Posted by jrolls on June 19th, 2010 — Posted in Family
This article appeared in the International Herald Tribune on September 27, 1990. However searching the web, I am unable to find it. So here transcribed is one of the funniest articles I ever read concerning language, travel, and living abroad. I was living in Germany at the time, so I could definitely relate.
So the Lady Lowered Her Baguette
by George Ridge
Paris – For four decades now I have existed with one small guidebook to assist me in the French language. It is entitled “TM 30-302 French” and contains a stirring message inside the frontispiece from the gentleman who apparently commissioned the work. He signed off simply as G. C. Marshall, chief of staff.
My bible for French was published in 1943 by the US War Department to assist GIs during World War II. It has served me ably throughout many combat situations, all of them well after World War II. Take for example the time I was overcharged by a factor of 900 percent in a market checkout line.
A line hates to be halted, particularly a French line that is being halted by someone who is murdering the French tongue. The Madame next in line seemed to be aiming her baguette at me. A British diplomat, who you might think had been trained in the stiff-upper-lip tradition to mediate in such crises, quietly advised me to pay up and get moving.
Out came my trusty TM 30-302.
“Juh swee blay-SAY” I cried, attempting a phonetic rendition of “Je suis blesse.” With the assistance of my World War II primer, I had yelled “I am wounded.” Actually it was my wallet that was being wounded, but you have little time for nuance when in the sights of a baguette. Everything came to a startled halt. Action froze at the other cash registers. I continued from TM 30-302:
“Oo sawng lay sawl-daz Ah-may-ree-kang? Ah-lay shayr-shay dew suh-koor!” (“Where are the American soldiers? Bring help!”)
George Bernard Shaw advised that the French don’t care what you do as long as you pronounce it correctly. All I can say to G. B. Shaw is the G. C. Marshall wrote a helluva guide, because I had their complete attention.
The baguette lady lowered her weapon. The diplomat stepped forward.
The error in my bill was rapidly spotted, and apologies made all around. “Good show” said the British diplomat, diplomatically changing sides.
Posted by jrolls on June 12th, 2010 — Posted in Aviation
Over my last two flights, I started getting a warning light about too much draw (or discharge) on the Main BATT indicator. Normally it is showing -1 AMPS, but occasionally it dips to -1.5 AMPS, and when it does that, it goes yellow. I’ve got a query out to try and figure out what this is, but obviously seems like something that needs to be taken care of. Everything else was normal and shedding load didn’t seem to make any difference.
Posted by jrolls on June 3rd, 2010 — Posted in Aviation
Here’s a good report on the utility of the iPad for aviation use. If you have interest in potentially using or buying an iPad for use in flying, this is a must see.
Posted by jrolls on May 14th, 2010 — Posted in Aviation
The new v563.18 software for G1000 is getting ready to be released. I hear should be out in July. You can download the new documentation here. Features include:
Posted by jrolls on May 8th, 2010 — Posted in Aviation
I’m pleased that we’ll soon have Flight Data Logging for the G1000. This will greatly enhance preventive maintenance capabilities, not to mention allow for a wide variety of post flight analysis. The software is already out for the Diamond and I’ve heard coming to Cessna aircraft soon.
Here’s what the latest Diamond manual says:
“The G1000 has the ability to record certain flight and engine parameters on an SD card with a maximum size of four-gigabytes. A two-gigabyte SD card containing no other data, is capable of storing 2,000 hours of data. The following data will automatically be recorded once every second as long as the system is operating and an SD card resides in the top card slot of the MFD.”
Here are parameters that are included:
• Active Waypoint
• Attitude Pitch Angle
• Attitude Roll Angle
• Autopilot (AP) Engaged
• Baro Adjustment/Correction
• Baro-Corrected Altitude
• Battery AMP
• Battery Volts
• Bearing to Next Waypoint
• Carburetor Temperature
• COM1 Frequency
• COM2 Frequency
• Current Position
• Cylinder head temperature, cylinders 1 – 4
• Distance to Next Waypoint
• Engine RPM
• Exhaust Gas Temperature, cylinders 1-4
• Fuel Flow
• Fuel Pressure
• Fuel Quanity Left
• Fuel Quanity Right
• GFC 700 Pitch Command
• GFC 700 Pitch Mode
• GFC 700 Roll Command
• GFC 700 Roll Mode
• GPS Altitude
• GPS Altitude Relative to Mean Sea Level
• GPS Fix
• GPS Horizontal Alert Limit
• GPS Horizontal Protection level
• GPS vertical alert limit
• GPS Vertical Speed
• Ground Speed
• Ground Track Magnetic
• Horizontal CDI
• HSI Source
• Indicated Air Speed
• Lateral/Y/Right Acceleration
• Local 24hr Time
• Local Date
• Magnetic Heading
• Magnetic Variation
• Manifold Pressure
• NAV1 Frequency
• NAV2 Frequency
• Normal/Z/Up Acceleration
• Oil Pressure
• Oil Temperature
• Outside Air Temperature
• Selected Course
• True Airspeed
• UTC time
• Vertical CDI
• Vertical Speed
• WAAS GPS horizontal protection level
• WAAS GPS vertical protection level
• Wind Direction
• Wind Speed
Finally something that starts to get us JPI like engine performance data……
Posted by jrolls on March 14th, 2010 — Posted in Family, Travel
This video kind of captures the whole trip. A great combination of family, friends, and skiing…..be sure to view this full screen, as the encoding is much higher quality than this postage stamp below. Just click:
Posted by jrolls on February 24th, 2010 — Posted in Cycling
Wow – I got the royal treatment when I went to rent a bike at the PV bike center. They set me up quickly and efficiently on a nice Specialized rig, gave me guidance on local routes, quickly lined me up with a new pair of mtb shoes & cleats – and I was off an running. Folks couldn’t have been nicer.
Posted by jrolls on February 21st, 2010 — Posted in Travel
I sat next to and met Marie Payne on my flight to Los Angeles today. She was on her way out to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. And she definitely had a unique story, so I could see why the Ellen producers sought her out. On Feb 12th, while driving on Interstate-85 in Atlanta, she used her own car to get in front of and stop a speeding car that had gone out of control with the driver slumped over the steering wheel. Full story is here. Wow – that’s some bravery. Here’s the video clip from the show.
