The Wood Shed

Many of you are already familiar with Steeljaw Scribe and his Flightdeck Friday series of historical reviews.  He also posts over at the USNI blog and has just kicked off a follow-on to his Coral Sea & Midway series titled The Solomon Islands Campaign.  The prelude to this new series is up both at USNI [...]

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Iraq is getting back in the oil and gas contract business after having been distracted for the last few years.  The oil ministry recently held a televised auction for 20-year contracts on some of their fields.
The bidders will not be paid for anything up to the minimum production level – but they say how much [...]

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A big number no matter what mode of transportation you use but 1000 miles in a bark canoe?  Erik Simula set out April 22 2009 from Grand Portage State Park on a journey of many historic “trails”, some passages lost to another day and time when long distance travel by canoe was the norm.  He’s [...]

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In a fresh diplomatic move, Britain is expelling two Iranian diplomats in response to Tehran’s decision to order two UK diplomats to leave Iran following allegations UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called “absolutely without foundation”.
There we go, all better now.
Says a lot about the incumbent when he declares victory and the streets erupt in violence.

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Got back to work on the Guide this evening.  Check the page for the update.

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I was watching CMT the other morning with a cup of coffee and my cereal hoping to catch a Carrie Underwood video when some guy named Billy Currington started singing “God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.” Snappy, I thought. Then I noticed the beer was Kalik, the beaches very [...]

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I made the mistake of turning on the TV while eating breakfast this morning. Should have known better. In addition to our wonderfully entertaining locals I was greeted by:
North Korea to launch ICBM toward Hawaii. The anchor announced this news with all the excitement and concern of a routine traffic and weather report. No big [...]

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Shuttle Endeavour was due to launch early this morning but engineers couldn’t fix a liquid hydrogen leak.
Despite troubleshooting efforts, engineers were unable to achieve a decrease in the liquid hydrogen leak.
Color me crazy but if I were set to ride a rocket built by low-bid contracts I would want the leak fixed not just decreased [...]

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She’s what might be referred to in technical terms as “a basket case.” An Old Town 18′ Guide has a total of 57 ribs – this boat needs 32 of them replaced.  When I finished marking the planking that needs to be replaced it was difficult to find the runs that would get to stay. [...]

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We’re all waiting anxiously to hear something positive regarding our economy. I know I wake up every morning hoping for change. After all, that’s what the man promised isn’t it? (I’m not a believer just in case there is any doubt creeping into your mind.)
Well this little gem has a spark of hope in [...]

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