What I did today -instead- of Rocketry.

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Made an appt. at my primary care MD for a COVID test tomorrow. Again. Pain Management requires a test 72 hours before they do an epidural on me, and I have to quarantine from test time until the appt.

My 3rd time. I don't know what they inject but it seems to be effective for about two months. :)

Best -- Terry
 
Work has me on a training course for ANSYS Maxwell and HFSS. Electromagnetic simulation software for high-fidelity modelling of electric and magnetic fields. Interesting stuff, easy to stuff up if you get it wrong (refer to my signature below) :eek:. Very powerful and potentially useful in the future.
 
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took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (+8°C!!) and started to chip ice out of teh driveway. Snow packs / condenses into ice when you repeatedly drive over it, and toss in some 'winter rain & sleet' a few weeks ago..) this is a years spring time 'right of passage'.. (no pun intended)

it is also somewhat satisfying too!! and I get to ply 'hydraulasist' and make channels & paths for the water to drain away..
I can finally see my sidewalk again. I had +60 F, 16C a couple of days ago. And I too like making water channels to keep the water out of my driveway and tractor shed. Like being a kid again! :)

Also, I'm at the same latitude you are.
 
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Doorknob and Star Orbiter on standby until the 27th. Will pre load starters in the motor but not today. Riding my Harley Sportster until then
 
Went looking at display homes. Looking towards retirement (at least five years away yet) and how we are going to plan that. Early days yet. Do we keep the same house and update, or do we rebuild our much older rental property, then move there? Having a decent workshop is complicating the decision ;).
 
Went looking at display homes. Looking towards retirement (at least five years away yet) and how we are going to plan that. Early days yet. Do we keep the same house and update, or do we rebuild our much older rental property, then move there? Having a decent workshop is complicating the decision ;).

Buy a farm! As my dad said to me, "You'll live forever now. You'll be too busy to die." 😆
 
Went looking at display homes. Looking towards retirement (at least five years away yet) and how we are going to plan that. Early days yet. Do we keep the same house and update, or do we rebuild our much older rental property, then move there? Having a decent workshop is complicating the decision ;).
Just my 2c. My home in Northern NJ was costing $12k in taxes+ mortgage and utilities. Sold it. My house south NJ+ Vero Beach Fl cost $6600/yr.
Reduce your expenses, retire sooner.
Life is short. You’ll get old sooner than you think. Getting old is not for sissy’s
 
Went looking at display homes. Looking towards retirement (at least five years away yet) and how we are going to plan that. Early days yet. Do we keep the same house and update, or do we rebuild our much older rental property, then move there? Having a decent workshop is complicating the decision ;).
There is a saying "Two moves equals one fire", which tells you about how much of a hassle the move will be.

We were in your situation about 20 years ago, though I was 15 years from retirement then. The house we're in is newer and a fair bit larger than the rental house we used to live in, which made the decision easier.

If I had it to do over, I'd have had a 24 x 36 garage built by one of those firms that specialize in garages. Add some upgrades like insulation, better siding, etc. The 20 x 20 shop I built is too full of stuff to use effectively right now. It would have been more expensive but workmanship would probably have been better than mine.😞

Best -- Terry
 
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First Largemouth of 2021.

Nice! Our lake just lost its ice this week. Don't even have the dock in yet. That really gives me the itch!

I was going to spray primer on several rockets today, but my wife discovered a new muskrat tunnel in the back yard, so I got to dig them out and fill them. Would definitely have preferred to get all those rockets coated.
 
I was going to spray primer on several rockets today, but my wife discovered a new muskrat tunnel in the back yard, so I got to dig them out and fill them.

"My Muskrat hides hanging by the dozens
Even got a lady mink, a muskrat's cousin
Got 'em out drying in the hot, hot sun
Tomorrow papa's gonna turn 'em into money"

Hey. More money for rockets!
 
Even more shenanigans:
  • Kept reading a book on William McKinley (24th book in "The American Presidents" series)
  • Re-read an interesting, though controversial, article that theorized a correlation between impact events and mass extinctions, but it goes further to suggest that the solar system rotates through the Milky Way's thicker midpoint every 26 to 30 million years, which causes gravity pertubations possibly from chunks of Dark Matter, which may either dislodge comets from the Oort Cloud or cause Earth's internal heating to skyrocket, leading to massive volcanism events - interesting, but still controversial - apparently the solar system has just passed through the midpoint of the Milky Way
  • Thought about how I rarely have anything to contribute to the "what I did Rocketry-wise today" thread and how I need to fix that, so I started contemplating buying a DX3 for L1, we'll see how it goes
  • Bought and received a space-themed Chinese commemorative 100 Yuan banknote from 2015 - the front shows Shenzou 9 docking with the Tiangong-1 space station, along with China's first satellite, launched in 1970, Dongfanghong-1 - the back shows a history of flight from a large bird (a mythical Peng?), to a Chinese biplane and a Chinese-built airliner and the Tiangong space station planned for 2020, but which was apparently delayed
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Or retire on schedule and have more money per year to spend on rockets. :)
I'm just a few years away from retirement, but now I work remotely and so we have started looking to relocate, and sometimes I think retire now and just reduce expenses, then I look at my rockets... I just need to find a house on a few (10?) clear acres for launching, a huge workshop, one-level, with gigabit internet... within 30 minutes of a bowling alley for my wife. Where does that exist..? :questions:
 
Sous cheffing for the most important religious holiday of the year in our house-Pi Day. Looks like we’ve got banana cream and peach berry on the way as well as some savory hand pies. Kind of a small haul this year since we can’t host a party.

Edit: and lemon meringue. Peach and berry will be hand pies.
 
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I'm just a few years away from retirement, but now I work remotely and so we have started looking to relocate, and sometimes I think retire now and just reduce expenses, then I look at my rockets... I just need to find a house on a few (10?) clear acres for launching, a huge workshop, one-level, with gigabit internet... within 30 minutes of a bowling alley for my wife. Where does that exist..? :questions:
There is a place you are describing. Right here in Pahrump Nevada. Lots of retirees. An hour from Vegas. Inexpensive land and houses. One of the Casinos has a bowling alley. No state income tax.
 
Looking through Craigslist for some tools and when I got there I saw this Juicer in a box under the table. The base was broken in half and was somewhat beat-up and corroded. After buying the tool he gave me the juicer. Thought it would be a good practice project for the weekend. Forgot to take a before picture of the broken base and the dull aluminum. After a few hours welding, grinding, sanding and at the polishing wheel, I need to find another guppy that wants to get rid of $400!!!
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Is that the RAV4? That could be our next car. Curious to hear what mileage you get in real driving.

After 2500 miles, I am getting right about 39 mpg. Pretty consistent regardless of city or highway. I got 38 on a road trip to Houston where I set the cruise to 82. On a related note, radar assisted cruise with lane assist is the most amazing feature I’ve ever had on a car. Makes long road trips sooooo much easier. Especially when the highway Is only 2 lanes each way.
 
After 2500 miles, I am getting right about 39 mpg. Pretty consistent regardless of city or highway. I got 38 on a road trip to Houston where I set the cruise to 82. On a related note, radar assisted cruise with lane assist is the most amazing feature I’ve ever had on a car. Makes long road trips sooooo much easier. Especially when the highway Is only 2 lanes each way.
Big agree, I feel so much more confident having vthe extra set of robot eyes.
 
rode around out in the country for a couple of hours scouting potential launch fields....found a 33 acre R-4 zoned in an industrial area that will never be built as R-4 due to the concrete plant across the road.....but I got a name and phone number to call...
 
The good news is training is working:

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The bad news is, my right IT band deeply hates me right now:

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Also learned a lesson about running on a sunny day with a headband...use sunblock on your face or you may end up with an interesting tan line just short of your hair line. :facepalm:
 
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Dad is slowly getting better. They've taken him off the paralytics and sedation. He opens his eyes at times but still isn't responding to commands like squeeze my hand. They've reduced the vent settings to strong air flow but no longer max and oxygen from 90%-100% down to 80% and he's keeping oxygen in his blood above 95%(normal) his blood pressure is still only barely under control but heart rate and type is good. Chest x-ray and CT scan shows slight improvement in his lungs.

If this continues, he'll recover
Today was one of the hardest of my life. Today I laid my dad to rest. He never recovered. They think that he had a lack of oxygen for too long. His body recovered but he wasn't there any more.
 
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