Year: 2023

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

EPISODE 825 REJECTING SPACE EXPLORATION

alan skeoch

may 6, 2023

VOYGEURS 1 AND 2 LOOK LIKE THIS

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

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

May 8, 2023
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.

May 3, 2023
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.

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

May 2, 2023
EPISODE 809 1963 FARMALL TRCTOR TO THE RESCUE….APRIL 30, 2023

EPISODE 809 1963 FARMALL TRACTOR TO THE RESCUE….APRIL 30, 2023

alan skeoch

april 30, 2023

Sometimes good things happen when least expected. Who could possibly expect

a tractor built in 1963, a Farmall Row Crop tractor. would be capable of rescue in

a sea of mud on a rainy day on April 30, 2023. The tractor is 60 years old. Long past her prime.

A large iron bin had been put in place for obsolete equipment. The scrap man waited.

This is a feel good story.

Sequence of events

1) A rain swept day with heavy fog. Lots of mud at the farm sale of

Elizabeth Kilner and her husband at their farm near Ballinafad, Ontario.

2) Among the farm equipment was the Row Crop Farmall Tractor which

had been repainted sometime in the past. It looked fine…better than fine.

3) Mechanic Bill Brooks pushed the ignition button and immediately The Farmalll began to OOMPA OOMPA THEN VAROOM.

Purred like a kitten.

“She’s been reliable ever since we bought her back in 1963….allways starts. It has a block heater for winter days.”

4) Auctioneer Doug Donaldson opened with his sales pitch. “Runs perfectly, who will give me $2,000…Start me then, your choice.”

Someone opened at $500 then the bidding got serious Jumped in $50 chunks…$100 chunks. Until finally I could not resist

and shouted a couple of bids. I bought her (You can only guess at the price..I am not telling you.)

5) Marjorie and Elizabeth were not too interested in what happened next. They talked about

cats and the forthcoming arrival of kittens. Woody showed no interest at all.

6) Then, a day later, Andrew Skeoch arrived to move the Farmall to our farm. The rain kept coming.

The field became a morass of mud in places.

7) Out of the fog and the rain came a farmer who was in trouble. His truck was stuck in

the mud. No one around but us and the Formal. “Could you drag me to the road.?”

And that was when the Farmall, at age 60, did an heroic thing by hauling his truck from

a muddy hole to 32 sideroad..

8) After that Andrew and the Farmall headed up the Fifth line bouncing from pot hole to pot hole. Rain kept coming but both Andrew and

the Farmall felt good

April 30, 2023
EPISODE 807 Part 3: Speech that was never given ORDOVECIAN FOSSILS….NAUTILOIDS AND CRNOIDS

NOTE: I CUT OST OF THIS SECTION…HERE IS A FRAGMENT….TRYING TO

DO TOO MUCH AND FAILING.

EPISODE 808 ORODOVICIAN SHALE….ANCIENT CREATURES ONCE LIVED HERE

PART 3 THE SPEECH THAT WAS NEVER GIVEN

alan skeoch

APRIL 27 2023

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The wreck above is a fake that was beached near Vineland for many years. It is a mood piece. The carvings are real ….from the Scourge and the Hamilton warships…

sunk in a storm during the war of 1812

The bottom of Lake Ontario is littered with the wrecks of old schooners of which Scourge

and the Hamilton (war of 1812) are the most famous because both Schooners sit upright in 88 metres of

water at he west end of Lake Ontario. They are a museum that we will never see but

they are there for us to imagine. They sit on a bed of Ordovician shale in which fossils

of ancient life are imbedded.

Millions of years ago NORTH AMERICA was two large islands…between the islands was an Inland Sea some 500 feet deep

“There was no land as we know it today as soil and plants…all above the water was just bare granite and volcanic islands…maybe a little bit of algae growing where

the rock met the seas. Noting else. No trees, no plants, no grass and certainly no flowers. But the sea

was full of life. Some places the sea bottoms was carpeted with crinoids.”

“How do you know?”

“because some of these pieces of shale have crinoid fossils so thick that the shale is hard to find. At some

point whole populations of crinoids died another bodies settled into the mud only to be changed by chemical

action over millions of years into he fossils we can find littered here and there on this shingle beach.”

“What did they eat?”

“Nautiloids were predators. They ate other creatures, especially little trilobites. The inland sea tamed with life.

A Nautillus…descendent of the Ordovician nautalloids that lived 450 million years ago

“Most nautiloids did not survive the five great extinctions that devastated living things on our planet. Most but not all.

One nautallus can still be found in the deep tropical waters of the Asian Pacific Ocean. Not easy to find for it dives into

the dark depths of the ocean in day time and only rises to kill when the moon does. A scary but beautiful creature.”

“The creature that seems to have been very common 450 million years ago, Crinoids looked like plants.

As a matter of fact some called them ‘sea lilliies’. But they were animals. At the bottom of their long neck (spine if you will),

crinoids had root like feet that anchored them to the bottom of the ancient seas. At the top of their long necks

was a bunch of tentacles that waved in the ocean currents grabbing plankton and other bits of edible things

that drifted by. The plankton was taken by the tentacle and dropped or placed in the crinoid mouth at the tentacle base.

The food was chewed and the good parts were kept. The rejected parts were spit out. A crinoid had a mouth and

a rectum in the same place.”

“Could they move?”

“Yes, slowly the feet moved from stone to stone.”

“Were they common?”

“Very common…they lived in great clusters wherever plankton moved on ocean subterranean currents.”

“And if current changed they walked to a better spot, right? How big were they?”

“The fossils I have found that look like crinoids are quite small but I read somewhere that the crinoids could

be as much as 140 feet long.

alan

April 29, 2023