Kepler Discovery

There has been some buzz in astronomical news lately about Kepler, which was a program I worked on at SwRI (my last job). Kepler is a space-based telescope whose mission was to search one area of the sky over a long period for rocky, Earth-like planets. I've been very anxious to hear how its mission was going, and today I say this article - which totally made my day. Here's an excerpt that did it for me:

"...the results so far of the Kepler mission heralded a Corpernican revolution. Just as Corpernicus revolutionized astronomy by publishing data that the solar system rotated around the sun, rather than the earth, so too the data from the Kepler mission would lead to another scientific revolution. Rather than planets like earth being unique or an uncommon occurrence in the galaxy, they in fact are plentiful."

Posted under News by Joel on July 27, 2010 01:40 PM| Comments (0)

First Try with the Lathe

Yesterday afternoon, I tried the lathe for the first time. Wasn't really trying to make anything specific - just following the book I've got, and tried practicing with several different chisels and techniques. When I was done, I sanded it and gave it to Carter to play with. Planning to try to make a pen next - might start on it tonight.

Posted under Projects by Joel on July 26, 2010 07:54 AM| Comments (0)

Workshop

Over the past several weeks, I've re-arranged, re-vamped, and cleaned up the workshop. I added mobile bases to everything, so I can reconfigure the shop for whatever activity I'm trying to perform, and then park all the tools tightly in the corner of the shop when I'm done, which leaves most of the garage free. Two weeks ago, I finally got my review at work, and my raise was retroactive, so I got a nice little unexpected bonus that I used to finally get the last three major tools my shop was missing - a planer, jointer, and lathe. Now I've got every big tool I should need for a long time. I finally got all my clamps collected together and hung in one place on the wall, which is a lot easier than the digging around through cardboard boxes and desk drawers that I was doing before. I also finally did some work on the router table. I bought the lift almost a year and a half ago, but didn't get around to starting to build the table until just recently. The only things left to finish it are to install the router in the lift, and a dust collection port, hook up the electrical safety switch, and assemble the mobile base. The other big thing I did this past weekend was to build a bench for the lathe. It's not quite finished - I still need to add a face frame and drawers for my chisels, chucks, and the like. But it's still useable right now. I built the top from three layers of 3/4" MDF, banded with hardwood and topped with laminate - so it's super-heavy and super-strong. I also added another 150 pounds of sand to the bottom of the bench (not shown - I did that right after I took this picture), to make sure the whole thing is rock-solid and vibration-free.

Posted under Projects by Joel on July 26, 2010 07:36 AM| Comments (0)

Status of the Garden, July 2010

So, mixed - but better - results again this year, so far. This year I smartened up and starting fertilizing everything once a week, with excellent results. Here's the rundown: Bulb onions, garlic, cucumbers: bust - last year it was too much rain that killed them. This year, it was too little. Next year I will plant them closer to the house so I can reach them with the hose. Tomatoes: Success! We've eaten a few dozen of the cherry tomatoes already, and several of the larger tomatoes are only a few days from being picked. Hot Peppers: Unmitigated success! Growing several varities this year, to see what I like best - Jalapeno, Serrano, Pablo Ancho, Cayenne, Hot Banana, Thai, Anahiem, and Chili Red. I've already had to start pickling the jalapenos - they are growing way too fast for me to keep up with eating them, even when I give a bunch away.

Posted under Projects by Joel on July 26, 2010 07:20 AM| Comments (0)

Vacation Hike #5: Diana's Baths

On our last full day up north, we took the kids to Diana's Baths. For those who have never been there, it a huge, sprawling series of pools, falls, and rocks that is a very popular family spot. It's a little over half a mile in, but I ended going out-and-back twice - five minutes after we got there, Carter claimed she needed to use the potty - which was all the way back at the parking lot. But once I got back, the kids and I built a little dam out of rocks and sticks, to block a tiny waterfall and try to get a pool to form behind it.

Posted under Hikes by Joel on July 24, 2010 01:26 PM| Comments (0)

Vacation Hike #4: Echo Lake & White Horse Ledge

Another cloudy, foggy morning - so I don't have any picture from the summit of the ledge. But this shot almost makes up for it. Lori wants to get a print made for our living room.

Posted under Hikes by Joel on July 24, 2010 01:23 PM| Comments (0)

Vacation Hike #3: Ethan Pond

Went up to Ethan Pond in Crawford Notch on day three. I've never been up there before, and thought it was worth checking out. It was pretty nice, in fact. I like all the bog bridges they have up there, where the trail starts to get wet. They just look cool to me, for some reason. I also flushed some kind of good-sized bird, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll have to poke around online and try to find a picture to compare to. Filing this hike away in my "do-again" file - the Ethan Pond campsite might be worth an overnight trip sometime.

Posted under Hikes by Joel on July 21, 2010 07:59 AM| Comments (2)

Storyland, 2010

Here's a set of cute photos from this year's visit to Storyland. This year was even better than last year, as both the kids were tall enough for every ride, and on top of that they were older, and were better (but I won't say great) about waiting in lines. A brief note about the middle shot in the top row - the kids are karate chopping the mist in that hut. Not sure what gave them that idea, but I thought it was a hoot.

Posted under Photos by Joel on July 21, 2010 07:53 AM| Comments (0)

So Cute

Here's a photo of Carter doing something that happens on occasion - she falls asleep while eating. Her eyes are closed, but she keep putting food in her mouth and chewing it, just super-slowly.

Posted under Photos by Joel on July 20, 2010 06:58 AM| Comments (0)

UberBlast

While we were up north, we checked out a place called "UberBlast" with the kiddos. It's got bouncy-house inflatables, an arcade, and games of the tickets-for-crap variety. We had a pretty good time, but the kids didn't jump nearly as long as I thought they would before they got bored of it. And considering it was $8 per kid, that irked me a little. But they both were enjoying the games so much that I got over it. Sean really loved that motorcycle game, even thought he could barely reach the handlebars. You had to lean to steer, and he thought that was awesome. I included the photo of them jumping, even though it came out terrible, just because I love the position Sean is in. He was trying to do a flip - as you can guess, it was not a success. :) And I especially like the photo of Carter and I playing air hockey. She's so tiny compared to me, but I love the adoration on her face when she looks at me. Love you too, sweetie!

Posted under Photos by Joel on July 19, 2010 09:13 AM| Comments (0)

Vacation Hike #2: Black Cap

Went up Black Cap on day two - much better weather, as you can see. Black Cap is such a short hike, you barely get warmed up by the time you reach the summit. The photo on the left cracks me up - the reflector and the brightly painted sign that says 'TRAIL'. Don't know what I would have done without it!

Posted under Hikes by Joel on July 18, 2010 08:33 PM| Comments (0)

Vacation Hike #1: Mt. Willard

Mt. Willard was my first morning hike of our vacation. What a way to start, too. It was pouring on me the whole way up, plus it was right at dawn, so I was worried about running into a bear, too. Once I got to the top the rain stopped, but the whole of Crawford Notch was socked in with fog anyway. You could barely make out the ridge that is across the notch from Willard. Still, I had a great time anyway. Hiking in the rain never really bothers me that much. It's just a matter of accepting the fact that you are going to get soaked - once you do that, it can be kind of fun.

Posted under Hikes by Joel on July 18, 2010 08:29 PM| Comments (0)

I Am Your Father!

When I first bought this mask, in Texas, Sean was only a year old and he was scared to death of it. Just last week, as I was puttering around in the attic looking for hiking gear, I found it again. Now, Sean absolutely loves it. He and Carter both have been wearing it all the time, and talking in their deep Darth Vader voices. I think Carter looks hilarious in it, as it's adult sized, and she's got such a little body.

Posted under Photos by Joel on July 17, 2010 09:52 PM| Comments (0)

Mower Driver

Sean's been asking me to let him drive the mower for a long time. I always told him it just wasn't safe. It wasn't until I was mowing the lawn right before our vacation that I realized that I didn't have to engage the blade. D'oh! He had an awesome time tooling around the yard, even though he almost crashed us into just about everything in sight.

Posted under Photos by Joel on July 17, 2010 09:49 PM| Comments (0)

Lots of Pics Incoming!

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog - I've been super-busy at home and work, and we were getting ready for our vacation. So now that we're back, there should be a whole bunch of posts showing up here over the next few days.

Posted under Stories by Joel on July 17, 2010 09:17 PM| Comments (0)

Preschool Graduation

We went to the kids' preschool graduation yesterday. I especially love that last shot - with Carter smiling in the foreground, and Sean laughing uproariously in the background. That was taken while the clown was telling jokes. Both kids found her hilarious.

Posted under Photos by Joel on June 12, 2010 09:37 AM| Comments (0)

Cottage on the Lake

Last week, Lori and the kids went up north with her mom and her mom's friend John. They stayed in a beautiful little place on a lake, and from the pictures I'd say that they had an awesome time. Seeing that one photo of the lake with the mountains in the background makes me really anxious to get up to the mountains myself. Can't wait!

Posted under Photos by Joel on June 12, 2010 09:33 AM| Comments (0)

Sleep-Over

Here are some pics from the weekend before last. We had Tracy's kids stay overnight, and it went really well. Beforehand, Olivia was our biggest worry. What if she was just inconsolable, and wouldn't settle for anyone other than her mom? It turned out to be no problem at all - she didn't give us one peep of trouble the whole weekend. All the kids did great.

Posted under Photos by Joel on June 1, 2010 09:21 PM| Comments (1)

A Study in Butts

Lori took the kids out to play at the playground a couple of weeks ago, and took this picture while there. I think they had the whole place to themselves. She got a bunch of the usual pictures - smiling kids swinging and climbing - but we've got lots of those already, and something about this particular shot really appealed to me. It's just nice to see the kids "sharing a moment".

Posted under Photos by Joel on May 29, 2010 07:12 AM| Comments (0)