Well, I got started to the Bald Butte site a bit late to go flying so only had ~20 minutes to fly despite having driven nearly 2 hours to get there. I got hit with a storm moving from Mt. Hood that didn't look to good so I had to split. Oh well, better luck next time I guess. I didn't actually hike all the way to the butte and took a spot on the far side of the power lines to fly that wasn't as far but looked ok. The air was pretty bumpy there, but it was a gusty day too. It was a beautiful spot, looking out on Mt. Hood as you fly! I'll bring a camera next time!
The directions on the site are also wrong, possibly old. The Road is named "Pine Mont Dr." and there isn't a lumber mill that I could find. Drive up that road till you see #630 and turn on that and it will take you to the trailhead. The powerlines that you park under make a constant buzzing sound which is somewhat discomforting, static electricity was in the air.
I'm finally beginning to investigate some places to fly R/C gliders here in Portland.. now that I have a new Zagi I finally built (that only took 4 years..) I can try it out. I found a local sailplane club called PASS that has links to some sites and so does this guy at slopeflyer.com. I've done some research, looks like some strong West winds tomorrow so I may try to head for Bald Butte near Hood river. Maybe I'll drag someone with me for entertainment when I'm not flying...
There's a free wind forecast site for the area at nw weather that could prove to be useful.
Well, I've been diving back into technology again to figure out how I can find a good deal on a cell phone. It seems that having one for Debbie and I (or mostly Debbie) isn't enough for us..
It's harder to get in touch with her (which is what I need to do most of the time anyway) because only one of us has a phone... I suppose I really did get addicted to having a phone all the time now, it is a real convienence.
I've been surfing over at Howard Forums for good advice on phones/plans and such. I've pretty much got it narrowed down to T-Mobile since they have been great and have good prices, but now I get to pick the actual Phone... Whew, hard choice. I'm thinking of the Samsung E105 or maybe the Motorola V300 right now. There's too many choices!
Occasionally the people over at Metafilter post a gem. Here's one we enjoyed:
Well, I haven't posted in forever for 2 reasons.
One: I was in vacation in Maine with family - we went to Boothbay Harbor and had a nice 5 days enjoying the sea air. Maureen came too, which was fun because she had a nice hotel with a pool! I ate my fill of lobster at a clambake which was a blast, and took some nice trips in a canoe. I think I've really gotten interested in kayaks, they are so close to the water.. but they are more complicated to get in/out of.
Two: I've been working too hard.. seems this project at work is taking a lot of time & energy. The good news is that I'm starting to try my hand at managing which I think is going well, but it's a tough project with short deadlines to start on!
So that's my excuse for not posting lately, unfortunately I haven't got any pictures handy to share just yet... I'll try to get some up. I wish I had a decent digital camera..