Shades of camping out, I awoke woozy, like I’d been drugged. Bounced off the walls of the hallway to get my pillbox this morning, like an old drunk or something. Here’s my “den” or mancave in Aurora. You can see my laptop set up in the far corner, behind the pool table. I took the eBike for a three mile spin earlier and found the Colorado hills don’t like my battery. It drains three times faster where I expecting twice at most. This makes it handy, but not very utilitarian.
And it was cold. I heard the locals joking that it was already winter, so I’m not imagining anything. I sent postcards to all my less than hi-tech chums back in the Everglades but I’m not yet adjusted to this altitude. My plan for the day, since I’m still feeling a little winded, is the local library. Two hours later, I made it to the library. It was full of the kind of people who don’t make noise, or let their kids run wild, or use it as a hangout. I’ll let you take a guess what kind of people those were so you can’t accuse me of anything. The layout of the building is weird. Orange, Melon, and such. I found out I wanted the section called Peach, which was down something else I’m not used to—major flights of stairs.
Summer isn’t the best time for those school board community courses I like to sign up for. Everything interesting is either finishing up or doesn’t start again until September. I read quite a variety of books, including electronics, radar, radio, chemistry, generally to get a feel of the amount of time I’d like to spend there. Reading is my major source of both information and relaxation.
Today I learned the reasons that leaves turn color in the fall. I had been taught it was because the chlorophyll all died when the sap went underground. It turns out the leaves are rusting in atmospheric oxygen. The various other colors are caused by fungus, or pigments that discolor the oxidation process. But most leaves should turn red or orange, like rust. Proving once again to some people’s dismay that owning books is not the same as reading them.
I read a lot about electronics and also some radio theory. The two are not as closely connected as I once thought. Radio uses similar components but is a whole field of study on its own. Many books still exist advising beginners to build an AM radio, but the number of stations that still transmit in that band are disappearing. FM radio is too complicated for most novice builders.
Other than a mention the daytime weather is great for the sidecar, little happened today and I like it that way. I hope for more of the same well into next week. Here is the sidecar parked in front of the digs. I’ve found a family Honda repair shop on Potomac which gives free estimates, so one day soon this rig is due for inspection.And thanks for your patience as I work very hard to find the router security code. It’s not anywhere near as easy as it used to be. One last thing, I took the brush to Ben, the lab dog, and raked out a bushel of undercoat. Told ya, that's the furriest dog I’ve ever seen. Yet.
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