Tom – Page 90 – Random Connections

A Bridge to Nowhere

August 12, 2013May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

EdTech, History and Genealogy, Paddling, Photography

Sparkleberry Swamp Altered — Sparkleberry Swamp

Somehow I found myself taking one last course for certification this summer. I’m taking one of the PBS Teacherline courses online. The course is on Dynamic Media and Digital Storytelling, a subject with which I’m already quite familiar. However, I just needed the course credit.

The course itself is been…so, so. There’s been more time spent on “Educationese” and gobbledy-goop catch phrases that I used to detest, than on actual digital storytelling.

Even so, I did manage to put together a decent (in my opinion) project. My digital story was entitled “A Bridge to Nowhere”, and it’s a summary of a previous blog post about the controversial Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector, a proposed bridge from Lone Star to Rimini across Lake Marion.

The 12 minute video summarizes the history of the Santee Cooper area, and briefly touches on the controversy. I used photographs I’d taken from several paddling trips to lakes Marion and Moultrie, coupled with GoPro video. I filled in with a few maps, newspaper clippings, and historic shots to complete the video.

Life Faster than the Documentation Thereof

August 12, 2013May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Miscellaneous

It happened again. Video projects, course work, new camera gear to review, family promotions, paddling trips on the Edisto, Perseid Meteors, Segway tours, and mountain driving – life seems to be happening faster than I can tag it with a blog post. Add to that sporadic Internet access over the next several days, and it … Read More “Life Faster than the Documentation Thereof” »

Multiple Mountain Meanderings

August 3, 2013May 16, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Family, Photography, Rambling

Blue Ridge Parkway-1 — Devil’s Courthouse

Three times this week I have made treks northward, crossing the Blue Wall into the mountains of Western North Carolina. Two of those trips covered similar ground. Only one was in the new Mini convertible. All three covered ground I’ve traversed recently, so some of the photos may look a little…familiar.

Monday – Picnic at Davidson River

Last weekend Laura’s sister and mother were with us. The weather looked good for Monday, so we decided to take a trek up to Pisgah Forest for a picnic. We had done this trip with Laura’s cousins a couple of years ago, and her mom had loved the sound of the Davidson River rippling past our picnic area.

For this trip we loaded everyone into the Subaru and first headed up Highway 25 toward Hendersonville. We took a brief detour through Tuxedo, then turned toward Flat Rock. At Flat Rock we took Little River Road toward Crab Creek westward, toward Brevard. The weather was clear and spectacular, with large fluffy white clouds and blue skies.

Goodbye Audrey, Hello Mini

July 28, 2013May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Miscellaneous

The unusually wet summer has not been kind to our convertible. Twelve inches of rain in one week wreaks havoc on an un-garaged vehicle that already had leaky seals. When we got back from Florida the car was drenched, and all of the electrical systems were fried. It was finally time to look at a … Read More “Goodbye Audrey, Hello Mini” »

Lone Star Barbecue, Mercantile, and Ghost Town

July 24, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom No Comments

History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling, Restaurants

We have a tradition of looking for a good barbecue place after our paddling trips. This was no different. Our target for this outing was Lone Star Barbecue and Mercantile. However, this was a two-fer – lots of good food and a chance to explore one of South Carolina’s ghost towns.

Lone Star, the Ghost Town

It started with a bit of miscommunication. The rest of the guys had never been to the town of Lone Star, and thought that the barbecue place was in the town proper. So, once we loaded up the boats, they set off, with me following, toward the town. What they found was the ghost town that I knew. All that is left of Lone Star is the old freight depot, moved from its original location, the large brick Masonic building, and two dilapidated stores. Across the tracks was a small convenience store that may or may not have been open. No barbecue anywhere in sight.

From Swamp to River to Lake to Creek

July 23, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Paddling, Photography

This year’s weird weather has wreaked havoc with our normal paddling schedule. The second Saturday of July was supposed to be our infamous Beer Commercial paddle on the Edisto River, AKA the Rope Swing Extravaganza, AKA “Hey, Ya’ll! Watch this!” Yet, even the daredevil nature of Lowcountry Unfiltered had to bend to the forces of nature, as the Edisto swelled from its banks with the excess rain. On our way back from Florida we stopped by the put-in, and found it completely flooded.

Flooded Edisto - Mars Old Field — Flooded Edisto – Mars Old Field

The situation did not improve over the week, so come second Saturday we decided to postpone the trip for a week to see if matters improved. They did not. So, with water levels cresting at nearly 14 feet, 4 feet over flood stage, we needed to find a new paddling venue. It seemed that a lake might be better than a river, so we looked to our favorite location, Lake Marion.

Google Maps Screws Up

July 21, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Geocaching and Maps, Rants

I’m not one of those people that mounts protests every time Facebook changes their layout, or when GMail makes some slight change. I even like the new updates to Flickr, even though some users are threatening to abandon it for Ipernity. So, when I say that Google Maps has really screwed up with their latest … Read More “Google Maps Screws Up” »

Video Project for 3D Printing

July 19, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Photography, Science

File this under one of those “now that you have the time” requests. John Kaup handles science education outreach for Furman, and had first approached me about this project. Elaine Smith is a chemistry teacher at Marion High School in Horry County, and she is spending the summer developing modules for teachers to use with 3D printing. As part of this project she wanted to develop short introductory and closing video segments for each module. That’s where I came in. They needed my services to help put together the videos.

The project itself is quite fascinating. Elaine is working with Tim Hanks and Casper Wright from Furman on using 3D printing to create biomedical structures. Tim and Casper’s research involves developing alginates that are electrically conductive. These alginates can be loaded into a 3D printer and printed into any shape, and research is being done to see if they can eventually substitute for neurons and other tissues. Elaine’s portion of the research is to develop simple demonstrations for these techniques for high school students.

For this project I wanted to use the best possible image source that I could, and I decided that was my Nikon D7000 DSLR. I hadn’t really done any video with it. In fact, I had shied away from video on this particular camera because the audio quality wasn’t what I wanted. The built-in microphone tends to pick up motor noise from the autofocus and image stabilization on the lens.

Retirement One Month In

July 18, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Miscellaneous

Indian River Paddling — Kayaking on the Indian River

It’s been a little over a month since I retired, so I thought it would be a good time for a bit of omphaloskepsis. I’m still coming to terms with the situation, and the concept still seems weird as all get out, but the reality hasn’t hit. It’s more like my summers used to be when I was a teacher, so it hasn’t felt that different. It’s been more like an extended vacation. Since it’s now post-July 4th the Back-to-School sales have already started. I’m slowly relinquishing the anxiety attacks that used to hit when I saw those, wondering if we were going to get everything done over the summer in time. It had gotten so bad that just driving by a school – any school – induced panic.

I think it will really hit home first when I get my first retirement check next week, then when everyone is actually heading back to school, and I’m not. I did get a formal letter from the Department of Education just this morning with a certificate marginally suitable for framing.

Speaking of anxiety attacks, I’ve been having nightmares about my former job. These usually take several forms. For some reason I have to go back to the office to do something and I find that the new guy has done something absurd like pulling out all of the network cabling. Or, people from the district show up at my home, somehow not letting me escape. Then there are variations. Glynda told me that nightmares like this followed her retirement for months. Oh joy.

I actually did get a call about a file from the office. It was one they couldn’t find (although I had clearly shown them where it was before I left.) When I tried to log into my district Google Docs to retrieve it for them, my password had either been changed or the account deleted. Oh well. I guess they are completely out of luck, and I’m off the hook. It’s not unexpected, but it seems a bit…abrupt. So, if you’re a friend from the district reading this, don’t try sending anything to my school e-mail account – I won’t get it.

Apart from those things about which I’ve blogged previously, here’s what else has been happening…

Read More “Retirement One Month In” »

1960s Flashback – The Wild Wild West

July 13, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

Entertainment

Quick. Complete the phrase with a four-letter word (no, not that kind)… Captain James T. ______ If you somehow ignored the title of this post and all of the visual cues and filled in the last name “Kirk”, then you’re wrong, wrong, wrong. I speak of none other than James T. West, former captain in … Read More “1960s Flashback – The Wild Wild West” »