Ooops.

I'm sorry, did I say it looked like spring?

Yes, well.. three guesses what was waiting on the roof of my jeep when I left work this afternoon? Only about a good foot of snow. Literally had to wade through the stuff to get into my house. I'm talking - not drifts here, but actual cross-the-field-depth - of well over my knees.

It's purty, love how it looks, but dang. I'm about ready for Spring.



.... always winter and never Christmas....

Happy days.

Today was just awesome. Well, except for the part I was running late for a meeting and still struggling to get the exhaust cowling back on a 185. See, there's this one thingamajig that sends fresh air around the muffler, so as to warm it for cabin heat. Great idea, except that if the muffler develops a crack it leaks carbon monoxide into the cabin and puts the pilot to sleep. Which tends to be inconvenient when it comes to the whole "making sure the airplane doesn't plow into the ground" thing.

So, we take said thingamajig off once a year so's the muffler can get checked for cracks. And getting it back on is well.. something of an acquired art I guess. So acquiring said art made a rather frustrating last hour of work. But it's all better now.

Beside that,it was the most incredibly beautiful day, cool and clear with skies so blue it'll make your eyes ache. Snow covered mountains all about, music in the earphones - made for a great way to spend the afternoon.

And to top it all off, had a nice dinner with another new friend - you meet the coolest people in this corner of the world! So.. back to it. God Bless y'all.

Backyard vacation

Hi Mom. Saw the moose again this morning. He was wandering down the street.

Ya know, the neat thing about living in the poorer neighborhood of town here is the grocery. See, this area of town is chock-full of immigrants from all over. And like immigrants of all times, there's times they miss a bit of home. So the corner grocery (yes, there actually is a corner grocery here! All 70's-supermarket like inside!) - has all sorts of stuff from Asia and other corners of the world. No fancy logos or store brands, just a photocopied ingredients/nutrition label slapped on the side and some occasionally hilarious "engrish" labels alongside the funny squiggles I can't understand.

Kinda neat - like a culinary tour of the world just next door.

Oh, and here's what I learned in work today:

1. Supercubs are painted with what basically amounts to nail polish. Lots and lots of nail polish. Which explains why the boss has large vats of acetone lying around. And why my nails turned to a sticky mess the last time I was cleaning out the ports of the ForSale plane.

2. Don't ignore the end of the white arc on your airspeed gauge. There's attachment points on your flaps that don't take too well to being dropped when you're going too fast. Then they break. And cost money to fix.

3. Always disconnect the cowl flaps and airbox before trying to take off the engine cowling. Ooops. :)

4. It's amazing how fast you can get the cabin of a Cessna emptied out and all the ports opened up for inspection. Not exactly complicated inside.