Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - First Look

MSFS2020 was released yesterday. Yay! I had paid for it a couple of months ago. So I wasted no time in downloading it. And downloading such a massive product was quite an epic experience.. I simply left it to run overnight. On a side note, the theme music that played during the installation is what my masseuse normally puts on during a deep tissue massage. My laptop, which I bought brand new in 2019, does not meet minimum requirements. So while the cockpit seems to be realistic, distant scenery is clearly in low resolution. Other than that, the product seemed to run smoothly.

The UI is extremely clean, concise and bold. The app automatically detected and married my existing Saitek Yoke, throttle quadrant and a couple of other devices for radio, auto-pilot etc. I did not have to download any drivers, etc. I did have to do a bit of calibration. By comparison, I remember the frustrating experience I had with setting up and calibrating control surfaces, etc. in the last version of Flight Simulator (FSX) released back in 2006 or so. There are still plenty of features available in the product to use. And, after my first flight, I felt sure that I will be tweaking options continuously in all aspects of the simulation for many months to come.

For my initial flight, I chose to fly from Mansfield, Massachusetts to Johnstown, New York. I remember visiting Johnstown many summers ago for a colleague's wedding. Its beautiful, pristine country as one can expect with upstate New York. Of course, I drove to the wedding back then. And that was a charming experience all of its own. Now I "flew". About 10 minutes into the flight, I changed my mind and headed over to Worcester Regional airport. Flying the entire leg to Johnstown can wait for another time. I have to head to the rock gym shortly. So without further ado, here are the screenshots with descriptions:

Setting up a flight plan to Fulton County airport was a breeze.. and a far cry from the multiple dialog-based planning of earlier versions. In this version, we just do everything on a single dynamic map user interface. Just click around and scroll, drag or zoom with the mouse, type stuff in, etc. Bam! Done! You can save the flight plan on disk for re-use. For aircraft, I went with the twin-prop Diamond DA62. Note that all graphics, labels, etc. are rendered in Flight Simulator based on real-world data. You can set custom weather or use real-world weather streamed from the same services used by the aviation industry. This simulation has been considered by even professional pilots to be a great learning and acclimatization tool for a couple of decades now.

A few minutes after takeoff, we are still climbing. Up ahead is an indicator for our destination, Johnstown NY, that provides both distance remaining and the altitude at which Fulton County airport lies. Worcester Regional airport is sliding by on the right. The primary flight instruments display our track using GPS. You can see that the graphics for landscape out in the peripheries are rendering a bit flat.. or just haze, I guess.

I then changed my mind and headed toward Worcester Regional airport. I flew over the airport so I could enter into a left traffic pattern. In above screenshot, I am downwind to the runway I want to land on. A little low and maybe a little further out than I should be.. I think. But I am just trying stuff out here. So bear with me. Graphics in the middle to the bottom of the screen are pretty good. I did not notice any "dropped frame" effects. The 118.42 NM indicator on the screen is still referring and pointing to my original destination of Johnstown NY, which is what I had filed in my flight plan.

On Final. It was actually a good pattern if somewhat low throughout. Still smooth frame rates and very good graphics. Fulton Country airport is behind us now.

In the landing roll. I admit touchdown was a bit harsh. But a good first effort, I think. Audio effects were realistic and three-dimensional. But that's something Microsoft had done really well before. This new version of Flight Simulator is definitely all about the graphics and how quickly HD data about new terrain you fly into is streamed into and rendered on your system.

The whole product has been built on Azure and Bing Maps technology. I have been tracking progress since this new version was first announced in 2019. Plenty of HD videos have been steadily made available online over the past 12 months by both Microsoft and testers invited by Microsoft. Can you imagine the level of planning, software design, coding and testing that would have gone into implementing this product? As a Software Engineer, I am envious. I want to be involved in such a project. Anyway, I cannot wait to use the simulation on a more powerful laptop.. someday. I am sure that the graphics and the entire simulation experience will be mind-blowing.

Gymming again

I was working out in my little room on the terrace of our house in Madurai back in the early 90s when an older family friend named Kumar dropped by for a quick visit. Seeing me puttering around shirtless with a pair of adjustable dumbbells, he remarked,

"So, bud, how's the gymming going?"

"So, bud, how's the gymming going?"

That's as best a translation I can offer but the word "gymming" was definitely used. So why am I mentioning this? Because gyms have re-opened in Massachusetts today. I had a chat with a friend in the Boston area yesterday and he mentioned that he was definitely going to wait a month before going to his gym. I couldn't wait though. Calisthenics at home has been fine over the past few months but I have been hankering to push iron the last two weeks. So.. I gave into temptation and went to my gym mid-morning today.

My temperature was taken upon checking in at the gym and a few questions about any COVID-like symptoms, recent international travel etc. were asked. I was told that each member would go through that mini-screening process every time they came to the gym. Good! Only every sixth locker was available in the shower rooms. No shower, sauna or towel service. I have missed using the sauna the most. It was a great way to relieve soreness and also cleanse my skin inside out. Happy it is summer as, for now, I can soak at the beach on weekends. I was nervous in the locker room. So I just got in quickly and out of there.

There were a half-dozen patrons at that hour. The equipment didn't seem to have been moved around much. I had a few exercises in mind and I had planned to do them in any order. I just wanted to test the waters today and get out if I felt uncomfortable with anyone sneezing or wheezing in my vicinity. Nothing like that happened. Everybody kept their masks -- and distance -- on. There were sanitizer stands with disinfectant wipes everywhere.  All of us diligently used them to wipe down equipment before and after use. Great!

Squatting has helped keep me limber and agile. So I approached the squat rack with bated breath.. and not just because of the mask. After my first high rep sets of squats with 135 lbs, I could feel myself almost sucking the mask into my nostrils. So I switched to doing a higher number of sets with only three reps each set and a slow eccentric. That felt better in terms of both muscle engagement and breathing with the mask on. Then, as lunch time approached, more patrons started coming in and I decided to call it a day even though there were a couple more exercises I had wanted to do. And I am not going to bother with cardio at the gym. I will do that outdoors for now.

Overall, it was a positively buoyant workout. Gym employees moved around with masks replacing the occasional empty sanitizer stand. Happy to see that. For now, I am planning to work my whole body with a handful of different exercises plus squats every time I hit the gym. Fancy splits and longer workouts will have to wait for the new normal. I have a bouldering session reserved at my rock gym later this week. One bouldering session and two regular weight training sessions a week should suffice for July. By end of the month, there should be enough data to review on new COVID infections, etc. across the state. I will re-calibrate my gym visits at that point.. assuming I don't get infected before then!

End of the "Butter Maiden"

Apparently Land O' Lakes has now removed the picture of the kneeling Native American woman from their product packaging. Here is the image:

When I first laid eyes on her upon emigrating to the United States, I fell in love with her and her dark, sultry and lustrous look. I thought it was a very clean, endearing image reflective of a healthy way of life well before the dawn of the industrial revolution and pollution.. a time when life moved at a sedate pace that.. ah.. a butterfly would have appreciated. Having grown up on a steady diet of Louis L'amour in India, I possessed a certain level of knowledge of native American culture that I noticed even Americans lacked. L'amour treated his subjects with the utmost respect at a time when Hollywood was happily undermining them. Still,  I am not an expert on native American relations. And so.. I am completely confused as to why this is considered a racist image. Or.. are people simply starting to find a problem with everything now?

Summer Thunderstorm

Ok, well, it was mostly wind and rain and one or two rolls of thunder really. It was still somewhat ferocious. Anticipation ran high as day turned to night. And the heavens did not disappoint. I like it!

Bye, bye bidet

Regardless of whether you are rooting for Biden, you are very likely wondering whether a bidet in your toilet may make an immediate impact to your quarantined lifestyle. Listen, you do not need additional fittings in your toilet. Ok? It is already complicated in there as it is. Instead simply use a general purpose sprayer like the one pictured below. I have been using one of these since time immemorial to.. ah.. occasionally supplement toilet paper.

Here are the advantages:

1. Cheap.. something like $2.
2. Immediately available.. you just need to get it from a hardware store. No need to schedule and wait for a plumber, etc.
3. Lightweight.. even a child can lift it.
4. Portable.. you can keep it out of sight, if you need to. Moving houses? No problem. You are guaranteed the same quality of service at your new place.
5. Zero-maintenance.. Cleaning it (the sprayer, I mean) is easy. No need to worry about a bidet with all its fittings, etc. going bonkers on you.
6. Creativity-possible.. if you want to add a little bit of soap, fragrant oil, etc. to the water in the sprayer, you can do so.

Most of all.. it is guaranteed to leave you clean and feeling awesome. Its hands-free without being hands-free. Think about that! Heck, if you use it at the right angles and with the right amount/frequency of spray, you may not need to use toilet paper at all. Save the environment! All you need is a dry, cozy hand towel to pat yourself dry. Mmm. But.. just make sure you don't use that towel for anything else, ok? And wash it (the towel, I mean) regularly and by itself in soapy water, wring it well and leave it to air dry. Maintain a couple of towels for this purpose.

Life's good

Alright! Clearwater beach has been re-opened. I am looking into flight tickets on Expedia now.. can't wait to get there one of these weekends! I had been planning to go there this past winter when the virus roared in. Hopefully, we won't see any resurgences of the virus anywhere. Yay!

Scone me now

Now that I think of it, the last time I enjoyed afternoon tea was last December down in Falmouth center with a buddy of mine. The proprietor had a sign either out front or on each table requesting that patrons do not use their smartphones. I don't exactly remember which. So I do not have a picture of the delicacies that we gulped down that Saturday afternoon and washed it all down with some wonderful, aromatic tea.. and a great chat.

The exact location of Molly's Tea Room. I was the only male there.

But fear not. I have the wonderful shot below that I made from a couple of years ago at the Shangri-La in Toronto with another friend. Look at those juicy, mouth-watering gooey goodies!

Yap. Yap

Ok, now I have a hankering for tea things and naught I can do about it. Sad. Sad. Sad.