Helicopters

I spent the day doing helicopter maintenance, the ECO 8 I fly the most had developed a shake in the tail boom.  After changing the feathering axle, the blade holder bearings and the main rotor shaft it is running smooth again.  One of my other helicopters was having a gyro issue, so I broke down and read the instructions, made some adjustments and it is working OK now.  I wanted to make some changes in the programming for this one, but the transmitter battery ran down before I got it done.  Every once in a while, I would take a break from the helicopters and watch some football, only one game out of the three I watched went the way I wanted.  When things got too bad during the games, I would watch Wipeout or Mythbusters.

 Once when I went out to check on my batteries that were charging, I noticed the doe and her two fawns having and apple snack.  Vera and I watched them for a bit, then I went in and got a camera for a few pictures.

It looked like a full moon on my last trip out to lock the shop and motor home, so I got the new camera out and took some more pictures.  The craters were really showing up tonight.

There were lots of stars out, so I had to try getting a picture of them, by resting the camera on the roof of the Blazer and using a 4 second exposure, this is what I got.

Flying at Toledo

It was the first clear day in a long time, I was kind of surprised at how little snow is on Mt St Helens.

This is some of what I flew today, I flew 5 airplanes and 1 helicopter.  It was a pretty good day for flying, when the wind did start blowing, it was right down the runway most of the time.  Vera had made great roast beef sandwiches for our lunch today!  I had a great time practicing one wheel touch and goes with my J3 Cub.

This is Rob, Leonard, Audrey and Dale enjoying the sunshine.  By the time the day was over, 10 members had shown up, plus it looks like a guest flyer is going to join.

Friday

 After our walk today, we made a stop at the Post Office, there was a slip for a package in our box, but for some reason the Post Office was closed.  We went to the store for some milk and then we went to a garage sale in Castle Rock.  Vera found several things, so we drove out Pleasant Hill Rd looking for another sale we had heard about.  We never found it, but on the way out we went by where this abandoned house that I had mentioned in the May 2010 post is located, and it was gone!

After picking up some pop at the Ostrander store, we came back by there again and I took a couple of pictures.  It was sure a surprise after seeing it for so many years.  I spent some time working on the Turbo Bee this afternoon, then we ran back to town to see if the Post Office was open yet, it was and I got the package.  When I got back in the Blazer I noticed we had left the milk we bought this morning in the hot car all afternoon, so it was off to the store for more.  I decided to fly Saturday, so I got things ready this evening.

Happy 15th Birthday James!

After our walk, we headed up to the LCRC flying field to put the left over Thompson's Water Seal on the tables.  Dick met us there and helped roll on the sealer, so the job did not take too long.  Vera hung "Wet Paint" signs on the tables for us.

Then I flew 3 flights with the T-28, normally you could see Mt St Helens above the barn, but the haze from the forest fires hid it today.  I put some sealer on the bulletin board before we headed home to see if UPS had delivered James' present, they had!

At 6:00 we went down to Papa Pete's for a pizza party to celebrate James' 15th birthday.  It is hard to believe he is 15 already, time has sure flown by.  I have had some great times with him since I retired.  We lucked out with the present we ordered, the Jambone was just what he wanted.

Mother Nature even provided an awesome sunset for his birthday, this is from the Papa Pete's parking lot during the party.

Sunsets

Vera had bible study and an ice cream social today, so I worked on putting in the GFCI outlets.  The first one went good, but the second one was in an awkward spot and hard to get into and out of, which I had to do several times.  The last time out when I finished was really tough, I just leaned against the house and relaxed for a few minutes.  Then I did some touch up on the sidewalk, filling some low spots.  My last job was putting Thompson's Water Seal on the deck.  At first it looked terrible, but when smoothed out with a brush it looked better, then when it dried, it looked fine.  After dinner and a nap, I went out and put 4 flights on the little helicopter.  As I finished the last one, I noticed the sunset was looking great, so I got the camera and took some pictures from the back deck.  The trees have grown quite a bit and we don't see as much of the horizon as we used to. 

Flu Shots

We had planned on going for our Flu Shots and some shopping right after walking this morning.  We ended up back home checking on one item and ended up buying it online.  I sat down to read my new Aircraft Modeler and the next thing I knew, I was waking up from a nap.  Since the noon time rush at Kaiser was probably over, we headed down about 2:00.  There were only two people ahead of us, so we were in and out in about 5 minutes.  Our next stop was Home Depot for casters for Vera's new shelves and parts for an outlet I am installing.  It was a good thing Vera made a list, because I had forgotten all about that.  We stopped at Safeway for the other things on the list and went home.  Vera made some delicious baked vegetables for dinner and I have played in here ever since.

PS:  No, Dianne the shot did not hurt!  Nurse Jewel gave Vera her shot and she did not even feel it!

Laugh until your cheeks hurt!

I went over and watched the twins play in the sandbox today, what fun, I laughed until my cheeks hurt.  This evening we went down to Battle Ground for the Mark Morris JV game against Prairie.  It was a great game, close all the way, James only got in for two plays on defense and we somehow missed that.

This is the final score, then the team did their salute to the sidelines.

James is number 11 when he is on the JV team.  We rode down and back with Michelle which was fun.  After we got home, the moon was really bright, so I was outside taking more pictures of it.  Then I settled in to watch the Seahawks game, which had an interesting finish.  Much was said about it, but nothing about the 30 yard pass interference call that helped the Packers score.

Flying and Emmy's Birthday

I went flying at Toledo this morning, I hooked up the trailer and took one of the club's mowers back.  I had not been there long when I saw this strange van pull in,  it turned out to be Bob's new airplane hauler.  Bob had talked about getting one that the back seats folded down flush with the floor and it did not take him long to find one.  I am not sure what happened, but I crashed one plane, other than that I had a great day.  I left early so we could go to Emmy's 21st birthday party.

This is Emmy and James, Emmy's birthday is the 24th and James' is the 27th, in the past they have shared lots of parties, but not this year!  We had a great time, with Pam being here yesterday, we got to see the whole family this weekend.  After the party, I came home and watched the two NFL games I had recorded.

Moon

I had thought about going flying today, but it was cool this morning so I decided to stay home.  I ended up putting away things from the projects I have been doing that were just put into the shop by the door.  In the afternoon, we had a nice visit from Pam and got to see a bunch of photos of Evelyn.  This evening, I watched Emmy's volleyball game on the Central website.  Emmy played a great game and I heard her name many times, she was the kill leader for the night.  After the game, I saw Cliff's moon picture on Facebook, so I went out and took some of my own.  It turned out to be one of the best I have gotten of the moon.  Yesterday, I forgot to mention that I finally got that last board on the deck, it sure felt good to get that job done.

I sure slept good last night.

I slept great last night and no sore throat this morning, so we went for our walk.  I enjoyed the walk, we got to hear a little about Vonda's vacation.  After the walk, I finished up checking emails and paying a couple of bills online.

Then I got out the gear to clean the back deck so I could put Thompson's Water Seal on it.  Vera helped me get the furniture off and then I put the first coat of cleaner on.  After I hosed that off, there were still some spots that looked pretty dark, so I put on a second coat.  This time, I used the pressure washer to clean it off and I am happy with the results.  Now it just needs a few days to dry out and I can coat it.  This evening, I finally download my pictures from Wednesday and Thursday.  After a couple of hours editing, I was ready to catch up on my blogs.

It feels like Fall is here!

When talking to my friend Bob, I found out that he and Bruce might be flying Wednesday.  It was not long before they decided for sure they would, so I joined them.  Boy, was it chilly in the morning, we were all hunting for extra clothes.  It was a good day of flying!  There ended up being 5 of us flying most of the day, just as I was leaving Jeff and Tina showed up, so I stayed a little longer to watch them.  I was really tired when I got home and ended up taking a nice long nap.  I had a sore throat when I woke up, I think from all the smoke in the air from those fires in Eastern Washington.

More Football

My plan for today was to finally get that last board on the deck.  Well it was raining this morning, so I gave up on that idea.  Instead, I ended up working on the Turbo Bee, making some modifications and strengthening some areas.  At about 2 we headed down to meet Mik and Michelle for a ride to James' game in Battle Ground.  On the way, we heard about a wreck by the Red Lobster.  After running an errand, we went over to Target where we were meeting and the wreck was still there.  We are not sure how he got where it was, but the left front was sure mangled.  He took out a small tree and lots of bark off a bigger one.

James played wing for the first part of the game, here he broke a tackle.  They were down 14 to 0 at the end of the first quarter, but had scored twice to make it 14 to 13 at the half.

James' (#10) friend Dalton (#72) is blocking for him.  James scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak and they ended up being ahead 21 to 14 through almost all of the second half.  With 29 seconds left on a 4th down, one of their receivers made a reception for a touchdown when he got behind the defender.  They went for and made a 2 point conversion that up them up 22 to 21.  After the kick off with 7 (I think) seconds to go they got off two pass plays, but both were incomplete.  It was a tough loss!  After a little shopping in Longview, we came home and I watched my Thursday Football recording.  By halftime, it was looking like a blowout, plus I don't really like the Giants, so I watched Wipeout instead.

More painting

I had a good day, we walked, got the mail, stopped for some milk and I ended up with fried chicken for dinner, yes, I remembered the milk. Later, I got the painting done on the porch, then I found a gallon of paint from the last time we painted the house and did some touch up around the windows.  I had a visitor this afternoon, a friend who had bought stuff from us when we had the hobby shop.  He is interested in getting back into the hobby and wanted to see if I was still doing it.  After the fried chicken dinner, I took the little helicopter out and put 7 flights on it.  It has a blue LED inside the canopy and that was really helping my orientation on the last couple of flights as it was getting pretty dark. The rest of the evening was spent reading blogs I follow and checking the model airplane forums.

Unload and Cleanup

I did not have much energy this morning, in fact, I decided to skip walking last night before I went to bed, a little earlier than normal.  I played with my pictures from Sunday in Photoshop and did some posting of them on the LCRC forum and in my blog.  I emptied the refrigerator in the motor home, cleaned out the sinks and unloaded the planes I don't take every time.  I did a little painting on the porch, trying to finish what I started last week, one more session and I will be done!

I went out and studied the Turbo Bee kit I got at the tailgate swap meet Sunday.  I think it is going to be darn cute!  It is a kind of cartoon scale jet, I don't have any of the hot pink color, so it will probably be some other color.  It sounds like I did lots, but most were small jobs with a rest in between.

Electric Fly In and Picnic

Today was the Lewis County Radio Controllers annual electric airplane fly in and picnic.  We headed up early since we had all the food.  The first thing we did was set up the sun shade, tables and chairs.  Using the motor home for one side works great, it blocks the sun and wind really well.

I flew the B-36 three times today and the landings got better with each one.  I helped cook this year, the only problem was the barbecue would not light, it turned out the burner had shifted when they wheeled it over from the barn.

I borrowed a couple of pictures from Dick Anderson for the blog, he counted 63 airplanes, 16 helicopters and 63 people at the Fly-In.  As things wound down, we got in some more flying and helped clean up.

This was as we went out the gate, time to head home after a great day.

Work Party

We went up to Toledo this morning for a work party to put up a new safety fence.  The fence line is 200 feet long, we had 30 posts, and wanted five 3 foot openings.  It took a couple of tries, several sheets of paper, but we finally got the spacing of the posts right! 15 club members showed up to help, so the job did not take too long.  We helped clean up, had lunch, flew a flight with the Cub and headed home.  I got the B-36 loaded for Sunday's electric fly-in.  I am in charge of food, so I made a trip to town for that.  I downloaded my pictures from today and made the panorama above from 3 of the pictures.

Thursday Night Football

After our walk, I dilly dallied around enough on the computer that it was pretty warm putting the skirting back up.  I got it done, but I worked up a good sweat doing it.  I had a fairly productive afternoon, I injected epoxy into a soft piece of wood on the deck, painted a replacement board for the deck, put plant food in the water lily pots and cleaned off the dead leaves.  Finally, I mixed up another batch of epoxy and did some patching on the shop floor.  That stunk me out of the shop but it was almost time to leave for James' game.  88 is pretty warm for playing football, or watching.

Here James is handing off to his friend Aidan.

James rolling out to pass.

James played quite a bit of the game as a back carrying the ball.  On their last drive of the game he had a couple of long runs that got them down into scoring position, so they did not get shut out.  I believe the final score was 21 to 6.  It looked like James might have been up around a 100 yards running.  I bet he is one tired young man tonight.

Almost Done!

It has been just Vera and I walking this week, Pastor Vonda is on vacation and the other ladies have not showed up.  Right after our walk this morning, we headed to Longview for more Restore for the sidewalk.  We also hit Safeway for a few things.  We were back home at 10:30 and I changed into my painting clothes and started in.  I did better today, it only took 2 hours to put the second coat on.  Now all I have to do is put the skirting on tomorrow and that job is finished.  After cleaning up the tools, I changed into sandals and shorts.  Rielee and the twins were playing outside, so I went over.  They were gathering leaves for a book and it was great fun  to watch.  I did a bunch of small jobs this afternoon, watering, spraying weeds and getting some posts out for the club work party.  I did not take any pictures today, so I looked back to see what we were doing 10 years ago.  It turned out we were at Crater Lake.

We had picked a perfect day with no wind and mild temperatures.  We hit every viewpoint on the rim and had a great day.

Twins Treat

We walked this morning, I was a little late getting up, so I skipped breakfast until we got home.  After breakfast and emails, I started getting ready to put the first coat of Restore on the sidewalk.  While I was in the shop getting a paint brush, Steve showed up with a cinnamon roll the twins had made for me, that was a nice treat this evening.

As seems to be normal for me, I ended up with all kinds of tools out there to do the job.

It took 3 hours to put this first coat on and clean up, I am hoping the second coat tomorrow goes faster.  After a nap and dinner, I went out and checked over the club's barbecue.  I cleaned the orifices and it seemed to be burning OK.  Then I came in here to catch up on my blogs.

Barry's Birthday

Barry's birthday was Saturday, but I did not get a chance to get together with him until today.  On the way up, I stopped and visited Marie.  The last time we were there I was going to take her some pictures, but the printer ran out of ink.  This time I was able to take her a bunch and she was really tickled with them.

I got to check out Barry's Restore job on their deck, it turned out real nice.  We sat on his deck talking and watching golfers go by which is pretty entertaining!  Chunks of grass flying around, people pounding their club on the ground and lots of balls under the trees.  That black and white post is the 250 yard marker, Barry said it gets hit all the time, sure enough a little later there was a loud bang and a ball rolled away for it, the guy was not happy!  I took Barry to lunch, then we came back and had some of his birthday cake and ice cream while enjoying the sun on the deck again.  When I left Barry's, I stopped at Costco for gas and a couple of things we needed, then I stopped by Radio Control Hobbies for some things I needed and to pick up a battery for Bob.  I got out of Olympia before the evening rush hour, then stopped at Bob's to drop off the battery and we had a nice visit.  Once I got home and unloaded, I settled in to watch Monday Night Football.

Football Sunday

OK, my plan was to go flying and attend the club meeting at Toledo.  We got there just before the meeting started, with just time enough time for me to put on a coat.  The meeting was short which was good, because it was windy, cold and there was light sprinkle coming down.  I got one plane and one transmitter out, talked to people for a few minutes and decided it was too cold, so I would go home and watch football.  The Seahawks came close, maybe next time.  Sunday Night Football finished off my day.

Vacuum Forming

This is no picture Saturday!

I worked on a little foam plane today, to see if I could get it flying, then give it away to someone.  I got it all done and then started working on the a tail turret for the B-36.  I thought I had found the ideal thing at the Dollar Store, but the ping pong ball was a little too large.  At the club drawing for Earl's stuff I had chosen a Vacuum Forming machine, so I decided to make a turret with it. I got it and the instructions out and discovered it was not all done.  We ended up making a run to Bredfield's for some parts and then I had to wait for some epoxy to cure.  I made two on my first attempt and one turned out OK!  I made up some mounts for it using magnets, so it is easy to remove if I need an air outlet when flying.

Hall of Fame

Friday night, we went to the Rockets Hall of Fame game.  My sister Cathy was getting inducted into the Rockets Hall of Fame.  They had the announcement at half time and it was a complete surprise to Cathy.  The Rockets were playing Woodland and it was a really good game, but the Rockets lost 28 to 20.  After the game, we went to Cathy and Bob's for cake and to congratulate Cathy.  None of my pictures during the presentation turned out, but I did get video of most of it.  Of course, the SD card filled up and I had to switch cameras in the middle.

Off to Vancouver

Shortly after our walk this morning, I went out and did the painting on the sidewalk.  Strange to have something go exactly as planned!  By the time I got the brush cleaned up, it was time to head for James' game, we were leaving early so I could get my monthly blood test.  We met Mik and Michelle at Target so we could ride down to Vancouver with them to watch the game with Hudson Bay.  Just after we got out of the car, James scored his first touch down of the game.  The picture is of him going in for the second one on a quarterback sneak.  The team all played great and they won 31 to 14.  On the way home, we drove across the Interstate bridge to look at the remains of the Red Lion, boy does it stink!  We all went to Applebee's for dinner when we got back to Longview.  Vera and I had the Two for $20 and really enjoyed our meal.  We had a great time talking over the game and James' first days at school.

Big News!

The big news is, our great grandson rolled over today.  Jackie called me this morning to tell me the news.  I did some more cleaning on the sidewalk and it is ready for paint tomorrow.  This evening, I watched the Cowboys beat the Giants, the first NFL game of the year.  The Seahawks looked so good in preseason that I have high hopes for them this year.

No walk for me!

I slept poorly last night, I was still trying to wake up when Vera got home from walking.  I finally got going and when I came out from my shower I heard voices in the other room.  Ava, Harper, Dianne and Steve were here.  Ava and Harper had made cupcakes and brought two over for Vera and I.  Cupcakes before breakfast sure perk you up!  I did some more cleaning on the sidewalk until it got hot on that side of the house.  We made a run to town and I got the washers for the trailer and we picked up some groceries.  I put the trailer back together and when it got hot, I went to the shop and replaced a retract unit in the B-36 that was hanging up.  This evening I watched a little TV, darn little, as soon as I sat down, I fell asleep.  I finally got woke up at 11 when Vera headed to bed.  Not being sleepy, I stayed up.

Labor Day

This is where I labored today, I cleaned out along the edge for the sidewalk and pressure washed it.  I also put the new wheels and tires on the garden cart so I could send the old wheels off with the garbage.

James got moved up to the Mark Morris JV squad for today's game against Kelso.  He got to play quarterback for most of the 4th quarter, he also spent some time as a linebacker.  In the picture, he is number 11.  He played great, no fumbles and he had a pass completion.  They ended up winning 48 to 6.  Afterwards, we went to the Masthead with Mik, Michelle, James and Levi for dinners or desserts (their brownie is delicious!) while we talked over the game.  We had a great time, lots of stories and laughter.

Labor Day Weekend Flying.

Saturday we went up to Toledo to fly.  I got in lots of flying and we got some of the field setup done.  Surprise, Surprise we were not the last ones to leave.  We stopped and had a BK dinner before heading home for the evening.  I recharged the batteries for flying on Sunday

Sunday, the Longview club had a meeting at the Goble flying field.  I was the first one there, so I had my choice of parking spots and tables.  I met one of the new members today and discovered he is a Ham Radio operator also, we had a nice visit.  I got in quite a few flights before the meeting, which was nice and short so we could get back to flying.  Just before I left Ken showed up with some estate items  from Marv Balestra.

It wasn't long before I was the proud owner of a 1/4 scale Kitfox, Marv was a master builder, so I had no worries about how it was constructed.  The light weight construction make it a natural for electric power.  On the way home, I picked up the paint for the sidewalk South of the house.  A little more cleaning and I will be ready to finish another project.  This has been a pretty productive summer for me.