Last day of September

I remember when I was young and September was full of fun days of soccer and easy school. Nothing involving pi or radians or force a sub c equals v squared times mass over radius. In fact there was nothing about radii at all. Or octupii. If more than one radius or octupus are radii and octupii, then why isn't more than one bus several bii? Anyway I decided not to leave the house until I understood physics. Well at least until I got my hw done. It took me three and a half hours but my hw is now done and I can almost start to understand it. Septembers have been good to me. Or not. I mean God has been good to me in Septembers. The weather gets that snappy brisk feel thats makes it great to be outside playing soccer with friends or football with Caleb. (At least until he relized that I would always be bigger than him.) I don't think I will ever be able to play football again. But that's okay. Soccer is way more fun. Well I better head of to Physics lab now.

Happy Birthday!

Today is the 90th post birthday of my blog!! Yay! And Saturday was my flight instrustor's 21st birthday. Man, they are popping up all over the place. This morning I did another x-c to KVPZ (any guesses?) (Dad, don't give it away. Or Ross) I soaked 2.2 hours out of a 2 hour slot because I took off a little early. So now I only have 5.2 hours left to do. Oh Yeah! Another birthday. I have now been a solo pilot for one year!!! (I did my very first solo flight on September 29th in the year of our Lord 2003.) And just to make the day even more interesting I bid 99 (pennies) on ebay for a pair of speakers that matches my current set. And I won! Oh. And Nicole had her 12th birthday today too. (13th in Japan) We had a great party for her. Cake and Ice Cream and presents. There was this huge box that was about four feet long and two feet wide and three feet tall. But Nicole never showed up, so we had to party without her. Oh well, maybe next year. I guess I can save the present until then too.

I don't even know why I am writing this.

I am soo busy. But I had to take a break from physics hw to say that I aced the security quiz in instrument ground today. That means if I get interceped by an F-16 my chances of getting shot down have dropped from 100% to about 50%. At least right up till I try to follow him through his break-off procedure, at which point his wingman will shoot me down for sure. Have fun without me guys. Oh. Don't tell Nicole, but we have a great surprise birthday party planned for her 12th birthday tomorrow. Cake, Ice-cream, Presents, the works. Okay back to physics.

Fly x2

I got to fly twice today! Once in the morning and a x-c tonight. For my x-c I went to Indy International (KIND) and got to talk to Dad on the radio! Then I headed off to Richmond (KIRD) and back to Lafayette (KLAF). I just got back and I am dead tired. Hmmm. There seems to be a lot of that going around. I'm starting to understand physics again. Which is really good because I thought I had lost it for a while. I'm hoping for a tutoring by Shu tomorrow, because he offered to help me out. YAY SHU!!! Big instrument ground quiz tomorrow. Bigger powerplants exam on Wednesday, and an even bigger physics exam next Monday. Goodbye last ten minutes of free time. Hello study 20/6. Well goodnight all. Got to get my four hours in tonight.

Why?

Every time I get a nice post blogger erases all of it but the title.

Flying by Instruments

Easy Meal for Lazy Guys

Here's a quick recipe for us guys who don't like to hang around the stove or sink for too long. It makes a big round meal and only uses four dishes!
Ingredients:
1 Box of Mac & Cheese
1 Can of Green Beans
1/4 Cup of Butter
1/4 Cup of 2% Milk
1 Slice of Bacon
6 Cups of water
Dishes:
1 Pan
1 Plate
1 Fork
1 1/4 cup measure
Instructions: Boil the water in the pan then dump in the Mac for seven minutes (about one quick hw problem) put your plate over the pan and dump the water out (use the plate to keep the Mac in the pan.) Then put in the butter, milk and cheese. Stir it with your fork and dump it on your plate. Now, rinse out the pan and dump the green beans in. Put them on the stove and set the dial to about 6. Shred the bacon into the pan. (save a knife and use your fingers) Stir it up. (lick off your fork first, if you don't want cheese in your beans) Then start eating your Mac&Cheese while you wait for the juice to boil out of the beans. When the beans are done you should have a big enough spot on your plate for them too. But if you don't, just leave them and eat out of the pan. (make sure you get a hunk of bacon in each bite) It's that easy and you get all your major food groups: Grain, Milk, Meat, Veggies, and FAT. Or if you look at color you get Green, yellow, red, orange, clear and white!

Tests # 2

Okay, here is another attempt at yesterday's post. I got my test scores back. I got an 87% or a B on my instrument ground exam. There were four A's and 12 F's in the class of 60-70 students. I forgot that an airspeed indicator reads higher than normal when you use an alternate static source. I got a 96% in A/C systems though. So I was quite pleased. The professor for systems and powerplants gives away a pair of "collectors edition, limited quantity, Purdue flight wings" to anyone who gets a 100 on a test, so that is my big goal for the semester. I did 9. hours of simulated instrument flying today, which is really hard on my brain because I get vertigo really fast. But I am learning to just trust my instruments and speed up my scan and I actually got a grade of 4.8 for the flight! Then I went home and peeled a bunch of carrots and jammed the plumbing, so I had to take it all apart and unjam it.

Tests

What happened to my post? I had a whole paragraph here!

Back to school jigitty jig.

Well I am back at my house again. Took another test today. I thought I did well, but only time will tell. I had a great weekend at home. Got to see a lot of friends that I had been missing. Except Big-B skipped out on me! He will remain unidentified unless he decides to disclose, but I was a little disappointed (not shocked, I really should have expected it) to hear that he laid a patch and made tracks as soon as he heard I was coming to town. Oh well. I've got other friends. No really, I do. I mean it. Sure, I might not have done construction straight through the night with anyone else, or run two inch electrical cable through a 150 degree attic with anybody else, but there are other things that make friends than going through rough times together right? Actually those jobs were more fun than rough. But still. I didn't really want to see him anyway.



lol
Okay. I didn't mean anything of what I just said. Come up for a movie night soon. Okay Big-B? And bring my other friends. (If you can find any)

Home Sweet Home

I came home for the weekend. It's great to be back. And I won't waste any more of my precious time on the computer while I am here. See you on Monday.

My big test

was tonight. It wasn't too bad. A few tricky questions, but I had studied all day, so I kind of knew my stuff. After the test we sat in the lounge and found out that we pretty much agreed on all the answers, be they right or wrong. Then we called the tower and got permission to go sit at the base of the tower and watch all the planes come in from the last flight slot of the night. We were probably one of the first groups to try that stunt at this airport, because we were just sitting out in the grass and waving at all the planes as they taxied in, and every time there was a flight instructor he would kind of look over at us and give a little wave like "I'm not sure I'm supposed to wave at these guys." One guy even took off his sunglasses and opened the door so he could stare at us better. We've made plans to do it every week. Physics is still hanging on, but I think I will need to really put some effort into it. Flyin' tomorrow so I better get to bed.

squirrels

I really don't know what to think about them. They are a rodent pest up here outnumbering the human population by a factor of almost 1o to 1. They are overrunning the streets and sidewalks of West Lafayette. Every morning I must brake at least three times on my way to the airport to avoid hitting a squirrel. I would hit them to rid their population of the ones that are ignorant enough to go running out in front of cars, but I really hate to cause the death of any of God's creatures. Except mosquitos. DEATH TO THE MOSQUITOS!!! But I really don't need to worry because those little guys are so fast I had one doing figure-eights around my tires yesterday. Chipmunks however, are a real problem. They have dug up our and burrowed our entire yard. I am seriously considering buying a shotgun or a .50 cal and blowing the striped enemy sky-high. But last Wednesday I saw a baby chipmunk running around. He was about three inches long (tail included) and so cute. I knew I would want to destroy the little bugger in a year or so, but I couldn't bring myself to even think harmful thoughts toward him. Oh well. I guess I am just a big... um ... uh... I lost my word. Maybe I will edit it in tomorrow. see y'all round.

cool

I was just researching my instrument ground report and thought it was really cool that even though I have only been flying for a little over a year, I can understand every word (or should I say letter) of this:
BFR TAKEOFF, THE PLT WAS BRIEFED ABT LGT TO MOD RIME ICING IN CLDS & PRECIP ABV THE FRZG LVL. THE FRZG LVL WAS FORECAST TO BE AT 7000' TO 9000' IN THE AREA OF PRESCOTT, SLOPING DOWNWARD TO THE NORTH. THE PLT DID NOT FILE A FLT PLAN, BUT DID RCV VFR FLT FLWG AFTER HE WAS EN ROUTE. DRG THE FLT, HE OBTAINED ADNL WX INFO & FINALLY INDICATED HE WOULD PROCEED TO CEDAR CITY. AT ONE POINT, HE ERRED IN RPRTG HIS ALT. LATER, WHEN ASKED BY ATC, HE SAID THE ACFT WAS NOT ACCUMULATING ICE, ALTHOUGH IT WAS A DARK NGT. AT 1962 MST, THE PLT INQUIRED ABT THE DIST TO CEDAR CITY & WAS TOLD IT WAS AT HIS ONE O'CLOCK PSN AT 23 MI. HE ACKNOWLEDGED & THIS WAS HIS LAST KNOWN TRANSMISSION. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, CONTACT WITH THE ACFT WAS LOST & IT COLLIDED WITH TREES ON WOODED TRRN AT AN ELEV OF ABT 8050'. THE WRECKAGE PATH WAS OVR A 900' AREA. NO PRE-IMPACT MECH PRBLM WAS FND. THE 1950 MST WX AT CEDAR CITY (ELEV 5622') WAS IN PART 1500' SCT, 3000' OVC, VIS 10 MI; BUT IMC WAS RPRTD ABT 15 MI SOUTH. ACFT WAS NOT CERT FOR IFR. PLT RCVD IFR RATING 3 MONS EARLIER; HAD 4.7 HRS ACTUAL WX TIME
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:PLANNING/DECISION..IMPROPER..PILOT IN COMMANDPROPER ALTITUDE..NOT MAINTAINED..PILOT IN COMMANDVFR FLIGHT INTO IMC..CONTINUED..PILOT IN COMMAND
Contributing Factors
LIGHT CONDITION..DARK NIGHTTERRAIN CONDITION..HIGH TERRAINFLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER..INITIATED..PILOT IN COMMANDWEATHER CONDITION..CLOUDSWEATHER CONDITION..RAINOBJECT..TREE(S)WEATHER CONDITION..ICING CONDITIONSWEATHER CONDITION..LOW CEILING

Wow

What a weekend! My internet connection has been trash the past few days. I couldn't even do my physics online questions until 6:30 this morning. On saturday I landed at my 26th airport as I went on a laf-mie-sbn-laf x-c. In normal talk that would be Lafayette-Muncie-South Bend cross-country flight. When I got home I found out that our drainage system had gotten blocked again. (just like last year) So the water has flooded or laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, and part of my room. I knew where it was going to go though, so I was able to save all but a few emails I had on the floor. Although my dresser will probably mold and rot if I don't do something about getting the water out of the carpet. Yesterday I had dinner at the Webb's house. Great folks, great food. Then I brought Henry to the evening service where we celebrated communion. Then I went home and talked to Ross about life in general until he gave me two more reasons not to get married. Check them out. Today the weather was bad again, so I sat in a room and talked with my instructor for an hour and twelve minutes. So that was my life.

Mashed potatoes and physics

I just love making mashed potatoes. I can work on it till I get just the perfect flavor. (You know, that buttery flavor with just a hint of pepper and mushrooms scattered liberally about.) I put in a little too much pepper this time though. I kind of have a headache now. But that might just be because I finished my physics hw. Now that I am used to it, I kind of like the fact that I don't learn anything in class, because it really is just review from high school, and if I learned anything it would be too easy. As it is, I get to go back and search through my high school physics book (because it was written so much better than the one I wasted my money on up here) and teach myself just like I did for years in home school. Kind of nostalgic and a more familiar learning environment at the same time. So that is my story for tonight. See you all tomorrow. Oh yeah, one more thing. I just got a 100 on my second instrument ground quiz. (partly because I had all the answers right, and partly because it was just an attendance quiz and the prof gave everybody a 100)

Telemarketers

wouldn't be so bad if they actually used people. They finally figured out that our house is occupied again, and we have been getting quite a few calls. I took one this morning and it was an asian girl who couldn't understand english, and she could barely speak it. So the call ended up with her hanging up on me because she got confused or something. But it really clicked something in my mind. It threw me back into my old "mess up the telemarketer" mindset. (Yes, I know I need a more origional phrase.) So I was about to get online a few minutes ago when the phone started ringing. I was like "Yes! here's my chance!" so I ran in, picked up the phone and said "Ambrugers and Wootbeer" But it was a voice recording. AAAGGGGGG! I was more upset than when a plane tried to get me to hit it last night. Blogger needs to get their publisher fixed.

7th Airborne

I just got back from night flight, and I am hoping (still) to do a cross country tomorrow morning, so I have to make this short. I am really excited because I got a 60% on my first instrument ground quiz that was returned today, and since I was prepared for class, I am looking at a 100% on the quiz today. In other news I had my first MIT meeting today. I am soo looking forward to seeing a lot of growth in my spiritual life through this program. Well I've got a lot of work to get done by tomorrow evening, so I better sign off.

I had a wonderful day with the Lord yesterday

I felt really refreshed. It might have helped that I went to bed at >>>>>9:00<<<<< yesterday. So I am going to the Kessler's farm today for fun and games in the sun while I think about the major report that waits for me at home. Stacey updated! I changed my other blog around so it shouldn't be so boring now. (And so Brian can look at it) click here for the new address. That all for now folks!

I tried to post yesterday...

But my computer or internet connection or something had a problem. It erased a whole page of writing. But it was probably boring anyway. I was supposed to do a cross-country yesterday and today, but the visibility never got high enough for either flight. Ross went home for the weekend and Shu was writing a report on campus so I hung out by myself all day. I did go shopping though. First I got a new sectional chart because my old one expired. Then I got a strawberry cream frappichino from Sarbucks and used up the gift card I got last year. Then I went to Kroger (Pay Less) and got some milk and grapes. I used the grapes to make tuna salad. It was good, but slightly strange because I found out when I got home that I didn't have any relish. (I put in extra grapes to make up for it) My internet connection just started randomly dying on me, so I might not be able to post this until tomorrow.

Thank the Lord for Dr. Wile

If it wasn't for his book I would be failing physics already. Even with his help, I spent a little more than three hours in the physics help room today. Of course, most of the time was spent waiting in line for my turn to speak with a TA (teaching assistant). The book we are supposed to use was probably written by nuclear physicists who think like nuclear physicists and therefore are completely unable to write understandable material. And then my lecture professor is the head of the nuclear accelerator, and for that I hold him in high esteem, but all he talks about is how Newton's third law has to have two bodies and only two bodies, instead of teaching us how to calculate how high something must be above the ground to have 1/6th the gravitational pull that it would have on the ground. Then my lab TA is still figuring out how to form a proper sentence in English, so she is not much help. But my recitation TA is great. He knows how to teach and make you understand. My only problem is that his is my last class on Friday, AFTER I was supposed to know everything, and AFTER the deadlines for all my hw. So I look through Dr. Wile's book and usually get it on my own (or with a bit of Ross's help), but sometimes I still have to go to the help room.
I made a major mistake in food shopping when I came up here. I got all kinds of good food... that you have to HEAT UP in our NOT AIR CONDITIONED house. Sooooo I have been mostly fasting and eating my carrots. Hope I don't turn ORANGE again.

I saw the sunrise this morning

It was nice, but I still like sunsets better. I was hoping to do a x-c today, but all of Indiana was covered in a thick layer of ground fog. Oh well, maybe Friday. I have Bible study with Pastor Long this evening, and other than that, I will have a pretty normal day of studying. Yesterday was very cool because I got to fly a C-150 around for a while. It's a very cramped plane, but it handles beautifully. It was so much fun taking it through its stalls that I almost started making airplane noises when I throttled up. Blogger's spell checker dosen't work any more.

Update Stacey!

Everybody go to Stacey's blog here >>> clickthelink.com<<< and tell her to update.