We are back from NY again. The drive in the new truck was a lot better than the old truck. Using a combination of Google Maps and Waze we did a good job of navigating the crashes and slow downs, making the decisions to take alternate routes or through the a slowdown. The telemetry on my phone says the trip was a total of 2437 miles. Albeit it took 3 weeks, since we drove up, flew back and then flew up and drove back, again. Every time I make it up to the farm I am always humbled by the property. It takes most of a full-day just to walk the property. Much to do.
In Duluth, the normal heat and the extra moisture has yielded growth. Our fig tree in the front yard has good fruit and is just about perfect.
I been working on projects. One of the planes is in for its annual inspection. We found a small crack in the horizontal stabilizer. It is a involved repair to be sure. Lots for me to learn. The video is the procedure we are doing.
It has been some home time for a while. It's good. I have been surveying my projects around here. There are many, but overall I am easily gaining on them. Once you start a project it becomes a commitment. Only thinking of them is a waste. Starting and finishing them is the virtuous stuff worthy of the human experience. Given my definition, I have about 12 open projects. My Honda S2000 didn't start the other night. I had to do the impossible limbo (feet over the trunk with top down) under the dash of a small sports car to identify the issue. The local Honda dealer wanted $85 for the part and had to order it. The OEM part on the internet was $41, fast delivery.
Angie and I have started a new regimen at the gym. We will be back up in New York soon, continued effort with the farm. There is always yard work here in Georgia. We do it all ourselves.
We are back from the Farm in NY. We had some business up that way so we decided to drive up, picking up a load of hardwood flooring along the way. The new truck made the drive enjoyable. We flew commercial back to ATL. We will be back up there soon.
We are back from vacation. I met Angie in Istanbul after business in Budapest and we started our adventure. We toured Istanbul: Azerbaijan: Armenia: Georgia: Sochi, Russia and around the Black Sea. We swam in the Black and Caspian Seas and saw many of the highlights in the Southern Caucuses. We had at least 11 flights on following airlines: LOT, Delta, Azerbaijan Air, Georgia Air, Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines, Utair, Buta, and Ural Airlines.
In Turkey we watched the election results coming in naming Erdogan as President, again. We happened to be in Baku Azerbaijan on "Military Day". The timing made it pretty easy to get some nice pics as the Mi8/17 helicopters and MiG 29s (or are they SU 27s) along with KA27 helos that flew by our hotel room on the 26th floor of the Flame Hotel. It isn't everyday you find burning gas coming straight out of the ground. Yes, it is very hot. You can only stand there few dozen seconds. We got to fly on a Sukhoi Superjet 100 for a first. It is spartan, quiet, and nice. It appears to be very similar to an Embraer. The twisted scrap metal in Armenia is an old derelict roadside sculpture denoting Soviet progress. We worked on a separate photo essay on just that one piece.
Also:
The biggest dandelion I have ever seen.
Bukhanka "Loaf of Bread" van outside a seminary building. I like the light beam and the story the picture tells.
Mini Market-- I am getting good at reading Cyrillic. Many words have a latin root tied between English and Russian. When you sound-out the cyrillic, you can often times figure out what the word is in English. In the case of the mini-market sign, it sounds-out as "producti" or "products". The people who run the store are Armenian (in Russia). They were excited because I was the first foreigner that had ever entered the store.
Some art and paintings from the worlds oldest cathedral in Armenia.
