Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Wayward Wandering

I have returned from another trip to Grass Valley and the Yuba river. We had a great time as usual and are ready to go back and maybe stay there for good. We're seriously thinking about it and how to do that.

It takes a lot of time to manage a blog - to pull together all the pictures, etc. - so this will be abbreviated as usual.

I mentioned I lost my toe nail from my previous trip down there. Here's a shot of my naked toe.



It doesn't look all that different than when it had a toe nail. By the way, I went back to the spot where I lost my fin, but the search and recovery operation was unsuccessful. The fin belongs to the river now.

We went to another (smaller) lake as well and rented another (smaller) boat and tootled around for a bit. Here's the boat.



The last time we went, we saw people with fast boats towing big inner tube like rafts behind them with gleeful riders bouncing around on top. We thought we would try something similar, but with only a 4 HP engine on the boat, it wasn't very exciting.



That's my wife going for a ride. Here's a closer view.



She enjoyed it.

The lakes and river were very cold, so we wore our scuba suits to swim in. That was the only way to go. I couldn't have even gotten into the water without it. I also wasn't dumb enough to jump off the bridge into the water, like some testerone-driven guys were doing at our favorite spot. It's like a 70 foot drop...and if you misjudge your jump, you might not resurface.

Anyway, I mentioned that last time we went to a haunted theater. Well, it wasn't so much of a haunting as it was an episode of the Twilight Zone. We wanted to go see Pirates of the Carribbean, so we did. But we were cutting it close on time, so my wife dropped me off at the front so she could go park the car. She was using my keys, since she left hers at the motel.

I bought the tickets and went inside and my wife came in very shortly afterward. Nobody was really checking tickets, so I went on to the theater while my wife went to the concession stand to get some goodies. Bear in mind we did not come in close proximity to each other at this time.

On my way to the theater I realized she did not know what theater it was in, so I came back to tell her, and she asked me for some money (coincidentally). I had my wallet in a fanny pack, and opened it up to get my wallet out to give her some cash. This was a two-handed operation. I say that because it is significant to the story.

I went in and sat down in the theater. My wife came in a few minutes later with her hands full, in the dark, and handed me a drink so she could sit down. From there, we proceeded to watch the movie.

After the movie we went to leave the theater and my wife could not find the keys to the car. My keys. The keys that she used to park the car before coming in. We searched the trash and the empty theater for the keys. It was the last movie of the night, and we couldn't find anyone who worked there to ask if they were returned to the lost and found. But we finally found someone, and they helped us look for the keys.

I decided to go out and see if they were locked in the car. They were not.

On the way back to the theater, just on a whim, switching to "cover all the bases and look everywhere" mode, I opened up my fanny pack. There were the keys.

Tried as we might, we could not for the life of us remember or figure out when the exchange of keys took place. It seemed that it could only have happened when I gave her some money, but I remembered putting my wallet back into my fanny pack at that time. There were no keys. It was as if the keys magically transported themselves from her to me. I am one of those people who is very particular ("Monk-ish"?) about keeping track of things, so I felt it was the very power of my will that brought the keys back to me.

It was very strange.

Anyway, on this latest trip, we went to see another movie (Little Miss Sunshine - GO SEE IT!!) and this time there was someone checking tickets, so I gave her a ticket while she stood in line and I went to get a seat. I told her, specifically, "don't lose it!".

She lost it.

I came looking for her after several minutes of waiting, and the ticket checker wouldn't let her in. Fortunately, the guy at the counter remembered us buying the tickets, so they let her through.

It was appropriate that we saw the movie in Grass Valley, because that is where the filmmaker is from.

So, to completely change the subject, I am eager to get my plane built, but it seems I will be in the design phase for some time. The more I think about it, the more issues come up, and the better my designs get. So, I'm not going to be hasty about building it.

But I did build a test stand last night so I can run some tests with my engine and generator.

Engine test stand - click for larger image

I have a long way to go. And now I am taking a Java programming class on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so my time is really limited for working on it. I do plan to go flying this weekend, however, as it marks the 24th anniversary of when I flew the first plane I ever built. I still have that first plane! In fact, that is the one I hope to fly this weekend.

Well, I've got to run off to eat and sleep. More later!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Traveling Man

For a guy who doesn't like to travel, I sure have done a lot of it this year. And I have been really bad about posting anything about it in my blog, and even worse about taking any pictures.

Back in June, my wife and I went on a cruise to the Western Carribean. We took a ride on the Carnival Conquest - big mother of a ship.



There's one lowly picture. I have more, but I am kind of rushed as I am writing this, so maybe I'll post more later. And maybe not.

A couple weeks ago, we went to Grass Valley - to our favorite summer hangout at the Yuba River. While I was there, I cracked my big toe against a rock and just about took the nail clean off. The nail finally did actually come completely off just last night. But in an unrelated event, I stuck my foot down between some rocks at this place where the current was very, very strong, and I thought my leg was going to snap in half. But I was more concerned about the fins I was wearing, as the one that was on that foot was half off and it was under a rock and I didn't know if I was going to be able to pull it out along with my foot.

The short story is, I still have my foot. The fin, on the other hand, is still under the rock - and the current was SO STRONG that I could not get my foot back there, no matter how hard I tried. I don't know how I got it there in the first place, especially while wearing a fin. The fin is still there.

Click to find my fin!

If you click the image above, you'll get a better idea of where my fin is. It's about four feet deep there.

On that trip, we also visited Lake Englebright. It's a pretty cool lake. It's just long and narrow, but there are quite a few coves where you can pull into. You can rent boats and even camp - and getting to the camp sites is only possible by boat (there are no roads).

We rented a little fishing boat and went tooling around the lake, stopping at a couple of cozy coves to play Scrabble. The sun kept changing position, so we never completed a game, and kept hopping to different coves. But here's the little fishing boat we rented.



Yes, that's me with the paddle. You better be careful!



Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

This weekend (starting tomorrow - yes, Thursday - after work - we're leaving early) we're going back to Grass Valley.

I want my fin!

Actually, it's just an excuse to get away again before the summer is over. Our jobs suck, but our boss is pretty cool. And we'll probably stay home for the three-day Labor Day weekend. I really detest going anywhere over Labor Day.

Last year while at the river I made a few stacks of rocks near a cabin that we rented on the river. Here's one of them.



It's smaller than it looks - I was looking for an angle to make it look huge. I want to take that picture and a picture of me into Photoshop and put myself into the picture, like I'm standing at the base pointing up at the top rock. Or maybe I'll stand on top.

My only regret for hopping off to the river again this weekend is that I won't get to work on my plane. But I think that is OK, because the longer I go without actually building anything, the more ideas I come up with for improving the design. However, the wood arrived today, and I am anxious to start building. Although, I think I need some more wood, and I don't feel like paying $8.50 for shipping (which was almost half what I paid for all the wood), so I need to find a local place to get what I need.

The wood has arrived!

I know there is something I am forgetting. Oh! I know what it is, but I am out of time. Remind me to tell you the story of the haunted movie theater in Grass Valley - a very bizarre thing that happened when we were there a couple weeks ago after watching Pirates of the Carribbean. That should give you something to look forward to. I might even take some pictures this weekend.

I'll let you know if I find my fin.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Cardboard in the Sky

I started a new project last week. It is one I have been wanting to do for a long time, but with a slightly different objective in mind.

I am building a new radio-controlled airplane.

This is not just any old radio-controlled airplane. I am designing this one so that it can be broken down into seven pieces for easy transport. The idea is, I will be able to stick it in a backpack and carry it into remote areas. One addition I would eventually like to make to this airplane is to add a removable hull or floats so that I can fly it off of a lake. I have a couple of lakes in mind where I'd like to fly it. But that's a ways off in the future.

This plane will be a night flyer as well, complete with four-stroke diesel engine, generator and lighting system. It will also have a bomb hatch for dropping things (like little men on parachutes), and may even be able to carry a small video camera.

This is the first in a series of steps (projects) that will lead up to my ultimate goal of creating a small aircraft that can be carried into remote areas (such as certain areas of Peru) and fly with some autonomous capability to take aerial photographs for surveying. The survey data returned would be helpful in plotting hiking paths that will lead to target areas, such as known (or perhaps unknown) cave entrances. There's a whole story behind this that I won't get into just now, but just to whet your appetite, take a look at this page.

Last week, I drew up an estimate of the wood I would need for my new plane, after conceiving an initial design, and placed an order for the wood. This weekend, I began putting together a cardboard prototype of the model - sort of a model of the model, you might say.

Prototype - click for larger image

I like using cardboard to build prototypes in three dimensions, because it is cheap (i.e. free) and readily available, and it helps identify potential problems I might face with a new design. In the image above, you can see the prototype (in orange) as it stands today. It has already been instrumental in working out some design issues. The airplane that it is modeled on is the blue plane in the background. That is a real flying model, only it doesn't break down for easy transport.

Prototype - click for larger image

This airplane will break down into seven pieces: the fuselage (which will contain all the servos, receiver, batteries, engine, generator, fuel tank, and any additional cargo), the tail boom, the fin (with rudder attached), the stabilizer (with elevator attached), the landing gear, and the wing will come apart in two pieces.

Well, it's a start. I have a long way to go, but I am making progress already. Once the plane is done, I will design a backpack and a shipping crate (so I can take it when I travel).

To the skies!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

I Got My Blog Back!

Lookie here! I got my old blog address back!

Woo hoo!

More later...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Life is What Happens

Tip of the Day:

If you're having a garage sale, good signs are KEY! If people driving by can't read your sign, they won't find your sale. If you write too much on your sign, they won't be able to read it. If you include your address on the sign, few people are going to know where the street is unless they live on the same street.

Here's some tips for making signs that will bring people to your yard/garage sale:

  • Use high contrast colors - black on white works best, or to really get attention, use black on some neon green poster board
  • Write in BIG letters - big enough to read from across the street without squinting
  • The sign should say, quite prominently, "YARD SALE" and have a BIG arrow. "Garage Sale" is too long. Shortening it to "SALE" works well, too!
  • Some additional information is good, like the time (8-2, or 9-3, etc. - don't put 8:00am to 2:00pm, or 7:30am to 3:30pm - people driving by will not be able to process it).
  • Adding address and street is OK so those who DO know the area or are already on your street can verify their proximity. But keep in mind the only thing that really works is a big, fat arrow (pointing up for straight ahead, left for left, right for right).
  • Place your signs high up and in such a way that the next sign is visible immediately or very soon after passing one.
  • Do not list all your items that are for sale on your signs ("furniture, clothes, toys, electronics, computers, kitchen stuff, tools!") since there is no way anyone will be able to read it while driving by, especially since you would have to write too small to fit all that in. It might be OK to have this information on your LAST sign, posted AT your yard/garage sale location so that lookieloos don't stop if you don't have the kind of thing they're looking for.

That's my rant, er, tip for the day.

On to more serious stuff...

My wife and I just returned from another trip to Grass Valley, CA. We want to live there. The Yuba River is so fun and nice and healing. We also rented a little fishing boat and zipped around on a nice lake.

We were debating whether to take this trip or not, because my mom's significant other, Jim, took a turn for the worse. He was diagnosed with cancer just a few short weeks earlier and was lucid and coherent just two weeks before, but the cancer had matastasized (did I spell that correctly?) and spread like wildfire and he went downhill fast.

My mom said she didn't want us to come out and my sister had flown out to be with her for a couple days, and we already had our trip to Grass Valley scheduled, so we decided to go. My mom called last Thursday afternoon while we were driving up toward Sacramento. My sister had just left to return to her home. About two minutes after I hung up from that call, Jim's sister called to tell us that he passed away and were heading to my mom's to tell her the news.

Jim was 84 and was one of the nicest, jovial people I have ever known. It is sad when such good people are taken away so quickly. He and my mom spent much time together, travelling the world, over the past 12+ years. It's hard to see my mom have to deal with such a loss for a second time. At least he died peacefully, so his sister said.

My mom had talked to Jim the day before, in the hospital, and said she gave him permission to "sail away in his little blue boat." He was the kind of man who had expressed that there be no heroics to try to save him or keep him alive under such conditions, and it was such a touching, loving gesture for my mom to have said that to him. Jim's sister had told my mom not to come in a day or so before, thinking he was going to pass away that night, and because he was so out of it, it was as if he was gone already. But I tend to think he was holding on so that my mom could say goodbye to him. I know I would have wanted it to transpire that way if I were in that position.

My wife and I travelled around the lake as a tribute to Jim's life and his metaphorical "sailing away". We stopped near one rather interesting spot and said a silent prayer for him. I know he's off to bigger and better things.

Farewell, Jim! You will be missed.

We returned home safely late Sunday night. The next day, yesterday, after work, the car died while my wife was driving it home. She stopped at Whole Foods and couldn't get the car started. She got a jump start while I drove down to meet her at her next stop, which was a place to get dinner. We left the car running, but I noticed an occasional blip like the battery was disintegrating, so I insisted we stop at Pep Boys or Kragen on the way home and buy a new battery.

We made it to Kragen just before they closed and bought a battery. Then the car died and refused to start, even by jumping it. The guy at the store was very generous about letting us use some tools to swap out the battery (even gave us a discount on a $5 socket wrench set on a last-minute purchase), but he finally had to close up before we completed the operation. And in a Mazda Protoge 5, it is just that - an operation!

The shorten the story, I successfully resurrected the car and we drove home and ate our dinner (thank the gods for microwave ovens). I forgot to mention that while I was at the river, I ripped the nail on my big toe almost completely off. Also, I got the call about the car dying literally the very moment I had kicked my shoes off after coming home, just before putting my aching foot up. It was one of those days that didn't want to end.

Anyway, I'm back. I will be going to Tucson at some point, but I just don't know when. We bought tickets to go over Labor Day, then my mom called and said not to come, that she'd rather come out to see us. So, now we have to decide whether to cancel the trip or not (which the airline will allow us to do for $11 if we cancel tonight).

Ugh. Life is what happens while you're making other plans.