Wave or Particle?

I read about Quantum mechanics.

One of the problems is visualization since my math is weak.

The quantum world has problems, lots of shit happening when

according to math----it shouldn't.
There's always the wave or particle problem?
Spooky action at distance?

Mathematics is used to prove concepts, predict and display facts---
but how does one discuss concepts without 

a common shared visualization?

There have been many attempts at a shared visualization of quantum elements

which have failed ...Niels Bohr developed the planetary atomic design

very neat,  very clean,  the fact is tho that nothing quantum is clean or neat.

Since then there has been the solid nucleus with the electron cloud design and 

many, many other attempt conceptions in an attempt to explain the visuals of the atomic world.
Describing something we cannot see, hardly understand and can barely imagine. 

Today i developed my own visualization....

A storm cell.

Visualizing quantum material such as an atom as a storm cell. Particle or wave form?

As in hail or wind?

I was really glad to come up with this concept---

It helps explain/define the quantum world to me in multiple storm cells
floating/interacting/creating.

"Genius" is an outstanding biography and i am approximately 
half through it--one of those books you wish would not end.

"Love and Math" I just received.

I ordered both these books because of the holidays.

I work through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays while everyone 

takes off...The advantage is that no one is there and I can catch up

on my reading.

After the official holidays is when i take my time off.

The ongoing saga of my Russian Strela

My recent Strela purchase does not function properly.

Intermittent operation.  Run stop, run stop with no pattern.

I have tried a non-complete dis-assembly cleaning and lubing  process.

No luck.

I believe that the problem is lack of quality control in final assembly,

which means there are almost two many X-factors for me to figure out.

I am therefore planning on replacement of the auto-mechanical movement. 

Tomorrow i am going to disassemble the watch completely and 

determine if i have in my parts a viable replacement movement or 

have to order one.

The hands, face, and case alone make this process worthwhile.
This watch has a tremendous cool factor i just cannot resist.

I'll advise of the ultimate results. 

"Time is what we want most,

but what we use worse."

William Penn

Stuff

I've spent time doing minor things that 

have great importance in a manner.

Up late one night prowling the shortwave bands.

Taping music off you tube with my new Walkman Professional.

Selling unnecessary stuff on ebay. Ordering necessary stuff off Amazon

Getting my resonator guitar out and playing on it for a bit. 

Building a third worm farm.
It feels so very good to catch up on the small stuff.

The missing details.

Today i will be working on and organizing the nerd cave.

I sold one of the watches i built. My first capitalistic event in
watchmaking.
It felt great to sell something i built, but worrisome as well.
I must have checked the watch's mechanics 15 times before handing it
over to the buyer. When you hand craft something and then sell
it, your name is on it, with all the subsequent pluses and minuses to
that concept.

In route to me with it's arrival supposedly scheduled for today is a 

Slava, Kashalot CCCP mechanical, self winding, wristwatch.

Slava began building watches in the Soviet Union in 1924.

This is a large size, thick, basic watch, with a design known for the

zero marker at the 12 o'clock position.

My order is the dress version. The casual version of this design

has extremely large, black numerals and a huge zero at the 12 position. 

I actually prefer the dress watch visuals.

I found this particular watch by accident on the web for 1/4 of

the standard retail pricing.

The first action will be to replace the band with one i have in stock.

Russian watches have horrible bands and this one comes with

a beyond tacky, blue, almost like leather but less, band.

You gotta love soviet watches tho---strong like bull.

This week i had one excellent listening night on the shortwave radio band.

I picked up the SW BBC world service, which due to budget cuts has

curtailed much of it's transmitting--so finding it was excellent.

Radio Havana Cuba is always a favorite of mine and was very

clear on this evening.

I also pinpointed several other stations such as a world time

auto station, and an unknown french speaking station which i believe was 

possibly from Africa. 

I do enjoy listening, and scanning for broadcasts late into the night.

This is also something that can continue for me no matter my age.

"Judge a man by his questions,

rather than his answers."

Voltaire

testing-testing HD681

The defeat of the Taliban Tea Party candidate in Virginia coupled with the
defeat of the NYC Republican 1%er candidate gives me a small,

very very very small glimmer of hope for the future destruction

of these Republican, dick photographing, God-shouting, shitheads either in office or
running for office. 

Has the American public woken up?

Nah--

But it's nice to dream.

JoJo and i have started playing chess on the weekends.

She tries to get me to play evenings after work but 

her devious plan to take advantage of me when my

brain is drained by work I successfully resist. 

We are really enjoying playing and she is,of course,  very good.

I found and ordered a Led Zeppelin, boxed set #1, on Amazon. 

This was in cassette format, used and extremely cheap.

That's the great thing about being the cassette geek that i am--shit is cheap.

With the right equipment, settings and care, analog tape is no problem.

To me anyway. 

I studied up on the audio system in my Toyota FJ and found a universal plug in port.

My plan is to recondition a Walkman WM101 cassette player I

purchased in Japan years ago and run analog cassette tape through the

truck audio system as well. 

Season one on Disc.

I recently purchased a pair of Superlux  HD681 headphones.

I haven't bought a set of headphones in years.

The advances in technology and the reduction in price were astounding.

I'm planning on using these phones as monitors during recording off

my various tape recorders.

These are cheap and amazingly cool. 

The above is the radio and taping area of my very small nerd cave.

Below the watch repair area.
Don't be misled. My nerd cave is really small--that is the way tho i
like it--sort of cozy with all my nerd toys about me, within easy reach.

"The Empires of the future are

the empires of the mind."

Winston Churchill

en passant

I have been slowly studying up on chess for a few weeks now. I received my
chess clock this week. I also am reading/studying the below book as well
as surfing through the amazing amount of chess material on the net. 

It is very nice to be starting out to play again, although this time with some understanding 
beyond my jailhouse chess style.

What i have not done for quite some time is my plastic modeling.
I am possibly 1/4 way thru the construction of my Scud TEL and since returning to work I have really done nothing on it. This is acceptable since i developed a system allowing me to
both protect sub assemblies and notate assembly instructions.
This new system should allow me to leap back into construction when i have time 
available at the correct point with the correct parts. 
This particular kit is quite complicated, even without adding the additional
detail kits i am using.
The end result however should be an excellent display item for the nerd cave.

If you have read my blog previously you know that i am 
a somewhat severe tape head. 
Reel to reel and cassette the only exception to my affliction is the "no 8 tracks dude" rule.
I use my recorders for many different projects, the most recent---recording
SW station transmissions from around the world.
This week for me was awesome in the game of portable cassette stereo recorders.
 I managed a perfect deal by finding and purchasing from Japan
a used Sony WM-D6 otherwise known as a professional walkman.
Don't let the term walkman fool you. The WM-D6 is considered, by experts in the field, 
 the second highest recording quality cassette deck ever made---EVER.
It is on it's way to me from what appears to be a very decent guy, (in emails anyway)
direct from Japan...

The WM-D6 has the capability of recording on high bias metal particle 
cassette tape. 
This type of tape is hard to find today.
You can imagine that the bottom has fallen out of the cassette tape manufacturing business.
Most companies are only producing standard, voice quality tape.
New high quality recording cassette tapes are not being produced so the 
hunt is for NIB (new in the box) previously manufactured, but untouched tapes. 
This week I found and have purchased  a pair
of English Denon metal cassette tapes, new in the packaging.
At this moment you are doing the shaking your head thing,
saying  WTF kind of geek is this guy?
Whereas i am dancing the happy dance.

"Touch my kid--go ahead--touch him."

"If voting changed anything,

They'd make it illegal."

Emma Goldman