Monday

Work from home.

Tuesday

Second attempt to transport the Atlantic Flying Club to Alabama to get painted.

One of the other AFC Board Members, Joe, picked me up at our house at 0645.

Took off at 0738.  First leg was direct to Fitzgerald, GA (KFZG).  Had about a twenty knot headwind at 4500 feet.  Leg took a total of 2.3 hours.  Visibility was fantastic, and the air was as smooth as glass.  Approach was normal, but ended up high on final.  Had to aggressively slip to make my aim point.  Landed on runway 1 with about a seven knot crosswind.  Got a strange burble crossing the threshold, but managed to make a smooth touchdown.  I even noticed that I used good crosswind technique and held me ailerons into the wind throughout the flare.  I did have to work hard through the final portion of the landing, to the point that I was actually grunting.  I can only imagine what Joe was thinking.

Tried to use my new "tailwheel style" takeoff, but found that it was much harder to manage having to hold in lots of aileron to correct for the crosswind.  I find it awkward to hold aileron with a yoke - this aspect seems much easier with a stick.

Conditions on the leg to Wetumpka, AL (08A) were the same as the first leg, with a bit more headwind.  Had to climb up to 6500 near Columbus, GA due to issues ATC was having with their radar, which caused us to lose some groundspeed both due to the climb, and the higher winds aloft at 6500 vs. 4500.  We were able to return to 4500 feet after about half an hour, which allowed us to increase our groundspeed both due to the descent, and to the lower winds at 4500.  As we started our descent into 08A, things got quite bumpy.  We also hit an incredible updraft that lifted us almost 500 feet before I realized what was happening.  Even though I consciously extended my downwind, I was once again high on final, and once again had to aggressively slip.  I was able to make my aim point, but I ended up ballooning my flare, and had to add some power to recover.  We landed on runway 27 and winds were from 310 at 12, gusting to 16, so the crosswind was a bit stronger than FZG at about 10 knots.  The fact that it was so bumpy, and that the runway at 08A is only 80 feet wide (vs. the 100 that I'm used to) made for an exciting landing, although I didn't grunt.  20 feet doesn't sound like much, but it does change the sight picture on final.  Time for this leg was 1.6 hours.

The wife of the owner of the paint shop was really nice and drove us to the Montgomery, AL airport so we could rent a car.  We had a bit of a challenge getting a car, due to the recent unseasonable weather in the South, which had apparently created a run on one-way rentals.  Hertz, our first choice due to there being a location at the Fernandina Airport was totally out of cars; I was able to get a reservation through the telephone reservations from National, but it took some convincing at the counter to get them to actually honor it.  We ended up with a Toyota Corolla, which was fine for me, but a bit tight for Joe's 6' 4" frame.  My TomTom routed us south on 231 through Dothan, AL, to I-10, east to Jacksonville, then north on I-95 to home.  Total drive time home was about 7.5 hours, which included a stop at Wendy's (which now serves fish sandwiches - yea) for lunch and one fuel stop, compared to the total flying time of 4.5 hours including the fuel stop at Fitzgerald.  Driving mileage was 430 statute miles compared to the flying distance of 276 nautical miles.

Drive home was very pleasant.  Scenery was pretty - I especially liked central Alabama with its rolling hills.  Conversation was great, and the time flew by.

I got home around 2230.

Wednesday

Drove to JAX first thing to drop off the rental car.  Joe picked me up and took me home.

Worked from home for the rest of the day.

Attended the monthly CAP Safety Meeting and hung around a bit after the meeting to chat with the commander and director of operations.

As an experiment, Jeanie and I tried sleeping in the bed in the "yellow room" to see if that mattress allowed us to rest any better than the one in the master bedroom.  Unfortunately, the answer was "no."  My back still got sore, and between the three of us (Jeanie, Cali, me) I guess we've outgrown a queen sized mattress.

Thursday

Did some work work, but also did a number of "honey do's."  These included:

1. Speaking with the broker who manages my mother's guardianship investment account about alternative fee structures.
2. Repairing the cord for the electric blanket in the blue room.  The cord is a three wire affair, about the same gauge as the cord for an electric light.  In one place, one of the three wires had been totally severed.  In the other, there was about a six inch section that appeared to have been chewed by a dog.  I cut out the chewed section, offsetting the cut of each of the three wires so that the splices wouldn't all be at the same spot creating a giant bulge in the wire.  I was able to salvage one piece of this removed area to use as a "graft" for the section of the severed wire I had to cut out.  I soldered all of the joins, and used heat shrink tubing to insulate the joined wires.  I was reasonably pleased with the results.  It never ceases to amaze me how much a dab of flux helps solder to flow.
3. Replacing the batteries (4 button cells, which fortunately I have a bunch of) in one of Jeanie's carabineer flashlights.  This also required cleaning out the corrosion that had accumulated in the battery section.
4. Replacing the batteries (3 of the same type of button cells as the flashlight above) in Jeanie's lighted tweezers.
5. Taking out the garbage and wheeling the dumpster to the street.
6. Putting the ladder back in the garage from when we had to re-hang the insulating plastic sheeting on the lanai.
7. Re-filling the bird feeder.
8. Moving one of the bird houses from a branch on the oak tree to a free-standing metal "shepherd's crook" stand.
9. Flipping the king sized mattress in the master bedroom and helping Jeanie change the sheets and remake the bed.

Friday

Work from home.

Jay, Tricia and the boys arrived around 6:00 PM.  Jeanie had our low country boil (sans sausage) ready shortly after they arrived, and we ate until we were about to pop.

We watched "Cars" and then went to bed.

Saturday

Jeanie made a lovely breakfast, then we headed downtown to walk around.  Went through the farmer's market and Tricia bought some plants and I bought a five pound jar of locally produced wild flower honey.  I've been consuming a lot of honey since I switched from drinking coffee to drinking tea.  I'm now on a "Constant Comment" kick.  Occasionally I'll still have a cup of Peet's coffee because it is just so good, but my stomach tends to object.

We returned home and hung out for a while then Jay, Tricia and the two older boys got in their vehicle, and the youngest rode with us to Pepper's Mexican restaurant on the Island.  Jeanie and I shared the seafood fajitas for one which was delicious as usual and more than enough for the two of us.  After lunch, Jay, Tricia and the two older boys headed off to the River City Marketplace to see Avatar, and Jeanie and I took the youngest to the playground at main beach.  Afterward, we walked on the beach, then went to the playground on Atlantic.

For dinner, Jeanie made a lovely dinner of salad, spinach lasagna, pizza and spaghetti.  After dinner, Jay and Tricia headed off to Jacksonville for their Jimmy Buffet concert, and we bathed the youngest, then sent each of the other two boys off for their showers.  After bathing, we put the youngest to bed, then the two older boys and Jeanie and I watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Fortunately, the plastic five pound honey container we got from Costco hadn't made it to the garbage yet, so I cleaned it out and transferred the locally produced/purchased honey from its glass jar to the plastic container.  Even though I like the idea of glass vs. plastic when it comes to what I'd rather have my food sitting in, the plastic is much easier to dispense from. 

Sunday

We had pancakes for breakfast, then the gang packed up and headed back home.  Jeanie and I went to the beach with Cali.  I took the new kite I had received from the IBM Thanks! program, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough wind to fly the kite.  We stayed a couple of hours, then headed home.  After dropping Cali off, Jeanie and I headed out to drive through some neighborhoods to see what was on the market.  We saw some houses that might be worth going through.  We stopped off at McDonalds for Filet 'O Fish sandwiches and some shared fries.  We returned home and watched "Up" which we both really enjoyed.  "Up" deftly demonstrates that with a compelling story, a movie can be great, pretty independent of the medium in which it is presented.  I also found it interesting just how strongly the movie tugged at the heartstrings.

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.

Monday

Worked from home.

Tuesday

First thing, met Joe from the flying club at the airport to transport the club airplane to St. Mary's for our annual.  I flew.  The flight up was a little bumpy, but not too bad.  The weather was really clear and the temperature was very comfortable.  Winds favored runway 22, so I had to keep the downwind pretty short to avoid the King's Bay prohibited area.  There was a little bit of a gusty cross wind, but I managed to recover from a bit of a balloon and make a decent one-wheel landing.  Joe's wife met us there and drove us back to the airport.

Worked from home for the rest of the day.

Wednesday

Worked from home.

Thursday

Worked from home.

In the late afternoon, after Jeanie had finished volunteering at the Barnabus Center, we decided to go for a walk on the beach.  Jeanie came home, we grabbed Cali, hopped in the Durango and headed off to the Scott Road access.  It was a beautiful day, and we thoroughly enjoyed our 30 minute stroll.  Sadly, we no longer take Diego, as the deterioration of the functionality of his hind legs has gotten to the point where he just can't walk for more than a few minutes before the spasticity just gets too bad.

Friday

Worked from home.

Got a haircut at the end of the day.

Saturday

Jeanie and I ventured out to the Hollywood 14 Cinema at the River City Marketplace to see Avatar in 3D.

My comments about the movie can be found in this post.

Afterward, we went to Renna's Pizza in the marketplace.  I like their pizza best of any in this area.  The sauce has a nice zip, and the pizza has a nice thin crust with the puffy thick edge that I like.  Unfortunately, they only have two salads on the menu, an antipasto with lots of meat, and a very plain house salad with only iceberg lettuce, onion and tomato.  I offered to take Jeanie someplace else, but she said that she was willing to sacrifice for me since I had been hankering for pizza for a while and she knew I liked Renna's and we I didn't get there very often.  She is so sweet.

Sunday

Coffee at the airport then home for lunch.  Jeanie has been in the mood for a Burrito Bowl from Chipotle Mexican Grill but the nearest one is almost an hour away, so she decided to make them at home - they were yummy.  After lunch, we finally got around to loading up all the Christmas stuff into the Durango and taking it back to the storage unit.  Somehow, a few Rubbermaid storage containers went missing, so we went to Target and Walmart to find some replacements, but they didn't have any tall ones, which is what we really needed (to protect the table-top trees).  So, for the time being, the trees will just have to sit as they are in the unit until we can either find the ones at home, or find some more suitable bins elsewhere.  While we were at Target, we picked up a sheet of the free 3D glasses for tonight's Grammy Awards tribute to Michael Jackson.

I have been half-heartedly looking for the red/blue variant of 3D glasses for a while now, as every now and then, Astronomy Picture of the Day has a 3D image and I've never been able to view them.  After viewing all of the APOD 3D archives, I started searching the web for other 3D images.  In the process, I learned quite a bit, including the fact that it is more accurate to refer to them as 3D anaglyphs.  With this new knowledge, I went back to look for glasses on eBay, and was surprised to find lots of options.  I doubt I'll buy any, as I think the paper ones will be fine for my occasional viewing.

Afterward, Jeanie and I engaged in an "Eastwick" marathon.  I actually think the show is cute, and was mildly disappointed to learn that it was not renewed for next season.

I am glad that we got the impetus to actually go see Avatar in 3D, in the theater.

We both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was very impressed with the 3D technology.  The glasses were great - light weight but stable plastic that fit comfortably over our prescription glasses.  No dizziness or nausea.  Best effect was when the flakes of ash were raining down - the flakes really did appear to be close enough to reach out and touch.  The best overview of the ReadD / Real 3D technology I found was in this article on Wikipedia.  I liked the fact that even though it had been showing for over a month, because it was digital rather than film, there were no scratches, blotches, etc. on the screen.  I brought ear plugs for Jeanie and me in case the movie was too loud, but we didn't end up needing them - there was only one short period when the volume became uncomfortable for me.

Yes, the plot line could be called "Dances With Wolves in Space" but, Jeanie and I really enjoyed that movie, so?  I had been concerned that I would find the natives of Pandora to be annoying / distracting to look at - kind of like a cross between Jar Jar Binks and a Smurf, but I found the somewhat feline quality of their faces to be quite appealing, and wasn't bothered by the blue color.  In fact, for long stretches, I quite forgot that I was watching stuff that was predominantly CGI/Makeup/Green screen.  There were no periods during which I felt that the movie was "slow."

I liked the pacing, thought the flying machines were cool, thought the flying creatures were even cooler, and was immersed in the world of Pandora and its flora and fauna.

I'd even consider going see it again before it leaves the theaters and goes to DVD.

Monday

First thing went to get the ultrasound of my gall bladder.  That took most of the morning.  As best I can remember, that was the first ultrasound I've ever had.  The technician didn't offer any comments, so I am assuming there was nothing exceptional.  I'll find out in a couple of weeks when I have the follow up appointment with the gastroenterologist.

After returning home, Jeanie and I drove to Jacksonville Beach to pick up my mother from the hospital and take her back to her place.  My mother seemed to be doing remarkably well, and it appears that most of her recent "back pain" was in fact pain from her gall bladder.

Got home around 6:00 PM and headed off to bed pretty soon after that, as both of us were beat.

Tuesday

Jeanie took me to the hospital for my Upper GI (EGD).  We got there a bit early, but the wait wasn't too bad, and they took me back right on time.  The staff was friendly and efficient.  The actual procedure was a non-event for me.  Last thing I remember was them wheeling me into the procedure room and having me bite down on the plastic mouthpiece that serves to protect the patient's teeth and the endoscope.  Next thing I knew, I was in recovery being offered a tasty muffin and some juice.

I am not sure exactly when we got back home, but I had no after effects from the anesthesia or the procedure other than I was a bit tired and spacey for the rest of the day.  As such, I chose to take the day off.

Wednesday

Worked from home in the morning.

In the late afternoon, I went flying with one of the other flying club members.  He just wanted some company while he did some touch and goes and some air work, and I was happy to just sit in the right seat and enjoy the beautiful day.  It still amazes me how much more of the scenery I "see" when I am not the one actually flying.  I did do a little flying from the right seat which I found very interesting, as while it's not that different from the left seat, it's just different enough - in sight picture and in the fact that you "switch hands" (i.e. left hand on the throttle, right hand on the yoke) - that it was interesting.  When we got back, we decided to switch seats so I could do a few touch and goes myself, which I did.  I was pleased with my landings.  It was a very nice afternoon.

Thursday

Worked from home.

In the evening, I installed the new CSH Inc. FCA2-05 Failed Circuit Alarm I had purchased from Amazon.com. 

I finally broke down and purchased one after Jeanie discovered last weekend that the GFI outlet had once again tripped (most likely due to a power "burp" caused by high winds) and the refrigerator/freezer in the garage was without power.  Fortunately, it hadn't been without power for too long, and it was during the cold spell, so nothing spoiled, but still.

Overall, I am pleased with the alarm.  It is well made and well thought out.  Even the way the screws affix the cover to the rest of the box are well engineered.  Two of the screws affix the box to the wall, and then the other two screws affix the cover to the box.  The unit has an on/off switch and a test switch, and plug that goes into the wall outlet is of the piggy-back variety so you don't lose the use of one of the outlets.  The only complaint I have about the unit is that the alarm could be louder - it is just barely audible when standing in the kitchen.  It is not at all audible in the bedroom.  I think it would also help the alarm be more easily heard if it were a warbling type - like on a home smoke alarm - rather than a constant tone type.  The cost was $29.95 plus $7.49 for shipping.  Given the quality of the construction and design, and given that it probably only has a modest market so it doesn't enjoy huge economies of scale in manufacturing, I guess $30 is reasonable, but definitely not "a deal."  Because I really do think it is a good product, and the one "issue" I have with it is the alarm, I did something somewhat unusual (for me) and wrote an email to the company providing my feedback.  I was extremely impressed when I received a response to my email within two hours thanking me for my feedback and suggesting a possible adjustment that might increase the volume of the alarm and also offering to send me a new buzzer.  I haven't gotten around to trying their suggestion, but I am very impressed with their responsiveness.

Friday

Work from home.

Saturday

Went to the Doo Wop Diner on 14th street on-island.  Doo Wop's had formerly been in Yulee, but had closed a number of months ago.  Jeanie had a stack of blueberry pancakes and I had two eggs over easy, toast, hash browns and coffee.  The food was tasty and served hot, but I felt it was expensive at $14 for the two of us, and the service, even though they weren't that busy, was mediocre at best.  Decor was cute, and the music was enjoyable (50's standards, as you'd expect) but a little loud for my ears.

After breakfast, we went downtown and strolled the farmer's market, then walked down to the marina, then stopped by Publix on the way home.  Jeanie bought a couple of loaves of bread - one cranberry walnut and one peasant boule - and categorically demonstrated that any basic white bread (artisan or not) will start her coughing in no time.

We went home and started "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.  Jeanie fell asleep part way through, so I switched to watching the premiere of "Caprica" on Syfy.  There is a great article on Wikipedia on the show here.  I really enjoyed the show.  I find it to be less dark (literally and figuratively) than Battlestar Galactica and I think I am going to enjoy the moral and ethical questions it appears it will explore.  While in some scenes it still is easily apparent that computer graphics (CG) are being used, in some scenes - especially ones with Serge - I found myself forgetting that "he" wasn't "real."

Sunday

I went to coffee at the airport.  After about an hour, I had to go to the car to take a work teleconference.  After the call, I went back to the coffee for another half hour or so.

While I was gone, Jeanie did some laundry and made a homemade vegetable soup and a really yummy vegetarian (of course) chili.

The plastic had ripped away from the staples in a number of places on the lanai, so, taking a suggestion from my brother-in-law, I used strips of wood, in the form of some wide thick wooden tongue depressors, as sort of reverse furring strips.  I would have used real furring strips, but I didn't have any, and was too lazy to go get some whereas I had a bag of the tongue depressors.  So far, they seem to be working okay.

Jeanie and I were supposed to take all of the Christmas decorations back to the storage unit, but both of us were feeling really tired, so we gave ourselves the rest of the day off.

We watched the rest of "Duplicity" which we both thought was okay at best.  The interplay between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen was cute, but the movie had lengthy slow portions and the plot twists were a bit too convoluted.

I continued to wrestle with my esophageal discomfort all week.  It wasn't horrible, just mildly annoying.  Still, I'd prefer for it to go away.  Hopefully, when I see the doctor week after next, he'll tell me it's nothing major, and be able to prescribe something to resolve it quickly and easily.

Monday

Didn't sleep very well.  Got up at 3:30 AM and exercised.  Was pleased to be able to do 3 pullups.  Went back to bed at 6:00 and slept for about an hour.  Got up and headed downtown.  On the way, made a couple of bank deposits.  Primary purpose of the trip was to get the sticker for the license plate on Jeanie's RAV4 straightened out.  Somehow, we never renewed the sticker last year, and we had been driving the vehicle for a year with an expired sticker.  I have no idea how much was for the sticker and how much was fines, etc. but the bill was just under $100.00  Went by Staples on the way home and purchased a new 4 phone DECT 6.0 telephone system for the house.  It was on sale, plus I had a 20% off coupon, plus it had a rebate.  Net cost will be about $60.

Did some work work, then got a call that my mother was being taken to the hospital.  We've seen this drill before.  In the past, it has usually been dehydration and/or a UTI, so I didn't worry too much about it, and didn't drop everything to run to Jacksonville Beach.  I did make a number of calls during the day to talk with nurses at the hospital - first in the Emergency Room and then on her floor after she had been admitted.

Around 1:00, I got a call from Dave Kicklighter, whom I had been trying to coordinate with to go flying in his clipped wing Cub.  He said that he had some time this afternoon, and given that the weather was beautiful and nothing was pressing at work, I seized the opportunity and scheduled to fly with him at 3:30.  Since I hadn't slept well the previous night, I decided to take a nap.

Here's a representative photo of a clipped wing Cub that's similar in appearance to the one I flew:

The flying was fantastic.  Dave is a great instructor - possibly the best I've ever flown with.  He spent at least half an hour talking to me before we got in the airplane going over what he planned to do with me.  We then got in the plane.  Well, technically I got in the plane, as the plane has no electrical system and thus no starter, so he had to stay outside to hand prop it.  Cubs are flown solo from the back seat, so that's where Dave had me sit.  I was apprehensive at first due to yesterday's experience in the Citabria where when sitting in the back seat, you really can't see well out front when landing at all, but for whatever reason, it wasn't as bad in the Cub.  While he was standing outside, but before he propped the engine, he had me apply full brakes.  This was interesting, as the Cub has heel brakes rather than toe brakes, and they are somewhat inboard from the rudder peddles.  After I had (what I thought) fully applied the brakes, he pushed the strut a bit to demonstrate that I had to push a LOT harder than I realized to REALLY have full brakes applied.  Only then did he actually prop the engine.

Dave talked me through taxi (including gently reminding me to occasionally do S turns so I could make sure there wasn't anything directly in front of us) , run up and take-off.  The take-off was a little rough as I didn't anticipate the gyroscopic precession when I lifted the tail, and it took me a moment to get on the right rudder when the plane decided to head left.  On the climb up, Dave reminded me to occasionally lower the nose or do S turns  to clear the area ahead of us.  When we got to altitude, he first had me establish level flight so I could get a feel for the sight picture.  He taught me a trick which is basically, if the ends of the wings are level with the horizon at cruise power, you will most likely be in level flight.

One of the things I noticed right away was that whereas the stick forces were "very light" on the Super Decathlon and "somewhat heavy" on the Citabria, they were "just right" on the clipped wing Cub.  Also, the trim was much more manageable than it was on the Super D or Citabria; the trim on the Super D being much too sensitive in my humble opinion, and the trim on the Citabria not being easily accessible from the rear seat.

He then had me do some banks without applying rudder so I could get a feel for adverse yaw.  In level flight at cruise speed doing gentle turns, it was hard for me to see/feel it, so he had me slow the plane down thus increasing the angle of attack and had me use more enthusiasm when making the banks - that did the trick and I was able to finally really see/feel what adverse yaw is all about.  In the Cub, it wasn't so much that the nose truly moved away from the bank as it was the nose initially not moving in the direction of the bank.  The adverse yaw was actually more pronounced coming out of the bank than when going into it.  He then had me use the rudder to make coordinated turns.  On some, I did pretty well, on others, I was either too heavy, too light, or ill-timed on the rudder.

Then we did some stalls.  He would have me hold the stall, rather than immediately recovering, which was quite challenging, as the clipped wing cub tends to want to drop a wing when stalled.  One of the big "aha" moments was him pointing out that rather than applying and holding rudder, I needed to make quick, forceful jabs of the rudder as soon as I sensed a wing was wanting to drop.  When I applied and held the rudder, the low wing would pick up, but then the other wing would drop and I was constantly behind, with the wings dropping back and forth in an oscillating fashion.

Next, Dave had me do a maneuver where I would bank the aircraft and then raise the nose to lose airspeed, then drop the nose while still banked, and then recover to straight and level.  Either due to training I don't remember, or to instinct, I would level the wings first, then pull out of the dive.  Dave complimented me on this, which made me feel good.  He then demonstrated what happens when you try to pull out of the dive and level the wings at the same time (which is apparently what a lot of pilots do)  - you end up generating about twice as many "G's" and you loose a lot more altitude before you recover.  It made total sense to me why this would happen, which was also cool.

Then, we did a spin entry and recovery.  We did the classic spin entry - slow to idle while maintaining altitude, then apply full rudder right before the stall.  While I was a little slow to get full rudder in, I was quite pleased, as I was able to consciously ensure the stick was centered prior to applying the rudder.  Dave told me we did about 1 3/4 turns.  I guess I am fortunate in that I actually enjoy spins - I guess many pilots either hate them or are terrified of them.

We then headed back to the airport and Dave had me fly a pattern without telling me what the appropriate speeds / RPMs should be.  Much to my delight, I did pretty well, even making a decent three point landing which even appeared to catch Dave a bit by surprise.  The only thing that I did was allow my speed to get a little low right at the end, which caused me to start sinking a bit.  The timing of my flair was just right, so the landing was good, but because I had gotten slow, I had no margin for error.  I also noticed that the pitch angle of the approach is quite a bit steeper than on the Citabria, which affords a much better sight picture from the rear seat.

Afterward, Dave gave me a thorough explanation of gyroscopic precession that made total sense to me.  He educated me to the fact that as the angle of attack increases, the big determinant with P factor is actually the speed of the relative wind on the downward blade  - which is higher since the "wind" is coming up at an angle relative to the propeller blade compared to the blade going up which is going in the same upward direction.

I had an absolute blast, and didn't have even a hint of motion sickness.  It was a fantastic experience.

After I got home, I learned that my mother had been admitted to the hospital, and later in the evening, learned that she would need surgery to remove one or more gall stones from her bile duct.  I asked the doctor if lithotripsy was an option, but he said it wasn't for her situation.  At least the surgery won't require cutting.  Instead, they will do an ERCP procedure where they use an endoscope that is placed in the mouth, down the throat, past the stomach and into the duodenum, where it will then be snaked into the bile duct to get at the stone(s).

Jeanie is still away, although at least she's now heading in the general direction of home.  She'll spend tonight at her parents, then come home tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'll head over the Jacksonville so I can be there for my mother's procedure.

Tuesday

Spent all day at the hospital with my mother.  The doctor was not able to get to the opening of the bile duct using the endoscopic procedure  due to modifications to her anatomy in that general area due to a previous surgery.  So, long story short, they ended up scheduling surgery.  They had hoped to be able to perform the surgery laparoscopically, but were unable to do what they needed to do with the scope, so they ended up having to do an open surgery.  The surgeon couldn't find any gall stones in the bile duct, but said that my mother's gall bladder was in bad shape and showed evidence of a long history of gall bladder disease (Cholecystitis), so he removed it.

I was quite impressed with Baptist Beaches hospital.  They appeared to be efficient and attentive.  During the surgery, they moved all of my mother's stuff from her room on the general ward that she had been on to a room in the Surgical Telemetry Unit.  The STU is a new unit, and I was quite impressed with the room.  It was relatively large, and not only had a recliner, but also a little couch that pulled out into a bed so that if a family member wished to spend the night, they could be at least moderately comfortable.

Jeanie got back home around 4:00 PM and offered to come to Jacksonville, but I told her to stay home, as I knew she was tired and still not feeling well.

I ended up getting home around 10:30 PM.

Wednesday

Went to Jacksonville in the morning.  Stopped by the Toyota dealer to get the oil changed in the RAV4 as we were already a 1000 miles over.  I was very impressed - from the time I walked into the waiting room until the time I drove off. 22 minutes!  Then went to visit my mother at the hospital.  She was in a lot of pain.  Didn't stay long, as I had to get back to the island for a doctor's appointment for me to see what's up with my stomach.

After the appointment, went to the airport to work on the CAP airplane tug.  Put a toothed washer on the side of the handle that didn't already have one which I hope will fix the problem of the level popping open unexpectedly, releasing the lock on the nose wheel at inopportune times.  It was late, cold and getting dark, so I didn't want to hassle with actually opening the hangar doors fully and trying the tug out.  So, I guess I'll have to do that some other day or let someone else in the squadron do the testing.

Thursday

Went to the hospital to do my pre-procedure paperwork.

Unboxed the new home phone system I had purchased on Sunday at Staples and got all of the handsets plugged in so they could charge.

Jeanie went to the doctor as she still isn't feeling well, and then went to do her volunteer thing at Barnabas.

My stomach wasn't feeling too hot, so for dinner, Jeanie had some leftover soup, and I had cream of wheat and a toasted bagel.

Friday

Jeanie went in to Jacksonville to visit my mother and to go to Costco.  I stayed home because I wasn't feeling great, and to try to get some work done.

At lunch time, I got the new home phones installed.  This was more involved than you might imagine, as not only did I have to set up the new answering machine including setting the system time and recording the greeting, but I had to program each handset to set the ring tone and activate the message waiting light.  The main problem with the old system was that the batteries no longer held a charge for as long as we preferred.  Unfortunately, purchasing name brand replacement batteries is just about more expensive than just buying a new setup!  Even if I bought the batteries on eBay, because Staples had the phone on sale, and had a rebate, and I had a 20% off coupon, I really didn't spend much more for the entire new system than just buying batteries.  Part of the impetus for purchasing a new system was also that I needed to replace my work phone in the office, as the headset jacks in both handsets had gotten to the point where occasionally the phone would make a horrible squeal that not only did I hear, but that was heard by everyone else on the call, effectively disrupting it; bad enough when I was just one the phone with someone else, but really bad when I was on a teleconference.   I had tried to fix the jacks, but was not able to.  So, in addition to installing the new home phones, I cascaded the old system into my office and cascaded my old work office phone to be my new personal home phone in my office.  This cascading meant that I had to do some additional setup on the old system to deactivate some functions to allow proper operation with my work phone director features.

I quite like the new phone system.  It is a Panasonic KX-TG1034.  It uses the new DECT 6.0 Digital technology, the handsets have big, easily visible buttons and a decent sized backit  LCD, everything is RoHS compliant and the system is Energy Star rated.  The primary base unit is quite compact.  The handsets have a jack for a headset, which is important to me.  The menu system is reasonably intuitive, and the caller ID feature allows you to easily change the format of the calling number to include/exclude the "1" and the area code when calling the number displayed - something our old system did not.  I also like the fact that phone book entries can be easily copied from one handset to another.  The feature I like best is that the handsets use standard rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries, so when the batteries wear out, it will be simple and relatively affordable to replace them.  The only two things I am not crazy about are the ring tones - I'm not crazy about any of them (but they're tolerable) and you can't associate a custom ring tone with a caller ID/phone book entry.  That was one feature I really liked on the old system - for certain people, it allowed us to "know" who was calling without even having to get up to look at the caller ID.

Saturday

Slug day at home.

Sunday

Went to the coffee at the airport, then returned home for another slug day.  About the extent of my productivity was to re-staple portions of the plastic sheeting on the lanai that had become detached due to the high winds, take down the portion of the plastic sheeting that went from the screen door to the house since it will be above freezing and much of had some detached from the ceiling anyway and water the plants on the lanai.

We toyed with the idea of going to visit my mother in the hospital, but neither of us was feeling great, and we figured my mother would most likely be released tomorrow so we'd have to drive in to transport her back to her place and we'd see her then.

Watched Julie & Julia which Jeanie and I both thoroughly enjoyed.

While I was at the coffee, Jeanie made bread pudding using raisin bread and some individual ramekins of egg custard.  It was yummy.  In the evening, I made some sugar glaze (a little bit of warmed milk, a little bit of vanilla extract and enough confectioners sugar to achieve the right consistency) to drizzle over the bread pudding.  Double yum!

Monday

Left the house around noon to catch a flight to New York City.  Rather than getting a direct flight, I flew through Atlanta, which added a few hours to the trip, but the flights were on time, and the connection was easy.  The desk clerk at the Hilton New York apparently was in a good mood, and decided to upgrade me to a really nice corner room up on the 32nd floor.  Not that I get to spend a lot of time in the hotel room, but it was a nice room and it did bring a smile to my face.

Tuesday

Spent the day in the IBM office preparing for a customer meeting.

Wednesday

Had a quick team meeting in the hotel to do last minute prep for our client meeting, then went to the client's office for a 90 minute meeting.  Went back to the office to debrief and work on some customer deliverables, then grabbed a taxi to LGA for the flight home.  Once again, flew through Atlanta, and once again, the trip was smooth.

Thursday

Normal relatively long work from home day.

Friday

Another normal work from home day.

Saturday

I spent the morning and about half of the afternoon flying EAA Young Eagles.  I had joined the EAA a couple of months ago expressly so I could fly Young Eagles.  The Young Eagles program is a great program and gets great support from the local EAA chapter (943).  At one point, there were nine aircraft including two C-182, our club C-172, a C-150, a Taylorcraft, a Citabria, a EuroFox and a couple more I can't remember.  The weather was a little threatening in the late morning, but thankfully it never got bad, and actually cleared up nicely right towards the end.  Altogether, we flew 47 kids, plus a few parents.  Mark (another club member) and I split the flying in the club plane and each of us ended up with four flights.  I sure hope the kids got half as much out of the day as I did.  I just love introducing kids to the joy of flying in small aircraft.  And, I got to meet a whole new group of aviation enthusiasts whom I had previously not had the pleasure to interact with at our little airport.

After I got home, Jeanie and I headed off to Jacksonville to see the new movie "Amelia" - a movie about Amelia Earhart - on the big screen.  We splurged and split a medium popcorn which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The theater wasn't very crowded which made for a great viewing experience.  Jeanie and I, unlike the majority of film critics,  found the movie enjoyable, with good acting and absolutely gorgeous aircraft.

After the movie, we dropped in to Garden Ridge so Jeanie could pick up some Christmas boxes, then we headed home and watched the pilot of the new USA TV series "White Collar" which we both quite enjoyed.

Sunday

Went to the coffee at the airport as usual.  Unlike usual, decided to have a couple of chocolate chip pancakes.  They were very good.  Talk at the coffee was unusually enjoyable.  More talk of airplanes and flying than local or national politics.  Highlight of the morning was when a Twin Bonanza taxied up to the ramp to drop off a passenger.  It's not every day that you see a Twin Bonanza up close and personal.

Came home and Jeanie made us a nice lunch of salad and spaghetti.

Then we sat and talked for a while, then Jeanie went out onto the lanai to work on the plants and I went into the office to do a mixture of bill paying and work work.

For dinner, Jeanie outdid herself with an amazing dinner of pan grilled salmon and shrimp with her delicious pineapple chutney and homemade mashed potato cakes.  Yum!

Monday

Started the day with a work call, then packed the car.

Did a little site seeing in Virginia Beach and Norfolk.  Visited the house where Jeanie lived and where she went to High School.

Had lunch at the Olive Garden in Norfolk.  All you can eat soup, salad and breadsticks.

Left Norfolk and headed to Clarksville.  It still amazes me that I can be sitting in the passenger seat of a car driving down the highway at 70 MPH in the middle of nowhere Virginia, and be able to work on my computer that is connected via a VPN connection via a connection to my cell phone that acts as a cellular modem to my corporate network.

Drove to Tammy and Coop's where Jeanie visited while I leached off of their wireless Internet connection and participated in a teleconference and then drove to Bob and Wendy's.

Arrived at Bob and Wendy's around 5:00 PM.  Had dinner, chatted a while, went to bed.

Tuesday

Had a teleconference, then drove into Clarksville for lunch.  Had lunch at Gino's Italian Restaurant.  Jeanie and I split a veggie grinder with fries, both of which were absolutely delicious.  The grinder had grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms and was topped with melted cheese.  The veggies were cooked just right - just al dente.  Took a call for work, then left to drive to Apex.  Had planned to stay at Andrew and Laura's, but Laura was sick, so we used some Hilton points to make a reservation at the Homewood Suites in Cary.

Met Andrew and Hannah at the Rockfish Seafood Grill at Southpoint for dinner.  Food was fine, service was horrible.  Andrew was really nice and gave us a coupon for 1/2 off on one of our entrees.

Wednesday

Went to start the RAV4 to head back home and the battery was dead.  I figured I must have left the lights on.  Unfortunately, we were just a few thousand miles over the three year, 36,000 mile warranty that included road service.  Fortunately, Robby had not left for work yet, so he and Erin drove over to the hotel to give us a jump.  It took allowing the battery to charge for about five minutes before the engine would crank, but then it did and started.

Jeanie wanted to go by the Fresh Market / Whole Foods before we left town, so we drove over to Waverly Place.  Since we hadn't driven far and the battery hadn't had much time to charge, I decided to stay in the car and keep it slightly revved so the battery would charge.  After a few minutes, the dash lights flickered a couple of times and then the engine died.  Once again, the battery was as dead as a door nail.  So dead, that I couldn't even get it out of Park.  We called the closest Toyota dealer, Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, and they were very accommodating, scheduling an appointment for "as soon as we could get there" and dispatching a tow truck.  While I waited for the tow truck, I reviewed the towing section of the owner's manual, and found out how to override the "Park" lockout on the transmission.  Fortunately, the tow truck that came was driven by a very nice man, and the truck happened to have a rear seat which he was willing to let us ride in.

Long story short, on the cosmic scale of relative fortune, we got lucky, and the problem turned out to only be a battery that had apparently developed an internal short or collapsed plate and thus had died a premature death.  Since the car was out of warranty (I do think 3 years, 36,000 miles is way too short) we had to purchase a new battery, but Fred Anderson Toyota was very nice and waived the diagnosis fee and only charged us $10 for the installation.  Since it turned out that we were due for an oil change, we had them do that while we were there, thus saving Jeanie from having to make a trip to Jacksonville to get the oil changed after we got home.

The nice folks at Fred Anderson had a very nice waiting area with free wireless Internet access and a cool coffee machine that ground and brewed a cup of Starbucks coffee on demand.  Jeanie spent some time on the phone and on her laptop doing fun stuff, and I spent some time on my phone and my laptop doing work stuff.

We got on our way around 3:00 PM.  I took the first shift of driving.  Around Benson, we stopped to get gas and use the facilities.  The station had a Quiznos, and we both got veggie subs that were quite tasty.  Jeanie drove for a while and I worked, and then we switched off for the last leg home.

Thursday

Worked.

Friday

Worked.

Saturday

Went flying to renew night currency.  Left the house around 6:30 PM so I could do a few touch and goes while it was still light to knock the rust off, then waited until 8:30 PM (1 hour after official sunset) to do my three landings to a full stop so I can carry passengers at night for the next three months.

Sunday

Coffee at the airport.

Ran errands with Jeanie - Lowe's to get a furnace filter, Wal-Mart to get various dry goods and some groceries, CVS to get wooden stick cotton swabs, and Publix to get some groceries.

Put together, and "installed," the Iron Gym pull-up bar by Pro Fit.  Actually, quite cool.  Requires no drilling into the door frame.  Seems quite sturdy.  Easy to "install" and remove.

Sad part is, I can't even do one pull-up or chin-up.  Can't hardly even just hang.  Jeanie can hang and do leg lifts!

Watched "The Astronaut Farmer" which Jeanie had DVRed IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes reviews.  Somewhat slow at times, and totally improbable, but we still enjoyed it, as ultimately, it was a feel good movie.  Possibly the first Billy Bob Thornton movie I've ever enjoyed.

Commentary

I made a decision about 20 months ago to try to attain better balance between work and life.  I can't say that I've been as successful in that endeavor as I would have hoped, but I did take a step in the right direction last Sunday.  And sometimes, things actually do work out right, when you make a leap of faith.  Okay, maybe it wasn't a leap... maybe more of a hop, but still...
This, in regards to my decision to drive home with Jeanie rather than fly.
Turns out, that after the client meeting, the deal is in a bit of a lull, so I would have been sitting at home alone, with nothing pressing to do work wise, whereas, having made the decision to drive with Jeanie, I've been able to enjoy a few days with her, away from the routine and drudgery of home.

Jeanie and I watched "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" (Links: Official Site, Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes)last evening...

While I was truly amazed at the special effects, the acting was very good, and the structure of the film was interesting, somehow, when all was said and done, I didn't thoroughly enjoy it.

Maybe it was because it didn't fit into my preferred movie formula of "sweet, with a happy ending," but I think that it was more than that.  I just don't think the story held together well enough.

As a potentially interesting aside, I did find an online version of the original short story by F Scott Fitzgerald here.  Other than the concept, amazing how little of the original translated into the movie.  I  enjoyed the short story less than the movie.  One other aside: I find it increasingly annoying that Blockbuster doesn't include the DVD Extras discs in their rentals.  My guess is that I would have enjoyed watching the extras more than the movie.

The highlight of the movie for me probably was the following quotation: "For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."  Sadly, as to those last two sentences, I'm afraid that I don't and I don't.

Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter (as well as the rest of the cast) were all great.  Costumes were great.  Music was great.  Sets were great.

But, it was just too gory and too dark for my taste.

Rotten Tomatoes loved it...

We didn't.

We found it overly foul mouthed and depressing.

Yes, yes, I know, if the purpose of the movie was to illuminate the true character of working class Boston, and to be an unconventional crime drama, I'm sure the critics would argue that it was "brilliant."

But, if I want to illuminate the true character of the world, and be depressed, I need only turn on the nightly news - and it only takes half an hour out of my life and is free.

This afternoon we watched the fourth installment of the Die Hard film series.

It definitely lived up to it heritage, and we enjoyed the casting of Justin Long (the "Mac" in the current Apple Macintosh advertising campaign) as Bruce Willis' counterpoint.

The action was non-stop and the effects were amazing.  Surely worth the time and rental fee for over two hours of entertainment.  Yippee-ki-yay!

Jeanie and I thoroughly enjoyed this latest DVD from Pixar and Walt Disney.  We also really enjoyed the two shorts that were included as extras.

Rotten Tomatoes' consensus and synopsis hit the mark and I wholeheartedly agree with their 96% rating.

This is definitely one movie for which I could go for seconds.

Jeanie and I both found the movie to be generally enjoyable.  I don't think either of us would watch it again, and we probably could have found a better way to use the time and money, but it was a pleasant enough diversion.

The special effects were quite amazing and we both thoroughly enjoyed watching another installment of  Johnny Depp's great characterization of Jack Sparrow.  I had been fortunate enough to catch a piece on television about how the CGI special effects for the vortex sea battle had been produced which made that scene that much more interesting to me.

I think for sequel movies such as this, the DVD should include a "previously on" extra similar to what is typically done as a lead-in for serialized television shows, as I find it hard to remember who all of the characters are, what all of the plot elements were that got us to where we are, etc.

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 45%, and that seems about right to me.

I was very disappointed with this Robin Williams vehicle.  It was a waste of time and money.  Rather than being light and funny, it was dull and irritating.

I don't think Jeanie was much more impressed.

Read the Rotten Tomatoes reviews here.

Jeanie and I watched "Man Of The Year" with Robin Williams last night...

We both enjoyed it overall, and it definitely had some very funny moments, although I wouldn't rank it as great.  It was also ultimately a sweet movie, although many of the critics faulted it for this.  It didn't hurt that it very much mirrors my own personal beliefs about our political system.

I still think we have the best political system in the world, but that doesn't mean that it is perfect, or that it couldn't be improved.  I don't think it is so much that there were flaws in the original design, as that over time, flaws have been created through changes made to the original design or due to other changes in society that were not addressed properly with amendments to the design.

I think the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were a bit harsh.

As usual, Wikipedia has a good synopsis (albeit with spoilers).

Jeanie and I rented "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy.

Jeanie enjoyed it, I was less enthusiastic.  Not as bad as some movies I've seen, but I can think of better ways to have spent the time.

Jeanie and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday.  We both enjoyed it.  Once again, Rotten Tomatoes' consensus summed up our feelings: "An entertaining installment that captures the dark mood of the novel."

Last night, Jeanie and I watched Catch & Release with Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant.

Jeanie enjoyed it, but I thought that the consensus from Rotten Tomatoes was right on: "A romantic dramedy with boring, stock characters and contrived situations."

It was cute, the special effects were amazing, I'm sure I'll end up watching the sequel, but, it wasn't as great as I had expected.  Maybe I just wasnt' in the mood, or maybe the film relied too much on the effects and skimped on the story.

Jeanie and I both enjoyed this movie featuring Adam Sandler.  While the overall plot line was a bit predictable, there were some funny scenes, and it offered a good message.

The effects, props and scenery were all well done.  The DVD extras were interesting and well produced.

Definitely worth the price of a rental and the time to watch it.

Jeanie rented "The Lake House" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Kinda strange, but interesting nonetheless, nicely acted. Definitely not your run of the mill romantic movie.

Okay, somewhat formulaic, reminiscent of An Officer And A Gentleman, but reasonably entertaining. Probably not the best use of time, but better than sitting around bored.

Yes, I know it got horrible reviews, but... (warning, spoilers follow)...

We couldn't find anything "current" that was in stock, that we wanted to see at the local Blockbuster, so Jeanie and I combed the comedy isles looking for something we missed along the way, and came up with this little gem...

I had my doubts, but Jeanie picked a winner...

Jeanie fell asleep 1/2 way through, I should have too...

Jeanie enjoyed it, I fell asleep 1/2 way through...

Last night, we watched Firewall, with Harrison Ford...

Jeanie and I both enjoyed Wedding Crashers...

I guess the TV season is starting to peter out which is why we are watching so many movies lately...

Talk about Deja Vu...

Jeanie and I thought "Just Friends" was just okay...

So, I'm not supposed to like these period pieces, but...

Our little ongoing movie marathon continued today with "An Unfinished Life..."

I should be using the time I have at home to be productive, but instead, I'm seeking refuge in the escapism of the small screen...

Unfortunately, the most interesting part of this movie was one of the DVD extras...

I really wondered if I'd enjoy this, but, WOW!...

If only this were an entry speaking to my achievement of the title, rather than a movie...

Jeanie and I really enjoyed this film starring Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, and Scarlett Johansson...

Our latest DVD rental was Because of Winn-Dixie...

Last night, Jeanie and I watch Monster-in-Law with Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda and Michael Vartan (Alias)...

Jeanie and I ended up watching a number of movies over the last few days - some really good...

Over the last few nights, Jeanie and I watched Taxi and Collateral...

Jeanie and I enjoyed a pretty lazy weekend...

Jeanie and I both really enjoyed Little Black Book...

Jeanie and I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a man and his horse...

Jeanie and I went to Blockbuster to select a movie to rent. Our first choice was Hidalgo, but they were out...

Jeanie and I were in the mood to go to a movie, and among the current choices, The Manchurian Candidate seemed like a good one. We were right...

In preparation for the potential loss of cable due to weather, we went to the video store. Apparently, many of our neighbors had the same idea, albeit earlier than us. The only movie "on the list" was Stuck On You, a movie Jeanie had wanted to see, but I was indifferent to...

A fairly predictable "overcoming the odds" feel-good movie starring Meg Ryan. The best thing about the movie was seeing Tony Shalhoub play a straight nasty character very unlike the usual quirky guy roles he typically plays. To me, it is always fun to see an action so known for a particular role (or type of role) do well playing something very different.

Well, everyone else in the condo hated it, but I really enjoyed it...

Jeanie picked up two movies at Blockbuster yesterday...

Jeanie and I went to see 50 First Dates tonight...

Jeanie and I went to see Big Fish last night...

Jeanie and I differed on our overall opinion of this film...

Jeanie's other selection for the weekend was Bringing Down The House.

This movie was absolutely fantastic!

After reading the blurb on the back of the DVD case, I told Jeanie that this was undoubtedly the worst movie she had ever rented - boy was I wrong...

This one was a split decision...

I was pleasantly surprised...

Jeanie and I found "The Recruit" quite enjoyable.

Jeanie and I watched The Emperor's Club.

Jeanie and I went to see Bruce Almighty yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jeanie and I finally got around to watching this movie that we had rented last weekend...

When Jeanie read me the liner notes after picking this up last night at Blockbuster, I thought "oh crap, another loser chick flick."

I originally resisted renting this movie when it first came out on DVD.

We also watched MIB II.

We watched Cat Ballou last night.

I remember seeing this movie once as a child.

I think they did a good job translating the book to the big screen.

I decided to try to just rest today so I could get done with this cold.

Jeanie rented Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler. We both enjoyed it. It was funnier than I had expected, not as silly as I had anticipated. And, it had one of the best scenes for surround sound that I have ever experienced on a DVD.

If laughter is the best medicine, I should be all better by tomorrow.

Good movie. Worth the $4 and the two hours. Good acting, interesting plot, with interesting twists.

Last night, we watched Windtalkers with Nicolas Cage.

***Warning - spoilers are included in this entry. Do not read beyond the "************** Spoilers start here **************" line in this entry unless you have already seen the movie, or never intend to see it - Warning***

During an intermission watching Dragonfly, we noticed that The American President was on broadcast cable. We should have switched right then.

Last night we watched Dragonfly with Kevin Costner.

Here's another one of those movies that doesn't fit into my standard "enjoyable movie" definition, but which I enjoyed nonetheless.

I don't think I'll put it on my list of movies I'd have to have on a desert island, but it was better than staring at the wall.

Jeanie and I watched "High Crimes" with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman last night.

It was okay. The acting was good, but the plot was muddled and plodding at times, and the movie wasn't nearly as suspenseful as it should have been.

Oh well, it was better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Our in-home Friday night feature this week was Showtime, starring Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro. Acting was very good, plot had some interesting twists on the standard cop-buddy-movie, good action. Good ninety minute distraction, well worth the rental cost.

Here are a few reviews if you want more in-depth coverage:

moviesforguys.com

leesmovieinfo

And for those of you who are very sensitive to movie content, here's Screen It's review. While I have yet to agree with one of their "artistic value" reviews, they do catalog, in excruciating detail, every single thing that just about anyone might find offensive.

Tonight, we watched "The Rookie."

We all really enjoyed it. Just my kind of movie. A compelling, inspirational story, with touches of humor, and a happy ending. Perfect comfort food for the soul.

The acting was very good, it had a great score, and with its "G" rating, it is perfect for the entire family.

When I was young, I lived in New York City. There was a magazine that my mother subscribed to called Cue. All I remember about it is that it had movie reviews. And I soon learned that if Cue loved a movie, I would hate it, and usually visa versa.

A split decision on this one. Jeanie thought it was interesting and visually beautiful. Robby thought it was okay. I thought it was boring, and its only redeeming value were the Melanesian songs in the DVD extras.

Yesterday was a nice day.

I got a lot accomplished and "closed" at work.

I had a really nice lunch with my friends Paige and Doug. It was really good to see them.

We rented "The Sixth Sense" and watched it (again). In some ways, I enjoyed it more this time, than the first time we saw it. It really is an excellent movie. Well crafted, well acted. I also really enjoyed watching the DVD extras. They did a really good job with them, unlike some DVDs which either have none, or have really lame extras.

Today was a good day.

In the morning, I moved a bunch of clothes that were too small from our closet to the new wire shelves that Robby put up in the attic. Now my clothes aren't all squished together.

I also threw out a bunch of old shoe boxes that were just (literally) gathering dust. In the process, I found an old pair of comfy flip-flops.

Yuck.

What a bizzare, convoluted mess.

Jeanie found it somewhat interesting. I found it a waste of life force.

Well, I've gotten the second phone line installed. I still don't have all of the services I've ordered from BellSouth, but at least I have the line. The one feature I'm really eager to have activated is the "call forward busy / no answer." That will ensure that any missed calls go to phone mail at work. I also have my tie-line number, and my phone mail pager notification. Between that and my cable modem, I'm pretty well connected.

Jeanie has purchased a number of cushions for me to try, but none have been quite right. I may just have to break down and buy a new chair.

It was a wonderful Father's Day weekend.

I spent most of Saturday asleep. Literally. Other than being awake for a few hours in the morning, I slept until almost 5:00 pm.

Jeanie made her famous smothered pork chops for dinner... yummy!

Jeanie did another great job movie picking at the video store.

This movie was right up our alley - a thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy. Two thumbs up on the romantic cuddle scale. And, it had a great soundtrack to boot.

Well, with two back braces on, I can sit for a while. Can't breath real well, but at least I can sit.

This weekend has been a waste. Other than cleaning up the back room enough to make room for the boxes of stuff from my office, I've spent the entire weekend on my back. It's been a long time since I've had this much trouble with my back.

We did watch a couple of DVDs. Jeanie rented Ali and Behind Enemy Lines. Ali was okay. I really enjoyed Behind Enemy Lines.

Last night, we watched "Bandits." It had some very funny scenes, and we really liked the ending. No doubt, a little offbeat, but then, so are we.

Today was a really nice day. We slept in, then went to Perkins for breakfast. Then we drove to Regency Park, and had a nice walk around the lake. The weather was absolutely lovely - sunny, but not too hot. We really enjoyed seeing the geese and ducks swimming with their new chicks. We were saddened to see that the swans only have one egg left in the nest. We were surprised that it had not hatched by now.

The last twenty four hours have been very quiet. I continued to be a slug today. Other than updating this and the other two sites, I really haven't done much other than read the paper, watch a few interesting shows on the Discovery channel, eat, and take a nice long nap.

Last night we watched two movies - Snow Dogs and Spy Games. Spy Games was disappointing - more plodding than exciting. Snow Dogs was very cute, and quite funny.