I"M BACK

[budsbud]

;D
Well Hoo-ray Let the bells ring out. Greetings to all you happy people.
I AM BACK
Gosh don’t let your emotions run away with you, I have only been gone
for a few months so don’t get all teary eyed.
Our trip to Japan was great if way too expensive. Had all kinds of good
raw fish and such. Of course I love all those Japanese dishes. The fish out
of the cold waters of the Sea of Japan taste better to me than anything I can
get around here.
Then we had to make a couple of trips out to Seattle to help get out youngest
daughter settled into her new job and help her find an apartment. Are we
through with the kid yet :>)
Of course when all that dust settled I found that my old 6 year old hard drive
just died on me. A great big galloping crash of the first water. :>( I am just
now beginning to recover and have just started back to flying. I managed to
save most all of my flight sim stuff so I don’t feel too bad. The other that
stuff that was lost is just stuff.
I do hope all you great folks are all doing fine and I pray that Bill has recovered
from his hip replacement in good shape. Maybe Toms kittens are cats by now.

[Chris Ross]

Welcome home Bud

Chris

[Bill Von Sennet]

Welcome back Bud.

I'm in great shape. Don't have to see my surgeon for a year.

I still doing rehab, but making significant improvements in my strenght and stride.

[budsbud]

Hi everyone !
We have returned from our little trip down-under. Just in time for the holidays.
I know how much you must have missed me but I’m back now and we can
get on with flying our sims. The flighs down and back to New Zealand
are really the long hauls for sure. We had a wonderful time and the people are magnificent just as I recall from my last trip down there ( 20 years ago ). I was
amazed that Auckland is now just another big city. Christchurch tho is still
about the same. Really laid back and easy. Went down to Mount Cook and
did all the tourist things. Got to see some real live Kiwi birds. Remarkable
that there are still a few left, they are almost extinct. I will not be bothering
anyone until after the New Year. My present to one and all.
Love you guys

MERRY CRHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW NEW

[Ed Burke]

Good to learn you survived the Kiwi hospitality Bud. How was the bungy jump ??
All the best for Christmas and '09

Ed

[budsbud]

We did the sky tower thing BUT BUNGY JUMP you got to be kidding
Did see one dam fool come down the thing, better they than me.
Great place tho

[budsbud]

OK OK I know it was tough to have to do without me for a brief period but
I have returned UHG!
Had to go into the hospital for a brief (thank goodness) period where they found
a couple of problems. Had to have a stent put in. Those of you who have been there
know what that is.
Now I have been put on the light duty list so I now can loaf around even more than usual. :>).
I can now go back to my flight simm but only if I don’t get to excited and raise my
blood pressure. I just hope that I have not fallen too far behind in the GAAR 2009 but
I shall try real hard to catch up.

GOOD TO BE BACK
Bud

[Tom Goodrick]

Good to have you back. Welcome to the club of heart patients. I have worked out some computer exercises that keep mind and body humming pretty well without over-stressing with the main goal of having fun.

Flying can be great for some mental exercise but some one like yourself with plenty of real-world flight time needs to be careful with it as you may have found out. There are many ways to add stress like flying big planes in busy airspace in IMC. There are also many ways to reduce the stress and increase the fun.

To reduce the stress, try some gliding. In addition to the Schweizer we all have, there are several improved sailplane models. I have downloaded several and have improved their realism. I also have downloaded a "scenery" set that adds lifting winds to the scenery in Germany and Austria, mainly near Innsbruck. It is great fun and a bit of a challenge to take a short launch and then try to find enough lift to remain aloft and to venture into various canyons and around or over some ridges and peaks in the Alps.

Another way to enjoy low-stress flying is to go travelling in the Piper Cub or an Aeronca Champ, going cross-country between many places in the US or the rest of the world. You can even have fun in those winding through canyons in a mountain range.

In general flying without traffic and with no contact with ATC is less stressful than having to constantly follow dumb instructions and look for traffic at 6 o'clock

There's more fun to be had outside of FS. If you have ever had an interest in model trains, I recommend the program "TRAINZ" where you essentially build and operate a layout by building terrain that models the real world virtually unlimited. (Some of us have limits to the amount of memory we want to use up with a layout. I have built two layouts on my computer. One has a three-track mainline between medium-sized cities. I can set two passenger trains running back and forth between them that run automatically and then operate a freight train that connects the two cities with several freigh stops in between. An intersting feature is cars running on a road that also connects the two cities. at any instant there are plenty of neat scenes as trains go along their routes with cars trying to keep up in some places. Another route, recently completed has nine trains running simultaneously with automatic control while I play with engines using a roundhouse and some freight car switching.

I also have a good car-racing game called "Need For Speed - Posche Unlimited" where I race Porches of various vintages around the back roads of Europe. I mainly race on roads blocked of for the race. But you can turn on two-way traffic. You can tune the cars for better performance.

Unfortunately, I have to watch the racing game because it can run my pulse rate up a bit! I do it about one night a month.

Then there is the Nintendo Wii which I strongly recommend for your required light exercise. I know most heart patients are required to do some exercise. I was logging laps walked around the ward within days of my bypass surgery. When I got home I walked outside about 2 miles every day. Then in the summer we had some air polution problems and the "fresh air" gave me another heart attack. So now i exercise inside the house where I can stop any time and where the exercise is more fun. I start each day with an hour of play time with the Wii and then spend two or more hours in the afternoon using the Wii.

The disk that comes with the game has tennis, golf, bowling, boxing and baseball. I recommend the tennis and bowling. For golf i use Tiger Woods' PGA '08 (no other year will do, get '08 from Amazon.com). I start with bowling because that gets my legs going along with a good right arm swing. Two or three games are plenty. In addition to the normal bowling score kept for you by the computer, there is a rating score you earn as you play going from 0 to 2000. As you get better and raise your score, it takes more consistancy to raise the score. This morning I had a 300 game - yea, rah rah! Pin physics are fairly realistic.

Then I play some tennis. Here you have to be a little careful but the mechanics of the game will control how much exercise you get as time goes by. The exercise all depends on the quality of your opponents which is indicated by a rating system applied both to them and to you. It goes from 0 to about 2350 (estimated). When you start, you are matched against players rated at 25 to 50. You can play sets of one, best of three, or best of five. I normally play best of three. The first players are not very good so your exercise level is low but you get the opportunity to learn. It is played in doubles format and you control two versions of yourself at once - one forward and one in back and serving. You will find you can select which player to use as the ball comes to his vicinity. You swing the wand forehand, backhand, high or low as needed. You can put spin on the ball.

After several months of daily effort, you will be playing highly-rated opponents who can give you a very tough challenge. I regularly play the two top players, Sarah (1900) and Elise (2000). I have written about my Wii activities quite a bit in my blog.

Tiger Woods' golf is a very neat game, with extreme realism down to the clubs and balls you buy (with "money" made in the tournaments). There are 18 real courses. These are often shown on TV so you can compare features of the courses on the game with those seen on TV. Most are US courses but some are in Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Australia. The exercise in this game is not very high but is better than sitting on your butt. You stand and swing the wand through a realistic golf swing (as real as you want to make it, not necessarily tearing any back muscles). You will be confronted with very real situations requiring all kinds of shots. The game has many training features to get you started and to keep you going when you run into problems. You control the wind, the speed of the greens and fairways and the depth of the rough. You play against a wide range of opponents from weird characters found hanging around many golf courses to PGA pros who play just about as well as in real life.

I generally spend a couple hours each day standing and swinging the club while confronting a wide variety of situations on beautiful courses including Doral and Sawgrass. Yesterday I shot 55 at Pebble Beach.

[Bill Von Sennet]

Hi Bud,

I didn't know you were out of action.

Don't spend too much time sitting at the computer. Keep moving your legs and get your circulation going.

[budsbud]

Thanks guys I am truly glad to be back.
I always wanted a model train set when I was a kid but back then it was impossible for us.
Food came first. I'm going to look into those things as soon as I can.
Bill you are so correct in not setting at this machine too long. They are on to me to get back to the mile walks as soon as I build up to it.
Again thanks a bunch.
Bud

[flaminghotsauce]

Ya, you might have to put your computer on a tall table, so you can stand while flying the sim! ;D

Keep moving, that's the key. My father was quite active in his old age, until he broke his foot. After six weeks in a cast, he had some blood clot or something that added another six weeks to his sitting around. Then he got another ailment, and another. It's been several years now, and he's mostly watching TV. He no longer works in his shop building miracles out of wood.

It all started with the broken foot.

[budsbud]

Yea Flame I know how it goes. It is hell when you just begin to fall aprt for no appearant reason. Mine started out a few years ago with a blood clot in my leg so I;v been there too.
Thanks you the info tho, tall table may be if the offing.
Bud

[budsbud]

Hi Gang.
I’m back again, some what worse for wear.
I have had a little stroke, if there is any such thing. Not a lot of real damage done but I’m
still weak as a kitten though.
Hope to get back to finishing the Gaar 2009 I have missed all the good fun of my simm.
Tom you are right again, some of the flying can be a real stress maker indeed.
Best to all
Bud

[Allen Peterson]

Hang in there, Bud. Easy does it.

[budsbud]

After a few computer crash's and other serious health issues I have gotten back to doing what I do best...Nothing. Just flying and taking it easy.
Flaming put up a pic of his rig so I thought I would show off my front office. Her tis

www.dem-productions.com/fs-pic/My Front office.jpg[/img]