2 Engineers Retired

For me this year also has a major birthday (I am not telling which one) and I managed to take a trip with three of my friends, two of which were celebrating the same major birthday this year. We decided on a trip to Budapest in Hungary, and to Poland…. primarily because we wanted to go somewhere we have not been, and also because we were quite determined not to share our travel dollars with the crazy man south of us. Budapest as viewed from the citadel First of all we spent 5 nights in Budapest.   Budapest is an amazingly beautiful city and a UNESCO site.   After devastating destruction through WWII the city has been rebuilt to its former splendor.   During WWII Hungary was part of the Axis powers and was occupied by Germany.   Ultimately it fell under the control of the USSR and the history of both the war and the uprising are told in the Museum of Terror in the city. Buda and Pest are on opposite sides of the Danube with the Buda side being el...

(For the record this is all from the perspective of a wife who is not even slightly a car person) So – most folks know that my husband has a serious car hobby.   Like really, quite serious. One of my husbands toys is a 1984 Porsche 911 – at 34 years old, its older than any of our children. Now normally his hobby results in weekends off to track … events which are run by a car club and called Drivers Ed (I guess that’s true, he is an instructor….).   Now missing a fairly important piece This year however was different.   After 15 years and many kilometers on the track, the engine and transmission were showing signs of wanting some TLC. So, instead of the budget going to gas, tires, brakes, hotel rooms, etc. it would be spent on a rebuild. To rebuild an engine requires that engine and transmission be removed from the car and held by a specialized rack. Normally removal involves a floor jack, but Bob has a Kubota and so why not use that? ...

Gratuitous Fall Lake Colour shot Item A: Boat Each year we try some new variation of getting the boat out of the water without actually owning a boat trailer and trying to do as little damage to the boat as possible.  This year may be our best effort!! First of all our boat is a very old (kind of a theme here I think) pontoon boat that in a former life was a rental at a summer resort.  It is absolutely bare bones, without seats or any redeeming attractiveness.  On the other hand it is not a precious object which is a criteria for use here. The fact that we do not own a boat trailer has been a nuisance and for some reason we resist the urge to purchase one every year.  This year we constructed a sort of trailer/chariot out of a couple of funny tire things, some old wood and a couple of logs McGyver style boat trailer So the idea was to float the boat over top of this thing and then use it to pull th...