Travels and Thoughts

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WEEK 46 2006

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Saturday 18 November 2006

Saturday - down to Oxnard, and working on the boat. It's a mess.

There was, attached to a single battery,18 gauge, 16 gauge, 14 gauge, 10 gauge, 6 gauge - and some weird stuff. I think it's old house wire. Some of it (a lot), is untinned automotive wire. There are red wires going to the negative terminal, and black wires going to the positive. I have a fused terminal block, and I am trying to run as much as possible of the wiring to that. In addition I had to make sure that there was a fuse on the positive side of charger output, per the insurance companies request.

It all has taken much much longer and cost much much more than I expected. And, sad to say, this is just stopgap - I intend to rip it all out and put in a new wiring harness on of these days...

And, to add insult to injury, it's been gorgeous down in Ventura. About 75F, a clear blue sky, a bit of wind in the afternoon. Not even an evening marine layer.

Friday 17 November 2006

Friday - a busy day. And it will be a busy weekend.

This is cool. There are now 348 known stars within 10 parsecs (33 light years) of Earth.

And the Leonids might be good for people on the east coast this year. [via A Voyage to Arcturus]. I don't think I've the energy to head out to find dark sky tonight.

Friday cat blogging:

Riley, rolling on the warm concrete.

Thursday 16 November 2006

Thursday - went to the flight surgeon and passed the medical, somewhat to my surprise. Possibly I turned my head to the left and coughed with particular panache?

But it does mean I have to come up to speed on the VXI data acquisition box and software that I'll be using on the G-III. Before next Monday afternoons' flight. Monday morning I get checked out on the G-III itself. We've another F-15B flight tomorrow afternoon, so I need to look at today's flight stuff before then, once it gets posted on the server. So, it looks like another busy day tomorrow.

I've got wiring to do on the boat this weekend. Perhaps I'll just call the insurance company and ask beg for an extension on the repairs.

Ah, the unmistakable sounds of a cat having a "sick up" in the other room - gotta go.

Wednesday 15 November 2006

Wednesday - it looks like I may go up on a test flight. Another engineer was scheduled, but will be out of town when they fly next week. So, I agreed to do it. But it means I have to get a 3rd class medical tomorrow. (Which is cool, because then I can get to use the gym as well.)

But it does mean I have to fast for the blood sampling overnight. I'm not very functional before my coffee, so that will be interesting.

Not a lot else to say - there is at least one flight tomorrow, and I spent a couple hours discussing and writing a memo about some flight safety stuff - nothing too exciting, alas.

I do have a friend celebrating a birthday today, so I conspired with his wife and other friends at his work place to have balloons sent to him at work.

Happy Birthday!!

Tuesday 14 November 2006

Tuesday - again, not a lot to say.

I think I'll go check up on my TIVO...

Monday 13 November 2006

Monday - a long day, crunching some numbers, so not a lot to say.

Book #47 is Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratt. It's an entertaining story, a fantasy with a british slant of humor to it. It is one of the innumerable Diskworld series (a quick check says it is, in fact, #30 in that series), set in a flat world, supported by four elephants who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A'tuin.... Judging by the image search, linked in the prior sentence, he (A'tuin) is swimming through space.

No, apparently it isn't "...elephants, all the way down."

And yes, I think I've blogged about Diskworld, or perhaps just the elephants, before.

Because, you know, everybody likes elephants.

Sunday 12 November 2006

Sunday - slept in, watched the Chargers' pull out a win (a good game to watch, but the lack of defense suggests trouble for both teams at the end of the season), and eventually headed north to Lancaster. Not a bad drive, a little slow near the 91 interchange.

Near Lake Elsinore I could see a fire burning on the hills across the valley. Very beautiful, at night, like the biggest Christmas light display anywhere.

Which displays are, by the way, already popping up. There is a Christmas tree in the cafeteria at work. There is a Christmas theme on Amazons' main page - or was, the other day, though it seems to be back to normal today - and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Sheesh.

Picture of the Week

Photo Notes: Another Hummingbird photo.

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