That is all…

Is there a joy simpler than opening a box of pristine, untouched
crayons? (the big pack with sharpener, of course!).

Waiting for a more modern day server project of mine to do it’s thing, I decided to play around with Virtual PC and see how old I could go back in PC time. Of course there is always DOS, but that installs fairly easily — although it took me a minute to figure out how to make MSCDEX to work in autoexec.bat & config.sys again!

I’ve previously run a Commodore 64 emulator, and that was nice, but without the software it wasn’t particularly interesting (Anyone remember GEOS?!)

No, the real fun was re-visiting those tried-and-true Windows versions I remember from College. So I whipped out my old CD drawer and what did I find

I have a secret…I know a spy! Really. Okay, maybe not true “Cloak and Dagger” type stuff, but in an industrial way. I bump into Boeing’s “analyst” for Airbus all the time at my local watering hole. We talk aerospace and aviation shop talk. It’s like my dream come true.

We’re enjoying drinks right now…

Shhhh…mums the word. I have no other evidence to support my claim. But then again, if I told you more I’d have to kill you…

That is all…

Claire is here!

We’re having a great time!

While in Atlanta I was able to spend time with my fine looking Southern cuzins Beth & Michelle! We had a great time and they took me to areas of Atlanta I would not otherwise have seen or known about:

Having a “FO” (Frosted Orange) and peach pie at Varisty, a drive-in dive and Atlanta tradition.

Had lunch here — was in the little “alternative” district of Atlanta (Little Five Points? — I forget already — They had good beer, though!). Was totally fun.

I like to compare Belligerent Urban Miscreants (B.U.M.s) in different cities, as there is a distinct difference and local flavor in each municipality’s B.U.M. membership.

Atlanta B.U.M.s are not as absolutely direct as in Boston, ala “Welcome to Boston, care for some crack?”

In Atlanta apparently there is a law that you can not directly ask for anything (as in solicitation of money). So the B.U.M.s have gotten pretty crafty down here out of necessity. They’ve become the “helping tour guide.” They strike up the conversation and then ask you if you need directions and point out new bars and city hot spots. They’re pretty clever and engaging. Then they hit you up for a “contribution” for their services.

I never give money to any particular B.U.M. member, but I actually had to break down and do it here in Atlanta after I saw the same guy twice. Last night he gave me some “advice” on a local pub….and I’ll be damned if it actually wasn’t good advice and the pub was really cool. So I gave him a couple dollars when I saw him today; he was appreciative and I felt pretty OK too.

Today I’m touring Atlanta city including The Georgia Aquarium (apparently the largest in the World…who knew!) and CNN. Then just wandering around, seeing what’s up.

Today I drove down to Fort Myers to see my good friends Scott & Paige, whom I’ve known since college, and their adorable kids Pierce (2) & Sloane (6 mo?). Most of you know I hate kids, so this may come as a surprise, but they really are cute. Pierce is talking up a storm and Sloane is the biggest, cutest smiley-girl you’ve ever seen — always a smile (Except when I took away the Tupperware of goldfish crackers from her after she started sucking on it — Ooooh, boy, did I hear protest about that!!)

The Paces are now putting the kids to bed, and I’m downstairs in the kitchen listening to the baby monitors down here — it’s really cute. I found myself singing along “abcdefg, hijklmnop, qrs, tuv, w, x, y and z…”

I’m down here thru Sunday and then I’m off to Atlanta!

Hopefully pictures to come — Pierce looks just like a little Scott!

Another pretty sunset, this time you can also watch the video as the sun drops down below the water and gets applause from the people in the bar below.

Watch the video here

I did dip my toe into the Gulf — it was cccccold. Like, freezing! At least I did it.

So writing this report outside from my balcony, sipping an ice-cold beer and observing interesting people. This part of the beach is devine.

So far…

Favorible impressions of Northwest Airlines
(soon to be Delta…sad to see NWA go…). So far — I haven’t flown NWA in decades, but each flight was spot on time and my bag came out only 10 minutes after arrival. First class was nice (when is it not?!) but actually I thought it was a wee bit better than American, my usual carrier. Food was actually good.

During the flight between MSP & TPA I was graced with a delightful traveling companion sitting next to me. She was from Minneapolis and ya, sure, you betcha — honest to goodness. Her mannerisms and accent were straight from Francis McDormand in the movie Fargo, but she looked EXACTLY like Ennis’s wife when she was blonde later-on from Brokeback Mountain (Was that Anne Hathaway?)! She was my age and travelling to a conference in Tampa — we had a great time talking about everything. It was a hoot.

Favorible impressions of Minneapolis Airport (MSP)
I actually haven’t transferred thru the main terminal at MSP before. It is quite large, and I had a hefty hike between gates, but it’s really nice. Massive mall will all shops you could imagine, incredible food choices. Makes me want to plan longer layovers here — with 2-3 hours you would not be bored in MSP. That said my 40 minute transfer was a bit tight, but worked perfectly — one of those magical layovers where just as you get to your next gate they pick up the mic and start announcing the boarding.

Favorible impressions of the Doubletree North Redington Beach, FL.
Slightly older building, sweetheart staff so far. I think I forget about the Doubletree when I travel — this is as nice as any Sheraton or Marriott I’ve been too, and it’s on the beach and was fairly inexpensive. And they asked, for $20, if I wanted a “welcome” package waiting for me in my room of assorted cheeses, crackers, fruit and beverages. I said yes, expecting a saucer of maybe 3 pieces of cheese and two small, green strawberries (but hey, I’m on vacation…) But then I found it and honestly — the thing is huge! All pretty and wrapped in a bow. I will never be able to eat all this cheese and fruit. It was awesome. Oh, and remember that Doubletree’s also give you a warm cookie upon checkin — yum!! Doubletree gets A+ from me so far…

So-so impressions of the beach.
It’s a nice beach for sure, and nice to look at and the Gulf view from my balcony is fantastic — love that! But, as I had thought, I can already tell that beach life is just not one of those things I’m attracted to. Laying in the sun and doing nothing. Just not my thing. And even off-season just before spring break hits there are still way, way too many people. I don’t like people as a rule. I DO like to lay around and do nothing, but not with people I don’t know and sweat dripping down my backside. Not comfortable! For me, relaxing on my balcony in the shade with a breeze reading my books OVERLOOKING the beach — well, that’s quite another thing. Lovin’ that. And the little lizards are cool.

Ahhhhh, Indian call centers. I do like to mess with them on occasion: “Hellooo? Hi ‘John’, my name is Garrett Bartholomew Alexander Michael Thomas Gertrude Xavier Wiedmeier…. did you get that…?”

After calling Rhapsody.com (online music subscriptions) to change my billing info I stumbled across this as I was checking my settings… sometimes you just can’t make this up!

I like TV. Quite a bit. I’ve been a cable or satellite user since nearly birth. It’s always given the clearest picture and tons of channels

But damn, cable and sat service is getting pricey! As I get older I’m finding I view TV less and watch movies and Internet videos more. Actual “TV” is only for live events and local news. And with KOMO and Dish Network feuding over some asinine reason (So KOMO got dropped from my sat feed) there is even less of a reason for me to partake in the whole package. The only reason I pay for cable/sat is because I thought that was the only way to get a clear signal….until know.

…Enter the digital TV switch into the proverbial picture….

So with the recent brew-ha-ha of the digital TV switch/delay/etc. I decided to just see what I could get and see what the fuss was about. Being at the top of Capitol Hill, I practically stare at the Seattle TV station broadcast antennas from my deck only 2 miles away. My plasma TV has both the old analog and new digital tuners built-in, as mandated several years ago. So having not used an antenna in decades I attached a simple 6 foot length of coax cable to my TV antenna input and had the TV search for channels…

Holy smokes!

It found them. Not only the new digital channels for all the main stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, CW and some others), but it also found some of the old analog channels still broadcasting. This enabled me to do a complete side-by-side comparison.

Rarely am I impressed, but what I’m seeing on my HDTV on the digital channels (with a complete ghetto “cable” antenna nonetheless) is nothing short of amazing. I’m floored. Full HDTV and stereo surround sound on all major networks. The analog channel equivalents still come-in, but are that lovely snow-storm of interference we’ve all come to know and love, but now are glad to get rid of. It really is that spectacular. I’ve never seen reception and picture quality like this from OVER-THE-AIR broadcast in my life. The comparison is really that striking.

So now I mull some thoughts….If a 6-foot length of coax dangling from the back of my TV can get excellent DTV (and, might I add, *FREE*) reception, what could a modern little antenna pick-up? My mind is full of thoughts.

Could this be the end of a $100/month bill and the beginning of a post-modern rabbit ears revolution for me? It makes me giggle with glee.

So for all the hype it’s been given, if you live close to town, or have a good antenna, The DTV switch is totally worth it. Proven by a small, 10-minute experiment I never thought I’d do.

No need to bicker about “off shoring” in IT, we’ve been over looking a PRIME resource right here at home that will work for naps and food!

Solution to IT Helpdesk

Karate CHOP! All be damned if priceline.com still has it!

I’ve used priceline in the past when being uber cheap was the name of the game. These days I’ve become a little more, well, fussy, and require control of my travel plans — I’m an admitted “mileage whore” so I like to stick with my favorite airline and hotel programs.

So when planning my March vacation this year to FLORIDA, I got all my favorites lined-up in a row and they satisfied me with good, competitive rates….and more miles! I’m totally happy with that.

But then Florida left me with a somewhat new-ish dilemma; Usually I go to cities that have lots of public transportation and there is NO need for a car. Umm, yeah, not so Florida! Seems like you and us in Washington have something in common other than being “corner” states after all! Damn. Must. Rent. Car.

So I look up the rates — they are atrocious. Ridiculous, even. $60 per DAY is the best I can get on Expedia or Travelocity. I have no loyalty to rental car companies — I don’t care which one, as long as it’s major. There has to be something better. I muse to myself “Hey, what would William Shatner do?!?” So I go to priceline.com and put in an equally ridiculous low price for a car, per day.

$14…. [click]

…your offer has been accepted!

No way! Gaddam, that really was the best exciting thing to happen to me in a while. I got goosebumps. I could talk and go on and on about what a complete cahoots the car companies are in, but I was just glad to get a righteous price.

So cheers to the captain, and priceline really does still have it.

Cheers to our favorite subterranean rodent of the day!!

Phil sez 6 more weeks of winter!!!

http://www.groundhog.org/

Don’t let the door hit you in the rear…

xoxo,
Garrett

OK, it’s almost the holidays — perhaps I have to wait until tomorrow (Thanksgiving) for such a proclamation. Meh, I’m ready now!

Was waiting for some server stuff to complete tonight and stumbled across this — a web snowflake maker! It’s really cool. You can cut snowflakes just like you did when you were a kid. So here’s my first attempt at holiday joy this season. Cheers!

You can make your own at http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

I don’t know what my obsession with bacon is lately….

But really, I do consider it queen of all the meats. It’s not only good by itself, but improves the other meats when in combination. That is leadership.

http://bacontoday.com/

From a trip report I posted to airliners.net.

The actual trip to Vegas was nice — very relaxed. I didn’t even bring my laptop!! Although I later was feeling quite detached from the world. Guess I have Internet addiction, but since I can claim that is my career hopefully I can avoid those nasty visits to the therapist LOL!

___________________________

Bottom lines at the top:

–Nice new airplanes, of course.

–Nice staff, not outlandishly cute, but happy & professional
–Exit row reservation of $15 is worth it
–Upgrade to first class $50 worth it…perhaps
–Red is cool, but needs some work. Holds promise
–Will definitely fly again; all-in-all superior to other competitors that I have flown

In brief…my first time on Virgin America as I was trying their product to see what the fuss was all about after a 3 day quickie in Vegas. I usually fly either Alaska (We’re nearly slaves to it in SEA for west coast stuff) or Southwest for short trips like this.

I forgot my camera — 20 lashes with a noodle, I know.

LAS-SFO VX909
Scheduled: 3:35P
Actual: 3:35P
Load: 85-ish%

Reserved an exit row window on this leg. Found the legroom more than some domestic first class cabins I’ve sat in. Definitely worth the $15 for me. Seats are comfy and did not feel “squashed” into them and I’m a pretty big guy. The side wall does start curving into your headroom if a window seat, though. Not enough to make me unhappy for 1.5 hours. Weather was gorgeous all along the coast, so spot on-time departure. Arrived 40-35 minutes early into SFO!

The Red in-flight entertainment is nice, but still seems buggy — slow screen redraws and artifacts. Google maps is slow. TV is good. Music good (obviously as a Virgin product…) Navigation of the screens was a little confusing, but I’m getting old and analog, so perhaps it’s just me. Once the kinks are worked-out and the final features added it will indeed be killer.

Now had a 4 hour layover in SFO, but that was planned — had dinner with some friends which was fabulous. Returned to the airport an hour before departure only to find a gate change to the other side of the SFO Int’l terminal to G83. Quite long walk — not something you want to do when you have no time.

SFO-SEA VX748
Scheduled: 8:45P
Actual: 8:45P
Load: poor (perhaps 33%?)

Got an upgrade to first class on this leg. After cheap Vegas hotel and no gambling I figured i could afford the $50 upgrade luxury to try it out — I AM an airplane lover after all, so it’s research, at least this is my excuse to myself…

First class is really akin to a good International business class. Unbelievable seat pitch — I could not reach-out and touch the seat in front of me without getting out of my seat. Seat comfy. Only annoying thing was there is no place to rest a single drink glass as the arm rests are padded and contain the tray table on one side and the Red screen on other.

We were served a BBQ chicken salad, which I poked thru as I was stuffed from dinner, but it was good and appropriate for the quite late hour. All-in-all for this short flight the $50 wasn’t particularly worth it when I knew from the first flight that $15 extra scores an outstanding seat totally sufficient for 1-3 hour coastal flights.

I later sat in a “normal” coach seat for a few minutes. It did feel more constricted, obviously, but I would not hesitate to sit in one of these either. As good or better than other airlines.

Oh, and we arrived 30 minutes early in SEA as well. Must have been the excellent weather, I’m sure. Vividly shows you, however, how much delay airlines pad into schedules some times (yet still are late…I know, a huge other topic!

Summary:
IMHO this is a superior product compared to the normal airlines I endure when doing quick flights on the west coast. Perhaps not mind-blowingly so, but definitely a noticeable step above the rest. If Virgin America flies to a destination I want to go to I will choose them over anyone else from now on; let’s hope that network of theirs is expanded. I think they have the potential to really take-on a certain airlines if they can hang in there during the tough times and passengers take notice.
________________

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/135267/

I’m a sucker for witty writing that is of the dripping-with-sarcasm-yet-only-one-inch-from-the-truth category.

This is a prime example. Although Seattle is finally getting it’s 3rd runway this November after decades of constipation, London Heathrow (perhaps the most important international aviation gateway on Earth) is just now getting it’s druthers and really getting deep into the expansion mode.

So my fellow airliner geeks at airliners.net (a.net) have risen to the occasion and have commented on possible timelines as such!

to wit, in part (fair use):

“June 2009 – Submit public tenders for various designs for its replacement.

July 2009 – All designs rejected by local residents.

August 2009 – A rare and previously thought to be extinct breed of dust mite is discovered in T2.

Late-August 2009 – A charity single entitled “Save the mites = Save our future (and our Children’s future)” is released by two ex-Pop Idol nobodies. It goes straight in at number one.

September 2009 – Local residents set up an action group called T.W.A.T.S – (Team Worried and Against Terminal Success) which pickets Parliament to demand that the area is left for animals to graze on, as anything other than this course of action represents what basically amounts to Planetary Homicide. They lodge their formal complaints to the planning commission, which rules that in light of the new complaints against the massive expansion of Heathrow airport and the obvious and irrefutable damage replacing the terminal building will do to London’s green belt, that all previous planning permissions and tenders are null and void. A new planning process is started.

October 2009

OK, I’m late to the party… (big surprise!)

This commercial that United aired during the Olympics is simply a masterpiece. It is an epic film in 60 seconds.

Normally I’m not a huge sappy guy, but this one softens even my hard edges. It is so nuanced and heartfelt — literally; the way the heart gets cut-out and slipped in a pocket. They way you see the light thru the empty heart during the presentation. They way the bird flies thru it and the score is outstanding. Plus just a hint of United’s famous use of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” at the end, which has to be one of the most effective, and really great, corporate identities out there.

Just too bad United is really going through some rough times, as obviously they have some incredible talent and feeling somewhere in that leviathan body. This is beautiful.

Anyways, here it is…

And no, it’s not mine!

http://www.bsideblog.com/travel/

This guy is hysterical — he writes about his travel experiences. He’s an awesome writer (apparently what he does for a living) and he says it like it is! The travel section of his blog is just a part of his other subjects. But it’s the one’s that I identify with the most.

He used the word “gauche” in a post. Always a plus in my book.

He’s also obviously a Child of the 80′s like me, For example, on JetBlue’s videos channel:

“Anyway, I’ve watched a good number of videos on the three-headed monster that is MTV-VH1-VH1 Classic. Highlights have included “No Air” by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown (my new guilty pleasure), “We Built This City” by Starship (my all time favorite guilty pleasure), “Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson (a guilty pleasure I didn’t even realize was a guilty pleasure until it came on), “Wishing Well” by Terrence Trent D’Arby (a smooth pleasure), “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles (a goddamn pleasure), and “Touch My Body” by Mariah Carey (a funny video pleasure). I should note that for whatever reason, I was oddly compelled to sing along to “We Built This City,” but I restrained myself out of respect for the passengers and/or any small animals that may be aboard. I should also note that while I’ve seen the video many, many times in my life, this was the first time that I carefully studied Grace Slick’s dance moves, and let me say that while rhythm might not be her strong suit, no one can touch her when it comes to teetering over on her side / clapping oddly.”

I especially loved the first few points of his “Top Ten Worst Baggage Claim Annoyances.”

Say it, man, say it!

Bacon Flowchart

This pleases me very much in a very sinister way…

For those not in the know here’s the Wikipedia article on Kevin Mitnick, old-school cracker of the early Internet.

The best quote of that entire article (emphasis mine): “Mitnick states that he compromised computers solely by using passwords and codes that he gained by social engineering. It is notable that Mitnick did not use software programs or hacking tools for cracking passwords or otherwise exploiting computer or phone security.”

People: beware.

Today I went to the McChord AFB Airshow with my airliners.net friends April and Steve — was a complete blast and the weather was perfect. I got my airshow need taken care of for the year. It was great.

I took mostly videos instead of photos. Here’s some of the best. The first two are experimenting with larger sized videos

An F/A-18 rips by at mach 0.99:

Watch video

Thunderbirds solo cross:

Watch video

B2 stealth:

Watch video

Thunderbirds loop:

Watch video

After waiting 2 hours to get out of the Parking lot, April MADE us stop at Ikea (where I left my car and carpooled with them) and eat meatballs, fries and gravy — with the gravy over the fries…Hmmmm. Must be a Canadian thing…

My Dad was quite successful in his latest endeavor — gone fishin’. Here’s the results:

This was significantly larger than the 2″ minnow we caught at Cranberry Lake while camping decades ago!

Natalie and I are once again joined in our relentless pursuit of all things beer & kitsch related.

So enjoying a weekend away at the beach. Even if it is a little cool, it hasn’t rained much although the wind has been fierce. I got a great little condo unit right on the beach in Moclips, which is around 20 miles north of Ocean Shores. Other than an excursion to Ocean Shores itself, I’ve seen maybe 10 people. The beach is wide-open. Me likey!

Also got to take a ride in the parent’s motorhome, as they came along as well — stayed in Pacific Beach down the road. Was fun, until my Dad won at mini-golf. My mother and I are still debating his alleged 10-point win

Here’s the photo album

So years ago I was reading articles about Mars and stumbled upon an article stating that the Planetary Society was producing a DVD full of Earth sounds, pictures, blah, blah, for an upcoming Mars mission. It also asked if you wanted to submit your name to be etched onto the DVD. So ever the geek I did, and added Mom, Dad and Grama for good measure.

Well, guess WHAT?! Tonight the Mars Phoenix lander…landed!

I watched it live and I had forgotten all about the name-on-DVD thing until I stumbled upon the old link in a news story. Yep, sure enough I had the certificates stored on my computer and viola!

Wiedmeiers on Mars.

Introducing the latest nerdy thing — CatPostCam! I know — very old school these days. But bound to be entertaining for me when I’m at work and want a break or want to waste some time. And hey, if it makes me smile that’s all that counts on this here blog!!

You can see it over yonder –> in the sidebar.

I finally had some time to clean my photo pile and get some of that organized. I downloaded Picasa from Google — and I’ll be if that ain’t the best little utility ever for organizing and creating photo albums (once you find the time).

The scary part, though, was Picasa found everything — and I mean everything. So some editing had to take place!

I organized a bunch of stuff including the full set of photos for my recent Paris trip. Here they are:

Full Paris Compilation:

• Paris Day 1
• Paris Day 2
• Paris Day 3
• Paris Day 4
• Paris Day 5
• Paris Day 6
• Paris Day 7
• Paris Day 8

Misc albums that amused me:

• Cats and Cookies
• Pace Visit 2007
• Flight Simulator
• More Cute Cats

OK, everyone knows I love travel — but I must admit sometimes I get the better of myself. Let’s see, depart Paris at 9 AM Paris time (get up at 6 AM), fly to JFK for 8 hours. 5 hour layover (turned into 6). Fly 5 hours home to Seattle. Arrive at 10 PM Seattle time. 30 minute delay waiting on plane for jetbridge to be fixed. Same day. Hmm — what is that…a 36-hour day? I dunno. Too tired for math. Anyways, I’m home and being mauled by my cats for attention. Still, Paris was fantastic.

So we were going to cook today. Unfortunately the chef mis-scheduled others during the day and couldn’t acommodate us — a truly bummer deal. So we ended up doing some “left-overs” of our own and hit some places we missed or wanted more of.

THEN we set off for our last night at new hotel near the airport, since we have an early morning flight. Below is the video that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the hotel. It was better than I had dreamed of — I’m such an airplane nerd. (Warning: I’m slightly a potty-mouth)

Watch video

Plus here’s the photos:

Facebook album of Day 7 — last day!

Wandering around Paris I went down this ally to a little park as I was waiting for Claire to finish on her own taking some last pictures of the Musee D’Orsay and what do I find out: France discriminates on gymnastic apparatus. Damn. My routine was all ready to go, too.

Here’s the parks where the sign was — cute little thing, but what an interesting welcome. It’s obvious they mean not for you to slide on the railing there or jump it, but still

I had the best ham omlette, of all things, for dinner tonight. The ham was real and tasty, cheese perfect and the eggs — remarkably done, yet tender and fluffy. Amazing something so seemingly simple could be so vastly better than you’ve ever had before.

Today we went to the Centre Pompidou and saw the Mus

OK, so my friends have cajoled and sucked me into using facebook. I must admit their photo page creator is pretty slick, so I used that to upload my photos so far:

My Facebook Photo Album

We had perhaps the last good day of weather in our schedule today, according to the forecasts. So we made the best of it! Click on them for bigger versions.

I have travel stories already. I made it my goal of staying awake the first day until a reasonable hour. Yay — I did it. 10PM and it’s bedtime on this Friday night! I am dog tired!

Speaking of dogs, I had always read and heard that Paris has dog crap laying all over the streets as people didn’t pick up after their dogs. It must be one of those fallacies to keep people away — kinda like Seattle and rain, because I have yet to come across any of this detrius on the streets. As a matter of fact most are pretty clean actually. Hmmpf. Must hunt for this elusive French dogshit. Will take photos. This is my new mission.

And speaking of the French — I have yet to be truly offended by anyone’s rude behavior yet either. I actually got a lot of smiles and good natured-ness even using my extremely limited French phrases. Although you do get a lot of “matter-of-factness” as I call it. Call it a smooth indifference. They absolutely give you what you want, but just no smile. I say — so what?! That’s not rude. That just…is. Which apparently is very French. Definitely not American style. But that’s why you travel, isn’t it — to get out of your comfort zones, explore and witness that there are other ways of doing things just as good as your own.

OK, I’m nearly hitting the keyboard with my head nodding off to sleep. Pictures to come tomorrow and so does Claire!

J’attends avec int

Watch video here

More! More! More!

I usually don’t post misc. emails, but this one is so damn funny I just had to.

Take a few minutes…it’s worth it

Since I moved to Capitol Hill, I’m able to receive Air Traffic Control (ATC) frequencies into Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport. In fact, I live 1,420 Ft from the imaginary airspace “intersection” that marks the start of the final approach from the north to Seattle.

So I decided to sponsor a live Internet audio stream of Air Traffic Control. You can listen to it at http://www.liveatc.net/ (click the “listen to Live ATC feeds” in the sidebar and scroll-down to “SEA Final” — there are a number of SEA feeds, actually. I’m the one with 133.65 as the only frequency)

133.65 is the final approach sector for KSEA — Seattle-Tacoma International. Busiest times seem to be around noon, 4-6PM and 8-10PM.

Seattle has 2 (soon to be 3) close parallel runways oriented north-south — named runways 16/34. You can click on the chart to the right to see a bigger image of this. When landing and departing to the south 16C is used mostly for arrivals, with 16L used for departures. When the weather is really bad or foggy they switch to the Instrument Landing System (ILS) on 16L as the ILS for 16C appears to not support bad weather CAT2/3 operations anymore because of contruction of the third runway.

In the summer, and in better winter weather, Seattle usually lands the other way to the north, using runways 34C for arrivals and 34R for departures

After-hours this frequency can be combined with one or all of the feeder arrival sectors, so you’ll hear ATC, but not pilots. Also sometimes you’ll hear some bleed-over of a Seattle radio station in the background — their main broadcast antenna is only 1 mile from me, so with it’s huge power output sometimes you’ll be stuck listening to Seattle’s best smooth jazz — sorry! Could be worse…

Here are charts and info for KSEA

Here is an airspace illustration I created of major arrival and departure routes into SEA. The triangle symbols are the major intersections along the routes (Imaginary places in the air programmed into aircraft navigation databases) The hexigonal-type symbols are actual radio navigation stations on the ground. The 3-letter acronyms you see are the codes for other radio navigation stations outside of the chart

This is far from complete, but a good intro into how traffic is sent in/out of the Seattle area.

Or at least that’s what this cool new website, flightmemory.com, says.

This is a website where you enter all the details of your travels and it then spits-out maps and statistics for you. I totally got into this just being lazy today. Spent hours putting in my flights and travels, all from memory.

Then you start to remember trips you forgot! Like I vividly remember flying on Delta Airlines through Cincinnati once, and Northwest via Detroit — but I can’t remember what for!

*Highly* entertaining for an aviation/travel nerd such as myself.

View my Flight memory maps and stats here!

Highlights (And I’m far from complete!):

In Miles 167,658
In Kilometer 269,821
Earth Circumnavigation 6.73 x
Distance to the Moon 0.702 x
Distance to the Sun 0.0018 x
Total Airports 53
Total Airlines 16
Total Aircraft type 28
Total Routes 106

Total Countries 8

I’m off as a traveller again!

Super excited — I just planned two cool trips. A short trip in December to the Bay Area to see some friends I haven’t seen in ages and then a fantastic trip to Paris in March — my favorite travel month.

I planned the trip to Paris first and then thought — crap, that’s 6 months away! I need a vacation to ease all that waiting…so I planned another.

Hopefully my friend Claire, who’s going back to school on the East coast, will be able to join me as it’s her spring break.

Pssst…I’m flying first class to Paris…yes, hate me…Bahahahaha!

Natalie and I have made it back from our road trip — we covered a lot of territory. Sedona, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest National Park.

I get back home tomorrow.

Check out the photo gallery

Vid: I find rain in Arizona

Vid: Natalie needs a new car

Vid: “Sleep in a Wigwam on route 66″ said the sign! So we did!!

Today is 07/07/07 — fun!

Got to see all the Boeing airplanes fly into BFI today — saw it from my roof as they approached. The 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777! Whew! I’m such an airplane freak. I almost peed my pants.

I must admit I’m getting very excited for the 787 rollout tomorrow. I won’t be up in Everett as it’s invite only and the best view will probably be on my HD TV. However, come first flight in Aug/Sep — you bet I’ll be there!!

Edit: Here’s a great set of photos from the PI:

Boeing parade of 7-series planes

My good friend Lauren is running for Seattle city council!

Lauren Briel is a focused, independent new voice in Seattle politics running to restore accountability and rekindle the spark of decisive leadership in our City Council. Our city is a beautiful, diverse community, and it demands an inclusive political process involving not just the policy makers but key stakeholders and the community at large.

http://www.votelaurenbriel.com/

This summer just got a whole lot more interesting!