Commercial Items Identified on my Commute

-
Image
I see a lot of interesting commercialitems on truck on I-75. When you make the commute many times you start to see the same items over and over again. Sometimes it is huge equipment tires, sometimes heavy equipment of different types. I see these huge blocks of aluminum going North. I think about what the mill must look like and where it is going. And how much aluminum foil a block like this will make. Using the Tesla Full Self-Driving (supervised) allows me to look for these things on the highway. The FSD also helps me through the crazy stop and goes. Easily over 70MPH and then sudden traffic at dead stops, frequently. I see accidents every trip. It is amazing there aren't more. A side note- aluminum foil has a shiny side and a dull side. The reason why is that the foil is folded as it goes through massive rollers. The shiny side is the side that faces the steel roller. The dull side faces itself - aluminum.
Post a Comment
-

Here is a picture I took on February 19th when I was snowshoeing on the farm just after getting back from Antarctica. There is so much life in this picture. It was pretty amazing to me to see that Winter in Upstate NY is teeming with life compared to Antarctica. It was (is) like a dense jungle in comparison. One of the biggest misconceptions about Antarctica is that there is all this wildlife. Outside of the sea there is no life, wild or not. The sea harbors life very nicely because the sea ice seems to protect a lot of species from predators for at least part of the year. But outside of the sea it is incredibly lifeless. It is hard to describe how lifeless, because I have nothing to compare it to. There are no aromas.

I have been in touch with my friends I made on the ice. It is interesting to see who is going back this year and all the other related stories. I have several projects still going on related to the ice.

This weekend I have been doing farm work including skidding, cutting, and splitting logs for firewood. My Holder tractor has a new seat and has been lubed and washed.

I went and looked at new trucks yesterday. I will be buying a new truck this week (almost for sure). I am looking at Toyotas and Chevys. I realized I have been driving Chevy trucks for 24 years. I miss the Diesel already.

I am looking forward to my flying lesson this week. I feel most of it is now a matter of practice. It will be a great thrill when I solo. It will be a great personal achivement. I have to buy a few more aviation books today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ditches, Vents and Drains

-
Image
Beautiful morning on the lake. I needed to put some vents in the basement. It's never about just one thing. The vents through the brick was one thing. Getting a window well to allow proper airflow and a drain to ensure the window well doesn't fill with water are other things. I had some fun with my bobcat and digging in the dirt. I am glad its over. We went out to dinner at the American Legion Post in the neighborhood. It only made sense to drive my M998 and pose next to the tank. The humvee has been my grocery-getter lately.
Read more

Knives and Septic Systems

-
Image
I went to the largest knife show anywhere. It was in Atlanta. https://bladeshow.com/home/ It's not like I am crazy about knives. I am however, interested in intense human efforts and world class passion in particular areas. I find myself having very involved discussions with folks that are sharing their passion and expertise. I met with folks about knife making from the US and Western Europe of course, but also South Africa, Finland, Australia. It's a effective and pleasant way to learn. I had an issue (sewer pipe was broken by my stump grinder) with the septic system here in Duluth. Of course, I had to ask lots of questions and do inspections and assessments myself. Septic technology is interesting. Nothing to be scared about and although the technology is ancient and sometimes unplesant there is a lot to know. https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1421&title=a-beginners-guide-to-septic-systems Having that knowledge is especially important if you...
Read more

The Electromagnetic Spectrum --DC to Daylight (and actually well beyond)

-
Image
Besides carrying my scintillation detector with me looking for ionizing radiation (over 2.46 petahertz) and decaying isotopes, I have been playing in the more friendly "basement" of the electromagnetic spectrum (under a gigahertz). A pic of my radio bench. I sold my IFR ( http://blog.theguysatwork.com/2025/02/updates-storm-and-other.html) . I needed to replace the function (at least a lot of it) with a cheaper digital produt. So for 1/10 the sale price of my IFR, I ended up buying a TinySA Ultra+ ZS406 Spectrum Analyzer. It is indeed tiny. It does what I want it to do and it's a fun new toy. Our autographed copy of the "Fall of Civilizations" arrived from the UK. Paul Cooper does such a great job with his pobcasts and videos. I felt compelled to get a personalized copy of the book. ( https://www.paulmmcooper.com/ ) Seeing this licence plate on the front of a pickup truck seemed fitting-- not so much as contrarian, but as a Komatsu equipment fan. It's g...
Read more