Ohhh... that's early.

 

You got up even earlier than usual to get out for a ride?  Seriously - you think that's all I do?

Steph and Dan are off to Wisconsin to visit with Dan's family.  I took them to the airport this morning... departure time from the house: 5:20 am.  It's not like I had to get up early - I was awake much of the night, checking the time.  Yes, I will need a nap this afternoon.  This is the first I've had to set the alarm on my phone in a very long time... I was concerned it wouldn't go off, or I might sleep through it.  No worries - I was awake.

I got them to the airport on schedule.  First time I've had to drive into Sky Harbor Airport here in Phoenix... you get to the airport, then there is a lot further to go to get to Terminal 4.  I stopped at the curb, gave 'em both a hug, and they wheeled their carry-ons away.  The last thing Steph said to me was: "It can be kinda confusing to get out of the airport and heading the right direction.

I am apparently not as feeble minded as they think, as I was heading the right direction (well, directions) to get me back home; in a half hour.  I sent Steph a text: "Still circling the airport!!  Just kidding, I’m home - have an uneventful flight.  Love you!  They will let us know when they are down.

In the meantime, they have entrusted us with the care, feeding, and medicating of their 3 kitties.  "We got this," I told Steph, "It will be party time every meal: candy and ice cream for my grandkitties!"

I was home and wide awake at 6:30... Joan was up and out trimming the plants in the front yard.  She turned down my offer to help, so I did what you'd expect: out for a ride!  As usual on weekdays, not a lot of traffic on the twisty roads; plenty of bicyclists, 2 cars and a pickup, and one other motorcycle.  The motorcycle was a sport bike, and that rider blew by me like I was parked.  The cars and pickup were there to celebrate "Drive Over the Center Line Day."  I don't know if that is a state or national holiday.  What are the odds: 3 vehicles and each of them was driving over the center line?

I stopped to gas up on the way home - it's a new record!  91.6 miles per gallon!  Pretty cheap entertainment.  Speaking of the scoots: we ordered oil and filters for each of the bikes so I can get them done before we head out.  Most of it showed up this morning.  Lots of other stuff on the to-do list.

I told Joan to save the box the stuff came in - I'll lay it flat under the bikes to catch and drips.  That is, assuming I can get the box back from Murphy...

 "I love my new box - it's all I ever wanted!"  That will change as it gets closer to lunch time.

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We got some of our to-do list checked off: I delivered my previous medical records to my new doctor, so they'd have them for my upcoming appointment.  Then west to the motorhome, where we looked it all over (looks to be in good shape), started up the engine, ran the generator, then plugged it in to top off the batteries.  We took the tire info off the cargo trailer and went to Discount Tire to get an appointment to have new tires put on (Friday).  The tires that are on it don't have a lot of wear, but they are over 4 years old, so we want to start with new tires for this upcoming trip.

Lunch out, then off to Wally World for a short shopping expedition; stopped at a Walmart not too far from where we store the motorhome; haven't been in that one in a long time, and it seems they have cleaned it up nicely.  Then home for a short bit of relaxing before taking on the cat feeding and medicating for Steph and Dan's trio; back home to get Murphy taken care of.  I did send a couple photos to Steph so she wouldn't worry that her cats weren't getting the attention they are used to.

One last test I wanted to do with the DJI Mic 2: try it with the HoverAir X1 drone, to use the mic through the app.  The app eliminates the sound of the drone (and most other extraneous sounds), so just your voice comes through.  In the past, I have used it with just the phone, and it works well.  I tried it with a couple different inexpensive wireless mics and the delay between the sound and the video was hard to watch.  I was hoping it would be better with the more expensive DJI Mic 2.

As it worked out, it is almost as good as directly through the phone - certainly better than the cheap wireless mics.  It would be usable.  One issue: it was 102º out (cool by recent standards) and the HoverAir did not like like that heat... it would stop recording video and fly back to my hand.  At first, I didn't realize it was the heat - I had put my phone with the mic receiver connect to it about 10 feet away, to make sure it wasn't the phone picking up the sound.  Before flying today, the HoverAir wanted me to upload new firmware, a regular thing as the company continues to add features to the drone.  So, I was out in the heat doing the update.  I thought it may be a problem with the new firmware when it cut each flight short, until I went back to the phone and tried to fly it manually: nope, there was a notice on the phone telling me the HoverAir was overheating.  So, enough testing to know it is working and that the DJI mic works reasonably well with it.

So, no motorcycle or scooter video today, but this kinda doesn't count as a substitute.  In this 19 second clip you can see how the video stops before I am done.  I'll try again sometime, when it isn't so hot and not stand in the direct sunlight.  ;-)