2 (two-legged) nuts plus 3 (coco)nuts don't make for a successful drink (or eat, or anything but trash)...
well - we went for a walk, and came-home with 3 coco-nuts and the two two-legged nuts attempted to open and drink and eat, and - well - we'll let you guess what the result was? (just a hint - it was NOT as tasty as we think it should have been!)
"O2L" today (Sunday - 21 March, 2010) - ((Red Cross (of Martin County) organized "Ocean to Lake" (cycle) ride...
They had (for wimps like me), several 'versions' - a 30 mile, a 60 mile and a 100 mile (which actually went all the way to Lake Okeechobee (where I'll be for yet another ride on Sunday, 28th))... Mr. Bill used his trusty Garmin GSPMap 76CSx to create a 'track-log' of our route - that image is here, with a Google Earth satellite picture as a back-drop...
- Anyway - Ms. May and I chose the 60 mile option - she did about 54 miles; I did about 61 - we both had a wunnerful-time - though the WIND was such that we would have been better-off to go kiteboarding / board-sailing / etc. etc. etc.? However, - we chose the ride and got lots of good food, drinks, goodies, etc. etc. etc. as is frequently the case! - it was a wunnerful day - even if we did have too much wind!
Sorry - no pictures - we were busy dealing with the WIND most of the day - too occupied with that for pictures... - however, - here's their web-site.
We met-up-with a few people we know from cycling, and had a good visit with others who came by the parking-lot at Jensen_Beach (the start-finish) to visit us. So all-in-all it was a pretty terrific day EXCEPT FOR THE WIND!, and the end-of-ride FOOD was GOOD from Carrabba's and other places (like juice and Lemonade from "Orchid Island Juices". Starbucks, and other vendors / sponsors were also there - though we didn't partake of EVERYTHING, we might have been 'too-stuffed-to-ride'.!
WHY - you'll ask is the 'O2L' above in green - simply because Mr._Bill is attempting to duplicate the road-markings, which were spray-painted on the road, in green, with the letters O2L - so cyclists would know the appropriate path / course to take, and not get lost...
AND AND AND - we spent a couple of 'sleepless mornings' (Saturday Morning 04:00 a.m. til 08:00 a.m.; and Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. til Sunday morning at 04:00 a.m.) stoking (collecting and putting into) the Wood Fired Kiln (belonging to Mr._Justin), and this will yield some beautiful pottery soon (we'll see what happened this coming weekend)... More on the wood-firing - ceramics - pottery from Ms._May's blog..
IF you 'read between the lines' here you'll understand we only got a couple hours of 'GOOD SLEEP' before we did our 60 mile cycling ride... - that means that - well - MAYBE we would have done better cycling with a bit more sleep???
Next Sunday's ride at Lake Okeechobee we HOPE will have less wind! Rotary Club ride-web-site link here.
From Monday, 8th: - we helped-out at a _windsurfing_event_ on Florida's "space-coast", and the above-right was the un-expected bonus (and though I'm certain it is hard to discern in the above iPhone image) it's really a satellite-launch... The _Cape_Canaveral_VAB_ (Vehicle Assembly Building) was CLEARLY visible to the north..., and the sailing area was less than 2 km from the (extremely sensitive and highly-patrolled) south border of the "Cape"...
yes - the event was chilly on the water - but we met some new people, some from our local windsurfing crowd (he ended up 3rd in his division we think) - and Mr. Bill met-up with several people he hadn't seen in 20 years from his previous life in the windsurfing (masts mostly) industry... anyway - a very enjoyable few days!
Well, today is the 3rd of March, - Mr._Bill's birthday... - no - we will NOT tell you how old we are - but we WILL SAY we are 'old enough to know better', but we still 'do' regardless of knowing better... I should say that a LOT of GOOD THINGS happen to one on one's birthday (even this whole week (so far) has been pretty nice). I got to go hang-gliding on Monday - it was NOT a 'stellar day' but it was still good. When I got home from Hang Gliding, I found my Huggly-Snuggly-Bunch had bought me a "Key-Lime-Birthday-Pie" (one of my most favourite things on the WHOLE PLANET is Key-Lime-Pie - and Publix does this VERY WELL...
One of the BAD things about this birthday is the COLD WEATHER here in Stuart, but we don't (normally) let that stop us. However, I'm definitely a South Florida WIMP!
ONE of the things WE did today was go SAILING - something I'd wanted to do for 'quite some time' - and we finally managed it today - but it was a 'struggle' - we are not sure if we are "OLD" or were "COLD", out there today - (blowing 15-22 knots (at least) out of the northwest - but it were FUN, nevertheless...
Sometimes I think, with these boats (Europe Dinghies) we should add a snorkle to our sailing gear, going off the wind in these things is a real sleigh ride if you can breathe through the spray... They are only about 110 pounds fully rigged and only 11 feet long but plenty of POWER when you sail them. about the nearest thing to these boats is a Laser full-rig, but it has plenty of power, also, and can cost about 1/2 of what these boats do...
Europe Dinghies were used as the single-female Olympic boat for a while (1992, 1996, 2000 (but were replaced by the Laser-Radial)) - but - alas - Ms. May was too light (yeah; I'm too heavy, but they are still a LOT of FUN!)
here's a couple of (iPhone) pictures... (left or first one is 'before'; right or second one is 'after') both are 'clickable for larger version(s)...
NEW TIRES for the recumbent tricycles:
===============================
We also got a new shipment of new Schwalbe Tires in, today, for our recumbent tricycles. I'd already been using Schwalbe tires on my recumbent tricycle for nearly 18 months, now, but Ms._May wanted one on the back of her trike, and the others are spares...
Monday, the 1st of March:
This is what I've been doing with my 'spare time' (of which, of course, I have copious amounts)... The 'rennovation' and 're-configuration' of our almost 15 year old double-decker Trailex trailer has taken, probably, the better part of a month... The 'rennovation' (and washing-out of BUGS) of the two Europe Dinghies took considerably less time... Getting the two boats, (and associated booms, masts, and trolleys) ONTO the Trailex was not a 'trivial matter' - though I perceived it would be (and yes - I perceive a lot of things INCORRECTLY (especially as I lose more hair!))
BUT _ we are NOW READY (I think) to go Sailing - and it looks like Tuesday, 2 March might be the right day (23-33 mph winds are forecast!)?
My_Birthday_ (we will NOT say how old) is Wednesday the 3rd and that might be a good sailing day, also, we'll just have to see. Regardless of whether or not it is great sailing, my Huggly_Bunch bought me a 'key-lime-birthday-pie' - which should be pretty good - but we'll have to eat it all up before we leave on the 4th - so we need to get started on this painful consumption exercise, tonite (the night of the first of March).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
YES _ I went hang-gliding today (my birthday present to myself) - it wasn't a great day (not much lift) and yes - it's been a while so my 'performance' wasn't that great, either, but it was still a VERY NICE DAY to be hang-gliding. Ms._Big_Red_(the barking squirrel) was there - and two new additions to the motely crew that manages the place a couple of VERY VERY friendly cats (quatz?). There are improvements, now, like a real flush toilet (instead of a port-a-potty) as well as a new cabin (for rent) amongst other things... - Improvements all around; now can they do something about the LIFT!?
Some details of my 3 (fairly short) flights are here (but you may see six or seven flights) - don't believe them!.
The flights are not all coordinated - the timing is off (GPS Operator Error (yes - that's my problem, not yours!)) - but eventually I'll get it all sorted out - however the link is / will always be useful
Click on the little glider-icon and/or the little black squiggle to the left of the annotation - you'll get some useful textual information. Then scroll to the bottom of what you get and click on 'Tracklog Statistics', - yields some graphs of the flight(s).
OR OR OR
If you have Google Earth software on your computer; AND you have a good (fast) internet connection THEN you can click on the "Tracklog in Google Earth Format" to get a real thrill with the 3-D image of the flight (assuming you can manipulate Google Earth in 3D).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Then on Thursday the 4th (of March) we go up-state (north for those of you who are geographically challenged) for a few days to volunteer our time at a boardsailing regatta.
Life goes on for the 'busy-ones' - what did we do before we retired? - how did we fit everything in?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OH - just a quickie, here - the Guard Garden continues to grow (and with only rain for water, too!!!)
YES! _ I fully RECOGNIZE this is not the best picture in the world, you've got to consider the subject matter...
My particularly 'visual' sister requested a 'movie' (can NOT IMAGINE why) but nevertheless - I made one
- it's A VERY VERY BASIC iMovie and only about 10 seconds long but it does make them look cuteR than they should be, and it sort of makes you think they are saying, "Gee, isn't this FUN - wiggling in the breeze - aren't we glad Mr._Bill_ picked-us-up and brought us home to plant here?!" (caption also from my visual sister) Guard Garden Movie link here.
OH and Ms._May's new Shimano_SPD_pedals_and_new_cleats showed up today, so tomorrow I'll re-do all that for her, and perhaps we'll get a bit of recumbent tricycle riding in along with other activities?
Here's something that may be boring for some (especially if "Ms_Quat" isn't where she was supposed to be), but for others, this is a 'Network Camera' set-up so that it can take images of "Ms_Quat" (assuming she's around?) link_is_here
well - we went for a walk, and came-home with 3 coco-nuts and the two two-legged nuts attempted to open and drink and eat, and - well - we'll let you guess what the result was? (just a hint - it was NOT as tasty as we think it should have been!)
"O2L" today (Sunday - 21 March, 2010) - ((Red Cross (of Martin County) organized "Ocean to Lake" (cycle) ride...
They had (for wimps like me), several 'versions' - a 30 mile, a 60 mile and a 100 mile (which actually went all the way to Lake Okeechobee (where I'll be for yet another ride on Sunday, 28th))... Mr. Bill used his trusty Garmin GSPMap 76CSx to create a 'track-log' of our route - that image is here, with a Google Earth satellite picture as a back-drop...
- Anyway - Ms. May and I chose the 60 mile option - she did about 54 miles; I did about 61 - we both had a wunnerful-time - though the WIND was such that we would have been better-off to go kiteboarding / board-sailing / etc. etc. etc.? However, - we chose the ride and got lots of good food, drinks, goodies, etc. etc. etc. as is frequently the case! - it was a wunnerful day - even if we did have too much wind!
Sorry - no pictures - we were busy dealing with the WIND most of the day - too occupied with that for pictures... - however, - here's their web-site.
We met-up-with a few people we know from cycling, and had a good visit with others who came by the parking-lot at Jensen_Beach (the start-finish) to visit us. So all-in-all it was a pretty terrific day EXCEPT FOR THE WIND!, and the end-of-ride FOOD was GOOD from Carrabba's and other places (like juice and Lemonade from "Orchid Island Juices". Starbucks, and other vendors / sponsors were also there - though we didn't partake of EVERYTHING, we might have been 'too-stuffed-to-ride'.!
WHY - you'll ask is the 'O2L' above in green - simply because Mr._Bill is attempting to duplicate the road-markings, which were spray-painted on the road, in green, with the letters O2L - so cyclists would know the appropriate path / course to take, and not get lost...
AND AND AND - we spent a couple of 'sleepless mornings' (Saturday Morning 04:00 a.m. til 08:00 a.m.; and Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. til Sunday morning at 04:00 a.m.) stoking (collecting and putting into) the Wood Fired Kiln (belonging to Mr._Justin), and this will yield some beautiful pottery soon (we'll see what happened this coming weekend)... More on the wood-firing - ceramics - pottery from Ms._May's blog..
IF you 'read between the lines' here you'll understand we only got a couple hours of 'GOOD SLEEP' before we did our 60 mile cycling ride... - that means that - well - MAYBE we would have done better cycling with a bit more sleep???
Next Sunday's ride at Lake Okeechobee we HOPE will have less wind! Rotary Club ride-web-site link here.
From Monday, 8th: - we helped-out at a _windsurfing_event_ on Florida's "space-coast", and the above-right was the un-expected bonus (and though I'm certain it is hard to discern in the above iPhone image) it's really a satellite-launch... The _Cape_Canaveral_VAB_ (Vehicle Assembly Building) was CLEARLY visible to the north..., and the sailing area was less than 2 km from the (extremely sensitive and highly-patrolled) south border of the "Cape"...
yes - the event was chilly on the water - but we met some new people, some from our local windsurfing crowd (he ended up 3rd in his division we think) - and Mr. Bill met-up with several people he hadn't seen in 20 years from his previous life in the windsurfing (masts mostly) industry... anyway - a very enjoyable few days!
Well, today is the 3rd of March, - Mr._Bill's birthday... - no - we will NOT tell you how old we are - but we WILL SAY we are 'old enough to know better', but we still 'do' regardless of knowing better... I should say that a LOT of GOOD THINGS happen to one on one's birthday (even this whole week (so far) has been pretty nice). I got to go hang-gliding on Monday - it was NOT a 'stellar day' but it was still good. When I got home from Hang Gliding, I found my Huggly-Snuggly-Bunch had bought me a "Key-Lime-Birthday-Pie" (one of my most favourite things on the WHOLE PLANET is Key-Lime-Pie - and Publix does this VERY WELL...
One of the BAD things about this birthday is the COLD WEATHER here in Stuart, but we don't (normally) let that stop us. However, I'm definitely a South Florida WIMP!
ONE of the things WE did today was go SAILING - something I'd wanted to do for 'quite some time' - and we finally managed it today - but it was a 'struggle' - we are not sure if we are "OLD" or were "COLD", out there today - (blowing 15-22 knots (at least) out of the northwest - but it were FUN, nevertheless...
Sometimes I think, with these boats (Europe Dinghies) we should add a snorkle to our sailing gear, going off the wind in these things is a real sleigh ride if you can breathe through the spray... They are only about 110 pounds fully rigged and only 11 feet long but plenty of POWER when you sail them. about the nearest thing to these boats is a Laser full-rig, but it has plenty of power, also, and can cost about 1/2 of what these boats do...
Europe Dinghies were used as the single-female Olympic boat for a while (1992, 1996, 2000 (but were replaced by the Laser-Radial)) - but - alas - Ms. May was too light (yeah; I'm too heavy, but they are still a LOT of FUN!)
here's a couple of (iPhone) pictures... (left or first one is 'before'; right or second one is 'after') both are 'clickable for larger version(s)...
NEW TIRES for the recumbent tricycles:
===============================
We also got a new shipment of new Schwalbe Tires in, today, for our recumbent tricycles. I'd already been using Schwalbe tires on my recumbent tricycle for nearly 18 months, now, but Ms._May wanted one on the back of her trike, and the others are spares...
Monday, the 1st of March:
This is what I've been doing with my 'spare time' (of which, of course, I have copious amounts)... The 'rennovation' and 're-configuration' of our almost 15 year old double-decker Trailex trailer has taken, probably, the better part of a month... The 'rennovation' (and washing-out of BUGS) of the two Europe Dinghies took considerably less time... Getting the two boats, (and associated booms, masts, and trolleys) ONTO the Trailex was not a 'trivial matter' - though I perceived it would be (and yes - I perceive a lot of things INCORRECTLY (especially as I lose more hair!))
BUT _ we are NOW READY (I think) to go Sailing - and it looks like Tuesday, 2 March might be the right day (23-33 mph winds are forecast!)?
My_Birthday_ (we will NOT say how old) is Wednesday the 3rd and that might be a good sailing day, also, we'll just have to see. Regardless of whether or not it is great sailing, my Huggly_Bunch bought me a 'key-lime-birthday-pie' - which should be pretty good - but we'll have to eat it all up before we leave on the 4th - so we need to get started on this painful consumption exercise, tonite (the night of the first of March).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
YES _ I went hang-gliding today (my birthday present to myself) - it wasn't a great day (not much lift) and yes - it's been a while so my 'performance' wasn't that great, either, but it was still a VERY NICE DAY to be hang-gliding. Ms._Big_Red_(the barking squirrel) was there - and two new additions to the motely crew that manages the place a couple of VERY VERY friendly cats (quatz?). There are improvements, now, like a real flush toilet (instead of a port-a-potty) as well as a new cabin (for rent) amongst other things... - Improvements all around; now can they do something about the LIFT!?
Some details of my 3 (fairly short) flights are here (but you may see six or seven flights) - don't believe them!.
The flights are not all coordinated - the timing is off (GPS Operator Error (yes - that's my problem, not yours!)) - but eventually I'll get it all sorted out - however the link is / will always be useful
Click on the little glider-icon and/or the little black squiggle to the left of the annotation - you'll get some useful textual information. Then scroll to the bottom of what you get and click on 'Tracklog Statistics', - yields some graphs of the flight(s).
OR OR OR
If you have Google Earth software on your computer; AND you have a good (fast) internet connection THEN you can click on the "Tracklog in Google Earth Format" to get a real thrill with the 3-D image of the flight (assuming you can manipulate Google Earth in 3D).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Then on Thursday the 4th (of March) we go up-state (north for those of you who are geographically challenged) for a few days to volunteer our time at a boardsailing regatta.
Life goes on for the 'busy-ones' - what did we do before we retired? - how did we fit everything in?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OH - just a quickie, here - the Guard Garden continues to grow (and with only rain for water, too!!!)
YES! _ I fully RECOGNIZE this is not the best picture in the world, you've got to consider the subject matter...
My particularly 'visual' sister requested a 'movie' (can NOT IMAGINE why) but nevertheless - I made one
- it's A VERY VERY BASIC iMovie and only about 10 seconds long but it does make them look cuteR than they should be, and it sort of makes you think they are saying, "Gee, isn't this FUN - wiggling in the breeze - aren't we glad Mr._Bill_ picked-us-up and brought us home to plant here?!" (caption also from my visual sister) Guard Garden Movie link here.
OH and Ms._May's new Shimano_SPD_pedals_and_new_cleats showed up today, so tomorrow I'll re-do all that for her, and perhaps we'll get a bit of recumbent tricycle riding in along with other activities?
Here's something that may be boring for some (especially if "Ms_Quat" isn't where she was supposed to be), but for others, this is a 'Network Camera' set-up so that it can take images of "Ms_Quat" (assuming she's around?) link_is_here
These are 'hold-overs' from previous months...
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, 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: 12:32 p.m. on Monday, 22 March, 2010 - from the Macintosh "G5" - revID: 1e