Rick's b.log - entry 2010/12/25

Final flight

Then... disaster.

I don't know what happened. You can see from the video that it spins and pretty much falls out of the sky. It was a fresh battery, so no issue there. I'd expect at least five minutes, not around 20 seconds.
I can only guess I ran into some weird air current or something. I don't know.

The landing sheered off the two lugs that hold the upper rotor in place. It is a staggeringly weak design, to be honest (I'm still worried about the fragile plastic tail boom).
All is not lost. It appears to be closely related to an old-design Syma Alloy Shark. I have found a guy on eBay who sells parts, and asked for his device and a quote for two of the bits.
It amuses me slightly that the kit includes a spare tail rotor. That's probably the last thing that'd break!

Well, Rob, you got your wish for now - I'll shut up about the helicopter for a while. ☺

And elsewhere...

Big Green Hat comes up to me and asks if I know how many hours in hand I have. Yes. I do. I came in 15 minutes early for a few days to give me some hours in hand in case my cow-orker is ill and they can't schedule somebody to stay back until midnight. That'd potentially lose me 3-4 hours, depending on when they got in touch. So I wanted 3-4 hours in hand.

No, he says. I have about 34 hours. [minus three for the days we left early due to snow, but head office won't know about that yet] 34 hours? THIRTY FOUR HOURS? Where the hell did I accumulate 34 hours working 7 hours a day in a job where I'm supposed to work 7 hours a day? Well, he tells me I'll need to take two, possibly three, days off before the end of March.
Don't hear me complaining about that! I had booked off the 11th (the day before mom's birthday), so I told him to work back from there and let me know.
The week prior, it is likely we won't be working due to a break of lack of orders. It is always pretty quiet between February and April. It could be that I will have a two week period in which I work... a day.
Don't hear me complaining about that either. ☺

There are three 'groups' at work. The production girls, the pick'n'pack girls, and "the others". No, the "official" green hats aren't a part of any of this, some lower ranking ones (i.e. the powerless...) are.
I am part of the 'other' group. This year, two meals out were organised which were followed by bowling. I didn't do the bowling part as it was after midnight by then. Oh, and fairly disturbing quantities of alcohol were consumed too. I guess it's their idea of a good time.

Anyway, it is tradition that we have a little whip-round for birthdays. Usually €2 or so a time. It's a nice gesture.

On Thursday, my cow-orker presented me with my little present. A nice card, in English (!), I wonder where they found that? And a Breton-influenced tea set - because everybody knows British people like tea. The jam jar contains caramel and butter biscuits, and the tea pack behind is black tea with raspberry and caramel (!?) flavour.
I actually think it'd be a cute pot for my Sweet Sakura Tea. I like the design, rocks that spell "Brittany" in Breton, with a breton flag stuck in there too. I can see the hand of people with names like "Soizic" in this.
Thanks, guys.

Look, if it's the 25th and you're reading this... get a life! ☺ You're as bad as me actually writing this stuff (while waiting for the Christmas episode of Dr. Who, I might add). Anyway, hope you had a nice day, and that you don't ache too much after all the stuff you shouldn't have eaten, but told yourself "one more won't hurt". I did that a dozen times and now there's an empty box of chocolates beside me. Oops. But, hang on, what's the point of chocolate if not to be enjoyed?
So, stop reading this stuff, put the computer into standby, and go enjoy yours. Have a nice day...

PS: Here's a thought. Find somebody you haven't spoken to in a while and give them a call.

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rob, 25th December 2010, 22:42

i'm reading it. on my new kindle.. let,s see how this shows up on the browser stats. pity about the helicopter.. hate to see things break like that. glad they put an effort in at work for your birthday though. Merry christmas.

Rick, 25th December 2010, 23:23

Kindle, huh? I hope to soon see a review on *your* blog!

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