Horatio

The bike is amazing!!! It is so much fun to ride. The big problem is that the weather has been so perfect for riding, the roads are dry with no leaves and there is no limit to the amount of curvy, twisty roads just waiting for being explored... but I am supposed to be studying. My maneuvers evaluation is on Monday. I really don't like having to take simulator evaluations and this one is crucial. This exam is followed a week later with another exam. The exam on Monday judges maneuvers. The exam the following Monday evaluates you in the line operating environment. A jackaroo job... now that would be a really fun job. Riding an enduro would be a job where you always want to go to work. I'm sure you will find a great place in Australia for living quarters. Once you get down there, your colleagues will help you find a terrific place to live. I am so excited for you and this upcoming experience. You are going to have the most amazing journey.

Very exciting!!!! The days are going to fly by now that you are on the last two weeks. I knew you were going to get an A. There never was any doubt. Fantastic!!! We are anxious to read your posts while you are away! Thank goodness for the internet!

I'm still looking and talking to people. I wish you had mentioned something just a little bit earlier. How long does the Mad Science event last? Do they pay okay for the effort? The good thing about those is the exposure for you. Perhaps someone will walk in who knows of a teaching job and can refer you. You never know who you meet and where these things occur. Sorry that you are still at Wal-mart... but it does pay some bills. Shane needs to put down the remote and forget about football... especially with you in his life. Football can't even come close. All kidding aside, I know it must be hard not seeing as much of each other as you would like. Who ever imagined how expensive it is to live... in addition to the regular expenses, such as electric and phone, you have other amenities that are becoming necessities... cable, internet, etc.. These things can drain your bank account faster than quicksand. There should be a program where you can pay just a little for only a few of the channels that you want. Of all the channels we have, I only look at a small group. Do you ever reconsider the science educator job at the Liberty Science Center? Were you able to apply? That sounded like a pretty good idea.

This is very sad. The more that is revealed, the worse I feel for him. Just wait, if adults were involved, there is a money motive somewhere along the road. As far as my comment about MW, it is always best to keep your name out of things, people can be so weird. As you mentioned, Jesusfreak, there may be some uptight person who stifles MW's career, my thinking is that there are more of these people out there than you can imagine and MW does not need any of this. Please print out her social networking posts where she made those claims. This will help him.

Perhaps this is a great idea! Perhaps this will be a fantastic relationship!!!

Soooooo... how is it? You have a camera, send pictures of the campus! Send a picture of yourself! Keep us posted. Let's us know how it is going and if you are happy there.

These two girls framed this poor guy? That's awful. You will need to print out that information as soon as possible. He will definitely need it. You are smart and I know that you maintained a friendship, but sadly, even friendships are viewed in a bad light. At least you were not in his school district. Please keep in mind that everything, and I do mean everything, you put on any site, email, text, is open information. When you think of the scope of things, it is pretty scary. So, just re-read everything you put in print as it may appear somewhere else later. I know that you have a good sense of things, but please just be careful. You may not fear harm to your name, but when you are looking for a job later on, you don't want any tarnish to appear. Please look out for yourself. Innocent people can be damaged by rumours.

*waits*

You need to let him know that he needs to print out that statement from the social networking website. Print a copy for him just in case it gets deleted by someone or the site management. Perhaps if he presents the copy from the social networking website to his lawyer, this will help him avoid a court appearance. Due to the fact that the student is 15, this is considered statutory ####, and her parents are probably seeing dollar signs from the school district. He is pretty stupid about dating or seeing a student, as I think parents would not be too thrilled about hearing this. Unfortunately he probably will not get his job back or any job teaching... ever. You need to think about the fact that you might be called as a witness for the girl as she will want to find any and all people he might have dated or socialized with. Remember, you will be under oath, so you cannot lie. If you think that you can get away with a lie or two, forget it. Perjury is punishable and you don't want to go down that road. One thing my mother told me when I was a small hamster trying to get out of trouble... "You are not smart enough to lie." Those are great words of advice. My advice to you, make a copy of everything that girl wrote on all the social networking sites you can find. Keep a copy for yourself and somehow let the guy know. Other than that, I would stay away from both of these two. You do not want to be involved and by avoiding them, you might keep yourself from being called as a witness. Don't talk about them, don't try to find out what is going on and just plain avoid them as much as possible. You definitely don't want your name in the papers as this could happen as you are now an adult. Sorry for the parent-type rant. These things seem to get blown up and explode and I don't want to see you as part of the carnage.

This guy sounds great!!! Physics major... tough one! And a marching band member... outstanding!!! Enjoy this relationship! It sounds like a really terrific guy!!! *cough, cough* ...pictures... *cough, cough*

Overall good news... for now. My sim went pretty good. My landings were overall great and only a couple of my flows did I have some mind blocks and forgot a switch or two. These are the first officer flows and I won't ever be doing those, but we have to learn them for the course. I am so accustomed to being a captain that I was just sitting there waiting for the "first officer" to do the take-off data, and I was the "first officer". Oh... that was not a good move. Then yesterday I went and picked up my new bike. Whoo Hoo! I went from Memphis to Cape Girardeau, Missouri and by the time I arrived, it was raining. After three hours of driving, I was not about to turn around and go home. The rain didn't stop until I was halfway home. The rest of the ride was great and by the time I arrived in Memphis, I was feeling nice and dry and very happy about my new bike. Pictures to follow later today!

Okay... I have not updated this for a bit, so here goes. We are in the simulator phase and the simulator is amazing. It is too much like the airplane. The graphics are incredible. We did an exercise where there is an airplane coming at us and we have a traffic avoidance program and procedure that keeps us away from other traffic by having us complete a particular maneuver appropriate to the traffic. Well, for some reason, the program was not working. Anyway, the airplane came right at us, I ducked, and then we crashed. WHOA!!!! That was a little more realistic than I cared for. Anyway, we have survived fires, hydraulic problems, pressurization problems and today is day four. Dual engine failure. Well... we only have two engines! Eeeck!!!! Anyway, I need a break which comes after tonight and we have three days to prepare for the next round of events. I need three days just to sleep. Will give an update later. P.S. The simulator does not like crashing.

Of course!

[ Absolutely, positively fantastic!!!!!! Are you planning on mailing me the five bucks? ]

...and...

Now that is one I had not thought of... hope power goes out today.

Better... perhaps, but now they can throw all types of emergencies at us!!! Fire, electrical, hydraulic, flight control... *screaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmssssssssssssssss... HHHHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP* The really great part is the visual. It is really incredible. If you have a flight into Hong Kong, the airport looks exactly like Hong Kong. Any airport in the world. Perhaps not all of them, just the airports big enough to handle the B-777. Day, night, good weather, bad weather... whatever conditions the instructor desires. yeah.. my mom works as a technician on a military flight simulator. part of her job is climbing in and making sure everything is working. What a fantastic job your mother has!!! Our simulator technicians are incredible. After the abuse we give those machines, it is amazing to see the technicians come and make them like new. Your mother must be really smart and very talented. I know the people who work on our machines are very talented. Sometimes I wish they weren't so good as we get too many emergencies in a four hour period and it would be nice to have the machine break and give us a break.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! You deserve the A! You worked very, very hard! Let's hope you get an A for the course!!! After your journey, and the work in Australia, what plans do you have to further your education?

Outstanding!!! What a way to end the high school years and begin your new adventure. Let us know when you are ready to depart. What day do you have to be at college?

Good luck!!! Your supervisor is probably excited because he knows that you are going to do outstandingly well. Although it is only 10% of your grade, I do believe you will be outstanding in your field and be speaking in front of lots and lots more people with all the amazing discoveries you achieve. Please let us know how it goes.

Welcome back!!! How are you? What's going on? You have been missed!!!

Better... perhaps, but now they can throw all types of emergencies at us!!! Fire, electrical, hydraulic, flight control... *screaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmssssssssssssssss... HHHHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP* The really great part is the visual. It is really incredible. If you have a flight into Hong Kong, the airport looks exactly like Hong Kong. Any airport in the world. Perhaps not all of them, just the airports big enough to handle the B-777. Day, night, good weather, bad weather... whatever conditions the instructor desires.

My procedures validation is over. Thank goodness. Now on to the simulator phase. This is where we are in a full motion simulator. This is a little more enjoyable as the simulator acts just like the airplane, except they can simulate an array of emergencies that could not be accomplished in the airplane. So, this week, I am studying at least eight hours a day to be ready to start the next phase.

Great news on your brother's recovery. Of course, the recovery takes a long time and you do not want to rush it. A relapse would be far worse. Better to listen to the doctor and follow his instructions exactly for the best possible outcome. Of course, this is the sad part that you will be taking your journey alone, but perhaps he could join you at a later date when the doctor gives his approval. Weather... those poor farmers. I am so sorry to hear the news. They have worked so hard to make their money for the year and with the crops ruined, that is such sad news and lots of stress for them. With so much rain in such a short time, not much soaks into the hard, dry earth. Flash floods are quite often a problem with that severe a downpour. Three days... I am certain you will be a phenomenal success!!! You must be sort of sad, but also very excited. Your powerpoint presentation being completed is a relief and now just to get ready for the performance. There is no doubt when I say that you will be well prepared for any question they might ask. You have been working hard and I am certain that you are thoroughly prepared. Although you don't need it... good luck. I can't wait to hear the terrific news after the presentation is over. There is something a little sad and strange feeling when you sell off your furniture and are looking at an almost bare room. Each summer when I put the house plants outside, the room always feels a little empty. I can't imagine how you feel with almost everything gone. Twenty-nine days will be here before you know it. I am getting really excited for you as this is going to be such an amazing journey and wonderful experience. One good aspect to consider, it was much better that your brother had discovered his illness prior to leaving the country. It might have been awful had you been in the middle east when he became ill. We will look forward to your posts while you are on your journey and during the time you are working in Australia.

Great idea. I think this will be a plus for you. Hopefully you will make lots of money with your photographs. I hope so, but there are WAY better pictures up on deviantart for people to buy. Absolutely stunning. If you've never been there, go take a look. (of course, there are also some absolutely terrible ones too) Been there for a long while. As you mentioned, there is some incredible art with some phenomenal artists. Of course, there is some not-so-good art, but I admire the people for trying. Remember, people do not necessarily buy the best quality art or photographs, they buy what they like. You have some wonderful photographs that I think people will really love.