Hello everybody!

I hope that everything is going well. By now, you are probably in the middle of the application process and maybe have even heard back from some of the schools you applied to, including Embry-Riddle. I remember going through this process and the stress involved with it. Not to worry, though, you will make it through it and you are almost done.

I have kept busy since I last wrote, both with work and leisure. We are getting towards the end of the first semester, so the workload has naturally gotten a bit heavier with final papers/semester projects, tests, and preparation for final exams coming up in the not-too-distant future. It is key in these times to stay organized and keep a schedule of the work that must be done. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into traps of missing assignments and tests. Fortunately, I have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the associated breaks from school coming up as well—sort of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Since we returned to school after fall break, my friends and I have done several things that were very fun. The first of these activities was going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. Universal does this every Halloween season, but this year, due to it being an anniversary year for the event, it was bigger and scarier than ever. The Universal Studios Park was transformed into a giant haunted event, with 12 individual haunted houses inside of it. In addition to that, several of the normal rides were open and the “city” streets were crawling with zombies wielding chain saws, smoke, and more. It was really fun, and we didn’t end up returning to Daytona Beach until 2:30 am.

This past weekend, I took the 3 hour drive down to southern Florida to visit my grandparents at their house there. This was a nice change of scenery and a break from school life. It was very similar to going home for the weekend, just a lot closer. It was also good to see my grandparents and study by the pool for a bit. It is amazing that there is about a 10 degree temperature difference between the two places this time of year, which really makes a difference.

Some of my friends and I also flew down to Titusville, Florida a few weekends ago. We grabbed lunch at the airport restaurant called the Outer Marker. It was a fun flight and the food was good. We were even able to take advantage of the Veteran’s Day free admission to the air museum on the field. They have a former Blue Angel there as well as several Vietnam-era fighter jets and even World War II era fighters. It was a neat place and was filled with history. My roommate James Dingell took some of these pictures from that day.

Toward the end of each semester, in addition to the workload increasing in your classes, you must being planning your schedule for the next semester. By consulting the list of classes required for your major and the course schedule for the next semester, you piece together a schedule that works for you, including flight block, if you are going to fly. Then, if you are a freshman and even a sophomore or junior, at 12:00am on the morning of the first day of registration for your particular class standing, you log onto the registration website and with essentially everyone else in the same class standing, you click submit to register. This way, you can ensure you get into the classes you want, however you can imagine the chaos that sometimes comes from this process! This will occur tonight in just a few hours, but I am ready!

Since I last wrote, I also observed my friend Alan Larsen’s commercial-rating long cross country to Key West International Airport in Key West, Florida. It was a long flight but it was a great time. We got down there in about two hours and ate lunch before heading back to St. Petersburg and then Daytona. The water in Key West is a great color and it was fun flying down the chain of Keys. I was also amazed at the amount of air service at the airport considering it has only a 4,500 foot runway.

I have also been working with the Airport Operations department at Daytona Beach International Airport recently, and that has given me something to do. It is a busy time at the airport as they have just begun resurfacing the main runway, 7L/25R. Due to this construction and corresponding runway closures and/or decrease in the useable runway, the crosswind runway, 16/34 has been in use recently. This is good for me as this runway runs just outside my window and I have been able to see several Delta DC-9’s takeoff and land on it. I don’t think I will need an alarm clock while this construction is going on!

Well, I guess that is about it! If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail. I will talk to you soon!

Take care,

Pete