Updates from the past week

Abbreviated posts:

Saturday (6/5)
Helicopter test flight with Aaron and Max. Had some close calls myself (lost track of heading and then the wind took it far away where I couldn't see it very well), but managed to keep the blades away from danger. Let Aaron fly it. He's got some co-axial experience and some simulator time (well, 5 minutes worth), and was much better at holding a hover than I was. Unfortunately ended with crashing into a bike tire. Broke the landing gear.

Glued the landing gear back in place, replaced the feathering shaft (dunno exactly when it got bent). Lately have been seeing the system act glitchy; I don't know why and I don't even know where to start looking. The most plausible scenario I can think of is the increased vibrations (due to unbalanced blades or other damage) putting excessive noise into the AHRS.

Tuesday (6/8)
A rasbora died! :( It was the loner fish who looked like he had tail damage, possibly as a result of fights. His tail was completely gone when I found him. And that morning, the other fishes were strangely quiet (they usually fight in the morning), huddled together in the center of the tank.

Wednesday (6/9)
Muir Beach and pirates' cove with Max, Bryce, and Nick. A really windy spot. I climb a boulder. Throwing rocks. Fiji water and expensive sammiches from JJ&F.

Thursday (6/10)
Old oto (a.k.a. fat oto) died :( Afterwards, we changed the water, because that's all that we really can do, but water tests didn't show anything particularly out of the ordinary. But it is a troubling spate of fish deaths. While changing the water, did notice the thin tube (between the two tanks) was clogged by a wayward snail.

Friday (6/11)
Family (parents and brother) in town! Presented the helicopter to my dad. Took it out for a test run, but ended up crashing the landing. I think it was a level landing, just a little hard, and then the previously-broken landing gear broke, causing the helicopter to roll over on that side until the blades struck the ground. Feathering shaft is noticeably bent. Damnit. Felt pretty bad about it all.

Went to Mediterranean Wraps for lunch, then made beef Stroganov for dinner. Used beef flank this time, which I didn't like as much as the tenderloin we used last time. Also had watermelon, which was a great treat in the hot weather.

Saturday (6/12)
Went up to Muir Woods and walked around (Hillside trail, ~2 mi). Big sequoias. Very straight. Asexual reproduction through burls, which cause a ring of clonal redwoods to grow around the burnt-out stump of the parent. Also, bendy phototroping bay laurels, which seem to be able to grow out of dead logs. And redwood sorrels, which sleep in the sun and open up in the shade (except for some lazy ones we saw napping in the shade).

The hilly drive up put higher demands on the engine than I'd seen before. Even on the highway, there were parts where full throttle in fifth just wasn't enough (well, not quite WOT...I wanted to avoid the rich burn and other power-boosting tweaks that happen up there).

This whole weekend I've been feeling the car act a little more sluggish than usual. Due to the high correlation between input variables, I can't tell whether this is due to increased passenger mass (~15% of the vehicle weight) or the air conditioner load. Actually, now that I think about it, in addition to slower acceleration, I've also noticed longer stopping distances (which can only be explained by increased mass). An unrelated observation: the A/C is more powerful at higher engine speeds.

Also went to the Golden Gate Bridge visitor center, and the Richmond district's Chinatown. Came back to have dinner with family friends at Jade Palace/Duck restaurant.

Sunday (6/13)
Got up early to get a Master's hood from the bookstore. Graduation today! Turns out the Master's robe is slightly different from the Bachelor's: it's got extensions from the bottoms of the sleeves, as if you might have 2 forearms like the Gatekeepers from Schlock Mercenary. Skipped the commencement ceremony, though; just went to the department ceremony.

Afterwards, went to the San Jose Tech Museum; it was free second Sundays, which was cool, and we spent the whole time going through the exhibits. Not much new since the last time I've been there (there was a Genghis Kahn exhibit, but it was kinda expensive and the rest of the family wasn't very interested), but it was much less crowded than I've seen before, which was nice.

Oh - check engine light came on again; still the neutral position switch and knock sensor, so I just cleared it again.