Ken Q
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Posts posted by Ken Q
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Hard question to answer. In my 75 years I've lived in or been joined at the hip to six residences, (plus a college oddity), all of which have meant a great deal to me. Each is equally important, but each for very different reasons.
I'll pass the home on Westlake Court where I was born. I hardly remember it, we moved out after my father died when I was two. We moved to Grandma and Grandpa's. This was a lovely, grand Georgian Colonial, a very elegant house. Here I spent my early childhood, and had close ties through most of my twenties, until Grandma died. I loved that house, and Grandma wanted me to have it after she died, but there was no way I could afford the taxes and maintenance.
In 1958 my Mom married Charlie, and after a brief apartment stay, we moved into a house in 1959. This was the "family 'home'" until Mom died in 2011. Decades of memories, growing up, going off to college, then the Navy, starting grad school, and so much more.
Of course College and Navy have a place, but I'll mention one "college home" in passing. I lived in a small travel trailer on the edge of campus for several months. Camping out! Great fun! Parties and barbecue, and living "in the woods!" (And trying to outwit the raccoons).
While still on my first tour of Active Duty I rented my first home, all my own, as an adult. It was a four room apartment upstairs in a story and a half. The house was built in the later 19th century. When built it was in a row of similar houses on a country road. By the time I lived there it was on a main drag, the area was heavy commercial, light industry, and the house very run down. But a first home of your own, as an adult, is a major milestone. So in response to Rodgers question this is a candidate. I continued to live there for a couple of years after release from active duty while finishing m BA, interrupted by Naval service. I certainly spent a few very happy years here, and it figures in my flight SIM world today. The address was 2442 Post Rd, and my tail number on my virtual Mooney is N2442P.
When I went to grad school I moved back to Mom's for a while (see above). Then I got a little basement apartment. I guess this one meets Rodgers criteria best. This little place, friends called it the "Hobbit Hole," was our Anglo Saxon group's meeting
, and where one female fellow student went from being an acquaintance to becoming my wife.
Since then, in 45 years, we've had two happy homes. The first was a rental, but a really lovely place. We were there for 22 years. Then we finally bought a house, and been here almost 23 years.
What makes Rodger's question so hard to answer is that each of these is a special favorite in it's own way, and so fully packed with memories, it's impossible to single one out.
And I confess, I'm real "home body."
Ken
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Happy (belated) birthday, Wayne! Many happy returns!!!
Ken
P.S. Hang in there, my friend. I've been through prostate cancer (13 years ago) and blood in the urine, so the camera into the bladder (kidney stones). I have friend who had bladder cancer at the same time as my prostate issues. I'm fine. He's fine. It's scary, to be sure, but with modern medicine these can be beat! My best wishes and prayers go with you.
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Happy birthday to you both. Many happy returns!
Ken
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Great find. Thanks, Adam, for the link. I'm looking forward to watching this on the "big screen" tomorrow.
Ken
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This takes some thought.
In Saudi Arabia, camels. I don't know if they were indeed wild, or feral, or merely free range. But they were out in the desert wandering about.
In Italy, there are little lizards everywhere, climbing the walls.
Closer to home we're seeing a lot of native fauna reestablishing itself after many years of absence. Rabbits had been scarce until a few years ago; now they are everywhere. Also raccoons and 'possums. (A number of years ago we let our cat out on the porch, only to find her encountering two baby 'possums that had somehow managed to find a way through the screen). Varieties of birds have become common again in our neighborhood, especially titmice and nuthatches.
At work at the museum, where we have a couple hundred acres of meadow, wood lot and farmland, there is more variety. Mammals: foxes and deer. Among birds, we had great blue herons and egrets, but alas, our pond dried up, so they're gone. But we do have hawks, both red tail and coopers. Just this past year ravens have made an appearance. I especially love watching the barn swallows put on their airshow. Loops, barrel rolls and himmelmans, six inches from the ground! And they never crash!
Ken
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2 hours ago, Ken Q said:
Dodge is correct.
Sorry Rodger. The "Mad Auto-Correct" strikes again!! (Just noticed it).
Ken
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On 8/26/2023 at 1:21 AM, Rodger Pettichord said:
Tough one, Ken. With that nose, it would seem to be a four-engine variation of the Curtiss C-46 Commando, but there was no such thing. So it has to be the Boeing 307 Stratoliner. It was the first commercial airliner with a pressurized cabin.
Dodge is correct.
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On 8/26/2023 at 11:33 AM, Stillwater said:
Correct Rodger. The first jet ever flown. How brave that test pilot (Erich Warsitz) has been, to trust an engine without propeller.
Great stories on wikipedia, about the time when Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain and Frank Whittle developed the jet engine in parallel. They became friends after the war, a pleasure to read.
Today is the anniversary of that first fight!
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2 hours ago, John Burgess said:
I'm a mere youngster and not sure if I'll ever get to join this wonderful club.
My new years resolution (at age 66) was that I wouldn't get any older.
Can't see the point of it.
I've already got my old age pension and my bus pass
All the best,
John
You're welcome whatever your age! Please join us; a bit of "young" blood will do us all good. Rodge is right, the This Week's Meaningless Topic "Club" certainly would welcome you and your contributions.
Ken
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Here's another addition to Rodger's great topic. Forgive me, but I think this one is especially significant. Another great early airliner which introduced an important "First" to air transport. What airpalne, and what was its "first"?
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Thanks for correcting me Nick, that it was the first JET airliner. Of course that is what I meant to say; answering these posts in the morning before work, and before the second cup of coffee not a good idea. Thanks also for filling in the details. I was aware of the safety issues, but did not know the back story. Thanks again.
Ken
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3. Doolittle raid from USS Hornet, SKA Shangra La
4. First commercial airliner, because of safety issue, not a success.
Ken
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You bet, Rodge!
Rule # 1: Mom is always right.
Rule # 2: In the event that Mom should be wrong, refer to rule # 1.
Also applies to Wife, Captain, Cat, (especially Cat) or any other figure of ultimate authority.
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Of course peanut butter is an American contrivance, seeing that peanuts (ground nuts, goober peas) are native to the New World. Somehow, though, my English cousins, Morris and Bert, developed a fondness for the stuff as boys back in the late 20s. Of course it was not available in the UK, but their father, my Uncle Bill worked on the liners. So he was here visiting his brother (my Grandpa) every two weeks. On every trip home he took one or more of the huge restaurant size jars with him for his boys and their friends.
Gumby's post, plus the fact that it's become common in Asian cooking, proves that since then it has spread to the ends of the world.
Ken
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No peanut butter sandwiches for us, either. But we do use it as an ingredient in some dishes. One summertime favorite is a Chinese recipe, "Hacked Chicken." It is cold chicken, pulled apart, with a spicy sesame sauce. The sauce can be made with either sesame paste or with peanut butter and sesame oil. We prefer the latter.
We also use it in Thai sates.
Ken
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Here's another aspect of our flight SIM geography/history. It is no secret here that among my interests is nautical history. One of my great favorites has always been Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before The Mast." This concerns a voyage from Boston to California in the 1830's, calling in at various "ports" (I'm being generous here) and roadsteads taking on cargos of hides. I have read this book several times, but until now, the last time was quite a number of years ago. I just recently read it again. A whole new experience: since I have been flying the west coast in the sim, the geography became alive. I could identify with the places Dana describes, and relate his description of these places in 1835 with them today. Santa Barbara and the Islands. Catalina. Monterey. San Diego. I got so much more out of this rereading!
Ken
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My main computers, one only for flight simming, and the other as a network client for the sim, as well as the general word processing, bill paying, general purpose computer are hard wired (Ethernet). I feel that this is both safer and more reliable, and for the sim, faster. I don't know what the specs are.
I have the second computer linked to a printer via Wi-Fi.
I also have a number of devices that run through Wi-Fi, including several tablets (including one that is only used for the sim). We also have a laptop connected to the network via Wi-Fi. We also have three internet radio receivers that play our favorite radio stations through the Wi-Fi.
So the answer is we use both, but the flight simulator runs only through a wired network.
Ken
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I do, too, Rodge. I at least look up the Wikipedia article. If a place is particularly interesting I'll look farther.
Ken
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Happy birthday! Many happy returns!
Ken
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Best wishes, Adam, many happy returns.
Ken
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Let's not forget how much running our Sims rely on the internet. In any SIM if we use Active Sky or PilotEdge we are simultaneously using the internet. I understand the same is true of some scenery and features of MSFS.
Following Wayne's comment, I like to look up info on places I land, not in the R/W, but in the Sim.
Ken
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Rodger's list says most of it. I don't use Google more than I have to, Bing is my search engine of choice. The rest I use regularly. I like YouTube to watch aviation videos; I learn a lot from Aviation101, and other channels. The other thing is paying bills on line, especially now that postal rates are extortionate, and scammers are stealing and altering checks.
Ken
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I join all in expressing my gratitude. I hope that this means we'll start seeing some new offerings from Orbx for P3D. The last couple of years have been very frustrating. I have not bought a single Orbx product since last March when I upgraded from FSX to P3D v5, and bought a new computer that allowed me to use the True Earth scenery. But before that, ever since MSFS came out, there have been hardly any offerings for P3D. I have a very long list of airports I would gladly spend money to have in Orbx. I'll only mention two here, now: KCMA, Camarillo, and KFAT, Fresno.
Ken
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Animals Reunited With Owners After Years !
in The Neil Hill Memorial Lounge
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Wonderful, Adam. Some very interesting interactions here, though I still agree with an observation of Garrison Keillor a few years ago. "Your cat should be smaller than you.". When I was overseas during Desert Shield/Storm every time I called my wife on the phone, I had to talk to my cat Claymore. She was so upset at my sudden departure, and felt so abandoned, that this became our routine. She was reassured by hearing my voice and talking to her. Other animals (and we are " animals" too) interact with us in surprising ways.
Ken