Wednedsay,
25th November, 2009: Today is the day BEFORE Thanksgiving - and yes -
we have a LOT to be thankful for, just a few updates since 'last-time':
1.) Went to Jacksonville to help-out at the "King's Day Regatta" ( J-24 sailboats ) at the Florida Yacht Club (FYC)) where Ms. May was the 'Chief Judge' and Mr. Bill spent most of his time 'anker-yanking' (that is putting marks in the water and picking-them up again (and then putting them back in the water so he could pick them up again (and then doing that all over again!))). There was not enough wind on Saturday for any racing, but there was enough wind (barely) on Sunday for the three scheduled races. The Yacht Club hosts " Fleet 55 " of the J-24 class.
2.) Mr._Bill's been doing more Camera / Weather-Station work both near-by to home and some, even today, 'down-south' Some pictures... _lonely and depressed camera_ and a newer version of same. At a local beach here, the recent (Terrific for board-sailing and kite-boarding) wind took-away about 8-9 feet of sand from one of the beaches, then brought 6-7 feet of sand back less than two weeks later...
3.) It's been _RAINING_ here in _Stuart, but - well _ I guess we need the rain, as the weeds aren't growing fast enough...
4.) I've recently lost and found several things - so either my mind is working better than it used to, OR I'm just getting luckier? However, of the things I've lost, lately, I miss my mind the most. If anyone sees it (my mind) let me know where it's got to...
5.) Ms._May and I recently cleaned-up her studio like the proverbial white-tornado. She'd been doing some bowls out of 'red-clay' and she normally does 'Porcelin' which is white-clay. So after her experiences (not all positive) with red-clay we had to scrub her studio, tools, wheels, etc. extensively to rid all of them of any trace of red-clay. This was a fairly major project - consuming about 4 man-hours, so something we probably don't need to do more than a couple of times a year. Now she's back to doing Porcelin and she really likes it.
6.) Mr._Bill had a recent trike-ride at an 'overall-moving-average-speed' of over 15.1 mph for nearly 2 1/4 hours, and that's a new personal best. His prior trips on the trike were nearer about 13.5 to 14.0 mph for about 4 hours... This (semi-historic (recent)) trip is documented here...
7.a.) A number of GPS-hardware, GPS-software, and _Google_Earth_ (underlayment) questions have arisen lately. THOUGH one can complicate one's life (to no end) with various OSs, download-software-packages, display-methodolgy software, sport-specific-software, and other such YUCH, the bottom-line on GPS is that about 80% of your 'needs' can be handled with only ONE piece of hardware and ONE piece of sofware. For the hardware I use the GPSMap 76CSx from Garmin. For the software I use _Google_Earth_ version 5.x ( link for this FREE software is below ). (There is / are a LOT of options in both Hardware and Software but the above will certainly get you started.)
7.b.) I might add that EXTENSIVE "tutorials" are available both from Google and from third-parties. It DOES TAKE SOME TIME to become 'proficient' but the features and functions ARE THERE in the version 5.x product. I can guarantee that if you have any interest at all in either GPS and/or aerial photography of the planet (and/or the place you live) that the 'INVESTMENT' of your time learning about both GPS and about _Google_Earth_ software will be WELL REWARDED... Your "ROI" on this investment of your time will definitely pay-off, handsomely.
7.c.) One of the most 'exciting' (pair) of features in the new, version 5 _Google_Earth_ software product is / are the 'Tour' and the 'Animation'. Either of these features allows you to view a particular boat-trip, board-sailing episode, bicycle-ride, walk-hike, hang-gliding-flight, etc. in 'compressed' time. There is / are various methods to display this compressed-time trip. The Animation and the Tour features should be studied so you can determine which the 'best' for you / your needs / your audience. But both of these features can be edited, saved (as movie files) and then included on your web-page(s) and/or blog(s)...
Here's just a few web-sites if you decide you want to learn more:
Garmin hardware is some of the best and it is probably the mostly compatible with third-party-software tools
Garmin 'MapSource' software ( updates / downloads ) available here - and it's pretty good for a lot of different things
Google_Earth software is available here Some of the Video-Tutorials (from Google_Earth_Blog_Site) here. There are a WHOLE PLETHORA of _Google_Earth_ tutorials, though, these are definitely NOT the only ones...
8.) And here's a 'bonus-question' - Identify the (small) flag-sticker in this picture for a 'mystery' prize...
Tuesday, 17th November: - some (more) things:
A 'longer' TriceQ ride, today - about 56 miles in about 4 hours and 3 minutes - that's a pretty 'hot' pace for an old grey-hair like me. Chalk it up to almost no wind, lots of overcast (read this as cooler) and having not done over 50 miles in quite a while. - ((BIG) track-log & image here).
Ms. May got her "Wild Things" bike-jersey this week. "Where the Wild Things Are" (story & illustrations by Maurice Sendak) is / was an EXCELLENT story when I was a kid (did they actually have printed books (WAAAAAY back then?)) NOW Maurice Sendak's (Wikipedia-Link)) book, has been made into a movie ( in case you've been sleeping!!! ) the trailer looks EXCELLENT).
The above picture of her in her new bike-jersey is pretty-good - but there are more pictures here (#2) and (#1)...
More on the Trike-front:
==================
I learned, this week - that there's two 20 inch diameter tube and tire-styles for trikes like mine... There's the 20 inch tires they call trike-tires and there's the 20 inch tires they call 'BMX' tires - and they take different tubes - (and the tires are different, etc.) - but - of course - if you're DUMB like ME - you don't know this before you learn it... (and you SURE don't know it when the labels on things don't state the REAL diameter of something?)
It all came out this week - and I need the NON-BMX style 20" - (which is actually 406mm in diameter and the BMX stuff is like 441 mm in diameter (so considerably different). The tubes are different too, but the tube-boxes and the labelling in catalogs and shops is the SAME - so - now I KNOW that there are certain brands of tubes that I want - and certain brands of tubes I want to AVOID! - live and learn, huh?
Wednesday, 11th November: - some things:
a book-quote: " Hope is not a feeling. Hope is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how things turn out. " (loosely attributed to Vaclav Havel - a Czechoslovakian essayist, playwright, dissident, politician, etc.)
One thing to 'impart' to our web-reading-audience is that you MUST SEE - MUST MUST MUST SEE (via either Netflix or your local library) this movie:
"UP" _ which is a Pixar / animation / Disney movie that is just about the most awesome thing we've seen this year - no question at all - EXCELLENT....!!!!
We did NOT drive the 2 plus hours up to Cocoa (not Cocoa Beach) for a cycling-trip yesterday, but there were several other people that did this short (28 mile) ride along the Intracoastal Waterway. Mr. Bill had done most of this ride this past April with a similar group of people, and this ride was incorporated into the 63 miles that we did in Cocoa several weeks ago... - here's the "Vimeo" link: http://www.vimeo.com/7544454
Managed about 40 miles on the trike this morning (Wednesday, 11th) - some rain (though not much) - Ms. May went with me for the first hour or so, locally; then I wandered down to Seabranch and Heritage Ridge, and, well, here's the track-log...
We got in a bit of kiteboarding and boardsailing, lately, in the MASSIVE great wind(s) we've been having (though today it is SouthWest which though it's strong (trike riding INTO it was NOT PLEASANT) is not a terrfic direction for anything on the water... Have been teaching kiteboarding a bit - strange to be teaching something I've done so long 'on-my-own'. One of the biggest things one needs to 'impart knowledge to the student' in this sport - is all about the 'RISKS' - inherent in kiteboarding and the multiple ways one can get hurt (or in trouble) REALLY EASY and REALLY QUICK. We were boardsailing recently and a good kiteboarding friend lost their kite. - All was recovered / retrieved but it was a scary incident for a while...
Here's a boardsailing track-log - fastest speed was about 26-27 mph which is about 22 1/2 to 23 knots... (08 November (Sunday))
Thursday, 5th November - and Today we woke-up to RAIN RAIN RAIN, - and we (Mr._Bill & Mr._Panda) tried to sit on the screened-in-porch and read our book for a while... However, the porch faces north and after 'a while' the rain and wind from the north got cold and wet - so - needless to say - we re-located INSIDE where it was warmer and drier...!!!
Mr._Panda 'borrowed' Mr._Bill's new Adidas cycling shirt which is VERY NICE and matches the red of his tricycle and his helmet VERY WELL - congrats to Ms._May who approved the color!.
Another short tri-cycle ride on Tuesday(3rd) a.m. while Ms. May was doing Tai Chi... - about 48 miles - track-log-here.... Wind looks terrific for kiteboarding / boardsailing later-on this week - but looks a bit too much for hang-gliding after our cycling on Saturday morning - but - hey - that's why forecasts change a LOT during the week!..
We did go for a short cycling ride on Sunday, 1 November - Ms. May rode about 15 miles, Mr. Bill did about 30 miles - and then afterwards we had what is known as a "Train Wreck" - breakfast (and split it between the two of us (and it was PLENTY of food!!!)) at a local eatery called the "Whistle Stop" - which is literally less than 50 feet from the train-tracks, nearby our house!... track-log on Google-Earth here...
From September-October - the "CNC09 Cycling trip: Our arrival back home in Stuart (on Monday, 5 October) (after a 13 1/2 hour - 760 mile drive, yesterday, in the RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN... from the "Cycle North Carolina - 2009" - 430 mile cycling trip from Blowing Rock to Surf City - entirely in North Carolina...
The "CNC09" - since it spanned September and October - has it's own web-page - so you can see that ' Here ' - It'll be 'new and different today (6 October) but I'll probably update it throughout the month as more things show-up...
On the hang-gliding front we have not been flying "that much" - but a good friend of ours from _Colorado_ went to a competition in _Arizona_, recently, and posted this video. It's only about 2 minutes / 10 seconds long but shows the tow-up, the circular motion that is so important, some gliders below him, and if you turn the sound up you can hear his 'vario' (the instrument that tells a glider pilot he is in a rising column of air) - typically called a 'thermal'.
Mr._Bill's best hang-gliding-flight (Ever) - see the FlightLog.Org web-page, here...
1.) Went to Jacksonville to help-out at the "King's Day Regatta" ( J-24 sailboats ) at the Florida Yacht Club (FYC)) where Ms. May was the 'Chief Judge' and Mr. Bill spent most of his time 'anker-yanking' (that is putting marks in the water and picking-them up again (and then putting them back in the water so he could pick them up again (and then doing that all over again!))). There was not enough wind on Saturday for any racing, but there was enough wind (barely) on Sunday for the three scheduled races. The Yacht Club hosts " Fleet 55 " of the J-24 class.
2.) Mr._Bill's been doing more Camera / Weather-Station work both near-by to home and some, even today, 'down-south' Some pictures... _lonely and depressed camera_ and a newer version of same. At a local beach here, the recent (Terrific for board-sailing and kite-boarding) wind took-away about 8-9 feet of sand from one of the beaches, then brought 6-7 feet of sand back less than two weeks later...
3.) It's been _RAINING_ here in _Stuart, but - well _ I guess we need the rain, as the weeds aren't growing fast enough...
4.) I've recently lost and found several things - so either my mind is working better than it used to, OR I'm just getting luckier? However, of the things I've lost, lately, I miss my mind the most. If anyone sees it (my mind) let me know where it's got to...
5.) Ms._May and I recently cleaned-up her studio like the proverbial white-tornado. She'd been doing some bowls out of 'red-clay' and she normally does 'Porcelin' which is white-clay. So after her experiences (not all positive) with red-clay we had to scrub her studio, tools, wheels, etc. extensively to rid all of them of any trace of red-clay. This was a fairly major project - consuming about 4 man-hours, so something we probably don't need to do more than a couple of times a year. Now she's back to doing Porcelin and she really likes it.
6.) Mr._Bill had a recent trike-ride at an 'overall-moving-average-speed' of over 15.1 mph for nearly 2 1/4 hours, and that's a new personal best. His prior trips on the trike were nearer about 13.5 to 14.0 mph for about 4 hours... This (semi-historic (recent)) trip is documented here...
7.a.) A number of GPS-hardware, GPS-software, and _Google_Earth_ (underlayment) questions have arisen lately. THOUGH one can complicate one's life (to no end) with various OSs, download-software-packages, display-methodolgy software, sport-specific-software, and other such YUCH, the bottom-line on GPS is that about 80% of your 'needs' can be handled with only ONE piece of hardware and ONE piece of sofware. For the hardware I use the GPSMap 76CSx from Garmin. For the software I use _Google_Earth_ version 5.x ( link for this FREE software is below ). (There is / are a LOT of options in both Hardware and Software but the above will certainly get you started.)
7.b.) I might add that EXTENSIVE "tutorials" are available both from Google and from third-parties. It DOES TAKE SOME TIME to become 'proficient' but the features and functions ARE THERE in the version 5.x product. I can guarantee that if you have any interest at all in either GPS and/or aerial photography of the planet (and/or the place you live) that the 'INVESTMENT' of your time learning about both GPS and about _Google_Earth_ software will be WELL REWARDED... Your "ROI" on this investment of your time will definitely pay-off, handsomely.
7.c.) One of the most 'exciting' (pair) of features in the new, version 5 _Google_Earth_ software product is / are the 'Tour' and the 'Animation'. Either of these features allows you to view a particular boat-trip, board-sailing episode, bicycle-ride, walk-hike, hang-gliding-flight, etc. in 'compressed' time. There is / are various methods to display this compressed-time trip. The Animation and the Tour features should be studied so you can determine which the 'best' for you / your needs / your audience. But both of these features can be edited, saved (as movie files) and then included on your web-page(s) and/or blog(s)...
Here's just a few web-sites if you decide you want to learn more:
Garmin hardware is some of the best and it is probably the mostly compatible with third-party-software tools
Garmin 'MapSource' software ( updates / downloads ) available here - and it's pretty good for a lot of different things
Google_Earth software is available here Some of the Video-Tutorials (from Google_Earth_Blog_Site) here. There are a WHOLE PLETHORA of _Google_Earth_ tutorials, though, these are definitely NOT the only ones...
8.) And here's a 'bonus-question' - Identify the (small) flag-sticker in this picture for a 'mystery' prize...
Tuesday, 17th November: - some (more) things:
A 'longer' TriceQ ride, today - about 56 miles in about 4 hours and 3 minutes - that's a pretty 'hot' pace for an old grey-hair like me. Chalk it up to almost no wind, lots of overcast (read this as cooler) and having not done over 50 miles in quite a while. - ((BIG) track-log & image here).
Ms. May got her "Wild Things" bike-jersey this week. "Where the Wild Things Are" (story & illustrations by Maurice Sendak) is / was an EXCELLENT story when I was a kid (did they actually have printed books (WAAAAAY back then?)) NOW Maurice Sendak's (Wikipedia-Link)) book, has been made into a movie ( in case you've been sleeping!!! ) the trailer looks EXCELLENT).
The above picture of her in her new bike-jersey is pretty-good - but there are more pictures here (#2) and (#1)...
More on the Trike-front:
==================
I learned, this week - that there's two 20 inch diameter tube and tire-styles for trikes like mine... There's the 20 inch tires they call trike-tires and there's the 20 inch tires they call 'BMX' tires - and they take different tubes - (and the tires are different, etc.) - but - of course - if you're DUMB like ME - you don't know this before you learn it... (and you SURE don't know it when the labels on things don't state the REAL diameter of something?)
It all came out this week - and I need the NON-BMX style 20" - (which is actually 406mm in diameter and the BMX stuff is like 441 mm in diameter (so considerably different). The tubes are different too, but the tube-boxes and the labelling in catalogs and shops is the SAME - so - now I KNOW that there are certain brands of tubes that I want - and certain brands of tubes I want to AVOID! - live and learn, huh?
Wednesday, 11th November: - some things:
a book-quote: " Hope is not a feeling. Hope is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how things turn out. " (loosely attributed to Vaclav Havel - a Czechoslovakian essayist, playwright, dissident, politician, etc.)
One thing to 'impart' to our web-reading-audience is that you MUST SEE - MUST MUST MUST SEE (via either Netflix or your local library) this movie:
"UP" _ which is a Pixar / animation / Disney movie that is just about the most awesome thing we've seen this year - no question at all - EXCELLENT....!!!!
We did NOT drive the 2 plus hours up to Cocoa (not Cocoa Beach) for a cycling-trip yesterday, but there were several other people that did this short (28 mile) ride along the Intracoastal Waterway. Mr. Bill had done most of this ride this past April with a similar group of people, and this ride was incorporated into the 63 miles that we did in Cocoa several weeks ago... - here's the "Vimeo" link: http://www.vimeo.com/7544454
Managed about 40 miles on the trike this morning (Wednesday, 11th) - some rain (though not much) - Ms. May went with me for the first hour or so, locally; then I wandered down to Seabranch and Heritage Ridge, and, well, here's the track-log...
We got in a bit of kiteboarding and boardsailing, lately, in the MASSIVE great wind(s) we've been having (though today it is SouthWest which though it's strong (trike riding INTO it was NOT PLEASANT) is not a terrfic direction for anything on the water... Have been teaching kiteboarding a bit - strange to be teaching something I've done so long 'on-my-own'. One of the biggest things one needs to 'impart knowledge to the student' in this sport - is all about the 'RISKS' - inherent in kiteboarding and the multiple ways one can get hurt (or in trouble) REALLY EASY and REALLY QUICK. We were boardsailing recently and a good kiteboarding friend lost their kite. - All was recovered / retrieved but it was a scary incident for a while...
Here's a boardsailing track-log - fastest speed was about 26-27 mph which is about 22 1/2 to 23 knots... (08 November (Sunday))
Thursday, 5th November - and Today we woke-up to RAIN RAIN RAIN, - and we (Mr._Bill & Mr._Panda) tried to sit on the screened-in-porch and read our book for a while... However, the porch faces north and after 'a while' the rain and wind from the north got cold and wet - so - needless to say - we re-located INSIDE where it was warmer and drier...!!!
Mr._Panda 'borrowed' Mr._Bill's new Adidas cycling shirt which is VERY NICE and matches the red of his tricycle and his helmet VERY WELL - congrats to Ms._May who approved the color!.
Another short tri-cycle ride on Tuesday(3rd) a.m. while Ms. May was doing Tai Chi... - about 48 miles - track-log-here.... Wind looks terrific for kiteboarding / boardsailing later-on this week - but looks a bit too much for hang-gliding after our cycling on Saturday morning - but - hey - that's why forecasts change a LOT during the week!..
We did go for a short cycling ride on Sunday, 1 November - Ms. May rode about 15 miles, Mr. Bill did about 30 miles - and then afterwards we had what is known as a "Train Wreck" - breakfast (and split it between the two of us (and it was PLENTY of food!!!)) at a local eatery called the "Whistle Stop" - which is literally less than 50 feet from the train-tracks, nearby our house!... track-log on Google-Earth here...
From September-October - the "CNC09 Cycling trip: Our arrival back home in Stuart (on Monday, 5 October) (after a 13 1/2 hour - 760 mile drive, yesterday, in the RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN... from the "Cycle North Carolina - 2009" - 430 mile cycling trip from Blowing Rock to Surf City - entirely in North Carolina...
The "CNC09" - since it spanned September and October - has it's own web-page - so you can see that ' Here ' - It'll be 'new and different today (6 October) but I'll probably update it throughout the month as more things show-up...
On the hang-gliding front we have not been flying "that much" - but a good friend of ours from _Colorado_ went to a competition in _Arizona_, recently, and posted this video. It's only about 2 minutes / 10 seconds long but shows the tow-up, the circular motion that is so important, some gliders below him, and if you turn the sound up you can hear his 'vario' (the instrument that tells a glider pilot he is in a rising column of air) - typically called a 'thermal'.
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.
AND / OR if you 'WANT' (or desire or need or have an 'urge' for something you don't see, then you can e-mail me at: bill@vikingasia.org
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.
AND / OR if you 'WANT' (or desire or need or have an 'urge' for something you don't see, then you can e-mail me at: bill@vikingasia.org
updated: 19:02 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 November, 2009 - revID: 1g