Vegas/San Diego/Phoenix Biz Trip

I took a nine day business trip around the west that included Las Vegas for a trade show, San Diego for the weekend and then I did some training for a customer in Phoenix. It was a great trip overall, but I sure missed the family after being gone for over a week already for the cruise.

In Vegas, I stayed at the Trump Towers - Las Vegas (thanks, Hotwire.com) and their pool area was very nice. The trade show was good and I saw some new stuff that's very cool. IP CCTV cameras and software is getting better and better. We ate some good food (Firefly, Texas de Brazil and Cafe Ba Ba Reeba) and got some sun.

Friday morning I jetted over to San Diego and met up with a buddy of mine. After checking into the Hilton Gaslamp Quarter, we hung out in San Diego all weekend and I saw a lot of the city in only two days: eat and shop at Seaport Village, Balboa Park (SD Air and Space Museum), Cabrillo National Monument and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, Padres game at Petco Park, walked around Hotel Del Coronado and watched the sunset from the 40th floor bar of the Hyatt. We had some great food around town including Phil's BBQ, In-N-Out Burger and Buster's Beach House.

On Sunday I headed to Phoenix and got in late to the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. Monday and Tuesday were the training meetings and all went very well. After we were done, it was time to hit the pool and then grabbed some food somewhere; usually at a local brewery restaurant. Very good places. I'd have to say Four Peaks was the best, but Oggi's and Rock Bottom were great too - food and drinks.

Anyway, it was a good trip, but it's good to get home and back to the kids.

Check out all the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2009

Fort James, Antigua

Laura and I took a week away from everything and spent it on a huge boat in the middle of the Caribbean (and at port) and had loads of fun. We sailed on the Serenade of the Seas of Royal Caribbean out of San Juan, PR and visited the ports of St Thomas, St Maarten, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados. We had done a southern Caribbean cruise back in 2004 but visited different ports, so this was a great itinerary.

We had a great time and even spent an extra night after the cruise in San Juan right on the beach. Unfortunately the flight home from Newark to Detroit was canceled which had us on standby. Laura made it on the next flight, but I had to wait but got booked on the next flight. (I'm currently waiting for said flight in the P Club at Newark.)

Without babbling about the details, we enjoyed a day on the beach with new friends in St Thomas, a day on Orient Beach in St Martin (French side), a day on Fort James Beach in Antigua, zip lining in St Lucia and a catamaran sail/snorkel and wave runner in Barbados. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but the weather was absolutely perfect and we had a wonderful time.

Check out all the pictures by CLICKING HERE.

Labadee Panoramic Shot

I was digging through some old photos, trying to find a shot worthy of printing out to hang from a wall. I was looking for a beach scene, so dug through the photos from our last cruise. I never finished the pano of Labadee, Haiti.

After about ten minutes of Panorama Factory chugging along and a couple freeze-ups, it's done. The final product was about 23,700 pixels wide by 2,000 tall. Yikes!

Here it is in all its glory. Click HERE for the "big one" (5MB - 23,694x1867).

I Am Now Known As KD8KEE

After I landed in Cleveland from a 3+ hour flight from Phoenix, I was checking the internet and saw that my new FCC call sign had been posted: KD8KEE. It posted while I was in the air.

It's official - I'm now allowed to broadcast on some of the amateur bands.

When I got home from the airport, I hooked up the new Yaesu VX-6R and monitored the local repeater a little bit to see how it all works. I get pretty good reception just using the little rubber duck antenna.

(As of two days later, I still haven't broadcast. I'm lame.)

Arizona - Business Trip

I just got back from a few days in Arizona where I went to meet with some clients. The weather was pretty nice and I could certainly get used to that during February. It was Jason and I and we stayed at the Millennium Resort Scottsdale McCormick Ranch for two nights and then two nights at the Scottsdale Indigo Hotel. Both had their pluses and minuses, but I'd prefer the latter as it was much cleaner and newer and closer to the happening places.

We caught the movie "The International" at the theater, ate at a few good joints (Joe's NY Pizza, J. Alexanders, etc), I did some canoeing and we made a day trip to Tucson for a visit to a client. It was a very useful trip.

Check out all the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Technician Class License - Done

This morning I woke up at 645a to get a shower and out the door to get a little more study time in for the Technician Class License test in Findlay. I headed to Bob Evans and had some coffee, food and some quality time with my study book. Around 8am I headed towards Findlay in the snow and showed up about fifteen minutes early. I was the first test-taker there and three more ended up showing up; a 12 year old boy and his dad for the tech and an older lady for the amateur extra.

This is the Findlay Radio Club (W8FT) located on W. Sandusky Road in Findlay, OH.


After some form filling out and the test, everyone ended up passing today. Apparently I missed one question, but I don't know which one. Oh, well. I'm happy with that.

As soon as my name/call sign shows up in the FCC database, I'm legal to start transmitting on the bands! (Now I have to figure out how all this works. I know just next to nothing about it.)

Here is my ARRL Tech Q&A Study Book I bought from KangaUS along with my "passed" form for the test.


I may see you on the airwaves!

Monster Jam - Cleveland

Kaden and I drove to Cleveland this afternoon to check out a 730p show of Monster Jam at the Q Arena. We left a bit early and parked in the parking garage next to the arena for the rate of $10. Let the money flow commence!

We headed to the arena to pick our tickets up from Will Call. I refuse to pay TicketMaster $2.50 per ticket just for the right to PRINT MY OWN TICKETS ON MY OWN PRINTER WITH MY OWN INK. Ridiculous. I hate TM.

Anyway, we walked north a bit to the little "walk only" portion of 4th St with restaurants, clubs, etc. It would make a nice evening in Cleveland. We settled on eating at Flannery's Pub on the corner of 4th and Prospect. Kaden enjoyed his usual chicken and fries while I opted for the pub-like fish and chips. We topped it with fresh cookies and a big glass of milk. Apparently I forgot to tell Kaden to not dunk his entire hand in the milk. (Now when was the last time he washed them? Oh, well.)

After food and drink, we headed to the arena for the Monster Jam. Upon walking, the first thing you pass is the sourvenir stand. Luckily for me, Kaden wanted the cheapest thing they sold - the Jolly Roger flag that Grave Digger displays on his truck. Done. Another dollar for another set of ear plugs and we're in.

After a couple hours of noise, burned fuel fumes and one tired boy, we left a bit early. Kaden was ready to go and we had a 2+45 hour drive home. We headed back home with a mandatory stop at Starbucks for some "go juice". Kaden got changed to PJ's there and slept about the whole way home. We got home around 1215am.

Good times. Kaden loved it.

Check out all the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Kaden and I - First "UFO"

No, we aren't claiming that we saw something silver and shiny flying around the sky. However, Kaden and I did take the Arrow on 2.6 Hobbs hours of fun to Carroll County Airport (TSO) in eastern OH for an Ohio Valley RVators UFO (Ultimate Fly Out).

About sixteen pilots and passengers flew in to chat about flying and eat some of the food at the Carrollton County Airport Restaurant. They are famous for their great pie and great prices. I would have to agree with both of the sentiments.

Kaden and I took off from Bluffton and he started watching his DVD player. That kept him busy the entire trip to TSO while I monitored the engine and the autopilot. We had a great tailwind, so I throttled it back to 22"/2400RPM at 5500' MSL. We were still hitting 140 knots GS. Not bad for 8GPH or so.

After landing at TSO, Kaden and I watched all the airplanes come in. He played in the snow and ice and I took pictures. Nothing new there. Once everyone was gathered up, we shook hands and headed into the restaurant. We numbered 14 and before we ordered, two others showed up to bring out head count up.

My burger and onion rings were great and Kaden polished off his chicken fingers and curly fries. I figured a better try a piece of the famous pie, so I ordered that "a la mode" and then took another piece home for Laura. (Hey, I want to be able to go flying again. I've learned.)

As everyone headed out, I tried to take some more pictures until I really needed to go. Kaden and I loaded up and had a quick departure and tooled along at 24/24 towards the Allen County Airport for fuel and then back up to Bluffton. Kaden started watching his movie and then turned to me and said, "I want to sleep." He did...the entire way home.

Check out all the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Back to Flying

I loaded up my pilot bag, camera and some snow removal tools in the back of my car and headed north for the fourth time in the past four days. This time it was going to happen. After cutting, digging and throwing snow and ice for about twenty minutes, the hangar doors were free and I was pulling out the Arrow (on the ice) for a stretch. I haven't flown an airplane since 29 Nov 08 and haven't flown the Arrow since 28 May 08. I figured it would be interesting.

Sitting back in the seat in front of the new Garmin 496 with XM WX with the trusty checklist in hand, it all came back pretty quickly. The airplane fired right up on the second blade and I was carefully taxiing, making sure the wings didn't hit the high piled snow on either side of the taxiways.

After a runway, I was taking off from runway 23 and I flew over Sam W's house and then headed south to Ada. I flew around a few times taking a picture of this and that and then headed west towards Lima. I snapped a few more pictures and then did a couple touch-and-go's at Lima (AOH) and then a full-stop for $3.81/gal 100LL.

After some coffee and small talk with the owner about CCTV systems, I fired up the Arrow and headed back, low and fast, to Bluffton for a smooth landing and taxi back to the hangar. Unfortunately I wan't able to get the hangar doors to budge due to the ice/water/freeze combination that must've taken place. Great.

It was fun to get back in the air and well worth the two metric tons (give or take) of snow and ice I had to move to make it happen. The worst part was all the ice on the door tracks. Yuck.

Check out all the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Update: 10:07PM
One of the members called and said he'd meet me at the hangar and help me get the doors shut. Apparently if you stick a shovel under the door and pry it up, it'll break the ice free allowing you to close them. I showed up first and managed to get one and a half closed by myself (well, with Kaden's help, of course). He showed up a few minutes later and helped me pull the second one closed. It's now secure. Crisis averted.

This gentleman (Bill K.) is also very active in the ham radio community and brought me the Technician Class study book. I may go take the test on Saturday at 9am if I am able to get away. We'll see.

Foiled Again - No Flying

Kaden and I loaded up this afternoon to head to the airport and take the club Arrow to Columbus for a little TZR JP's BBQ. Upon arriving at the airport, the snow was finally cleared from the taxiways pretty well. I was a little nervous about how high and close it was and the danger of the wings hitting it, but I was willing to creep through slowly and turn around if all was unsafe.

Upon arriving to the hangar, I found a pretty sizeable amount of snow in front and beside the door. When I called TWICE this morning, I was told it was being cleared and then it was cleared. Apparently that doesn't mean it's gone, but it's approachable for you to finish up with a shovel. Unfortunately I didn't have the shovel, time or desire to shovel three metric tons of snow to possibly find an iced up door track, so Kaden and I loaded back up and headed out. Here's what it was like today.


This past Saturday, we headed over to turn on the engine heater and make sure it was cleared only to find this. I couldn't even get within 200' of the hangar.