Tag: Korean Drama

Reflections on a Sunny Sunday, a Book and a Korean Drama

First the Drama.  I just finished the 30 episode Korean drama, King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo.

Why I liked it:  It has the typical themes, which I really admire:  team work, loyalty and hard work. The ubiquitous, but trite romantic triangle and an ending, which frankly, in trying to be different, was just plain stupid.

But in spite of the ending, I liked this drama because of its constant theme about teamwork, not holding grudges and most of all, being positive no matter what, really touched me.  I have never been much of a grudge holder.  I’ve always forgotten over slights and insults quickly (I usually forget) and most importantly, I strive to never have negative thoughts.

And I realized that I have always tried to live my life that way, without negative thoughts.  Just knowing that I always strived to do the right thing for those I was responsible for.

So when your life is wonderful, there is no point in holding grudges against those who have wronged you.  A lesson well learned and this drama is an enjoyable way to remind yourself of that goal.

http://www.dramaload.ch/korean-drama-krtvs-king-of-baking-kim-tak-goo/

 

 

I’ve talked about this book before,  but much like the Korean Drama above, the real lesson about looking forward and being positive.

Steady As She Goes by John Malloy

Why I liked it:  His descriptive detail of the maritime industry and world trade of the late 50’s.

I felt I was going back in a time machine, it’s that well written.  Starting out as a young 18 year apprentice we see him grow through storms, exotic ports and romance.  We see the world of the late 1950’s and into 1960 with the election of the first Irish President, JFK.

Counties as varied as England, Malaysia, Japan, India and the South Pacific, we see a world far removed from today.  11,000 tons of ore being loaded by hand, families spending weeks onboard to unload or load a ship full of grain or iron ore one bucket at a time.

It’s a wonderful snapshot of the world 50 years ago.  His detail of the US Deep South, the Irish crew’s reaction to Jim Crow and his growing admiration for the people and culture of Japan.

Lastly, It’s a love story:  with the sea, his comrades and the love of his life.

http://www.amazon.com/Steady-She-Goes-John-Molloy-ebook/dp/B00KB2A3UO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1422800444&sr=1-1&keywords=steady+as+she+goes

 

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More Shenanigans or How Do I Really Spend My Days

I wrote this over the last two days.

I have a 12v heating pad on my bed and it is probably the only thing keeping me from becoming a frozen board by morning.  During the last few days I have come to understand that the current for this heating pad is not going through my Victron Battery Monitor.  I figured this out by watching the current draw and the voltage, as I turn on the heating pad.  The current does not change, but the voltage does.

That’s bad. My initial reaction was to do nothing, but this morning, after stirring the pot a bit on Cruisers Forum, I decided I should do something about it.

Why?  Inquiring minds want to know?  Because I used a positive lead that also powered this red light that is under my bed stand and over the fluxgate compass.  So now, what bothered me even more was that if the heat pad was not going thru the Victron Battery Monitor,(it tells me how much power is left in the batteries and how much I am using at any given time)

It meant that the supply line was not coming from the main distribution panel, which could also mean that it is not going thru any circuit breaker.  That’s a problem.  While I put fuses on most things I add, I want everything to go thru at least one of the distribution panels and its respective circuit breaker.

That also allows me to know that when I turn everything off, everything is actually off and with no power going to it. Critical when I leave the boats for longer periods of time.

Now as to why there is a red light, in a 2 ft. by 1 ft. night stand is a good question. The most likely reason I can come up with, is that the first owner saw the need to put the little people down there to navigate and provide better information for the fluxgate compass, as it surely needed it.

I guessing the little people escaped once I got to Ireland, because I have never seen them.

But that’s clearly a whole other story.

So, I decided, how hard can it be?  I crossed the Atlantic; this shouldn’t take more than a half hour.  Whenever you think something shouldn’t take more than a half hour, pack a lunch and probably a dinner too.

Now, 5 hours later, I’m done.  I’ll just give you the highlights, which included:

  • Spending an hour to out back together the Japanese 12v DC outlet, including spending at least 20 minutes putting a little bolt in backwards and not understanding why it didn’t tighten anything.
  • Spending an hour trying to get a too fat a wire thru too small a hole, then a different wire, then too many shenanigans to mention; before finally drilling another hole.
  • Getting everything all back together, turning on the circuit breaker only to see a draw of 0.7A when everything was off. Knowing there was nothing plugged into any of the 12v outlets, I quickly checked the propane solenoid, and thank god, I had left it on and it was the culprit.

So after all that, but now, I turn on the heating pad and it’s not clear that I have corrected the problem.

It’s not clear because even though it is raining and of course cloudy, the solar panels still put about a quarter amp into the batteries and I have no easy way to turn that off.

Tonight, we shall see what we shall see.

Nothing Changed!

Once it was dark, by 16:30, it was clear that absolutely nothing had changed.  No current being registered  on the Victron.

I decided to start watching a new Korean Drama.

So this morning, after my tasty breakfast of lemon meringue pie and coffee, I decided to tackle the elusive heating pad again.

I realized that I had just changed the load source and not the ground and the Victron was measuring through the ground.  Duh

This time it only took me an hour.  But I sure am glad I had made that larger hole yesterday, otherwise I’d still be f..ing around with it.

Now, I wish I would have thought to wire in an indicator light.

 

I really wrote this for the folks on Trawler Forum, but thought some of you may like.  Please tell me one way or another.

Richard