Archive for January, 2009

Three Maidens & a Dwarf

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Harold’s handsome plane makes a low pass.

Harold’s handsome plane makes a low pass.


This poor blog has suffered from the dislocation and dust of our ongoing Bathroom Remodel, not to mention a run of bad weather which has kept me from flying.

Monday was glorious, though.

Our contractor and his crew, who are Vietnamese, observed Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox) Monday and Tuesday, so the house was quiet and I didn’t need to solve the Goat, Wolf, Cabbage, Boat problem.

The temperature was chilly (low 37°, high 60°) but the bright sun felt at least five degrees warmer. Winds were light.

Time to fly!

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Posted in Baylands | 3 Comments »

Tasmania Time

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

The size of a small dog, it’s the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.

The size of a small dog, the Devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.


Dave North is standing upside down. Or maybe he’s sitting upside down.

He and Akkana Peck left last week for a Linux conference in Hobart, Tasmania. Akkana is speaking at the conference on GIMP, an Open Source alternative to Photoshop.

So they’re both inverted, relative to us.

Most of us know only one thing about Tasmania: it’s the home of the Tasmanian Devil.

The poor critters are endangered, plagued by a communicable form of cancer that causes facial tumors.

Before they left, Mike Nadler asked Dave and Akkana to check to see if water spiraled clockwise as it drained from sinks and bathtubs in Tasmania. He also asked Dave to bring back a Tasmanian Devil.

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Posted in Baylands, Elsewhere | 5 Comments »

Goat, Wolf, Cabbage, Boat

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

The farmer crosses the river in a very small boat.

The farmer crosses the river in a very small boat.


An ancient logical problem focuses on a farmer returning from market, where she purchased a goat, a wolf and a cabbage.

She can make them behave as long as they’re within reach, but if she leaves them alone the goat will munch the cabbage and the wolf will devour the goat.

To return home with her groceries she needs to cross a river in a very small boat, just big enough to carry herself and one of her purchases.

How does she safely transport everything across the river?

Our problem is different: Great Dane, Contractor, Bathroom, Winter.

The Great Dane is, of course, Sadie, our regal nine-and-a-half-year-old harlequin queen, a tall hunk of dog weighing about 140 pounds.

Our Contractor is Can, a soft-spoken Vietnamese who is deathly afraid of dogs.

The Bathroom is my ancient toilet facility, one of the two remaining eyesores in our house (my office is the other).

Winter is, of course, the season: cold.

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Posted in Home | 7 Comments »

Magic in the Air

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

The little helicopter is surprisingly easy to fly.

The little helicopter is surprisingly easy to fly.


When I was a child in New York City, I remember my fascination with sidewalk vendors who sold magical devices, crystals that would bloom underwater into fabulous alien shapes, wind-up tin toys that careened crazily across the concrete.

Sometimes my parents would indulge us, buying a tiny spring-powered dog or a tumbling acrobat or a monkey that climbed a string.

But when we got home, they lost their charm. They slowed down, they jammed, they didn’t work: they became normal, fallible and ordinary.

Twice last year I succumbed to the same sort of immediate enchantment, both times in AeroMicro, my favorite local radio-control goodies store.

The first spell was cast by the Vapor, a half-ounce wisp of an airplane designed for indoor flight.

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Posted in Elsewhere | 6 Comments »