Trumped

Oh Boy, what a day in America yesterday.  A bunch of people who don't have a clue followed a man who only cares about himself and really made us all look stupid.  I would not be surprised if they all follow Dip Shit Don to Guyana and drink the kool-aid.  Probably the best thing that could happen to America.  If you don't understand what I am talking about, just google Jim Jones.

So let's see what else is going on.  Started a new project this week, building a balsa Gee Bee E5.  Should have it done in about a month.  Takes a while as you spend most of the time waiting for glue to dry, so it is a slow process.  Looking forward to having another hanger in my office.

Speaking of the office, wow it has been busy, busy and I hope it stays this way.   I feel bad for all those who are struggling but am thankful that I and both boys are still working.  Keeping our heads down and staying focused and hope to return to some normalcy at some point.

Even with COVID we had to say what the fuck and just get out of town.  Candy, Clark, Haley, and I all went to Florida the day after Christmas.   We all flew and for the most part, I wasn't too worried.  I would say that flying was the closest I have been to other people in while, but everyone whore their masks.

We had a great time.  It was nice to get out of the cold for a week and spending time on the beach, eating out, and riding bicycles.  Being that Florida is flat even a fat boy like me can get out and ride the bicycle.  

Candy and I spent most of our mornings out collecting seashells.  We would hit the various beaches early in the morning about an hour before low tide.   Most days we were out before sunrise and were able to enjoy the spectacle of the sun rising.  What a beautiful site coming up over the ocean.

This is the best time if you are a serious shell hunter.  The water didn't seem too cold and I was out in it looking for shells.  Not sure why we both have such a fascination for seashells, but I think it is the hunt for that perfect shell that makes it so fun.  I would say that we are shell snobs at this point and only looking for those that are perfect.

We would get back to the Condo around 10:30/11:00 and then grab the kids and we would hop on the bikes and head out for breakfast or lunch depending on the time.  Candy and I would then head out and try to catch Pokemon and the kids headed to the beach.

I would say that we drank too much that week.   Cocktails started anywhere between noon and two and we would be celebrating the rest of the day.  Nothing like drinking frozen pina colada's in December/January in 80-degree weather when you come from temperatures in the 30's.  Luckily none of us got pulled over for a BUI, but I will say we should have been on a couple of our outings.  What is a BUI, well bicycling under the influence.

If I could figure out how to do it.  I would move and live on Sanibel for the rest of my life.  It is just a great place to be, the weather is beautiful, and being Florida the people on the island are actually friendly.

In addition to all the shelling and biking, I was able to get a little fishing in.  Nothing major was caught, but I did land a few small fish.   I would fish in the evenings in the canal behind the condo.   This is where the grille was located with a picnic table and a couple of lounge chairs.   We would hang out in the evening and grille, fish, and of course have a few more cocktails.

Coming from Colorado, it was great to see everything so green and even flowers in bloom.  Just a much different climate than what we are used to.  

Being that it was close to Christmas the bike paths were illuminated with lights and made it
fun to ride through.   I am guessing we probably got at least 100 miles in on our bikes while we were there.  On the island, it is really the best way to get around.  Even when going to the grocery store we would ride our bikes and load the groceries in the basket on the bikes.

One day we headed out by car and went to Ft. Myers and played some miniature golf.  It was an awesome course with water, trees, and some challenging holes.  I have not played mini-golf in years and I think everyone had a really good time.  I know I did, well I won so of course, I did.

With the weather being so nice we also spent some time out on the Kyacks.  We had them for a couple of days and would sneak out and go for little trips in the canal.  The girls reported that they saw some large iguanas. 

All in all, it was a great seven days, and am already looking forward to making our next trip.  Below are all the photos that I couldn't squeeze in above.

Happy New Year

Well race fans, we for the most part have survived 2020.   What a crazy year for all of us.   I know it has been a while since I have made a post and one of my resolutions for this year was to get back at it.   So here I am.

At this point not really even sure where to start since has been so long.  So I guess I will just start from today.

I managed to get off my ass and walk to work.   Being that it was 29 degrees out, I still made it.   I need to get back to my daily walking outdoors.   I have been doing the treadmill, but in all honesty, it is really not a work-out, but I do get steps in.

Not a lot of people out this morning, which is always nice.

I didn't walk home this evening as Candy was out and she called and asked if I wanted a ride home and of course I said yes.   Will try to get the round trip in tomorrow.  Even so, I did get my steps in today.

I sat down to watch the news this evening and that lasted about 5 minutes.  I can't stand to hear about Trump, what a fucking asshole, crook, thief, and a little cry baby he is.  If you follow him you are just as stupid. (comments welcome).

Let's see, I have spent most of this year building balsa airplanes.   

When and if we ever all return to the office I will need to find a new place to hang them all.  Currently, I have nine hanging in my office.  Starting to look a little crowded.  My last project was a Curtis Sparrowhawk and I am about ready to start another.  I cleaned up the dining room table this evening so I can get ready for my next one.

Here are a couple pictures of the Sparrowhawk.   This was a fun little build and took me about 3 weeks off/on to get it completed.   It was a bit challenging with the wings, but overall looks pretty good.  All of mine are rubber band powered.  Maybe someday I will get out and fly them, or at least attempt to fly them.   My experience is that they are good for at least one attempt and once they hit the ground they are done.

I was trying out some new music for the walk today.  New to me, but has been out for a while.   I was watching a show the other day and they had music from a group called Cyprus Hill.   It is rap music, not one of my favorites but I made it through.   Here is one of the songs that I liked.

If you want to sing along here are the lyrics.

Livin' on phat pockets on flat wit that gat
Rollin' around nine deuce Cadillac
Still got my homies to watch my back
And they'll smoke ya ass if ya wanna come chat
That's why some pigs and the kids come sweatin' they follow
A hollow-point shell's hard ta swallow
Why wallow when ya come ta roll on I put that clip and dust
Bring ya ass on, kickin' dust on ya head as the gat busts
My grip surrounded I'm about ta get rushed I brushed wit death
How many shells stuffed in my closet?

When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (ya better be ready)

I told tha boyz get tha sawed off glock and tha rest of tha gats
As I strapped on tha bullet-proof vest
Boom! I think I got one to tha chest
Hot damn I didn't want to kill a man shit
I still stand tall with tha hill clan y'all better stand back
Niggas bout ta fall I'm comin' out blastin' like Yosemite
Sam get tha cheese an tha bread for tha ham

When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (when tha shit goes down)
When tha shit goes down ya better be ready (ya better be ready)

Aemon

Love my little buddy.  Here are a few new pics that the kids sent us.  I hope I get to go visit him again soon.

Stearman

Completing the series of balsa airplanes, here are some pics of my Stearman that I completed.   It came out very nice.

Zero

Sticking with the theme of airplanes, here are a few pics of a Japanese Zero that I completed.

Hanging in there

I hope that you are all safe out there.  Some crazy times we are living in.   I am not going to go down this path and talk about COVID-19.  I am no expert and if you turn on your TV, you will see we have plenty.   I will say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

As you can guess, work has been crazy and a little scary as you never know what the next day may bring.

As I have written before my latest hobby has been building balsa wood airplanes and have had a great time doing it.   I have taken over the dining room table as it has plenty of space for me to spread out.  These are some pics of a P51 Mustang that I built.   I didn't cover this one and just left it as the frame.  I have it hanging in my office at work.

Aemon Pictures

Our trip to Florida

Candy, Clark and I flew down to Orlando on Feb. 13th.   We went down to spend the weekend with the kids.   We had a great time and really enjoyed being with them and soaking up some warmer weather.  We got to the house about midnight and got to check out their new home.

The weekend is a blur.  The kids went out for valentines and Candy I got to watch Aemon.   He was such a good boy, didn't cry at all.  We had lunch on Saturday in Epcot.   We did a little work around the house to baby proof it from big boy.  The traffic is terrible so we didn't' stray too far from home.   This is a photo dump of our trip.  Enjoy!

Modeling

I may have mentioned that I picked up some balsa wood models.  This Hawker Hurricane is my first attempt at putting one together.   It was a fun project and I learned a few things along the way.  There are several places I could have done a better job.  My covering needs some work.  I am currently building a P 51 Mustang and have been able to apply what I learned.