My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on September 6, 2006

Its not Florence brewing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean like a previous delay, but is a Fuel Cell problem. Space Shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to launch Wednesday afternoon with highly ambious mission to add two truss elements (see post) and significant upgrades to the International Space Station. The crew of STS-115 consists of Commander Brent W. Jett Jr., Pilot Christopher J. Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank and Steven G. MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency.

According to an early morning press briefing, the launch will be postponed for at least 24 hours because of a short (a spike and drop in voltage) in the fuel cell coolant motor after the cell was activated. The Mission Management Team is scheduled to meet at 1pm EDT today, and a news conference will follow.

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Posted By RichC on September 5, 2006

I don’t think there is anyway for me to update all the happenings in new alternative fuel announcements in Ohio, but an email popped into my box confirming a new 100 million dollar facility in northwestern Ohio by the Broin Companies. According to the press release, the Sioux Falls, South Dakota company will build a facility in Leipsic, Ohio, south of Toledo. The company has indicated that they will hire 40 employees and produce approximately 60 million gallons of ethanol from Ohio grown corn each year.

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Posted By RichC on September 5, 2006

Preliminary drilling tests have indicated that a deep-water Gulf of Mexico well could increase the oil and natural gas reserves in the US by 50% according to news Tuesday. The Jack 2 well by a Chevron, Devon Energy and Norway’s Statoil has been “very encouraging” commented Stephen Hadden, Senior Vice-President of exploration and production. According to the news articles being published today, the lower-Tertiary formation in the Gulf of Mexico could hold up to 15 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves, more than Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. (currently the US largest oil field) This discovery is even a 1/3 larger than the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil reserves estimated at 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

With this new find, one would expect that the recent crude oil price decline should continue. Currently crude oil is trading around $68/barrel. We’ll see if it show up at the pump … although I’ve noticed prices in Ohio about 70 cents per gallon lower than the $3.00/gallon summer high only a few weeks ago. (spotted $2.26/gal for unleaded regular gasoline at a Marathon Station in NE Ohio this morning)

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Posted By RichC on September 5, 2006

Labor Day also marks another annual event — TDIFest. Most likely if you know what a TDIFest is this post will not be worth reading … you were either their or have been following the 2006 event online. For those of you still following, the TDIFest is the annual gathering of Volkswagen Turbo Direct Injected (TDI) “diesel” vehicles.

This years 2006 ‘Fest was held in eastern Pennsylvania (Valley Forge, PA) where Ernesto made an appearance as well. Rain may have soaked a few, but it didn’t seem to dampen the good times had by all. The TDIClub founder, Fred Voglmaier from British Columbia Canada, was there to welcome all and oversee several events. Our thank go out to him for his tireless effort in keeping the TDIClub forum servers up and running for another year. Although I wasn’t at this years TDIFest, the CinciTDI club did have a couple representatives make the trek. According to all the posts and comments that I have read, everyone had a good time despite the rain. Besides the many threads and comments over at the TDIClub Forum, Mike (Driver_Found) from Philadelphia posted a great slideshow of photos here. (Click Slideshow) *If you are interested in TDIs be sure to register at the TDIClub.com … and while you’re at it come visit us at CinciTDI.com too.

Besides meeting and greeting all the familiar faces and putting them with ‘screennames,’ there was much to do. From tests of skill, to sipping a few cold ones … there was something for everyone. Great job to the Valley Forge planning crew; the bar has been moved up again!

Click here for Mike’s larger photo.

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Posted By RichC on September 4, 2006

Naturalist and noted Australian naturalist Steve Irwin, known to most as “TV’s khaki-clad Crocodile Hunter” was killed while filming a new documentary Monday. He was known to push the limits of how close to come to some of the world’s most deadly animals. Irwin’s unfortunate accident came while diving off a reef in northern Queensland, Australia when “He came over the top of a stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and went into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said manager John Stainton A helicopter rushed paramedics to where Irwin (44 years old) was taken although it was already too late.

A Reuters news account stated that “Irwin’s death was likely only the third recorded fatal stingray attack in Australia. They said stingray venom was agonizingly painful but not lethal, although the barb was capable of causing horrific injuries like a knife or bayonet. “It’s not the going in, it’s the coming out,” Australian Venom Research Unit deputy director Dr Bryan Fry told Reuters.

Steve Irwin was admired and chastised by many naturalist for his “living on the edge” stunts and encounters. He will be missed if for nothing else his addictive TV personality. If you’ve ever watched him, who can forgot his descriptive comments on whatever creature he was teaching his audience about.

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Posted By RichC on September 3, 2006

If you’ve ever been around Cincinnati, Ohio on Labor Day weekend you most likely have seen (or at least heard of) the annual fireworks display. This year was the 30th year and the display was better than ever. It was 45 minutes of mind-boggling color, smoke and noise. In Cincinnati, you know what fireworks are all about if you’ve seen the spectacular WEBN/Toyota sponsored display.

Local radio station, WEBN, and Toyota sponsor the annual Riverfest fireworks show that provides the over half million people from Ohio and Kentucky the biggest pyrotechnic display I’ve ever seen. I recall our first display ten years ago when my wife commented that “this must be what fireworks are like in heaven.” Besides the 500,000+ who line up on both sides of the river, countless others watch the WKRC Channel 12 simulcast set to music. This year it was a wide mix by WEBN’s Joel Moss which included some original material by Booty Collins and well as music from AC/DC to Frank Sinatra to Jimmy Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” It always is a spectacular show and this 2006 year was no exception. If you find yourself anywhere near Cincinnati on Labor Day, do yourself a favor and take in the fireworks.

Category: Cellphone, Local, Personal, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cincinnati, fireworks, mp4, palm, treo, video

Posted By RichC on September 3, 2006

On August 30, 2006 the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) held it annual White Coat Ceremony where several awards to teaching professionals and the induction of the 2010 graduating class was acknowledged. Margaret Nora, M.D., J.D., president and dean of NEOUCOM offered words of advice and congratulations to the 123 inductees to a full auditorium. First year medical students (M1’s) are given their white coats by over 100 of the nations 145 medical schools and has been a honored tradition at NEOUCOM since 1995. As a proud father, my daughter (Katelyn – photo above) received her white coat on Wednesday night as well.

Since I keep this blog as a personal journal, it is only appropriate that I mention this milestone in my daughter’s education. Katelyn has spent the last two years completing her Bachelor of Science degree at Kent State University graduating Summa Cum Laude only a few weeks ago. The high pressure program has added significant stress to the normal growing up and attending college, but offers appropriate students an accelerated path that will shorten the many years of school associated with becoming a doctor.

Besides the advantage of accelerating ones undergraduate degree for competent students who know they want to pursue medicine as a profession, there is also the reduced stress of ‘knowing’ which medical school one will get accepted into. (that’s not to say that early acceptance into the NEOUCOM program is easy) I’ve known many pre-med graduates struggling to find a medical school that will accept them, even when they score well on the MCAT and have a sound undergraduate education. From the perspective of ‘number of pre-med graduates wanting to attend Med School’ to the ‘number of slots available’ … schools can be picky. The early acceptance program offered by some medical schools can take a bit of that pressure off.

From a parents and the dollar ‘n’ sense perspective, the advantage of reducing a 4-year undergraduate degree to two, reduces cost at a time where affording a college education is beyond the reach of many families. I’ve read about and seen too many weak students working through college and exiting with unmanageable debt … often at the sacrifice of their families. I also know too many students, whether it is due needing to grow up or a just a change of major, that requires a fifth year to complete their undergraduate education; for that I’m thankful that my daughter had a focus and goal early on in life and the ability to chip away toward that end. Sure there is second guessing that one is moving too fast and missing out on the ‘costly recreation’ that comes with a more relaxed approach toward a college education … but from the perspective of middle-age, being a bit more aggressive now will pay off since there is so much more school ahead.

Category: Personal | 6 Comments »
Tags: drew, family, katelyn

Posted By RichC on September 2, 2006

I stop in at Fairfield VW to pick up some power steering fluid for my daughter’s Jetta TDI and ran into sales manager Stu Williams. We talked for a few minutes about Volkswagen diesels, or lack thereof, and his disappointment in not having a 2007 model year TDI to sell. He indicated that they have nearly sold all of their allocated Jetta TDIs and that the number of 2006’s TDIs available in 2007 will be minimal. (VW has indicated they would continue to sell 2006s well into the 2007 model year) That said, sales for the Fairfield Ohio Volkswagen dealership has been very good as their new Rabbit, Jetta and Passat have been strong. To be honest, fuel economy on those models isn’t all that bad for ‘gassers.’ With the recent introduction of the new EOS hardtop convertible, VWoA should have a strong lineup going into 2007 even without the diesels. (although with high fuel cost the fuel efficient 2006 TDI Jetta diesel will be missed)

Our conversation returned to diesels as I commented on some of the other entries, or at least ‘talked about’ entries that might be coming to North America. One of the VW relatives will be the remodel Audi TT who has indicated it will be putting a diesel in the TT after the Le Mans success of the R10. I’m crossing my fingers that the R10 TDI’s success in the US will open the door here too? For those of us interested in a sporty diesel, this rumor promises to be something to watch for. According to a couple mentions on the internet, Audi considered a diesel in the previous TT, but decided the “remaining life cycle was too short to recuperate the investment.” The diesel engine option for the 2008 model year TT (said to be introduced next year – 2007) has not been announced.

*** For more on the 2007/2008 Audi TT see Left Lane News.

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Posted By RichC on September 1, 2006

Ernesto made landfall last night at 11:30pm with a bit stronger winds than Florida. (see previous post) Wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were common and the landfall pont was Long Beach North Carolina. According to reports, winds over 70 mph were recorded in some areas but for hurricane trackers, Ernesto came ashore as a tropic storm loaded with rain. Flash flooding is the major problem as some areas of the Carolinas have measured between 8 and 12 inches of rain.

Ernesto is moving through eastern Virginia and is still packing gust of over 60 mph. “Moderate to heavy rain extends from northeast North Carolina to the Maryland-Pennsylvania line and will continue its march northward through the Middle Atlantic and New York tonight and Saturday,” according to Weather.com.

Here is a tracking map of Ernesto with predictions as the Labor Day weekend arrives. No doubt about it, some areas are going to be wet.

Category: Weather | No Comments »
Tags: florida, hurricane

Posted By RichC on September 1, 2006

Hopefully this weekend I’ll get part 2 of my vacation to Hawaii photos and comments posted. (click here to see Part 1) Nevertheless, here is a animated GIF series of photos of a sunrise on Maui atop the crater rim at Haleakala. The photo was taken early morning (duh!) at Haleakala Crater National Park as we shivered in the early morning wind at 10,000 foot. (quality is not all that good due to animated gif … but I figured it was still worth posting?)

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Category: Personal, Photos, Recreation, Travel | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2006 vacation, cruise, hawaii, ncl, sunrise