Seven Metal Detectors

There are things I have had to do that I've only done because my nephews are part of my life. Changing diapers, geocaching, and metal detecting quickly come to mind.

Changing diapers is what it is. The little one does what he has to do, then I do what I have to do. Both jobs done well.

Geocaching is high up my Surely-You-Can-Think-Of Something-Better-To-Do™ Scale.

I like to keep moving, so stopping to clamber through undergrowth, searching for a hidden cache, is not my preferred activity. But when you have little ones bicycling along with you, it's a good way to motivate them to cycle further than they would otherwise choose. Being on a mission distracts them from boredom and imagined tiredness. A distant Dairy Queen also helps.

Near the top of my SYCTOSBTD™ scale is a grown man with a metal detector.

So today, Presidents Day, it was with these thoughts I set out for the home of my 9 and 10-year-old nephews to work through the mechanics of seven metal detectors with them.

9 Things I did around San Diego

USS Midway.

I'm just back from a few days in San Diego. My partner was attending a conference, so I took advantage of a Delta Airlines two-for-one coupon, and a "free" hotel room.

I explored parts of San Diego, and also went down the coast to the Mexican border and up the coast towards Los Angeles as far as San Clemente.

I like to wander freely, enjoying the journey, but here's nine specific things I enjoyed.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

On Monday morning I cycled with my partner, Dwight, on his commute to work. He took the turnoff for work, I continued on to the town of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka, 18 miles west of our home

On Excelsior's main drag, I noticed the yellow tile shown in the photograph at the top of this post. This tile connects the present-day restaurant to Bacon Drug that occupied this building from 1955 to 1993. Here, in 1964, there was a fateful encounter between Mick Jagger, who had performed at a local amusement park the previous evening, and local savant, "Mr. Jimmy."

Our Personal Kitchen Assistant

Welcomed Google Assistant into our home.
Me: OK Google, cook dinner.
The Google: Sorry, I can't help you with that. pic.twitter.com/Yo9BbdB5NH

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) November 30, 2016

This week we welcomed a personal assistant into our home. Or, to be more precise, FedEx delivered a Google Assistant.

It's a stubby, round box you plug into the wall. It listens for our commands and talks to us via surprisingly good speakers. It connects to Google services over WiFi.

It sits in a corner of our kitchen and has already changed how we do things.

We've eliminated the need for a paper groceries list. Instead we keep a list in Google Keep, an application I use frequently for quick notes.

Lego Technic Therapy

My mind goes to a different place when I build models with Lego Technic and Mindstorms. This week, as I recover from surgery, a dose of Technic seemed like a good idea.

I decided to work on my Lego Technic design aesthetic. Yoshihito Isogawa produces wonderful Technic books that demonstrate a pleasing balance of form and function. He presents each model as a series of pictures: there are no words to explain the thinking behind the design.

I love to stare at the pictures and figure out why a model looks good.

I decided to build one of Isogawa's models, a "gripping fingers" mechanism. While building it, I would ask myself questions about the design choices.

Small Experiences on a Big Journey

We stood behind a crowd at Edinburgh Castle waiting for the one-o'clock cannon to fire. Many eyes were fixed on cell phones to catch the moment to share on Facebook. Bodies in Edinburgh, minds in other places.

Meanwhile, my nephews were determined to climb up rocks where climbing was not allowed.

Last month's trip to the UK with our nephews (7 and 8) and their parents was a series of small experiences. We saw some big sights, but the time spent between those sights, living in the moment, gave meaning to my journey.

A metal drain cover extending the length of the sidewalk outside our hotel in Edinburgh is a case in point. (See the picture at the top of this post.) On a rainy day it became a slide, made all the more dangerous by the higher center of gravity imposed by the boys' backpacks. Our protestations fell on deaf ears as they giggled and slid.

The previous evening they enjoyed the attention of the hotel bartender. She was from Catalonia, the boys chatted with her in Spanish, and I barely understood a word.

Channeling Eva Gabor in Kirishima

As the floor plan shows, the lower levels of big Japanese resort hotels have something for everyone.

Last week, in Kirishima, Kyushu, Japan, I walked through the hotel's amusement area dressed in a yukata, clutching a towel, heading for the stairs to the outdoors hot springs.

Why I Like SCUBA Diving

I don't do water activities.

I'll dangle my feet over the edge of the shallow end of a hotel swimming pool while sipping something with a little cocktail umbrella poking out. Preferably a beer.

But that is as far as I go.

My partner, Dwight, does do water activities, including SCUBA. I'll never do that, at least not in this lifetime.

Apart from my distaste for submerging myself in water, I like to travel light: one 14lb backpack is my usual limit. Meanwhile Dwight is lugging 35lbs of SCUBA gear.

An Old Lady with Attitude

What is this? Surely it's not a hat.

I came across this while reorganizing our kitchen drawers. It's a tea cozy, designed to keep a teapot warm.

It was 1999. I was in Glasgow, Scotland, visiting my elderly aunt. Her elegantly dressed, equally ancient neighbor presented me with the tea cozy she had knitted.

The neighbor giggled as she told me how she had knitted a, ahem, willy warmer for the apartment building manager.

Maps, Kids, and Adventures

What does this have to do with a map?

My nephews (5 and 6) have known about maps from an early age.

I've given them age-appropriate, map-themed books. I've mailed them maps on postcards from faraway places, along with postcards showing photographs of those places. 

In the process of finding a world map for them, I realized most world maps are centered on the Atlantic Ocean. This does not work well when explaining how to get to Japan. Imagine showing a little kid the route, falling off the left side of the map, only to reenter the map from the right side.

No, I had to find a Pacific-centered map.

A Day to Forget

OK I admit it: I got tired of figuring out this place all on my own, so I signed up for a "Landmarks and Viewpoints" tour for foreign visitors.

This was a day to forget.

Our (Rented) House on Hawaii Big Island

The family that built this house in 1947 still owns the house. We get to rent it for a week, something we've been doing every other year since 2010.

Selling LEGO

As LEGO Technic creations go, this vehicle is as basic as they come. For me, it represents a point in a process I've been following with my two nephews (5 and 6): I'm trying to discover if they have the potential to be interested in LEGO.

Duckies in Space

A couple weeks ago we visited the Johnson Space Center near Houston. As well as procuring Space Shuttle Duckies for the nephews, we toured the sprawling, and still operational NASA facility.