Fractional Distillation using a Reflux Column and Thumper

All in a compact little package, no less! See short & crappy video below:

            

There are 2 stages to this hybrid apparatus. The first stage boils the liquid, driving vapor up the packed reflux column to interact with the copper pads, and sending the concentrated vapor through the upper loop.  This hot vapor bubbles through the drip finger into the second boiling flask (aka, Thumper Keg), using the excess heat energy it carries to re-distill the liquid contents and vapors in the thumper for higher quality.  The second distillation forces vapors through the coil condenser, which has ice water running through the internal loop.  The vapors condense to liquid, which you see accumulating in the addition flask at the end.  The addition flask is pressure-relieved via the side vent, otherwise the system would blow apart due to increased pressure and no outlet.  

Chevrolet Rampside (Corvair) Pickup

Dad and I spent an enjoyable Saturday walking the grounds of the Badger Steam and Gas Engine Club Show.  He and I used to go back when I was a youngster in the 1970s, and it has steadily grown into this thing that now encompasses over 80 acres! To the club's credit, they run a good show, with vintage tractors pulling people wagons to and from the parking area and around the entire show.  I guess you could call them Tractor Trollies for lack of a better term.

I took tons of photos, wanting to try out a couple "new" Nikon lenses I'd purchased over the last year.  There's also a 10-acre flea market that I wanted to peruse, just in case I found something I couldn't live without.

I took these photos for Roberta since I knew she has a soft spot for the oddity that is the Chevrolet Rampside 95 pickup truck.  This one's seen better days, but it appears to be (mostly) all there.

Here's the rampside gate, which is independent of the rear tailgate:

Pretty neat!  One of my first automobiles was a 1963 Corvair Monza Coupe, and while it was lively, it was by no means a barn-burner.  I'd imagine this particular truck with a full payload would out-accelerate a VW Transporter, but not by very much.  I was just glad to see one still intact and on the road, myself...

Why we must remember...

I visited somebody special this Memorial Day Weekend.

Nice headstone, isn't it?  He was a Baraboo resident like myself - but there's more. 

Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch earned his Silver Star and Purple heart posthumously, by way of Mogadishu, Somalia.  If that doesn't ring a bell, Google "Black Hawk Down".

You and your ultimate sacrifice are not forgotten, SSG Busch. I might be Air Force, but your memory will stay alive for this Memorial Day and many, many more.