Monday
Awoke at 3:30 a.m. to go watch the launch of STS-130, the last scheduled nighttime Shuttle launch. I messed up and thought that the launch was scheduled for 4:41 a.m. but when I checked the NASA Shuttle Blog, I realized that it was 4:14 a.m. so we had to hussle to get get out of the house. Fortunately, we had laid out our clothes before we went to bed, but we didn't end up having time to make coffee. We also spent a few extra minutes having to scrape frost off of the windshield of the Durango. We managed to make it to the Scott Road beach access with about five minutes to spare, which was just enough for us to get the beach chairs out and set up and for me to get the video camera set up. Jeanie had the good binoculars and had a fantastic view of the entire launch. The video camera had trouble focusing and was more of a distraction for me than it was an asset. From our vantage point, it was crystal clear, with a quarter moon almost due east, low over the horizon. We were well bundled and layered, so we didn't suffer too much with the 37 degree temperature. Fortunately, there was almost no wind. We both initially saw a red glow in the south, which we later decided was the reflection of the light from the solid rocket boosters off of some clouds to the south. A few moments later, the red flame jet of the solid rocket boosters became clearly visible. With the binoculars, Jeanie was able to see the separation of the boosters. It was so clear that even without binoculars, I was able to see the shuttle all the way until Main Engine Cut Off - which was about eight minutes after we initially saw the red glow on the clouds at lift off. The track of the ascent was perfect for our viewing, being almost due north along the eastern coast of the U.S. at one p0int positioning the still glowing shuttle just above the crescent moon and continuing until well north of it from our vantage point.
Went home and went back to bed and took a nap then got dressed and headed off to Jacksonville via Heckscher Drive. On the way, we stopped at a couple of bedding stores, as our mattress is at its end of life with well worn depressions on both of our sides that make the mattress somewhat uncomfortable. I wasn't prepared for how expensive mattresses have become, and was a bit overwhelmed with the multitude of choices: Tempurpaedic, traditional spring, full latex foam, etc. I guess I'll have to do some research before making a decision.
We stopped at the Sandollar Restaurant on the river on Heckscher for lunch. Jeanie and I have driven past it countless times, and Jeanie has been there with Wendy and Tammy, but I had never been. Service was good and the view was great. Jeanie and I both had shrimp plates - hers broiled with rice and beans, mine fried with french fries. Portions were generous and reasonably priced at $8. The shrimp was cooked "just right" for both of us. Jeanie's were well seasoned and she enjoyed the rice and beans, though I found the beans a bit bland. I found the batter bland on my shrimp and the fries were a bit limp, but the lunch was still enjoyable. The highlight (other than being with my sweetie) of the meal for me were the hush puppies. They were delicious - hot, crisp, plenty of onion and just a hint of sweetness.
After lunch, we continued to the southern edge of Jacksonville and did a bit of furniture shopping. Jeanie was looking at prices of oversized chairs to try to decide if it makes more sense to get her existing "chair and a half" recovered or to just buy a new one. I know I am frugal, but, $2000 for a chair?!? For that kind of money, I vote to keep what we have an just keep throwing a blanket over it, but, I'm not sure I get a vote.
On the way home, we stopped by Costco and picked up some stuff, then drove back via Hechscher as it was still light and we enjoy the view.
After arriving home, I went off to take another nap.
Around 6:00 p.m., Jeanie and I headed off to the airport for me to do my three full stop landings to maintain my night currency. The night was lovely. While overcast at around 3500 feet, it was very clear below the clouds, the temperature was crisp but not cold, and the winds were gentle. I did one closed circuit pattern, then did a half loop around the northern part of the island, then returned to the pattern to do my last two landings. My first landing was a bit firmer than I would have preferred, but not bad. My second was decent and on my last, I thought it was going to be perfect, but I ballooned a bit just at the end, but was able to salvage it with a bit of power to end with a greaser.
All told, the day was just wonderful.
Tuesday
Normal work from home day.
Wednesday
Normal work from home day.
Put the plastic that runs from the screening to the house back up on the lanai as the forecast calls for the temperature to drop to 32 degrees tonight.
Thursday
In the morning, met one of the other CAP members at the hangar to act as safety pilot while he flew some instrument approaches under the hood while flying a Cessna 182T Nav III Skylane. Our squadron swapped airplanes with the Craig squadron for a few weeks so our members could get current on the "glass" and the few of us remaining who are not glass qualified could get some time in the aircraft. This was a great opportunity for me, as it gave me the chance to sit in the right seat and focus on the G1000 without having to worry about also flying the airplane.
In the afternoon, I worked from home.
Friday
Worked from home.
Saturday
The plan was for Joe and me to fly the club airplane to Wetumpka, AL (08A) and drop it off to get painted. We lined up one of our airport buddies, Roger, who is also one of our CAP squadron members and a CAP IP, to fly chase in his Piper Arrow to bring us back. Joe picked me up at 0645 and we headed off to preflight, even though the weather didn't look promising. The weather in Wetumpka was fine, but at FHB, the ceiling was 1500 feet with a temperature of 4 degrees centigrade on the ground. In addition, winds at 3000 feet were almost a direct headwind at 30 knots. By 0800, our planned departure time, the clouds had only lifted to 2000 feet. by 0900, they had only lifted to 2500 feet, which meant we would have to fly at 2000 feet, right at the freezing point. Given these conditions, we elected to scrub the trip.
By noon, the weather had lifted, and I was jonesing for some flying, so I called Roger to see if he would be willing to go up with me in the G1000. He is so nice. He said "sure," and we arranged to meet at 1300. I got to the airport around 1230 to ensure that the aircraft was as ready to go as I could make it before Roger got there. I say "as ready as I could make it" because I didn't want to perform the G1000 related portions of the preflight with an instructor there to make sure I didn't mess anything up or miss something important. Roger put me through the paces, having me perform slow flight, stalls, steep turns, and normal, short field and soft field takeoffs and landings and a power off landing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't have any trouble adapting to the glass panel presentation of the primary flight instrument data, but I did struggle a bit with the landing flares due to the significantly greater height of the glare shield on the instrument panel. None of the landings were horrible, but they weren't as smooth as I would have liked. Overall though, even though I worked hard, I enjoyed our 1.5 hours in the air.
For dinner, I made salads for Jeanie and for me, as Jeanie was tired and asked me to make dinner for us.
After dinner, we started to watch "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," but both of us fell asleep before the end of the movie. This was our first rental from RedBox, and I was very impressed with the rental experience. I really like the idea of paying for rentals by the night (especially at a buck a night), rather than the approach that Blockbuster takes of charging $5 for a 5 night rental. The fact that the first night was free (due to them sending me an email with a promotional code for one free rental night) made the experience even better. Never know when I'll need that extra dollar!
Sunday
Happy Valentine's Day.
Jeanie hadn't slept well, so about the time I got up, Jeanie headed back to bed. I had borrowed one of the Sunday airport coffee regular's Garmin 696 User Manual on Thursday so I could learn about how to use the unit and then give him some tutoring, and I wanted to get the manual back to him, so Jeanie and I decided for me to go to the airport coffee, at least briefly.
After I returned, we exchanged cards and gifts. Jeanie got me a bag of M&M's, which honored my request to her to cut way back on her buying presents for me. I got her a Sandisk Sansa Clip 2GB MP3 player, Koss Custom Fit KE20BZ Noise Isolating Earbuds, and a patch cord to allow her to connect the Sansa to her car audio.
While on my way home, Jeanie cooked us breakfast consisting of grits, a fried egg and toast.
After breakfast, we decided to go back to bed for a nap.
When we awoke, we bathed and then watched the end of the Harry Potter movie. I wasn't overly impressed with the movie. Maybe it had been too long since I read the books, or maybe it was just because so much of the book had to be eliminated to fit the time available for a movie. I was glad to learn that the cinematic coverage of the final book will span two movies, one to be released this November and the second to be released the following July. I was also pleased to learn that they will both be available in 3D. Hopefully, the extra time will allow a more faithful adaption of the final book.
Around 3:30 we headed off to Fernandina. We drove to the north end of the island and looked around the marinas there, then headed downtown and walked around. At 5:00, we walked into Espana for our Valentine's Day dinner reservations. As usual, the food and the service were exceptional. We started off sharing Ceviche and a half pitcher of sangria. For our entree, we shared a Paella Marinera (Seafood Paella) with Clams, shrimp, scallops, mussels, calamari and Lobster for one (which was just the right amount for the two of us). For desert, we shared a serving of flan. We both left satisfied but not stuffed, with very happy taste buds.
On the way home, we stopped by one of the RedBoxes on island and returned our movie. The return process couldn't have been simpler, and I really like the fact that you can return your rentals at any Redbox, rather than having to return it at the location from which you rented it like Blockbuster.
The week started off great, ended great, and had some nice spots along the way. You can't ask for much more than that.
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Posted by David at February 14, 2010 09:19 PM | Categorized under: A day in the life, Flying, Movies