles are also plentiful and inexpensive. There is no shortage of work. I had to get out of the sun for a while. The basement is cool. I am tinkering with some technology projects.

You can see the bluebird sticking her head out of the house. There is quite a bit of activity in the bluebird house. It probably was not the best time to build the stone ring around the well head.

The truck has been in the shop almost all of last week. I still don't have it back. It may be the injection pump which is under warranty still at 132k miles. I have no choice but the leave it at a GM dealer. It really helped us realize how much we use the truck. I have to get feed, hay, salt for the softener, the tire fixed for the tractor. You get the idea.

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LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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