Road Trip

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I am back from my most recent roadtrip. I loaded up the Tesla and started letting the hands-off Full Self Drive (FSD) supervised take me to points North. First stopping in a campground in Tennesee and up to Pittsburgh for the CIDM Convex Conference (which was the best conference in years). There was a celebration of the 20 years of DITA XML. I was an earlier adopter. My presentation went well and I semi-stealth launched wisdomino. I demo'd some extra cool software we developed and will be selling in weeks to come. It's truely game changing. Of course, there will be much more than that to come. After that it was on to Franklin, PA. to meet with some colleagues in the mining division and onto the farm stopping in Olean NY for the night. I am pretty sure it was the first time I had driven across the entire Allegany National Forest. I ended up driving through the very dark forest expanse during a night time thunderstorm. Although I normally trust the Tesla FSD on the Interstat...
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I spent a couple more hours in the ham shack last night. Almost is the word. 20 meters isn't working for me. I think I have antenna problems. I did string a 40 meter dipole and I heard folks for the US (NY, OH, and some others). I rigged up the 400 w amp and still couldn't break thru to give a point or two (perhaps a multiplier) to some contesters. I suspect if I had a kilowatt I would have been there. It was close. So, the next time I go up to the shack I should be in business. It is fun talking to some of the guys down here about how terrible it is to be at the pointy end of a pile up... I just pick on them when they start talking like that.

Today I was out on the sea ice. I spent quite a bit of time in a Hagglund, a Swedish made tracked vehicle. I learned how to profile ice with a power auger, determine if cracks are safe, and generally assess ice conditions. It was informative and enjoyable. Some of the folks I live with down here are an absolute hoot. They are so much into the adventure (just like me) and they are in the zone. I was hoping to get a shot or two of some penguins but it was not meant to be today. We did see some more Weddell Seals. Overall, the ice is interesting. It is like the sea. It moves slower and has a different rheology. The dangers and the respect remain the same.

Still no flights to the pole. Nine days it has been contrary to plan. That a long time out of a season as short as summer in Antarctica.

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Road Trip

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I am back from my most recent roadtrip. I loaded up the Tesla and started letting the hands-off Full Self Drive (FSD) supervised take me to points North. First stopping in a campground in Tennesee and up to Pittsburgh for the CIDM Convex Conference (which was the best conference in years). There was a celebration of the 20 years of DITA XML. I was an earlier adopter. My presentation went well and I semi-stealth launched wisdomino. I demo'd some extra cool software we developed and will be selling in weeks to come. It's truely game changing. Of course, there will be much more than that to come. After that it was on to Franklin, PA. to meet with some colleagues in the mining division and onto the farm stopping in Olean NY for the night. I am pretty sure it was the first time I had driven across the entire Allegany National Forest. I ended up driving through the very dark forest expanse during a night time thunderstorm. Although I normally trust the Tesla FSD on the Interstat...
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