tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65360342012-01-31T01:38:59.887-05:00The cool camping blog. Trying to find gear, supplies, adventure and activities for the 21st century camper.Johnnoreply@blogger.comBlogger661100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-17759012213117526792011-10-03T22:52:00.003-04:002011-10-03T23:04:29.208-04:00

I have finally run across the new LED flashlight technologies for myself. These new torches use rechargeable batteries and put out up to 900 lumens of light! Ok, so, maybe their claims are a little far fetched, but I can assure you that these lights are super bright, brighter than any handheld light you have ever seen. And I'm talking minimag sized lights. The torch I have is barely six inches

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-68961773768887038372009-12-19T09:15:00.002-05:002009-12-19T09:18:01.933-05:00

Hey everybody, hope your having a fine holiday season where ever you're at. Just thought I'd share a quote I got from Quote of the Day:The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness. - Henry David Thoreau, 1817 - 1862

Johnnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-33895327561463298072009-07-14T19:28:00.004-04:002009-07-14T22:37:16.626-04:00

Or at least it should be. We got "burned" again this last weekend with wet campfire wood. I bought two bundles from a party store. They were banded with plastic straps and what I call sawmill scrap: very flat with bark on one surface and the other face is sawed. Had good luck with some great oak like this that burned hotter than heck and burned slow. When I opened the bundles at the camp I could

Johnnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-10250857555810097172008-06-19T10:41:00.004-04:002008-06-19T12:06:49.537-04:00

I'll kick off the series with an introduction to finding a campground. This part will be a basic tutorial and many experienced campers already know most of this, but I thought to include it to be thorough.So you know where you want to go, geographically. How do you start finding a campground? First, of course, you should know if you want a tent only site, or an RV site. Pull through, electric,

Johnnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-41992177301746823782008-06-17T15:03:00.002-04:002008-06-17T15:53:14.131-04:00

I have been to enough campgrounds to know you are just as likely to book a dud as you are a gem when reserving site unseen. If the campground has a website, you might at least be able to tell if it's a treeless field, a weedy swamp or a nicely forested glen. Or you might not. Woodall's rates member's campgrounds, but that's only good for private camps. How can you know if the campground

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-64986864829775880742008-05-17T10:10:00.003-04:002008-05-17T10:30:55.382-04:00

If you either have come to this blog in the past, or are just finding it for the first time, you probably noticed that I haven't posted since last April. Partially that's a sign of a lot of camping last season. We camped every other weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day plus a weekend in October last year. We had a lot of fun and picked up a couple of tips. I'll try to post some interesting

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-6816815214563083252007-04-14T20:36:00.000-04:002007-04-18T00:33:57.074-04:00

With any luck, recreational camping these days should in no way put your life at risk. However, if you are a backcountry hiker, if you are going anywhere that could put you in danger, or if you are headed anywhere that might not get visited for days, you should take some simple steps to safeguard your health. As hard as it is to believe, people, do get stranded and lost for days, like James

Johnnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1168653472535257072007-01-12T20:48:00.000-05:002007-04-18T00:35:27.152-04:00

Did you know that you could make pizza on the grille? Ok, so maybe you did. But here's the camp friendly version that doesn't require you to make rising dough and toss the crust like old Chef Boyardee. Here's our recipe for a fabulous pie. First up are the ingredients:-Pita bread. Get the ones that are slightly bready.-Lite Done Rite Italian Dressing-Contadina Pepperoni Pizza Sauce-Grated

Johnnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1167680711320933172007-01-01T13:09:00.000-05:002007-04-11T15:41:21.305-04:00

For the new year, here are a couple of quick gear updates:#1 Stowaway Grills - Here's a handy looking little piece of gear for cooking. With grill sizes from 6x12" to 12x24", these grills are perfect for over the campfire. And the best part is the disassemble and are stowed in a plastic tube. I love my grill when camping, but carrying it around is always a bit of a hassle. The Stowaway line

Johnnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1167603965131602392006-12-31T13:33:00.000-05:002006-12-31T17:26:05.736-05:00

Here we are, the end of the year and we can't wait to go camping. We're pretty fired up about kayaking, and cool destinations where we can put our 'yaks in. In the next couple of days I'll talk about some of those, go over kayaking just a little bit, and explore some new gear. And just for Jimmy, I'll reexamine some checklists for those of you who may just be starting out RV'ing. Here's a

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1157480966349494252006-09-05T14:29:00.000-04:002006-12-27T09:53:10.640-05:00

Just finished a month of camping - three trips in four weeks. I took two with the camper and one in tents. I stayed at a National Park, a State Forest, and a private campground. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore occupied a large portion of these trips. If you are considering a trip to Michigan, you should seriously consider spending at least a few days in the park. There are museums,

Johnnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1156366166346941162006-08-23T16:49:00.000-04:002007-01-12T20:44:58.066-05:00

Here's a listing of all of the Gear Posts that I've put up so far: Cast Iron GrilleGreat Grille DebateBinoculars ReviewsWeather Resources Origami TablewarePie IronsMaglite LED ReplacementPop Can Backpack StoveMisc Gear 1 Binoculars Pt. 2Fix AnythingFirst Aid KitsMisc Gear 2 --John

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1156251217731573432006-08-22T08:49:00.000-04:002006-08-22T09:29:52.836-04:00

Here's a quick post on first aid kits. Adventure Medical Kits has a bunch of different kits for different situations. Kevin at Cool Tools has a review of their first aid kits. I like the look of their Ultralight series because they come in watertight pouches and I have been looking for something for kayaking. One interesting feature that really caught my eye: many of the kits come with a

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1155760692522912742006-08-16T16:38:00.000-04:002006-08-16T16:38:12.600-04:00

I'm not much of a backpacker.  I suspect that I will be forced into backpack camping someday, but until then, the closest I have come is rustic camping at Michigan State Forest Campgrounds .  We just tent camped at a horse camp in the Sleeping Bear area of Michigan, after finding the National Park rustic camp full.  What was amazing was, that in about 50 sites, there were FOUR campers.  The

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1155148845546062502006-08-09T14:19:00.000-04:002006-08-10T15:23:49.863-04:00

Haven't been posting much this summer because we have been on the go the whole time, boating and camping. The summer started on Memorial day weekend with a failed camping attempt. As I pulled the camper up the drive my wife told me one of the tail lights was out. It was not a burnt bulb, and despite the advice of a friend (Lou!) I didn't find the fault for three days. Heed my (and Lou's)

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1147400823949725802006-05-11T22:26:00.000-04:002006-05-11T22:30:40.563-04:00

If you are scouting around for something different to cook at the camp this year, try salmon. Salmon is incredibly easy to cook over the grille and takes a lot of different flavorings well. Several years ago I was looking for some shell fish to grill and instead ran across pre seasoned salmon filets. They were, at the time, the best fish I had prepared myself, and I cooked them over a Weber

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1147314084318927242006-05-10T22:04:00.000-04:002006-08-09T14:42:41.476-04:00

Many camping trips are built around historic locales. Mount Vernon, Washington DC, Mt Rushmore, the Alamo, and so on are popular vacation destinations every year. You could fill a whole website with all of the historical destinations possible in the United States, and I don’t intend to cover them all. Instead, I’d like to focus on a slice of history in America: Transportation.Perhaps it’s

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1147231583032950772006-05-09T22:57:00.000-04:002006-05-09T23:26:23.043-04:00

Sitting outside, around the campfire, or just lounging is a lot more comfortable than it used to be. No longer do you have to sit in those weird webbing lawn chairs. Technology and ingenuity have come to the camper's rescue.First off is the market chair or camp chair, seen at the right. These chairs instantly fold up into a tube shape that fits right in the bag and can be easily carried over

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1147143749593335592006-05-08T22:34:00.001-04:002008-05-17T10:32:08.122-04:00

I usually carry my entire toolbox, rivets and electrical connectors when we go camping. I at first said "that's what you have to do with a vintage trailer". Then a neighbor at the campground said "heck, mine's two years old and I need all of my tools." Well, you may not want to bring everything but if you camp, something's going to break. Here's my suggestion for the fixit tool kit.1)Duck

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1147056091387641472006-05-07T22:40:00.000-04:002006-05-08T09:38:46.370-04:00

Here in Michigan it appears that with the first weekend in May most of the campgrounds are now open. We already have four separate camping trips planned and reserved and I have already gotten and am working on this summer's batch of Airstream fixes and upgrades. You may have the itch to get out there and camp too, but before we go there's some things to keep in mind when getting ready to go

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1145834522151154042006-04-23T18:39:00.000-04:002006-04-23T19:24:28.370-04:00

My dad has a dutch oven that he always took on our camping trips. He usually made cherry cobbler with it. I had been thinking about getting one to try some recipes out last summer and did a lot of research. I got one at the Gander Mountain store and made chili in it two times. I think I'm going to get at least one more for this year so I can make dessert in one too.In case you don't know, a dutch

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1145773462290282192006-04-23T02:22:00.000-04:002006-04-23T02:26:11.070-04:00

If you really want to get out and see America and its wide open spaces, hiking a historic or national scenic trail may be just for you. We're not talking day hikes where you pack a loaf of bread and a bottle of burgundy, but the kind where you carry everything on your back, get all funky dirty smelling and chased by bears kind of hiking. Obviously not for the faint of heart, but if you're up for

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1145111437480280912006-04-15T10:27:00.000-04:002006-04-15T10:49:38.980-04:00

Last year I posted a review of binoculars. Well, I wish I had run across Michael Hodgson's Adventure Network. On his site, I discovered that he has a very short, succinct guide to which kind of binoculars you will want depending on your usage. He also has some simple tips on care and cleaning.Of course, now that I start looking, I find lots of sources for choosing binocs. Here's a few:Chuck

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1144726472528637202006-04-10T23:11:00.000-04:002006-04-10T23:37:01.746-04:00

Again, not much time, but lots of ideas. Here's several ideas for having fun while out camping:#1 Go fly a kite. I have always had a thing with kites and model rockets. Whenever we go camping I like to have one of my smaller kites with me. It helps to have a smaller packable kite, like those at Go Fly A Kite. Or bring these instructions along with you to make your own.#2 Bored Games. What to

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1143093442043013302006-03-23T00:42:00.000-05:002006-03-23T00:59:05.386-05:00

I'm on the eve of a 10 day trip to California and wanting to get in a post right now. So here's a couple of quick links for short interesting bits I've found on the internet.#1 The Firefly - A backpack bottle with an integrated LED light in the cap. The result: A lantern, a water bottle, hey, it's both! The website has some nice backpacking gear too.#2 In the vein of the earlier post on the pop

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1136649888986052592006-01-07T10:42:00.000-05:002006-02-08T16:02:14.086-05:00

Well, enough about car camping! Here's one for your crusty backpackers, you know, the Old Skool backpackers. Can't afford a cook stove, or don't want to pay "the man" for one, you know? Well, finish off that can o' PBR, drink another, wait, don't smash it on your forehead- and peruse a couple of the links below. You can make your own, with the leavings from your nasty beer/soda habit!Seems that

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1135912417035588932005-12-29T22:01:00.000-05:002006-01-07T10:41:48.316-05:00

Ok, so I've got a fetish about notebooks. I just got a Moleskine, I have a bunch of Circas and I have plenty of small leather and plastic notebooks laying around. I'm not an artist, or a journal writer, but I love to have something to write in close at hand. Just my thing. My boss's wife saw me pull two of these out at a work breakfast speach we all attended (she sort of works with us) and

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1135911259593740332005-12-29T21:45:00.000-05:002005-12-29T22:17:44.850-05:00

It's winter, but I just reserved a campsite at one of Michigan's state parks. Think I'm nuts? Then you haven't camped at MI's state parks. Michigan allows you to reserve campsites 6 months in advance. In October we found this awesomely beautiful park called Port Crescent. It's litterally at the tip of the thumb of Michigan. What's so great about it is that it has about a dozen campsites

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1123427299431060592005-08-07T10:17:00.000-04:002006-01-06T20:38:18.553-05:00

Ah, the campfire. Cooking over the campfire usually falls into three categories: stuff on a grill, stuff in a pot like a dutch oven (and we'll cover that soon), and stuff on a stick. Stick cooking can include hot dogs, hot dogs, and if you're daring, bread. Unless you use the Pie Iron.The pie iron is made up of two cupped pieces of metal on the end of longish sticks or poles and they clamp

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1122922001801332412005-08-01T14:35:00.000-04:002005-08-03T15:03:57.380-04:00

Cool Tools has a nice little write up on these nifty origami style tableware from Orikaso. The bowls and plates fold into shape and snap together and when stored unfold into flat sheets. They can also be used as chopping boards, coffee filters, dog bowls and I bet they work in a pinch as a gold panning. You can get a dish, a cup and a rice bowl. They appear to come in blue and red, but you

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1122557293342203622005-07-28T08:46:00.000-04:002005-07-28T09:30:47.950-04:00

There are plenty of sources that tell you how to make a fire. There are plenty of books on camping, Boy Scout Handbooks and websites all describe firebuilding, or woodcraft, in one way or another. But I still had a time of getting a good campfire going. If the wood was dry then it would start right up, but often turn to smoldering logs quickly. Or we would have nothing available but wet wood.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1122433804534730322005-07-26T22:12:00.000-04:002005-07-26T23:17:03.800-04:00

Before we bought our travel trailer, I was somewhat intrigued by the vintage teardrop campers I saw on a TV show. I still think they're cool and perfect for a couple or a 3 person family who really want to travel light. If you are OK with the one minus to the camper - size - then the pluses really add up. What's even better is that there are several really nice models being made right now and

Johnnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1121893356197991652005-07-20T14:45:00.000-04:002005-07-22T10:38:12.736-04:00

These days you can access weather information through just about everything - TV, radio, weather radio, cell phones, websites, and even podcasts. When you go camping knowing what weather you will encounter is about the most important piece of information you can gather. It can affect your clothing, your bedding and perhaps even the shelter you bring. Weather can affect your planned activities

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1118089743405782742005-06-06T15:37:00.000-04:002005-06-08T16:07:25.560-04:00

Why just stop with a squished ball of ground beef? Here's some quick bites for the hamburger:Grind your own, Alton Brown tells us how.Sun Dried Tomato burgers at Epicurious.I came to love these during trips to New Mexico, Green Chili Cheeseburgers.Burger making tips.A tasty sweet onion topper recipe at Better Homes & Gardens.And, of course, a Hamburger Blog!

Johnnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1118086497160414992005-06-06T14:28:00.000-04:002005-07-22T10:37:02.263-04:00

If you have ventured into Michigan for summer camping vacations you probably know about Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. What you may not know much about is the other Michigan National Lakeshore, Pictured Rocks. This 40 mile long shoreline park has 15 miles of continuous sheer cliffs towering over the lake, with numerous little bays, beaches and inlets as well. It also includes 3 drive in

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1117135365063878382005-05-26T15:04:00.000-04:002005-05-26T15:22:45.076-04:00

Every state in the US has at least one winery, except Alaska, and I'm probably wrong about that too. Where there are wineries, there's wine tasting. Wine tasting, as day long activity is no longer confined to California. Michigan, Texas, Virginia, New Mexico, even Indiana, have winery tours and tastings. In fact, I bet nearly all states have at least one wine trail - just type wine tour in

Johnnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1116874688918121242005-05-23T14:33:00.000-04:002005-05-23T15:28:35.200-04:00

Growing up my family went on a camping trip every summer. We loaded up the station wagon, drove thousands of miles across the US and pitched the tent wherever we stopped. Mt. Rushmore, Toronto, Washington, DC and Carlsbad Caverns were among our destinations over the years. I always looked forward to the summer vacation camping trip. Once I moved away from home I camped little, hardly at all. The

Johnnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1116530725874014142005-05-19T15:25:00.000-04:002005-05-19T18:08:47.756-04:00

The camping board at About.com has a nice summary of Geocaching, which is a combination of a scavenger hunt and mapreading. Here's it in a nutshell: Nice folks go out to some place interesting/hard to get to/scenic or otherwise and leave a watertight container with a log book and some trinkets. You look them up on the internet by location, get the coordinates and take off with your GPS in search

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1116530169495592872005-05-19T15:08:00.000-04:002005-05-19T15:21:43.646-04:00

I have always wanted a really excellent pair of binoculars. Binos are a great thing to have along on trips, especially if you like to hike or are a nature watcher. Good ones are expensive, but in my limited experience, if you really want magnified vision over a longish distance (at least 1 km) they are well worth it. And if you rough it, they could be vital to your safety. The Tong Family

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1115842808525413522005-05-11T14:51:00.000-04:002005-05-19T11:31:47.136-04:00

As I hope you are starting to gather from my posts, I don't believe that camp cooking has to always involve tinfoil pouches and bisquick. Since a lot of camp cooking is either on a grille, or is grilling type cooking, here's some links to help you out:Everything thing you thought you knew about grilling...Meat Grilling TimesWines for HamburgersLet me throw in my favorite wine for hamburgers -

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1115729435137044012005-05-10T08:41:00.000-04:002005-05-10T08:52:23.390-04:00

Yes, we own an Airstream. We are one of the vintage Airstream people you occasionally see at the campgroud. We got it because it looked cool, and had a neat look and feel on the inside. Also, being nearly 40 years old it was a bargain. Buying and selling of these old classics has become very popular lately, due in part to recent media coverage, from the Simple Life, to Martha Stewart, but also

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1115399904510324692005-05-06T13:02:00.000-04:002005-05-06T13:18:24.543-04:00

Nifty website Ehow has great little tutorials on everything, from how to buy a kimono to how to win a Quake Deathmatch. If you like maps as much as I do, the you'll want to read how to fold and care for a topo map . Somewhat simplistic, but it can help you from wearing out your map too soon.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1115241948050512722005-05-04T17:15:00.000-04:002005-05-08T11:45:21.563-04:00

The folks over at the Airstream forums don't just talk about how to wash and wax their silver twinkies, they also debate grilles. Consensus seems to be the Weber Q. But here's some other ones:Ikea:and theColeman:Hey, and nice Airstream shots in the Weber ads on TV.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114716431712253392005-04-28T15:27:00.000-04:002005-04-28T17:17:27.766-04:00

If you are a first time camper, either tent or RV, you may be somewhat lost as what to bring on your first trip. Here's a collection of lists of camping items from various places on the 'net. (BTW, I'm not up on any affiliate programs for any of this stuff, yet. I'm not pimping this stuff, yet. Yet.) Camping in general: About.com's List Family Camping Gear Camping-USA For Tent'ers: Coleman

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114570632204636382005-04-26T22:51:00.000-04:002005-04-26T22:57:12.206-04:00

Ok, this new category wasn't exactly a real mental challenge to come up with. But I realized that something fell in between all of the other categories. I'll try to stay away from the typical firecraft and Boy Scout stuff, but if I run across a good one, I'll post it.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114539261654018022005-04-26T14:08:00.000-04:002005-04-26T14:14:41.820-04:00

Devilled eggs have never been my thing. They're ok, but just not my style. However, they are picnic food, and therefore they should also be good camping food. Somebody over at Flickr has posted a nice sounding recipe for crabmeat devilled eggs - these I think I could eat a lot of. If you can boil eggs at camp, you can make these. Good finger food for entertaining. Someone let me know if you try

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114481793515310052005-04-25T22:09:00.000-04:002005-04-26T09:57:55.406-04:00

Ok, here's a quickie recipe that will please anyone, despite the weird sounding title. It's this simple:HamburgerLe chevre with herbs goat cheese (find it in your grocers cheese case, not by Kraft)Garlic powderSalt & Pepper to tasteKeep the cheese real cold. Cut off a small disc of cheese, about the diameter of a silver dollar, and about a quarter inch thick. Make two thin hamburger patties and

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114481306211344952005-04-25T22:04:00.000-04:002005-05-07T07:33:10.566-04:00

While we're on the topic of grilles, here's a quick grille tip, which I heard about from the beer can chicken guy. Always grease up your grille: do it before you put on the food; after you're done cooking grease it again. If you do this right after all of the food is removed and scrub it down with a bronze brush it cleans up a whole lot easier. After scrubbing grease it up one more time while

Johnnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114480407121870172005-04-25T21:44:00.000-04:002005-04-29T22:45:17.856-04:00

I don't know why I was so enamored with the thought of having a cast iron grille, but I just had to have one. Well, my beautiful and talented wife got me the Lodge Grille:And I have not been disappointed. It's a bit on the small side, like a hibachi, but there's only two of us so it's fine for a couple of steaks or hamburgers. This could easily cook four hamburgers or four medium chicken breasts

Johnnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114433294571436972005-04-25T08:41:00.000-04:002005-04-25T08:48:14.573-04:00

Well, now, I don't want this to become a gadgety blog. Those are fine, but instead of reviewing all of the new gear out there I want to find the good stuff, and then show how it fits together with the fun stuff. Eh, that sounded kind of stuffy but it's what I'm trying to get at.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114395711410103662005-04-24T22:16:00.000-04:002005-04-24T22:21:51.410-04:00

Gear will be anything that you can't eat or change your clothes in, excepting not RV vehicles. This will include cooking devices, clothing, books, websites, electronics, furniture and so on. Now, as of yet, I'm not talking about hard core hiking with a 40 lb pack on your back into the mountains, cause I don't do that...as of yet. For right now this will be about family style camping, around the

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1114389845222300832005-04-24T20:33:00.000-04:002005-04-24T20:44:05.223-04:00

I often search the internet for something I never find: a new way of doing things, or a new wrinkle on an old subject. It happens to me frequently. I hope that someone is bored with the way things have been done for the last 50 years and has something new and fun. I searched like this when digital cameras became so prevalent about four years ago. Now I've been doing it again, this time with

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078885132308276182004-03-09T21:16:00.000-05:002004-03-09T21:22:45.450-05:00

Ok, not that sad. I wish I could post more, but instead I should be working on the project. I'll try to get caught up with the blog shortly. Oh how I wish I could just play games, chess, or write that Opera about sentient plants, "Love Amongst the Vegetals." Actually a Rock opera, or a concept album. Not sure which.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078884546638149042004-03-09T21:00:00.000-05:002004-03-09T21:13:25.996-05:00

Had a lull the in the Blog. "Freddie" sent some crap, I bitched about it, he bitched back, and then it got dropped. We met the Profs, then I met our Advisor with Carmine and "Sam." Our advisor thought that Carmine's write up was good, I personally think he copied most of it, yet "course" was mispelled to "coarse." Hmmm, something not right here. I wracked my brains all day Saturday trying to

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078883981791067152004-03-09T20:48:00.000-05:002004-03-09T21:02:49.686-05:00

Whilst my wife is watching a show on Jim Jones, I'm on the Internet and run across a nice little article about Masons. Dumb, drunk frat boys pulling this shit is one thing, but being 76????? Woof. Groucho Marks was right.

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078284494094047312004-03-02T22:22:00.000-05:002004-03-02T22:39:38.373-05:00

"Tex" returned today. Now, he's one of the professors advising on this project. He'd been away, ahem, doing something fun for the last month, so he hadn't been sitting in on our sessions. The last couple of times he had been there, he had given us contradictory guidance from what the other profs had. Well, he didn't really go that far tonite, but he did "ask" us to give him an outline of what

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078198159372241502004-03-01T22:23:00.000-05:002004-03-01T22:37:29.780-05:00

"Carmine" is an international student and a member of the project. I think he works about three jobs. At times I can't tell if there is a language and cultural barrier or if he's just lazy. I don't think he's stupid, because he is the only one that really has brought up counterpoints to any of the material I have presented to the team. "Carmine" is one of the team mates that seems to have had

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078197767316534362004-03-01T22:01:00.000-05:002004-03-02T17:16:55.263-05:00

Here's an example of how this whole team thing has been going. I got an email from "Freddie" today. He had taken responsibility for two of the final chapters of the project report on motivation and training. Well, he intended to round up the two full time students and I think have them feed him valuable journal articles and he'd put it together. I heartily agreed, since I'd been trying to

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078196488280136392004-03-01T21:47:00.000-05:002004-03-01T22:38:51.246-05:00

The professors wanted to see things like architectures and rules for data capture and categorization. In the spirit of the auto, it was suggested that we could recommend a Roadmap. A Roadmap for Implementation of Knowledge Management. Oh, boy was that a good one. It's what we went with. We wrote out project need statements and scopes that got chopped on and rearranged by our projessors, most

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078012385529097652004-02-28T18:46:00.000-05:002004-02-28T18:57:34.310-05:00

Well, if the project is about knowledge management, here's a little knowledge for you. I've added some links. I was interested in some earth science things one time and came across the Nine Planets website. A really fantastic site for learning just about anything about the Solar System. And the Web Time Machine will tell you what era Trilobites lived in and how long ago Pangea existed (

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078011465988164182004-02-28T18:30:00.000-05:002004-02-28T18:40:39.483-05:00

So, we began researching knowledge management topics. I think that I, and I am certain that several of my teammates, thought that we would find some easily or even not so easily, implementable Access database type of thing that we could populate with bogus data, get some opinions on and then show it off to the professors, get our grades and be done. Ha ha. (I suspect that one or two of the

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1078010971919109172004-02-28T18:23:00.000-05:002004-02-28T18:32:25.513-05:00

Of sorts. After cranking out the introductary section and chapters 1 and 2 (as we are calling them right now) I have taken a break. Unless it's a deadline I never work on Friday, and I never have studied on Friday night, just won't do it and pretty soon it won't matter ever again. As for Thursday, we had a pile of movies from Netflix collecting and so we watched one and then went to bed. I

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1077817558703709882004-02-26T12:38:00.000-05:002004-02-28T18:43:04.543-05:00

Sorry if you thought this was a blog about Steinbeck. My wife and I do happen to like all things Steinbeck, and her much more than me, but I just chose the title cause I like it and this is a journey, maybe not as cool as his was, and there's no dog. Here, I'll channel him for those of you that came here expecting Steinbeck: Woke up this morning late. I fear this project will never get

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1077817105517633132004-02-26T12:18:00.000-05:002004-02-26T12:41:15.920-05:00

At first it started as a review of a Lessons Learned database. One of the teammate's firm has a database that co-workers put lessons learned in for engineering problems. He identified that it problems because it wasn't being used by engineers for advice, and it was not being populated dilligently. Furthermore, there was no apparent vetting process for the info that was in there, and so people

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1077772102476590322004-02-26T00:01:00.000-05:002004-02-26T12:20:23.716-05:00

I sent out the sections of the report tonite, according to the latest schedule. I wrote the schedule, at the behest of my team mates. No one commmented on it, or made changes to it. I doubt they will really pay attention to it. No one has read the whole project thru, from beginning to what's completed. They couldn't have, for they would know that the latter parts make no sense, not in

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6536034.post-1077771690112211742004-02-25T23:56:00.000-05:002004-02-26T12:20:52.700-05:00

The project is a two semester long activity that is supposed to use all of what we have learned in the program. The program was originally built around a particular company's desire to train engineers to be corporate executives. The program was then transferred to an on-campus version. I am in the on-campus version. Previous projects have all been focused on particular problems at that

Johnnoreply@blogger.com0