Beach-Web for January, 2009
Sunday, the 25th - well - even less happening, now, excepting:
Today is Sunday and while Ms._May is working on pottery_photography, upstairs in the shop, I've been building a video-camera-mount for my ICE-TriceQ recumbent tricycle...
There's a couple of links (to the videos on our "Gallery" site; each about 3 minutes running time) - if you're interested...
- the very VERY FIRST one - mostly on rough-ground (I thought the camera would show a lot of vibration, but it does not)
- the second test - on paved road(s) - faster - some of our neighborhood, some birds feeding and so-on and so-forth...
- the third test - (yeah - one has to do this 'multiple times' to make sure it's RIGHT?) - UGH UGH
You'll note the camera mounted to the 'left' of the head-rest & such... I almost forgot why I mount the camera to the LEFT of the 'keel' on the hang-glider - it's because all the controls & etc. for the camera are on the LEFT side of it - thus - if you want to get to the controls while the camera is mounted - you don't have a lot of choice here... I ALMOST mucked this up... - but - well - the proof is in the pudding - and this camera, though 7 years old - still does pretty well!
on Saturday, the 24th - we went to the 'L.O.S.T. (Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail) - parked our mini-van at Port Mayaca, (Florida) you can put this into Google Earth and find it))
- had a GREAT ride and I took a picture of my Huggly-Hunny - along the LOST,
Then caught-up with a friend (Mr._Gary_from_SFWMD) and we rode for a while and chatted, and then he took some pictures of me (with his iPhone, while I was taking pictures of him with MY iPhone!>>>
Picture 1 - Me taking a picture of HIM small large
Picture 2 - Me in my _TriceQ_ small large
on Friday, 23rd, I went Hang Gliding - and though the three flights I had were short - they were very very productive. It was a "Blue Hole Day" - using the term common in the industry for "no clouds". There is almost always 'SOME LIFT' in / around but on a "Blue Hole Day" there are no clouds which makes it much harder to know WHERE the LIFT is? anyway - a good day, nevertheless..
A (GPS) track-log, of the three flights: flight_1 = red; flight_2 = green; flight_3 = blue
Link to all of Mr._Bill's flights at " Flightlog.org ".
AND on the drive back to Stuart, found some sunset pictures that were worth capturing.
Sunset number 1- from the rear-view-mirror on the mini-van
Sunset number 2 - from the roof of the stopped mini-van
Sunday, the 18th - well - not much to report, but we did some of this and some of that and some of the other, too, in the past few weeks...
Today's bicycle-ride (track-log on Google-Earth) - small / large
AND we found an interesting tree today, on our ride, Ms. May named it the 'Tango Tree' - because it looks like one tree is hugging the other!
Mr. Bill went to Jacksonville Tuesday-Thursday of last week (to see Mom, and such) - did a "wee" trike-ride up there; however, 'technical' problems prevented the usual track-logs and such - it were COLD and WINDY and LATE on (Wednesday) the 14th and I did about18 miles but it was late and cold... - UGH UGH, and YES the 'Russel Samson Road Bridge' is still 'out' and so the 'detour' is still in place - maybe another few months and it will be fixed - then we'll be able to cut 10-20 minutes off the trip to Mom's place...
AND - this is to report that I seem to have lost my 'second' (back-up) little (2 cell) flash-lite (originally from Chuck (Mead) / made by: SureFire )) and I can't find the darned thing ANYWHERE... - but EVENTUALLY we all know it will be found!
AND - I'd also seemed to have lost my ' SeaSpecs ' watersports sun-glasses; I couldn't find them ANYWHERE, yesterday, before I went to the Sailing Center to go kiteboarding. Anyway - so I ordered a second pair - back-up pair - figuring I'd find the other ones at some point along the way - but water-sports-sunglasses are a MUST for me...
SO - I went to mess-about, today, with my boardsailing-board(s) (cleaning-up things - putting things back to where they belonged) - up in the 'overhead' in the garage - and low & behold THERE were my old SeaSpecs (NOT where they BELONGED!) ????
When I went kiteboarding yesterday , I managed a little over 2 hours on the 13 meter kite. The kite eventually ended up with two bladders 'flat' - but as long as I didn't drop it in the water I was fine... - So when I got tired, I 'almost' had a disaster as the wind lightened-up and the kite went in the water - but luckily - I "SAVED" it - most kites won't water-re-launch if they have dead bladders... I've fixed one bladder pretty well, however, the other one still leaks a bit...
It looks like we'll get 1-3 days of excellent wind this coming week - so maybe I'll use a little smaller kite. I have an 11 that is both a new kite and a new model of kite that is supposedly much better and I'd really like to have the chance to try it out - looks like Monday afternoon I just might be able to do that!
All my kites, now, are "Best Kites" (Guy named "Shannon_Best" owns the company) - link here .
Sunday, the 4th... - went Hang Gliding today - Wowie Zowie Batwoman, - had a couple of TERRIFIC flights:
Track-log on-top-of Google Earth Image: HUGE here
The first flight is at the 'upper-right' red-lines; the second flight is near the bottom-center. SORRY _ I 'thought' I knew how to get both flights on the same Google Earth image with each flight a different color, I've done this before, but I seem to have forgotten this exciting 'editing' issue - so I have to apologize for being 'lame' here... - however - TERRIFIC LIFT!!!
Drove out 'late' this morning (left home about 09:15 - first flight at about 12:20 - great flight - then lunch, - then another flight - then drove home to eat dinner with Ms._May at the _USSCMC_ where she'd been judging some sailboat racing today...
you can see alternative views by accessing my 'FlightLog' page: click here for ALL Bill's flights The most recent flights are at the very top of the listing(s)... if you click the little tiny 'glider' icon to the left of the flight data - then you'll gain access to some links that can provide valuable information and track-logs for Google Earth (if you have Google Earth - these links will open Google Earth auto-magically and display my flight-data (including altitude) on the Google Earth background...
also: you can try this link here - it takes you to " http://www.everytrail.com " - and I have put some of my track-log files there - let me know if you like this web-site / service - I can put more things there...
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And - on Saturday, 3rd, I spent nearly four hours on the trike, and went just a hair over 40 miles - another new "Personal Best" - and something I'd NEVER done before (40 miles)... The above track-log does NOT capture all 40 miles - apparently I have a problem with my GPS having enough battery-life. My iPhone3G (and it's GPS system) dies after just barely 2 hours - the Garmin Nuvi gives me a message at 2 hours then dies promptly at 2 1/2 hours - the G48 randomly shuts itself down - but then dies at about 2 1/2 to 3 hours - (it has 4 AA batteries in it, too!)
MAYBE I'll have to install some batteries on the TriceQ and/or a generator for 12 volt DC (even though most of my GPSs run on 5 volts (a Zener Diode may be in my future?) IF I ride much over 2 to 2 1/2 hours - none of my GPSs (except the GPSMap 76CSx) works at all - they all DIE - battery-life is, apparently, not a priority when designing (hand-held) GPS units... - so - I have to come up with some sort of a solution...???
Met-up with a guy from '_Summerfield_' who invited me to their every Wednesday morning bicycle & breakfast bash - so maybe I'll visit them this coming Wednesday.
AND have been invited to go to _Okeechobee_ for a meeting and some lunch with one of the key-players in the _L.O.S.T._ bicycle_trail_around_Lake_Okeechobee... - so - the week is shaping up to be good!
New Year's Day - Happy New Year to EVERYONE!!!!
Mr. Bill has become 'Plumber for a day' (well - 3 days, now) - we arrived-home from 4 days in Miami helping run a youth-regatta, to find our Hot Water Heater leaking all over the floor - that situation caused us to attempt to use the shower in Ms. May's studio in the garage building - and THAT caused a 90 minute 'fight' with the shower-valve - (on the 31st) - then THAT caused a flood in the garage from the water-heater (in the loft of the garage) and THAT caused another 3 hours of plumbing work... _ UGH UGH ...
this is a picture of the shower-valve (taken apart) to re-build / clean / lubricate - and I do NOT have a picture of the calcium build-up that prevented the shower-water from getting to the shower head (don't ask!)...
ANYWAY _ Tomorrow is Friday, 2nd January and Lowe's will supply some NEW PARTS and pieces and I TRUST everything will be better than new tomorrow (the Plumber is supposed to come and install a new hot-water-heater in the house...)
GREAT WAY to start off the NEW YEAR!
( I remember 'house-things' that - YEARS ago - I spent Christmas Morning crawling around underneath a house I used to own, trying to repair the frozen 'condensate' line for the heater / air-conditioner, that had frozen because the night before Christmas had been VERY VERY COLD... SO Mr._Bill has a history of plumbing problems plaguing him on holidays!... )
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AND one of my other accomplishments was to 'trim' the hang-glider-rack (for the Toyota Mini-Van) so that the cross-bar 'fit' into the uprights in a more aerodynamic and artistic manner... - This was done solely for the purposes of attempting to appear to those people who care, that I have an 'artistic and aerodynamic flare' for the work I do... Recognize, please, that this may or may not be truc but I want to "Appear" to be 'exotic' instead of 'plain'... - Does the 'appearance' work? - we'll let you decide...
This-shot is from last November - SOMETHING has to be here for January, 2009 - considering today is 1 January - and NOTHING is happening?
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....
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:
- Picture_2_ a new TriceQ (tricycle) qualified, licensed, certified tandem instructor/pilot: small
Mr. Bill's new 'toy' from an early Christmas present actually got this in LATE LATE October - and have been riding a LOT... ... ...
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.
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: 19:4 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, 25 January, 2009 revID: 1d