Hi everyone. How are you guys doing? Things are going pretty well with me. Busy, but good! We are getting down to the end of the semester now with only about 3 more weeks of classes. You may remember from reading my journal last semester that this is the time of the semester when all of the projects start becoming due, studying begins, and the final push for the end of the semester is in full swing. It can be a bit overwhelming at times, but with proper time management, it really isn’t too bad at all.
Since I wrote last, really not all that much has happened, actually. With my course work and working at the airport, I haven’t had too much time to do much of anything exciting, but I do have a few neat things to talk to you guys about.
First, though, I just wanted to mention for a second that it is, for a lot of my readers, pretty much right at the time that you will have decided which school to attend this fall. If you’re still reading this regularly, that choice was probably Embry-Riddle, and I commend you on a decision well made. I can honestly say that you will not regret it. As I mentioned in a previous entry, if you are local to the area or have the means to come down for a weekend, next weekend is the Accepted Students day and if you haven’t seen the campus before, I highly recommend coming to that. You will be able to meet future classmates, see the dorms, meet professors, get to know the campus, even get your Eagle Card and other things done before you arrive for class in August. I’ll be around, so if you are here and see me, please stop and say hi!
Anyways, like I was saying earlier, it is the projects time of the semester. Right now, I only really have two main ones to do, and one of them is nearly complete. Other than that, most of my finals are just regular course exams so I am not too concerned about that either. I have enjoyed the semester academically so far and am trying my best to end it with the best grades I can.
Aside from coursework and classes though, I have been working at Daytona Beach International Airport quite a bit. There is much going on there now as the main runway is in the process of being completely resurfaced. Last night, I worked an overnight shift escorting the construction workers and making sure things were done properly. The project was split into different phases which basically change the length of the runway so that one portion of it can be resurfaced while the other is being used for aircraft, and last night we had to change around the configuration to “phase 2” by closing more of the runway for construction work. This leaves only about 3600 feet of runway available on the usually 10,500 foot long runway 7L; good news to me because it means that all of the commercial airliners will have to land on the next longest runway, 16, which runs just outside my dorm windows. In any case, though, last night the runway markings and barricades had to be moved and painted, and some electrical work had to be done as well. Monday morning, the runway will open for use, even though only small aircraft will be able to use it. I have worked overnight shifts before at home, but I really think that no matter how many you work, your body is never really prepared for it. It really leaves you exhausted. But, at least I can catch up on some sleep today! Delta has continued flying in their Boeing 757’s to Daytona which has been a nice thing to see, and it looks as though they will keep a few on the schedule for the next two months.
My roommate and I move into our apartment tomorrow, although we actually won’t be living there immediately because our furniture won’t be delivered until later in the month. It is exciting though and we are looking forward to it. I have decided to stay here in Daytona an extra month before I go home for the summer, as well, to work at the airport and it will be nice to have the apartment all to myself for a while!
Other than that, the summer weather has reached Daytona and the temperatures look to be in the 80’s into the foreseeable future. Many Floridians are groaning at this thought, but I love it! I definitely would rather be warm than cold! A few weeks ago, we had some crazy storms with some of the hardest rain I’ve ever seen fall at once. I was working at the time and as you can see from the picture, I could barely see the jetway just a few feet in front of me. Crazy! Also, last week, I was filmed for a promotional video for Embry-Riddle by a professional camera crew. It was a really neat experience to be able to participate in. They came to the airport and filmed me doing some job duties there, and then interviewed me on campus afterwords. It was a little intimidating at first but I got used to it after a while and am looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Well, I think that’s really all I have for you guys this time! Sorry for not having more to talk about, but you can probably see how busy I have been recently! I have made it a priority to go to Disney World at least one more time before I go home, and if you know me you know that will probably happen!
Anyways, like usual, don’t hesitate to e-mail me any questions you might have and I hope to see you next weekend if you can make it.
It’s hard to believe my next entry will be my last one! Time sure flies. Talk to you then!
Pete
Because all my classes got cancelled on Friday (yay me!), I didn’t have to skip any to get to my flight from MCO—PHX—OAK that afternoon. It was a very long flight, like always, but it was nice to have some company on the way there. My parents had plans to go visit Yosemite National Park that weekend, but of course, it had to snow, which blocked the roads. I was a little upset, because having never seen snow, I didn’t realize how bad the roads could get. We decided to go see the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA instead. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, that was the carrier ship that rescued both Apollo 11 and 12 (and 13th? I may be wrong) from the ocean after their return from the moon. Because of that, inside the ship, they had a mockup of the Apollo capsule as well as the original trailer in which the astronauts were quarantined. I also saw lot of airplanes, along with the helicopter used to pull the capsule from the water (I’m not sure if that was the original one…but still pretty neat). We toured the bunk rooms, the dining halls, the bridge, and even got to see where the seamen assembled torpedoes!
Sunday we went to Chinatown—my personal favorite—and went to see my aunt Jenny who had had an accident the day before. Monday we went to Old Town Sacramento, where we got to visit the Railroad Museum. We even discovered a huge candy store where we could sample everything in the store! I have a newfound love for saltwater taffy as a result…
My brother had to go to school, and my dad had to work for the rest of the week, but we still managed to enjoy our stay. Jim and I ended up taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit—our public transportation system) to San Francisco, where we went around the famed Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf, as well as rode on the cable cars. The sea lions were around! They come every year and just lay on the pier. They were very loud…and very smelly, to say the least. Jim also got to visit his uncle, who lives in the nearby town of Emeryville (where the Pixar Animation Studios are). He gave me a very nice necklace he made himself, since he’s an artist. Friday, I took Jim to the San Jose flea market and a supermarket called Mi Pueblo (Hispanic food)…that was something, but at least I bought a neat phone case, guavas (SO good! Haven’t had them in years), and bought some awesome food to take back to my room.
We headed back to campus on Saturday night. Red eye flight…it was horrible! We didn’t get back to campus until 1:30 PM the NEXT day! We had a long delay in Charlotte because our pilot over-fueled the plane (therefore putting it over the maximum landing weight), which delayed us for an hour because the extra fuel had to be taken out, and the tanks balanced…and then bad weather hit us, delaying our plane another 30 minutes. Not complaining too much, because I know some people got stuck in Atlanta anywhere from 4 hours to 2 DAYS! I feel like this is getting too lengthy, and there’s a whole lot coming up in the next blog! An airshow, a hot air balloon show ( I’ll be volunteering there to help the chase crew!). Can’t wait
Yes this Spring break was definitely something to remember and appreciate. I may not have gone all around where I wanted to go, but, I had the chance to be with the people I love and sleep a little more than I’m use to. Sure I returned back to school kind of early but I don’t regret it. Just know that tomorrow (Monday) when I wake up from having 4-5 hours of sleep around 6:45am-7am, I can breathe a sigh of relief because not only did I ave a beautiful spring break but I am one step closer to the summer break….that’s five weeks to be more specific.
Welcome back everyone! Spring break is over and that means were on our last third of the semester. 25 days of classes left. It’s another thing you will love about being in college. In high school, you go on spring break and when you come back you still have like 2 months left. Here at Riddle we only have about a month. Just before spring break I did my local solo, which is different than my first solo where my instructor and I flew to an airport and she hopped out and I did a couple landings. This time I left Daytona by myself, took off and flew around in the local practice area. I did some stalls and slowflight and then came back to Daytona.
I was right behind the wing and I saw that when we taxied on to the runway, which I knew because of construction it was shortened to 7,150 ft instead of 10,000ft, that the flaps were much lower than usual. I knew from learning to fly that he was performing a short-field takeoff, which is a takeoff where you want to get off the ground as soon as possible due to a shorter than usual runway. I am performing these in my course in my Cessna 172. It really is amazing how the same maneuver is performed in the different aircraft but the same idea is being used. The flaps are increased to provide more lift and take off at a quicker speed and, once you are lined up with the runway centerline, you hold the breaks and full power. Once engine instruments are in the green, you let go of the brakes and fly down the runway and rotate at a lower speed and pitch up a bit higher. Stopped in Atlanta for a bit and then flew back to Baltimore.
The next morning, I had to go pick up friends from Orlando Intl. Their flight was due in at 11am but because of some pilot from University of North Dakota, which you will learn is kinda like our rival school, I guess, put too much fuel on board and they were over takeoff weight so they had to spend an hour or so to take some fuel out. So I spent an hour just sitting in my friend’s car at the cell phone waiting lot with the sunroof and all the windows down, listening to LiveATC through her speakers since I have it on my iPhone and she had an Aux cable and then watching those same planes take off and contact departure. It was very relaxing plus I got a nice tan. This week it is supposed to rain and thunderstorm, which I am very excited for, because although I love the Florida sun and heat, I love when a little change is thrown. Also this week, we will be picking dorms for those students who will be living on campus next year. I have happily gotten a low number for the lottery so I will most likely guaranteed a spot in Apollo, the newest dorm and right next to McKay and a great view of the airport. I also get to pick my suitemates so I have gotten together with 3 other friends who we decided to live with. Other than that it was a great spring break and looking forward to final exams and then it’s summer. If you haven’t already I highly suggest you sign up and come to the Accepted Students event here on campus on April 16. Go 
Hi everyone. How is everything going? I am doing well myself. I just got back to Daytona Beach after Spring Break so I am feeling refreshed and ready to complete the semester. It is hard to believe that there are only about 20 days of classes left until the summer.
As I have mentioned before, the spring is a very busy time in Daytona Beach. Now that the majority of the racing events and Bike Week is behind us, college spring break has been filling the area, including the 5 daily Boeing 757’s that Delta Air Lines has been flying into Daytona Beach International Airport. Going down to the beach area, normally very quiet during the year, you can see college kids everywhere on break, just enjoying the sun. It makes things exciting. My friends and I have gone down to the OceanWalk area of the beach several times to eat dinner and see what was going on and it is always fun.
Initially, I planned on starting the trip on the Friday prior to the start of Spring Break by heading down to my parent’s house in Boynton Beach. However, when I woke up on Thursday, I discovered that my two classes on Friday had been cancelled so I actually ended up leaving Thursday afternoon, adding a whole day to the vacation. When I got to the house, I saw it furnished for the first time and I have to say that it now finally looks like a house. We stayed there until Monday, just looking around the area, going to the beach and pool, and visiting with my grandparents.
That Monday, we drove to the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando until Thursday. While I did attend Halloween Horror Nights here in October, I had actually not visited the park as a whole for many years, since the last time I vacationed there with my family. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels on the property, Loew’s Portofino Bay Hotel, which is themed around the Italian town. The best part of staying at a Universal hotel is that by showing your room key at the entrance to the attractions at the park, you can bypass the line and walk right onto the ride. It is a great perk. They also run water taxis back and forth from the resorts to the parks, which is very convenient.
At the Universal Studios Florida park, a brand new roller coaster opened called the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. It is very similar in theme (of course, not as detailed as a Disney ride would be) to the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, but slightly more intense. The coaster begins with a 90 degree vertical ascent to the top, followed by a not much shallower descent down, combined with many twists, turns, and loops. During the ride, a song of your choice is blasted into your ears and the entire ride is recorded—some attempt at filming a music video. The videos come out really cool, but of course cost $50 dollars to purchase.
What my family did one night is go to the park about 10 minutes before closing, and we were able to walk right into the area as well as the attraction there (which during the day has waits of up to 300 minutes). It was very well done for Universal, but being the Disney geek I am, I was quick to notice some of its deficiencies which took away from the fantastical effect. Nonetheless, it was great. The town has been masterfully recreated as has Hogwarts castle. Even the train at the platform is there with smoke coming out of its smokestack.
Earlier in the day, though, we took a trip to Ikea. It was Jim’s first time! He had to buy some sheets, but we ended up with so many things!! Alex bought a chair, and I bought more rugs for my room. I absolutely love that store!! We spent hours over there.
The weather hasn’t exactly been cooperating these weeks either. Jim has had to ground himself because of weather. It’s been so cold (to you northerners—yes, 60 IS cold), too! Next week, though we’re supposed to be getting temperatures in the mid-80s.
So overall, things have been going great. School has been fine…although I’m thinking of changing my minor from Astronomy to Unmanned Aerial Systems. I have to go talk to my advisor tomorrow to see if they will accept some of those credits as my upper-level technical elective (so I don’t have to take too many extra classes). I also went to talk to my other awesome advisor, Stickney! To those of you who have him as your freshman advisor…kudos! He’s amazing. We’re looking into revamping the Latin and Hispanic Students Organization on campus! All you Latinos/Hispanics, join next semester!!! To those of you familiar with Miami—cafecito day, anyone??
I’ve also noticed many of you have been getting your acceptance letters. Congratulations!! If you send me your questions, I’ll answer those, and heck, I might even start addressing frequently asked questions on here, so ask away! I’m going home next Friday, so I promise next blog will be longer and better J I leave you with one thing: 
Hi everyone. I hope that everything is well with all of you. I am doing well and just starting the last week of classes before spring break begins. I am looking forward to it and I think that it is a much needed (and deserved) break before we kick it into high gear for the end of the semester. Then, it’s summer! It is hard to believe that a whole academic year has gone by and that I will only have two years left. Time really flies here so make the most of it while you can!
tours, and more. If you are still trying to make your final college decision, this event is a good idea. I hope to see you there.
My roommate and I sign the lease for our apartment in the middle of April, so I decided I would slowly begin to move my things over there instead of the craziness that ensued at the end of the semester last year trying to move all my things to storage and box up my clothes to send home. Even though it is annoying, it is a bit fun as school is done for the summer. I enjoyed having Apollo for a dorm (especially our airport view!) but it will be nice to have a bedroom and bathroom to myself next year.
Anyways, once back on the ground, I had classes as usual and spent the night driving around Daytona and had a pizza/movie night with friends. I was sad to say that Bike Week was the week of my birthday. I officially hate motorcycles more than when I came down here. If you do bring your car to school and are out during Bike Week, please make sure to “Look Twice, Save a Life” as they say. As we were driving around on my birthday, we saw a motorcyclist who got hit by a truck; hopefully he is ok.
Another event occurred this past week and that was the 8.9 earthquake in Japan that triggered a huge tsunami that devastated Japan. All of Japan is in my thoughts and the death toll is supposedly over 10,000 people. We also went to IKEA in Orlando, which was awesome, since I love IKEA and it was my friend Jim’s first time. Let’s just say he is now in love with the store.
By that time, I will become a junior and only have 2 years of school left until I graduate. Besides my flight that I told you about, I am scheduled to finish my private license by the 2nd week of April which is a little behind schedule because of weather and spring break but I only have about 7 flights left, including the check ride. I also received my shirt tail from my solo from my instructor. It was such a happy moment and I framed it and it is now hanging in our middle room, which you can see here. Many of you have added me on facebook and emailed me questions and I would like to thank you for your continuous support and would like to tell you that you should definitely stay tuned this week to my Youtube Channel 
So here we are, almost halfway through the semester. We will all be headed home for summer break in less than two months, although many of us are going home for spring break (which is less than 20 days away!!)
Because it was a beautiful long weekend, and the weather finally heated up to a very hot 85 degrees, our friends decided to have an outdoor BBQ. We have a few pits right by McKay (a freshman dorm/”Paradise Hotel”), so we just all got together and had a great time eating and playing volleyball. Much to my dislike, they decided to take an impromptu trip to the beach. At first, I didn’t want to go, considering I had a paper due on Wednesday, but they convinced me to go. Thank goodness my skin is dark, because almost everybody had bad sunburns!!
That Monday was homework day, which was mostly dedicated to studying for the two tests I had that week (tech report writing and computer-aided drafting). I must say I did fairly well on those, along with math and physics [from the week prior]. After Wednesday, for the first time in a very long time, I had absolutely nothing due. I didn’t even know what to do with myself, so I started researching for a potential project with a few friends. We are planning on designing an attraction to submit to Disney’s ImagiNATIONS competition, even though we can’t enter until our junior year.
Thursday was the next big day! Right after class, my roommate and I started getting ready to drive down to Titusville to watch Discovery launch from Cape Canaveral. Many, many people I know skipped their last classes to drive down (and many, many professors cancelled classes/office hours for it). I mean, come on, you must support the 1/3 of the crew from Riddle! Plus the flight director?? I think we win. Anywho, we made our way down at around 3 o’clock (which we aptly nicknamed the “Great Riddle Migration”), and decided a viewing site that would let us have a clear view while avoiding the huge crowds that gather at Space Park. We decided to drive down Kennedy Parkway, and got a pretty nice spot less than 10 miles away from the pad. Everybody held their breaths as NASA announced a computer problem in Houston. With only a 10-minute launch window, we couldn’t believe they couldn’t fix it in time. T-5 minutes and counting. 16:48. Countdown resumed. T-1 minute. Get your cameras ready! 10…9…8…7…Go for main engine start. It’s now or never…5…4…3…*puff of smoke seen at a distance*, 2…1…silence. A distant light shoots across the sky. A few minutes later, the boosters separate. A roaring is finally heard approaching. Everybody can finally breathe. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is so sad that we will only see two more…
Sunday was a very bittersweet day, as we said our goodbyes. On the bright side, I bought my ticket home for summer break for really cheap through American Airlines! It was almost half as much as it would have been flying out of Daytona….so I say when you’re looking to come here, fly into Orlando and rent a car (these can be so cheap sometimes!)