Gary Lindgren, 2013 Update

Sorry I was unable to attend the 55 year Washburn Reunion. In May I flew back to Minneapolis to attend the 50^th reunion for the University of Minnesota  1963 Engineering Class. In those days the engineering program was for 5 years. There was an all day program of tours, lunches, picnics, etc. on May 10. The conclusion that night was getting dressed up in cap and gowns and then we lead in the new graduates of the 2013 College of Science and Engineering Class. It was the old-timers leading the fresh new kids. The tours that day were insider ones into areas most will never see. The first one a complete tour of the new Gopher Stadium, all the way from the presidents suite to Gopher locker room and walking the tunnel where the football players run out on game days. This was quite an experience. Next was a so-called ‘hard-hat’ tour of Northrop Memorial Auditorium. It has been in an extensive remodeling process for several years and probably  another 2 years to go. We all had to wear hard hats and watch every step.

In January 2010 my wife Carol and I went on a 3 week tour of the Antarctic region. We flew to Buenos Aires for an overnight stay and then a 3 hour flight to Ushuaia Argentina. Ushuaia is at the Southern tip of South America and then we boarded ship for the rest of the tour. Almost everyday there were 2 or 3 Zodiac landings on islands in the area to see the local flora and fauna. Sometimes we saw half a million Penguins in confined areas. Such a great experience. The weather was pretty good too, it’s their summer down there and the temperature ranged from the 50’s to maybe 30 degrees.

First stop was at Cargass Island, in the Falklands

Thousands and thousands of Penguins

Near Pleneau Island

Captain at the helm in a narrow straight

Treated to an orange juice cocktail for first landing on Antarctic continent

With more time available I got serious about my interest in seismology or the recording of earthquakes. I built a few seismometers and the most sensitive one records something almost every day. A few weeks ago I recorded a 6.2M earthquake almost halfway around the world. It was located in the South Sandwich Islands. Here is the latest seismograph, It is updated every 10 minutes.

Entirely different, I cleaned up an old Edison Player a couple weeks ago. If you're interested in antiques, check this out.