Travels and Images
WEEK 9 2003
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Picture of the Week
Lancaster
Weather
Saturday 29
February 2003
Saturday - well, went by the local public library and
picked up, surprise, Perry's new book, "Dead Aim", and a book by John Ringo.
Disappointing - as I feared. The characters were not developed, and the plot
was really thin. I give it 2 stars. I also read Ringo's "A Hymm before
Battle", and it was also disappointing. Lots of stupid aliens (literally),
superweapons, and stuff like that. Interesting in a way, but a bit tiresome
after a while. Again, 2 stars.
The New Zealanders lost, which is great. They never won a race. Hah!! The problem is, they didn't lose bad enough.
They looked sad, of course, but sad in a "I'll have to go home and comfort
myself with my millions and billions" sort of way. We need a race where you
can tell the losers: they're bloody, bruised, broken. None of this pansy
"Our boat was slower by 45 seconds in an eight hour race stuff!!!!!!!!!!"
Perhaps a demolition charge in the keel of the losers boat, set off when the winner crossed the finish line? Sinking boats, especially multi-million dollar boats, are cooooolllllll.
And where the hell is Old Zealand, anyway? Never heard of a Zealand. I just
looked at five different web sites for NZ, not counting the several that
didn't work, and nowhere does anyone say. I'm not interested enough to pursue
it further. Many mention, in a politically correct sort of way, that in Maori it is Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud.
Friday 28 February
2003
Friday - feeling a bit better about some things at work.
My modeling efforts are paying off. We may be able to cut 50-60% off the
runtimes for the big jobs we've been running. From a month down to two weeks...
We'll see. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we'll need to compare
it with existing runs/simulations for accuracy.
I was going to watch the last America's Cup race, but it was weather delayed.
The New Zealanders are going to lose the cup, (they've lost four races in
a row, and it doesn't seem likely they'll break the streak), Hoo-Ray. Their rich spoiled millionaire/billionaire's are as obnoxious as ours. Of course, the Swiss? Europeans can out obnoxious just about anyone...
Thursday 27
February 2003
Thursday - dinner was at The Blue Koi, which has, indeed, a small indoors koi pond to delight the young (at heart).
Afterwards I moseyed over to the Barnes and Noble bookstore. It turns out
that they don't have wireless access, but that the Starbucks nearby does
- I'll have to try it out, just for laughs. They also had a children's "Giant
Cutaway" book, on the Hindenburg, which I bought for a dollar, and
an "Illustrated Directory of Warships from 1860 to the Present Day" for $6.99.
There is also a new Thomas Perry novel, "Dead Aim", which I didn't buy, as it was hardback still, and the new Dave Weber/John Ringo novel "March to the Stars",
also still in hardback. Bah. Maybe they'll show up at the library soon. It's
not so much that I'm cheap; Perry is a good author, but he's been cranking
them out a bit fast - a novel a year - and the quality is suffering a bit,
while Weber/Ringo's books are good reads, but not really worth the $25 hardback
price.
There is also going to be some sort of Harry Potter party at midnight in June, when the next book is issued: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". Might be fun to show up with the camera....
Wednesday 26 February 2003
Wednesday - sometimes you can sit and stare at a page without writing for hours. Today is one of those days.
Pioneer 10 had finally died: PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL.
Or has it? The article, despite the title, is a bit unclear. The radioisotope
generators have been slowly losing power, (the thermocouple portions are
failing, but there is still plenty of nuclear decay heat available ) while
at the same time the probe travels further and further from earth. Is the
signal non-existent, i.e., no transmission, or is the probe's signal simply
too faint to be heard?
Update: looking at a few more sites suggests that the transmitter is indeed not working....
Tuesday 25
February 2003
Tuesday - ok, Carquinez Cam. Be warned that it's java and the content and appearance varies from browser to browser.
Monday 24 February 2003
Monday - work, work, work. Will I never win the lottery? Perhaps I should buy a ticket....
I am told Algebra went well.
Sunday 23 February
2003
Sunday - my friends left just before midday.
It's not as nice a day as Saturday, rather overcast, but we could certainly
use a little more moisture around here. It's been a bit of a drought year,
particularly in the neighboring mountains. Dry mountains tend to catch fire.
Of course, rain encourages brush growth, which feeds fires...
I went over to some other friends in the evening, to help their daughter
with some algebra. She is very bright, but a little rusty after the long
Christmas break. But that will soon be cured, as her current instructor has
assigned lots of homework!
The current evening story at their house is A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, which I've never read, but which is interesting. The people in it are poor, but not nearly as poor as those in My Part of the River, an earlier story.
Picture of the Week
Photo Notes:
One morning in 1998 I heard a loud aircraft flying over. Going outside I
caught this shot of the Space Shuttle Atlantis onboard the carrier aircraft
flying over Lancaster, Ca. She had just finished a refit in Palmdale and
was on her way back to Florida.
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