Lee's Big Adventure: Day Three, In which I arrive in Rockport

Today, was the final leg of the journey - Connecticut to Maine, via Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Lots of tolls.

Just before reaching Portland on I-495 I realized that the low fuel light had come on.  I still had at least 5 miles to go before I could exit.  I began to sweat it.  I queried my GPS to see where the nearest gas stations were, and found that the nearest one was only about a mile from my exit, at a Sam's Club in South Portland.  So I set that as my destination.

Getting more and more apprehensive as the gauge needle crept down toward empty, I found what I thought was the Sam's Club.  Wait for light to change.  Turn left in to parking lot.  Nope, one light too soon.  A trip around a parking lot.  Back to the stop light. Wait.  Turn Left.  Wait at the next light (about 75 feet further on.) Turn left.  Where's the Sam's?  Rechecked the GPS display.  Next turn 90 miles. Huh??? Re-searched for the Sam's.  Ok, it's ahead on the right.  Turn into the parking lot.  Drive all the way around the building, stopping to let shoppers and other cars move.  No gas station.  Back to the GPS for another station.  It lists a Citgo 0.1 miles away.  I drive to the intersection.  I can't see a gas station of any description as I wait for the light.  Then I see it diagonally across the intersection as the light turns green.  Unfortunately, I'm in the wrong lane and have to turn right.  I drive 300 yards down the road and make an illegal "U-ie" to get back to the intersection.  I wait again for the light.  Pull across the intersection into the lot and drive to the first pump that has an opening on my side.  Made it!  Oh, No.  The pump handle is covered: Out of Service.  I pull out and around all the pumps.  Only one other one is open.  I pull in to it.  Out of Service.  I pull out and make another trip around the pumps.  Finally, somebody else pulls out, and I wheeze into the spot on fumes.  My debit card is refused.  Why? I dunno, don't care.  My stress level is already way high.  I whip out another card; the pump accepts it and I start pumping.  18 and a half gallons later I'm topped off ( I thought the tank only held 18!).

I pull out of the station with the GPS set for the address in Rockport for the school.  I'm still a good distance away.  On the way I pass by all the exits for Freeport.  No need to go to L.L.Bean yet, I continue on.

By now, it's almost 2 pm and I am getting hungry.  I queried the GPS for a restaurant.  All the ones that were not McDonalds, Wendys, Burger Kings, etc., are behind me, but finally, I found one called "Bullwinkles". It was about 10 miles ahead so I chose it.

I stopped at Bullwinkles for lunch and had an excellent Haddock BLT sandwich.  The fish was wonderful.  I must be in Maine.

Back on the road again after lunch, I see that the turn for the school is less than 10 miles away.  As I tore down the road, I passed the Lie Nielsen company on the right.  A woodworker can't pass Lie Nielsen without stopping in, so I turned around and did just that.  I discovered that, as a student at the Center For Furniture Craftsmanship, I'm entitled to a 10% discount on all of their branded tools.  Too bad I didn't know that sooner.  I have might waited to buy that Low Angle Jack Plane I dropped a bundle on a couple of weeks ago.  Oh well.  Hindsight is wonderful, isn't it? Besides, the sales tax would have eaten up the discount, and they gave me free shipping, didn't they?  Anyway, I bought a ticket to their open house on 10/11 July.  That gets me a seat at the Lobster Bake, and a chance to shake hands with Roy Underhill.  Of course, I've already done that a couple of years ago.  But, us North Carolina guys need to say hello.

While I was in the store, I talked to three guys who are students at the school.  We compared notes on how the dovetails on a box on display could have been constructed.  I am really getting excited.

Back on the road again, I went right past the entrance to the school.  It was not where the GPS thought it should be.  So, I backtracked and drove in to the school.  Amazingly, it looks exactly as it does in the photo on their website: a group of red buildings.  I drive around and found a building with a door open to a power tool workshop.  I parked and went in to the workshop and wandered around until I found some people.  One introduced himself as Peter Korn, the school director, and the others were the same guys I met at Lie Nielsen.  I'm not sure how they got back to the school before I did since we all left the store at about the same time.  Anyway, two of them were sharpening chisels.  They told me they are taking the 2-week basic course and that sharpening is a central part of that course.  It turns out that the first two weeks of the course I'll be taking are essentially the same thing, so we know what I'll be doing for the next couple of weeks.

One of the students, Mack, who is here from the West Coast, and will be taking the 9 month course beginning in the Fall, took me on a very quick but thorough tour of the building, telling me that the building I'll be in is laid out essentially the same.  My excitement rises.

Then I set out to find the place where I'll be staying.  I found it pretty quickly.  It's no more than a couple of miles away from the school, but I'm glad I didn't stick with my plan to bring my bicycle so I could ride to school every day.  Large hills, a busy highway, and narrow lanes would have made it more difficult than I could manage.

Because it was only about 3 pm at that time, I decided to drive around a bit and see what I could see.  I picked up Route 1 again and went into Camden.  I had forgotten that Camden is very much a tourist town, and the traffic and congestion was terrific.  I found a back way out of town and back to Rockport as quickly as I could.

I finally checked in at the apartment.  It is in a heavily wooded area, and the apartment itself is a good-sized efficiency over a two-car garage.  I wouldn't want to live here forever, but it will be comfortable enough for the summer.  The owner's teenage son helped me move all my stuff in.  I'm glad he did, because it's quite a walk up stairs. (What, no elevator?)

After moving in, unpacking and putting stuff away, and a nice chat with the owner, I drove to a restaurant several miles away, then to the local supermarket for some breakfast makings.  Then back here for the evening.

It's almost 10 pm.  Outside it is pitch black and silent.  It's even quieter than at home.  No distant highway noise at all.  I think I will enjoy myself here this summer.

In keeping with the previous two entries in this blog, here's the entire track for today, starting in Connecticut, then through Mass, skirting around Boston, and then more or less up the coast to the Rockport area.

The second plot is the part around the area here.   The school is at the two dots next to the lake in the lower left corner, and where I am staying is where it shows my truck and my callsign.  You can see the one trip I made all the way up to Camden, and then back on back roads.

Unless I do something different, I won't bother to put any more plots in my blog entries.  On a day-to-day basis, they won't even be as much as this one.  So, if you really want to see my movements, you will need to figure out how to find me at http://aprs.fi Here's the link for the one below: http://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FN0SYS-9&timerange=86400&tail=43200

Lee's Big Adventure: Day Two

Another challenging day of driving.  While I only got through most of Virginia yesterday, today I went through VA, WV, PA, NJ, NY, and CT, but the distance was about the same.  There were all sorts of traffic delays, especially in NJ, NY, and CT where many of the roads are either in need of repair or are actually undergoing it.  There were also several delays due to accidents.

I got slightly lost just after I crossed the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Bridge, and you can actually see that on the APRS plot.  Evidently they are rebuilding the bridge, and the traffic is really screwed up around it.  I misinterpreted what my GPS was telling me, and missed a turn.  Ended up going the wrong direction, and then had to go all over the place to get turned around in the right direction.

I also was surprised by the $5.00 toll on the Tappan Zee Bridge.  I guess it's been a long time since  I went over it.  I used to use it all the time when I was stationed in Newport, RI, and travelled to my parent's home in New Jersey.  That was in the late 60's, and everything is more expensive now than it was then.

As I passed through Sleepy Hollow, I was reminded of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."  According to Wikipedia, there really was an Ichabod Crane, who was a Colonel in the US Army and also served in the Marines.

As I move north, gasoline gets more expensive.  And I had a real surprise today when I went to buy gas in New Jersey.  There was an attendant at the pump who was all set to pump my gas for me.  He seemed very upset when I told him I'd do it.  I can't remember the last time I saw a gas station attendant.

Tomorrow will be a bit more leisurely trip.  I only have about 300 miles left to drive.   Once I get past Portland, ME, my trip will be along the coast.  I'm looking forward to that.

The first map shows the trip from where I stayed last night in Virginia, across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The second map shows the Hudson River Crossing, and then you can see the jog south where I got turned around.  In case you are not familiar with the area, you will see that on the New York side of the Hudson at the Tappan Zee is Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. It's right about there that I made my error.  I saw neither the Headless Horseman nor Ichabod Crane so I can't blame them for my error.   

After I got straightened out on the Saw Mill River Parkway, I continued up through Connecticut to where I am staying this evening.

Lee's Big Adventure: Day One of trip

I drove just over 400 miles today, which is some sort of a record for me.  I started at about 9 am, and got a hotel room about 6 pm.  That averages out to about 45 miles per hour for the trip.  No land speed records there.  You could probably do better.

But, consider this: When I was taking Linda to Duke Hospital in Durham, Linda, who couldn't drive because of her health situation, insisted that I get someone else to assist me with the driving because she didn't trust me to be able to do it.  She was right to not trust me.   For most of our married life, Linda did most of the driving.  I was just too unreliable.   Fortunately, my good friend Steve would do most of the driving to Durham and back.  I just couldn't drive that far without dozing off.  In fact, I couldn't drive more than an hour or so.  The first time I drove the entire distance was when we were returning home, and Linda was going to Hospice.  My friend Frank, another Ham, drove most of our stuff from the apartment in his truck and I drove the car.  We yakked all the way on the radio, took frequent stops, and arrived home safely.  

I've been apprehensive about this trip to Maine.  I haven't driven a distance like that alone since the 70's, and even then I had to be careful to keep my mind occupied or risk falling asleep.

I got a new CPAP a while ago, and that has made a tremendous difference.  I've been using a CPAP for about 12 years, but had another sleep test a year ago.  My sleep apnea was worse than I thought. The new machine has helped tremendously.  I've also made some other lifestyle changes which have helped.

But, I was still concerned.  This trip really means a lot to me.  I've been looking forward to it since I signed up for it last December.  Because I am taking a bunch of woodworking tools, and will be staying in Maine for three months, flying was pretty much out of the question.  I had to drive.  

One of the things that I did was to take along a bunch of audio books.  I'm currently listening to "The Mongoliad," a book I read and enjoyed several years ago.  Occasionally I find my attention wandering, but mostly I'm keeping up with the story. 

Also, I stopped along the way many times.  In two cases I took naps for a half-hour or so.  Hence the poor average speed.

Additionally, as I noted, I have my radio beeping and booping at me as it broadcasts my position along the way.  Here's the track for today using the website aprs.fi  That's me N0SYS-9 in the upper right corner, and the blue line is my track.

Why the trip?

Last summer my good friend Steve and I went to Maine to attend classes at The Wooden Boat School which is in Brooklin, Maine.  We initially planned to take a couple of weeks, and to travel to Maine by train.  In the interest of time, we decided instead to fly.  Once we got to Maine, we toured from Portland to Brooklin and back again, with stops along the way.  Included among our stops were a tour of the Maine Maritime Museum,  and a somewhat disappointing trolley tour of the Bath Iron Works, both in Bath, ME.  Walking around downtown Bath, I fell in love with Maine all over again.

I first went to Maine was when I was very young, in the late 40's.  It was before my sisters were born, and I must have been about five years old.  Evidently Dad found an advertisement for a farmhouse in Damariscotta, between Bath and Rockland.  We piled into the car and drove through the night from our home in New Jersey.  In those days we didn't have the interstate highway system we have now, so that was quite a drive.  I still remember driving on roads that were being built.  I also remember staying in a white-painted inn near the ocean, and a tremendous thunderstorm.  Other than that, I don't remember much about it.  Evidently Mom and Dad decided that they were not ready to pick and move to Maine.  Gee.  Imagine what a place like that could be worth now. 

Anyway, my next trip to Maine was perhaps 14 or 15 years later when I went to Rockland on my Youngster (sophomore) Midshipman summer cruise compliments of the US Naval Academy.  I have some memories of that which I won't publicly share, but I do remember the lobster boil we had on the fantail of the USS John R. Pierce (DD-753). 

Two years later I went to Maine again on my First Class (senior) Midshipman cruise.  This time I was on a submarine, the USS Grouper, (AGSS-214) and we went to Bar Harbor.  Lots of fun on that one.  I remember that a Navy destroyer also visited Bar Harbor at the same time.  I remember that we were there in celebration of Navy Day, and I believe that a senior member of the Navy League, who lived in a huge house on a hill in Bar Harbor, had made it happen.   I also remember that we submariners looked down our noses at the destroyermen.  I had no way of knowing at that time that a year later I would also be a destroyerman when I graduated from the Academy.

I went to Maine one more time with the Navy.  I don't remember the year, but I was the Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Officer on the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823) and we went to the Bath Iron Works shipyard to have our sonar dome replaced. 

Since then, Linda and I have attended the Wooden Boat School several times, she taking painting courses, and me building model boats.  Someday I'd love to go back and build a real boat, but that's not a very useful skill for somebody who lives in the WNC mountains.

As I said, last summer I fell in love with Maine all over again, and when Steve and I were in Bath, I decided that I was going to spend this summer there.  My plan was to find a place to rent for the summer and then use that as a base to tour around the state.

Last December I got an email from the Center For Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport.  Several years earlier I had signed up with the school for a week-long woodcarving course with the English master woodcarver, Chris Pye, who teaches there occasionally.  I canceled out when Linda started getting ill.  However, I am on their mailing list forever after.

So, I received this email, and I discovered that they offer a "Twelve-week Furniture Intensive" course.  Then I noted that there was a session to be held beginning in June.  It was exactly what I wanted.  They only take 12 students at a time, so I immediately called and discovered that the course beginning in June was already filled.  They put me on a waiting list.  Several weeks later I got a call to tell me that a place had opened up if I wanted it.  Duh!  I sent off my deposit, arranged for a place to stay, and then started the countdown.

It  amazes me that in spite of having almost six months to prepare, and no matter how many lists and plans I've made, there are still some things that I just won't get done before I leave.  Other stuff keeps taking up my time.  But, I'll be leaving soon for what turns out to be my birthday present to me.

I'm also looking at this as somewhat of a transition point for me.  Linda passed away almost two years ago, and no matter what kind of a face I put on it, I have been grieving since then.  It isn't so intense as it was, but it has still been there.  I watched the video on the school site (watch the video) and was struck by the comments of a former student during the last minute or so of the video.  His experience of being able to completely let go of his regular life, and immerse himself in woodworking, is exactly what I am looking for.  I'm hoping to come home at the end of the course with a new attitude and outlook (and, some new skills, too).

So, I'm going to do my best to keep up with this blog, if for no other reason than to keep a record for myself.  But maybe somebody else might find it interesting.

My APRS track for today (May 27, 2015)

I'm getting ready for my summer vacation trip, and I'll be taking an Amateur Radio (Ham radio) transceiver along to keep me company on the trip.

One of the things I can do with this radio is transmit my position periodically.  I wanted to see what the track looked like from the http://aprs.fi website. The system we use is called APRS, which is an abbreviation for Automatic Packet Reporting System (or, Automatic position reporting system; the original author of the concept doesn't like that)  Hams use it to inform other hams where they are. When my radio receives a signal from another ham who is on APRS, it displays information such as how far away from me he is, in what direction, and any messages he may have embedded in his transmission.  The embedded messages might be what frequency he is listening on.

Generous folks have put up devices known as iGates.  These receive the APRS signals and retransmit  them on the Internet.  Then, several websites take that information, compile it in databases, and display it on tracking maps.  An example of the track for my vehicle today is shown here clipped from the website http://www.aprs.fi

My ham radio callsign is NØSYS, (The second character is a zero) and for my truck I add -9 as my primary mobile station. The track is the light blue line.  You see my truck at the last position near Zirconia on the bottom of the map.

You can see on this plot that I went up I-26 to Arden to go to a restaurant, then to Harbor Freight, and then back home.  Then I went on another trip to NW Hendersonville, and returned via Howard Gap Road.

The track might lead you to believe that I also went through Hendersonville or somehow jumped from Zirconia to Naples.  That's a problem with APRS.  If nobody receives your signal and transfers it to the Internet, through an iGate, then the software just fills in the blanks as best it can.  Actually, on all of my trips, I used Route I26 almost exclusively, except for the Howard Gap segment.

For those interested in the detailed information about my radio and setup:   I'm using a Yaesu FTM-400DM with an external Globalsat BR-355 GPS (the GPS built into the radio works, but is slow to lock up, probably because it doesn't have a good view of the sky) 

My plan is to post either screen captures of the track, such as this one, or else links to the actual track for aprs.fi.  The problem with the latter plan is that the tracks don't last forever on the aprs.fi website.

Another annoyance: TigerDirect.com

I get at least one email a day, usually more, from TigerDirect.com, a electronics wholesaler in Miami. On the 8th of April their email advertisement offered a 240 GB Solid State Drive for an attractive price, including a $20 rebate coupon.

I ordered the drive.  It's something I have been looking for.  I also ordered a case for it from Amazon.  Several days later, the case arrived from one of the many companies that do business through Amazon.

I kept waiting for the drive.  I could go online to track the shipping progress, but every time I did, I received the notification that it had not yet been shipped.

Today, 20 days after my order, I again checked the status with the same results.  So, I called TigerDirect's telephone number.  At least it is easier to find than AT&T's.  After several "listen to the following..." choices, I got to the usual "Please wait for the next available representative" notification.  I waited for over five minutes - not too bad when compared to AT&T's responses, and listened to their statements of how important my call was, and oh by the way did I need printer ink, because they had great deals on it if I did.

Finally, Carlos answered.  I commented that I had been waiting for this device for 20 days, and added that it could have been shipped directly from Hong Kong in less time.  He asked for the order number, disappeared for a while and then came back and told me that the item would ship tomorrow.  I asked it had been lost, and his response: "No."

I can't help but be mystified that this item for which I've been waiting for 20 days can be shipped so quickly after my telephone call.

How many computers?

Someone recently asked me how many computers I have.  I didn't try to be be evasive, but it's a hard question for me to answer. Because my definition of a computer may differ from yours, counting is not as easy as you might think, but, here's an attempt:

iMac - Runs OS-X. My primary computer.  This is the one on which I do all my regular work - email, bills, doc preparation, etc., etc.

Macbook Air - Laptop, running OS-X.  I use it to do many of the same things as the iMac, and also use it for presentations and other stuff away from home.  In addition, I use it with a Windows emulator so as to have a portable computer for running Windows-specific communications software during communications exercises.

Home built PC - in my radio room.  This one runs Windows 7.  There are some programs for my radios that are only available on a Windows platform.  For example, I have a radio which is called a "Software Defined Radio." It has no front panel, and is basically a box with no controls and several high speed A-D/D-A converters, filters and other stuff of no interest to you.  The software to make it work only runs under Windows, on a relatively fast computer.  So, this computer is pretty much a single use computer.

RMS PC - This is a refurbished off-lease computer whose purpose is to run one software package.  That software has to be hosted on Windows.  It is a 24/7 communications server.  Other similar stations around the US communicate with this computer to forward message traffic.

Shuttle - This is a small computer, about the size of hardback book.  Currently it runs Linux, although it could run Windows.  Among other things, I use it as a personal webserver for web page development. At some point I may adapt it to use in my truck for GPS tracking and other jobs. Or not...  A while back I was having trouble with my Internet provider, and this computer, which connects with my local area network (as do all of the above) became a tool for me.  I wrote a small program to monitor and log my Internet connectivity, to prove just how bad my service was.

Linda's PC - A Windows machine which I will likely adopt for use as the controller for my 3-D printer.

Linda's laptop.  I may just get rid of this as it is rapidly becoming a dinasaur.

Beaglebones, Raspberry Pi's - these are tiny computers best suited for building special purpose devices. They run the Linux operating system.  I have several of each.  One of them might have been a better choice for the Internet monitor for which I used the Shuttle.

Arduinos - These are also tiny computers (2" X 3") which have microcontrollers.  They don't run operating systems per say, but can do all sorts of things when fitted with sensors and output devices.  For example, I have one set up to measure the speed of a rotating bicycle wheel as a project for the "Hands On" children's museaum in downtown Hendersonville.  I have several of these devices.

Tablets - I own several, all of which run the Android Operating system.  This includes a couple of Kindles, and a Samsung that I use for all sorts of stuff.  My cellphone is a Samsung which also runs the Android OS, and a lot of the apps on my phone are also on my Samsung tablet.

Notice that in spite of the fact that I use Apple computers, I have neither an iPhone nor an iPad.  Some of that is historical: I loved my old iPod, and I wanted an iPhone, but at the time that I was in the market for an one, my cell provider (Verizon) did not offer them.  And, I've already expressed my feelings about AT+T elsewhere in this blog.

I also have several defunct PCs, and two old Macs which are currently just taking up space.  I ought to get rid of them.

That's not all, but all I can think to enumerate at the moment.