my roadside windex

a random wind turbine

As I rounded a curve on the I-270 loop that circles Columbus during my Monday morning commute this week, I did a double-take that nearly rivaled the double-take Judy Jetson did the first time we drove past the llama farm (probably alpacas, but "llama" is more fun to say) on the way to the lake one day last summer. 

An auto dealership has put up a wind turbine and it's really kind of neat!  

This kind of thing really appeals to my frugal side (free energy!), although I wonder how long it will take for the business to recoup their investment ($400k, net of the $200k grant they received.)

I also wonder if non-sailors -- "normal people" -- are just as jazzed over the sight of this wind turbine as I am.  Seeing what the Byers Mazda Subaru wind turbine is doing is like Christmas morning, twice each day!  And yes, of course I think about what the point of sail is for my car and the proper rig tuning and sail trim for the conditions.  I can't wait to see what it looks like with lots of wind!... and when there is a wind shift!

I have an idea.  I think businesses that own wind turbines should put up courtesy "wind speed and direction" signs, just like banks have "time and temperature" signs.  Wouldn't that be so cool?

greetings, facebook friends

Soon after I joined Facebook -- thanks, Melissa & Jacque, for yet another addiction! -- I saw the option to rig up the 'Notes' tab to import postings from a blog site. I have a sailing-oriented blog on blogger.com where I post something every few weeks, although it's been more frequently lately. It's called:

Central Air ~ The continuing adventure of a dinghy... and her beloved little sailboat

So the Notes you are seeing within Facebook actually originate from my blog, which you can also visit if you are so inclined. I'm not sure why I thought this was important for you to know (I'm certainly not trawling for ad revenue or whatnot)... but anyway... there you go.

And speaking of Facebook, don't you think it should have a separate category of Friends called 'Frenemies?'

SAIL -- a book report

I received James Patterson's latest novel from my bro and sis-in-law as a birthday present recently. (The birthday when I turned.... um, *way older*.) I loves me some James Patterson. I usually seek out his fiction on CDs and listen to them during hatefully long car trips. (When I first started listening to Books on CD I had a lot of trouble with my mind wandering, necessitating a lot of rewinding... a LOT of rewinding. Yeah, I know... me? Wandering mind? Hmmm... go figure.) Anyway, as I was saying...

This would be the first Patterson I would enjoy in book form. I loves me some reading, but I have always gotten my Patterson fix in the car. Anyway, it's a 400-pager, which made me fear that it would take forever to get through, but I actually read it in just a couple days on the plane and in the evenings during a recent business trip.

Overall, it was a decent enough story, but it left me craving way more sailing action. This was because (spoiler alert!) the sailboat explodes on page 86, destroying the boat and killing the only smokin'-hot (no pun intended) guy in the whole story. Aside from the disappointment of losing the promise of 300+ more pages of hot sailing p0rn (defined as 'graphic yet G-rated descriptions of sailing and sailboats'), it was an enjoyable read as evidenced by my speedy consumption of all 400 pages! I'd recommend it as a great poolside or beach book.

2008 Boat Projects

I'm a tinker-er - like my Bro - and a list-maker, so how could I start the sailing season without a super-aggressive list of boat projects? As usual, most of these projects require skills that I do not have (electrical wiring, using scary epoxy, etc), but I've never let that stop me in the past. My personal DIY-related motto is... 'When in doubt, worry about it... procrastinate for weeks... google the heck out of it... and then just wing it.'

Here, in no particular order, is my list of 2008 Boat Projects. I'll create a section for this along the right side of the page, just below my all-important '2008 Sailing Goal' section, and I'll strike through each project as I complete it. I'll be sure to tell you all about the adventure associated with completing each project, too.

1. Swim ladder treads


2. 150 Genoa and associated hardware


3. Velcro-ed bug screen for forward hatch


4. Racing Snapit (not really a "project," but hey, I needed something cheap/easy amongst all these monster projects!)
   
5. New stereo with CD player and iPod input jack


6. Tiller tamer


7. Boomkicker


8. Depth Finder and/or Knot Meter


9. Hinged oscillating fan


10. Refinish the teak


11. Winch handle holder


12. Shelf for cockpit speaker hatch-board


13. New dog-friendly companionway step


14. Fix hatch leaks with weather-stripping


15. Lead main halyard & reefing line to the cockpit


16. Masthead anchor light


17. Mast-front steaming light

Good grief! I must be insane. The only way that I'll get all this done is if there are plenty of no-wind days... and who wants that?

challenge / opportunity

Wednesday Night Racing = happiness and joy!

Sailing anytime with Capt'n Scott Shivertimber = happiness and joy!

Tacking a boat when there is a nice breeze blowing = happiness and joy!

Staring intently at the telltales and adjusting the sails for over an hour amid many distractions (Hello, short attention span!) -- including random thoughts, the overwhelming urge to sing various songs from the 80s, and the cute boy at the helm = quite a challenge!

In order to turn a challenge into an opportunity (ugh - I hate when I speak 'ExecuSpeak')... I've come up with the following list of helpful ideas I will depend upon during my next race:

1. Remember to trim for the outside telltale, then the inside. Continuously, if necessary.
2. Remember to FOCUS on the task at hand! Pay no attention to nearby shiny objects, birds flying overhead, whether my do-rag looks sufficiently jaunty, scary bugs, scary spiders, scary jibsheets touching my leg and making me think that a bug is on me, or the like. I will focus on the Genoa and the Skipper's instructions.
3. Imagine and pursue the sweet taste of victory... and the sweet, tasty beverages that follow the race.

America's Cup Dispute - In Ten Words or Less?

Sometimes details are important and fascinating to me, such as the time I joyfully spent evening after evening painstakingly removing each and every stray old paint droplet from the hardwood floors of my 100-year-old house using a bottle of Goof-Off and a Hello Kitty battery-operated toothbrush.

Sometimes, however, details are completely annoying to me and I can't stand the thought of dealing with them at all, such as with the ongoing America's Cup litigation. I mean, I already have a full-time job, thank you so very much. When it became clear that the issues weren't going to be quickly resolved, I tried to start following the story. I was pretty late to the party, though, so this was after several back-and-forth filings and arguments had taken place. I really want to understand it because I loves me some yacht racing and all. I just don't have the patience and level of interest required to embark on such an investigatory effort on my own. That's where you come in.

Would you, my loyal readers, - Hi Mom, Dad, Bro, and Kel ! - be willing to provide insight in a format that would hold the attention of someone who loves her some yacht racing but apparently does not hold the America's Cup dispute in quite the same regard as she holds paint splatters on an old hardwood floor?

By way of example, the movie Titanic can be summed up in ten words or less as follows:

"Boy meets girl meets iceberg; necklace found much, much later." *

Similary, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be summarized like this:

"Crazies led by a crazy. Jack is brilliant. Sad ending." *

In a similar fashion, how would you summarize the America's Cup dispute? Please do so in the Comments of this post. It's okay if you go slightly over the requested ten word limit, but please don't get too carried away. Perhaps I'll award something from my personal sailing library or box o' boat stuff for the most fascinating and helpful summary! Thanks in advance for your help.

*examples from movieforums.com