Just thought I'd post something to let everyone know I'm still alive.... It's been a while since I posted anything, but there's been a lot going on here... Some good, some (maybe) not so good, but we'll see.... Anyway, the Brown Truck Guy just dropped off a quadcopter - now, where have we heard that before?? Num, num, num, num.... This is my DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter. It's an amazing bit of technology, really. You can fly this thing up to 1000+ feet away (the semi-official altitude limit for radio-controlled aircraft is 400 feet), and just release the controls. It will use GPS to "park" and hold position, while you use an Ipod/Iphone app to control the camera's tilt, and other settings. You can pan by using the copter's yaw controls. And of course you can fly it forward, back, left, right, just like a full size chopper. The camera on this thing will shoot 1080P video, and/or 14MP stills. It's a very wide-angle lens, but Adobe has already released a lens profile for it so you can correct any distortion in Photoshop. This is going to be a lot of fun - once it warms up enough to fly (and hopefully not crash) without freezing my butt off! I'm NOT planning on flying this thing over Deer Trail, Colorado.... Or Area 51! I'll be posting some photos once I get this machine in the air! I also wanted to let you know that I am working on Page 19 of the T.N.A. story, and will be picking the Black Hills story up again soon. I mentioned in my last post that I may or may not have a job at the end of January. Not a lot has changed, but I did have a good conversation with my manager Monday. I came away from that conversation with the feeling that my chances of staying on in a new position are fairly good. I asked if I should l start training on some of the newer color production print machines. He said it would be better to do so on the black & white PP equipment. That's a little more encouraging than an answer like : "No, don't worry about taking any training..." The new position would be back in field service, and would be 8 to 5 Monday - Friday - NO zombie shift!! :-D That's part of the reason I've been off the grid - I'm still trying to get my body clock back in sync with the sun and moon. I haven't been sleeping very well at all the last couple of weeks. As an example, I think I got about 1 - 1/2 hours' sleep last night. Not fun at all... Well, enough.... I hope everyone is staying warm, and enjoying the holiday season however you celebrate it. Thanks for dropping by, and double-thanks if you've read this whole tome... Stay safe, and I'll see you soon!