Made with Nvu graphic  Beach-Web for December 2008  Made with Nvu graphic
Merry Christmas (yes - it's Christmas Day!)... - Mr. Bill made breakfast - and washed the dishes - then we went "LOSTing" -
some pictures for your benefit:
On Monday, the 22nd of December, - mostly Mr. Bill went tri-cycle-riding - while Ms. May was potterying - track-log-here  ( small / large ); detail of "_CopperLeaf_" here  ( small / large )    This is yet another one of those developments where they managed to have enough money / market to put in the roads, bicycle paths and side-walks, but no houses (to speak of) - so they are TERRIFIC places to ride...   This one's called "_CopperLeaf_" - the detail of which is noted above...
20th - Saturday - Amazing weather and AMAZING things

I was going to wash-off the bugs on the front of the mini-van this morning, and lo-and-behold there was a Bobcat in our driveway.   VERY CUTE,
very little ears - he's about 18" at the shoulders - and I whipped-out my iPhone3G with the camera but - alas - was too late for a 'decent' picture...
I'd seen him before - (maybe it's a 'she'?) - but it was very very nice to see him/her up close (less than 20 feet away) -but he went off into the bushes...

Managed 30 plus miles on the trike - and discovered a TERRIFIC place for 'sprints'  ( larger image of 'sprinting' place (twisty-turny-thru-the-woods (about 0.5 miles long)).  This is yet another image  ( or huger )  of the 'development that never happened' (there are a number of these around - one that I hang-glide near and another near Jacksonville that I ride my trike in / on / around...


Track-Log & Google Earth - SORRY for the ookieness - the black-line is an 'approximation' of the first 13 miles or so (which eventually got over-written since I didn't correctly set the GPS) - the orange-line is the last 18 miles or so - (total of just over 31 miles)...   small   /    hugeromongous  

AND - did some more yard-work
19th - Friday - another BEAUTIFUL day in Paradise -  Did some yard-work, this morning, and other things; then a short (18 miles; 24 miles with all the 'shorts' and 'shifter-adjustment-trials) trike-ride (and some trike-maintenance).  << Track-logs - here - small / huge >>

Ms. May's working hard to get her (pottery) show arranged, and after we'd taken (yesterday) some pictures of some of her pottery, she went, today, to see what a "professional (photographer)" could do with similar pictures of the same pots.      YES we learned a LOT (of wisdom) now to see if we can 'implement' that wisdom and yield better pottery-photo-graphs for her for this and/or future shows... ... ... !


OH: and here's two-questions for the 'readership' out there:
===============================================

1.) a Macintosh OS question: how to get a 'couple' 'linked-together' in the Apple Macintosh OS "Address Book".    In the 'past' when a couple was married, the wife changed her name to the husband's name, so if I had two separate people in the data-base, they had a common family name.

However, in today's environment, many 'couples' (married or not) are either of the ilk that the woman keeps her maiden name and/or they are same-sex-couples and they both keep their original 'family' name(s)...

SO _ In the 'Address Book' - I suspect there ought to be a way to 'link' two people together so that when you search for 'person A' - then you will find 'person B' also?       I know there's some 'in-elegant' ways to do this; like using the 'note' field or creating a 'custom entry'...???    I would have thought there's a 'better way'?

2.) a 'reptile' question: - WHY do all the small lizards go from west to east across the side-walks when I ride my tricycle north or south on a side-walk, and this is not just in one area - this happens in at least two distinct and separate locales... ??? (this is afternoon rides?)

to answer a question - please write the answer and e-mail to: bill@vikingasia.org .

18th - Thursday - Actually a BEAUTIFUL day - 78 F - slightly cloudy - excellent South Florida Weather (what kind of weather did YOU HAVE TODAY???)  track-log of TriceQ-trike-ride  ( small  /  large  / huge  )

Some of the local 'road & trike' inspectors - not  paying much attention to their 'role' ???     picture 1  - small / large     picture 2 - small /  large
17th December (Wednesday): - Big Day (now I've got you hooked, huh?) - anyway - lots of activities today - but - first - here's some pictures for those who have trouble with text...
 Mr. UPS delivered, today, our dry-suits with new gaskets and such and my replacement dry-bag - so we feel 'more whole'.

I also did about 27 miles on the TriceQ today - the steering got loose and I had a slow-leak in the left tire - but nevertheless had a terrific ride - thought I might get rained-on but it never happened...   Track-log (a piece)  if you're interested,   small     huge    - technology problems (and idiot_Mr._Bill who can't do 'higher-math') prevented a complete track-log-today...
Jazz in the Sanctuary
this is a really really BAD digital photo (with my Apple iPhone3g) of the "Jazz in the Sanctuary" concert we went to on the evening of Tuesday, 16th December...  These concerts (done in a local Episcopalian Church) are put-together by Jim_Van_Voorheis (spelling?>), who is Ms._May's (jazz) piano teacher, and that's how we learned about them...   The one we went to last night was, I think, our fourth or fifth and they are VERY VERY GOOD...    This one happened to feature Ian_Sullivan (left in the red-shirt (from Chicago)) and Mary_?? who sang...    They are usually about 2-2 1/2 hours (with a short intermission (with cookies and punch (by the church volunteers))) and for $10 a person you can't beat the price...


16th December (Tuesday): - well - again - not much - but there have been some minor - behind the scenes development(s) - especially since the 'missive' below...

1.) we received our  Garmin Nuvi 200W (Sometimes known as 'Psycho Betty')  - and I took it for a short TriceQ ride, today - but it thinks I should "turn right" and I think I should 'turn left' - but part of that is the difference between 'Automobile' 'Bicycle' and 'Pedestrian' modes - so - well - whatever, - we'll use it again, tonite to go the the 'Jazz Church' (already programmed in)... (today's Trike-Ride here ( small   /    large ) ('about' 12.7 miles, - about 1 hour 11 minutes - etc. etc. etc. - (see below-link for more details!))

2.) discovered (and was able to log-in-to) something called 'Motion Based' - which is a web-site for 'exercise' freaks - this will soon be "Garmin Connect" - and so I have NOT paid cold-hard-cash (yet) for anything here... - but YOU can see my ICE-TriceQ rides here...   When it becomes 'Garmin Connect' I think there will be more 'content' and some of the 'pay-for' features that you can't get for free, now, will, then, be free...

3.) I TRIED, I really DID - yesterday (Monday, 15th December) to go hang-gliding but for various and sundry reasons that did NOT WORK... (I will NOT go into details here) but I WILL TRY AGAIN, this coming Friday - through next Monday or so.  "The Florida Ridge" is still the 'right place'!

4.) I finished (so to speak) the east-side-gate - something we've been wanting to do for about 5 years - why did I procrastinate? - who knows?

5.) still 'cogitating' about the Jacuzzi deck - no change there
11th of December (Thursday); not much happening around here, though - except these (very) few things ...

Bill boardsailing - Picture 2
Mr. Brown Nose Bear
our Great Friend and Navigator, Mr. Brown Nose Bear - a wonderous & helpful & cuddly friend
Second of December (Tuesday) and already a failure (or two):  I 'tried' - I REALLY DID - to ride parts of the "L.O.S.T.  Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail" for the benefit of my skinny-tire bicycle-friends but it was not to be... - I managed about 2 1/2 miles INTO THE WIND, (north from "Canal Point" - and then about 3 miles back SOUTH - ALSO INTO THE WIND (how could this be)  and it was COLD COLD.  I had three-four layers on top and two layers on the bottom and I was STILL COLD (thank goodness for the hot-coffee from home!... - AND THEN - at about 1  1/2 miles south of where I'd parked, I managed to have a flat-tire! - UGH UGH _ fixed the tube - and it was STILL FLAT... - ugh ugh - but I made it back to the mini-van.   And then it rained on the way home... - so - well - here's a couple of shots if you're interested...  


A view South along the L.O.S.T. - dike - this is where it is NOT paved...  small    large
Tire-casing you can see-through to the fabric     (sorry, no 'small' image here)      large
Today is the first of December - not much going on, today... - SO - here's a couple of pictures and a bit of text from the last couple of months to tide-you-over until something 'noteworthy' happens in and/or around Stuart and/or with us???
Bill is JUST ABOUT to land his Glider at "The Florida Ridge" flight-park...  - yes - this picture is NOT December, 2008, it is NOVEMBER, 2008, but it's still a really good picture - so I decided to 'hold-over' the picture from last month to December, since it's a great example of 'good flying' as well as 'great photography' by my neighbor Mr._John_G....
late in the final-approach
This was taken on Thursday, 20th November, by John_G, our neighbor from down the street...

Mr. Bill went Hang Gliding for the first time in 5 1/2 months - thanks to his attempts to recover his hurt (on 28 June) left-shoulder...    I had two tandem flights (with an instructor (James Tindle - who owns  "The Florida Ridge" where I flew) who is a friend and who could evaluate my shoulder / my ability) - and he helped me a lot.

He said he felt I was 'just fine' (in terms of muscle-memory and 'doing the right things'), but I needed more 'strength' in my left shoulder, but then when you're piloting a tandem glider there is a LOT MORE WEIGHT you're pushing around than when you fly by yourself in a 'single-place' glider...

Then I went for two short hops in my own Glider  ( Wills Wing Sport 2 - 155 square foot ) and there are some (other) pictures available here:

Mr. Bill's new 'toy' from an early Christmas present actually got this in LATE LATE October - and have been riding a LOT... ... ...

Bill_TriceQ.sm.jpg

It's called a "Trice Q" (Q for "Quick) and it's made in the UK by a company called "Inspired Cycle Engineering (ICE)"...  The company has recently come out with a 'replacement rear-end' which does not fold (like this one does) but DOES have a 26" rear wheel/tire... This would be much faster on the streets (where I ride, mostly)...

Documentation on (some) of the trips I rode during the month of November can be seen in the November BeachWeb page.
Mr. Bill's best hang-gliding-flight (Ever) - see the FlightLog.Org web-page, here...
and-or see the track-log over  Google Earth Image(s), here...   small_image     larger_image (1 megabyte)
Archived BeachWeb monthly site(s):   Click here for a list of the archived months
Some people have asked, WHERE can I FIND, "X" - whatever the heck "X" is?;   but in my case - these two things are being asked about...
           The "Tire Changing Web-Page"        and/or the       VANC (VikingAsia (Networks and Computers) Consulting) web-page.
this web-page was last updated:   15:04  p.m. (EST) on  Thursday,  25 December, 2008    revID:  1j