Sometimes I take a photo to remind myself of what I want to write in my blog. Apparently I didn’t do that today, so here’s a selfie from a local restaurant called “Serial Grillers”.
J.P.
Walking.
I try to walk every day (when the weather cooperates). I’m not walking nearly as much as I did when we lived in Chicago, and during the desert summer it’s best to walk late in the evening around sunset, but I still try to get at least three miles in a day. As the weather cools down I’ll start riding my bike again.
I’m not pleased with my weight at the moment and walking does not seem to be helping the situation. I think I live with too many good cooks. I need to start eating in “Leave It To Beaver” portions. I also need to know when to ask to be excused from the table.
Flat.
Part of being a private pilot is doing a thorough pre-flight inspection of the airplane before setting off on an adventure. This is especially important with rental aircraft and double important for those aircraft being used by primary students. The flight school requires that a student pay for damaged tires; the tire shown above has a flat spot. It’s still safe, but it will need to be replaced soon. I’m happy I discovered this before my flight so I don’t get blamed for the flat spot and end up paying for the tire. Take a photo and send it to the mechanic.
The flat spots usually result from pilots having their feet on the brakes with they land. I had a tire blow out on a landing years ago; it’s not a pleasant experience.
Wrapping Up.
Monsoon season is winding down in these parts. The weather forecast talks about dry weather and seasonal temperatures for the foreseeable future. I enjoy the rains of the Monsoon and the ferocity of Mother Nature, except when it penetrates the wall and roof of the house.
Caturday.
Sometimes Truman does his own thing. Here he’s looking cute. A few moments after this photo was taken he bit my arm (gently, of course) to let me know the photo shoot was over. More kibble. Forget the please.
Favorites.
One of my favorite photos of me in “aviator mode” is one of my earliest photos as pilot. Taken in January 2014 by fellow student pilot Nicole, I’ve always enjoyed my look of determination during my third flight lesson ever.
Because I grew up around airplanes and flew with my father quite often, my instructor Chuck said on more than one occasion, “you know things about flying an airplane that you don’t even know you know”. I can vividly remember this flight and the glass smooth air of the January skies in Upstate New York.
What a feeling.
RIP Her Majesty.
As an ignorant Yankee I don’t know a lot about the British Monarchy. I do know that I enjoyed Queen Elizabeth II’s messages at Christmastime and I admired her presence and poise whenever I saw her on television. She passed on at age 96 today. The longest reigning British Monarch, may Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, rest in peace.
Apple Event.
So I watched the entire Apple Event while working today. Actually, I didn’t. I tried to, but we lost our Internet connection for about 15 minutes so I missed bits and pieces, but I was able to catch up. If you haven’t seen it, here it is on YouTube.
The iPhone 14 seems pretty incremental in the way of updates from the iPhone 13. The iPhone 14 Pro seems fun with the new ‘Dynamic Island” thing going on around the “pill” that replaces the “notch” at the top of the phone. I’m quite pleased with my iPhone 13 Pro and will not be upgrading this cycle.
One of the things that really struck me about today’s event was the awkwardness of one of the presenters. Ironically, the presenter talking about the awesomeness of the new AirPods Pro 2 had a very awkward cadence to her voice, with very unnatural arm movements, which was all tied together with this weird shouting thing she did. At first I thought she was talking as if the had her new AirPods Pro 2 noise cancellation activated, but I surmised that couldn’t be it. She just had absolutely zero charisma that one would expect of presenters at an Apple Event. I mean, these events are legendary, and there’s huge shoes to fill with these sort of things, so I imagine the pressure is on. But it was pre-recorded, there could have been multiple takes to get it right, and honestly, I could do better with the scant amount of radio performances under my belt from a couple of decades ago. Yes, I’m critical, but this Apple and I don’t want to feel awkward when being convinced to spend money I don’t need to spend. I eventually turned the volume down until she was done talking.
I have loaded the iOS 16 and Watch OS 9 release candidates on my iPhone and Apple Watch and I’m quite impressed with the new functionality in these new operating systems. It’s a shame they were barely mentioned in the event today; it feels like that’s where Apple is really shining this year.
Heart and Soul.
OK, two songs on Tuesday. This is one of my very favorite tracks from the 1980s. I was always mesmerized (and still am) of the production of this track. The lead singer is singing with herself through most of the track and it’s like listening to two different songs at once that fit perfectly together. This is pop music perfection in my book.
From 1987, here’s T’Pau with “Heart and Soul”.
