Category Archives: Aviation

Finally, a reason to use access

Posted on March 15, 2005 | 6 Comments

Last night I started fumbling around in access to figure out to make a database to catalogue my collection of model aircraft (which is quickly growing beyond easily manageable confines). If anyone knows of any good resources (preferably online) or other nuggets of knowledge, feel free to spread the wealth . . .

I’m also going to start putting together some sort of tabulation of my collection on my website, with pictures and information about my latest collecting craze. It’ll be fun and informative for the whole family! Assuming I figure out how the heck I want to do it, look for it by the end of the week.

“Spring break” has been okay so far. I spent about eleven hours in the library yesterday, and I’ll probably pull another reasonable amount today as well. Damn you legal writing II.

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Posted in Aviation, Geeky, Life happens

I couldn’t get one.. SO I BOUGHT FOUR!

Posted on March 13, 2005 | Leave a comment

I woke up before 8 this morning to make sure I didn’t get outbid on this baby. With one minute left, all indications were positive. Then the bells and whistles went off.

With about 30 seconds left, some FRUITCAKE pulled the typical BS you get on ebay and outbid me. I made some last minute desperate attempts to stay afloat, but alas, in the end, I was beaten… by $2.50.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Why on earth was I getting so riled up about this model? It’s a pretty rare model: Rare livery, rare aircraft; quite the collector’s item. SMA only made about 400 of them, and they’re HARD to find these days. If you do find one, you’ll end up paying quite a premium on it. I recently purchased a United 737-300 in the new livery, and was hoping to complement it with this late 60′s scheme. Suffice it to say, I’ve been looking for this model for a while now… and she slipped through my hands.

Then again, I won’t have to pay $132 for 3 inches of metal.

Anyway, to make up for my loss, I went ahead and purchased more models from a UK site (four total – and it was less than half the price of the item was I bidding on). Got some pretty rare ones there as well; two 747′s in the Saul Bass livery (200 and 400 variants), a blue gray 737 United shuttle, and a 747-100 friend ship.

Yeah, I’m pretty content.

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Posted in Aviation

What are You Taking Pictures of?

Posted on February 13, 2005 | 4 Comments

Talk about a hobby within a hobby. That has got to be one of the coolest diecast airplane hobby sites on the internet. The pictures are so crisp and well-composed – it makes me want to purchase models I already have!

Last week I got a lock for my laptop. Now all I can think about is how my ac adapter is vulnerable.

Anyway, I’ve wasted enough time in the library. Time to waste time at home.

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Posted in Aviation, Life happens

Life Indeed

Posted on January 28, 2005 | 2 Comments

Day two of work was interesting. I drafted my first set of interrogatories and requests for production (discovery tools). This was a little tricky though because we didn’t have the complaints from the various parties that were suing us, so I had to play some guessing games with the questions bank. There’s no limit on how many interrogatories you can propound in Washington; that’s a little scary…

I’ve been adding to my 1:400 airline collection (happily I might add!). I’m planning to throw together some rudimentary page to show off the various pieces in my collection… maybe write up a quick review with comparisons to the actual aircraft. How’s that for interaction? I never thought I’d hear myself say (type) this, but I wish there wasn’t so much choice out there when it comes to models. I generally know which manufacturers are considered the “higher quality” brands, but you never know if one company’s mould for a certain aircraft is better than the other’s… ah a collector’s life indeed.

After work I did some “other” work on my law review article. Second drafts are due in a week! I’ve got some cleaning up on it to do, but I think I can handle it… ah a law students’ life indeed.

Thankfully my schedule is not so brutal this year (by that, I mean the times I have class and break are pretty reasonable). I have a 2-hour seminar that meets on Thursday evenings, so really for most of the week it feels like I only have three classes. That’s nice, but of course I always end up filling the blocks of time with work.

And now… state and local court rules for a motion for partial summary judgment on the plaintiff’s retaliation claim… no pretext yo!

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Posted in Aviation, School, Work

Bring Back Hot Meals

Posted on January 23, 2005 | Leave a comment

I’m thrilled to learn about United’s new transcontinental premium service, and I view its existence as partial vindication of my own personal theory that LCCs, though innovative, are ultimately the result of a short term market crisis that, upon recovery, will deliver victory to the legacy carriers.

Everyone loves surfing the travel websites looking for the best fare. It makes you feel like a responsible, money-saving consumer, wielding all the weapons the information superhighway has given you to beat the big, evil corpoations from stealing your money. But when you really think about it, what are you getting? You’re getting pretezels. You’re getting cramped into airplanes with little, if any, meaningful service. Yes, you’re saving money, but don’t the flights just reek of cost-cutting?

In the end, I’ve always believed that what the cusotomer ultimately wants is the service. They want an airline that gets them to where they want, and makes it worth their money. I believe that in the short run, people are willing to sacrifice creature-comforts; but when the legacy carriers become profitable again, will people still flock to Frontier for a bag of pretzels, or bother fighting with fellow passengers for a seat on Southwest when you can get a hot meal on a legacy carrier?

Yeah, there are a lot of flaws in my arguments. Still, service goes a long way. A restructured, profitable, legacy carrier, will have more to offer than a low-cost, “let’s try and nudge Delta or Northwest out of the market” airline that really, in the end, is only about the pretzels.

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Posted in Aviation