Down Days

Stuart, FL
No LL

After all these years, someone finally asked what No LL is. My standard format for a blog post is to put the location byline as line 1 and our latitude and longitude on line 2. Then the text starts on line 4. I use that standardization to build up a database of past blog articles. When I'm not near the GPS to get our latitude and longitude, I just write No LL meaning "No Latitude and Longitude."

While cruising, we normally have a dozen or so down days in a year. On a down day the weather is so miserable that we don't move the boat nor do we leave the boat. We just read or do projects on board. Today was such a day. It blew 25-32 for much of the day and rained in the morning. The anchorage was thoroughly churned up and going in the dinghy would be very bumpy.

We had plans to organize a Balderdash game up in the captain's lounge this afternoon, but it was so thoroughly miserable that we cancelled that.

I sure wish that Florida would pay their heating bill.

Nevertheless, today is a bright day. I learned that two Nobel Prize quality scientific discoveries were announced today. One had to do with understanding how the molecule ATP interacts with other molecules in the body. Next to DNA, ATP is said to be the most important molecule to all live. Water molecules and the ATP molecules act together in a very special way.

Second was the discovery that water molecules in liquid form tetrahedral structures. Each with it's four nearest neighbors. The implications for physics, chemistry, nanotechnology, and biology can be profound.

Google for ATP and then for tetrahedral and you'll find articles explaining more.