Haze Gray

USS Freedom

The first Littoral Combat Ship, the USS Freedom, has been making port calls as she transits from her construction yard in Wisconsin to Norfolk, where she will be doing testing for a few months.  Jane's firm was the lead naval architect for this class, and Jane did quite a lot of work on the design.  Time was set aside during the port call in Annapolis for employees and their guests, and Jane was kind enough to offer me a chance to take a tour.

It is an interesting ship.  Actually, the things I find most interesting about her, the propulsion system, was not on the tour.  But she has enormous gas turbines, along with diesels, all geared into waterjets.  Our guide, one of the lieutenants, quoted a speed of 47 knots.  That's amazing for a ship this size - really any size combatant.  And I'm not aware of any US Navy ships anywhere near this size with waterjet propulsors.

We may not have seen the engine room, but we did see the multi-mission reconfigurable or "recon" spaces.  This is where special modules, basically shipping containers filled with special combat systems, will be loaded so they can quickly equip the vessel to perform different missions.  It is weird to see such large, empty spaces on a combatant ship.  And the spaces have very large hatches, to move the equipment in and out quickly.  The recon spaces have 4 huge hatches - one in the stern, one in the side, one up to the hangar, and one up to the flight deck.  And the three spaces are connected by two more huge watertight hatches between them.  I've never seen so many openings, in such large spaces, on a fighting vessel.

Their were plenty of other whiz-bang details: the bridge is normally manned by 2 or 3 people (vice the 8 you might normally see on a Navy ship), the crew is only 75 people (for a 377 foot ship), she made a turn at 46 knots without spilling the coffee someone set on deck, and so on.  There are still some questions about this ship, how to use it and how effective it will be, but it is very impressive.

Still More Babytime

A staggering number of pictures of Labor Day in Portland.

BABYTIME

Over Labor Day Weekend I went to Portland to see my nephew, Isaiah, for the first time.

Pictures

More Pictures

Some of the pictures are from other peoples' visits - everyone is eager to be in The Presence.  I was lucky enough to be there at the same time Karen was visiting.  She is Isaiah's godmother, and clearly adores him.  It was nice to see her and catch up; she's on a few different rescue squads now, takes classes on how to use the  jaws of life (including how to avoid being shocked while chopping up a hybrid), and has driven the fire truck in Bristol.  She continues to be awesome.

He does seem like a pretty good kid, for a first try.  He didn't cry much when I was around, and slept regularly for long stretches.  I couldn't help but imagine that he would easily upset and waking up at random times.  But he's great, and according to Nana Cheryl is the cutest baby ever.

The visit was more than just attending on the new Eling.  I went for a nice bike ride with Dad, around the Back Cove, through the Old Port, and over to Ryan and Bethany's... to see the baby.  And do yard work to help them out.

One night we went to a Portland Sea Dogs game, the Red Sox' AA affiliate.  Good game, though it got to be a bit of a blowout.  We had seats behind home plate, right in front of the press box.  Many nearby foul balls, until later in the game, when one came right at me.  I'm still kicking myself - I did not have a glove, and tried to barehand it.  Got a piece of it, but I wasn't quick enough to clap down both hands and hold on.

We also took an outstanding cruise on Casco Bay.  Rather than a tour for vacationers, we just rode the evening ferry that goes from the Old Port to Great Diamond, Long, Great Chebeague, and Cliff Islands.  Looking at the crowd, especially on the way out, it was more like riding a bus.  People coming home from work, bringing groceries packed up by the supermarket in banana boxes.  While the islands are mostly filled with summer homes, many people live there year-round.  So it gave the boat a much different feel than what I expected, but it was a blast.  The Bay is beautiful, and the islands are dotted with amazing homes.  Great Diamond even has an elegant restaurant at the stony cove where the ferry docks.  Lots to see, and it is always a great pleasure to me to get out on the water.  The campers on Little Chebeague even set off fireworks as we went by.

It was a fantastic visit, very restful and reinvigorating.  Mom took a few thousand more photos, I think, which hopefully will be up soon.  Then you can enjoy Babytime preserved for the ages.

High Tea in Narnia

Have a cup of chamomile with Aslan! I had never seen this before. I laughed for about 5 minutes after I walked past it in the grocery store yesterday.

Doctor of Fine Arts

SAAM 2-9-08

I had some free time today, and decided to make the most of it and take a quick jaunt into the district. I went to one of my favorite museums, the combined Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.

They've completed the courtyard renovations since the last time I visited. It is a great public space - comfortable, lots of activity without being overly crowded. The two signature elements are the undulating glass canopy and the shallow pools. The pools are merely sheets of water, and are constantly in motion - pumped in on one end, flowing down a barely perceptible slope into a drain. Since it is barely a puddle, kids run through them constantly. It livens the place up quite a bit.

The entire museum has good exhibits, but the most popular single work today was the recently installed portrait (or is it portraits?) of Stephen Colbert. It is just outside the Hall of Presidents... in the antechamber of the restrooms. There's a photo in the album linked above. I walked by a few times, and there were never less than a dozen people crowding around for photos.

San Francisco

DC to SF, Thursday

San Simeon to San Francisco

DC to SF, Wednesday

Tusayan to San Simeon

DC to SF, Tuesday

Santa Rosa to Tusayan

DC to SF, Monday

Bartlesville to Santa Rosa

DC to SF, Sunday

Dayton to Bartlesville

DC to SF, Saturday

Casco Bay

More photos from Maine.

Fort Williams Park

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

The other day, Mom had the day off from Panera, so we ran around all day getting into hijinx. The best part may have been going to the ocean. The sound of surf restores the soul, I find. Then we went to Arby's for lunch, and bought Chris some music for his birthday at a very cool shop in Portland, Bull Moose. We also went to a uniform shop so Bethany could buy a nurse's uniform, now that she has graduated from nursing school at Bunker Hill in Boston. While she tried them on, Chris, Ryan and I defaced children's coloring books in the waiting area. It was childish, but we laughed so hard I couldn't stand up.

I took some pictures at the shore; hopefully, I'll have some more holiday shots soon.

Two Lights State Park

Jamie Madrox

I was bored this evening, so I decided to experiment with cloning. Pictures are in the following album:

Band of Dans

Recent Photos

Here are a few recent pictures. Their quality is not very high, since I took them with my cell phone. I either couldn't take my digital camera to these places, or I just plain forgot. Enjoy the low-resolution splendor!


The fountain in the atrium of the National Building Museum


The inner face of the clock on the Old Post Office Tower


The view to the SW from my temporary office on-site in DC. You can just see to the left the cranes at the new baseball stadium construction site


The corresponding view to the NW, including the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. Not a bad office.


The current state of affairs on the new Wilson Bridge

I split from work early today, since I "banked" some hours on Friday working unbilled overtime. It allowed me enough sunlight to enjoy the beautiful weather and get a full bike ride in - might be the last for the season. I'm not very partial to cold-weather biking.

Once I got home, I rigged for trick-or-treaters. Some nice kids in cute costumes, but some people suck. Teenagers who just walk on to the porch and yell "trick-or-treat," don't even knock, and aren't even dressed up. Then the little bastards take handfuls of candy. Hell, even the small kids take all that their little hands can grab. Greedy little monsters. I hate to break this out, but in my day you got lots of candy by pounding the pavement all night long, working every last house. Not by sucking one place dry. Though, I've learned that Bristol did holidays better than most places. Per capita, I've never found a town that does a superior Halloween or Independence Day. There, you knew there were a lot of houses with a lot of candy - it was an endurance trial, and you sure as hell had better map out your evening in advance to hit all the streets in the most efficient pattern possible. These people here are amateurs.

Danta Claus, 2004

Danta Claus is sick

Danta Claus hits the bottle

Dreaming of warmer climes

Learn to handle the stress of the Holidays

Christmas can be exhausting

Danta Claus, 2002

Holiday Stress is a Killer

Danta Claus is worn out

Danta Claus salutes his pilot brethren

Winter in DC, 2002

WWII Memorial under construction on National Mall

Capitol from Washington Monument

Smithsonian Castle

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Korean War Memorial

DC War Memorial

Arts & Industries Building

Jefferson Memorial

Winter in the Capital