Captain Kirk's Musings

HISG Social Media Network

2011-09-15T10:10:00.000-04:00

HISG Social Media Network teaches about Storify as part of their Social Media Presentation.

New to Storify.com A great way to create stories online

2011-09-15T06:58:00.000-04:00

Storify is a new online resource that enables you to combine news items from social media and the web together into one place. Interfaced with all the major social media resources, such as Twitter and Facebook, Storify enables you to combine it all together in one place. See my story at the link.

Story about HISG and Storify

260 Panoramic View

2011-07-04T07:22:00.000-04:00

How to use Foreflight on EMS duties

2011-06-13T17:59:00.000-04:00

This is how I use Foreflight Mobile HD on standby as an EMS helicopter pilot. There are two methods, the one described first is the one I developed to work around issues with bearings and distances, and the second, much easier technique, is as a result of showing this text to the team at Foreflight. I have to say that Foreflight has greatly improved my ability to ensure good situational awareness and is therefore an improvement to safety.

Under the requirements of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) through Operations Specifications, EMS pilots are required to record the highest obstacle or terrain elevation within 2 nm of their intended route.

To achieve this, after requests for improvements to Foreflight have taken place, I now use my iPad in the following steps: (Note: I have used this technique on my iPhone version in exactly the same way.)

METHOD 1

At the beginning of my shift I open Foreflight in the map mode, radar is best as I am able to check weather. (Image 1)

Create a route from home base to the nearest trauma hospital.Wait for a launch request message from my communication center which includes the town and county, bearing and distance, and expected hospital destination.

Double check that the bearing and distance matches the launch request message, and if necessary adjust that waypoint by dragging it to the most accurate position you can.

Place my finger on the center of the previously created route, and drag the middle of that track to the approximate destination. (Image 2) and touch "Add this coordinate to route"

Now touch a point near home base. (This is necessary because if you touch home base it only offers to delete from route.) (Image 3)

Drag the point to home base and touch the home base waypoint listed. (Image 4) Note: if your home base is not in the Foreflight waypoint list, such as an airport or registered hospital landing site, create a user waypoint for your base per the Foreflight instructions.

Switch to VFR Sectional map, and by visual inspection determine the highest obstacle or terrain elevation within 2 nm of that route and record it.

Finally, I have asked the Foreflight Team to consider the ability to modify an existing route by bearing and distance once the waypoint is created by dragging the pre-stored track to the approximate scene location. In my wish list I would like to be able to rapidly create a point in space waypoint as described above, then modify it either by latitude and longitude or by bearing and distance. This would be quick, efficient, and above all, totally accurate.

Method 2 - the easy way!

P.S. Got an email back from Team Foreflight after I wrote the note above. Jason, one of the co-founders, pointed out that you CAN enter a waypoint as a bearing and distance. All the above steps can be done like this, into the search box type HOME HOME/060/15.4 TRAUMA HOME where 060/15.4 is the bearing and distance from home base to the scene. Gobsmacked! I didn't know that! So forget all the above, just type it all in!

Cheers.

I have a soon-to-be-a-collectors-item, a signed book, The Rogue Aviator

2011-06-11T10:30:00.000-04:00

Greetings, dear readers.

I met a fascinating gentleman yesterday at Rochester Wings Event at KROC. Ace Abbott wrote the book, The Rogue Aviator. As a comrade of mine (him USAF, me RAF) I found we had lots in common. Those who know me will no doubt guess our conversations soon became more "hangar tales" or as the RAF used to say, "Shooting a Line" Now if you don't know that piece of jargon, google it.

Now, Cap'n Abbott, I am in trouble. My honey do list is delayed this morning as I couldn't put the soon-to-be-collectible book down. Your views on such things as the FAA, aviation safety, and the wonderful, blissful, and uniquely aviation related misuse of the English language are fun to read.

Folks, buy this book, or else you'll never have the chance to own a collectors item. Of course it'll be more collectible after the author has gone to the great runway in the sky!

Signed ..... in a cheeky mood this morning...

Honor Flight Rochester - Veterans' visit to Washington DC

2011-05-08T06:44:00.001-04:00

I was asked at short notice to be a guardian on Flight 16 on Saturday 14th May 2011. I am delighted to join this group.

Check out the website. Donate, volunteer, register a veteran you know! A worthy cause.

Only two posts this year? Must write something.

2011-03-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings however few readers there are out there. I was looking for something I wrote back in 2007 and noticed how little I had contributed to the world's wisdom! Or not, as the case may be.

Well here we are with the advent of warmer weather. The ice is melting on the lake, and indeed I was outdoors yesterday working on the boat. How nice.... certainly this last winter has been long and hard.

Took a snapshot yesterday, our Rudi is such a loving dog, he puts himself into uncomfortable positions just to rest his head on you. This was on our way home from Smith's Lumbar in Lakeville....

Must get a comb and do my hair before I take any more photographs.

The degree course starts Monday, although we've been invited at Liberty University Online to get on with some work before the date. So I'll be learning new stuff! Actually, I've always had the idea that the day you stop learning is your last day on this earth. Plus ca change!

Delving into theoretical stuff will be quite stimulating, but as someone who prefers a "hands on" or practical approach to life in general, I shall constantly try to apply those more intellectual or academic principles to real world situations. I already came across the vagueness of academia in some of the preparation work.... erudite gobble-de-gook, I called it. It seems a feature of so-called learned people to use long words that nobody else uses, perhaps in an attempt to impress or to convince us they know what they are talking about!

Ever watched the Discovery Science Channel?

One of our favorite presenters is Professor Michio Kaku. His great strength is his ability to explain things in plain language. As it says on his bio (click the link above) he is "a theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and popularizer of science." He is that, but of course his passion and love of science comes across very well. I wish he was my professor of aeronautics... I love the quote I found in an interview online, he said, "Wealth is something that corrupts and dies with you. But ideas can live forever and change the world."

Oh well, time for more study and reading.

Cheers.

What a totally awesome Sunday this has become!

2011-02-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings, friends.

I thank God every day for friends, and one of them was performing last night with Bob's Brother's Band.
He asked me to help him in a new activity. Dan Winslow is the music minister for a new church. Never been to a new church before, so we went to hear what it was all about.

Well, the music was just wonderful. Contemporary Christian music, well played by Dan and his small, but growing team. My taste in music will fit in perfectly there, so I'm delighted to become involved.

Not only that, the excitement of meeting new people in a new spiritual venture was novel, satisfying, and quite uplifting. The church? It's the Discovery Metro Church. The pastor, Elliot Sneed, gave a practical, gospel based sermon that was topical, to the point, and well presented, even though the poor man was suffering and had had a temperature of 103 the night before.

So, dear friends, if you want to experience a warm welcome, a new and exciting event, and frankly would be kind enough to support this fledgling community, please consider coming to the "Grand Opening" on 20th February. Details on their website. Connect to them on Facebook

See you there.

Back to School

2011-02-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

Greetings,

Well, I feel like a teenager! I've enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Degree at Liberty University Online

Liberty University in Lynchburg VA was founded by Jerry Faldwell SR. You can read about the university in their "About Page"

My degree will be in Aeronautics! (Really?!) Well, it's what I do for a living.

As a Christian university, I made contact with the Liberty Online Ministries They have initiated a scheme where local students may get in touch with each other. So I have written to my two neighbors who have expressed an interest in the online ministries.

Here is a photograph of the campus.

Wish me luck

Weather for Pilots - absolutely the best website.

2010-11-10T07:41:00.001-05:00

So you are planning a trip in your aircraft, eh? Don't you just love DUATS with the raw format for METARS and TAFS? No! Neither do I.

There's a gentleman called Dan Checkoway who felt like I did, that the so-called decoded plain language text version of the weather observations provided by DUATS are hard to read. You might just miss something critical!

Over the years I've been a supporter of Dan's service, called Weathermeister I've been amazed at how it has improved. It's so good, that Dan has put weathermeister.com up for what is called Qualified Internet Service Provider (QICP) with the FAA. See FAA QICP

Want to read more about Weathermeister? See this link: About Weithermeister

Want to see Weathermeister on Facebook? Click Weathermeister on Facebook

American Smooth Jazz Awards.

2010-09-03T05:57:00.000-04:00

Hey readers!

If you like my Pandora Smooth Jazz radio station....Click Here to Hear It

You will like the American Smooth Jazz Awards. There will be some top performers attending. The event is in Chicago, check out this website, or their own web page.

Richard Elliot, performing at the event
photograph from www.americansmoothjazzawards.com

Time	October 29 at 7:00pm - October 30 at 12:00am

Location	DuSable Museum, Chicago, IL

A Father's Influence - two events that changed my life.

2010-08-27T08:48:00.001-04:00

Greetings, readers.

I was thinking about what motivates me the other day. Why, for example, do I so enjoy the company of emergency medical people, firemen, policemen, or any other first responders? For one thing they all do what they do because of their own sense of duty. I remember a quotation from Robert A. Heinlein's book, "Time Enough for Love", "Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect."
See Wikiquote

So I am comfortable in the company of duty driven people who possess that self-respect. Why? I do remember the hurricane in 1954 called Hazel. We lived in Philadelphia and the six of us were huddled around the gas stove with no electricity during that storm. A large tree crashed down on the roof of the house next door. I remember being somewhat scared, and became quite upset when Dad put on his "oilskin" raincoat and grabbed his utility flashlight. "Don't go out there, Dad, it's dangerous," I said. I will never forget his words, "I have to son, our neighbor needs help." Nobody asked him to help, and for sure as frightening as it was out there, nobody argued with Dad after he said that. His influence on me, by example, has remained all my life.

Photograph taken four years after Hurricane Hazel

The second event was about a year earlier. I remember we drove for what seemed like hours from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to the beach on a cold and windy day. I couldn't understand why we were standing on a wind-swept sand dune. Dad picked me up and said, "John, this is where man first flew." Is it any surprise I became a pilot?

Dad and me

Rain, wind, presage of coming autumnal weather?

2010-08-23T07:04:00.000-04:00

Greetings readers,

I love weather. Good or bad, it is a constant reminder that we are small. Who was it who shouted at the waves? I know of a prayer which says, "Do not listen to kings who shout at the waves."

An understanding of weather, a study of forecasting in particular, leads me to a fascination for the phenomena which occur daily. I always consult the public discussion page of our local National Weather Service office in Buffalo. In spite of the old-fashioned way of writing in upper case letters; a throw back to the days of teleprinters, there are some gems to be found there. Click Here to read the current discussion. If you read your own local page daily you will get to know the forecasters personally, as their comments reflect their art, their thought processes, and in the case of one particular forecaster in Buffalo, his wonderful way with words.

The discussion is hyperlinked, with any word appearing in their glossary showing up underlined.

Here is the current discussion:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
303 AM EDT MON AUG 23 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
-- Changed Discussion --
DEEP LOW PRESSURE WILL SETTLE SLOWLY SOUTH FROM CENTRAL NEW YORK TO
CHESAPEAKE BAY BY TUESDAY...CIRCULATING SHOWERS BACK ACROSS
OUR REGION FOR A TIME TODAY BEFORE DRYING WORKS IN FROM THE NORTH
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL THEN CROSS THE LOWER
LAKES WITH A FEW SHOWERS LATER WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY BEFORE HIGH
PRESSURE SETTLES IN FOR A LONG DRY AND WARMER PERIOD THROUGH NEXT
WEEKEND.

Notice the red? That's changed discussion from the previous version. Notice the word "FRONT" is a link, click it!

So it's colder, windier, cloudier, and wetter than previously this summer. Perhaps the days of swimming in the lake are soon to end. Perhaps it's time to think about getting boats off the water. Perhaps the trees will turn soon. Whatever.... I don't like wishing my life away, as every moment is important, but I do look forward to the change of seasons. How beautiful fresh snowfall is! How awesome new growth in spring! How fascinating the blaze of colors in the fall.

Enjoy the weather, whatever it brings.

Click that "Next Blog" Buttton

2010-08-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings, oh so few readers.

Wondering what to say? What to write? Well, out of curiosity I clicked on the "Next Blog" button. This opened up a new world for me. I'd like to recommend in particular this blog. "Wild Life in the Woods" Why? Simply because the author, Susan, writes well, speaks her mind, and inspires many. As she says in one of her blogs, "COMMENTS: HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS??? They are absolutely the first thing I check every time I come here. I love to write, but the only way I have I of knowing if something I have said has resonated with you is if you TELL me so!!! So, PLEASE, leave me COMMENTS!!! I hate to beg...but..." How true that is. My two (?) readers sometimes write an email to me when I've blogged, which is all too infrequently.

So, if you're reading this, do leave a comment. One of the useful bits of information you could share is how you found the blog!

So onto a different topic.....

Float Planes and video camera error!

I was most grateful for a phone call the other day. Barry, the owner of a Widgeon who I met at Rochester Airport Wings day. He told me that there was another Wednesday fly-in at the north end of Conesus Lake. Now talk about small worlds, one of my facebook friends once popped a status up saying he was flying onto the lake! Talk about small worlds.

All the pilots seemed to know me, and all expressed gratitude for a flight I flew in June. Their good friend, pilot, Jim had crashed the Curtis Museum's Hudson replica on one of its first test flights. We are all glad to report that Jim is doing fine, going home shortly to continue his recuperation.

So these gentlemen of the air all wanted to say hello and thanks for something quite routine in the EMS world, flying a patient to hospital! Oh well.

I took some videos of them departing, all great stuff, but somehow managed to let iPhoto delete them off the camera before I'd had a chance to load them into iMovie! One of these days computers will be idiot proof!

Suffice to say, the stills below were the best you're going to get!

Thanks for reading, and PLEASE comment, if only to say hello.

Open Street Map. A great idea! Join the Fun

2010-07-30T10:36:00.000-04:00

So you have a GPS, yes?

So you use maps online, such as Google, Yahoo etc.?

So did you know that there are copyright limitations on the use of those maps? How about public domain mapping? As a keen user of ForeFlight on my iPhone I read that they make use of map tiles from the Open Street Map (OSM) project. This is similar to a wiki, but allows anyone to contribute to the map, adding features, called nodes.

You can use your GPS to record tracks, then pop them onto the map adding information such as street names etc. You can add amenities, points of interest, just about anything.

Check out the map, have a read, and if you're a geek like me, join the fun!

Check out my Open Street Map Page and follow the links there.

If you'd like an excellent application to make use of your iPhone, check out lLOE - iPhone Little OSM Editor

And if you'd like an example of a node I uploaded using the iPhone iLOE app, click here

Another aviation crash, loss of a good man.

2010-05-31T07:25:00.000-04:00

I am saddened by the loss of an FAA inspector, Mike Wheeler, last week.

News Story

I met Mike for the first time last month. We flew my annual check ride in an EC 135 helicopter. I was impressed by Mike's passion for flying, his depth of knowledge, and his flair. On first impression he appeared to be one of aviation's gentlemen of the air.

He will be sadly missed.

Another aviation crash, another statistic.

2010-04-16T04:15:00.000-04:00

Another airliner crashed on April 10th. The world's press are, of course, very interested because of the added tragedy of who was on board, including the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski. Speculation as to the cause may not be accurate, may be too early, but I feel motivated to comment.

This accident appears to be yet another example of controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT, as it's called in aviation. I feel for those pilots because they were under so much pressure to land in spite of the poor weather. It yet again reinforces the safety argument that it doesn't matter who is on board, the decision whether or not to land an aircraft rests solely with the pilot in command.

That pressure was reflected in a comment by the former commander of Air Force One in a documentary where he actually stated that they did not have the option of diverting when the US president was on board! WRONG! You always have to option to fly to an alternate airport, regardless of who's on board.

This applies to all flights, especially my own, emergency medical helicopter operations. When I was flying search and rescue, it was true then, too. It does no good to become part of the problem when a rescue is underway!

Remember the Titanic? That captain was put under pressure by the owner to maintain a high speed in the face of iceberg risk, simply because of the need for speed! Commercial considerations overrode common sense, and so many deaths were the result.

Should the Polish pilots have attempted a landing? Perhaps not, but there is nothing inherently unsafe about an attempted approach in bad weather provided they go around at decision altitude and then fly to the alternate! In a helicopter we can always land, almost anywhere, and send for an ambulance to take our patient to hospital. I'd rather that than become another CFIT statistic, thank you very much!

Accident investigations, regulatory bodies' recommendations, and lawmakers have, over the years, added technology and regulation to try to minimize human factors in accidents. Ignore Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) alerts at your peril, pilots! I would hate to think the last thing I would ever hear would be the words "WARNING, TERRAIN" in my headset. Ironic that the last words of a Spanish speaking pilot in reply to a "PULL UP" warning was "Shut up, Gringo!" just before he crashed into high ground near Tenerife.

The irony, the waste, the loss of life is just so wrong, so avoidable. To me, and I believe to all pilots with integrity, the loss of any life is a tragedy, whether a VIP or just an ordinary person.

Come on, boys and girls in the cockpit, don't become yet another person about whom we ask, "What were they thinking?"

Photo from www.sott.net © EPA

Nice new layouts. (and a picture of Rudi getting shaved!)

2010-03-27T08:39:00.000-04:00

I like the new layouts that blogger have made available.

Here's Rudi getting shaved early this year so that he could have an x-ray of his poorly shoulder. He's got arthritis, poor lad!

The Axe man and the Saber-toothed Tiger

2010-02-22T13:15:00.001-05:00

The Axe man and the Saber-toothed Tiger

Once upon a time there was a Stone Age village. The men were all hunters, and every day they would go out to hunt saber-toothed tigers. One of them, Ugh by name, always seemed to have the best axe. His father had taught him and he seemed to have the sharpest edge, the best handle, and his axes really lasted. So one day one of the other hunters, Grunt, asked Ugh to make him an axe. He did, and everyone noticed how much better a hunter Grunt had become.

It was not long before others began asking Ugh for axes, and pretty soon he was spending all his time making finding flint, chipping axe heads and making handles. He became very hungry, as he had no time to hunt. So he arranged with all his hunter friends for them to pay him part of each kill, provided he kept them supplied with axes.

Now his reputation grew and grew. People from distant villages came and asked him for axes. He began to be overcome with orders, and although he had more than enough to eat, he could not keep up with demand. So he hired a friend, who was good at making handles, to assist, giving him part of the payments of meat. He took on an apprentice flint chipper too!

His business went from strength to strength. He had more meat than he needed, so he would barter meat for, say, eggs. Now the elders and tribal chiefs began muttering in their long-house. “Ugh is rich. He has too much meat and eggs. This is not fair.” So the chief, named Ubamu, came to him and said, “Ugh, you have to make baskets.”

Baskets? Ugh didn’t know anything about baskets, but he knew if he didn’t comply the marriage between his son and Ubamu’s daughter would not take place. The chief was pleased with the baskets, and gave each family one basket each. “More baskets”, he informed Ugh. Soon Ugh’s axe business began to suffer as he struggled to keep up with the chief’s demand for baskets to give away to the villagers.

Ugh began to starve. He fired his flint apprentice, his handle maker, and concentrated on baskets for the chief to give to everyone. Hunger forced him back to hunting, and soon he fell short on his basket payments to the chief. The marriage was cancelled, Ugh grew hungrier, and finally the chief banished him from the village.

Ugh died trying to survive on his own.

So the moral of the story? Socialism didn’t work then and it doesn’t now!

Genealogy - a fascinating hobby!

2010-02-09T06:58:00.002-05:00

Greetings,

Well, I've been re-infected with the family history bug. It all started back in the late 80's, I think. One of my late father's friends passed away. Dad was so depressed, saying things like, "They're all dead!" So Mom went onto the international directory enquiries and asked for a friend of Dad's by name. They offered her twelve or so numbers for that name in the whole of the USA. The first one she dialed was the right one, so she handed the phone to Dad. I can't remember the name of that friend, but it cheered up the old man considerably.

At the same time Mom handed me the "Family Tree", a large paper handwritten one begun in the 30's by cousin, James Picken. At the time I was working in Aberdeen, Scotland, thus popped into the Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland Family History shop to see what they could do for me. My task was to try to find a living relative of my Dad's in the UK. Well, I failed miserably in that goal, but was delighted to meet a charming lady, one Olive Murray, at that shop. She asked what I had so far and became very animated and excited when she saw the name Picken. She rushed off to view some microfiche or other and then turned to me and shook my hand. "What's that about?", I asked. She explained that part of her life's work had been to research the families of the "Covenanters" and had always wished to meet a living descendant from the signatories of the document.

Ashamed to say, I was a little lost. "Don't you know your Scottish history?" she asked. Well I didn't.

Here's a little about the Covenanters...

The Covenanters, Who Were They ? A snapshot view.

The history and the changes that occurred in Scotland - and subsequently in Ireland - through the 17th and early 18th centuries are highly charged by one word: Covenanters. So who were they and why were they so influential?

It is easy to say that they were the Scottish Presbyterians who in 1638 signed the "National Covenant" to uphold the Presbyterian religion, and the "Solemn League and Covenant" of 1643 which was a treaty with the English Parliamentarians. The Covenanter's made a stand for political and religious liberty that led to almost a century of persecution and their widespread migration to Ulster and the American colonies. But their role in history was not as simple as that, as they were the children of the Protestant Reformation in Europe and sought to have the church of theirbelief, according to the Scriptures. Above all, there was but one Head of the Kirk - Jesus Christ, and they refused to accept the King in that role. From this opposition to the king arose all their troubles.

http://www.thereformation.info/covenanters1.htm

Well I'm not sure who my ancestor was who signed back in 1638, but quite possibly one of the Stewart family ancestors as listed. Check the link if you're interested.

As for now, using ancestry.com and some computer software, collaborating with family members, both my own and my wife's, I now have 786 names. I know there's many an error, as blind acceptance of other people's family trees do lead to some errors. A true genealogist would look up original records.

However, there are a few facts that fascinate.

Great Grandfather, Henry Beam Piper, lost his leg in the war between the states.
Burke's Peerage (google it!) lists some of our ancestors as members of the peerage. See William Murray of Tullibardine, Perthshire. (http://thepeerage.com/p2408.htm) That's a fascinating website in its own right! Details of the nobility back as far as the 14th century!
Although I never did find a living relative on my Dad's side, I have, to our surprise, found a living relative on my wife's father's side in England. Not only have I written to him, and await an answer, but my niece, Semra, lives in the same town.
Bought a book which is a biography of H. Beam Piper 1904-1964 who is my 1st cousin once removed. He wrote science fiction, and there's a small but enthusiastic "cult" of followers.
Finally, beware! This hobby can absorb you for weeks and weeks. Those little leaves on ancestry.com which have ancestry hints can take you deeper and deeper into the subject. Trying to decipher photocopies of old handwritten records hurts the eyes. Trying to decide if the German speaking clerk in Pennsylvania decided to change the spelling of names (for which he is famous in genealogical circles) baffles. Trying to track down stories of relatives WILL produce surprises.

Enjoy.

The most amazing cathedral on the face of the planet.

2010-01-20T18:40:00.002-05:00

Writer Bill Bryson wrote in his book, Notes from a Small Island, that in his opinion Durham Cathedral is the most beautiful cathedral on the face of the planet.

Or so he says.

IMHO I agree. When Gail and I visited, she said there was an amazing spiritual feeling there, to which I replied, "Nine hundred years of loving prayer does that to a place."

Click the links above.

Family History

2010-01-20T08:46:00.003-05:00

Well, I've resisted the advertising for Ancestry.com for ages, simply because they want lots of money. I finally bit the bullet and started. You may have seen their leaf advert on the TV. Well, I put myself in, and immediately got a leaf - an ancestry hint - and found my birth certificate in North Carolina. That lead to me adding my Mom and Dad, who I then edited with what I know. Soon it was like autumn in New York, with those leaves popping up everywhere.

That's when I discovered that my cousin Andrew had already done a lot of work on the Farrar and Picken family lines. I grabbed all sorts of ancestors off his public tree. Then discovered a relative I don't know had done years of work on the Stewart family tree - all of which matches stuff I already knew. So now I'm back to 1382 with my 12th Great Grandfather....

All rather absorbing.

However, as this post is somewhat of a review of ancestry.com, let me say that it's rather expensive. Some of the ancestry hints are for British records. If I want to access them from here in the USA, I have to pay $25 per month. Not going to do that, will rather collaborate with Andrew, let him look up the UK records, and I'll continue on the local price doing the USA records.

Fun, fun, fun. As if I wasn't already busy enough.

Check out the Kirk Family Tree

Politically Correct? Sometimes, but read this little bit.

2009-11-28T14:36:00.002-05:00

Gail and I were shopping in a mall yesterday. I stopped by the table where the Ontario County ARC were doing gift wrapping. I asked this very nice lady what "ARC" actually stood for, having often seen their busses. She replied something like, "Well, originally it was Association of Retarded Citizens but that is no longer politically correct, so it's simply ARC."

We enjoyed a little banter about political correctness and said "Merry Christmas" to one another, after all it's a free country. It made me think about all this and here are some of my thoughts.

I am a caucasian and when I see a negro I see differences.... but I also see that we share one God and have been created equal with unalienable rights.

I am able-bodied and when I see someone disabled I see differences... but I rejoice in their amazing adaptations, such as the blind man who walks with confidence using a stick or a guide dog. I am in awe of their special abilities.

I am a Christian and when I see a Jew I see differences... but I remember that we share the same God, the same roots, and I pray for them all knowing He will hear my prayer.

I am peace loving and when I see a terrorist I see differences... but I know in my heart that if they turn from their sin they, too, can have eternal life. If I can forgive them there is always the hope that they, too, will see the right path to eternal life.

I am a man and when I see a woman I see differences.... but I know that when a word such as "chairman" is used it is genderless, having worked under the chairmanship of many a fine woman.

I speak English and when I learn a little of a foreign language I hear differences.... but when I learn about the culture of another through their own language I find out things about them I would otherwise not know. There are words in other languages for which there is no English word. You try and translate the word "shalom." (See image above) Knowing these things enriches my life and allows me to seek that humility that is so hard to achieve.

In the end, taking offense at words used that are not nor never were intended to insult is just plain silly. To stop me from saying Merry Christmas in a country which espouses the principle of freedom of speech is so wrong that maybe it's time to fight this so-called liberal notion of remaining politically correct.

If you are insulted by my thoughts then forgive me. I do not intend to insult.

If fear of being called a racist prevents me from befriending a black man, an Arab, an occidental or anyone else who Christ commanded me to love, then that fear is itself a sin.

May your God protect you and keep you!

GoD and DoG by WJ Francisco

2009-10-28T10:50:00.002-04:00

Friends, I just posted this link to Facebook, and wanted to pop it on here too.

I heartily recommend this song.

Wendy Francisco

Cheers

Geneseo Air Show Video

2009-10-16T05:36:00.002-04:00

Greetings,

I realize I had not uploaded any video of this year's Geneseo Airshow, so here it is....

http://files.me.com/misterspock/tm6pg3.mov

Speedboat!

2009-09-22T06:29:00.000-04:00

Currently listening to......

2009-08-26T15:01:00.001-04:00

What'll I Do? by Linda Ronstadt & Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra
The Story of Love by Brigitte Zarie

Brigitte can be found on iTunes.iTunes location for Brigitte's Album or her website.

Conesus Sunrise

2009-08-25T07:19:00.004-04:00

I have to thank Taylor Hayward, whose royalty free music I found via a Google Search.

Enjoy the movie.

Shocking? Maybe, but if you text while driving.... WATCH THIS!

2009-08-25T06:03:00.000-04:00

NY Philharmonica

2009-08-09T08:00:00.001-04:00

Fantasia on Greensleeves by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic

Been a while

2009-08-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

Greetings, avid readers! It's been a while since I posted to the blog.

So what's new? Nothing much. We've suffered from one of the coldest Julys on record, second coldest since 1884. It's been damp, so much so that the varnish work on the speed boat has suffered. It's still not on the water. We're hoping today! Or maybe tomorrow at the latest. We'd like to buzz up to Vitale Park here on Conesus lake for the Sunday evening concert.

Here's the boat sitting rather forlorn and lonely in the car port. The varnish has ended up being a non-slip surface. Some of it turned to alligator skin due to the moisture. Oh well, this fall (autumn) we'll tackle it properly. A little history about the boat, it's a 1961 Cruisers Inc. It's been in Gail's family since new, and was restored by sister in law Jen and her husband Robert. 90 hp Mercury engine! Somewhat of a collector's item.

So I'll pop some photographs of the boat on the water this weekend.

Cheers

Just a thought on a way to support our troops.

2009-07-25T08:28:00.001-04:00

When my nephew was serving overseas in Kuwait, we sent him a little parcel of things he probably couldn't find "over there." If I remember correctly it included the following:

Powdered drink flavours (like Cool Aid) so as to make chlorinated water more palatable.
Medicated foot powder.
Bath soap, unscented ... guys don't use perfume!
Photographs from home.
Wet wipes.
A pair of sunglasses - somewhat indestructible, not your cheap gas station variety.
Powdered pudding mixes, just add milk... butterscotch and chocolate were the most popular.
Letter writing pad. (airmail weight). I gather this was not used for writing letters! They used the armed forces aerograms for letters, if any!
A pair of wrist sweat bands.

If you can think of other suggestions leave a comment.

If you don't have a friend or relative overseas, I believe you can find how to forward such personal care parcels online. Here's two I've found.

For the United Kingdom...

SOS - Support Our Soldiers

For the United States...

AnySoldier.com

Please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS on these websites, otherwise you'll be making life difficult for the volunteers.

Totally Awesome Army Wife Blog

2009-07-25T07:50:00.001-04:00

I have to thank one of my best friends, Jim Waltz, for forwarding a typical "support our military" email. In it, I clicked on a link to the web site below. Tammy, an army wife, writes a great blog about being an army wife. She is involved in all sorts of projects in which you, too, can participate.

Check out her blog, you'll be reading heartwarming and yet frightening stories for hours!

Army Household6

Cheers.

Classic classical music.

2009-07-25T07:29:00.001-04:00

I recently bought a classic classical album. Here's some of the tracks.

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for Double String Orchestra by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic

Romance. Andante from Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525 by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic

Élégie from Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48 by Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic

Enjoy!

BTW. I grew up watching the New York Philharmonic on the television with Leonard Bernstein. It was a program designed for children. This was simply wonderful. I do remember him having a microphone on and he hummed during the music! Awful! LOL

From Leonard Bernstein -- Timeline

1958 January 18, began first series of annual televised New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts on CBS TV, beginning with What Does Music Mean? YPCs continued until 1972, with 53 different programs led by LB.

Coldest July on Record, Where's this global warming we've been promised?

2009-07-23T18:58:00.001-04:00

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
342 PM EDT THU JUL 23 2009

Climate....

TEMPERATURES THROUGH JULY 22ND CONTINUE TO MAKE THIS THE COOLEST JULY IN HISTORY SO FAR AT ROCHESTER...BUT BUFFALO HAS DROPPED TO THIRD PLACE IN THE LONG TERM RECORD (TO 1871 INCLUDING DOWNTOWN DATA) BUT STILL EASILY THE COOLEST IN THE 67 YEAR AIRPORT RECORD. HERE ARE THE UPDATED STATS...

FOR ROCHESTER...AVERAGE JULY TEMP 70.7.
COOLEST JULYS (BACK TO 1871)...
2009... 64.3 (THRU 7/22)
1884... 65.4
1992... 66.6
1891... 67.1
2000... 67.1

FOR BUFFALO...AVERAGE JULY TEMP 70.8.
COOLEST JULYS (AIRPORT DATA BACK TO 1943)...
2009... 65.4 (THRU 7/22)
1992... 66.8
1956... 67.6
2000... 67.6
1976... 67.8

COOLEST JULYS (INCLUDING DOWNTOWN DATA BACK TO 1871)...
1884... 65.2
1891... 65.3
2009... 65.4 (THRU 7/22)
1920... 66.1
1883... 66.8
1992... 66.8

This is a totally great album. If you've never heard Duruflé's Requiem, you should!

2009-07-01T09:13:00.002-04:00

Durufle : Requiem - Messe (C*m Jubilo) - Plasson
Anne Sofie von Otter, Marie-Claire Alain, Michel Plasson, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse & Thomas Hampson

Release Date: Nov 28, 2005
Genre: Classical
℗ 1999 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd.

iTunes for Mac and Windows

First Kite flown this year.

2009-06-10T13:31:00.001-04:00

Here we are! First kite flight of the year while on the way to the new North Shore Grill here on Conesus Lake.

Check out their website, if you wish.

Current listening delights more smooth jazz

2009-05-27T05:25:00.000-04:00

From his new album, Rock Steady, Richard's latest released album, Rock Steady, is up to his usual high standard.

Straight Up by Richard Elliot

Yaquala by Richard Elliot

And here's a British keyboardist, Oli Silk, who has been most influenced by Jeff Lorber

The Limit's the Sky by Oli Silk

Here's a track by the above mentioned Jeff

Come On Up by Jeff Lorber

Well, the deck's almost complete and what a difference it makes.

2009-05-16T08:18:00.001-04:00

The contractors almost finished the deck, just stairs and railings to finish.

Makes the house look so different.

Room for table and chairs, deck is 14 feet deep by just over 24 feet wide.

Details, awaiting delivery of hardware such as eye bolts and turnbuckles for the wires.

Today's Playlist.

2009-05-16T07:59:00.001-04:00

If You Went Away by Jane Monheit

This next one is probably the best interpretation of "Lullaby of the Leaves" I've ever heard...

Lullaby of the Leaves by The Jeff Hamilton Trio

Check out Yvonne's blog

2009-05-15T06:50:00.001-04:00

Hi, all,

I recently got an email from a friend who pointed me to her blog.

It's quite fun and interesting.

Click Here

Who let the dog's out?

2009-04-19T06:52:00.001-04:00

Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men

Today's playlist

2009-04-18T08:32:00.002-04:00

Photograph courtesy of http://www.sonsofdamien.co.uk/spitfire%201.htm

Spitfire: Prelude by London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Kaufman Spitfire: Fugue by London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Kaufman

Smooth Jazz, anyone?

2009-04-13T21:10:00.001-04:00

One of my facebook friends, Louis, runs smooth jazz radio station. Quite how he pays the bills I just don't know. He's on his sailboat, the Najee.

Read all about it at Smooth Jazz Beach Radio

Cheers.

Facebook, is it a good thing or not?

2009-04-10T08:46:00.001-04:00

From a good friend on Facebook:
"M Gary Guiste This facebook thing is getting too big to handle...Most likely will go back to blogspot soon...doing like 80 deletes per day now...sorry all...will keep it online for awhile, but then....hasta..."

Is he right? Well I have to admit that the amount of so called notifications is high. However you can hide those who do too many of those quizzes etc. I wish I could simply set it to notify me of status changes only. People tend to post short one line status comments, and those, to me, are how I keep in touch.

I am beginning to dislike the applications greatly. I get pestered to go back and play games that I don't like. I then tell the system to ignore them. I get invites from friends wanting me to play, but never find them on the game! My email junk burden has increased. All these factors make me agree with Gary somewhat.

But, I find that because my family and extended friends live all over the world and I DO wish to keep in touch.

I guess I'll continue to adjust my settings to reflect my wish for two things - remembering my loved ones and a peaceful life.

"Make new friends,
But keep the old;
One is silver,
The other gold.

Cheers

Let me tell you about Keiko Matsui

2009-04-06T04:05:00.001-04:00

Hi, I'm currently listening to the track below. I am constantly impressed by this lady's music. Grab a track!

Hope by Keiko Matsui

Here's a playlist for you. Enjoy!

2009-04-05T08:02:00.001-04:00

Using blogo, I can now pop a link from my iTunes straight into the blog! So I'll flip through some of my recent purchases. Enjoy the music!

Father's Eyes by Amy Grant

God's Been Good to Me by Crystal Lewis

Autumn Nocturne by The Jeff Hamilton Trio

Still In Love by Najee

The Sum of All Parts by Dave Holland Sextet

The Wave (Live) by Bobby Lyle

Feeling Good by Michael Bublé
Notice the é in Michael's name.

When I Dream by Barbra Streisand

Last Night At Danceland by Joe Sample & Randy Crawford

The next two are from the movie, The Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spitfire: Prelude by London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Kaufman
Spitfire: Fugue by London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Kaufman

Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men

Interesting comparison between Richard Elliott's version of I'm Not in Love with the original.
I'm Not In Love by Richard Elliott
I'm Not In Love by 10cc

Family of Love by Take 6

Un-Break My Heart by Toni Braxton

And finally, something funny!
Always Look On the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python

Cheers.

Communal living, a pet hate!

2009-04-05T07:43:00.002-04:00

Don't you just hate it when folks leave stuff for you to clean up! This was a week's worth of dirty dishes at work.

Come on, people! Clean up after yourselves! PLEASE!

I Ain't Gonna Let You Break My Heart by Jane Monheit

After Gary's recommendation

2009-04-05T06:46:00.001-04:00

Here's the value of Facebook™, Friend Gary said in his status he was listening to the station below. So I checked it, and how very nice it is!

1480 KPHX---The Lounge Sound for Phoenix and the Valley

Speaking English! Health tips for the unwary.

2009-04-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

I love this Doctor ! (Stolen from an unsigned email!)

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q:Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q:What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is : No Pain...Good!

Q:Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ...... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLOOOO… Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-go od food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. And remember: 'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arri ving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO! What a Ride!!! '

AND.... For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you!

Soon be time for this sort of activity again.

2009-04-04T07:27:00.001-04:00

Rudi This was taken a couple of years ago.

Maybe we'll soon have warmer weather so I can put Rudi back on a surfboard. Of course this year we'll be getting the ski-boat onto the water. I'll promise to keep blogging the progress of the ski-boat's renovation.

Cheers.

The little blue bug!

2009-04-04T06:59:00.001-04:00

This is Gail's little blue bug. It's just like the real car she once had, without all the flower-power stickers. A little fun!

Facebook, should it be blocked by our employers?

2009-04-04T06:19:00.003-04:00

I have read blogs about facebook. It's blocked at my place of work with the explaination that we should be doing work not playing around doing social networking.

Is social networking part of work? Well, sometimes! I can see the point of view of our employers, and know that facebook has been guilty of some serious spam via the applications that have been added. After all, millions of people were told they were related to Barack Obama.

So overall I guess it's justified for us not to use it at work. But it saddens me that we can't be trusted to get on with our jobs while simply keeping in touch with others.

Oh well, I'll use it at home.

I'm a pedant when it comes to grammar.

2009-03-30T12:53:00.003-04:00

I received this in an email today, and being so pedantic about grammar (thanks to my mother!) I laughed out loud at this one....

Here's a good story.

Proper grammar

On my birthday, I got a gift certificate from my wife..

The certificate paid for a visit to a witch doctor living on a nearby reservation who was rumored to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction. After being persuaded, I drove to the reservation, handed my ticket to the witch doctor, and wondered what I was in for.

The old man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to me, and with a grip on my shoulder, warned, 'Mmmm, This powerful medicine and must be respected. You take one teaspoonful and say '1-2-3 'When you do that, you become more manly than you ever been in many moons and you perform as long as want.'

I was encouraged. As he walked away, I turned and asked, 'How do I stop the medicine from working? '

'Your partner say '1-2-3-4,' he responded. 'But when she do that, medicine not work again until next full moon.'

I was eager to see if it worked. I went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited my wife to join me in the bedroom. When she came in, I took off my clothes and said, '1-2-3!'

Immediately, I was the manliest of men. My wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, 'What was the 1-2-3 for?'

And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentence with a preposition.

We're in business now.

2009-03-26T11:01:00.002-04:00

Greetings, loyal reader(s)

Gail and I have taken steps to protect ourselves during these difficult economic times. We've found a business opportunity, working from home, that is probably the best we've ever found. Not only do we totally believe in the product, but feel it's such a breakthrough that soon the whole world will know about it.

The product is called MAX GXL. It is a wellness and health product that we've been taking for nearly two months now. Frankly both of us have never felt better, a testimonial so often repeated there has to be value to this MAX GXL.

If you, like us, feel it's important to take control of your life and look after your financial future, go to the web page below, check it out, and get in touch with us.

Gail's Website

Crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 at Amsterdam - the media

2009-03-05T06:00:00.003-05:00

I really hate the media fueled frenzy over accidents in the aviation business. I read on one blog that fuel starvation was the reason, which is clearly not true. I read that Turkish Airlines were accused of poor maintenance, why? Because the day before the crash they fixed a faulty master caution light.

I have read that the auto-throttles had gone into retard mode, and that the captain's radar altimeter had suddenly under-read. That could be part of the cause. However, it's all just speculation.

Wouldn't it be nice to expect accident investigation authorities to produce an authoritative report, free of political pressures, free of fears of litigation, and accurate. However the sceptic in me knows that the reports are slow to arrive, are often driven by political agendas of many kinds, and so rarely do anything to prevent similar accidents in the future.

It's so easy to simply say, "pilot error" and be done with it.

It's so easy to blame everyone and anyone.

It's so sad that in the end - all aircraft accidents are preventable. All it would take would be one break in the usual chain of events that lead to the mishap to prevent it. If the above speculation is true, the pressing of one button and flying the aircraft by hand would have prevented this particular tragedy. Too much reliance on technology, autopilots, auto-throttles, GPS or inertial navigation systems.. etc., have caused accidents and will continue to do so. Is it laziness? Is it a lack of attention?

Let's get back to basics, pilots, and for heaven's sake fly the aircraft!

See also Buffalo's accident! They didn't fly the aircraft!

Cheers

Fireproof My Marriage

2009-02-04T09:25:00.004-05:00

We just watched this movie last night. An amazing film, which ran through us like a knife. It is an emotional roller coaster worth viewing.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Exposure to things we’d rather not think about.

2009-02-03T19:24:00.000-05:00

Did you ever notice how passing motorists get “swivel necks” whenever they pass an accident scene. Everybody slows down, causing delays, just to gawk at the scene. I suppose it’s because we’re glad it didn’t happen to us.

Well, in the job I’m in I have to face the harsh realities of our own mortality. Another crash victim, another life lost, another family in grief. So another little silent prayer, another wish for hope, for comfort for people I don’t know.

Seeing so many faces of fire, police, and medical people at the conclusion of the latest event I just know there’s an awful lot of people out there who care.

But to an outsider, hearing humor in troubled times can and does cause hurt. To those who witness the black humor of emergency workers of any kind, just try to remember it’s a defense mechanism. I’ll never forget the quote from another war, another place; “My leg, I’ve lost my leg!” “No you haven’t, mate, it’s over here.”

So hugs all round as appropriate.

Just when you think you have everything.....

2009-01-22T05:31:00.002-05:00

You know, sometimes not being able to have something makes you want it even more. After 40 years away from the United States, there's a list of things my siblings and I might have missed all that time. The list includes:

Pumpernickel bread
Ivory soap,
Contemporary Christian Music,
French's mustard,
Freedom

Now, of course, there's a list of things we would all rather we didn't have:

Sexual Offenders Lists
Tax returns,
Snow (unless you ski!)
Taxes
Dog doo
Ill health.

I could go on, but you get the idea. What made me think of all this? I got a nice email today from James Waltz, long time family friend over in New Jersey....

I quote from "When your hut's on fire."

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited

island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the
horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to
build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and
to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived
home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He
felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with
disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?'
Early the next day, he w as awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the
island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary
man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

The Moral of This Story:

It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't
lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain
and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning
to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Who’s life have you touched today?

2009-01-12T05:39:00.002-05:00

You know, something somebody said to me last Friday hit home. Full of praise for some safety issue I was dealing with at work he encouraged me never to give up. Is it false humility that made me feel as though nobody was listening? Was it frustration at what seemed like chronic apathy that made me so frustrated that others could not see the point I was trying to make? Well, I never knew until he told me that folks were talking about the issue, were thinking about safety, and indeed were, in many cases, grateful that I had taken on the fight for this particular issue.

The issue, or topic, was the use of satellite tracking in flight. I feel so passionate about survival, knowing that one of the greatest tragedies could be to survive some crash landing only to succumb to the cold or to injuries sustained in that crash only because people could not find you.

The four principles of survival… etched in my thoughts about all this are:

Protection
Location
Water
Food

So many get confused about survival priorities, worrying unnecessarily about food when you can survive many days without, but will die within minutes if you are not protected against, say, the cold. Item two, LOCATION, is simply the fact that the best way to survive is to get out of the survival situation quickly. In the EMS world we’re “blessed” with the concept of the so called Golden Hour. Yet talking to my EMS aviation colleagues they seem to forget that golden hour applies to them, too, if faced with a survival situation.

So what’s that all got to do with the title, “Who’s life have you touched today?” Until mentioned in a gracious way on Friday, I had felt that nobody listens, nobody cares. Well, friends, lest you forget, people sometimes listen, but rarely say “thank you.”

Well, a big thank you right back at the gentleman who stated he was probably one of the few people who read my blog. Keep reading, my friend… I will never forget our conversation last Friday.

Ah, I don't live in the past, but I used to!

2009-01-08T05:37:00.003-05:00

TC and the neighbor's daughter whose name I can't remember, circa 1976 or '77

Singapore Skyline circa 1972

A preposition being a bad word to end a sentence with, here's the latest photograph from a huge batch scanned at Walmart from my collection of transparencies.

From the Sublime to the ridiculous? A weather phenomena!

2008-12-11T11:14:00.002-05:00

Greetings dear readers.

I was idly reading the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service text bulletin on today's forecast and quote part of it below...

LOOKING AT A CROSS SECTION FROM NEAR GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN TO NEAR
ALBANY...PLACING THE LINE THROUGH MUCH OF OUR FORECAST AREA...I
NOTICED A NOTICEABLE WESTWARD EXTENSION OF MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS
DURING THIS 00Z-12Z PERIOD WHICH MAY ALSO EXTEND THE WESTERN EDGE OF
LIGHT SNOW AS FAR WEST AS LAKE ERIE. OF COURSE...THE GFS IS MORE
ROBUST IN SHOWING THIS UPWARD SLOPING FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAN THE
NAM...BUT BOTH MODELS DO SHOW SUFFICIENT FRONTOGENESIS AND MOISTURE
FROM 700MB TO 500MB FOR SNOW TO FORM ALOFT. THE BIG QUESTION IS IF
THE SNOW WILL REACH THE GROUND AS THERE IS A VERY DRY UNDERLYING
LAYER THROUGH WHICH ANY SNOW MUST FALL...MAYBE ALL WILL SUBLIMATE
BEFORE REACHING THE GROUND AND WE`LL JUST HAVE SOME REALLY NICE
VIRGA. IN EITHER CASE...WILL EXTEND CHANCE POPS TO COVER THE REST OF
THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE FINGER LAKES TO THE WESTERN EDGE...40
POPS FOR NOW.

See their web page HERE

Well, there's a couple of words there which I find interesting. You don't often see sublimation mentioned. That is not ridiculous, it's where a solid changes to a gas without going through the liquid state. More often in meteorological discussions it is mentioned in the context of snow lying on the ground disappearing although the temperature is below freezing.

Secondly, there's the mention of virga. That is nothing to do with a little blue pill, it's precipitation that does not reach the ground.

I have to say I've met one of the forecasters from Buffalo NWS office, David Sage. He gave a truly fabulous lecture on thunderstorms at an FAA sponsored "Wings" event some years ago. I was impressed by his passion for the subject, his ability to pass on vital information to the pilot community, and above all his wonderful use of English. Look for his name on the text page linked above! Send him an email.....

Cheers.

A Hard Day's Night

2008-10-27T09:12:00.001-04:00

You could see the compassion, concern, and love on everyone’s face last night.

Well, last night’s events were hard on us all, because the patient was “family.” He was a law enforcement officer, with family in the same profession. The family, in the widest possible sense, was everyone involved, from the first responders on scene, many of whom knew him, to his own relatives and loved ones.

He was taken to a local hospital and prepared for flight. He passed away despite all the efforts to save him.

You know, events like these make us all feel deep emotions. God created us in His image and commanded us to love one another. When I see so many effected by the events of last night, so many caring people, so much effort and love, I thank God for the blessing and the curse of that love.

The old cliché that “Love Hurts” is true and is the curse part of the gift of love. You could see the hurt on the faces of the crew who carried out CPR for most of the flight. You could tell that the nurses, the helpers, the doctors, the radiographers, the chaplain, the cleaner, the firemen, the policemen, and even the patient in the next bed were all at one with the patient, hoping and praying for the best.

That it was not to be is simply in the hands of God. It reminds us of our own mortality. We feel a profound sense of loss. That loss of someone I didn’t even know cannot compare to the loss felt by the family and loved ones, but is no less painful.

So I ask myself once again, “Why do I do this job?” Well, I know that it’s the same motivation and care that everyone I met last night feels. We are all driven by the same desire, to make a difference. Sometimes we do, sometimes we cannot, but we would all feel defeated, insignificant, a failure if we didn’t try.

I thank God for this patient’s life, for the dedication and motivation shown last night, and ask that He support us all in this work. I also ask Him to comfort the bereaved as well as the caregivers.

Skype Public Chat

2008-10-21T22:33:00.003-04:00

Click this link to join an EMS Helicopter Pilots and Crew Chat on Skype

What makes music your favorite? An essay on musical taste.

2008-10-03T01:52:00.002-04:00

Greetings those few readers that I attract.

As I was listening to music on my computer via the internet I was tempted to ask myself, "Why do I like one song more than another?" It's almost impossible to answer, so difficult that I cannot even begin. There's rhythm, or if you like the back beat, usually drums and/or bass line. There's melody, a catchy tune that you can't get out of your head. Sometimes it's as simple as the lyrics... one of my favorite musicians is Sting, whose melody lines are not catchy at all, but whose words ring out so often. As an aside, I remember seeing him being interviewed, I think it was on MTV, and was asked what young people thought of all his religion. To paraphrase his answer he said that while church was discredited God was not.

I digress....

Back to the point or points... another example I like is 12/4 time signature. It's simply uplifting, makes you want to dance, and I don't dance, don't ask me....

So imagine my joy at being directed to Pandora.com by a friend. You will see "my" stations listed on the right. How are those created? Simply by seeding your initial station with a song or artist you like, and those clever people at Pandora have spend thousands of hours classifying music in what they call genomes and supply you with similar music on your station. Sounds delightfully simple, but to be honest is as massive an undertaking, in my humble opinion, as the mapping of the human genome. That scientific miracle was said to have been impossible in my lifetime and yet it has happened.

If Tim Westergren, the founder of the music genome project, reads this I hope he takes heart. I believe their map is as incomplete as the human genome was ten years ago. There's simply not enough definitions, enough genres, enough detail at this time. It is, I believe, for this reason that I get music I don't like on my stations at times. That's no problem as I simply pop over to the open web page and click the thumbs down button. They politely apologize and go on to the next song. (Makes me giggle the way they are so polite! Nice!)

Here's an example of the detail of the song I am listening to as I write. The song, You Are, sung by Ron Kenoly, has been detailed at Pandora as follows:

r & b influences
acoustic rhythm piano
call and answer vocal harmony (Antiphony)
extensive vamping
mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation
paired vocal harmony
a vocal-centric aesthetic
major key tonality
string section beds
acoustic rhythm guitars
subtle use of fender rhodes
vocal duets
upbeat lyrics

(That took some fiddling to cut and paste! For the geeks amongst you, I had to switch to "Edit HTML" to strip out the formatting.... what a pain!)

Ok, so do I like the song, yes, perhaps 6 out of 10. So I went back to Pandora and searched for one of my top favorites of this genre to see what they'd written. It's the Lion and the Lamb by Crystal Lewis. They say:

& b influences
major key tonality
melodic songwriting
an emotional female lead vocal performance
a smooth female lead vocal
electric pianos
subtle use of strings
upbeat lyrics

Note the similarities with the definition above. To be fair to Pandora, the above are summaries of their attributes. They say:

Q: How many attributes or "genes" are there in the Music Genome?

There are just shy of 400 musical attributes in the Music Genome Project.

When you ask the Pandora Tuner "why is this song playing?" what gets displayed is just a summary of the information used by the Music Genome.

Even two songs that show identical answers to "why is this song playing?" still have countless differences that the Music Genome uses when it matches music based on each of those songs.

These attribute summaries are intended to provide some interesting insight into the musicological elements of a song -- without getting into dozens of individual attributes for each element.

---
For an explanation of the most common summary elements, please see FAQ Section 6D, beginning with:
http://blog.pandora.com/faq/#92

To close this short essay, let me recommend the following if you're interested:

Q: How can I find out more about music theory and structure?

We're creating an audio and video series called Pandora Presents... that explores in more detail some widely used musical features. To listen, check out: http://blog.pandora.com/podcast

Happy Listening

Chase Bank - thieves!

2008-09-09T12:55:00.003-04:00

Believe this or believe it or not, Chase Bank have a wonderful gimmick for making money. We decided to pay off the 29.99999% interest rate card last January. Oh, but there was a finance charge for doing that over the phone which was not included in the "final" payment. So we get a statement with not only that finance charge but additional charges for "late" payments.

Three attempts later, we have yet again paid them $5:28 plus an unknown fee for paying over the phone. We'll see if they hit us next month with additional finance charges.

Maybe the CEO of Chase Bank would dip into his own pocket and pay off this otherwise impossible to clear debt!

Argh!

Politics - Conservative Online Group, Grassfire.org

2008-09-09T05:55:00.003-04:00

Greetings,

I consider myself to be somewhat of a central but right leaning fellow when it comes to the political scene. Somewhat middle of the road on many issues, but I received information about Grassfire.org from a good friend. There you can add your name to petitions that suit you, take part in straw polls, buy yard signs and so on. Whilst I may not agree with some of this conservative organization's stands on some issues, I do find that it is a good answer to blogs such as move on.org.

Check it out... http://www.grassfire.org/index.htm

Look what I saw, a Morris Minor

2008-08-27T08:46:00.001-04:00

On a rural road in New York State, a Morris Minor

Just a thunderstorm kind of day.

2008-06-23T09:06:00.002-04:00

Thunder and lightening.

Structure Fire in Branchport, NY

2008-06-22T09:09:00.002-04:00

Flew past this house on fire yesterday. Huge flames. When we returned about an hour later it was all over!

Cheers

B2 Crash Video on YouTube

2008-06-11T05:18:00.000-04:00

Just dogs

2008-05-29T08:36:00.003-04:00

Just Rudi playing with a rope on a boat...

no not soap on a rope..

Want to be informed when there's new posts?

2008-05-25T13:29:00.001-04:00

I have yet to find a way to add an email link on the blog so that you may leave an email address to be notified if there are changes to the blog..

However, in the settings panel I can add email addys. If you want to be informed when there's new posts comment to this post with your desired email addy. I will NOT publish that comment, but will add your address to the linked list.

Cheers.

Aerial Photographs today video

2008-05-24T17:49:00.002-04:00

Our home on Conesus Lake

2008-05-24T17:21:00.001-04:00

Snoopy's in town.

2008-05-24T17:19:00.001-04:00

The Metlife blimp is in Rochester for a golf championship.

I was young once!

2008-05-24T11:37:00.003-04:00

Well here I am n-n-n-nineteen...

Video slideshow in New York

2008-05-17T03:29:00.003-04:00

Greetings, I bought the software removing the "bug" text!

Another Day another car wreck

2008-04-28T18:18:00.002-04:00

Here's a car well wrapped around a tree.

BTW You can click on the photographs to see them full-sized.

Just another day...

A typical Scene Call for the EMS Helicopter

2008-04-23T10:16:00.007-04:00

Greetings,
So here's the deal, went to meet the ambulance, in this case Ontario, Wayne County, NY:

Flight Nurse Dwayne returning to the aircraft.

Then load the patient, Flight Paramedic Doug accompanies firemen and ambulancemen doing the carrying.

Land at Strong Memorial Hospital.

The Crew: Dwayne (Flight Nurse), Doug (Flight Paramedic) and yours truly (Pilot).

Back on the "dolly," refuelled and ready for the next mission.

Just another day at work

2008-03-30T08:02:00.005-04:00

This was a beautiful flying day. Picked up this patient in Ontario, Wayne County, New York State, right on the coast of Lake Ontario.

Just another day at work...

Pet Hates! Or isn't it stupid?

2008-03-30T07:58:00.002-04:00

Here we are - my pet hates. Have you noticed how supermarkets present you with fruit, vegetables and cakes just as you enter the place. Of course you put those in your shopping cart then load the cans of drink and other heavy items right on top and squash your squash! How stupid is that? Wouldn't it be better to have the delicate items last? Must be some marketing idea!

I hate the gap between car seats and the center console! One of these days I'm going to take my car into the garage to have the driver and passenger seats removed to recover about $100 worth of coins, assorted pens, cigarette lighters and gas station receipts. - Oh yes, and about a ton of candy (sweets in UK English!)

Let me know some of your pet hates.

Ever get that feeling? Lost - forgotten?

2008-03-14T19:13:00.004-04:00

Did you ever see a waitress at a restaurant come out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food then stop with that look on her face? You know the one, "I can't remember who ordered this meal." So she's standing there with a look of confused embarrassment on her face looking all around the room for the intended eater!

How that makes me want to rush up and hug her! How that invokes such a feeling of compassion in me! After all, nobody likes to see anyone else embarrassed, and such a simple act of forgetting who ordered some food is cause for embarrassment.

Isn't life like this in a bigger way? Aren't we often looking for something, someone, but don't quite know what or who? It is as if we are expecting a result, that instant recognition of who ordered the meal, or of finding something worthwhile we know we've been seeking all our lives.

I like to believe that revelation is not the blinding light on the road to Damascus because we're surprised but because we realise something we've known all our lives and yet have never acknowledged.

It's like my faith. I believe I've had it all my life to one degree or another. And yet I am constantly reminded of it by such little events such as the confused waitress that the blinding light of accepting something I've always known is such a great yet simple joy.

I hope you find joy in humour, in events, in people, in pets, in a life saved.

2008-03-12T06:02:00.002-04:00

So now we sleep in a telephone box.

Cool door art, yes?

Speaking of other things, we are totally fed up with the weather. We are ready for spring!

I mean look at this weather:
KDSV 5:44 AM IFR. Visability 2 1/2 sm.
Weather Light Snow, Mist
Cloud Broken 2900', Broken 3600', Overcast 6000'
Wind Calm.
Temp 33.8°F. Dew Point 28.4°F
Pressure 29.63"
Humidity 80%
Density Altitude -460'
Trace of precip since last report

Wet snow!

Cheers

Conklin Gully Rescue

2008-03-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

Chap fell 100 feet into Conklin Gully, Naples, NY, while ice climbing with a friend.
The firemen had to do a rope rescue and hauled him up the cliff on a Stoke's litter.

He was flown to Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY by Mercy Flight Central, with your's truly at the controls.

It was very cold up in those hills.!

Evan Almighty - A Must See Movie

2008-01-21T06:07:00.000-05:00

"Do you want to know how to change the world, son? One random act of kindness at a time."

Yes, this is a funny movie. It made me laugh anyway! The idea of a modern day Noah building an ark so that a pretty valley in Virginia can be saved is farfetched. The idea that God himself would appear on earth in the form of Morgan Freeman - hm! I wonder?

But this movie is not without its impact. There's one line in particular, when "god" appears as Al Mighty waiting on tables in a diner. He's persuading "Noah's" wife to return home and says something like, "Do you suppose when someone prays for love I fill them with warm fuzzy feelings towards one another? No, I just give them the opportunity to love. Do you think I make courageous someone praying for courage? I just give them an opportunity to show their courage."

Ok, so you're sceptical, this is all too "touchy feely" for you. Well remember this.... someday you'll be down on your luck, maybe at the bottom, or so you think. You'll shout out something like "God help me" either out loud or to yourself. Do you think God hands out cash money or performs miracles directly answering your prayer? No, he will simply present you with unlimited opportunities to BE HELPFUL to others. If you do this, and have faith, your prayers will be answered. Of this I have no doubt - and God presented me with an opportunity to believe in this funny movie.

Enjoy

http://www.evanalmighty.com/

Flowers

2007-11-29T06:48:00.000-05:00

Trying my hand at flower arranging. Pretty good, eh?

The CN Tower, Ontario Canada

2007-10-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

I hope you're not afraid of heights>>

Nice trip with my son and daughter in law. Beautiful weather and great food up the CN Tower.

Awesome Cars - seen in Throughway Service Area I90 - New York State

2007-10-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

Greetings.... Awesome cars we bumped into (no, not literally) on the throughway last week.

Sailing and Sail Boats

2007-10-01T06:28:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

Just some of the sailboats seen on Conesus Lake.

A recent arrival, a schooner! The gentleman lives in Honeyoye Falls and just acquired this interesting boat.

Cheers

Take your internet with a Pinch of Salt

2007-09-24T02:47:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

The free online dictionary defines the phrase "take something with a pinch of salt (British & Australian, American & Australian)
if you take what someone says with a pinch of salt, you do not completely believe it. You have to take everything she says with a pinch of salt. She has a tendency to exaggerate. It's interesting to read the reports in the newspapers, but I tend to take them with a grain of salt. "

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/take+with+a+pinch+of+salt

I remember seeing an interview of young Muslim girls at a madrassah who stated as fact some obvious fallacy about western culture. The reporter asked her how she know this "fact" to which she replied that she had read it on the internet.

If it's on the internet it must be true? How can anyone believe that? How can anyone believe anything anymore? Well, to a discerning reader, one who has keen insight, reading falshoods online is part of the amusement and interest of the internet. To quote the song, "We all laughed at Christopher Columbus..." there once was a time when everybody believed that the world was flat and was at the center of the universe. How silly you looked, and risked so much, if you said you believed the world was round, or worse still, that the earth went around the sun.

Well does a photograph prove those thousand unbelieveable words? Yes and no.... I mean anyone can open up photoshop and doctor a photograph. Indeed the world's media are not above that sort of lie. I remember one photograph of Tony Blair which, it was later proved, had been modified to show a larger gap between him and someone else, implying some sort of rift between the two people. Subtle visual evidence used to "prove" the journalist's point of view.

Nor do these less-than-honest journalists have to physically modify photographs. If you take enough photographs of some poor politician you are bound to catch them with their mouths open, or yawning, or even picking their noses. So when the left leaning media want to denigrate these public figures.... you guessed it, another photograph of George W. picking his nose or whatever. You can't imagine the photo editor at the New York Times publishing a photo of George W smiling when they're criticising him.

So what if the world is flat? What if two and two make five? It must be true, I read it on the internet.....

Have a pinch of salt from me... after all I read the other day some guy has won the world lying championship five times running, or so he says.

Cheers.

2007-09-13T15:36:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

Pretty little landing site on the shores of Seneca Lake, near Ovid, NY.

A gentleman fell off the dump truck. Well, actually the wire between the telephone poles knocked him off.

We took him to hospital where he's doing well.

Cheers.

Barking at Seagulls - It's a Dog's Life

2007-09-11T08:09:00.001-04:00

Greetings,
How humdrum life would be if there were no seagulls to bark at - Rudi and Sterling's favourite boating activity.

And then home because it's dark. (Note how beautifully visible the swim float is in the dark!)

Cheers

Conesus Lake

2007-09-07T08:04:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

Oh how pretty, how hot and humid today, how can I possibly afford it? I can't.... but it's a good sacrifice.

Benazir Bhutto - Former PM of Pakistan - in talks with Pervez Musharraf

2007-09-01T19:49:00.000-04:00

Listening to BBC World Service on my new XM satellite radio tonight (in my first new car since 1978) I was somewhat delighted to hear that Bhutto is hoping to return to Pakistan.

Why am I delighted? Well, for one thing Pakistan has to be encouraged and maintained as an ally in the fight against terrorism. Her strategic importance to the region, both geographically and politically, make her about as important a nation as any. A wish for a return to democracy has to be foremost in the mind of all clear thinking commentators.

I look forward to reading some editorials and watching some news later tonight to see if the talks have totally stalled or whether, as the BBC suggested, there are few obstacles in the path towards the end of Benazir Bhutto's exile.

Watch this space.

Read the news item...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6974083.stm

Quadruple On Scene Motor Vehicle Accident

2007-08-15T17:08:00.000-04:00

A major head-on accident occurred today. Four helicopters were used to transport patients to two major hospitals, Eire County Medical Center in Buffalo, and Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Notice the way in which the engines on both cars are low down, as designed in today's modern cars, having absorbed the impact forces.
Here are firefighters and EMS workers from several districts extracting the last patient. We took that patient to Strong in Rochester, as ECMC was dealing with three flown before ours. If I heard correctly, two further patients were taken by road.

Ironic, isn't it? Strykersville fire department know the field they used as the landing zone! They'll be there this weekend for their fund raiser.

Just after they extracted the driver I had a look to see how they had removed the dashboard from the driver's lap. Both hydraulic power and good old fashioned cable pull. The firefighter was just releasing the tension on that orange chain which had been used to lift the steering wheel.

All round, this was a job well done with co-ordinated efforts from various first responder organisations, including North Java, Strykersville, Mercy Flight Western, State Police, Wyoming County EMS Co-ordinator, and last but not least, us - Mercy Flight Central.

Just some views from yesterday and today

2007-08-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

This is Watkins Glen raceway with Seneca Lake behind. Photo taken Tuesday 14th August.

Towed the EC 135 (on the right) out so that we could get the Bolkow BO105 out for washing.

Yesterday on scene. Howard, NY, near Hornell.

Cheers, John (aka Captkirkj and Misterspock on PuzzlePirates.com)

Bobby died.

2007-08-07T06:40:00.000-04:00

Bobby died.

A good friend to all, Bobby died and was buried yesterday. She was so loved by all who knew her the church was filled to capacity. The words used to describe her repeated one word over and over… love.

Bobby had more love for everyone she met than ten other people. She loved God’s creatures and adopted many animals, including the infamous blind donkey. As a volunteer at Buffalo Zoo, and in spite of her own trials and tribulations through arthritis, she devoted so much time to animal welfare that we wondered how she did it. As such an example to us all we gained in strength ourselves just by watching her.

She is at rest now, free of all pain, full of the joy that she had on earth.

God Rest her Soul

A full moon

2007-08-02T06:01:00.001-04:00

Sometimes views we get are simply breathtaking. It's a shame a photograph never fully captures the moment, but this is pretty good..

On scene, Wolcott, NY - Baseball field

2007-07-23T12:29:00.000-04:00

Landed on the ball park to pick up this patient.

Slid into home..... actually parked halfway between the pitcher's mound and home plate.

(For the UK readers, sort of like in between the wickets! :-) )