inboost
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Post by inboost on Feb 25, 2023 11:28:09 GMT -8
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inboost
WS Benefactor
Constantly Rodicoing
Posts: 4,292
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Post by inboost on Mar 5, 2023 14:10:54 GMT -8
March 5th, 2023 the World Timer comes off the bench and heads out into the world. The next few days will be acceptance testing to make sure it's ready to move on to the next travel companion trouble free. We live in Mooresville, North Carolina and today by all appearances is the first true day of spring. We start our morning off with coffee like many do. Here's the World Traveler next to my faithful Astoria Jun of 1998 some 29 years it's junior but still 'old' in it's own right. This was a complete rebuild project from a junk heap that now makes outstanding coffees of any type you'd like. Well, I can't compete with Starbucks. I don't think I could make coffee that bad even if I tried! We have no pets, but there are plenty of animals around. We have four young white-tailed deer roaming the area that come in the mornings to snuff up the lost birdseed fallen from the feeder suspended far above. They take turns being startled and then eating - it's hilarious the expressions they give when they think they thought they heard something, maybe? They spook like nothing else, and when they run their white tails are up and flashing as the dash away effortlessly.
The watch is running well, but I like data so here's a point taken.
I was running some trash out to the cans and was moved to stop and take a photo, the bloom on the trees about us is in full swing and it's lovely.
I have an annual dermatology checkup tomorrow morning and then my Wife and I will be off on a mini over-night vacation. We're heading to Blowing Rock, North Carolina for some hiking to a waterfall or two and then just strolling about the town. First order of business is to put the car right for the trip. Oil level, tire pressures, brake fluid, washer fluid, blinker fluid, it's all checked. Then a wash. What a perfect way to test the watch out for water tightness in a real setting. The watch was purposefully submerged at every dunk of the wash mit
Swiped every square inch of the sporty 2006 Mazda RX-8
and got hosed off a few times too You wanted to know how the car came out? Why beautifully thank you! It's no show car like those dapellegrini showed us all but it's very much loved and adored by our family and continues to be a fun and enjoyable car to drive after owning it for 13 years now. Oh the watch? It's fine!
More to come as the next few days progress so stay tuned
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 5, 2023 19:50:48 GMT -8
Excellent! I have to admit to flinching each time I see it in water... How awesome though, and it sounds like you have a real adventure ahead of you. Looking forward to it!
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inboost
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Constantly Rodicoing
Posts: 4,292
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Post by inboost on Mar 6, 2023 15:20:13 GMT -8
Well then @dapellrgrini you might want to look at these next few sets of photos sitting down. Today started out with spots on both of my hands being frozen with liquid nitrogen and a hole being cut in my neck. Such are the badges we earn for the honor of growing old! But after that minor inconvenience, my wife and I hopped in the car and drove up to a small mountain town known as Blowing Rock here in North Carolina. A bit of a tourist trap and ski town it has beautiful views of the Blue Ridge mountains. Arriving in town mid-morning we went straight to a trailhead and hiked the Glen Burney Falls trail. The hike covered two waterfalls both the Glen Burney and Glenn Marie falls. As soon as we entered the trail we saw this intriguing little bit of nature After some relatively easy downgrade hiking the trail did get a little bit more dicey with root and rock criss-crossing everywhere. So you had to watch your feet much of the time! In all we lost and then had to re-climb 1,023ft (312m) of elevation on this 2.5 mile hike Of course well worth it though. Here are some shots of the first waterfall First from the top Then from the bottom Onward to the Glen Marie falls we have a top shot And then a quick snack break and some goofing around with the watch. Look away dapellegrini ! We happened upon this odd tree trunk that was completely stripped of its bark, so I took a photo with the watch because I thought it looked kind of neat. When we made it to the bottom of the falls there was an axe laying carefully out of harm's way on a rock that we had seen a fellow trail mate carrying. I grabbed it so he wouldn't have to walk all the way back down to get it and eventually managed to meet up with him and hand it back off. He was happy to see it but told us he had written it off as not worth going back for as it was a cheap tool given to him by his boss. I still feel good for retrieving it and bringing it to him. We had seen him using it to clear some debris from the trail. I figured a good trail steward deserve to have his tool back! Next a picture of the second falls looking up from the bottom. After hiking back out we went into town and had lunch at the sixpence pub, a fairly good facimile of something you might see in England. It reminded us very much of an English tavern / restaurant we loved back in California known as Ye Olde Ship. In our younger years we very much enjoyed things like Scotch eggs, bread pudding, bangers and mash, and more. Today we were a little bit more reserved, but didn't hold it all the way back! I had a Reuben on pumpernickel with the house potato salad. My wife had french fries with her roast beef sandwich (minus the bread), which would be a real treat in our household because we generally don't eat the fried stuff anymore. I can tell you this, there are daffodils everywhere so of course I had to get the obligatory wrist shot with some of the bright yellow flowers that means so much to us! We're back at the room now and I'm suffering through trying to post this via my mobile phone. Hopefully this goes up, third time's a charm! More to follow soon! Inboost
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 6, 2023 15:56:27 GMT -8
Excellent hike... on the map is marked "The Ruins" - and now I need to google what that is exactly.
Impressive water survival for a watch that will be 54 years old in a few weeks (I think it was April 69, right?)...
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 6, 2023 16:23:56 GMT -8
Awesome espresso machine BTW.
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 6, 2023 16:36:54 GMT -8
The ruins are actually the town's original sewer treatment plant. Not very glamorous but very interesting concrete bunkers and structures.
Yes the watch is doing very well with water tightness, but we knew it would when it passed the hundred meter test! I was a little concerned considering how cold the water was and how hot my arm was when I plungeed in there from the hiking. But it passed with flying colors. I'm just having fun making everyone including yourself cringe a bit. The nice part is that it means it's ready for anything and that it ought to have a great trip and not require any hospitalization in the middle of it barring major disasters.
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inboost
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Posts: 4,292
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Post by inboost on Mar 6, 2023 18:19:53 GMT -8
Out to dinner we enjoyed ourselves with good food and company including a pair of vintage Seiko watches both serviced by yours truly My Wife is wearing an 11-8309 of February 1976 and I'm sporting the 6117-6010 of April 1969
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inboost
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Constantly Rodicoing
Posts: 4,292
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Post by inboost on Mar 7, 2023 6:55:12 GMT -8
Out for coffee this morning we went to Bald Guy Coffee. It seems a storm is on the way as we were being buffeted by 20mph (32kph) winds as we walked. Our planned hike is called off due to the increasing winds and falling temperatures which we didn't bring suitable clothing to combat. We'll look around and see what else we can do in the area before heading down the mountain. It seems even up here we had Civil War activities.Stonemans Raid was one of the last effort at the end of the war according to some quick research
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inboost
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Constantly Rodicoing
Posts: 4,292
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Post by inboost on Mar 7, 2023 13:35:06 GMT -8
Boy, the wind is picking up so let's go grab a parting shot in town and then head down the mountain! Whoops, missed the focus on this one. The sun was in our eyes so you'll have to forgive me. After our escape we ended up in a town named Boone in North Carolina. Yep, this town was named after the intrepid explorer Daniel Boone and today is a modern bustling college town. We walked around a bit in the historic downtown area and in an antique store happened upon a LIFE magazine from the month and year this Seiko was produced! Much too big and too nice to fold up and shove in the box we left it for a collector to buy, but not before getting a photo with the World Traveler! We then dropped into a little 'groovy' breakfast / lunch spot and had a hippy burger. I got the bacon cheeseburger with home made pimento cheese and home fries. Mmmmmmm! After lunch we hoped in the RX-8 and rotary rocketed down the mountain and back home again. Knowing that HiBeat is in a pinch to get the World Traveler before he's left on his vacation I quickly boxed up the bits
And brought it to the post office for a send off. Look for HiBeat's adventures with ' Flat Stanley' next! (My Wife's nickname for the World Traveler) Thanks dapellegrini , I thoroughly enjoyed hosting the Word Traveler and can't wait to see where it goes next!
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 13, 2023 15:03:24 GMT -8
Paging Mr. HiBeat ... Paging Mr. HiBeat ... Any news from our brave World Traveler?
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HiBeat
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 13, 2023 18:21:24 GMT -8
Paging Mr. HiBeat ... Paging Mr. HiBeat ... Any news from our brave World Traveler? He's got 2 weeks and 2,000 miles ahead of him
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 14, 2023 11:35:31 GMT -8
Alright all you patient Sushies (and you too Dan ) The 2023 World Traveler got off to a rocky start with host HiBeat. The BIG WS WT 2023 Tour was scheduled to commence today with a 125 mile ride up the scenic NY Thruway to Albany NY and the picturesque Capitol Region for a brew pub dinner and a rocking out all night long with a chance for it to experience Bruce Springsteen and the heart stopping, pants dropping, hard rocking, earth shocking, booty shaking, love making, viagra taking, history making, legendary.... E...Street...Band. But illness among the band and a 12-24 inch snowfall in Albany today cratered this event. So for a starting point, sadly that being my house, today's photo:
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 14, 2023 12:23:18 GMT -8
Oh man HiBeat that totally bites. Sorry to hear that. I hope you still get to go with or without the World Traveler.
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 14, 2023 15:26:24 GMT -8
Bummer! Will you be able to make the rescheduled date?
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 14, 2023 16:25:04 GMT -8
Bummer! Will you be able to make the rescheduled date? Come hell or high water.
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Post by 69ChevelleSS on Mar 15, 2023 6:33:47 GMT -8
Bummer Jon. Hope you still get to see the show but I doubt the World Traveler will still be with you. One can hope!
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 15, 2023 19:06:07 GMT -8
So with today's original plan to take a scenic ride in the Upper Hudson Valley scrapped by Mother Nature, we pivot to a mini-historical tour of my home area.
First is the Great Falls of Paterson NJ. It is truly an amazing place especially after any significant rains, it is often called the Niagara Falls of NJ. On this low rain date today it is still impressive.
Lifted straight off the Interweb: America's first planned industrial city, Paterson Great Falls offers historic mill tours and stories of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park is home to one of the nation's largest waterfalls. The Great Falls of the Passaic River and the surrounding historic buildings and raceways are the foundation for stories of Alexander Hamilton, the Industrial Revolution, the labor movement, and the important contributions of immigrants to the making of America.
Hamilton envisioned Paterson, with its waterpower provided by the Great Falls of the Passaic River, as America's counterpart and response to the English industrial revolution.
Hamilton established an ambitious project of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.), the early development of water power systems for industrial use, and the various types of manufacturing that occurred in the District's mills into the 20th Century. These included cotton fabrics, railroad locomotives, textile machinery, jute, and silk spinning, weaving, and dyeing, among many others.
We usually think of Texas when we hear "Colt 45" but Samuel Colt, in 1836, produced the first repeating firearm right here in Paterson utilizing the water of the Great Falls as well.
Boy did Simon inboost really nail the hour/minute/GMT hand setting perfectly ! It just happened to be exact noon didn't realize til I saw the photo !
I saw the play I don't recall them rapping about hydroelectric power, but here is this stately statue of Hamilton gazing over his triumphant accomplishment.
To capture the Great Falls, I hope this Tik-Tok Chinese spyware video link works. @cd_god trust me it's worth sneaking a peak using the boss's work computer:
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HiBeat
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 15, 2023 19:06:59 GMT -8
Further up the road in Paterson one finds this statue dedicated to Lou Costello, famously of the old radio bit "Who's on First?" He hailed from Paterson and somehow this was so noteworthy that a statue was built in his honor.
@tyrone_Jenkins note the boarded up windows in the buiding in the background. Probably from random Drive-by's. Makes the Northside seem tame at night. Trust me.
Not sure what would be the worse fate, being remembered for a radio bit or being from Paterson and commemorated in memoriam.
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Post by HiBeat on Mar 15, 2023 19:07:13 GMT -8
Here in the NorthEast USA the true badge of Colonial honor for any historical building is to be able to document the claim "George Washington slept here." This is followed by "George Wasington ate here." Then we have signs that say "George Washington marched down this road". The order of importance is very much a real thing.
Well, Big George didn't just sleep here, he flat-out made our town his Headquarters for several months. This is the Dey Mansion (pronounced like 'dye' or 'die' if you are reading this educational piece out loud to your captivated audience). There are 300 year old trees on the grounds and I envision some of GW's exhaled CO2 being embedded in them via the Calvin Cycle. I really need to stop thinking so hard about this place.
Anyway others who stayed at this encampment, aside from of course Alexander Hamilton, was the Marquis de Lafayette, General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, Benedict Arnold, and other famous people I have never heard of so I am not listing them.
So the Dey Mansion was built in the early 1700's, generally accepted to be about 1735- 1740. Now to us Yankees here in the New Country, that's "old". I realize when I go to Europe it is not actually antiquity just among the best we can do for old buildings. Forgive us for our grandiose self-centrism it's how we roll.
You see the name "Preakness" in the sign. This area was the "Preakness Valley" in the 1700's and 1800's. A horse racing family from Wayne NJ raised a horse named "Preakness" and they sent it down to the newly built Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore MD to run in the premier stakes race on the first day of racing at the new track. The horse won, and you guessed it, after a while they renamed their premier race, so now you know why the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown is known as The Preakness Stakes.
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