Here’s a personal "what I’m doing" post after spending an evening with my son Taylor finishing up his taxes. We of course used this excuse to have dinner together too. I think we have both always enjoyed our time together, but the older (and more mature) he gets, the more I really do enjoy talking with him … including the usual, politics. Hopefully now that he’s paying a few more taxes, he’ll want to hold all politicians more accountable for their irresponsible spending habits (and I’m not even talking about President Obama’s getaways!).
I also realized it will be Thursday when this post goes live … so I might as well include a couple ThrowBackThursday #TBT images my brother and I found while sorting through my mom and dad’s house in preparation to sell. The pages below are from my mother’s collection of high school reunion pages … the amazing part is that this summer will be my wife’s 40th reunion! It doesn’t seem possible? A couple of the notes shared in mom’s 40th Libbey High School reunion from the class of 1952 was that she had 4 grandchildren and that my dad was retiring! First, I’m not sure we’re even old enough to have grandchildren … and second, is retirement even in our future?
After buying a new 64GB Samsung EVO+ microSD card and imaging Raspian on it, I started the Raspberry Pi 3 in my home office. It is now time to start installing software and updating it to make it a proper "micro" webserver … although I already have WordPress and American Pi running on it (even installed PHP7 against my better judgement!). There is still a lot of tweaking still to do, but it is running the LAMP stack pretty well and as a couple favorite apps … like Pianobar (love that Pandora app). I am amazed how much hotter the Broadcom chip runs when compared to the Pi2 … it even hit 80 degrees C for a few minutes during an install although averages about 60 degrees C (Pi 2 is in the 40s even when overclocked). I’m starting to think about a little cooling heatsink if I want this microcomputer to remain stable and last a while?
I’ve tried using it a little bit as a desktop Linux computer … and although it is faster than than the Raspberry Pi 2, it is still a sloth.
The new AC compressor is now installed and next is figuring out how much to take off in order to access the main headache … the DPF issue (Diesel Particulate Filter). I was quoted an unacceptably high price for this "platinum" device of over $4000 at the BMW dealership. Needless to say … I’ll be doing a little wrenching on my own. (By the way, the navigation maps update using 4 – 16GB micro SD cards in my USB device from the downloaded Torrent files went great … although the process was slow. Current maps went from 2009 to the 2016-2 release, but still don’t have a recent I-75 exit ramp in West Chester/Liberty Twp Ohio. Hmm … so much for current).
After trying to figure out just how much to remove under the car to gain access, I decided to order a BMW E70 X5 Service Manual on eBay in hope it will detail just what is required. So far, this is not easy and is probably the most difficult challenge yet. Here are a couple photos that hardly do justice in figuring out how to gain access. Unfortunately I’m stalled for now …
We had a few wicked thunderstorms last week while in Florida and enjoyed watching this one “from a distance” in the cockpit of Encore(also a very short clip of Katelyn and Drew heading off to explore distant shores in the Zodiac – below the break).
It has been a couple months since I backed the Pine A64 Kickstarter, but I did noticed my credit card was billed last month … meaning it was shipped???Besides the hint of a March shipment in a previous email, there hasn’t been an update as to "if" the micro 64-bit computer board has left China yet. So you can imagine when a packaged appeared I was excited thinking the computer board was here … but alas … it wasonly a t-shirt.
Nevertheless, I am anticipating the Pine A64 sometime this month since the earliest backers are receiving their boards … with a few complaints I might add. Hopefully there will not be a problem with my board.
Last week I also stopped at Microcenter and pick up a new Raspberry Pi 3 starter kit … it will be interesting to set both micro computers up together and compare.
Donna Lange anchored aboard her boat Inspired Insanity (renamed Inspired Sanity, this trip she says) on March 29, 2016 near the Panama Canal
Solo ’round-the-world sailor Donna Lange is safely at anchor west of the Panama Canal after lousy weather stymied her non-stop circumnavigation via the Cape Horn. She detoured after suffering damage and lose of her electronics and will head for a Rhode Island completion after passing through the canal. Her initial plan was to be the first woman to sail nonstop by rounding both capes (Africa and South America) — still, she is on an impressive 2nd rounding. It is a physical undertaking on such a small 28′ boat for a 53 year old. “Keep on, keeping on” Donna!
Donna Lange set out last May from Bristol, RI on a round-the-world voyage and will be making landfall this week in Panama.
According to posts on Twitter and tweets and shares among friends … today is #ManateeAppreciationDay.
My interest in learning about Manatees goes back to the the late 1970s when a small group of us college guys in Ohio decided to join the "Save the Manatee" campaign. We selfishly used it as a rally to travel to a variety of warmer Florida spots over several years when taking college trips over our breaks. Although we were economically minded and basically camped out on both east and west coasts as well as the Florida Keys … we did spend a little time on the St. Johns River helping with preserves and signage to warn boaters of the presence of these quiet, gentle and large mammals.
Here’s a short video off the stern of Encore; this one particularly liked our Zodiac!
Here’s a personal "what I’m doing" post after spending an evening with my son Taylor finishing up his taxes. We of course used this excuse to have dinner together too. I think we have both always enjoyed our time together, but the older (and more mature) he gets, the more I really do enjoy talking with him … including the usual, politics. Hopefully now that he’s paying a few more taxes, he’ll want to hold all politicians more accountable for their irresponsible spending habits (and I’m not even talking about President Obama’s getaways!). 
