Information Echo

Due to yesterdays snow as well as several additional forecasted storms in the next week, I decided it was prudent to extract our trailer from it’s storage lot in preparation for our trip to Macgregor Point Provincial Park from the 30′th to the 4′th.

Although I’m usually pretty good at making do without it, I’ll admit that having 4WD would have been handy.

If you are suddenly interested in buying a snowblower, the night before what Environment Canada is coining “Snowmageddon” is not the time to go shopping for it.

I was laughed out of several stores this evening, along with other fools like me who decided to wait until the last minute and then panic. At virtually every single store we went to snowblowers were nowhere to be seen - even floor models had been snapped up and taken home in preparation of the multiple significant snowfalls we’re scheduled to receive over the next 3 days.

Admittedly, I did find 6 snowblowers at one local WalMart, but instead of being a small-ish model that I had in mind (we do only have a two-car driveway, after all), they were of the large (and $900 before tax) breed. I took a pass, but there was several others who weren’t - one family was eagerly watching a WalMart employee assemble their new purchase. I struck up a conversation, and like myself his initial target price range earlier in the day was “about $400″, but out of sheer desperation he was now going to pay over $1000.

In a last ditch effort I returned to the adjacent Home Depot and rummaged through the “crap we can’t get rid of” section…and found a lone dejected floor model snow blower. Well, actually, a Toro “Power Shovel”.

It looked tiny, but it has some impressive stats, and the size and lightweight appealed to me since it can be easily transported. I literally threw it over my shoulder while in the Home Depot finishing our shopping.

I’m sure it’ll have it’s limitations, but I tried it out this evening on some leftover snow from our last dump a few days ago and I was actually quite impressed. Regardless, at this point in my desperation scale, “Anything that moves snow without back breaking effort” rates highly.

After last winter (link goes to pics of the crap we dealt with then!) I swore I’d buy a snowblower in time for this winter. But then, of course, doubts about having two bad winters in a row crept in and I got complacent. Complacency teamed up with procrastination, and I was served the results tonight.

Meh. My new “power shovel” only cost me $125. Snowblower guy at Walmart is $875 poorer then me.

No, not from an aviation perspective..not yet anyways.

Horses, instead.

After several stints at various hobbies including soccer and ballet, my daughter started taking horseback lessons this summer. This was brought on by her experience this summer in Squamish British Columbia during our RV Adventure to the west coast. The “bug” bit her hard after her experience riding there, so we decided to see if she enjoyed lessons.

And wow, she’s done spectacular, having done her first solo canter (The horsemanship equivalent of “Taking off the training wheels”) during this past Tuesday’s lesson.

The only negative (Well, positive, I guess) is that the bug has bitten me as well. I used to ride recreationally on occasion, although I was hardly an expert by any means. I’ve rode a few times on and off over the last decade, but only in trail-ride situations with what can only be described as “Auto-Pilot” horses that are trained to stay in line and basically ignore all cues from the rider.

A few weeks ago I was back on a real (read as: actually responsive) horse again, and it felt great. So, a few weeks from now, I’m toying with taking a lesson after my daughters and seeing exactly how rusty I really am.

Spending so much time around horses again has reminded me of how much fun it is and what great creatures they are.

Why do I see this new hobby transitioning to something very expensive in our future?

A friend messaged me through Facebook a short while ago and asked me if I was interested in going in on a share of an aircraft.

His first suggestion gave me a good chuckle, but the second suggestion was much less tongue-in-cheek, and honestly very interesting.

Aside from the fact that the price point on that is probably out of my range at this point in time (assuming a 1/2 share), my employment situation is currently rather tenuous. That would make entering into any sort of major financial obligation a foolish decision right now.

Looking at the pictures sure do make me want to get back to flying, though.

If you happen to have a spare $3.5M (Yes, Million) kicking around, you too can own you’re very own 1956 Aerocar, serial number “2″. (Click for eBay listing)

I don’t know what’s more surprising - the asking price, the fact that it has 1,103 TTAF, or the fact that you can buy a Boeing 727-200 (from the same seller) for less money.