Some more flying today.
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I had a great Christmas and holiday. Many Activities. The weather still continues to be bad pretty much only when I have the opportunity to fly, well almost. Here are some pics of activities where our rights in the US are slowly, but surely eroding, firearms and the right to fly. Feel free to ask me for examples. The drones in the sky are not the problem. It's the drones on the ground.
Fall has been good. Plenty to do for sure. My boat will be in the water soon. I ended up putting a new speed controller and motor on it. It is a 24 volt propulsion motor with 12v accessories. Leaves are everywhere in the yard now. They need to get cleaned up. The pine cones and needles certainly keep coming. My new electric car is fun. I had it plugged in at the Doraville MARTA station when we flew down to FL to see my Brother and Sister for Thanksgiving. I find opportunities to plug it in at most stores. The electric signs often have electric outlets as a convenience for electric vehicles. The cold weather really surprised me on the de-rating of battery capacity. I had read about the de-rating in the manual, but when the battery heater comes on and it reduces range quite a bit. The car is a perfect fit for my everyday needs. I am still shopping for a sports car. Here are some pics I like from a few months ago.
Another week. Indeed. What is the measure, a litre, a Lb., a fortnight, a dribble? My friend Bill and I attended an AOPA (Airplane Owners and Pilot Association) President's breakfast in Atlanta. I have to sometime remind myself that I live in a city and the power is in cities. Although that is absolutely the wrong place for a political power base. The weather was too crappy to fly, but was spectacular to experience in my back yard at sunrise. I had to move my orange tree inside this week. We had a real cold snap. We noticed that there was some excellent urban planning in my area. A co-located Waffle House and medical care all in the same building. We enjoyed the "Scattered, smothered, covered" at waffle house nevertheless! I noticed weirdly that I had accumulated some significant symbols on my dresser. This picture is not "made for TV". It sums things up. I had the privilege to study under a professor in graduate school that understood and could communicate what...
I have been traveling. This past week I was in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota. It snowed. I realized the last time I saw snow was in Finland last winter. It wasn't in NY. Winter is fine and even snow is ok, but I am remembering that early snow in Winter (or late in Fall). It is a bit depressing and certainly the last snow in April will not become a holiday anytime soon. Some of my ducks are back. I am again working on them to be less fearful with bribes of food, it seems to work. I bought a new car. I ended up getting a Nissan Leaf. It is all electric, no engine, none of that hybrid stuff. It is a near zero maintenance car (Nissan says zero maintenance). It doesn't even have any belts. It has a very simple single ratio transmission, a battery and a motor. It is fun and has almost no noise. It is like driving in the future. My plan is to "plug in" everywhere except for home. I have a keen look out for electric outlets in parking lots everywhere. There are growing nu...
Back from Europe again
I am back from Europe. I am looking for a new car as the other guy's insurance has finally admitted 100% liability. The other driver was a loud mouth and figured if he kept whining somehow the insurance company would apply partial blame to me. It was very clear, the police report, my witness, his bad driving. I am getting some more firewood as it is getting into the 50s at night here in Duluth. The traffic in Brussels was epic, both the driver techniques and the roads and control devices are astonishing for the developed world. I thought driving like what I saw was reserved for Africa. Driving is Paris is much easier than Brussels. The "No Turn" signs were at a fork in the road. And who on earth knows how to interpret these traffic lights. People passing on the left or right just as if everyone was walking through a airport terminal. Crazy.
Fall is very nice in Atlanta. It is just starting to come on as fall now; the leaves are just starting to change. I took these pics the other day thinking that "I live in a city now". This is at a mall in Buckhead, an affluent part of Atlanta about 20 minutes from my house if there is no traffic. Traffic can turn it into an hour+ trip. I remember some written inspirational advice I read many years ago. It said something like "Some point in your life, live in the Country and also live in the city." I guess I have. I am off to Belgium and France in a bit. Many meetings. Tonight is my regular Thursday night Portuguese Class. I am making progress, slowly. Understanding your personal learning style is important. Understanding your learning style for other languages is... well different.
I suppose a lot has been going on. I got in a car wreck the other day, my Skua is toast. Some guy in a BMW pulled into me across stopped traffic. He got a ticket. We both got wrecked cars. I am thankful there were no injuries. I have actually been enjoying yard work. That has got to be a first time in my life. It is definitely hard to kill things here in Georgia. It just keeps growing. Last weekend we heard quite a racket out back. Going to look, there was a helicopter hovering right off the dock over the lake. (conspiracy theory)----> My first thought was that I was glad the helicopter was not a black one. It was a police helicopter, however. If you look really close you can see the camera man in the back seat with a camera towards us. Don't worry, Angie is safe!! We may cross continents, and political spheres, we are doing what is natural and right!
I made my first trip ever to the scrap yard and dump since I have been in living in Georgia (3 years). Both scale/yard experiences were a lot more polite than my lifelong experiences up North. Prices are good for scrap non-ferrous, still. It is a good process here except for every transaction they take your picture ...by law... cataloging potential criminals. Overall, I don't mind, because I am not a criminal. Translation: "Its the Weekend!" Thanks to an Angel this is how I started my weekend!
I went flying "solemente" yesterday. I didn't take any pictures. It was very windy/gusty. When it gets like that the flying is absolutely a full time job. Taking pictures aren't on the agenda! My throat was bit dry after I got the plane home safety. Building skills... safely! I had to buy these huge cutlery wall hangings today. They are cast aluminum. If I have a giant extraterrestrial stop by for dinner I am ready to host! I am not usually buying such adornments for my home. I like the regression-factor these huge implements afford. My sister likes to remind me that us Dowdell's (as kids) were very insistent that our toys were all to be in the same scale during a play session.
I will be going back up to NY again soon as I rent the farm out again. It is nice up there. It is nice in Duluth GA too. Must be a state of mind rather than one of the United States. Maybe. The economic climate is much better in Georgia for sure. Went flying today. It was the first time flying into the worlds second busiest General Aviation airport and the second busiest airport in Georgia, second only to ATL which is the busiest airport in the world, KPDK. It has 4 runways and lots of traffic, good experience under the class Bravo airspace. It was hazy, but you can see downtown Atlanta in the pic. This guy couldn't see there was NO PARKING, fascinating. The jeep wouldnt start last weekend. It looks like it needs a crank position sensor.