--Pete

Happy Happy to TK!!! Have fun in Vancouver. In fact, have fun for the whole year!

There will be a new drawing, coming right up. I expect I will have some new voodoo to try. Maybe I will find something that works. And, yes: happy Power Kiting, Marvin.

One last Power kite, power kite, 833

You said the magic word: "cellar". Off for my every-Wednesday evening date with my Eva. Will be drinking Anime Valpolicella unless we get tempted by something else. The new summer menu doesn't start until tomorrow, so we will have to wait until Sunday to see it.

Mentally planning how to use a snow-saucer to get pulled through the fields (and poison ivy) (and nettles) (and thistles) (and large rocks) (and.... WHAT AM I THINKING? Power kite, power kite, 833.

Racer76g, The only reason you would need to know your number is if you want to engage in the silly antics that SOME of these folks do. Power kite, power kite, 833.

Ahh. I thought you HAD reached 4 digits. Well, here's hoping for that first 4-digit number soon, and 10,000 sometime (reasonably) soon thereafter.

Jeep, see you when you get back. Hyzakite, any active subscriber (which you are) has an equal chance. If you were to look at a list of past winners, you might think 4-digit numbers were unluckier, but that is simply because there are fewer OF them (proportionately) at the moment. In a couple of decades, when the subscriber numbers are approaching 10,000, it will be the three-digit numbers that seem unlucky. Power kite, power kite, power kite...

G4T, I hope you enjoy Alice. As a bonus, you may find interesting names for future kites. Power kite, power kite, power kite...

Gosh! Someone older than I am (a year and a few days) - but not by much! Happy Birthday, Hedgewarden.

I think I am waiting for the next drawing. Maybe that explains it.

Can someone explain what I am doing in this place?

I tend to think the first week in January (when native Floridians are wearing down coats) as a suitable time to visit Florida. That is also about the time when the sun is lowest in the sky. You have to understand, in Michigan, where it does get cold sometimes, I generally wear a coat or jacket only about 3 or 4 days a year. (I do wear long-sleeved cotton shirts from Nov. to Feb.) I REALLY like cold weather.

Yeah, they are good about stuff like that..........somebody's got to keep you in line ! +1 (and another +1 to emphasize this; speaking from personal experience)

Thanks Pete, So, when are you coming to South Florida to teach me! heehee! Keep It Up! Duane I suspect that you would be teaching me. And the answer is: when you can promise 68 degrees, low humidity, low-angle sun, and good breezes. I suspect that the last item is the only easy condition. OTOH, my Eva's two boys live in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, so I might just be tempted into a trip one of these days.

Nice photo-essay. Nice day. Nice thing to do!

At a guess, the cap ripped off the end of the vertical in a gust, or when you hit the "brakes" really hard while the whole kite was pulling pretty strongly. As someone said, that was the cheapest thing on the kite you could break, so you have to consider yourself lucky. Get a few extras (and maybe some spars, too) if you are going to fly Standards in winds like that. I bent a ferrule (back when Revs had metal, outside ferrules) with my Rev I in a slightly stiff wind. It was surprising how differently the kite flew with a bent LE spar. I could tell in an instant that something was wrong.

The weights go in the bottoms of the vertical spars with the string hanging out and are "captured" or held in place by the end caps. They give a bit of mass to the "stern" of the kite, and give a bit of momentum to the trailing edge when doing maneuvers like Flic-flacs where the move is started by a quick pull on the line but must carry through with the momentum of the kite itself. They would also help to balance the kite for glides if you happen to have a heavy or doubled up leading edge spar; the extra weight would also help prevent nose-dives when the kite is overhead with a heavy LE spar. (Warning: I have no experience whatsoever with any of the things mentioned above. I "learned it from a book"*. In this case from reading the Rev and Kitelife forums.) ====== * Who recognizes this or where it comes from? (Imagine a strong Spanish accent.)

Awwww. Happy Birthday on the actual day, then.

Don't miss this one.

. Re: Alice In Wonderland I was amazed: Googing { alice in wonderland kite } gets over 3 million hits. I wonder what they are all about. Kites are never mentioned in the book itself. I try to read the book every year or so; there is a lot to find in that book - something new every time I read it. Get an original-style copy; the John Tenniel illustrations are FAR superior to the Disnified pictures in modern versions. For a treat, try Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice and More Annotated Alice - all kinds of information you never knew about the things in Alice. Power kite, power kite, power kite....

G4T, You need rear-view mirrors in thunderstorm country. If you have your back to the wind, they will ALWAYS sneak up on you.

For me, any kite shop that is handy is pretty favorite. I bought most of the kites I have now from Brick&Mortar stores (real ones, that you could walk into) more than 20 years ago. Recently, I've been into MacKites (B&M plus the beach tent store) in Grand Haven, MI again after 20 years, and they are still friendly and helpful. Also, recently, Kites & Fun Things in Plymouth, MI, Jon "SkyBurner" Trennepohl's B&M (and it really is a nice red-brick and mortar building) presence, (again, after 20 years) and Marieanne Trennepohl actually recognized me after all those years (and I've changed A LOT). Of course, 20 years ago, there weren't any such things as Web-based stores, so you HAD to drive to where the kite stores were. I actually planned my vacations to go past the stores that I had heard or read about (and generally bought something new at each one). There were a few catalog stores, like Into The Wind, and they got their share of my kite dollars, as well. Oddly, I really dislike talking over the telephone, so I have never ordered kites that way. (I need to see things written down, or in print, to remember them. The Internet, with order forms visible on my computer screen, is a real boon to me.) I haven't ordered enough yet from the Internet, so I don't have enough experience to judge.I will have to come back to this topic in the future.

Oh heck yes, Pete does some of his best work from the "wine cellar"......... You are working from the "wine cellar", aren't you Pete Actually, I'm just about to leave for dinner (in spite of a tornado watch) at my favorite restaurant, which has an even better cellar than I do. (I have a heavy car, and will be driving into the wind, so I should see anything coming.) EDIT: and made it home safe after having a fine dinner and some interesting wine (01 Terricci by Lanciola -- Super Tuscan) followed by a glass of Ferreira 20 YO Tawny Port. (Storm warning is cancelled.)

Getting closer. Less than two weeks to go. Power kite, power kite, power kite....