Weekend Bloom

A just opened sunflower is ringed by unblossomed Asiatic lillies on the back deck.  The sunflower was is a party crasher from the bird feeder a few feet behind it.

3D close-up

Mid-Summer Walkway Showing Off

The Hostas and the Daylillies are competing against each other for bragging rights to Best in Show.  Good 3-D fodder as well.

First Veggies from the Garden This Year

It has been a slow year in the garden so far.  A long, cool, wet spring followed by a dearth of broccoli plants anywhere local and then my new best friends, the Voles (since banished), decided they liked tomato plants--the roots anyway.  Things are starting to look up though as the peppers (bell, banana, jalapeno, chili, etc.)  are doing awesome, the few lasting tomato plants have really taken off, the relocated squash (zucchini and crookneck) plants seem to be doing well and the bush beans (in lieu of broccoli) have started producing.

The photo shows the veggies that went along with some grilled chicken breast seasoned Cajun style for Sunday's supper.

As my friend Igor says..."Aliens in my camera!"

On a recent trip to the Sahara desert in Africa, my friend Igor's camera developed spots in his photos.  We both agreed that dust had some how gotten into his camera.  He jokingly referred to this as "Aliens in my camera!"  At that time, my camera showed no ill effects of the ever present dust.  However a few weeks later on a visit to Alaska, "aliens" invaded my camera as well.  Here is a zoomed photo of part of the Denali range with the different spots on the photo.

When I got home I of course did what I usually have done with things in the past...I took the camera apart :)  After removing lots of tiny screws, numerous ribbon cables and the liberal application of a can of newly acquired compressed air---the "alien" invasion has been repelled for now.  The sensor in the camera was indeed covered in tiny dust motes I suspect from Africa as well.  The photo I took shows an up close flash photo of a blank sheet of paper---with the nose of the camera in the lower left corner.

Father's Day Present

The Littlest Princess gave me a nice present for Father's Day.  I think I can work out who the "little princess" is, but hopefully all the tongue-in-cheek metaphorical meanings end about there.  I'm obviously not tall enough, don't look my best in basic black and I loathe hats of any kind---now all that "Feel the power of the Dark Side" stuff?   I'm good with that :)

Challenges of Dual Monitors

I truly love having dual monitors but there is a lot of stress in coming up with just the perfect wallpaper to suit my mood......I think I found one that fits the requirements :)

Mom, Dad and the Grad

Proud parents with Mackenzie on her big night!

Congratulations to Littlest Princess

The Littlest Princess graduated high school tonight and was pretty excited about the whole thing :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Proud mother yesterday at MTSU!!!

The fun never ends

Guess want started leaking in the basement last night......

Fun with digital cameras

Once a DIY starts thinking "let me get my digital camera" then many things get a whole lot easier.  In this case I was wondering about the wiring and removal of a gauge on the Time and Tide.  It was an aftermarket fix due to the company that made the hardware/software for reading the tankage levels went out of business.  Fortunately there are some modern fixes that will allow the tweeb in the photo to get it all working again once he finds out where all the wiring goes.

(The bastards glued it in!)

Living Life Like a Song

Doing a little Spring Cleaning inside the Time and Tide this weekend in preparation of another sailing season.  I replaced on of our standard fare nautical-type prints with a present from last Christmas.  Not sure which song yet but I think I'm begining to hear the "Middle 8" :)

Thank you again Miss B and Madison

Special Event

Something big is happening at MTSU on the 11th this month :D

dwc

Test

dwc

Member of a Rarified Club

The Littlest Princess, who scored some impressive bling during this year's Honors Banquet at Dyersburg High School (Golden Honor roll, ACT 30+ Club, Trojan Scholar), is shown top and center on the ACT 30+ Club member list.  An impressive acomplishment that saves her parents plenty of $ in college costs :)

Tracking the First Mate of the Time and Tide

Powering up the radar...... 

An American and a Ghanaian chat about Statistical Analysis

My new Ghanaian friend, Ernest Boateng-Okrah, and I are talking about how to use our operational data in Minitab---a software "stat pack".  The use of this software tool can help show where to focus our efforts and if these efforts are improving the processes.  Most of my time is spent on site supporting the teams in ways such as this and the great thing is that not only is it measurable in the results but personally rewarding as well :)

Igor gets introduced to anaglyphs

I made a couple of anaglyphs and shared with Igor one of him at the power plant.  He thought it was rather cool....even the glasses.

Shopping Trip

A Yankee, a Russian, and a Pole walk into a Muslim convenience store with 20 Euros.  Who got the best deal?

Hint: It wasn't the Yankee or Russian......

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.