I noticed another flight passing fairly close to our flight as we made our way to Denver this afternoon. First photo is at 1x on my iPhone 16 Pro.
February 2025
Buttons.
This is the control panel of the environmental controls for our rental vehicle, a VW Tiguan. The car is not bad to drive. It has a bit of pep, is fairly comfortable to ride in and does what it’s suppose to do.
When we were looking for a new car in 2023 we looked at the Tiguan, but we found it a bit cramped for a liking and opted for the Nissan Rogue instead.
Volkswagen has decided to replace all the buttons on their environmental controls with touchpads. Everything you see in the photo is a touchpad. There are no buttons. We still haven’t figured out how to reliably adjust the temperature, so we tap and slide around until we see a number that’s relatively close to what we’re looking for.
We had to pull over to the side of the road to figure out how to turn down the fan.
This touchpad madness is not conducive to safe driving. I don’t know if Tiguan owners adapt to sliding their fingers around on a smooth surface with absolutely no feedback without looking at the controls, but I couldn’t figure it out.
I hope something changes in the world so that we can start having buttons again. It’s bad enough that I scream at auto correct on my iPhone on a daily basis, I don’t need to crash into things on the road while trying to get a little heat.
Geek.
As I was going through my photos the other night, looking for the shot of the 765kv powerlines in Upstate New York, I stumbled across this photo. I had forgotten about it but once I saw it I remembered it.
Taken during COVID, when Earl and I were out for many drives in the Illinois countryside to the southwest of Chicago, I stood under this 345kv line. ComEd in Illinois seems to use what I call the “Cat Ears” towers, as the supports for the Earth Wire to assist with lightning control out on the prairie.
I was always a fan of the prairies to the west of busy Chicago. I found such beauty out in all that open space.
Especially if there were interesting powerlines marching across the cornfields here and there.
Empty.
We walked through Neshaminy Mall today. It’s been cold this weekend and we’ve been doing mall walks to get some steps.
When I first visited this area in the late 1990s this mall was thriving with busy anchor stores, a recent addition, and more. Today the mall seemed about 60% empty. And it wasn’t heated.
I’m happy we wore our coats.
Neighborly.
This is a 765kv power line in Upstate New York. At one time I could stand under this line with fluorescent bulbs and they’d light up in my hands.
This line runs northward from a large switch yard in Marcy and goes to Massena. From there it continues its march in a northeasterly direction, connecting to power flowing down from Hydro-Québec.
As an “all things connected” geek, power interconnections like this are fascinating. I spent nearly 48 years living in the northeast with this peculiar interest. I’ve studied the power grid, especially the portion of the Eastern Interconnection in the northeast.
We probably want to remain friendly with the folks that control Hydro-Québec, since that 765kv line (along with quite a few others, including a couple of 345kv circuits in Northern New York) is bringing power down from Canada into the U.S. portion of the Eastern Interconnection.
I’m just a geek, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to get cranky with your neighbors.
Walk.
It’s a brisk morning in Bucks County, Pa. I was in the mood to get a bit of exercise, so I went for a walk around the hotel. We’re in an industrial area which wasn’t particularly walkable, but I did find an old road that led down to railroad tracks owned by Northern Suffolk.
Caturday.
Before leaving on our trip back east, Truman let us know that he approved on the new floor in our bathroom, which is currently under reconstruction. He said he’d keep the work team in line while we were away.
