Herbs, Tea, Rocks and Dirt

Munich 2026 Visit

2026-10-04T08:05:06.336-04:00

Munich 2026 September 6 - 16

Headed to Munich for our granddaughter's 4th birthday, first time Oktoberfest was far enough away that the hotel and flight costs were not exorbitant.

Alpine Museum

Finally made it to this museum, either we never had time or it was being refurbished. Outside the museum, there was a rock garden, 2 examples of mountain refuges and a pathway flanked with large rocks with their mineral names shown.

First Aide Kit

Death, your constant companion

Rock Garden

Mineral Museum

Saw rocks. Got an old man discount and a family discount. Did not get to try the fluffy Japanese pancakes which were in der Nähe.

Museum Fünf Kontinente

Frauenkirche from the 5 Continents Museum

Below are 3 views of the Regierung von Oberbayern (Government building) on the other side of the street from the museum.

AsamKirche

Very gaudy interior, AKA St. Johann Nepomuk, built as a private church by 2 brothers. Located on Sendlinger Straße not far from the Sendlinger Tor city gate. Got reprimanded for not removing my hat while I was inside.

AsamKirche

St. Michael München

Found on Neuhauser Straße across from a TK Maxx. Tallest cross we've ever seen. Sat for a few minutes listening to the organ play and left thinking it was for a mass (Catholic church), only to see once outside it was a lunchtime organ recital.

St. Michaels

Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung

An exhibition about Hair, quite interesting.

Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) at Marienplatz

We had previously seen the glockenspiel chiming so didn't stick around for it.

Rear of Neues Rathaus on the way to the Hair exhibit.

Random Stuff

Building on the way to granddaughter's party in the park

Oktoberfest Construction on the way to Kuchen Tratsch

Rindermarkt 10, 80331 München, Germany

Lowenbrau on the way to Tante Emma's

Molding at Tante Emma's

LED Modem Constellation Display

2026-08-02T07:38:18.372-04:00

In the early 1980s while working at Bell Labs, I was tasked with testing our modems for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) compliance. The work was performed in the EMC test building, which was located on the campus, but required a car ride. All Equipment to be tested and used for testing was required to be brought along. Two pieces of equipment required were a digital modem constellation display converter and a small Constellation Display oscilloscope.

A constellation diagram is a diagram that shows how the information in a digital modulation scheme is represented on a modulated carrier. The display shows when the modem has completed training and is stable and ready to be measured for EMC compliance. Below are some constellations that would be seen after the modem had trained.

8PSK Constellation

QPSK Constellation

16 QAM Constellation

There were many pieces of equipment required to be brought along and I had previously seen a schematic for a 100 LED oscilloscope in a Radio Shack hobby book. I figured I could leave the oscilloscope behind if I could get the LED oscilloscope to work with the constellation generator circuit.

After some initial prototyping, a schematic was provided to the union technician who did a beautiful job. The display granularity was not great, but was adequate for determining when training was complete.

Rainbow cable connected to modem test connector.

The banana plugs on the Constellation Converter are for the X, Y and ground when connecting to a oscilloscope.

Official Constellation Converter PCB

LED Oscilloscope Display Circuit

Below are the schematics for the LED display and the parts required. I no longer remember what circuit was programmed into the Altera EP600 Erasable Programmable Logic Device (EPLD).

Santa Over the Years

2026-07-06T06:45:26.089-04:00

Santa

2026

Major production for Santa's fourth showing at the Fourth. Santa up the shark infested creek without a paddle. The most involved Santa float yet.

Supporting members:

Front stabilizer

Rear Stabilizer, used to clamp to the canoe's rear transom.

These two stabilizers did a great job keeping the canoe in place.

Canoe Transport/Setup Items

Front tow eye Subaru
Front/back ropes
Cross bars
Straps to cross bars (yellow and green)
Rear flag

Parade Float Items

Sand bags(6)
Foam blocks
Wrench, flat & Phillips screwdriver, dykes, pliers
Front stabilizer
Inverted “T” Rear stabilizer with black pad
Blue sheet
Rope
Duct tape
Santa signs at front of boat screwed to seat
4 weights for bottom of Santa signs
NYC Parks Flag with leaf at transom
Zip ties
Umbrella
Cushion
Chair in case
American flag on Creek sign, Phene’s, Kev Inn, Mohlenhoff’s Florist, McNamara’s picnic grounds
Sign pole and base
5 Cardboard water/waves section
Small Cooler
Ice blocks
Water
Shark fin (2) on waves

Steps to Follow

Put down stabilizers
Put down sand bags on them
Strap front
Tighten back
Rope from front to bed?
Additional sand bags by santa feet
Add foam blocks
Screw santa signs to bow
Parks flag zip tied to rear
Cover rear with blue sheet, tie a knot
Put Cushion, umbrella in canoe
Place waves around canoe
Duct tape strings to gunnels, duct tape sections together
Put pole on stand
Add place names to pole, tighten top clamp
Add flag/town name
Collapse

Other Parade day Items

Hat
Bandana
Hand sanitizer
Bag
Radio
Sash/pins
Water
Ibuprofen
Re-hydration powder
Cough drops
Cliff bars (2)

2025

Santa at the barbecue, cooking up some reindeer sausages. Weber grill made of Papier-mâché. Child's ride on bounce ball used as a form for the top and bottom parts of the grill.

2024

Santa's second appearance, new stand for displaying his sign. Still a simple float, Santa at the 19th hole, AKA the bar, getting toasted.

2023

Santa's first appearance in the Travis 4th of July Parade. Simple setting, Santa fishing.

Tulips in the Netherlands

2026-04-27T10:39:00.005-04:00

Road Scholar Bountiful Holland: Tulips & Gardens by Riverboat

Day 1: Tuesday, April 7, In Transit

EWR - AMS Flight United 70, the 5:45PM flight was delayed (2 hours and 45 minutes), we were wheels off at 8:30PM on another plane. There was an issue with the nose gear door and Boeing did not have a quick solution. We only arrived 1 hour and 10 minutes late at 8:25AM, using up lots jet fuel on the trip.

Day 2: Wednesday April 8, Haarlem

Arrived to Schiphol* airport and had a long bus ride from the plane which was parked way out on the tarmac, far, far away from the terminal, followed by an hour long wait at customs. On the plus side, our room at the Carlton Square Hotel was ready. We went on a 1:45PM walking tour of Haarlem (photos below) and had a 4PM orientation meeting with our Green Group leader Saskia. Dinner was at the hotel.

*The airport is located on reclaimed land which was once part of the sea and had many sea battles and lots of sunken ships, so it was called "Hell for Ships" or Schiphol .

Day 3: Thursday, April 9, Haarlem

Following breakfast at the hotel, there was an hour long lecture by a family member of the WAM Penning tulip growers. We checked out of the hotel and boarded 3 separate buses by color group (blue, green and yellow) leaving at 10:30AM to Keukenhoff Gardens. We has a basic tour by our guide (who has a tulip named after her) and then went out on our own. There was a 3PM departure to the ship moored back in Haarlem, we arrived and boarded around 4PM.

Our cabin was 105, very tight

Day 4: Friday, April 10, In Transit

After breakfast we had an 8AM coach to AMS for a boat tour and a walking tour. I barely made the bus ride and boat tour without disaster (I blame the horse sausages from breakfast) and couldn't make the walking tour. Spent that time sitting in a cafe in the back of the main Amsterdam train station. We had an 11:30AM coach for the return to the boat. Remainder of the day was spent cruising to Gouda, I spend the remainder of the day on the bed watching the world go by.

WW II Dutch Mine Sweeper

Day 5: Saturday April 11, Gouda

We had a walking tour in the morning and lunch at restaurant Swing in the market square At 2:30PM there was a cheese and beer tasting at the Weighing House, where cheese used to be verified prior to sale at the market. We went on the Kamphuisen Siroopwafelfabriek AKA Syrup Waffle Factory tour after lunch and some walking around. Brief rain shower on the way back to the boat was all the rain we had on the whole trip.

Medieval Hospital, now a museum

St. John church decorations

Famous Lonely Bear of Gouda

Ferry across the Hollandsche IJssel river

Day 6: Sunday, April 12, In Transit

In the morning we had a tour of the Kinderdiijk (a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Netherlands), 19 windmills, used to pump water. We visited one that was operating at the time. The boat was parked nearby.

11 of the 19 Windmills

water wheel visible through door

Crap short afternoon Rotterdam walking tour, technical difficulties and crap local tour guide. Rotterdam was bombed in WW II so much of the old architecture was replaced. Then back to the boat for the return overnight journey to Amsterdam.

The Cube Homes

Sunglass Hutte

Day 7: Monday, April 13, Amsterdam

This day after breakfast on board the boat, the 3 groups went on their separate ways seeing different things in different orders.

First for us was the Royal Flora Holland, Flower Auction, 90 minutes from sale to off the premises.

Next we had a tour of the bulb fields by Tom of J.G.J. Hulsebosch en Zn. Beeklaan 17. He gave us a guided tour covering the whole process of growing bulbs for sale and talked a bit about his work in China for the family. They grew tulip, hyacinth and daffodils bulbs, he described how they propagate hyacinth bulbs and that is now on my list of things to do.

Kerkhof De Zilk

We visited a greenhouse museum, they propagated so many Lilacs along with lots of other plants. They move stuff around using the small prams in the canals that surround the greenhouses and gardens.

Last visit was to Arcadia Chrysanten De Kwakel a highly automated cut mum greenhouse. My family grew cut mums using the fencing raised as the plants grew, but without all the automation. The cuttings are placed onto the beds using a machine, the fencing and watering pipes are raised with motors and there was a battery powered machine that cut the mums. The workers pulled up the mums and put them on the conveyor belt in groups of 5. Later the mums were trimmed to length, excess leaves removed and packaged into groups of 10, this is how all the cut flowers are sold.

Lunch was midday at Restaurant Gasterji de Kwakel, soup, sandwiches and croquettes followed by our return trip on the bus to Amsterdam.

The hotel room (Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam) was quite spacious with room for a pony and was in a great location. Our room on the 7th floor looked out to the Main Train Station.

Day 8: Tuesday, April 14, Amsterdam

This morning we were in group B for our visit to the Cut tulip greenhouse, Pronk Tulpin at Julianastraat 21c, Avenhorn. Highly automated, tulips grown in water, on moving benches. Workers pulled the ready tulips stem, bulb and root and put them on a conveyor belt. Later a machine trimmed off the bulb and packed up the tulips into bunches of 10.

Lunch was nearby at Restaurant 1612. Named to commemorate the draining of the local area for farming and housing.

We returned to Amsterdam and we went straight to the Tony Chocoloney Superstore, after that walked around in the afternoon. We passed Melly's Stroopwafels and I bought a beer glass at The Beer King. We ate very good fries at FEBO, which sells food from behind doors ala an automat and we finished up with fantastic whipped/Ice Cream at Van der Linde (only vanilla).

Day 9: Wednesday, April 15, Amsterdam

Initially we thought there was a 2 hour talk prior to going to the museum and we were going to ditch class, but it was a 1 hour talk which was very good. We all took a tram to the Rijks museum and afterwards we walked about. First stop was a Fjall Raven store for greenland wax for my anorak, then a chocolate shop and then the floating flower market. Next looked for a tiny tea shop, but it was closed. We then went back and got more vanilla ice cream.

The architect of the museum wanted it to be like a church for the arts.

Impressive Li-Baby

Day 10: Thursday, April 16, In Transit

Short ride to airport, no lines, no delays, no issues going home. Just issues at home.

My Family's Cars

2026-01-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

Cars my family had, some I don't even remember

August 1959, a Grey Rambler for $2050?
September 1, 1964, Comet with 12,200 miles, black with red interior. End result?
1968, a 1963 Chevy with 31,700 miles for $900 from Bill Weekmann's estate. Sold when?
October 13, 1971, Olds Cutlass, blue 4 door with 15,106 miles, sold for $500 in 1980.
June 24, 1976, 1091 Volkswagen Beetle with 48,000 miles for $1500, sold to Uncle Bill for $1000 in 1980.
June 20, 1979, 1977 Dodge Aspen (grey 4 door) with 17,712 miles for $4,111, Sold to Eddie late summer of 1987 for $500, 67k miles.
July 15, 1980, a maroon 2 door 1975 Chevy Nova with 11,800 miles for $2,500. Sold to Pattie Black for $350 fall of 1987.
October 1987, 1984 Nissan with 20,000 miles for $6,500. Sold October 1992 with about 38k miles.
March 16, 1986, red 4 door 1986 Olds Calais, first new car was $13,600, Ran for 13 years, cost $1,308 per year to maintain. Donated to American Lung on October 1998
July 21, 1987, blue 4 door 1987 Olds Ciena for $15,900. Kept for 8 years and 5 months.
August 3, 1993, white 4 door 1993 Chevy Luminus with 28,102 miles for $11,932. Got towed to repair shop multiple times. Traded in for Honda CRV.
August 24, 2005, white 4 door 2005 Honda CRV, in use till fall of 2025

2025 Book List

2026-01-03T09:22:00.000-05:00

Books

The Birdcage Libaby, Freya Berry, a little strange
Cold Breath, Quentin Bates, Iceland Lady Detective
The Rik Mayall, Rik Mayall, interestingly incoherent and flighty
The Beautiful Mystery, Louise Perry (LP)
The Long Way Home LP
The Nature of the Beast LP
Mountains of the Pharaohs, Zahi Hawasi, quite interesting Egyptian pyramid history
The African Queen, C.S. Forester, Hard to read cockney accent Charlie speaks with in the book at first, Rose is a stronger character in the book.
Fear Comes to Chalfont, Freeman Wills Croft, 1942 detective story
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Eva Jurczyk, book goes missing, Liesl looks for it, maybe she finds it
Knife Skills for Beginners, Orlando Murrin, a how to book
A great Reckoning, LP
Glass Houses, LP
Nothing Ventured, Jeffery Archer
Kingdom of the Blind, LP
Death of a Spy, M.C. Beaton and R. W. Green
Prose and Cons, Gyles Brandreth, downstairs book, still reading
The Only Gaihin in the Village, Ian Maloney, guy moves to Japan, very different from Scotland, who knew
A Better Man, LP
All the Devils are Here, LP
Antique Guide to Murder, C.L. Miller, there is a second book and I liked this one enough to not read the second.
Travels with my Aunt, Graham Greene, read again, love this book and all the stories and all the travels
Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sacnton, Details the 1897 winter when the Belgica was stranded in the ice in the antarctic. Early exploit of Roald Amundsen.
Maigret and the Wine Merchant, Georges Simenon (GS), previously read, reread in July in Norway and on a Svalbard expedition.
Maigret's Friend, GS
The 2 Penny Bar, GS
The Goodbye Coast, Joe Ide, Phillip Marlow new story
The Awkward Squad, Sophie Henaff, quirky group of misfit french police solving cold cases
We Solve Murders, Richard Osman
Let it Bleed, Ian Rankin
The Madness of Crowds, LP
The Lost Book of Bonn, Brianna Whocares, DNF
The Spy How Loved Me, Ian Flemming (IF), not like the movie at all
On Her Majesties Secret Service, IF
Bryand and May London, Christopher Fowler, Interesting bits and bobs about London sights, people and events
Down the Garden Path, Beverley Nichols, read years ago, all about his first garden and house in the country
You Only Live Twice, IF, the movie stayed close to the book partly
Slow Train to Switzerland, Diccon Bewes, details a trip undertaken by a group from the UK on an early Thomas Cook tour, author tries to recreate the trip. Tghere are trains, so I liked the book.
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, Benjamin Stevenson, just OK
My Summer in a Garden, Charles Dudley Warner
Christmas at the Island Hotel, Jenny Colgar, thought it was a murder mystery, but it was not
Man with the Golden Gun,IF, wow, the movie is so far different than the book, not even the gun is the same
Maigret at Picratt's, GS, watched Rowan Atkinson's Maigret and wanted to see how close to the book he was
Maigret's Dead Man, GS, Ditto
A World of Curiosities, LP
Who Saw Her Die, Patricia Moyes, still reading, started 12/20

2025 Recap

2026-01-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

It was a busy year that started with lots of travels and then ended with lots of travails in the last quarter.

Good

New Year's eve in London making pasta, UK, December 27 - January 3
New to us Jaguar F-Pace, January
TCM Film "20th Century" at the 92nd Street Y with Mary and Andrea
Sophie's Bistro backroom cassoulet with G&D, February 15
Planet Alignment with G&D
MET with D&M, March 29
Spring and Fall flower picking at Holland Ridge Farms
Took the Trees New York class in May and passed the test. License came in July
Cousins at The Mohlenhoff Institute, May 25
Prague to Vienna Trek Bike Trip, June 5 - 13
Munich Family visit, June 13 - 19
Travis 4th of July Parade, Santa grilled reindeer sausages
Warm weather bike rides
Dinners from Keyport Fishery
A few Conference House Park Pavilion visits
2025 Summer of Zinnias was better than 2024 Summer of Dahlias
Oslo and Svalbard Expedition cruise, July15 - 30
August Family visit, August 13, 17 to 26, both girls and the youngest one.
August Cousins BBQ in Bogota, NJ
Sophie's Bistro front room brunch with G&D, September 7
Brits on the Beach at Ocean Grove with D&M, September 20
Deutscher Club of Clark Club Oktoberfest with G&D, October 4
Deutscher Club of Clark Christkindlmarkt with G&D, November 22
Volunteered (16 times) at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC), now renamed to Plant Ecology Center and Nursery (PECAN)
Maintained the Lavender Trail at High Rock Park as a Super Steward Path Keeper, 12 visits. Performed Trail clearance, invasive plant removals and trash cleanup. Also helped build 2 puncheons on the white trail

Helped prune trees along the New Springville Greenway (6/26) and closed trails at Wolfs Pond Park (9/6) with the NYCMTB bike club
December Cousins gathering to mourn my sister's passing. Nice supportive gathering for a not very nice occasion.
December Christmas Family visit. Munich and San Francisco contingents.

Not So Good

Volvo XC90 broke down on the way to buy a replacement car
Parade of Ships for Fleet Week was weak, 5/21
People getting older requiring more care
Chaos, chaos and more chaos from the current administration
My sister's death, very not so good.

Projects and Fixes

Finished basement sill insulation South East corner, January
Replaced ball valve for outside water faucet, February
Side shelf on a shelf for Go Bags storage, February
Purple desk Lamp
2" trailer hitch on Subaru for bike rack, March
side straps added to L.L. Bean pack for attaching poles or long handled tools
Papier-mâché, Veber Grill for Santa in the 4th Of July Parade
Dryer door hinge replacement, September
Reset Fridge, had red error indicator, but no error code, October
Fabricated brackets for BGE rotisserie, November
Water Bottle Rocket Launch Platform, November
External Washer Filter added for microplastics containment, November
Reset washer, error code E04, new filter on discharge output was causing too much resistance and no water was getting pumped out, December
Trapeze, December

Songs Learned

All Right Now, Free, January
Roxanne, Police, January
Black Coffee, Julie London version, February
California Dreaming, The Mamas and the Papas, March
Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (bass), Traffic
Psycho Killer (bass), Talking Heads
Take Me To The River (bass), Talking heads
Wild Horses, Rolling Stones
Can't Put Your Arms Around a Melody, Johnny Thunders
The Man Who Sold the World (Nirvana version), Bowie, April
Changes (bass), Bowie
Sunny, Bobby Hebb, July
Black Magic Woman (bass), Santana
Peg, Steely Dan, September
Angie, Rolling Stones
Papa Don't Take no Mess, James Brown, November
Bad Company, Bad Company, November

Svalbard 2025 Flora

2025-09-17T09:46:00.002-04:00

Flora of Svalbard July 2025, mostly vascular.

Websites used to determine plane names.

Locations given in Degrees Minutes Seconds format (DMS).

Seen on Longyearbyrn walk (78°13'15"N, 15°38'50"E)

yellow marsh saxifrage, Saxifrage hirculus

July 20 Camp Barentz

78°10'12"N, 16°0'36"E

Tourist Camp on the Island of Spitsbergen, southeast of Longyearbyrn

Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium

Alpine bistort, Bistorta vivipara

July 21 Ny-Alesund - Scientific Research Village

78°55′30″N, 11°55′20″E

Moss campion, Silene acaulis

July 22 Smeerenburg

79°43′54″N, 10°59′42″E

Morning landing, a whaling station in the past.

Sea Life

Afternoon landing in Alicehamna bay (79°45'0"N, 12°18'0"E)

Saxifrage

Mountain Sorrel, Oxyria digyna

Mouse-ear Chickweed, Cerastium

?

Eight petal Mountain-avens, Dryas octopetala

Snowbed willow, Salix herbacea

July 23 Jotunkjeldene in Bockfjorden

79°20′N, 13°00′E

Morning landing, hot springs at the top of the hill.

Alpine bistort, Bistorta vivipara

Saxifrage

Draba?

July 25 Kinnvika

80°2′53″N, 18°13′15"E

Morning landing

Cochlearia

Drooping saxifraga, Saxifraga cernua

Draba corymbosa?

Saxifraga cespitosa

Arctic poppy, Papaver radicatum

Purple Mountain saxifrage, Saxifraga oppositifolia

July 26 Boltodden

77°30'0"N, 18°15'0"E

Afternoon landing

Arctic Buttercup, Rannunculus arcticus

tufted alpine saxifrage, Saxifrage cespitosa ?

Mouse-ear Chickweed, Caryophyllaceae

Moss family, Orthotrichum ?

July 27 Gnalodden

77°1'0"N and 15°54'0"E

Afternoon landing

Saxifrage

Carpet of moss

July 28 Bamsebu

77°55'47''N, 21°45'14''E

Morning landing

Alpine bistort, Bistorta Vivipara

Varsolbukta

77°45′0″N, 14°21′0″E

Afternoon landing

Saxifraga svalbardensis

Alpine Poppy, Papaver radicatum

Svalbard Arctic July 2025

2025-08-13T08:44:00.000-04:00

Arctic July 2025

In July 2025, we took a Hurtigruten Expedition cruise around Svalbard. The cruise was called "Circumnavigating Spitsbergen, In the realm of the Polar Bear" It was a 10 day cruise aboard the MS Spitsbergen.

July 20: Sunday in Longyearbyrn

We had arrived late the prior afternoon July 19 on SAS flight SK4496, and stayed at the Radisson Blu Polar Hotel, in Longyearbryn, Spitsbergen. Longyearbyen is a small ex-coal-mining town on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. On the 20th we had a bus tour at 2:30 PM. Prior to that we walked around the town a few times. We had coffee and tea at the Husky Cafe along with several well behaved huskies. Also ran into Margret and Douglas there who we had met the previous night at dinner.

We visited almost every shop that was open and sat for awhile in one of the larger collections of stores. Lunch was at 1PM.

The bus tour was very interesting taking us quite a distance to Camp Barentz, visiting a husky musher and bonding with some very friendly huskies. We then had pancakes and hot drinks and learned about polar bears. Next we visited the Svalbard museum which was laid out well if I had not entered through the exit.

Last stop was at the ship. We boarded via the gangplank and were scanned in with our hand luggage and everything in our pockets checked just like boarding a plane. Our cabin was 621, it had our bed plus the option for 2 pull down beds from the wall. Must be very tight with 4 people. Plenty of storage under the bed for luggage and boots, it was nice to unpack and not live out of our suitcases.

Front of the ship was to the left(port).

It was a busy evening getting our jackets and collecting our boots for shore excursions. Met another couple from Scotland, Fay and Paul.

July 21: Monday in Ny-Alesund

We had a 2:30 tour of the Research village for just us 2 and some Swiss guy. We saw an arctic fox and the take off point for Roald Amundsen's north pole airship flight. Initially coal was mined here, but it is now just research area and a cruise ship stop. We had to turn off wifi and bluetooth so as not to affect research projects.

July 22: Tuesday, 2 Zodiac Landings

In the morning we had our first arctic zodiac landing. We saw 2 walrus and walked around the beach. There was a whaling station here where they rendered whale blubber for various purposes.

Looking onshore

Looking offshore across the bay

In the afternoon, we visited Alicehamna bay, named after “Princess Alice”, the boat used by Alberto I of Monaco during an sea expedition to Svalbard between 1898 and 1907. We hiked to the top of a hill passing 2 graves along the way. On the way down, we walked around the lake and then along the bay. Way warmer than the morning outing. There were polar plungers out and a sailboat anchored nearby.

MS Spitsbergen out in the bay

Gull skull

July 23: Wednesday, Northwest Spitsbergen

One landing and one zodiac cruise. The landing was to Jotunkjeldene, AKA "Jotun springs", two geothermal springs located in Bockfjorden. Another hill climb with many alpine flowers, many past their prime.

Moss Campion

The afternoon zodiac cruise was to Monacobreen Glacier, it is located in Liefdefjorden. There are 3 glaciers in this bay, Seligerbreen and Monacobreen shared a glacier front not too long ago, until 2014. Now they are separated by the mountain Stortingspresidenten.

Bearded Seal

Later in the day the ship cruised past Moffen Island on our way to the edge of the summer pack ice. The island was overrun with walrus.

July 24: Thursday, The Quest for the North Pole

Today we were stopped just shy of the North Pole(~1000km) by the pack ice at 81 degrees 28 minutes 44.4 seconds North and 17 degrees 18 minutes 23 seconds East.

The ship way off in the distance

Did a zodiac cruise among the loose pack ice. Later attended a water color workshop and made a birthday card for a new friend Douglas for his birthday. In the evening played bingo, which was actually very fun.

July 25: Friday

In the morning we visited Kinnavika research station built during the International Geophysical Year 1957-59 at Murchisonfjord on Nordaustland. There were many buildings and huts some in fairly good shape and some not.

research station built during the International Geophysical Year There were lots of buildings, some had had heating. It is still used.

In the afternoon, the waves were too high for a zodiac cruise, but we had polar bear sightings to compensate for that. It was a mother and cub way up on the mountainside. The mother sleeping and the cub roaming around.

The view from our camera.

and the view from the ship's GSS (Gyro-Stabilized System) camera directed to the Ship's bar screen and all cabin TVs.

July 26: Saturday

Another polar bear sighting, so no landing at Kapp Lee. This guy was easier to see and we tracked him over hill and dale till he went out of view and the ship moved on to our next port of call.

We instead landed further south, there was a very airy shack and further on a better shack, but there were nesting birds near it so it was out of bounds.

We had dinner that night with 2 of the expedition staff, Julie(bird nerd) and Jean (french rock guy) and the 2 older Norwegian ladies we had met before.

July 27: Sunday

The morning outing was a zodiac cruise at Samarinvagen, a secluded bay. We saw a seal, heard 2 calvings from the glacier Samarinbreen and had hot cocoa from a floating snack bar.

The only polar bear seen today

The PM landing was at Gnalberget Peak at Gnalodden, South Svalbard. Thousands of birds nesting up on the cliffs. Saw a fox relaxing in the nook of a rock and saw a puffin on the way back to the boat. Later we passed the Polish Research station at Hornsund.

Cabin originally used by a trapper woman Wanny Woldstad in the 1930s. Still is use today by researchers from the Polish Research Station.

July 28: Monday

The morning outing was to Bamsebu (bear cabin) and a beach littered with bones of hundred belugas in Van Keulenfjorden part of South Spitsbergen National Park. We were able to look into but not go into this cabin. The protruding nails on the window were to deter polar bears.

During the afternoon landing we saw a heard of reindeer close up at Varsolbukta on the northern side of Bellsund.

Off in the distance is our polar bear spotter with flares and rifle

Another shack.

Our trip was off the charts.

July 29: Tuesday

Our journey was at the end and we arrived back at Longyearbyrn.

The Svalbard Seed Vault near the port.

Remains of the coal transport system seen all over the island.

We had to vacate our cabins by 8AM and our luggage was moved off the boat, we loaded it onto the bus and we were taken to the airport. Our SAS SK4491 flight to Oslo was at 10:45 and it was an uneventful 3 hours. It was raining when we landed and after checking into the hotel (Radisson Blu Airport Hotel) located within walking distance of the airport. We decided to go into Oslo via the express train which was a 20 minute ride.

We walked around to do some last minute shopping for consumables and then had ramen for dinner at Koie Ramen Munch Brygge near the Munch museum.

July 30: Wednesday

The flight from Oslo to Frankfurt (UA 9095) was on time, 6:56AM to 9AM about 2 hours. Seats were in business accomplished by having the middle seat unoccupied.

Our flight UA 43 in business class from Frankfurt to Newark left about an hour late. The flight encountered some turbulence but was not too bad. We waited over an hour for our luggage to show up on the baggage carousel.

Appendix:

Very useful about the Spitsbergen Svalbard region here.

Link to Norwegian mappings of Svalbard here.

Oslo July 2025

2025-08-03T09:58:00.002-04:00

Oslo, Norway July 16 - 19

July 15 - 16: Arrival

We had a one hour delay from Newark to Frankfurt on flight UA42. Luckily we had a long layover. On our second flight (UA9582 Frankfurt to Oslo by Lufthansa), after all had boarded, it was determined that the cargo floor had a problem and we would be moved by bus to a different aircraft. It was an amazingly short delay moving us to a new aircraft. After the less than 2 hour flight, we were on the express train to Oslo at 5:33PM.

July 17: City Exploration

Visited tea shops and a souvenir store and a Fjallraven store to check out the Anorak No 8 in person, a nice piece of kit but expensive. The streets in Oslo were weirdly devoid of cars, a later web search revealed by design there is no parking in the city with the exception of deliveries and handicapped. Bought sandwiches and drinks from a convenience store and ate in the hotel room while watching Sumo and the Le Tour.

Oslo Cathedral

Dinner was at Sumo in Bjørvika near the Munch museum. Dinner was Fried Rice and Chicken Katsu, drinks were an Old Fashion(whisky, maple syrup, smoked coffee beans and Fernet-Branca) and an Koko Kambi (baileys, chambord and blackberry infused milk).

July 18: Museum Day

Morning visit to the Fram Museum via the Bygdoy Ferry. Excellent layout of the exhibit, including a freezing cold room and ice passage. The whole interior of the Fram was accessible, the provided path was well laid out and well signposted. The other side of the museum contained additional information about Roald Amundsen and his north polar exploits on and over the sea.


Random boat seen while waiting for the ferry to the museum

Some photos of the "Fram" used by Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912.

Nobel Peace Center

Visited in the afternoon after lunch at Baker Hansen, a coffee shop chain, but the selection of pastries and food was pretty good. It was disheartening in the Nobel Center to see the same problems being addressed over and over.

Dinner was fish and chips at Fiskeriet also in Bjørvika. Fish was very good, chips, not so much.

July 19: Flight to Longyearbyrn

Flight SK4496 was to leave at 16:05. Our plane was late to arrive so we actually took off at 16:44. Loading of the plane was not by groups, we were first checked into a glassed off room and then the doors were opened and it was a mad scramble to the plane. The 3 hour flight was uneventful.


First view of Svalbard.

The airport.

Also seen at the airport was a Basler BT-67, a modified version of the Douglas DC-3 aircraft, my favorite aircraft. It is operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute.

We picked up our luggage and were taken to the Radisson Blu Polar Hotel, Spitsbergen by bus. Dinner was at a table with 3 other couples, it was a late dinner, but ended up being quite enjoyable. The other couples were Margret and Douglas from Scotland, a Norwegian couple and a German couple. The Norwegian lady had a lot to say about about Trump. She spoke very softly and it was hard to hear her at times. The German man was a enthusiastic photographer and was from Freiburg.

The next day we had a bus tour at 2:30 PM. What would we do in the small settlement till then.

Trek Travel 2025 Prague to Vienna

2025-06-27T14:08:00.000-04:00

On our Prague to Vienna Trek trip we didn't cycle from Prague to Vienna, the actual distance covered cycling was from Restaurace Špejchar u Vojty in Holašovice about 2.5 hours away from Prague to Dürnstein an hour outside of Vienna for a total distance of 182 miles. The last day in Dürnstein was a short fun ride of 9 miles.

Day 1: Sunday June 8, 2025 Holašovice to Český Krumlov

25.1 mi, 1626 ft

We met in the old main train station in Prague and were driven to the restaurant where we had our first taste of Czech food and were set up with our bikes. We then rode 41km/25.5 miles to Český Krumlov, started out in sun, but the rain came and was very heavy at times, it cleared up as we neared Český Krumlov, but rained more after we checked into our hotel, Hotel Bellevue. There was a tricky turn near the end of the ride, but we were with the front of the pack so we didn't miss it. There was a meet and greet with snacks and drink prior to dinner. The group of 14 was made up of Team Cards [Thad & Andrea, David & Jen, Taylor and Judith(not a couple)] who had previously been on a Trek Trip together. Team Alaska [Jenifer, Lori(not from Alaska) and Amy], Team Canada [a mother and daughter from Canada], Jeff currently working in Dubai and us two. Dinner was with the group at Papa's Living Restaurant on the river. We had hearty Czech food, the dumplings were hearty as well, very hearty.

View of rain from our hotel window

Český Krumlov Castle Tower

Day 2: Monday June 9, 2025 Český Krumlov

33.7 mi, 2038 ft

Rode 33 miles, pit stop was at village of Rožmberk nad Vltavou with views of Rožmberk castle. One guide told us a fairy tale about a princess who married the owner and lived unhappily in the castle. We continued riding, past Lake Lipo to Frymburk for lunch. J had pizza, I had fried chicken breast and very good matchstick fries at Restaurant N. 10. Took the shuttle back to the hotel, bought makings for dinner and ate in the hotel room after a very good tour of the Castle by a local tour guide.


Rožmberk Castle, Hrad Rožmberk

Lake Lipo

Day 3: Tuesday June 10, 2025 Český Krumlov to Schlosshotel Rosenau

41.8 mi, 3682 ft

Rode 42 miles to Weitra passing the Czech/Austria border along the way. Had lunch in Nových Hradech at Restaurace Pod Radnicí just a few miles before the Austrian border crossing. The museum at the border was closed which was a big disappointment to all. Took a shuttle from Weitra to the Schlosshotel Rosenau and used the sauna. Our room had a bedroom, large bathroom with both a shower and a large tub and a lounge area with love seat, bistro table, desk and a large closet. Checked out the natural pool which was full of pond life, one guide jumped in. Dinner was with the group out on the patio. We had made selections when we checked in and there were a few folks who didn't remember their selections.

Midday stop

Last lunch in Czechia

Old border example

New Border

Art in the Weitra cistern

Weitra town center

Day 4: Wednesday June 11, 2025 Schlosshotel Rosenau

38.6 mi, 3739 ft

38 mile loop with lunch in Zwettl.

This day's ride took us onto some busy roads on the way into Zwettl and also some very steep hills, we had to stop at one point. We had lunch at a Bakery, Bio-Genusskaffeehaus Hölzl in the town center. We had ham and cheese sandwiches on asiago? rolls and some had ice cream afterwards. The ride back was through less trafficked roads, past a wood mill and train station then through fields with wind turbines. Visited the sauna again. Dinner was with the group at Gasthof Thaler which had an amazing gazpacho. I had visited the Freemason museum on the first floor of the castle which was very interesting. There was also galleries looking into the castle's chapel.

River Kemp

Schlosshotel Rosenau:

Our room was top floor right corner.

Maypole still up, why?

Entrance to museum on first floor

Rosenschloss suite, our suite

Day 5: Thursday June 12, 2025 Schlosshotel Rosenau to Dürnstein

42.7 mi, 2852

Pleasant 47 mile ride to Dürnstein, lots of twists and turns. Big hill at the start, but then all downhill to our final destination. First rest stop in small village of Sprögnitz was near a herb and tea shop (SONNENTOR Sprögnitz) run by an ex Trek Travel guide. Lunch was at Gasthof Schindler in Brunn am Wald. There was a wedding reception ongoing at the tables next to us. The hotel room at Hotel Richard Löwenherz was large, but no tea kettle or coffee machine. Spent some time at the pool, where I was accosted again by my man Gottfried. Dinner was at Weingut Nikolaihof Wachau where we toured the wine cellar and had a very late family style meal with 3 different wines. The owner was very engaging and she was a super hostess.

Herb and Tea shop was just down the road from our rest stop.

Pool from our room

Unassuming hotel entrance

Day 6: Friday June 13, 2025 Bus to Vienna, train to Munich

9.1 mi, 501 ft

Short 9 mile loop this morning before heading off to Vienna for our train to Munich. Had problems getting a Uber from the West Train station in Vienna to the Main train station, but we got there with lots of time to spare. Train was on time but there was someone in our seat, they moved off but we could still smell them. An uneventful train ride to Munich. Once in Munich had problems again getting an Uber to the hotel. Seems there are no lines of taxis waiting at train stations anymore.

Dürnstein sights

Part of our hotel in Dürnstein

Boat on the Danube

London 2024-5

2025-01-05T06:14:00.000-05:00

Last minute London Trip

December 27, 2024 to January 3, 2025

Hotel: The Hoxton Shoreditch

Used United, flew out business class and back in premium economy, both flights were early morning flights. No problems either way.

Christmas decorations were still up.

Saturday:

Fabrique for Cardamon buns (disappointing)
Foyles Books store on Charring Cross Road, bought books
Trafalgar Square Christmas Market (Disappointing)
Waterstones books at Trafalgar square, no books bought
Mariage Freres Tea shop in Convent Garden, yes teas.
Outdoors stores in same location, nothing gained
Twinings Tea Shoppe on the Strand, more teas
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub for lunch, a Samuel Smith pub, no TV, no music, only ever ate and drank in the cellar bar. Burger was good, scotch egg was not.
Dinner at the Piehole Shoreditch, great pies.

Sunday:

Visited Spitalfields and Trueman Brewery markets, Brick lane and Redchurch street.
Very good Sunday Roast at The Hawksmoor Spitialfields
Walked Regent Street, shoes bought at On Flagship store
Purchased Tea at TWG at Leicester Square

Monday:

Wedgwood at the V&A

Moorcroft Coffee set at the V&A

V&A museum in the morning, started at the top. Furniture, Ceramics and Glass, British Architecture.
Lunch at the Hoop and Toy pub, Steak and ale pie, Cod Goujon sandwich and Rockin Rudolph cask ale were all good.
Afternoon Fawlty Towers play at the Apollo. Excellent, quite enjoyable
Bought books at Waterstones Bookstore on Picadilly. Big store, very crowded.
Dinner at Marugame Udon near Liverpool Street station. Cafeteria style, but very good.

Tuesday: New Years Eve

Piccadilly Arcade

Elizabeth Tube entry at Liverpool Street

Took the Elizabeth line, new and not very crowded, fewer stops.
Bought more books at yet another book store, Hatchards on Picadilly. Somehow got an extra book added to our bag here. No discounts here unless you count the free book. Smaller more cozy book store.
Pasta class and dinner at the Pasta Academy. Made pasta and learned a tip or two.

Wednesday: Only rainy day

Twist Museum at noon near Oxford and Regent streets. Interesting optical illusions.
Lunch at The Coachmakers Arms pub. Steak and Ale Pie and fish and chips were very good as was the Allsopp's Best Bitter cask ale. Tried the Angel in the Field pub, but no food till 6PM.
Visited the Wallace Collection. Has a large Armour collection and not crowded.

Optical Illusion at the Twist museum

Thursday: Sunny but cold.

Visited the Wellcome Collection, exhibit on slavery, prisons, plight of women and plantations, very saddening.
Walked to Novelty Automation, crowded with family and friends playing the crazy arcade games. Got a free token to watch an automata.
Walked to the Huntarian Museum, but it was closed.
Lunch at the Cittee of Yorke, another Samuel Smith pub. Steak and ale pie was good and had Old Brewery Bitter cask ale. Has top be my favorite pub.

2024 Recap

2024-12-19T06:39:00.001-05:00

On the whole retirement is going really well. I have a weekday schedule that includes exercise, financial education and reading. I'm not adverse to taking an afternoon nap and enjoy puttering out in the yard or down the basement. Always have something to do and always planning the next trip.

Good:

Poughkeepsie CIA trips January and June (40th Anniversary)
January Cassoulet at Westtown Fare and Restaurant in NY
Cousins over (2/18 and 5/26)
A new roof in April excellently installed
May Trek Travel Bike Tour through the Loire Valley
May Trip Extension to Munich to see family
Daughter and Granddaughter 2 week May US visit (Zoo, Children's museum, bubbles and cousins)
Multiple Conference House Pavilion outings
New Bikes, Trek 29ER Marlin Gen 4 with disc brakes and a Verve 3
Summer and Fall Biking Mondays, New Springville Greenway, Fort Wadsworth to Cedar Grove paths and Bloomingdale Park.
August San Francisco trip to see The Young One.
Sumo tournaments
Le Tour in July
Snug Harbor Pruning lecture
Greenbelt Native Plant Center volunteering (5/19, 6/18, 8/3, 10/2, 11/6, 11/14, 12/6, 12/10)
Outings with friends to NYC to see elephants, The MET, Blue SI, Brick Farm NJ
Fabulous 11 day trip to Iceland in October.
Whole family home for Thanksgiving
Spur of the moment New Years trip to London
Read 53 books
Watched all 53 Rupert Davies, 1960s Inspector Maigret BBC TV series.

Not So Good:

PT in Q1
Summer of Dahlia, a big disappointment, poor flower blooms (Pacific Jewel, Genova, American Pie) and bugs
Iceland Northern Lights viewed with the naked eye, not as vivid as seen years ago in Alaska
Phil Liggett retires from Cycling commentating
new gutters, disappointing installation quality

Downright Evil:

People voting for a Celebrity President again
Project 2025

Projects and Fixes

19" rack shelves for 2 bins of misc "I could do something with this" stuff
repaired Sponge Bob clock
repaired freezer door latch
installed 5 new ethernet security cameras (wires inside walls) prior to new roof install
Basement wall crack fixed, no longer leaking
made Subaru bike carrier brackets
Window insert for Portable AC in Nook window
Solder repair for Patrice's copper birdbath
Shortened new bike handlebars from 29" to 27"
Hardware Cloth gutter guards
Food Vacuum sealer tubing repair
Collar ties and sistered rafter ties added to garage, one at front and one at back
Sign stand for Santa on Vacation sign

2024 Books Read

2024-12-19T06:19:00.002-05:00

Most books read in a year, second most was in 2020.

Murder in old Bombay by Nev March started in 2023, finished in 2024 so I won't count it here.

Oranges and Lemons, Christopher Fowler, Peculiar Crimes Unit book #20
Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie
Black Run, Antonio Manzini, Italian Alps and Deputy Police Chief Rocco Schiavone.
Man with the Silver Saab, Alexander McCall Smith
Marked Man, Archer Mayor, Vermont Bureau of Investigation agent Joe Gunther
Devil's Delight, M.C. Beaton
The Benson Murder Case, Philo Dough
Night Train to Lisbon, Pascal Mercier, strange and interesting, 2 stories in one. Third reading.
The Raging Storm, Anne Cleeves
The Old Knives, Olen Steinhauer
Vendetta, Michael Dibdin (MD) Reread the Zen series this year
Bruno's Challenge, Martin Walker
Full Circle, Andrew Smith, A Doctor Who story, reread
The Face of Evil, Terrance Dicks, A Doctor Who story, reread
Dead Lagoon, MD
Monsieur Pamplemouse Afloat, Michael Bond (MB)
Martin Walker Short stories, just so so.
Antidote to Venom, Freeman Wills Croft
Cosi Fan Tutti, MD
A Long Finish, MD
And Then You Die, MD
Blood Rain, MD
Medusa, MD
Back to Bologna, MD
End Games, MD
Maigret's Pipe, Georges Simenon (GS)
Frozen Assets, Quintin Bates, Icelandic Detective Story
A Rich Full Death, MD, Not in the Zen series
Ramones, Carl Cafarelli
District VIII, Adam Lebor, Budapest murder mystery
Do Polar Bears get Lonely, New Scientist book, DNF
Saints of the Shadow Bible, Ian Rankin (IR), Inspector Rebus
Knots and Crosses, IR
Mortal Causes, IR
The Naming of the Dead, IR
Maigret Enjoys himself, GS
Maigret in Vichy, GS
Mr. Pamplemouse on Probation, MB
Still Life, Louise Penny (LP), Three Pines mysteries
A Fatal Grace, LP
The Cruelest Month, LP
A Rule Against Murder, LP
And Then Came Paulette, Barbara Constantine
The Hangman, LP
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien, read in Iceland
Maigret Travels, GS
Pietr the Lett, GS
The Brutal Telling, LP
A Christmas Resolution, Anne Perry
Deck the Donuts, Ginger Bolton, too wordy
Bury your Dead, LP Takes place partly in Quebec City and made me want to visit.
Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien, Slower read than "The Hobbit", got tired of reading it towards the end. Highly unlikely that I will move on to the next in the series.
A Trick of the Light, LP

Iceland 2024

2024-11-17T10:12:00.008-05:00

Iceland

We had an excellent 11 day trip with Odysseys Unlimited "Exploring Iceland" in October 2024.

Our Hotels:

All the hotels were clean and had plenty of room

Hotel Selfoss (2 nights)

Fosshotel Myvatn (2 nights)

Siglo Hotel (1 night)

Hotel Husafell (2 nights)

Hotel Reykjavik Centrum (2 nights)

Waterfalls: (foss in Icelandic)

Skogafoss

Seljalandsfoss

Dettifoss

2 kilometer round trip walk over rough terrain to get to Dettifoss

Hraunfossar (fresh water springs flowing out of porous layers of lava rock)

Gullfoss (see 2 men in bottom left corner of photo for scale)

Scenery:

Structures:

Iceland's main religion is Lutheran, they have one Catholic church and one mosque.

Church in Reykjavik, first morning

Church up hill from Vik. Looks different in the TV show Katla.

Church in Husavik

Baccala Bar in Hauganes, the best Fish and Chips in Iceland.

Turf houses in Glaumbaer

Outside the Blue Lagoon spa.

Slide Rule Basic Operations

2024-03-17T13:56:00.000-04:00

Never thought about how a slide rule worked cause I always had a calculator, but inherited a slide rule from my dad and then found a pamphlet on slide rules when cleaning out my father-in-laws work shop.

So I added learning how to use a slide rule to my list of things to do when I had more than 8% of my weekly hours free to investigate interesting interests.

My slide rule has 6 scales, C, D, A, B, C1 and K. Scales B, C and C1 are located on the inner sliding section of the slide rule. I have not used C1 or K yet and may never. Slide rules also are supposed to have a third piece which provides a sliding section containing a hairline crossing perpendicular to all the scales. My slide rule was missing this and so I used a paper clip as a pointer. There are other variants of slide rules for different specific functions.

The scales have an index or starting point on both the Right Hand (RH) and Left Hand (LH) ends of the slide rule. If you can't find the answer, the other index is to be used.

Multiplication:

To Multiply 7 x 5, for example

The C scale(bottom scale of the internal sliding section) right hand index is first set to 7 on the D Scale (bottom scale on the base of the slide rule)
The hairline is set to 5 on the C scale.
The result of 35 is read off the D scale at the hairline.

There are explanations about logarithms as to how this all works, but to mechanically multiple, you don't need to know that.

Division:

To divide 5 by 4,

Set the hairline to 5 on the D scale
Slide the C scale so 4 aligns with the hairline.
read the result of 1.25 at the C scale Left Hand Index

Finding Cubes:

To find the Cube of 20

Set the C scale Left Hand Index to 2 (20)
Set the hairline to 2 (20) on the B scale
Read 8 off the A scale
Adjust the number on the A scale to get 800

Finding Square of:

Finding Square Root of:

To square a number, look at the number on the D scale and the corresponding number on the A scale using the missing hairline device. The number 3 points to 9, the number 5 points halfway between 2 and 3 which is interpreted as 25.
To get the square root is just the reverse.

2023 Maple Mead

2024-02-23T11:01:00.002-05:00

Started on September 4, 2023 and racked to 5 bottles on September 25, 2023. Was happy with the amount of mead generated, a gallon is too much to drink and I don't know that many people to foist homemade mead upon. Only one review so far, expressed an opinion that it was stronger than the 2022 batch. It could be that the Mead is still too young.

September 4, 2023

Make 2/3 cup maple syrup from ½ cup water and 1 packed cup maple sugar.

2/3 cup maple syrup is equivalent to 5.3333333333 oz.

Original recipe was 2lbs honey and 12.5 oz of maple syrup, 1.6 g yeast and 0.5 g yeast enhancer.

Halved is 1lbs honey and 6 oz maple syrup.

Ingredients

· 1/2 Gal water, 8 cups

· 1 lbs Honey

· 3 oz maple syrup

· 60 grams maple sugar, about 1/3 cup, err on more?

· 0.8 grams Yeast, Mead M05 Mangrove Jack

· 0.25 gram Di-ammonium Phosphate, yeast enhancer

Equipment

· 1 gallon jug

· Air lock

· Long thermometer

· 1 cup measure

· 2 cup measure

· Large metal pot to sanitize things in

· Metal Pot to hold ½ gallon plus of water, 8 cups

· Pot to mix honey, maple stuff and water

· Funnel

· Large Metal spoon

· Metal skewer to stir in jug

Instructions

1. Sanitize all your equipment using as per the instructions on the packet.
Note: Never use bleach! Bleach will react negatively with the fermentation process.

2. Warm honey and maple container to make pouring easier.

3. Put 4 cups of warm water in a pot, measure out about 2 lbs of honey and mix with the warm water in the pot.

4. Mix the maple sugar in a measuring cup and dissolve.

5. Mix in the maple syrup.

6. Pour honey/maple/water mix into 1 gal jug.

7. Add additional 4 cups of water to fill to just about half of the jug and stir/shake.

8. Use a thermometer in your gallon jug. Continue when the temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees.

9. Add your yeast enhancer stirring gently until dissolved.

10. Pull out about 1 cup of must in a two cup measure and pour your yeast in and stir gently. Let it sit for about 15 minutes or so. When it starts to foam, gently pour back into the jug. Close jug and install airlock.

11. The mead will start fermenting after a couple of hours. You will see the airlock start bubbling. Keep the jug in a place between 65 and 85 degrees and let the yeast do its work. This could take 10 to 20 days.

12. When the air lock bubbling slows down dramatically, rack the mead into your bottles using the siphoning tube. Be careful not to siphon up the sediment on the bottom of the jug.

2022 Mead (Honey Wine)

2024-02-23T10:48:00.001-05:00

Started first Batch of Retirement Mead on 10/30/2022, the Mead received adequate reviews from multiple parties. It was a bit harsh initially, but mellowed with time.

Had attempted to make Mead years ago, but it was more of a haphazard effort and the results were not memorable.

Ingredients

· 1 Gal water

· 2.8 lbs Honey

· 1.6 grams Yeast, Mead M05 Mangrove Jack

· 0.5 gram Di-ammonium Phosphate, yeast enhancer

Equipment

· 1 gallon jug

· Air lock

· Long thermometer

· 1 cup measure

· 2 cup measure

· Large metal pot to sanitize things in

· Metal Pot to hold 1 gallon plus of water

· Pot to mix honey and water

· Funnel

· Large Metal spoon

· Metal skewer to stir in jug

Instructions

1. Sanitize all your equipment using as per the instructions on the packet.
Note: Never use bleach! Bleach will react negatively with the fermentation process.

2. Warm honey container to make pouring easier.

3. Put 4 cups of warm water in a pot, measure out about 2 1/2 lbs of honey and mix with the warm water in the pot.

4. Pour honey/water mix into 1 gal jug.

5. Add additional cups of water to fill to just above neck of jug and stir/shake.

6. Use a thermometer in your gallon jug. Continue when the temperature is between 65 and 85 degrees.

7. Add your yeast enhancer stirring gently until dissolved.

8. Pull out about 1 cup of must in a two cup measure and pour your yeast in and stir gently. Let it sit for about 15 minutes or so. When it starts to foam, gently pour back into the jug. Install airlock on the jug.

9. The mead will start fermenting after a couple of hours. You will see the airlock start bubbling. Keep the jug in a place between 65 and 85 degrees and let the yeast do its work. This could take 10 to 20 days.

10. When the air lock bubbling slows down dramatically, rack the mead into your bottles using the siphoning tube. Be careful not to siphon up the sediment on the bottom of the fermenter.

10/30/2022 1^st Batch

Racked to 9 Grosch swing top bottles on 11/14/2022

Added 1 tbs honey to one bottle in December, tasted too sweet on 1/17/2023

Added 1 tsp honey to one bottle on 1/20/2023 - better, could be more sweet

Added 2 tsp honey to one bottle on 02/??/2023 - maybe 1 tsp was OK

2023 Recap

2024-01-02T08:58:00.002-05:00

2023

Good

Travel, fun activities, new experiences, and things I never had time for before.

February visit from the Munich contingent
June Munich Trip
August visit of the Young One
October Munich Trip
Digitized Kids cassette tapes and got some doozies
Digitized some live DR.WA and D.W.I shows, 50/50 good/horrible
Digitized the Basement Tape (Originals), tight band, but one mic recording does not great audio make
Digitized some Parker attic tapes, some funny bits
Fleet week Parade of Ships, nice morning out
Spring Tulip picking at Holland Ridge Farms
Fall Sunflower picking at Holland Ridge Farms
Gingerbread Garage
2022 Mead is improving
Made a 1/2 batch of Maple Mead, expected to improve
tomato and zucchini yields were very good
Saw meteors from the Geminid shower with friends
Saw seals off the south shore
Christmas Fair at the Deutschers Club
Attic Insulation
Sumo tournaments
Le Tour
Keyport Fishery dinners
Conference House Pavilion

Not So Good

Not looking hard for bad things, but these stuck out.

Got bad COVID in August
Dog died while we were sick with COVID
Root Canals
Fall Shoulder Impingement
Continued lies and slow de-evolution back into the 1950s, which was not great for most people.

2023 Books Read

2024-01-01T10:48:00.003-05:00

Books, books, books

Do unto Others, Donna Leon (DL)
The Darkest Evening, Ann Cleeves
The Man who Died Twice, Richard Osman (RO)
The Long Call, Ann Cleeves (AC)
Knives (book about knives, a downstairs book)
Dr. No, Ian Flemming (IF)
The Cheltenham Square Murder, John Bude
Agatha Raisin Down the hatch M.C. Beaton
The Shooting at Chateau Rock Martin Walker (MW)
Monsieur Pamplemouse Secret Mission, Michael Bond (MB)
MP On the Spot, MB
The Coldest Case, MW
MP Aloft, MB
Goldfinger, IF
The Heron's Cry, AC
Travel is my Business, Raymond Chandler (RC)
Blade of Light, Andrea Calmeri
Playback, RC
Put on by Cunning, Ruth Rendell
Death of a Green Eyed Monster, M.C. Beaton
The Safety Net, AC
For Your Eyes Only, IF
The Rising Tide, AC
Pamplemouse Stands Firm, MB
The Sicilian Method, AC
The Killing Tide, AC
An Elderly Lady is up to no good, Helene Turster (HT)
The 12:30 from Croyden, Freeman Wills Croft
The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly, Margareta Magnusson
Swedish Death Cleaning,
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie, multiple short stories of other female Christie cohort, a downstairs book
Happy the Land, Louise D. Rich
The Cook of the Halcyon, AC
An Elderly Lady must not be crossed, HT
Thunderball, IF
Secret Life of Cows, Rosamund Young
Road Rage, Ruth Rendell
The Bullet that Missed, RO
London Bridge is Falling Down, Christopher Fowler
Maigret and the Dead Girl, Georges Simeon (GS)
Maigret's Vacation, GS
Maigret at the Coroners, GS
Mr. Grapefruit on Location, MB
Riccardino, AC
So Shall you Reap, DL
Chewing the Fat, Jay Rayner
Murder in Old Bombay, Nev March

2022 Recap

2022-12-31T09:06:00.002-05:00

Another year of Covid, but still good outweighed the bad

Good

retired in August
a granddaughter in September
a trip to Munich after Oktoberfest
tulip picking at Holland Ridge farm
a new tax man
viewing NYC parade of ships (Fleet week)
sumo tournaments
Le Tour
consistent 5 days a week exercise routine post retirement
Foraging class at the Conference House as a BD gift
trips to Conference House and Mt. Loretto parks
get together with friends (K&M)
get together with a cousin and his wife (J&Y)
touched base with people from past workplaces.
expanded take out (sushi, ramen, Chinese, shake shack)
trips to Keyport Fishery
42 garlic bulbs harvested
seeing seals off the Staten Island's coast with friends (G&D)

Bad

Continued Covid
People not wearing masks
Uncle in Michigan aging and getting lost
Ukraine war
Volunteering postponed
Supreme Court tossing out precedent (Roe v Wade)
a trip to Michigan to sort out an Uncle's single wide trailer
Spotted Lantern flies
the economy

Fixed/Made/Improved

small metal shelf under basement stairs
replaced dryer control panel face-plate
replaced kitchen sink spray hose
re-glued 2 dining room chair legs
extended life of backyard gate
new toilet fill valves and flappers up and down
kitchen faucet seals replaced
bottle opener from railroad spike
made a gallon of mead (just OK, maybe it will improve with age)
made a 2'x2' soil screener
made a small wood shelf
cleaned and lubricated a bathroom vent fan motor
created a gingerbread house, with just simple royal icing decorations
made broom attachment for a Scott's garden handle
made another carpenter bee trap
re-soldered distortion box wires
installed guard for table saw
cleaned and repainted Japanese Lanterns
fixed an old white-noise sleep bear
made a personal fan using a box fan
refinished BBQ grill handle and BBQ table top
ash basket for grill, easier to clean out ash prior to each use
planted 2 new peony(dwarf and blueish) and tulips

Songs Learnt

Black coffee, Julie London
a few Grateful Dead songs
Carpe diem, Aldebert
Two of us, When I'm 64, Yellow Submarine, Beatles
Miles Beyond, Mahavishnu Orchestra
Josie, Steely Dan
Caught in a dream, Be my Lover, Alice Coopoer

2022 Books

2022-12-20T09:18:00.006-05:00

This year there were some new characters and a new series to read, the Ian Fleming James Bond collection.

Mr. Croft and Mr. Bude(real name Ernest Carpenter Elmore) were crime writers in the early 1900s and it is interesting to compare how investigations were done in the old days, in books anyway.

Most of the books this year were murder mysteries/investigations and for the most part were set in Italy (17 of 39 by authors Donna Leon, Andrea Camilleri andAntonio Manzini).

I believe I read Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene again this year, though I did not write it down. It may have been over the summer. If I did it will have been the 13th reading.

1. Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman

2. The Talent of Mr. Varge, Alexander McCall Smith (AMS)

3. Drawing Conclusions, Donna Leon (DL), Inspector Guido Brunetti

4. Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler, A Peculiar Crimes Unit Novel

5. The Seagull, Ann Cleaves

6. Falling in love, DL

7. The Wings of the Sphinx, Andrea Camilleri (AC), Inspector Montalbano

8. The Hog’s Back Mystery, Freeman Wills Croft, Inspector French

9. Black Diamond, Martin Walker (MW)

10. The Track of Sand, AC

11. Trace Elements, DL

12. Potters Field, AC

13. The Devil’s Cave, MW

14. Adams Rib, Antonio Manzini (AM), Inspector Rocco Schiavone, pot smoking inspector based on Inspector Montalbano

15. Scarlet Fever, Rita Mae Brown, DNF

16. Out of Season, AM

17. Aunt Poldi and the Lost Madonna, Mario Giordano (MG)

18. Dance of the Seagull, AC

19. Upstream, Dan Heath

20. Angela’s Smile, AC

21. The Sussex Downs Murder, John Bude, 1930s novel

22. Casino Royale, Ian Fleming (IF)

23. Live and Let Die, IF

24. Transience Destiny, DL

25. A Voice in the Night, AC

26. Moonraker, IF

27. Pyramid of Mud, AC

28. Death of Sea, AC

29. Hello Everyone Again, Gail’s book

30. The Overnight Kidnapping, AC

31. Diamonds are Forever, IF

32. The Resistance Man, MW

33. From Russia with Love, IF

34. We Took to the Woods, L. D. Rich, book from Allie

35. Unexplained Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb, about Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962) and her crime scene dioramas

36. Sumo, David Benjamin

37. Monsieur Pamplemousses, Michael Bond, first book in the series

38. The Other End of the Line, AC

39. Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories, AC

2021 Recap

2022-01-03T09:02:00.001-05:00

2021 was another year of Pod living. Here are the highlights.

Good

Got vaccinated
Nice weather walks
Met friends in the Park for food and drink
Cousins gathering in July, mostly outside
The Eldest in for a visit in July
Paella with friends (K&M)
Seal viewing with friends (G&D)
Grew Celeriac, though they were quite small
Acquired a 4 piece drum kit
Re-watched Poirot series
Had a good Tomato crop, plum and heirloom
Le Tour
Sumo tournaments
Worked from home
Read some good books
Takeout (Brothers Pizza, Forest Thai, Keyport Fishery)

Bad

Attempted Coup
COVID
Voter Suppression
Stop the Steal Lunatics
Mushroom log present did not produce mushrooms
needed 2 caps
Garlic crop was disappointing

Fixed/Improved/Made

Rewired silver desk lamp
Installed an entryway hand rail to support aging in place
Replaced Volvo drivers seat side panel
Boot jack improvements
Replaced nook crawlspace entry hatch
Attic clean out
made a carpenter bee trap, caught 2
new Big Green Egg gasket
Garage side window, frame fixed, window pane re-seated and painted
power washed driveways
Repainted toy box
Dryer control panel adjustment
Added a few hidden hangers to north side gutters while cleaning
planted English Bluebells, Dwarf Iris, Snowdrops and Grecian Windflowers
fixed yard gate
added new towel bar to master bath
Re-soldered Temperature gun battery clip
Made a work light on a height adjustable stand from stuff lying around
Modified another book to have a storage compartment
Primed office ceiling patches
Bacon

Interesting

5 Things that made me Podcast, these are mine

1.     1972 – 1992: The Farm
2.     Craftsman Toolbox circa 1976
3.     Univox Les Paul/Fender Twin Reverb amplifier 1977/78?
4.     Marriage June 2, 1984
5.     December 1995 – November 2018: Lump 1963 Land Rover IIA 5 door

Secret life of "things" videos, by Tim Hunkin. How things work cars, radios, electric components.
What we do in the Shadows, TV show about 4 Vampires living in Staten Island

2021 Books

2022-01-03T09:00:00.004-05:00

This year I finished the last of the Maigret books, finished the last 2 Raymond Chandler books and this summer I reread Travels with my Aunt for the 12th time. Way fewer books read this year than last, I think the 16 Maigret books last year helped with the numbers, they are on the short side.

The Little Sister, Raymond Chandler
Still Here, Elaine Stritch
A Well Timed Murder, Tracee de Hahn
The Shape of Water, Andrea Camilleri (AC)
Taste for Vengeance, Martin Walker (MW)
Telling Tales, Anne Cleeves
Hidden Depths, Anne Cleeves
The Sneak Thief, AC
Aunti Poldi and the Handsome Antonio, Mario Giordano
Odessa Sea, Clive Cussler
Silent Voices, Ann Cleeves
Excursion to Tindari, AC
Maigret's Mad Woman, Georges Simenon (GS)
Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, A. C. Doyle
The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
Maigret and the Informer, GS
The Girl in the Castle Well, MW
Maigret and Monsiour Charles, GS
Rat King, Michael Dibdin
Dressed for Death, Donna Leon (DL)
Bruno Cheif of Police, MW
Aqua Alta, DL
The Old Success, Martha Grimes
Travels with my Aunt, Grahame Greene
Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, Sax Rohmer First of many, 1913
The Death of Faith, DL
The Scent of the Night, AC
The Dark Vineyard, MW
A Nobel Radiance, DL
Rounding the Mark, AC
Doctored Evidence, DL
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
The Patience of the Spider, AC
A Question of Belief, DL
A Crowded Grave, MW
Mystery in the Channel, Freeman Wills Croft

Interests to Investigate

2021-02-27T07:33:00.007-05:00

Started compiling a list of interests to ponder or learn or make or do or write about when I find myself with more time on my hands than I do now being gainfully employed. I was aiming for 52 for no particular reason. I am up to 61, but don't feel like adding to the list here.

1. Learn to Surf

2. Learn to Sail

3. Learn how to use a sextant, made an inclinometer on our cruise around Svalbard. Basics about a sextant were also covered.

4. Timber framing

5. Stone carving

6. Finished the Crossbow Tennis Ball Launcher. January 2024, doesn't shoot far, but I guess that is safer.

7. Sashiko; a form of Japanese folk embroidery and clothes mending

8. Business Card, Calling Card, Personal Card, Real Me Card, Post Work CV

9. BMW Motorcycle/Vespa rebuild

10. Fix an analog wind up clock

11. Long distance hikes

12. Travel? Why Not! blog posts or plans

13. Abridged Poorly Executed Translations of Foreign Novels

14. Pressing flowers, halfhearted attempts all ended in abject failure. Mini Iris and other yard flowers.

15. Moving rocks for trail construction use using cables, rigging

17. Book binding

18. Moss, photos and grow Made a moss terrarium using a repurposed security camera in March 2024

19. write Inspector Maigret Paris walks or Maigret Companion

20. The Daily life of Madam Maigret or Madam Maigret’s cookbook

21. Monsieur Pamplemousse Companion

22. Monsieur Pamplemousse ‘s wife 's life book

23. Rally School

24. Holiday scented candles in empty tea tins

25. Learned to use a slide rule. I have a slide rule from my dad and a booklet from my father-in-law. Leaned basic operation in March 2023.

26. Keep water lilies in a fish tank indoors

27. Learn some number of songs on upright bass

28. Play music for plays/musicals/theater group

29. Community Big Band

30. Save Seed/seed bank

31. Herbal Liquors

32. Knife and other types of tool sharpening

33. Mead, make? compare? consume? Made Mead in 2022 and a Maple Mead in 2023

34. Constellations, learn more, know 2, learn 5 more

35. look into Staten Island Mohlenhoff Farm History, maybe Mohlenhoff Mobile Museum

36. Get a website

37. Trail maintenance, adopt a local trail. Started as NYC Parks Super Steward Trail Maintainer in 2025. Assigned Lavender trail in High Rock Park.

38. Bottle openers, made one from railroad spike (11/3/2022), not good enough for a presen

40. Intra-coastal Waterway

41. Holiday Spice coffee (ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves), gave some to my sister.

42. Distill Essential Oils

43. Risk Management

44. NGO Work

45. Micro-meteorites

46. 52 Things Blog Post, done?

47. Keith’s Book of Lists

48. Keith’s Farm Memories

49. Jacobs ladder or other mad scientist devices

50. Sword fighting lessons

51. Hydroponics

52. Knots (Marine, climbing, camping, GP) 8 each?

53. Volunteering at Greenbelt Native Plant Center, starting in 2024. Site of the old family farm.