I stopped into a sandwich shop yesterday to get a ‘care package’ on the way to my Mom and Dad’s place. When I stepped outside, this was parked right there – right in your face. Bob thinks it’s a Ford ‘Hi Boy’ chassis, uhh, slightly modified. It looks like a lot of love and effort went into this interesting hot-rod.
Click to enlarge image.
Landsat 5, one of several Landsat Earth-observing spacecraft has been operational for 25 years and counting. Originally intended for a three-year mission, this bird is still ticking. One of the more startling observations made by the Landsat program is a 25 year visual history of Las Vegas urban expansion.
Images courtesy and © NASA/USGS. Click image for larger view.
A Desert City Blooms
In the 25 years that Landsat 5 has been in orbit, the desert city of Las Vegas has gone through a massive growth spurt. The outward expansion of the city is shown here with a series of false-color images. The dark purple grid of city streets and the green of irrigated vegetation grow out in every direction into the surrounding desert. These images were created using reflected light from the shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and green portions of the electromagnetic spectrum (Landsat 5 TM bands 7,4,2).
Credit: NASA/USGS
Notice the runways at Las Vegas McCarran Airport (Just below the center of the urban mass), barely visible in 1984, now clearly visible in 2009, as it has been surrounded by industrial growth.
Really – and for only 3½ million bucks.
But it’s got provenance. Flown in by Raul Castro, being one of it’s notable (?) historical claims.
I believe that I know the person selling this car on eBay. Years ago, I worked in the same laboratory with Carl, whose wife, Marilyn ran a car parts business out of their garage. In connection with the garage operation, they collected a few rare and interesting vehicles, such as the Italian Isetta, among others. I lost touch with them before they acquired the Aerocar in 1981.
I taught Carl to fly in the 1970’s and used to spend a lot of time with them at that time. Maybe I’ll register and bid on the car just to open that nostalgic door.
Check out this Aerocar video.
I found a pretty good article about this on wired.com. Here’s an excerpt from the December, 2008 article:
Just six Aerocars were ever built, and they did fly when they were built. Marilyn Felling bought Aerocar No. 2 more than 25 years ago, but never restored it. She insists it has been examined by a mechanic and could be made airworthy in a few hours. Of course, N103D hasn’t flown since the Ford Administration, so that may be optimistic.
Still — how cool would it be to own a flying car that’ll do 60 mph on the highway and 110 in the air? Just think of the joy you’d feel. And if you can’t think of enough good reasons to own it, the folks at aerocarforsale.com have spelled them out for you.
You can pick one up “for inclusion in your private collection.” Or if you’re feeling philanthropic, buy one “for a donation to your favorite museum.” Maybe your kids or grandkids would appreciate it “as a legacy for the heirs of your estate. “Our favorite is the promise of “a 1031 property exchange,” though we have no idea what that means.
Despite all those perfectly rational benefits, after two years the Aerocar still hasn’t attracted a buyer and Mrs. Felling turned to eBay. We know gas is getting cheaper, but we’re not so sure about her decision to keep the “Buy it now” option at her original price of $3.5 million. There’s a “Best offer” option, but as of Monday morning, no one had made one.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.
The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine’s Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards.
Me? I’m sending you all this pretty red electronic rose! Special greetings to our men and women in the armed forces.
Our Server has been intermittently down today. The ISP changed the operating system and is still getting some of the bugs worked out. It’s not without impact to us, either, since some of our home-grown scripts need to be upgraded also.
Consequently, I have not had time to give due diligence to a post I’ve been contemplating.
Oh well . . . Please enjoy this nice photo that Damsel took of Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley NP. Click for larger size
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We liked the town of Wickenburg, Arizona, when we were there a couple weeks ago. It seemed to have a nice out-west hometown feeling to it. We stayed at an RV park where the people that we dealt with were friendly and hospitable.
On our way out of town I snapped this shot of a billboard that captures a bit of the essence of the town. I liked the gun-friendly play on words. We were definitely not in California, anymore, Toto.
We wish the best to you and yours in 2009.
Special Happy New Year wishes to all our veterans, our wounded warriors and active members of the Armed Forces and their families. God speed in the coming year.
