That's the completed Falcon. I finished it the night before Mom came in. She remembered it from back in the day and said I did a great job. Of course, she could have said that no matter what, but that's cool. Judge for yourself.

It's not perfect, not even really close to perfect, but I tried to do my best. I wish I knew of a better way to make scrapes in the colored sections, but everything I tried didn't turn out looking right. The holes in the hull and gashes were made with a soldering iron from my comp kit. The blackened areas are just black chalk dust sealed on to the model with layers of Future floor polish and Testor's dullcote. Although it can't be seen from this angle, I did include the 'famous' big dent in the port docking port that's right above the ramp. I did that with one of those 'click and light' red and black lighter wands with a little build up behind the hole using sprue that the parts were attached to.

GAH!

Batten down the hatches again this year?

Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center are predicting that this year will be another above-average season for Florida due to the continued presence of a strong high-pressure ridge. The “Bermuda High” keeps hurricanes from turning north into the Atlantic, instead keeping them on course for Florida. If there is no change between now and the beginning of hurricane season at the beginning of June, it could again be a rough season for the southeastern United States.

While it's highly improbable that Florida will again get hit with four strong hurricanes, it is not unlikely for two major strikes to slam the state. Of course, as with all weather predictions, this is all subject to change at a moment's notice. In the meantime, let's hope that the Bermuda High dissipates in the next couple of months.

Had a nice trip back to IL last week. Basically, it was training and orientation for our new group inside Moto corporate. For me, it's a small change, though I miss our old management chain and teams. It's still working with the same people...though some have moved on to different teams for one reason or another.

Throughout the visit I was able to watch the Super Bowl with my Dad, see my Grandma at my sister's (early) birthday dinner, have my Mom's sloppy joe's, a nice dinner with our new team and a great restaurant (Wildfire), and spend a nice day with my sister at the Museum of Science and Industry. Very nice.

It's always nice to be able to have a paid vacation back home due to the way my work situation turned out in the move to FL. I'm really lucky.

After sitting in an actual work facility for a week, I'm amazed how many people don't know how to flush a toilet.

Gross, I know. That is all.

CNN.com - Actor Ossie Davis dead at 87 - Feb 4, 2005

Sad. I loved him in 'Joe versus the Volcano'. :(

Getting to know me...

1)Name the Last Four Things You Have Bought:
Testors spray enamel in Light Aircraft Grey (2)
Small bottles of paint (4)
Puppy treats
Sour Rasberry Altoids


2)Name Four Drinks You Regularly Drink:
Milk
Orange Juice
Grape Juice
Water


3)Time you Cried:
Boy, I really don't remember. I think it was during an ESPN special on the Bulls Championships and they showed the Paxon and Kerr game-winning shots.

4)What's In Your CD Player?
mp3 CD in the car. Last CD I bought was the soundtrack to the Muppet Show.


5)What's Under Your Bed?
Two bins filled with various things. We don't have a lot of storage in the house.

6)What Time Did You Wake Up Today?
8am

7)Current Hair?
Got a haircut a few days ago in anticipation of going into the office next week.

8)Current Clothes?
PJs

9)Current Desktop Picture?
pic of an old old Motorola radio I took at Epcot.

10)Current Worry?
hmm...meeting my new boss next week, though he seems like a good guy.

11)Current Hate?
people who cancelled 'Enterprise'.

12)Favorite Place To Be?
San Francisco was nice.

13)Least Favorite Place?
Disney or any Disney shopping

14)If You Could Play An Instrument?
piano (hope to learn some day)

15)Favorite Colors?
blue

16)How Tall Are You?:
5'11 1/2"

17)Favorite expression?
come on now

18)One Person From Your Past You Wish You Could Go Back And Talk To?
probably myself and tell me not to stress and it'll all work out.

19)Favorite Day(s)?
Saturday probably

20)Where Would You Like To Go?
New England, New York, Washington DC, back to CA

21)Where Do you want to live when you get married?
already married

22)Favorite food?
probably Barnaby's

23)Color of most clothes you own?
navy blue

24)Number of pillows you sleep with?
2 under hear, holding one of old pillows we had on the futon

25)What do you wear when you go to sleep?
shorts and a t-shirt

26)what were you doing 12AM last night?
painting my model

27)How old will you be in 10 yrs?
37 (had to think about how old I am now)

28)What do you think you'll be doing in 10 years?
hopefully the same stuff and living back in IL with kids and hopefully making more money.

29)Do you have braces?
No, I wish I did though. I might still get them.

30)Are you paranoid?
well, sometimes. I really don't care what people think so that helps.

31)Do you burn or tan?
Burn. I didn't think I did until I went to damn Cozumel. NEVER AGAIN.

32)What is the brand of your wallet?:
Dockers I think

33)First piercing/tattoo?
ug

34)First enemy?
Guy at NIU who wore his Yankee hat like it just came out of the box or something. Absolutely flat brim and the brim and the front of the hat made a right angle. "Hat Boy"

35)Last person you yelled at?
Court for somehow breaking the flashlight while taking the dog out. Something I've done 500 times without breaking anything.

36)Last crush?
pisht...so long ago I can't remember.

37)Last thing you ate?
slim-fast. Almost lunch time now.

38)If you could be a pirate, would you?
Hell yeah. Sid Meyer's Pirates! is an awesome game.

39) Last time you had sex?
few days ago (?)

40) If you could be with anyone right now, who would it be?
Uncle Bruce, to say Happy BD in person.

A long time ago (easily 10+ years) my Mom had given me a Millennium Falcon model kit. I started it and stopped it in a matter of days. Whether I thought it was too difficult or something else came up, I don't know. Unfortunately I did glue some parts together but nothing too drastic. Anyway.

I've just spent the last 4+ hours detailing the top and bottom of the kit to match the real model of the Millennium Falcon. Thanks to some pics I'd taken when the model was on display at the Field Museum plus some different shots I found on a website of the same model on display at a different museum I think I've gotten pretty close. Tomorrow, I'll mask off those detailed panels and spray the body of the kit. After that it's some airbrushing with diluted black paint (to weather the model) and a coat of Testors Dulcote to dull it a little.

Hopefully I have that procedure right. I'm trying to pick up hints and stuff on the net and I'm still really new at trying to model the 'right way'. Wish me luck!

(I hope to complete this model before my Mom comes down so she can see it finished)

create your own visited states map

RIP the crew of STS-107 which was destroyed upon re-entry 2 years ago today.

Brown
Clark
Chawla
Anderson
Ramon
McCool
Husband