Steve and Judy's Travels!

  He got to go to a new vet yesterday.  They took him to the back to take some blood and give him some shots.  When he came back he reeked.  Judy asked what happened and they explained his anal glands had been “expressed”.  Sometimes that happens; the anal glands get full and the vet has to squeeze out the fragrant fluid.  (That’s one of the reasons a dog might drag its butt across the room.  The anal glands are full and uncomfortable.)  Judy was surprised; she hadn’t asked for that to be done, but when she questioned them they said “Oh no.  We didn’t do it.  Henry did it all by himself!”   Go Henry.  They stuck him with a needle; he skunked them!  That’ll teach them a lesson.  

  The violin saga continues.   A few weeks back, we captured a beginning song. https://youtu.be/k3uFo9YrlBg     Now he’s working on a fiddle tune! https://youtu.be/N0HBpbpxMGA   Full disclosure; I picked up the violin as a kid and never made it near this far.   Go Austin!  

  My imaginary plug-in electric car with an internal combustion engine/generator to extend the range already exists.  (Thank you Brother David, and Jacob, and Jim and Elle.)  It was first invented by Ferdinand Porsche around 1900.  It set some records then, but hasn’t seen much use since until recently.  Currently they’re called “Series Hybrid” or “Extended Range Electric Vehicles”.  Chevy has one; the Volt.  BMW has one; the i3.   Electric propulsion should be the most environmentally friendly mode for these cars and should account for the majority of miles driven.  As technological gains in storing and using electrical energy continue, there will be less need for the less-efficient, and more polluting, auxiliary power, but it can always be there just-in-case.    

  If diesel electric power works so well in locomotives, why not in cars?   It seems counterintuitive that you could run a diesel motor to produce rotating power, then use that rotating power to drive a generator to produce electricity, which you could then use to drive electric motors.  Conversion of one kind of power to another usually involves losses due to inefficiencies.  But if multiple conversions works for locomotives, why not run an internal combustion engine hooked to a generator to drive an electric automobile?   That’s what I’ve wanted all along; an electric car which would have a limited range as all electric cars do, which would cover 90 percent of expected trips, but with a backup motor something like a lawnmower engine and a generator to provide enough electrons to extend the range when necessary.  There wouldn’t have to be any complicated drive train and switching mechanisms like on a hybrid car.  The backup motor wouldn’t need a wide power band for performance, it could just be designed as a single speed stationary engine.   I figured the reason we didn’t do that was because it would be too inefficient to add that additional conversion of energy, but not anymore since I’ve thought about diesel electric locomotives.    

  But…   The drip system for the porch flowers worked flawlessly while we were gone.  Unfortunately, something else happened as well.  It looks like someone used a hose in our back yard, then not realizing the intricacies of our irrigation setup, turned off all the valves on that faucet.  The plants in the hanging pots didn’t last very long after that.   The other three drip zones worked just fine though, so the loss was minimal.   And there is an upside; this gives Judy an excuse to go buy more flowers and do more planting!   (And I’ve figured out how to make the next inadvertent shutoff less likely.)   Warm weather; in the nineties, with a breeze.  Very comfortable.