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Today is Sunday, 22 August, 2010:
Sunrise image taken across "Great Pocket" (a wide-spot in the 'Intracoastal Waterway') from this morning ( a LOT of 'MOSQUITOES' this morning when I took this picture)...
and here's the 'route' - a tiny bit over 60 miles - about 4.5 hours of pedalling.
spent a LOT of time this week working on beach / inlet / web cameras / housings / pan-tilt units, a LOT of time in the HOT SUN on roofs, and such - apparently, also, a LOT more time is promised, next week - but - we'll see!
Today is Monday, 9 August, 2010:
Well - life changes - and to some extent life stays the same - harumph
Some things stay the same:
========================
Mostly I can't start the Boston Whaler jet-drive-engine - it still eludes me - even though I've done a bit of this, a bit of that - had a LOT of advice from a LOT of people, places, things, but - bottom-line the darned thing STILL WON'T START... - so - I'm (seriously) considering taking it to someone who has more knowledge and wisdom than myself.
Some things change:
===================
- the weather changes, here, there, everywhere - on days when the 'forecast' says 'no-wind; don't even BOTHER to try and teach boardsailing (windsurfing) turns out the wind is AWESOME GOOD for teaching (and even a bit of kiteboarding). But then I have a good hang-gliding friend who says, "NOAA doesn't KNOW anything" (and NOAA does most of the forecasting. However, we had GOOD RAIN yesterday - late afternoon, so now the weeds will grow better (as if they haven't grown well enough?)
Some other things are just what they are:
====================================
we haven't figured this one out, yet, stay tuned, we will eventually
here's a picture of today's trike-ride - HOPE to have my new (non-cracked) swing-arm by the end of this week. I 'thought' it would rain this morning while I was riding, but it was a beautiful morning - though it definitely looks like rain this afternoon...
Scripting:
==========
- well - learning is one thing - utilizing it to do something useful is entirely another thing... - I've been doing "Rhino3D" for years (and years and years) - mostly to do boat-(hull) design things but like many with a hammer - everything looks like a nail. For me - everything CAD looks like a Rhino3D project, and it's probably not but I really love the tool...
About a year and a half ago the people that make and sell Rhino3D (McNeel - in Seattle) started porting to the Macintosh OS "X" platform and they have done really really well - I use the Macintosh version way more than the Windows XP PC version (but the PC version still prints WAY WAY BETTER than the beta - Work In Process on the Macintosh.
BUT _ I've wanted to do some macro / scripting things for a while - and I got quite interested in airfoils / hydrofoils / design / use / etc. and found a database of foils to access ( http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/coord_database.html ).
So I figured I'd learn about Rhino3D scripting to support my interest in foils information.
HOWEVER, there's a 'problem' (well sort of). Because the McNeel people are developing the Macintosh OS "X" version and they are, also developing 'version 5' of their Windows PC software they are looking for a 'cross-platform' scripting environment... However, the scripting on the old (version 4) of their Rhino3D product works quite well - and because it's Windows PC based, it uses "VBScript" - which is, of course, a Microsoft product and not available on Macintosh OS "X". - What to do (for both them and for me?)
Should I learn the old scripting environment ( based on Microsoft's VB Script (and use it only on the Windows PC platform )) or struggle (along with them) to learn the new (Iron) Python based scripting environment and struggle with it's (buggy at the start) environment and be 'cross-platform' enabled (say a year from now)...
O.K, so the concepts are very very similar so I think the deal is to learn Python - which I can put to work in other places and for which there is overwhelmingly good documentation on the beginings and the expert levels and for which the McNeel / Rhino3D people REALLY support the Python environment and have done some really (REALLY) good training documentation...
So - these days I'm learning both concepts (of scripting for a CAD software tool (Rhino3D)) - as well as learning "Python" which can be a good general purpose scripting languge... So I'm learning 'something new' - and I hope to surprise myself ... - we'll see - only time will tell, huh?
Something NEW - so you CAN teach an 'Old Dog some New Tricks':
===========================================================
ONE new trick I learned recently is to trim my huggly-bunch's hair. I was a (TRULY) NERVOUS WRECK about this; I figured I'd muck-it-up-beyond-belief, had this 'FEAR' that I would keep trimming here, there, everywhere, to get it 'even' and the result would be she had NO HAIR at all. BUT _ she TRUSTED ME - which is - of course - rare to have a woman trust a man when it comes to the woman's LOOKS... - OH - so I KNEW I HAD to GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME - ....
Well she guided me, very very carefully, and now it really doesn't look 'bad' (though it could probably look better).... Nice thing about trimming-hair, though - it will eventually grow-back and no one would notice, huh?
Today is Sunday, 1 August, 2010:
==============================
we went cycling, this morning, before breakfast... - short ride (about 19 miles) but a pretty-quick pace, nearly 14 mph for about 83 minutes...
News and Views from the Beach Club in this Beach-type-weather (but NOT much wind)
===============
However, in July we had some pretty good kite-boarding-days - especially Ms._May had a really really good day. She doesn't go kiteboarding very often, and she's very particular about the days she picks to go and she picked-a-winner last month...
Mr._Bill went kiteboarding a couple of days - had some brief run-ins with not enough and then too much wind but - well - that sort of thing happens in the kiteboarding world...
Also managed to both 'rennovate' an (F2-Comet) sail-board-U-joint, and then lost the (factory) skeg during the first lesson. However, my student didn't seem to mind - she's been out of the sport for 20 years, now wanting to get back into it. Found this F2-board (donated by someone) at the local sailing_center, and have contributed a few parts and pieces and a bit of labour - was terrific sailing a centerboard 'fun-board' today before the lesson. I'd forgotten how much fun these things were... Teaching is also a joy, though this student, I don't
think, will need much instruction - just 'touching-up' around the edges I suspect. We'll try again on Sunday...
And here's a question for those out there who 'know everything':
===================================================
HOW did they DO IT?
In those 'epic-battles' that happened 500, 1,000, 2,000 years ago, in Europe, China, Africa, - when the military commander(s) of the day had to 'control' 5,000, maybe even a 100,000 or quarter or half million troops - how did they do this without radio, without electronics and before 'semaphore' signalling?
Follow-up: - how did they FEEEEEED this many soliders - back then they didn't have gas-driven-vehicles - the army moved on it's feet - they HAD to have GOOD FOOD and PLENTY OF IT - in order to keep the troops moving? - HOW did they get all that food, cook it - feed it to the troops, and clean-up afterwards?
I can find NO Information about either of these subjects, in libraries nor on the 'web' - and I don't think the information doesn't exist, I think - maybe - that no-one really knows?
TriceQ things:
================
- recent monthly mileage-totals:
AND - the 'factory' in the UK is going to 'gift-me' (so I'm told) a new 'swing-arm' since my seems to have developed a crack.
the new swing-arm arrived on Friday, 20 August and I installed it so my ride on Sunday, 22 August (documented above) - was
with the new swing-arm (though I have NOT yet installed the new seat-cover...)
AND - if you're interested, (and you may well not be?) - here's the spreadsheet I keep that has all my rides / statistics / miles / etc.
...pdf formatted file
Here's another question for those who know everything:
on my Boston Whaler "Turbo-Jet" boat I can't start it (and if I can't start it - it won't 'stay - running').... - I have done the following and I'm STILL STUCK...
=============================
Engine: (2-cycle) 4 cylinder, 90 degree, cross-flow-head, Johnson-Evinrude (OMC), CDI, 4 separate coils, (outboard-style) power-head
- Today is Sunday, 22 August 2010: some cycling and some other things of interest...
- Today is Monday, 9 August, 2010: - some things change, some stay the same...
- Learning 'scripting' - of a sort - in one way or another - something I've wanted to do for YEARs but never got 'motivated'
- New Tricks: - sometimes you CAN teach an "Old Dog" some "New Tricks"
- Today is Sunday, 1 August, 2010:
- News & views (mostly from late July, 2010:
- How did ANCIENT (500, 1,000, 2,000 years ago) military commanders both communicate with their troops and how did they feed their troops in ancient times.
- TriceQ things - stats & news & views
- Boston Whaler "Turbo-Jet-drive" question
- the BeachWeb Archive
- when was THIS PAGE (last) updated?
Today is Sunday, 22 August, 2010:
Sunrise image taken across "Great Pocket" (a wide-spot in the 'Intracoastal Waterway') from this morning ( a LOT of 'MOSQUITOES' this morning when I took this picture)...
and here's the 'route' - a tiny bit over 60 miles - about 4.5 hours of pedalling.
spent a LOT of time this week working on beach / inlet / web cameras / housings / pan-tilt units, a LOT of time in the HOT SUN on roofs, and such - apparently, also, a LOT more time is promised, next week - but - we'll see!
Today is Monday, 9 August, 2010:
Well - life changes - and to some extent life stays the same - harumph
Some things stay the same:
========================
Mostly I can't start the Boston Whaler jet-drive-engine - it still eludes me - even though I've done a bit of this, a bit of that - had a LOT of advice from a LOT of people, places, things, but - bottom-line the darned thing STILL WON'T START... - so - I'm (seriously) considering taking it to someone who has more knowledge and wisdom than myself.
Some things change:
===================
- the weather changes, here, there, everywhere - on days when the 'forecast' says 'no-wind; don't even BOTHER to try and teach boardsailing (windsurfing) turns out the wind is AWESOME GOOD for teaching (and even a bit of kiteboarding). But then I have a good hang-gliding friend who says, "NOAA doesn't KNOW anything" (and NOAA does most of the forecasting. However, we had GOOD RAIN yesterday - late afternoon, so now the weeds will grow better (as if they haven't grown well enough?)
Some other things are just what they are:
====================================
we haven't figured this one out, yet, stay tuned, we will eventually
here's a picture of today's trike-ride - HOPE to have my new (non-cracked) swing-arm by the end of this week. I 'thought' it would rain this morning while I was riding, but it was a beautiful morning - though it definitely looks like rain this afternoon...
Scripting:
==========
- well - learning is one thing - utilizing it to do something useful is entirely another thing... - I've been doing "Rhino3D" for years (and years and years) - mostly to do boat-(hull) design things but like many with a hammer - everything looks like a nail. For me - everything CAD looks like a Rhino3D project, and it's probably not but I really love the tool...
About a year and a half ago the people that make and sell Rhino3D (McNeel - in Seattle) started porting to the Macintosh OS "X" platform and they have done really really well - I use the Macintosh version way more than the Windows XP PC version (but the PC version still prints WAY WAY BETTER than the beta - Work In Process on the Macintosh.
BUT _ I've wanted to do some macro / scripting things for a while - and I got quite interested in airfoils / hydrofoils / design / use / etc. and found a database of foils to access ( http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/coord_database.html ).
So I figured I'd learn about Rhino3D scripting to support my interest in foils information.
HOWEVER, there's a 'problem' (well sort of). Because the McNeel people are developing the Macintosh OS "X" version and they are, also developing 'version 5' of their Windows PC software they are looking for a 'cross-platform' scripting environment... However, the scripting on the old (version 4) of their Rhino3D product works quite well - and because it's Windows PC based, it uses "VBScript" - which is, of course, a Microsoft product and not available on Macintosh OS "X". - What to do (for both them and for me?)
Should I learn the old scripting environment ( based on Microsoft's VB Script (and use it only on the Windows PC platform )) or struggle (along with them) to learn the new (Iron) Python based scripting environment and struggle with it's (buggy at the start) environment and be 'cross-platform' enabled (say a year from now)...
O.K, so the concepts are very very similar so I think the deal is to learn Python - which I can put to work in other places and for which there is overwhelmingly good documentation on the beginings and the expert levels and for which the McNeel / Rhino3D people REALLY support the Python environment and have done some really (REALLY) good training documentation...
So - these days I'm learning both concepts (of scripting for a CAD software tool (Rhino3D)) - as well as learning "Python" which can be a good general purpose scripting languge... So I'm learning 'something new' - and I hope to surprise myself ... - we'll see - only time will tell, huh?
Something NEW - so you CAN teach an 'Old Dog some New Tricks':
===========================================================
ONE new trick I learned recently is to trim my huggly-bunch's hair. I was a (TRULY) NERVOUS WRECK about this; I figured I'd muck-it-up-beyond-belief, had this 'FEAR' that I would keep trimming here, there, everywhere, to get it 'even' and the result would be she had NO HAIR at all. BUT _ she TRUSTED ME - which is - of course - rare to have a woman trust a man when it comes to the woman's LOOKS... - OH - so I KNEW I HAD to GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME - ....
Well she guided me, very very carefully, and now it really doesn't look 'bad' (though it could probably look better).... Nice thing about trimming-hair, though - it will eventually grow-back and no one would notice, huh?
Today is Sunday, 1 August, 2010:
==============================
we went cycling, this morning, before breakfast... - short ride (about 19 miles) but a pretty-quick pace, nearly 14 mph for about 83 minutes...
News and Views from the Beach Club in this Beach-type-weather (but NOT much wind)
===============
However, in July we had some pretty good kite-boarding-days - especially Ms._May had a really really good day. She doesn't go kiteboarding very often, and she's very particular about the days she picks to go and she picked-a-winner last month...
Mr._Bill went kiteboarding a couple of days - had some brief run-ins with not enough and then too much wind but - well - that sort of thing happens in the kiteboarding world...
Also managed to both 'rennovate' an (F2-Comet) sail-board-U-joint, and then lost the (factory) skeg during the first lesson. However, my student didn't seem to mind - she's been out of the sport for 20 years, now wanting to get back into it. Found this F2-board (donated by someone) at the local sailing_center, and have contributed a few parts and pieces and a bit of labour - was terrific sailing a centerboard 'fun-board' today before the lesson. I'd forgotten how much fun these things were... Teaching is also a joy, though this student, I don't
think, will need much instruction - just 'touching-up' around the edges I suspect. We'll try again on Sunday...
And here's a question for those out there who 'know everything':
===================================================
HOW did they DO IT?
In those 'epic-battles' that happened 500, 1,000, 2,000 years ago, in Europe, China, Africa, - when the military commander(s) of the day had to 'control' 5,000, maybe even a 100,000 or quarter or half million troops - how did they do this without radio, without electronics and before 'semaphore' signalling?
Follow-up: - how did they FEEEEEED this many soliders - back then they didn't have gas-driven-vehicles - the army moved on it's feet - they HAD to have GOOD FOOD and PLENTY OF IT - in order to keep the troops moving? - HOW did they get all that food, cook it - feed it to the troops, and clean-up afterwards?
I can find NO Information about either of these subjects, in libraries nor on the 'web' - and I don't think the information doesn't exist, I think - maybe - that no-one really knows?
TriceQ things:
================
- recent monthly mileage-totals:
- May was 582 miles
- June was 398 miles
- July was about 470 miles
- August was about 550 miles
AND - the 'factory' in the UK is going to 'gift-me' (so I'm told) a new 'swing-arm' since my seems to have developed a crack.
the new swing-arm arrived on Friday, 20 August and I installed it so my ride on Sunday, 22 August (documented above) - was
with the new swing-arm (though I have NOT yet installed the new seat-cover...)
AND - if you're interested, (and you may well not be?) - here's the spreadsheet I keep that has all my rides / statistics / miles / etc.
...pdf formatted file
Here's another question for those who know everything:
on my Boston Whaler "Turbo-Jet" boat I can't start it (and if I can't start it - it won't 'stay - running').... - I have done the following and I'm STILL STUCK...
=============================
Engine: (2-cycle) 4 cylinder, 90 degree, cross-flow-head, Johnson-Evinrude (OMC), CDI, 4 separate coils, (outboard-style) power-head
- 1.) cleaned (with plug-blaster) the 4 spark-plugs, and re-gapped them at 0.030"
- 2.) removed both carburetors, cleaned them out (both 'idle-channels' covers were loose, and other screws were loose, tightened all that up - re-installed them
- 3.) took all four plugs-out and one-by-one checked them for spark - and I can see the spark in the sunshine so it must be good but a local mechanic says it ought to jump nearly 1/2" and I'm not getting but - maybe 1/16" jump
- 4.) checked compression - 3 of the four cylinders are - say - 105-125, the fourth is about 85-90
- 5.) replaced the rectifier / regulator (which literally burned-up
- 6.) replaced the 'fuel-pump / VRO2 pump' assembly
- 7.) etc. etc. etc.?
AND - I passed the "G.R.O.L." test (elements 1 & 3 (124 questions) on Friday, 2 April, down in Ft. Lauderdale... It is considerably more work, questions, study, electronic theory, etc. than any of the Amateur Radio tests were, and I've been studying the "G.R.O.L." material for nearly 3 months... - here's a Wikipedia Link if you're interested to learn more about this 'advanced' FCC license... I'm hoping to pass other elements (7, 8, 9 (about 200 questions)) late in June, that will give me even more useless pieces of paper to hang on my wall...
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