bored

[wlarson861]

I'm bored!!!
The weather took a dump here in the mid west and suddenly I don't have as much flying to do so web surfing time is in surplus. Unfortunately no one else is flying and providing much new or exciting video or posts to the boards!! I wish you all would start a few flames or something to get my mind off the fact that it's winter in a lot of the world and Sonex's are flying all over the planet where cold is just a temporary condition

[gammaxy]

For your mild amusement:

The other day I benefited from a tailwind and a dive to get a groundspeed of ~230 mph. Then I turned around and used flaps and idle power to get 12mph. I think I could easily achieve my holy grail of negative ground speed today, but I probably won't be flying (70 knot winds at 9000 feet--rare in Alabama).

[Pickleman]

Cold? I'll say! Here in the far reaches of Northern California, it got down to the low forties last night! Had to put the down blanket on the bed. As I sit and type this, in my t-shirt, on my couch, I wonder if inshould slip on a long sleeve shirt to head for the hangar to work in today. Since I am sanding composite, I will be wearing tyvek coveralls, and long sleeves kinda make it tolerable!

All kidding aside, about five years ago, my family and I made a conscious decision to quit air conditioning and heating our house. It gets HOT here, and we're were able to keep things bearable with just a swamp cooler. It does freeze here a few times a year, with winter temps in the 40's and 50's. Last year, with the drought in the middle of the winter and no warm, moist air masses to temper the cold, we had three straight weeks of freezing temps, 24/7. Sounds laughable to you Wisconsinites and other Nawtherners, but when NONE of your neighbors are smart enough to wrap, insulate, and heat their pump houses, and you are the only one in two miles to have water pumping, the lines stay pretty full at your house to get water!

The wife and I and deal with the cold by staying busy during the day, and using a mattress warmer at night. You get used to the mild chill pretty quick. And without heating and air conditioning bills ringing up (our worst was an $800 electric and $100 gas bill for ONE month) we save an average of $325 per month. Pretty neat! Our bills run in the $80 dollar range all year long now. Rural electricity in Cali is wicked expensive! I have heard of Midwestern folks doing the same thing, but the long term savings wouldn't work--frozen inside plumbing and Divorce add up pretty quick, I hear!

Enjoy y'all. Yes, I do get good weather for building and flying,mand the prettiest mountains, vallies,mand coastlines in the world to fly around, but the penalty? I have to live in this political climate infamous for . . . Everything ludicrous! And the Taxes stink!