VII & Connected Vehicles

Here is a good article on the type of elements that I design for the transportation industry.  The Feds (USDOT & FHWA) are spending a lot of time developing these types of systems that will allow much more traffic to occupy a given bit of roadway and to do that in safety.  This urls should give you just a bit of an insight of what the near future holds for the automobile driver.  Be sure to download the pdf from the site too.

http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov//JPODOCS/BROCHURE//14397.htm

Another evening of kayaks

I adheared to the same schedule as last night. Dinner tonight was at Steak n Shake – I love the 5 Way Chile.  Then on to Barnes & Noble to read some books.  I stayed with kayaks again tonight but did a little more detailed reading on the various subjects.  the author plugged his designs and he is from Great Britain and a proponent of small cockpits and openings and longer lengths.  Admittedly, he is an ocean kayaker that goes very long distances in all kinds of conditions.  I need a book about the kind of kayaks to use on inland waterways and rivers.  A lot of the rivers I am on are more narrow that the 17′ sea kayak that seems the norm.  So how do I turn around?

Barnes & Noble

After working all day, doing 40 minutes of meditation and eating dinner I went to B&N to do a little research.  They had exactly two books on kayaking.  One was more for the whitewater river runners and the other was more of a ground up kayaking 101.  I read the interesting bits but did not really get the info I was after.

There are long kayaks and there are real short ones and all sizes in between.  Not only that there is one called a fish style and one called Swede.  Then there is a term called Rocker.  After that you have to get a paddle and there a thousand types for those.  If you want to go on cold water in the winter you need a dry suit, a skirt and a few other necessities that have hundreds of styles.

Understand this equipment is not cheap.  We are talking a couple of grand and that is for just one.  For other applications you need two or three types.  This leads to serious money.  I feel defeated already and then there is the equipment tha SAM needs. Wow.  What to do.

Interesting Weekend

This weekend has been interesting.  Beth, oldest daughter, living in Germany with her two sons came to our house Staurday with her husband Ingo and son Garrett and baby Alex.  we exchanged Christmas presents and played Yatzee.  Even I played a game and that is unusual as I can find plenty to do in my solitary way.  But we had fun and it was sad to see them go after only 9 hours.  I will say that this is the longest we have seen them for years.

Today we went to church and then had lunch and took a nap.  After that we went out to look for one of our Geocaches that apparently had gone missing – indeed it had so we will archive this cache as it is right next to a deer stand and I’ll bet the hunter wanted the ammo can that our cache was in.  After that we went to Fish Creek Trail in Hamilton to walk that trail and to check on another cache we had there – It was in place OK.

Pretty soon it will be time to start packing for the trek North tomorrow AM.  The day was reasonably warm at 33-36 degrees in light mist and snow with a slight SW wind.  Perfect for trail walking. 

Hilton Honors

Complements of Hilton next door I am on the internet.  I wanted to place a buy on URS stock at $44.50 in hopes of a bargin.  We will see what happens tomorrow.  If the market is down then I will probably get the block.  If not I re -evaluate early in the AM.

Yesterday I was in Detroit and found out a frind of mine is retiring and it seems appropriate for me too.  Ah, what to do.  Anyway it was a 12 hr day and I slept good until the buzzer this AM at 0630.  With all this extra time this week, Friday will be a short day unless something else comes along.

Well, I am tired of sitting in the lobby of my cheap hotel that cannot even get the internet running.  Maybe time for a new hotel.

High Temperatures & Rain

Up at the crack of dawn and drive to GR.  The Monday morning saga continues.  My jobs are running low but tomorrow we drive to Detroit for an OEC meeting.  There is a little work here and there but it looks like I’ll have find some new work or retire soon.

Well, it is up at 0500 for the drive to Detroit so I better finish the SciFi program, take a shower and hit the hay.

Off to the big town

Today was the day to return some Christmas presents that did not fit to Kohl’s.  We left at 1100 and returned about 1630.  Olive Garden was real near so we stopped there for lunch – soup and salad for $5.99 each.  We had two bowls of soup each and two of the salad.  What a good lunch.  On to Penney’s to look for new curtains for the new windows.

When we returned home we put the curtains back up, ate dinner and are now looking at Hillary’s New Hampshire presentation to a group of its’ citizens.  I like her.

New Windows

With great expectations a local small contractor installed our new Pella windows in the living and master bedrooms.  The were almost finished today and they will be back tomorrow to finish the other area.  We were very pleased until I felt the air coming through the windows at the hinge area of the casement window.  The wind was hardly even blowing – what happens in a 25kt SW wind?  The contractor is bringing out the Pella Window Rep next Friday around noon.

2.5 Hr Drive & Cacuses

I left work just before 1700 hrs. Price of gasoline was $3.19 and I had over half a tank.  Charlotte is usually cheaper but tonight it was $3.23 so I just drove on to Indiana where the price was $3.11 in the city and $3.18 near home.  I’ll wait for the weekend and the outlet mall price of $2.99 I saw near the toll road.

We are supposed to have much higher temperatures tomorrow.  The contractor is supposed to put in the new Pella windows tomorrow and I hope it is warmer with all the heat just going out the window. Opps, now they are forcasting highs in the 20’s out of the SW so out the window goes the heat.

The Iowa Cacus is sort of interesting but I sure hate the talking heads and even more the polls.  I hate those predictions.  It makes you think that you should not even vote or attend the events let alone watch it on TV.  The had Edwards and Huckelbee coming out on top.

Short Work Week

With Monday and Tuesday off it makes for a short work week.  It has become impossible to write this blog from the hotel as I cannot get a reliable connection.  Sometimes with  a little luck I can get email if they are short but most of the time no way.

Last night my old tape player finally gave up the ghost and started chewing up tapes – expensive store bought tapes.  I straightened them out and wound past the newly made bad spots and it chewed it up again and again.  Three times is enough so off to Meijers I go to buy a portable CD player – the cheapest they had was $19.99 so I bought it.  I saw a less expensive unit in Indiana but I did not run all over town at 2000 hrs (before dinner) looking for the cheapest price.

So anyway I do the CD that I had just ripped the night before using Windows Media Player.  I burned it at the highest sample rate and it sounded great.  I was somewhat surprised.  I think the rate was 192Kbps.  the ear buds from the tape player sounded good so I will continue with them.  I don’t like the foam feeling against my ears.  I think I will leave the foam headset at work for the webinars. 

I ate at the old standby Brauns and had the Sizzler  which was so so (well done on the thin end and medium well on the thick end).  Back at the hotel I just decided to read a bit and lights out just before 2200 hrs.