Come Fly With Me !

I can't believe it's almost the middle of August already--where did the summer go? And why does it go by so fast, but the winter goes on and on and on....? It's already feeling a bit chilly in the evenings when I'm out in the park or taking a walk. I dread the coming cold weather. So why do I stay in this part of the country when I could be living somewhere warm year-round?

The answer is: I Don't Know !!!

Guess I'm too stupid or too lazy to pack my bags and get out of here. Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll finally work up the nerve to just take off somewhere. I didn't even get out of town for a day or two this summer. 'Course, that's mainly because I spent most of my "vacation money" to buy this new laptop computer I'm using right now. But it was worth it to me because I love the internet and spend much of my time there.

So for the time being I'll have to do my traveling virtually on the web. All of this long-winded blabber is my way of mentioning this cool website I came across recently.

It's called "Goggles" and uses Google Maps in a unique way by allowing you to fly around in a little plane while viewing the satellite images of the area below. Basically it is like a simple flight sim game with some basic controls. The arrow keys control your altitude and direction, while the 'a' & 'z' keys are for accelerating or slowing your plane. Space bar fires your gun which shoots little 'bullets' at ground targets. Just be careful not too fly too low or you'll crash!

But to me the coolest thing about it is that you can custumize the game to allow you to fly over your own hometown! The procedure to do this takes a little bit of work, but it's not too difficult if you follow the directions carefully.

So if you want to see Albany, NY (where I live), and who wouldn't, click here (and then press 'start' when you get to the site) and you can fly right over my head! Just don't go shooting at me if you see me walking down one of the streets!
The site has been getting hit with a lot of traffic lately, so it may take a minute for the maps to load, so don't be too impatient if it doesn't work right away. Or just try again later.
There are a number of major world cities to choose from so your hometown may already be there. If not, you can add yours by customizing it as I mentioned . If you do add your hometown, be sure to "bookmark" or save as a "favorite" that particular link because it won't be saved on the main "Goggles" page.

And since I'm feeling generous today, I'll make this offer to any of the loyal readers of my blog. If you want to custumize it to your hometown and can't figure it out or get it to work, leave a comment here or e-mail me (martron3000@yahoo.com) and I'll set it up for you and send you the link. Just tell what city or town you want and I'll do my best to customize it for you. There may be some areas that Google maps doesn't cover, but I'm sure most cities should be available.