Went to look at a new plane in Springfield IL

Jeff (my boss) and I went out to Springfield IL to look at a new plane to add to our fleet. The plane came from the Tatta company in India and I gotta say, they don't take care of the interior of planes like we do over here. It was a wreck. The good thing is that they just spent 1 million dollars on an inspection that has the majority of the plane disassembled, inspected, and put back together.. Other than the asthetics of the interior, the plane is in excellent shape. If our client decides on this plane, we have given him info on a complete restoration of the interior which will include broadband internet and many many other upgrades from the planes I am flying now. I have my fingers crossed, because this thing is awesome.. It even has a heads up display like the military fighter jets..cool huh! Here are a couple pics of the same type of plane, it's called a Falcon 2000.

Quick trip to Washington

I flew up to Washington for a few days to help Jim plant some trees in his yard and visit with some friends. It is always fun to head up there and get a quick dose of WA. After living down in the bay area for a while now, I'm definitely starting to feel much more at home here that up there. Now I just gotta figure out how to get everyone to move down my way. I had a lot of fun one night at Mom and Jeff's visiting with Jon, Brittany and the kids Delaney and Adelyn. It was funny, Mom kept looking at me and saying No! because I was getting the kids so wound up. At one point I was singing online karaoke kids songs with Delaney..She was a little nervous around me at first but quickly warmed up...Good times

Found a hot tub

I found a nice used hot tub the other day. I've wired it underground to the house but need to have an electrician come out to do the hooking up, don't need a DIY disaster. I figured it would be better to start with a used one to see if I will use it that much. I'm planning on the bamboo curtains on a couple sides for privacy. I'm also going to build steps with the same wood as the deck. Still trying to figure out what bushes to put over by the fence and around the deck. I have also found a place to buy rock though it's hard to decide what type with so many choices.. We'll see, I'm being a little indecisive about all that right now.

The Pergola and deck are done!

I just have to do some landscaping around it and find the perfect hot tub. I'm thinking of some climbing plants for the corners, Jim mentioned grapes... We'll see. These projects have given me such a feeling of accomplishment once they are complete. I was just telling Rob that it looks like a professional built it, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that I'm a pro at this point...Haha. The sun is here so all of you up in WA better start planning trips to come down south and make a stop at my place.

The sun is back!

Work hasn't been super busy these days so I've decided to build a pergola and deck in my back yard, for an eventual hot tub. I started in on this project thinking it would be fairly simple. All I'd have to do is level the ground and build it. Well, easier said than done but I've enjoyed every minute of it. The first picture shows the the area I had to dig to make it only one step onto the deck from ground level. Probably would have been nice to have a bulldozer since it seems like that was the amount of dirt I ended up moving with the shovel and wheel barrel. Once I had it all leveled out, I placed the blocks and started building. It's taken about three days to get to the stage I'm at in time for the delivery of all the wood. This project also gave me an excuse to go buy a couple more man tools :-). I have a little more sanding, constructing and staining until it is finished, but so far I'm very happy with how it is turning out. Thank goodness for youtube, there were a couple videos that really helped me out. I'll post a few pics of the finished product, but for now I'm gonna have to take a break. I have a trip to the Bahamas with the owner of the airplane.. They aren't letting us stay out there with the plane this time so I'll be airlining back and forth for this one, all part of the cost cutting.

Quick Day Trip to Seattle

I had a day trip to Seattle and had lunch with Rob, Julie, Jeff and my Mom. My dad met us back at the plane to say hello too. Mom says I was lucky to have visited on such a nice day since it has been cloudy most days up there. It was convenient to have the coporate jet so I could fly a few boxes back down now that I have storage space in my garage.

Little more work on the house

After a trip up to Calgary and Pittsburgh, I came home to put the baseboards and moldings in. A couple friends let me borrow a saw and nail gun to attempt this new project on my own. I am very happy with how it all turned out. I have also found a new roommate, her name is Liz and she works in Atlanta from Monday to Thursday. I'm probably going to take a break on the house project situation for a little bit, and start saving up to furnish the place since it is a little empty.