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From: Tom Elam <thomas.e.elam@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: What is going on with 2024 the SCCBC season?
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2024 10:51:22 -0400
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On 7/6/2024 4:42 PM, -hh wrote:
> On 7/5/24 2:19 PM, Tom Elam wrote (plus merged posts):
>> On 6/28/2024 8:04 PM, -hh wrote:
>>> On 6/28/24 11:10 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> On 6/27/2024 3:55 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>> On 2024-06-25 10:34, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>> Dear Alan,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Last year, 2023, April-June, there 3 weekends, 9 races at SBBC. 
>>>>>> Total unique CW driver entries were 97, OW 37. These are typical 
>>>>>> for an entire season for 2021-2023. In April-June 2024 unique 
>>>>>> driver entries are 14 OW and 49 CW, about half prior years.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> These stats are from the SBBC season championship records.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wow, quite the drop. What's going on, Alan?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And, BTW, you entered 11 out of a 71 2021-2024 races. None last 
>>>>>> year of course, but also none this year and 11 out of 34 in 
>>>>>> 2021-22. Have you retired? I thought you were looking forward to 
>>>>>> getting back this year. Not so much?
>>>>>
>>>>> So great to see you taking such an interest in my life, Liarboy!
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if I might take a little interest in yours.
>>>>>
>>>>> Done much flying lately?
>>>>
>>>> Well, yes. Two very different flavors. Full scale last 6 months, 36 
>>>> hours logged including 2 family visit trips to Georgia, some CAP 
>>>> hours, and just passed a VFR checkride. The Christmas return flight 
>>>> from Georgia was IFR all the way home and an instrument approach 
>>>> into Indy Metro. 
>>>
>>> Christmas of 2023, of course.
>>>
>>>> Now good for 2 another years on my BFR, taking me almost to my 80th 
>>>> birthday. At this time I am also IFR current and capable, but those 
>>>> are perishable skills. I'll be taking an IFR skills test checkride 
>>>> before the end of September.
>>>>
>>>> RC model flying has been active since the weather improved in April. 
>>>> Some of that is documented on my YouTube channel available at:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcvZXi-36GQkeHr0FdB4cTg
>>>>
>>>> My latest YT video is rendering as I write this. That one is on 
>>>> programming my 3 meter Fox sailplane for solo hand launch. It will 
>>>> be up on the channel by end of today.
>>>>
>>>> Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to the AMA annual Fun Fly in Muncie 
>>>> and do some instructing with beginning RC pilots. I also just passed 
>>>> my Part 107 Remote Pilot/commercial drone license FAA refresher, and 
>>>> good for another 2 on that front years too.
>>>>
>>>> So yes, done a lot of flying. Some airline flying in the near future 
>>>> too!
>>>
>>> Because even 36 hours droning along at a Cessna's 125mph cruising 
>>> speed is just 4500 miles: enough to cross the pond once...but not back.
>>>
>>>> We will be flying to Vancouver next month to catch a train to 
>>>> Calgary then flying home from there. August takes us to France, 
>>>> Luxembourg and a Viking river cruise to Basel. Flying home from 
>>>> Zurich. Ten day trip in all. So still traveling too.
>>>
>>> Oh, so now its a ten day trip for what previously was a twelve day 
>>> Paris-Rhine cruise claimed back in February?  /s
>>>
>>>> How about you, doing any racing lately? I know the answer to that, 
>>>> at least for SBBC events. Null, zero, nada since 2022. Going 
>>>> anywhere outside Canada this year?
>>>
>>> Life invariably takes different turns.  My last travel comment here 
>>> was in early 2023, that we were looking (in 2023) to be making up for 
>>> our CoVid travel lull, but that doesn't mean that it all went as had 
>>> been hoped for: indeed, it could have changed.  Cancelled outright, 
>>> or even perhaps upgraded to be in First Class instead of Coach on all 
>>> of that year's international flights! /s
>>>
>>> Same applies for 2024 as well, for life invariably throws curve 
>>> balls; this is why the advice was to 'do the hard stuff' while one's 
>>> body (& finances) are healthy enough to be still able to do what one 
>>> wishes. Otherwise, one can be pushing 80 and renting a car is no 
>>> longer trivial, so one can get increasingly constrained to guided 
>>> tours on cruise ships.
>>>
>>> In any event, a week on the Rocky Mountaineer and the aforementioned 
>>> Rhine cruise sounds to be in the rough ballpark of ($7500+air)/pp, so 
>>> it does seem like Tommy is perhaps finally breaking out of his prior 
>>> fiscal constraint, as I'd long advised.  Yay, you!.
>>>
>>>
>>> -hh
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Ten was a wrong number for Europe. It IS 12 days plus 2 for to-from 
>> travel that I did not include in a prior post.
> 
> But also plus +3 days pre-tour in Paris, as you've mentioned before and 
> mentioned again below.
> 
> 
>> The Canada trip is a package tour via a local company. It includes 
>> several side trips, most meals, air, and several nights in the 
>> Fairmont Banff Springs and others of similar quality prior to Banff 
>> Springs. Check the rates on that hotel. $11,990 for 2. Sadly, one of 
>> the people, a good friend at that, was scheduled to go but died very 
>> suddenly. The wife has to cancel. It may still be an open reservation 
>> for two. Interested? Starts July 20.
> 
> 
> We've been meaning to get back to the Canadian Rockies, but that start 
> date hits a schedule conflict.  Plus we learned last month that we're 
> out of shape for any decent hiking in the Rockies (not that this rail 
> journey would really have much), so not enough pre-trip prep time either.
> 
> 
>> The Europe trip including air is a bit over $10,000 plus 3 nights on 
>> our own in a Paris hotel at $300/night, plus meals, local 
>> transportation and sundries. Likely to also come to about $12,000.
> 
> Figured about that, as a cabin on Viking is ~$3800/pp on its own.
> 
> 
>> Your $7,500 pp is spot-on but includes airfare.
> 
> As you know, there's several rail journey options to choose from, of 
> varying lengths; I'd conservatively parameterized to a higher end tour 
> than what you actually chose.
> 
> 
>> We also just this week scheduled a trip to Luddington MI to spend a 
>> week with some good friends at their cabin. I'll be flying us up 
>> there, only about $600 R/T for air plus taking them out to a VERY nice 
>> restaurant or two.
>>
>> We also have the annual ski trip of course. 2024 is a bit of a splurge 
>> but not that different from many prior years.
> 
> I've not chatted skiing lately with a colleague who spends 2-3 weeks in 
> Vail each season to know current rates, but I'd expect that the Epic is 
> still just ~$1K/pp and that condo/AirBNB rates are quite variable.  Even 
> so, $10K probably covers ~3 weeks when driving.  So without the ski 
> trip, ballpark $25K for 2024, including the Florida bit (next below):
> 
> {merge}
>  >
>  > Second reply. I just updated the 2024 travel diary and forgot to
>  > include 2 January Florida weeks. We stayed with friends week 1, so
>  > that kept the cost down. I think the whole trip was only maybe $3-4k
>  > all-in.
> 
> 
> {merge}
>  >
>  > Back again. FYI the club 182 cruises at 160+ mph, not 125.
> 
> So its an 5,760 miles upper limit.  That's still not enough to cross the 
> pond & back...and one still can't nap (safely) when at the controls.
> 
> 
>  > It's a little over 2.5 hours including taxi time, with no headwind.
>  > Delta makes it in 1:30 of droning on in a B737 but them you have a 1+ 
>  > hour drive to my sister's place in Woodstock, TSA hassles, ...
> 
> TSA Pre makes airport security pretty trivial.  And since someone else 
> is driving, its easy to take a nap, watch a movie, read a book...
> 
>  > ... and what do we do with all the Christmas presents in Cessna
>  > luggage compartment? 🙂
> 
> Have Amazon send them direct to final destination.  Or ship them out in 
> advance via FedEx, USPS, or UPS.  Or small gifts which fit easily in 
> one's pocket, and/or a small carry-on bag.
> 
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