Today was the memorial for our friend Bill Haddock. Bill was a fun and very interesting man who loved helping people better understand themselves. He was a specialist in Meyers Briggs personality testing.. You knw those tests that categorize  folks into 1 of 16 different personality types.   Bill was an ENFP ..   a type known as the Campaigner. . THe test says that this type is “Campaigners are enthusiastic, creative, and sociable free spirits, who can always find a reason to smile”.. he certainly was that.  (as is bill’s wife Gina.. and for that matter me !) .. Even as his Alzheimers advanced, Bill remained the friendly , enthusiastic and sociable soul he’d always been. 
The memorial was Richmond congregational church. THe place was packed . THe service was lead by Paster Katlyn.. (also and ENFP).. and was lighthearted, loving and appreciative of bills special warmth. One by one people stood up and told great funny stories. I was particularly impressed by the words that all three of sons… Our friends, Luke, and.Matt and his older son Haynes from down I georgia. The remembrances included football cheers from Bill’s beloved Georgia State… Funny stories about hiking and lots and lots about personality types. Pastor Kaitlyn closed the whole ceremony with what she called the prayer of the ENFP.. It went soemthing like:

” Dear Lord, thank you for…. the .. hey there’s a squirrel !!!”

Lots of laughter and and lots of tears. >

Later in the day we headed over to the Hadocks for more stories.. It was a great gatherign for a really great guy
 We got to hang out with Gina and Bi;;s sons Matt, Luke and Haynes We also got to send time with Lukes wife Emily and their new baby Holly. Holly was bor just after Bill eid.. I know he would love her

It was a happy-sad day.. it was pouring as we all left to go home.. 

And this is what met us at home..

 

Oh well.. life keeps happing.. 
We’ll miss you Bill

nite all. nite sam

-me

Productive day at work.. .. Midday Juergen and Luisa stopped by for a very quick tour

Early evening I met Diane and Our friends the Bories and Heaths  at a marina in Shelbourne ..  to go sailing on the Heith’s boat.. .    

We had a quick picnic dinner before heading out.. and .. wouldn’t you know, I had just enough liquid nitrogen to make one more batch.. my 7th.. of LN2 ice cream.. It was fun to watch the other folks at the marina trying to figurte out what we were doing. 

It was a beautiful, hot and windless evening .. 

We spent a good portion fof the trip talkign about the joys of retirement. Rick, Kate, Lou and Kathy are all retired.. They talked about all the free time they had…

I still am not getting the concept.. .. of free time I mean 🙂

nite all, nite sam

-me

Today was fun and hectic. I’m super busy at work but made time to tour some of my old and new friends from hack club through Beta. This group is going to be riding by train from Vancouver to Montreal on a two week odyssey of inventing.… I’m always very proud to show off the technology. We’re creating at beta.

 

And, wouldn’t you know.. I still had some think this is the 4th time in a week.. is anyone keeping count ?  left over liquid nitrogen.. so we made LN2 ice cream in the parking lot.. .. 

Later in the day I got a call from Diane telling me that our friends Jurgen and Luisa were at our house. I knew they were coming into town, but I didn’t realize it was going to be this afternoon. I was able to finish up my work quickly and get home to see them. You’re gonna is my old friend in collaborator who used to live in Bibb in Germany, then in Burlington and I have seen him at various places in the world since. The two of them now live in Malta. He really is one of my oldest friends.It was so good to see them !  I was able to spend a little time with them today and we made a plan for getting together later in the week

And the old friends kept coming… Our friend Devon dropped by. He’s here in Vermont for a while after living in Montana for a long time. Super great catching up with him.

 

I love his  Sam ink !

I quickly headed back to work.. It was such a hot day… But I decided I’d make liquid nitrogen ice cream (yes again) for my friends at work. It was a perfect day to do it. We gathered right outside the building. Super fun yet again.

 

I think thats five times.. ?  RIght..

After work, I headed home (again) .. And picked up Diane and our young friend Finn, who staying with us for the night. We headed out to Middlesex to try a restaurant called the filling station… Believe it or not it’s a wonderful sushi, etc. restaurant in the middle of a landlocked state. We’ve heard so much about it.It was really delicious.

The place was really cute and funky. THey had soem wild bacon meets star trek art. !

We got home just as the sun was setting. Just enough time to make liquid nitrogen. (yes… I know this is getting repetitive) with thin. Finn.. THats 6 times I think

We also got to show Finn our amazing glow-in-the-dark petunias.… I don’t know if I’ve already written about these, but they are amazing. It’s a genetically engineered hybrid that took some genetic material from a glowing mushroom and spliced  it to a petunia. It’s kind of a subtle effect but at night, it is amazing. Even more amazing when photographed.

here they are with natural light 

Here they are at night.. 

Gotta love science !

nite all, nite sam

-me

Began the day with the pick your own fruit salad.… This is been the best summer I ever ever remember for fruit from the yard

We spent some time working on the basement. We’ve had some serious work done to improve the drainage down there and we’re not yet satisfied, but it’s working. One of the storms that passed through here recently ended up depositing a lot of silt in part of our basement. I was cleaning and vacuuming it up when I came across, a plaque of sorts etched into the poured part of the basement. I knew this part of the house dated from the mid 1970s when the first owner Mel McNeil rescued the building… Here is proof of his handiwork.

 

It was so fun finding that for the first time after living in this house   for 42 years. Last I knoew, Mel was living in New Zealand raising sheep. I’ll try to reach out to him and his family with this blast from the past. 

We did a little other archaeology today. We were preparing for our delivery of wood, and we spent some time leveling the ground and putting up some makeshift platforms to keep the wood off of the ground. We’re using pieces of the old cedar swingset that we bought in 1992. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.… Handling that old wood brought back great memories.

 

Neighbor Carly came over to swim and it reminded me that I still had some leftover liquid nitrogen. So we made LN2 ice cream for the third time. !

I think its getting more delicious as the week goes on !

nite all, noite sam

-me