Indiana and onward

The trip to Oak Basin Farms is over, and we are off again, heading South towards Alabama, the Yellowhammer State. Or the Cotton State, depends if you are into plants or animals. Also, I just discovered today what a Yellowhammer is. Also called a Northern Flicker, it is a woodpecker that lives in most of North America, eats insects primarily, and is sometimes migrates (the ones that live in more northerly areas in summer do head south, the ones in the south just hang out).

Our time in Indiana has been good. We also hopped over to see a friend of ours in Dayton Ohio for a day (only about 4 hours from the job site, hi Graham!). I finished up the last of the things on my list yesterday, then we took off. Then I discovered there were more things I could have done, but alas, we will have to figure out a different strategy. Hopefully I can get remote access to the site soon and we can finish off the rest of the items. Such is life at a site commissioning. It was really cathartic for me to be on a job site again. I really enjoy site work, it feeds my soul. The focus, the troubleshooting, the teamwork to get things going. That is what I get excited for! And I got to learn from an experienced controls engineer too! He wasn't on site, but we spent a lot of time on teams going over how best to set things up. Thanks for all the wisdom, guidance, and good conversations Darrell!

Last night was the first time using Starlink for my weekly gaming night with my best friend Jeff! Julie and I were parked at a Cracker Barrel, there were some trees, and I wasn't sure how it would go. Trees and satellites don't mix. However, we were strategic in our parking location to maximize our view of the sky, and went for it! The Starlink came through like a champ, very little interruption, and had a great time playing a new to me game, Factorio! It is one that has been on my list for a long time, but I hadn't purchased it until Jeff got it and suggested we try it out multiplayer. Super fun! The goal is to build up your facility to harvest, process, and produce what you need to survive and eventually escape the planet you have crashed on. We played for a few hours, but it seemed like 1/2 that time. Always fun to play games with good friends!

And now we are on the road again, parked by a lake, listening to the rain on the roof, watching flies buzz around inside the van (we haven't figured out how we want to deal with flies yet. I tried vacuuming them, but they were unfazed). We are headed south to where we are hoping it isn't too hot and humid. We don't have AC, just a fan and windows with screens for ventilation, so warmer weather is a bit daunting, but we will see how Vincent Van Goes!




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