I wish that I could fly
Into the sky
So very high
Just like a dragonfly

I’d fly above the trees
Over the seas in all degrees
To anywhere I please

Oh I want to get away. I want to fly away. Yeah yeah yeah.

I hate Lenny Kravitz, but the man and I share similar desires. In his famous song “Fly Away”, Kravitz sings about the joy of booting up a flight simulator on his homemade gaming rig. He draws his custom-configured flight yolk close to his heart, calibrates his rudder pedals, and gets ready to “fly away” into the virtual sky.

While the rocker is a millionaire who can afford multiple screens and high-grade Thrustmaster accessories, I’m stuck taking to the air in my three year old 12″ PowerBook. Joystickless.

Luckily, the demo of X-Plane by Austin Myer still runs decently if I decrease all the settings. It still looks okay, but it’s not the photo-real and smooth experience as it would be on a better machine.

X-Plane is an amazing program. Not only is there an FAA certified version, but the full version contains the geography of the entire world, complete with cities and accurately modeled airports. The scenery alone takes up 60GB. The demo features a limited patch of terrain and a variety of real aircraft from general aviation and heavy metal to jets and spacecraft. Unlike Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series, X-Plane actually simulates all the physics of flight on the structure of the airplane model. This means that if the airfoils are accurate, the planes in the simulator behave as they would in reality. Every real world detail can be configured in a myriad of complicated menus: weather and environmental variables, fuel and cargo loads, flight paths, equipment failures, airplane livery. It’s mind boggling.

Even more mind boggling are the recreated cockpits of the planes. Every gauge and toggle of the actual planes are recreated. Many of the planes have 3-d rendered cockpits in order to see all the functional controls.

I know nothing about flying planes, but I’m learning. I’ve gotten pretty good at the takeoff procedures but still suck at smooth landings. I can see why they have you buckle your seat-belts at these times: the maneuvers are hard!

Keeping it simple with a turbo prop Piper. Some of the cockpit on the left. Plane getting ready for takeoff on the right.

After a successful flight, I pulled the plane into the terminal.

3-d cockpit view of a fancier private jet. It was faster than the Piper and harder to control.

Looking back after takeoff.

After getting better at the basic planes, I loaded a United 747 to test. After some successful takeoffs, I decided to go an early morning flight…in a rain storm.

Waiting for clearance from the tower.

The 747 cockpit in the early morning.

I was getting scared in the morning rain, so I bumped the time forward a bit. Here’s the bird after takeoff. The landing gear are retracting.

The plane in the morning fog after a successful, but bumpy, landing. The plane as seen from above.

Trying out the high tech avionics of an Airbus passenger jet.

I’m surprised by how much joy I feel when the plane finally takes off after a roaring ride down the runway. It is fun to flip the seat-belt warning button to get that distinctive chime. And the retracting flaps and landing gear sound eerily realistic. It feels horrible to crash in this game, but so good to clear the clouds and see the vastness of virtual world.

Fun times.

This post is Part One of a one-part series of financial discussions between financial experts Suze Orman and Nik Daum.

Nik: Thanks for sitting with me today, Suze. Nice jacket, by the way.

Suze: Thanks. Glad to do it, Nik.

Nik: So this has been a wild year so far in the markets hasn’t it? It makes me glad to practice what you preach: living within my means, taking charge over my money rather than my money taking charge of me, that sort of thing.

Suze: Glad to see you’ve been living within your means. How’s work going?

Nik: Well, I haven’t had a job since April. I’ve been traveling. No time better than a grave global financial crisis to go traveling.

Suze: I disagree.

Nik: Fair enough. So Suze, even though we’re both financial experts our investments have still plummeted in the past year. For instance, since January my retirement mutual funds have lost half their value. What are your thoughts in times like these? Should we take all our money and put it under a mattress? Buy MORE stock? Commit suicide? All of the above?

Suze: My first bit of advice is to calm down. We both have too much money to commit suicide. And listen, do not take your money out of a retirement account. If you are under 60 years of age, not only do you have to pay income tax on that money but also a 10% penalty. You have many years until retirement, and despite how low the value of your shares is now, it’s still better to own them in the long run. But don’t go rushing out to buy more either. We’ve weathered a lot of damage already, but the corrections still aren’t over.

Nik: It’s hard not to panic when I see all my hard earned money disappearing.

Suze: I know; it’s hard. But risk equals reward. The market is like shooting needle drugs. You might get AIDS, but not if you’re wise about it. And the highs are wonderful.

Nik: Um.

Suze: I know, I know needle drugs are expensive. A more frugal investor could freebase charcoal briquettes. But before he does that, he should pay off all his high interest credit card debt.

Nik: Did you know I don’t have any credit card debt?

Suze: Good for you. Me neither. Are you platinum?

Nik: Standard Platinum. (high fives)

Suze: Ha.

Nik: Everybody my age seems to be buying houses and having kids. At some point I’ll bite the bullet and have both of these things too. Any advice?

Suze: Why are you asking me all the questions?

Nik: I just figured that you were a guest on my blog, so I’d function as more of the host.

Suze: Do you have any idea how famous I am? I’ve published numerous books and am a columnist. Plus, I have a show of my own and have hosted specials on PBS.

Nik: What’s “PBS”, some kind of woman thing?

Suze: I’m just saying that I should be at the helm.

Nik: Let’s agree to disagree.

Suze: I disagree.

Nik: That’s the spirit! So Suze, any advice about home buying?

Suze: The question you should be asking yourself is: “What can I comfortably afford?” That’s what you want to borrow. Not a penny more. These days, it’s better to think of buying a house as a place you want to live rather than an investment. I own 45 houses, and each one is only the amount of space I need.

Nik: Maybe I could just have one of your houses?

Suze: No. I need all of them.

Nik: Do you have any kids?

Suze: No. Do you?

Nik: Living?

Suze: Yes. Stillborns count too.

Nik: No living; 3 stillborn. I saved a lot of money on college costs by having stillborns.

Suze: Well, except medical expenses.

Nik: You’d be surprised how affordable hospitals are if you use a fake ID.

Suze: It’s true. Faking an identity to reduce medical costs is one of the primary ways to manage consumer debt and secure your financial future. Also start saving early. Focus on the long term. Know the difference between good debt and bad debt.

Nik: Well Suze, it’s been a great visit. Any parting words?

Suze: You still owe me 20 bucks from when you couldn’t pay the cab fare.

Nik: Be sure to check out Suze at The 7th annual Commerce Bank/Star-Ledger Road to Personal Wealth Conference, Saturday, November 15th at Rutgers University.

Suze Orman is a two-time Emmy Award-winning television host, New York Times bestselling author, magazine and online columnist, writer/producer, and motivational speaker. She is regarded as one of the most well-known faces in personal finance.

Nik Daum doesn’t have a job.

Last night, J. and I went to a late concert at the Doug Fir Lounge. The headliner band was the Cloud Cult, a weird little group out of Minneapolis that is neither a cult nor made of clouds. They sound most similar to The Arcade Fire or The Polyphonic Spree, with the singer’s voice reminiscent of Tim DeLaughter. Like both of these references, the Cloud Cult’s music has an inspirational (though mostly secular) message to it. There are plenty of sad themes, but hope as well. Musically, they mix orchestral, rock and funky dance loops, often in the same song.

I started listening to Cloud Cult the last time I was in Thailand, in part because of the praise they received on a blog called The Sneeze. The band never signed with a label, but they’ve been prolific over the years. A lot of their songs can be listened to at Hype Machine or on the band’s website.

Speaking of music while in Thailand, I also became hooked on my friend Daniel’s podcast The Sounds In My Head.

Daniel pulls together a lot of good music every two weeks and mixes it up into a tight, downloadable package. His back catalog of seasons provides hours of aural pleasure.

As for the dregs, I made these songs today based on two old Sad Poems from a while ago. More coming in a month.

Dance For Me.mp3
A guy has sung himself hoarse over fond memories. The drums are me playing a roll of papertowls and the desk with paint brushes.

Bird.mp3
A song about how easy birds have it.