Here we be in mid May of 2010. World shouldn't end (financially for most people) until the November 8-12 period this fall, but nevertheless, we are doing things in a workmanlike order to get ready for July 11 ort so when the bottom falls out ...whatever!
For example: We will probably sell the 930. Been fun. Some old ham gear will go. Coming in to replace this stuff? Additional solar panels, batteries, charge controllers and more emphasis on 12-month gardening capability.
But let's do a little 'catch up' here. Enough bummers - given the Gulf and Greece.
This winter we had snow...about 4 inches of it and a fine chance to get out the 'Rocket Stove" (from www.stovetec.net ) and fire it up with about a fistful of kindling. No, I usually don't varnish kindling; this happened to be left over cabinet trimmin's:
Once done, how did it taste? The looks speak for themselves...
Any similarity to the Big Lebowski on my part is coincidental. Any resemblance of Elaine to Cory Everson is intentional.
This now being May of 2010, I got to looking back through the pictures from Thanksgiving of last year when Cara & Brandon were down and I noticed something I hadn't spied before in a picture. Look closely at the person on the deck...(no, it's not Cory Everson...)
Why, Elaine looks at the 'red car' as a toy and she could care less....but if that doesn't capture a mom looking like "Now you keep it under 140, no Tokyo drifting, and upshift at 130 out of fourth..." kinda look, I don't know what is...
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Several friends have asked me to put up a picture of my office as I see it every day. Well, get ready for a very expensive disappointment...
Tour de Office: Left screen pre-open on eTrade before the streaming quotes start. Center (left) browser sniffing out content. Center (right) FrontPage or ExprerssioniWeb (mood dependent) for writing. Top: (*In video mode, also does extended screen off the massive linked desktops) Russia Today live off satellite (Eng. Lang..I'm not smart enough their native speaking channels). Right screen: Outlook with emails, reader pane, to-do list, Calendar etc. Clock and date widgets on left screen lower. shotwave broadcasts scanning off-screen to left. Zeus somewhere behind me on a chair meowing...
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April's visit of my [nearly] life-long friend (57 years now) Major R.J. "Rob" Carter (US Army, retired) was more fun than we could shake a stick at...especially turning him loose on the tractor with a "Mission Impossible" kind of task. Magna Cum Laude U of Chicago or not, he didn't recognize the task as impossible and so - being uninformed as to it being impossible, promptly conquered it...
Which (as usual) left me asking "How the hell did he do that?" and going out trying to set it up and do the same thing. Beginners luck or good karma, makes no difference, near as I can figure. We wave our respective Master's sheepskins at each other, toast and laugh about what a joke edjumacation is....I'[m trying to get him to get his Morse Code speed back up to 20 WPM+ although he cast several nervous glances at calendars when I was pushing that idea...
Oh...and Panama Bates has been turning into a carpenter extraordinaire! Here's his new quarters coming together...
Looks way cooler now that it's semi-finished, but wanted to do an update while I was thinking (such as that goes) while I was on this 'n that's and had a few minutes.
Long range plans call for me to meet with my predictive linguistics pal Cliff up in Washington so we're planning a business trip to go up there...figure we can travel across the country, interview regular folks about the economy and have a fine time...Northern route up (Branson, MO and Rushmore? Sure! WTF). Then southern Rockies route back via Grand Junction, CO and some of those high mountain narrow gauge trains...yep...gotta do that.
Bucket list item...need it to compare with Cusco down in Peru.
We'll try to get moron soon....say, you seen that spell checker around anywhere? Am I old enough to join Triple A yet?
Click here for Volume 10 of Hippies 2.0
George & Elaine