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Showing posts from September 11, 2016

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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We had dinner with my friend Dennis last night as he was in Atlanta for a couple of days. We didn't seem to get a picture though. On the drive home we saw a very large fire very close to where a plane went down 1.5 years ago. My blog post from last year. The official NTSB report was just completed a few weeks ago. NTSB report. The take away I got was to maintain your aircraft and have a mechanic you trust. Your life depends on it. The fire on the highway this time was JUST a semi truck burning up.
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I was in Florida and Kansas in the last few days. I got to meet my dream engine for my dream yacht. Although the yacht requires two of these babies. I do like the idea of an engine room with tools and spares for emergencies, as well as cameras you can see from the helm or stateroom.