More Jowling

Opps, I have a hotmail account! I kinda forgot to check it the ENTIRE month of Feburary but after I filtered out the 9,638 junk emails I finally found the important ones.

Yeah, we keep it real in the fam.

Jowling

Port Angeles, Washington

Its been about a year since I've been in a the Pacific NW and it's good to be back. I like the rain and that fresh smell of pine or whatever it is... Hemlock maybe. We spent most of Monday at Boeing field installing the system on this bad boy pictured below.

Bell 206 Jet Ranger



If you want to see it in action click on the link to watch a quick movie I took of it taking off (sorry about the poor cameraman work, it was cold and I didn't want to get out of the minivan).

http://pace.netpimpz.com/video/jetranger.MPG

This time I am working in the small town of Port Angeles which lies NW of Seattle. We had to take a huge ferry to get here and once here we have been working all day so I haven't really got to check the town out yet. The hotel room is awesome though and the airport we are working out of has some nice views. Olympic National Park is located right south of here but with the low lying clouds you can't see any of the snowcapped mountains. That is all for right now.

The ferry ride over

First Class

My company finally got their act together and realized that my personal needs and demands are nothing less than that of FIRST CLASS. That's right, yesterday I was illin' with the upper percentile of humans (Monetarily speaking) in first class on my flight to Seattle. After boarding I was greeted with a huge seat and a free cocktail. Then I chatted with my first class friends about first class things. After lift off I had to choose between a chicken Caesar salad or shrimp penne. I chose the salad and of course another gin and sprite. Before the meal I was passed a hot towel to clean up with which was just what the doctor ordered. Then came the meal, the wine, and of course the optional, fully loaded sundae. After dinner I read for a little bit and then decided it was time to pull the leg rest up and lean back to watch a movie on my personal screen. See, in that part of the plane they call coach (or as us first classers like to call it... The Mop Bucket) they don't have a choice of movies. Well, first class has all the choices. Once I got my seat where I was pretty much laying down with plenty of room to spare, I flipped through the movies, but couldn't find anything. So I pulled out the ipod, snuggled up under my micro-fiber fleece and slowly fell asleep. I don't sleep that well on planes, but that was probably the best nap I have ever had at 36000 feet. I then enjoyed my freshly brewed coffee in my clean coffee mug and read a little more. It was a tough travel day for me, I think the worst part was having to get all uncomfortable trying to put my book back in my bag, which was under the seat in front of me 4 ft. away!

That time of the year again

The cycling season has already started and for the US it has started with a bang. The inaugural Tour of California is up and running and many ProTour teams are there along with some really big names. To top things off George Hincapie just won the second stage and is now in the overall lead! I really think it's going to be a good year for him or at least hope so.

Unfortantely for me it looks like my precious bikes will be collecting dust this year just like last year except for my"when I am home once a month spin".

Get em' George

Ganking It

Back in Houston.

Nothing beats booting your computer in the middle of a powerline right-of-way behind a neighborhood and a wireless connection comes up. Especially when you have to sit in your car for a couple hours. Nothing.



Absolutely nothing.

Eat em' up Cats!

This Texas State Alumus could not be prouder of his Bobcats in San Marvelous, TX. We may not have the top athletic program in the country, but when it comes to team spirit we bring it to the house!!!

===> National Champion <===

Hurricane Blvd

Right now I am sitting in Sulphur, LA which is few miles away from Lake Charles and a few miles away from the Gulf Coast. Our project site is on the coast near the cities of Cameron and Holly Beach. These are some of the towns you probably heard on CNN as being in the direct path of hurricane Rita or pretty close to it. As you might suspect there is a fair amount of destruction from the coast to about 20 miles inland. Most older homes and trailers where just ripped apart. The newer homes held up a little better and were left with a little roof damage but I believe most structures were ruined right on the coast. As you drive along hwy 27 you will see these huge piles of trash which was actually someone's home not too long ago. Some residents seemed to be moving along pretty well rebuilding and living out of a temp. RVs, and some I think just threw the towel in and said peace. Its pretty crazy to see it all from the helicopter, it gives a better scale of the damage. Of course I didn't take any pics from the air. Oops.




This gas station only lets "low-riders" in. Too bad the only vehicle around here is the Truck! Sho' E Nuff!



Wow.

Hotels

Last year I spent somewhere around ~125 nights in a hotel room and this year hoping health and work are good to me that number will be closer 200. With that being said I thought I would share the rules and ways of making your hotel room your home.

First things first, you have to get every hotel rewards plan possible. HiltonHonors will let you double dip meaning you can put points towards Hilton and your preferred airline award program. I have most of my rewards going straight to Continental OnePass and even have another wallet just for the cards! Thats cool.

When you first walk to fresh room you must scout out a place to put your bags and equipment. This is easy if you have a two-bed room then you can put everything on the bed that is not in front of the TV. If you're in a single then you must use the dresser or a bag stand. However, if you are staying at a Hampton Inn with a single bed you can put your bag on the bed and still fit to sleep no problemo. Well, unless you got a little junk in the trunk. Finding electrical outlest can be a trick sometimes so its always good to bring an extra power supply.

Your next task is to RUN for the internet connection. This is everything when you are leaving on the road and I mean EVERYTHING. I had to spend 3 weeks using dial-up in Canada and it was not fun. It was probably good for me, but still not fun. Anyways, wireless is pretty much the standard these days and most hotels have a decent connection. Sometimes I have had to sit next to my door to get a decent connection. Now, if your room is equipped with a direct LAN line then go for it. The land line usually beats wireless. Oh, if you are staying in a Hampton Inn be sure to get an access card at the front desk when you check in. And wireless mouses are the way to go. Otherwise you have to deal with the huge cord which takes up too much room.

Ok, now that you have your bags placed and computer connected you can almost smell Mom's best casserole cooking in the lobby. P.S. - sometimes you just have no choice except to move furniture around to fit your needs.

Your room should look something like this...

Typical double floorplan in Las Vegas, NV



Single in Sulphur, LA



This is about the nicest desk you will find in a hotel room, it'll makes you feel pro.



Next will be the bathroom area. Most hotels do have shampoo but some will not so always stock up. If you're lucky enough to be working in an oil town than you will have a set of wash towels and bucket just for oily body parts like the hands. Everything is pretty much the same in every bathroom. Holiday Inns have the best tubs and shower heads. Microtels (which I am staying at right now) has the smallest bath tubs known to man. BTW, it's a 50/50 chance the hot in cold knobs will actually match up on most faucets.

The a/c and heater I have yet to figure out. No matter how I set it I will always be getting up in the night too hot or too cold. In the winter your best bet is to leave it off and you should find your room temp to be satisfying. However, in the morning its always nice to turn the heat on if its cold so when you hop out of the shower its nice in toasty in the room. This works b/c hotel rooms are small and heat up fast.

I am know I am skipping things but I will move on to the housekeeping. Its always a safe bet to put the do not disturb sign up everynight b/c if you don't they may be banging on your door at 8 am. Granted we are usually long gone that time but its very easy to put it back on the other door knob. A lot of the time I will only allow housekeeping to come once or twice a week. I mean I live like a slob at home, so why change that on the road. Unless of course there is a really cute housekeeper, I like to make it a point to answer the door in my boxers in that situation.

Dirty Laundry goes either under the sink or the closet. If you can after a long rotation in the field its good to do your laundry before you go home. This way you have less to do when you get home.

Hotel Memory Lane

Sometimes you will stay in not the nicest of placest like this. However, despite the quality I probably have some of my best memories of working in the field here at the Black Gold Inn in Edson, Alberta.



Sometimes the hotel can just smell your class and has no choice except to upgrade you to the Suite Supreme, like in Edmonton. (please take a chance to notice the two cotton soft bath robes on the bed)



A couch is always nice to stretch out on after a long days work in Provo, UT



A full-size kitchen can never hurt in Kelso, WA



And when your stuck in a town like Kingsville, TX a jacuzzi can rid you of all stress.



There is so much a more to talk about so I will have to start a Blog Series.

Jowling

It seems that Scott has discovered something pretty amazing, check his blog out. Its called Jowling and even has an official website ==> http://www.jowlers.com/

Brian and I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity but still need a little practice.

Brian gets it done



I get it done.

Top Secret

The weekend flew by. I spent Friday installing our system on a really nice helicopter, The Astar350 B2. It really spoiled me over the weekend. Lately I have been rolling in an R44 which is a really really small aircraft and can be a tight fit especially for 3 hours. However, this bad boy was nice! Tons of leg room and talk about some muscle under the hood. We were mapping a mountain so we really didn't have a choice except to get the Astar which I am sure costs a pretty penny per hour. The pilot has been flying for about 3o years so that says a lot right there. He has done it all in the heli and even has been doing some filming lately here in Vegas, like Oceans 11 and CSI.

Yeah, I had to install the huge pod on the side of the aircraft. As a result I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole weekend, praying it would not fall off. This hanger is in the International Airport so you have huge jets constantly landing and taking off hundreds of feet from you. On another note, I am seriously considering becoming a helicopter pilot.



The area we were mapping was inside this huge Military Test Range. Nellis AFB and of course Area 51 (Groom Lake) are part of it, but I heard if you even drive close to it without proper clearance Black Hawk Helicopters will meet you before you can say OOPs! The whole area is almost a third of Nevada. Yucca (sp?) Mountain is out here and has been in the news lately. They want to put a huge nuclear waste depository inside the mountain. The pilot has been working out here for a long time flying generals around to working security so knew a lot. It's a really a high security area. It would be hard to imagine what insane projects go on out here. Probably better not to know. You can tell we were "conveniently" ushered around some areas. I could write about this area forever, but won't. Aliens do exist. ;-)

Got back to Vegas last night and forced myself to grab a taxi and go to the strip. I walked into a few casinos, but I have to be honest, the casinos themselves impress me more than gambling. I just can't get into it. I took a bunch of money out thinking I would sit down for some blackjack but ended up not gambling a dime. Vegas is an amazing city though. When you take the time sit back for a second and look at the strip, especially at night, it really is something impressive.

I am more of a Hoover Dam kind of guy, which I visited Friday.



Lake Mead

Beatty, Nevada and Area 51

Although I am in Vegas with Helicopter the rest of the crew is basing out of Beatty, NV for this little project. I just made the 100 mile drive today and there is absolutely nothing out there. Most of the land to the East is a huge test site for the military and Nellis AFB. And to the West is Death Valley. Area 51 is actually part of the testing range but we are not mapping near that or are we??? hmmmm? I was told tonight by a military man a.k.a. Major Payne, who was "briefing us" to NOT take any personal pics or discuss anything I saw while in the air or I would be in BIG trouble. Kinda crazy. I am sure there is some kind of importance to the area we are taking photos of but I will never know. It's probably bunch of antennas and endless dirt that means nothing to me. They are definitely hardcore about this though. I am kinda scared to talk about it! I bet (or hope) Condoleezza Rice a.k.a. "Condor" is reading my Blog right now. Check this link out to the Town of Beatty

http://www.beattynevada.org

The road to nowhere...

I got bored, So I came to Vegas

No not really, well yes really, but it's all work related. Right now I can hear sirens and planes landing right outside my hotel. Kind of reminds of The Banyan Tree in Honlulu minus the planes. To be honest Vegas isn't really my idea of a vacation plus I don't really gamble although there are some cool things to see here. Granted, if I all my boys decided to plan a trip here I would definitely jump on board for obvious reasons. Eric and I came for his 21st and had a blast. Anyways, maybe early next week I can take a "trip to the strip" to see the sights and gamble 10 bucks away or something. Hoover Dam would be worth a trip I think. What am I saying? I am here to work and won't have that much time.

Yeah, so were mapping a part of Nellis AFB which about 200 km North of Vegas. I lucked out and will be staying here in Vegas for the most part since the Helicopter and pilot is based out of here. Beatty, NV doesn't exactly sound like a good place for a honeymoon. Saturday night I will be out there and the hotel is called Stagecoach Inn, should be interesting. Well, I am tired and need some Zzzzz...

My Grandmother found this pic of My Grandfather and his good coaching pal Bum Phillips, the ex - Houston Oilers head coach. Check out the sweet threads and vintage beers...