Jinx-B-gone Hey! I shook the jinx...overcame the juju...broke the curse. No, I still can't help screaming "Who's yo daddy!?" at that most intimate of moments (McGregor's thinking, you scream WHAT when centering a ten-knotter?). I'm talking about 500K triangles. No, I flew on Thursday. Wednesday I was at work, laying on the carpet in the fetal position like every other self-respecting glider pilot who didn't fly. What a sky that was! Thursday was no Wednesday, but the sky looked good to the south-east. So that's where I went...south for 105 miles, then north-east for 105, then north-west and home for another 105. I was not a great day if you looked outside at all on Thursday the 17th. There were a few cloudless areas enroute that stretched for 40 miles and an overcast layer was looming up rapidly from the south west. In fact the run to Albert Lea was pretty scratchy, but the field of cu's started there and seemed to fill the south-east quadrant of the sky where my triangle would take me. The edge of the field of cu's was right along my course line and I had to make an effort to stay a bit to the east of track, deeper into them. I had 170 lbs of water ballast (only 40%, but too much) and held onto it for too long (dumped just after TP2). But it was fun to cruise at 80-85 knots and knife along at a shallow angle (especially after climbing so slowly). I haven't examined the flight log closely yet, but I would guess most climbs had 4-5 knot peaks, hit 6 or 7 a few times, but overall *averages* were probably around 2-3 knots before I got smart enough to leave them. I wanted to stay high and just get around, but I also knew I had to keep up enough speed to *get* around before the day expired. Which it did as I hit Rochester. The computer said I needed another 2000ft to make glide and the sky ahead looked dismal. Man, was I going to land 10 or 15 miles short? The only good cu was right over Rochester airport in controlled airspace. "Rochester tower, this is glider N477EA, 7 miles east-northeast at 5000MSL, traveling west, staring and drooling at a succulent cumulus above your tower. I need a little more to get home to Faribault. Permission to duck-in for a mid-air refueling? Over." I actually said that! But I never got up the nerve to push the mic button. Instead I spotted another faint wisp outside of the cylinder, slithered-in under it, and parked there, climbing at .5 to 1 knot for an eternity. But it gave me enough confidence and altitude to leave toward a second wisp along course. Then a third appeared and my prayers became silent once again after making it clear that the promises I had made to improve my life were contingent on winning the Powerball. I'm sure He's heard it ALL from glider pilots before. Well, I made the glide home and landed at 7:30PM. I had launched at 11:40AM, so it had been 8 hours of stick wiggling. Tom the towman (hey I like that), JC and John McGregor drove out to greet me. John had a bottle of champagne he held up the moment I gave them the thumbs-up sign that I had made it. He had been scanning frequencies at home and heard me calling other gliders to chat (no one answered). He figured I must be within 50 miles for the scanner to pick me up and must have final glide made for me to *want* to chat to someone. He had the first part right, but I was looking to get my mind off of *not* having final glide made. You know, "X-ray Sierra to anyone. What are you doing? Over. Nice day, huh? Over. Hey, what's you favorite color? Over." Anyway, great welcome home, John. The champagne was great. Thanks! I'll keep the bottle to "christen" you if you fly a bigger Hilton triangle. The trace looks good and everything seems in order to make the flight "official". If that is true, the flight earns me the third and final diamond on my Gold Badge. I have already made an appointment to have my nose pierced so I can display it in this prominent location. Also, it's good for five state records (I think) and, of course, a Hilton Cup entry. Don Ingraham P.S. God, I was joking with that Powerball crack. Hey, you know me. By the way, if you could just see this documentation thing through the verification process, I've got a $20 that has "collection plate" written all over it...No, I'm serious...