Night Vapor...

This past Monday was my 33rd birthday. I got some good loot. Some cash, a horse head mask (hopefully pictures of that soon), a book, a pinata filled with candy, and an ultra-micro RC airplane called the Night Vapor.

Here's the Night Vapor.


It's a very small little plane, and it weighs next to nothing. The lights on it are very bright, and it's designed to be flown in little to no light, and pretty much no wind.

Well, the last couple of nights have been pretty still, so I have flown two batteries through it each night.

What an incredible little machine.

It's slow so it's easy to control, it's EXTREMELY quiet so there's no reason to worry about the noise, it's bright so it's easy to see even when it's kind of dark, and it's just ideal to fly around.

It's very relaxing, and I've been trying to do some things to reduce some stress in my life since I got back from vacation. Even though it was only about 45 degrees each night, I stood out in the street for the better part of 30 minutes each night with the biggest grin on my face.

I can't wait for it to get a bit warmer outside. I'm going to grab a lawn chair, a drink, and just hang out in the driveway flying this thing around. It's a very interesting experience, and I'm loving every second of it!!

Long Time, No Post...

I figured tonight would be a good night to get back to the blog.

I've been sick since we got back from Hawai'i, and this week I finally made it back to work.

Anyways, something that I have been interested in for a long time was poi. It's the art of spinning and twirling things that are hooked to your hands with cords.

I tried it out in Hawai'i for a few minutes, and when I got home I ordered a set of glowing poi from a place in New Zealand.



I've practiced with them just a few times, but so far I've had quite a bit of fun with them. They are entertaining and a pretty decent workout for your hands and mind.

I'm hoping to get back to regularly posting on the blog. Maybe I can try and get some pictures of me twirling the poi with my new camera??? New camera, you say?? Yup...but that's a post for another day!!

Experimenting With Hanging Photographs...

So we got some good pictures while we were in Hawaii.

I've been experimenting with hanging them in different ways, and this is what I've settled on in the living room...for now...


I may keep moving them a bit more, and I also have some other pictures that I would like to get printed that might make them look different in the end, but for now I think they look pretty good!

Day Two...

I had the alarm set today for 9:00...but then were woken up at 7:00.

We hit a place called "The Gazebo" for breakfast. Waited about an hour, but it was worth it. The food was AMAZING.

When we got back, everyone got ready and we hit the water. I skipped the pool and went right straight to the Pacific Ocean.

The water was great, and it was a bit windy. We swam in the ocean for a while, then hit the pool for a bit. After that, we came in to get dried off and get some renting done.

Cathy, George, my dad, and I went to rent me a paddle board. It ended up being a bit more than I had planned on spending, but the place I had planned on renting from wasn't open. Oh well. It's vacation, right?? We then hit Snorkel Bob's to get some rental snorkel gear...which was awesome. They rent prescription masks, so Cathy and I both got prescriptions that match us perfectly.

We came back, and I figured that it was time to try out the board...I spent enough on it, might as well get some money's worth out of it.

It was windy and choppy, and I was not very successful. At first, though, I couldn't even get up on the board on my knees, which is how they suggest to start. I was able to get around on my knees pretty well, but every time I went to stand up I fell off almost instantly. I think a lot of it was the wind and waves. I'm hoping that tomorrow morning I'll be able to get a bit better cooperation from the ocean, and hopefully that will translate to a bit more success. If not, I may have to travel a bit south to get some flatter water. I found a couple of places that I saw already that was a bit flatter, and the guy that rented me the board suggested that if I headed further south I'd find really good water.

The good part about the day was the weather cooperated pretty well. It rained off and on, but nothing that really put a damper on anything. It's supposed to rain a bit more tomorrow, but then the forecast is looking a lot better for the remainder of the trip.

The rain that has happened over the last couple of days has made some of the snorkeling not very good, but the guy that rented us the equipment told us a good place to go. So we might give that a try tomorrow, as well.

I also got a souveneir. It's a tiki that was hand carved. Really cool.

Also, so far, every single person that I've interacted with here has been SO friendly. It's definitely a change of pace from pretty much everywhere I've ever been. Awesome.

Day One...

The flights today seemed to last FOREVER.

When we arrived in San Francisco, we got to sit on the runway for an extra 30 minutes or more while we waited for a gate.

I finally got some sleep on the flight to Maui. That was after not getting any sleep the night before, and not really much the night before that, either.

We arrived in Maui at about 6:00 PM, got the rental car, and made it to the condo.

The condo is AWESOME. Since it's dark, it's difficult to see what's around...and it's raining. Bad news, there is lots of rain in the forecast.

We ordered a couple of pizzas, ate those, and are now getting ready to hit the sack. We'll see what day two brings.

New Handheld...

Today a Playstation Vita arrived on our doorstep, courtesy of Cathy.

I've only had a few minutes to play around with it, but the hardware seems absolutely amazing.

Time will tell how awesome the thing really is, but for now it seems like it's going to be pretty solid. Games are available in a WIDE price range...from a couple of bucks for downloadable games (stuff similar to the ones for iOS and Android) to $50 for full blown console like games.

If we both end up really liking it, I may have to look into getting one for myself so that we both have one.

I know that we both have a 3DS, and neither of them gets used very often...but the thing about the Vita is that it solves pretty much my only gripe about most handhelds, the lack of a second analog stick. The Vita feels just like a real console's controller.

Sick Friend...

So my buddy at work Scott is sick.

The thing is, the doctor's don't have any idea what's wrong with him. MRI, X-ray, and blood tests all come back negative...but his stomach is causing him so much pain that it hurts when he walks, eats, sits...really all the time.

He's scheduled to go in for a HIDA scan in the next week here, but they can't get him in sooner because of some confusion with his personal doctor and the ER.

Either way, I'm keeping him in my thoughts and hoping for the best.

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.