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Back South Again with More Projects

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A lot of driving. I have forgotten how much driving is involved when on the farm. Everything is far. But I also had to drive up and back twice to Syracuse to pickup/drop off Angie at the airport and a business meeting for Wisdomino in Albany. Yeah it was a lot of driving for me. All and all it was about 4000 miles in three weeks. Early in the morning I decided to check out some auctions (dangerous). I ended up being high bidder on a 2015 New Holland Boomer 33 ( "hours unknown, does not run, may have problems, no key, no battery" ) from the State of Tennessee. I figured I could swing by Nashville and pick it up on the way to Georgia. And indeed I did. It was only a couple of hours extra, maybe 4. But, it was more efficient than going to Georgia and then back and forth to Nashville. Nashville is about 4 hours from Duluth. So I was looking at a 4 hour savings. After I go through it and getting if working I will tow it up to the farm in NY. I wasn't prepared for a trac...
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We made it up in the Waco classic yesterday. First time in either a biplane or an open cockpit airplane. We flew around downtown Atlanta and then over by stone mountain. It was a lot of fun.
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More from Japan ----------------------- Hey You get out of Minneapolis OK or are you still in a bar at the airport? When we hear a story about how bad off someone else is we start minimizing our own problems and experiences. I'm not sure it's a good thing. Anyway as far as this place is concerned, what I've taken to telling people is that "Despite what CNN might have you believe, the country is not enveloped in flame." The situation at the plant in Fukushima has been lifted to 5 on the "serious nuclear shit scale of 7" but the general feeling is that it is contained. There will likely be some illnesses related to radiation out of this but I personally don't think it will be widespread. THe thing is not to try to outrun it, but to limit consecutive exposure. I'm really not THAT scared yet. A more immediate threat for me is a tsunami here - we live 500m from the sea. A 5 meter wave with any momentum does this place in, probably. And ...
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I am back from Fargo North Dakota. I learned a lot and we got done what we planned to get done. Most of the snow was melted. Although you wouldn't know that unless someone told you. The piles were very high still, probably 20 feet high at the airport still. The temps were unseasonably warm. It got about freezing one day. This was my first trip to North Dakota ever. I had a personal dinner with a serial entrepreneur who is a legacy to a very common company everyone knows about today. That was refreshing and it was a "west coast" experience in Fargo. Certainly, I didn't expect it. I also sneaked a nice pic of the Atlanta Airport when we were on downwind for a right base. Can you pick out the five parallel runways of the world's busiest airport?
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KLZU and Hikes

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I hung around the airport over the weekend as usual. I did get in the air. It was a treat to be at the controls again. It is one of life's great experiences. I am still struggling with ATC. The typical air traffic controller at LZU has a Southern (duh) black accent and he speaks so fast I find it hard to understand the first time, especially when I am busy and he is giving complex instructions. I don't say this light-heartedly. I routinely host teleconferences with people all over the globe and it is common I am translating for one or more of them. English is a second language for ALL of the them (well, except my friends in Kansas). I think the air traffic controller is probably an excellent choice for the student, just like the short grass strip in Greene NY was a great place to learn how to land. Maybe this is prep for my aviation adventures abroad. Sunday I took a great hike. I hiked over 15 miles (seemed like all uphill). I picked a great day. I think I actually got some ...
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From my long time friend in Japan, Hey Chuck, We're OK. Stuck at home, but we have power, heat, food and some water so we're fine for a day or two. Had to walk about 25 miles until I could find a taxi - my legs and feet are on fire. Other than that, and the memory of wondering if our office building and others would still be standing at the end of teh day (they are, the quality of construction is fucking remarkable), we're FINE. Just resting for now, though we live basically right next to the ocean so we're watching the tsunami updates incase we have to get out of here. NOST
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The weather was too bad to get in the air in the Atlanta area for VFR. I am going up Wednesday evening. I am not doing much traveling this month. It is a bit weird. Saturday I had breakfast with a Flight Instructor for Delta, saw a presentation from an expert Cave Diver, then an Aviation safety seminar and then to look at the "Liberty Belle B-17". These war birds are impressive thinking that there were half a dozen kids crammed into these things trying to kill the enemy. A lot of bravery was needed that's for sure. I have a hard enough time without someone shooting at me. I will be going for a ride in the yellow open-cockpit plane in a couple of weeks.
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This Saturday is looking like a fun aviation-packed day. My non-planned attempts at adventure last weekend were disappointing. Although, everybody made it to work Monday OK and no animals were harmed, best I can tell. Work is very busy being in the office. There enough is reason to travel. I am planning, some exciting stuff coming up in the next couple of months. Here is a pic of Nostril and his son Eric on the Berkshire farm in NY on one of Eric's first visits to the US from Japan in 2002.
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