I was going to fly a person with Cancer for her bucket list. I don't much care for bucket lists but she had one and one of those things was to fly in a hot air balloon. Since it came thought friends I decided to do the flight myself.
It didn't happen. Or it almost did. This is where knowing your passengers and knowing the possible flight from beginning to end plays heavily on your decision.
At first it looked quite nice to fly. Soft wind on the surface from about 270 then up about 200 feet to 180 or heading North with a bit of West mixed in. Sadly, by the time we had everything out and set up the winds were shifting.. then as we stood up and tried to stabilize it was worse.. and even though we were shifting around on the ground we loaded our passengers up and hopped the basket about to get her to settle down but she wouldnt.
We had gusts going on. I couldnt get the envelope fully packed without lifting off and it was skittering everywhere. Asking what the crew thought and getting no answer back is a sure sign its time to set it back down.. so we did. Laid it out and got my special passenger out and on her feet. Envelope packed up and put away and pins given out. We may not have flown far or high or uncontrolled but we were off the ground for a few moments.
They have the option of flying back in Texas where they are from or here if they can come back and the weather is better. For me it really sucked.
I had 40 gallons of fuel and three people in the basket and the envelope just would not fill out due to the gusts going on. Also while setting up I had my crown pulley all wrapped up and in my vent lines.. that was a total joy to untangle.
So... all in all we tried out darnedest but we couldn't get it done completely. Went to breakfast and drowned our unhappiness in coffee and pancakes.
At breakfast we chatted about the new Sony RX10 IV that came out. I had from a professional photographer that it was one kick butt camera and I did a lot of research on it. It IS one kick butt camera. I did even more research... and I believe I will order it tomorrow.
Its not a DSLR ( huge cam ) but its also not a point and shoot. They call it a bridge camera. Fixed lens but it has a lens that buggers anything anywhere. 24 to 600 mm. MASSIVE reach. It also has one of the best phase detection auto focus systems and also stabilization to boot. Shots on Youtube are amazing.
Go Check it out. It will.. if it performs as shown and stated be my go to cam and my Nikon D7100 will sit for a bit. I still need it for fisheye shots but hey.... less weight to carry around too.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1361560-REG/sony_sony_rx10iv_digital_camera.html/?c3api=2280%2C220892633419%2Csony+rx10+iv%2Cb&gclid=CjwKCAjw7frPBRBVEiwAuDf_LevTBlXFlGhSz9pHZdD6KMezB-4l8UqBgUGLN2Lg4MFxLQGRkgGG6xoC53AQAvD_BwE
So since I really have little this weekend I will give you some links that I thought were good.
Grammarly is an app that helps with.. what.. grammar. I use it and it works very very well.
https://lifehacker.com/grammarlys-iphone-keyboard-corrects-your-texts-and-tind-1820147948
If you are looking for a wallet that's a bit different.. try this one.. not sure its me though...
https://the-gadgeteer.com/2017/11/05/trayvax-element-old-glory-brand-wallet-review/
This little link is worth its weight in gold... It is an adobe app that removes things from pictures and videos cleanly.. its pretty stunning.
http://www.neatorama.com/2017/11/04/Adobes-New-Content-Aware-Technology-Allows-Users-To-Easily-Remove-Large-Objects-From-Video/
Lastly .. this was seriously fun.. check it out..... wait.. no.. wait.. then check it out...
http://www.neatorama.com/2017/11/04/Persistence-of-Vision-lll/
A few new videos on my website to look at...
Here is the link to one and you can look around for the others...
http://InvisibleBlack.zenfolio.com/p715442282/e9b1fdbc5
Three different versions of this flight.. it was that fun.
Okay.. another week to get through... hopefully next weekend I can show you the photographs from the new camera and we can talk about it.
Cheers!
