Aerial Video & Photography RC Helicopter Sale

I'm officially throwing in the towel on my Aerial video and photo business. The rigors and demands of my full time job coupled with the responsibility of helping raise four kids have left me without the time required to devote to this business. I feel that for $1600 I'm practically giving this away. This heli could be used as a professional Aerial imaging ship, or just flown for fun as a hobby. Hopefully I can sell it and buy a nicer TV so the kids can watch Spongebob in HD. = )

Any questions, email me at blongmore@hotmail.com

JR XP9303 HELICOPTER TRANSMITTER

THUNDER POWER LITHIUM POLYMER BATTERY CHARGER

NICD BATTERY CHARGER

WIRELESS VIDEO/AUDIO DOWN LINK (so you can see what you're shooting)

HELICOPTER

DARING HOVER OVER WATER

IN FLIGHT AGAIN

PHOTO I TOOK OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD

QUICK CLIP OF ON THE JOB FLYING

LITTLE 15 SECOND AD I DID FOR WEST MARK CU

SOME ON BOARD FOOTAGE FLYING OVER THE SNAKE

My Answer To The Pirate Situation

Well, this post is a little different than my typical health & fitness post, but I hope you'll all bear with me.

If you've been paying even scant attention to the news you should be aware that the Somali pirate attacks seem to be back on the rise in the last little bit. I don't know if that's because there is an actually "Pirate Season" or if they have just been kind of laying low since their last failure when three of their buddies ended up on the bad news end of some Navy SEAL sniper rifles.

Given my current employment in the field of national security and anti-terrorism, I was brainstorming the other day, and wondering what could the USA and her allies do to combat this problem. Let me first of all dispel any misinterpretations that may come from the picture I posted above. Let's be clear and identify this as the terrorism that it is. I think it's important that the UN and the USA classify them as terrorists instead of pirates. The word pirates in today's culture carries too much of a Hollywood branding of adventure seeking, peg-legged, hook-handed swash bucklers cruising the Caribbean in cool ships flying the Jolly Roger and drinking rum while singing, Blow The Man Down.

Alright, so here's my solution to the problem:

These terrorists are cowardly criminals, and it has been demonstrated they will tuck their tails and run if a crew demonstrates any form of a stiff resistance. So, if I happened to own a shipping company that was forced to sail in these dangerous territories, I would hold a meeting with all the other owners of similar shipping companies and propose the following: That we take a normal looking tanker and convert it into a disguised war ship. You could do things like have what would seem to be normal shipping containers on deck, that can actually collapse away to reveal 20mm cannons and .50 cal machine guns. Outfit the tanker with a small, fast and deadly attack boat. There's a lot of different options I'm sure.


Hire a regular crew to run the ship's day to day operations, but also have a secret crew aboard, maybe some guys out of Blackwater with special training to use the provided weapons as well as trained in close quarter combat and armed to the teeth that can deal with a boarding if it comes to that. Then just run the ship around through the normal shipping lanes, acting all innocent until they are attacked by pirates. When the pirates attack, strike back with no mercy. You fire on them and pursue until you've destroyed them. Maybe let one get away once in a while to spread the news. Change the appearance of the ship from time to time. I don't think it would take long for word to spread.


Right now the reason it has become so popular for these pirates to engage in their business is because companies and nations have been willing to pay ransoms much of the time. They have grown rich without little risk to themselves. At least until last year when they found out what a SEAL sniper can do from a fantail. But, if they knew that any ship they attacked could turn out to be heavily armed with experienced warriors aboard who will not only defend the ship and repel the attack, but will pursue them to their utter destruction, then my guess is you will see a sharp decline in these activities.

The problem is cost, but seriously, how much are they paying in ransoms and lost cargo every time a ship is hijacked? It would seem to be a cost saver in the long run. And if you're like me, the cost to benefit ratio wouldn't be all that important. I'd be willing to take some loss to be able to strike back at these cowards of the sea and send them to a watery grave.

The latest Roadblock

Well, it looks like over time, I've developed a case of plantar Fasciitis in my right foot. Here's a little explanation of Plantar Fasciitis:

The classic symptom of plantar fasciitis is heel pain when you take your first steps after getting out of bed or after sitting for a long period of time. You may also have:

• Stiffness and pain in the morning or after resting that gets better after a few steps but gets worse as the day progresses.
• Pain that gets worse when you climb stairs or stand on your toes.
• Pain after you stand for long periods.
• Pain at the beginning of exercise that gets better or goes away as exercise continues but returns when exercise is completed.

It's a condition that I've been aware of for a while, but has not been severe enough to impede my daily life. . . until recently that is. It may have been the backpacking trip in September that pushed things over the edge. It has gotten to the point where the pain doesn't fade away after a few steps in the morning, but stays with me every single step throughout the day.

This condition has really put a damper on my cardio workouts since I really like to run on the treadmill almost every day. Now, I've come to the conclusion that I really need to address this situation and can no longer just grit my teeth and run through the pain. The only thing to do is to let it rest and heal as much as possible. I've gained five pounds now due to this whole thing, and I take full responsibility for that. I'm the one who came to the conclusion that if I can't run, then there's no point in working out. . .and if I can't workout, then why bother eating right either? a dangerous dangerous thought process right?

Well, I've snapped out of that and am drawing a line here and now. I am not going to let Plantar Fasciitis cause me to gain back all the weight I have worked so hard on getting off. It's been two weeks since I've jogged now, and there is a HUGE difference in the pain now. It's still there, but it seems that I'm on the mend. I have to substitute other cardio in the place of running, and this has been a psychological challenge for me. I've just had it so ingrained in my head that running is such an optimum form of cardio, that anything else just isn't worth doing.

This week however I forced myself to stay off the treadmill after my lifting and did all my cardio on the elliptical and spinner bike. I even had a couple of cheat meals, and voila! I lost two pounds! So, I'm pleased. This was a big milestone for me mentally, because I was able to demonstrate to my subconscious that weight loss is indeed just as achievable with other cardio besides running. Now to just keep it up until the heel pain is gone.

The only obstacle now is, the only piece of cardio equipment I have at home is a treadmill. My workouts at work are the good ones where I have the other equipment available to me, including a stairmaster. I have to wrestle with a decision now. I want to get something for home, but can't afford an elliptical and a bike. So, which one for now? Eventually I'd like to have both. Especially because I think it'd be great if the wife and I could workout side by side at nights after the kids were in bed while we watch our TV shows on the DVR. We could go twenty minutes on either machine, and then switch and do twenty more. I see myself getting an elliptical first at this point. Seems like you get just that much more out of an elliptical than a bike, what with the arm movements and all.

Well, until any further developments. . . over and out.

Rocky Mountain High

I just wanted to dedicate a blog post to the recent backpacking trip I took with good friends into the Boulder White Cloud Mountains of the Sawtooth Recreation Area in Central Idaho. We covered about twenty five miles in four days through some of the most beautiful and rugged scenery on planet Earth. It was great to have my brother along this time, and though we ran into our share of problems, all in all it turned out to be a success in my thinking, although there are some who would probably disagree.

For starters the route I had planned out for the group is a seldom used route where the trail isn't always clear, safe, or not there at all. We were discouraged by a forest ranger to go this way, but of course, we just had to do it anyway.

The major mistake was at Baker Lake where the trail forked and we were at a loss. The map we had didn't show that the trail forked. I was pretty confident that we needed to go right, but there was one in the group who thought we should go left. He volunteered to hike up ahead on the left trail to scout it out. Upon his return he reported that left was indeed the way to go. I still didn't feel right about it, but thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, as he is older than the rest of us and to my thinking has had a lot more of this type of experience. This turned out to be a big mistake.

To make a long story short we ended up on no trail at all, following a stream up into a steep, God-forsaken canyon strewn with giant boulders, massive fallen trees, twisted gnarled brush, and to my delight. . . bear crap everywhere. Down in the trees I couldn't see the peaks around us, but as soon as we got up out of the tree line, I realized that something wasn't right. I dug out my map and compass and quickly discovered we had over shot our intended destination, known as Slickenside Creek, basically a waterfall that tumbles down a steep gorge we wanted to climb to get to Noisy Lake.

This mistake cost us a day of hiking. The next day proved to be difficult as we had to climb the Slickenside Creek gorge and up and over 10,000 ft Windy Devil Pass all in one day. This turned out to be a monumental challenge to the group, straining muscles and relationships along the way. There is no trail up to the pass and we had to bush whack our way following my map and compass. There were still questions and disagreements about which way to go, but this time I refused to let anyone sway me from where I knew we needed to go. At last we came to the top of the pass and were rewarded with a tremendous sight of the Boulder Chain Lakes over the other side.

The rest of the hike went without a problem, but this was an amazing trip. I could sit here and write a small book if I really went into detail, but I'll let the pictures do the talking for me. I think I will do this hike again some day. I think it could be much more enjoyable without the mistakes and arguing.

The Intrepid Explorers ( I'm the one with the white T-shirt)
Castle & Merriam peaks beckon behind us

Yours Truly at the top of Windy Devil Pass feeling elated

The final push up to the top of Windy Devil Pass

The clear blue mountain waters of Noisy Lake greet
us after a grueling climb up Slickenside Creek

The treacherous path up Slickenside Creek
one wrong step and you'd roll all the way down

The shimmering waters of Baker Lake, last of the
clear, well marked trail

Castle & Merriam peaks stand as sentinels almost
defying you to continue onward

We hiked into the evening every night trying to make
up for lost time from mistakes and getting a late start

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Well, thanks to that pretty little thing on the right, I haven't been able to do much, and that includes working out. Let me introduce the world to Macy, my fourth child and second daughter. She was born on August 9th, and life has been a whirl wind ever since. Between family and friends helping out by bringing over meals and snacks for our family, and just having little to no sleep at night, the whole work out / eat right routine has been majorly interrupted. I am happy to say that I have only suffered the gain of a few pounds, which isn't bad considering the glutton I've made out myself sometimes. I don't just fall off the wagon, I jump off, doing flips in the air and laughing insanely all the way to the ground.

This is exactly what happened the last time I was on a successful path to fitness, and we had a baby. The difference this time, is I have been monitoring what's happening to me, and basically, I'm just not letting myself off the hook this time! Today was my first real day of working out and eating right, and it feels good. It feels good to know that I'm back on track. Maybe I'm not at the same cruising speed I was at before, but I AM back and slowly increasing the accelerator. It should take a couple weeks to get back to where I left off.

One thing motivating me is my backpacking trip coming up in a few weeks. My buddies and I, are doing a 20 mile four day hike in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. It's high altitude and rugged terrain. I don't want to be the guy at the end of the line that everyone else has to stop and wait for. So, there's some motivation for me to lose as much weight and get in the best shape I can by mid September.

Well, more to come eventually.

Over and Out.

So Close No Matter How Far

Well, I haven't written much lately, because not much lately has happened. Since the 4th of July I have been plagued by the inability to really get back into my program with full force. I've been eating correctly for the most part, and I have been exercising here and there, but I've been indulging too much in bad food over the last couple of weeks. The good news, is that I've been maintaining my weight loss. I haven't gained any weight back and so I'm happy with that.

I've been thinking that maybe I have been hitting it really hard non-stop for a while now and that a little break is called for. Just some time to step back, look at my goals, guage my progress, and recharge the batteries. If I can do this without gaining weight or getting seriously out of shape than I don't see the problem with it. Like I said, I'm probably still doing my program at 90% and I'm pretty much maintaining.

The key is to get back into full swing shortly. I can't allow myself to become complacent now. And that would be easy to do. I'm so close now to achieving my goals. I can't suddenly lose focus and drive on accomplishing the end result that I want and desire. NO! Good enough, will not be good enough this time!

Also my Accumeasure body fat calipers arrived the other day, and I measured my body fat percentage. It was around 24% which falls in the "average" category for a male my age. So, I have a new short term goal, and that is to get that percentage into the teens ( falls into the ideal category ) within the next five weeks, and about ten pounds to go along with it. That is going to be difficult since baby number four is coming to the family in about four weeks. I'm going to have to really focus to not let all that interfere with my program. Sure I probably won't get to workout and eat exactly right for a few days whent the baby comes, but I will do what I can.

Its kind of funny how I'm almost in exactly the same situation as I was the last time we had a baby, three years ago. I was five weeks into Body For Life and had lost about ten pounds and was crusiing along great in the program. Then my son Bridger was born. It threw me off my program. People were bringing by meals for our family and treats, etc. I never got back on program and three years later I woke up and had gained all my weight back and more. So, here I am facing the same scenario again, except this time I'm actually five pounds lighter...And this time I WILL NOT GET THROWN OFF TRACK!

Dividends

When my oldest child was born eight and a half years ago I was 265 + pounds. I had stopped counting after 265. My three children have never known me as anything but overweight and breathless. Although I'm not at my goal yet, I am now down to 215 pounds and in the best shape my children have ever seen me in.

Last night at my parent's house I got to reap some of the dividends of my hard work. At one point in the evening while inspecting my dad's garden with him, my daughter stole the ball cap off my head and took off running, giggling insanely as only little girls can do. A few years ago my reaction would have been to call after her to give me my hat back. But, instead I took off on a sprint right after her! When she saw my hot pursuit, she squealed for her brother to help. My six year old son joined forces with his older sister as they played keep away from the old man.

We ran and ran around the back yard, as I hunted them down one at a time, the kids giggling and screaming with delight. Eventually we all ended up on the trampoline where a giant wrestling match for the hat ensued. In the end we all lay panting on our backs looking up at the lavender sky as the summer sun slipped under the horizon.

It felt good. It motivated me to continue on this journey and see it to the end. I want to be there for my kids. I want to be active and healthy for them. It's moments like last night that motivated me to start this difficult process in the first place. And I gotta say. . . it has all been worth it.