The Hiatus

It has been quite a while since my last post. I've been on a short hiatus because of some changes in our family situation. Specifically, I was offered a temporary contract position outside the house.

The temporary situation, as it turns out, is more temporary than I had hoped. I had hoped for about two years worth of work, but the DoD contract has apparently been terminated earlier. The political aspects of this are interesting, and I may write about them at a later date.

In the interim, my girls switched from home school to private school. We wanted the transition to be as easy as possible, and I was absolutely dead set against public schools. We found a small Roman Catholic parish school, Our Lady of Lourdes. As much as I am a fan of home schooling, I still must say that this school has been tremendous! Small class sizes, a really great group of teachers and administrators, a conservative culture (not in a political sense, but in terms of dress and behavior) - I highly recommend this school to anyone in the Denver area. At such time we return to home schooling, we will still financially support this school.

Hopefully our schedule will stabilize over the next several months, and I will start posting regularly again.

Aerial Photographs

In searching for an image of a volcano (you know how these questions arise during the school day), I came across this powerful image of a newly formed mountain:



















Contrast that with a classic figure of a volcano, Mt. Fuji:


















This was a great beginning to a discussion on geology, but the greater find was the website of Yann Athus-Bertrand. Primarily aerial images, he has some stunning photographs on-line. My girls can spend a lot of time looking at the different patterns, learning a bit about different countries as they go.

Well worth the visit. And even better, these images are available for download (no charge) as wallpaper for your computer desktop. If you are interested in fine art photographic prints, they can be ordered through this same web site.

And no, it is not all volcano based. In fact, there are a wide variety of images, some quite serene:

1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

OK, this is a real treat. It is not as good as the print version, which of course has many fine images and maps, but this web site has the entire 1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on line, searchable by subject or alphabetically.

The 11th Edition is considered by many to be the finest encyclopedia (to use the American spelling) ever published. Having it available in this format is a boon to students of all ages.

Isn't it great to get more than you expected?

Just put a pile of money into my '83 Toyota Land Cruiser. This is one ugly truck - dented, rusted - in fact I bought it that way. I figured if I'm taking this up where I might bounce it off a rock or rub up against a tree, I would rather not be the first to dent it! That said, it runs, runs well, and gets me through deep snow and up mountain trails. My courage fails before it reaches it's limits. And it is fun to drive (my wife points out that opinions vary).

But you know politicians and bureaucrats. Vehicles with carburetors are bad, evil, planet destroying monsters. Never mind that I drive it fewer than 3000 miles per year, or that from an ecological standpoint it has a far smaller carbon footprint (factoring manufacturing costs, life of the vehicle, and ultimate disposal costs) than a Prius hybrid. No, old is bad, new is good. Easier to make blanket statements than to allow common sense or freedom to run amok in this country.

So, it is getting tougher to pass any carbureted vehicle through the local emissions test. Hence the rather substantial repair bill.

Now, the plus. The fellow who repairs my FJ-60 runs an independent shop here in Denver. I have never been disappointed in his work. After all the emissions work was taken care of and paid for, I find the extras: he's adjusted the clutch, lubed the door, even replaced my broken aerial. The truck runs better than it has in a long time. I find this even when I take it in for an oil change - the truck runs better than before. I appreciate the work he does, and the fact that he takes care of the small points as well as the big problems.

So, it may be a small chance that someone reading this blog is in the Denver area and owns a Toyota, but if you do, call Greg at The Toy Shop.