Nothing much new going so I thought I'd post photos of my upgraded rotor head for my Walkera Genius FP helicopter. I found metal blade holders for the Walkera Super FP. They are pretty similar helicopters so I adapted the blade holder to my Geious FP, which requires that I use the Super FP blades as well. At this point my Genius is sort of a mash up of a several upgrade parts and pretty much the entire Super FP rotor head. So I'm calling mine a Super Genius FP. In any even it flys great now and I'm pretty much only flying this one. The other two helicopters are pretty much collecting dust at this point.

So Jo and I spent four days down in Redondo Beach visiting my sister, her family, and my mom.  We were down for my niece's first communion and mother's day, as wel as some much needed R&R.  We stayed at the Beach House in Hermosa Beach which was just awesome.  I couldn't recommend this place more.  I was remis in not getting any family photos but I did get some shots of the scenery from the patio of our hotel and around the strand.

So this is a bit of a milestone for me and running since I've been tracking my runs on RunKeeper.  With my last run I've logged 1,000 miles in RunKeeper.

Well I never intended to own three micro helis but, ... it just sort of happened over time. From left to right, Syma S107G, this simple, fun to fly, coaxial heli was the gateway drug. Next I ventured into the 4 channel, fixed pitched, flybarless with the Walkera Genius FP. I have the most time on this one and it's fun to fly, a little tricky, and fun to upgrade and tinker with. Last I've been trying to fly the flybar, fixed pitched Walkera CB100. The stock tail motor had broken wires so I upgraded the tail motor and I've been battling the twitchy tail on this one. It's an OK flyer and I'm sure I'll get the hang of it but so far the Genius FP has been my favorite.

And here is an up close shot of the Walkera Genius FP. The upgraded parts are the landing gear, the metal rotor head, the metal swashplate, and the custom aluminum tail.

So our friend Emily invited Lori, Jo, and I along with a group of her other friends to go on a hike for her birthday near Mount Tamalpais. It was incredibly beautiful. Jo and I will definitely be going back to do this hike again. It's also pretty amazing that this is just a short drive from San Francisco. Here are some photos from the hike.

Over the holidays Jo and I stayed with her sister Marybeth in North Carolina. While staying with her I was introduced to fine writing instruments. My sister-in-law has a very fine Montegrappa, an Italian fountain pen. I was always a little intimidated by using a fountain pen because of the ink bottle and having to fill the pen. After using my sister-in-law's pen I was immediately impressed and quite taken with the beauty of these writing instruments. I was so taken that I had to order my own. Of course my wife's family heritage is Italian American and my family's heritage is German American so I had to order a German made writing instrument. After some quick research I settled on a Diplomat pen.

Now, I haven't actually written in cursive in quite some time. Actually I don't write by hand much at all these days since I'm on the computer at work, at home, and I have my iPhone when I'm out and about. So I am writing letters now to family and friends and I am working on my penmanship. It's seems very quaint to write by hand and in cursive but there is a certain appeal to it. I found that I take my time when writing by hand I can collect my thoughts. Also it is definitely a more personal touch when writing letters by hand. In any event here are a couple of photos of my new fine writing instrument. I'm not going to scan any of my letters yet since I am still rather embarrassed by my penmanship.

Jo reading in her sister Marybeth's apartment in North Carolina.