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Showing posts from December 28, 2008

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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Soon it will be 2009. Aren't we supposed to be living on the moon by now, at least? I will be heading up to Rochester. I may be headed up to Canada to look at a firewood processor some guy has for sale too. I will be in Chicago the 9th through the 12th for work and then later in the month out in Ohio to pick up some new farm equipment. A neighbor had a house fire on Christmas. This guy is always doing something, from working on a boat to cars to outboards to minibikes. I would always check out his latest project as I drove by. Now he is busy sorting through and tearing down. I hope he replaces with something nicer looking than what he was living in. Either way it was clearly a tragedy for the family. I ran 5k yesterday in 23:30. That made me feel pretty good. I am on target for my fitness goal.
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My truck can sure get dirty this time of year. In my neighborhood we used pulverized shale on the roads to aid traction. It really makes a mess.