The Anchorage, Part 3

[Terre]

Hahahaha! So many buzzwords! Cosy = too bloody small to swing a mouse, a good first home = so dilapidated no one else would look at it and needs some work = falling down.

And user manuals written for people who are already familiar with the product.
We have new flip phones. The old phones went back to their main screen when you closed them. The new ones stay on whichever screen you were using last. As a result it took me a while to figure out how to get at the speed dial function.

 

[AlphinaNovaStar]

Panthers Time! And also try to figure how to get poser back on computer!

 

[Miss B]

I see why you hesitate to call those catamarans "boats".

Hmmmm, I'm not sure I'd call them catamarans either, because they sure don't look like any catamarans I've ever seen.

 

[Mythocentric]

You said it Terre and Miss B! The first thought that crossed my mind was, "Bloody hell! They've landed!"

Judging from the third photo I guess the crews will be feeling pretty happy about the monohull decision too!

 

[Lorraine]

When they started racing in these I completely lost interest in the whole thing. It was more like seeing machines than boats and even though I'm still happy we won considering how much the NZ taxpayer has put into these campaigns over the years, I still think large beetle-like things skidding around the water is not yacht racing. I just hope the monohull design is not futuristic and as non-yacht as them.

Some sun and showers in Opua today and I want to get out to the boat for a checkup. I had intended to stay overnight but I think she would be a bit chilly tonight. So I shall visit, say hullo and goodbye and head back ashore.

 

[Miss B]

Try not to get too wet while you're out.

 

[Terre]

Well..... Those things are modern speedster version of an ancient design of seafaring craft...... Still the Americas Cup was intended as a yacht race and I'll join you in hoping they go back to that. A separate event for speedier designs would suit my tastes better.

 

[Terre]

Try not to get too wet while you're out.

Seconded.

 

[Lorraine]

I have been assured that there will be no squalls tomorrow (just had a monster go through that dropped the temp by 10°) so I'm putting it off till then. Sans Souci doesn't need me to be a martyr

 

[Miss B]

Good choice Lorraine.

 

[quietrob]

Yes, do be careful. I know as an adventurer you live on the wild side a bit but still, take care.

 

[Lorraine]

I gived up with my iray...will have to wait till more ram, better video card and a LOT more patience!

So this is what I came up with reverting back to 3DL

View media item 3664

 

[Terre]

I have been assured that there will be no squalls tomorrow (just had a monster go through that dropped the temp by 10°) so I'm putting it off till then. Sans Souci doesn't need me to be a martyr

Martyr would be bad, yes.

That upended boat reminded me of an aqueous "race" that used to be held yearly in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The city ended up banning it as a unsafe some years ago but watching TV news coverage of it was hilarious. "The Great Race" was held on water and had teams of contestants but those were the only things it had in common with the Americas Cup. My search skills aren't up to locating anything on the race as it was back in the 70's and 80's. All I can find is on the more tame event that started up in 2009.
Sooo..... Differences:
AC government sanctioned. TGR wasn't.
AC is held on the ocean. TGR was held on a wide, shallow spot of the Rio Grande where the deepest water was only chest high and a typical adult could walk across the river from bank to bank.
AC has precision made high tech boats. TGR was home made cobbled together stuff.
AC expects all entries to get to the finish line. TGR........well........

Entrants carried their "boats" into the river and lined up along the starting line standing beside their craft. When the start signal was given they climbed aboard and anything would happen from the "boat" sinking right there to the craft actually still being above water when it reached the finish line and everything in between. I remember one team who were up to their waists in water by the time they got to the finish. The "boat" finished sinking just after they crossed.
From what I read some years ago Albuquerque banned this event because it was basically a drinking party and they were concerned for public safety.

 

[McGyver]

State University of NY at Stony Brook has a yearly event called the Roth Pond Regatta, that sounds a bit like that...
Only without the drinking.
Well... Sometimes people end up drinking the pond water.
I was surprised to find a Wikipedia entry for it... Roth Pond Regatta - Wikipedia
I kinda remember it starting in '88, but the article says '89... I think the last one I attended was in 2010...
Basically it's open to students and alumni, and the idea is to cross a long pond (which once housed a really sick looking piranha which me and a friend removed while cleaning the pond for the first event) using a boat made out of cardboard.
Over the years there have been insanely ambitious designs like one that looked more like a sub than a boat (rolled over and sank almost instantly) and another that was a '32 Chevy hot rod (actually made it across several times), and some really comical attempts like a friend who glued small cardboard boats to his sneakers and tried to run across (guess how that ended).
The original rules bared duct tape, but allowed for cellophane packing tape... You couldn't use glue or mechanical fasteners and paint could only be used to decorate not seal... So the real fun of it for the most part wasn't winning the race, but actually having some wacky design not disintegrate halfway across the pond.
Fun stuff.

 

[Terre]

LOL
Yup. Same idea with the difference that you had to build a new craft every year. Couldn't use the same idea twice. If there hadn't been any booze I'm sure it would still be going on today as the water was shallow enough that if anyone had a problem they could be easily helped.

 

[Mythocentric]

Cor! You people have all the fun don't you? The best we ever managed in the old place was an annual plastic duck race on our local canal! Still! Great fun was had by all, especially when the wind blowing upstream was stronger (which it usually was) than the minimal downstream flow. The sight of all those little yellow ducks heading away from the finishing line caused great hilarity, particularly for the ones who hadn't placed bets! Come to think of it, I don't recall anyone actually winning because the organisers seemed to think that using water-soluble marker pens to number them was perfectly adequate!

 

[Terre]

I really wish I could locate TV footage of the "race". I have this memory of a craft one year that had helium filled balloons attached to it and would like to find out if that was actually the case or if my memory has been altered by more than 30 years having passed.

 

[Mythocentric]

I do recall, many moons ago, an annual raft race which took place on a reservoir near Darwen which a friend of mine by the name of Paul used to enter. We were often roped in to assist in constructing his latest creation for the event, though I should confess, we often made ourselves scarce when the time came for him and his crew to recover the disintegrated remnants of his doughty craft (usually in the nearest pub!), which they frequently did! It was a rule of the contest that the rafts were only allowed rope for fastening. I also recall a chair he made one-inch square steel tubing which had a seat slung like a deckchair. Unfortunately, he forgot to add any cushioning and anyone sitting in it for more than a few minutes usually found it almost impossible to walk for a while after because various bits had cut your circulation off! I believe the fact that Paul is a nuclear physicist speaks volumes!

 

[Terre]

Sadly, the raft race which the city of Albuquerque now holds and calls The Great Race Down the Rio Grande isn't home made rafts. It's factory made ones despite the city trying to claim they brought back a summer tradition.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Sooo ... Monday when I got to work, I had a voicemail from a woman who wants to buy Satira.com. Needless to say, I was caught a bit off guard because I couldn't figure out how she got my WORK phone number.

I did a search on me, and totally missed that the fourth result was the employee phone list for my company. A coworker pointed that out. So at least, I know how she found me. My info is hidden on Whois, but the copyright notice on my site has my name. I had originally debated using Satira Capriccio Creations on the copyright notice, but went with my name.

Needless to say, I didn't bother to return her call. I did look up her phone number and it was for a legitimate company in Chicago. The owner of that company was the same name she left. It's a "small batch dog day care by day and dog friendly events and venue rental space by night." Think dog birthday parties.

She called me again today ... at work ... and asked if I'd be willing to sell my domain since it hadn't been updated in quite a while. Well, no. It hasn't been.

What's to update? Not like I've written new poetry, or new stories. Nor have I done any sculpting or drawing. And if I were to add my 3d stuff, it would require a complete site overhaul, which I haven't felt like doing ... since it would require a LOT of time to do so.

When I told her again I wasn't interested. She wanted to know if I was sure. Yeah. I am! You see, I have other sites on that domain.

One subdomain is gallery.satira.com which is a new Remixer site and features some of my 3d art from 2006 to 2017. Remixer is DreamHost's new website builder, which isn't all that difficult. But adding images to the gallery isn't quite as easy as I'd like it to be. So, I also tried using Piwigo, which is an open source photo gallery which is a one click install at DreamHost. But, I'm not crazy about it ... at all. Although, it is easier to add images to the gallery. I just don't quite like the templates they have, and the customization doesn't let me customize to the degree I want.

Of course, when I told her I had other sites, she asked if I couldn't just port those sites elsewhere.

Um ... why? Satira Capriccio is my art "identity," and while I also have a Satira Capriccio domain now (which is for my products), I want to keep that separate from my personal websites. Not that I told her that. I just said no.

So, I wouldn't ever want to sell my domain? Nope. I wouldn't.

Maybe I should have said ... $150,000. I suppose for that much money, I could move everything to satira capriccio I'm sure it would actually be rather easy to do.

But again ... why?