Saturday,
29 July, 2006: - well - it's 'almost' the end of the month. We
don't
often get 'visitors', we're a bit too far off the 'beaten-path'
for that - but some people do come to visit and today
we actually had TWO visitors,
which was unusual for us...
Mr. Ibis - checking-out the contents of the post-box and Mr. Rabbit - checking out the checking-out situation...
Wednesday, 26 July, 2006: Well - things are continuing to continue...
We are clearing more land for our orchid-green-house, probably be another month before all the stumps are removed and we actually get something built-here that looks even remotely like a place to grow things. Also we're cussing and dis-cussing the issues of water for misters / humidity, and electricity for lights and fans and so-forth - this place won't be 'hemetically sealed' nor 'climate controlled' but it will have rudimentary control over both humidity and temperature - so that some of the plants will do better here than in their 'native' environment(s) (whatever they are?)...
some more things going-on are:
Saturday, 22 July, 2006: Here we are back at home in Stuart, and it rained 4 inches, today, in 4 hours - Ms. May's been watching her rain-gauge. Glad I mowed the yard this morning before the 'deluge', now things (weeds) can grow better, huh?!
Thursday-Friday. 20-21 July 2006: - here at Quest Air in Groveland, again, for some Hang-Gliding in some terrific weather for this sport - we don't often 'hit' the good days but this was one time we 'hit' (Thursday, 20 July) pretty well...
This is a record of our flight(s) at Quest / 20-21 July, 2006. We BOTH HAD EXCELLENT flights - the lift was GREAT on the 20th and GOOD on the 21st, and we really really enjoyed our time here. Mr. Bill spent a LOT of time reviewing weather-web-site(s) to pick-out this time. We might say that this is the best day that both of us have achieved a lot. We really enjoyed the learning, the lift, and the great support that Mr. (Awesome) Bob gave us at Quest.
IF you're wondering about the 'spaghetti' nature of the green flight-track what you don't see here is that the 'circles' (such as they are) represent going-in-circles while in a 'thermal' (LIFT) and going "UP", "UP", "UP", "UP".... ... ... mostly (one hopes!)...
There is no GPS track for Ms. May's flight(s) on 20 July (which was a bit west of Mr. Bill's track). The reason for this lack of tracks for Ms. May on the 20th is that we only have one GPS unit (almost 6 years old) that we used on the 20th. This 6-year-old unit does not create an altitude track, only the 2 dimensional plot. On Friday, 21st, Ms. May took this unit on her hang-glider and got the above noted orange-yellow-track but there was not nearly as much lift on Friday, 21st as there had been on Thursday, 20th. So Ms. May only took one flight on Friday - but the much simpler track-log file is shown above.
We have a second GPS unit that is almost 8 years old, much larger, physically, and also only does 2D tracks (Almost all Marine-based units are built with the 'assumption' that if the unit is built for 'marine use' then, by definition your 'altitude' is always going to be on the surface of the body of water, so they don't do 'altitude') - even though the GPS satellite system 'allows' this functionality - it's VERY EXPENSIVE - so you only find GPS-calculated altitude data in the output of units costing $3,000 - $15,000. IF / WHEN we get better - we'll probably buy a Garmin unit called the 76 "S" - the "S" means 'Sensor' and there's a pressure sensor in the unit that yields the altitude data - and then you'll be able to view our data in 3D in Google-Earth and./or other software. ALSO _ we'll be able to use these 3D track-log-files (sometimes called '...igc' files) to yield an incredible array of statistical and other data to analyze one's flight(s). However, - that functionality (altitude) does not come cheap, so we'll wait to buy these units...
AND - here's a picture of Ms. May - getting ready for her first flight of today ....
O.K., O.K. (Saturday, 15 July, 2006) - So now it's the 'middle' of the month - give us something else to look-at and read about except for this Bird of Paradise picture that's been up there since - well - the begining of the month ... well - first you have to 'plow-through' some text - about what we've been doing since we arrived back at home after our 'epic-journey' to the northern tundra... (see trip details below) - we have - cleaned-up the yard, a LOT - worked on the 'land-clearing' for Ms. May's new Orchid-House, worked on Mr. Bill's 'Stump Removal project, and cleaned-up the sewing-loft and thrown-away some things, mowed, the yard, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
AND Mr. Bill's been studying (a LOT) for his new General Class radio license using the 'on-line' thing and for his "Sport Pilot License" using a book from a place in Gainesville, Florida that is pretty good at these things.
O.K. - you ASKED FOR IT!
here's a picture of Ms. Siew Mei - sitting in the re-cycle-paper box on Mr. Bill's Lap - and why won't she sit in my 'lap' but she has to sit in the BOX in my lap - who knows - cat-behaviour - one can never tell, but she is still a very fine cat - and we enjoy her company a LOT
(car-trip to) Annapolis, Maryland (and surrounding areas / environs) - (Wednesday, 5th through Tuesday, 11th July, 2006)
AND: _ though we don't have a 'lot' of pictures - we DID drive all the way to Annapolis, Maryland, (and back) and visit the museums on the Washington Mall - and do a brief bit of sailing (with Mr. Bruce and his family on the Chesapeake Bay) (and sold him two boats, incidentally, which was the reason for the drive up and back) - Mr. Bill got one single Hang - Gliding flight in at Highland Aerosports in Ridgely, Maryland, and that was good - we tried, again, on a later day but the wind was too high (about 10-15 mph) and it was at 90 degrees to their runway so - ugh ugh - we didn't get to fly again!)
We stayed in the house of our friend's parents, who were away at the time - they are home now.... But down the street from their house was this 'family' we got to know quite well while walking to the down-town region one afternoon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One place we looked at claimed to have a 'vacancy' but - then their location was such that no-place to park the car , and they offered this 'primitive' methodology for doing your laundry - right out on the street? - would have been nice since it was VERY close to both 'downtown' and to the U.S. Naval Academy, but it was not to be and besides we already had a nice house to stay in...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The US Botanical Museum on the "National Mall" is 'not' a part of the Smithsonian Museum as many will tell you - but that doesn't make it any less spectacular.
And then inside the "National Gallery" was this statue that I took a picture of Ms. May with - and the sun / lighting isn't so good but you 'get the picture' anyway, huh?
We also had lunch with Mr. Bill's good friend Dr. AP while in Washington - it was tremendously good to see him - he's head of a BIG computer-security organization and so Mr. Bill used to spend a lot of time attending seminars and giving talks but does less of that now-a-days...
Ms. May on the 'Bridge' over the waterway - from the house we stayed-in to the "downtown" area of Annapolis.
Ms. May took a quick picture inside the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel - it is VERY Impressive.
We also visited the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and that was very instructive, educational, etc. - especially their maritime museum. The picture above is of one of the many 'midshipmen' - hiding on an edge of the approach to one of the classrooms.
On our drive-out-of-Maryland on the afternoon of Monday the 10th we had a chance to visit "Chincoteague Island" (Virginia) home of the famous 'swimming poinies' (which were not swimming on this day / date). These ponies were made famous by an author of children's books; Marguerite Henry - specifically her book called "Misty of Chincoteague" spawned a following and a career for her. Other authors on the 'Chincoteague Pony' bandwagon included, Ronald Rood, Robert Mears, Joseph R. Spies, and Galye Park Frederick (illustrated by): Rebecca Cisco... These ponies are now protected by several state and federal laws, but they are also culled and sold at an annual auction.
On our trip-home (late evening, Monday 10th July) (on the southern part of the "Island" that is the south-eastern-portion of the state of Maryland and the extreme north-eastern part of the state of Virginia, we happened along a sunset that was very impressive.
We stopped to visit Mom on the way-up (5th July) and on the way back to re-pot some """ Impatience """ plants of hers (late afternoon, Tuesday the 11th)
Bird of Paradise flower in our 'drive-way-island' in front of our house!
Bird_of_Paradise
Mr. Ibis - checking-out the contents of the post-box and Mr. Rabbit - checking out the checking-out situation...
Wednesday, 26 July, 2006: Well - things are continuing to continue...
We are clearing more land for our orchid-green-house, probably be another month before all the stumps are removed and we actually get something built-here that looks even remotely like a place to grow things. Also we're cussing and dis-cussing the issues of water for misters / humidity, and electricity for lights and fans and so-forth - this place won't be 'hemetically sealed' nor 'climate controlled' but it will have rudimentary control over both humidity and temperature - so that some of the plants will do better here than in their 'native' environment(s) (whatever they are?)...
some more things going-on are:
- cleaning-house in the shop and the loft & sewing in the loft
- Ms. May's art continues to improve, both in her painting
class (on Tuesdays, in West Palm Beach) as well as here at home.
- Mr. Bill has decided that cell-phone-stores, airline reservation systems and hotels are all subject to the same malaise - 'mediocrity rules' - ugh ugh ugh - though he did get a new (replacement) cell-phone today - and that's a 'positive thing'.
- We've ordered some new 'gadgets' to help us build a new front-support for hang-gliders on the roof of the mini-van - more pictures when this thing is complete
- We've ordered some new parts for doing electrical (12 volt DC)
connections in the mini-van. The 'new system' will use
something
called "Anderson
Powerpoles " which are the industry standard in the Amateur
Radio
world for emergency use (ARES / RACES organizations (that support
emergency operations) ...
- Mr. Bill received (in the postal mail) from the local community
college, a new diploma. This one is an AS in CAD &
Graphics design. He already had 3 diplomas, why he needs a
fourth (maybe to be even more 'un-employable') - is beyond him - but
someone wanted him to have this - 'supposedly' they want him to
teach -
but that hasn't happened, yet, so we'll see.
- The weather hasn't cooled-off-yet - it's still "HOT HOT HOT" _
here and so we continue to work in the yard, in the mornings, in the
shade, clearing land and filling-up trash-cans, til about 10:30 -
11:30
a.m. - and then retire to the coolness of the house or shop in
the afternoons and evenings - in another couple of months the
temperatures will moderate...
Saturday, 22 July, 2006: Here we are back at home in Stuart, and it rained 4 inches, today, in 4 hours - Ms. May's been watching her rain-gauge. Glad I mowed the yard this morning before the 'deluge', now things (weeds) can grow better, huh?!
Thursday-Friday. 20-21 July 2006: - here at Quest Air in Groveland, again, for some Hang-Gliding in some terrific weather for this sport - we don't often 'hit' the good days but this was one time we 'hit' (Thursday, 20 July) pretty well...
This is a record of our flight(s) at Quest / 20-21 July, 2006. We BOTH HAD EXCELLENT flights - the lift was GREAT on the 20th and GOOD on the 21st, and we really really enjoyed our time here. Mr. Bill spent a LOT of time reviewing weather-web-site(s) to pick-out this time. We might say that this is the best day that both of us have achieved a lot. We really enjoyed the learning, the lift, and the great support that Mr. (Awesome) Bob gave us at Quest.
IF you're wondering about the 'spaghetti' nature of the green flight-track what you don't see here is that the 'circles' (such as they are) represent going-in-circles while in a 'thermal' (LIFT) and going "UP", "UP", "UP", "UP".... ... ... mostly (one hopes!)...
There is no GPS track for Ms. May's flight(s) on 20 July (which was a bit west of Mr. Bill's track). The reason for this lack of tracks for Ms. May on the 20th is that we only have one GPS unit (almost 6 years old) that we used on the 20th. This 6-year-old unit does not create an altitude track, only the 2 dimensional plot. On Friday, 21st, Ms. May took this unit on her hang-glider and got the above noted orange-yellow-track but there was not nearly as much lift on Friday, 21st as there had been on Thursday, 20th. So Ms. May only took one flight on Friday - but the much simpler track-log file is shown above.
We have a second GPS unit that is almost 8 years old, much larger, physically, and also only does 2D tracks (Almost all Marine-based units are built with the 'assumption' that if the unit is built for 'marine use' then, by definition your 'altitude' is always going to be on the surface of the body of water, so they don't do 'altitude') - even though the GPS satellite system 'allows' this functionality - it's VERY EXPENSIVE - so you only find GPS-calculated altitude data in the output of units costing $3,000 - $15,000. IF / WHEN we get better - we'll probably buy a Garmin unit called the 76 "S" - the "S" means 'Sensor' and there's a pressure sensor in the unit that yields the altitude data - and then you'll be able to view our data in 3D in Google-Earth and./or other software. ALSO _ we'll be able to use these 3D track-log-files (sometimes called '...igc' files) to yield an incredible array of statistical and other data to analyze one's flight(s). However, - that functionality (altitude) does not come cheap, so we'll wait to buy these units...
AND - here's a picture of Ms. May - getting ready for her first flight of today ....
O.K., O.K. (Saturday, 15 July, 2006) - So now it's the 'middle' of the month - give us something else to look-at and read about except for this Bird of Paradise picture that's been up there since - well - the begining of the month ... well - first you have to 'plow-through' some text - about what we've been doing since we arrived back at home after our 'epic-journey' to the northern tundra... (see trip details below) - we have - cleaned-up the yard, a LOT - worked on the 'land-clearing' for Ms. May's new Orchid-House, worked on Mr. Bill's 'Stump Removal project, and cleaned-up the sewing-loft and thrown-away some things, mowed, the yard, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
AND Mr. Bill's been studying (a LOT) for his new General Class radio license using the 'on-line' thing and for his "Sport Pilot License" using a book from a place in Gainesville, Florida that is pretty good at these things.
O.K. - you ASKED FOR IT!
here's a picture of Ms. Siew Mei - sitting in the re-cycle-paper box on Mr. Bill's Lap - and why won't she sit in my 'lap' but she has to sit in the BOX in my lap - who knows - cat-behaviour - one can never tell, but she is still a very fine cat - and we enjoy her company a LOT
(car-trip to) Annapolis, Maryland (and surrounding areas / environs) - (Wednesday, 5th through Tuesday, 11th July, 2006)
AND: _ though we don't have a 'lot' of pictures - we DID drive all the way to Annapolis, Maryland, (and back) and visit the museums on the Washington Mall - and do a brief bit of sailing (with Mr. Bruce and his family on the Chesapeake Bay) (and sold him two boats, incidentally, which was the reason for the drive up and back) - Mr. Bill got one single Hang - Gliding flight in at Highland Aerosports in Ridgely, Maryland, and that was good - we tried, again, on a later day but the wind was too high (about 10-15 mph) and it was at 90 degrees to their runway so - ugh ugh - we didn't get to fly again!)
We stayed in the house of our friend's parents, who were away at the time - they are home now.... But down the street from their house was this 'family' we got to know quite well while walking to the down-town region one afternoon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One place we looked at claimed to have a 'vacancy' but - then their location was such that no-place to park the car , and they offered this 'primitive' methodology for doing your laundry - right out on the street? - would have been nice since it was VERY close to both 'downtown' and to the U.S. Naval Academy, but it was not to be and besides we already had a nice house to stay in...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The US Botanical Museum on the "National Mall" is 'not' a part of the Smithsonian Museum as many will tell you - but that doesn't make it any less spectacular.
And then inside the "National Gallery" was this statue that I took a picture of Ms. May with - and the sun / lighting isn't so good but you 'get the picture' anyway, huh?
We also had lunch with Mr. Bill's good friend Dr. AP while in Washington - it was tremendously good to see him - he's head of a BIG computer-security organization and so Mr. Bill used to spend a lot of time attending seminars and giving talks but does less of that now-a-days...
Ms. May on the 'Bridge' over the waterway - from the house we stayed-in to the "downtown" area of Annapolis.
Ms. May took a quick picture inside the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel - it is VERY Impressive.
We also visited the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and that was very instructive, educational, etc. - especially their maritime museum. The picture above is of one of the many 'midshipmen' - hiding on an edge of the approach to one of the classrooms.
On our drive-out-of-Maryland on the afternoon of Monday the 10th we had a chance to visit "Chincoteague Island" (Virginia) home of the famous 'swimming poinies' (which were not swimming on this day / date). These ponies were made famous by an author of children's books; Marguerite Henry - specifically her book called "Misty of Chincoteague" spawned a following and a career for her. Other authors on the 'Chincoteague Pony' bandwagon included, Ronald Rood, Robert Mears, Joseph R. Spies, and Galye Park Frederick (illustrated by): Rebecca Cisco... These ponies are now protected by several state and federal laws, but they are also culled and sold at an annual auction.
On our trip-home (late evening, Monday 10th July) (on the southern part of the "Island" that is the south-eastern-portion of the state of Maryland and the extreme north-eastern part of the state of Virginia, we happened along a sunset that was very impressive.
We stopped to visit Mom on the way-up (5th July) and on the way back to re-pot some """ Impatience """ plants of hers (late afternoon, Tuesday the 11th)
Bird of Paradise flower in our 'drive-way-island' in front of our house!
Bird_of_Paradise
Well - Today is Saturday, 1 July,
2006 - and (Guess What) here's a picture of our new-flower we
discovered on our morning walk... it's called "Bird of Paradise"
(and one can easily tell why) and it's a function of Ms. May's
continued, rational, supportive, reliable care and attention to her
garden...