Techno-flotsam. How geeky is this?

A few weeks ago when I was paddling I saw something floating in the middle of the channel. I went over to see what it was and found this gray hoodie, size Small, with an Old Navy label. I tossed in in the front of the kayak, dried it out on the deck, then finally yesterday got around to putting it in the laundry. When I was folding it I discovered that there was a digital-device plug not only sticking out of the pocket but actually sewn into it. Upon a closer look, I discovered there were earplugs at the end of the pink tie strings. When I looked inside again, I saw a label at the neck that said HB3 Technology.

Now really curious, I googled it and found that this is an "Old Navy Techno Hoodie with HB3 Technology." It has" built-in headphones inside the hood, with a jack inside the front pocket. Soft, warm jersey fleece. Wash with like colors in gentle cycle; lay flat to dry. Machine washable headphones." It costs $17 at The Gap. There's even a YouTube video about it.

On another website with a heading "How Geeky is This?" it says "The plug works with most mp3 players and phones." It shows it on sale for $15 from an original price of $29.50.
Since it is actually a cool thing but one that I'm not going to use, I'm going to send up a writeup to the island's weekly Newslinks to see if the original owner or someone else who might like it shows interest.

The visit of the Vicki Lynn

Here's why it's so much more entertaining to live life on the water and hang out on a river-facing deck instead of a private backyard. On Sunday I was sitting on the chaise lounge, working the New York Times crossword, and a boat, the Vicki Lynn, pulled up and people waved at me. I waved back. I thought one of the people aboard was a guy I know from mandolin class who keeps a boat downriver. Then I squinted and walked over and saw it wasn't him. Who were these people?

It turns out they belong to a boat club that is going to meet downriver at Hadley's Landing next weekend and they wanted to know if they could put up somewhere on my houseboat a fish flag that is their club's "sign" as part of a game people will be playing. I said yes but can I take their picture and put this in my blog. A resounding yes. Then a lady on board asked if she could take my picture, then admitted she'd already taken it and asked if that was okay.

We agreed my bird-feeder arm would be a good place and a lady got out of the boat with plastic straps and scissors and installed it. They waved as the boat motored away.

All set to save someone

Rope that floats? Who knew? When I went to West Marine to get supplies to repair the life ring that Dave Fouts gave (see previous post) they said you need rope that floats. Of course. What good would it be to toss the life ring to someone but have the rope sink so you can't use it to pull the person in?

It's been quite a while that this life ring has been sitting in my living room. Dave told me that I should repair where the tape covering it had been torn or worn off before I tossed it into the water. Eventually I got up to West Marine but they didn't have such tape, so I just bought orange duck tape (actually the brand is Duck Tape) from Home Depot. I also bought a hook for hanging the ring and another for the rope.

Finally today I did the repair and got it all up. Now I'm all set to save somebody who ends up unintentially in the river.

When I was coming back to my door, the way was blocked by a preening mallard. I stood awhile and watched.

The parts: life ring, nylon top and a hook for each

Preening mallard blocking the way back to the door