Pep Pills

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
A medicine bottle carries batteries for E-Flite aircraft.

A medicine bottle carries batteries for E-Flite aircraft.

My current favorite aircraft are quite small, weighing just an ounce or so.

Their batteries are small, too, single-cell lipos rated at 120mAH.

As a battery carrier, I’ve adopted a pill bottle. It holds a bunch of them.

Oscar Yatco was quite amused when he saw them. “You’ve got to put this on your blog,” he said. “Just take one in the morning and you’ll feel great!”

The Enthusiast

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

A novel about a writer who moves through the world of special interests.

A novel about a writer who moves through the world of special interests.


Acrobats, Beekeepers, Campers, Divers, Fossil Hunters, Glass Blowers, Hikers, Kite Flyers, Lego Builders, Model Railroaders, Numismatists, Orchid Growers, Poker Players, Rollerbladers, Skydivers, Tinsmiths, Videographers, Wind Surfers…

We live in a world of enthusiasts, special interests who flock to their own websites, discussion groups, activities and magazines.

My friend Charlie Haas has written a novel, The Enthusiast, about Henry Bay, a writer who works for magazines of this sort. Bay jumps from specialty to specialty, learning the language and meeting the players.
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New Birds

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Frank checks out the landing gear, his favorite feature.

Frank checks out the landing gear, his favorite feature.


The other day, Frank D arrived at Baylands carrying a new work in progress, a flying fire engine.

It’s a handsome scratch-built twin-engine OV-10 Bronco, all dressed up as a fire-fighting plane used by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Frank admired the plane at a recent airshow, so he bought a small non-flying model and scaled it up into something that will someday fly.

His favorite feature is the retractable landing gear, three rubber wheels which bounce on spring-damped shock absorbers.
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Survivor!

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Recovered Plane. Ike Dahlen holds his algae-camouflaged T-28 Trojan.

Ike Dahlen holds his algae-camouflaged T-28 Trojan.


The ParkZone T-28 Trojan is notable for its brightly bold color scheme: red and white, with some strokes of black.

So it was a surprise to see Ike Dahlen’s Trojan Wednesday when he brought it out to a picnic table.

It was positively scruffy: the bold colors were muted by an overlay of brown and green, an unlikely camouflage scheme.

Was this a paint job, or severe weathering? It looked like brown and green algae.

It is brown and green algae.
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A Jumbo Gopher Snake

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

The gopher snake is decorated with brown, cream and yellow markings.

The gopher snake is decorated with brown, cream and yellow markings.


A group of county workers discovered big gopher snake at Baylands today. It was a beautiful individual, about 4 1/2 feet long, glistening in the warm sunshine.

I spotted it at a distance, a distinctly serpentine form being held by a woman in a blue dress.

After I fetched a camera, I walked over and introduced myself.

Her name was Candy, a teacher. She came to the park Wednesday with two other women and a group of about 10 lively children. The kids were outfitted in bright orange vests so the women could keep track of them.
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