The best birthday card ever!

Someone had a birthday yesterday. One of those big birthdays that can be the source of dread. The kind of birthday that makes you feel not so young any more. That particular birthday on which you need a little more support from your friends...

So from the South Pacific - the very south pacific - see the iceberg back there? - came this salutation from our amigo Daniel and his friends aboard Greenpeace's Eszeranza.


Daniel is aboard the Esperanza with Greenpeace's Ocean Defenders documenting the Japanese whaling fleet in antarctic waters. In the background is the Nisshin Maru which has been disabled by a fire in its engine rooom and another whaling ship is rafted to it for support. For more information on what our frio amigos are doing in the antarctic waters and to see more photos from Daniel, click this linky.

A good night's sleep

The new bed was constructed in approximately 4 hours and was a joint project between me and the Flying Fish (with a little help from Ikea for the slats).


It is very sturdy.


And some more amazing improvements... we have carpet for the first time in about 4 years along with a new coat of paint. (Except for the closet door. Maybe I'll paint that this weekend.)


It's pretty cozy and that makes it very difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

All of a sudden it seems we're no longer living in squalor.
It's pretty weird. But I think we could get used to it.

lookin' for trouble

Ever had one of those days when you feel like you're just lookin' for trouble? I'm having one of those days. The Imp has moved in and unpacked her bag with gusto. So I'm taking myself out to the jobsite where her big mouth can't get me into too much trouble. Besides, I'll go stir crazy if I have to sit here in the office all day... spring has sprung in Seattle and I've just got to go out and get in it.


UPDATE:
I went to the jobsite and found a firehose and got to blow off a little steam. Luckily no-one got in my way.

Every plane needs an Instrument Panel

This is the instrument panel for the plane. It's got a combination of traditional and modern "glass" instruments. We've got redundacy for every major instrument: altimeter, airspeed, attitude indicators (artificial horizon), radios, transponders and navigational aids. Redundancy is a good thing.



Here are the guts of the panel. It comes prewired so that everything communicates together properly, but it's not quite plug and play. All those wires on the table need to be connected to various equipment in the body of the plane: antennae, lights, air intakes, fuel sensors, engine sensors, exhaust sensors...



And here's the man who's talented enough to wire the plane... (and I might just mention that when the panel finally arrived and he sat down in that seat behind it, his eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store!)



Ultimately, after miles of wire and cable were connected...



Tied...



And dressed...



The panel is finally fitted for installation...




Test fit the windshield in place...



And it's starting to feel like a plane you could actually fly!

It was a good bed...

... built by a master craftsman in just under 45 minutes, approximately 13 years ago.



It was made of the highest quality materials... or rather, the best materials money could buy (within a very limited budget)


and it doubled as a scratching post...


Ah, the bed. It served us well but now it is gone. Another unwitting victim of the remodel purge, relegated to the pile of construction debris in the driveway. We will miss it.


Sort of.