New Clutch, 'New' Balloon, and Books

Mar 12, 2008

Well the fun times just keep coming. Yesterday, as I pulled into the parking lot at work, my car decided to start giving me trouble. After three-hundred dollars and a new clutch master cylinder it's still not fixed. I took it back in today to get the clutch itself replaced, along with a bevy of other parts. All total it's probably going to cost me close to $1200.00 for everything...ouch. That hurts bad. What can you do though? I need the car, and I genuinally like my car, so I'll just roll with it and pay the price.

In other news, Dad recently bought a used balloon; a Firefly system off a local guy who was moving back to Louisiana, it hasn't been flown in several years and seems to be in pretty bad shape. The lower end (basket, burner, tanks, etc..) seems salvageable, but the Envelope is probably too mildewed to be any good. It even came with a trailer that's about to fall apart and a working fan for $1500.00. Dad thinks he can put an envelope over it and rehab the trailer and might be able to sell it to a student. We'll see, but knowing Dad it will probably work.

I recently finished a re-design of the Heart of Dixie Balloon Club's website (www.heartofdixieballoonclub.com). The idea was to make the site easier to read and use, and provide better navigation. It's getting there, but I think I've got some great things to add in the near future, so check back often for new updates. Some things to note are that we now have images of all the member balloons under the 'About' section so you can see the balloons and their pilots who belong to the club. I'm also re-working the 'How balloons work' section to be more organized and to provide somemore resources for children and teachers. In the members section I'm adding a message system so that pilots in need of crew (or crew in need of pilots) can post a request and members can respond. We really want to make it a one-stop resource for balloonists and laymen alike. So keep your eye on it.

To go along with the balloon theme, I'm trying to get people to gain some interest in a picture book idea I recently hatched. I would like to create a picture book (with short explanations and text history) of the Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic. Last year was the Jubilee's 30th and it came and went with little to-do; but I think it could be really interesting to record the past 30 years of the Alabama Jubilee in photos. I thought I might collect pictures from every year for the past 30 along with a few stories and place them in a book people could order from www.blurb.com. It think it could be really great, even if the only interested parties are balloonists. We'll see, but I think it has merit.

Well that's all for now, look for more soon.