Bills=Paid!!!

I normally get paid late on Friday nights...like around 11:15 or so is when my paycheck shows up in my checking account. I normally wait until Friday nights to set up all of my bill payments, because like most 30 somethings I still do a lot of paycheck to paycheck living.

However, because of the money I've been saving for the trip to Hawai'i, I had a bunch of money in my savings and checking account right now. I figured, you know what?? I'm going to go ahead and pay those bills early, so that they are already out of my checking account when Tuesday rolls around and we start our voyage to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

This way, when this paycheck comes in, I will know EXACTLY how much money I can spend while I'm on the trip...and it's looking like I'm going to have a pretty good amount of money to have some fun with!!!

Let's just say, I'll have enough money that if I manage to spend it all on the trip, I'll be really upset with myself that I was able to go through that much money in 10 days.

I don't think I've ever paid my bills this early in the week, but it's nice to be able to. And it's especially nice to know that money left in my account come Tuesday will be all mine!!!

One More Week!!!

It's been a while since I hit the blog.

I'm not really sure what I've been doing, other than buying RC helicopters...but I guess I've been too busy to post.

Hopefully I'll get a better chance to post after we get back from vacation.

In less than 7 days, we'll be hanging out in Hawai'i...for a MUCH needed and wanted vacation.

I'm taking the computer, so maybe...just maybe...I'll get to post a couple of times FROM Maui!!!

One of Those Movies I Can Never See Too Many Times...

This movie is on HBO about twice a week...which means that, about twice a week, I watch it.

It's just awesome. Oddly enough, Aldous Snow and his band, Infant Sorrow, only exist in fiction in this movie and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." However, they are my favorite band and singer.

It's just awesome.

Why am I posting this?? Obviously because it's on right now...and I'm sure it will be on again later this week, and I'll be watching it then, too!!

Valentine's Day...

Today is Valentine's Day.

Cathy and I already decided we weren't really going to do anything for this "holiday" and instead would save our money for our upcoming trip.

So, for the day, we both sat around doing pretty much nothing. We then went to McDonald's to get some food, then came home and watched "50/50" on DVD, which turned out to be a pretty amazing movie!!!

Overall, it was a pretty good Valentine's Day!!!

Three Weeks!!!

There are exactly three weeks to go before our trip to Hawai'i!!

Hopefully, everything goes as planned. So far, the flights have been a little bit wishy-washy, with times moving and destinations for layovers changing. Hopefully it will all be sorted out by the time the day actually gets here.

Gross...

So tonight, Cathy and I went out to Bob Evans for a nice quick dinner.

We both like Bob Evans. We usually get breakfast while we're there, but this time we both got a dinner type meal. She got some glazed pork chops and I got a roast beef sandwich.

These both seemed like fine meals, but then these two older people showed up and sat next to us.

It was clear right off the bat that the man was sick. He was coughing and sneezing all over the place. That alone was pretty nasty.

However, what ruined the meal...and I mean, actually ruined the meal, mine didn't taste right afterwards...was when I heard him tell his wife that he was about to throw up. The woman got a waitress, and then the manager brought a bucket to his table for him to apparently puke in.

It was at this point in time that I literally lost my appetite, and my meal started to actually disgust me.

Luckily, he didn't end up throwing up in the bucket. He ended up going to the rest room, and Cathy and I quickly finished our meals and left.

Talk about a quick way to ruin a tasty meal. I also wanted to point out how inappropriate it was for these two individuals to actually go out in public for a meal with the man in the condition that he was in.

All In...

Why is it that whenever I get into something...anything...I want to be all in right off the bat??

Radio control cars?? I bought one, and then the next thing I knew I had seven of them, ranging in cost from $80 to $500.

Now, it's helicopters. I got one, and bought another one within days. I'm now looking for another one to use this summer when I get the hang of the two beginner models that I have right now.

I'm looking for deals, like I usually do, so it's not costing me an arm and a leg...but sometimes I wish I didn't get so invested in new things!!!

Oh well, it's only money...right??

Single Rotor Heli...

I had purchased a Blade 120 SR from The Toy House last week. It's a single rotor fixed pitch heli, which makes it quite a bit more difficult to fly than the mCX that I also got.

I found out, however, that mine was extra difficult to fly because it was missing a vertical tail fin, so I ordered one on Ebay.

It showed up today, so I had to try out the 120 in the basement.

Now, this heli is actually designed to be flown outdoors more than it is indoors, so I was really just trying to get it to hover, to see how much different it actually is from flying the mCX.

After a bit of trying, and quite a bit of trimming, I was finally able to get it to hover in one place in the basement. I then started giving it a bit of control input, and noticed immediately how much faster it is than the mCX.

Overall, I think it's going to be an amazing thing to fly. It seems pretty quick, yet it's also stable. Everything that a beginner wants!!!

That Owl I Posted the Other Day...

Well, he's a Southern White Faced Owl.

They can do pretty cool tricks.

Basically, they change their appearance when scared or angry.

In that video, when the owl is put together with an owl that is bigger than it, but not by much, it puffs itself all up.

But when it's put together with another owl that is MUCH larger than itself, it completely changes the way it looks. To me, it almost looks like it's trying to make itself look like a hawk, or some other bird of prey, that maybe most owls wouldn't try to mess with.

Pretty cool.

Stupid Computer...

Tonight while I was doing some typing, my space bar started sticking. I was able to kind of get it to work again by kind of pressing on it pretty hard. But then a few seconds later, the "x" button wasn't working right.

I was trying to press it and pull it a bit to try and free it up. It didn't seem to want to work. Then, while I was pressing it, it just fell off of the keyboard.

Upon further inspection, the little metal clip that holds it onto the computer was broken, and the plastic clip that is basically like a lever to keep it in place was also broken.

Had it just been the key, I probably could have ordered just a replacement key...but seeing as the metal on the computer itself broke, I ended up having to order an entire new keyboard.

Now, let's just hope it gets here fast, and when it does, let's hope I can actually put it on the dang computer.

Plane!!!

Today my Super Cub arrived...and this time it was the right one!!! Awesome.

Since I can't fly it right now, I promptly took the DSM radio out of the box and bound it to my mCX helicopter and went flying in the basement.

With the higher quality radio, the helicopter really works well. It's easier to control and seems to be faster.

I built the Super Cub and set it downstairs. I'm still trying to decide if I want to try to learn to fly it on my own or if I should get help. The manual, DVD, and box make it seem as if it's something I could do on my own...but I'm not sure.

Besides, joining the club would give me something to do. Who knows, maybe even I could talk Cathy into trying it!!!

I Like This Owl...

I don't know why, but it doesn't even look like a real animal to me. It looks more like a puppet, or a strange cartoon character.

After All These Years...Still One of the Best Ever...

"E.T." was on AMC tonight, and even after nearly 30 years (it will be 30 years in June of this year), it is still one of the most magical and amazing films that I've ever seen.

It still elicits laughs, tears, jumps, and drama...even after the multitude of times I've seen it.

I'm wondering if there's going to be an epic Blu-Ray 30th Anniversary release. Hopefully.

15 Seconds of Awesome...

Comeback Player of the Year...

So Matthew Stafford has been named NFL's Comeback Player of the Year for 2012.

Over 5,000 yards. 41 touchdowns. 97.2 QBR.

Remind me again why Cam Newton is in the Pro Bowl???

My Quest...

...to obtain one of every type of RC vehicle has taken another step forward.

I ordered a Blade mCX micro helicopter to play around with in the basement. I cleaned the basement up a bit, and realized how much room there is down there.

Should be fun to fly around!!!

Stitches Out...

This morning while I was getting ready for work, Cathy came up and told me that she had noticed some blood on Cooper's paw.

I checked him out, and it looked kind of swollen and it was definitely bleeding. Time to go to the vet.

I called work and told them I wouldn't be in while Cathy made the call to the vet's office. They got me right in, even though it was right between surgeries.

I took him there, and the vet looked at him for a moment. He said he thought that the stitches were starting to irritate the skin, and that it looked like they needed to come out. He said that the rest of the paw looked really good, and got to cutting the stitches out.

He told me that after stitches have served their purpose, they can start to irritate the skin as an animal (or a person, even) starts to use the part of the body that has been stitched again. I had noticed that Cooper seemed to be favoring the paw again a little, and as soon as the stitches were out he was putting weight on the paw and running around again. I think that the stitches knots were digging into his skin, and it was bothering him.

He's been sleeping most of the day, and already this evening the area looks less inflamed than it did when I took him in this morning.

He has another appointment on Monday, so the vet will check him again then. Hopefully, he'll be all good!!!

Airplane...

I had a radio controlled airplane quite some time ago. I want to say I got it when I was 18 or so. I never ended up flying it, mainly because I had invested hundreds of dollars into it and I was afraid that I would crash it. At the time, finding people to help you learn how to fly was pretty difficult, and couple that with my anti-social tendencies and you have a recipe for trying to teach yourself to fly.

Well, here we are about 15 years later and I am ready to give it another go.

I really like all of my cars and trucks, but there is only so much you can do with them without going to the track, which is over an hour away.

However, there is a GIANT field about three minutes from my house, and the local RC Plane club's private field is only about ten minutes from the house.

So I figured I'd give it a shot with a new electric trainer...a Hobbyzone Super Cub DSM.


It comes with a nice four channel DSM radio by Spektrum which can be used with future planes. It's three channels so it's very beginner friendly. It looks like a real plane, which was important to me.

It's designed as a plane you can use to learn to fly by yourself, but I'm contemplating joining the local club. It costs money, but you get access to their flying field and they have people with "trainer boxes" that can help you learn to fly. Basically, they have a transmitter that binds with your transmitter, then if you get into trouble up in the sky they can "take over" with the flip of a switch and bring the plane back to earth safely.

I ordered this plane off of Amazon, and got the wrong item shipped to me instead. I ended up getting it returned, and found a better deal on the same item at A Main Hobbies, so I ordered it from there. It should be here next week.

This plane qualifies as a "park flyer," which means it's legal to fly it at any local park as long as the city doesn't have any ordinances against it.

It's got amazing reviews, and the best part is that there is a progression that you can get into that allows you to move up as your skills improve.

I look forward to getting it and learning how to fly. It's something that I wanted to do for a long time, but was always afraid of the costs and risks. Maybe it's time to get over some of that anti-socialness and get out there and have someone help me learn!!