Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

I am in Sevenum, Netherlands at the moment. I landed this morning at 7:00 AM local (Dusseldorf) and put in a full day. I only feel a little tired. I must be getting the hang of this. One of the tricks is to stay up after your first day is over. You have to move towards the new time zone. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/383125/facebook_biggest_bank_by_2015/?fp=2&fpid=1 I think the above article (and pasted as a image below) is important and a potenteous, and a bit scary. Especially, since it was written by the the founder of what facebook has become.

I like this piece of music. It ties US immigrants together; New Orleans (African and French), western Appalachia (Irish), and the Midwest (German and Scandinavians). You can almost see tributaries of the Mississippi river. How shallow it is to think that we don't each come from a particular heritage. Pride (deferred or demonstrated), genetics and familiar water holes is what makes us real.

I just received a Medal from the US Government for Service in Antarctica. Certainly, it isn't every day I get a medal. It is one of the few medals that the federal government gives out to civilians. I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can find an old Webelos uniform to wear it with (not that I could possibly fit into it). I would like to get back to Antarctica again someday. Early next month I am giving a presentation called "Aviation in Antarctica" to the Atlanta chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Tuesday I am headed to Dusseldorf Germany, The Netherlands, and Denmark. I will be spending next weekend in Copenhagen. I hope to rent a bicycle.

Monday I take another look at a Cessna 172 I may buy. Hopefully, I can get to Southern Sudan (not in my own plane) for their first independence day this summer (or something equally adventurous). Pilatus Porter Aircraft

Well I made it up to NY for the weekend. I think there is a hint of Spring coming on up there. It is more than Spring in Atlanta. I think everyone I know up in NY (or up North for that matter) has told me what a long Winter it has been up there. It will be over soon. DJ and I went to see "Scheherazade" by the Binghamton Philharmonic. On the way to Church on Sunday we saw a car in the ditch. Getting closer we saw there was someone still in the car. We opened the door and it took less than a full statement to tell us she was bombed. Totally wasted. It was 8:45 AM Sunday. We convinced her to get out of the car and kind of had to drag her out. She had only a toga on, and no shoes. There was a loaded (chambered) bolt action rifle in the back seat. I locked the rifle in the trunk. DJ put the ammo in her purse and we drove her about five miles to her home. That must have been a wild party. We drove down to Baltimore stopping to see a friend in Newark Delaware. We have been in do...

feeln awkwd is alwys prt of grwth.

I went to a car show in Atlanta the other day. I test drove a Chevy Volt. I was very impressed with the Volt. I may buy one of those. I also went into the Atlanta Underground and found a few old trucks. Both of them were made in NY. The Selden was made in Rochester and the Larrabee was made in Binghamton. Things sure have changed. It seemed appropriate they were on display down here not up in NY.