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Showing posts from March 4, 2007

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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I am fixing this and that around the house this weekend. I wish I could talk about my regular job there is always so much stuff going on. We finally got a break in the cold weather and today it is above 40 and raining a little. The llamas appreciate the warmer weather but they don't mind too much getting locked in the barn when it gets cold. I am going to a conference in Rochester on March 23rd. Then I am headed to Canada for work on the 4th. After that I am headed to Idaho at the end of April for work. Bonnie is going to meet me out there for a couple of days of vacation. The first picture shows safety in action in Antarctica manifested as a sticker on the shop truck. The second image links to a movie of a typical pickup at a field camp. In this case it was us getting picked up at New Harbor camp on a really nice day. Nick in the left seat and Mike at the pilot position on the right of the Bell 212. I never have figured out why the seats are backwards compared to a fixed ...