Friday 27 November 2009

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Awake: 7:53am Temp 53 sleep 6+31 early & afternoon rain overnight @ Lodi, CA.

After breakfast, I called & talked with Nick in Seattle about the "Moveable Type" some more.

Next, I called my ole Air Force buddy, Bob, whom we visited last in Minnesota, June of 2006. Bob & his wife, Mary Lou, sold their home in MN & are back to living @ their original homestead in Los Altos. We hope to pay them a visit going south.

Today we arrived @ the Ed & Mary Jo home @ 1:50pm. All is quiet & tidy as we made ourselves @ home. Jenny, Mary Jo, & Matt took advantage of their day off & slept in, while Ed arose @ 5 am & did his usual gym workout. Jen & Ed did play a game of "Phase Ten" & much to Ed's chagrin, Jen was the winner!

Yesterday Ed introduced me to the LED's (light emitting diodes) that he wanted to use on his 1930's modified hotrod coupe for tail lights, but he & a neighbor friend could not get them working when inserting them into the same socket as a normal bulb. I took the bulb home last night & this morning, added some more solder to the base thinking that might solve the problem.

Well today, we spent a good (45--60) min trying anything & everything to keep that bulb lit up. We filed solder off; we narrowed the contact surface in different directions, all.....to no avail. I was about ready to give up; Ed had already given up...when finally, I figured out what was happening. Using a narrow piece of tape, I covered the outer ridge of the bulb's base, pushed the bulb into the socket & "bingo," she stayed lit up even while pushing the bulb around. The outer ridge was obviously shorting itself out.

Unfortunately, using a LED bulb changes the parameters of current, so if Ed still wants to use this type of bulb, he'll have to change the sensor to match a lower current to have his turn signals & break lights work property.

The remainder of the afternoon went quickly; we gabbed & snacked on mixed nuts, & sipped some different wines Ed has stashed in dark corners. After Mary Jo added more mashed potatoes & the turkey was sliced again, we enjoyed a dinner of leftover turkey with all the trimmings. DSC07959.JPG
Evening entertainment: watching home movies on the big Plasma TV from the early 70's; Ed was quite the camera man & Mary Jo was always the very, very busy mother. Watching Jenny, Brian & Matthew slowly grow up was definitely funny & amusing. We prodded Ed for more home movies tomorrow night.

Back @ our motorhome, we checked our e-mail & then, lights out: 12:28am.

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This page contains a single entry by George Monte Kirsch published on November 29, 2009 11:55 AM.

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