2 Mar., 2009 -- There might be a test later...

Battery will not hold a charge any more. Can we salvage the flashlight?
Remove 4 screws & cover.
See that yellow battery? Pry off the hot melt glue and gently pry
the soldered contacts on top and bottom of battery, with mighty Swiss Army knife.
The metal contact stays attached
to the circuit board, and gets bent somewhat. That's desirable.
CR 2032 battery, for you nerds,
is the same as the cmos battery in computers. Available anywhere for a few bucks.
Substituted CR 2016, just
3 volts instead of 3.6 volts. (Remember, this is an experiment! I didn't open my computer
case to salvage a 2032)
This is foam rubber padding
to put pressure on the battery and the flashlight cover. In the final iteration,
I will use hot melt glue to secure it all together and remove the padding.
Eureka! it works on 3 volts,
not full power, because it's a used battery to begin with.

So, crank the handle, and it gets very bright. Doesn't stay bright
unless I crank it. But at least it ain't in the trash bin!


Yesterday's snowman...

Today....
Sorry, Snoopy, ya didn't peddle fast enough.

Now for the test... did the sun shine today?

1 March, 2009 -- Snoopy flies today

Well, Snoopy tries to fly today!
Off we gooooooo!
I think I can...
I.. think.. I.. can ...
I.... think.... I.... can .......
Well, I thought I can....
Now, that's better!

Built another snowman! Fancy, eh? Green jelly bean eyes, licorice buttons,
fresh green holly fingers..... (a little hippy, though. The snow was still dry)
And dig that hat! Heavy, dude!


Oooooh, hhhellllllp meeee! I'm mmmellllllllttttting!

Peddle, Snoopy, PEDDLE!!!

Curves




Look closely, there's a BEAR out there!


And the car was frozen to the ground.

28 Feb., 2009 -- Couldn't make a snowman

Snowed all day, with wind 20 to 30 mph, 25 degrees...
I'm not complaining, except that the snow was so dry,
I couldn't even make a snowball, much less a bigger snowman.
Only 4 inches, flaky and dry and blowing all over.

27 Feb., 2009 -- One more day...

One more day left in February already.
Taxes again today, no pictures.
How dull.
This is more interesting, the alphabet!

26 Feb., 2009 - Working on TAaaacchhhxes

Bowling is going downhill... this morning, only got to 186.
Depressing. So....


Immersed myself in important, uplifting, exciting things...
started organizing tax information. ug.

25 Feb., 2009 -- Almost got to 200 again

Almost got to 200 again tonight! But Sharon beat me anyway.

Sunset today. I like it both ways!

24 Feb., 2009 -- School kids

I made a presentation to a local school group. Showed a video about our flight simulator, talked about flying and airplanes, and invited them to come to the airport this spring for a Young Eagles free flight.
We posed for the required group shot. The faces are blurred for anonymity (mine, too). The interesting parts of the second photo are the two boys in the back row.

23 Feb., 2009 -- AAAAach 50 degrees!

Warmed up to 50 degrees today. Yesterday's work all gone.

Highway Patrol was out hunting for stolen property.

22 Feb., 2009 -- So I did

Snowed (see yesterday's post), and I shoulda made a snowman.

So I did.

Just to give you some idea of the size of the monster

21 Feb., 2009 -- Snow!

Overnight, the world was transformed! I should have made a snowman!

Birds are faring well this winter.
They eat through a bag of bird seed in about 4 days.