Back in Business--April 1, 2010

Woke up at 8:30.  And, boy, that sure wasn't happening.  I was in a funk.  I went pee, then hopped right back into bed...and even fell asleep again.  I don't understand how I was so tired after eight hours of sleep.  But I woke up again around 9:00-ish.  I went and grabbed some breakfast, then came back to the room.

The camera was delivered at 9:30, so I grabbed a ride to the airport.

I spent about 30 minutes installing the camera, and then I was off for the skies around 11:00 A.M.  I was able to finish a couple of flight plans, but it was getting crazy bumpy.  Even for the twin.  So I flew over to Toledo to get a calibration field done before the turbulence became too much.  But I pretty much knew the day was shot.  I landed around 2:00 over in Toledo, and I grabbed the courtesy car and headed for lunch.

I tried to continue a flight plan I had started after I flew back from Toledo, but it just wasn't goin' to happen.  Frankly, the flight back at 3500 feet was rather uncomfortable.  I HATE turbulence.  You just deal with it (not much else you can do), but it is just so annoying.

I came back in to Lorain County and had winds at 14 gusting to 22.  I had a terrible approach (I overshot the final), but I brought it back around.  I landed and was thrilled to call it a day.  I was tired, beat up, and just exhausted.  I had only flown 3.7 hours, too.  It was just one of those days.

I didn't have a ride back to the hotel, so I had to wait until 6:00 for one of the ladies at the FBO to take me.  I tried to nap, and I almost went under, but some people walked in and woke me up.  Oh well.

Went to the mall for supper.  Spent the night inside tonight.

The good news is the weather is still fantastic.  It was around 70 degrees today.  Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 77.  I have about 6.5 hours worth of work left.  And most of it is probably going to have to take place before 1:00 P.M. every day.  The bumps just get too crazy.  I'm hopin' to get most of it done tomorrow...

But we'll see what happens.

Mom called and said I have a "roommate" now, too.  He moved in today.  I'm pretty excited (and a bit nervous!) about that.  But he paid today for the following month, so that is great!  It's kind of nice!  I hope it stays nice...

Talked to Jennifer for about an hour tonight.  Gettin' into the nitty gritty now.  Ruh roh.

Went to bed at 11:50.

Alarm is set for 7:45.  I am hoping to be on station at 9:30.  Actually in the sky ready to take pictures.  I am ready to move on to a different state for sure.  Let's get this project done already!

Expect the Unexpected--March 31, 2010

Woke up at 8:05 A.M.

I quickly packed, grabbed a to-go breakfast, and called Cleveland TRACON.

I headed out to the airport and loaded all of my gear into the airplane.  I was on site around 9:45.  The weather was just absolutely perfect.  Crisp, clear skies in all directions, fantastic temps, and very little wind.  I took off with 4 knots out of the south.  I trimmed the airplane out to where it would fly hands-off.  Perfect!!!  I flew my first line, then went to the second...

And I started getting errors.  Lots of 'em.  So many that the line would not complete.  So I flew it again.  Same thing.  Then again.  Same thing.  Then again.  And the fourth try gave me the same result.  <sigh>

So I headed to another flight plan to see if it was just the lighting or what.  And I had the same exposure error.  Not good.  I restarted my rig and tried again.  Same problem.  GRRRRRRRR!  So I went in to land.  I troubleshot with my company, and they determined it was a bad camera.  Story of my life!!!

I had only logged 1.4 hours.  I literally thought I was going to fly between 8 and 12 hours today.  It just goes to show you...

Just to get away from the airport and do SOMETHING, I took the courtesy van out to eat.  I stopped at a recommended restaurant, but the prices were quite silly.  As in $8.99 for a lunch hamburger.  Yeah, um, no.  I literally sat down, grabbed a water, checked the menu, then walked out after saying I didn't want to spend over $10 on lunch.  True story.  I went to Subway and grabbed a hearty sub, chips, and a sweet tea for $5.08.  TOTAL.

I went back to the airport, read a little bit, unpacked my plane, and waited for my shuttle ride to pick me up at 2:00.

And that was pretty much my day.  Oh the joys.

I have logged 18.9 hours in the Aztec so far this month.  I'll take it, but it's bittersweet knowing that that number COULD be closer to 30-40 if I had good weather and a camera that worked today!  Oh well...such is the nature of the beast.  I still can't complain.

I talked to Jennifer for quite awhile this afternoon...and then spent about 20 minutes trying to get my zipper to open on my suitcase.  It may have been 30.  Needless to say, I think she's on her last leg.  I had so hoped it would make it to the end of the season!!!  I don't want to have to buy one on the road when I have perfectly good ones sitting at home!!!  We'll see how she fares.

I went for a run today, too.  The temps were in the 60's, so I took advantage of that.  It was quite painful but good at the same time.  I need to get back into some type of routine with that.  The rest of the day/evening was just a wash.  I sat around most of the night...goin' back and forth between the internet and the TV.  Not exactly what I want to be doing.  I did, however, have my parents get my house in order back home...buying the necessary items for my new roommate tomorrow.  I sure hope all of this comes together!

Went to bed at 12:15 A.M.  I have to wait for my new camera to come in tomorrow morning, so I don't think I'll be in the skies much before noon.  And I'm just hopin' everything goes well and I can still finish in two more days.

But again...time will tell.

Alarm set for 8:30.