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Upper Peninsula Michigan and Auction Win Outcomes

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I was up in Wisconsin and the UP (upper peninsula) in Michigan. It was a lot of driving after launching/landing in Appleton WI. I got an item off the bucket list by driving across the "Mighty Mac". Altough it was built in the late '50s. It is still the longest suspension span in the Northern hemisphere. It is a crazy long bridge with a crazy long suspension span. It was good to see the bridge in context of the seemingly endless forests of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The culture in the two haves of Michigan are noticibly different as you might expect. Great time meeting with folks both in WI and MI. The tractor I won in auction, seems to have paid off. This time I beat the odds. It was a really good deal. I have the "no-key, non-running, may have hydraulic problems, unknown hours" -auction win, running well with minimal cost and time. I have some more tweaks, maintenance and minor fixes but the major risks are gone.
On Courage Courage Excerpt: "On a spiritual level, I believe that courage comes from within—deep within us—maybe even from our souls. On the other side of the fear, which takes courage to pass though, is the greatest freedom we will ever feel. Getting to that freedom starts with these three courageous actions: 1) soul searching, 2) allowing ourselves to be broken down to our most fundamental selves, and 3) that critical component of persistence."

Long Beach Flying Club and Catalina Island Flight

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Angie and I went flying today in N51594 from Long Beach. The planes avionics aren't that good, but the mechanical is strong. We flew out to Catalina island about 20 minutes from long beach and flew around the island. I decided not to land on this trip, no real reason, just decided to save that experience for later.
I haven't been feeling well. I missed a day of work. That probably makes 2 days missed in about 12 years. I had to cancel my flying this weekend. Angel and I were planning on flying out to Catalina Island. I remembered a great quote. I have probably posted it on this blog many years ago. “Courage is not limited to the battlefield. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you’re misunderstood.” ---Charles Swindoll
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We hung low this weekend, mostly creative computer work. We did sneak out a bit though.
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Costa Mesa, CA Angie and I had a VIP tour of our neighboring Performing Arts Center. I have a 7 minute walk to the office building where I work. The walking distance is about the same to the immense Segerstom performing arts center. There is a pic of of some of the acoustic chambers and a 3rd century Syrian mosaic in the VIP lounge. We enjoyed a nice concert as well. Berkshire, NY A tree fell over on power lines on the farm in NY and a pic of the horses new home. Duluth, GA The bathroom remodel continues in Duluth.
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I went flying at my new flying club in Long Beach CA today. It is complicated airspace and lots of traffic and airports, Class Delta, Charlie and Bravo. That didn't keep me from reaching over from my left seat and snapping a picture of The Queen Mary. We will be doing more flying from Long Beach (KLGB).
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Angie and I went to a rock concert Tuesday night at the Fonda Theater on Hollywood Blvd in LA. I hate traffic, so we took the Metrolink train to Union station in LA (we ate our dinner on the train) then 10 metro stops to Hollywood/Vine. It took about about an hour an 45 minutes. It was a Мумий Тролль (Mumiy Troll) concert. He is from Angie's home city - a 9 hour flight from Moscow (Vladivostock). He is very popular in Russia. He has a unique whimsical style that is a cross between Russian folk Balalaika, and David Bowie. He uses decent poetry placed on top of simple -sometimes mocking melodies for popular effect. He has been called "Russias biggest rock band, Mumiy Troll began as one of the most socially dangerous bands in the world as noted by a local Communist party chief in the former Soviet Union; yet, was hailed as Best Band of the Millennium by leading Russian music critics after the fall of communism. Mumiy Troll are the most influential and successful independent arti...