SmartKat Inflatable Catamaran

Last Friday I picked up my new indulgence an inflatable catamaran. My wife Luba received her retirement from Russia which has been increased by over 100% in the past year. At least Russia understands what is impoirtant. Also, they didn't increase the retirement age but actually lowered it. This makes a lot of sense and would improve things in the US dramatically if they lowered the retirement age for social security to 60 for men and 55 for women. The social security fund is adequately funded for the foreseeable future and can easily be increased as we are a fiat currency and Congress has no qualms about printing an endless supply of money for the banks and the military so why not for retirement? Anyway, this would free up a lot of jobs which younger (and lower salaried thus cheaper for businesses) unemployed people could then enter the work force. Anyway, this small windfall I have been given for an early birthday present and I bought an inflatable catamaran (specifically the SmartKat from Austria). Here is a lionk to the website: http://www.smartkat.at/ There are a number of similar boats with the Grabner HappyCat (Austrian) being the most expensive and the MiniCat (Czech) tied with the SmartKat (Austrian). There is also a Ducky 15, 17, or 19 from the Ukraine and the Prostar from Russia. I opted for the SmartKat as it has the best performance for its size, has less than a 10 m2 sail which is important because in Hungary you need a sailing license to operate a sailboat with a sail larger than 10 m2. I would have just gone for a real rigid catamaran such as a Prindle 18 or Hobie 18, or the Tornado Olympic spec boats BUT here on Lake Balaton you must purchase a slip fee on an annual basis which runs a bit over $6K a year and still you need to pay to pull the boat for winter storage. Anyway, the SmartKat packs down into 2 bags each weighing 21 Kg and has an assembly/disassembly time of 30 minutes which makes it more or less practical enough. Actually, it takes about that much time to rig a Hobie for sailing so you have to spend that time no matter what boat you use. I can launch it from any swimming beach and there are a few that are still free nearby. I also had to run out and find a life vest which is mandatory for all boaters on the lake. I tested it out on Saturday at home to practice assembling it and also put it into out swimming pool to see if I can get on and off this thing in the water. I am glad I tried that at home first as it is a real struggle to get back on so I also purchased locally a rope ladder. The other advantage is this boat can be taken in the car anywhere and we are near enough to the Mediterranean on the Croatian coast, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea to take it along and have a bit of fun. It is also rated for Category C and D which means it can sail on open water up to Beaufort level 6. It is capable of floating 750 Kg so is rated for 4 passengers although I suspect it will be awfully slow at that speed. I also purchased the trapeze kit so I can fly one pontoon easily and still maintain my balance on the boat while standing. I am hoping to get it out on the lake tomorrow so more to come.

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You Rock Guitar

I want to share with everyone my experience with the You Rock Guitar http://www.yourockguitar.com/ This device is a Midi interface or stand alone guitar which works nearly perfectly.  I use it in conjunction with software synthesizers and my favorite is the East/West Gypsy. The YRG has a tap mode where you can play all notes just by touch alone.  That isn't as easy as it sounds and the YRG is a bit tweaky getting the sensitivity set correctly, particularly the string tension (actually metal wire that is tensioned correctly). But, once it is set up it is great.  One nice thing is that there is a mini-USB connector which is used to upload and download and additionally serves as the Midi interface.  That normally works perfectly but in my case, the USB fell off due to a poor soldering job at the factory.  I wrote them and got pretty much nothing in return as it was more than 1 years old so I decided to manually re-solder the mini-USB back onto the interface circuit board.  Having nothing here except a butane fired gas soldering iron I was able to do it correctly and it worked finr for a couple of weeks.  But now it is wonky again, probably due to a broken solder weld again,.  This is a poorly designed part as it is a high stress port given most people will play using the USB Midi function which means a cord is permanently attached to the USB port and playing is a bit stressful on the soldered junction for such a small part.  Anyway, today I received an email (after 6 weeks) from YRG that they will ship me a new interface port free of charge.  That is great customer service and I am very happy that they decided to help me.  My next move was to solder on a new cable instead of the miniport which would be a lot stronger and perhaps easier in the long run.  If the new board fails that is what I will do.  I have been playing a lot with the YRG and in particular I have been dabbling with Rimsky-Korsikov's Scheherazade and using the East/West Gypsy synthesizer it is awesome!!! East/West makes some great software but unfortunately requires an iLok device to function.  That would have been very expensive for me here in Hungary but I got one from China for $6 and it works fine.  The software was 1/2 price and I got that here as well without paying customs so it was a great bargain for a wonderful, if overpriced, piece of software. I can't praise both the YRG and the Gypsy software enough.

Today I have decided to start a blog about being an American living overseas in Hungary.  First off let me describe myself to you.  I am 58 and retired US Army microbiologist.  I served 28 years of active duty from 1971 to 1999 after which I retired but stayed in my research position as first a contractor and later a GS-15.  My wife Luba and I decided to retire early and move to Europe and after a lot of searching we decided on Hungary as the ideal place to retire. We don't regret that decision at all and have a wonderful life here.

As with anything there were trials and tribulations and I'll try and describe in detail our experiences in subsequent posts. But first let me explain why I decided to go it alone as an independent blog. I had previously been fairly active on the FIRE website but was repeatedly getting in trouble for posting what was considered political discussions which are forbidden on that site.  I don't know how anyone can discuss retiring overseas or experiences working for the US government without discussion some aspects of politics.  Anyway, writing my own blog I can say what I want and not worry about getting into particular trouble with the possible exception of my own government who may decide that this blog may be anti-American. That in itself is now grounds for assassination according to our President. Hopefully, that doesn't happen but clearly being vocal against US policies has some risk to it. If it sounds like I am harshly over-critical then it isn't meant to be. I am merely trying to present an honest opinion based upon my perceptions.  However, that said I do believe there are an awful lot of things with the US, particularly after 9/11 which I do not like and may be perceived to be overly critical. Yes, I am critical but I do not believe it is unjustified.  I would like very much to see America return to the values and concepts which formed the basis for the nation from the beginning and not some bizarre vestige of Nazi Germany which it has become today. I will save that diatribe for a subsequent post.

First, let me describe our circumstances here in Hungary.  We live on the North shore of Lake Balaton in Balatonfured in a beautiful home we purchased for cash.  This is arguably, the best place to live in Hungary and certainly we enjoy all the wonderful aspects and entertainment which is available here.  The city (town?) is itself picturesque and has a vibrant tourism based economy.  The lake enjoys a great deal of tourism and many people have purchased vacation homes here.  Originally, it was popular with Germans who were able to meet here from both sides of the East/West German border. Also, Austrians enjoy the lake as well and we are only 2.5 hours from Vienna. But, the majority of tourists come from Budapest. There is a lot to see and do here which I will also go into later. For now this is who we are and I'll be posting more to flesh out what I have started here.