Educator. Engineer. Experimenter.
Shared a cabin with my buddy Shane at Silver Springs State Park, “gateway to Ocala National Forest.” Their cabins are sometimes hard to come by, and he found a last minute opening. It was one of the last good weather weekends of the year (for us in Florida). We didn’t do the typical glass-bottom boat…
I decided to do something useful with our dilapidated old fence that needed to be replaced. A simple looking, rustic ceiling light/chandelier at First Watch caught my eye. Theirs is larger, but my creation is similar. I saved some of the rest of the wood for rustic wall paneling I intend to do later on….
Today we toured Penang Nursery with its owner, Mr. Lo, an acquaintance through the Orlando Chinese Association. They are located in Apopka, FL, specializing in indoor plants and wholesaling to all major stores including Home Depot, Lowes, Aldi, etc. They are also open to the public.
While in San Diego for an SPIE conference (presenting this paper), I took some time to see various sites. See my posts on the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and the USS Midway Museum. The Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego offers vibrant streets and plenty of restaurants, bars, clubs, and shops. Balboa Park is…
Today, we visited the Maritime Museum of San Diego, located right on the water in San Diego Bay. It is comprised of 10 or so ships wet-docked and lashed together for you to explore. They have some beautiful ships here with lots of history, including: the still active barque The Star of India, a replica…
Today we visited the Reptile World Serpentarium in Kissimmee, Florida, which has been in the area since the early 70s. They have a very large collection of poisonous snakes, and are one of the leading suppliers of snake venom to universities, companies, and organizations producing antidotes. They also have a number of turtles, tortoises, rabbits,…
Saw a huge grasshopper while walking my dog today. Must be a grasshopper because it is solitary. Though I saw a few more throughout the week… so maybe it was gregarious?
“The Mayor” is a very beautiful, very large, and very old Southern Live Oak near the Mennello Museum of American Art at Loch Haven Park, home to the Orlando Science Center. Many websites report it at 200 years old, but unless I’m reading the commemorating plaque wrong, it is likely 300-400 years old. I believe…
Beautiful sunset sky captured with my new Google Pixel 2.
Some pictures of a few Southeastern Lubber Grasshoppers nymphs (more info) spotted at Shady Park. Here’s a closeup on Wikimedia.