Hunnington Beach

I got to really just hang out with some buddies this past weekend which was quite relaxing and enjoyable.  I went out with my buddy to a shooting range and I have to say that I was relieved that my aim is still pretty good.  I still have a lot to learn, but its definitely getting to be a little bit easier as my confidence level goes up.  The shooting range in Oceanside called Iron Sights is a great place to rent and try out a variety of handguns and rifles.  That's my number one choice in San Diego for now until I have to re-qualify next month.  I also ended up at a Moroccan restaurant called Marrahkesh in Newport Beach where I had rabbit for the first time.  It definitely tasted like chicken but I can't say that I was too impressed.  The lamb was awesome but I enjoyed the baklava and tea the most.  The tea was a minty green with a lot of sugar.  The rest of the experience was enjoyable as I got to hangout and meet some people for the first time.  I met one of my friend's roommate from UCSD and his wife of almost a year and she participated in the belly dancing.  Bobby also got up and danced a bit.  It was all fun.

We headed out to a bar in Newport Beach called "The District" which was basically a really small bar that was on par with PB Bar and Grill but a little bit more upscale.  We had a couple of drinks, met more peeps and called it a night night around last call at 1:45AM.  I crashed at his pad and woke up to a beautiful day.  I really can't see myself leaving Southern California for anything else and I didn't want to leave.  We walked the pier and ate a Duke's where I had an amazing seared rare ahi steak tuna.  The food was spectacular. 

Now I'm headed up to Flint, Michigan where I'm going from 70F to 11F.  i can't wait! 

Opera Mini and IBM WebSphere Link

Well, as you now, I recently just inherited my sister's not so new hand me down Sprint Treo 755p and tried to find a link for IBMs WebSphere Everyplace Micro Environment v5.7.1.  To my surprise, the direct distribution link that was provided by Palm Inc. was disabled on January 12, 2008 as Palm is not allowed to distribute the package for some unknown reason. I need this application to run Opera's Mini Web Browser for Moblie Phones and all other Java enabled applications for the Palm OS. I used it before on the Treo 650 and and wanted to see how much better it would be with the new EVDO data speeds. So, I tracked down a place where you can d/l the Java Environment Program and thought that you might need it. Here it is! Also, the only file that you need in the entire package to sync with your Palm device is located in the WEME571JVM/JVM/ARM4T folder named J9JavaVMMidp20.prc. You could read the enclosed PDF for more details.

Download v5.7.1 at Softonic

After you download it, then click the banner below to download Opera Mini! It's awesome because you can actually view webpages in all their glory and best of all, it's free! Check out all the features.

Crazy Days in KPIA

The last roundtrip that I had was to Peoria, Illinois where my captain and I decided to walk around the afternoon that we got there.  It started snowing quite a bit and the walk turned into a rather long, cold and windy one.  We headed to the theater to watch National Treasure: Book of Secrets and we also got to watch Rambo.  They were both entertaining but I can't necessarily say that Rambo was for everyone.  It's for those who like 70s - 80s style shoot-em up no plot kind of thing.  I liked for what it was and that's how I usually enjoy things anyways.  Book of Treasures was interesting and just fun, as all Disney movies are. 

So, back to the walk, before we arrived at the theater, we hung a left to the Walmart where I bought a $4.00 beanie cap.  It saved me on my walk back to the hotel and I even slept with it because it was just that cold.  The temp dropped from 18F to 8F and it snowed about 6 inches that very night. 

We woke up that morning and got downstairs for a 5:00AM van time and was alerted that the van driver couldn't make it out of his home, a taxi was going to take 1.5 hours and that they were trying to find someone else to take us.  It all worked out about 45 minutes later so I can't say that it was that  bad.  I enjoy biscuits and gravy, an orange, and some frosted flakes for breakfast. 

I got to the airport and it looked fun.  Along the way in the van, the driver had a news radio station on and they said that the Department of Transportation of Illinois alerted that the roads were "treacherous" and that no one should be driving.  Look at what we go through to get our flights done!  The airport runways were great as the ground crews kept them clean throughout the night but the ramp area where the plane was parked over night was horrible.  Here's a picture of it.  I was basically doing my preflight in 6" of snow and having it leak into my shoes and up my pant legs.  It was fun for about 10 seconds then I got over it.  =) 

Check it out...Enjoy!

Flying...Payday....Treo 755p....DVDs...USS Midway

Like I posted previously, I'm flying 10 out of 11 days.  Today is day 5 and I've been bogged down without having the pleasure of being connected to the outside world.  It's definitely boring with the Internet these days, but I guess that I should be reading and studying for my recurrent training scheduled in the next few weeks.  It's definitely not by choice either believe me.  The Internet at the Hilton charges $9.95 for 24 hours of connectivity pleasure and that's just not really in the budget.  Not sure if you caught wind either but my loan payments are in full swing at $1100.00 a month for the next 20 years.  Really...it's that much.  It's more than my 2nd paycheck here at ASA's 2nd year rate too.  I'll try not to let it depress me, but hey, like I've always flown by, I've got the best office view there is.  Maybe not the FL410, but it doesn't matter because I'm not comparing myself to the other pilots out there.  It's isn't the largest cabin either, but that doesn't matter, because like I've said, it's all about fun and doing what you love. 

Am I going to work out today?  I just might, but I'm forced to run indoors again because of the forecasted 6-9 inches of snow falling in Peoria, Illinois.  We have a 6:15AM duty in too but I'm a little weary on the fact that we might not be leaving that early.  Who will be cleaning the runways? 

I've upgraded to my sister's hand me down Palm Treo 755p.   Do I like it?  It's definitely got more pep to it and the Internet is quicker using EVDO rev. 0, but it's still not the BlackBerry 8830.  It does have a camera, but I'm not too sure if that's a concern anymore.  Maybe I'll just bring my camera with me everywhere instead.  What do you think? 

I'm going to post all my DVDs online on Amazon so that I could begin converting them to Blu-ray editions.  Of course, I'll be a little smarter in my purchases limiting them to not every new Tuesday release, but to the ones that I think I'm going to watch more than just once.  Shoot, maybe I just won't buy any more movies.  I'm talking like I could afford them!  :-) 

Here's a picture to enjoy of Adelle and I touring the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.  We went spur of the moment right after she picked me up so I was pretty beat but it's always fun hanging out with buddy!  You have to check it out but be sure to have 3-5 hours for the entire trip.  We had but 1 hour to roam around and we only got through 20% of it and we rushed too.  When we going again babe?

First of 45

Well, today is day one of the 45 days until my second 10K.  It'll be here in San Diego around Fiesta Island (without hills) so it shouldn't be that punishing compared to my first one.  Today's quick "back to workout" mode consisted of a 20 minute light jog (treadmill speed 5.0 with a little speed increase during the last few minutes) followed by some stretching and quick weight lifting.  I'm not trying to get bigger, just lose some weight, tone up and shape up.  I don't want to end up hurting for an entire week. 

Today's flight were pretty nice a long and uneventful.  Remember that these ones are the best!  So far my food intake for the day has consisted of water, a Triple Threat Power Bar, and a couple dips into my trail mix bag.  Time now is 12 hours after I've waken up.  I think I better replenish. 

February Schedule!

There it is...posted on the right hand sidebar.  Take a look closely though and you will find that I will be flying 10 days out of 11 straight.  It's going to be freaking ridiculous the way that they have it for me in February.  I also have a lot of Recurrent Ground Training (RGT) and two Simulator Proficiency Checks (SR2A).  It doesn't look like I'll be making it home that much to San Diego.  I have to maybe even get a trip taken away because per our contract, we are suppose to have a day off prior to any of our training events and if you look at the 11th of the month, I'm still working.  I don't think that I have that I have that many good overnights, but I always try to make it the best I can.

I'm also looking at maybe participating in the St. Patrick's Day 10K here in Fiesta Island, San Diego.  Should be fun right?!  I better start training now or something.  Check it out!

 

Update: Adelle and I just registered to run the 10K.  Come join in on the fun and let's do it together!  Leave a comment if you decide to register. 

Just a Quik Pic

I haven't had that much time to blog at all either on here or on PhoneNews.com because I've been back and forth again to San Diego and dealing with the 60th birthday of my girlfriend's father.  So, until then, here's a quik pic!  Enjoy!

Now this is what I'm talking about!  All that debt that I incurred is going to pay off...somehow. =)

Here's another one during my Mexico City / Cuernavaca Excursion.  Good times!

 

Watching Videos on the UMPC

On my way back to San Diego,I busted out my new UMPC and started watching a movie. I have to admit that this device is pretty useful not only for videos, but for typing as well. It's a little hard to type that fast and I think that a regular keyboard would be a lot quicker, but like I might have mentioned before, it's all about portability. I'll be posting a little more about the full experience in a couple of days but for now, here are my initial reactions:

1. Handwriting - It's is simply amazing how easy it can read cursive. If there was an easier or faster technique, then it could be faster than typing. I'm not sure how much this feature will make me want to keep it, but it's just fun. The pen & touchscreen makes for a desirable tablet like device.
2. Speed - Using Windows Vista is definitely a big letdown only because the processor it too slow. Maybe if the device had 2 GB of RAM, it might make the user experience that much more enjoyable.
3. Programs -I happen to stumble upon the Microsoft Reader program that is bundled w/ the device, & if it works out, then this would be the solution to me buying an e-book reader. It wouldn't be that efficient but it would be able to do that much more than Sony's Reader. It also comes with Navigator but the Bluetooth chipset isn't loaded. I'll have to find out if any receiver will work particularly the one that comes with Microsoft Streets and Trips.
4. Origami - This is what Microsoft bundled w/ the Samsung UMPC as the solution to making it a worthy Media Player. I honestly thought that it ceased to exist after all the hoopla died a few years back.

Do I Really Need This?

Because I'm compulsive in nature, if I find a good buy, there's a good chance that I'll end up buying it. Now, it's just a matter ill really need it. We all know that I don't need more toys, but this Samsung Q1 Ultra that happened to be 70% off at Best Buy today was just a little too tempting. The handwriting recognition software is just too awesome but the only issue that I have right now is that the model doesn't have a built-in camera. It's also running Windows Vista which makes it all a title too sluggish taking away all the fun. The biggest plus is the fact that I won't need to bring my laptop on overnights because this is so small, light and ultra portable that it would fit in my flightbag. This whole article I wrote with the hand recognition software in Windows Vista. It was fun but the actual keyboard is pretty awesome once you start getting quick at it.

Blogging and Back to Commuting

If you've noticed already, I'm blogging a little less because I'm finding most of my time is being spend researching articles and learning how to write correctly.  In other words, I'm learning how to be a little more professional in my news reporting. (www.phonenews.com)  I've written quite a few articles in the last few days but they aren't ones that have gone without editing from the Admin.  =( I'm still having trouble here and there especially because of the fact that I'm so used to writing the way I speak which isn't that proper anyways. 

I'm back to commuting once again.  After this four day trip, I'll be heading back to San Diego on Thursday to hang out with the parents and continue my journey into cleaning and organizing what I can in the house.  It was nice to actually have some time in the Farmhouse and get organized a little bit, but I still have a lot to do there.  More specifically, all the clothes that I brought up from Palm Coast, I probably don't need anymore and other various things I just need to get rid of and throw them in a large giveaway box.  I also have a lot of papers to file as well as play catch up on 7 months worth of logbook entries.  I'm all electronic right now, but I still like to somewhat maintain a paper copy just in case.  That's going to a large undertaking.  Well, onto Atlanta, Georgia followed by a one way to Charlottesville, Virginia for an overnight.  You see, these first two days out of four only have 3 legs total, but the next two combine for an very very busy 11 legs!  It's going to a doosie!

Being a Landlord

I was a "live-in" landlord during my stay in Palm Coast which proved to be quite successful but my recent stint in managing and trying to be a friend to the students that lived there has been the opposite.  It was the first time that I did not make tenants sign a contract of any sort and I am paying for it.  Not dearly, but in the fact that now I will be forced to go back and forth to Daytona Beach to check up on the property and try to getting rented out as soon as possible.  I really don't have much to talk about except the fact that I learned the hard way.  Even though you want to be friends, there still has to be a line drawn in order to complete business.  Too bad.

Snowing in Atlanta!!!

After a really long day of flying and losing $200 on craps last night in Harrahs' Omaha, I came back to the crashpad and it started snowing!!!  Check out the pix.  All this snow fell within 1 hour of each other.

Okay, so it might not have been that much snow but it's the most that I have seen ever falling at once. It was so nice and calming. I just wish that my girlfriend was here to enjoy the moment with me. 

I also ended up heading out to a local bar called Bonz in off of Fairburn Road.  They had an awesome Triple Play Hamburger which was basically three different kinds of melted cheeses.  It was tremendous.  I'm probably staying here in Atlanta this weekend to rest and clean up all the stuff that I moved back from Daytona. 

Justin just told me about the Sundance Film Festival this weekend in Salt Lake so I might just hit that up.  Sounds like fun!

Mexico...(part 2)

I woke up early around 6:00AM Saturday Morning still in a daze from moving / driving the entire night before from Daytona to Atlanta.  I pushed the snooze button just once because I knew that I had to get going in order to get ready for a day's excursion to Cuernavaca.  Little did I know what I was about to go through.

Some people that I met in the terminal were quite nice and some advised me to drive, some to not drive and some just thought of how cool it was to be traveling the way I was doing it.  My day's itinerary went like this: Fly to Mexico City (9:45 Eastern - 12:45PM Local --> 4 hour flight), land and find the rental car place which I booked through Expedia, drive from the City to Cuernavaca without a map, somehow find my girlfriend, hang out till 3:00 in the morning, drive back to the City, catch a flight to Orlando and ten connect to Atlanta, take the shuttle back to my car, change into my uniform, head back to the terminal and operate my ship to that night's overnight. 

I got first class which was great but instead of sleeping, I messed around on my computer and read a book.  I should have slept especially with a long road ahead of me. 

Everything went as planned, but there were bumps in the road which included driving 24 kilometers in about 1.5 hours just to get out of the City, driving 1 hour to Cuernavaca, getting lost for about 30 minutes in the city of Cuernavaca and asking a police officer to draw me a map which he did so willingly.  I arrived around  hang out with Adelle and her friends, have dinner, go out Salsa dancing till 1:00AM and then get about 1.5 hours of sleep!  It was all worth it in the end!!!  Adelle's friend were so inviting and awesome to hang out with.  Driving around Mexico in and of itself was an adventure.  I did think though that I had it in me as long as I could be aggressive enough.  I drive a little 5 speed Chevy something that isn't offered in the US because i don't think that it'll pass crash tests it's so small. 

Here's a picture of Adelle and I about 1 hour later in front of a library of sorts in the Zocalo of Cuernavaca. 

He's is one of the few signs along the road of welcoming me back into the city after a 1 hour mountainous drive from Cuernavaca at 4:00 in the morning.  It was nice not having to deal with traffic but filling up the rental car was a hassle let alone trying to find the place that I had to drop it off of.    

I got onto the flight without any problems, first class, ended up in Orlando and saw that an AirTran flight was leaving almost immediately, so I was able to catch a ride on them also in 1st class but the savings in time was spent on the taxiway due to delays for weather.  I still arrived at the time previously planned for, shuttled, changed and headed right back out.  I also got to catch the last 5 minutes of the Chargers game in the rampers' lounge and what an ending!!!  GO CHARGERS!!!  Final Score:

Do you guys like these long blog entries or would you prefer shorter ones?

Here are some pictures of Adelle making it to the top of the mountain / pyramid.  Yeah for buddy!!!  Oh yeah, for those who don't know, Adelle is on volunteer mission where she helps out in an orphanage and also gets to tour around Mexico at the same time.  She's been there for two weeks now so communication has been sparse.  Can't wait till you get back babe!