Marta Marta Marta

-
Image
MARTA is the mass transit train system in Atlanta. They just upgraded the ticketing system. It was totally free for about 6 weeks, no ticket kiosks, or need for tickets, just walk through the turnstiles ... crazy stupid. I have sworn off using Marta several times and I still find myself back on it... We have been ridiculed, and been made very uncomfortable and worried about our safety a number of times. But it continues to be the best option getting to and from the ATL airport. I take the train from Doraville to the Airport. The entire length of the Gold Line. The city (I guess) is trying to get MARTA a bit more orderly before the FIFA events in Atlanta this year. They have a lot of work to do. Although I saw a few more security/MARTA Police and quasi security foilks, the same crazy bullshit is still happening. It is home to people who want to stay cool or get warm during the operaing hours. It's not a place to be... its a place to travel. The unmedicated mentally ill folks se...
Post a Comment
-

I tried to do a solo cross country today. But, the weather degraded unexpectedly and I ran into a low ceiling. I ended up going into a cloud. That got my attention pretty good. I diverted to a nearby airport, landed, did a bit of a read on the situation, and got my confidence back. I figured I would try it again at a lower altitude. When I was about 20 miles out from my destination the weather at the destination called for "Clear to 1200" (not enough). I decided to do a 180 and go back to LZU. Clouds can be very difficult to see when you are ascending into a haze. The density of the haze is especially difficult to distinguish when you are looking up. I still got some hours and some practical experience in "aeronautical decision making" (ADM) and used some good judgement (GJ) which is the opposite of poor judgement (PJ). I still had time to take the self portrait. It is a special place alone in a plane. I got to try out my new iPad app that has charts with an overlaid GPS position and all sorts of other features. Believe it or not the iPad and the app are FAA approved. Commercial airlines use the iPad and aviation apps. It is certainly easier than using paper charts when you get to the edge of a chart. However, I found it hard to see the screen when flying into the sun.

I put an offer in on a house in Duluth. Wish me luck. It's on a lake.

I am headed to Brazil Easter evening.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Business Trip

-
Image
I am continuing with the soft launch of wisdomino (wis-do-mino). My partners and I are consulting in the Technical Information space. We have some really cool, gamechanging apps we are testing, sharing and getting feedback. I attended a Association of Equipment Manufacturers meeting in Milwaukee. Very good event.
Read more
-
Home Page The Elmira hamfest was yesterday. I loaded up the truck on thursday night which took about 3 hours. Greg Mills and I left Rochester for the hamfest and it took about 2.5 hours to get to Elmira. We set some stuff up then went to this weird chicken place. The layout was weird, the people were weird. It looked like a setting for the begining of an X-file program or something. The chicken was dry. VERY disappointing. I like to try weird places... often they have great food, not in this case however. The hamfest went off after I got 4 hours of sleep in a tent. There was thick frost when I got up and people started buying stuff at 5:30 am. We packed up and went home about 3 pm. All in all it was a good time.
Read more
-
Image
Weather hold again. This time we made it to the shuttle van to go to the ice runway. I heard that it is between -40 and -70 degrees F at Taylor Dome and the heater is not working in the living module. I am ready. Getting my ECW on and taking it off is a pain in the neck. A small price to pay. There is a possibility we will fly this afternoon. Here is a really nice picture of an adelie at Cape Evans.
Read more
-
Image
I am flying this morning. We are getting off the beaten trail. We are going to Mt Heine on White Island and Williams Cliff on the side of Mt. Erebus. We are trying to determine if we have a found a better radio location at these two points. We are taking GPS, maps, a 900 Meg radio and ice axes. It will make the network simpler if I can prove these spots will work. Cravasses are common near Williams Cliff so we are on high-guard about where we will set the helo down. We may not set down at all. Cravasses are really problematic down here. They are hundreds of feet deep and they are very often covered with snow. Sometimes the snow may be 6 or 10 feet thick and may support equipment for a while. Then one day the equipment breaks through. Ice radar is normally used for traverses.
Read more

Marta Marta Marta

-
Image
MARTA is the mass transit train system in Atlanta. They just upgraded the ticketing system. It was totally free for about 6 weeks, no ticket kiosks, or need for tickets, just walk through the turnstiles ... crazy stupid. I have sworn off using Marta several times and I still find myself back on it... We have been ridiculed, and been made very uncomfortable and worried about our safety a number of times. But it continues to be the best option getting to and from the ATL airport. I take the train from Doraville to the Airport. The entire length of the Gold Line. The city (I guess) is trying to get MARTA a bit more orderly before the FIFA events in Atlanta this year. They have a lot of work to do. Although I saw a few more security/MARTA Police and quasi security foilks, the same crazy bullshit is still happening. It is home to people who want to stay cool or get warm during the operaing hours. It's not a place to be... its a place to travel. The unmedicated mentally ill folks se...
Read more