Non-stop Saturday, 10K from hell, 10 dollar fix for 10 year problem, The Hunt for Blue Sky Scooter, Red Dawn dumb

My Saturday was really busy from sunset to sundown.  After weeding before it got too hot, I headed inside to do the cleaning.  I was supposed to be picking up the dogs Saturday morning for a prolonged visit until Tuesday but Ali was delayed in her departure.  I wound up getting them early in the afternoon on my way back from stops at Home Depot and Auto Zone.

One of the items I picked up at Home Depot was a tile file.  When I installed the ceramic tile in the house a decade or so ago I had certain areas that were not as flat as they should be due to an uneven surface below it, despite my efforts to smooth it out with thin set concrete beforehand.  The end result was a few tiles that had an elevated edge/corner that I feel sometimes when walking around barefoot.  These edges also beat the hell out of the rubber portions of the Scooba when I set it loose.

For whatever reason, despite the annoyance this caused me, I never looked into how to address it, until last week.  I read about something called a tile stone that is designed to smooth sharp tile edges.  What I bought accomplished the same end result.  The file has a coarse texture on one side and finer texture on the other to finish the job.

I knocked down a couple high corners as a test.  It worked well, dulling the previously pointy reminder of my poor tile installation ability.  I plan to crawl around on my hands and knees in the near future, obliterating any and all sharp edges that remain.

I also did three different filter changes on the van Saturday afternoon, swapping out the oil, air and fuel filter.  The fuel filter swap was the most involved.  The old filter looked like it had been in place for quite awhile.  All three procedures were taped to be added to my growing collection of amateur automotive maintenance videos. 🙂

During the day Saturday I took 15 minutes out of my day to try to fly my Sky Scooter.  On my first flight the plane was up and down almost immediately when it banked hard right after my toss, crashing into the ground.

The impact broke one of the folding props.  I had another set of props inside although they were smaller and would provide less thrust.  I put them on anyway, I had nothing to lose.

I got the plane up in the air with my second launch attempt but the small prop made a big difference in power or lack there of.  Compared to what I was accustomed to with my SpeedWing, the Sky Scooter was trudging through the air.

The slower air speed also means it was more susceptible to wind, the plane was getting buffeted about quite a bit.  I had to be really on the sticks and paying attention the entire time.  I managed to get the plane down safely after a 5 or 6 minute flight.

Ali said she was ok with me borrowing her Volt while she was gone for some gas free miles.  The only thing she asked was that maybe I could clean it since it was very dirty.  I did so both inside and out.  It was indeed very, very dirty but I figure elbow grease is free, gas is not.

A spent a lot of time cooking chicken for the dogs.  Ali bought a ton of what she thought were boneless thighs to add to their meals.  Well it turns out they were the bone in variety.  I had a huge pot of boiling water filled with chicken thighs.  I then pulled them out one by one and had to dust off my old meat cutter skills to remove the meat from the bones.  It was very gross.  I can hardly believe I spent over three years of my life doing this sort of stuff day in and day out in my late teens/early 20’s.

On Saturday night I watched Wall-E for the second time, I just wanted to see it again.  It’s such a cute movie but I also am in tune with the underlying tones in the film of where mankind is headed, with everyone being a huge fat ass that is carted around 24/7 on flying chairs.  All these people do is consume, consume, consume and nothing else.  Many people today are practically there already, just slap some rockets on their recliner.

On Sunday morning Cindy did another training brick with me.  I suggested we abandon the bike portion this week and instead do a longer run like the 10K square, using the water park as a starting point.  I figured we could then follow it up with a swim.  Well since the water park doesn’t open until 10Am I figured it made sense to start the run a little before 9, assuming a 10K will take somewhere around an hour.

Well my logic had a flaw.  It didn’t take into consideration it was August in SW Florida.  There is a reason that many runners start their runs very early (6AM) in these parts, especially in the 6 month long summers, it gets very hot, very early.

I was ok for maybe the first 2 miles of the run, after that the heat and humidity really started to bother me.  I just felt like shit.  Despite not running very fast (an average 9:44 pace), my body just wanted me to stop.  To be honest, if I was running by myself I can pretty much guarantee I would have stopped either at the 3.75 mile mark at the corner of Oakes and Vanderbilt or at the corner of Vanderbilt and Livingston.  I just wanted the misery to end.

My ego and desire to not look like a pussy, prevailed, dragging me to the finish line.  The funny thing is Cindy said she felt awful as well but didn’t want to say anything because she didn’t want to seem wimpy.

I was totally exhausted as I sat down on a curb to try to catch my breath.  Running in the heat was bad enough but add into that we didn’t have any water stops along the way, adding to the fail in my logic. After a long break I finally got myself into the pool for three 400 yard sets.  My first 400 was really slow, about 9:30.  Surprisingly my final two 400’s actually got faster, 9:00 and then 8:15.  I guess I got a second wind.

I was so damn tired after it was all said and done.  I was sure at some point I would need to collapse for a nap but that opportunity never presented itself.

I got back outside to try to fly the Sky Scooter some more on Sunday afternoon.  After a non-damaging failed launch attempt I got the plane back up in the air on the second try although I barely avoided smashing into the fence on take off.  That flight went slow but smooth.  I landed the plane safely.

I had one of my two new battery packs out there with me as well.  I wasn’t quite sure if I had a full charge in the pack but I figured I would slap it in the plane and give it a try.  The new pack had significantly more punch than the 4 year old batteries I used on the first flight.  The Sky Scooter climbed steadily, much higher than I had it the first time around.

I was doing big loops around the back yard however after only a couple minutes I noticed a large drop in altitude like the battery pack was dying.  The plane at this point was out far beyond the rear fence line, I tried to get it back but it just kept going down.  I knew I was in trouble so just as it disappeared behind a large pine tree I killed the throttle and pulled full up on the elevator control, hoping to minimize damage.

I never saw the plane actually hit the ground, I just knew the general direction I last saw it, somewhere behind the pine tree.  As I walked out behind my property I saw the two fill pits in the vicinity, both filled to the brim with rain water.  I knew with my luck, the plane was probably in the middle of one of them.  I did a quick survey of both bodies of water and didn’t see my aircraft.

I kept looking around, figuring the blue fuselage should stick out like a sore thumb.  I also would stop and try to fire off the motor and rudder servos, hoping for an audible clue to the planes location.  I had no luck.  After I was out there for maybe 10 minutes wandering around, Cindy came out to help me with the search.

I was dumbfounded, how could we not see the damn plane!?  I canvassed certain areas 2,3,4 times, figuring I just had to be not seeing it.  At around the half hour mark of searching I was just about ready to give up and write off the Sky Scooter as lost in action.  I decided to do one more loop, farther out than I thought the plane could have been.

Finally I spot the scooter sitting in a ditch, a good 150 yards beyond my rear fence line.  The tail of the plane was broken but it was otherwise intact.  The battery was ejected on impact and was laying a few feet away from the plane.  I trudged back towards the house and yelled over to Cindy that the I found the Scooter.

I didn’t really care the tail was broken on the plane, I could get another if I want to.  I was more interested in recovering the plane for the various expensive electronics that are in it.  However repairing the Scooter will be a low priority since I have my TuffWing to build and my Blade MQX quad copter is supposed to show up today.

On Sunday night I saw the new Red Dawn.  It was pretty dumb but mildly entertaining.  For some reason the original Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze seemed much more believable than what was portrayed this time around. I’d give it a B.

Nicki once again has been concerning me with her eating or lack there of.  The last time I had them out at the house she was all on board with her new mostly chicken thigh diet.  She was chomping at the bit for me to put down her food and she was eating every last bite.

Saturday night she just picked the chicken out of her dinner, leaving all of the dog food untouched.  Then Sunday morning she ate nothing of her breakfast, despite it being loaded down with the chicken I just cooked the night before.  She has skipped meals before but I really started getting concerned when she didn’t even eat the treats I offered to her, something she normally never turns down.

Last night for dinner she ate a portion of her dinner but left at least half of it.  This morning she once again ignored breakfast until it was sat on the carpet next to her where she was laying down.  She then at least ate all of the chicken but once again would not touch the rest of the dog food.

I think her rear legs/knees are really bothering her, more so now that the baby aspirin was stopped after another vet visit last week.  When she is standing by her food platform I can see her back legs sliding on the tile, which she must find annoying/painful.  I am going to try putting one of the kitchen rugs in front of her food stand to give her better traction when eating.  If that doesn’t work I may be just feeding her from the sitting/laying position.

I hate seeing her struggle like this.