Week 31 - Super Cub

Super Cub
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This week's Project 52 photo is my Hobbyzone Super Cub.

Back in April of 2007 I took up a new hobby of flying electric R/C planes. My first plane, the Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom, despite being a "beginner" plane, was quite difficult to fly and resulted in a lot of frustration and purchasing new wings and a tail.

Not long after, I decided to get a new plane: the Hobbyzone Super Cub. This plane flies like a dream. It is the ultimate beginner plane and is so much fun to fly. Many days that spring and summer were spent up at a nearby school, flying it with a friend and my brother in-law, both of whom also had R/C planes. I even rigged up a small digital video camera to record in-air footage and put a bunch of videos up on YouTube.

After logging a lot of air time with the Super Cub, I was finally able get my first plane in the air and keep it flying, now that I was more comfortable with correcting for wind and my own errors.

We didn't go flying as much the following year, and not at all in 2009. I had attempted to change the battery connections in the winter of 2008 to something more stable than the Tamiya connectors, but failed due to my crappy soldering iron. I never did get around to fixing it that year, even though I had also picked up a couple of batteries last year in anticipating of flying.

I have decide that this year, I will get back to flying. I bought a new soldering iron and this evening, I fixed up the connections. Hopefully those two batteries I bought are still good and I may have been able to salvage one battery from a couple of years ago. We'll see if it holds a charge.

This was the last video I made of my plane in August 2007.

Future Shop pre-order fail

What is the benefit of pre-ordering something before its release?

In my mind, I think it is so you can be one of the first to get your hands on it when it becomes available.

Am I wrong?

Let’s assume that I am right.

So, why does Future Shop and Best Buy accept pre-orders for new video game releases and then NOT ship the damned things on their official release date, or at least the day after?

Last summer, I pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Xbox 360. The official release date came and went. My order was stuck in “in progress” limbo for almost a month before it shipped.

Along came Final Fantasy XIII. Screw Best Buy. I pre-ordered it from Future Shop a few days before the official release date to get $5 off the price (Yes, I realize that Best Buy owns Future Shop but I was hoping for a better experience this time… apparently I was wrong)

On its release date (Tuesday), I posted a question on the Future Shop fan page on Facebook:

Scott Paterson How soon do the online pre-orders ship? The last time I pre-ordered a game from "that other" store, it took a MONTH after the game's release before it shipped. The only reason I didn't cancel it was because it was on sale. I'm rrreally hopin' Future Shop is different.

I got a prompt reply:

Future Shop @Scott: It should be shipping on the day of release which should be today.

As of noon today, the order status on Future Shop’s web site still indicated “In progress” and “Out of stock”.

I posted three replies in the thread since Tuesday and there hasn’t been any response from the Future Shop rep in that group. My last message said that I would cancel the order at noon if it still hadn’t shipped.

Guess what I just did.

Week 30 - Rideau Falls, Spring 2010

Rideau Falls, Spring 2010 (30/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I drove out to Rideau Falls on Saturday morning hoping to snap a few shots of massive ice chunks flowing over the edge, as it did around this time in 2007. I guess the milder winter played a large part in disappointing me this year, or maybe missed it?

Week 29 - Winter Wonderland?

Winter Wonderland?
Originally uploaded by Twister65

After many days of spring-like weather, last Thursday evening gave us this. It was gone by the weekend. Crazy weather.

Yes, I'm a day late. I watched the Canada vs. USA gold medal game on Sunday and enjoyed a few too many beers celebrating Canada's victory. :)

Week 28 - GO CANADA GO!

We love hockey
Originally uploaded by Twister65

At the start of every hockey season, I get out the Ottawa Senators flag and hang it on the wall behind the TV. We have a large Ottawa Senators blanket that is folded in half and placed on the back of the couch, with "Ottawa Senators" facing outward. A small Stanley Cup is placed somewhere in the room. This year it happens to be on the CD rack beside the TV. This is all done with my wife's blessing. She's as much of a fan as I am. In fact, she may be a bigger fan because she knows all of the players' jersey numbers. Oh yeh, we also wear team jerseys while watching the game.

For tonight’s Team Canada vs. Team U.S.A. Olympic game I got out the Canada flag and hung it on the wall in an attempt to bring some good mojo to the team. It didn't help. Maybe I was too late.

Anyway, thanks to the Olympics for my Week 28 Project 52 inspiration!

Uh oh… it’s the cops!

A little while ago, I wrote about all of the illegal left turns coming out of the Esso/Tim Horton’s at the corner of Ogilvie Rd and Montreal Rd.

A day or so after, I actually sent the Ottawa Police an email about the issue. It took them a while, but they did respond saying that it was forwarded to the department(s) in charge.

This afternoon I received an email from a constable asking for my name, address, phone number and birth date so he could follow-up on my “complaint”. I sent it to him.

He called me this evening.

He gave me a brief rundown of the history of the signage – how it started off as a single, waist-high sign at the Tim Horton’s drive-thru exit, and eventually became a larger sign, with an additional sign on the median. He acknowledged the fact that despite the multiple, clearly visible signs, many people are ignorant of them.

He said one day when they were enforcing the signage, they gave out over FIFTY tickets, and he had to call for assistance because while he was issuing a ticket, someone else would make the same illegal left turn.

Unreal. But based on what I see every morning, not too surprising.

He thanked me for the update that it’s still occurring and said that they would likely be out enforcing it again in the near future.

Like I said before, they could make some serious $$ in handing out fines.

Anyway, it was cool that they followed up. I wasn’t expecting it since I don’t really consider what i sent to be a “complaint”, but more of an “FYI”.

One of these days I’ll get some video footage of all the City of Ottawa trucks ignoring the sign and post it. :)

Week 27 - Flashback to the 70s

Flashback to the 70s (27/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I replaced an old light fixture on the landing going to our basement and found this behind the base of the fixture. Obviously, when one of the previous owners removed the wallpaper, they took the quick'n'easy way out and didn't remove the light fixture.

This must be vintage 70s stuff. The black has a velvety feel to it. Considering the basement walls have wood paneling on them (now painted) I have to assume that the main floor of our house was covered with this stuff at one point. A small piece of history to our home. :)