Monday, December 27, 2010

Pew Ledge Purpose


If you've ever wondered what the ledge is for at the back of a Church pew, I found the answer yesterday in our local Presbyterian Church, where I went to worship. It's the place where one rests one's weary feet (see photo).

Thursday, December 23, 2010

St. Margaret's Anglican


For the first time in a long time, here is a photo of a local Church -- St. Margaret's Anglican Church, Cape Town. It stands in the midst of the ugly, nondescript suburb of Parow. It is interesting to note the typical Anglican bell-turret, thatched roof, and modest architecture.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Tough Weeks


The past week or two were tough. They took it out of me. And in our service last Sunday, I got emotional. I got stuck. There is little I hate as much as drawing attention to myself. Wife M. has bone marrow cancer. Over the past year, she has three or four times declined to a point which is generally considered critical ("panic values"). The strange thing is, she is now some way above critical, yet things have been looking not unlike critical. The photo shows her the last time she made it to Church -- 5 December.

Friday, December 3, 2010

BFO Metal Detector [3]


I realised that one of my most radical designs is "out there", all over the Internet, yet doesn't appear on my own blog. So here it is. Before I appeared on the scene, the simplest metal detectors (even those requiring a complementary AM radio) were much more complex than this. This digital approach was my first "super simple" design -- then I further simplified it with an analog approach -- see BFO Metal Detector [1]. Finally I hit on the BB idea -- a self-contained "super simple" design -- see BB Metal Detector. You may click on this image to enlarge to 170k. See BFO Metal Detector [2] for another coil, which is just as suitable as the one described here, only there's more detail. Happy hunting!