Shrinking again.

About eight years ago, I did away with a desktop computer. I stepped up to the plate and bought a decent laptop that had all the functionality of the desk model. It cost a small fortune but is still running today, although strictly in a back-up capacity. Then I bought another laptop, which was bigger than the first, bigger screen and so forth. Lugging this one around on all my travels wasn’t the easiest.

Well, I’ve gone smaller again, this time all the way down to a netbook. No, I won’t be editing video on this unit, but it’s perfectly suited for word processing, blogging, and so forth. Most of the time, that’s all I’m doing. The horsepower of that big laptop is typically wasted. It will remian, with its predecessor as a back-up.

So, I’m on to traveling with this netbook, logging on in various places, and typing away. Hopefully it goes well.

Published in: on April 9, 2010 at 7:05 pm  Leave a Comment  
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ICF in Aruba

Insulated concrete forms have been around for a long time. Imagine sheets of styrofoam on the outside and concrete and reinforcing steel on the inside. The advantage of this building system is that the forms remain in place, creating an insulating barrier on both the inside and the outside of the structure. At the same time, the concrete and steel create an incredibly strong wall, that when poured at once, becomes a monolithic feature.

Here in Aruba, I have not seen many ICF structures under construction. However, the other day I was in San Fuego where a number of new homes are under way. There I spotted a bunch of forms. Here’s what they look like when they are delivered un-assembled.

Just a stack of styrofoam. The next step is to use brackets to join two pieces. Take a look:

You can see how the cavity is formed in the photo above. At the same time, note that the forms have been “glued” to the footer and held in place with a wooden block. The rebar sticking up helps to connect the wall to the floor. Next, is a view of the portion of the assembled wall:

The vertical wooden braces help to support the forms when the concrete is poured. Significant pressures can develop as concrete is heavy. The story goes that this will be a wine cellar for the house above. I can’t wait to see the finished home. It should be impressive.

Bon dia from Aruba.

Published in: on March 25, 2010 at 12:39 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Skydive Aruba!

My wife and I were walking on the beach this Sunday morning. Overhead came the sound of a small aircraft. I watched him circling upward until he was almost out of sight. Lo and behold, out jumped a couple of parachutists. Yes, this is Skydive Aruba. Here’s a short video of what I saw.

I was impressed with the amount of control each of the jumpers had in the gusty winds. They both seemed to almost hover over the landing zone, then dropped in. I’ll wager that takes a bit of practice. At any rate, just another fun thing to do on the island. However, I’ll stick with the plane.

Bon dia.

Published in: on March 14, 2010 at 10:32 pm  Comments (1)  
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Castle in the Sand, Aruba

My wife and I were walking along the beach the other day and came across the fine example of sand castle construction. It was built by a father-daughter team who seemed to be having a blast. Take a look:

I give them an “A” for creativity and an “A+” for execution. That ball on the top is a nice touch.

Bon dia.

Published in: on March 10, 2010 at 9:20 pm  Comments (1)  
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