A study in contrasts

How the day began:



Public transportation sardine can

How it ended:



Mountain vista SF glory

And finally, junk or philospohical statement?




P.S. Sorry about the border bleed - we'll get the IT department on it ASAP

Night Flight

Just finished reading Night Flight yesterday.  I tend to gravitate to the books that are under 100 pages : )  The author, Antoine de Saint-Exupery (from "the Little Prince," which I read for the first time on the Green Tortoise, a cross country bus ride) has a great outsider perspective on things.  It is about the early days, the "Bad Old Days" as one of my CFIs referred to it, when there were pioneers and low low tech and bad/no charts.  It detailed an evening where a bureaucrat send a pilot to his doom.  More than a piloting book, this is more a critique of bureaucracy and a meditation on leadership.  I will excerpt two inspectors talking to each other:

 

"You should keep your place, Robineau"  Riviere weighed his words.  "You may have to order this pilot tomorrow night to start on a dangerous flight.  He will have to obey you"

"Yes"

"The lives of men worth more than you are in your hands."  He seemed to hesitate.  "It's a serious matter"

 

I won't reveal too much but I will say the part about the "two truths" is shattering.  Nuff said.

 

Want to finish "Fate is the Hunter."  I'm stalled half way through.  Sometimes I read something that I recognize as good and valuable, but somewhere half way I run out of fuel.  Does this every happen to you?

Stumped my CFI - but not her fault

So I am preparing for the written test.  I am using the software from checkride.com, which has served me well.  I read that taking tests is good for the memory, so since taken to testing.  One of the questions was regarding timed approaches from a holding fix.  Apparently, you can't do it if it requires a procedure turn in the Missed Approach.  We had to look it up in the AIM, as my CFI says it isn't done too much in the U.S.  They do it in Mexico, we think.

 

So I am testing, and I realize I have it on the most difficult possible setting.  Which bodes well for me, as I am testing around 80% now at that setting.  But there is an awful lot to know about flying a plane - not everyone has the answers all the time, and pulling out and springing a question from one of the most esoteric corners of Aviation; you can see how it happened.

 

I have been having a little problem with my E6B calculations.  If there are any pilots out there, drop me a line.

The Rules of the Game

Before I launch into my diatribe, let me just ask this - why is it the Naan and Curry in North Beach always smells like cleaning products but never smells clean? Good food though, that's why I go back.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/06/MNA6RVOC0.DTL&hw=California+voting&sn=003&sc=924

 

Certain factions wish to break up the California presidential electorate, so that each county has a vote. In practice, this means that California in 2004 would have not cast 55 votes to Kerry, but 33 to Kerry and 22 to Bush.

 

What a bunch of gerrymandering tools.

 

The article above covers most of it. You gotta love how the people behind it claim to be non-partisan.

 

It seems to me that if such a proposition were instated, it would need to be a blanket rule for all states, not just the large prizes with divided loyalties. California is a hell of a prize but a foregone conclusion, usually - which is why it doesn't get much attention, especially proportionate to population. Which begs the question - why this half-ass democracy, anyways? If not state to state, is county to county better?

 

Why not just do away with the antiquated electoral college and institute a popular vote instead?

 

It isn't likely to pass - the interests have to pass the prop in a state that is weighed against them anyways, and the people aren't stupid . It said in the article that if nothing else, it does serve to drive Democrats crazy. Well, I'm distracted from the real issues. Mission accomplished.

 

In other observations, did anyone else notice while watching "Snakes on a Plane" that they were talking to Air Traffic Control, saying the avionics were out? That's like calling someone on the phone, reaching them, and telling them that their phone doesn't work. But perhaps this movie's primary goal was not realism.

 

Does anyone remember that scene in "My dinner with André" (just alienated 7/8th of my readers) where they were talking about New York City (how everyone talks about leaving it but no one does), as the model for the new prison where people are both the prisoner and the guard? Seems esoteric, but there is truth behind it.

 

Say there is a question of wages (raised? lowered?) at a company - and you are an employee and a shareholder. Where do you stand on the issue? Is this stance proportionate to principals or your interests? It's this schizophrenia that drives us bonkers. I guess it's inevitable in a society of rank and hierarchy, where you aren't the highest or the lowest.

 

In other news, my brother's family came to town for a visit. Which brought the whole family together, which is great but not as effortless as one might wish.

 

Oh wait I just said family and effortless in the same sentence. Please delete previous paragraph from your memory banks : )

 

They are well and beautiful, if a trifle homesick. California is a beautiful place, and there is much to miss. 55 we stand, 33/22 we fall.

The Golden Rule

Just completed the first month of sharing a house with my family and my sister-in-law. It's been pretty smooth, but some growing pains are inevitable.

I was in a hurry to clean our house because on an impending visit from my brother, so in my haste I took the piles of clothes off the bed and brought the mattress downstairs. She was a little bent out of shape as she viewed this as disrespect. "You wouldn't like it if I did that to you."

Apparently, she hasn't looked in my room lately. There are piles of clothes EVERYWHERE. I didn't put her clothes on the floor because I'm a jerk. I did it because I am a slob. A fine distinction - I hope she catches on.