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Made some progress moving out of the house this AM.

I have a spare marine diesel for my small boat I picked up for a song. It was stored in the basement but needed to come out to be moved to the storage trailer. At 550 pounds, with transmission, it is not the easiest thing to move around. But we tor it out. Tuesday I get an open UHaul trailer and we take it to the storage trailer. Not bad foe a couple of old codgers.

The_Toecutter wrote:

Outcast_Searcher wrote:Sounds great. But would a nice garter snake or python be THAT different re enjoying the pet? And without the potential big downside?

Certain species of rattlers are among the few snake species that actually seek out companionship and display some rudimentary simulacrum of empathy.

Interesting. And thanks for the links. I had no idea that was a thing.

Thanks for sharing. I'm always happy to learn new things from folks with actual credible links and data points, vs. ranting and raving.

This reminds me of the intelligence of crows, especially Caledonian crows, vs. the usual assumption of the term "bird brain". Intelligence comes from surprising sources.

And I suppose I'm a traitor, but given the raw material they have to work with vs. the results, I'm MUCH more impressed with Caledonian crows than I am with the typical science denying human, FWIW.

We had an African Grey parrot.
Smart enough to get me in regular trouble.

I retired my old Samsung S8 phone and replaced it with a Galaxy Fold Z3 5G and the optional S Pen. Actually, to call it a "Phone" is a gross understatement. This thing is amazing.

We went in to our local Verizon store to replace my wife's Samsung tablet and while we were there I checked out upgrading my phone to the the Z3. The deal was great (still a little pricy), but I have been coveting the note taking functions for a few years with the previous Fold Z versions, plus I planned on a "major" winter project cleaning up and linking my calendars, budgets, social contacts, etc, and I figured it might be easier with the Z3.

Well after several attempts guessing what I was doing, I fell back to my trusted information source, You Tube. This was the very best source I found. It covers everything from initial setup to the use of almost all options on the phone.

150+ Samsung Galaxy Z FOLD 3 Tips, Tricks and Hidden Features!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8FB6C4BBPg

I have got to say this technology is orders of magnitude better than my 5 year old S8. It is very customable, and has a lot of AI built in.

Hey Newfie, As I have been working on this project for the last couple of days, I keep thinking of you. I know the problems you have communicating when you sail south, so you may want to check this out. The main screen is so spacious and easy to use, I may not have to drag my laptop when we go visiting by car.

Well, back to my winter project, Office 365 is next.....

Peace

I've always been surprised at how smart are budgies, considering that their brain is the size of a bean or thereabouts.

Carinke;

I have been stuck on Apple phones for years using a 6plus until recently.

I got a used 11plus as my main phone but also got a used Galaxy Note 10 because some charting software I needed was only a available on Android. At the moment I am pretty set.

The I phone will remain connected to Verizon. My intent is to get a digicell card for the Android so I have Caribbean coverage.

The new phones are better than the old 6, and both are water proof.

But also I also have an onboard network that connects my phones to the boats instruments and AIS (boat IFF). All very cool and useful and less expensive than “marine” solutions.

These phones truly are amazing.

I still use an old flip phone I bought for $10. It only costs $20/month to keep service active. The 3G network is being phased out though.

In the coming months I'm about to get a prototype digital CB radio with internet capability and a built-in Linux terminal to install on my custom electric velomobile, to be run off the 12V auxiliary battery fed from the traction pack via DC-DC converter. It will use about 2-3W, and for free, will be able to send a 500 character tweet in 5 minutes. The designer plans to upgrade it as time goes on, with potential for perhaps 56k dialup speeds in 1-2 years, but with no monthly internet bill, and able to operate anywhere. The radio is being built as we speak.

I had problems getting my old 4g phone to charge. When I went to the store I got a 5g phone. It cost me about three times what I would have paid to replace my 4g with a new 4g. But I have the peace of mind that it won't quit working because of obsolescence. It has a new better cable connector. It's "meaty" in a way that the old connector wasn't. Man, does it want to spy on me, though.

I suppose I went to the actual store because it meant I knew I would talk to a person. I reckoned that person would know a thing or two. It helps. She transferred everything from my old phone to my new phone for me. I thought I was going to be able to buy the same brand, and use their easy to use software to do that myself. When I didn't buy the same brand, I said something. She stepped right in.

It also helps to get a case from the store when you buy a phone that isn't a Samsung or an Apple. You can find endless cases for phones that are Samsungs or Apples at places like Big Lots, but nothing for what I have. Then, when you look on Amazon, they all cost five times what they did in the store. Well, maybe not five times, I'm exaggerating.

My wife and I have applied to become US citizens, something I never expected to do. We hired an attorney for this. Since we've been living in the USA legally for over 30 years and the government has already done multiple background checks on us and has all our biometric data, our application should be approved very fast. Our attorney says we should be able to get interviewed and become citizens on the same day in less than 6 weeks.

Ironically, we are doing this so that we can spend more time abroad since we intend to buy a sailboat and properties in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Brazil, and/or Uruguay. All this was very unplanned and unforeseen, and a direct consequence of our highly increased income from our US businesses in the last couple of years. The funny thing is that we "retired" around five years ago.

I'm just back from my trip to the UK. I visited some colleagues in Cambridge for a couple of days, and saw an interesting play at the Cambridge theatre about the Chinese cultural revolution. The play contained some hilarious dance routines with Cambridge students dressed up as PLA soldiers dancing in Chinese operas.


Cambridge students were putting on a play with a send-up of Chinese theatre during the cultural revolution. It was very very funny!

I then travelled up to Edinburgh and on into the Scotland highlands. Then south to York to see the spectacular medieval stained glass windows at the glorious York Cathedral. I stayed in rooms above a pub in York (noisy but nice) and caught a Harold Pinter play at the local theatre. Then to Leicester to visit the tomb of Richard III, who was discovered buried under a car park in central Leicester some year ago. The Cathedral with his tomb was closed, but there was a very good Richard III visitor center built right over his gravesite in the car park. Then back to London for more theatre. I saw three plays at the reconstructed Globe theatre, and also caught a play at the National Theatre.

All in all a wonderful trip. And now I'm back in Alaska where the last of the snow is melting, just in time for temperatures to hit the high 70s next week. There isn't much time allotted for summer in Alaska and this one is starting off with a heat wave!!!

Cheers!

Juan,,

Interesting about the sailboat purchase. It is generally a very personal choice, elements of religion for some.

Let me know if I can be of some help.

This may be a bit premature. But I have some time to share.

Back in February we decided to replace a sail rigging item with an improved model from NZ. We placed the order about Mid-March.
There were some supply chain and Covid issues that delayed the item being ready for shipment until mid April.
FedEx said they could not promise to pick it up, UPS said "sure, no problem." It took UPS almost a month to pick it up. There excuse is there manager had covid.
Then it took a month for them to acknowledge they had it.
By now I was leaving the USA, so I changed delivery to a freight forwarder in Miami.
Then they "got confused" and the tracking showed it being shipped and received a couple of times. But it never arrived.
Yesterday, when we called to place a lost package claim, we were informed it had actually arriveded in Miami and would be delivered Tuesday, May 30.

Over 2 months in transit for an EXPEDITED AIR FREIGHT delivery. As near as I c an tell the problems were completely contained to the NZ UPS operation. Once it hit the USA system it is moving and being updated.

In the meantime I received some gear from England to Miami to St Martin in 1 week.

But ultimately very glad to be getting my shipment.

Newfie wrote:Juan,,

Interesting about the sailboat purchase. It is generally a very personal choice, elements of region for some.

Let me know if I can be of some help.

Thanks, Newfie. I am looking to buy a Nor'Sea 27 with a trailer. If I found the right one without a trailer, I could always buy the trailer separately. We owned and lived aboard one many years ago, and absolutely loved it. It is perfect for us, not too big or too small. It can be trailered, though I would hire someone else to do that if I ever had to. I may take you up on that offer when the time comes to equip it, since I am completely out of touch with the latest technologies, particularly comms.

I also owned a Montgomery 17 for many years; a smaller version by the same designer, which can also be trailered and shipped with the trailer on a 20' container, but is too small for two people to live aboard for long periods of time, IMO, though many people do.

Juan,
Even a NorSea 27 would be very tight for we two. Short trips yes, but not extended. We spent several months on our 33' boat, which is big for its length. That was OK but the 44 is a real home.

Good luck.

Good news or not?

Took my blood pressure yesterday as I was feeling a bit woozy. Mostly like 10t/65
But as low as 87/54. Not sure what to do about that, if anything.

Good news or not?

Took my blood pressure yesterday as I was feeling a bit woozy. Mostly like 10t/65
But as low as 87/54. Not sure what to do about that, if anything.

Newfie wrote:Good news or not?

Took my blood pressure yesterday as I was feeling a bit woozy. Mostly like 10t/65
But as low as 87/54. Not sure what to do about that, if anything.

Keep monitoring it regularly; I use an Omron wrist cuff for that. It could be a one time thing or a symptom for something else. That happens to me sometimes; I had 81/43 and felt like I was going to faint after working too much in the heat on Wednesday. I was seeing stars! I also suffer from occasional high blood pressure, though my blood pressure is normally okay, and doctors tell me I don't have a problem.

Newfie wrote:Juan,
Even a NorSea 27 would be very tight for we two. Short trips yes, but not extended. We spent several months on our 33' boat, which is big for its length. That was OK but the 44 is a real home.

Good luck.

Yes, it would be too small for most couples, but we've had bigger boats and missed the 27-footer when we did. I guess you could say that my wife and I are ascetic minimalists in some ways. I also prefer the way smaller boats sail; they provide a more direct, intense connection to the wind and sea, IMO.
Thanks!

Newfie wrote:Good news or not?

Took my blood pressure yesterday as I was feeling a bit woozy. Mostly like 100/65
But as low as 87/54. Not sure what to do about that, if anything.

It could be good news.....or not.

Superfit people typically have quite low blood pressure. You are probably a lot fitter then then average with all the work you do maintaining and then sailing your boat.

But the lower number.....the 65-54 readings.....is unusually low and you might want to get that checked out. It might be a warning of a significant medical problem



low-blood-pressure/symptoms-causes/

Personally I check my blood pressure daily and I am pretty steady at about 105-80.

But my doctor recommended prescription blood pressure meds and its worked out really great.....I've never told my doc but I only take a half dose of the prescribed amount daily. If I exercise more then usual for a few days my blood pressure will go down to 85-55 or so and I just stop taking the meds until it comes back up to my happy place. If my blood pressure goes up above 120/85 I take a full dose of the meds for one day and it comes right back down to 105-80.

GOOD LUCK and Cheers!

Newfie wrote:Good news or not?

Took my blood pressure yesterday as I was feeling a bit woozy. Mostly like 10t/65
But as low as 87/54. Not sure what to do about that, if anything.

Newfie, my mother had diagnosed chronic low blood pressure from when she was a teen in 1940 which caused her to have feinting spells and caused delivery problems with at least two of her birthing her children feinting the process. She lived to be 87 but her problem was a life long issue and she learned how to cope with it even in the days before medicines were available to boost pressure.

My father on the other hand had chronic high BP which I inherited. Then suddenly he had low BP and had to get a pacemaker when he was 82 because his heart was no longer supplying enough blood for all his organs to remain healthy. He still lived to the age of 85 but if he had not gotten the pacemaker when he did it would have been much sooner.

Low BP at your age can be a sign of congestive heart failure especially from an enlarged heart. I strongly urge you to get a cardiologist to give you a full check up because there are very effective treatments if the problem is caught early before damage becomes wide spread. Chronic low BP can lead to multiple organ damage if they are not getting enough oxygen from low blood flow.

Best of luck, keep us in the loop if you are willing to share!