's really fascinating, and a little weird, that you get all this energy from two opposite reactions - either by fusing light nuclei, or splitting heavy ones... <3 nature <3
- If you managed to make a fusion power plant, you wouldn't have the problem with radioactive waste, that you get from a fission power plant (a normal nuclear power plant) - so that's very nice...
-...however, fusion is hard :/ We don't manage to do it (without putting more energy in than we get out) yet; but who knows what will happen in the future...? ;)
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Yesterday was date night with my Handsome - we went to Champagneria at Mathallen (our favourite place these days, I think), snacked tapas and drank their delicious self imported Cava (nom nom nom) <3
He just left for a cabin trip with a friend, and Alexandra and me already miss him...but we will have nice weekend together too, and it will be even better to see him again on Sunday <3<3<3
Happy weekend everyone!
And the Exciting thing about fusion, physics and life is all the remaining mysteries where nature says: " see what I can do, and now you tell me how I do it" Like the light of Hessdalen, gamma ray bursts and antimatter generated in our own atmosphere, or the wonderfull but missed opportunity that started 26 years ago:SvarSlettHangar 111 is a pre-World War II aircraft hangar on the National Register and is located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The first phase of this $7M project extends the service life and brings the building up to current standards. Work includes replacement of the hangar door, upgrading finishes, doors, windows, mechanical, plumbing and communications systems. HOBSON USA filled the Quality Control, Superintendent and Site Safety and Health Officer roles on this project.
Hangar 111, a $6M project includes asphalt and exterior concrete replacement, demolition and replacement of existing hangar doors, new doors and windows, electrical, abatement of lead base paint, and repair/replacement of deteriorated concrete on this 104,500 square foot facility. HOBSON USA provided the Quality Control Manager and Superintendent for this project.
P-155 Test Range Facility is a $10M ground-up secure low-rise facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. HOBSON USA filled the Quality Control Manager and Superintendent positions on this project which consisted of heavy mechanical work replacing chillers, cooling towers, and AHU’s. A second floor SCIF area, concrete work, roofing, and masonry were included in the scope of work. The project includes SAPF (secure) mission test cells/control rooms for unmanned air vehicles, briefing rooms, conference rooms, support spaces, office spaces, restrooms, storage rooms, mechanical equipment room, electrical equipment room, a combination service/passenger elevator and POP rooms.
HOBSON USA filled the Quality Control Management positions on the Naval Research Laboratory Building 210, a $1.6M heavy mechanical, design-build project at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. This project consists of removing two air handling units and providing two new units located on the roof in a maintainable configuration to preserve the existing duct distribution systems.
Building 1001 and DAPS MCB, a $10M project at Marine Corps Base Quantico includes construction of a new loading dock and canopy, roof replacement, repair of exterior walls, installation of a new exterior stucco finish system, and minor site work. Included in the scope of work is mechanical construction consisting of four new water cooled air conditioners, a new open counter flow cooling tower, a chemical treatment system, reconfiguration of existing heat pumps and air handling units, and new direct digital controls. HOBSON USA provided the Quality Control Manager and Site Safety and Health Officer for this project.Joanna Pearce is an associate in the Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice Group in the Dallas office of Haynes and Boone. Her practice focuses primarily on transactional and regulatory matters related to the food, drug, healthcare, and life sciences industries. She is also experienced in mergers and acquisitions and general corporate transactional practice, and regularly assists clients with navigating the intersection of regulatory issues and broader business concerns.
Before going to law school, Joanna obtained a B.S. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University–Commerce, and spent nearly a decade working in animal healthcare. Because of her background in life sciences and agriculture, Joanna is equipped to assist clients with a broad spectrum of considerations related to operating in heavily regulated industries. Joanna’s representative experience at Haynes and Boone has included assisting clients across many industries with business transactions, product recalls, supply chain and distribution agreements, federal and state regulatory compliance issues, and product development considerations.
ProPublica profiled Haynes and Boone’s efforts alongside Rio Grande Valley pro bono attorney, Laura Peña, to represent a Salvadoran man who had been detained after seeking political asylum at the border.
When most people think of Canadian whisky, their minds go to blends or rye (whether the whisky contains any rye spirit or not). Rarely do people associate Canada with single malts, although there are a number of distilleries producing them today with the craft distilling boom hitting the Great White North. But before that boom, while brown spirits were giving way to white spirits in North America, there was one Canadian distillery going against the grain and creating Scottish style single malts in the Cape Breton Highlands: Glenora Distillery.
My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Glenora this fall, where Inn Manager Bertha took us around to see the operation, the barrel warehouse, and led a tasting for us in their restaurant. Bertha has been with the distillery for years, and has worked in every area of the operation. This was evident in her descriptions of the production process, her visible elation while opening up the warehouse and drawing a sample from the barrel, and her passion for the whisky. Bertha started the tour with a history of Glenora, which begins with its founder, Bruce.
Bruce Jardine was a man who went against the grain, and many thought he was a little crazy starting a distillery in rural Nova Scotia, at a time when many other distilleries were closing worldwide. Unafraid of those trends, Bruce built his inn and distillery in 1990 near Glenora Falls along the Ceilidh Trail on Cape Breton Island. It was the first single malt distillery in North America. The location is like something out of a movie, with rolling green hills on all sides and MacLellan’s Brook (from which the distillery draws its water) running through the property.
Bruce imported Scottish-made pot stills and mash tuns, and received training from the master distiller of Bowmore. He had washbacks built from BC Douglas Fir. He strove to create high quality, traditional whisky that was authentic to strict Scottish standards. All of the whisky would contain just three ingredients: water, barley and yeast. He distilled the spirit to a maximum of 75% ABV, barreled them at 63% ABV, and planned to bottle at 43% ABV. He aged all of the spirits in ex-bourbon barrels, and set a goal of aging them for a minimum of 10 years before bottling. The stills are beautiful, and walking through the production areas, it truly feels like you’ve been transported to Scotland.
Without immediate whisky sales to get a return on his investment, and costs continuing to pile up, Bruce couldn’t afford to keep the distillery operating. He sold the business in 1994 to investors with Scottish heritage and roots in Cape Breton, to keep his dream alive. Sadly, Bruce died in 1999 of heart problems and didn’t live to see the first 10 year old bottling of his whisky. In 2015, Glenora honoured Bruce with a limited edition bottling of Glen Breton 25 Year Jardine Reserve. It was bottled from some of the last remaining barrels produced by Bruce in 1990.
Another way Glenora honours Bruce’s legacy and memory is with Barrel #1. This is the very first barrel Bruce ever filled, and it has sat un-touched in the warehouse, and has never been opened or sampled. Bertha said that barrel will remain unopened allowing the angels to have it all as it evaporates, likely with Bruce enjoying it alongside them.
For years after the change in ownership, Bruce’s death, and the start of whisky sales, Glenora was still known as an inn first, distillery second.
Then the Scotch Whisky Association sued Glenora over their use of the word ‘Glen,’ claiming people might be confused and believe Glen Breton to be a scotch. Of course, Glen means a valley in Gaelic, and Breton refers to the Island, so Glenora defended their right to their branding. The lawsuit lasted 9 years and put serious financial strain on the business – in fact, they had to pay their lawyer with whisky barrels at times, as they had no cash. It had the fortuitous effect of putting Glenora on the map with whisky drinkers. Locals and whisky fans across Canada saw the SWA’s lawsuit as a bully move, and began to support Glenora’s David vs Goliath fight. When the courts finally ruled in Glenora’s favour in 2009, they were no longer an inn with some whisky making on the side; they were now the heroes of small distilleries and Canadian whisky lovers alike, having stared down the industry giant and emerging victorious. To celebrate the occasion, Glenora released a 15 year