Today was a good day even though I didn't get to eat my regular Thursday evening Outback with my niece and nephew and friends.
Most of the Pizza Hut gang (a notorious group of outlaws around these parts) loaded up in my Sprinter van (broken door and all) and took a ride to Nashville to pick up Nate and Kara at the airport. They were back in town to see family and we got to participate in their arrival procedures.
Since Rhino had to go get his Mac back from the Apple store in Green Hills, we left a little early and swung by the store to retrieve his workhorse. We then went to BNA to retrieve Nathan and Kara and headed back towards Sparta. On the way we stopped in at Demo's and had a great dinner just sitting around catching up and chatting.
Nathan's older brother has a Jeep that Nate was going to borrow for the weekend so we stopped by there on the way home and Nathan drove it on back to Sparta. He and Kara (and families) head to the Mountains tomorrow morning and plan to do some off-roading while up in Gatlinburgh. They will be back in town Sunday night so we plan to all hook up again for dinner after church. It's always good to have Nathan and Kara home for their brief visits.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Door Update
Randy came and took a look at my van today on his way from Knoxville back home to Nashville. He isn't 100% sure what happened but it would appear that indeed an internal part of the drive mechanism failed. Randy is going to order a new motor from Braun and hopefully get it installed and fixed later this week. I have enjoyed driving my other cars but would really love to have that van working reliably.
This week I am working on getting my content prepared and then taped for the summer MIS class I am teaching. I have most of the content planned out I simply have to go to the studio and accomplish the actual taping. Part of the class will simply include audio tracks written onto MSPower Point presentations and some of it will be actual video taped presentations. The nice thing about distance education is that once the taping is finished about 75% of the work is done. During the actual class it is more a matter of managing students, scheduling exams or assignments and grading.
I am scheduled to teach 2 classes this summer. When I first arrived at school, I expected to never teach any classes during the summer. But, it hasn't exactly worked out like I had anticipated. Of the 4 summers I have been on campus I have taught each summer. I'm hoping this summer might be my last one to teach. I really like the idea of a 9 month work year. I know, it makes me sound European (they seem to get away with working about 9 months a year).
This week I am working on getting my content prepared and then taped for the summer MIS class I am teaching. I have most of the content planned out I simply have to go to the studio and accomplish the actual taping. Part of the class will simply include audio tracks written onto MSPower Point presentations and some of it will be actual video taped presentations. The nice thing about distance education is that once the taping is finished about 75% of the work is done. During the actual class it is more a matter of managing students, scheduling exams or assignments and grading.
I am scheduled to teach 2 classes this summer. When I first arrived at school, I expected to never teach any classes during the summer. But, it hasn't exactly worked out like I had anticipated. Of the 4 summers I have been on campus I have taught each summer. I'm hoping this summer might be my last one to teach. I really like the idea of a 9 month work year. I know, it makes me sound European (they seem to get away with working about 9 months a year).
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sprinter Door Issues (Again)
Well, I bit the bullet and got a new door opener for my Sprinter because the Creative Controls (CCI) unit was so unreliable and kept breaking and stranding me (the van has been in the shop 1.5 years of the 3 years I've owned it all because of door issues). The new Braun unit was supposed to solve all of my door problems (I've had Braun lifts for about 10 years and they are bullet proof). I've had it about 3 weeks now and was pretty happy so far. About 5 days ago it started to act slightly weird (wouldn't close the door securely) so Randy (the installer) told me how to tighten up the chain drive. That allowed it to close properly most of the time.
Fast forward to this afternoon. I stopped by the store to pick up an extra pair of reading glasses and when I tried to open the door it opened part way and stopped. I could hear the motor running but the door wasn't moving. After trouble shooting for a few minutes I called Randy to see what he suggested. To make a long story relately short, it looks like the control unit might have sheared a drive pin since the door cog is just freely spinning and not properly engaging the chain drive. So, it looks like the van is parked again indefinitely. The good thing is that since global warming is acting up, the weather is very nice. I'll just have to start driving the cabriolet for a while. I'll suffer a bit but will just make the best of it : >
Fast forward to this afternoon. I stopped by the store to pick up an extra pair of reading glasses and when I tried to open the door it opened part way and stopped. I could hear the motor running but the door wasn't moving. After trouble shooting for a few minutes I called Randy to see what he suggested. To make a long story relately short, it looks like the control unit might have sheared a drive pin since the door cog is just freely spinning and not properly engaging the chain drive. So, it looks like the van is parked again indefinitely. The good thing is that since global warming is acting up, the weather is very nice. I'll just have to start driving the cabriolet for a while. I'll suffer a bit but will just make the best of it : >
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Signs
I've been working on some signs for my property. As those of you located here in Middle Tennessee know, I am an amateur sign/bumper sticker designer.
Anyway, I am now designing some signs for my property. I want to install some airport signs, distance signs, and other signs on the property for fun. I want a sign that shows the distance from Sparta to various locations around the world (Paris, London, Taichung, Hong Kong and Saigon). I might do a speed limit sign that shows one for ground based vehicles and a higher speed for airborne vehicles. Anyway, give me some creative ideas for signs around my property.
Anyway, I am now designing some signs for my property. I want to install some airport signs, distance signs, and other signs on the property for fun. I want a sign that shows the distance from Sparta to various locations around the world (Paris, London, Taichung, Hong Kong and Saigon). I might do a speed limit sign that shows one for ground based vehicles and a higher speed for airborne vehicles. Anyway, give me some creative ideas for signs around my property.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Bob's Birthday
Saturday was the big event that Penney planned for Bob's birthday. Rachel, Josh and I drove to Nashville to meet up with them (and some of their Nashville friends)to eat lunch and then have cake and ice cream. Bob turns the big 50 this year so it was fun to spend some time with him and wish him happy birthday.
We ate lunch at a place near where Penney and Bob live called Kabutos. It is the Japanese style steakhouse that includes a table with cook top. The chef comes out with all of the food on a tray and prepares it right there at your table in front of you. Our chef was Mexican instead of Japanese and taught us that "Thank you" in Japanese is said "gracious" instead of "arigato". He had a thing for Rachel and was flirting mercilessly. It was a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures of the event.
We ate lunch at a place near where Penney and Bob live called Kabutos. It is the Japanese style steakhouse that includes a table with cook top. The chef comes out with all of the food on a tray and prepares it right there at your table in front of you. Our chef was Mexican instead of Japanese and taught us that "Thank you" in Japanese is said "gracious" instead of "arigato". He had a thing for Rachel and was flirting mercilessly. It was a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures of the event.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Manchester Business School
I wanted to recount some of my experiences during my MBA studies at Vanderbilt. I had the privilege of spending one semester back in England to participate in a study opportunity at the Manchester Business School (MBS). I was able to study at MBS for the Fall semester of 1994. I had to take 5 classes and they substituted for 5 that I would have otherwise taken at Vanderbilt. One of the nice things, for those of us that weren't that concerned with being the top graduate, was that all classes were graded as pass/fail. Which to me meant that I could travel and play and not be as concerned with my grades since all I had to do was get a passing grade in each class.
I decided to take advantage of the trip and traveled to England a couple of months early. The plan was to find and purchase a car so that I could drive around and visit Eastern European countries that I hadn't had the opportunity to visit up to that point. I found an old beater Audi with an automatic transmission that I could drive with my hand controls. I then headed out for Felixstowe, England to catch the ferry to Bruges, Belgium. It isn't a long trip across the English Channel from Felixstowe to Oostende (the actual port city where the ferry docks). I stayed a couple of days in Antwerp (one of the diamond capitals of the world) and then started my trip around the rest of Europe.
I arrived in Amsterdam with the thought that I would stay a few days and visit some museums and see some of the windmills and sights around the country. I also had a friend from HS that I planned to visit and re-connect with. Well, the plans were cut short almost immediately. I was mugged as I was getting out of my car at the hotel. The guy was a druggie and he took one of my travel bags. Unfortunately it was the bag with all of my needed medical supplies for the whole 5 months I was to be in Europe. I contacted the police who did absolutely nothing (reminded me of my days in Memphis and their attitude towards a break-in where they weren't overly concerned and took a report/complaint grudgingly). Anyway, I then contacted the military medical center in Landstahl, Germany to see if I could get some of the supplies I would need from them. They weren't much help so I ended up having to buy a bunch of supplies in Germany and had a friend back home get some other supplies from the VA in Nashville to send me. I ended up staying in Germany for about 10 days in order to get all of the supplies I needed lined up and delivered. I then picked back up on my plan and headed North towards Poland.
While I was in the military I wasn't allowed to travel to any of the Eastern block nations and as they began to open up to Western travelers I became more interested in visiting them. Poland was actually a lot of fun and ended up being one of my favorite countries in Europe. I traveled through Wroclaw (1 night) and then on over to Krakow. It was/is a beautiful city and while there I got to see a show at the Krakow Theatre. I then headed West towards the former Czechoslovakian border to the country now known as the Czech Republic. I spent 3 days in Praque. It was a good time and I met some interesting people while there. Prague is a nice city with some great architecture but had filthy streets and sidewalks. This was in 1994 and most of the Cities I visited in the former Eastern block were still dirty and run down from their centuries of oppression, control and neglect by the Soviet Union. They have since been cleaned up and I understand are much nicer and cleaner now.
From Prague I headed South East in order to visit Slovakia the "other" part of the former Czechoslovakia. Bratislava is the capital and I stayed for 3 days there with day trips to the surrounding countryside. Again some interesting and wonderful people were part of my daily experiences. From Slovakia I traveled South East again towards Budapest, Hungary and then on towards Romania with the intent of making it to Bucuresti. Since I still had plenty of places to see as I made my way back towards England I cut the trip short a few miles and made it across the border of Romania to a small city called Arad. From there I headed towards Belgrad. Belgrad is now in Serbia but was at one time the capital of the country formerly known as Yugoslavia.
After 2 days in Budapest I then continued on towards England by heading West across Slovenia and on across the Northern part of Italy. In Italy I had some of the best experiences of my travels. On 4 of the 5 nights I stayed in Italy I was treated to free dinners. It was the most amazing thing since this happened in larger cities and not the small towns I might expect this in. Usually when I travel to new cities or places I try to eat at local mom-and-pop type restaurants to get a feel for the local community and its people. Well, on the 4 nights in question, when the owners of the restaurants I was eating in found out that I was this crazy paralyzed American in a wheelchair driving around Europe on my own, they went crazy. They all acted like I was a long lost relative and treated me like family. They made the family specialty dish and heaped more and more food onto my plate. Then all 4 of them (different cities and different families) refused to let me pay for my meal. It was incredible and was a wonderful experience of true Italian hospitality. I have always liked Italy from my previous brief visits (Rome and Venice) but this trip made me fall in love with Italy and her people. The cities where this occurred were Padova, Verona, Milan, and then Torino. A couple of those cities have populations in the millions and still the local people were friendly and welcoming to a traveler from across the pond.
Well from there, I headed North into Switzerland and then on into France. I have always had an attitude towards the Swiss (mixed feelings of respect for their precision timepieces and disgust for their claim of neutrality given that they knew of Hitler and the policies and practices that the Nazis had and were carrying out). Anyway the average Swiss is a fairly decent person (in spite of the country's history) and while they are a little cold (especially compared to the Italians) I was glad I had a chance to visit Geneve. The countryside and scenery is incredible (the entire region of Northern Italy, Switzerland, and Austria.
From there it was on towards Paris and my final stop before returning to England to prepare for my Fall studies at MBS. I had visited Paris previously and always found it fun and vibrant but fairly unwelcoming to those who don't speak French. I was prepared for the worst and instead received the best. This was by far my most enjoyable trip to Paris. I spent 4 days in Paris and met some of the nicest people of my journeys. I always try to make sure I learn some basic phrases and words so that I can at least say thank-you, please, yes and no, etc in the language of the country I am in. usually this is met with polite smiles and sincere appreciation that at least I am trying to use their language. On my previous trips to Paris my attempts were always met with an "attitude" and at times even verbal criticism that I wasn't saying things perfectly. Well, this trip (even though my French is still not good) people were polite and nice as they tried to help me get around and enable me to enjoy the many beautiful sites in their city. Paris is indeed a beautiful city and well worth the effort to visit.
Well, if you've stayed with me this long I am finally almost back to where the trip started. I drove from Paris - North to the town of Calais to catch the ferry back to England via Dover. The trip back was awesome as the famous white cliffs of Dover were as spectacular as I remembered from the numerous aerial views I had enjoyed while flying over England. Once back in England I made my way North towards Mildenhall to visit some friends who were stationed at RAF Mildenhall. I stayed a few days before heading further North towards Manchester which was to be my home for the next 4 months.
Manchester Business School is located on Booth Street near downtown Manchester and is a fairly young school as far as English schools are concerned. The school was established several years ago (1965) and then recently (2004) merged with several other institutes of higher education to form the current MBS. The semester was incredible and the people I met and lived with were equally amazing. I stayed in the hotel that is connected to the school which made it convenient. It was also surprisingly reasonably priced. While there I made some good friends and several weekend trips were made to regions of England, Scotland and Wales. I even made one trip over to Liverpool to see the Beatles museum. While I am not a huge fan of their music I recognize the contribution they made to music so I appreciate that even if their music is not my style.
I managed to pass all of my classes at MBS and returned to Vanderbilt that next Spring ready to finish my studies and graduate on time. For anyone who reads this who is considering a study abroad program I would strongly suggest you go for it. If I had known about study abroad programs when I was in undergraduate I would have done it then as well. Don't think twice, just go for it. If you aren't comfortable in a country where they don't speak English go to Australia, England, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Norway or Denmark. Even though some of these countries on my list have a different main language most of the people speak English and are friendly and helpful. If you go, it will end up being an experience you will cherish for the rest of your life.
I decided to take advantage of the trip and traveled to England a couple of months early. The plan was to find and purchase a car so that I could drive around and visit Eastern European countries that I hadn't had the opportunity to visit up to that point. I found an old beater Audi with an automatic transmission that I could drive with my hand controls. I then headed out for Felixstowe, England to catch the ferry to Bruges, Belgium. It isn't a long trip across the English Channel from Felixstowe to Oostende (the actual port city where the ferry docks). I stayed a couple of days in Antwerp (one of the diamond capitals of the world) and then started my trip around the rest of Europe.
I arrived in Amsterdam with the thought that I would stay a few days and visit some museums and see some of the windmills and sights around the country. I also had a friend from HS that I planned to visit and re-connect with. Well, the plans were cut short almost immediately. I was mugged as I was getting out of my car at the hotel. The guy was a druggie and he took one of my travel bags. Unfortunately it was the bag with all of my needed medical supplies for the whole 5 months I was to be in Europe. I contacted the police who did absolutely nothing (reminded me of my days in Memphis and their attitude towards a break-in where they weren't overly concerned and took a report/complaint grudgingly). Anyway, I then contacted the military medical center in Landstahl, Germany to see if I could get some of the supplies I would need from them. They weren't much help so I ended up having to buy a bunch of supplies in Germany and had a friend back home get some other supplies from the VA in Nashville to send me. I ended up staying in Germany for about 10 days in order to get all of the supplies I needed lined up and delivered. I then picked back up on my plan and headed North towards Poland.
While I was in the military I wasn't allowed to travel to any of the Eastern block nations and as they began to open up to Western travelers I became more interested in visiting them. Poland was actually a lot of fun and ended up being one of my favorite countries in Europe. I traveled through Wroclaw (1 night) and then on over to Krakow. It was/is a beautiful city and while there I got to see a show at the Krakow Theatre. I then headed West towards the former Czechoslovakian border to the country now known as the Czech Republic. I spent 3 days in Praque. It was a good time and I met some interesting people while there. Prague is a nice city with some great architecture but had filthy streets and sidewalks. This was in 1994 and most of the Cities I visited in the former Eastern block were still dirty and run down from their centuries of oppression, control and neglect by the Soviet Union. They have since been cleaned up and I understand are much nicer and cleaner now.
From Prague I headed South East in order to visit Slovakia the "other" part of the former Czechoslovakia. Bratislava is the capital and I stayed for 3 days there with day trips to the surrounding countryside. Again some interesting and wonderful people were part of my daily experiences. From Slovakia I traveled South East again towards Budapest, Hungary and then on towards Romania with the intent of making it to Bucuresti. Since I still had plenty of places to see as I made my way back towards England I cut the trip short a few miles and made it across the border of Romania to a small city called Arad. From there I headed towards Belgrad. Belgrad is now in Serbia but was at one time the capital of the country formerly known as Yugoslavia.
After 2 days in Budapest I then continued on towards England by heading West across Slovenia and on across the Northern part of Italy. In Italy I had some of the best experiences of my travels. On 4 of the 5 nights I stayed in Italy I was treated to free dinners. It was the most amazing thing since this happened in larger cities and not the small towns I might expect this in. Usually when I travel to new cities or places I try to eat at local mom-and-pop type restaurants to get a feel for the local community and its people. Well, on the 4 nights in question, when the owners of the restaurants I was eating in found out that I was this crazy paralyzed American in a wheelchair driving around Europe on my own, they went crazy. They all acted like I was a long lost relative and treated me like family. They made the family specialty dish and heaped more and more food onto my plate. Then all 4 of them (different cities and different families) refused to let me pay for my meal. It was incredible and was a wonderful experience of true Italian hospitality. I have always liked Italy from my previous brief visits (Rome and Venice) but this trip made me fall in love with Italy and her people. The cities where this occurred were Padova, Verona, Milan, and then Torino. A couple of those cities have populations in the millions and still the local people were friendly and welcoming to a traveler from across the pond.
Well from there, I headed North into Switzerland and then on into France. I have always had an attitude towards the Swiss (mixed feelings of respect for their precision timepieces and disgust for their claim of neutrality given that they knew of Hitler and the policies and practices that the Nazis had and were carrying out). Anyway the average Swiss is a fairly decent person (in spite of the country's history) and while they are a little cold (especially compared to the Italians) I was glad I had a chance to visit Geneve. The countryside and scenery is incredible (the entire region of Northern Italy, Switzerland, and Austria.
From there it was on towards Paris and my final stop before returning to England to prepare for my Fall studies at MBS. I had visited Paris previously and always found it fun and vibrant but fairly unwelcoming to those who don't speak French. I was prepared for the worst and instead received the best. This was by far my most enjoyable trip to Paris. I spent 4 days in Paris and met some of the nicest people of my journeys. I always try to make sure I learn some basic phrases and words so that I can at least say thank-you, please, yes and no, etc in the language of the country I am in. usually this is met with polite smiles and sincere appreciation that at least I am trying to use their language. On my previous trips to Paris my attempts were always met with an "attitude" and at times even verbal criticism that I wasn't saying things perfectly. Well, this trip (even though my French is still not good) people were polite and nice as they tried to help me get around and enable me to enjoy the many beautiful sites in their city. Paris is indeed a beautiful city and well worth the effort to visit.
Well, if you've stayed with me this long I am finally almost back to where the trip started. I drove from Paris - North to the town of Calais to catch the ferry back to England via Dover. The trip back was awesome as the famous white cliffs of Dover were as spectacular as I remembered from the numerous aerial views I had enjoyed while flying over England. Once back in England I made my way North towards Mildenhall to visit some friends who were stationed at RAF Mildenhall. I stayed a few days before heading further North towards Manchester which was to be my home for the next 4 months.
Manchester Business School is located on Booth Street near downtown Manchester and is a fairly young school as far as English schools are concerned. The school was established several years ago (1965) and then recently (2004) merged with several other institutes of higher education to form the current MBS. The semester was incredible and the people I met and lived with were equally amazing. I stayed in the hotel that is connected to the school which made it convenient. It was also surprisingly reasonably priced. While there I made some good friends and several weekend trips were made to regions of England, Scotland and Wales. I even made one trip over to Liverpool to see the Beatles museum. While I am not a huge fan of their music I recognize the contribution they made to music so I appreciate that even if their music is not my style.
I managed to pass all of my classes at MBS and returned to Vanderbilt that next Spring ready to finish my studies and graduate on time. For anyone who reads this who is considering a study abroad program I would strongly suggest you go for it. If I had known about study abroad programs when I was in undergraduate I would have done it then as well. Don't think twice, just go for it. If you aren't comfortable in a country where they don't speak English go to Australia, England, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Norway or Denmark. Even though some of these countries on my list have a different main language most of the people speak English and are friendly and helpful. If you go, it will end up being an experience you will cherish for the rest of your life.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Outback Tonight
Well, today was the weekly get together at Outback Steakhouse with my niece (Rachel) and nephew (Joshua) and some friends from church (Jason, David, Nathan and occasionally Josh S). Tonight it was just Rachel, Josh, Jason and I in attendance. It is a fun evening that I cherish as it gives me time to fellowship with Rachel and Josh and the others. Rachel and Josh lived in Taiwan for their entire growing up years so when they both elected to come to TTU for college, I was ecstatic.
The big news is that Rachel is now a Senior and is only 50 days away from graduating with her business degree. She started as an accounting major and discovered that it was a little too dry for her tastes and ended up studying Marketing. She seems to be excelling at her chosen field of study and is taking on leadership roles by serving as the President of the Marketing club in the College of Business. She is very excited to be closing in on graduation and while I am happy for her, I am also sad because I know she will probably be moving away from Cookeville. The job market here is just not attractive enough or lucrative enough to keep the pool of talented graduates that TTU sends out each year. I know she has enjoyed her time here but also know she is ready to move to a larger city with more shopping and fun activities to enjoy. Wherever she ends up I know she will do well and will continue to serve God in whatever vocation He directs.
The big news is that Rachel is now a Senior and is only 50 days away from graduating with her business degree. She started as an accounting major and discovered that it was a little too dry for her tastes and ended up studying Marketing. She seems to be excelling at her chosen field of study and is taking on leadership roles by serving as the President of the Marketing club in the College of Business. She is very excited to be closing in on graduation and while I am happy for her, I am also sad because I know she will probably be moving away from Cookeville. The job market here is just not attractive enough or lucrative enough to keep the pool of talented graduates that TTU sends out each year. I know she has enjoyed her time here but also know she is ready to move to a larger city with more shopping and fun activities to enjoy. Wherever she ends up I know she will do well and will continue to serve God in whatever vocation He directs.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Garage
Here's the almost final garage plans. It will be 48 feet wide by 104 feet long. In one end will be a 20 X 48 foot apartment. I plan to install underfloor radiant heat. It will have 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and then a large great-room that includes the kitchen and living room area. It will have a kitchen counter/island that allows a full view from the kitchen to the living room. I'll probably have the utility room in the main garage area instead of inside the apartment.
Below is the elevation view of the building. I plan to have brick on the bottom 4 feet of the building and a brick/barn red steel roof. The side walls will be beige/tan steel and all trim around windows and doors will be the barn red color as well. The building will have 2 walk-in doors as well as 2 10 foot X 10 foot roll-up garage doors with electric openers.
Below is the elevation view of the building. I plan to have brick on the bottom 4 feet of the building and a brick/barn red steel roof. The side walls will be beige/tan steel and all trim around windows and doors will be the barn red color as well. The building will have 2 walk-in doors as well as 2 10 foot X 10 foot roll-up garage doors with electric openers.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Possible Change of Plans
As many of you know I have been planning my home for the past few months. I decided to build a large hanger/garage building and then beside it build a 40 foot dome for my house. There are many advantages to a dome home (energy efficiency, insect proof, fire proof, and almost indestructible) but one of the issues I was having was how to connect the dome with the large garage.
Initially (before the dome idea) I had always planned to just build a large hanger and build a home inside of it. On Wednesday I went to McMinnville to see just such a house/hanger. The guy who built it uses less than 250.00 (two hundred and fifty) dollars a year to heat the house as well as his hot water. That is about as efficient as the dome house I was planning. The only downside to this plan is that it might not be quite as storm proof as a monolithic dome. Now I am having second thoughts and might end up back at my initial plans with a large hanger with a home built inside of it. The nice thing with this plan is that all my cars and airplane will be inside with me.
I will make a decision sometime in the next week or two and will let those of you who care (and anybody else who stumbles unsuspectingly into this blog) in on my final decision. Even if I do the house inside the hanger I will still probably do a small guest house Dome on my property. That way visitors can have a place to crash while here in Sparta.
Initially (before the dome idea) I had always planned to just build a large hanger and build a home inside of it. On Wednesday I went to McMinnville to see just such a house/hanger. The guy who built it uses less than 250.00 (two hundred and fifty) dollars a year to heat the house as well as his hot water. That is about as efficient as the dome house I was planning. The only downside to this plan is that it might not be quite as storm proof as a monolithic dome. Now I am having second thoughts and might end up back at my initial plans with a large hanger with a home built inside of it. The nice thing with this plan is that all my cars and airplane will be inside with me.
I will make a decision sometime in the next week or two and will let those of you who care (and anybody else who stumbles unsuspectingly into this blog) in on my final decision. Even if I do the house inside the hanger I will still probably do a small guest house Dome on my property. That way visitors can have a place to crash while here in Sparta.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
T-37 For Sale
I was looking in my Trade-A-Plane this week and noticed that I can pick up a used former USAF T-37B. This was the primary trainer for all Air Force pilots from about 1960 until this past year. It has been phased out in favor of the new T-6 primary flight trainer. It is a 2 seat subsonic jet aircraft made by Cessna out of Wichita, KS. It was a blast to fly and I have posted several posts about my exploits flying the T-37 all over this great country.
If it didn't burn over 250 gallons per 1.5 hour flight I might be tempted to pick one up. At todays general aviation (GA) fuel prices that would be using about $600 in fuel alone for each hour flown. No wonder the AF replaced them with a turbine powered aircraft that not only has a better fuel burn it has modern avionics and systems. I'm glad I got to fly it for over 600 hours but can't blame the AF for looking to upgrade to a newer system for the next generation of Air Force pilots.
Here is a picture of 2 Air Force pilots getting into a T-37.
If it didn't burn over 250 gallons per 1.5 hour flight I might be tempted to pick one up. At todays general aviation (GA) fuel prices that would be using about $600 in fuel alone for each hour flown. No wonder the AF replaced them with a turbine powered aircraft that not only has a better fuel burn it has modern avionics and systems. I'm glad I got to fly it for over 600 hours but can't blame the AF for looking to upgrade to a newer system for the next generation of Air Force pilots.
Here is a picture of 2 Air Force pilots getting into a T-37.
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