LavaCon 2026 and the future.

-
Image
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...
Post a Comment
-

Well it is 8/8/08 at 888 N. Ketchumville Rd. just past 8 o'clock. Sounds good. Saw yet another nice rainbow on the farm tonight. I have seen sooo many here.

Had Rooster Salad last night on a flour tortilla. Ya know, as I was eating Mr. Chicken Friend I couldn't help but think about how much he tasted like rattlesnake. Go figure. It was good.

Another busy weekend is planned. I am trying to get 10 lbs into a 5 lb bag. I am multiplexing about 20 projects this summer. They have been on a card in my pocket. I then use other cards for the shorter term "do lists". All the projects are moving. There has really only been a few distractions from the begining of the summer. Of course they were worth the flexibility. I did my first consignment with an auction house today. We see how that went tommorrow.

I will be going flying next Tuesday is the plan. What a great place to fly. I have really learned to enjoy the feeling and the sensations of the plane when I pull the throttle back to idle on short final. I can close my eyes and experience the joy in feeling of pushing the air down, managing airspeed, attitude, and descent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LavaCon 2026 and the future.

-
Image
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...
Read more

Upper Peninsula Michigan and Auction Win Outcomes

-
Image
I was up in Wisconsin and the UP (upper peninsula) in Michigan. It was a lot of driving after launching/landing in Appleton WI. I got an item off the bucket list by driving across the "Mighty Mac". Altough it was built in the late '50s. It is still the longest suspension span in the Northern hemisphere. It is a crazy long bridge with a crazy long suspension span. It was good to see the bridge in context of the seemingly endless forests of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The culture in the two haves of Michigan are noticibly different as you might expect. Great time meeting with folks both in WI and MI. The tractor I won in auction, seems to have paid off. This time I beat the odds. It was a really good deal. I have the "no-key, non-running, may have hydraulic problems, unknown hours" -auction win, running well with minimal cost and time. I have some more tweaks, maintenance and minor fixes but the major risks are gone.
Read more
-
Google News I will be moving my server host soon. The place I am using now could screw up anything. That is the reason I have not posted anything (seemingly) for quite some time. The name of the crapper server hosting company is IQuest Hosting. They just plain stink. They bought out the service I was using. Now because of their screw ups I am moving. Avoid "http://www.iquesthosting.com/"
Read more

Back South Again with More Projects

-
Image
A lot of driving. I have forgotten how much driving is involved when on the farm. Everything is far. But I also had to drive up and back twice to Syracuse to pickup/drop off Angie at the airport and a business meeting for Wisdomino in Albany. Yeah it was a lot of driving for me. All and all it was about 4000 miles in three weeks. Early in the morning I decided to check out some auctions (dangerous). I ended up being high bidder on a 2015 New Holland Boomer 33 ( "hours unknown, does not run, may have problems, no key, no battery" ) from the State of Tennessee. I figured I could swing by Nashville and pick it up on the way to Georgia. And indeed I did. It was only a couple of hours extra, maybe 4. But, it was more efficient than going to Georgia and then back and forth to Nashville. Nashville is about 4 hours from Duluth. So I was looking at a 4 hour savings. After I go through it and getting if working I will tow it up to the farm in NY. I wasn't prepared for a trac...
Read more
-
Image
I flew out to the US Coast Guard Polar Sea yesterday. That experience may be difficult to top. The guys with the red parkas and strange footwear were quite a novelty aboard ship. After all, these red parka visitors have been in Antarctica since October and they look like it. The crew of the Polar Sea (120 people) will be getting to town in the next couple of days after they get the channel cleared along with the Oden. Being underway on an icebreaking ship breaking ice in Antarctica was quite a thrill. The ship has three turbine engines producing 60,000 HP. Ice chunks the size of small buildings get blasted away in the prop wash. We continually saw a number of orcas, penguins, skuas,and seals. The crew was excited about all the wildlife and remarked that there was a lot more wildlife to see in Antarctica compared to the Arctic. I have a number of videos that show the power needed to break thru three meter thick (multi-year) ice. When our helo came we had to stop the ship, climb off onto...
Read more