Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

Physics and Driving 101

by Brian on July 2, 2010 in Miscellaneous

“An object in motion will not change its velocity unless an unbalanced force acts upon it.”

– Sir Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica

Newton published this First Law of motion 323 years ago, so it hasn’t been new news for more than three centuries. In non-geek speak, what it essentially says is that when a large object is speeding in your direction, get the hell out of the way because it is unlikely to stop. As it turns out, that is a pretty good basic driving tip too. A related tip would be that when you’re merging into traffic and encounter a 20,000 lb recreational vehicle moving at 65 mph on your left and a yield sign on your right, it is probably a good idea to, um, you know . . . yield?

It’s shocking how few people read Sir Isaac Newton.

Half-Passed Saugerties

by Brian on June 29, 2010 in Miscellaneous

“That was way back in Saugerties,” Shannon said yesterday, in reference to some mundane errand. She could have said “That was a month ago” or, “That was in May,” because both are true. But she didn’t. She could also have uttered the seemingly nonsensical sentence “That was Saugerties ago,” and I’d have understood exactly what she meant.

And so it occurred to me, that points on the map are now more useful to us in judging time than days or months on the calendar. Monday doesn’t really have a special significance any longer, other than the fact that many museums are closed that day. Boothbay, Maine, meanwhile, is three days away. And Narragansett marks for us the fickleness of Spring in an experiential way that “May” never could.

It’s hard to tell how this fledgling calendar will develop over time, or whether it will at all. But one thing is clear even today: Florida already feels kind of Christmassy.

Little Shop of Horrors

by Brian on June 13, 2010 in Miscellaneous

Feed me Seymour!

At $75, I got off light. That works out to be about one-third of a tank. I needed twice as much. But for whatever reason this Shell island wouldn’t let pump more than $75. Maybe they felt bad taking my money.

Travel Day

by Brian on June 3, 2010 in Miscellaneous

Today is travel day. We’re heading from Connecticut to Rhode Island. The drive time is only about 50 minutes but this little jaunt will put us within spitting distance of Newport, Providence, Bristol, Block Island and beaches. Throw in some hiking and biking and we’ll have more to do than our allotted 10 days will allow.

This is only our third move with the RV but our anxiety level is way down. Getting the bus seaworthy and driving the beast isn’t as challenging as we originally feared. It’s pretty much a matter of battening down the hatches, dumping poo, unhooking everything that needs to be unhooked, making sure the kitten doesn’t get crushed in a retracting slide, and we’re ready to go. Set-up is just reversing the process (except we don’t reload poo, at least not straightaway). The whole process might take us an hour, but with practice I think we’ll get it down to 30 minutes or so. Besides, most of the chores needed to disembark are things we have to do anyway – like cleaning and putting stuff away.

We’ve found that traveling like this is far better than herding on to an airplane. It’s even better than a normal road trip that involves packing and unpacking suitcases and a car. Whoever said “getting there is half the fun” must have been smoking crack for that half of the trip. Traveling is painful. Destinations are awesome. So here’s to more destinations with less travel . . . Cheers!

Settling in Nicely

by Brian on May 1, 2010 in Miscellaneous

Ever since we decided to do this we’ve worried that Tabitha might have difficulty adjusting to the new environment. For most of her 12 years, she’s lived in the same house and has rarely ventured outside. She’s not much of a traveler, and we didn’t know how she’d cope. But thankfully it looks like she’s settling in nicely, as we all are.