A Great Farm Diary
No-one really wants to be that familiar with their own effluent! At the very least we'd need a proper commercially-produced composting toilet. It may be time, too, to rip out the water pipes and fall back to a basic two-galvanized bucket Jack-and Jill hand-well system. The solar system too could use either an upgrade, or perhaps a downgrade, to be replaced with propane lamps that never require batteries to be replaced. Those batteries never last long enough, and cost too much money. Propane would be more reliable, and there already is propane supply to the fridge and a small back-up heater. It would be an easy matter to plumb in a few lamps here and there. Some paint and plaster wouldn't go amiss either, nor some "camp-style" furniture. At which point we'd have a decent vacation camp for friends and family, and possibly even paying guests in the summer and in hunting season. It would make a great ski lodge too. As you can see from the photo, there's tons of snow and lots of forest tracks for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, while the right-of-way is a listed snowmobile trail. The wood stove is quite efficient and heats the whole building. Perhaps skiers and snowmobilers would be willing to pay to stay there in the winter. Fo now, I'm just pleased that it's in such decent shape, and that the recent occupant did such a great job of cleaning. I'm also pleased that the Land Rover did such a great job of driving up that bad road in so much snow. The second nor'easter has dumped another eight inches so far, so there's now about sixteen inches on the ground and I'll need to move snow again today.
I personally disagree with this plan. Designing and testing each rover and entry and landing system is an expensive proposition. Given limited Mars program funds, I think that flying one off mission designs is sub optimal. The Mars program has reused its orbiter designs across multiple missions. So far, though, the apparent reuse of rover design between missions has been much more limited. In my opinion, the Mars program after 2013 should focus on exploring the diversity of Mars surface terrains. The 2016 opportunity should be used to fly the Mars Science Orbiter (MSO). This orbiter would study trace gases in the Martian atmosphere and continue climate studies. Most importantly for future rover missions, this orbiter could also carry a new high resolution camera to examine landing sites and enable traverse planning as well as act as a communications relay. The next several Mars launch opportunities would then fly identical copies of the new rover design to study a variety of Martian terrains.
A car that needs both is probably a vehicle to be avoided. Even a good car is going to need some work. 10,000 even if the car checked out good. There are always unseen issues. Before buying any Rolls Royce or Bentley I suggest you have it checked out by a qualified expert. These cars are very different from your rank and file motorcars, and you need specialized skills to check them out The best way to find an inspector is to ask other Rolls Royce drivers. Also check out the advice on the forums. Long time club member Gerry Acquiliano is an expert on these cars, as are Richard Vaughn and others. There are many members with much to offer on the club forums. What year car should you buy? With some cars, the answer is simple - buy the newest one you can afford. The newer the car, the higher the price. In the Rolls Royce world things do not work that way.
Yesterday we took in a 2007 Porsche 911 with a chronic slow-crank problem. The car tended to start fine in the morning, but later in the day, when warm, it struggled to crank. The battery had been replaced three times, after one relatively new battery after another failed the Midtronics tester. The alternator was replaced 2,000 miles ago. The owner now wondered if the car needed a starter, or if it had a wiring problem. In addition to that, I pointed out the engine could have internal drag when hot. We had a few possibilities to chase . Knowing this was a chronic problem that had already resisted several efforts at solution we started out with the Fluke 196 Scopemeter. If you know how to use it, a scope is your fastest tool to get to the bottom of many electrical problems. These tests could be done with a meter but the scope display adds another layer of information in the form of the pattern. Newer digital scopes like this allow us to read voltage at any point on the graph, and also measure time differences between any two spots.
Rather, you鈥檙e sort of just borrowing it for an extended amount of time and paying for the rights to use the technology. If it sounds ridiculous鈥?it is. But it gets even more ludicrous. That鈥檚 right鈥?pirating music. DMCA does give a little bit of leeway, though. While the act could hypothetically lock customers out of key safety features, it would still allow owners the ability to repair other areas of the vehicle鈥檚 onboard computer as they see fit. It鈥檚 a slim compromise, but one that may be more closely based in reality. As it currently sits, there are 13 (!) large automakers on the list supporting the DMCA. Want to know who they are? Ironically, one of the brands that relies most on technology in its vehicles 鈥?Tesla Motors 鈥?in not in support of DMCA. While other American companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler all agree that working on your own vehicle should be punishable by law. Funny how three brands that pride themselves on American ingenuity don鈥檛 want customers to work on their cars.
