Passed my Amateur Extra exam

Glad to get that out of the way. I had to get up early, take the 0730 bus to the train station, catch the 0804 West bound train to Hicksville, and since there were no taxis and I didn't have change for the bus, I had to walk to the Levittown Town Hall to take the test. I didn't mind walking, but was a bit miffed that the bus wouldn't take bills.

Since I now have a blackberry instead of an iphone, it was really difficult trying to get a map, so I ended up walking a different route than I had planned. I don't think it was much further, maybe a few minutes, but I did have to ask for directions since I couldn't get the map to work. Once I found out where I was, it was already close to 0900, so I started jogging. I didn't want to get there late and maybe miss the test.

I arrived right at 0900, but was soaking wet. They were still setting things up, so I went to the mens room and rinsed off a bit. When I got back, they checked my credentials and gave me the exam. I'd been studying so much lately, that I knew every question on it and breezed through it in about 10 minutes. I ended up getting 100%, which was even better than I'd done on the relatively easier General exam, on which I'd missed one.

Once it was over, I got another guy who was there taking his General exam to give me a lift back to the station. He dropped me off a couple blocks away, so I jogged the rest of the way, and got there just as the train back to Huntington was arriving. It must have been about 1000.

When I got to Huntington, it was overcast and not too hot, so I decided to jog back to the boat. I figured I was already going to have to pay for jogging earlier, so I might as well get a workout. I only had on my flip flops, so after about a mile, I started feeling blisters on my toes where I gripped them so they wouldn't fly off. At that point, I decided to take them off and try to run barefoot. At first, I wasn't sure how that was going to go, but it turned out fine. I just watched where I stepped, ran on grass when I could, which wasn't much, and tried to be extra careful when I crossed streets.

I put my flip flops back on once I got near the boatyard since the streets and sidewalks in that area are pretty bad, and walked the last 1/4 mile. The distance from the train station to the boatyard is about 2 1/4 miles, and I probably went about a mile total in Hicksville, so my guess is that I ran about 3 miles this morning, and except for my left heel, feel great. I'll stretch out several times today, and hopefully, I'll still be able to walk in the morning.

Zoe watch:

I walked Zoe early this morning before catching the bus. She didn't get as long a walk as normal, so I'm going to walk her again in a few minutes. We're having isolated thunder storms today, and the temperature is hovering around 80 with a light wind. I can hear some rumbling, and she's laying on my feet as I type. She gets spooked by loud noises anyway, but thunder seems to be the worst.

I left her on the boat this morning while I went to take the exam. I had closed up most of the cover for fear of the rain, but left it open at both ends so she could get some breeze. With it only getting up to 80, and the boat being a comfortable 70 inside, I figured she'd be fine, but just in cas,e I hurried back. That's partly why I ran back. It takes about 40 minutes to walk, the bus comes every hour, and I'd missed it by about 20 minutes, and the taxis are really expensive, so walking (or running) was the best choice. I was back on the boat by 1100, and she was waiting for me on deck when I climbed up the ladder.

Book watch:

I've seen several references to Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," so I figured I needed to read it for myself. I found it online a couple of days ago at the Gutenberg site, downloaded, and started reading it. It's an American classic and really good. I like it much better the Chickchester's book. I believe Chickchester even cited Dana in "Gypsy Moth." I just started it and am only to the part where he's approaching the Horn on board Pilgrim, but I'm already hooked. He also seems to be a pretty interesting guy, but according to Dale, he was a disaster as a politician in Boston after the Civil War. If Dale finds and sends me more information on that, I'll post it here. I'm curious to hear what the guy said that ruined his career.