I’m a private pilot!
Posted by creining | Filed under Flying
I finally got my private pilot’s license! It took close to two years (21 months) between when I went on a demo flight until yesterday, September 6th, when I passed my checkride. Of course I took two long breaks in there where I didn’t do any flying but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes. Now that I have my license I really believe it is a license to learn. I have begun putting together a list of goals I want to accomplish. I ran across the list below within the article at AVweb entitled Leading Edge #1: After Your Checkride — The Next 100 Hours . It looks like a good starting point.
Kombucha!
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
I tried kombucha for the first time last summer (2007). At the time I thought it was just okay, nothing that I would shell out the $3.50 for again. Well, I tried it again recently, and, well, now I can’t get enough of the stuff. I’ve tried all the different kinds that GT’s sells. My favorites are Gingerberry, Gingerade and Guava Goddess.
Original – straight up kombucha, a little boring but a good introduction to the tea
Citrus – this one is really heavy on the citrus, almost to the pucker point
Gingerade – it has that ginger zing to it, I really like this one
Multi-Green – tastes like Original but with blue-green algae, spirulina and chlorella
Trilogy – with raspberry, lemon and ginger juice but it tastes generically fruity
Mystic Mango – good, but not enough mango taste for me
Raspberry Rush – good, but not enough raspberry taste for me
Passionberry Bliss – fruity but somewhat tart in the mouth
Strawberry Serenity – weak strawberry taste, eh
Cosmic Cranberry – sort of tart, you know, like cranberry, just okay
Guava Goddess – I like the taste of guava and thought this was really good
Divine Grape – a tinge of grape, I thought it was just okay
Gingerberry – I really really like this one, blueberry taste with ginger as well
Packing for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – Revised
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
Revised 5/30/2008, post trip. I updated the stuff I packed. I was pretty close, the changes are in italic below.
I am taking a trip to Peru soon where I will be hiking up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The only luggage I will be bringing will be what fits in my Kelty Redwing 3100 backpack. Here’s the list of the stuff I am planning on taking with me:
Passport/Vaccination certificate
Travel insurance papers
GAP vouchers and dossier
Airline tickets
Global GSM/GPRS smartphone/charger
500 USD
Credit and debit card
Camera/camera bag/camera charger
Disposable reading material
1 100 weight fleeces
1 North Face waterproof breathable shell
1 pair Prana shorts
4 t-shirts
1 sun hat
1 pair ExOfficio convertible pants
1 wool hat
1 pair North Face waterproof gloves
3 pair hiking socks would be nice to have another pair or two
1 pair hiking shoes
1 pair flip flops
1 pair sunglasses
1 bed sheet did not use, would not take
1 pair Patagonia thermal underwear
10 pair underwear
1 Nalgene bottle used, but could have reused plastic water bottle
Sunblock
Headlamp
Daypack
Glasses
Extra pair contact lenses
Saline solution
Eye drops
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Razor and shaving cream
Facial cleanser
Shampoo
Deodorant
Lip balm
Aleve
Band aids
Antihistamine
Antibiotic (Ciprofloxacin)
Multi vitamins
Hand wipes
Plastic Ziploc 1 gallon bags very useful, should have taken more
Yurting
Posted by creining | Filed under Personal
One of my dreams is to buy 5-10 vacant wooded acres in Wisconsin, within an hour or two drive of Madison and preferably with a stream meandering through. After buying such a parcel I would love to put up a year-round yurt. After looking at most of the companies that sell yurts, I think that Pacific Yurt offers the best product. I came across this list of places on the Pacific Yurt website that have their yurts. In Wisconsin, the Tranquil Timbers and Wagon Trail campgrounds, both in Door County look good. I’m going to plan on staying in one this summer.
Camping in Wisconsin 2007
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
As I posted last year, I wanted to go camping this year at Blackhawk Memorial Park Campground in Argyle, Dells of Eau Claire County Park Campground in Wausau, Long Lake Recreation Area Campground in Dundee, Nelson Dewey State Park Campground in Cassville, Point Beach State Forest in Two Rivers and Pine Woods Campground in Wales. Well, I made it to Blackhawk Memorial Park, Long Lake (Kettle Moraine North) as well Pine Woods (Kettle Moraine South).
So, for next year, I would like to camp at Dells of Eau Claire, Nelson Dewey and Point Beach.
Cirrus SR22-G3 Turbo
Posted by creining | Filed under Flying
I am super excited that I’m going to take a demonstration flight in the Cirrus SR22-G3 Turbo! It will be a change from my current trainer which is a Cessna 152.
Nikon D50 settings for Portraits and Landscapes
Posted by creining | Filed under Photography
Here are some notes on what I’ve found works best for my Nikon D50:
Portraits – Aperture-priority exposure mode (A) with the largest aperture (smallest number as in f/2.8), within Optimize Image set Sharpening to low, Color Space to Ia, and Tone Comp. to Normal or Medium Low. Focus on the eyes.
Night Portrait – Aperture-priority exposure mode (A) with the largest aperture (smallest number as in f/2.8), within Optimize image set Sharpening to high or normal, Color Space to Ia, and Tone Comp. to Normal or Medium Low. Set Rear Sync in the Flash Options.
Landscape – Aperture-priority exposure mode (A) with the smallest aperture (largest number as in f/22, within Optimize image set Sharpening to high or normal, Color Space to IIIa, and Tone Comp. to Normal or Medium Low. Focus manually.
Getting away without leaving
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I reserved a fire circle at Picnic Point last weekend and rode my bicycle there with a friend. It was such an awesome time. There’s nothing like being able to jump on my bike in such an urban area like I live, ride it for 15 minutes and be able to build a fire in what is essentially the woods and settle in as the sun goes down. And the wood was already stacked up, ready to go and free! I felt hundreds of miles away. Oh Madison, you rarely disappoint (ahem, public transportation).
Think for yourself
Posted by creining | Filed under Personal
Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.
Timothy Leary
Me on the radio
Posted by creining | Filed under Flying
I’ve progressed to do much of the radio work during my flying lessons. At times it can be a bit overwhelming trying to talk and fly an airplane. Before takeoff I have to talk with Clearance and then Ground and then Tower. After takeoff I have to talk with Tower and then Departure. There’s an awesome website, LiveATC.net that provides the ability to listen to Air Traffic Control (ATC). Madison’s is available at http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kmsn.m3u or http://alt.liveatc.net/kmsn. The KMSN feed has Departure/Approach and Tower. The cool thing is that there are archives for the past 30 days so I can go and listen to myself talking on the radio, very much like a bewildered student pilot. I tried to find the first time I ever talked on the radio, which would have been to the Tower in order to be cleared for takeoff but I think that it may have been blocked by another communication. However, I did get to hear myself talking to Departure after being handed off from the tower that day. Here it is!