A great picture of a blooming Cherry Tree in our front yard. Spring has Sprung!
Sakura is the Japanese name for cherry trees and their blossoms. In English, the word “sakura” is equivalent to the Japanese flowering cherry and their blossoms are commonly called cherry blossoms. Cherry fruit (known in Japanese as sakuranbo) comes from another species of tree. In China the cherry blossom symbolizes feminine beauty, the feminine principle, or love in the language of herbs. In some countries, such as Japan and China, observing Cherry trees in bloom is almost a national pastime.
On March 21st we were greeted with some terrific weather for flying. The kids and I bundled up, grabbed a couple of planes, and walked on up the hill. The F4 was flying perfect, it looked majestic as it launched into the sky!
We buy hundreds of pounds of bird seed each year, all to keep our little friends happy, with tummies full, on a cold, snowy winter day. We usually have many, many birds visit us on any given day. Lots of cardinals, finches (they love Niger seed), wood peckers, and occasionally a hawk likes to come by to scare everyone. Usually we only see the hawk up in a tree, or flashing by quickly as he grabs a finch for a meal. Today, he rested casually at the edge of the deck. Pretty cool, huh?
The pioneers called it Hog Island, but it became Honeymoon Isle in 1939 when a New York developer built 50 palm-thatched bungalows for honeymooners. Romantically inclined North Americans were introduced to Honeymoon Island in the early 1940s when magazine ads declared it to be an “undiscovered paradise for newlyweds”.
Today, visitors can drive across Dunedin Causeway to enjoy the sun-drenched Gulf beaches, mangrove swamps, and tidal flats. Nature lovers will find osprey nests, a wide variety of shorebirds, and one of the few remaining virgin slash pine forests in South Florida. The park boasts several nature trails and bird observation areas. Visitors can swim, fish, and snorkel in the warm waters of the Gulf or picnic while they enjoy the beautiful scenery. Shelling is particularly good here, as the Gulf currents deposit an incredible variety of seashells on the shore. Honeymoon Island’s subtropical climate and balmy breeze welcome visitors to relish the native mangrove swamps, salt marshes and sand dunes. With more than 200 species of rare plants, resident osprey and various other endangered shorebirds, this is an ideal eco-tourist escape.
I found these pictures in my email yesterday. A fellow named Christian M. Gates sent them. I think I got them by mistake, but it is a good looking car, so I thought I would share. I wonder how long it will take for Christian to find them?
After the big splash last week with GM’s Volt announcement, Chrysler has decided to release information on their previously secret electric car program. Chrysler announced plans today to introduce a full line of electric vehicles by late 2010, including cars, trucks and SUV’s.
Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli introduced three new cars; an extended-range electric Chrysler EV Minivan, an extended-range electric Jeep EV , and a fully electric sports car dubbed the Dodge EV. Like GM, Chrysler is dealing with a technology that isn’t quite ready for prime-time. Chrysler is currently working with “four or five” out of the dozen lithium-ion battery companies to have something ready by 2010. Chrysler is launching a new joint venture with General Electric (Chrysler CEO Nardelli former employer) aimed at developing even more advanced battery systems
Chrysler, which was acquired a year ago by private-equity group Cerberus Capital Management LP, has been searching for partners to help it keep in the race to launch high-tech cars that cut fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Dodge Electric Vehicle
The planned Dodge EV will be a rear-wheel-drive sports car that seats two and has a 268 horsepower electric motor that creates a stout 480 lb-ft of torque. Performance is zero to 60 in fewer than five seconds and a 13 second quarter mile time. All of this comes with a driving range of 150-200 miles on an eight hour charge. Do these numbers sound familiar? They should, the EV is built on a Lotus Europa platform, and sports almost the same technology as the Tesla Roadster.
Jeep Electric Vehicle
The Jeep Wrangler EV will have an engine capable of producing 268 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The estimated range is 40 miles electric; 400 miles total with gasoline assist.
Chrysler Town & Country EV
“The Chrysler EV combines the electric-drive components of an Electric Vehicle with an integrated small-displacement engine and generator to produce additional electricity to power the electric-drive system when needed. This provides all of the positive attributes of an Electric Vehicle and extends the driving range to be equivalent to today’s gasoline-powered vehicles - without compromises.”
Last week we stopped by the Frederick Fair. It was a fun day in the sun, and we enjoyed peeking in on all the animals. While there, we saw the most peculiar little rooster. Make sure you turn your speakers up and crank the music!
This article was written by my father, retired Lt. Colonel Howard O. Smith, who served in Taiwan during the mid-60’s, and who traveled back to Taiwan this past August to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chinese’s bombardment. The People’s Liberation Army of Mao Zedong fired more than 450,000 shells on Kinmen Island and several other smaller islets in a 44-day artillery bombardment beginning on August 23, 1958.
After many thanks to our hosts, we boarded the ROC AF C-130 and flew to Kinmen. You can imagine our surprise when we were met at the ramp by a very large group of greeters and media personnel. We were all given leis and ushered into their briefing room for refreshments and a very warm welcome. Then we were taken to a memorial for a US National Guard Lt Col killed in an artillery bombardment in 1954 which overlooked the mainland only 1200 meters away. Unfortunately the weather was still not the best and we could only just make out the mainland. We were taken to a factory that forges knives from old artillery shells left over from the communist bombardments. We watched as the owner forged a piece of shell into a knife. Many in our group bought items in the shop, including Wade. He purchased a steak knife set that was then engraved with his name and the 8/23 date. A fitting memento!The next day saw us ushered into an underground hall that had been set up for a speech by the President of Taiwan. Most of the speech was in Chinese but President Ma switched to English a number of times to thank us for coming and to thank the US for the assistance our country has provided to maintain the freedom of the ROC over the years. After 50 years of sometimes contentious times he felt recent changes have “…created the conditions of reconciliation…” between Taiwan and Mainland China. He noted, however, that he has “…maintained the security relationship with the US…” and will purchase weapons systems from the US for military preparedness.
After the speech we all went to a cemetery for Taiwanese military personnel killed during the bombardments in 1958, where we participated in a ceremony commemorating these men and their service. After the service the President took the time to come over to our group and shake hands with a number of us, including my wife and myself. Quickly, however, the mass of media personnel surrounded the group and we were blocked from seeing or talking with him at that time. The eleven members of our group who had been there in 1958 were invited to lunch with the President. The rest of us continued with a tour of the island.
Shortly we were taken back to our C-130 and flew back to Taipei, bidding farewell to our MND escorts who did an excellent job of hosting us. We will certainly have fond memories of the experience of those few days.
This article was written by my father, retired Lt. Colonel Howard O. Smith, who served in Taiwan during the mid-60’s, and who traveled back to Taiwan this past August to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chinese’s bombardment. The People’s Liberation Army of Mao Zedong fired more than 450,000 shells on Kinmen Island and several other smaller islets in a 44-day artillery bombardment beginning on August 23, 1958.
On August 24th, 2008 the Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense (MND) conducted a memorial service for ROC military personnel killed during the Communist Chinese artillery bombardment of Quemoy (now Kinmen) and Matsu Islands in the Taiwan Straits in August 1958. In addition to the Taiwanese veterans who were invited to the service, there was also a group of American retired and former military personnel who had been present in or near Taiwan during the fighting or who had participated in the US support given to the ROC from 1958 until the mid 1970s. In our group of almost 30 there were 11 men who were there in 1958, with the remainder having served in Taiwan during the rest of the time period. My wife and I were in Taiwan from March 1963 until March 1965 and our eldest son, Wade, was born at the US Navy hospital just outside Taipei. We three were very excited to be among the group returning for this 50th anniversary gathering.
Our trip to Kinmen was part of a longer tour to Taiwan. We spent the first few days visiting various tourist sites, and then were escorted to Kinmen by MND personnel. I will cover the primary purpose of the trip for us, the return to Kinmen.
On August 21st three representatives of the MND (a Colonel, Major, and First Lieutenant) escorted us while we traveled south from Taipei on the new high speed “bullet train” to Kaohsiung, a city on Taiwan’s southwest coast. At that point the presence of a typhoon just south of Taiwan caused our trip to Kinmen to be delayed by one day, so we were taken to a number of tourist sites in the area. On the 22nd the MND advised that we would be leaving for Kinmen the next day.
On the morning of the 23rd we were taken to Tainan Air Base and given a tour of the ROC Air Force Academy. At their museum I noted a PT-17 on display. This was a WWII biplane trainer that was used by both the US and ROC Air Forces during and just after WWII. This type of aircraft was sold as surplus in Taiwan and I was lucky enough in 1963 to have flown a number of hours in this model of aircraft. After the tour of the museum we were taken to the headquarters of the unit at Tainan AB. This unit flies the locally produced fighter know as the Ching Kuo. After a briefing by unit personnel we were allowed to participate in flying their simulators for this aircraft. With assistance from a training tech I got into the “air” and initially performed straight and level procedures, then moved on to banked turns before returning to the airfield. I never got to that phase in my 1960s training and did no better this time. I crashed!! Wade was using the other simulator and performed a very nice flight before greasing in his landing. Of course, he does have his private license!
It looks as if Tesla is starting to really ramp up production. Here is a rainbow of Tesla Roadsters lined up outside their facility. Tesla has stated from the beginning that their intention was to make their first model a flagship car with high performance and a similarly high price, while still being a better deal than similarly performing sports cars. The Roadster is meant to set the tone for the brand, and with a reasonable profit margin, generate the capital to fund future development of more modest automobiles.
It’s a reasonable strategy. Most of the technology we use in our everyday lives started as something few could afford. The wealthy pay the premiums that generate the revenue to pay for manufacturing capabilities that bring prices down, and eventually the technology trickles down to more affordable designs.
Hopefully other manufacturers will jump in and start producing economy PHEVs that build on the high tech systems used in the Tesla.
