Wednesday, June 15, 2011

More Fun With PVC

PVC is Lego for adults. I decided I wanted an outrigger for my canoe to stabilize it and give it more buoyancy. There are plenty of plans for outriggers, one site that sells them, Cabela's has them - but I had to do it myself. I created these pontoons out of irrigation pipe and tested them today in the river - they hold their air and seem like they are going to work. I will get to try them on the canoe for a real test, soon.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fishin!



They're small, but he caught 'em all by himself.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Sloop Clearwater


The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater tied up at Beacon Harbor.

Symmetrophobia

Beef kidney - yet another weird pattern that wigs me out.

Certain patterns in nature weird me out. I recently learned that this is called "symmetrophobia". I first noticed that regular patterns in nature bothered me as a kid whenever I saw a honeycomb or a magnification of an insect's compound eye. One day as a bag boy in a local grocery store as a teenager something came down the conveyor that freaked me out. I picked up the item, noticed what it looked like, and dropped it. "What the hell is that?!" I asked. The customer responded, "Tripe!". I refused to touch it again. I made the man bag it himself. He laughed.

The article I reference indicates that I:
may become anxious in any situation that is symmetrical and may actively rearrange [my] home and work environment so that they are asymmetrical. In extreme cases, [I] may completely withdraw from society as [I] become completely unable to function in a symmetrical world.

and furthermore:

All phobias are the result of a real-life traumatic incident in an individual’s life. Thereafter, that traumatic experience is automatically and consistently associated with symmetry.

but I ain't buying it. I just get weirded out by the stuff.