Both of my solos were canceled due to the winds. No surprise there. I have rescheduled my solo to Mesquite for December 2 and my solo to Laughlin/Kingman for December 3. Hopefully mom nature holds out for me. I really need the time. I am required to have 30 hours by December 13 in order to get an A, and I only have 24. I know it seems like six hours isn't that much, but it has taken me three months to get those 24, so six is quite a lot. I can still get a B at worst, but still. I'd rather an A.

Speaking of school, things are starting to wind down. I still have several things to work on, but the load is starting to lighten. Thank goodness, because I really need to start preparing for my FAA written exam. I am taking that on December 12. Ugh... the pressure.

I am off again tomorrow to Boston. I fly to the Dominican Republic again on Thursday, for the ten-thousandth time the past three months. It's ok though, I like it there. I am starting to miss London though. I will be spending Thanksgiving at my favorite resteraunt in Boca Chica called Neptunos. They have delicious food and an awesome tropical environment! Although I wish I were home with family, my friend Edie will be with me. I have decided to console myself with a pedicure while there! It shouldn't be too rough!

I flew my first night cross country last night! The best part is, Beth came along. Beth, my instructor and I flew down to Bullhead City, AZ, which is right across the Colorado River from Laughlin. There is a ramp area with tie downs right by the river, you get out, cross the street and take this free ferry to the other side of the river. So we did that and had dinner in Laughlin. What a blast! It gave me a glimpse of how fun this flying is really going to be. Beth really enjoyed it, too. She's been up with me once before when I flew with my uncle Danny, so she at least knew what she was getting herself into. I am very glad it is going to be something she will enjoy.

I am scheduled to fly my first solo cross country this morning to Mesquite, NV, but I don't think I'll get to go. The winds are forcasted to be a little gusty, and I can hear them blowing outside right now. We'll have to see. Tomorrow is my long solo cross country but the weather is supposed to be even worse, with rain showers. Mamma nature has been conspiring against me lately, or though it seems since I am on a deadline. This is Las Vegas! I thought the only weather we had was sun!

Well, as one would imagine, the first day back wasn't exactly easy.

Well, in my case, trip. I flew with a purser who was iggnorant, unprofessional, condesending and childish, and couldn't manage purser tasks worth a damn. And on top of that, after a lengthy mechanical delay and sitting in New York, at the airport, for over eight hours, having already flown some 2,000 miles, crew schedule (as they are legally required to do so) let us go to a hotel and sleep for the night. Thank god... we had had it. I am in Boston now at the crash pad and leave again for the same trip on Wednesday, this time with a different purser! Whew!

I found another reason to dislike the Boy Scouts, even though I was one. Their discrimination against homosexuals was enough to make me denounce them and never support them again, and now, they have ousted a confirmed atheist for not believing in a supreme being. And as the Supreme Court decided two years ago, since the Boy Scouts is a private organization, they have the right to set their membership standards. Fine. I also agree with the backlash since. No longer can Boy Scouts use public facilities for meetings or events and no longer can they receive public contributions. I wish it were enough to bankrupt them, but unfortunately, they have the all powerful morons, I mean mormoms behind them.

What's this craze with Fried Twinkies? I found a recipe for them and normally would put it on the recipe page, but since I can't do that from Boston, I'll put it here:

The ChipShop's Fried Twinkie
a recipe printed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces water

Mix batter until consistency of custard. In a deep fryer, drop battered twinkie in hot oil for about 90 seconds or until golden brown.

Slice on the bias. Serve on a pool of Four-Berry Coulis. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Four-Berry Coulis

Put equal amounts of frozen raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries into a pan on low heat with a tablespoon of sugar per cup of berries. When mixture begins to boil, remove from heat. Pour into blender. Blend until berries are crusted. Pour mixture through a sieve to remove seeds.

Interesting. I'll have to try it in my father in-laws frier... if he'll let me.

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go..." "On the road again..." "I'm leavin' on a jet plane..."

Hmm... all the songs to remind us we're leaving... home. I guess it's harder now than usual since I have been home for three weeks. I have had a taste of a normal life and it makes going back more difficult. I'll handle it though, always have. At least I am flying to the sunny, warm climate of Santo Domingo. Beth and I were commenting last night when I was packing my suitcase how nice it was to pack a polo shirt, a pair of shorts, a hat and my flip flops. How nice indeed... On the contrary, I am shipping a box of winter stuff off today to Boston. As you all know, it gets quite cold there, and God knows I won't use the stuff here.

Vacation is almost over...

Tomorrow I head back to the real world, ie, Boston. It has been a great three weeks off, but of course it's never long enough. I am looking forward to going back, but I'd rather have more time off to get school stuff done. I have made loads of head way but still nervous because the end of the semester is fast approaching, and, I still have the FAA written exam hangning over my head. Eek!

I flew my first cross country flight yesterday. We flew from North Las Vegas airport (VGT) to Grand Canyon West airport (1G4). It was a lot of fun, and it brought together a lot of stuff from ground school. It's always nice when you can put stuff to practical use... you understand it so much better! Today I flew another solo flight, practicing different maneuvers and more touch and goes. My next flight, on the 25th, will be my night cross country flight -- we're headed to Laughlin. The next day I fly my first cross country solo to Mesquite, and the day after that, I fly my long cross country solo to Laughlin, then to Kingman, AZ, and then back to North Las Vegas. I am looking forward to all three, but solo cross countries have me a little intimidated, as they should.

Bummer...

I had to cancel my solo this morning due to wind... but not until I taxied all the way out to the runway. I knew the winds were blowin' pretty good, so I checked the weather three times. There is ATIS, which is updated at least once an hour by air traffic control, and then AWOS, which is supposed to be updated more regularly. I checked them both and ATIS said 10 knot headwind and AWOS said 11. I am legal for 12. So, I made it, but just barely. When I taxied to the hold short line for runway 30L and asked for clearance to takeoff, the air traffic controller told me the current winds, "3-2-0 at 2-0." That means the winds are coming from 320 degrees on the compass and the speed is 20 knots. So, I quickly asked him to cancel my takeoff clearance and taxied back to the ramp. That sucked!

This whole weekend we had grand promises of rain and strong wind. Well, as you can imagine, we got the wind, but the rain hardly materialized. Today's forecast, bright, sunny and calm. Yeah, sure. They got the first two right, but missed the last one by say, 20 knots. This is solo number two I've had to cancel. I resheduled one for Wednesday. I am getting down to the wire now for school. Everything is due December 13. And although I don't have to have my license by then, I do need to have at least 30 hours flight time. I have about 21. I'll be flying a lot the next few weeks. Meanwhile, I am still here in the house, locked away and studying, getting school stuff out of the way.

I am continuing to work my ass off for school. I am trying to get everything done now, even though it isn't due until December 13. I need to be able to focus on the FAA written exam, which is the final in one of my classes. The FAA test is only 60 questions, but those 60 questions are randomly pulled by computer from a test bank of 600 questions. You need to be prepared for all 600! And, you are allowed to retake the test if you do not pass, but not for 30 days. I need to pass the test by December 13, which means I need to pass it on the first try. Ugh! So much to do.

I am continuing my flying among all of this, and I will solo again tomorrow. On the agenda: go to the practice area and practice turns around a point, S-turns and basic flying skills, like holding a heading and maintaining speed and atltitude. I may also brush up on using the VOR. Then, I'll head back to the airport for a few touch and goes, maybe some short field take-offs and landings. Should be fun. To interrupt my day tomorrow, we have our home review at 1pm with a customer service rep from our home builder. They do this just before your one year warranty is up so they can fix anything that's not working or proper. I am glad they do it.

Also on tomorrow's agenda is working on my CD-rom ground school courses. I am needing to finish these as soon as possible so that I can get to the FAA test prep. I am starting to get nervous because the clock is ticking, I will be out of town at least ten days from now until the end of November, and I have no idea what my December schedule will be like. On top of it all, I am on reserve next month which adds even more to the uncertainty of my schedule. I may have to ask for some p-time...personal time off. It's an occurence on my record, but I currently have none and you are allowed three in a 12 month calendar cycle. We'll have to see. Otherwise, I have made great progress with school...there's just so much more! I wanted to do this, right?

And to add to the worries... I am having increasingly significant computer problems... yes, it's the new one. My CD-rom drive has never worked properly, playing some CDs, not others, or playing some and then stopping. It's very bizarre behavior, and eMachines says the problem will be fixed if I completely dump my system, reload it and go from there. Yeah, right. It's very obviously a hardware problem... just replace the damn thing. I am about to go out and buy a new one of my own and install it myself. Also, the monitor has all these wierd lines in it. They only seem to appear when the screen changes, like when you scroll down a webpage or something. I don't think it's a problem with the monitor, but rather a problem with the communication between the CPU and the monitor. Also, my brand new printer doesn't seem to be functioning properly, either. It attempts to print something, and after several minutes of serious thought, it gives up and says "document failed to print." No shit! I would not be surprised if something is wrong with Windows since so much is taking a dump lately, but I know the CD-rom has nothing to do with it. It's all very frustrating and maddening. I just want it to work right, especially since I have so much to do. Fortunately, I still have my old eMachine which is working fine. The problem is it is too slow to play my Cessna CD-roms, so I am screwed there. Free advice is always welcome.

I've been silent the past few days in mourning of our country's current political affairs, including the death of my favored party.

I do not blame Tuesday's Tragedy on anyone. Yes, it is true, the Democrats nationwide had no platform. Hell, in Nevada our state Democrat Party Chairman denounced our own candidate for governor. How ridiculous is that? The media loved saying that Joe Neal, the candidate, wasn't even supported by his own party. Funny how he was elected the Democrat candidate during the primary election. How does that equal no support? Only the top dem in the state didn't support him, and that's because Joe Neal was pushing for higher gaming taxes, and Terry Care, the chairman, receives lots o' money from them mobsters. Politics and money...love 'em! So now, the job is to see about removing Terry Care from the position as chairman.

In much more brighter news, I flew my first night flight on Wednesday night. What a thrill! For whatever reason I was really looking forward to flying at night, and it didn't disappoint. My instructor tried to get permission for a touch and go at McCarren (the big airport) but they denied it due to traffic. That sucked, because the night before they allowed my instructor to do it without hesitation. All depends on who ya talk to! Next time... I had my third solo scheduled for this morning, but had to cancel due to high winds. I have another scheduled for Monday though. On Tuesday, I am flying my first cross country flight, and we're going to the Grand Canyon! How exciting is that? Of course, I am really looking forward to that, too.

A sad day for Nevada and our country...

Any Nevadan who voted Republican in any of the key races yesterday should be ashamed. For it is the Republicans, especially our current President, who want none other than to send nuclear waste to Nevada. They have effectively undone thousands of hours of persuassion and millions of dollars in support funds to beat Yucca Mountain. Last night we sent Jon Porter, a Republican, to Congress. His website says, "Jon's campaign for Congress reflects who he is...," and it has been said again and again Jon ran the most negative ad campaign in Nevada history. Yup, just the guy we want.

On a national level, our lives are in danger more than ever before. Now that Republicans have control of the House, the Senate and, of course, the White House, all of the little puppies are going to line up behind their fearless leader and force war on Iraq. War may be the answer, I don't know. But we certainly shouldn't go it alone. How stupid and arrogant! Also, now more than ever Pro-Choice is in danger, as there are already talks of movement among the Supreme Court Justices.

Back to Nevada. As I suspected, the WASPs swarmed to the polls yesterday to put unncessary language in our state constitution that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. It won overwhelmingly. The WASPs spent no time defeating question 9, which would have legalized up to three ounces of marijuana for personal use. That's a shame because legalization would have netted 286 million dollars in tax revenue for education. That money is desperately needed, espcially here in Clark County.

Last night we also re-elected Governor Kenny Guinn, who has done nothing for education in Nevada. Irony? Kenny Guinn spent his entire career in education in southern Nevada and has done nothing to support it. Kenny's supporters point to his Millenium Scholarship, a scholarship born out of the state's settlement with the tobacco industry. It is given to any Nevada graduating senior with a B average or better who wants to attend a state school. Sounds good, yeah? Unfortunately, Nevada universities have one of the lowest retention rates in the nation. Of course there are no numbers to show how many of those scholarship recipients go on to a second year, let alone those likely to graduate. That money would have been better spent in K-12 education, making sure that our students are even prepared for college.

The sad truth is, our government performs best with a balance of power. There is no balance now. And, history supports that. It has been fifty years since one party has had control of all three: the House, the Senate and the White House. Republicans nationwide have doomed us...DAMN them! I hope they're happy.

Election Day.

Whenever you vote it gives you that sense of patriotism...that proud to be American feeling...until you remember what you are voting for. Two questions on this year's state ballot are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Question 2 seeks to add language to the state constitution that would only allow a marriage between a man and a woman to be recognized in the state of Nevada. Are same sex unions recognized in Nevada now? No. So why change the constitution if it doesn't allow it already? And besides, the legislation should be seeking to include, not discriminate.

And then you get questions like #9, one you never thought would make it on a ballot. Question 9 seeks to not only legalize, but set up a state distribution and taxation system for personal use marijuana. The bill comes on the heels of last elections successful passage of medicinal marijuana, but the users have to grow it themselves. The new bill would make pot more accessible, and would allow recreational use. Under the new law, persons can be in posession of up to three ounces at a time. Of course, there are some safeguards built in, but what a progressive bill.

I voted NO on number two and YES on number 9. I have a feeling our mostly WASP (and Mormon) society don't feel the same.

As suspected my time off is quickly flying by...

I can't believe out of three weeks I already have to head back to work next Thursday. I guess I need two or three months off. That should catch me up. I am flying my little heart out the next few days. I soloed again today. I practiced touch and goes the whole time. I have instruction twice on Wednesday, where I will get to go on my first night flight. That should be really cool. I have more instruction planned for Thursday, another solo on Friday and my first cross country flight next Tuesday. Busy, busy, busy, all the while I'll be working on school stuff, making some appointments and working on getting my CD-rom drive replaced in my computer. Ugh... that's a whole other story.

The MoneyHoneys.com website is up and running. It is a website I created for the investment club my wife started. The group is getting well underway and are preparing to make their first stock purchase. How exciting!

Website update...

Three new recipes: PF Chang's Saketinis, Cheesy Potato Casserole and Shredded Beef
November calender with updated "Did you know..."
Updated links