macfadden.org

Sound Waves From The Past

Michael — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:12:58 +0000

Steve asked me to dig up this old audio clip from back in the day when I was in 8 Beat Measure. This was an recording we made for one of the first Chill Beats concerts the group put on. This is great timing as this years Chill Beats is just going off. Sounds like the guys are still doing the sports intro thing. This is where the tradition began.

Take a Listen: Sirius

Flight to Riverside, CA

Michael — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:47:54 +0000

So Lisa and I finally got back in the air together for our first cross country flight together in quite some time. Pretty much our fligt together have either been for my training or just flying our the San Diego area. This was the first time I have planned, filed and flown a cross country IFR flight to an area I had not been as the pilot in command. I flew mostly under he hood on the way up using mainly airways tracking VORs. It was pretty cool to fly that far and take of the hood and be lined up on final at an airport I had not ever been to before.

We landed and took a quick break. The plan was to switch seats and have Lisa fly left seat for the return flight. It got a little exciting when the plane would not start. The starter just made a thump and the prop did not turn. A quick call to the plane owner yielded a possible solution to free up the starter mechanism so that it would engage with the drive shaft. Unfortunately, there were no tools available, so I had to resort to disassembling a ball point pen to fashion a tool to unjam the mechanism. Luckily I was able to get it free, furthering my MacGuyver reputation.

We got the plane started and departed. On the way out we had occasion to fly around the good year blimp which was cool. Lisa navigated us back to Montgomery Field and performed her first real instrument approach which was cool.

All and all a great flight and great to be back in the air with Lisa. Can’t wait to add Ethan tithe mix in a few months.

So Far, So Good

Michael — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:05:24 +0000

Well, not only did I survive my first semester at SDSU, but I managed to snag a 4.0. Not bad considering it was my first semester back to school after 8 years. Oh and during the semester, I got a new pilots license, became a father, and was working full time. I don’t think my classes are going to get any easier, but I bet my life won’t be that hectic next semester.

Thanks Giving 2011

Michael — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:10:11 +0000

Thanks in large part to my mother, the first Thanks Giving we hosted in SD (and the first one in our home.., oh and Ethan’s first one to) was a great meal. It was great to have everyone out and it was great seeing my folks with their newest grand child.

Flying Blind

Michael — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:20:33 +0000

For those who don’t know, I have been training and studying for my Instrument Rating for my pilots license. When you first get your license you can only fly in weather conditions that allow you to see the ground and or the horizon. You need to maintain this visual reference to ensure that the plane stays in the proper attitude. When you loose this visual reference, the forces of three dimensional flight can trick you in to feeling like up is down and left is right. The next step in the piloting progression is to become instrument rated. This teaches you how to fly by reference to flight instruments alone. This is critical if you are going to be flying in and out of the clouds.

There was a lot of reading, learning, and flying that went in to gearing up for the rating. I took the written test and passed with flying colors a few weeks back. Today I took the flight test and aced that too. It certainly doesn’t mean I am invicible or an expert pilot. I am still not going to go fly in to bad weather, nor do I think I am suddenly capable of handling any scenario. It does however mean I have reached the next level of proficiency and has removed several restrictions. Now, I basically have to rely on my own good judgement.

Anyway thanks to Glenn, my instructor for doing a great job, and Lisa for putting up with my stress level.

Higher Ed

Michael — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:30:09 +0000

I am well into the semester at San Diego State. Things are going well. I am enjoying both my algorithms as wells as my artificial intelligence class. I’ll keep you posted on any interesting developments.

However, I can already tell you that at least in my algorithms class, my peers will be hating me for ruing the grading curve. I managed to get a 107% on the first assignment. The funny thing is that there was no premeditated extra credit. I just did such a complete and thorough job, the instructor decided to give me a little bonus. Yeah, I am that guy. Sorry.

Sweet Suite

Michael — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 06:31:13 +0000

Tonight Lisa, I and 18 of our closest family and friends got together for the Padres vs Dodgers game. Tonight was special because Lisa’s Grand Dad was in from Scotland and is a Dodgers fan. Early in the season we had arrange to watch the game in a luxury suite in the Toyota Terrace. It was quite plush and a gret way to watch a game. Parking, food and drink was included. We had out own private room with couches, stadium seats, TVs and bathroom. The view of the field was pretty good too.

If that’s not good enough, I got randomly picked to be the guy that went down to guess the attendance of the game on the big screen during the 8th inning. I went, I won. The prize was a signed game used bat. Pretty awesome. Oh and the Pads won… a rare occasion these days. Great night.

Thanks to John and Sandy for making it possible.

It’s Been How Long

Michael — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:40:52 +0000

So, it’s been way to long since I posted anything up here. I have been pretty busy. Of course the baby works are now in full swing. We have the nursery just about all set up, although it needs some decorations for sure. I am still plugging away on my instrument rating for my pilot’s license. I hope to wrap that up some time soon. It’s been a fun, yet not much winning Padre’s season, and I have been to quite a few games. I have been traveling a bit for work, with my latest trip earlier this month to Chicago for a security conference. I managed to see my broher Vince and the kids while I was there. And oh yeah, classes start next week if you can beleive that.

So yeah. I have been busy. No excuse really.

AOPA’s President @ Plus One Flyers

Michael — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:39:11 +0000

Plus One Flyers The flying club that Lisa and I belong to recently held their quarterly membership meeting. This particular meeting was especially interesting in that Craig Fuller, the President of the Airplane Owners and Pilot’s Association (AOPA) was attending as a guest speaker. AOPA is one of the most influential aviation advocacy groups in the world and is providing a critical service to the general aviation community. AOPA works to ensure that our privilege to fly as GA pilot’s is maintained and the freedom’s we sometimes take as granted as American Pilot’s is not threatened. Mr. Fuller is currently leading the charge at AOPA and fighting the good fight for us little guys.

The meeting was well catered and held in the Crown Air Hanger at Montgomery Field. The general membership meeting was fairly quick and the session moved on to a talk and Q&A with Mr. Fuller. He have quite a few interesting things to say about the state of affairs in general aviation. Interestingly, his number one concern is the shrinking population of pilots, and specifically the poor retention rate of those seeking primary flight training. Getting people to take the first step and begin their training is hard enough. The fact that the great number of people do not finish the training is startling. Mr. Fuller’s point here is that there is strength in numbers. For our voice to be heard in Washington, we need many voices. We need to do all we can to help grow our numbers and provide a strong and healthy community for which AOPA can advocate.

During the Q&A session I was able to stand up and ask the final question of the night. I basically asked Mr. Fuller to comment on my concern that, in the long run I hope that flying is something I can share with my children and grandchildren. Currently there exists a number of threats to GA. From funding, to the price of fuel, to regulations stemming from fear or terrorism, to bad press from accidents. I asked Mr. Fuller to speak to those concerns in light of Lisa and I are currently a lot of money into flying now in the hopes that it will be a life style our family can have for generations. His main point was that AOPA will do everything it can to secure that future, and that in the end pilot’s will always find a way to fly. Looking to Europe where these threats have already materialize, people still fly. They way they fly might be different but they still do. Pilot’s are a resourceful bunch and will find a way to stay in the air.

It was a great night. Just another reason why Plus One Flyers is the best flying club in the country. After the talk, we got an opportunity to take a picture with Mr. Fuller.

Baby on Board

Michael — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:48:58 +0000

Well, for those who don’t already know, Lisa and I are expecting the birth of our first child this October. The tentative due date is October 20th, but is subject to change as things progress.

We are very excited and are looking forward to starting a family. Given the due date, we are just now entering the second trimester so things are still in the early stages. While we will find out the gender of the baby, we won’t know for several weeks. At this point we don’t really have a preference. As long as we have a healthy baby we are fine either way!

In absence of knowing the gender and or picking names, we are referring fondly to our little one simply as “Baby Mac”.

I am sure over the next few days / weeks / month, I will post a lot more on how things are going, updates, and thoughts in general. For now though, I simply wanted to put the announcement out there to share our good news! Here are a few pictures from our latest ultrasound: