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Showing posts from February 18, 2007

Wyoming and Idaho

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We are back from a quick vacation. I managed to score three (actually several more) bucket list items in 4 days. 1.) Long Snowmobile Trip. 2.) Yellowstone Park and 3.) Wyoming. I reached my 50th State --Wyoming! And we took a 90 mile snowmobile trip in Yellowstone National Park. We went to the "Craters of the Moon--National Monument and Preserve" in Idaho and also stopped at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where I got to see (with my own eyes) the very cool nuclear powered twin turbojet engine. It was a successful experiment in the 1950s and 1960s. https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/htre-3-meltdown.html Of course, I had my Radiacode scintillation detector with me and yes, the apparatus is "Hot". The screenshot of the readings from my three walk-arounds the artifact. I swear you could smell the radiation. There was a very un-natural burnt smell something reminiscent of burned bakelite. Although, I am quite certain the emitted radition was not the source...
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Getting used to the "real" world is going to take some time. I will probably not ever totally end up where I was before my adventure and that is ok. I certainly do keep busy. One of the things I planed on doing when I was on the ice was to form an opinion about global warming based on what I saw with my own two eyes in Antarctica. Antarctica certainly was not warm for the most part when I was there but it was warmer on some days than most people would have thought. The sea ice has not melted and broken up in McMurdo Sound for at least 6 years. This year it receded more than it had in some recent past but still it had not receded to the point when Shackleton and Scott were sailing around McMurdo sound. One of the things that irritates me is how the Antarctica card is being played in the global warming arguement. Most people have not and will not personally expereince Antarctica. So the political technocracy can use facts regarding Antarctica to advantage. For example, a st...
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Life is getting back to normal. I went to work the other day and I was greeted by a very large species of penguin. It seems strange being back. My outlook has changed. I am seeing things I didn't see before. Success is ahead. I have been studying flight manuals and making other plans. I missed my big red parka so much I ended up buying a new winter coat and some new boots. This is the time of year. Things go on sale. I bought some bunny boots on ebay for 33 bucks (with shipping). They are very nice. I am quite happy with them. Actually they are Mickey boots. They are black not white and they are not rated quite as cold as the ones I had on the ice. I will be snowshoeing this afternoon since I have at least 9 pounds to loose from the ice. My membership in the fitness center is also reinstated. I have been working on getting the audio system in the house setup as well. I have an old computer setup as a MPEG server that will connect to the Mcintosh preamp and Fisher amp I scored rec...