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Showing posts from November, 2013

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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Another week. Indeed. What is the measure, a litre, a Lb., a fortnight, a dribble? My friend Bill and I attended an AOPA (Airplane Owners and Pilot Association) President's breakfast in Atlanta. I have to sometime remind myself that I live in a city and the power is in cities. Although that is absolutely the wrong place for a political power base. The weather was too crappy to fly, but was spectacular to experience in my back yard at sunrise. I had to move my orange tree inside this week. We had a real cold snap. We noticed that there was some excellent urban planning in my area. A co-located Waffle House and medical care all in the same building. We enjoyed the "Scattered, smothered, covered" at waffle house nevertheless! I noticed weirdly that I had accumulated some significant symbols on my dresser. This picture is not "made for TV". It sums things up. I had the privilege to study under a professor in graduate school that understood and could communicate what...
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I have been traveling. This past week I was in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota. It snowed. I realized the last time I saw snow was in Finland last winter. It wasn't in NY. Winter is fine and even snow is ok, but I am remembering that early snow in Winter (or late in Fall). It is a bit depressing and certainly the last snow in April will not become a holiday anytime soon. Some of my ducks are back. I am again working on them to be less fearful with bribes of food, it seems to work. I bought a new car. I ended up getting a Nissan Leaf. It is all electric, no engine, none of that hybrid stuff. It is a near zero maintenance car (Nissan says zero maintenance). It doesn't even have any belts. It has a very simple single ratio transmission, a battery and a motor. It is fun and has almost no noise. It is like driving in the future. My plan is to "plug in" everywhere except for home. I have a keen look out for electric outlets in parking lots everywhere. There are growing nu...
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"In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Author
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