Happy Holidays

Ok, so my blog has gone into "ignore mode" for a bit... But before I left town for the holidays, I wanted to pass along the trailer for the next season of Lost. This show is one of the very few reasons I still subscribe to cable.

RHPS

Finally, this weekend, I was able to pop my cherry on an experience I've always wanted to take part in, but just never made the time: a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I happened to be in the cool and trendy part of Houston Saturday night, having dinner with friends. They wanted to hit the bars, but I just didn't want to. Not my scene and I'd already been dragged there for my quarterly quota.

So, on my way to a coffee shop, I saw that the River Oaks had it showing. (the coolest theaters I've been to in a while--it was one of only two theaters in Houston to show Brokeback Mountain on opening weekend)



Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. If you've never been to one of these participatory midnight showings, I highly recommend it. They had a very enthusiastic live cast that acted-out the entire move on-stage at the same time it was playing. Dirty. Raunchy. It even got a little wet at one point. I haven't had that much fun in a while. (when was the last time you were *expected* to make noise, be disruptive and throw things during a movie?)

Here we go again--destroying the country

"I don’t think the issue’s about being against gay marriage. It’s about being for traditional marriage and articulating the reason that’s important. You have to have a basic family structure. There’s never been a civilization that has rewritten what marriage and family means and survived."

-- Mike Huckabee

Yeah. Anyone remember South Fagistan? They redefined marriage and where are they now? I guess that country didn't survive.

I never realized that Merriam-Webster had the ability to dissolve an entire civilization.

Yeah! Cold?

Finally, our first frost of the year. Too bad it will be gone in an hour. At least it will be a nice and cool 65 today. Enjoy what you can.

Near Miss?

(I wasn't going to blog this because it's not that darn interesting, but I wanted to move the previous bad news from the top of the blog--thanks to all for the kind words and phonecalls)

So, between Norway and everywhere else, you will normally fly Scandanavian Airlines. (there isn't much of a market for larger airlines) The biggest part of their fleet are Dash 8's. Those are cool little turboprops.

My coworker in Norway "warned" me that they didn't have the best safety record, so I checked them out before I left the country. Nothing I could do, but it was interesting.

In a nice twist, the NY Times reported that just a couple of weeks after I returned, Scandanavian Airlines announced that they would retire their entire Dash 8 fleet after yet another landing gear failure.

Oops.

So Long and Farewell

Today I say "goodbye" to Trogdor. For over four years now, he's been the best cat I could ever hope for. It's said that "dog is man's best friend" and I can't dispute that. But Trog came in a close second. Not a day went by that he wasn't waiting for me by the door when I got home. He rarely left my side and more often than not could be found sitting in my lap. (if I wanted him there or not) And whenever I'd lay down to sleep at night or just for a nap on the couch, he always slept with me. He was a very loving companion.

But Trog had been strange in his eating habits recently. Some days he wouldn't eat much and other days he would eat just fine. But other than appearing to be a little lazier than usual, he seemed normal. But when he started quickly loosing weight and almost stopped eating entirely, I got worried fast.

I took him into the local vet and was immediately referred to the vet school at A&M. After several tests and a long night of worrying, I got news even worse than I'd feared--advanced kidney disease. Surgery might have prolonged his life for a while, but not long. Nothing else could be done.

So, Wednesday I drove back up to A&M and did the only humane thing I could think of. At least I got to comfort him in his last few minutes. He laid on my chest and--even as scared as he was from not being at home--I got a little purr out of him.

It's been a couple of days and the worst of it is over for me. But I still find myself forgetting that he's gone and wondering why he isn't sitting next to me on the couch. That part will take a while to get past.

So, I just wanted to say "thanks Trog--you were a great cat."


P.S. I also want to say "thanks" to the Bloyds for their advice and support duing all of this. I really appreciate you two.

Either you get it or you don't

...but damn, it's funny.

Child's Play

It's that time of year again, folks.  Everyone know's about Child's Play and I'm sure everyone gives at least a little, so I won't get on my soap box and start preaching like most years.  ;)

But I will be leaving the banner on the blog until Christmas in case any of you are like me and keep forgetting until the last minute.

Tired

So, everyone knows that I go into the hospital every 8 weeks to get my nice meds dripped-in. All is good. The sucky part is that a few days before that happens, I get really, really fatigued.

Apparently it's a common symptom and nothing bad. But, man it sucks when it hits. It's like I ran a marathon yesterday and only got a couple hours of sleep last night.

I'm guessing this weekend I'll probably spend about 80% of the time crashed on the couch. It's not a bad thing. I'm finally getting to the point where I've accepted it as a part of the process and don't feel nearly as guilty about being "lazy".

Protest

I'm sure that I'm the absolute last person to have seen this, but I thought it was damn funny.

Lazy as Lazy Can Be...

Then and Now

I don't think it's news that my job has become less and less appealing to me as the months and years have passed. Not only do I work for a "big, evil" oil company (which will be addressed again in the future), my supervisory position took me out of being a true geek--I was a geeky boss.

That was fine for a while, but after putting-up with enough crap from employees and not getting to do any programming, I folded. I finally told my boss that I either needed to get back into a technical position or he needs to cough-up some serious money to try to offset my misery.

True to form, he did exactly what I'd hoped for. (and more, even) He got someone else and gave them my supervisor position. Even better, I don't even report to them. I still report to the big boss. And, best yet, I basically got the freedom to do what I want. Not completely, of course, but the last month has been filled with me getting to do what little projects I've been wanting to do but haven't had time. I come and go as I want and will even start working from home part-time. (that wasn't part of the deal I made, but I'll start in the next week or two anyway)

So, things are looking up. The long-term plan I've talked about before on the blog is still in-place, but at least I'll be much happier in the meantime.

One of the best parts is that I don't have to go to nearly as many meetings. For example, take a look at my weekly schedules: (blurred for privacy reasons)


Before:



After:

Work Interference

The wise, wise folks at our internal IT department has decided to thrust upon us a new IM client. It's kinda cool the way it integrates with everything, but they've taken it upon themselves to block external IM.

So, I'm running Trillian beside it. You will probably have to change my contact to 'Boone.Watkins[at]Gmail.com'.

Look to hear from you soon.

Fuck You

Fuck you, Bill O'Reilly.  Fuck you and the small-minded, bigoted idiots you have on your show.

Let me see if I can clear a few things up for you:

1) I'm not gay by choice.  I didn't wake up one day and say "puberty isn't tough enough--what else can make it a little harder?"  I was born this way.

2) I'm not recruiting.  It doesn't work like that.  (reference point #1) 

3) The only "radical gay agenda" I'm a part of is the one where I get to live a fucking normal life.

4) I'm not a danger to children.  I can't tell you how much this stereotype hurts.  Nothing gets my blood boiling more than hearing "they're coming for your children!"

House

I always thought House was a great show.  But lately, the writing seems to have gotten a little, well, "colorful".

It's Time

Well, it finally happened. The weather changed. This weekend, it was relatively nice--low to mid 80's and plenty of good sun. But today brought a storm and a good cold front. Now it's 57 with lots of gusting wind. Perfect weather to kick-off a week of horror movies in anticipation of Halloween.

I've always liked horror flicks, but my years spent with Ronnie turned that into a true appreciation. So, this week I plan to slack-off every night and enjoy a horror movie.

Tonight, I start with a classic: Poltergeist. The early 80's brought us Freddy and Jason--the epitome of big-budget slashers. But the combination of Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper makes this comparatively calm movie really stand out. (not to mention that it's just a great horror movie)

So, the lights are off, hot chocolate in hand and it's time to fire-up the DVD player.

Orange Box

Halo 3, you just can't get a break.

I saw this morning that Valve finally released the Orange Box.  Ever since I played Half Life 2, I've been hooked to the franchise.  HL2 was arguably the best game I've ever played--the story was fantastic, the game play was solid and who can forget the Gravity Gun--probably the best weapon ever designed.

I probably wouldn't have dropped Grant on the Orange Box, but they included Portal.  A game where I can "shoot" portals wherever I want?  Sign me up.

The two games together (HL2: Episode Two and Portal) cost the same, so I just got the entire Orange Box.

And, of course, I just fired-up Steam and bought it online.  The games are downloading and installing right now.  I'll probably be playing in 30 minutes.

Anyway, the real reason for the post is this: who wants a copy of Half Life 2 and HL2: Episode One?  Since I already bought them and they come with the Orange Box, Valve lets me "gift" my duplicate copy.  (how sweet is that?)

So, come on folks--who wants it?  If you haven't already played it, it's a phenomenal game.  Guys: back me up here.

Halo 3

So, obviously, I'm not the biggest H3 fan in the bloop.  That doesn't mean I don't like the game--I thought the first Halo was one of the better games I've ever played.  I just wasn't in line to buy H3 at midnight.

So, the plan was to wait for me to return from my little European tour and then pick up a copy.  See if I could get my form back.

But then I saw something:

Sorry, Halo.  You loose to Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer and, of course, The Rolling Stones.

Favorite News Story of the Week

A top Vatican official is only "pretending to be gay". That guy he was filmed hitting on? Oh, that was just "research".

The laughs just keep coming folks.

Aberdeen: Day 2

In the middle of the journey of our life

I came to myself within a dark wood

where the straight way was lost.

- Dante

Sorry I've been out-of-touch, folks.  Internet connections at the hotel in Norway were extremely expensive and my days were very full...

I landed in Aberdeen yesterday afternoon.  Most of yesterday was spent re-exploring the city centre and having a few pints at the Tilted Wig.

Today saw a little more exploring, so my feet are sore.  Right now, it's late afternoon and I'll probably grab one of my co-workers and hit another pub for dinner in a couple of hours.

I've got to admit that I don't have much to say.  It's now been over 2 weeks "on the road"--living out of a bag in a hotel room.  I'm ready to head home.  I'm constantly restless and nothing seems to abate it.

I hope things are going well state-side.  Why is nobody blogging anymore?

Norway: 3 Hour Tour

(I have the high-resolution versions of these pictures in Flickr if you're interested. Maybe I'll get a few more cleaned-up and post them at some point. I think I took about 150 pictures in the 3.5 hours of the ride.)
After a delayed start Saturday morning, I got to take my fjord tour. For those of you like me, who don't know much about fjords, here's a quick lesson: fjords are simply deep valleys dug by glaciers between mountainous sides. The fjord I toured was the Lysefjord. During the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years ago, Norway was covered in ice up to 2,000 meters thick. At that time, deep valleys were dug deep inland into Norway. One of the first things you might notice is how relatively green Norway is. Because of the Gulf Stream, Stavanger, and some of the western-most fjords, get very little snow during the winter. And while the summer's don't get too hot, they get lots of rain to keep everything growing. It was interesting to see giant rock formations everywhere completely covered by lush trees.
The particular tour I took put on quite a decent show. At one point, they stopped in a very isolated part of the fjords where someone drops off goats for grazing. They backed-up the boat and let the kids throw the goats some bread. And then, just a little farther down, they stopped by a fresh spring waterfall. They put a bucket on a pole, got some water and let everyone have a cup. Evian has nothing on the real stuff. (not even my square water is as good)
Anyway, it was an enjoyable trip and I'm glad I went.

greenGuru: World Traveler

Well, it looks like my trip is getting extended. I just got asked to make a week-long stop in Scotland on my way out of Norway.

Will someone stop by and water my lawn for me? Otherwise, it's going to be a ragged, dried-up desert by the time I get back...

Thanks.

Norway

Sorry for the lack of blogging, folks. It's been a rough week so far. By the time I get off work, my brain is completely fried and I can barely work up the mental energy to fire-up the PC--let alone the idea of putting-together a coherent post.

So, enjoy the few pictures I've put on Flickr.

Why I Blog

When it comes down to it, I really like hearing back from everyone. It's good to know that my experiences are--at least at some level--shared. And it's incredibly uplifting to hear words of encouragement just when I need them.

So, I wanted to take a minute and share a few of my favorite comments from my blog.

First, whenever I'm faced with a moral delima and aren't sure what to do, there are some words of wisdom that always seem to float to the front of my mind:



And sometimes, when I'm having one of those "what does it all mean" moments, I know someone in the bloop will always help me keep things in perspective:
(here, I think he was reminding of his earlier point)


And, of course, when things go right, I've always got friends that will share in my joy:


I love you guys.

Have you driven a fjord lately?

Walking through a large airport brings about strange emotions in me. In one way, I feel completely alone, but attached to everyone around me. We are all starting some kind of journey, but in a crowd of thousands, I'm the only one taking *my* journey. I like that feeling.



Next weekend, I'm making a "last-minute" 2-week trip to Norway. This is my first trip to that particular country, and I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard that it's a sight to see, but I'll let my Lonely Planet guide sum-up what I've heard from everyone else.

Norway is, quite simply, breathtakingly beautiful. No matter how many pictures you've seen, nothing can prepare you for that first moment that you stand amid the precipitous, overwhelming view of the Norwegian fjords.

This time, I'm flying solo--no boss or coworkers tagging along, so I'll be free to do and see whatever I want. But since I'll be staying in, essentially, a fancy bed-and-breakfast literally a block from the Norwegian Sea, I forsee a lot of sitting outside of a cafe--at a wrought-iron table perched upon a cobblestone street--wrapping my hands tightly around my coffee cup, trying to stay warm against the cold breeze I can see coming across the Norwegian Sea.

House of Te

My last bog post not withstanding, I really am happy at this particular moment. I've got my Tablet, reading and having some excellent tea in midtown.

Misconceptions

Why is it that everyone assumes that I have my shit together?

 

I have no fucking clue what I'm doing.

NetFlix, Pan's Labyrinth and Morality

Have I mentioned lately how much I love NetFlix?  The idea is brilliantly simple: take something people do on a irregular basis (rent movies) and turn it into a subscription service.  And much like the much-lauded TiVo, they don't stop at selling you a product/service.  They keep the experience going and that's what's drawn people in as fans as much as paying customers.

For example, when I first started with NetFlix, I noticed that the emails I got telling me that my next movie was in the mail always got the delivery date wrong.  They said it would arrive on Wednesday and it was there on Tuesday.  A simple enough mistake--I guess my post office is a little more efficient than they thought.  And how could I honestly expect them to accurately predict how long it would take the USPTO to deliver that little red paper envelope?  But then they did something simple--they asked me when I got my movie.  They followed-up with an email asking "did you get your movie on Tuesday or Wednesday?"  After telling them a couple of times they suddenly were able to predict, with almost 100% accuracy, when my next movie would land in my box.

Simple.  Participation.  Rather than spend time and money trying to reverse-engineer the government entity that carries around letters, they asked for my help.  They got great data and a more engaged customer.

Next, I got a completely unexpected and unprecedented email.  They lowered the cost of my subscription.  I don't know why, and I don't care.  It wasn't much--something like $.50 a month.  But when was the last time you got a bill where they said they lowered your payment?

Lastly, they are on the cutting edge of content delivery over the Internet.  They've introduced "Watch Instantly" where I can--you guessed it--instantly watch movies from their catalog.  I demo'd it at the office the other day and it took 30 seconds from the time I opened my browser until I was watching a DVD-quality episode from season 2 of The Office.  Oh, and it's free.

So, the other night I was watching Pan's Labrynth on "Watch Instantly".  (and with my Media Center PC hooked-up to my TV, it was honestly a better experience and higher-quality than if I'd rented the DVD)  I don't know if it was the Negro Modelo I was drinking, but I had an idea and am wondering what everyone thinks about it.

Is morality simply a combination of love and empathy?  Are your good morals built from a lifetime of reactions to situations that happened to those you love and an extension of those situations to those around you in an empathetic fashion?

Anyway, it was a thought.  Feel free to tell me it's a not-very-well-thought-out idea or even that's it's been thought of before and as quickly dismissed.  It just seemed to fit.

Offensive?

Ok, I can't even feign disgust. Robot Chicken is just too damn funny.

Back on Track

...got the A/C fixed.  Geez, what a pain.  But, for the first time in about 36 hours, it's below 80 degrees in the house.

Sun Bad

My A/C at the house decided to take a dive this morning... Looks like I might be in need of a compressor. (that's the best theory so far)

It got up to 95 in the house today and even during the heat of the Houston day, it was still cooler outside. Now it's down to a chilly 88 and I'm going to see if there's any hope for some sleep tonight.

Time to Put Away Play Things

Today I did something that made me very sad.  I've been putting it off for the last two weeks.  (to be perfectly honest, I've been putting it off for much longer than that)  I put away my flight bag.

My life is a series of unfinished goals.

Things were going well.  I was flying a couple of times a week.  I took all my ground school.  I basically knew everything I needed to know to get my ticket--I just needed to refine my skills a bit.  But then time conspired against me.  Travel.  Vacation.  Weather.  My momentum was broken.

Of all the skills I've learned in life, I've never learned how to regain momentum.  I'll start things at breakneck speeds.  I'll have as much passion as I can imagine having.  But once I reach the point at which I understand how something works, the momentum is stalled and I often can't restart it.  That's what happened here.

Aside: At least I think that's what happened here.  But after a little thought and looking back through the blog, I didn't blog any more flights after that bad landing.  I know I had a couple of flights after that, but I don't remember if I ever solo'd after that.  Maybe it affected me more than I think.  I know I still get a little chill when I think of it.

So, for the last couple of weeks, as you know, I've been seriously contemplating a move to Chicago.  And, as is my usual style, I immediately started planning down to the last little item.  I listed everything I thought I need to do to get out of here.  The first section on that list was to finish my pilot's cert.  I really want to get that done.

But after a day or two of consideration, I dropped that section.  I realized that it would put me farther behind both in regards to time and finances.  If I want to get my pilot's cert, that needs to be the focus.  If I want to move, that needs to be my focus.  Moving won.  I hope I was right.

So often in my life, the hardest part for me is not knowing if I made the right decision.  I often forget that it usually doesn't matter if the decision is right or wrong--just that I make a decision.  I need to learn how to make a decision and then make it work.

Not to be too dramatic, but, for obvious reasons, a great line from The Shawshank Redemption popped into my head this weekend and has been floating around since then:

I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

Quote of the Day

If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake.

-- Frank Wilczek, 2004 Nobel Prize winner in physics

I'm Sorry

Dear WoW,

We both know things haven't been going well between us lately.  We've grown apart.

When we first got together, we had lots of fun.  We'd spend all night together--day after day.  And I don't regret that thing we did that one weekend in Reno.

But, you're right--I haven't been putting time aside to spend with you.  I just can't do it anymore.  I don't think we were meant to be together.  Don't take this wrong--it's not you, it's me.  But, believe it or not, I really will miss you.

I hope we can still be friends.

 

Remember me,

Boone

 

P.S. Don't listen to what Bioshock says--I never touched her!  She's a lying bitch!

Oh My

You're a Big Girl Now

Holy crap.  The last few weeks have been a real roller-coaster ride.  I'm not sure where to start, so I'll start at the beginning--the job.

A couple of years ago, when I took the supervisor position, I was excited that I'd be joining the elite ranks of people that have people doing their bidding.  No, surprisingly it's wasn't an ego trip.  I was looking forward to finally having the ability to nudge the direction of the group.  And with the expectation from my boss that I'd still get to spend about 50% of my time doing software development, it placated my concerns about leaving my technical abilities behind.

But, here I am.  Two years later and I find myself doing nothing but attending meetings, shuffling emails and generally doing nothing technical at all.  I went from having one project at a time and an average of 2 meetings a week to overseeing 10 projects and attending 3-4 meetings a day.  (I'm not kidding here--this Monday I have 4 meetings before lunch and then an all-afternoon meeting)

My discontent with this job has been steadily growing over the past few months.  But it finally came to a head the other week.  It was time for mid-year reviews.  I take the chance to sit down with my folks and go over our yearly goals and give them feedback.  (and let them give me feedback)

So, I spent two days squatting in an office, listening to them.  Man, was that a mistake.  A full 2/3 of my group did nothing but bitch about each other.  They didn't like how much money they make.  They didn't like their job title.  They didn't like how person x doesn't come in until 8:45 every day.  (regardless of how late they stay)

Now, don't get me wrong.  Some of those are legitimate complaints.  Some aren't.  I've received some training on how to deal with this stuff.  But I realized that I just didn't fucking want to.  I don't want to be mean here, but I just didn't fucking care one bit.  This isn't what I want to do.  I don't want to spend my 8-5 days doing nothing but trying to bring and keep the team together while attempting to actually get work flowing in and out of them.

I want to spend my days sitting in front of Visual Studio and creating things.  I want to build new, exciting, beautiful things.  I want to enjoy my job again.

So, option #1: find another developer job at Baker.

That should be easy enough.  I've got 2 job offers within the company in the last couple of weeks.  One in another division where they want me to oversee projects at the corporate level.  Nope.  Not any closer to what I want.

My boss also offered to take me with him when he moves on after the first of the year.  I'd spend 80-90% of my time traveling outside the US implementing SAP--our corporate ERP system.  Nope.  While non-US travel would be sweet and I'd be raking in the green, I don't give a crap about SAP.

When I turned it down, my boss asked if I was happy with my current job.  I told him that I wasn't and I needed to find another technical position.  His immediate response was, and I quote: "Don't quit.  What job do you want?  Name it and I'll make it happen by next week."  I just smiled and left it there.

It was nice to know that he values me, but it solidified the other thing that's been bugging me.  While Baker is a great place to work--great people, good benefits, decent pay--I don't like the industry.  I don't know anything about oil.  And after a full decade working there, I still can't tell you even the basics of how our products work.  Seriously, I have no idea.  Again, I just don't care.

So, option #2: find another developer job in an industry I care about.

Everyone knows that the medical industry has a large hold on me.  The answer to "why" is an entire other post.  But let it just be said that I feel comforted and uplifted every time I walk into a hospital.  If I had my pick of any, right now I'd like to be working as a software developer in a hospital.

And, as luck has it, Houston houses the largest medical center in the world.  I checked Monster a couple of weeks ago and immediately found a job and I fit perfectly.

The only problem with this plan is that it still leaves me in Houston.  Don't get me wrong, Houston is a fine city.  But it just doesn't seem to be "me".  Maybe it's time to get out of the south-central portion of the US.  Most people I know from "back in the day" left and seem very happy about it.

So, option #3: find another developer job in an industry I care about in a part of the country more suited to me.

Chicago.

So, our mutual friend in Chicago was nice enough to take care of us while we were at the LAN in Chicago the other week.  I'm afraid I got a bit brainwashed by the "grass is greener" syndrome.

But I've been doing some research, and it looks like from a more-independent viewpoint, it really is a cool city.  Adam's got a great setup there and it appealed to me at a very fundamental level.

So, where does this leave me?  I guess that I've got some decisions to make.  How big of a leap am I prepared to make?  Do I take the easy path and find another job here in Houston or do I turn my entire life upside-down for a while in hopes that I land on my feet in a better place?  This is going to get interesting.

In the meantime, I've started doing the things I need to get my technical skills back to where I want them.  I'm currently waiting for my new home PC to show up.  (the current one is getting a little old and slow)

I've been buying and reading technical books like mad.  I don't want to even see this month's credit card statement.

Before long, I plan to be back in style as a killer coding ninja monkey.  They do indeed exist.

Blog Updates

Sorry, folks. Haven't updated in a while. I've got a backlog of blog ideas to write-up. But it looks like I might have some time on my hands to do that...

Detailed Requirements Gathering

As a hardcore nerd, I often find myself "gathering data".  Most of the time it's about some problem at work or the newest, shiniest gadget.  (I think most married women on this blog can relate this to their husband's research for the TV)  At home, I even went through a phase where I analyzed the hell out of my finances.  I could quickly tell you what percentage of my net income I spent on haircuts over the last 2 years.

Obviously that's completely useless information.  I eventually quit tracking that information.  Now I spend 4 times as much on my haircuts and am much happier.  Anyway, I digress...

The point is that the other day I was reading a very interesting book that took the assumption above (that I easily find myself heavily analyzing certain parts of my life) and asked why I wasn't doing it to the other "problems" in my life.

That got my interest for a minute and I grabbed my "Crap that Sucks in My Life" list.  (yes, I actually have that list)  One of the top 3 was "fatigue".

First, let me explain that I am generally a bit lazy to start with.  Then, as if I needed another excuse, fatigue is a chronic symptom of virtually all Crohn's patients.  Almost everyone fights with it throughout their life--partly because of the latent properties of the disease and compounded by surgeries removing parts of your body you kinda need.

For the past few years, it's been a struggle for me to stay active.  When I get home, my ass gravitates to the couch and I rarely get up.  On the weekends, I can build some momentum if I start-off right, but that momentum rarely continues past about 3 PM--then I'm back to the couch or sitting in front of the Internet.

So, I started doing some detailed research.  After about 30 minutes, I had a good starting point.  I had 3 things I wanted to start with.  3 changes I could make with virtually no effort.  Then I had a plan to document, chart and experiment from there.

But then the most unexpected thing happened.  My energy level went up by like 30% the next morning.  I felt refreshed as soon as I woke up.  I didn't make any coffee for myself before leaving for work.  I didn't yawn all day.  Yeah, my ass made it to the couch that night, but I wasn't as drained as usual.

After continuing those 3 changes through the weekend, it got to the point that Saturday night I was still wide awake at 2 AM and couldn't talk myself into going to bed.

This morning, I woke up just before the alarm and went into the office a couple of minutes early.

Part of me just wants to cry.  All this time, it might have been that easy to feel this much better.  But the rest of me wants to grab that notebook and see how much farther I can go.

Freudian Slip of the Day

In the car on the way home, 'Jessie's Girl' was playing on the radio and, of course, I was singing along. It was halfway through the song before I realized that I was singing it as "I wish that I was Jessie's girl."

Ahem.

Confession and Imperfect Contrition

As most of you know, I stopped smoking when I started dating George. As a pediatrician, you can imagine that it didn't go over well. And, as many of you also suspected, I started up again after we broke up.

Since then I've gone back and forth between a couple a day to a full-blown pack-a-day habit. Yes, I know it sucks. I know I should quit. What can I say? Those ex-smokers out there know the crappy justifications we use(d) not to quit.

Well, I finally had enough. (again) My last smoke was Friday evening. I'm past the three-day hump and things are starting to even out again. At this point, I honestly think I've got a good chance of not slipping back anytime soon.

Anyway, I've felt really bad about this. I was really embarrassed about starting again, so I've done a half-assed attempt to hide it. It sucks how easy it is for me to slip back into the mode of hiding. And as hard as it is for me to climb out of my shell as an extremely introverted person, hiding a regular part of my life has taken its toll. The other day someone told me that they were glad that I moved to Houston because I seemed more like myself than ever and it just killed me knowing how I wasn't living up to that. I'm glad I've got friends in my life that, purposefully or not, hold up that mirror. I need that fresh air of honesty now and again.

So, to end this on a good note: since nobody really knew I started smoking again (at least nobody in Houston), I had to have something that would keep me from picking up right away. So, cheesy excuse or not, I bought myself a new little toy. The deal was that if I got the toy, I couldn't smoke anymore. Even though it was inanimate, it was still something to continuously remind me of my goal.

I'm now an X-Box nerd again.

"It's a question of ethics"

For those of you that don't listen to 'This American Life' on NPR (and I know that's an alarmingly high percentage), I've got an ethical exercise for you.  Two hypothetical scenarios/questions.  Give it an honest shot.  No fancy tricks here.  Answer the first question before moving on to the second.

Scenario #1

Imagine you are standing at the top of a cliff.  Down below are some train tracks.  And in the distance are 5 guys working on the tracks.

Suddenly, you notice a train coming in the distance.  It's heading directly for the 5 workers who have their backs to the train.  You just know that if something doesn't happen, they will be hit by the train and killed.  And you're so far away, they can't hear you yelling to warn them.

Just then, you notice a fork in the train tracks and, on the other track, a single worker with his back to the train.  The lever to switch the train to the other track is right next to you.

Question: Do you throw the switch--changing the direction of the train?  It will kill the single worker instead of the 5.

Scenario #2

Ok, similar scenario here.  You're on the cliff with the tracks below.  The same 5 workers have their backs turned.

But in this scenario, there's no fork in the tracks.  Instead, there is a big guy looking over the edge of the cliff next to you.

You know that if you give the big guy a *little* nudge, he will fall, land on the tracks and stop the train.  Yes, the fall will kill him, but the 5 workers will again be spared.

Question:  Do you push the guy?

Analysis

Did your answers between the two scenarios change?  If so, why?  What is the difference?

One step at a time

A little over a year ago, while I was still dating George, I walked down from his apartment to grab the mail.  When I reached in and pulled-out a mazagine covered in a gray polyfilm bag, I had a reaction I think most guys will appreciate: "Yeah!  Porn!"

I very clearly remember my next reaction.  Anger.  No, it wasn't porn, it was that month's issue of The Advocate--the country's leading magazine covering gay issues.  I wasn't mad because I was deined a dirty magazine.  I was pissed that it was mailed like it *was* porn.

I fumed the entire walk back to George's apartment.  How could The Advocate stoop so low as to hide what it is?  It's a legitimate, 40 year-old magazine.  It wasn't until I got to the top of the stairs did I come to the simple, sinking realization why.  Many people couldn't subscribe to it otherwise.

Like me in the past, they would have been afraid of being outed by their mailman, neighbors or moms.  I'd been so relatively comfortable being out that I'd started to forget how completely and devistatingly it can ruin your life.  My anger melted into pity.  How far we have left to come as a country.

So, you can imagine how I felt when I opened this month's issue and saw the Letter from the Editor saying that I can now choose if I want my copy to come in a wrapper.

I immediately went online and told them they can keep the wrapper for someone that still needs it.  I don't need mine anymore.

South Fork, CO

Sorry, there's not been much blogged lately. That doesn't mean nothing is happening--quite the opposite. In the past 30 days, I've flown or driven over 12,000 miles. From 500 kts in a Boeing A330 over the Atlantic to 3 mph in a 4-wheeler over the Rocky Mountains. 3 countries, 4 states and 2 different birthday parties in-between.

So, I spent last week in South Fork, CO. My Dad's side of the family has a cabin there and so we loaded-up about half a dozen 4-wheelers and drove up.


I spent several summer vacations exploring the Rockies when I was young. Like many times in the past, Dad and I drove straight through the night. At one point, I slipped-off to sleep and awoke when he pulled into a gas station. As I opened the truck door, the crisp, pure scent of mountain pine hit me and I was instantly 12 again.


We spent the next 5 days waking-up just after dawn and having breakfast at the diner in town. Then we'd all gather supplies for the day and head out for a new trail. The weather was perfect. I'd forgotten what absolutely clean air felt like to breathe.


It definately wasn't a normal week for me.

Eurotrip: The Aftermath

After 3 airports in 3 different countries, more than 5,000 miles and over 48 hours, my luggage finally found its way home. All is right with the world again.

I've put some of the pictures from the trip in Flickr. I didn't get too many in Aberdeen since we didn't get in hardly any sight-seeing and couldn't get a hotel near the City Centre. So here are the Aberdeen and Amsterdam sets. I put comments on a few of the interesting pictures and also upgraded to a Pro account so I could keep uploading. An added benefit is that you can see higher-resolution versions of the photos. (you know--just in case you want to have a picture of Absinthe as your wallpaper at work)

BTW: Since I've started using Flickr a little more, I added a permanent address to my account. Now you can see all my pictures anytime by going to www.flickr.com/photos/greenguru.

BTW 2: It looks like AllOfMP3 is taking credit cards again, so I'm listening to some Morrissey.

Perils of Travel...

Well, I must go get Trogdor out of pet jail and then get some sleep, but I had to get in a small rant. When travel goes wrong, it really goes wrong. Here's what the last 32 hours were like:

1) Leave hotel in Aberdeen for the airport (where there was a f'in sweet Lamborghini parked out front)
2) Have the flight in Aberdeen delayed for 30 minutes and then cancelled outright a bit later
3) Stand in line for literally 1.5 hours to get tickets re-routed through Paris instead of Amsterdam
4) Flight from Aberdeen to Paris gets delayed for 30 minutes again
5) Late to Paris, they had to bus us to the flight back to Houston (they held it at the gate)
6) The gate attendants in Paris couldn't find our eTickets, so we had to wait another 20 minutes on the gate while they called Aberdeen
7) Had to sit on the taxiway in Paris for an hour while a storm passed and were 10th in line for takeoff
8) While trying to takeoff, one of the front tires on the landing gear blew-out and we had to sit on the plane for another 1.5 hours while they literally changed the front gear tires.
9) After landing in Houston 10.5 hours later, we found out our luggage never made it.

Uh, it was a bit of a rough trip back. But, no worries. I'm home and FedEx should show up with my luggage sometime today.

P.S. On the up-side, the Airbus A330 is a pimp little ride and I highly recommend it if you are going to be stuck in a sardine can for extended periods of time.

Aberdeen

Well, it's been a grueling week. It's been all about teaching me what my new group in Aberdeen has been doing for the past couple of years and planning how I need to help guide them for the next year. And in the midst, I had to handle a couple of mini-crises in Houston. All part of the job now...

Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of more pictures. (actually, I'm just putting-off packing and heading to bed before my flight tomorrow morning)


First, I'm going to stop bitching about gas prices. While driving between the hotel and office, I saw this and had to pull-over and take a picture. Let me do the math for you: 1.05 Pounds/liter * 3.785 liters/U.S. gallon * 2 dollars/pound = $7.95 /gallon. Yes, that's right--$8 per gallon.

On the more fun side, we grabbed a couple of drinks at the Soul bar last night. Yep, it's a church that was converted into a bar. And they named it "Soul". Good stuff.

Amsterdam

Well, I'm overseas again. I don't think I've blogged about this, but tomorrow I'm getting a bit of a promotion. My "old" job was supervising the western hemisphere software development group. In about 12 hours, my boss is announcing that I will be adding the eastern hemisphere folks to my group. That means that he wanted me to come over with him to announce it here.

So, in a first for me, we stayed the night as a layover in Amsterdam. What a wild city. We got a hotel right outside of the Red Light District. That was definately a sight. For good taste reasons, I won't go into details here on the blog, but I can see why guys like going there.

And, no, I didn't smoke anything while I was there. I probably would have, but my boss was with me and I didn't want to put him in an uncomfortable position. But I did have to try *something*, so I had a couple of interesting drinks.

Anyway, I'll post more pictures on Flickr sometime later. Right now, the jet lag is catching up with me. I didn't get much sleep last night and although it's only about 8 PM here, I feel like I've been up for 3 days solid. About an hour ago the shakes started. I feel like I've got the DT's...

Berries & Cream

Hot damn, this is funny shit.

'Nuff Said

One for Five

Damnit. I had 5 flights scheduled for this Memorial Day holiday. The one in the previous post is the only one I got in. Every other one was cancelled by weather. My last flight this weekend just got cancelled...

Pilot's Log : 31.3 - 32.3 Hours

Well, this was supposed to be a big week for flying. I had a total of 5 flights scheduled for the holiday weekend. However, some good rain moved in on Saturday morning, so both of those flights got cancelled.

However, this morning was clear over the airport. The original plan was to have me fly my first solo cross country. (cross country here is defined as landing at an airport at least 50 miles from where you begin)

But, of course, the place I was going to solo to had some weather. It was moving in steadily and I wouldn't have beat it. So, we changed the plans so I'd do my necessary 3 solo takeoffs and landings at a tower-controlled airport.

I've had a real fear of talking to towers. I don't know what to say and when to who. Depending on the size of the airport, I have to tune in up to 4 different frequencies and talk to 3 different people. Scared me to death. So last week, I bought some VFR communication training software. That really seemed to do the trick.

So, I wasn't too scared of this flight before takeoff. But during my first landing, a little crosswind gust came out of nowhere and I landed on 1 wheel and almost went off the runway. Scared the living crap out of me. It's been over 2.5 hours and I'm still on-edge.

Of course everything else went better than expected, and everyone has bad landings. No damage done. But, as I've read and almost experienced, it doesn't take much to scare a student pilot into quitting. Sometimes I get lulled into a false sense of security and forget that flying has a much smaller margin of tolerance than most of the rest of life.

Anyway, all is good. I'm just still freaking out a bit about that landing. I've got another flight at 3:00 and I know things will go better then.

Meanwhile, enjoy a couple more pictures. (larger versions plus another new flying picture is on Flickr)


Here's my mug right before takeoff.



Here's my airport from the air right before I entered the traffic pattern for landing.

Got Juice?

Well, I thought I'd share the joy of my every-8-week-juice-up.

Usually I get my infusions by myself in the room, but it's setup for 2 people so I get company one or twice a year. Today was one of those such days.



Poor guy. He's in his early 20's and hasn't been doing so well lately. He didn't have insurance for a while, so he had to go without his Remicade. That means he watched the Superbowl from his hospital bed.

Oh, and now I understand what an "overbearing mother" is. Wow. She was only in there with me for about 15 minutes before I wanted to punch her.

Pilot's Log : 30 - 31.3 Hours

It's been a couple of weeks since I've flown, so I'm a bit rusty.  No worries tho--good stuff today.  We just worked on my short- and soft-field takeoffs and landings.  That's just what it sounds like.  There are slightly different procedures for taking off and landing on short or soft runways.

On my first short-field landing, I had 3 or 4 different airplanes waiting to takeoff, so I had a bit of an audience and absolutely nailed it.  That was a good feeling.

BTW: I'm putting that new nifty little camera of mine to use and uploaded some pictures to Flickr.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

On my next solo, I'll take some pictures with the cockpit lit-up and up in the air.

BTW II: I added a couple more airports to my list of places I've landed.

Pilot's Log : Hours 26.8 - 30.0

Damn, still not much going on here. Changing CFI's, travel, conflicting schedules... I'm not getting as much done here as I want. My CFI wants me to take the written exam and I've barely started studying. That's probably what this next week will be dedicated to.

Well, this entry encompasses 3 flights: 2 solos and 1 more instruction.

The 2 solos were okay, but didn't feel "right". I think it was because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be practicing. And on the last flight, I found a wasp in the cabin right before I took off. Good thing I did--I'd had to find him during flight...

The last instruction I had was fun, tho. We got to train on some fun stuff: simulated instrument failure and recovery from unusual attitudes. The first one is exactly what it sounds like. He put post-it notes on some of the instruments to simulate failure and taught me how to compensate with the others. Without an altitude indicator, I was able to fly and maneuver for about 5-10 minutes and only climbed ~200 feet. My CFI acted impressed.

The other training was even more fun. The idea is that you need to know how to recover the plane quickly from unusual attitudes. (i.e. get stuck upside-down in clouds and such)

He has me put on that hood that doesn't let me see outside the plane. Then I have to close my eyes. The CFI then twists, turns and flips the plane until my internal gyro doesn't know which way is up. Just then he says "the plane is yours" and within about 2 seconds I have to scan the instrument panel, figure out how the plane is oriented and start the procedure to correct to straight-and-level flight. Good times.

Seattle

Man, I miss travel.

Last week I got to go to Seattle. I can definately see why people want to live there. It was just a bit cool and sunny the entire week--perfect weather for folks like me who want to escape the Houston heat. Without exception, the people were very cool and relaxed.

From the moment I got out of the taxi at the hotel, I felt at-home. There were a lesbian couple crossing the street while holding hands. No uptight, holier-than-thou attitude like the south. Around here, people are nicer than anywhere else as long as you fit their definition of normal.

Anyway, since I was there for a Microsoft conference, I got to stay in a fairly swanky little hotel downtown. And yes, there were Starbucks everywhere. There were 3 within sight of the hotel lobby. (I'm serious)

And Microsoft knows how to throw a party. The last night we were there, they shut down the Experience Music Project. It's a really cool interactive music museum. They brought in a live band that rocked. (although the open bar might have skewed my idea of what good music is...)

And attached to the EMP was the Science Fiction Museum. The geek in me went nuts. I got to see a life-sized Alien queen. I saw the only complete model of the Death Star used in the movie. I saw the original handwritten version of a Neil Gaiman book. (sorry, don't remember which one)

There was stuff in there from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to "Minority Report". And, refreshingly, they also had a lot of books in there as well. They didn't forget that sci-fi existed before movies and still exists on paper today.


Right next door was the Space Needle. One more US landmark down, several dozen to go. It was cool I guess, but regularly being twice that high in a little plane blunted the coolness. The scenery was much better than anything here in Texas, tho.

We even got to take a long lunch from the conference and walk down to the pier. We stopped by to see Pike Place Market. I'm sure you've heard of this place--it's where they throw the fish.

The crappiest thing about this trip is this: I didn't take a single picture. Not one. Yeah, I saw and did all the stuff above, but the pictures came from Flickr. This isn't the first time this has happened to me: I'm traveling and I don't want to carry the big camera with me because we are doing other things than sightseeing and I don't want to be that dork dragging a camera around.

So, as I'm learning, life is helped-along by having the right tools. Most everyone will say that's obvious, but sometimes the "right" part eludes me. To me, the right tool is a camera I don't mind taking everywhere.

So, I did a little research and bought a Nikon S50 yesterday. It's small enough that I can just slip it into my pocket. It's smaller and lighter than my phone, but it takes amazing pictures. And it's got a giant, 3" screen on the back that's beautiful.

Tutorial

This is for those of you that like me, have problems taking pictures.

Pilot's Log : Airports

Just to see if it works, I thought I'd do a quick map of the airports I've flown to. (FYI: You can close the left side to show more of the map by clicking on the border between the listings and the map or see it full-screen here)

(removed inline map)

Pilot's Log : Hours 23.7 - 26.8

Two flights this weekend. Great weather for both. These were also my first flights with a new instructor. I think he will work out well. He's 180 degrees different from my last CFI. My last CFI was reserved and very military-like. It was a good way to get started--more strict to make sure I did everything right. This guy is a bit of a frat-jock type. I don't usually get along with those types of people, but he's really cool so far.

On my first flight this weekend, he wanted to teach me applicable "pilotage" skills. That basically means flying by looking at the sectional map. (vs. the GPS or VOR nagivation)

The big bonus of the flight was that I got to do my first soft-field landing. I landed on a grass strip named--and I'm not kidding here--"Happy Landings". That's the official airstrip name.

It was awesome. I had to clear some trees at one end of the runway, land with a crosswind, take off again and make sure to clear the fence at the other end of the runway. Fun as hell.

Today's flight was quite different. Today was what's called "hood work". That means that once I took off and got up to altitude, I had to put on a hood that blocked me from seeing outside of the airplane. It's meant to simulate flying in the clouds. FAA regulations require that I spent a few hours in simulated IFR conditions, so this was a chunk of it.

Tough stuff. My eyes hurt and I feel exhausted. When you can't see outside the plane, you have no idea what is going on. No idea. None. You just can't imagine how disorienting it is. So you have to trust your instruments. That wasn't too tough for me to do, but to just fly straight and level, I have 6 instruments I have to continuously scan and adjust for. And when I mean continuously, I mean it. Whenever I'd stare at one instrument for 10 seconds (which I shouldn't do), one of the others went way off. (i.e. if I stared at my direction for 10 seconds to do a precise 5 degree correction, I'd look up and we would suddenly be decending at 300 feet per minute)

By the end of the flight, I got to the point where I could scan all 6 of those instruments in about 3 seconds. (that's probably about average) But, of course, when I started to get comfortable flying like that, my CFI added some additional work. He pointed at the map and said "we are here--now get me back home". No looking outside. No GPS. Now I had to do some planning and start using 2 more instruments. With some guidance from my instructor, I successfully got us within 3 miles of my airport. (at that point I had to take off the hood to enter the traffic pattern) Tough but awesome.

Fun For Everyone

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about my Crohn’s because not much has been happening. My doctor and I have found a good medication routine that seems to work well for me. But some Crohn’s-related stuff has been going on lately, so I thought I’d share.

It’s all in the genes

According to Reuters, scientists are starting to release findings showing that they think they have isolated some of the genetic component to Crohn’s. That doesn’t mean a cure is forthcoming, but the first step in curing a disease is to understand what causes it. This is great news for us afflicted. First, Crohn’s doesn’t get a lot of press time because it’s fairly rare and let’s face it, it’s not exactly pleasant dinner conversation…

But this is also heartening to see visible results from ongoing research. Very little is known about the cause of Crohn’s—outside of this research very little is known about the cause than wasn't known 25 years ago.

Hopefully this will eventually lead to better understanding and better treatments. While I’m forever grateful for the medications I get, they do seem a bit dodgy. Controlling my disease by suppressing my immune system isn’t an ideal treatment and surely not without its long-term effects.

So, “way to go, scientists!” I’ll try to remember not to kick sand on you at the beach.

Smores

I haven’t said anything about this yet because it’s far from final, but since we are on the topic… Every year in a few locations around the US, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) puts on a summer camp for kids with Crohn’s and/or Colitis. Some of these kids have a hard time getting out much and don’t normally have people around them that understand what they are going through.

So, for a few days they get to go to camp like all the other kids and be surrounded by people who know what it’s like--people they can talk to about it and not be embarrassed. And for some kids with IBD, this is their only chance to actually camp out in the woods--this isn't an outdoor-friendly disease. (and you thought that you had a tough childhood)

I’m trying to get on as a volunteer camp counselor at the camp here in Texas. I’m not sure if it will happen yet, but it would be really cool.

Long Weekend

Hey, folks. Apparently I was in a blogging mood this weekend, so check the last couple days worth of whatever.

And, yeah, I changed my blog format again to keep some people on their toes.

Pilot's Log : Hours 22.7 - 23.7

Well, this was my second flight of the day and my last with this CFI. It really sucks to see him go. I really liked how he taught me and he was a very friendly, easy-going guy.

My earlier flight went well, so you can guess how this one went... It was still a beautiful day, but the winds picked-up a bit and tossed me around quite a lot. It kept me from properly concentrating on what I needed to.

The plan for this flight was to fly down to Sugarland Regional Airport and do a full-stop landing with my CFI. If all went well, I'd fly back, drop him off and do it myself. It would be my first solo landing at another airport. If I did well, I would have gotten another endorsement--allowing me to fly to and land at any airport.

Needless to say, things didn't go as planned. You see, West Houston Airport (my airport) is uncontrolled. That means it doesn't have a tower. When you are flying around my airport, you are in charge of what you do. You watch for traffic, announce what you are doing and then do it.

Sugarland is a controlled airport. That means that there are nice people up in the tower running things. Contrary to popular myth, the folks in the tower may be in charge, but their job is to help me out. They make sure I can do whatever I need/want to do. As a general rule, they seem to be good people. Just make sure you play by the rules.

Anyway, my problem is talking to the tower. About 2/3 of the time, I know what I need to say/do, but for some reason I get very uncomfortable and screw it up. From all of the training materials I see advertised in flying magazines, I think this is a common problem people have.

So, instead of soloing to that airport, we just made 2 different runs at it. Good stuff. But my landings were horrible as well. Whenever I get uncomfortable or nervous, it shows everywhere. It also doesn't help that I haven't been flying enough. As relatively early as I am in my flying experience, it doesn't take long to get "rusty" at something.

So, the plan is this: start flying more frequently. I'm at almost 24 hours in the air. And my CFI says that I'm well over halfway to be ready for my check ride. I'd like to take my check ride in the next 2 months. It's taking me longer than average to get my license, but that's becuase I haven't been flying enough. But it's become clear from my CFI that I'm ahead of the curve in terms of experience/hours.

Pilot's Log : Hours 21.2 - 22.7

This morning was my first "real" cross-country trip. My CFI even had me plan it out. You can see my nav log above. It's been quite a while since I got training on how to fill this out and I did better than I thought for my first attempt. (For you Aggies fans out there, I flew right over their practice area. They weren't out yet, but I'm sure I'll buzz them more than a few times before I get my license.)

It was a really good flight. It was probably the calmest weather I've flown in yet. I learned a lot and my CFI seemed fairly pleased with my progress. At one point he turned off the GPS and had me use the rest of my instruments to figure out where I was and where I needed to go. Good stuff. I'm also starting to learn how to work the radios and such. Before we didn't need to mess with them much. But just on this flight I had to adjust about 6 different frequencies. Yeah, it isn't tough, but I had to learn how what all these damn buttons did... If you are interested, this is what my radio stack looks like:

HD Setup

With part of my bonus this year, I decided to join the 21st century and get a new TV. They finally got into the price range I was willing to spend. I took the lesser-traveled route and purchased a lower-priced set instead of going with a slighly higher-quality name brand. I went with a Vizio 50" plasma. I couldn't be happier. The pic above doesn't serve it justice--it has an amazing picture.

Last weekend, I got that new console to go underneath and mounted the TV on the wall. You can see that for the moment I've just got some cable management hiding the cables. I doubt that will be the long-term setup (I need to buy some high-quality cables and then route them through the wall) but you can see what I'm going for.

Pilot's Log : Hours 20.1 - 21.2

Another very cool milestone. This was my first flight by myself. It did an excellent job reminding me why I love flying. I can't describe how liberating it was to be able to fly wherever I wished. (within a 25 mile radius...) I took off when I wanted and landed when I wanted. I can't wait to do it again.

This was also the first flight I was allowed to enter myself in my log. Before now, my CFI had to record all of my hours. I can now log them myself. (yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but it's another big moment for me)

On a more somber note, it looks like my CFI got a job somewhere else. I knew it would happen eventually, but it still sucks. I really like him and we get along well. I feel like I'm learning and he's a good teacher. Oh well.

I've got flight scheduled in about an hour, but it probably won't happen. The clouds are about high enough (2,200 ft), but the ~20 kt winds are inadvisable... I'll just have to try tomorrow.

TiVo, I Hardly Knew Ye

Unsurprisingly, I finally got sucked into the big TV craze.  It took them long enough, but they finally dropped in price to a point that I was willing to hand over some cash.

All I can say is "damn".  Damn big.  Damn good picture.  Damn cool HD content.  What the hell was I waiting on?

Anyway, the point of this post is to say goodbye to TiVo.  My TiVo won't work with the HD cable reciever, so I had to replace it with the turd that Time Warner is passing off as a TiVo-like device.

So, my question to you folks: anyone not have a TiVo and need one? 

If you don't have a TiVo and aren't sure if you need one, take this quick survey to find out:

1) Do you have a TV and turn it on?

If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, you need a TiVo.

For the cost of shipping and a beer next time you see me, my TiVo is yours.

Pilot's Log : Hours 18.6 - 20.1

It seems like I'm hardly flying anymore.  (because I'm not)  I had 3 flights cancelled last week because of weather and I cancelled another 3 this weekend because my folks will be in town.

But today's flight made up for all of that.  We started working on my cross-country training.  To start with, I had to learn how to use 2 more instruments--my VOR's.  It's how I can navigate without GPS.  And it's how those commercial planes you fly on get from place-to-place.  It's a fairly simple concept and not too difficult to work with so far.

The really good part of today's flight was the weather.  When I arrived, it was nice and mostly clear.  When I fly with my CFI, we don't always check the weather--he usually knows what's going on from being at the airport all day, so I didn't give it a second thought.

But once we got up, it was clear that clouds were rolling in quickly.  But we just got above them and did my training.  At 4,500 ft, I think it was the highest I've flown yet.  (yeah, it's not very high at all, but it's what I've got)

But by the time we headed back, it was clear that the clouds were really thick.  I found a little open spot and dropped from 4,500 to 2,000 through the hole.  But things weren't looking any better--another layer of clouds were right below them.

So, my CFI decided to give me some experience in the clouds.  He filed an in-flight IFR plan (Instrument Flight Rules--meaning you can fly through clouds) and had me fly in.  I've always heard that flying in the clouds is disorienting, and every bit of it is true.  I honestly couldn't tell you which way was up.  I had no idea.

I had to trust my instruments 100% to tell me what the heck I was doing.  (which is what you are supposed to do)  It's not as easy as you think.  I never realized how much attitude and altitude correction maintenance is a subconscious function enabled by having ground reference points.

But, of course, my CFI and Houston Approach guided me straight in.  Even though I couldn't see the ground--let alone the runway until I was about 700 ft off the ground and 1.5 miles from the runway (e.g. about 30 seconds away from touchdown), I was perfectly aligned and right on the glideslope.

I quickly remembered why I love flying.

Pilot's Log : Hours 15.6 - 18.6

Obviously I haven't gotten in much flying lately.  Between my CFI's vacation, my lack of planning to get on his schedule and some weather cancellations, I've only had 2 flights since my solo.

These last 2 flights have been exactly the same as my solo: my CFI and I go up and I do a couple of landings to show him that I still know what I'm doing.  Then I drop him off at the terminal and do 3 takeoffs and landings on my own.

My last flight was a bit of a mixed bag.  On my first solo landing, another student was flying in from another airport.  As soon as I took off, I heard him announce that he was 10 miles out.

By the time I got ready to turn towards the runway (just before my final approach), I heard him announce that he was 3 miles out.  My brain was so locked into circling the airport that, for some damn reason, I thought that I could just sneak in before him.

I announced my attentions and immediately my CFI got on the radio and told me to "extend downwind" instead.  I pulled a hard 45 degree to get out of his way.

There's no way I can explain it other to say than I f'ed-up.  I should have known better and just extended anyway, but I didn't.  I could have caused a safety issue.

It didn't seem to bother the CFI, but it really bugged me.

On the other hand, once I got back on the ground, he kept complimenting me on how great my landings were.  And these were with a fairly strong headwind tossing me around the last 50 feet or so.

My next flight will be a big one for me.  For the first time, I'll be going up without any supervision from my CFI.  He wants me to head out to our practice area (about 10 miles away from the airport) and work on some basic maneuvers.  It's going to be awesome to do everything from start to finish without needing anyone around.

After that flight, I start on my cross-country training.  That's where I learn everything else.  It's like in driving school--so far I've only been cruising around the parking lot.  Starting now I'm leaving the parking lot and learning how to properly interact with traffic, highways, etc...  It's going to be sweet, but hard.