Travels and Thoughts

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WEEK 23 2007

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Saturday 9 June 2007

Saturday - my brother and I did Mt. Baden-Powell, this time for real. He called about 7:00, but we didn't get up and out to the mountain until it was about 11:00. And the parking lot was full. Boy Scouts, it turns out. But we went ahead - the weather was perfect - and had a good time. I was exhausted when I got home, and just fell asleep after a quick shower...

Friday 8 June 2007

Friday - I was home in time to work on the swamp cooler, but fell asleep on the couch. It's been a long week. I had to buy a new drill - I left the cordless drill on the boat, and so I bought an AC drill to put a wire brush attachment on. So, maybe tomorrow.

We watched the Space Shuttle take off, at work on our PC's. They've a little video viewer installed on all the workstations that works quite well now. There were a lot of complaints that people at NASA couldn't actually watch the NASA channel, so they finally fixed that. I've a lot of grief for NASA IT, but they did get that one done right - good clear smooth full screen video. Even a stopped clock, etcetera.

Go Atlantis!

Did you know: the America's Cup races have started - and the Americans are already out of contention. Bah.

A tick, as picked up by the dog a couple of weeks ago. The heat thing works, by the way...

Thursday 7 June 2007

Thursday - Scott put the new CV joints in. Actually he put in reconditioned axles, as it's a lot cheaper. Less than $300 installed, which is ridiculous, and I told him so.

I bought some goop to put on the swamp cooler, but am strongly tempted to go sailing instead of working on it this weekend. We'll see.

Fun with small boats. Heh.

"I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do,' " Hayden recalled. "So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation." Story Here. [via BlackFive]

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Wednesday - a nice cool day. Which is good, because my swamp cooler has a massive water leak through a hole rusted in the bottom and I had to turn it off and depend on the central a/c. Apparently I can get some goop called "Henry's" to coat the inside on the water pan and it'll last another season. Or I can get a new cooler, but I suspect the dimensions would be hard to match and it's built into the wall.

Besides, tomorrow I am spending money on the Probe, putting in new CV joints. Acckkk. But probably worth it.

The is the anniversary of D-Day, the greatest amphibious assault of all time. But other things happened on this day.

Book #38 was The Fortune of War*, by Patrick O'Brian. Aubrey and Maturin get to experience a fire at sea, weeks in a small boat contemplating cannibalism, heart breaking almost rescues, actual rescues, a ferocious naval battle, capture and injury, spying and intrigue, escape, and another ferocious naval battle. Recommended. As an American I delighted in the defeat of the Java by Constitution, and felt despondency at the capture of the Chesapeake by Shannon.

In O'Brian's book Captain Lawrence of the Chesapeake is represented as a good fighting man, with a good ship and crew. But I have read reports that in fact Lawrence was new to the ship, the crew was untried, and had never fired the guns in anger, and that it was a foolish act to engage the Shannon. Indeed, even in O'Brian's book he mentions the Chesapeake deliberately avoiding a chance to rake the Shannon early on, in the spirit of fighting fair. When Shannon got her chance later she didn't hesitate to rake Chesapeake.

This is the sixth book in the series, so there are only fourteen left. Bah.

Sailing the Pacific, Sunday.

Tuesday 5 June 2007

Tuesday - back at work.

Monday 4 June 2007

Monday - back at work.

Sunday 3 June 2007

Sunday - down at the boat, did a bit of sailing.

Picture of the Week

Photo Notes: Phoebe's hunting blind.

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