Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

Hard to believe I have been working at my current job for 7 years as of Saturday. I have been sitting at the same desk with the same monitor, same chair, same everything (almost) for 7 years (except for 4 months in Antarctica). It is a year longer than I have stayed at any other job. Usually, I pack up and leave just to get into new more interesting problems or opportunities. They have said they were sorry to see me go at every job. I am pretty tired of that song and dance. I have held two jobs previously for 6 years, and of course a few others for lesser time. Everything is relative. This is a pic of Ultima I took a few months back. She looks happy under her fruit tree.

Today is Thanksgiving and I am emailing folks in Antarctica to wish them the best. My friend Dave is stuck about 5 hours (LC-130 Aircraft) away from McMurdo at a god forsaken place known as "WAIS Divide". WAIS is an acronym for "West Antarctica Ice Sheet". There has been a seasonal science camp out there for years taking ice core samples. Dave has been out there 3 years in a row. We use a an old C-band satellite dish to get Internet through an old NOAA satellite through the University of Miami. I think he gets 5 hours of visibility at 56 kbps. Good for email for the scientists. At least they have a regular camp cook out there. I am looking for a new controller for my electric car. I have been doing a lot of research and planning. It won't be cheap. I want to do it right. I know if I don't it will be a mess and give electrics a bad name. I am diligently looking for what the the EV folks call a "Donor Car". I have reduced my goal to a 40 mile range

It is a normal weekend I suppose. We went to a Toastmaster event in Ithaca last night. Jason and Claudia both competed in the district contests. This was the contest that culminates 2000 toastmasters from across the state. Unfortunately, neither won, but to compete at this level is certainly an achievement. The Columbian guy who won the Humorous contest was a real hoot. I have been patrolling the woods out back with the jeep looking for hunters and getting firewood. There were no signs of hunters on opening day which was great with me. I take my camera and my note pads to capture back tags. Anyone I catch will get a ticket from the DEC. I have a bunch of firewood to process. I should have enough for this year, but you really can't have too much. Worst thing is that I will use it next year. As long as I can get out back (snow not too deep) I might as well bring it forth. It is a great excuse to spend time in the woods. Even though it was in the 20s I was down to a t-shirt working

While we are fighting a physical battle in the middle east the Chinese are fighting a battle at the real front. Malware/Trogans/Virus and any other executables to compromise our computer securities are being purchased by us I bet. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/11/11/2003387202

It is the weekend again. We had our first snow this morning and I was out back with the Jeep early. I dressed for the cold and it triggered a nerve or two. First of all it wasn't really cold and that it was so humid even though it was sort of cold. Hypothermia is much more likely when things are damp. In fact, most cases of hypothermia involve moisture, not cold, as the primary constituent. It is great to have robust internet (actually working) and the varied electronic devices accessed of late. I mounted the flat screen tv on the wall and I triaged the Fisher amp that gave me a smoke genie last Saturday morning, weird. Don't know what caused it besides me flicking a switch or two. DC coupled amps can be problematic. I may have to upgrade to a pair of McIntosh 275s to go with the "unsmoked" McIntosh Preamp I still have in the array. I had the strangest dream last night. I was in a novel about a wierd evacuation from a polar research station. Coincidentally, Mc

Well getting my internet access straightened around is a big deal. I feel as though I had a big damp blanket pulled off me and now it is time to dry off and and figure out what's next. My antivirus is working again properly - and it is all good (cyberspace speaking). I got about half of my new heavy duty posted signs up today. I found the property lines ok except for one corner. I have had problems at the corner before too. There is a iron pipe and all that .. I just cant seem to find it. Being color blind doesn't help. I just can't see a lot of the blazes. Maybe I should just buy a GPS again. Borrowing one makes more sense at the moment. I enjoyed my walk. There is nothing quite like it. It is certainly better than TV. I used my new brush cutter around the pond. All the trees and brush are getting the axe (saw) this fall/winter around the pond. It needs attention based on what I learned in pond school a couple of years back. The jeep decided to run today. It has a in

I got my internet at home working again via satellite. The LNA went bad and had to be replaced. This time thru Wild Blue. It is pretty fast. I am getting 1Mbps downloads. That is fast enough. One of the side benefits is that this system is that it is ethernet versus the USB connection on the old modem so I can network this connection to the new TV, the neighbors, and the toaster if needed. Now I have to change my email address and all that goes with that. I also have to create the simple webpage that is on the posted signs I will be hanging in a few minutes. No hunting allowed on the property this year. I reached the breaking point this past summer. Having the land is great but it does require some management that isn't always fun. Having the dish tv is different. Now there are 100 channels of infomercials. I got some more components for the electric car, hopefully I can start getting the test stand operational today. I left a note (offer to purchase) a Geo Tracker that is off t