Happy FALL, the FRIDAY of seasons.  

I, Stephen, am not a fan of Summer. The heat waves, sweat-drenched clothes, mosquitos, skin cancer and hoards of misguided, shallow tourists swarming over every cultural attraction like a plague of locusts. But Fall, how I love Fall. The kids have been dragged back into school, pumpkin spice-flavored drinks and foods as far as the eye can see, cozy fires in the fireplace, and endless possibility. What’s not to love.

Stewart is of an opposing mindset and would rather spend Fall residing on the surface of the Sun, but whatever. The photo above, btw, is from the ceremony/dinner at West Point, when Stewart received an award for his sustained efforts in repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The Castles and Rotorcraft website is the vehicle through which we loosely document our lives, or at least the interesting subset of our lives. In that sense it makes for a poor historical record, but if nothing else it serves as a memory jogger for the two of us when the images in our enfeebled minds begin to fade.  And for those in some way connected to our lives it hopefully provides an introductory insight into our goings ons.  

You can reach us at sbornhoft@gmail.com and chopperstephen@gmail.com, and we are also (variously) on several messaging platforms for better or worse. If any of the non-e-mail options suit you better, just ask and we can provide details.  Also, if you'd like me to send you a note whenever we update this website thingy, just put in your e-mail address below.

current GEOGRAPHICAL STATUS

  1. Stephen: the San Francisco Bay area, for the most part, with local jaunts into Mexico and LA.

  2. Stewart: San Diego and environs.


APPS I’M CURRENTLY USING

  1. Flighty. For the frequent traveler, a godsend of situational awareness. Because you know, much sooner rather than later, your flight is going to go sideways and it will be you against your other 300+ plane mates in trying to nail down a Plan B.

  2. All Trails. Fantastic app for front and back-country hiking and biking.

  3. Windy. There is simply no better weather app than this one. A trove of meteorological information.

  4. Open ADSB. Rich people can ask for their private aircraft’s location and tracking info not be made publicly available, so that mean commoners can’t track their wherabouts on social media. And most apps/companies comply with the request. Except for OpenADSB, who doesn’t care.

  5. Seek. Plant identifier, it’s fantastic if you’ve ever wondered what species of tree dropped several gallons of sap onto your car when you accidentally parked underneath it.

 

currently supporting

  1. World Central Kitchen. Provides meals for those in the worst possible circumstances. Currently serving the civilian Ukrainian population caught on the front lines of the war.

  2. American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org). Incalculably effective in the fight for people of color, the LGBT community, and for women.

  3. Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org). A smaller and more narrowly-focused version of the ACLU. Strong advocate against hate groups.

  4. The National Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org). Sort of like the ACLU for flora and fauna, it ensures the Environment has a say in DC and the courts.

  5. Center For Inquiry (centerforinquiry.net). Recently merged with Richard Dawkins' organization, it is one of the many groups guiding America towards a society and government based upon secular values.

  6. Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org). The leading LGBT political advocacy group in the U.S.

  7. Planned Parenthood. Only in America, gay men having to support one of the few organizations dedicated to empowering women.