May marked the beginning of flying season and introduced some new electronic hardware to our household entertainment system. It was also a month of blockbuster movies.
May 8
Continuing what we started in April, we once again set our focus on removing the moss from the front yard. This time I decided to call in the heavy artillery. We went to the local equipment rental shop and rented a power rake.
The power rake is a gasoline-powered machine with metal fingers that rotate on a drum and rip out everything in their path. The moss and dead grass pours out the back of the machine forming a drift of debris. After one pass over the entire front yard, the moss was gone.
I pulled out my grass seed and spreader and covered the front yard. I followed this with a layer of fertilizer. With a little luck, we will have a nice thick yard full of grass this summer.
May 10
This week was pretty nice, and Friday was the certainly the nicest. To celebrate the beginning of a beautifully forecasted weekend, I decided to rent a plane and practice touch & go's. After work, I drove to Boeing Field and checked out N43GF. Todd showed up a few minutes later and we walked out to the ramp to preflight the plane. After I was satisfied with its airworthiness, we taxied to runway 31R and took off to the northwest. The Mariner's were playing at Safeco Field, so I had to divert to the east to avoid the temporary flight restriction that covers all major sporting events in the country.
When we reached Paine Field, Susan was waiting for us at the Jet Deck Bar & Grill. I taxied the plane right up to the restaurant. I can't get over the look on people's faces as I pull up in an airplane; its just so cool. Susan talked me into staying for dinner. The service was very slow, so by the time we finished eating, I had exceeded my rental period. I called Galvin Flying to let them know that I'd be late and we headed back to the plane.
As we left Paine Field, the sun was just touching the horizon. I stayed in the pattern to do one touch-and-go on the small runway; it is only 75 feet wide compared to the 150 foot wide big runway. After the touch-and-go, I departed the pattern to the south and headed for Boeing Field. I dialed KBFI into the Global Positioning System (GPS) radio and it showed that we were 20 miles out. I felt like we were the only plane in the sky, for such a nice night. Boeing Tower told me to enter the pattern over Seward Park for runway 31R. We landed and taxied back to Galvin Flying. What a privilege it is to be able to fly above our country, while most people on this planet can only dream of flying.
May 12
Mother's Day weekend in Seattle tends to be beautiful and this year was no exception. Since my mother is thousands of miles away -- which makes taking her out to lunch very difficult -- I took Susan and Todd flying instead. We met Todd at Boeing Field and loaded ourselves into N95129 - a late model Cessna 172. Our destination for the day was the San Juan Islands, which are located in the Puget Sound in the northwest corner of Washington, near the Canadian Border. Getting there by "normal" transportation involves driving over an hour to Anacortes, waiting in line at the ferry terminal for up to an hour, then riding on the ferry for 45 minutes. Returning home is just the opposite, but with a much longer wait at the ferry terminal. It takes only 45 minutes in a Cessna. :)
Our first stop was Eastsound airport on Orcas Island. I had never landed at this airport before, so I was excited to add a new destination to my logbook. Once on the ground, we parked in the grass with the other general aviation airplanes and walked about a mile into town. There we found a nice restaurant with outdoor seating and ordered lunch. Orcas Island is shaped like a horseshoe and Eastsound is situated on the inner water at the narrow portion at the top of the island. The two thick portions of the island are rather mountainous, leaving the town in the valley between the peaks. From the deck of the restaurant we enjoyed the sunshine and the view.
After lunch, we hiked back to the plane and flew to Friday Harbor airport on San Juan Island. From the airport we walked the quick six blocks into town. Since we had lunch in Eastsound, we decided to have dessert in Friday Harbor. Along the waterfront we found a small ice cream parlor and each had a single scoop waffle cone.
By the time we finished, the sun was beginning to set in the western sky. We walked back up the hill, past the ferry terminal queue of cars and campers, to the airport and climbed back into our magic carpet for the quick flight home. As always the sunset over the Olympic Mountains from 3,000 feet over the Puget Sound was truly amazing.
May 18
I started the day planning to work out on the BowFlex. I turned on my stereo, popped in a CD, and instead of hearing the clean, crisp tones so common from CD's, I heard this ugly, scratchy, hissing noise. I switched to FM mode and the results were the same. After thirteen-plus years of excellent service and lots of decibels of clean stereo sound, my old JVC receiver finally called it quits.
The history of my JVC now follows: While in college, oh so many years ago, I worked as a co-op student in Richmond, Virginia. Co-op wages were three times anything I'd ever earned previously, so I was anxious to spend some of my hard earned cash on some nice stereo equipment. My second semester in Richmond, I went to Circuit City with my brother, who was in town following Thanksgiving. I signed up for their "no interest if paid in full by such and such date" cards and was turned down. Tom, on the other hand, had no problem getting the line of credit, even though he wasn't shopping at the time. I decided to skip the receiver this time and I bought a JVC CD player instead. The following semester of co-op, I returned and bought the JVC receiver to match the CD player. That was back in 1990. The CD player, by the way, is still going strong.
With a strong desire to replace my receiver, I started surfing the Internet to see what was available. Crutchfield had a nice assortment to choose from, including a nice JVC model with all the bells and whistles that I wanted: 100 watts of power through two separate sets of speakers, tons of inputs -- analog and digital, and support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound.
At this point I was sold on the JVC receiver. The next step was to find one locally for a great price. As expected, Video Only came in with the lowest price. A few minutes later, we were on our way to Lynnwood to see one in person. Knowing all the specs and what I wanted, the salesman didn't have to work hard to complete the sale!
With new receiver in hand, the next logical step was to start looking for speakers to support the 5.1 surround stereo sound capability. I already have four nice speakers, so I didn't want to buy six new ones. The salesman showed me his selection of center channel speakers and subwoofers and I was impressed. He went to the back and grabbed two more items while we wandered around the store. When he returned, we were standing near a Sony demo system with Terminator 2 playing on a big TV. I was amazed at how clean and pure the Sony system sounded. I knew right away that the center speaker and subwoofer would be staying at Video Only. Although the Sony system sounded great, I wasn't sold on the whole package, so we left with just the receiver. See May 19 for the continuing speaker saga.
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Back at home, I didn't have much time to enjoy the new receiver. Susan and I bought tickets along with Todd to go see Steven Wright at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. We met Todd at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Pacific Place Mall. Todd took us to one of his favorite restaurants in the mall and we had dinner. After eating, we started walking towards the theater, but Todd wanted to stop for a drink at another one of his favorite places.
We made it to the Paramount a half hour early and had to kill some time in the lobby. Finally the doors opened and we entered the theater. The Paramount is a gorgeous old theater with amazingly ornate detail and architecture. Since we had some time, we went down to the front to see how the 'spendy' seats compared to ours. Then we went all the way to the top mezzanine levels, then to the front row of the mezzanine. The view was pretty good no matter where you sit.
Finally it was show time. There was a short opening act, then Steven Wright came out on stage. For the next hour and a half, he had us holding our ribs in pain from laughing so hard. His unusual observations on life are hilarious. I highly recommend going to see him if you have the opportunity.
May 19
After only one day with the new receiver, the search for new surround sound speakers became my new priority. I figured I'd let my ears be the judge and not worry too much about the price. Our first stop was Best Buy. Surprisingly, they had absolutely nothing that interested me. We then drove down the road a few blocks to Magnolia Hi-Fi.
Magnolia Hi-Fi has a reputation for carrying high-quality electronic gear. Stepping through the door, it is apparent that their reputation is well deserved. After browsing a few minutes, we were approached by a salesman. My expectation was that he would try to sell us something that we didn't really want, but instead he surprised me by asking lots of questions to better understand my existing hardware situation. At Video Only (see May 18) and at Best Buy, the salesman tried to convince me that I should get rid of my existing speakers and buy a complete system. But here, the salesman asked if I liked the sound from my existing speakers and suggested that I keep them.
Our first task was to find a center channel speaker. Surround sound consists of five primary speakers (front-left, front-center, front-right, rear-left, rear-right) and a subwoofer to drive the deep down bass that movies develop. The center channel is the primary speaker, delivering nearly all of the dialog in a movie. The salesman was concerned that the center speaker match the audio qualities of my existing speakers. He said he didn't want a Ferrari to change to a Ford and back to a Ferrari as it pans from left, through the center, to the right speaker. First we listened to several sets of speakers until we found a pair that sounded similar to the ones I already have. Then he let me listen to several center speakers, starting with the best and working down to the worst. At first I heard no difference, but after a point, the remaining speakers had poor, thin sound. It was very easy to then point to the first speaker that sounded cheap, and pick the next better speaker from the lineup.
The next task was picking a subwoofer. This was difficult for me because I think they all sound the same. I was about to settle on a 10 inch speaker, but Susan convinced me that the 12 inch speaker sounded better to her. You can imagine my surprise when she chose the more expensive model. Wow, and I thought she didn't care about stereo equipment.
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In preparation for Gina & Ed's wedding in Pennsylvania, Susan started applying tanning solution from a twin cylinder assembly. One cylinder contained tan goop and the other brown goop. When the applicator is pushed, goop from both cylinders is extruded. Once mixed, it is applied and left to do its magic for 15 minutes. After a few weeks, it is supposed to provide a natural tan. Who dreams up these products?
May 21
John Chambers in Seattle.
May 25
Spiderman.
May 26
Mariner's versus Orioles.
May 27
Planted grass in front of shed.
May 30
Star Wars Episode II.
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