After years of building my own Windows desktop computers, and serving as the in-house I.T. Department, I broke down and bought one of the new MacBooks. What a sleek piece of design technology. Apple really knows how to do it right. At the same time I got the Canon Pixma MP560 multi-function printer/scanner. Because it is wireless, as well as the Apple keyboard and Magic Mouse, we will normally use the MacBook as a laptop but then quickly change over to the desktop environment when it is time for heavy duty writing. The only thing to plug in is the monitor cable. Sweet!

On our recent trip to Mendocino and the Northern California coast, we stopped by the Point Arena lighthouse. This is a great picture of the recently retired Fresnel lens that warned passing ships for decades. Elegantly effective, but now sadly replaced by a LED strobe less than 6 inches high. Efficient but lifeless.

Here's the plane I'm building. Just in case you haven't seen what's taking shape in my garage.