Brand's Blog

Aleutian Tales, Volume Two, Power Station

- Dear Brand,
- Hate to waste paper so will bring you up to date on the power supply  for my Mac.  My inverter went gunny sack.  The transformer broke down  so I was forced back into using the power from the village's ol  diesel generators.  Well, the village's power plant burned down. Everyone in town turned out to watch the fire.  I ran the other direction to the general store and bought flashlight batteries, lantern fuel and a new chain for my chain saw.  As you know, there are no trees out here but we do have a little driftwood and some old World War II buildings are still around.  The weather was cold but we  got along just fine.

- Remember the fish cannery and power house I built for Pan Alaska
  Fisheries?  Well, we tied into their electrical system. They are out
  of business but the plant is still there.  This letter is being
  written using their power.  In the mean time I have been working full
  time building the    village a new, modern power house.   The village
  purchased a huge old concrete building from the native Aleuts.  The
  walls of the building are 5 feet thick.   There are two roofs.  The
  first is 7 feet thick and the next roof is only 5 feet thick.  The
  building was built to withstand direct hits from 1000 pound Japanese
  bombs.  Inside the building are two 20 foot deep pits connected to
  Iliuliuk Bay  by 36 inch pipes.  The tide comes in and out of the
  pits with regularity.  I do my crab and Halibut fishing in the pits
  so I don't have to bounce around the Bering Sea in my little skiff.
  I installed three 10 horsepower pumps in the pits.  These pumps pump
  sea water through three heat exchangers which cool the glycol coolant
  for the Caterpillar Diesel Generator sets.  The pumps are controlled
  by a computer which picks up a signal from a sensor in the coolant
  lines.

- I have installed four generators so far.  The largest is a 16
  cylinder Caterpillar that is a new model without a track record, but
  looks good.  Got it running yesterday.  The generators I have
  installed so far will produce 4.3 Megawatts of power.  I have to
  install two more to raise the total to 66.1 MW.  The control panels
  are operated by an Apple II.  The engines start and stop by
  themselves, on demand.  The reason for this is so that I can be home
  running my Mac instead of watching gauges in the power house.  The
  Apple will call me, on the land line,  if there is a problem.  The
  power     will be distributed by a 34,500 volt transmission line.
  The line and transformers are in and tested and we will try them out
  before thanksgiving. The entire powerhouse  installation was done by
  your old man with two or three helpers.  Anyway the computer owners
  in the area are all excited about having dependable power for their
  equipment.

- Oh yes!  I also installed several old fashioned radiators into the
  cooling system so that if the fancy heat recover system has a problem
  the radiators can take over so I won't have to leave my Mac.  I
  built,  a fuel system with an automatic emergency fuel supply so that
  if the fuel pumps fail the plant will still operate for 5 - 8 hours
  on the emergency supply.  I did the same thing with the air supply
  for starting the engines.  There is an emergency supply of air at all
  times if the main supply fails.  All that this means is that I
  shouldn't get called at night or have to rush to pull on my thermal
  underwear, wool socks etc. and drive to the power house with my head
  stuck out of the window in the freezing rain 'cause I couldn't take
  time to scrape the ice from the windshield ( there are no garages in
  Unalaska).

- Now for the bright side of the story.  I do not have to buy a new
  $175 inverter and the exercise bike can stay in the corner and gather
  dust. Bad news!  I've gained 5 pounds since my inverter went gunny
  sack.  Good news!   The fish plant power house has been dependable.
  Haven't lost anything on the Mac.  The power has only gone off three
  times, once when the sewer guys dug up the power line, once when Pan
  Alaska's watchman forgot to turn on a radiator and once after a T.V.
  football game that the State beamed to us over a satellite.  The game
  ended just before supper time and everyone in town started cooking
  dinner at the same time and all the kids had to take baths before
  dinner.  The electrical load was just too much and a fuse blew.  I
  set up a schedule for bathing for the villagers. Families with names
  from Amaknak to McGlasan take their baths on even numbered days and
  families from Merculieff to Tutikoff take theirs on odd numbered
  days.  It seems to be working O.K. except that I saw a Galaktionoff
  girl sneak over to a Sherebernikoff boy's house carrying a towel,
  wash cloth and soap.  Ah, to be young again.

- Pop

February 1986

Aleutian Tales, Volume One

- Dear Brand,

- Just received the copies of the CU MUG (Champaign- Urbana Macintosh Users Group) newsletters.  They are terrific. Just finished carefully reading them.  They are full of interesting things.  Of course, most of it is over my head and the rest I don't understand too well.  It's
  hell getting old.

- As I mentioned, we get our elecrticity from a couple of old diesel
  generators and it costs us 34 cents a kilowatt hour.  Even at that
  price it isn't too reliable. I appreciate the information you sent me
  about the compatability between my Mac and my square wave inverter.
  The Mac seems to get along fine with the battery charger - inverter
  set up.  I was thinking I might need a larger truck battery but the
  regular sized car battery works just fine.

- I am now working on a set up where I can keep the battery charged
  with an alternator hooked up to our bicycle exerciser.   I am having
  trouble, however, using the mouse while pedaling. I haven't figured
  out whether to fasten the base for the keyboard firmly to the floor,
  separate from the bicycle, rest my arms on the supports and try to
  keep my hands steady, or to fasten the bicycle to the computer
  supports and let the entire structure move as a unit.  I'll keep you
  advised.

- I'm having fun with my program on salmon fishing.  I have been
  gathering data about the various streams and bays and the salmon
  runs, dates, specific locations, weather tides, times, bait or lures
  used.  The problem is that fishermen lie a lot. They will tell you
  that they caught their fish in Nanteekin Bay when I know they were
  fishing in Humpy Cove. They will tell you they were using Pink Pixies
  when they were using Rooster Tails.  They will swear the fising is
  poor in Beaver Inlet when there are a million fish swimming through
  the channel. The Aleuts are even worse than the rest of the liars.
  They tell wonderful stories about fishing, eagles and the ravens.
  They all sound completely believable but I am sure they are just
  avoiding telling me any thing definitive about salmon.
- Sure liked you article about the Cray.   Can't wait to see the next
  installment.  Thanks again for the CU MUG newsletters.  Can't wait
  for the next issue.  If I do anything interesting with my Mac, like
  running it from aa wind generator,  I will be sure to let you know.

- Pop
June 1985

Never Again Would Bird’s Song Be The Same

He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.
Admittedly an eloquence so soft
Could only have had an influence on birds
When call or laughter carried it aloft.
Be that as may be, she was in their song.
Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed
Had now persisted in the woods so long
That probably it never would be lost.
Never again would birds’ song be the same.
And to do that to birds was why she came.

--Robert Frost