TOOOOOOOYYYYYYYY!

    My wonderful sister sent me a new quadcopter, this one of a different type. My reasoning was that the Syma X5C I had before, while very awesome, tended to burn out its motors quickly. To replace them, you have to take up soldering, which is not my idea of fun. This one has motors that are connected by plugs. Not that getting to the plugs is likely to be a picnic (just putting together the largely already assembled copter took me 2 hours or so, as against the 15 minutes by the dreaded People On The Internet).
    This one, the Syma X8C, is much more powerful, much larger, and much heavier. It hurts a lot more if it falls on you and it draws blood if the spinning blades hit you. (I found out the latter the hard way.) So probably not the ideal choice for an idiot like me. It isn't safe to take into popular play areas, parks or schoolgrounds. This instantly sucks a lot of the fun out of it. On the other hand, I just got it and have barely flown it. (Weather, though not rainy, has been cloudy and windy and also not much fun.) So perhaps when I master it, I'll be less worried about making cole slaw out of the citizenry.
    The camera is bigger and better mounted, so hopefully there will be good pictures when there is better weather to photograph. On the whole, I think it's going to be a blast.
    Meanwhile, awesome sister outdid herself by also sending me a Swiss Army chef's knife and case. I mean, how can you learn of the existence of a Swiss Army chef's knife and not have one? I would be delighted to report that it has many attachments including a whistle, but alas, it's just a very, very, very good chef's knife. It's an open quesion whether it's better for peeling potatoes than for other applications. I am most abundantly grateful for this as well as for the toy.