Winter 2021 Reflections - As Year's End Draws Nigh

 

(image credit: Kranich17 on pixabay.com)

A cold windy December day...

 

A heavy rain falls outside...

 

The wind is moaning in the rigging...

 

The small space heater at my feet creating a comfy cocoon of warmth within the yacht's cabin. 

 

I sit in front of two computers - and my new 27" monitor...a cup of fresh hot coffee within easy reach...

 

Pivoting between conference calls with my current client engagement...and working on the next tasks in my queue of things to do... 

 

The cabin is a mess...too many things...and not enough space to stow it all away....

 

The warm wood of the cabin - creating a fine ambiance for my version of a "home office"...

 

The end of the year draws nigh...and I am looking forward to taking the rest of the year off after this Friday... 

 

All of my Christmas shopping is done...

 

Soon, I'll be boarding a Boeing 737-900ER (73J) - and traveling East for a few weeks...

Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Research Notes

Background Reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator
• https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/what-radioisotope-power-system 
• https://rps.nasa.gov/technology/
  
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Commercial Products

• https://www.zenopower.com/
•  

 

 

Articles 

2021

2021-12-09 

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2021/12/09/zeno-power-providing-clean-power-in-all-the-hard-places

2021-09-30

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2021/09/30/60-years-of-nuclear-in-space-is-just-the-beginning
  

Voyage Preparation: New Eyeglasses ordered

 Earlier this year I renewed my passport. 

A week ago Saturday, I went in for an eye exam (America's Best) - and ordered four new eyeglasses with my new prescription (3 for reading, 1 for distance/driving). 

Important to have back-ups when planning for long voyaging. 

Another small step forward in my preparations.

Thanksgiving 2021 Mishaps...

9am...

Just now...

 

Laying in the v-berth...winds gusting to 40-55 mph...

 

Suddenly...

 

A huge crashing sound on the bow deck...

 

oh god. has the mast come down?

 

did my dinghy go airborne?

 

I scramble out the companion way hatch...

 

I stand transfixed by the sight...

 

a huge paddle board has gone airborne, and slammed into my boat...it is wedged between the lifelines (!?) 

 

I go knock on a neighbor's boat...two slips over...he lives on a trawler...and I think I recall seeing a paddle board on his upper deck...previously...

 

He looks up. Yep, it's gone. 

 

We walk over to my boat to confirm it is his...I'm walking backwards...to show him how i think it flew through the air...must have bounced off the dock...and slammed into my boat...getting caught in the lifelines. 

 

The boat between us? Worth over $350K...not a scratch on it...

 

Did you catch the bit of me walking backwards...

 

I fell through the space between the dock and my boat...

 

Luckily, I didn't have my keys, wallet, or cell phone with me...

 

How I avoided slamming the back of my head into the concrete dock...is a mystery...

 

I couldn't pull myself back up onto the dock, even with his help...luckily someone just happened to be walking by at that exact moment...

 

2021-12-05 update:

• On my right hand, the second joint (from the tip, known as the "pip" in the diagram below)) of my middle finger is still too stiff/swollen to allow me to make a tight fist. I'll give it another week and see how it goes.
• After falling into the water, I knew I had swallowed some of the harbor water. I was concerned about the level of toxins and pollution this far far back in the harbor. My fears were well-founded. The lymph node just below my right ear blew up earlier this week, overnight. I suspect I'm fighting off multiple infections - based on other symptoms.
  
• The massive contusions between my shoulder and elbow, and just below the elbow are slowing healing.
  

 2021-12-20 update: 

• After 3+ weeks, my hand still hasn't recovered enough for me to be able to make a tight fist.
• Also, the swelling has still not noticeably abated yet...
• On Saturday, I detected a a "clicking" feeling in the third metacarpal of my right hand, when I would press the tip of my thumb and middle finger together firmly...
  
• Last week I made an appointment for today - at 1pm - to get an x-ray at an Urgent Care facility - and was able to confirm that there are no broken bones in my hand. Excellent news.
• The diagnosis is swelling due to tendonitis. So, it is just a matter of giving it time to heal. 
• Definitely a relief to know that, now...

 2022-01-17 update:

• My right middle finger is still stiff when I try to bend it - some days I can almost make a complete fist - other days, not so much. I think it is much more sensitive to changes in weather now.
• I've had a few moments in the last week when I felt that there has been some real progress in the healing...but then again, tonight - I am wondering if that is real, or imagined...
• My right shoulder seems to have finally recovered - and the bad contusions between the shoulder and elbow, and below the elbow - are fully healed.
  

(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_bones)

Life Is A Voyage

 Today's Meditation:

In 1996, I moved to Northern Virginia - where I lived until I moved to Seattle in 1999.

One of the most enjoyable things I did in the last year that lived in the area - was to spend a wonderful afternoon walking through the National Gallery of Art.

Now, there are many magnificent works of art in that illustrious complex of buildings...but, art speaks to the soul...and it wasn't in any of the main galleries that I found that which truly touched my soul. it was in an out-of-the way portion of one of the galleries, that I happened upon a painting that struck me like thunder. I stood transfixed for a long time...savoring the painting before me.

A painting by the Dutch artist, Ludolf Backhuysen, called "Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast", 1667

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

 More works by the artist:

• https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:backhuysen-i-ludolf-16301708

Fortunately, I was able find a print in the gallery gift shop, before leaving that day.

The painting, for me, is a metaphor. For life is a voyage...and there will always be ships that are in distress. Ships that are approaching danger, some that are just escaping. Some that steer well clear of danger, and others that rush upon reefs with wild abandon - heedless of the warnings of others. Some ships will crash upon the rocks - and others may yet avoid such disaster. Keen eyes are needed to read the charts, to scan the horizon, to read the currents, to know the shifting patterns of wind.

Voyages are not without their dangers - but ships are not made to sleep in ports.