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Showing posts from February 20, 2011

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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I am back in Atlanta from Minnesota "We took took care of things, you betcha." I meet a lot of folks on planes. I am not extremely social, especially depending on the day, but often my life is enriched sometimes in coach, sometimes in first class. Looking through old posts I certainly see a lot of dead links. Youtube hopefully is going to do better. They have all been good for quite a while. "Showing up is important (creating a link), but sticking around so people can get to know you is where the real difference is (archive-retrieval)." I thought of this scene awhile back. Sure enough, it was on youtube. Are the background sounds considered music? I think so. I am planning on doing something exciting this weekend. I don't know what it is yet.
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I am in Jackson Minnesota. I noticed the metrodome is still collapsed as I flew into Minneapolis (MSP). Jackson is a 3 hour drive from MSP. The roads are pretty straightforward, not a whole lot to look at. I had lunch in Albert Lea MN. I figured I could find a Mexican restaurant and I did. I heard there are four of them in Albert Lea. It is definately a tragedy in Christchurch NZ. I have pictures of the cathederal somewhere. I will dig them out. It being Februray people are coming off the ice to Christchurch. It is normal to spend a month in "Cheech" after you get off the ice. I sure hope folks in USAP are all ok. However, it appears there are USAP folks missing at this point. As a contractor, you are off-the-clock as soon as you set free in cheech. If you get killed in cheech you are on your own time. There would be no government benefits. They won't even ship your body to the US. They made these facts very clear to me. I will be in the office Friday. I probably wil...