 |
| Snowy tracks. |
I'm not sure it it moves along fast enough. I'll have to save that for the second edit - for now.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Jack and Red - editing manuscript
It's very cold this morning (-7 ) so I think a short walk is enough I just walked the half mile to the Mana Cafe. It was rather empty early so I could sit wherever I wanted.
I've been working on the first edit to this manuscript. It takes longer to edit this than it did to write it. The first part needs the voice changed and some clean-up on the action. Most of the conversation I can keep, I think.
I'm not sure it it moves along fast enough. I'll have to save that for the second edit - for now.
I'm not sure it it moves along fast enough. I'll have to save that for the second edit - for now.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Jack Pynesapp and Red: Part XXXIII
This is the thirty-third in a series of blogs chronicling an
expedition
into 'space' with Jack Pynesapp and his granddaughter Red. To read the
entire story (with notes) please see the JackPynesapp web site: [ click here ]
[Today I'm checking out a new coffee shop; The Coffee Gallery in the strip mall on the corner of Sherman and Northport. This is about a mile walk from home which makes it a good destination when it's too snowy to ride bike. Not as cozy as the Mana Cafe but that is a little too close to make a good walk. And the last time I was there (Mana) I was asked to wait to be seated. I turned around and walked out. Why? Because all I wanted was a cup of coffee and a place to sit and write. I can find that for myself, thank you. I know, pretty snippy. But like I said, this is a better distance for walking. ]
[I was so excited to see the train and now that it has come I feel a little let down (the same way Billy feels, I suspect.) Added to this is the difficulty in riding bike in the winter - with the snow and all. It all makes it hard to know where to continue. I think it's time to end part 1 of the story and begin another major part: book II? ]
The train didn't come back again that day, or the next day, or the next day. Mrs. Olsen had promised to call Billy if it did. And Billy had promised to call Jack.
The next day JJ stopped at Jacks after work. It was Monday and the first day of the new school year so Red was busy with soccer practice after school. She was already caught up in all the excitement of returning to school.
"I brought over the can lid." JJ said as he walked into Jacks workshop. "I thought you should have it here in case the train comes back. Maybe you can hear it go by if you have the lid."
"I was thinking that too but I didn't know if you'd want to part with it."
"It's not doing me any good at my house. We're too far away to hear the train."
"Maybe it's not just a matter of hearing it." Jack suggested. "If it was, why wouldn't we have heard it when you were still living here. You had the lid all the time, you know."
"What are you saying?"
"Just that maybe the object - whatever it is - needs to be closer to where the train actually appears in order to make it visible (and audible) to us."
"Like in Mrs. Olsen's house?" JJ said.
"Like Mrs. Olsen's." Jack agreed."Her house is a lot closer to the tracks than ours."
"Did Mom even hear the train yesterday?" JJ asked. "I forgot to ask her."
"No."
"So that's why she had to ask us, isn't it? I was wondering about that."
"I know. That train was pretty quiet but I would've thought she'd at least hear the horn."
[Like I said, I'm having a hard time with this. I was going to start a new section but here I am still in the old one. I'm not worried though because Red's back at school and doesn't have a lot of time to worry about this right now either. So meanwhile I will continue to update the draft for what I have so far, and put it into manuscript form.
We are planing a vacation trip to the southwest on Amtrak in March. I plan to work on the train part during this trip - you know like immersion in my subject sort of thing.
Meanwhile, I'm looking for people to proof read the first half of this manuscript .... ]
[Today I'm checking out a new coffee shop; The Coffee Gallery in the strip mall on the corner of Sherman and Northport. This is about a mile walk from home which makes it a good destination when it's too snowy to ride bike. Not as cozy as the Mana Cafe but that is a little too close to make a good walk. And the last time I was there (Mana) I was asked to wait to be seated. I turned around and walked out. Why? Because all I wanted was a cup of coffee and a place to sit and write. I can find that for myself, thank you. I know, pretty snippy. But like I said, this is a better distance for walking. ]
[I was so excited to see the train and now that it has come I feel a little let down (the same way Billy feels, I suspect.) Added to this is the difficulty in riding bike in the winter - with the snow and all. It all makes it hard to know where to continue. I think it's time to end part 1 of the story and begin another major part: book II? ]
Part 33
Billy didn't stop in at Jack's house that day. He waited at the bridge for three hours in case the train showed up in it's "return run" like it had the day he'd ridden it so many years ago. He didn't really expect it because, after all, JJ had taken the can lid with him. So maybe that was why the train didn't appear again. But he also didn't get a call from Mrs. Olsen so he had to assume that even if he would have had the milk can cover the train wouldn't have showed. There was something else controlling that. He decided to stop and see Mrs. Olsen on the way back to the city and ask her about the ticket stub again; to see if she'd found it or remembered where she'd put it. It had to be there somewhere because it was working it's magic. Finally he stood up, walked slowly back to the road, and got into his car and drove off. He didn't want to see Jack or JJ right now. He had a feeling that seeing Mrs. Olsen was more important.The train didn't come back again that day, or the next day, or the next day. Mrs. Olsen had promised to call Billy if it did. And Billy had promised to call Jack.
The next day JJ stopped at Jacks after work. It was Monday and the first day of the new school year so Red was busy with soccer practice after school. She was already caught up in all the excitement of returning to school.
"I brought over the can lid." JJ said as he walked into Jacks workshop. "I thought you should have it here in case the train comes back. Maybe you can hear it go by if you have the lid."
"I was thinking that too but I didn't know if you'd want to part with it."
"It's not doing me any good at my house. We're too far away to hear the train."
"Maybe it's not just a matter of hearing it." Jack suggested. "If it was, why wouldn't we have heard it when you were still living here. You had the lid all the time, you know."
"What are you saying?"
"Just that maybe the object - whatever it is - needs to be closer to where the train actually appears in order to make it visible (and audible) to us."
"Like in Mrs. Olsen's house?" JJ said.
"Like Mrs. Olsen's." Jack agreed."Her house is a lot closer to the tracks than ours."
"Did Mom even hear the train yesterday?" JJ asked. "I forgot to ask her."
"No."
"So that's why she had to ask us, isn't it? I was wondering about that."
"I know. That train was pretty quiet but I would've thought she'd at least hear the horn."
[Like I said, I'm having a hard time with this. I was going to start a new section but here I am still in the old one. I'm not worried though because Red's back at school and doesn't have a lot of time to worry about this right now either. So meanwhile I will continue to update the draft for what I have so far, and put it into manuscript form.
We are planing a vacation trip to the southwest on Amtrak in March. I plan to work on the train part during this trip - you know like immersion in my subject sort of thing.
Meanwhile, I'm looking for people to proof read the first half of this manuscript .... ]
Friday, January 23, 2015
About the Book
Snow seems to come in little bits this winter. The weather is unseasonably warm so what snow we get melts in a few days and then the bike paths are passable again. During these breaks in biking, I stay home and work on other projects. My current project is to convert this Jack and Red blog into manuscript form. This will be my first manuscript.
I have searched the internet for guidance in preparing a manuscript for submission to a publisher. Here are a couple sites that I have found useful:
So after importing the first few chapters, everything was just a mess. I threw up my hands (but not the computer) and looked once again to Google. I found reference to a program named Scrivener and downloaded a trial version. After running through a quick tutorial, I started importing.
This works pretty well, I thought, except I still needed to remove all the blank lines that I had added in the blog to separate paragraphs. Manuscript format requires indents for the beginning of paragraphs and no blank lines. Scribener will take care of all this formatting if the text is clear of formatting. But Scrivener doesn't allow global search and replace on individual chapters. So again I turn to MS Word to reformat each chapter before importing into Scrivener. Word has a nice search and replace for global sorts of things so this step doesn't slow down the process very much.
After an afternoon's work I had all 33 chapters imported into Scrivener. After doing this it occurred to me that in the process of getting MS Word to reformat these chapters, I managed to figure out what was frustrating me in the first place. Namely that I was trying to work in 'print layout' view and not in 'draft' view. Duh. But now that I have the whole thing imported into Scrivener, I will work there until the trial period ends. At that point I will probably export the whole thing into Word format and go from there. We'll see.
Now that I have a 'first draft' in the 'proper' form I will be able to look at it as a whole. I can then tackle the task of editing the content while paying attention to the overall organization and flow. I think there is a story in there somewhere but I suspect it is buried under a lot of fluff. Scrivener reports that the story currently has 227 pages and 44,000 words. I have a feeling that the story is about half told so this sounds like reasonable progress.
The weather forecast calls for more of the same so I can expect to have time this winter for both writing and editing. I prefer the former.
I have searched the internet for guidance in preparing a manuscript for submission to a publisher. Here are a couple sites that I have found useful:
- Editors Blog
- Daily Writing Tips
- 5 Best Free Writing Tools For Authors More on this later.
- Scrivner A complete 'development system' for manuscripts.
- Example manuscript I actually started with this one.
- StyleWriter. This looks pretty neat. Do I need it? Do I want it?
So after importing the first few chapters, everything was just a mess. I threw up my hands (but not the computer) and looked once again to Google. I found reference to a program named Scrivener and downloaded a trial version. After running through a quick tutorial, I started importing.
This works pretty well, I thought, except I still needed to remove all the blank lines that I had added in the blog to separate paragraphs. Manuscript format requires indents for the beginning of paragraphs and no blank lines. Scribener will take care of all this formatting if the text is clear of formatting. But Scrivener doesn't allow global search and replace on individual chapters. So again I turn to MS Word to reformat each chapter before importing into Scrivener. Word has a nice search and replace for global sorts of things so this step doesn't slow down the process very much.
After an afternoon's work I had all 33 chapters imported into Scrivener. After doing this it occurred to me that in the process of getting MS Word to reformat these chapters, I managed to figure out what was frustrating me in the first place. Namely that I was trying to work in 'print layout' view and not in 'draft' view. Duh. But now that I have the whole thing imported into Scrivener, I will work there until the trial period ends. At that point I will probably export the whole thing into Word format and go from there. We'll see.
Now that I have a 'first draft' in the 'proper' form I will be able to look at it as a whole. I can then tackle the task of editing the content while paying attention to the overall organization and flow. I think there is a story in there somewhere but I suspect it is buried under a lot of fluff. Scrivener reports that the story currently has 227 pages and 44,000 words. I have a feeling that the story is about half told so this sounds like reasonable progress.
The weather forecast calls for more of the same so I can expect to have time this winter for both writing and editing. I prefer the former.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Jack Pynesapp and Red: Part XXXII - So what was that?
This is the thirty-second in a series of blogs chronicling an
expedition
into 'space' with Jack Pynesapp and his granddaughter Red. To read the
entire story (with notes) please see the JackPynesapp web site: [ click here ]
[author - The past few days have been warm enough to melt the snow on the roads and clear the bike paths so I can ride into campus. The coffee shop is closed over winter break but the Union is still open and there are other places to get coffee. Over this 'break' I have been just writing down bits dialogue without context. This morning I have filled in some of that - and the beat goes on... ]
They all sat quietly for a minute, going over in their minds what had just happened.
Jack sighed and stood up. He began to move towards Billy, who was still slouched over, sitting with his face in his hands. He thought he saw his shoulders shake a little. Was he crying? Maybe he should let him be, he thought, so he turned back towards JJ and Red who were still sitting on the bridge.
"We'd better be heading back." Jack said softly. "I think we've seen all we're going to see for today."
Jack started walking. JJ stood up and Red stood up next to him and sighed as they started after Jack.
Red looked back at Billy and said; "Billy, are you coming?"
Billy shook his head slightly as he raised it out of his hands and turned to look across the bridge in the direction the train had gone.
"Okay, see you later." Red said.
The three of them walked past where the siding had been and studied the ground as they passed - in case they had missed something. JJ looked at the can cover he was still carrying. Maybe a little relieved that it hadn't disappeared along with the train (and everything else related to the train.)
"So Dad, " JJ said finally. "What were you and Red talking about before? Like this train is in some sort of alternate universe? What's that all about?"
"It's just something that Red and I have been talking about and I wonder if this is somehow related." Jack said.
"So you finally figured out an experiment." Red laughed.
"I'd say the experiment sort of dropped into our laps." Jack said. "Now we have to figure out the parameters while we interpret the results."
"Sort of an uncontrolled experiment - don't you think?" JJ said.
"Well, I don't know, "Jack said, "we have a control and a test case. It's just that we don't really know how to do the observations properly."
"Too bad Billy couldn't get on the train." JJ laughed. "He could've gathered some observations."
"If he would've ever come back." Red laughed. "I doubt he has anything here he wants to come back to."
"Good point." JJ said. "But if I know Billy, he'd want to come back and tell us all about it. You know, to prove he's not crazy."
"I believe this train is in another dimension;" Jack continued; "another reality or another universe (to use a term that Red and I have been using.) For some reason this train is 'pushing' us into a forth dimension."
"Grandpa, I thought the forth dimension was time." Red said.
"Well, time is it's own thing," Jack said, "and I'm only talking about physical dimensions here. Time is something else. And, by the way, it looks like that train is in pretty much the same time frame as we are. At least according to Billy."
"How do you know that?" Red asked.
"You said it yourself, Red: by the looks of that train it is apparent that technology has advanced to about the same degree in that world as it has in ours, only in a different direction. Emphasis - and money - have been directed towards rail in that world where in our world has concentrated cars and trucks."
They reached bridge that crossed the road by Jacks house and slid down the bank and started up the road to the house.
"I suppose that makes sense." Red said; "But what is this extra physical dimension - how does that work?"
Jack continued; "Our universe - our existence - is in three dimensional space so we can only sense three dimensional space. At least directly. The presence of this train pushes (for lack of a better word) us into another dimension so we can experience another frame of reference - another layer, if you like, in addition to our universe."
"But we were still in our universe when the train was here." JJ said; "It's not like we warped into some other universe and came back. The only thing that changed was that the train was here."
"What about the tractor and wagon." Red protested. "And that force that pushed us away from tracks. We were really there. We weren't just watching. It wasn't like we were in a movie."
"That's right." Jack said; "Not only did we experience the train but we were actually experiencing the whole reality (or universe) in which the train existed. It was like we were really there - but not there at the same time."
"I don't get it. " JJ said; "How can we be in two places at once?"
"That's just it." Jack said, "We can't be in both universes at once- our brains won't let us - so we have to be in one or the other." He stopped walking and turned to face JJ. "Even with the help of the train - this phenomenon - we are still 3 dimensional beings and our minds can only deal with three dimensions. If we were four dimensional beings (if there is such a thing) we would probably be able to experience both of these universes simultaneously (and infinitely more, perhaps) the same way we can experience a ball instead of just a circle."
"What?" JJ asked; "What ball?"
"Imagine we were two-dimensional beings living in a two-dimensional universe. What would a ball look like to us?"
"How could a ball exist in two-dimensional space?" Red asked.
"Right, Dad?" JJ agreed. "Good point dear." He smiled at Red.
"I don't know. This is just a thought experiment." Jack continued. "But for the sake of argument, the ball could exist in two-dimensional space the same way that train can exist in our three dimensional space. The question is 'how would this ball appear to a two-dimensional being?' "
"Like a circle?" Red suggested.
"Yes, that's all it could look like." Jack agreed.
"Okay, " JJ said. "But a sphere is made up of an infinite number of circles. Which one would this two-dimensional being actually see?"
"Good question. " Jack smiled. "He would see whichever circle happened to exist within the same time and in the same space that this being existed."
"So it's just luck." Red said.
"Maybe, I guess you could say that." Jack smiled.
They had reached the house and Marge was sitting on the front porch and she greeted them as they walked up. "So, did you see the train?"
"Yep, it came." JJ said.
"Did Billy get on it?" She noticed Billy hadn't come back with them.
"No, it didn't stop long enough." Jack said
"Where is he?" Marge asked.
"He stayed out there at the river bridge." Jack said.
"Why? Is it going to come back?"
"Who knows." JJ said; "He's pretty upset that he missed the train."
"I'll bet." Marge said. "Well, I'm glad you three are safe and sound. I was worried. You'd better call Gwen. She called a while ago and wondered where you were."
"She didn't guess"; Red asked.
"I think she did." Marge said. "So you'd better call."
"Okay." JJ said. "But we'd better get going ourselves." He said to Red. "Your Mom wants to go school shopping this afternoon."
"That's right, I forgot." Red said. She skipped up the steps and gave Grandma a big hug. "Don't want to miss that." She laughed and then she stopped and hugged her Grandpa on her way to the car. She dialed her phone as she sat in the passenger seat. "Bye Grandma, Bye Grandpa." She called out the window as JJ got in and started the car.
"Bye Mom, Dad" JJ called out as he backed out of the driveway. "Let me know if Billy stops by."
Jack and Marge waved as they drove away.
"So, " Marge said, "tell me all about this train."
[author - The past few days have been warm enough to melt the snow on the roads and clear the bike paths so I can ride into campus. The coffee shop is closed over winter break but the Union is still open and there are other places to get coffee. Over this 'break' I have been just writing down bits dialogue without context. This morning I have filled in some of that - and the beat goes on... ]
So what was that?
They all sat quietly for a minute, going over in their minds what had just happened.
Jack sighed and stood up. He began to move towards Billy, who was still slouched over, sitting with his face in his hands. He thought he saw his shoulders shake a little. Was he crying? Maybe he should let him be, he thought, so he turned back towards JJ and Red who were still sitting on the bridge.
"We'd better be heading back." Jack said softly. "I think we've seen all we're going to see for today."
Jack started walking. JJ stood up and Red stood up next to him and sighed as they started after Jack.
Red looked back at Billy and said; "Billy, are you coming?"
Billy shook his head slightly as he raised it out of his hands and turned to look across the bridge in the direction the train had gone.
"Okay, see you later." Red said.
The three of them walked past where the siding had been and studied the ground as they passed - in case they had missed something. JJ looked at the can cover he was still carrying. Maybe a little relieved that it hadn't disappeared along with the train (and everything else related to the train.)
"So Dad, " JJ said finally. "What were you and Red talking about before? Like this train is in some sort of alternate universe? What's that all about?"
"It's just something that Red and I have been talking about and I wonder if this is somehow related." Jack said.
"So you finally figured out an experiment." Red laughed.
"I'd say the experiment sort of dropped into our laps." Jack said. "Now we have to figure out the parameters while we interpret the results."
"Sort of an uncontrolled experiment - don't you think?" JJ said.
"Well, I don't know, "Jack said, "we have a control and a test case. It's just that we don't really know how to do the observations properly."
"Too bad Billy couldn't get on the train." JJ laughed. "He could've gathered some observations."
"If he would've ever come back." Red laughed. "I doubt he has anything here he wants to come back to."
"Good point." JJ said. "But if I know Billy, he'd want to come back and tell us all about it. You know, to prove he's not crazy."
"I believe this train is in another dimension;" Jack continued; "another reality or another universe (to use a term that Red and I have been using.) For some reason this train is 'pushing' us into a forth dimension."
"Grandpa, I thought the forth dimension was time." Red said.
"Well, time is it's own thing," Jack said, "and I'm only talking about physical dimensions here. Time is something else. And, by the way, it looks like that train is in pretty much the same time frame as we are. At least according to Billy."
"How do you know that?" Red asked.
"You said it yourself, Red: by the looks of that train it is apparent that technology has advanced to about the same degree in that world as it has in ours, only in a different direction. Emphasis - and money - have been directed towards rail in that world where in our world has concentrated cars and trucks."
They reached bridge that crossed the road by Jacks house and slid down the bank and started up the road to the house.
"I suppose that makes sense." Red said; "But what is this extra physical dimension - how does that work?"
Jack continued; "Our universe - our existence - is in three dimensional space so we can only sense three dimensional space. At least directly. The presence of this train pushes (for lack of a better word) us into another dimension so we can experience another frame of reference - another layer, if you like, in addition to our universe."
"But we were still in our universe when the train was here." JJ said; "It's not like we warped into some other universe and came back. The only thing that changed was that the train was here."
"What about the tractor and wagon." Red protested. "And that force that pushed us away from tracks. We were really there. We weren't just watching. It wasn't like we were in a movie."
"That's right." Jack said; "Not only did we experience the train but we were actually experiencing the whole reality (or universe) in which the train existed. It was like we were really there - but not there at the same time."
"I don't get it. " JJ said; "How can we be in two places at once?"
"That's just it." Jack said, "We can't be in both universes at once- our brains won't let us - so we have to be in one or the other." He stopped walking and turned to face JJ. "Even with the help of the train - this phenomenon - we are still 3 dimensional beings and our minds can only deal with three dimensions. If we were four dimensional beings (if there is such a thing) we would probably be able to experience both of these universes simultaneously (and infinitely more, perhaps) the same way we can experience a ball instead of just a circle."
"What?" JJ asked; "What ball?"
"Imagine we were two-dimensional beings living in a two-dimensional universe. What would a ball look like to us?"
"How could a ball exist in two-dimensional space?" Red asked.
"Right, Dad?" JJ agreed. "Good point dear." He smiled at Red.
"I don't know. This is just a thought experiment." Jack continued. "But for the sake of argument, the ball could exist in two-dimensional space the same way that train can exist in our three dimensional space. The question is 'how would this ball appear to a two-dimensional being?' "
"Like a circle?" Red suggested.
"Yes, that's all it could look like." Jack agreed.
"Okay, " JJ said. "But a sphere is made up of an infinite number of circles. Which one would this two-dimensional being actually see?"
"Good question. " Jack smiled. "He would see whichever circle happened to exist within the same time and in the same space that this being existed."
"So it's just luck." Red said.
"Maybe, I guess you could say that." Jack smiled.
They had reached the house and Marge was sitting on the front porch and she greeted them as they walked up. "So, did you see the train?"
"Yep, it came." JJ said.
"Did Billy get on it?" She noticed Billy hadn't come back with them.
"No, it didn't stop long enough." Jack said
"Where is he?" Marge asked.
"He stayed out there at the river bridge." Jack said.
"Why? Is it going to come back?"
"Who knows." JJ said; "He's pretty upset that he missed the train."
"I'll bet." Marge said. "Well, I'm glad you three are safe and sound. I was worried. You'd better call Gwen. She called a while ago and wondered where you were."
"She didn't guess"; Red asked.
"I think she did." Marge said. "So you'd better call."
"Okay." JJ said. "But we'd better get going ourselves." He said to Red. "Your Mom wants to go school shopping this afternoon."
"That's right, I forgot." Red said. She skipped up the steps and gave Grandma a big hug. "Don't want to miss that." She laughed and then she stopped and hugged her Grandpa on her way to the car. She dialed her phone as she sat in the passenger seat. "Bye Grandma, Bye Grandpa." She called out the window as JJ got in and started the car.
"Bye Mom, Dad" JJ called out as he backed out of the driveway. "Let me know if Billy stops by."
Jack and Marge waved as they drove away.
"So, " Marge said, "tell me all about this train."
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Jack Pynesapp and Red: Glossary
[ I have discovered that as this story progresses, I am having trouble remembering the names and places that I have met and visited. So I will try to maintain this glossary as I go forward. ]
Cast of characters:
Jack Pynesapp
Andrea (Red) Pynesapp (Jacks granddaughter)
Jack Junior (JJ) Pynesapp (Jacks son and Red's Dad)
Marge Pynesapp (Jacks wife)
Gwen Pynesapp ( Reds Mom &JJ's wife)
James (Jimmy) Vanderbilt. (Red's friend/classmate)
Billy Thompson (JJ's friend/classmate in high school)
Mrs Olsen (lady who lives next to tracks in Oakwood)
Places:
Mayville : Town closest to where Jack lives. Where JJ (and Red) attend school. Where the ice cream store is located.
Oakwood: Next town along the tracks towards the city. Relatively new town that has sprung up as a bedroom community. Where Mrs. Olsen lives.
The City: A large city that is the terminal for this short line railroad.
Glendale: Mental hospital where Billy spent some time.
Glossary
Cast of characters:
Jack Pynesapp
Andrea (Red) Pynesapp (Jacks granddaughter)
Jack Junior (JJ) Pynesapp (Jacks son and Red's Dad)
Marge Pynesapp (Jacks wife)
Gwen Pynesapp ( Reds Mom &JJ's wife)
James (Jimmy) Vanderbilt. (Red's friend/classmate)
Billy Thompson (JJ's friend/classmate in high school)
Mrs Olsen (lady who lives next to tracks in Oakwood)
Places:
Mayville : Town closest to where Jack lives. Where JJ (and Red) attend school. Where the ice cream store is located.
Oakwood: Next town along the tracks towards the city. Relatively new town that has sprung up as a bedroom community. Where Mrs. Olsen lives.
The City: A large city that is the terminal for this short line railroad.
Glendale: Mental hospital where Billy spent some time.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Flying high.
Flying High.
My son bought a drone. We've been talking about this for a year or so and he has been waiting for the technology to improve before buying (ie waiting for the price of technology to come in line with our budget). He decided to jump this winter - before the bean counters and legislatures get their noses into it and mess it up for everyone.
He settled on a "DJI Phantom 2 Vision +" (flying camera). After he had a chance to fly it around his house and town a bit, he dropped it off at my house. He warned me to read the manual before trying to fly and then he left - it wasn't a good day for flying.
After reading the manual and going through the assembly and pre-flight checks (about 10 minutes) I set it on the back deck and fired it up. I lifted it off about 10 feet into the air - hey this is easy - and then brought it down for a landing. I brought it down too hard and it bounced into a flower border. The propellers were digging into the leaves and I was afraid it would damage itself so I shut down the copter (the shut down procedure is the same as the start up procedure so I must have held it too long so after the props stopped they immediately started spinning again. I didn't realize what was going on so I panicked and turned off the controller (bad move). I was afraid to try to grab the thing and the manual warned against getting close while it was running. As I watched, it powered up and took off - completely on it's own (I had no control). I was sure it was possessed but there wasn't anything I could do but watch it climb straight up (somehow avoiding a tree in the neighbor's yard) forty feet into the air and then slowly settle down to a soft, perfectly executed landing at the spot on the deck where I had first turned it on. Then it shut itself off.
And this was exactly what it was supposed to do. When I turned off the controller it sensed a loss of connection and when this happens it is programmed to auto-home. This is a fail safe in case something happens it will always return home. It has shown me that it is smarter than I am. The Packer game had just begun so I packed it in for the day.
It took me another week to get up the nerve to try again. I had re-read the manual and was sure that everything was fully charged and communicating properly (the controller, the copter, the camera, the wi/fi, and the iphone app). This time I knew what all the blinking light codes meant and I had memorized the flight training routines (Download Pilot training manual) and found an open place in the parking lot next door to our house for a launch site.
After about 10 minutes I had run through all the routines and got the nerve to face it around and take my own picture. The camera is controlled by the iPhone app and the screen is small - and icons smaller - so I had to trust the copter to stay where it was while I searched the screen for the shutter button icon. The copter is very stable, it turns out, and it holds it's position wherever you stop it.
By now I had been flying about 20 minutes and the lights were blinking red - which means the battery is getting low. So I brought it in for a nice soft landing and carefully shut it down.
Since then it's been windy and cold so I haven't had another chance to fly. My next thing will be trying to fly while watching the video feed on the iPhone screen instead of watching the copter.
My son bought a drone. We've been talking about this for a year or so and he has been waiting for the technology to improve before buying (ie waiting for the price of technology to come in line with our budget). He decided to jump this winter - before the bean counters and legislatures get their noses into it and mess it up for everyone.
 |
| Phantom II Vision+ with new prop guards |
After reading the manual and going through the assembly and pre-flight checks (about 10 minutes) I set it on the back deck and fired it up. I lifted it off about 10 feet into the air - hey this is easy - and then brought it down for a landing. I brought it down too hard and it bounced into a flower border. The propellers were digging into the leaves and I was afraid it would damage itself so I shut down the copter (the shut down procedure is the same as the start up procedure so I must have held it too long so after the props stopped they immediately started spinning again. I didn't realize what was going on so I panicked and turned off the controller (bad move). I was afraid to try to grab the thing and the manual warned against getting close while it was running. As I watched, it powered up and took off - completely on it's own (I had no control). I was sure it was possessed but there wasn't anything I could do but watch it climb straight up (somehow avoiding a tree in the neighbor's yard) forty feet into the air and then slowly settle down to a soft, perfectly executed landing at the spot on the deck where I had first turned it on. Then it shut itself off.
And this was exactly what it was supposed to do. When I turned off the controller it sensed a loss of connection and when this happens it is programmed to auto-home. This is a fail safe in case something happens it will always return home. It has shown me that it is smarter than I am. The Packer game had just begun so I packed it in for the day.
 |
| First 'selfie' from flying camera |
After about 10 minutes I had run through all the routines and got the nerve to face it around and take my own picture. The camera is controlled by the iPhone app and the screen is small - and icons smaller - so I had to trust the copter to stay where it was while I searched the screen for the shutter button icon. The copter is very stable, it turns out, and it holds it's position wherever you stop it.
 |
| Lower angle view of back yard. |
By now I had been flying about 20 minutes and the lights were blinking red - which means the battery is getting low. So I brought it in for a nice soft landing and carefully shut it down.
Since then it's been windy and cold so I haven't had another chance to fly. My next thing will be trying to fly while watching the video feed on the iPhone screen instead of watching the copter.
Jack Pynesapp and Red: Part XXXI - .. Is Over
This is the thirty-first in a series of blogs chronicling an
expedition
into 'space' with Jack Pynesapp and his granddaughter Red. To read the
entire story (with notes) please see the JackPynesapp web site: [ click here ]
[author - Did you see what I did in the last chapter? I just jumped right over that plot hole - you know about that extra day that got stuck in there. I'm not proud of it but this is a blog after all. I'll fix it sometime - maybe. But for now I have more interesting things to work on. So, onward....]
"That doesn't sound like any train I've ever heard." Jack said as he stood and looked up the trail towards the sound. The sound was coming from the direction of [ I can't remember the name of that town. I have to put together a glosary of places and people. - author ] They all assumed it was a train because it is coming from the same direction that other train came from all those years before.
They were all on their feet now and moving towards the sound.
"Guys?" Billy said softly. "Look at the bridge."
They all turned back and looked at the bridge. It was shimmering and transforming in front of their eyes from a rusty old erector set of iron beams into a finely sculptured and graceful piece of architecture which at once reminded you of a river flowing through a pine grove. Their jaws dropped at it's beauty and elegant form. It formed two distinct passages as it crossed the river. The smaller one on the right was carpeted with what looked like grass and was separated from the larger passage on the left by a netting of cables that were obviously designed to look like vines of grape or some sort of ivy. And through the center of the large passage there ran a track. Not the train track that they remembered from the past, made up of iron rails on top of wooden ties. This track was one continuous piece of some substance - perfectly smooth and it shimmered in the morning sunlight. There was a flat rail-like track on each side and in the middle a raised tubular track that held about a foot above the ground by a central 'stalk'. This tube was completely smooth and about 6-8 inches in diameter. Their eyes followed this track as it appeared - past their feet - and around towards the direction of the sound.
This sound was more of a humming sound than the rumble; typically associated with a train. And it grew steadily in intensity as -- whatever it was -- got closer. To the left of the track - as they walked towards the sound - there materialized a low platform upon which a large tractor was parked. There was nothing unusual about the tractor. In it's cab they could see a man with his back turned to them. He was apparently waiting, like them, for the 'train'. Behind the tractor and next to the track was a wagon holding two large metal containers. The one nearest looked like stainless steel tank and the far one was covered in a drab fabric (like canvas).
Then they saw the train pop into view around the bend in the track. It was like nothing they'd ever seen before. It was a sleek aerodynamic bullet shape that was silver, green, and blue in color. Again, reminding your eyes of a river flowing gracefully through a brightly lit woods. The train became completely quiet as it pulled along side the platform with the forth of fifth car along side of the wagon. The body of the train was so smooth that it was hard to tell where one car ended and another began. It looked like a giant snake as it wound back out of sight around the bend.
Billy started walking towards the train. The others just stood there, transfixed.
The train whistle sounded once. Then the side of the train raised up and robot arms quickly moved the containers from the wagon to the train and then replaced them with matching containers from the train. It all took less than 30 seconds and the side of the train closed again.
The train horn sounded twice and it began moving towards them as they stood next to the tracks. Billy began running towards the train. He waived his arms and he was yelling something.
As the train started moving, the track next to where they were standing began humming loudly - as if to warn them to back away. The train picked up speed quickly (quicker than you could imagine) and it was bearing down on them. Just before the train got to where they were standing (all deer in the headlights) a loud thumping sound came from the track and some sort of force knocked them back and away from the track. It was as if someone pushed each of them out of the way of a speeding car (which was exactly what it was meant to be) and as they stumbled and struggled to keep from falling, the train whizzed by with a low hum.
It was longer than they had imagined and by the time the tail end got to them it must have been going over 60 miles per hour. Even at this speed it still seemed to take forever for all of it to go by. As they stood, still a little shaky from the push, they watched as the end of the rain passed then, move onto the bridge and out of sight (the other end of the bridge ran directly into a wooded area).
They turned to watch as it went by and as they watched, the bridge slowly reverted back to the old rusty ironworks and the track vanished into the old wooden planking.
Jack turned around and looked back up the trail. "Where is the tractor?" He said.
JJ turned to look. "Gone," he sighed, "just like before."
"I wanted to get on." Billy said softly, as he began walking towards the bridge; "I wanted to go with it but it didn't stop long enough for me to even try." He left the others standing and wandered along after the train. "I wanted get on!" He shouted towards the bridge and the train that had left him behind.
"I don't think it was a passenger train, Billy" Jack said. "I didn't see any windows, did you?"
Billy didn't answer. Maybe he was lost in his own thoughts or perhaps he was too far away to hear.
"I didn't see any sign of people; either passengers or crew." Red chipped in.
"I didn't even see any windows in the front - on the engine. No windshield or anything." Jack said.
"Wow, that was some train, alright. I've never seen anything like it." JJ said.
JJ began walking along the path towards the spot where the tractor had been parked along the side of the tracks.
"Well it makes sense, doesn't it?" Jack said. "If Billy was right about how the universe was on his last ride, then it makes sense that there would be some astounding progress made in the technology of transportation. Look at how much more sophisticated cars have gotten in our universe."
"Yeah," Red agreed, "just think if they put as much effort and money into developing their trains as we have put into our cars; who knows what great things they could come up with."
"I think we just got a glimpse of that." Jack laughed.
"I guess so." Red agreed.
Jack and Red follow JJ and when they get to where the siding had been, they begin search the ground for some evidence of the tractor and wagon (or even the train tracks). There is nothing to see. The ground along the path is the same here as it is anywhere - a pea gravel path (actually two distinct paths) bordered by newly-mown grass - about 3 feet on either side. And then long grass and weeds that disolve into brush and trees. Just a normal snowmobile/bike/hiking path.
Convinced there was nothing to find here, they headed back to the bridge.
Billy was standing in the middle of the bridge, staring at the trail as it disappeared into the woods; as if doing so would bring the train back. After a while he turned and walked back to where JJ, Jack and Red were sitting on the side of the bridge. He said; "There must be passenger trains. Wouldn't you think Mr P?"
"I can't imagine there aren't." Jack agreed. "Maybe they're on a different schedule."
"How do we know that wasn't a passenger train? "JJ asked. "Just because we didn't see windows doesn't mean they weren't there, you know."
"Good point." Jack said. "A lot of the tinting we do to windows makes them look like something else."
"Maybe this was just a freight stop for the farm and we need to be at some sort of depot if we want to get on for a ride."
"Who says we want to ride" Jack said. "I didn't think that was part of the plan."
"I promised Gwen that neither Red nor I would even consider getting on this thing." JJ said. "Both Red and I had to promise before she would let us come along on this little adventure."
"Me too, I'm afraid. " Jack said. "I had to promise Marge."
"Well, I didn't promise anyone. " Billy said. "And I'm going to find a way - especially now that I've seen what the train has become I have to go. You know that don't you? " He looked at Jack like he would have an answer.
"Yes." Jack said. "We all sort of figured that."
Billy sat on down on the ironworks on the other side of the bridge - facing the others. His head in his hands.
[author - Did you see what I did in the last chapter? I just jumped right over that plot hole - you know about that extra day that got stuck in there. I'm not proud of it but this is a blog after all. I'll fix it sometime - maybe. But for now I have more interesting things to work on. So, onward....]
(The wait .. ) .. is over.
"That doesn't sound like any train I've ever heard." Jack said as he stood and looked up the trail towards the sound. The sound was coming from the direction of [ I can't remember the name of that town. I have to put together a glosary of places and people. - author ] They all assumed it was a train because it is coming from the same direction that other train came from all those years before.
They were all on their feet now and moving towards the sound.
"Guys?" Billy said softly. "Look at the bridge."
They all turned back and looked at the bridge. It was shimmering and transforming in front of their eyes from a rusty old erector set of iron beams into a finely sculptured and graceful piece of architecture which at once reminded you of a river flowing through a pine grove. Their jaws dropped at it's beauty and elegant form. It formed two distinct passages as it crossed the river. The smaller one on the right was carpeted with what looked like grass and was separated from the larger passage on the left by a netting of cables that were obviously designed to look like vines of grape or some sort of ivy. And through the center of the large passage there ran a track. Not the train track that they remembered from the past, made up of iron rails on top of wooden ties. This track was one continuous piece of some substance - perfectly smooth and it shimmered in the morning sunlight. There was a flat rail-like track on each side and in the middle a raised tubular track that held about a foot above the ground by a central 'stalk'. This tube was completely smooth and about 6-8 inches in diameter. Their eyes followed this track as it appeared - past their feet - and around towards the direction of the sound.
This sound was more of a humming sound than the rumble; typically associated with a train. And it grew steadily in intensity as -- whatever it was -- got closer. To the left of the track - as they walked towards the sound - there materialized a low platform upon which a large tractor was parked. There was nothing unusual about the tractor. In it's cab they could see a man with his back turned to them. He was apparently waiting, like them, for the 'train'. Behind the tractor and next to the track was a wagon holding two large metal containers. The one nearest looked like stainless steel tank and the far one was covered in a drab fabric (like canvas).
Then they saw the train pop into view around the bend in the track. It was like nothing they'd ever seen before. It was a sleek aerodynamic bullet shape that was silver, green, and blue in color. Again, reminding your eyes of a river flowing gracefully through a brightly lit woods. The train became completely quiet as it pulled along side the platform with the forth of fifth car along side of the wagon. The body of the train was so smooth that it was hard to tell where one car ended and another began. It looked like a giant snake as it wound back out of sight around the bend.
Billy started walking towards the train. The others just stood there, transfixed.
The train whistle sounded once. Then the side of the train raised up and robot arms quickly moved the containers from the wagon to the train and then replaced them with matching containers from the train. It all took less than 30 seconds and the side of the train closed again.
The train horn sounded twice and it began moving towards them as they stood next to the tracks. Billy began running towards the train. He waived his arms and he was yelling something.
As the train started moving, the track next to where they were standing began humming loudly - as if to warn them to back away. The train picked up speed quickly (quicker than you could imagine) and it was bearing down on them. Just before the train got to where they were standing (all deer in the headlights) a loud thumping sound came from the track and some sort of force knocked them back and away from the track. It was as if someone pushed each of them out of the way of a speeding car (which was exactly what it was meant to be) and as they stumbled and struggled to keep from falling, the train whizzed by with a low hum.
It was longer than they had imagined and by the time the tail end got to them it must have been going over 60 miles per hour. Even at this speed it still seemed to take forever for all of it to go by. As they stood, still a little shaky from the push, they watched as the end of the rain passed then, move onto the bridge and out of sight (the other end of the bridge ran directly into a wooded area).
They turned to watch as it went by and as they watched, the bridge slowly reverted back to the old rusty ironworks and the track vanished into the old wooden planking.
Jack turned around and looked back up the trail. "Where is the tractor?" He said.
JJ turned to look. "Gone," he sighed, "just like before."
"I wanted to get on." Billy said softly, as he began walking towards the bridge; "I wanted to go with it but it didn't stop long enough for me to even try." He left the others standing and wandered along after the train. "I wanted get on!" He shouted towards the bridge and the train that had left him behind.
"I don't think it was a passenger train, Billy" Jack said. "I didn't see any windows, did you?"
Billy didn't answer. Maybe he was lost in his own thoughts or perhaps he was too far away to hear.
"I didn't see any sign of people; either passengers or crew." Red chipped in.
"I didn't even see any windows in the front - on the engine. No windshield or anything." Jack said.
"Wow, that was some train, alright. I've never seen anything like it." JJ said.
JJ began walking along the path towards the spot where the tractor had been parked along the side of the tracks.
"Well it makes sense, doesn't it?" Jack said. "If Billy was right about how the universe was on his last ride, then it makes sense that there would be some astounding progress made in the technology of transportation. Look at how much more sophisticated cars have gotten in our universe."
"Yeah," Red agreed, "just think if they put as much effort and money into developing their trains as we have put into our cars; who knows what great things they could come up with."
"I think we just got a glimpse of that." Jack laughed.
"I guess so." Red agreed.
Jack and Red follow JJ and when they get to where the siding had been, they begin search the ground for some evidence of the tractor and wagon (or even the train tracks). There is nothing to see. The ground along the path is the same here as it is anywhere - a pea gravel path (actually two distinct paths) bordered by newly-mown grass - about 3 feet on either side. And then long grass and weeds that disolve into brush and trees. Just a normal snowmobile/bike/hiking path.
Convinced there was nothing to find here, they headed back to the bridge.
Billy was standing in the middle of the bridge, staring at the trail as it disappeared into the woods; as if doing so would bring the train back. After a while he turned and walked back to where JJ, Jack and Red were sitting on the side of the bridge. He said; "There must be passenger trains. Wouldn't you think Mr P?"
"I can't imagine there aren't." Jack agreed. "Maybe they're on a different schedule."
"How do we know that wasn't a passenger train? "JJ asked. "Just because we didn't see windows doesn't mean they weren't there, you know."
"Good point." Jack said. "A lot of the tinting we do to windows makes them look like something else."
"Maybe this was just a freight stop for the farm and we need to be at some sort of depot if we want to get on for a ride."
"Who says we want to ride" Jack said. "I didn't think that was part of the plan."
"I promised Gwen that neither Red nor I would even consider getting on this thing." JJ said. "Both Red and I had to promise before she would let us come along on this little adventure."
"Me too, I'm afraid. " Jack said. "I had to promise Marge."
"Well, I didn't promise anyone. " Billy said. "And I'm going to find a way - especially now that I've seen what the train has become I have to go. You know that don't you? " He looked at Jack like he would have an answer.
"Yes." Jack said. "We all sort of figured that."
Billy sat on down on the ironworks on the other side of the bridge - facing the others. His head in his hands.
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