Alan Skeoch

Category: Uncategorized

  • EPISODE 816 FUNERAL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II, OCTOBER 2022

    EPISODE 816:   FUNERAL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II    OCTOBER 2022


    alan skeoch
    may11, 2032


  • EPISODE 817: CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III MAY 2023

    EPISODE  817:    CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III   MAY 2023


    alan skeoch
    May 2023

  • EPISODE 816 I HAVE REJECTED SPACE TRAVEL: CONSIDER VOYAGEURS 1 AND 2

    EPISODE 825    REJECTING SPACE EXPLORATION


    alan skeoch
    may 6, 2023


    NASA's interstellar Voyager 1 and 2 probes have now been in space for 45 years
    VOYGEURS 1 AND 2 LOOK LIKE THIS
    Voyager 2 - Wikipedia
    Voyageur 1 and 2 have been moving through space for more than 45 years. Just for fun let’s assume
    you ae a 40 year old astronaut preparing to fly to the outer edge of our solar system and beyond;
    Let’s  assume you boarded Voyageur 1 which was luanched in 1977.  Today Voyageurs 1 and 2 have
    gone beyond the limits of our solar system into the darkness of interstellar space en route to
    a star closest to us called  Alpha Centauri.

    40 year  astronaut  + 45 year trip to edge of our solar system = 85 year old astronaut

    Return trip:  85 year old astronaut  + 45 year trip back to earth = 135 year old astronaut 

     

    NASA Voyager Probes: 18 Best Pictures As 45-Year Journey Nears End
    pictures send back to earth

    I will never be a space explorer.   I have come to accept that fact after careful
    consideration. I even feel sorry for two of our most famous spacecraft.  Voyageur 1
    ans  Voyageur 2 were launcnhed in 1977 as fellow travellers in the exploration 
    of the planets of our solar system. only a few scientists expected the space twins to get beyond Jupiter and 
    Saturn. 

    Guess  what?  They reached Jupiter in 1979 and then went on to reach Saturn in 1980.  
    They sent  us pictures of both of both planets..   And kept on flying at 17 km/ second.
    Faster than my truck.  A lot faster than our tractor.   And far faster than most of us will ever travel.

    In August 2012 they reached the outer limits of our solar system. 

    Now this is where I started thinking  and came to the conclusion I wil never be a spaceman.
    Think about it.   The Voyageur twins had been flying for 35 years they exited our solar system.  


    NASA assures me that the Voyageur twins trAVel 523 million kilometres a year. 

    And when I consider the prospect of space travel I reject it outright.  Why would I want to speNd 46 years of my life
    flying no where.   If I returned, which is doubtful, I would be 90 years old.  What baseball team would want
    me?  What chance would I have to become an Olympic pole vaulter?  Marriage?   At 90”  You joke.

    Our nearest solar system is not really near in our terms.  Light-years away.  Light ravels at 186,000 miles per second  ( 300.000.000 meters per second.)


    Carl Sagan (Cosmos, page 289) says it will take a beam of light from earth about  4 years to reach Alpha Centauri, our nearest star.
    Travelling at 186,000 miles per second.  Then how long would it take the Voyageur Twins to get there travelling at a measly
    slow pace of 17 kilometres per second?   A long long time.  Longer than a human lifetime for sure. With no chance of  a return flight.

    IMAGINARY VISIT BY A SPACE RECRUTER IN1977

    RING RING RING!
    “ALAN, There is somone a thee door,  didn’t you hear the bell?”
    “Whups!   Must stop tYping…answer door…very insistent  person there.”
    “Hi?”
    “Mr. Skeoch, I have been sent from NASA to see if you would like to be a passenger on Voyageur 1. There is
    just room enough for 1 person.”
    “Did you say you were from NASA?”
    “Yes”
    “Well, take your offer and place it where the sun does not shine.”
    “BBBBBut!”
    “And  get off  my front porch now.

    COMMENT

    Space exploration is perfect place for AI ,,,Alternative Inteligence…..thingamabobs.

    alan

  • EPISODE 812 RANDOM PICTURES FROM THE KILNER FARM SALE , APRIL 29,2023

    EPISODE 812    RANDOM PICTURES FROM THE KILNER FARM SALE , APRIL 29,2023


    alan skeoch
    april 29, 2023



    AN AUCTION SALE IS A GAMBLE

    Auction sales are a gamble for the seller. Particularly farm sales.  The sun could shine or rain could fall.
    On April 29 there was no sun….some rain….lots of mud.   But there were also plenty of bidders who
    came hell or high water.  On sunny days a goodly part of the crowd have not come to bid but rather they
    have assembled for the sun and the entertainment.  So what you see in these pictures are the real hard
    core bidders.  Of which I am a member.

    Doug Donaldson was the auctioneer and one of his daughters caught the bidder numbers. Bill Brooks 
    acted as helper and motor mechanic.   No animals left on the farm except for a couple of cats one
    of which was pregnant.  Ian Kilner had a mystery sign nailed to his farm wagon….”Don’t 
    criticize farmers with your mouth open.”  (open to interpretation)

    The saddest part of the sale was the arrival of a large scrap iron truck.  Some of these things…these gems… will
    not be seen again.  I was tempted to buy the Massey Harris combine just for old times sake but curbed
    my enthusiasm.  It sold for $800…I fear it was destined for the scrap truck.

    What did we buy?  Perhaps I should not say ‘we’….it was me.  Pile of lumber with planks 16 feet long, a wood mounted drill 
    press, a pile of chisels, a ladder, two old toolboxes (one filled with used screws and washers rather than the treasures
    expected), a fogging machine (for what purpose?), a rake for Marjorie, 2 jacks, 2 large wide flat boards redolent of manure
    and time (for future wooden quilts), a 1963 Farmall row crop tractor in running condition  and other things best forgotten.
    If you are about to say something negative about my bidding save your breath.  It is an addiction.

    Marjorie arrived with Woody our dog just as Doug Donaldson said “Sold” and accepted my bid for the
    Farmall tractor.   No hostile comment from her, she is familiar with idiosyncratic bidding. Tractor was purring like
    the cats hidden away in the barn.  I will not reveal the price.

    Here are some faces and a random collection of what could be purchased.

  • EPISODE 811 PERSONAL FAREWELL TO GORDON LIGHTFOOT…IN THE EARLY MORNING RAIN

    EPISODE 811   PERSONAL FAREWELL TO GORDON LIGHTFOOT


    alan skeoch
    may 2, 2023

    In 1960 I was a prospector in search of magnetic anomalies in he Yukon Territory,   Three months growth of beard that was reddish
    as my fathers.  In mid September I was heading home and ‘missed my loved one so’.  Gordon Lightfoot captured my feelings
    that lonely day when I sat on the ground at the mountain fringed airport in Juneau, Alaska.  Yes, it was an ‘EARLY MORNING RAIN’ 
    that day.

    “Big 707 set to go, but I’m stuck here on the ground with no place to go”  Gordon Lighffoots’ song titled
    ‘In the early Morning Rain’ is pressed indelibly in my brain .  So firmly that total recall brings back
    the images of mid September 1960 when I was standing behind the chain link fence of the airport
    at Juneau, Alaska.   Yes, I do believe it was even raining that memorable day in my life as Iwatched
    ‘Big 707’s’ takeoff and land.  The landing and takeoff strip was short as Jneau was hemmed in by
    mountains so jet planes had to use extra power each time.

    For the past three months I had been conducting elector-magnetic mining surveys for Huntech
    at various sites in he Yukon Territory for $400 a month, money destined to pay my U. of T fees 
    in my graduating year.  Marjorie and I were engaged to be married but had been separated for the
    duration of the Yukon job.  I longed to get home but at the same time I wanted to get the fulll
    experience of the magical Yukon gold rush days of the 1890’s.   So my exit from the Yukon
    was an indirect route from Mayo Landing to Whitehorse to Skagway to Juneau to Seattle to
    Vanouver to Toronto.    The adventure plan.

    I was alone.  Travelling alone.  Loneliness.  My budget?  Scraping the bottom of barrel as I planned 
    to cover the costs by cashing in my direct flight return to Toronto from Whitehorse which was
    covered by Huntech.  Meals were to be cold pork and beans direct from the cans.  Lodging
    was flop house kind.  Transport by bus to Whitehorse and the magical White Pass Railway to
    the dead end at Skagway then whatever I could find to travel by boat to Juneau.

    All the way serenaded by my memory edition of Gordon lightfoot’s Early Morning Rain.   Memory
    became reality at that chain link fence as big  Boeing 707’s laboured to clear the mountains.
    I was booked on one of those flights that day.  No extra money for hotel or food or transport.
    I had get out.  No money left.  “So I sat there on the ground’ with no back up plan.

    498 707 Stock Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from Dreamstime
    Juneau aerial view


    Mt. Juneau, Juneau Alaska
    LYRICS:  IN THE EARLY MORNING RAIN (Gordon Lightfoot)
    In the early morning rain with a dollar in my handWith an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sandI’m a long way from home, Lord, I miss my loved ones soIn the early morning rain with no place to go
    Out on runway number nine a big 707 set to goAnd, I’m stuck here in the grass where the pavement never growsNow, the liquor tasted good and the women all were fastWell, there she goes, my friend, she’ll be rolling down at last
    Hear the mighty engines roar, see the silver wing on highShe’s away and westward bound, far above the clouds she’ll fly
    There the morning rain don’t fall and the sun always shinesShe’ll be flying over my home in about three hours time
    This old airport’s got me down, it’s no earthly good to meAnd I’m stuck here on the ground as cold and drunk as I can beYou can’t jump a jet plane like you can a freight trainSo, I’d best be on my way in the early morning rain
    You can’t jump a jet plane like you can a freight trainSo, I’d best be on my way in the early morning rain

    Gordon Lightfoot


    So the song and the setting came together in the Long Term 
    storage part of my brain.
    With each word of Gordon’s lyrics images of that Juneau airport on a rain
    swept morning with a Big Boeing 707 set to go.  I would soon be on my
    way alone and eastward bound but at that magical moment I was
    ‘along way from home, Lord, and missed my loved ones so in the
    early morning ran with no place to go.’  

    ‘So, I’ best be on my way in the early morning rain.’

    alan skeoch

    P>S>  Just getting to Whitehorse had been an adventure.  Mayo Landing is
    a tiny community on the Stewar River.  The only way out was by bus sometime
    around mid night.  The bus driver did not show up with his bus.  Had to be
    awakened but his cabin was surrounded by sled dogs.  How was i to get 
    out in time to reach Pelly Crossing and the bus to Whitehorse?  “Just take the
    bus, keys are usually in the ignition”, suggested one of my mining associates
    …”happens all the time”.  

    So I did.  Never drove a bus before in my life but door was open, key in ignition.
    ‘ Vrroom ‘, I was on my way in the blackness of a Yukon night.  I even picked
    up a few passengers at the Hotel and then threaded my way carefully on the 
    near empty highway to the Yukon River junction point.  Parked the bus and
    as the sun rose boarded the southbound bus to Whitehorse.

       I was on my way.I  Gordon Lightfoot seems to have felt as I  did when he
    wrote Early Morning Rain.

    Marjorie, mom and dad were there to greet me.  Later, mom and Marjorie pinned me to the ground and cut off my red beard. I was home.

    alan