.. the move .. packing .. stressing if it will actually all fit in the truck and trailer .. the heat (which fortunately broke last night) .. Zen’s unrest because she knows something is up .. the ’should it stay or should it go’ debate as I cull thru every drawer, closet, box and bin .. shredding old bills / keeping old love letters (thanks Mary Schmich) .. budgets and bills .. knowing I’ve forgotten something and not having a clue what it is .. trying to align the 101 steps between now and the 15th .. the mess that seems to be growing all around me .. no TV / only one old radio left unpacked .. I’m already yawning ..

I realized the “No TV” decision has repercussions beyond just me. Zen watches TV (actually *watches* it) and now she is a bit lost in the evening because she wants to settle in on the comfy chair with me - that activity will likely get resurrected once I find some books I want to read in the evenings but for now, evenings are the time of “packing” and “processing” for the move.

Even with all the stress of “getting it done” I know it’s just a short term thing and then I will have a routine back. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if the blog becomes a strange surreal stomping ground of mythical theories and the ramblings of a tone deaf minstrel (sorry about that Doug).

Footnote: When I went to find Mary Schmich’s name I stumbled across Mark Ehrmann’s “Desiderata”. It has a line that has been my philosophy since arriving at college (as a matter of fact it’s probably what helped me get through college) …

.. for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Source: Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, (c) 1952

I took a bit less eloquent track (some may say more cynical one) but it serves me well for both what I achieve externally and what I strive for internally …

there will always be those further up the food chain that you and those further down the food chain than you so be happy with what you’ve got

Source: me

This evening I packed the media PC. Hence, the “no TV” clock has started. Anyone taking bets on how long I will last ?

I opened the can using the pull top and promptly slid the pull top tab and ring into the soda.

If you only know of beverage cans with the safety tab - where the tab is lifted up to open the can and then pushed back down into place (never detaching unless you break it off) - then this whole post will mean nothing to you. For those of us old enough or living in countries where government left well enough along, you know about the full fledged pull tab.

Don’t think this behavior too strange. I did an Internet search and found a blog entry noting that India still has the pull top cans and it goes on to say …

Pull-tabs. They still have these on the soda cans in India. Seen ‘em on the fake Red Bulls, Coke, and Sprite…For you youngsters, the reason they are discontinued is because the standard operating procedure was to pull off the tab and stick it inside the can.

Source: Drive Around the World

Did you drop the pull tab and ring back into the can ? Be honest now !

I’ve made the tentative decision to not resurrect the media computer once I move. It seems this is not a unique choice …

I have made the decision to go sans boob tube, although some have had odd reactions to such a decision, and that has been one of the more freeing decisions of my life. Once you undertake to reduce the amount of “stuff” in your life, it’s cleansing.
Source: Chris, The Great Purge at Pensieri di un lunatico minore

a month it has indeed been since I arrived here in Maine, and I have yet to connect the DirecTV tuner I brought out with me up to one of the basic TVs we have up here. All that’s required is a $2 coax cable, but it simply hasn’t been a priority for me.
Source: Stephen, Kill Your Television at tecosystems

I want to use the time lost in front of the TV for a bunch of “personal growth” projects. I have a lot of old 35mm film and slides I want to digitally archive; I want to get more exercise and lose some weight; and I want to learn guitar. Time will tell if any or all of these get accomplished <pondering>.

The Coke Cola log has morphed over the years and it more “western” that it was in the early nineties. My cans are almost exclusively written in Chinese. The only English is the “Coke Cola” text on one side of the label with the Chinese translation on the other side.

The taste ? It’s a bit sweeter than I think the current formula in the USA. I can’t say if the flavor is different in China and the USA or if the flavor is different in 1993 and 2007.

Do you know how the formula has changed over the past 14 years ? I’d be interesting in knowing.

The Smartphone has been the default since I had to carry it when I am traveling and needed my GPS Navigator. It also has a great Sudoku game. The down side was the keys are too small and the screen size means the Copilot Live software loses a few bits of information.

I have chosen the Garmin Nuvi for navigation and the old V3 for my phone (at least for now).

I like the Nuvi’s size and wide screen. It’s a *big* improvement over the 2″ screen on my SP5. I also like its ability to connect via Bluetooth and act as a speaker phone with both my Blackberry (for work) and my V3. It’s got great volume! The Nuvi can pull the phone book from the phone and, in the case of the V3, it allows voice dialing. One feature Copilot has for the Smartphone (but noticeably missing from the Nuvi) is integration with the address book. With the smartphone, you can navigate to an address you enter as well as select an address from your phone’s address book - a great example of integrating features to the benefit of the user. I assumed the Nuvi, with it’s USB connection, would be able to store an address book - nope. Then I hoped, with it’s Bluetooth connection to the phone’s address book that it would let you select and address that way - nope. There is a convoluted way to taking addresses, outputting them as a CSV file, geocode them, convert the results to a POI file and then load them into the Nuvi. No thank you.

My initial reaction is - “it does what it does pretty well”. Is it worth the price ? If it holds up to travel for more than 2 years, I will say “yes”.

The restoration had a number of interesting twists …

I ended up buffing out the damascened that had been applied to the arms of the escapement. The original looked like an after-thought and rushed. Re-applying a circular one would not have fit with the  “simplistic” design of this clock (this clock was never of the design quality of a  Seth Thomas).

The pilot face and the manufacture’s name plate would have originally been cast brass. I designed the pilot face and nameplate on the computer and then we transferred the data to a CNC. The finish was done with a 30/1000ths tool to give it the minor radius that would have occurred from casting. Lastly, it was media blasted to “age it”. I created a custom font for the job to replicate an old / simple casting. You will notice the numbers do not have perfect symmetry. This was a challenge to get something that did not look too perfect while also not looking like a child’s drawing.

Throughout the project, I got the feel this clock was somewhat of a “trial” for the creators. As such, it was simplistic in many places. I tried to keep that feel - while at the same time trying to refine it a bit. One example was the counter-weight to the Harrison maintaining power. You’ll recall it only had a cut piece of steel. This was replaced with a machined “barrel” of brass - made in two parts that thread together. The barrel duplicates the needed weight but looks more appropriate.

Eventually I’ll add the motion works to a 24″ face above and to one side. I picked up a small motion works rather than consider the monstrous one that belongs to the clock.

Right now it is keeping exceptional time - easily within 5 seconds per week. It has about 40″ of fall and I get 32hrs of run. Winding once a day is all it needs.

I definitely want to do this again. I’ll take my time to find the right project but I enjoyed the process and the results so much it will be hard to be patient !