Irony:
I posted this, then went to the field to burn some fuel. Wouldn't you know it, I had a problem with my Tx battery - I turned it on to open the throttle and prime the engine (10.1 volts), and turned it off again. When I turned it back on, it plummeted from 10 volts to 9 volts in about 5 seconds - the same thing it did the other day at the field. With a basic slow charger, I have no way of knowing what's going on with my battery. I have invested some money in this hobby, and it seems like investing a little more for a good charger will give me some good insurance for the future. So right now the battery is back on the charger, I have no idea how long it needs to charge before I should check it to see if its full, nor do I know anything else that's going on. I'm darn glad I had my old 600mah nicad all charged up - if I would have had to drive home...

I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS HOBBY!!! THERE IS NOTHING AS SATISFYING AS FLYING MY PLANE IN A BEAUTIFUL FIELD ON A BEAUTIFUL EVENING WITH A FRIEND!!! I met another guy whose also 30, and the two of us flew our planes on a farm in Vermont - mountains in the background, cornfields in the foreground, silos off to the side, and the sun setting this evening was the most amazing glowing orange I have seen in a while! Nice and cool, with some hazy clouds - the Nexstar looked so beautiful flying in and out of the fog...
I really haven't enjoyed anything this much, ever. It's such good, clean fun! I was going to get a starter and starter battery, but I can start up with the stick just fine (though sometimes backwards?) so I'll spend the extra and get a nice charger - Accucycle Elite it is. (Campgems: I don't have a field battery yet - OS likes the stick!)

Thanks for the advice guys.