The Anecdotal Life Part. 16
A day late and a dollar short writing this blog. However, it's not because it has been uneventful. Trying to move, learning what all those black boxes are on the boat's flybridge, and keeping up with my blog has made for an interesting dance. The house is exhausting, frustrating, confusing, but a great deal of fun when it come to the creative end of it. Especially the patio, which we are doing mostly in reds with other Mayan colors and motifs. Lots of painting and stenciling going on.
Luckily for me the captain on the other side of the pier was willing to jump aboard with another overwhelming lesson. He is kind, but precise about his instructions; yet he senses when enough is enough. Lesson 2 helped me understand Lesson 1, but it took several people to unravel Lesson 2 itself.
That GPS system must have been invented by a chinese philosopher. I made the mistake of asking (and I asked merely to sort out some of the confusion of what I was hearing), "what is the difference between true north and magnetic north?" What a sinkhole that was. Later in the day I called my brother-in-law in San Francisco who used to sail the bay and asked him the same question. He laughed; then emailed me four pages on just that point. I ran with those four pages to a female boat captain in our apartment house. She was clear, but brief, and threw a copy of "Chapman's Piloting" into my lap to use as long as I needed it. Hmmm. Have you ever seen the size of that thing? I think I know how the elephant's child felt running about endlessly asking everyone questions.
I now believe that north is almost anything you want to make of it. However, if you don't get it right in your calculations, you may think you are headed for the Golden Horn, but will actually end up in Keokuk with your luggage headed for Luxemborg.
The calculations terrified me, but when I calmed down, I could see that a blind jackass (namely me) could do the math; IF--they understand the process. Which is not to say I understand the whole four pages. Which means I have more questions to ask underscoring my ignorance.....and it seems there is no end to mine.
Copyright: June 15, 2006.
Luckily for me the captain on the other side of the pier was willing to jump aboard with another overwhelming lesson. He is kind, but precise about his instructions; yet he senses when enough is enough. Lesson 2 helped me understand Lesson 1, but it took several people to unravel Lesson 2 itself.
That GPS system must have been invented by a chinese philosopher. I made the mistake of asking (and I asked merely to sort out some of the confusion of what I was hearing), "what is the difference between true north and magnetic north?" What a sinkhole that was. Later in the day I called my brother-in-law in San Francisco who used to sail the bay and asked him the same question. He laughed; then emailed me four pages on just that point. I ran with those four pages to a female boat captain in our apartment house. She was clear, but brief, and threw a copy of "Chapman's Piloting" into my lap to use as long as I needed it. Hmmm. Have you ever seen the size of that thing? I think I know how the elephant's child felt running about endlessly asking everyone questions.
I now believe that north is almost anything you want to make of it. However, if you don't get it right in your calculations, you may think you are headed for the Golden Horn, but will actually end up in Keokuk with your luggage headed for Luxemborg.
The calculations terrified me, but when I calmed down, I could see that a blind jackass (namely me) could do the math; IF--they understand the process. Which is not to say I understand the whole four pages. Which means I have more questions to ask underscoring my ignorance.....and it seems there is no end to mine.
Copyright: June 15, 2006.
posted by The Anecdotal Life at 4:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home