Science is usually a quest for the truth...

Just a quick post to share what seems to be a well written call for debate and rational thinking in a world that is dominated by spin...

Summer turns to Fall and life is good!

 What a wonderful summer... let's hope we have a nice fall too.

The pizza oven is progressing!

All of the black krim tomatoes are either canned or frozen for yummy sauces to be made this winter!

A little get-away at an old train station right on Lake Superior.  So amazing!

I have lived a good part of my life on the beautiful lake... so fortunate.

The converted train station is now an AIR B&B and you can spend the night here.  The sandstone was quarried in the 1800's.

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Forms done, first course is in!

 Labor Day 2020 

The forms are to set an interior dome height of 18 inches and an oven door opening of 18 inches... and the interior diameter is 36 inches... I seriously thought about going with a Golden Ratio of 29 but the bricks fit better this way!

To cut all of the complex angles we used a miter saw with a diamond blade. This is the first time we've mixed high temp mortar.  It takes a little getting used to.

At this pace, looks like an October "first fire."

The rest should go pretty fast - good thing too - it's September in Northern Wisconsin so cold weather is just around the corner.  As I said in my earlier post, I can't remember a nicer summer.  We raised Black Krim tomatoes this year from seeds.  Soooo good!  If you've never had this heirloom variety you are missing a very pleasant taste treat!

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Rodolfo Ragonesi has a point!

The age of everything fake...

(Human evolution has taken a very strange twist in our times)

I ran across this article and thought it made some good points! Over the past decade or so, the slide from a world view based on facts to agenda driven opinions has accelerated and corroded so many parts of our lives that I wonder if the age of deductive reasoning has been firmly supplanted with "active measures." Most of which are poorly contrived but seem to be effective in, to borrow from Noam Chomsky, manufacturing consent.  Where are the critical thinkers?  How bad does it need to get before there is a cultural renaissance that drives towards truth? 

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Some times.... when you work really hard

You can change EVERYTHING!  I've seen it - I've lived it. I just saw it again!

As an engineer and these days as a leader of a company, I reflect on having been a part of the technical problem solving effort that made a difference.  As a young man I was a part of a handful of team efforts that changed business models... (V-22, Ford Edge, JLTV, CAT 3600, DME, DCTs and Hybrids - think Ballard and maybe how to do proper FEA or dynamics and the WLB and WLM) changed product trajectories and turned grim into victory. I've been privileged to come along at just the right time. Really - I have been blessed. It's made me so appreciative to my profession.  So many great people I have worked with along the way!

Every now and then, and now admittedly as an old guy no longer doing the heavy lifting...  now just responsible for putting the team together, for mentoring or crafting the teachable moment for the team to succeed, I get to see when magic happens.  Stars still rise to the occasion, problems melt away, success - always paid for by the hardest  work - it still happens.So take heart. You can do it too.

I have to say, to you, my visitors, you can change so much if you run flat out.
If you apply your gifts and when you get tired, you double down... never give up or be content with mediocrity.

You can change the world. I know you can!

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What anexcellent summer this has been!

We love our Hazel, she's grown into a beautiful young lady!

This summers flower garden is amazing...

Beautiful

Just the right amount of rain and sun...

All day long these little guys visit...

The summer of 2020 has been one of the nicest I can remember!

 The dome is slowly rising! 

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Re-powered '59 finally back in the water

This took a lot longer than I thought it would! We decided to re-power our old '59 Larson run-about with a cleaner, quieter and more reliable motor last year.  This is one of those kinds of projects that just keeps getting bigger until you finally get it all done.  New controls, upgraded steering, re-wired which meant a new wiring harness in a new loom...

Now that it's back on the water it's really so much nicer.  No oil slick from the old Johnson v-4, super quiet, no exhaust smoke either.  Hazel approves!

Maiden voyage under new power.  Smooth, quiet and a little misty. I kept the old Larson All American steering wheel but am replacing the old gauges. 

Not finished yet with mounting the fuse panel, but so much fun to be back on the water!

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