Sub-Saharan Setset in Two Viewpoints

The is sets visibly here in the desert.  Here is a shot looking over the mine at 1x.

Seconds later (9 sec) a second photo at the same area though at 12x

A Russian, a Mauritanian and a Yankee walk onto a construction site.....

My friend Igor and a project foreman are pictured in front of the new 20MW power plant being built at the mine site.  The plant is a virtual twin to the one at Kupol.  Inside and out, there are hundreds of folks putting it all together for a mid-year start-up.

Low Tech Solution

Flies are an on again/off again problem here in the desert.  Recently the problem is on again though the flypaper seems to be doing the trick.  Hopefully they don't start weighing too much and pull down the ceiling grid :)

Cha-Cha-ing the Santa Catalina

Seems everyone thought the Santa Catalina was nice in 2-D....awesome in 3-D with the funny glasses.

My ride over to the mainland today

~2hrs to Africa and a 45min hop to the site in a turboprop.

Introducing the Hotel Santa Catalina

View of the front of the hotel where I stay while on the island......taking one for the team before heading out for the site.  About a 2km/~1 mile leisurely walk to the office.

Going Out on Top!!!

We all know that the Littlest Princess knows how to SING and DANCE but it looks like some of her classmates do too!

Way to go Class of 2013!

Duck Squeezers-R-Us (not really but it's good PR)

On the recent weekend on the Time and Tide, one of the many small 12vdc overhead lamps burned out.  I bought an inexpensive replacement but also investigated direct replacement LED lamps as well in anticipation of being away from the dock for extended periods....like months :)

This past weekend the First Mate and I spent some time aboard preparing for spring (fire the woodchuck please).  I brought a stash of the new LED lamps for replacing some of the existing incandescent lamps.  Each new LED lamp arrived in its own anti-static mylar bag--I bought a mix of warm and cool white.

Here is one of the little light fixtures spread throughout the cabins.  We have nearly thirty of these little guys all over the place.

Inside of the lens and bezel...a bit dusty after a decade of life aboard.

Here is the original incandescent lamp without the lens--10 watts of energy and it gets very warm (like in don't touch it or you'll leave your fingerprints burned in the glass).

Lamp off and cooling before replacement.

Here is the comparison between the two lamps.  The LED disk is a tight fit but is made for this type of replacement in marine and RVs.

Fairly simple breadboarding on the backside of the LED lamp.

Here is the cool white LED lamp sans lens---pretty intense.

LED lamp with lens in place.  Very cool burning and only ~3 watts in all for a 70% reduction in energy use.  I must say that the warm white lamps are about the same in lumen output and accent the woodwork nicely.  The cool white lamps I placed over areas for task lighting were much nicer for seeing things in detail.

Alpha Kit

This little guy has by far been the most active of the litter of kits born recently.  Looks to be a total of four young ones....watch out world they'll be coming to see you soon!

Irish Foxes

Obviously, the foxes are Irish here behind the house as they brought out the little ones to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this afternoon.

Out with the old....

An oldie but very much a goodie in her day (dual DVI outputs!).  Finally couldn't handle the fan noise anymore and the occasional incompatibilities (think random blue screens).

New card....many more times as powerful and uses much less power.  Most importantly she is for all intents, noiseless while powering the dual monitors.  Game on!

Green Power

The pump in the solar powered birdbath (a great gift many moons ago) has had issues the last couple of years.  I saw a fairly inexpensive solar powered pump (like $6) over the winter and hoped it would be a good retrofit.  With the little statuary girl holding the panel, the water is once again splashing and gurgling.

Waiting on a few more things to kick off the season...

...like warmer weather.  Things are looking good for great kick-off to the swim season here in Tennessee.  Just need to get the water temperature up another 40 degrees or so.

Springtime Daffodils

A few of the clusters of daffodils around the front walk.  While a few groups decided to bloom weeks early, the rest were pretty much on schedule.

For all the nerds (read Clarks) out there....

Have got to get me a pair of better graphic cards :)

Foxes all around

Springtime seemingly brings out the local foxes as they begin to actively forage for food and prepare to raise their kits.  The neighborhood provides plenty of cover from people, dogs and coyotes to raise their families.  The pair behind our house are frequent guests and don't mind a stray human or two to be around...at a good distance.

One Score and Four...many, many more to go!

Twenty-four years ago today a lovely fair maiden went "all-in" and eloped with a somewhat wayward, bearded young man for reasons unknown to him (his face yet unseen!).  Many moons, several homes and three incredible children later, the fair and beautiful maiden still finds the somewhat slower, older and increasingly hirsute young man her main squeeze.  Here's a toast that she continues to look with nearsightedness through those same rose-colored glasses for many more scores of years to come!

Happy Anniversary First Mate!!!

Fortunately after shaving off the beard she liked what she saw and never asked to cover it up again :)

That's a Wrap!

Three for Three in the kids to college category!

Miss B

Padawan Young Jedi

And the Littlest Princess

Almost time to become a full time beach bum :)

Communication Center

A bit of 3D going on here to show the dishes and tower at the communication building.  In the background is the mill---no building needed here in the desert.  The mill team uses a construction type crane for their everyday maintenance and operation tasks.

Desert Cat

Our cat Delilah has a sister in the desert.....a very friendly one.