happylife

Our potential ability

I sometimes think about the human abilities or functions. We have a lot of functions such as seeing, hearing, eating, walking, running, speaking and so on. These abilities are acquired almost unconsciously when we are very young. And even after we get old enough to have consciousness, we can add other abilities by learning. We can learn riding bicycles, driving cars, sailing boats, flying airplanes and speaking foreign languages. I'm just learning the latter two abilities now. Both of them seem to be a bit difficult for me when I think about them too much. I know that I can master them naturally when I am unconscious about them. Our potential ability is so great that when we can use it completely, we can get a super ability. I felt it very much while learning sailing boats. I can trim sails and control rudder just by feeling winds without thinking anything. I have to rely more on the potential ability while my flight training too. I want to control airplanes just like sailing boats.

Seaplane

When I was sailing around Vancouver last summer, I saw sometimes seaplanes. Whenever I saw them, I stared longingly at them. They are so cool. Sailboats take at least three days from Vancouver to Victoria, and how about seaplanes? Less than one hour! I know that speed is not everything, but what a difference? Three days and one hour! Of course they have a strict limitation on the weight of baggage they can carry, but they can fly and land wherever sailboats can sail in a very short time. It's so attractive. In order to fly seaplanes, I have to get a private pilot license and then get a float rating. I wish I could get it in this year.

Sold by measure

SAVEONFOODS is my favorite supermarket. I go to this market at least twice a week. Unfortunately it is not in the vicinity of Downtown, so I have to drive to North Vancouver. I think it deserves. In this store, there are a lot of foods sold by measure. Vegetables, fruits, chocolates, pastas, and coffee. As I am living alone, most packed foods are too much for me, and sold-by-measure foods are very convenient for me because I can get them as much as I really need. If there is a strange food such as tropical fruit, colorful candies, or strange shaped pasta and it is sold by weight, I can try it at a small amount without hesitating. My favorite for the last weeks is this chocolate. I'm enjoying it with a cup of coffee which I bought by measure too.

Toric lens

I have been nearsighted since I was a junior high school student. My nearsightedness had been getting worse gradually and it seems to be getting worse faster and faster these several years. The reason is explicit. Computer screens! Gazing at the bright and blinking light in a short distance for a long time does not help having a bad effect on eyes. In order to pass the medical aviation exam, I renewed my contact lenses which power is very strong. And furthermore, one of them is a special lens which is called "toric lens." It has a little marker at the end of the surface and I have to put it on with the mark in the 6 o'clock direction. It is a bit niggle for me. I don't wish my eyes get worse than they are now.

NORDO

Today my plane got out of order soon after taking off. The radio was shutdown. We call it NORDO, the abbreviation of No Radio. Without a radio, we cannot talk with the tower and it is dangerous in a crowded airspace. According to the NORDO procedure, Bob checked everything we need and safely came back to the land. He set the transponder 7600 after checking the instruments. By doing so, the tower knows that my plane is in NORDO status and they make a landing clearance using a light gun. Of course I saw the steady green of the light gun for the first time. Bob is an old pro instructor but it was his first NORDO experience. I could have a very rare experience.

A bus with horns

The buses in Vancouver are so old that they have a pair of horns through which they get power from power cables. We often see a bus stopping in the middle of a junction because the horns are detached from the cable. In such cases, the driver gets out of the bus with a special stick and hang the horns to the cables. It takes a few minutes and sure causes a traffic jam, but it happens so frequently that everybody is used to it. As Vancouver is getting crowded year by year, the buses are to be replaced to cable-less type in the near future.

Shoes in the air

While walking around Downtown, I often see this kind of scene. A pair of shoes hanging on a power cable. Of course it is bad and even dangerous to throw shoes away in this manner because it can damage the cable and may cause electric power failure. It costs some money to the power company and eventually costs our electric bill. But shoes in the air look a little bit funny and are like telling a side story to me. It makes me think about a lot of things; Who did that? Why did they do that? How long have they been there and would be more? What happen if nobody take care. --- It is a lovable trick, I think.

ATP

My flight school is mainly for professional pilots and many of the students are taking commercial, airline transport, or instructor courses after getting private license. When I was in Japan, an airline transport pilot was a very special occupation and I did not even imagine how to become it. But now, I found that at least in Canada, it is not a special job and the way towards an ATP is open to every person who wants. Of course there are a lot of tasks and requirements before becoming an ATP, but is never impossible. I don't think I want to be it now, but if I knew it fifteen years ago, I might have gone for it.

Passed!?

It was a busy day. I woke up at 8am and went to see the eye doctor requesting him to write a letter for the aviation medical. When came back to my room, I got a call from Seiji, a Japanese instructor in my flight school and he introduced me the government doctor who has the authority of medical conclusion. When I met him at his office in Downtown, he glanced my eye check result for seconds, and said, "You pass." It was so easy and light that I couldn't believe what he is saying. According to him, the aviation medical decision is operated in a very flexible way in Canada. As people with high myopia like me generally have the tendency to get serious eye problems in the future, they are required to take a special eye test. Now my worries have been blown away and I can concentrate on my flight lesson and study. I'm happy.

An airship

For these days I often see this airship. Whenever I look up, it is flying in the sky. It is painted "Bell" on its surface and very conspicuous in the blue sky. It is parked on Boundary Bay Airport and is flying around Vancouver almost everyday. According to the collision regulation, airships have higher priority than power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft. It doesn't need power to float in the air. These are the advantages of airships. Except the huge body, I think airships are great aircraft. And even the huge body works well for advertisement. It's a great idea.