Australian International Airshow
And what a show. It's probably the best airshow I've ever seen. It's not just an airshow, though, it's an industry trade show and the whole thing runs for a week!
While I'd have liked to spend the whole week there, I'm regretably not 'in' the aviation industry and thus have to wish for the time being.
So, a few pictures to whet your appetite:
The first for your viewing pleasure is a Javelin, which is a private venture twin jet 'transporter'. Well, it was originally branded as an executive transport, presumably for very fast executives, but they've since changed their sensibilities to call it an 'advanced training platform'. If it would have been sold as an executive transport, I think we'd have had the 21st Century version of the Doctor Killer. 500 KTAS, stalls 88 KCAS - wah-hoo!!
The second is the Aussie Snowbirds, called the Roulettes, returning after their flying display. There are six of them and they fly the PC-9, which is the same as our Forces' Harvard II. A very thrilling display, I must admit, but my patriotism says that the Snowbirds can't be beat. This is also a possible preview of what the Snowbirds will look like after they retire the venerable Tutor, but hopefully that won't happen for a while yet. The other choice is the Hawk, but the British already have a nine craft formation aerobatics team called the Red Arrows, which already fly the Hawk. We'll seee, I guess...
Third today is this, which requires no introduction, but it is Merlin powered(!):
And two of them taking off and flying form together look and sound, well, heavenly! Oh, and Chuck Yeager was there, too.
Lastly, but not leastly, is an Italian medium cargo transport aircraft, which looks something like a Hercules. If you click on the picture to get the bigger version, you will notice (hopefully) that you're are looking at the top side planform of this
cargo aircraft as it rolls over the top inverted... I hope everything was tied down.
More next time from the wonderful land of aviation.
Sing it with me...
(To the tune of Ella Fitzgerald singing:)
A foooogy daaayyy..... In London Town.
It had me lowwwww, and it haaaad me down...
A hockey grand final cancelled due to fog. Has this EVER happened in Canada?
Eventful Birthday
Thanks for all the cards everyone! They were wonderful and most welcome :-)
In an effort to make up for last year's birthday, which consisted of a Mars bar and can of Solo Lemonade on a dive boat somewhere in the Coral Sea, I planned a full day to get everyone out and about. The schedule was thus:
0900-1200: Skating
1200-1300: Travel to city for lunch
1300-1400: Lunch at a Japanese place called Funa
1400-1630: Educational fun at ScienceWorks
1630-late: Dinner/movie or Dinner/St. Patrick's Day 'festivities'.
Skating was ebulliently successful and well attended. I was very pleased that so many came out and had fun on the ice. No injuries! There're 3 Canadians in the PhD 'team' here and they hadn't been on ice in a couple of years. Also, it's something out of the ordinary in a country like Australia, and therefore I thought it would be interesting. Picture below (see if you can pick out the Canadians):
I'm wearing the away jersey of the Aussie national hockey team, called the Hockeyroos (heh), which is so far proving a great talking point with almost everybody. (There are 3 or 4 people missing from the picture).
Eight people stuck around after the skate, and we went into the city for lunch. It took ages to get to the restaurant, but everyone was raving about how good the food was, so success again! Funa sells cooked Japanese dishes, which is something a little out of the ordinary nowadays with 'sushi' being so popular. I use quotations because most people like maki sushi, which is the roll variety, variously containing vegatables, cooked fish, roe, or other stuff wrapped in seaweed. Sashimi is simply sliced raw fish, which, because of my sushi snobishness after staying in Japan for a month, is what I consider 'real' sushi. Then there is aptly named sushi, which is slices of raw fish on little beds of vinegar-flavoured rice. Also acceptable as 'real' sushi. Heh :)
After that, a couple of people took off to start drinking, but four of us continued on to
ScienceWorks and got to do all sorts of cool fun educational things that involved the pushing of buttons, landing of space shuttles, capturing of space telescopes, confusing of brains, and using of senses. After that, we made our way into the city for St Patrick's Day and everyone had a couple or several pints of brown to black fermented barley and hop drinks.
After hockey practice till 0230 and 5 hours of sleep the previous night, I was toast by 2300 and went home. My legs were sore and my head was having sympathy pains for my legs and the band was too loud and I'm whingeing so I'll move onto the next paragraph.
Sunday afternoon I went out to the airport and continued !flying! I've formally been granted my license now so I can take the airplane solo! I went for a rip around the training area doing careful steep turns (trying and find the slipstream), procedural stuff that I know and love, then a couple of no-flap touch and goes. The flaps are electric and apparently have a dicky microswitch that may cause them to quit working, so I didn't use them. It was great! The weather was really good too, except for the lift that had me climbing on short final with the throttle at idle and airspeed at 60 mph. In this airplane, that should mean 600-700 fpm down, but instead meant 200 fpm up!
I then visited Bruce and Helen for the balance of the day and got home late. Helen made me a birthday cake and we had yummy spaghetti bolognaise. Now I can't focus and I'm trying to find my happy place today...
A 'Kyle' Joke.
What goes black, white, black, white, black, white, black, white, thump! ?
A penguin rolling down the stairs!
-----
In defense of the Aussies I know and love, most come from free settler background, who, in fact, made a conscious decision to turn their peaches-and-cream British complexion to the glowing brown of this wide sunburnt southern land. But it does make for good jokes, heh.
Anyone out there ever had a hockey practice that finished at 0230?
My stupid landlord...
An e-mail transcript of dealings with my landlord follows, but first some background. Back on 26 January, I arrived home to discover a letter addressed to: 'The Tennants' stuffed in my door. In the letter were three separate pieces of paper, one for each tennant, telling us that our rent is going up $10/week effective 26 February. Blah, Blah, Blah, signed (unintelligible scribble), per my landlord. So, she hadn't actually signed it, it was delivered by a mystery person and scribbled on by that person. Another problem is that the rental amount to which I was being increased was what I already pay. Things just aren't making sense...
I e-mailed my landlord about two weeks later, because frankly I'm losing my capacity for niceness with this spineless, vacant, ignorant, twiddling cow (it's been more than this one problem) and mentioned that the rent increase notice wasn't valid because I hadn't got the legislated 60 days notice, nor did the letter contain a numer of bits of information that also are required to make the notice enforceable. I'd have told her this earlier, but as I said above, I'm rapidly losing my niceness for this ... woman.
She evaded the problem, as she always does when she hasn't done something right in this tenancy, so I let it slide. I'm not going to try help her get this right because she refuses to learn. I've tried before and she flat out refuses, so the onus is on her now.
Fast forward to Wednesday last week, which is the rent-pay-day when the increase is to be effective. I pay what I've always been paying and e-mail her telling her why: no valid notice to increase rent, two conflicting amounts - one in the letter, and one I'd got in an e-mail from her, none of them valid, confusion reigns. I ask for her to follow the law and just give me the proper form (available for free from and real estate agent) about the rental increase and life's good.
Some more information: my unit has a much smaller yard and an open carport, unlike the 'other unit' she mentions, which has a fully enclosed garage and a big yard. And, it is common practice to get a lower rental rate if you are a long term tennant.
Her reply (names of the unimplicated changed):
----------
'Kyle
First headache was Jim, I was happy that he left, next was Jerry (although Jerry became friendly and nicer later) and he left. And now you. I didn't know you can also be a headache and can be that thorough and detail.
We have evicted Max because he is a troublemaker and we don't like him. I just want you to know that that room that is similar to yours is now $160 per week (new current rate).
If I will have to give you the proper form as you would want, I would put in there $160 per week to be fair to the other unit. I thought I am giving you a nice favor with the rate you are getting, but to the contrary it's funny that you're still not contented with that favor and it looks like you are ready to spend time to argue about it.
Kyle, to be honest I have no time to go through all those details with you that you have emailed.
Ray White sent that letters to you tenants.
If you don't want to pay, do as you wish. I can wait until you are one year.
And when that time comes I would rather not renew your contract as I don't have time to deal with people like you.
Regards
C. Ow'
----------
(Ray White is a Real Estate Agent who owns the property and from whom my landlord sublets the house to us.)
So because I'd like to follow the law, she threatens me with even more rent, calls me a troublemaker, and compares me to an evicted 18 year-old unemployed high-school dropout (Max). Heh...
Anyway, looking for a new place because mean people suck.
And two of them taking off and flying form together look and sound, well, heavenly! Oh, and Chuck Yeager was there, too.
