Birthday Skydiving

July 15, 2010

bryankearney geek stuff, just me , , 4 Comments

When Jenny was a youngling, she read a National Geographic Magazine that talked about indor skydiving. This month was Jenny’s birthday, and when I was talking to some friends they mentioned an Indoor Skydiving Place near us in Raeford, NC. They said it was fun, so I figured it would be a great birthday idea. The name of the place is Paraclete XP I called them up, and come to find out they could handle all ages. So, I called up my parents and they were willing to go. This past Tuesday Jenny, myself, the kids, and the grandparents all headed down to Raeford for Jenny’s Birthday.

This place is fabulous.

We headed down after work, and got there 45 minutes early. We were met by some friendly folks, and told to head up. There we saw the wind tunnel with 3 folks doing all types of fancy tricks. They were floating upside down, doing flips, and shooting themselves up 30 feet in the air. The tunnel was all glass, so we got to watch and see how cool it would be.

We then met Selwyn, our instructor. He was a Jamaican Dude with a Welsh Name. He was very friendly, and did a great job with both the kids and a the adults. He took us down to watch a goofy video, and then gave us some basic instructions about how to hold out bodies, and how to know when he wanted us to straighten our legs and bend them. He did a great job with the kids making sure they understood. Then we went to get dressed in our flight clothes. Let me say, we looked cool:

We then went in to fly. It was more physical than I thought it would be, but much easier to get control. Kudos to our instructor Selwyn who always seemed to know what we needed to do and did a great job communicating alot of information without talking. We were in 90-120 miles of wind, so you could not hear very much. But he did a great job.

All and all, we did good. Jenny did great on her first flight:

And both kids did great on their flights:

And for the proof that all ages can do it, here is my father in flight:

By the time it was over, we had all done 2 flights of 2 minutes each. This was more than enough time. We were able to get up to about 12 feet on our own and to do basic moves. At the end, the instructor asked us if we wanted to fly to the roof. He promised there was nothing we needed to do, and nothing we could do cause any issue. Needless to say, looking into a tunnel and seeing your wife shoot to the roof at 120 miles per hour is pretty wierd.

For folks in the Raleigh area, this is a great time. I highly recommend it!

First Solo Boat Repair

July 12, 2010

bryankearney just me, toys , , , Leave a comment

Last year we purchased a boat. It was our first, so we wanted something cheap which if it sank we could leave it where it lay. We found a Bomber off of Craigslist that fit the bill. Bomber is a real type of boat, one that was made back in the 80s. I think they do bass boats now. If you google it, you will find 3… all of them torn up hulks. This one had a little rot damage, but not too bad.

This year, the engine had been giving us issues. We have a Mercruiser 3.7/LX which I am told is an engine that was made for about 2 years. It was the only 2 years that Mercruiser actually made the engine instead of contracting it out. So.. we have a unique boat, with a very unique engine. I don’t much about engines, but I know having a unique one is not great.

We tracked down the issue we were having to the to the shift interrupt switch. This is what it looks like:

The issue is that little switch which acts like a clutch on a car. It seemed to fail whenever we ran the boat and then stopped it. Since the engine is water cooled, the hottest the engine will get is after you stop running it. We guessed the heat was causing it to fail. We assumed it would be a cheap part, but soon learned that the entire plate had to be replaced. So much for cheap.

Here is the new part which I ordered from ebasic power, a good NC company:

It arrived in one day, which was great. The fix is that little grey piece right in the middle. The rest is what I needed to mount it to the engine block. I set out early Saturday morning to put it back on. It actually slid into place nicely. I disconnected the cables put them off to the side, unbolted the old piece, put the new piece back in, and added back the cables. I tested it with the muffs, and it seemed to work. My wiring was a bit messy, but all and all it looked good:

I read you needed to test this in the water, but saturday around noon it looked good. On Sunday, we headed out to the lake. And.. the boat worked like the champ. Here we are drying off towels and shirts after a good afternoon of skiing:

So, my first solo repair job on the boat.. and it seems to be a success!

My message to the movie industry

July 2, 2010

bryankearney just me 3 Comments

I went to see Toy Story last week, in 3-D. It was very good. I went with my family (wife and 2 kids) so it was a bit on pricey side even at a matinee. However, the story was good.. the voices were good..the animation was great.. so it was worth spending the dollars.

One thing I noticed was that every one of the previews was for another 3-D movie. Some looked great, some looked like garbage. This has gotten me thinking.. if every movie is in 3-D, then that is the standard. I should not have to pay an upcharge to see it in 3-D.. it is the standard. In fact, I should actually get a discount to see the 2-D movie since I am settling for an inferior product.

Please do not take this as an excuse to raise the prices on all the movies. I love going to movies. I am willing to pay for the experience of sitting in the theatre with my friends and seeing it. However, you need to realize what Netflix and Red Box have done. Your 2-D movie is worth $1 to me. $1 for my whole family to see it. I am willing to pay more to see it in the theatre. The theatre experience is great, so I should have to pay for it. I get to see the movie sooner in the theatre, so again I can accept an up charge. However, my base price is $1 for a family of 4. So… if you triple the price for the theatre experience, and then triple that price for seeing it sooner you see about where I value the product.

James Monroe Class Reunion information Posted

May 21, 2009

bryankearney just me Leave a comment

I love social websites sometimes. We were able to get in touch with the current Principal of James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg Virginia, and he was nice enough to post informtion about our upcoming 20th Reunion. All because the spouse of a classmate works for the school. Very cool.

For those who went to James Monroe in 1989 or 1990.. check out the link (http://tinyurl.com/jm89-90). To see who we have found, or not, check out these pages:

Class of 1989: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p0f0KhP26Tq0loRLEvhdrag
Class of 1990: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p0f0KhP26Tq3GYhLXXAxBOQ

Facebook and Class Reunions 2

May 13, 2009

bryankearney just me Leave a comment

See… even the onion agrees.]
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/classmates_com_employees

Facebook and Class Reunions

May 1, 2009

bryankearney just me Leave a comment

Facebook may be the old persons social network, but it is a great way to help organize a class reunion. My wife and I are having the 19th / 20th class reunion for James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg Virginia. With minimal effort, and with no killing of trees, the group has found almost 30-40% of the class. Not too bad a result.

Now.. someone smart cookie needs to create a class reunion app. The funny thing is, this is what Classmates.com was supposed to do. Interesting how charging for premium content pretty much killed that site.