Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

I got up in the air today. I flew from Gwinett County Airport to Winder airport. It was good. I did about five landings. Visibility was very low. Legally I need at least three miles of visibility which is very difficult. Once the horizon disappears it is totally different flying if you ask me. I countered the counteroffer on the lake property. We will see how it goes I guess.

Things are going great. I have an offer in on a house on Lake Lanier. I may get the deal going (picture follows) for the future Winter place, but I am looking at another one on the Lake Saturday after my flying lesson. Although I am a bit lonely, there are all sorts of connections I can count on. My Sister came up from FL for a visit. I joined a fitness center today (even though work and the apt complex have fitness centers). It was only 10 bucks a month. I was paying 40 a month in Greene NY. It is nice to have an exercise place that is not work and not home. I gave myself a busy schedule for the next couple of weeks. Sunday I am off to Finland, second half of the week in England. The week after it is Brazil. One of the interesting things about my travel is that I get out into the non-metropolitan areas. I should have some great pics and stories. I am looking forward to some Scandinavian fish and especially some Brazilian steak house food. It has been a long time! Most of all I...

It really is quite nice here in Duluth. There are lots of ethnic restaurants around and most things are good deals. I even saw a Japanese Shabu Shabu restaurant. I will have to go there sometime. I am trying to find a car to buy. I have my sights on a 1995 or so Mercedes Turbo Diesel. I haven't found the right one yet. There is so much to do. I would be lying if I said I wasn't overwhelmed. Finding a Church, Home, Dentist, Doctor, Driver's License, and so on is really time consuming. Finding Flight instruction was high on the priority list. I am putting an offer on a house today. It is a foreclosure, so it is a bit more complicated. If the deal goes through it will take me about 6 months to get the place into move in condition. The house is on Lake Lanier with a dock, 20 minutes from work. This pic is the community square area in Duluth.

I had my first flight lesson in Georgia today. I went up in a 2003 fuel-injected Cessna 172SP. I absolutely could not believe the performance. I unintentionally bleated out "Holy Shit" on climb out. Interestingly, the climb-out to near-pattern altitude lasted pretty much as long as it took to get those few words out. It was an excellent reaffirmation why I do this. After the short flight today I was a little shaky and I felt the need for more. There really is a "jones" with this stuff. I can see Homer Simpson saying, "Shoorrtt Finnaall" with a bit of a drool. Next week it is a new airport, new airplane, and a new instructor.

Kansas was great. I found this bug outside my apartment in Georgia. He was outside. I am looking at cars and houses. It is all new and different. The plane I got on the other night had a paint job that reminded me of someone-I-know's plane. The woodsy pic is on my porch. One of the strangest things adjusting to life in Georgia is not having to recycle or return bottles and cans. They go right in the garbagge. I have been told that there are people that separate things later on. Hmm. I had people separate things later-on with my recycling in NY. They always separated a few items at the end of the driveway for me to pick up. Of course, I had to pay for recycling pick-up on my taxes. I have a flight lesson Saturday Morning.

The chicken or the egg?

Here are a few youtubes that give you a flavor of where I am living.