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New Virus Hobby: Marine Traffic!
Seal Beach Pier, L.A. Harbor, Palos Verdes, Catalina off to the left.
I have a clear view of every ship lining up to dock in the L.A. Harbor to my right, and the Naval munitions dock at Anaheim Bay to my left. But I know almost nothing about them.
The Warship’s details.
The path of the USNS Mercy.
USS San Diego, coming into port.
I know if I’m looking at tankers or empty container ships, where they are flagged, what their names are, how fast they go, etc. I can follow every tug boat or Catalina Express shuttle. I watch three Carnival Cruise ships — the Panama, the Miracle, and the Imagination — take turns using the dock at the Spruce Goose Dome, then go around in circles between me and Catalina until it’s their turn again. The Miracle flashes a message to shore at night saying “We’ll Be Back.”
Carnival Miracle announcing “We’ll Be Back.”
I don’t have any new hobbies, but I have so many existing ones that it’s not hard to find something to do.
VR, some Arduino electronics projects, music gadgets, et cetera.
Still learning Blender.
Due to the “you can go outdoors if you’re exercising by yourself” loophole, I’m getting back into cycling shape, at least a little.
Basically, the only difference between quarantine-type isolation and my normal life is that I have to get takeout instead of eating at the restaurants.
We live the country, but are in the flight path to Dulles Airport. I enjoy “FlightTracker24” to get details on the flights coming in from Japan, Dubai, Europe and so on. It also tracks the local rescue helicopters.
I like Marine Traffic – my son is a mariner and I use it to keep up with his life.
I have taken up my onewheel as a way to get in the air.
I discovered the Marine Traffic app several years ago and use it often when we are ensconced in our place near Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. There is a fairly busy port there, though not as busy as Pireas, the port of Athens. At Thessaloniki, there is daily tanker traffic as well as frequent appearances of container ships and the occasional cruise ship. It is an enjoyable diversion.
Here is our place, the port is in the distance.
https://pepperandvinegar.blog/2019/08/06/the-beach-at-peraia/
Blender is ambitious.