China Day 1: Arrive in Shanghai

Going west, we lost a day. We left Lincoln at 6 AM on Friday and didn't land in Shanghai until 7 PM Saturday night. We made it through immigration and customs in good time, but we had to wait for some guys from another company to show up. It's different waiting for someone there than it is here. No phones, no readable signs, no one to ask for help. We talked with them about the plan before we left, and hoped that we met up on the far side. 

We grabbed a bite and a brew while waiting for our colleagues. At 9:30, we were about to leave when they finally showed up. There were several shady cabbies hassling us to take their cab. They assured us that the train had long stopped running and our only option was to take their cab.

Per my research, the train had not stopped running yet, so we were able to take the MagLev into town. During the day it tuns at 240 mph. At night, only 190 mph. It looks like this one encountered a pigeon on the tracks earlier in the day.

The MagLev only runs halfway from the airport to downtown, so we had to take a subway for the last leg of the journey (and then walk two blocks). We stayed on East Nanjing Road, which is a huge pedestrian mall in the heart of Shanghai.

Busy Travel Month

December was the busiest travel month of my life. In 32 days, I took 14 flights through 10 different airports, visited 14 cities, 8 factories, rode on 5 bullet trains with wheels, one without wheels, and rode around on the Shanghai subway. Needless to say, I was glad when the last trip was complete and I could sleep in my own bed every night. 

The first trip was to China. Lincoln --> Minneapolis --> Los Angles --> Shanghai. When I booked the flight, there was no option for going thru Seattle. The flight from LA is three hours longer due to LA being further south and the fact that we are nearly at war with North Korea, so we had to fly further west in China and basically go right over Beijing. Total flight time: 10 minutes shy of 15 hours. Ugh.

At least all of the flights were scenic. On the way to LA, we flew over the Four Corners region and I got to see Shiprock. On the flight to Shanghai, I saw Yosemite, the coastal volcanoes, and even Denali's summit poking out of the noontime winter twilight.

I love the real-time map and flight information on the bigger planes. With a little bit of geographic knowledge, you know where to look to see some cool landmarks. The photo above is Denali.

X-Mas Tree

After we returned from Illinois, we had a full day to set up all the X-Mas decorations. CP and W helped. 

W the Cat

We went to Lanark for Thanksgiving and brought back W, the diabetic cat, to stay with us for a while. He made himself at home and seems happy, but the other two are out of sorts and slowly coming around.

Concert Schedule

GP's band is playing at Duffy's tonight. It's cool to see them in the event schedules of Lincoln nightlife. Next month they will be performing at The Bourbon! 

Electrical Engineering 101

CP's first group project for his freshman electrical engineering project is to make a vehicle that drives across the room using servos, not motors. A servo is like a motor, but instead of going round and round, it can only turn ±90°. They are using an Arduino microcontroller to tell the servos how to move so that they are synchronized with the crankshaft. One of the kids designed and modeled the chassis and crankshaft and then they 3D printed them in the lab at school. Pretty impressive!! I wish I could get my engineers at work to take this class.

Moving Up

I finally got around to installing my stand-up desk kit. Now I have a high stool and can stand (or sit) at my desk. Still need to figure out something to do with all the wires and cables.

Detroit Rock City

After two days in Virginia, it was off to sunny Michigan for a couple days of overcast in Detroit Rock City. We got to talk with more people about lawnmowers.

We never saw Kid Rock or M&M, but Michael Moore made an appearance at dinner one night. He's in the background to the right of my head.

The flight back from Detroit to Minneapolis was on a huge new 757 that was empty in 1st class. This was the 1st time I've received an upgrade like this. Usually there are 20 people ahead of me on the upgrade list. Let's hope this is the start of a trend.

We flew over the neighborhood on the approach into Lincoln. It's looking pretty green for November.

Staunton, VA

After Kentucky, I was back home for a week and then back on the road to talk with more people about lawnmowers. We went to a cute little town in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. We stayed at the Stonewall Jackson hotel from 1924. We didn't have any time to explore the town during the daylight - I would love to come back sometime with JP to check out all the shops. There is one that is full of plastic models from floor to ceiling.

This shop is full of upright basses.

Friday Night Lights

GP's band played at The Night Owl Friday night. They are really coming together and sounding great!

New Monster Mower

One of the new mowers we introduced at the mower show last week is our new 96" Diesel that one of my teams has been working on for the past five years. It has a 37-hp Yanmar diesel, runs at 12.5 mph, and cuts a lot of grass very quickly. There was a lot of excitement about it at the show despite the $40,000 price tag.

Kentucky Derby

Churchill Downs was only a mile from our hotel in Louisville, so we went there for lunch. There was no racing going on, but it was fun to wander around and see the historic buildings.

I would have got JP a cute race hat, but I couldn't figure out how to get it home on the plane.

The original parts of the complex date from 1875. They are currently adding on more seats. I can't imagine how bustling the place must be on race day.

Land of Meat and Bourbon

I spent a long week in Louisville, the Land of Meat and Bourbon. Everywhere we went, the menu consisted of lots of huge meat dishes and pages and pages of bourbons at $10 to $100 a shot. I'm not much for either; just give me a nice salad and a beer and I'm in heaven.

The meatiest dish of the week was the PBLT (pork belly BLT). It was like a BLT, but the bacon was 3/4" thick and cooked just enough to make it gelatinous. Tasty, but way too much for me.

Dog Sitting

We took care of not only the dogs next door, but also GP's girlfriend's dogs for the weekend. They all get along well with each other and the cats. We had FIVE dogs all scratching at the door, snuggling, and begging for goodies. 

Anyone want a treat?

Captain JP

JP's Husker shirt this year is very Star Trekkie. 

Deck Repair

We noticed a funny spot on the handrail of the deck. Closer inspection revealed that a knothole had started rotting. It took out the handrail and started into the post.

I thought cedar wouldn't rot...

$40 of new cedar from Home Depot and a couple hours and we're back in business. 

Butterfly Season

The butterflies have been swarming all over, trying to fuel up on the last flowers of summer.

Honored, Again

GP made the honor roll, again. He's kicking butt again this year.

Game Day Pool Day

KG and her beau and roommate stopped by on their way to the game. 

We took advantage of the perfect weather and watched the game from the poolside.

Hard to believe that snow could be flying in a month.

GP's B-Day

Our friends from IL came out for GP's birthday (and the Husker game, too). They left their kids at home, so it made for a fun and relaxing weekend.

We took GP to the Lodge for dinner where he experienced cheesecake for the first time.

Rock and Roller

GP's band played downtown at Duffy's last Sunday night. It was so cool seeing him up there and listening to him play. The place was packed with parents and four bands played.

Dead Dryer

Last weekend our dryer gave up its ghost. Amazon came through with a replacement heating element delivered to our door two days later for $26. 

Homecoming Dancers

For the past month, we've been asking GP if he was going to ask KT to the homecoming. Time ran out, so she asked him. She made a centerpiece thing with a bunch of dum-dum suckers stuck into a floral foam ball on top of a vase full of candy.

They went to the football game where KT performed with the color guard at halftime then rushed home to change and get polished up for the dance. They didn't have time for dinner, but I don't think they cared. We asked GP if he wanted to take JP's car; "Nope. I like my truck!"

Total Eclipse

We were blessed to live in the path of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017. Both boys were in school and we weren't in the mood to chance traffic, so we strolled over to the lodge at Wilderness Ridge. We, and 100 other Lincolnites, gathered on the deck for the event.

The bar had a special Solar Sour cocktail for the event as well as dark "Total Eclipse of the Alt" on tap. Everyone on the deck was excited and chatty - we really had fun sharing the experience with our new friends. 

We had some high clouds, but we were still able to observe the entire procession of the moon across the sun. We were treated to just under two minutes of totality. I was amazed at how bright it was before totality. One would think it would be dark with 99.5% of the sun covered. As long as there was a tiny sliver remaining, it was light enough that you could probably drive without headlights. As soon as we hit totality though, it got dark for us, but the horizon was still lit.

The photo isn't mine - I found it on the net. We didn't bother screwing around with our phones to take what would have been crappy photos.

BMOC

After GP drove himself to school, we packed up CP and headed across town to UNL and moved him into the dorm. Because he's in one of the learning communities, he was allowed to move in before the normal move-in days, which made it nice for parking. As we walked in, we noticed the family parked next to us was from Illinois. We knew that CP's roommate was from IL, so we asked. Yep, that's him. It was nice meeting him and his father. 

CP's dorm is only a couple years old. It's a huge change from what we had 30 years ago. He's living in a suite with three other guys. Two guys per bedroom with a shared shower, toilet, and two sinks, plus a kitchen and living room. Everything is new and spacious.

 CP's roommate is in the ROTC program, which works out well; CP will have someone to get up early with. The other two suite-mates are in the marching band, so they will be busy parading around every day this semester.

Everything is so clean and orderly. I cannot imagine how it will look after the school year with four guys living here.

They even have a full-size fridge, coffee pot, tea pot, and microwave. There's a brand new cafeteria next door to the dorm that looks pretty swanky.

1st Day of School, Solo

Tuesday was the start of school. GP is now the master of the white truck. Upon inheriting it from his brother, he promptly cleaned out EVERYTHING from the inside. No more CDs, nothing. He's a clean freak like JP. He drove off by himself to school without looking back.