Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Alaskan]

back when I knew someone in the coast guard...

The coast Guard ship would take all family and friends on the 4th of July across the bay to the little town of Seldovia (no road access), so we could partake in their festivities.

Great fun! Jousting in kayaks, a parade, etc

 

[Mike CHS]

Chief's quarters on Kennedy weren't too shabby and I slept there more than a few times.

 

[greybeard]

Berthing compartment for engineering on a Spruance class tin can wasn't bad either, considering all ya did there anyway was S.S.S.&S.

 

[Latestarter]

One great thing about the Kennedy was we never had to worry about fresh water. She was built keel up as a nuc and changed to conventional fuel after the evaporators had already been installed.

 

[Latestarter]

The last rain we got a couple days ago dropped 1.75". With the 1.25" we got a day or two before that, the ground is still very soggy. I'm glad to see that they've adjusted our forecast lows following the cold front passage up from the low 20s to the low 30s. I waited till today to go cut up more of the blow down for firewood, hoping the ground would dry out a bit more. I really don't want to tear up the pastures if I can avoid it. I am now restocked with enough firewood for ~4-5 days. Hopefully like last time it will carry me through the coming cold spell. The last one (cold spell) I never turned the heat on and just used the wood furnace. Got down to the high 60s in here by morning but after re-loading the stove with wood was back up to mid 70s in no time.

HEB is having a really good sale on meats that ends on the 24th. I wish I had seen it before my trip to the VA yesterday... I would have stopped on my way home. So I figure it will cost me about $32 in gas to go there tomorrow but I'll save $100 or more with what I buy. So looks like I'll be road tripping it tomorrow. There are limits on amounts, so I'll do one round then go get lunch and maybe go back for seconds. No store card involved so just need to use a different cashier. I'll have enough meat to carry me through the summer. Hope the freezer doesn't die.

 

[Latestarter]

So I was on here dreaming big and looking at/pricing out Gulfstream G550 aircraft. They are 2 pilot required aircraft, so I couldn't pilot it myself (alone), and they are a bit pricey... Brand new they start around 48-50 million. You can get some good deals on low hours air frames in the 2010-2013 year group... ~20-25 mil. I'd consider the newer/bigger G650, but new they start @ ~65 million before add-ons/upgrades. Even used ones are more than a new G550. The extra 500-750 mile range isn't worth that much to me. I would consider the much smaller Cessna Citation X... much smaller aircraft and 1/2 the range... but also much, much less expensive. A 2008 model is ~ 6 mil and brand new you're looking at ~25-30mil depending on upgrades/equip. Hard to imagine but they are more expensive than a Boeing BBJ (737 private jet ).

Maybe I'll dream about mega yachts tomorrow. Remember... I did state dreaming. So when I can afford both of those, I'll need to start looking for ocean accessible property with deep water frontage and large enough for a 6000' runway for the jet. Now if only aviation jet fuel and marine diesel fuel were pretty much the same, I'd only need to buy one.

Anyway, I heard a clap of thunder. So I figured the rain must be getting ready to commence (2:30am). So I went out to check and see if Mel had heard it (of course he did... silly me) and remembered I had taken out a ribeye to grill. I had also taken out a small container of my frozen spag sauce (my urologist told me I should eat lots of tomatoes... good for the prostate). I told her that I don't care for them raw. She said they're not as good for men raw, they're much better for men cooked. I guess cooking them enhances the good chemical present... so win-win. I love home made spag sauce & just made a huge batch for the freezer

So anyway, I didn't feel like cooking a steak in the pouring rain tomorrow, so I just finished eating it (3:00am). It was very good and Mel is sleeping off his portion (the scraps). The rain started just as I brought the scraps outside for him. The goats launched into the shelter, because of course any goat owner knows, they are deathly afraid of getting wet unless close to starving (like really starving, not thinking they're starving). So no more thunder, have seen no lightning, but rain has been passing over off and on in waves. Hasn't become the steady downpours expected yet. The biggest band is just south of me at this time but there's much more stuff coming up from the SW. Gonna be a wet one tomorrow looks like. I really need to get some wet stuff boots and a rain coat.

So almost 4am and though I'm not all that tired, not even yawning, I suppose I better go try to get some sleep. Gonna need to feed goats inside the shelter tomorrow morning is my guess.

 

[Mike CHS]

Hope you were at least able to catch a few zzzzz's.

 

[Bruce]

You need to start dreaming of tractors Joe! Not a lot of use for that Gulfstream or mega yachts on the farm.

 

[Mike CHS]

Way back when I was flying I wasn't getting enough flight time to remain proficient so I voluntarily grounded myself after making some silly errors the last time I flew.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Joe, I might be able to make you a good deal on a single seater ultralighter aircraft. It has a gocart engine for taxiing, and I would imagine could be procured for under $5000. You could surely take off and land from one of your pastures or maybe the road leading to your driveway