We're home!

Just in case anyone was wondering, Bryan and Emily and I made it home safely, about an hour ago. We had smooth travels all the way.

How We Spent Our Sandy Vacation

Amanda and I traveled to Florida last weekend to attend a memorial service for my grandmother. The service was very nice, and we were able to spend time with family I haven't seen in several years. In fact, Amanda even met my uncle Bill and aunt Donna for the first time!

What we didn't realize until Thursday night was that Hurricane Sandy was planning an east coast visit the same weekend. We arrived in Florida on-time Friday evening, after most of the wind and rain (just a few gusts and one crazy pour). Saturday was grey and cool, but otherwise fine weather. Sunday, we woke up to an even lighter sky … but also a phone message from JetBlue informing us that our return flight to Boston had been cancelled.

We packed up an drove toward the airport anyway, holding on the phone in a queue estimated to be, "longer than 60 minutes." Halfway to Orlando, we even had to pull over at a McDonalds to recharge Amanda's phone. But 90 minutes later, we had our answer: we were stuck in Florida until Wednesday morning. Sandy was due to turn inland, and no airline wanted their planes sitting on runways in the predicted path.

After several minutes of freaking out about things we were meant to do at work at the start of the week, we calmed and started making more phone calls. Remarkably, the Holiday Inn was not yet full of other travelers. Extending the rental car was equally easy. So, we had lodging, and means to get to food/laundry/etc.

Now … what to do with ourselves for two and a half days?

Harry Potter at Universal Studios (album link)

Aha! The Harry Potter exhibit at Universal Studios! We've heard about it, why not? A replica of Hogsmead, Hogwarts castle, the Hogwarts Express, butter beer (good, like cream soda), pumpkin juice (a bit too sweet), Cornish pasties (really hit the spot) … we had a ball. Wizards in robes singing with frogs, Olivanders wand shop, and the animated pictures … wow.

So that entertained us for the rest of Sunday. Monday we had to be practical: laundry (since we had packed for a light two days), and a bit of shopping. We were also able to contact college friends we hadn't seen in years, and meet them for dinner.

Tuesday was a bit of a looming hole. Would we just sit around and read? More shopping? Then I remembered some of the signs we had seen along the highway…

Kennedy Space Center (album link)

Two nerds… Florida… Kennedy Space Center. It was awesome. We saw the amazingly large Vehicle Assembly Building, where the load rockets onto the mobile platform before wheeling them out to the launch pad. We saw the launch pad where all of the moon-landing missions left the Earth. We saw a Saturn V rocket, which is huge - the length of a football field, nose-to-tail. We experienced a simulated shuttle liftoff. And, the big highlight, we saw the shuttle Atlantis up-close, as it was undergoing its final preparations before being moved to its new home inside a brand new building at the visitors complex.

To cap it all off, the trip home was smooth and on-time. Apart from a few sticks in the driveway, the house looks untouched. We're not even sure we lost power. Quite the relief, after watching all the pictures of New York and New Jersey stream across the televisions in the airport.

So that's how we spent our Sandy Vacation.

Be sure to follow the links to the albums - there are larger versions of the pictures, and more!

Copenhagen!

It's time to tell you about our trip to Denmark!

A few general observations: Andrew and Emily got all the Danish genes - all the young Danes look so much like them! Everyone rides wonderful bikes in the lovely bike lanes. Copenhagen is very flat, so that makes it easy.

We left on Saturday night, September 8. We flew from Boston to Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt to Copenhagen. We took a train from the airport to the central train station (about fifteen minutes), and then walked the remaining few blocks to our hotel. It was about about five o'clock on Sunday when we got there. We settled in, took a bit of a walk around the area (formerly the meat-packing district), and had some really delicious burgers for dinner at a place that was close to the hotel. We were pretty tired and went to bed fairly early.

Our hotel, the DGI-byens, is part of a sprawling complex that includes as well as a hotel a conference center, a sports center with several pools, gyms, workout facilities, and a climbing wall, and a bowling alley. Our room was very spare but actually much larger than we were anticipating, so that was nice. The ceiling was high, walls white and gray, floors wood, and very little furniture. Breakfast was included, so each morning we went across the courtyard to the restaurant in a building that must have once been a warehouse or factory (lots of exposed wood and metal beams) for a buffet of bread, meats, and cheese, as well as yogurt and toppings, soft-boiled eggs, and pastries. It was great. I possibly ate my weight in whole-grain bread spread with organic Danish butter.

We spent three days exploring the Copenhagen with our Copenhagen Cards. This seems to be common in European cities: you purchase a card at the tourism office, and it acts as a free pass for all the public transportation and gets you free or discounted entry to all the popular sites for the number of days you purchase.We visited Rosenborg Castle, which has both a glass room and a china room, and the Treasury, where we saw the crown jewels; the castle grounds are surrounded by a moat and are in the middle of a lovely park with sculpture installations. We also visited Amalienborg Palace; the one of four identical palaces (the royal family lives in the others) that's available for tours has rooms decorated to show the personalities and interests of the last several kings and queens, as well as a great collection of ball gowns belonging to the current ruler, Queen Margarethe II. The Amber Museum is a tiny place, with a collection of pieces of all types of amber on the two upper floors of a funny little historic building and a shop on the ground floor - it only took about twenty minutes to see everything, but it was a cute place.

Of course we went to Tivoli, the amusement park, several evenings, just to walk around and see the sights. One evening, there was a concert of fiddle music. We had ice cream with a marshmallow-like topping called "guff". We even had abelskiver there.

We climbed the nearly 300 steps to the top of the Radhus - the view is great, although it was rainy that day - and saw the astronomical clock that's also housed at the Radhus. We wandered through the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, a museum financed by the then-owner of the Carlsberg brewery; the collection is primarily sculpture, with a few paintings. We spent a rainy afternoon at the Danish Architecture Center where we learned about some interesting projects, and we went to the Danish Design Museum, which had an exhibit on new materials being used by designers, as well as a permanent exhibit of the history of Danish design.

Christiansborg Castle took half a day. It houses the government offices as well as all the royal reception rooms: a throne room, a formal dining room, a ballroom, a library, and beautiful art everywhere. It's like touring the White House, only not nearly so much security. You do have to wear shoe covers to protect the floors. The current Christiansborg is the fourth (?) castle to stand at that site; you can tour the ruins underneath to see the remains of the first several and learn about the fires that destroyed the more modern ones. We just stuck our heads inside the royal stables, but they seemed pretty impressive as well, and they do actually house horses.

We had an afternoon canal tour to see many of the major landmarks from the water, including the statue of the Little Mermaid. Although the boats are very flat, we still had to duck going under the bridges. Our last stop with the Copenhagen card was the Thorvaldsen Museum, which is mostly his sculptures from Greek and Roman mythology in a funky building: multiple stories built around a courtyard that houses Thorvaldsen's tomb.

We went several times to Magasin, a department store, to wander around and get our souvenirs. In Denmark, it is possible to buy a Le Creuset abelskiver pan. (Since I already have two, I didn't, but I was tempted.)

Bryan's conference went well, and I even got to see his presentation. In one of the albums below, you can see a picture of him just before he presented.

Food and drink:

• We had some traditional Danish food at Cafe Petersborg: hash for Bryan and meatballs for me. Very tasty; very filling.
• We ate a couple of different hotdogs from the vendors along the pedestrian shopping street;  interesting toppings, and one in a tube-shaped bun.
• We had our first smorrebrod, open-faced sandwiches, at the Magasin food court (good), and better ones later on at a cafe in Nyhavn.
• "Coffee and cake" is a common thing to see on a menu. Basically, it means that you get a dessert and a coffee drink for a set price. Excellent idea.
• We had a very expensive meal (ribs and beer, mostly) at a touristy place outside Tivoli, with several of Bryan's colleagues.
• We had another meal with a bunch of conference goers that was a buffet; I don't think anything was traditionally Danish, but it was all tasty.
• We had pizza from a little hole-in-the-wall shop, and shawarma from another.
• We had mussels at Nyhavn 37, and a starter with three kinds of herring.
• Beer in restaurants is mostly Carlsberg, Tuborg, or Jacobsen. These all come from the same brewery. They are generally light lagers, although we had a couple of darker ones.
• There was a great craft beer bar, Fermentations, a few blocks from our hotel, and we spent two evenings there enjoying the beer selection.
• Mikkeller, a Danish brewery whose beer we'd had before, also had a beer bar that we went to twice. Good stuff!
• Apparently Denmark has the highest rates of organic food consumption anywhere in the world. On our last night, we went to an organic restaurant near the hotel, BioMio, for an excellent meal.

We had one day when we tried to do several things and couldn't. We walked through a lovely park and saw the outside of Frederiksborg Castle, but it turns out it is a military training center, and the public aren't allowed inside. (The Frederiksborg Castle you can visit, we learned later, is in another city. Go figure.) And, sadly, the Royal Copenhagen factory no longer offers tours, although we did wander through the factory store. We did get to wander through the Assistens cemetery and see the grave of Hans Christian Andersen.

We also toured the Carlsberg Brewery. Much of the exhibit is about the family that started it, but we also saw lots of historical brewing equipment and a collection of over 20,000 unopened beer bottles, from almost everywhere in Europe, Asia, and Africa. And, more horses - they look like Clydesdales!

The highlight of the trip was Legoland. We got up early on Sunday morning, took a train to Vejle, and then a bus to Billund. Legoland was a short walk from the bus stop. The rides and and amusement stuff were cool, but the really impressive part is all the Lego models. There was a whole section of Star Wars models, as well as famous landmarks, European cityscapes - even the Nyhavn street in Copenhagen, where we could actually pick out the restaurant we'd been to the night before! We wandered around for hours, and we took more pictures at Legoland than anywhere else. We only went on rides when it got us a better view of Lego models. I think I dreamed in Legos that night!

Of course there are pictures:
Legoland
Motorcycles of Legoland
Everything Else

On the trip home, we took the train back to the airport and flew to Toronto where, we learned, you have to get your luggage and go through U.S. customs before your flight to the U.S. The timing was tight, and we ran to our gate, but we made it back home in the evening of September 19.

We spent our remaining four days before going back to work overcoming our jet lag.

Thanks to Emily for taking care of our house while we were gone!

It Works!

Here's the thousand-word summary:

That is to say, we've just returned from the new bike's first multi-day adventure. We took off right after work Thursday evening, and "slabbed it" down the interstate to Binghamton, NY. Friday, we spent the morning and early afternoon enjoying the twisty backroads of Pennsylvania. By Friday afternoon, the locals were warning us of a big storm coming in from Ohio, so we returned to the slab to reach Alexandria, VA by dinner time.

We spent Friday evening through Sunday morning with an ex-coworker and friend of mine named Rusty, and his lovely wife Alex. We ate delicious food, explored Washington, DC (including the International Spy Museum), and met up with college friends.

Sunday, we once again zipped down the interstate toward home, with a brief detour in New Jersey to have lunch with my aunt and uncle, Jan & Al. Should you ever need Korean food in Lyncroft, NJ, find Kimchi Shushi on Newman Springs Road.

The whole 1170-mile trip was great. The V-Strom is much more comfortable than the Bonneville was. The luggage works much better. Even the gas mileage was higher (~55mpg average). We also missed all but a dozen drops of that rain in Pennsylvania.

In short, this bike is going to see quite a few more happy miles in the coming years.

-Bryan

P.S. See, Jackie? Safety gear! We wear it.

The Post Amanda Thought I Was Writing Last Time

While I was excited to show you all my new bike last weekend, Amanda was excited to show you something else. Approximately 18 months after buying the first lumber, we're now sleeping in in our hand-made hard maple sleigh bed.

It's not my first piece of furniture, but it is, by far, the largest and most intricate to date. Despite some amateur imperfections (or are we calling those "artisanal qualities" these days?), I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It looks good, it sits straight, the matress fits, and it doesn't squeak!

The matress is supported by fifteen poplar slats, each 4 inches wide by 3/4 inches thick, with an inch of space between them. That is to say, there's no box spring. We bought the matress about a year ago, and we have used a futon frame (also a slatted frame), to support it since then. At "full" size, these slats seem to be fairly firm, but not hard. We like it.

The finish is a mixture of one part mineral oil to 4-5 parts beeswax, by volume. It's not a hard, take-a-beating kind of finish, and it will need to be reapplied from time to time, but we couldn't resist the beautiful natural color of the maple, the sweet honey smell, and the smooth matte texture. We don't expect it to need to withstand much more than our touch and the seasonal humidity change anyway. Rumor also has it that the finish and wood should change color with exposure to the sun as the years go by, which will add a great living element to a long-loved piece of furniture.

You may notice that there is no metal hardware visible. The headboard and footboard are mortise-and-tenon boxes around a floating plywood panel. Glue and a good fit is all that's holding them together.

Fear not, though, for I am not crazy enough to glue up a piece of furniture that cannot later be removed from a room. The side rails are attached to the headboard and footboard via bolts, but in a sneaky way. The bolts are recessed into the side rail from the inside. They protrude from the end of the side rail, and then pierce the headboard and footboard through a hole on each inner face. A square nut is captured in the tenon of the lower cross rail, to secure the end of the bolt. Wood pins also protrude from the end of the side rail, and slot into holes in the headboard and footboard, to prevent the side rail from spinning around the bolt.

Beyond connecting the headboard and footboard to each other, the side rail also holds the cleats, which support the slats for the matress. The cleats are attached with good, old-fashions glue-and-screws construction, to ensure they never pry themselves off.


The crest rails atop the headboard and footboard are defining features of the bed. The first question I'm always asked about them is, "Did you use a lathe?" While there was a point, early in the project, that I may have had access to a six-foot lathe, the answer is, no, I did not use a lathe. Instead, I used only my table saw, hand planes, and a pile of sandpaper.

After making mortises for the legs, and routing the groove for the face panel (much easier on a square surface), I simply cut the corners off to produce an octagonal prism. I then cut those corners off to produce a 16-sided prism. Using a plane, I shaved the tips of those sixteen corners, then progressed through several grits of sandpaper. Because I decided completion was better than perfection, the rails are not perfect cylinders, but they're close enough to please the eye and hand.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the extra hardware that consumed portions of the living room for several weeks. The face panels in the headboard and footboard are not flat, but instead have a gentle curve to match the profile of the leg. To force the panel to maintain this curve, instead of fighting against it, I built the panel from two sheets of 1/4-inch plywood, glued together and squeezed in a bending form.

I did nearly all of the work in my simple basement shop, except for the very first cuts. Most of the wood I bought for this project was surfaced on at most one side. The crest rails are actually two halves of one very thick beam. The early work of surfacing and major cutting, I did in the MIT Hobby Shop. It's a fantastic place that I never used as an undergrad, but I happily paid for a term of membership as an alumnus. Professional-grade jointer, planer, band saw, sander, etc. made the start of this project possible. It was also inspiring to see many undergrads taking advantage of what I had not, building everything from cabinetry to musical instruments.

I purchased the wood at The Woodery in Lunenberg, Mass. Despite having agreed to help a friend move, the operator of the yard stuck around an extra hour to help me sort through their stock to find exactly what I needed. With a great price to boot, I'll likely be headed back there for my next project.

What that next project may be, though, is up in the air. The next few months will likely be spent mostly on small projects that filled the queue while this bed filled the workshop. There are also holiday gifts to plan. After all of that, I'll begin to consider the next big things on Amanda's list.

Some kind of fowl

So I am out watering ( what else would I be doing?) the North Shade Garden, which isn't so shady anymore and I turn around to see this large bird walking down the center of the brick sidewalk by the front of my house ( the road side). I wish some woodsman or woodswomen were here that knows about fowl as I am darn sure this is not a song bird. It is now under my evergreens. Looking for water do you think? It heard my hose running and thought I was a babbling brook?

OK, I looked at pictures online and I think I have young female quail in my front yard. I hope it is still here tomorrow morning so Jeff can identify it before he goes to work. I am going out to look again. Perhaps it flew in seeking sanctuary...I hope the dog next door doesn't see it. 

This and That

I wish I could say that Jeff, Rachel and I have been doing something exciting this summer, but life is pretty predictable. Rachel is taking a CNA class at the campus. These last two weeks the class STARTS at 5:45am, I guess that is a change and challenge for a family who likes to sleep late. She is doing her clinical at All About Life nursing home here in FDL.

I have been doing a little sewing. My library knitting group ( we are up to 7 members now) have knit 158 toys and are still knitting away. A FDL group of doctors, nurses and dentists that will be going to Nicaragua in February, give the toys to comfort the children when they come to the free clinic. We sent knitted toys last year also and the Nicaraguan mom's asked for more toys to take home to children who didn't come to the clinic. So we are trying! I wish I knew what we could do for the mom's. Thinking. The knitting group member who put us in contact with this group is Marge Stuber's sister-in-law, Kathy. I have been in FDL for 26 years now but I am always still amazed when I know someone.    My book club is reading 1984. I didn't like it when I had to read it in high school and I don't like it any better now.

Jeff and I both are trying to deal with the drought. I feel so bad for farmers, landscapers and orchards. We took advantage of the wet spring to transplant quite a few perennials. Now we are just trying to keep them and everything else alive by hauling a 150 feet hose around watering. Actually I have 2 hoses, the long one and one 50 foot.   Trees that were planted 5 years ago are showing stress. We don't water the lawn-well, that is not really true, we don't water about 95% of the lawn.  I have one area in the shade I water a bit just to keep the dandelions and clover going as I have two baby rabbits in the yard and they like to eat the greens. The rest of the lawn is dead. The bunnies are controversial, so far they have been kind to our gardens but I have noticed one of them is taking a liking to my parsley plant!

Since Bryan shared a "helmet post" I thought I would share a couple photos of my brother. For his 70th birthday my niece and nephews got him a "ride along" at the race track. I already forgot the name of the track but I believe it was in Northern Illinois. All I know for sure is he got to go VERY FAST. 

Harold rode in this yellow car.

Harold getting his helmet adjusted.

Below, left to right -  Harold, Beth and Mark

In which Darleen's Suzuki comment turns much funnier

I spent all week questioning my review of that Kawasaki Versys I wrote about last time. I scoured the web for other riders' reviews, and mostly found things that confirmed my thoughts. But in the process, another bike was repeatedly mentioned as a point of comparison: Suzuki's DL650 V-Strom.

As I began to compare the Versys and the V-Strom (also known as the "Wee-Strom", because it has a 1000cc bigger brother by the same name), I found that many things were similar: great price, 650cc engine, shape, seating position, size. One thing finally stuck out though, a major oversight I hadn't noticed about the Versys: its carrying capacity. Despite both bikes being about the same weight, fully-fueled, the V-Strom is rated to carry over fifty pounds more of equipment. This is important, because my estimate for carrying both Amanda and I with all of our gear and a little luggage was right at the limit of the Versys. In fact, the Versys was even rated to cary less wait than the my Triumph! The V-Strom would preserve our packing headroom.

I had asked a dealer about the V-Strom before. Suzuki just remodeled it for 2012, and the word is that they're just flying off the showroom floor. The middle of summer isn't a great time to buy either (because everyone is excited about riding, not about selling), but I couldn't resist searching Craigslist, anyway. Boy, am I glad I did.

Above, you can see me on my new 2011 V-Strom. This bike was posted on Craigslist by a dealer south of the city on a Friday morning. Amanda and I ran down to view it Saturday morning. After a short test drive for me, and a short test-sit on the pillion seat for Amanda, I left a deposit as a promise to bring my Triumph back for a trade-in inspection. It was just obvious that it was the right bike for us: great power and control, comfy seating, many unexpected upgrades, and a great price with low mileage.

Here you can see one of the big benefits: hard, lockable luggage. We estimate that each of those bags is nearly the size of both of the fabric bags that hung on the Triumph. You may also be able to pick out: handle bar covers and heated grips (for warmer hands), adjustable windscreen (with velcro already in place to hold the Fastlane pass), engine protection bars, center stand, tail rack, water bottle (or small-item) storage. And, the few things you can't see: fuel injection, fuel gauge, unified ignition and steering lock, and anti-lock brakes!

And so, right away on Tuesday I rode the Triumph back and agreed on a price (the bikes did meet briefly, as you can see). I was able to go out for some parking lot practice and a quick ride on the holiday, and then I commuted on it both Thursday and Friday. It continues to impress. From the great handling to the ease of using the center stand, or from the easy-starting of fuel injection to what looks to be much-improved gas mileage, it has just been a pleasure to ride so far.

The Triumph served us well, but I think our two-wheeled mileage is about to explode.

Kawasaki Demo Days

It's summer, and that means riding … as long as your bike is up for it. As with last summer, June is proving to be a frustrating month. It's oil again this year, but this time the pump is fine; it's just that it's pumping some of the oil into my air box, instead of returning it to the sump. It's manageable as long as I keep an eye on the remaining level, and empty out the box before it soaks the filter, until I can get some time at the shop (a week from now). But, that adds up to a desire to search for a bike that's a little less … cantankerous.

Thus, I found myself at Kawasaki's demo day in Mansfield today. They brought most of their street line up (no offroad-only bikes), with the exception of their smaller offerings (those under 650cc). They were all on display to look at and sit on, and every hour they led group rides for people to get the feel for them.

I rode down specifically to look at one of the sportier bikes, but found myself also taking a spin on a cruiser to pass the time (signup was first come, first served, and I wasn't early enough to get a sport spot in the morning).  The route was out of the parking lot, onto I-495 for a few miles, a "backroad" loop, and then a short return on I-495 again.

My cruiser ride was aboard a Vulcan 900 Custom (which is what my friend, Stan, rides). I understand now why Stan calls his a flying couch. Very smooth. Very light controls (it would be a tap to shift if it didn't have so much travel), smooth clutch, smooth throttle. I got it pretty leaned over on the highway ramp, but despite the bike feeling wide, nothing dragged. Foot pegs instead of floor boards may have made that difference. It took me many standing starts to get used to putting my feet forward instead of just pulling them up, as on my standard-position bike. There's quite a bit of vibration in the handlebars at highway speed - impossible to tell of someone's making hand signals in your mirror. I'm waiting to hear how Stan keeps from burning his leg on the engine? If it weren't for my riding pants, I think I'd have scars.

My sport ride was aboard the Versys, the bike I that drew me down there. It was definitely worth going, because the ride was quite different than I expected. The nice bits were a comfy saddle, lots of torque with a large RPM range to use, good wind deflection from the small screen, comfy foot peg placement, and a good weight balance that made me feel comfortable holding it on just the balls of both feet. The parts I'm not ranking positive, but haven't decided if they're completely negative were mostly to do with vibration. The first gear is really short, so you're either revving way out or shifting mid-standing-start-turn. The gearbox is six speeds, but over 70 on the highway, you're rising over 5000 RPM, and you really start to get some buzzing in your hands. Slowing down again, there's also a point where you hear the fairing vibrate instead. Kawasaki definitely considers this a sport bike, though they occasionally label it "touring" or "dual". You need only witness the small-diameter handlebars, narrow grip, tiny toe shifter, and forward-rotated rear brake lever to know what I mean. I think this paragraph sounds more negative than I meant it to - the Versys is a nice bike, but the day swayed me more toward really wanting to investigate some other bikes (instead of falling for the Versys, as I expected).

I think the funniest part was that the sport ride felt much slower than the cruiser ride. I don't know if it was, or if I just felt more rushed on the cruiser ride while acclimating to the different position.

In any case, it was a fun day. Lots of friendly people wanting to talk about bikes. Lots of different styles of bike in the parking lot. I would definitely do another of these.

Our New Table

Last Friday I went down to Picket Fence Gals in Lindstrom, MN, and found the coffee table I have always wanted. I never found a table like this myself to cut the legs down on, so was very happy to find this one.

I love it. Now I do, however, need to add some bright objects to the rest of our room to tie it in.

So, what do you all think?