The Inexplicable Realities of Life

I'm not sure when these words formed in my head the first time, but I know that they certainly stuck and have been of great assistance to me when I ask the age old question, Why? to life's many mysteries. Now, when I am presented with a challenging situation that I cannot begin to comprehend, I simply chaulk it up to The Inexplicable Realities of Life, smile, and get on with things!

Desiderata

The Desiderata is most certainly my favorite poem and written work of wisdom, so I thought I would share it here. A great website about the poem, it's history, and related resources can be found here.



Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

2009 New Year's Resolutions!

Well, it's almost the new year and I decided to set some goals and make some resolutions for myself this year for one of the first times in my life. It's not like I feel guilty about being fat and need a resolution to make me carry through. It's just that it's fun to think that I can accomplish a bunch of great things in 2009 if I set my mind to it. And I figure that posting my goals and resolutions makes me accountable for them, so that I can hopefully report on my successes throughout the year.
As a matter of definition, I consider resolutions to be things that I would be less likely to achieve if I didn't really set my mind to them, and goals to be things that I plan or expect to do during the year.

Resolutions

1. Take an aerial photo using the balloon and gimbal system that I have been working on and off again for the past few years. I'm not far from being ready to do it, but like one of my previous posts said, it's one thing to talk about something and it's another thing to do somthing.


2. Learn to play the piano! Why? Well, it seems cool, and I always love to see my nephews, sister, and mom playing it. As a possibly practical goal, I want to be able to play Lovers in Japan by Cold Play.


3. Bombproof my kayak roll and kayak The Numbers on the Arkansas River. I have let my roll deteriorate and not progress with the rest of my kayaking, and it's time for that to stop. Kayaking the Numbers will be an achievable goal that I should feel comfortable with once I can roll on demand under any conditions.

Goals

1. Mentor the Fairview Robotics club for the FIRST robotics competition. I'm already underway with this again this year, and I expect to be spending a lot of time working on the new robot and hopefully having a positive impact on these kids.


2. Install a Zetec engine in my Westfalia van. I already plunked down the money for the sweet Bostig conversion kit that will allow me as an amateur mechanic to perform a heart transplant for my seriously underpowered Vanagon.


3. Attend EJ's kayaking clinic in Ottawa, Canada in July including a road trip with stops in NY and Cape May to visit my family. With my bombproof roll and souped-up van, this will be a great way to take my accomplishments to the bank!

Oma-riffic!

When I first found out that I was stranded in Omaha, NB in the middle of my long Christmas flight itinerary from Denver to Elmira, NY, I became angered but didn't take it out on the Northwest Airlines employees. Instead, I decided to make the most of my time Omaha. After all, when else would I find myself with 2 days to explore and enjoy this mid-western city?

I arrived just in time for one of the biggest events of the year in Omaha- the 2008 NCAA women's volleyball championships. I had never seen a real volleyball match before, but with nothing to do and this big event right across the street from my hotel, I found myself cheering on Stanford with the rest of the Nebraska crowd. But as fate would have it, Penn State was able to hold their ground and maintain their undefeated season en route to becoming national champions. It was really a lot of fun to watch this exciting sport at the top of its game!

Did I mention that although the Quest Center arena was just down the block from the hotel that it was also 0 degrees with 15-20mph winds outside! The minus 20 windchill made exploring the rest of Omaha on foot nearly impossible, but I was able to take the hotel shuttle to the Omaha zoo and the downtown restaurant/market district. The zoo is a really cool place with lots of indoor exhibits including the world's largest indoor rainforest and an enormous geodescic dome that houses the deserts of the world exhibit. After watching the 3D Wild Ocean movie in the IMAX theatre, I got to experience sharks, rays, and fish all around me again in the aquarium tunnel and snap a few photos on my iPhone.

I have to say that I never would have guessed that I would be spending part of my Christmas vacation in Omaha, much less having a really good time, but I've gotta say it's been a fun, unexpected diversion! Now we'll see if I can finish my itinerary tomorrow...

Gumby Flies Over Boulder!

You read that right, Gumby took to the skies and flew over Boulder, CO today on his quest to return to New York for Christmas!



I felt confident enough to fly with Gumby on the 3rd flight with the live video downlink after just completing this 2nd flight. The new Futaba 7C 2.4GHz RC transmitter worked beautifully and apart from some small video glitches, the EasyStar flew admirably with all the extra weight tacked on! Unfortunately, I didn't heed the lower battery warning signs and wound up with a broken plane. Oh well, nothing a little CA glue can't fix! Enjoy the flying!

In Search of Treasure

It's one thing to say that you can or are going to do something, and it is a completely different thing to actually do it!

I was pondering this today and came to a realization that the story of lost treasure is as much about just accomplishing something as it is about gold, silver, and diamonds. You could imagine that this goal, however simple or complicated, is the fabled treasure. Many people know of this treasure and so you come across them in taverns speaking of it and how they hope to find it one day or how they would go in search of it, except for the fact that blah, blah, blah. Yes, many people know of the treasure, but to actually find the treasure takes time, hard work, a bit of luck, and the fortitude to know that it will all be worth it when the journey is over and the treasure is in the hand. But then again, some people like to talk about treasure, and others are obsessed with chasing after it.

Garmin Vista Cx Memory Card Usage

My Garmin eTrex Vista Cx GPS has an expandable microSD memory card slot that can be used for storing maps. I have Garmin's Topo maps as well as their City Navigator maps. The Topo maps are great to have when out exploring the backcountry, since they have topographical lines and various natural features that can make navigating the backcountry easier. Meanwhile, the City Navigator maps can be used to turn my little GPS into a fairly capable unit that can route me throughout the streets of the U.S. just like its big brother automobile units do. However, all of the expandability and flexibility comes at a cost- you have to know how to load maps onto the GPS!

For the most part, loading maps onto my Vista Cx is a pretty simple process based in Garmin's MapSource program, but there are a few tricks and choices that I made for the process to suit my taste. I am going to describe those specifics here.

There is no limit that I know of to the maximum size of microSD card that the Garmin units can use, however, there is a limit of 2025 map segments that they can access. This is a seldom documented feature, but here is a reference that can fill you in some more. There are a total of 111 City Navigator map segments with a size of 1.5GB, but there are over 6600 Topo maps with a size of 1.8GB! I had considered buying a 4GB card to stash all my maps on once and for all until I learned of the 2025 map segment constraint. It's a real bummer, but rather than mope over it, I decided to just make do with what I have and write down exactly how I'm using my 2GB card.

I decided to add all of the City Navigator maps and I chose a subset of the Western states Topos that got me up to 1897.6 MB with 1372 Maps. I suppose that if I come across a cheap 4GB card, I could add the rest of the western mountain states plus another few states of my choice before reaching the 2025 map limit. I have saved the map selection of these to Maps2GB.gdb, so I could always inspect exactly which regions I have loaded in the future.

If I decide to travel to a new location that I don't already have maps for, I will load them to my older 512MB card and just swap the cards before/after the trip. That way, I won't have to go through the hassle of completely reloading all the maps on the 2GB card.

Since I also use the microSD card to store recorded GPX tracks, I verified that the remaining space on the 2GB card would be sufficient. It turns out that 2 years of recorded tracks amounted to a whopping 5.5MB and there was over 34MB free on the 2GB card, so I don't foresee any problems with running out of room to record GPX tracks!

Finally, it's worth noting that to ensure the GPX tracks are actually recorded to the microSD card, you need to select the Track Menu, then Setup, then Data Card Setup, and finally make sure the checkbox is selected next to Log Track To Data Card.

My first attempt at FPV flying!

After much preparation that included soldering a custom video wire harness with +5V and +12V connections, configuring my computer to accept NTSC video via USB to video capture software, and fabricating a custom aluminum mounting bracket, I finally got my EasyStar RC airplane out with hopes to fly to it from the first person view (FPV). It was a lot of effort and I got most of it right, but as you will see from this video, I didn't test it completely and could have easily avoided the mishap that went with it!