So I was noodling around on You Tube and came across this performance of the French National Anthem “La Marseillaise” by Mireille Mathieu. (See link here)
Now I have a passing familiarity with the song, probably the pinnacle being the movie “Casablanca” From the Grok entry:
The actress most famously associated with singing “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem) in the iconic 1942 film Casablanca is Madeleine Lebeau. She played the character Yvonne, Rick Blaine’s (Humphrey Bogart) jilted former lover.
The interesting part was, not being a French speaker, I really had no idea what the words actually meant. Whell as you will see in the link above, they provided an English version of the lyrics. In the notes to the You Tube entry they note “My translation to American English, weighing literal accuracy, lyrical style, and contemporary US context.”.
I don’t know what I expected, but holy shit, the Frenchmen from the French Revolution were some bloodthirsty folks.
Let’s go, children of the homeland. The day of glory has arrived. The bloody banner of tyranny Confronts us by being raised The bloody banner is raised Do you hear the road outside… Of those ferocious soldiers ? They are coming right to you To cut the throats of your children and partners To ARMS, Citizens! Form up in groups to fight March now, march now! Let their blood spill.. And soak into the dirt!
I think I will stand the next time I hear the song played, at least in public,
It has been a while since my last entry. What is prompting this restart is my upcoming trip to Europe. I (and Kate) have signed up for a Viking River Cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.
Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip (in theory), I have bookended a couple of days prior to and after the actual river trip. We fly into Prague in the Czech Republic for a couple of days before boarding the ship in Budapest. If you note the colors of Budapest and Vienna above, we spend two days in those cities for the chance to better immerse ourselves in those cities. It will begin when we fly to Prague on Sunday March 22, 2026.
Just by coincidence, last November I got a message from Starlink offering me (for free) a new product, the Starlink Mini. I dithered for long time before pulling the trigger.
Starlink Mini
Starlink comes with a 110v plug and 15m of power cord. I also ordered from Amazon, a battery pack that serves as a stand to give you 4 hours of connectivity. My plan is to take this on the trip to insure connectivity. If they allow me to set it up onboard it will be great, otherwise I will take it ashore daily to establish connection.
Starlink Mini with 5-Ah battery.
I am expecting this trip to be amazing, particularly the ending in Amsterdam. This particular city has a great deal of meaning to me and Lindsay in particular.
Prior to Christmas in 1980 I was on patrol abord the USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) somewhere in the far North Atlantic. We were notified that we would have a port call in the Netherlands over Christmas. We transited down the North Sea and eventually moored in Rotterdam.
At the same time the wives were notified and given the opportunity to meet us if they desired. Lindsay, of course, had her passport from her trip to Germany for the Reforger Exercise when we were in San Diego, and being DINK’s we were able to afford it. We were informed that Lindsay and the Engineer’s wife would be meeting us.
The previous summer Lindsay had finally gotten a confirmed diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a new diagnostic tool, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (they quickly dropped the Nuclear to avoid freaking people out since there was no ionizing radiation involved), at Yale, New Haven. The MRI clearly imaged the lesions previously noted in autopsies of MS sufferers. They had offered us “genetic counseling” stressing the uncertainty of Lindsay’s future and the possibility of some genetic links to MS that were being investigated. We had long ago decided to have children “eventually”, but this gave us pause.
We spent the next couple of weeks talking about it. What we finally decided was not to be deterred. Lindsay could be perfectly healthy, have children and then get hit by a bus crossing the street. As for the possible genetic compromise of the offspring, I suppose you could ask them whether they would rather not exist, or take the risk of possible MS.
But that Christmas, unknown to me, Lindsay’s biologic clock had begun to tick loudly. I was thirty years old; she had just turned twenty-nine. In Amsterdam we talked about it. One of the quirks of ballistic missile patrols at the time was that if you wanted the husband to be present for both the conception and delivery, there was a two-week window to conceive. Lindsay had calculated (of course she had) that her period would line up with the patrol cycles about next March or so with delivery the following December. So that Christmas in Amsterdam is where we finally decided that we were going to have a family.
On of the highlights of that trip was the chance to attend midnight Mass at the Nieuwe Kirk, the “New Church” in Dutch. The Nieuwe Kirk was a huge dramatic cathedral in downtown Amsterdam. It was built after the Oude Kerk (Old Church of course), built a century or so before, was outgrown. I found the cornerstone of the Nieuwe Kirk after mass; it was completed in 1409. It became Protestant in 1578 after the Reformation, and at the time was more of a cultural center, but Midnight Mass was celebrated there in 1980. It really gave me a sense of just how new the United States was compared to Europe.
One of the things that Kate, and others, have been pushing me do is to find something to do to occupy my mind. Idle hands, devil’s work, etc. One of the things I decided to do was to get back into 3D printing.
Things have really changed since about 2017. I had a smallish 3D printer that I obtained via a crowdfunding site. This time I reviewed a number of potential printers before deciding on FlashForge Adventurer 5M printer from Amazon.
My first prints were from the embedded projects in the firmware.
The classic ‘Floaty’ small tugboatFloaty on lower left, a recessed icosahedron and a cat-themed phone holder.F
Finally, I went a little nuts and started branching out.
Floaty for scale with a bigger multicolored Floaty and a box labelled Stuff.
The Adventurer has a provision to pause a print mid-stream that allows you to change filaments. The big Floaty started off with bronze (like the box next to it) below the waterline, transiting to blue for the decks, transiting to white for the bow and upper deckhouse, and finally to red for the stack. The latching box prints as is, including the working hinge. I added the embossed ‘Stuff’ to the front.
The print bed size is 220mm x 220mm x 220mm (8.66 inches cube). It connects via USB or wireless network so I have it set up so I can load and control it from my laptop in the living room. It has a mini camera on the bed that lets me keep an eye on printing remotely.
It’s Thursday April 17th and it’s snowing again (although lightly). Should just be a couple of days before clear weather returns.
The recent trip to Hawaii was wonderful. It was only for 4 days but it was simply amazing. We stayed at Disney’s Aulani Resort which is a great property. One of the key decisions I made was to rent a car, rather than rely on Uber, etc. Having a car let us stop at the nearby ABC Store to stock up on packaged fruit, salads, Gouda cheese and English Muffins. This let us avoid getting breakfast at the resort (a very pricey option).
Aulani is on the leeward side, near the old NAS Barber’s Point, where Sis was stationed in the mid-70’s. We took the car and decided to explore the site. (The NAS was closed in 1999 with the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process). You can tell it’s a former military installation because the streets are all named after battles/aircraft carriers.
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Sis at tower at former NAS Barber’s Point
We drove around the base, discovering all the old cinder block housing is gone, and eventually wound up at the control tower for Kalaeloa Airport. Sis talked to a gent who was parking at the time and he invited us in to look around.
The front desk inside was the same as was present in 1975 (with the addition of a plexiglass shield courtesy of COVID). Sis shared stories of the past with the guard, and she offered to call upstairs to see if we could visit. They sent an air traffic controller down (who was making a coincidentally convenient trip to her car) and she took up up (including a steep stairwell and circular metal staircase) up to the tower.
Tower of Kalaeloa Airport with ocean view in the background.
Other than the addition of a couple of computers and a remote radar display from Honolulu Airport, the equipment is almost unchanged. This is one of the highlights of the trip for Sis.
While driving around that day we also visited Ford Island in Pearl Harbor where a couple of the original hangers were set up as museums of the attack and subsequent war. They even had some of the original windows with bullet holes that were preserved to commemorate that day.
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The bridge across to Ford Island is new since the early 1970’s, you used to have to take a ferry. Note that you do need a Military ID to access Ford Island via the bridge, but I had my retired ID so there was no problem.
The next day we met up with Patty, a close friend Sis’s. She drove us around and we picked up some lomi lomi chicken and another store for sushi. We wound up parking behind St Augustine by the Sea (Patty had an in with the secretary, so she got a note with permission to park. We then walked a block down to Kalakaua Avenue on on to Waikiki Beach. We found a stone table in the shade of nearby trees and sat down for a delicious lunch of chicken, rice, sushi.
After lunch we stopped in at the ABC store in front of the church and got some emergency Macadamia Nuts. After we left, we decided to swing by Sam’s Club. We got some more Macadamia nuts, and I found two (made in Hawaii) Aloha shirts for about a third what they charged at Aulani.
The following day was our last in Hawaii, but our flight wasn’t until 8:00pm. We checked out about 9:30am and loaded out bags in the trunk. We then went back into the resort and sat by the adult pool and enjoyed some tropical drinks.
At 11:00am the food service opened, and we tried an order Ahi Poke Nachos. They consisted of (raw) Big Eye Tuna, Wonton Chips, Green Onions, Furikake, Kewpie Mayonnaise. Although not a fan of raw fish, these were quite tasty.
After lunch we stopped by Sam’s Club to fill up the rental car and to let Kate get her Macadamia nuts. For dinner we decided to try The Big Kahuna Pizza located right adjacent to the Honolulu Airport The pizzas were fantastic. (Of course, the classic Hawaiian pizza [ham & pineapple] was renamed the Haole pizza).
We finished up and turned in the rental car and sat outside the security gates because you are not allowed to check your bags more that 4 hours before the flight.
One drawback of the late flight is that, combined with the 5-hour time difference, is that we didn’t arrive in Denver until 6:30am the next day. I didn’t arrive back in Casper until almost 11:00. It was a long day.
I just got a call from my doctor’s (actually Physician’s Assistant) office. It turns out that she is coming back a week sooner than I had expected. I have an appointment on Monday, Dec 23rd at 1:00pm to discuss my concerns about Alzheimer’s Disease.
Earlier that morning (at 10:00am) I have the consultation at Casper Medical Imaging about the Veinous Insufficiency issue that I have. So, it looks like I should have some of the answers to my path forward early next week.
Below are copies of the CT Scan and Venous Mapping reports. At the risk of head softening, you can read through them, but the bottom line in both reports is that there is no obvious explanation for my observed issues. It will be interesting to see what they say next Monday.
Below is a copy of the report of the CT scan.
CMS MANDATED QUALITY DATA - CT RADIATION — 436
All CT scans at this facility utilize dose modulation, iterative reconstruction, and/or weight based dosing when appropriate to reduce radiation dose to as low as reasonably achievable.
FINDINGS: CT venous angiogram examination of the abdomen and pelvis was performed in multiple contiguous axial sections with the use of intravenous contrast enhancement. Sagittal and coronal 2-D MPR were obtained.
Contrast: Visipaque 320 150 mL Used 0 mL Discarded
Lung: The visualized lung bases are clear of active disease.
Liver: The liver is homogeneous without biliary ductal dilatation or enhancing mass.
Gallbladder :The gallbladder and gallbladder fossa are within normal limits.
Adrenal glands:Adrenal glands are symmetric and unremarkable.
Spleen: The spleen is homogeneous and unremarkable.
Pancreas: The pancreas is unremarkable as visualized.
Kidneys: The kidneys are perfuse symmetrically without evidence of obstructive uropathy. There are bilateral renal cysts. There dominant on the right,
Bowel:The small and large bowel are normal in course and caliber. There are few scattered diverticuli without evidence of acute diverticulitis.
(Ed. note: Turns out there is a new (as of 2012) organ in the abdomen) Mesentery: There is no gross free air, free fluid, or other gross mesenteric abnormality.
Reproductive: The prostate gland is heterogeneously enlarged causing mass effect on the posterior bladder.
Soft tissues:Soft tissues are unremarkable without abscess or subcutaneous gas.
Venous: The IVC is normal in course and caliber throughout its abdominal and hepatic course. The bilateral iliac veins are symmetric, widely patent without significant stenosis or compression.
Bones:Osseous structures are unremarkable. There is no focal pathologic bony lesion.
IMPRESSION: 1. No evidence of venous thrombosis or stenosis. 2. No acute abdominal process. 3. Diverticulosis without evidence of acute diverticulitis. 4. Prostate enlargement. -Electronically Signed By: Ryan Bonifield -Electronically Signed On: 11/27/2024 3:40 PM
HISTORY: 74-year-old male with bilateral leg swelling and bulging venous varicosities.
TECHNIQUE: In both the supine and standing positions the superficial and deep venous systems of the right lower extremity are evaluated with grayscale, color Doppler, and spectral Doppler sonography without and with compression.
COMPARISON: None
MEASUREMENTS: The report below indicates reflux exceeding one half second (500 milliseconds) occurring in the venous branches charted below.
RIGHT DEEP VENOUS EVALUATION:
DVT: No
Deep reflux: No
Common femoral vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Femoral vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Popliteal vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Posterior tibial veins: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
LEFT DEEP VENOUS EVALUATION:
DVT: No
Deep reflux: No
Common femoral vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Femoral vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Popliteal vein: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
Posterior tibial veins: No wall thickening, endoluminal thrombosis, or luminal narrowing.
SUPERFICIAL VENOUS EVALUATION:
RIGHT
VEIN DIAMETER (mm) REFLUX REFLUX (ms) SFJ 6.8 mm no REFLUX ms PROX GSV THIGH 4.9 mm no REFLUX ms MID GSV THIGH 4.6 mm no REFLUX ms DST GSV THIGH 4.4 mm none REFLUX ms KNEE GSV 4.1 mm no REFLUX ms PROX GSV CALF 3.9 mm no REFLUX ms MID GSV CALF 3.2 mm none REFLUX ms DST GSV CALF 3.7 mm no REFLUX ms AAGSV 3.7 mm no REFLUX ms SPJ 3.6 mm no REFLUX ms SSV PROX 2.7 mm no REFLUX ms SSV MID 1.4 mm no REFLUX ms SSV DST 2.3 mm no REFLUX ms GIACOMINI mm REFLUX ms PERF 1 mm REFLUX ms PERF 2 mm REFLUX ms PERF 3 mm REFLUX ms PERF 4 mm REFLUX ms DOM VARIX mm
LEFT
VEIN DIAMETER (mm) REFLUX REFLUX (ms) SFJ 8.4 mm no REFLUX ms PROX GSV THIGH 4.3 mm no REFLUX ms MID GSV THIGH 4.3 mm no REFLUX ms DST GSV THIGH 4.7 mm no REFLUX ms KNEE GSV 4 mm no REFLUX ms PROX GSV CALF 3.9 mm no REFLUX ms MID GSV CALF 2.9 mm no REFLUX ms DST GSV CALF 3.3 mm no REFLUX ms AAGSV mm REFLUX ms SPJ 1.4 mm no REFLUX ms SSV PROX 1.5 mm no REFLUX ms SSV MID 1.6 mm no REFLUX ms SSV DST 2.4 mm no REFLUX ms GIACOMINI mm REFLUX ms PERF 1 mm REFLUX ms PERF 2 mm REFLUX ms PERF 3 mm REFLUX ms PERF 4 mm REFLUX ms DOM VARIX mm
FINDINGS:
Right greater saphenous vein: Competent.
Right anterior accessory greater saphenous vein: Competent.
Right small saphenous vein: Competent.
Left greater saphenous vein: Competent.
Left anterior accessory greater saphenous vein: Competent.
Left small saphenous vein: Competent.
IMPRESSION: 1. No evidence of deep venous thrombosis. 2. No evidence of deep venous reflux. 3. No evidence of superficial truncal venous insufficiency. 4. If there is concern for central venous obstruction in the pelvis, recommend CT venography abdomen and pelvis for further characterization. -Electronically Signed By: Charles Bowkley -Electronically Signed On: 11/13/2024 5:10 PM
Since spring, the increase of mosquitoes has been annoying and I have been researching countermeasures. One that I have found is bats and I have discovered that I have a nearly perfect environment for them.
Bat houses (like the ones HERE) are best located about 15′ high, on a wall with a Eastern or Southeastern exposure with early morning sunshine and within 800 feet or so of water.
Facing East, 15′ high
Turning around you see this:
Pond 100-300 feet away
I’ve ordered a Bat House (See HERE) to mount under the eaves under near where the “SLSW” is stenciled (to avoid guano collecting on the solar panels). I’m not sure if the local bats are migratory or not, but we should have bats moved in by next spring.
The box should be in the shade after about 1:00pm so I don’t expect them to get overheated. We will see how it fares.
I’ve started prepping for Jon’s arrival (July 2nd +/-).
We’ve pulled the trailer out of the (garage/Storage unit/C-Cans.
AT disconnecting the roof compressor
First, we had to disconnect the mini-split unit, bleed down the compressor, and disconnect the components on the roof. Then we pulled the trailer out a couple of feet to disconnect the skirting around the back of the trailer and carefully pull it out.
Trailer out baking in the sun.Need to clean out for Jon.
At the family meeting last Saturday Jon asked me to take some pictures of the power pole behind the trailers. I went out to do that on Sunday and discovered the problem below.
Before mowing
The wet, wet spring we are having has resulted in a burst of growth of the undergrowth. Need to get the weed-eater out.
A couple of hours later the results are shown below.
After photo
What follows are close ups of various pieces.
Close up
Below is the PVC pipe emerging from the ground and entering the box below the Meter. Appears to be 3 inch PVC.
Input piping, 3 inch PVCMeterInside breaker box Left of the Meter.Output of breaker box that runs to back of C-Cans
I am getting underway for the cruise with Jen, Patrick, Charlotte and Kate for a cruise from Vancouver, BC up into Alaska. I flew into Vancouver yesterday, after United Airlines squeezed the timing to be unable to make the connection in Denver.
I learned a lesson and next time I won’t try to save some money by relying on third party reservations. It is about 1:30pm and we are already on board waiting to get underway about 5:00pm. This is more a placeholder to see how posting will work.
A quick review of the completion of the front deck.
Adding deck ramp
First is the completion of the ramp along side the west side of the front of the house. We moved the ramp from along side of the trailer down to the house. The ramp turned out to be much lower slope than when servicing the trailer.
Front Deck Railing Section
This is the first of two sections of the front desk railing. It was rediculously expensive pre-fab sections but does look very nice when completed.
Front deck Ramp
This is the finished front ramp and deck. The ramp railings are slightly different and designed for stairs and slopes. There is a slight gap (about 1 ft) between the sections that I’m still noodling on.
Looking Westward up the stairs and down the ramp
This is looking Westward, up the stairs and down the ramp.
Close up of the solar lights on the deck posts. They are only
This last Weekend, Jan, Mike, Jill and I managed to surprise our oldest Sister for her 75th birthday. Dawn has moved into the big old convent in Rochester, MN that once housed all the nuns who staffed the Mayo Clinic. We discussed when she was visiting before she went that it was only a 12 hour drive from Casper.
Sometime this winter we decided that the 4 of us who lived in Casper could surprise her on her birthday this year. And it was a complete surprise. We left on Thursday early morning (about 4:30 am) and hit the road. We spent about 13 hours on the road (and lost an hour halfway across South Dakota) and rolled into town about 8:00pm.
We checked into a hotel and got up the next morning to meet our co-conspirator (Ramona) and set up the surprise. We were ensconced in the Walnut Room, and she went up to get Dawn on some excuse. She came in the room and looked around with a puzzled expression and a blank look for a couple of seconds (since we were all wearing masks) and then started jumping up and down shouting her favorite expletive. She has declared it the best birthday ever.
We spent two days celebrating her birthday, exploring some of the most unique dining ever. The highlight was Twig’s, a unique restaurant attached to a small hotel. Twigs specialty is a thick slice of granite, heated to 650 degrees. It is served with slices of raw beef, pork, scallops, and shrimp. You then slap the meat on the granite and cook to the desired doneness. (See Jill’s Facebook pages for pictures of food).
On Sunday morning we packed up early and headed home. On the way home we drove through Sturgis, SD and stopped for dinner. We ate at Knuckle’s, a noted eatery during the motorcycle rally in the summer.
We pulled into home about 8:30 pm after a fun & exciting trip.
