Welcome to the Breakfast Show.......

[Fly at Night]

I think Airstreamers and astronauts share the same common denominator: adventure and exploration.

My current reading bent - the lunar astronauts - is a natural meld. Leon Wagener's "One Giant Leap - Neil Armstrong's Stellar American Journey" was an orb of reading pleasure in the midst of one blank, moonless week. While Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins penned their autobiographies years ago - Armstrong preferred a less-visible presence after the heralding of the century’s signature event - right until his death in 2012.

Armstrong's occasional references were often rift with diffidence and surrealism: "As for walking on the moon, sometimes I wonder if that really happened. I can honestly say - and it’s a great surprise to me - that I have never had a dream about being on the moon.” Armstrong preferred to be defined as a husband, father and friend instead of the first man on the moon. He chose his friends who saw him as a person above and beyond his long-ago deed, as if nothing else mattered. Such down-to-earth humility is rare in light of Armstrong’s accomplishments, not only as an astronaut, but as a scholar and accomplished aviator years earlier.

Still, as his friends would often observe, Armstrong shared a mystical bond with that dead rock in the sky he once visited. As one of his closest friends recollected,“Neil and I were laying a round of golf, and he was having a lousy day. Every shot seemed to go wrong for him; he was quietly suffering a very frustrating afternoon. We got to the toughest hole on the course, a long par five, and it didn’t look good; odds were his game was going to get even worse. Then a very peculiar thng happened. It was a crisp, cold afternoon in late October, and all of a sudden the moon rose in the eastern sky, straight ahead of us. It wa a startling sight, a big orange harvest moon; it seemed close enough to touch. Neil went for a four-wood and hit one of the longest straightest drives any of us had seen in a very long time. Appropriately, he sunk an eagle.

No one said a word about it; there was nothing to say.”

Except maybe...moonstruck?

[JDS]

"Except maybe...moonstruck?"

Nicely put, FaN!

John S.

[Fly at Night]

Glad you liked it, JDS. When you truly enjoy a book, it's easy to write a good review.

The review I penned on amazon about Buzz Aldrin's memoir, Magnificent Desolation - The Long Journey Home From the Moon, was not so kind....oops!.....

Magnificent Bore!

While the first chapters to the moon and back were a good read, it's all space junk from there.

Buzz's prattling about his pop-culture status, his perky wife, her hair colour, and how she sounds like everyone's mother on those mornings when we'd just like to pull the covers over our head - "Buzz Aldrin, you get out of that bed this instant!" - was this written during a full moon?

Mrs. Aldrin, next time Buzz wants to jump out of bed with memoir-writing on his mind, will you please just keep him there?

[JDS]

But didn't Aldrin have some emotional problems? I seem to recall his being treated for depression or something. That made him seem more human to me, made him more interesting.

John S.

[Fly at Night]

Yes, he did. Which he reiterated in his first memoir, Reaching for the Moon. It is a better read, and I truly respect him for coming forward in that respect. There is a myth that "great American heroes" are not supposed to show their vulnerabilities. Buzz Aldrin broke through that barrier, and no doubt encouraged others to do so.

However, that interesting human side was sacrificed to celebrity and opportunism via Magnificent Desolation or "The Ego Has Landed" as another reviewer put it.

[Fly at Night]

Was wondering why I couldn't get a drink out of my bedside water bottle when I awoke. Upon further inspection - it was frozen solid.

I slept like the proverbial log with just the mattress heater and the small electric heater in the FaN kitchen going. The bedroom does get rather cold (obviously) but it didn't bother me. However, the dog crawled underneath the covers and I had to literally push her out to do her "business" in the early a.m. (BTW, why dog owners call it doing their "business" like they have a licence to practice law?)

Anyway, maybe I will turn the furnance on tonight - even if I hate spending money on propane. Yeah, I have been told I can squeeze a nickel until the beaver screams, but I really didn't find it that bad. However, this may explain the scarcity of winter visitors.

"At least there will be plenty implied - if you caught pneumonia and died. Baby, it's cold outside."

Dean Martin - Baby It's Cold Outside - YouTube

[c_lewis77]

It is 80 here today. I suppose i will skip "winterizing"....whatever that means
Isnt there a "deicing" procedure/ checklist for the FAN?

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by c_lewis77

It is 80 here today. I suppose i will skip "winterizing"....whatever that means
Isnt there a "deicing" procedure/ checklist for the FAN?

Ha! Ha! and no. I was only sleeping there - not flying it.

You might want to direct that question to these Aeroflot pilots. Yikes!

Aeroflot--snow and ice on a wing and a prayer - YouTube

[masseyfarm]

You just have to buy a motor home FLY. They are sooo much more comfortable. Look at this small one, it even has the full bath and fireplace.

And you would like the colours throughout.

There would never be any frozen drinks in this one.

I just can't imagine myself camping with four females.

Sorry about the language, but it was all I could find.

Película Barbie y su Autocaravana (español) - YouTube#!

Dave

[masseyfarm]

So, did you get a chance to look at this motorhome FLY? It has all the latest features. I think you would have trouble saying no to this 'living in luxury' camping.

Aerodynamic body contours, excellent visibility, roof mounted canopies, hot colours, docking lamps, projector headlamps, colour coordinated mirrors, 3 door person access, FRED chassis, roomy inside, four bicycle storage, big screen, seat belts and sleeping for four, nice kitchen, hot tub and disappearing couch that rotates into the cavity when the hot tub is setup. LED lighting throughout coach with plenty of reserve battery capacity for those remote boon dock sites.

This unit also has that new feature we have suggested for the new AIRSTREAM CLASS A, a pop up roof access with double deck hammock spar for sleeping in the great outdoors.

If I ever want to downsize from my CLIPPER, this is the one I want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=TKMZbRRoqFw

Dave

[Fly at Night]

"If I ever want to downsize...."

Indeed. You'd have to shrink yourself considerably. But Barbie still looks pretty hot. Go for it -- or as the Aussies would say, "Let's put another shrimp on the Barbie."

As to the Pepto-Bismol motorhome, I'd park it close to the campfire. How do you say "It's melting" in espanol?

[masseyfarm]

I never noticed that the camping Pepto-Bismol container was the same colour!
Pepto-Bismol - YouTube

Dave

[Fly at Night]

Yesterday I was on the road, sans Airstream, and would have killed (pun intended) for a chance to take a photo of the trailer parked at the Bates Motel.

They are shooting a television series about the early to adult years of the Psycho villain, Norman Bates. The motel (and mansion) is an exact replica of the original Alfred Hitchcock film. Seeing it in real life is an eerie dose of deja vu. The replicated attention-to-detail is amazing.









"We have 13 vacancies. Twelve cabins and an Airstream trailer. Thirteen vacancies."

[Fly at Night]

Unloved? Recently dumped? Stood up by a jerk? Can't get him to pose the question? Or maybe you just hate the love day, period.

Presenting the first annual Valentine's Day Rally for the Embittered.

Date: February 14, 2013. (I know, I know, it doesn't give you much time, but the gas pedal is a good outlet for that repressed rage. You'll make it!)

Place: The FaN driveway (behind the barn). You've heard all about it. Now you can live the experience too - but watch where you step.

Dress: Who cares? Look your worse. You've given up on relationships, so wear those black polyester "fat pants," then spend the next two months filling them out.

Schedule of Events:

"Whine" and Cheese Meet and Cry Party

Airstream Open House: A creative challenge - decorate your Airstream to suit the mood. Here are some decorating tips that will be appreciated by all:
- dangle cupids with little nooses around their necks from the ceiling
- black hearts look great on the Airstream skin
- lotsa dead flowers in and around your Airstream
- and never ever pair-up those plastic-flamingo icons. One sad-looking solo flamingo only!

The Ever-Popular Airstream Potluck:
Please bring....
- jerk chicken
- cocktail bitters
- frozen T.V. dinners to go with the cold, cold hearts
- chicken wings (to chomp out the frustration of wasting all that time with those non-committal types) over-salted, of course, to rub more salt into the wound
- sour cherry pie
- heart-shaped cookies (broken into pieces)


Pinata Smash: (shaped like a cupid) to beat the crap out of followed by an essay contest, "Hitched Forever - Why I Will Never Love Anything but My Airstream Again."
The winner will receive gas money for the second annual Valentine's Day Airstream Rally for the Embittered.

See you there -- I mean here!