I like Airplanes

One of my options of things to do once I'm out of work is to spend more time with my airplane. I like flying around and going new places, seeing the ground from different heights.

And speaking of planes, I thought it would be fun to have a blog just about my airplane adventures. When google first released gmail I got in before the namespace got polluted (thanks Dave!) and scored aviator. I was pretty jazzed. When I was thinking about doing a aviation related blog, I went for aviator again.

Turns out, somebody already has it. As you can see, it has not been touched in, what, two years! One post two years ago. And then left fallow. Clearly this one is ripe for recycling. I went to blogger help, and ended up posting a question from which I got a link to this answer. Which is essentially, blogs never expire -- try asking the owner, but we won't tell you who the owner is.

I looked for a place to post a comment on the aviator blog in hopes that I could get him or her to respond to me. But there is nothing there. No post a comment, no "about me." No link to "My profile."

What is a guy to do?

All good things have to come to an end

A while back, my employer announced their intent to close the office I work in. They are offering relocation packages to move me and my family to Boulder Colorado, and offering incentive (read $$) for us to stay at our current jobs until we complete our current tasks. Many are finding the incentives inadequate to keep them engaged, and have chosen to leave already.

This pretty much sucks. They are people that I like. No, people that I admire. Engineers that I admire. No matter where you work, when there are people leaving, we naturally question our own motivation for staying. We think, "If they are leaving for something better, am I staying for something worse?"

I know the answer to that for me. For the next several months, I am a coin-operated software mercenary, just doing it for the money. I like the product I work on. Heck, I've worked on the product from it's infantcy into it's adolescence. And I can see what it has the potential to grow into in its maturity. But I believe I'll not be there to see it. Funny, kind of like a death to me. I am no longer invested in seeing it through. So now I have to decide what to do with my life. I'll stay in my current job for a bit. Not sure how long I can hang on for $$ while all of the others a bailing out now. But when I go, I'm not sure where I'll go. I'm thinking of spending some time with my family, and some time with my airplane. And I'm also thinking I want to do some more software. Something cool.

Entry before

This was taken from the entry way floor. At the top of the picture you can see the bridge from the living room across to the master bed room, and the skylights above that. In the center is the beam that holds up the roof, and the small black dot below that is where the fan mounts. At the very bottom is the window above the front door, flanked by wall lights.

Living room after

This is the new light installed in the living room.

Entry after

New fan in the entry way.

Mom's 79th birthday party

Mom's the one on the left.

Quick updates

Couple things here.

1. I updated my personal website to contain a link to here. (whoo hoo!).


2. I rearranged the bloggers on my site to reflect recent status. (lot's of non bloggers out there)


3. I found a ceiling fan that matches my criteria, but $350 seems a bit steep. More on me being a tight-wad later.


4. Sandra has decided that the fan is ok.


5. I've been using firefox. I like it, especially the tabbed browsing. Makes for a much better experience than IE. However, it does seem a bit slower -- I have not done becnhmarks to confirm -- and clunkier. In particular in the use of the scroll wheel.

Ceiling fans.

Our entry way is 25 feet high. When we built our house in 1995, I wanted to put in ceiling fans that I would never have to climb back up there again to work on. So I got one with a life time warranty. I also got a visibly identical one for the living room, as the two fans are visible at the same time. I also got light kits that matched the dining room and breakfast nook.

Well the one I picked died, and the warranty turned out to be of no value as the our style was no longer made.

So I went out looking for two new:

• Polished brass
• full function remote, light dimmer, 3 speeds forward, 3 speeds reverse
• 52 inch.

Never thought that would be such a tall order.

I ended up getting everything but the polished brass. Spent an hour installing it today, Sandra does not like them. Back to the search. I'll post again on the next try.

A new start

A new blog. What do I have to say?

I could write about my job. (nerd)

I could write about my wife and kids. (one wife, four kids)

I could write about politics. (right-wing nut job)

I could write about technology. (I write code, play with networks, buy new toys)

I could write about aircraft or cars.

I could write take pictures and write about those.

I could write about prouducts I like.

I could write about vacations and adventures.

I think every now and then I'll write lists of things I want to write about.