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Showing posts from June 19, 2011

Carbon Monoxide!?

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Weird. The smoke alarm went off, not incredibly odd when I am using the fireplace, but it wasn't the smoke detector. It was the CO alarm. I was totally surprised. It had never gone off as long as I have had one, over many many years. Yep, after resetting it a few times. It was getting a reading over 200 ppm CO. When I took it downstairs I got a reading near 300 ppm. I started getting light headed at this point. After thinking maybe the furnace heat exchanger failed and puzzling around a bit I figured out what happened. As part of the huge winter storm that recently covered almost half of the US, we lost our electricity. So, being well prepared, I rolled out the generator and started doing what I normally do. The generator (although it was completely outside) was creating CO to get in the house. Using the fireplace draft (and possibly other leaks) the whole house created a vacuum around the seal of the basement garage door. After the CO got into the house the forced air heat...
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I am not in Kansas anymore. I know, the saying is more than old. The folks in Kansas have a great base. It is something I revere as part of my aspirations of farm life. I am off to Europe again Saturday. I arrive in Prague, Czech Republic Sunday. We have a intense agenda. The Pareto Rule applies. "Get 'r done" in a Global City DJ and I are looking at buying property in Costa Rica. It is difficult to schedule the visit/purchase because of work/project compulsion. And of course, spending much time there is a bit of a time-management conundrum as well. Actually, my vision is really developing a respite for friends and family from around the world. I can see a very nice visitor register (on paper) emerging, which of course is priceless. The guy on the scooter... I had to take a pic. It was awkward taking the pic. I am glad I did. It was just too weird. What emotion does that image evoke? I get a few. Interestingly enough when we were on the Interstate in Kansas w...
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I ran into this bug this morning in the parking lot in Duluth. I was thinking I had to go to central America to see a land insect this size. That's my shoe there. I almost tripped over this guy. Yes, he was alive. I kicked him to make sure.
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I hiked about 10 miles on the Appalachian Trail (AT) yesterday. It took a while to get to my start place on fire roads. It was maybe 13 miles off the pavement. It was a nice ride through the woods. It was a little like driving the jeep around the property in Berkshire. It was similar, but the jeep is a lot more fun around the farm. The hike of course was great. I went to the top of Springer Mountain again, but from the other way, not from the approach trail. I met a few folks. Some were finishing up an 8 day trek from North Carolina. It is a culture that's for sure. At the summit we were in the clouds and it was misting and a bit rainy. It certainly felt like I was in the clouds. My new hiking shoes worked very well. The GPS on my phone did the trick is showing where I was. The ceiling was a bit low this morning on a trip up to Gainesville, GA. in N53057. I am getting better with ATC and the Atlanta airspace. Learning is what it is all about.