I Have Been Co-Sourced

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith, Opinion2 Comments

That’s the term Lockheed used when I worked there.  Whenever a program was cut the employees were declared surplus to company needs.  I guess this was supposed to help with our delicate psyches or something.   All through the 1990’s the buzzword was “outsourcing.”   A really nice way to say, “Hey, we really appreciate all the hard work you’ve put into the company but we’ve found we can pay people in other countries far less.”  I’ve seen lots of jobs at my present employer outsourced to overseas companies. Basically your job was given to someone overseas and then you were out the door.

Now there is a new term; “co-sourcing.”  As best I can this means, “We need you to train your overseas replacement and THEN you go out the door.”  So, for the next few months I will be doing my part to train my replacement at a company overseas until early August.  Now, the company is being as nice about it as they can be, offering a fairly generous severance package and the usual grief counseling.  It’s still rather a shock and a surprise.

So why don’t I feel worse about it?  Maybe because I won’t be on-call anymore?  Maybe this is a good opportunity to finally change careers?  I have to say God has been preparing me for this in ways I didn’t even realize.  About 3 months ago I suddenly felt the need to find my son a place to live outside our home.  It wasn’t just the fact that he was getting violent, it was just time.  God also placed in in my heart to pare down the number of our possessions.  I believed it was for living full-time in an RV but as He usually does, it was also in preparation for something else.  So we’re going to continue in pare-down mode and keep trying to “downsize” our lives.

There are a lot of things to think about such as medical coverage, prescriptions and such.  But we’re pretty sure God has already handled that for us.  We’ll see what it is when the time comes.  I have employment until the first week of August.  After that the world is wide open.  I’ve got several ideas but one thing I’m not going to do like when I got laid off from the bank; I’m not going to panic this time.  God loves me and He certainly loves my family.  He will provide a way for us and I’m anxious to see what that is.

National Naval Aviation Museum and the Pensacola Lighthouse

On By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

I really enjoyed these folks’ visit to the Naval Aviation Museum and Ft. Pickens in Pensacola, FL.  I can’t wait to visit those places again.

 

“From the top of the walls of Fort Pickens we could look across Pensacola Bay and see the Pensacola Lighthouse. To get there by roads, we had to drive about 45 miles, crossing bridges and driving th…”

Source: National Naval Aviation Museum and the Pensacola Lighthouse

Red Hills Ranch Easter Saturday

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, TravelLeave a comment

One of the highlights of our year is the Easter Saturday get-together at Red Hills Ranch.  Jack and Myrna Moyle started out by having an easter egg hut for their kids, that soon expanded to friends, pilots, and complete strangers.  Cristy and I flew in for the past couple of years but since the airplane is gone we drove up this year.  I brought along my PPG to show Jack and fly if the weather was good.

 

The weather was beautiful and the runway was blanketed by wildflowers.  The wind was too squirrely to fly but everyone enjoyed checking out the new flying machine.

Myrna (sitting on my trike above) organized an egg toss, sack race, and the Easter egg hunt of course.  We enjoy some time catching up with old friends and watching the kids enjoy themselves.  It’s always such a privilege to visit Jack and Myrna and enjoy their beautiful ranch.

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Attention pilots:  We will be having a fly-in here at Red Hills Ranch on Memorial Day weekend.  Fly in starts on Friday and runs until Sunday morning.  We have a pot luck on Saturday night and Myrna cooks us breakfast on Sunday morning.  It is not to be missed!  If you would like to join us please do!  If you need info on getting here let me know and I’ll give you directions.  Hope to see you there!

Minor Rant

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Opinion2 Comments

This is just a short minor rant, it really doesn’t even bug me that much.  Only just enough to post about it.   I love it when I ask a friend who does financial planning for advice and they say they can’t do it.  I would HAVE to be a client.  Yet this same person will turn around and ask me for computer advice.  My new stock answer is, “Sorry, you would have to be a client.”

Moron Trailer Hitches

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life6 Comments

Um… I mean… More on trailer hitches.  Ahem.

So I’ve been studying these hitches more tonight and ran across this Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Hitch.

 

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The way it works is you connect the frame above to a gooseneck hitch in the bed of your truck and cinch it down.  You then connect an adapter assembly to your 5th wheel king pin.

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The adapter stays connected to the king pin.  To hitch the trailer you lower it down onto the ball at the top of the frame shown above.  The benefit of this hitch is that it doesn’t need to be lubricated, and is very easy to remove from the bed of the truck.  And because it only weighs 35 lbs, you don’t kill yourself taking it out.  And you have a clean truck bed when you’re not towing.

The downside is that since it is a ball adapter, many states require you to also use safety chains with the trailer.  Meh.  No big deal.  At any rate, I can still change my mind since I’m still dreaming.

Truck Research

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV LifeLeave a comment

Well, there isn’t a whole lot going on in the flying world or the RV world.  We’re really just kind of in a holding pattern, dreaming.  One thing I haven’t done a whole lot of is trying to find the beast of a truck that will pull our home on wheels.  Well, that’s not exactly true. I’ve done enough research to know I want a RAM 3500, dually, long bed, crew cab, tow prep, auto level, 4.10 rear axle ratio, AISIN transmission.  I know I want to buy it from Dennis Dhillon Dodge in Boise/Nampa ID.  I know I’ll have to special order it because almost no one carries the truck I’m looking for.  But other than that I haven’t looked into it too much. 🙂

I figure I need to get another year or two out of my van and I’ll trade it in and buy the truck at the same time. I also believe this truck will pull any Solitude we end up purchasing.  Right now we’re settled on the 369RL but who knows what Grand Design will come out with in a few years?  I’ve spec’ed out the truck here: Ram 3500 – Vehicle Summary

Along with the truck I’ll need a good 5th wheel hitch.  The B&W hitch has received very good reviews.  The only bad review I’ve heard is that the hitch is very heavy.

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Yeah, looks pretty heavy!  But it fits into the Ram factory 5th wheel mounts with no problem.  Even though it’s a heavy hitch, I like the fact that it is easily removable (with help).  I have heard of people simply leaving it hitched up to their trailer, unlatching the bed mounts, and using the trailer’s leveling system to lift the hitch off the bed, and drive out from under it.  Then you can use the full bed of the truck.  When you’re done, drive back under the hitch, have the trailer lower back down, and re-latch the hitch to the truck.  I’m sure that’s easier said than done. 🙂

On the Road Internet

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life2 Comments

One of the many things I’ve been thinking about when considering RV’ing is Internet connectivity.  How do I ensure I stay connected?  I’ve researched solutions from several companies, and gotten some great ideas from Technomadia.com.  I think I’ve finally come up with a good workable solution that will have multiple sources of Internet that I can select to keep me connected.  Here’s basically what it looks like

RV Wireless (1)

 

The elitepack_shop_01-228x228WiFi Ranger Elite and WiFi Ranger Go2 are sold as a package from WiFi Ranger.  The Elite is a signal booster and antenna combo and the Go2 is a router that has multiple inputs and a small ethernet switch.  It can use the ethernet ports or USB as Internet gateways.  It then sets up an internal WiFi network that you connect to.  Internet can come from the RV Park via the Elite antenna or via a hotspot tether to the Go2 via USB.

 

 

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Since RV parks and campgrounds don’t always have the strongest cellular signals need some way to amplify those signals.  To bring in these weak signals for the Hotspot (or cell phones) I’m planning on also adding a signal booster like the one from WeBoost.  It will work with all North American cellular networks and will boost data and voice signals.  And will work with more than one phone at a time.  It comes with an external antenna that can be mounted on the RV or even your vehicle while you’re traveling.

So there you have it.  With multiple inputs and amplifiers this should pull in Internet where ever I happen to be.

Trailer Latch Repair

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered Paragliding, RepairLeave a comment

trailer

 

I bought a small, walk-on trailer from Tractor Supply Company to transport my PPG Trike without having to take it apart.    For the most part it’s been a pretty good little trailer, always following me where ever I go.  Just like a little puppy dog.  Anyway, yesterday as I was lowering the ramp to offload my trike, one of the latch pins just snapped in half!  It broke where a roll pin was inserted to retain the spring that retains the pin.

Well, that didn’t stop my from flying yesterday but I had to Gerry-rig the ramp to make sure it didn’t snap the other latch pin and fall on my trike or on the highway.  Today I made the repair.  I found out they call these cane bolts at the hardware store.  I found a long one that is used as a door latch.  I cut it to length and drilled a new hole for the roll pin.  After putting it all back together it looks like it came with the trailer!

For future reference, here is the part I used to make the repair…

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Perfect Afternoon Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

Today after work I hightailed it out to New Jerusalem Airport.  I had been checking https://www.windyty.com/ all day long and the winds looked perfect; less than 5mph.  I trailered up my trike, packed up my airport in a box and headed out.  Being as it was such a perfect day I elected not to take any in-flight video or photos.  I just wanted to enjoy the moment.  And for one hour I enjoyed every moment, giving thanks to God for being able to enjoy the gift of aviation once again.  Back at the airport I practiced spot landings but the sun was down and it was soon time to kill the engine, roll to a stop, and then listen to the crinkling of the wing collapsing to the ground behind my trike.  Then there were only the red wing blackbirds chiding me for making so much noise for the past hour.  It was a good evening.

(Pardon the audio problems)

And by the way, it was a great landing.  Whenever your lines fall right back into the line guides, it was a good landing!