The Hall Family Photoblog - February 2013 - David, Joan, Svea, Brigitta & Annika

John, Jean, Kira, Luke and Marian came for a visit this past weekend. They arrive in February hoping to get the chance to see and enjoy some snow. We had no snow this weekend, but we were able to get out for a hike, play some games and enjoy our time together. We all were very happy not to have to visit Papa in the hospital. He had been admitted from Sunday through Wednesday evening for some water in his lungs which was related to an irregular heart and diabetes.

Virginia Kendall (Dinosaurs AGAIN!)

TARC Qualification Launch

2-18-2013 ~ Blog # 504

(David)

Today is the deadline for submitting TARC round one qualification scores. Yesterday all four of our teams made qualification attempt flights; it was a cold, snowing and windy day. The elements wrecked havoc on our flight performance and we lost 37.5% of our rockets to the Rocket Eating Tree Demons. All teams made two or three practice launches before calling an official qualification launch; each team has only three official qualification launches for the season. While three teams had four members show up for the launch, poor Svea was on her own. On her first flight Svea's rocket failed to eject it's parachute and it lawn-darted a good six inches into the earth. The nose cone, altimeter, and fin section survived and we managed to rebuild the rocket with spare parts. The rebuilt rocket flew well on its second flight, but the main section parachute failed to open and a fin snapped loose on impact with the ground. Her qualification attempt flight was a Hail-Mary shot. The nose cone separated from the payload section when the parachute deployed and the expensive altimeter fell into a deep, snowy, forested ravine. The nose and tail parachute sections drifted into trees about 700 feet from the launch pad. The altimeters emit a beeping code that indicates the rocket's altitude at apogee. At the end of the day, while looking for a rocket section that was lost last week, a team member found Svea's altimeter.

Our girl's team lost their nose section to a tree 40 feet up and 1500 feet from the launch pad; the wind carried it nearly twice as far horizontally as it flew vertically. The other two teams managed respectable scores, but scores that really don't stand a realistic chance of qualifying.

That yellow speck in the center of this photo is the parachute of the girl's team's rocket nose section.

Svea's official attempt. That yellow speck in the left of this photo is the parachute of her nose section.

Merlin

The girls have become hooked on the TV show Merlin, via Netflix. It's a good show, but I sometimes prefer taking pictures.

Expiration to the Minute!

As I shook McCormic Montreal Steak spices onto my pasta the other night, the expiration date caught my eye. As if April 7th, 2014 isn't an accurate enough best-used-by/expiration date for a spice that we probably bought last year, they include a time to the minute!

Game 2

2-15-2013 ~ Blog # 503

(David)

Brigitta's team won their first match, lost the second one in overtime 29-27 and won the final match. Brigitta played well and served well (underhand). There was one volley where she returned the ball three times in a row. The first 14 shots below were shot on my old manual focus 85mm at f2.0; I'm pleased that I got this many in focus, especially at f2.0. The last 13 were shot with an autofocus 50mm at f1.4.

Rockets

2-10-2013 ~ Blog # 502

(David)

We launched some rockets today and left the top half of one about 79 feet up in a tree. Three of our four teams stand a reasonable chance of getting a qualifying launch next week. Svea' team has been the only team to use the "Smokey Sam" motors; they have not worked out well. They've been unpredictable and often underpowered. They will be trying another motor next week, but won't have as much of a chance to tune it in before calling a qualification attempt launch.

Old Anni

100's Day at IHM

GFS Visits Mulberry Gardens Assisted Living

2-6-2013 ~ Blog # 501

(David)

Last night the Junior Youth Group danced at Mulberry Gardens Assisted Living in Munroe Falls.


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The Festival of Nations 2013
Akron Civic Theatre

2-2-2013 ~ Blog # 500!

(David)

Last night we went to the fourth annual The Festival of Nations 2013 at the Akron Civic Theatre. It was a great show. I brought my camera and old manual focus 85mm f2 and 135mm f2.8 to see what I could get.