As someone who is "Positionally Challanged", I have a problem of discovering that where I am isn't where I thought I was. Finding streets and addresses, especially in rural areas is/was a frustrating exercise. About 7 years ago, I purchases a Garmin III+, one of the first mapping GPS receivers. My life has improved considerably since then. Now I'm ( Read more... )

I've just spent the past few weeks working on and finishing another sapphire crystal fiber puller. For those new people, the key to growing smooth, optical quality fiber is to grow very slowly, but also as smooth as possible. Our growth rates are in the range of 0.1 to as much as 1.0 inches per hour, depending on the diameter and other requirements ( Read more... )

Carolyn and I went down to the Wilton Town Hall Theater last night to see "Prairie Home Companion". The theater is a local legend, running films that would seldom be seen anywhere else. The two viewing rooms are upstairs and are quite intimate, meaning "small". The NH art scene is pretty lively and supports the theater to keep them open even though ( Read more... )

I heard a discussion the other day about the cost of smoking, examples given are ( Read more... )

Back when I worked for Saphikon, I attended an auction hosted by Electronics ( Read more... )

We are headed south to that great geriatric storage state again this year. I have my job back as photographer and teacher with the Army Corps of Engineers, covering the inland waterway from Fort Myers to Port St. Lucie. We'll be back in New Hampshire about the middle of April. The internet connection via Verizon worked great last year, so I'll be ( Read more... )

A question came up about what happened to PolyPaks, an electronics surplus store ( Read more... )

No, not me this time ( Read more... )

Back when I was in High School, my first real job, other than a paper route and picking produce, was working in a start-up television repair shop in Searsport, Maine. The owner was quite a character, having very little education and relying exclusively on a cheapy tube tester for all his repair work. The shop was in a narrow room on Main street, ( Read more... )

I belonged to the Portland, Maine Camera Club. One of the older members, Mr ( Read more... )