HAPPY NEW DECADE! ππ»ππΊπΉπ»
I for one am HAPPY to leave the last one behind! π‘πππ
I won't Threadjack (intentionally!), but some of you know...
Lost my Parents, House, Car, Life Savings, Cat, 90% of my RC Collection, my Keyboards....
And my 28 year old Daughter. πππ
Ended the Decade nearly losing my Dear Grandson.
I then lost my dignity, TRYING to get my Family some Help....
If I wrote the whole thing out as a story - nearly everyone would be sure it was Fiction!
No Resolution either....
But I like your idea π‘
"Next thing is: "ME TIME". Gonna try and do better taking care of myself and getting the "me time" I so need. I have been one of those who tends to try to put others first..."
Yes!! This. Between stressing, hurting, worrying and begging... And eating extremely UNHEALTHY foods, because I had no choice, I'm sure I've shortened my life! π’
Like many of you, I have a desire and Responsibility to be there for my Family. I have a need to be there for my Grandchildren, to see them grow up!
There MUST be a way to obtain good, healthy food, at little or no cost.
Believe it or not, even though my Rent is nearly 75% of my Disability "Pay"...
I was told I make TOO MUCH for Food Stamps or any other Social Services!! π
But if there's ANY way, I have to try to find it.
AND, like you, I need to find more time for Flying/Driving RC!! ππ
Happy 2020 to everyone!
My Doctor sent me to a Nutritionist... Which actually helped a little. She went out of her way to find local Churches that GIVE away fresh produce!! That in itself will help. ππHappy 2020 to you too man. I hope it's a good year for you as well. I'm not sure how far you have dug into the issue, but I may ask around to some folks I know about some advice or direction to help you out a little bit there. A way to make living for you a little easier. There may be some folks on the forums who know some things too.
I can't remember which service it was, but with my 1 income at the moment, I also make too much to get those services. We do get a little bit for Sadie's disability which does help some.
And yeah, get out there and fly and drive too! We can work together on this and encourage each other to get out there and do this!
Well my friend, you're making more progress than I.... πWell, just a quick update...
Been doing some work here recently to finish up the Shrubsmacker. It is almost complete...just gotta do the elevator and rudder linkages/servos. I have the ailerons and flaps ready to go. I am also using the Shrubsmacker as a test for my RedCon receiver...these are Spektrum compatible DSMX receivers sold through Banggood. At this point now, I'm kinda on the fence with it. I was originally having issues just getting it to bind...I got that sorted out...I think. I have some backup receivers so I can see if it really is a receiver issue or something else. I really don't think I want to put the receiver in the Shrubsmacker anyways just b/c it's bigger and bulkier and the Shrubby is a small plane. But it gave me a chance to try it out.
I have the Spit ready to maiden BUT where I have had some camera issues I'm holding off. I ordered a new microSD card for the camera so it should be in sometime this week.
I also have an SQ11 camera that I've been testing for some possible flight video. I played with it some last week, but I do seem to be having a problem selecting 1080p video recording mode. It almost seems like that mode is missing from my camera. @PoorManRC do you have any ideas? Not sure if it's an issue with the camera or if it's me trying to figure the thing out. The instructions for it were the typical terrible translated Chinese-English.
Wow sorry to hear about your cats, sorry for your loss.So, I feel as if I've been lurking a little more recently and not posting near as much over this past week or so...and it looks like I'm a little behind in this thread too. I had thought of making this its own thread but figured that this is my diary thread so I will post it here even it's not FT related, but still personal. I feel as if I've made some good friendships here and don't mind to open to you all about life, problems, etc. outside of foamboard airplanes.
So our house has been hit hard this season with flea infestation. In past years we have managed it ok but it seems this year has been the worst. The continued hot dry weather hasn't helped matters either. Well certain parts of the house (we have a 3 level house (basement, main level, upstairs) would be worse than others....like the basement was the worst for example. BUT when we started noticing a few flea bites on our baby girl it was time to really get serious about clearing out these annoying pests. I still have yet to find out their purpose on this planet. Our 3 cats unfortunately were hit too...a brother and sister both around 10-11 years old and big gray male gray close to the same age. The gray cat would get it the worst due to his extremely thick coat.
So anyways, after the baby getting bit, we have been temporarily staying at the in-laws house until we could get the flea problem under control. Trying to keep the fleas away from the baby, we had to leave the cats at our flea infested house until we got it cleaned up. We asked around for recommendations on flea control on our cats. Seresto brand flea collars came up from a trusted source. I think most flea collars don't do crap for taking care of fleas but these collars were $40-$50 a pop and had a lot of high recommendations. I figure at that price and with the things they were promising (kills them in so many hours, etc), I'd give it a try. Had it not been for the high recommendations I would've just went with a topical solution like Frontline, Advantage, etc. So I took out some money early from my work's Christmas savings club to pay for the collars. I'm the only one with an income right now while my wife goes to school. So, our plan was use the collars for a little bit and then flea bomb the whole house to almost fully get rid of them.
Since our house is close to my work, I'd check on things at the house on my work days. Well after a few days of the cats having the collars on, I noticed the female cat (sister) was extremely lethargic. This really concerned me. So I removed her collar and set her up close to some food and water. This was on a Friday. Came back a few days later and she was dead. At this point, I had still managed to leave the boys collars on as I didn't notice any of the same symptoms out of them. The following week, I was also noticing that the gray cat still had fleas on him that I could see. So, it seemed like the collars weren't doing their job. My mom pitched in to help us and she paid for a professional flea treatment for our home. We had that done a little over a week after the female cat died. I had the other 2 cats in carriers outside while we let flea treatment do its thing and air out. After that, I get the boys back inside and get them situated. Noticed the brother was acting lethargic like his sister. I remove his collar AND the collar from the gray cat. I had also managed to pick up some Revolution topical for the boys instead. I did the same thing with the brother and set up some food/water near him and figured to let him rest and then the following day I would apply the Revolution. Next day, the brother was dead. I applied Revolution to the gray cat at that point. And really the gray cat hadn't been acting himself either for a few days, so I was fearing for him too. I thought after I applied the Revolution he might turn around within a day or so. Nope, next day he had died. So all 3 of our cats...gone.
We had got an extra collar for the in-laws cat b/c he had picked up fleas too. Shortly after putting his collar on, we started noticed horrible burn marks around his neck and acting a little funny. So they quickly removed it, and got him on a topical flea treatment. The past day or so, we've started noticing improvement in him.
So....I'm pretty much thinking that our 3 cats died as a result of a combination of the fleas and the collars. We have recently noticed reviews where folks say that the Seresto dog collars are fine, but the cat collars could be too strong for some cats. I kinda think the collars may have been too strong for our cats and/or the cats just didn't respond well to them. I know this was our first major pest infestation as a married couple and we tried to handle it the best we could with what resources we had. Aside from reviews, I have even seen some youtube videos of people's cats responding the same way to these flea collars. I will say after this, I am going to stay away from all flea collars. There was even talk that some out there were making counterfeits of these collars. I did check the authenticity of 1 of our collars and it checked out to be a legit collar.
So anyways, as you can see, it's been a pretty tough week and a half.
Awesome video, you did a great job!!
You're a killer bass player, I feel like we should start a FT band. We'll have you on bass, me and @Ihichi Bolls on guitar, and will give @FlyingMonkey some caffeine and a broomstick, now we just need someone for vocals
Good luck with the ShrubSmacker!!
Wow looks like you had to do a mental restart. I get that from time to time and just have to organize whatβs in front of me to be able to organize.Well here are some pics of my updated work area. The table on the right used to be my main work area and then I would try and work elsewhere if need be...just wherever I could find some space. I have since upgrade the area as you can see from the pic. The main counter area (where the cutting mat is on) was left in the house when we moved in...there is a similar one that is out in the garage. I'm convinced they came out of an old business or restaurant. I have both doors on the counter area but I plan on just removing them and leaving that storage area open. The table on the right has some tools piled on top of it for which I am going through and putting away. The KFM wing is sitting there too.
The plastic storage contains my ESCs, motors, servos, receivers, soldering station and supplies, velcro, rubber bands, servo extensions, camera supplies, etc. The previous home owner also left behind a bunch of old empty Folgers coffee cans and I've definitely been making use of those too. Got some stuff mounted on the walls as you can see. Also, the 2 pieces of wood on the wall (I may add a 3rd piece) are what's going to be used to mount some peg board.
View attachment 151066
I have also been mounting some planes up. I used to mount them on the wall, but have changed my mind and decided everything is going to be mount on the ceiling. Here's the FT Edge (still needs repaired as you can see).
Also the green plane in the background is an FT3D that doesn't have any electronics in it.
View attachment 151067
The newly built FT Spitfire... in the background you can also see the balsa Mini Funtana, balsa Beaver, FT Bloody Baron, and a little bit of the FT Storch (on the left). My wife's FT Baby Blender is still hung on the wall for now.
View attachment 151068
Another view from the front....
View attachment 151070
Better view of the FT Simple Storch
View attachment 151071
And of course the FT Tiny Trainer...
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I still got more to hang up like the FT Simple Cub, wife's Baby Blender, my old Dynam Piper Cub, and so on.
good luck buddy. Getting βyourselfβ time in life is important speaking out of experience with a hectic life of 24/7/365 with two kids one with a mental disorder and the other super clever but majorly aggressive. Having a vacation on the change of the new year made me think as well about what I want to change in my life for 2020. I wonβt hijack your thread or post so Iβll probably write about it in my thread soon. My two cents is try to fix your damages on the same day of the crash helps keep on track and mainly means you get to focus more on building as well as also have something flyable at all times.Been a while so here's an update....
I took most of December not focusing so much on making youtube videos. I also didn't work on plane stuff as much. I worked mainly on cleaning up my RC plane hangar (which I posted previously) and just any family stuff that came up. And of course now it is a new year.
I am not one for making resolutions anymore but this has been one of those times, where I really sort of reflect on what all has happened in 2019. I normally shrug off the new years holiday and go about my business. But 2019, had so much going on in terms of personal things, it's hard to ignore. The big one of course being the horrible flea problem we had and the death of all 3 of our cats.
And with 2020 just starting, I felt the events of 2019 have caused me decide to make some changes...I still don't want to call them resolutions though. One of these things was to focus on cleaning up things like my RC plane work area. Before it was chaotic, with tools, cat hair (if you had cats you know about this), dirt, debris, foam pieces, etc scattered everywhere. I feel if I can keep this area at least a tad bit neater perhaps it will encourage me to work harder and better in the hobby.
Next thing is: "ME TIME". Gonna try and do better taking care of myself and getting the "me time" I so need. I have been one of those who tends to try to put others first (I think I have mentioned this before). Without going into too much crazy detail, around me, personal life can get pretty chaotic (I think chaos, craziness, and chaotic are a good theme for this post lol). Preemie daughter who is now 2 years old, one moment wife thinks baby is sick, one moment she's fine, or the wife's sick, or this is going on, or gotta run to the store b/c we are out of this, or...well you get the picture. Squeezing in a little breather for some plane time in this can be difficult. And I'm usually the one everyone runs to for help. So, I'm going to try and take some breaks away from the craziness to give myself more "me time". To help with this, I have even pondered taking a few hours off of work here and there to get some flight time in.
Speaking of which, honestly, I bet in 2019, I went out to our RC airfield maybe 2-3 times. That saddens me. If I flew somewhere, I'd just pick a field that was closer that I could run to for a few minutes and get a flight in. I know some club members were concerned why I wasn't out there that often. It was just a crazy year in 2019. So hoping to change that in 2020. Not sure how everyone else's significant other is when it comes to the hobby, mine for the most part is supportive but I think she'd rather do something else than go out to watch me fly. She used to be a club member BUT there were some issues that happened that upset her, she never expressed interest after that, so I let her membership expire. I kinda have my doubts she'll return as a club member OR to the hobby in general (she was more into camera drones than planes)...just b/c she's so focused on the little one now.
So what's going on in my crazy RC plane world?
-KFM Wing is going to probably be having a maiden today (finally)
-FT Spitfire will be the next one in line for a maiden
-Shrubsmacker build has been slowly going on a little while. There will be a introductory video for it in the coming future.
-Perhaps begin on the FT Corsair soon
-Fix some of my existing planes...Edge, Seaduck, etc.
At least these are the next things on the list. And with that in mind, better get to work.
Wow sorry to hear about your cats, sorry for your loss.
Wow looks like you had to do a mental restart. I get that from time to time and just have to organize whatβs in front of me to be able to organize.
good luck buddy. Getting βyourselfβ time in life is important speaking out of experience with a hectic life of 24/7/365 with two kids one with a mental disorder and the other super clever but majorly aggressive. Having a vacation on the change of the new year made me think as well about what I want to change in my life for 2020. I wonβt hijack your thread or post so Iβll probably write about it in my thread soon. My two cents is try to fix your damages on the same day of the crash helps keep on track and mainly means you get to focus more on building as well as also have something flyable at all times.
Ok finally caught up , expect for watching the videos you posted which I will watch very soon. Happy to see you getting back on track, I need to too coming back from vacation. I so badly want to fly but chores and weather are putting me on the bench for a bit. Gonna do my best to get a flight in this week before another rain storm arrives.