Controller N Training

Zoo Boise

2009-04-27T15:30:00.004-05:00

I haven't been to Zoo Boise for awhile now. I was actually impressed with some of the new things that are there. I was a little disappointed that a good portion of the animals were hiding. They do have a new lion exhibit that is home for three lions. They have a good section of glass that is right up against the cage so you can basically go toe to toe with the male lion that has no problem strutting back and forth in front of it. It is much like the tiger exhibit pictured above but bigger. Ry kept getting close to the glass and then jump away as the lion got closer. All in all it was a fun little trip down memory lane.

Bad Boys - Whatcha going to do?

2009-04-19T12:09:00.009-05:00

In honor of my heroic encounter last night you are going to want to make sure your speakers are on. Are they on now?? Seriously you are going to want to make sure you can hear the background music. If they are on, read on.

Now to the juicy details of how I had to dodge bullets and single handedly take down Boise's most notorious criminal.

Time: 12:30 AM

Date: April 19th 2009

Location(s): My house - Driveway
Boise Streets - SW Boise & I84

Sitting in my car on in the driveway after just getting home from work, I was finishing up a phone call when I noticed someone standing in between my car and my parent’s car looking in the windows. I quickly bolted into action and did the very first thing that came to mind. That's right, I laid on the horn. The suspect then turned around and looked at me (just before he wet his pants) and proceeded to run. I then sprung to action. I jumped out of the car and chased after the suspect on foot. That's right; I walked after him at a steady pace before I had to stop just two houses down because I was winded. I then dialed 911 and walked back to the house at a much slower pace this time (I didn't want to pull a hammy). I jumped in my car and went around the block to where the suspect ran to. After just a few minutes of driving around the neighborhood I gave up and head home. Just before arriving back at the house I noticed a white car driving fast around a corner just ahead. The chase was on! I pulled behind the car and followed them up to a stop light when I pulled up next to the vehicle. I looked inside and saw the suspect in the car. The light turned green and the suspect made a quick left turn after being in the straight only lane. I too broke the law and made a left turn from the right turn only lane. I wasn't about to let this guy get way. I quickly dialed 911 again and this time acted like the eye in the sky relaying detailed directions to the police. While following the suspect I noticed him driving all over the road and what appeared to be him desperately trying to change his clothes. The chase thne leads onto the interstate where at that point I was passed by some members of Boise's Finest. After they pulled the suspect over I slowly pulled in behind the police vehicles. The police were going to arrest the guy but they needed my parents to permission to file charges. I call them on the house line. I call them again on the house line. I call them again on the house line. I call them again on the house line. I call them again on the house line. The police informed me that they will not be able to arrest the guy unless I get hold of my parents. I explained to them that I would drive home and wake them up. Just before leaving the scene I was asked to identify the suspect. They brought the suspect around the police car and I identified him. After getting just over the Eagle exit my parents answered. I told them what was going on and they gave the green light. I called the officer back and then head to the Chevron to finish filling out my statement. The officer called me back a short time later and explained to me that I had to tell the suspect that he was "Under Arrest" so that it would be legal. They placed the phone up to his ear and I said you are Under Arrest. I had to do it twice because he "didn't hear me" the first time. The officer then told me after picking up my statement that the car was full of stolen goods.

Take that crime.

One More Week?

2009-01-04T19:43:00.003-06:00

Well I am wrapping up on what I hope is my very last week in North Dakota. I have a few flights this week to finish up and after those are complete it is goodbye frozen tundra. I went ahead and got some more flight time today since I haven't flown since Halloween. My favorite part about flying in the cold weather is getting to scrap off the inside of the windows with a credit card so that you can see out them. It is so cold here that when you start you car up there is no ice on any of the windows. But instead once it gets a little bit warmer inside the car ice then forms on inside of the windows, my favorite.

Thought I would post a few pictures from Christmas. Cole and I ate most of the candy before we even got it on the house ;-)

It Has Been Awhile

2008-12-08T12:20:00.004-06:00

Well last week Cole had his third birthday. All I could think of how fast the last three years have gone by. It feels just like in the movies when they show "some one's life flash before their eyes." Several minutes in the movie play by with a nice theme music and they flash several images from over the years. That is exactly how I felt the other night while watching Cole blow out his candles. Many images and memories rapidly flashing by in my mind, I was left there just wondering where did all the time go.

Cole and I decided to put the tree up early this year. I took it out of the box and carefully placed all of the branches in their proper places. Cole had lots of fun put the branches on and not so much fun actually putting things on the tree. I found him either playing with the box or aligning up the train ornaments in a neat row on the floor. I took some convincing that they needed to be "parked" on the tree.

Cole has had this puppy for longer than I can remember. I know last year I tried to get him to play with the puppy but he would have nothing to do with it. The other day he found it under his bed and now I can't keep it from him. This puppy goes everywhere with him now. I thought I would take a few pictures of him while he was sleeping.

Happy Halloween Everyone

2008-10-31T20:13:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween to Everyone out there. Pretty sorry I didn't get really any good pictures of Cole tonight. Oh well, maybe next year.

Keeping Up With Tradition

2008-10-27T12:24:00.005-05:00

Well Steph, Cole and I would have loved to have been part of the Smith Family Tradition at your place. Plus if Cole and I were there I would have been warned by several people that if you carve a pumpkin too early you will be throwing it away before Halloween. Where were you on that one Rich? Since the competitive nature doesn't fill all of the Smith children I decided not to compete in this year's annual pumpkin carving contest. However if I were competitive I would be tempted to maybe post pictures like the one on the left. Or maybe toss out insults to my fellow competitors during the competition like..."Nice clothes, did your mommy lay them out for you?" But since this horrible characteristic doesn't run in my veins I am not going to do any of that. However Cole and I will continue to sharpen our skills for when that day comes. I will post pictures of Cole's pumpkin when he finishes it. We ran out of time before he had to go to bed.
<-------------This is the picture of the second pumpkin I carved this year. The first one is below in another post. I do have a third pumpkin that is scheduled to go under the knife sometime this week.

2008-10-22T22:55:00.003-05:00

I thought I would put up some new pictures since I haven't in awhile. On Monday I finished up my solo time by flying the exact same cross country flight that I did on Friday, why make it difficult, right? And yes Jen you would be surprised that the plane really flies itself once you trim the controls out. If you look at the first picture you can see my hand on still on the "steering wheel." The second picture is of the clouds, I know it isn't a very good one but if you look at it, it sort of looks like a hand that is curling its fingers inward. (Fingers are on the left). But as for flying, I am two flights away from being let lose on my own for good. That should scare some people.

Lately I have been trying to get Cole interested in cooking and making things. I figured it would be a great idea because he is always interested in what dad is doing. So I thought I would let him make his own pizza. I took some video so that he can tell you what he made in his own words. You have just got to love the serious face he makes at the end of the video. For some reason it makes me laugh every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3aTMnhexN4

One more Step

2008-10-17T15:18:00.002-05:00

I just finished up a flight today that consisted of a few hours in the air by myself. This was my longest cross country that I have ever flown alone. I flew from Grand Forks to Fargo to Park Rapids and then back to Grand Forks. I was in the air for 2.8 hours. This is one of the last steps that I needed to get my license. Now I just have to build about another 2.5 hours of solo time, a 1.0 hour final flight with my instructor, a ground briefing, and then my final check ride. I will let everyone know when I get my license and I will also let everyone know where I am at if I am flying so that they may avoid the area at all costs.

PS - I did get a couple of pictures that I might post later on. The weather wasn't very good so I didn't want to divert my attention for very long.

It is that time a year again

2008-10-15T20:09:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of Cole playing guitar hero. I tried to get a good picture of him playing the guitar with my glasses on but he caught me off guard by putting them on. It is really cute while he plays, every so often he will say "Rock Out."

I thought I would get Cole a pumpkin this year for him to help carve since last year all he did was color on some small pumpkins with markers. I cut open the top and Cole didn't want anything to do with putting his hand in and gutting the thing. He did how ever pick out the pattern we used and spent about 10 minutes helping dad cut the thing out. He lost interest in the pumpkin until it was all done and dad put a candle in it.

I feel the need...the need for speed! (going really fast, not the drug)

2008-10-08T17:27:00.008-05:00

Update: I am not sure who Jusgirl is but the question was posted about what type of plane I fly. It is a four seat piper warrior. Here is a picture of one. http://flightops.aero.und.edu/airplanes/warrior.asp

Well I finally got to get back into the air today. I had to do a cross country with my instructor that was to three different airports and back. The weather was a little windy but good enough to proceed. We flew from Grand Forks to Fargo to Crookston and then back to Grand Forks. It was a pretty event less flight. We took off burned some fuel (money) and then went home. I was going to go on my long cross country to night but found out that I didn't have the correct number of night landings to be considered current to fly at night. You have to have 5 (UND policy) while the FAA only requires 3. Well I have my 3 but couldn't go. The flight was also on the border of my limitations because of the cross wind component. Oh well, rescheduled the flight and I am now looking forward to next week.

Flying out of Grand Forks you don't get to see many commercial airplanes or airplanes that are not UND's. Here is a couple of pictures of a Citation Jet that ATC decided to cut me off with. The last picture is of Grand Forks at about 4,500 ft. I love loving in the winter because the haze appearance with be gone when it gets colder outside.

Warning the propeller in the videos doesn't appear to be moving really fast because the camera isn't high tech enough to pick up the speed of it so it looks as if it is standing still at times.

This first video is a Stop and Go at Crookston. There is a heavy cross wind blow us to the right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1QbKyMsRf8

This second video is of my landing at Grand Forks after everything is said and done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYQ0yBzlq8

If you listen closely you can actually here me "grease the tires" on the runway at about 3:44 on the right side and 3:45 for the left.

Term of the Day: Greasing the tires is aviation slang for having a really soft landing that the tires spoil up really fast as you gently touch down.

High Alert

2008-10-06T15:40:00.003-05:00

I feel like Owen Wilson in the movie Behind Enemy Lines. At the beginning of the movie there is an alarm and everyone on the ship scrambles to the area to launch two fighter jets. The planes are in position and the engines are blasting at full throttle. You see Owen looking out the cockpit window at the guy on deck with the trigger to release the catapult. And then you hear the alarm to stand down.

I was all set to ago on a quick cross country flight this morning. The weather the previous night was a little rainy and I didn't have any real worries for this particular flight. I get ready for bed, place all of my flight gear by the door. I make some last minute corrections for the route of flight. I watch the rest of the Angles game ( they won in 12 ) and proceed for bed. I look at the clock and set the alarm for 6:40. I roll my eyes realizing that I have to be out at the airport at 7:45 am. That is way too early for me.

The alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button. As you can tell I am a real go getter early in the morning (yes anything before 9 is early in the morning). I finally get out of bed at 7:15 after calculating the exactly number of minutes it will take me to get ready, shower, eat, and drive to the airport. I glance at the weather channel to get a quick idea of the weather. I check my phone and noticed I had received a text message from my instructor telling me that it was dual IFR conditions until noon.

I spend the next hour or so getting back into bed and trying to fall asleep. What a let down to be ready for a flight just to get cancelled because of weather. This is like the third or fourth flight in the last two weeks.

Despite the fact that I had to cancel my flight today there is one thing for sure. The sunset after a rainstorm looks pretty cool.

Here are a couple of pics of Cole from last week. For some reason he wanted to watch 101 puppies (as he calls it) in his room on his rocking chair. Something very different from the norm with him.

Late Night Vistor

2008-10-04T11:05:00.007-05:00

I woke up last night to hear somebody in Cole's room at 2:30am. By the time I got there who ever it was had already left and Cole was scared and crying. You guessed it just got a visit from the puke fairy. They came, they left a little something, and vanished not without leaving a trace. Need less to say I was up with Cole for the next hour and half and an additional hour doing laundry. It amazes me that puke can get in so many different places. I had to wash his pillow case, sheets, blanket, two sets of PJ's (I was smart enough to put another pair on him right away), bath room rugs, and several towels. What a night. And without even setting the alarm somebody wakes up at 8:00 am. Where is the justice in that?

Two Lessons Down

2008-09-28T08:49:00.007-05:00

The weather was finally good enough to go on my two cross country flights to knock out two of my lessons. I choose to go to Park Rapids, MN which was 106 NM away from Grand Forks. Here are some pictures from these flights.

First picture is Crookston, MN at altitude of 5500. Next picture is Fertile, MN same altitude. The next picture is of some foliage 35 NM outside of Park Rapids.

Here are a few pictures of the sunsetting on the horizon, we are about 20 NM from Park Rapids.

The first picture is on the ground at Park Rapids. The next two pictures didn't come out very well but there are of Grand Forks at an altitude of 1600. And the last picture is sitting on the ground at Park Rapids.

I took some video while I was flying and uploaded them to YouTube. The first video is my take off at Grand Forks. We were doing a soft field take off, so we took the airplane off the ground as soon as possible and flew above the the ground until we had more airspeed then climbed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnJWlf7d6tk

This next video was take off at Park Rapids, the landing light went out and we had to flip it off and on again while taking off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q3gIBtgO_Y

No Go

2008-09-22T21:51:00.004-05:00

Well after hanging out on my computer all day long and watching the weather like it was news coming in for WWIII, the weather ended up winning the battle. I had to cancel my two cross country flights because of the forecast of thunderstorms in the area. Well yes there were some storms moving through the area and the closest they came to Grand Forks was about 30 miles to the West. My flights were planned for going to Cedar Rapids which is southeast of Grand Forks. I am not too happy to put it nicely, I would have loved to have gotten those two flights done and over with but I guess I will just have to get them done another day. Pictures of these two flights will be posted as soon as they are available. Here is a shot of Cole I took this weekend. I really need to get him a conductor hat but he is pleased with just wearing his hard hat.

Half Way Done

2008-09-16T10:09:00.002-05:00

My last flight on Monday had put me over the half way mark with getting my private license. There are 17 lessons that I have to take and I am currently on lesson number 10. It has really gone by quickly and I am looking forward to getting it done and over with so that I can have more time to spend on my other classes.

My last flight was a little bit interesting. I haven't really flown in high wind conditions since it really isn't ever windy in the Idaho area. I was watching the wind speed and direction the majority of the flight and noticed it got up to around 41 knots. Just for fun my instructor turned us into the wind and slowed the airplane down to around 55 knots. We were trying to see how slow we could get our ground speed. Well we got our ground speed down to 27 knots. That means it would take us roughly one hour to travel 27 miles. It felt like we were just sitting in the air not moving.

He told me about a story when he was getting his private down in LA (the state not the city) and there was some bad wind. His instructor actually got the plane to fly backwards. If you can't picture this think about trying to swim upstream in a fast current. Same thing.

I will really try to take pictures of my next flight. We are going to try and combine the next two lessons together. There are a day cross country and a night cross country. So I will have nothing but time to take pictures. This flight will be on Monday so I should have some cool pictures on Tuesday or Wednesday, if the weather is good.

The Women and Children Are Safe

2008-09-12T13:46:00.004-05:00

Well I didn't get to fly solo on Wednesday because Cole woke up in the middle of the night and didn't want to go back to sleep...so I ended up flying solo today. The last time that I was up in an airplane by myself was August of 2001, so it has been a little while. I took a couple of pictures while was waiting to take off. I didn't take any airborne pictures because I am pretty sure I would have gotten into trouble if they found out. The first one is of a Warrior on a short final, and the second picture was just a picture outside of the airplane.

And since I am still waiting on a CD from someone I decided to put up a video of Cole feeding the ducks on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzHKWUXhuzk

Solo Tomorrow

2008-09-09T22:38:00.003-05:00

Well tomorrow is the big day, it is time to fly or not to fly. I will be going solo for the first time in about 5 years. I will be honest I am a little bit nervous but nothing I can't handle. I will be going up and working the traffic pattern in Grand Forks for about 30 minutes, like an all star of course. Since I didn't get to take any pictures this flight on Sunday I thought I would at least post some pictures the college has. The first picture is a picture of a piper warrior (the plane that I fly). The next picture over is the what the instructors commonly call "the round eye." This is the cockpit of the warrior with the old round dial instruments. The final picture is the newer cockpit of the warrior with the two display screens. I get to fly the newer cockpit commonly called the "glass." Thank God, it is much easier to fly with all of the instruments on one screen. It really cuts the workload down and allows you to fly the airplane more efficiently.

Another Week Down

2008-09-05T22:22:00.006-05:00

Man time flies. I am not sure there is any other way to put it. It feels like all I did this week was blink and it has all gone by. School is keeping me way too busy. I liked it better when I didn't have to study anything or really do anything out side of class. Those days have come and gone. One thing that I really like this semester is that they are making me take a flying class. Before I didn't want to spent the money and the extra time that it was going to take for this class. Last Monday I got back into the air with the UND fleet for about 2.5 hours. I forgot how much fun it can be. I am flying a completely didn't plane than I have before. It is a Piper Warrior. Like I posted earlier, this plane has everything you can think of. I will be going up into the air on Sunday afternoon if the weather is good and I will be taking my camera. Expect several pictures in the days following Sunday.

Why hold pretzels in a bowl when you have all of this extra space between your toes that you are just not using? Cole and I have come up with a homemade version of sumo wrestling. I will list what you need below.

Two Feather Pillows - Large Enough to cover all critical areas of the body (Hint: This is for your protection not your child's. You don't want to catch the ever popular "Flying Knee")
Two Over Sized Belts
Clear Area - Large Enough to move around but small enough that they can't get a real big running start for the "Flying Knee")
One Ice Pack or Bag of Ice - This is for you...after you catch the "Flying Knee"

School's in Session

2008-08-31T16:28:00.004-05:00

School is back into full swing and I am trying to adjust my mind and body to come into terms with that. This semester is going to be really challenging for me and I hope I rise up to the task at hand. I realize I am just 8 classes away from being done with this college experience and look forward to the next stage in my life.

The class that I am currently taking include: Private Pilot (both ground school and flight time), Aviation Safety, Tower 3, Tower 4, Interpersonal Comm, and Information Systems (Computers class) along with Econ and Spanish 2 online.

I will post some pictures up once I get going on the flight portion of my training. I will be in a Piper Warrior that is less than 5 years old with ever bell and whistle you could think of in this plane. The FAA is testing out a brand new technology and UND is one of the testing zones that it is being tested. The technology allows planes to send information to each other and then it is displayed on a GPS map. Basically a high tech traffic warning system with advanced capabilities.

Since my source hasn't been able to get me a video editing program I decided to post a few pictures of Cole's summer vacation on here. Once I do get the program I am going to make a slide show and put it up on youtube for your viewing pleasure.

Play Time is Over

2008-08-24T21:28:00.003-05:00

Well Cole and I made it back home today after a 19 hour car ride. He was really good during most of the trip, up until about four hours left. It was from about 7 am until we got home. Which I didn't blame him whats so ever, seeing how I was wanting to be out of the car too. I will be posting some pictures of our vacation once I get settled in and after I get a certain CD in the mail from a certain someone. You know who you are. You are now on the clock.

Closed

2008-08-04T13:38:00.002-05:00

This site will be closed until August 25th. Sorry for any inconvenience.

One More Week

2008-07-24T12:25:00.003-05:00

Cole has had a rough couple of weeks. First after getting hit in the head with a basketball and chipping a tooth, next he decides to jump out of a shopping cart. The good news is that his already chipped tooth kept the rest of his body from getting hurt. Monday was another trip to the dentist and his chipped tooth is now a little loose. Another visit to the dentist next week to make sure everything is OK. Good thing he is going to be loosing that tooth someday, I just hope that isn't for awhile.

Today marks the end of another week gone by and only one more week of classes. I am excited to be done with the summer semester and look forward to what I hope will be my last semester of college in the Fall. I finished an online course last week and also took my physics final last night. Two classes down and only two more to go next week.

County Fair

2008-07-13T21:48:00.003-05:00

Sarah and I took Cole to the county fair today and to be honest it wasn't too bad. They had a fire truck on display that Cole got to sit in (1st pic). There was a petting zoo that Cole just loved. On a side note there were lots of animals there, but I am not sure why they had a peacock. Cole got to ride around on a little pony (3rd pic) and also a little train (4th pic).

Then Cole got to drive around in a little truck and finally rode down a huge slide with dad.

Over this weekend Cole suffered an injury while playing basketball with his dad. As you will notice from the picture below (ferris wheel) some cuts above his lip, and if you look really carefully a chipped tooth on his top right front tooth. This was on Friday, the day really wasn't a good one for him or dad. He seems do be doing much better since then, Sarah is going to take him in on Monday just to make sure he is really ok.

Fireworks, Fireworks, and More Fireworks

2008-07-06T21:46:00.005-05:00

Cole and I went down to the river to watch the firework show they had. Need less to say on the website it said they would start them at dusk. Well I looked on weather.com and saw that the sunset was at 9:30 so I thought Cole and I would get down by 9:15 or so. I thought wrong. The fireworks didn't start until a little bit after 10:30. So it was an hour and 15 minutes for me to entertain Cole, or course I didn't bring anything to entertain him with. Oh well, there were lots of people on both sides of the banks shooting off fireworks for the majority of the down time. The firework show itself was pretty decent for a small town, they had enough fireworks to make it worth while. On a side note, the town was flooded out in the late 1990's and there are flood walls on both sides of the bank. So the sound of the fireworks was crazy loud with the walls, river, and down town buildings to help amplify the noise. Cole laid down on my chest and I covered his ears for the whole thing. The hardest part was trying to get him to settle down and go to bed when we got home.

Just some pictures encase there is anybody out there that has never seen fireworks

Cole earlier in the day coloring on the couch, thank goodness he wasn't literally coloring on the couch, he just happened to color in his color book and later on, all up and down his legs.

Why not?

2008-06-26T00:02:00.006-05:00

Not being able to sleep I decided to place another post on my blog. I mean there is only so much late night TV one can take before looking for the power button, right? I got the mail today and noticed a letter from UND. I opened it, and it was a "special invitation" from the president of the school to be, and I quote again, "Commencement Marshal Candidate" for the summer commencement. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, I know I will have to get up in front of lots of people, which I hate doing, it is August 1st, which I hope to be headed to Idaho before than, so I will probably be declining but thanks anyway. This is something that they honor the underclassman with outstanding academic records. For those of you paying attention my Spring semester didn't go as planned due to some unforeseen pure laziness on my part. I was only able to get a 3.485 GPA which doesn't place you on any list. The saddest part was I got a "C" in the class that I very easily could have gotten an "A" in if I only had just applied myself a little more. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Well here is the first picture that Cole drew without any help from myself. As you can see here, the artist's perspective on the piece entitled "airplane" was drawn with such precision and detail, from the distinctive airplane shape right down to the windows carefully placed along the side of the airplane.

I will leave my visitors with this last thought that touched my heart last week. I was rocking Cole to sleep one night, just as I do every night, and he curled up on my chest, laid his head on my arm and then wrapped his arms around my arm. I am so thankful for a son who not only seems to understand me, but has such a loving way with his dad. I truly enjoy giving bubba "airplanes rides" to the big boy toilet (If you have to go, what better way to get there than your own person jet) and the special times when he just wants to curl up in my arms and fall asleep. For these are the things in which I am grateful.

Look There ----------------------------------------------------------------------------->

2008-06-18T20:41:00.007-05:00

So there are 365 days in a year, divide that in half and you get 182 1/2 days. Well that marks the half way point for graduation. It is now just under six months and counting. As far as the actual school part of it, I have finals tomorrow for the first half of summer semester. Two finals in one day, that really stinks especially when it is Math and Spanish. Can't really fake it through either of those classes, and neither of those classes are offering a multiple guess test. Might actually have to study for those.

Just a couple of quick snap shots of some animals that are living in my neighborhood. The rabbits around here are pretty good sized and there are tons of them on campus. The ducks live on a small creek that runs through the campus. There are about 20 - 30 little ducks swimming around but they are hard to spot since they hide in the swamp like area. The picture of Cole on the rocks with the water is the same little creek. During the winter I saw some people curling on it. What ever floats your boat I guess.

So I told Cole there was no way that I would let him wear my glasses because I didn't want him to break them. As you can see I am the biggest softy when it comes to him, however he really is just interested in wearing them. I think it is time to go out and get him a pair. The park that Cole and I usually go to has this art thing that Cole and I have never looked at until recently. I was really surprised it is actually pretty cool. I set Cole up by it and took his picture. There are several rows of different types of vehicles. From cars, trucks, trains, airplanes and at the very top large military bombers. Cole loved it.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T18:26:00.003-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. Without you our cars would be broken down, our fences would be laying on the ground, our baseball pitches would always be in the dirt, our basketball shots would be short. For all of the things you do and all the things you will do, you deserve a special day in the sun. So get outside and enjoy day.

And to all of those out there that have yet to become dad's, one piece of advice for you. Understand the only shoes that you have to fill are your own.

2008-06-02T13:14:00.002-05:00

This weekend Cole and I tried to get out and about to spend some time outdoors. It was rainy most of the weekend, with a pretty decent thunderstorm on Thurdsay afternoon. Which I due enjoy, much unlike Boise, I don't mind actual storms coming through the area. It brings a nice change of pace and some excitement to an other words boring display of weather.

Tonight is the first night of my class out at the airbase and I am not really sure what to think of it. I drove to the base last week to get a parking pass and it took me about 15 - 20 minutes to get out there. The class is going to be really long, not getting over until 10:15 which is going to make for a nice relaxing drive home with no traffic and cool summer breezes.

Half Way Done

2008-05-28T15:32:00.004-05:00

So the weather has changed and it is starting to feel and look like summer. Which is strange because I don't remember it ever being fall. I took Cole out to the playground the other day and just loves playing in the sand (volleyball court). I even got him to wear his John Deere just for you Rich.

So tomorrow is the last day of the first three weeks of class which marks the class half over with. It is going by pretty quickly. I am starting up my evening class out at the Grand Forks AFB on Monday which will run through July. It is twice a week from 4:45 until 10:15. I am hoping that the class is easy, it is however Physics, a class that I have never taken, not even in high school. So we will have to see how that goes.

6 - 2 = 4

2008-05-22T21:58:00.003-05:00

So that is a 6 - (+2) = 4 or now is that 6 + (-2) = 4. Your guess is as good as mine. Well two weeks have passed by of the summer semester and I wasn't just wasn't sure how the whole summer semester thing would go. So after just eight classes of Math we are already 3 1/2 chapters into the book, and Spanish is going by just as fast as well. It is good thing I am really good at Math and fluent in Spanish. Well at least one of those statements is true, I will let you guess which one.

I thought that I would put some of the newest pictures of Cole up. We have created a new game that is a cross between baseball and golf. As you can see it involves the usual baseball equipment, but the delivery of the ball is kind of like golf. Dad pitches the ball on the floor and bubba boy takes a good whack at it with his bat. This game is dangerous if I am caught off guard because Cole doesn't hold back when it comes to swinging the bat.

Some Pictures

2008-05-11T19:11:00.002-05:00

Well the semester is over with, and the new one starts tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. As many of you know, I am not the morning type of person so it is going to be a rough summer. I thought I would throw some pictures up of Cole this last week at the park. You have got to love his hair when he would go down the slide.

I did however take him to the barber this afternoon to get his hair cut. The barber said his hair was more than three inches on top, so I only thought it would be fair to cut it down to match dad's hair cut. Ok, so he didn't get it shaved but it was reduced by half which looks tons better than what it was before.

2008-05-04T23:07:00.002-05:00

Well the weather has maybe leaned more toward spring the last few days, it has finally been nice enough to go outside and enjoy outdoors for awhile. I went out today and bought Cole a bike helmet and we installed his bike seat. We took it for a test drive to the park and he just loved it. About two months ago I bought some glow in the dark planets to hang on his ceiling to go with the stars. You might have to click on the photo to view a larger size to actually see the stars and planets. And as you can see from the second photo, it has only been a month since I introduced the world of puzzles to Cole, and he is already putting together some pretty big puzzles. I bought him a 60 piece puzzle the other day and he already has mastered it.

Finals are this week and I only have two actual finals to take. I really hope to get onto the Dean's List again this semester, and it is basically down to one class that I have to do really well on the final to get the "A" I need to remain on the list. Kind of wish that I would have tried harder during the semester so I wouldn't be so pressured to do really well on my final, oh well.

Finally Warm

2008-04-20T00:19:00.006-05:00

The sun as finally decide to come out and bless the ND area with some warm weather. It was really nice the last couple of days and Cole and I spend the majority of it outside. I took him to this little creek that runs through the campus and we decided to throw rock into it. The third picture is him throwing a rock with each hand.

There are lots of little ground animals in which I have no idea what they are called, but Cole really enjoys running after them. They are really quick and Cole hasn't figured out that he needs to be quiet and sneak up on them. The picture below is of one of these animals, you can see the hole he runs into just above and to the right of the animal (which is centered in the pic).

I came across this quote the other day, and for some reason it has really stuck in my mind. Most likely because it really applies to me right now. "You don't have to stay up nights to succeed; you have to stay awake days." How true this is. That quote applies to me because by its definition I am not succeeding, but I am hanging on with everything that I have got not to stay up too late.

Getting Close to the End of Another

2008-04-13T22:56:00.006-05:00

So it is that time again, my semester is coming to a close and I am trying to get all of the loose ends tied up. I have two big group projects that are both due the next two weeks along with presenting them to the classes. My favorite. I am not to worried about them, I just really hate being dragged to the front of the class and having to talk about something that nobody in the room cares about, including me. Kind of torture if you ask me.

I have registared for my summer and fall class this past week. I hope that everything falls into place for me and I am able to finally be done with school come Christmas. And just a shade under a decade too, however the sad part is I will not be able to be placing the letters "MD" at the end of my name.

Winter I think has finally wrapped up around here and summer seems to be just around the corner. Cole is looking forward to playing outside more than what we have been. I bought him a little bucket with some shovels and the two of us went out and sat in the sand box (volleyball court) and just played for an hour. One day last week we even got to play "hoops." That is right since adding another year under his belt he has upgraded from "shoup."

Yes mom we found a good year around use for his Easter basket.

Bubba's Hobby

2008-03-28T18:03:00.007-05:00

So I have been putting together a puzzle in my bedroom and Cole has found it. So I thought that I would go out and get Cole a couple of puzzles to get him started. Well as soon as we got home from the store Cole took his puzzle and headed for my room. I don't think so buddy, so we end up putting together his puzzle last night on "his" table. Well today we had to get the puzzle out, and about three hours later I am reading the box to see if the puzzle is flammable. The only thing that I can find on it they have a number that says "3-7." I was thinking that was 3 -7 times before this puzzle ends up being put away....forever. Oh well.

Easter Pics

2008-03-27T16:52:00.006-05:00

Well here is a couple of pictures from this last weekend. As you will notice Jen the color of the "grass" closely resembles what a typical apartment carpet color might be. The good news is that next week we are going to get up to 40 degrees that is over course after the heavy snow storm over the weekend. And yes Cole must stick his tongue out in order for the eggs to be dyed correctly.

Somebody Help Me Out

2008-03-21T18:00:00.008-05:00

So on Feb 2nd when they pull the rat out of some old tree stump that has been turned into a cage, he sees his shadow, and has how many more weeks of winter? I was thinking that it was six more weeks. So I looked at the calendar and that would mean winter would end on the 15th of March. Well it is now the 21st of March and it has been snowing all day long. Right after all last week it was sunny and nice. When is it going to be spring already?

Well Sarah, Cole, and I are going to go to the Alerus Center again for Easter tomorrow. They are having some big event indoors like they did for Halloween, Thank God, hiding eggs around the house just isn't has fun. Was looking through the pictures from last year and happened to come across these that make me laugh every time.

The Jury is In

2008-03-19T11:24:00.002-05:00

Well, there was no jury in fact there shouldn't have been a court hearing to begin with, but somebody wants go the court route instead of sitting down with our lawyers and trying to work it out. This same person also believes that there is a little tree out back that produces a fruit that is made entirely out of paper that looks a lot like, well.....money.

So everything said and done we did come to an agreement about a schedule for Cole, and the court has ordered us to take a parenting class, and also we are being appointed a custody mediator (for free) that should begin sometime in the middle of April to hash out a final solution for the well being of Cole. If nothing can be agreed upon then we are looking at a court date sometime at the end of July to get the divorce rolling.

Things didn't turn out exactly like I wanted but they are very close, and all in all I can not complain to much. Just wished that somebody would have come to the table to begin with instead of dragging this into court.

The Day Is Coming!!!

2008-03-16T18:28:00.007-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I am going to be appearing in court on Wednesday. So the day is set for a judge to decide what is best for Cole until the divorse is final. The last few months have been an experience that I hope I never have to face again. I am actually looking forward to having some sort of order in my life when it comes to Cole.

On a happier note, I would like to thank my dad and Tyrone for making it possible for me to have a vehicle now.

Here are some new pictures of Cole that I took while Tyrone was here over this last weekend.

Some New Pics of Bubba

2008-03-11T00:43:00.009-05:00

Well spring break is over with, and after a very boring week it is back to school again. We are currently experiencing a warm front this week and it is about time. Today reached a high of 32, and the next couple of days it even might get up to 33 for a high temp. Some good news I am going to be able to take the ATC class this summer that I was worried about because it was offered in the first half of the summer.

Here are some pics of Cole that I have taken over the last couple of weeks. Cole and I used a blanket and his small table to create Bubba's first homemade tent. I placed my flashlight TV / Radio in there so that he has some light. Also the pics of the blocks is when Cole was building a garage for Mater.

Pics of Cole

2008-01-27T14:01:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of Cole from this last week. I placed them on here for you grandma, he loves his robe now that he knows what it is for. The first picture is Cole after a long hard morning of playing blocks and church.

Also for those of you who know the situation I would appreciate any prayer that you would have for my family. Things continue to get worse as the days go by. God has a plan for my family, what that plan is exactly has yet to be seen. I believe that Sarah and I are not in the positions that we need to be for God to show us his will. Hence things are getting worse day by day.

Galatians 2: 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; It is I who no long lives, but Christ who lives within me."

Pictures from This Last Month

2008-01-14T16:24:00.000-06:00

I just thought that I would drop a few pictures that I did have of Cole recently. I know that Sarah usually posts the pictures, but I am not sure if she is going to continue to do that or not. So here are some that we have.

The last photo is for you Jenn. He just loves reading the book that you gave him

Who Knew

2008-01-13T19:20:00.001-06:00

I am so a smart, S M R T. Well I don't mean to toot my own horn, but guess who is in the top 15% of his class and is currently on the Dean's List. If you still don't know, then follow the link and search for Smith under the last name.

http://www2.und.edu/our/honor/deanlist.html

I ask that everyone keep praying for my family and the conviction of our hearts to turn our eyes on the Lord. And for us to place our entire faith and trust in his hands. Without God's help there will never be any changes for the better.

James 1:22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

First of the Year

2008-01-02T12:34:00.000-06:00

Well after updating my blog reading it is very clear, that I am the first person to post in the new year. With that said I hope that everyone's holiday season was great, and may God continue to bless everyone this up coming new year.

I would like to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers for Sarah and I. I would like everyone to know that the prayers are felt. Some prayers that God has answered in my life in the changes that I am feeling, and my relationship with Sarah.

First things first, God has put on my heart to place him first in my life. After some prayers from myself and everyone else out there God placed his hand in my life. He has given me a new attitude on life that I don't want to take for granite. I have noticed a new found happiness in my life, and I have God to thank for it. I am joyful to be doing things around the house, and I have also noticed that I am actually excited to be going to church tonight with Sarah. I have been looking forward to it since Cole and I went on Sunday morning.

Secondly my relationship with Sarah has done a complete 180. I look forward to talking with her when she is able to sit down with me. I have noticed that her tone and attitude toward me has changed in the way that we can actually sit down and have a meaningful conversation with each other without somebody getting upset. The two of us have been showing each other respect and just overall being getting along very well. I would like to say that this is the best that the two of us ever been to each other. Again, another answer for God.

Third, and last, I would like to ask for your continued prayers for Sarah and I. She has told me she would like me to pray for her relationship with God. I know one thing for sure is that in the midst of all of the things that is going on, she has told me that she isn't wanting to give up on God. Also pray that God would place his healing hands on her heart and show her his love for her. She has expressed to me that she doesn't know if she knows what love is. So really pray that God shows her what love is, and that his will be done in her life.

Ok this is it, I promise. Please pray for me that I will be able to place God first in my life, and that I will become the spiritual leader in my family. Pray that I will truly be able to place my marriage in God's hands and trust him for whatever the outcome might be.

Have a Great New Year!

Polar Express Spotted in Grand Forks

2007-12-07T21:30:00.000-06:00

Cole and I we outside in the snow trying to get some pictures of Cole playing in the snow. Come to find out that Cole is scared to death of the snow and we decided to go and look at the trains instead.

I was carrying Cole on my shoulders and walking through snow that was up to my knees. Much different than Boise I must say. Here is the original picture of the train. Notice that you can not even see the tracks under the train.

Snow Is Finally Here!!!!

2007-12-02T16:40:00.000-06:00

Well I was not impressed with the snow situation that was here in the big bad Midwest. It was well into the end of November and we hadn't really received anything in the form of snow. Well after this last week that was not the case any more.

Well one week and 7 inches later, winter is upon us. PS we are expected to receive more snow on Tuesday.
And another side note, there is only more week of school!!!!
And the counter that is on my desktop - 12 months/17 days/ 01 hour/ 07 minutes/ 40 seconds until Graduation.

2007-11-14T10:46:00.001-06:00

Well getting into the final stretch for this semester. I really only have three more weeks of work plus finals week. Most of my classes are wrapping up with group projects, or long final papers. I am sure glad that I don't have a lot on general educations classes this semester. At least with aviation there is some interest in the classes, where as my English class I am bored out of my mind with writing papers. Oh well, today is the day that I get to register for classes. I have been planning out my next semester since the class schedule game out over a month ago. I am just hoping that the classes are not full by the time that I get to register.

Job Hiring

2007-11-04T22:40:00.000-06:00

The way that the job offers go, for those of you who are curious (Jenn), after I pass the AT-SAT test the FAA places my name into a "pot." In this pot I am allowed to pick a couple of states and then my name goes into that state's pot. After that I get placed on a list for that particular state and finally interviewed by the facilities within that state that are in need of hiring controllers. So looking at the Boise facility they are currently at 92% staffed with four people who are able to retire at the end of the year. This looks promising because they try to hire controllers from around the area first, plus it takes near two years of on the job training just at the facility before you can really control on your own. So there should be several spots open in Boise by this time next year. Here is a website that you can look up facilities and the staffing at each facility. http://data.gannettnewsservice.com/airtraffic/facreport.php?FACID=BOI

I hope that clears up any questions out there.

Half Way Done

2007-10-22T16:43:00.000-05:00

Well I am half way done with semester # 1 making that 1/8 of the way done with school. Only 7 more half semesters to go. In my Intro to ATC class we are moving onto the radar portion of the class as depicted by the image on top. This is a screen shot of what my radar screen looks like. You can click on it to get a better view of the picture. The circle in the middle with the two dashed lines going through it represent the academy airport (fictional airport). The dashed lines are one mile apart and they are the ILS approach lines. The circle that they go through is the tower's airspace. The circle just to the south is another airport Jeske Air Base with the ILS approach lines. The "goal looking" things on the outer most part are called gates in which departing and arriving traffic must go through. There is four departure gates, North, South, East, West and these are depicted with the poles of the gates pointed inward. The other four gates are the arrival gates. Each of these gates are named something different to depict on the map where they are. Sounds confusing, but with the proper memorization it shouldn't be too hard.

In my tower class we are moving on from giving clearances and weather to the proper way to taxi aircraft and the correct departure intersections at which they are to depart from.

Math, just moving on from the same old theorems that will not mean anything to me in the future, English, getting ready to write the eight page report on an environmental issue.

Human factors working on Crew Resource Management, Aviation Orientation we are still listening to boring lectures about the different career paths for aviation offered at UND, this is a freshman course worth one credit I wish I could have done without.

And on a side note I have enrolled in a distance Management course, that I have to take, that I hope to complete during the month break I will have over Christmas. I am hoping that I can get it done in time to take another before the end of the year. I am hoping that by Fall of 2008 I have gotten three of these courses done to lighten my load for that final semester. My goal is to only be taking four classes during the Fall so that I can TA in some ATC courses and make a little bit of money to prepare for the move to OK.

Here is a link that talks about what you have to go through to become a controller

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos108.htm

Spending Money??

2007-10-03T16:01:00.000-05:00

Well the tests that I have had in the last couple of weeks went by without a hitch, classes seem back to normal. I have recently been looking at my next couple of semesters trying to plan them out so that I have to be here as little as possible. I have run into a problem with a flying class. In order to graduate in ATC you have to take either AVIT 101 or 102. One class is a survey of flight, the other is Private Flight class. I have already taken this class @ UVSC but they will not accept the completion of the class @ UND. Sounds rather stupid to me, I am finding out that I will have to retake a ground school class but instead of the 40 hours of flight time that I will need for a private, I will be able to by pass most of the lessons. At least that will take away some of the cost. My major concern is that this ground school will take up a good section of my week, possible delaying some of my other class into another semester. I am hoping that this is not the case, I would sure hate to have to hang out for another semester for just one or two classes. I talked with an ATC advisor / professor and he told me that he thought that I had to take the class again was just stupid. He thought the reason ATC has to take any of the flying classes is to keep the student instructors here with work. Makes sense but it still sucks being on this end. I read in a book ( one that I had to read ) that the UND aviation department logs over 100,000 hours of flight time per year.

On a side not, I am going to be taking my AT-SAT exam by Christmas, at least that is the plan. This is a exam that I have to pass to get a job offer from the FAA, so it is pretty important. If I don't pass I will be able to take the test again after one year, that is why I am hoping that I can take it now, so that I can take it again just before I graduate.

When I was working @ Skywest I had a co-worker that made me listen to this, I found it, so I thought that I would pass it on. It is rather length, but the content it funny if you can follow it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUnVlyyar4M&mode=related&search=

ATC First 6 Weeks

2007-09-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

Well not much is happening in school, I have taken my first math test. Human factors test is on Wednesday, and I have a mid term in Tower Operations next Tuesday or Thursday. In my intro to ATC class we have just started going into the simulators. I would have to say that these are really life like sims. We are in a 360 sim as everyone around here calls it. You can actually watch your plane being pushed away from the gates with a little tug, and you watch you plane taxi to the runways. We are working on ground control and have ground control pass the planes to the tower. Tower is responsible for just the runways, both arriving and departing airplanes. This sim is really detailed, you can see the logos on the planes themselves. I will have to get a picture of this sim and place it on my blog. All of the aviation buildings are connected by "skyways" and on one of the "skyways" you pass over the 360 sim. You are able to look down in to it and watch the students working in there. Well that class is just basic stuff, getting to know all of the equipment that we will be working with. In my actual tower class we are working on reading the ATIS (automated terminal information system, weather) and reading clearances to airplanes based off of the departure strips. Will are going to get started in the sims after the mid term and I am really looking forward to that.

Well Cole and I decided to get out of the house for one of the last times before it really starts getting cold here. I know that it does seem like that is close right now since it was 92 here today, but forecasting in the 50's the next couple of days will change the feel in a hurry. But here is a couple of pics of the trains that I have been trying to get Cole to see.

On the way back I spotted some butterflies and tried to get a pic of Cole with them but he wasn't having any of that. The orange and black butterflies were huge.

Just Getting Started

2007-09-19T23:39:00.000-05:00

Well after watching Sarah set up a blog, and talking with Rich on the phone for about a half an hour I decided to put together a blog to let everyone know what was going on with me. I will just focus on what is going on with school and I will let Sarah talk about the family. Stay tuned, more is on the way.