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LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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This morning we had some snow. It stuck to the trees and was quite attractive. Click pic for video
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Well, I am back from Florida. It was good seeing my Brother, Sister and Sister-in-law Mary. My Sister lives about 3 hrs from my Brother in Jacksonville. James and Mary live in Brooksville. They enjoy the warm weather. I have to admit it was awful nice being outside enjoying the bird songs. Mary, Cathy and I walked and gathered trash along the roadside in the neighborhood. That was kind of fun. We must have gathered about 8 bags. It is somewhat amazing what lurks in the grass. James and I went for a bike ride on a bike path that runs through the woods. We rode 13 miles. It was all paved and I understand they have many more miles to ride as you like. That is fun. I do like bicycling. I ran quite a bit when I was down there as well. That felt good too. My feet have had to make an adjustment to the extra activity. This weekend I am watching tapes on how to gamble and win (lessen house odds) in preparation for our trip out to Las Vegas next week. I am also concentrating on work for the up...
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I am in Florida this week. It is good to see my Brother and Sister since they both live in Florida. The traffic seems to be an issue here as the state experiences such high growth in development. I compare my role on the county planning board in NY to what planners have to do in Florida and there (believe it or not) some comparisons. There are great leasons to apply back in NY, anticipating growth (or not) and applying the values of what the community wants and does not want. The weather is nice in Tampa in March compared to back home. I often think that people up north mistakening think that it is "Summer" all year round. It gets hot down here, really hot. I don't mind the cold too much. Occasionally, it is a nuscience when you are scraping the car and you have a cold and you aren't dressed right, but overall it is ok. I will be canoeing sometime in the next couple of days.
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It appears to becoming spring on the farm. Yesterday it must have been in the 60s. Today (early) it is 40. I got a jeep load of wood yesterday. I disassembled and carried a fallen ash up the embankment in the woods. It was a good workout. What I like to do it cut the tree in about 6 foot sections (shorter or longer depending on diameter) and then tip it up on my shoulder and back. I can effectively carry quite a bit of wood that way. In a word; It was fantastic. There is nothing quite like the woods. I saw some nice sized turkey tracks. Dennis is coming down May 1st. We are going to bag some. Sound is important for the movies. The first pic is one of many springs on the property. It is not flowing a lot at the moment, but it will. It is sort of like a peat bog. I heard a story of someone getting trapped in a peat bog and they couldn't find him. But the next spring there was peculiar spot that looked like it was warmer than the rest of the bog. Click pic for video Click pic...
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The llamas haven't been on the blog for a while. It was about 10 degrees out at 7:00 AM when I took these pics. The air was perfectly still. Weather like that is nice. It is great llama weather. I fed them outside and took a pic of inside their private chambers when they weren't looking. They are happy anaimals this AM, no wind, no rain, no super cold temps. Click pic for video
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It is quite wintery out today. I decided to come upstairs and scan in this schematic that was inside the "G Stand" of my Astatic D-104 microphone. This is the mic I am using for shortwave. It is pretty old looking. I didn't have anything else to do (right) so I went out and got the bobcat stuck today in snow and mud. I had to yank it out sideways with the tractor. The drifts of snow are several feet deep. I have been mostly relaxing today, reading in bed even. The stove has been making the house nice and warm.
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My exercise regimen is paying dividends. I am somewhat surprised at the progress. I am running 3.1 miles (5k) in 24 minutes now. The amount of weight I use on almost all the machines has increased, except for the biceps. I have backed off a little bit on the overall routine just to take the edge off it. Further progress I am sure of, but I can take more time. Bonnie's sister is down this weekend and we celebrated Bonnies birthday. I made Baked Alaska. I did quite a bit of research before I started. My recipe was a combination of recipes I gleaned from the web. I made a 13 x 9 inch chocolate cake, cut into 6 pieces. I took a half gallon of french vanilla ice cream and cut that into 6 even slabs. I refroze the ice cream slabs in foil in the big cold freezer we have downstairs. Then it is time for the meringue. I used our own chicken eggs being careful to use the oldest eggs we had. I read that you should use eggs at least 4 days old. (That was difficult). I had about 9 or 10 eg...
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