Stream stander

Here's LRN1 standing by a stream. In 2005. Been a while. Part of my famous Camping series.

Well, LRN26 appears to have gotten it right. He correctly surmised that Monday's temple picture was taken from high atop the Conference Center. I now remember going up there, so I must have taken the picture there. There's nowhere else I could have taken it from unless I had chartered a helicopter, which I don't remember doing. So the Conference Center it was.

No post yesterday. It was Massive Meeting Tuesday. I went directly there from work and went pretty much directly to bed when I got home. Sorry about that, Loyal Readers.

Tonight's Cruise Eve! It's the night when all the good girls and boys make their packing lists and check them twice, do their remaining laundry, get out their passports, and generally get ready to go. All but the packing. We're going to get that done early tomorrow morning.

And that means blogging will be exceptionally sporadic for the next ten days. Keep checking in, though, Loyal Readers, as I hope to find free wifi somewhere in Alaska. I might even pay for it on the ship if it turns out to be cheap enough. We'll just have to see.

We have some tragic news here on the Morrowlife blog. Brace yourselves. The Weinermobile had a small incident. I think this must be the worst thing ever to happen in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin. Possibly the only thing.

Time to make that list. I'm super double excited to go. See you . . . umm . . . soon. With lots of new Great Art!

Comment!!

Temple

Here's the Salt Lake temple. Picture taken from . . . umm . . . I'm not quite sure. I took it, though. I'm sure about that.

We're back! Had a great time at Young Women camp. The girls enjoyed it and so did we adults. I'm exhausted still, and I have about a zillion mosquito bites on my arms, but I can't otherwise complain. The weather was beautiful and the company was good too.

I had the trailer parked near the exit from the camp in a beautiful, private little clearing. I put the awning up, the carpet out, and a couple of comfy chairs and my hammock in front. Looked particularly inviting. Stupidly, I took absolutely no photos. I also spent essentially no non-sleep time there. Too busy fixing toilets and taking out trash. But it was a great week.

I'm back to work, and things are as usual. There are a ton of things to get done by Wednesday, every one of which is more urgent than all the others. I'll get it all done somehow. Or not.

And then we're off to Alaska on Thursday. (Link update: The mystery's solved!) Really looking forward to it. There are lots of preparations to be made - LRN4 bought the food for LRN1 and LRN2 and is working on our mountain of clothes to wash. She and I both need haircuts. I have to go to Massive Meeting Tuesday. We both need to make lists and pack (the latter of which will probably happen on Thursday morning before our departure). Probably need to gas up a couple of cars. The list goes on and on.

And then we relax.

LRN1 and LRN2 will be climbing Half Dome and doing some boating with the Scouts this weekend, which should be a pleasant diversion for both of them.

Not many comments on my Very Special Vacation Comment Thread. Hopefully, I'll be able to make at least occasional posts from Alaska. Or the Morrowlife blog may collapse completely. What happened, Loyal Readers?

I wrote a whole bunch more on my iPhone, but it disappeared, so I'm not going to try to recreate any more. Instead, I'll leave you with today's toilet news: The Russian space toilet is on the fritz again.

Important update: It's fixed! For now.

YW camp thread

Go wild, Loyal Readers.

Happy vacationers

Here are (a much younger) LRN1 and LRN16 having a great day at the Detroit Zoo, a few years ago. Looks like fun. We need to get together more often.

Pretty good day, not to mention a busy one. Got the pool and pond filters cleaned - badly needed. Also went to Costco with LRN4 to buy a couple of chairs, which we put in the loft where the computer desk had been, which we put in the loft where the bookcase had been, which we put in the game/sewing/exercise/server room. Spent quite a long time getting the massive clump of wires under the computer desk arranged. It looks much neater now. The room looks good too, and there are now more comfortable places to sit.

Didn't write any talks yet. I need to get that done tomorrow - at least the first one, anyway. It's still not clear whether I'll have time to work on the future talks at YW camp. I'm starting to believe in the affirmative. I just need to take my scriptures, a few talks, and something to write on and with. And my hammock. Of course.

We also spent about four hours helping with the Eagle project. Made good progress. They were hoping to be done today, but they'll need to finish up tomorrow. We can't make it again, but we do wish them well.

Situation otherwise normal. Looking forward to a good night's sleep and a great weekend.

There's some shocking toilet news today. Remember: guns and toilets don't mix. Reminds me of my former coworker in Virginia. She told me one day that she had dropped three cell phones in toilets. I can see that happening once - accidents will happen, after all. Maybe even twice, after you're lulled into a false sense of security believing it couldn't happen again. But three times? That's just excessive.

See you a week from Monday. Wish me luck at camp! Leave some messages on my Very Special Camp Thread!

Hood ornament

Here's the radiator cap from a Model T depot hack. Great Art taken at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. It was a beautiful truck, and beautifully restored.

More Extreme Short Shrift. No excuse tonight, except that LRN1 and I replaced the battery on LRN4's trusty old iPod Mini tonight. It came in the mail and seemed like the thing to do. The replacement went relatively smoothly and seems to work perfectly. Huzzah!

Anyway. The work week is over and the YW Camp vacation has begun. I feel better already. All I have left to do is to write a Spanish-language talk for Sunday, write another talk for Wednesday morning, write another talk for the following Sunday, help at an Eagle project tomorrow, get the trailer, fix the trailer hitch, pack up, and go to camp. Should be easy.

Oh, and I really ought to clean the pool and pond filters. Plus, there's plenty of MARV work to be done. That Navigation system won't write itself. Plus, the Guidance and Autopilot systems need to be designed.

Let's end with yet more food violence news: Sauce and pickle attack!

See you tomorrow.

Fire plug

Here's a candid shot from LRN1's Eagle Scout project a few years back. With all the Eagle stuff we've been doing, it seems appropriate to look back. That thing looks pretty nice there, no? Although perhaps just a little difficult to see. Featuring an appearance by a much younger LRN2.

More Short Shrift today. I had to go to Tracy to issue a Young Women camp calling. That may have been the last one for this year.

Not much else to discuss. Good day at work. I only have one more to go before YW camp, so I ought to be busy tomorrow.

No posts next week. There's not even an cell phone signal up there. I'll try to remember to leave a Loyal Reader link for you to leave scintillating comments.

I'm hoping to post at least a few times during the cruise that starts the following week. There ought to actually be some decent Great Art too.

Today's food violence news: There's nothing lower than a bologna thief. This guy's picture looks just like your typical lunchmeat felon, doesn't it?

See you tomorrow.

Blogger on rock

Here's me standing on a rock at Worlds End State Park in Pennsylvania. Part of my famous Camping series.

Extreme Short Shrift tonight. I came home way early today for a medical appointment (have no fear, Loyal Readers - I was having my allergy medicine prescription renewed and getting some anti-seasickness patches for the cruise) and spent the afternoon comfortably at home, but hung around with LRN4's book group friends when I ought to have been blogging. My loss is your gain.

Not much new, fortunately. Not anything, in fact.

So let's have some food violence and move along: I admit it's not exactly violent, but it any news that combines elephants and the World Champion Cranberry Sauce Eater is worth reading, if you ask me.

See you tomorrow.

Cherry picker

Here's LRN1 picking cherries. Great Art taken last year, but reminiscent of our experience this year.

No post Friday. Sadly, none of the Loyal Readers seemed to notice. I was busy enjoying the holiday.

Which we did. Didn't do much. Worked on the sprinklers some, swam for a few hours in the nice, warm water, did a little programming, watched some TV, napped, and generally relaxed.

Lardville did their fireworks show on Friday night, as predicted. Apparently, they were avoiding some overtime payments. Good idea. The show was quite nice. We walked five minutes down the street and watched from our neighborhood park, which was convenient. No crowds.

I heard that some cash-starved cities around here canceled their fireworks shows this year, so we're grateful for what we have.

Made some Limited MARV progress. I got a rudimentary, non-functional navigation system written and started testing it. There's WAY too much noise. I'm currently working on ways to filter data. It looks like I'll have to come up with a motion threshold too - the Arduino is interpreting the noise as motion, and it seems to be non-Gaussian in nature. I'm also toting with the idea of constant recalibration of the zero point in order to combat accelerometer drift. Need to keep it simple while I'm at it.

Anyway. LRN1 is delighted to report that he got SD card writing working this afternoon. That's our last hardware obstacle, so we're excited about it. Now we have to solve thorny software problems. And then there will be packaging. Need to start figuring that out soon.

The weather has cooled down a bit but remains sunny and warm. No complaints. Other than that it needs to be a little warmer to keep the pool water swimmable. It's always something, isn't it?

Sadly, LRN5 canceled her weekend visit. I hope you had a nice time anyway, LRN5!

We're also missing LRN2. Hope you're having a great time at LRN21's house, LRN2! Leave a comment!

Here's today's food violence news: Mugged by a bear. What's up with all this sandwich violence lately?

See you tomorrow.

Cruiser

Here's a cruise ship leaving Port Canaveral. I've got cruising on the mind. Part of my famous Machinery series.

Busy day, busy evening. Attended the Branch's Elders Quorum presidency meeting. It went well. Their home teaching is outstanding, and they're working on making it even better.

And the holiday weekend is starting to fill up too. Friday, we have an Eagle court of honor to attend, yard work to do, my new dresser to get set up, and a fireworks show to attend. Apparently, they're doing the fireworks on Friday to avoid paying overtime on the Fourth. Whatever.

Saturday, we're attending another young man's Eagle project fundraiser - a car wash. I'll get one or two cars done.

I also have one more Young Women camp calling to make. Plus, I'm absolutely committed to getting the MARV navigation system coded and working. Also the guidance and autopilot systems, if possible. And I need to help LRN1 get the data logging capability working and/or the display screen. I need one or the other to confirm the nav system is working.

Sunday will be as usual - quite busy.

Also, I want to spend at least a little time in the pool. Busy, busy, busy.

Things remain extremely busy in the toilet aviation world: And powerful.

See you tomorrow.

Ford's projector

Here's Henry Ford's movie projector. Great Art taken at the Fairlane Estate in May 2008. Part of my famous Machinery series.

Regular day. Nothing to talk about, really. Worked a little, went to a bunch of meetings, commuted. Beautiful weather. No complaints.

One more work day this week, followed by the three-day holiday.

Today's toilet news: The age-old dilemma has finally been solved! Check out their pricing - the more you buy, the more they cost. Brilliant!

And it's 9:00 - time for bed. See you tomorrow.