'Bout time for another update, don'tcha think?

So I thought that since it's been a while since I last updated, I should take a Sunday afternoon to put something else up here. So, I cranked up my trusty lil' iMac, set everything up, sat down... and realized I don't really know what to write about just yet. Wait around a minute, maybe something will come to me...

Oh hey, yeah, that's right! Okay, so a landmark event recently occurred: October 1st. Don't remember what it was? Well, it was my first day of work as a secretary at First Presbyterian -- so now I've passed the one-year mark. Sadly enough, that's the longest time I've ever worked one job in my life (at least continuously -- I worked at Blue Lake for three summers, but took winters off... y'know, for that whole school thing?). So it's kind of a big deal. I finally got my health insurance cards from there, now, so I can finally get to a doctor, a dentist, an eye doctor (maybe I'll finally get new glasses for the first time in... what, seven years?)... well, at least I'm covered if I get hurt or sick now. That's not to say I hope I DO get hurt or sick, but I feel safer about things now.

As for flying, I haven't been up in a while. I last flew on September 23rd, I think... shortly after that first solo -- which was awesome, by the way -- and got to practice flying the traffic pattern in a crosswind. For the uninitiated, "crosswind" just means that the wind is trying to blow you sideways off the runway while you're trying to land. The crosswinds I was dealing with were about 16 knots, if I remember right, so it was challenging, but I'm still here to tell about it, so it's all good. Haven't had decent weather for a lesson since (today's amazing, but I'm not on the schedule). I'm told that the next step is to duplicate my first solo, then they let me go a little farther while solo, then we start cross-country training. That'll be exciting.

For those who don't understand what this whole soloing thing is: it's the first time a student pilot gets to fly without his/her instructor in the plane. I'm not a certified pilot yet. It's just a big moment, because it's essentially your instructor saying, "Okay, you know what you're doing up there. You don't need me to hold your hand any more; just go fly." Interestingly enough, the plane handles differently with only one person in it. Climbs faster, hits a higher airspeed, etc. Anyway, the way it works is this: you and your instructor go up and practice landings. The instructor throws some situations at you to see how you adapt -- stuff like, "Okay, what if the engine failed right now? What would you do?" or "Pretend your electrical system isn't working on this approach" (in other words, "land without flaps"). Then, after he's satisfied you know what you're doing, he has you taxi back to the ramp, he signs off an official endorsement, gets out of the plane, and says, "Go fly." Then, you get to taxi back out, take off, and do three landings all by your lonesome. AWESOME.

But now that I've soloed, I feel it's time to get a critical piece of aviation equipment: a headset. Up until now, I've just borrowed rental sets from the flying club, but now I think it's time for me to shell out for my very own. Trouble is, there's a lot of choices, and the only real advice anyone can give on what to buy is "everyone's different." Gee, thanks. So I have many, many choices. The club sells one by Avcomm for a decent price... it's a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill headset with nothing fancy. But here's the thing: I wear glasses. The stems of the glasses (the part that goes over the ear) can get in the way of the ear seals at times. I have some trouble with the sets I borrow from time to time -- I especially notice it when I turn my head or crane my neck to see out the sides or back of the plane. If I'm going to spend all this money on a headset, I'd rather not have any trouble with it. Here's where many of the choices come in.

See, I there are about a million different kinds of ear seals -- foam, ultra-soft foam, gel, leather, etc. Then there's the option of Active Noise Reduction -- super-fancy (translation: super-expensive) electronics that cancel out ambient noise in the cockpit. There's even the option of in-ear style headsets instead of the earmuff type. Sigh... what's a student pilot to do? I think the best thing to do would be to go to a dealer and try out a bunch before I settle on one and buy it. But it seems like most dealers I can find are either out West or down in Florida. I'm not shelling out several hundred dollars to get myself to the manufacturers just so I can shell out even MORE hundereds of dollars on a headset. If anyone knows of a headset dealer near Ithaca, New York -- could you let me know?

Anyway, in my research, I think I hit on a company that I'd like to try: LightSPEED. Specifically, I'd really like to try that little lightweight one on the right... the Mach 1. I've read some favorable reviews, I like the "lightweight" idea, I like the "not clamping your head in a vice" concept, and I'm comfortable with earplugs (used to wear them all the time in jazz ensembles). Not so sure about the $525 price tag... but I just hope it'd be worth it.

So, any advice? Do I just buy it and try it... and if I don't like it, return it within 30 days? Or do I see about hitching a ride to a trade show someplace and trying on a whole slew of headsets? Or do I just save the money and buy the one from the club? Sigh. So confused.

Well, I have a birthday coming up in a couple months -- maybe I'll just ask for cash. That way I can replenish my coffers after buying myself a nice headset. We'll see.