Bad, bad, BAD movie
Children of Men. Good LORD. What a HUNK of CRAP. I thought History of Violence was bad. This made that look like Gone with the Wind. Horrible. Stay away.
Building my own airplane
We’ve been preparing for it for a while, but my partner Tom Komer and I finally pulled the trigger and bough a kitplane – a Van’s RV-7, to be exact.
I had been wanting my own plane ever since I started flying way back in 1998. I’m joking there – in terms of aviation, 9 years of flying is really not much. Tom had his pilot’s license before he could drive, is a registered airframe and powerplant mechanic, a certified flight instructor, and a senior tower controller at the world’s busiest general aviation airport (and our home base), Van Nuys. I jo9ined the Eight Ball Flying Club while I was just starting out as a student, and that is a very economical way to fly.
Being in many positions in the club, I also learned a lot about the financials of maintaining an airplane (I am currently the maintenance officer), and thought I’d likely NEVER want to own one myself. Until the highly-skilled Tom Komer approached me about building one. We did some research, and came acorss the blog of Dan Checkoway’s RV-7 Project, and sson met him to ask questions and to see and FLY his plane. That was it. HAD to have one.
So we bought the empennage kit (consisting of the horizontal stabilizer, the vertical stabilizer, elevators and rudder) so Tom could build it and make sure this was something we wanted to do. My involvement was limited mostly to paying the bills. That’s where my “expertise” lies. :) Nearly finished, we decided to go ahead and pull the trigger (gulp) and buy the quickbuild kit for the wings and the fuselage. Quickbuild means that most of the assembly is completed – but there is still enough to be done that the FAA would consider us “the builders”.
So the kit arrives mid-February, it will take about a YEAR to build, and then we get to decide on the engine, prop, avionics and paint. Lucky for me that Pi Software will be making untold millions by then. I’m going to need it.
New PGA Tour Format
A whole new year of golf is upon us, and I, for one, am excited. The Tour has been doing the same thing for a long time, and it’s time for a change.
For those who don’t understand the new format, it goes something like this: the regular season tournaments (which run for 33 weeks) still pay the same goo-gobs of money that they have always paid (thank you, Tiger Woods), but players are now awarded points as well. More points for finishing higher, obviously, with bigger events (majors, Players, etc) awarding even more points. In August, they check the standings and take the top 144 players, and seed them like they do in other playoff formats. Then the playoffs start. First tournament takes the field down to 120 players, next to 70, and the next to 30. Then it’s the Tour Championship, where the winner gets – gulp – 10 MILLION dollars.
What I think this does is two things. First, it provides some excitement after the majors, which is sadly lacking in the sport. Second, it gives the top players something to strive for besides just majors. I like it. We’ll see how it goes.
Courage at the D-Land
Took Sydney to Disneyland – our Xmas tradition with the Chidachis – this week. Stayed in the hotel, ate at Blue Bayou and Goofy’s Kitchen (some fine fare there) and generally had a fantastic time with my favorite person in the world.
Th eonly two rides whe hadn’t been on were the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain. I hadn’t been on Space Mountian since it was remodeled – and let me tell you – it is THE best ride there. REALLY cool. But entirely too fast for Sydney. Thunder Mountian on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine. I explained that she was tall enough (she insisted that she wasn’t) and that it was no faster really than Matterhorn – which we went on several times at her urging. So after some badgering from all of us, she went.
She loved it, of course – but it was more a lesson about confronting – even embracing – your fears. I explained that she wouldn’t get hurt – that it wasn’t dangerous – so why not go? She agreed, and came away – I think – with a sense that it is easy to be brave if you understand the risks involved. Score one for the Daddy.
Blog Tag Meme
OK – so my buddy David wants me to participate in his Meme, so I will. It’s supposed to be “5 things you didn’t know about me” – so:
- My daughter was Toto in the “The Wizard of Oz” ballet
- I was the announcer for the Turtle Races for 5 years
- I have Type II diabetes, but I’m working out like a madman to get it under control
- I have a dog named Amy with only one eye
- I hate – HATE – rats
Vegas x 2
Going to Vegas the next two weekends in a row! Woo hoo! Taking the 182 both times, staying at Mandalay Bay both times – but the similarity ends there.
Week one is with the boys. Eric, James, Rob and myself heading there just for guy type fun. You know: quiet dinners, some light discussion, and bed at 10pm. (Pam may be reading this.) OK – MAYBE we’ll get some cocktails and gamble. MAYBE. Massages for everyone.
Week two is Amy’s birthday. Big party at the hotel. Lots of drinking, debauchery. (Pam is going to that one.) Golf with Dan Saturday morning. Painful early. But it’s golf.Â
 Should be great fun. Anyone wanna come?
How people try to make money on the web
It seems to continue – the says of the web 1.0 boom where people expected to be able to make boatloads of money for doing almost nothing on the web. While YouTube wasn’t a “nothing” site, the idea that you could build a place for folks to upload videos, and then make 1.56 BILLION dollars less than 2 years later just makes people believe it even more. So let’s review:
1. Those deals are few and far between. Being “The Next Google” just doesn’t happen that often.
2. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. The idea that you’ll put something up and people will just flock to it is very similar to playing the lottery every week as your “retirement plan”.
3. Get to work. You need to think, and plan, and work, and re-think, and re-plan, and work more if you want to get ahead. You need a product that people really value if you want to build something great.
4. Treat people well. Not just with money – but with respect. The no-account nimrod I worked for a while back taught me that as clearly as it could have been taught. It will pay dividends so far into the future, you won’t even believe it. Plus it’s a better way to live you life.
5. Have fun. Because – well – just because.
AOPA Expo
Yes – it is true that I am a geek on many levels. Computer geek first and foremost – but aviation geek is very high on the list. So when an aviation expo comes to Palm Springs – time to fly there and check it out.
This was actually the first real expo of any size I have visited. I’ve always wanted to go to Oshkosh, but since I’m a member of AOPA anyway, I figured I’d head over there. So I loaded up the 182, and with a Los Angeles CFI in the right seat and buddy Sam (from the flying club) in the back – we headed out.
Getting in there was interesting – but we got very lucky. For you pilots out there – the arrival procedure was to fly over KBNG, then over the 10 freeway until reaching the 62, then direct to CONES intersection – and contacting PSP Approach 10 miles west of CONES. There were SO many planes there, t5hat getting a word in on the frequency was IMPOSSIBLE – even when we were almost over CONES. But we lucked out – the controller just got fed up with people calling, and said “OK – everyone stop. I’ll call YOU. Aircraft at 4700 feet over CONES – what is your callsign?” It was me! I told him, and he vectored us to the airport immediately.
The show was cool – saw a LOT of interesting planes (jets and piston), products (avionics, pilot supplies, and other goodies) and people (like my buddy Elliott Sanders, and Patty Wagstaff). So we split right after that. Beat the traffic out, got lunch at Typhoon at SMO, and got home by 4pm.
Pretty geeky. I know. Too bad. I dig it.
Sydney Bakst as Lucy
The child just keeps getting CUTER. This time she was Lucy for Halloween. Went to Universal Studios with her Aunt Diane Vincent (world famous Lucy impersonator) and had pictures taken by park goers and everything. Then out for trick or treating, where I repeatedly heard “Honey – you HAVE to come see this Lucy!” Yes – she is spectacular. 🙂
Pictures are here.
You think spam is bad?
Try getting onto a mortgage lead list when you don’t want to be.
It started on Thursday – calls from mortgage companies, asking for my ex-wife (who hasn’t lived here in many years) saying that she had requested information on a refinance. The first couple I just said “No – and you shouldn’t be calling me – I’m on the National Do Not Call List“. But it quickly became obvious that this was going to be a big problem. I got 3 more calls that night, 4 more on the answering machine the next day, and 4 more that night. They called on Saturday, too. Several even emailed me. It’s basically a nightmare, and could take WEEKS to get through all of these calls. So here are my questions:
1. How MORONIC are these lead companies to not KNOW they are going to be found it? They sent this lead to DOZENS of companies. Once I have confirmation of the source (and I will get it) I will DESTROY them.
2. How bad is the mortgage market getting that these companies will just take ANY lead they can get? Turns out that mortgage leads are about $20 per, and word from friends is that they are routinely “cut” with 20-30% made up fake leads.
3. How TOTALLY MORONIC is the guy who actually tried to pitch me ANYWAY – even after I explained that I had a good rate, had no intention of refinancing, and was just EXTREMELY irritated with this whole deal?
Bottom line – if you need a mortgage, refinance, or have other capital needs – my buddy Ron at Platinum Capital is the MAN.