I flew for an hour this morning.

I intended to fly for about two hours and do some navigation but when I got up to 2,500 over UMass, I started to run into clouds so I decided to head back to the airport and do some pattern work.

The wind kicked up quite a bit and after five full stop landings, I decided it was probably in my best interest to call it a day. Landing a plane in a crosswind requires a lot of concentration and a lot of work. Doing five landings in a cross-wind kinda takes a lot out of you.

I will say that I managed to pull off five good landings.

I yawed to the right, into the crosswind, and flew a little sideways to the runway. Then, just as I settled into ground effect, I swung the tail around so the plane was straight down the center-line, dropped the right main onto the runway, let the left main settle onto the runway and then lowered the nose.

I'm kind of proud of myself and I reached out to my instructor to let him know that he taught me well.

His response was to tell me it's time for me to do my cross country and then practice for the check ride. He says once I pass the written, I should schedule my check ride and get my license.

Looks like I might make my self-imposed September deadline to finish this up.

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The Red Sox managed to lose last night but so did the Blue Jays. That meant they were still tied for first place. The Orioles managed to win last night so that meant were only one game behind the Red Sox and the Blue Jays.

Today was a travel day so the Red Sox and the Rays played at 1:10 this afternoon.

The Red Sox managed to lose.

Again.

So technically, they are in second place as I write this. The Blue Jays play at 7:10 and if they win, they will take sole ownership of first place.

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I went out with John last night and enjoyed a few adult beverages. As a result, I'm kind of tired this evening. I'm going to catch up on some DVRs and fall asleep early.

While I do that, you should see if these links are entertaining or educational. Or perhaps they're just crap.

I'm sure you'll form an opinion one way or the other:

• Guess what! There's another Springfield where the people are just as screwed up as they are in the one we got here!



• Key line in this story: "He told police he was off his medication..."
  (Oh yea, it's also an Only in Florida)



• Illegal Bathtub Alligator would be an excellent name for 1970s cleaning product made by RonCo and sold by Ron Popeil during one of his late night infomercials.