All posts by johncohn

Monday night – off the trail

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Great way to spend labor day.. not working (though I put in about 5 hours tonight) . Diane and I managed to get out a few times today..nice longer run this morning.. then a hike in the woods this afternoon. it was our first trying to use a GPS (my phone actually) to look for a hidden pond we know is lurking somewhere up on the side of the Camels Hump Ridge. We’d never used a GPS for bushwhacking off trail . It was really fun.  there were even soem hints of the first fall color.

in the end, we gave up trying to figure out where the pond was, because we found something even cooler. We came across a big road logging road tails up on the ridge that we’d never seen.. and that don’t appear on any maps. The road was wide, recently graded and the brush was freshly cut on the edges.. but we just cant figure out how anyone would get a tractor in there, let alone a loaded logging truck. It would be like finding an empty interstate in the middle of a desert.. Next weekend we’re going to go up there and see if we can figure out where the entrance is.. I suspect its on the other side of the ridge in huntington. maybe off of Happy Hollow road.. but.. that seems unlikely.. but.. where else could it go ?

we used the GPS to find our way back through the steep brush.. it was fun.. and hard work.. The girls needed a drink by the time we got back. Note their spiffy orange colors. It’s bear season now.. and we don’t want to take chances.. there’s a re a ton of bear these days up there.. I hope they all lay low for a few weeks..

ok.. gotta get up early tomorrow.. so I’ll end here..

oh wait..   one more thing: The good folks at Zombie Tech interviewed me last week. Lots of good stuff in there: The Colony, Patents, Open Data, Zombies, Cat Urine.. and more. Thanks to Addy and Whiskers for being such great hosts !

 

k,, nite all, nite sam

-me

Sunday night – pre-labor

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Let me start by saying happy birthday to my Mom and to my baby Bro !.. Happy birthday you guys.. I love you both !!!

Great day here. hanging kind of low. I seem to have caught some sort of mild stomach bug on my trip to china this week..  Doing a little nothing is what my body, mind and soul felt like doing.. so it was good.

 

One thing I did reflect on s that today was the temple burn at Burning Man..While  I had hoped to be there this year, I had too much stuff going with work to make it happen. I’m not that sad to have missed it..I think I need to adjust my thinking and plan on doing it every several years. a visit there can last you for several years i think.. It was funny. Burning man was very much on my mind when I ran across this cartoon in this week’s New Yorker..

We didn’t exotically do nothing today.. the morning was actually quite full. Diane took me and the dogs on a surprise run in the woods on a new trail she learned about last week. It’s the Preston rook trail off of the Bolton Notch road.  it’s only a couple of miles from here .. but we’ve ever seen it. its’ about a 3.2 mile loop  that takes you by beautiful  preston pond way back in the woods.. then there’s a little .6 mile climb out to Libbys Lookout with a beautiful view of our part of the Green Mountains that i’d never seen .. It was great…

 

 

Then back to the house for a while.. a short float in the pool.. then Gae and I went and met Marcello and his family, All of us managed to ‘fall’ off the Richmond bridge. Gabe with back flips.. me jut doing a pencil. It’s about a 40 foot drop.. so feet first works for me.. It was just what I needed to make me forget my tummy bug .

later in the day, I finished the GSM -arduino interface that alows me to receive SMS messages from my phone to control my flame thrower. I’ve been meaning to get this whole thing working so I can show someone what the guts of an SMS controlled flame sculpture would be like..   Inally it works.. Here’s the setup..

here’s the GSM modem, arduino and relay

here’s the SMS sent from my phone

and here’s what happens when the device receives my message .. nice !

OK. thats all for now.. more from labor day tomorrow

enjoy your holiday everyone..

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

saturday night – westfordpalooza

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wow, Diane and I just came back from the best party . but more on that in a sec… Let’s start with today, which was an absolutely gorgeous day.. I slept until nearly nine thanks to a healthy case of jetlag..   first thin after that was a great game for Gabe’s soccer team up at MMU.. the weather was perfect.. so ws the game..

on the way home from the game. Diane and I stopped in for our annual anniversary pilgrimage to the round church where we were married 26 years ago yesterday. long time. good time..

i saw this original key to the place there today.

and we met Dave.. who was chief tour guide at the round church today. really nice guy.

after that.. came home and tried to meditate.. which ended up turning into a nap..

 

Around 4:30 we headed up to Westford for ‘Westfordpalooze’.. a big party in the sicks of Westford held by three families, including my friends Bill and Corey. . I beleive this was their 7th year of holding the party..

it was at one of the couples houses.. what a beautiful spot !!!

they built a makeshift stage out of the barn..

and my buddy Bill’s brother Pete even made special (delicious) beer for the event and brought it up from Massachusetts.

here are my good bud’s Mike and Jeff..

mike was even rocking one of the limited addition party shirts.

 

 

 

the place had great gardens and  paddocks with horses and llamas.

 

there were some great signs and bumper stickers around the place..

the first band guys even write a song for the event !

x

here’s host bill

and friend rick. again.. he’s everywhere !

i got out the hoop as it got dark.. and folks had real fun with it.. dancing to the really fine music

one of the best hoopers was 6 year old elaine.. she was amazing.. !


they even had an wind powered air pump..

the bonfire was lit just about time for darkness .. it took the chill out

heres jeff on solo..

while they played, everyone hopped.. even Mike !

ok.. jet lag commands me to stop right this second..

 

more tomorrow.

nite all, nite sam

-me zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Friday afternoon – annnnnnnniversary

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Hi folks.. Blogging from an airport restaurant, about to board a flight back to the us after a really great and useful short trip to china. I don’t have much battery or bandwidth.. So I just want to wish my wonderful wife a happy anniversary … The great thing about time zones is that while it’s already our anniversary over here.. It will still be our anniversary when I get back to Diane .. It’s nice to know that after 26 years I still can’t wait to see her..

I love you my wif’ . See you soon

Nite all, nite Sam
-me

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad