Corpus Christi, Texas

After finishing the first half of flight training in Oklahoma, it was off to Texas for the second half. A wonderful twelve hour drive through brown terrain and dry shrubs placed me in Corpus Christi. After a few days of apartment hunting, I decided to rent a townhouse. Twelve hundred bucks a month bought me a 2100 sq ft, two story, one car garage place with a balcony. The location was on an island away from the city with the only thing between me and the gulf coast being another house and a sand dune. A block away was an inlet that led out to the ocean. The area was also extremely quiet since there was hardly ever anyone around. Here's what the place looked like on the outside.

Here's the view from my balcony during the day (of the inlet):

And the same thing at night:

The inlet was about a two minute walk from my place and always full of fish. The only problem was none of them tasted very good. They were still fun to catch and throw at seagulls.

There were several hurricanes while I was living here, two of which required city-wide evacuations. It was pretty amusing watching everyone freak out each time. My roommate and a few friends and I decided to go swimming during one. The wave heights were about the same size as those at California beaches, but the current was really strong - almost to the point of not being able to make it back to shore. It was a lot of fun though, especially watching people wonder what the heck we were doing.

Along the lines of natural disasters, the island caught on fire several times...one time a block away from my house. Here's a nice picture of it. It looks like my house is on fire.

There wasn't a whole lot to do in Corpus except fish. Naturally that's what I started doing during my free time...tons and tons of free time. I took these one day while fishing off the local pier, which was about a mile from my house.

More to come about all the fishing...

Chicago, Illinois

I went up here one weekend while still stationed in Corpus Christi. The most I had ever seen of Chicago were pictures like the one above and the city from a distance while landing at the airport to switch flights. The city is remarkably clean and friendly with tons of people walking / biking / running around. I was only able to stay for the weekend, but it was a lot of fun and I definitely want to go back.

First stop after the airport was a park with a decent view of all the buildings. Too bad this random girl ruined the picture. Just kidding. That's Jenn Kwon! Hooray! You can read her blog about weird things here: http://jenniferkwon.wordpress.com/.

Here's a view from my hotel room. And here's another:

And another! I was having fun messing around with all the functions on my camera.

The next day was a lot of walking around the city. In the two days I was there my phone (the crappy Sony Ericsson W580i) recorded my pace count and estimated I walked about 19.5 miles. The first attraction was Millennium Park to see the giant "Bean". The bean ended up being a giant shiny...thing that distorted everything, which made pictures look pretty cool.

Can you find me? How about now.

After that it was a lot more meandering to wherever we felt like. The day went by too fast and soon it was time to head back to Corpus.

I think the greatest feeling was realizing we were old enough to go off to strange cities unrestricted, but having none of the day-to-day responsibilities that come with getting old and boring, even if it was only for a weekend.

Rigel, Update I

Presenting Rigel, the dog who will do too much for a goldfish cracker. He learned all these awhile ago but I've been too lazy to record it. Next tricks to learn: vacuum the house and brush himself.

NAS Jacksonville, Florida

Here is the mighty P-3C Orion, also known as the sky pig - the type of plane I'll be flying for the next several years. Actually, I'll be flying the sky pig / cow for the few months I'm here in Jacksonville and then transitioning to another model, the EP-3 once i get to Washington state. Behold, the EP-3 Orion:

Big differences include black paint on the nose and a white layer on the top.

Classes started this past week and that's about it so far. The book I need to learn inside and out is about six inches thick and comes with manuals that are supposed to make learning the six inch book easier. Here's an excerpt from one of the manuals concerning the plane's electrical system:

"The 120-volt, single-phase 400 Hz, SEAC BUS is in the forward load center
and is normally supplied by phase A of the MEAC BUS through the normally
open contacts of the deenergized invert power relay, provided there is power on
the MEAC BUS. If power to the MEAC BUS fails, the SEAC BUS is supplied by
an inverter, provided the engine start selector switch is selected to an engine
and the power sensing circuit breaker on the MON DC BUS (if powered) is out."

The class hours aren't too bad so far. The day begins around 8 AM and goes for a few hours, followed by reviews and tests on computers for reinforcement. We're usually done around 1 PM for the day...except tomorrow. Tomorrow I have work from 9 PM to 12 AM. Best possible way to spend a Friday night!

Rigel

Here is my pee-on-the-carpet-while-walking-in-circles, chew-on-the-basil-plant, laser pointer-chasing dog, Rigel. He's a purebred Siberian Husky from the faraway land of Missouri, born December 2008. Overall he seems to be fairly smart. He learned how to shake hands in ten minutes and can do all the basic tricks you see dogs perform - sit, lay down, rollover, speak. But for some reason he still pees on the floor, only at night, and not regularly...which leads me to wonder, maybe purebred dogs are in fact somewhat retarded? Probably not. No dog of mine shall be retarded!

Definitely not retarded. Alright, in all honesty he isn't retarded. He learns most things a lot faster than I thought dogs could. A few dumb pictures and peeing on the carpet doesn't make one retarded...if that were the case, Mars would be brain dead.

If you're wondering where I derived the name Rigel, it's actually a star in the Orion constellation. You can see it during the winter months...or during summer months if you stay up too late (i think).

Rigel is the bluest star in the night sky, or at least the bluest one that makes it through all the smog and city lights. I figured it would be a good name seeing is how the dog has decently bright blue eyes.

As of yesterday, Rigel (the dog, not the star), is four months old and weighs about thirty five pounds. He should be full grown in a few more months. And in a few more months I should be out of humid Florida and in Washington state. Take that East Coast!

More to come...