It was definitely a flying day. This morning, Nathan, Chuck and I took the Baron and went on a few little trips. We started off going to Mt. Comfort to talk to some folks there, but after we got there we found out they weren't there any more...had moved! No problem, we headed to Muncie next, and spent some time sitting in the Cheyenne and admiring the changes they'd made inside and bemoaning the engine missing on the outside. Nathan and Kenny did some talking about further changes to some of the planes, and we did what we always do-inspect all the planes that are in the shop for maintenance. :) Originally we were supposed to go to Huntington next, but it was now past lunch time and everyone was starved, so we had Steve meet us at Kokomo with some burgers, and then we all went to Huntington together to look at the T-6. I took a round of Photos of the progress, naturally. Still lots to be done, but it's getting there, and it looks good up on the gear. :) We got back to Kokomo just in time for me to put away the Baron and go pick up Kaylee at school, get back home and clean my kitchen prior to the arrival of a lovely woman who is going to come clean my house on a trial basis. We talked for about an hour, then when she left it was time for Kaylee to do her homework and memorize her verses for tonight, and I took her off to Awanas.
As I was pulling back into my driveway after dropping her off, I found myself behind another car-Richard and Ann were home! Kaylee will be so excited when she gets back from Awanas. :)
Steve did not have as nice of a day as I did. This that and the other kept going wrong. Then when he stopped at Culvers to pick up burgers for us all, they got the order wrong, so he had to go through the drive-through twice. When he arrived, I passed out the burgers, and there were only three burgers in the bag for the four of us-they'd left one out altogether. I decided his day had been bad enough, and I didn't leave him without lunch too. I took a couple bites so I wouldn't be super hungry, and then I was good. He came home tonight and said he isn't feeling well either-sore throat, etc. Poor guy hurt his shoulder, too. So today was a bug day for Steve. He even had to spend most of the time at Huntington while we were looking at the T-6 on his phone in the corner. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit of a better day!
Kaylee's 4th quarter grades came in today, and she has brought all her grades back up to A's! She's done great this quarter, and we're so proud of her. She gets a trip to Chuck E. Cheese coming up soon here. ;)
"…look at that word blame. It's just a coincidence that the last two letters spell the word me. But that coincidence is worth thinking about. Other people or unfortunate circumstances may have caused you to feel pain, but only you control whether you allow that pain to go on. If you want those feelings to go away, you have to say: 'It's up to me.'"
~Arthur Freeman
"Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It's up to you to choose which you will be."
~Harvey Mackay
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to Michigan We Go
This morning after dropping Kaylee off at school, I headed to Muskegon, MI with three other guys and about 7 boxes. It was an uneventful and pleasant flight (always a good thing) that lasted about an hour. Muskegon is supposedly a busy airspace, but I was there all day and while I saw a few student pilots come and go with their instructors (all dressed in uniform-black slacks and white shirts with Pilot Bars on their shoulders), our plane and one other were the only transient planes I saw. There is a small airline service out of that airport, so there was a terminal building next door. I walked over there to find a very nice restaurant for lunch. I always like to eat at new places when I go to new locations; I don't want to go to McDonald's in a new city, I want to find something that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere else but there. This little restaurant fit the bill perfectly. It had some things on the menu I hadn't tried before, so I picked one and decided to try "pan seared tuna in olive oil with some sauce or other". :) When I 
ordered it, the waitress said "Excellent choice!" She turned to leave, and then she paused and said "Oh, this is prepared raw, since tuna dries as it is cooked." I said "that will be fine" and then as she walked away I thought "Eew." I don't eat raw fish. I think raw fish sounds revolting. But I'd never tried it, so I figured why not. I have to tell you, it was Really Good. I had to get past the mental part of it, but at first I pretended like it was a medium-rare steak, and after the first bite I was 'sold'. Here's a fuzzy photo of it for you-I forgot I had my real camera with me too, so this is a bad phone photo. Anyway, a thumbs-up for the pan-seared raw tuna, believe it or not... When I left, I ordered a piece of carrot cake to go, but when it came back to me, it was HUGE. It wasn't a slice of carrot cake, it was about a fourth of an entire carrot cake. It was also quite delicious-though I managed to actually not eat it all. ;) I should have taken a photo of that!
Oh, one more thing about the uniformed flight instructors. I saw one guy (who, like all the instructors there, looked like he was about 16 years old) walking in all decked out in his "captain's" uniform, and behind him came his student...a young man with long hair, a do-rag on his head, and covered in black leather and silver studs with a Harley Davidson t-shirt on underneath. My favorite was the black studded boots. Those two made QUITE a pair, and I was just sitting there trying to imagine Mr. Biker Kid relating to Mr. White Shirt with Bars. It would be interesting to ride in the back seat of that plane and listen in. On second thought, never mind. I am NOT riding in the back seat of that plane...and I am not wearing a shirt with captain bars on the shoulder, either. A professional attire? Sure, good plan. But those shirts are just...super cheesy.
It's nice, these days almost everywhere you go has internet of some form available. The restaurant had free wireless and the FBO had a computer hooked up to the internet. No more "good old days" where NOBODY had a computer you could use. It's almost standard these days. I have to enjoy that. ;) Of course I wasn't really able to be online much today, but it was fine. I did make a call to someone who I think is going to help me with some house work once in awhile. We may give it a try, we'll see.
The flight home was also uneventful, and we got back to Kokomo around 5 p.m. I headed to Glenndale where Kaylee was waiting, and we stayed there until almost 8 p.m. And that was my day. :)
ordered it, the waitress said "Excellent choice!" She turned to leave, and then she paused and said "Oh, this is prepared raw, since tuna dries as it is cooked." I said "that will be fine" and then as she walked away I thought "Eew." I don't eat raw fish. I think raw fish sounds revolting. But I'd never tried it, so I figured why not. I have to tell you, it was Really Good. I had to get past the mental part of it, but at first I pretended like it was a medium-rare steak, and after the first bite I was 'sold'. Here's a fuzzy photo of it for you-I forgot I had my real camera with me too, so this is a bad phone photo. Anyway, a thumbs-up for the pan-seared raw tuna, believe it or not... When I left, I ordered a piece of carrot cake to go, but when it came back to me, it was HUGE. It wasn't a slice of carrot cake, it was about a fourth of an entire carrot cake. It was also quite delicious-though I managed to actually not eat it all. ;) I should have taken a photo of that!Oh, one more thing about the uniformed flight instructors. I saw one guy (who, like all the instructors there, looked like he was about 16 years old) walking in all decked out in his "captain's" uniform, and behind him came his student...a young man with long hair, a do-rag on his head, and covered in black leather and silver studs with a Harley Davidson t-shirt on underneath. My favorite was the black studded boots. Those two made QUITE a pair, and I was just sitting there trying to imagine Mr. Biker Kid relating to Mr. White Shirt with Bars. It would be interesting to ride in the back seat of that plane and listen in. On second thought, never mind. I am NOT riding in the back seat of that plane...and I am not wearing a shirt with captain bars on the shoulder, either. A professional attire? Sure, good plan. But those shirts are just...super cheesy.
It's nice, these days almost everywhere you go has internet of some form available. The restaurant had free wireless and the FBO had a computer hooked up to the internet. No more "good old days" where NOBODY had a computer you could use. It's almost standard these days. I have to enjoy that. ;) Of course I wasn't really able to be online much today, but it was fine. I did make a call to someone who I think is going to help me with some house work once in awhile. We may give it a try, we'll see.
The flight home was also uneventful, and we got back to Kokomo around 5 p.m. I headed to Glenndale where Kaylee was waiting, and we stayed there until almost 8 p.m. And that was my day. :)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Today...
Late last night our SMA community lost a young lady named Skylar. She was a month and about 10 days away from turning 8 years old. She was a living miracle; so many times she almost died and she always pulled through. Once she was unresponsive and in a coma for three days and all the doctors told her mom to let her go, that she was probably irreparably brain damaged. She woke up three days later perfectly fine, and that was several years ago now. She was one of the weakest SMA children, yet one of the toughest, one of the pioneers in proving to physicians that there Was life for these kids, and she and her mom were true inspirations to a lot of people. She will be missed and remembered. I can't believe she's gone...
Well, this morning Steve and I flew the Citabria for awhile before going to Applebees for lunch. Kaylee only had a half day at school today, so I just went next door and picked her up. We spent some time at Glenndale, then I took her to ballet and cheer practice. This cheer isn't the cheer team she tried out for, which doesn't start until August. This is just "Cheer Level One" class where they do a lot of conditioning, exercise, and cheer moves. Home to do homework and dinner for Kaylee, and bed time. A typical Monday...
Well, this morning Steve and I flew the Citabria for awhile before going to Applebees for lunch. Kaylee only had a half day at school today, so I just went next door and picked her up. We spent some time at Glenndale, then I took her to ballet and cheer practice. This cheer isn't the cheer team she tried out for, which doesn't start until August. This is just "Cheer Level One" class where they do a lot of conditioning, exercise, and cheer moves. Home to do homework and dinner for Kaylee, and bed time. A typical Monday...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Catch-up Day
Our family spent the day taking care of business around here. Steve replaced a spark plug in the lawn mower, got his parents' home ready for their impending return, and worked around the house here too. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor (no scooba today), cleaned up the kitchen, the table, did every load of laundry in the house, dishes, and swapped Kaylee's closet around so her spring/summer stuff was on the bottom where she could reach and the winter stuff was up top. Her room still needs attention, but it's all MY work that needs done, not hers. She is doing well keeping her things straightened up.
By the way, Kaylee is doing fine today with the cheer thing. She's not gotten upset about it, and in fact has been in quite a good mood all day. It's one thing I enjoy about her; she flashes and gets so angry or emotional so quickly-but on the other hand, with her the storm passes pretty quickly too and she feels better so fast. I, on the other hand, take a long time to get very upset, but once I do, it doesn't go away very easily either. We are such opposites in so many ways. I still say kids are given to you to force you to learn the other half. If you're a feeler, you'll get a thinker. If you're a thinker you'll get a feeler. If you're neat you will get a messer, and if you're social you'll get a shy one. And sometimes you'll get one just like you so you can see how annoying you were or are, too. ;) I swear it works like that. lol
Kaylee and Steve built a fort in the living room and hung out under it to watch the last 20 laps of some NASCAR race. They tried to convince me that it was fascinating, but I wasn't falling for it. ;) Kaylee and I played Wii a little bit tonight before bed; I beat her at bowling, she beat me at tennis. I've got some more things to finish up before Monday, but all in all it was a good, productive day. She has a half day of school tomorrow for some in-house thing they're doing, so I think I will take her to the, sigh, Mall, to get her hair trimmed. It's been about six months, so I guess it's time...
By the way, Kaylee is doing fine today with the cheer thing. She's not gotten upset about it, and in fact has been in quite a good mood all day. It's one thing I enjoy about her; she flashes and gets so angry or emotional so quickly-but on the other hand, with her the storm passes pretty quickly too and she feels better so fast. I, on the other hand, take a long time to get very upset, but once I do, it doesn't go away very easily either. We are such opposites in so many ways. I still say kids are given to you to force you to learn the other half. If you're a feeler, you'll get a thinker. If you're a thinker you'll get a feeler. If you're neat you will get a messer, and if you're social you'll get a shy one. And sometimes you'll get one just like you so you can see how annoying you were or are, too. ;) I swear it works like that. lol
Kaylee and Steve built a fort in the living room and hung out under it to watch the last 20 laps of some NASCAR race. They tried to convince me that it was fascinating, but I wasn't falling for it. ;) Kaylee and I played Wii a little bit tonight before bed; I beat her at bowling, she beat me at tennis. I've got some more things to finish up before Monday, but all in all it was a good, productive day. She has a half day of school tomorrow for some in-house thing they're doing, so I think I will take her to the, sigh, Mall, to get her hair trimmed. It's been about six months, so I guess it's time...
It Was Probably My Fault
This was originally published in Pacific Northwest Flying. While the original letter is a little too long, I agree with the sentiment and wanted to pass it on to my family and friends, most of whom will also agree. ;) (P.S. Nobody take this the wrong way, please. I don't plan on leaving any time soon! And like doctors, many pilots have a bit of a 'dark humor' towards accidents, such as using lingo like 'lawn dart' or 'smoking hole'. It's hard to explain, but it is not in any way a disrepsect towards anyone who has died, nor a disrespect of flying itself. I assure we we all take it very seriously and do our best to be safe, proficient, and use good judgement.)
A Message to My Heirs Following My Untimely Demise
None of us will live forever, try as we might. Eventually, no matter how carefully we manage our diets, exercise routines, and flying activities, one day we are each going to shuffle off into the great beyond. I'm not looking to push that day, but I accept that it's going to happen.
If I had my choice, when my time comes to mingle with the twinkling stars, I'd depart this world peacefully and without much fanfare, comfortable and surrounded by loved ones. But since I don't spend my entire life at home, laying comfortably in bed -- and since I engage in a wide variety of activities that involve some risk to life and limb (flying, motorcycles, driving, walking down the street, etc.) -- there's a chance that my demise might come in a manner and at a time that is not ideal.
I enjoy flying, and I enjoy the time I spend flying. Odds are, my end will be a pretty ordinary one, without much drama or spectacle. Still, I recognize that there's also a possibility that I might end up "going west" at the end of a flight. If I do, I'd like my grieving heirs to keep a few things in mind. And I'd like to ask them not to do something.
If I do head off to the sweet hereafter as a result of an airplane accident, please keep in mind that at least I got to go out enjoying what I had been doing (except maybe for the last few seconds -- and who knows, I might even try to enjoy that once the outcome became inevitable). You can grieve for me if you must, and I guess I'd appreciate the fact that you would miss me, but I would rather that you did your best to be happy and go on with life, despite my unexpected departure from the picture. I'm sure that the world would stink a little bit more if I were gone, but there are plenty of other good things happening on the planet, and I'd hope my survivors could do their best to get their lives back to normal and try to enjoy some of those things.
I specifically do not want my family and friends to blame anyone or anything for my demise if the cause of my departure from this mortal coil was something I did myself. Friends and family, please read that again.
I try to be very careful when I go flying. I stay away from bad weather, I do my best to keep the plane well-maintained, I try not to exceed the airplane's capabilities. And I try not to do anything so stupid that it's going to hurt me or anyone else. I think I'm pretty careful. But I am human. I am capable of making mistakes. Usually my mistakes are small things, minor embarrassments and nothing more. But people do make more serious mistakes.
If someday I mess up bigtime, and it causes me to go gently (or not so gently) into that good night, I accept the blame -- and the responsibility -- for what happened.
If I fly my plane into the side of a mountain, it's probably not the mountain's fault. It's probably not the government's fault, the airplane manufacturer's fault, or anybody else's fault either. It's probably my fault. Yes, you should blame me, and nobody else. Heaven knows, I've been blamed for plenty of other mess-ups before. Toothpaste tubes left uncapped, toilet seats left in the upright position, dirty clothes left in heaps on the floor - come on, blaming me for this one really shouldn't be that much of a leap! If you simply must blame somebody or something, you can blame fate and gravity. But that's about where the list should end.
Please, don't blame the company that built the plane 40+ years ago. People blame them all the time for all sorts of things that are far, far beyond their control. They didn't build the plane with the expectation that I would fly it into a mountainside (or whatever bad thing might have happened to me). If the plane and I ended up in a crumpled heap embedded in the rocks, the airplane manufacturer is no more responsible for that than the Honda Motor Company would be if I perished after intentionally driving my car over the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Please do not sue anyone that you or your attorney might think is in some way responsible for my passing. If you suspect my demise is the fault of somebody other than myself, I suggest you ask some of my flying buddies. They will tell you the unvarnished truth. While it might make you feel better to "blame" someone else, you should know that when I go flying, I accept responsibility for the risks it involves. Of course, I don't expect the engine to stop while I'm crossing the mountains, but I know that there's a chance something might go wrong, even something very bad. If it does, I'll do my best to deal with it one way or another, because that's part of the deal we pilots make every time we get to leave the ground.
I don't want lawsuits filed against those who merely manufactured and sold the products that allowed me to enjoy flying. Unfortunately, this happens routinely, and it's one of the things that makes flying increasingly expensive, more and more complicated, and less enjoyable as time goes by.
I can say that if I fly into a rock, I am probably the one who should be blamed. If you must blame someone or something else besides me, blame the rock. But please, leave the airplane makers and other hardware manufacturers out of it. When I go, I'd prefer that those who are left behind just uncorked a nice bottle of wine (or Coke) and passed it around, remembering something good that I may have done, and leave the lawsuits out of it. Please...
A Message to My Heirs Following My Untimely Demise
None of us will live forever, try as we might. Eventually, no matter how carefully we manage our diets, exercise routines, and flying activities, one day we are each going to shuffle off into the great beyond. I'm not looking to push that day, but I accept that it's going to happen.
If I had my choice, when my time comes to mingle with the twinkling stars, I'd depart this world peacefully and without much fanfare, comfortable and surrounded by loved ones. But since I don't spend my entire life at home, laying comfortably in bed -- and since I engage in a wide variety of activities that involve some risk to life and limb (flying, motorcycles, driving, walking down the street, etc.) -- there's a chance that my demise might come in a manner and at a time that is not ideal.
I enjoy flying, and I enjoy the time I spend flying. Odds are, my end will be a pretty ordinary one, without much drama or spectacle. Still, I recognize that there's also a possibility that I might end up "going west" at the end of a flight. If I do, I'd like my grieving heirs to keep a few things in mind. And I'd like to ask them not to do something.
If I do head off to the sweet hereafter as a result of an airplane accident, please keep in mind that at least I got to go out enjoying what I had been doing (except maybe for the last few seconds -- and who knows, I might even try to enjoy that once the outcome became inevitable). You can grieve for me if you must, and I guess I'd appreciate the fact that you would miss me, but I would rather that you did your best to be happy and go on with life, despite my unexpected departure from the picture. I'm sure that the world would stink a little bit more if I were gone, but there are plenty of other good things happening on the planet, and I'd hope my survivors could do their best to get their lives back to normal and try to enjoy some of those things.
I specifically do not want my family and friends to blame anyone or anything for my demise if the cause of my departure from this mortal coil was something I did myself. Friends and family, please read that again.
I try to be very careful when I go flying. I stay away from bad weather, I do my best to keep the plane well-maintained, I try not to exceed the airplane's capabilities. And I try not to do anything so stupid that it's going to hurt me or anyone else. I think I'm pretty careful. But I am human. I am capable of making mistakes. Usually my mistakes are small things, minor embarrassments and nothing more. But people do make more serious mistakes.
If someday I mess up bigtime, and it causes me to go gently (or not so gently) into that good night, I accept the blame -- and the responsibility -- for what happened.
If I fly my plane into the side of a mountain, it's probably not the mountain's fault. It's probably not the government's fault, the airplane manufacturer's fault, or anybody else's fault either. It's probably my fault. Yes, you should blame me, and nobody else. Heaven knows, I've been blamed for plenty of other mess-ups before. Toothpaste tubes left uncapped, toilet seats left in the upright position, dirty clothes left in heaps on the floor - come on, blaming me for this one really shouldn't be that much of a leap! If you simply must blame somebody or something, you can blame fate and gravity. But that's about where the list should end.
Please, don't blame the company that built the plane 40+ years ago. People blame them all the time for all sorts of things that are far, far beyond their control. They didn't build the plane with the expectation that I would fly it into a mountainside (or whatever bad thing might have happened to me). If the plane and I ended up in a crumpled heap embedded in the rocks, the airplane manufacturer is no more responsible for that than the Honda Motor Company would be if I perished after intentionally driving my car over the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Please do not sue anyone that you or your attorney might think is in some way responsible for my passing. If you suspect my demise is the fault of somebody other than myself, I suggest you ask some of my flying buddies. They will tell you the unvarnished truth. While it might make you feel better to "blame" someone else, you should know that when I go flying, I accept responsibility for the risks it involves. Of course, I don't expect the engine to stop while I'm crossing the mountains, but I know that there's a chance something might go wrong, even something very bad. If it does, I'll do my best to deal with it one way or another, because that's part of the deal we pilots make every time we get to leave the ground.
I don't want lawsuits filed against those who merely manufactured and sold the products that allowed me to enjoy flying. Unfortunately, this happens routinely, and it's one of the things that makes flying increasingly expensive, more and more complicated, and less enjoyable as time goes by.
I can say that if I fly into a rock, I am probably the one who should be blamed. If you must blame someone or something else besides me, blame the rock. But please, leave the airplane makers and other hardware manufacturers out of it. When I go, I'd prefer that those who are left behind just uncorked a nice bottle of wine (or Coke) and passed it around, remembering something good that I may have done, and leave the lawsuits out of it. Please...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Slightly Off Day
I've said before that some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield? Well, it wasn't a bug day, and it wasn't a windshield day either. It was one of those days where things were fine, but tilted just a little to the not-quite-right side.
This morning we woke up early and headed out to the airport to give a talk and a flight to a group of highschoolers. We got three planes and three pilots brought from a few places and were ready to go. It was a kind of cold and windy day, but it would work. When the kids got there, there were four of them--apparently the other seven just didn't show up that morning. But it was fine, there were four or five adults there too, and everyone enjoyed hearing the talk. It came time for the rides, and one of the adults said that the school wouldn't let the kids go on a plane ride. I thought that might have been handy information to have prior to having three people and three planes brought out and waiting for two hours, but two of the adults decided to go for rides and they went up and enjoyed themselves, and we set the kids up with times to do Discovery Flights outside of the school system, with parental permission. Everyone enjoyed the day, the kids had fun, people took pictures, and we were done by 10:30 or 11 a.m. Not bad, not perfect, but good. :)
We went to IHOP for brunch, out to Glenndale to pick up propane, to the meat market to get steaks, and then came home and got ready for company and maybe took a nap in there too. Except for Kaylee, who seems incapable of shutting her batteries off long enough to nap. ;)
Then it was time for cheerleader tryouts. Kaylee decided she wanted to be on the All-Star cheerleader team even though I don't think she has any idea what it consists of. Last year she was on the Hot Shots team, and she didn't want to do it again, she wanted to do the next advanced one. So today was the tryouts to be placed on one or the other of the teams. I'd tried to tell her that she probably wasn't ready for the other team yet, but I told her to do her best. We were there for two hours, and they had put mats up against the windows so the parents couldn't see in. They didn't want the kids and parents "communicating" during this "Closed try-out session." (Oh, brother. Like I said, as if me sending her hand signals would make her do better than other kids at something.) After the two hours, the kids came out holding blue or red info packet. Blue for the All Stars and red for the Hot Shots. Kaylee came out holding red, crawled up into my lap like she was 3 or 4 again, put her face against my chest, and quietly cried. The things she said on the way home were full of hurt and anger. We had company waiting for us at home, and Kaylee said she didn't want to talk to anybody, so I carried her into the house and back into her room and we just laid on her bed and talked for awhile. Kaylee being Kaylee, after awhile her anger and hurt faded, and she got bored just sitting in there, so she read me a book that made her laugh, and then she came out and played with our company for awhile, enjoyed a steak dinner, and went to bed just fine. I'll let you know when I stop wishing that I could take on some of the hurt in her life, even this "little" stuff, so she won't have to.
Here's the rest of the story though, the Big Picture I can't really tell her. The metaphor for God and us and life on a small scale. These are all things I didn't really know until tonight, since they haven't been giving out any info until these tryouts. Hot Shots doesn't start until August. All Stars start NOW. The All Stars meet twice a week for over 2 hours each time, have a mandatory camp in the middle of June or July, travel to several places for competition (like Chicago, Ohio, Kentucky, southern Indiana, etc.) probably mostly on weekends. And you can't miss practices, camp, or the competition. We can't DO that. There's no way we can do that. We are gone almost every weekend during the summer/fall months before school starts and for awhile after it starts. She can't be in school plus Awanas plus tap/ballet plus gymnastics (which they still 'suggest' you do to keep them advancing), plus have almost five hours of cheer practice every week, to say nothing of how many practices/things we would miss. This simply does not fit into our lives. Of course I can't tell her that, not yet anyway, because it doesn't matter to her. All that matters was that she wanted to do something different and she was told that she wasn't good enough. She told me that she was terrible. She doesn't understand that she hasn't been doing this as long as most of the kids who are on the All Star team...she said that they had said she was the best she could be, and she told me that to her that meant that she couldn't do any better. That came up when I asked her if she had done her best, and she said yes, and I said "That is all you can ask of yourself Kaylee, to do the best you can." And she said "That's making me feel worse! They told me I couldn't do any better too! They said I was the best I was going to be and that means I can't do better!" Isn't it amazing how children's minds work? How careful you have to be with words. I'm so glad she actually tells me these things so I can TALK to her about it, instead of her just assuming that's what is meant and believing it to be true. Anyway, I think she has recovered, and I'm working on it. ;) Who was it that said that having children was like having your heart walk around outside of your body? *sigh*
We had company over tonight, had some delicious steaks and baked potatoes (oven, not microwave), lots of good stuff. And man, our chef did a Fine job of it too. Those were GOOD steaks. It was a nice relaxing end to the day. Unfortunately I started a book which meant I had to finish a book. It was a little sad, which was probably a poor choice for a Tilted Day like today, but it was actually a very good book. I finished it around 2 a.m. and now need my mind to wind down before I can go to sleep.
One line from the book had identical twin sisters and their best friend Justin talking one night, and discussing which they would rather have in life; peace or passion. One sister was always searching for more, going wayward, the other sister just wanted something simple. They asked him, and his response was that passion was riskier, but he'd choose it over peace. Personally, I don't think you have to choose one over the other. You can be at peace, can be content, and still be passionate about life. They weren't talking about passion for life, they were talking about...emptiness. Something that needed filled that they could never fill no matter what they tried. That's not the same thing...anyway. Good book regardless.
I guess I will go attempt to be tired. And may tomorrow tilt just a few degrees in the other direction. :)
This morning we woke up early and headed out to the airport to give a talk and a flight to a group of highschoolers. We got three planes and three pilots brought from a few places and were ready to go. It was a kind of cold and windy day, but it would work. When the kids got there, there were four of them--apparently the other seven just didn't show up that morning. But it was fine, there were four or five adults there too, and everyone enjoyed hearing the talk. It came time for the rides, and one of the adults said that the school wouldn't let the kids go on a plane ride. I thought that might have been handy information to have prior to having three people and three planes brought out and waiting for two hours, but two of the adults decided to go for rides and they went up and enjoyed themselves, and we set the kids up with times to do Discovery Flights outside of the school system, with parental permission. Everyone enjoyed the day, the kids had fun, people took pictures, and we were done by 10:30 or 11 a.m. Not bad, not perfect, but good. :)
We went to IHOP for brunch, out to Glenndale to pick up propane, to the meat market to get steaks, and then came home and got ready for company and maybe took a nap in there too. Except for Kaylee, who seems incapable of shutting her batteries off long enough to nap. ;)
Then it was time for cheerleader tryouts. Kaylee decided she wanted to be on the All-Star cheerleader team even though I don't think she has any idea what it consists of. Last year she was on the Hot Shots team, and she didn't want to do it again, she wanted to do the next advanced one. So today was the tryouts to be placed on one or the other of the teams. I'd tried to tell her that she probably wasn't ready for the other team yet, but I told her to do her best. We were there for two hours, and they had put mats up against the windows so the parents couldn't see in. They didn't want the kids and parents "communicating" during this "Closed try-out session." (Oh, brother. Like I said, as if me sending her hand signals would make her do better than other kids at something.) After the two hours, the kids came out holding blue or red info packet. Blue for the All Stars and red for the Hot Shots. Kaylee came out holding red, crawled up into my lap like she was 3 or 4 again, put her face against my chest, and quietly cried. The things she said on the way home were full of hurt and anger. We had company waiting for us at home, and Kaylee said she didn't want to talk to anybody, so I carried her into the house and back into her room and we just laid on her bed and talked for awhile. Kaylee being Kaylee, after awhile her anger and hurt faded, and she got bored just sitting in there, so she read me a book that made her laugh, and then she came out and played with our company for awhile, enjoyed a steak dinner, and went to bed just fine. I'll let you know when I stop wishing that I could take on some of the hurt in her life, even this "little" stuff, so she won't have to.
Here's the rest of the story though, the Big Picture I can't really tell her. The metaphor for God and us and life on a small scale. These are all things I didn't really know until tonight, since they haven't been giving out any info until these tryouts. Hot Shots doesn't start until August. All Stars start NOW. The All Stars meet twice a week for over 2 hours each time, have a mandatory camp in the middle of June or July, travel to several places for competition (like Chicago, Ohio, Kentucky, southern Indiana, etc.) probably mostly on weekends. And you can't miss practices, camp, or the competition. We can't DO that. There's no way we can do that. We are gone almost every weekend during the summer/fall months before school starts and for awhile after it starts. She can't be in school plus Awanas plus tap/ballet plus gymnastics (which they still 'suggest' you do to keep them advancing), plus have almost five hours of cheer practice every week, to say nothing of how many practices/things we would miss. This simply does not fit into our lives. Of course I can't tell her that, not yet anyway, because it doesn't matter to her. All that matters was that she wanted to do something different and she was told that she wasn't good enough. She told me that she was terrible. She doesn't understand that she hasn't been doing this as long as most of the kids who are on the All Star team...she said that they had said she was the best she could be, and she told me that to her that meant that she couldn't do any better. That came up when I asked her if she had done her best, and she said yes, and I said "That is all you can ask of yourself Kaylee, to do the best you can." And she said "That's making me feel worse! They told me I couldn't do any better too! They said I was the best I was going to be and that means I can't do better!" Isn't it amazing how children's minds work? How careful you have to be with words. I'm so glad she actually tells me these things so I can TALK to her about it, instead of her just assuming that's what is meant and believing it to be true. Anyway, I think she has recovered, and I'm working on it. ;) Who was it that said that having children was like having your heart walk around outside of your body? *sigh*
We had company over tonight, had some delicious steaks and baked potatoes (oven, not microwave), lots of good stuff. And man, our chef did a Fine job of it too. Those were GOOD steaks. It was a nice relaxing end to the day. Unfortunately I started a book which meant I had to finish a book. It was a little sad, which was probably a poor choice for a Tilted Day like today, but it was actually a very good book. I finished it around 2 a.m. and now need my mind to wind down before I can go to sleep.
One line from the book had identical twin sisters and their best friend Justin talking one night, and discussing which they would rather have in life; peace or passion. One sister was always searching for more, going wayward, the other sister just wanted something simple. They asked him, and his response was that passion was riskier, but he'd choose it over peace. Personally, I don't think you have to choose one over the other. You can be at peace, can be content, and still be passionate about life. They weren't talking about passion for life, they were talking about...emptiness. Something that needed filled that they could never fill no matter what they tried. That's not the same thing...anyway. Good book regardless.
I guess I will go attempt to be tired. And may tomorrow tilt just a few degrees in the other direction. :)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Spider Wars
Now that Spring has Sprung, I do have one problem. The 8-legged-critters are coming out in force. In my car the other day, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and when I looked up I saw that it was a little bitty spider on the ceiling of my car walking around. Have you ever tried to drive while staring at your ceiling to make sure said spider didn't drop on your head? I have. I also tried not to stare because if Kaylee saw it...Too Late. "Mommy, what is that?" "It's a little spider, dear." She starts screaming at the top of her lungs and thrashing around in her seat. "That's not helping me, dear." Screaming. "Stop Screaming Kaylee! He's just a little thing, he can't hurt you!" (Irony alert, yes.) Screaming. Meanwhile, I'm screaming too, she just can't hear inside my head. I'm more screaming at it dropping on me. So I hunt around in the car, and I find a book I was reading, and I smashed the book up on the ceiling of my car at the spider. At this point, Kaylee stops screaming, but I am now trying to drive staring at the book to make sure a spider doesn't come crawling around the side of it and onto my hand. Kaylee says "What are you doing?" I say "I can't take the book down." "Why not?" "Because what if it isn't dead and as soon as I lower the book, it drops?" It took me two miles of trying to make turns and drive one-handed with my other hand planted firmly on the book on the ceiling of my car. The spider was indeed flattened on my book, and I was proud of my calm under pressure. ;)
So I suppose I have to tell you Round Two, in which I didn't have quite as much valor. I'm sitting here on my couch tonight, relaxing, when there was motion on the floor under Steve's chair. It was a VERY BIG BLACK SPIDER. I mean, not a little one, not a medium one, they may grow them bigger in Texas but that was a Very Big Spider for our area. Oh man, I am still freaked out. Steve got up at my, uh, reaction, and then he's laughing at me as he has to move his chair out to get to this thing. He tried to squish it and it GOT AWAY and ran for it and it was Disgusting nasty nasty nasty. He finally killed it, by squishing it with a paper towel with his FINGERS, and I haven't stopped twitching yet. I have PTSD. Post Traumatic Spider Disorder. I think there are more of them lurking under my seat, on the head rest behind me.
Kaylee asked me why God made spiders, and I said to eat all the little bugs. She said she'd rather have the little bugs. I said she wouldn't if they ran over the world. But I'll bet I could find other ways to kill the little bugs. I'm with her.
Spider Wars Tally; Arachnids: 0, Stants: 2
Ugh.
So I suppose I have to tell you Round Two, in which I didn't have quite as much valor. I'm sitting here on my couch tonight, relaxing, when there was motion on the floor under Steve's chair. It was a VERY BIG BLACK SPIDER. I mean, not a little one, not a medium one, they may grow them bigger in Texas but that was a Very Big Spider for our area. Oh man, I am still freaked out. Steve got up at my, uh, reaction, and then he's laughing at me as he has to move his chair out to get to this thing. He tried to squish it and it GOT AWAY and ran for it and it was Disgusting nasty nasty nasty. He finally killed it, by squishing it with a paper towel with his FINGERS, and I haven't stopped twitching yet. I have PTSD. Post Traumatic Spider Disorder. I think there are more of them lurking under my seat, on the head rest behind me.
Kaylee asked me why God made spiders, and I said to eat all the little bugs. She said she'd rather have the little bugs. I said she wouldn't if they ran over the world. But I'll bet I could find other ways to kill the little bugs. I'm with her.
Spider Wars Tally; Arachnids: 0, Stants: 2
Ugh.
Winding Down
Well, Friday is winding down successfully. Steve is out flying and I'm sure having fun since the winds are upwards of 30 knots (that's a lot). Tomorrow morning we fly a group of high schoolers and give a little aviation talk, and tomorrow afternoon Kaylee has cheerleader try-outs. Girls from I think 4 years old on up through high school are "trying out" for positions on the various cheer teams they have there. We will be there approximately two hours. I hope she does her best and is happy with where she ends up.
Kaylee and I had a dinner stand-off tonight. I gave her a choice between two healthy meals and she wanted cereal. (She's lucky that I hadn't just made one and put it in front of her-she actually had a choice this time!) I said she got to pick one of the two other meals, and that she wouldn't be eating anything else until she ate one of these two. She said "then I won't eat anything." See, she hasn't learned the Cardinal Rule of Stubbornness yet, which goes something like this: You can't draw your line in the sand on something in which, even if you win, you will lose. Since I can put that same meal in front of her all weekend long until she eats it, and since she won't starve to death over the weekend in the meantime, even if she "wins" for the rest of the night, she is miserably hungry. Me? I had my dinner, I'm quite content thank you. These are the things I am good at teaching my daughter, since I am so familiar with it... The Cardinal Rules of Stubbornness. Or as Kenny Rogers put it, you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away... ;) And yes, since some of you will be wondering, she held out for two hours, and then she picked one and started eating it. ;)
Obama is in Kokomo today. Apparently he tried to play basketball and isn't any better at basketball than he was at bowling in Pennsylvania, where he got a score of 38, which is even worse than *I* do. Good thing he's not campaigning on a platform of sports. lol I don't know the last time a presidential candidate came to Kokomo...
I was saddened to hear that a pregnant woman who was shot-in the stomach-during a bank hold-up lost her twin daughters today. They'd been hanging on for the last couple of days and supposedly were fine, not hit by the bullet. Mom is in critical but stable condition too, but early this morning the twin girls died, hours apart. The woman was only 5 months along, so the bank robber who deliberately fired into her uterus can't be charged with manslaughter or murder because the babies weren't 'viable' on their own yet and thus not classified as 'human'. I know, it's amazing how sometime between 5 and 7 months those things in there change from apparently plant/animal/mineral/rock into human just like magic. Not human, not human, not human, okay NOW human. *sigh* One woman came on tv and said "It's such a gray area, they wouldn't have lived if they had been born now anyway." Well they wouldn't have been 'born now', and would have lived hopefully long and prosperous lives together, if they hadn't been SHOT AT at 5 months. *double sigh*
Well, anyway, time to get Kaylee ready for bed and ready for tomorrow and start winding down a little. Hope you all have a good weekend. :)
Kaylee and I had a dinner stand-off tonight. I gave her a choice between two healthy meals and she wanted cereal. (She's lucky that I hadn't just made one and put it in front of her-she actually had a choice this time!) I said she got to pick one of the two other meals, and that she wouldn't be eating anything else until she ate one of these two. She said "then I won't eat anything." See, she hasn't learned the Cardinal Rule of Stubbornness yet, which goes something like this: You can't draw your line in the sand on something in which, even if you win, you will lose. Since I can put that same meal in front of her all weekend long until she eats it, and since she won't starve to death over the weekend in the meantime, even if she "wins" for the rest of the night, she is miserably hungry. Me? I had my dinner, I'm quite content thank you. These are the things I am good at teaching my daughter, since I am so familiar with it... The Cardinal Rules of Stubbornness. Or as Kenny Rogers put it, you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away... ;) And yes, since some of you will be wondering, she held out for two hours, and then she picked one and started eating it. ;)
Obama is in Kokomo today. Apparently he tried to play basketball and isn't any better at basketball than he was at bowling in Pennsylvania, where he got a score of 38, which is even worse than *I* do. Good thing he's not campaigning on a platform of sports. lol I don't know the last time a presidential candidate came to Kokomo...
I was saddened to hear that a pregnant woman who was shot-in the stomach-during a bank hold-up lost her twin daughters today. They'd been hanging on for the last couple of days and supposedly were fine, not hit by the bullet. Mom is in critical but stable condition too, but early this morning the twin girls died, hours apart. The woman was only 5 months along, so the bank robber who deliberately fired into her uterus can't be charged with manslaughter or murder because the babies weren't 'viable' on their own yet and thus not classified as 'human'. I know, it's amazing how sometime between 5 and 7 months those things in there change from apparently plant/animal/mineral/rock into human just like magic. Not human, not human, not human, okay NOW human. *sigh* One woman came on tv and said "It's such a gray area, they wouldn't have lived if they had been born now anyway." Well they wouldn't have been 'born now', and would have lived hopefully long and prosperous lives together, if they hadn't been SHOT AT at 5 months. *double sigh*
Well, anyway, time to get Kaylee ready for bed and ready for tomorrow and start winding down a little. Hope you all have a good weekend. :)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Peaceful, Quiet Flight
Here's another video. This one isn't "exciting", it is peaceful, and I enjoyed the song. Another facet of flying...the lower slower less flashy stuff. One thing I have to say here though--you'd better know the area you are flying over very well. Not too long ago an airplane hit wires that crossed a river the guy was following. This day and age you can't really do this unless you know the area quite well and it isn't around any kind of populated area at all. But that's too serious for such a calming video, so if you are in a peaceful mood, enjoy!
Thursday Revisited
I'm very sleepy, so I claim immunity on whether this makes sense or not. ;)
I went out to Glenndale this morning and entered time sheets. It is getting close to the end of the month, and our airplanes are flying SO much that we're trying to save some time at the end of the month by getting stuff entered a little early. Lunch was at Culvers, and then I came home and did some work until it was time to pick up Kaylee from school and take her to gymnastics. She passed several things in gymnastics, and she got 2 out of 3 points she needs for her cartwheels, which are I THINK the last thing she needs to pass before she can move out of Level 1 and into Level 2.
I read a book today during gymnastics. It was given to me by a fellow pilot. It's called "Maggie Ray: World War II Air Force Pilot", written by her daughter Marsha Wright. It's really a very interesting story about a specific woman in the WASP program during WWII. She learned to fly in a J-3 Cub after catching the bug as a tiny little girl; and then went on to fly for the military, ferrying airplanes, dealing with emergencies, hopping in perfectly strange very large airplanes with minimal checkouts, etc. with this group of women pilots. They weren't allowed to tell people what they were doing because the military was embarrassed that they were forced to use women to fly planes around and didn't want the enemy to know they were that "desperate" for national security purposes. So they weren't allowed to be sent off with parties or fanfare at railway stations like the soldiers or other pilots, weren't allowed to have their names posted in the papers like the soldiers or other pilots, and so on. The story was really about her love of flying and all the various airplanes and adventures she got to deal with, and it was pretty interesting. At the end, as you probably know, all the ladies got letters that basically said "instead of helping our men, you are now going to start replacing them and we can't have that. This group is being disbanded as of this date, you'll get a certificate for helping us out, so long." Some women were all around the world and had to find their own way home at their own cost, and once they got home they had to just go get married or go work as a secretary. Getting a job as a civilian pilot just was not happening. Some ladies she knew became "stewardesses" (better known as "flight attendants" today) just so they could stay in the air, even if it meant serving drinks in the back rows. I can't imagine something like that happening to me. Maggie ended up getting her instructor rating, though at first nobody would fly with her. She's now 85 or so, and has raced across the world, has flown the space shuttle simulator, and has over 40,000 hours of flight time. Amazing. I thought it was kind of neat; when she was a teenager, she told her dad she wanted to learn to fly, and he didn't say a word. She was disappointed, but a few days later she was in the car with him and said "Dad, I want to learn to fly" and he said "I've been checking into it, and I think this is the best place. You can take the car once a week and do this, and you'll have to pay for it yourself" etc. She said "Do you think I can actually do that? I've never heard of a girl flying." He said "Maggie Ray, I think you can do anything you put your mind to" and away she went. Pretty cool, particularly for that day and age. :)
Tonight Steve, Kaylee, myself, and the Riders went over to a friend's new house; they'd just moved into the place, and it is a Gorgeous home. Several stories tall, wide open windows, huge cathedral ceilings, spiral staircases, marble and tile floors, beautiful lighting. The bathrooms (and bedrooms) all have flat screen televisions in them, there's an indoor courtyard that looks like a Venice cafe, several fireplaces, and downstairs is an awesome room that has a bar area with a television behind a two-way mirror, so when the TV is off, it turns back into a mirror. We watched part of "Top Gun" on it with the surround sound. :) There's a sound-dampened music room for the band to practice in, a wine cellar, a theater room with staggered seating, an exercise room, just all sorts of really cool areas. There are wall units in every room where you can access all the house lighting, security, the internet, whatever you want. It's just a drop-dead beautiful home, and we had a good time hanging out and talking flying and exploring the house. When Kaylee first saw it, she said "WHHHOOOOOOA! I could get LOST in here!" And she proceeded to try to do just that, wandering up and down all the hallways and stair cases and little areas. She had a blast...until it was time to leave. She wants to stay in the Guest Suite area, which has its own bathroom, two televisions, three beds, a fireplace, a gaming center, and so on. I figured she would hide somewhere when it was time to go, so I sneaked up on her so she couldn't. ;)
All in all it was a busy but enjoyable day. :)
I went out to Glenndale this morning and entered time sheets. It is getting close to the end of the month, and our airplanes are flying SO much that we're trying to save some time at the end of the month by getting stuff entered a little early. Lunch was at Culvers, and then I came home and did some work until it was time to pick up Kaylee from school and take her to gymnastics. She passed several things in gymnastics, and she got 2 out of 3 points she needs for her cartwheels, which are I THINK the last thing she needs to pass before she can move out of Level 1 and into Level 2.
I read a book today during gymnastics. It was given to me by a fellow pilot. It's called "Maggie Ray: World War II Air Force Pilot", written by her daughter Marsha Wright. It's really a very interesting story about a specific woman in the WASP program during WWII. She learned to fly in a J-3 Cub after catching the bug as a tiny little girl; and then went on to fly for the military, ferrying airplanes, dealing with emergencies, hopping in perfectly strange very large airplanes with minimal checkouts, etc. with this group of women pilots. They weren't allowed to tell people what they were doing because the military was embarrassed that they were forced to use women to fly planes around and didn't want the enemy to know they were that "desperate" for national security purposes. So they weren't allowed to be sent off with parties or fanfare at railway stations like the soldiers or other pilots, weren't allowed to have their names posted in the papers like the soldiers or other pilots, and so on. The story was really about her love of flying and all the various airplanes and adventures she got to deal with, and it was pretty interesting. At the end, as you probably know, all the ladies got letters that basically said "instead of helping our men, you are now going to start replacing them and we can't have that. This group is being disbanded as of this date, you'll get a certificate for helping us out, so long." Some women were all around the world and had to find their own way home at their own cost, and once they got home they had to just go get married or go work as a secretary. Getting a job as a civilian pilot just was not happening. Some ladies she knew became "stewardesses" (better known as "flight attendants" today) just so they could stay in the air, even if it meant serving drinks in the back rows. I can't imagine something like that happening to me. Maggie ended up getting her instructor rating, though at first nobody would fly with her. She's now 85 or so, and has raced across the world, has flown the space shuttle simulator, and has over 40,000 hours of flight time. Amazing. I thought it was kind of neat; when she was a teenager, she told her dad she wanted to learn to fly, and he didn't say a word. She was disappointed, but a few days later she was in the car with him and said "Dad, I want to learn to fly" and he said "I've been checking into it, and I think this is the best place. You can take the car once a week and do this, and you'll have to pay for it yourself" etc. She said "Do you think I can actually do that? I've never heard of a girl flying." He said "Maggie Ray, I think you can do anything you put your mind to" and away she went. Pretty cool, particularly for that day and age. :)
Tonight Steve, Kaylee, myself, and the Riders went over to a friend's new house; they'd just moved into the place, and it is a Gorgeous home. Several stories tall, wide open windows, huge cathedral ceilings, spiral staircases, marble and tile floors, beautiful lighting. The bathrooms (and bedrooms) all have flat screen televisions in them, there's an indoor courtyard that looks like a Venice cafe, several fireplaces, and downstairs is an awesome room that has a bar area with a television behind a two-way mirror, so when the TV is off, it turns back into a mirror. We watched part of "Top Gun" on it with the surround sound. :) There's a sound-dampened music room for the band to practice in, a wine cellar, a theater room with staggered seating, an exercise room, just all sorts of really cool areas. There are wall units in every room where you can access all the house lighting, security, the internet, whatever you want. It's just a drop-dead beautiful home, and we had a good time hanging out and talking flying and exploring the house. When Kaylee first saw it, she said "WHHHOOOOOOA! I could get LOST in here!" And she proceeded to try to do just that, wandering up and down all the hallways and stair cases and little areas. She had a blast...until it was time to leave. She wants to stay in the Guest Suite area, which has its own bathroom, two televisions, three beds, a fireplace, a gaming center, and so on. I figured she would hide somewhere when it was time to go, so I sneaked up on her so she couldn't. ;)
All in all it was a busy but enjoyable day. :)
Ahhhhh
This is a YouTube video that I enjoyed watching. The woman is Svetlana Kapanina, a Russian aerobatic pilot. Of course for most of the pilot community, the fact that she is "hot" is almost always said right before or right after "and oh yeah, she can fly too." Anyway, the flying is amazing. I love the formation sequence around 4:32. The power of these aircraft and the skill of the pilots handling them always makes me smile. I'd love to do that level of flying if I had the plane, the money, the training and the skill. Since I'll never have #1, #2 or #3, I won't have to worry about #4. ;)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Spring
I just can't help it, I am in a good mood whether I want to be or not. I've been in an annoyingly good mood for about a week here. The other day as I was sitting out at the concrete table at Glenndale, outside, watching planes fly around, listening to mowers, smelling freshly cut grass on my way home, soaking up the sun, I just thought "Ahhhhhh". Spring! It was 77 degrees today. The trees and flowers are all in bloom, the birds are chirping, the cats are dozing on the deck; it doesn't get any better than that, sorry.
The only thing marring my Spring is that no matter where I have driven on the back roads these last few days, I have ended up behind a very large piece of farm machinery that I can't go around, and have been slowed to a crawl for quite awhile. I mean EVERY time. On the way to Kokomo, on the way to Glenndale, on the way to M.B. to deliver a computer...wherever I've gone I have ended up having to detour around due to the action going on in the fields right now. This is very good for the farmers and for our food and economy-I just wish they could drive a little faster. ;)
Kaylee instructed me on how to do her hair this morning. She wanted pigtails, but with the ends looped back through so that her hair was like a fairy. She had to explain it to me a couple of times, but finally I got it figured out and done to her satisfaction. She is a girl who certainly knows what she wants!
I got to ride in Nathan's Corvette to lunch today, which gave me a little thrill for the day. Windows down, motor rumbling, immediate acceleration...what's not to smile about? :) After lunch we went out to Kokomo, got some SMA stuff in Chuck's truck to take to storage, and I flew KS back to Glenndale where it should be stationed from now on. A bit later I picked Kaylee up from school, ran home for a minute, then we had to head right back out to Glenndale.
The Boys (including Steve) are in Lafayette tonight attending an Aviation Safety Seminar and having a nice dinner out until pretty late, and I had a flight review to give. So Kaylee did her homework and rode on a scooter while I flew in the Citabria with a gentleman. The winds were at that annoying point where they can't decide which way they are blowing, so one minute you will have a crosswind that is a headwind (good) and the next minute you will have a crosswind that is a tailwind (not so good). Quartering tailwinds aren't the best winds to land a taildragger in, but fortunately 1) they weren't that strong, 2) this is a forgiving taildragger, and 3) well, we managed just fine. ;) I don't usually talk about people I fly with because this is the world wide web and one never knows who could be looking. But this gentleman hadn't landed an airplane in 14 years, and he went up and made better landings than a lot of people who fly all the time would, particularly in the slightly tricky wind conditions we had. It was an enjoyable evening.
After signing him off, a woman stopped in who was looking to get her daughter set up with flight lessons. The little girl got the bug at age 9, and has been put off for two years, and does not wish to be put off any longer. :) She's already a brown belt in Karate, is a grade ahead of her age at school, plays violin and does several other things very well; she's an achiever and a go-getter, and she is tired of having to wait on the flying. If she waits until she's 14, she can join the kids' program and get lessons at almost half the cost. Otherwise, it'll be full cost even though she's only 11. The mom asked if an instructor would fly with her anyway, and I said yes, gave her my card and information, and she's fairly sure she'll be getting her started coming up. She wants to get her pilot's license prior to getting her driver's license. (It's 17 to get your pilot's license, isn't it 16 to get your driver's license?) If she does start, I have a feeling she will be quite an accomplished pilot by the time she is old enough to actually become a legal pilot. I always love to hear stories of kids bitten by the flying bug. :)
Kaylee is on a nature hike at the park this evening with her Awanas group, and I think I'm going to go relax for my quiet evening ahead! The door to the deck is open so I can smell the Spring breeze. Ahhhh...
The only thing marring my Spring is that no matter where I have driven on the back roads these last few days, I have ended up behind a very large piece of farm machinery that I can't go around, and have been slowed to a crawl for quite awhile. I mean EVERY time. On the way to Kokomo, on the way to Glenndale, on the way to M.B. to deliver a computer...wherever I've gone I have ended up having to detour around due to the action going on in the fields right now. This is very good for the farmers and for our food and economy-I just wish they could drive a little faster. ;)
Kaylee instructed me on how to do her hair this morning. She wanted pigtails, but with the ends looped back through so that her hair was like a fairy. She had to explain it to me a couple of times, but finally I got it figured out and done to her satisfaction. She is a girl who certainly knows what she wants!
I got to ride in Nathan's Corvette to lunch today, which gave me a little thrill for the day. Windows down, motor rumbling, immediate acceleration...what's not to smile about? :) After lunch we went out to Kokomo, got some SMA stuff in Chuck's truck to take to storage, and I flew KS back to Glenndale where it should be stationed from now on. A bit later I picked Kaylee up from school, ran home for a minute, then we had to head right back out to Glenndale.
The Boys (including Steve) are in Lafayette tonight attending an Aviation Safety Seminar and having a nice dinner out until pretty late, and I had a flight review to give. So Kaylee did her homework and rode on a scooter while I flew in the Citabria with a gentleman. The winds were at that annoying point where they can't decide which way they are blowing, so one minute you will have a crosswind that is a headwind (good) and the next minute you will have a crosswind that is a tailwind (not so good). Quartering tailwinds aren't the best winds to land a taildragger in, but fortunately 1) they weren't that strong, 2) this is a forgiving taildragger, and 3) well, we managed just fine. ;) I don't usually talk about people I fly with because this is the world wide web and one never knows who could be looking. But this gentleman hadn't landed an airplane in 14 years, and he went up and made better landings than a lot of people who fly all the time would, particularly in the slightly tricky wind conditions we had. It was an enjoyable evening.
After signing him off, a woman stopped in who was looking to get her daughter set up with flight lessons. The little girl got the bug at age 9, and has been put off for two years, and does not wish to be put off any longer. :) She's already a brown belt in Karate, is a grade ahead of her age at school, plays violin and does several other things very well; she's an achiever and a go-getter, and she is tired of having to wait on the flying. If she waits until she's 14, she can join the kids' program and get lessons at almost half the cost. Otherwise, it'll be full cost even though she's only 11. The mom asked if an instructor would fly with her anyway, and I said yes, gave her my card and information, and she's fairly sure she'll be getting her started coming up. She wants to get her pilot's license prior to getting her driver's license. (It's 17 to get your pilot's license, isn't it 16 to get your driver's license?) If she does start, I have a feeling she will be quite an accomplished pilot by the time she is old enough to actually become a legal pilot. I always love to hear stories of kids bitten by the flying bug. :)
Kaylee is on a nature hike at the park this evening with her Awanas group, and I think I'm going to go relax for my quiet evening ahead! The door to the deck is open so I can smell the Spring breeze. Ahhhh...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hmmm
I don't feel like chatting, so I'll keep it short and sweet. ;)
I flew this morning, doing some Citabria stuff from the back/instructor seat. I had another instructor with me, and we had a good time.
I ran a few errands, made a few phone calls, and got home in time to do a couple of things before a meeting with the finance committee of the school board for almost two hours. Actually it was kind of enjoyable.
After school today, Kaylee's teacher pulled me aside and told me that she had taken a couple of the kids' art to a high school "Art Festival", where Kaylee's art actually won a ribbon. They didn't have 'places', but they also didn't give ribbons out to everyone, so her drawing actually won recognition. It's really very pretty. I'll try to take a photo of it and post it later, but the photo won't show the shimmery surface over the top of the ice skating pond. She did a great job with it!
I flew this morning, doing some Citabria stuff from the back/instructor seat. I had another instructor with me, and we had a good time.
I ran a few errands, made a few phone calls, and got home in time to do a couple of things before a meeting with the finance committee of the school board for almost two hours. Actually it was kind of enjoyable.
After school today, Kaylee's teacher pulled me aside and told me that she had taken a couple of the kids' art to a high school "Art Festival", where Kaylee's art actually won a ribbon. They didn't have 'places', but they also didn't give ribbons out to everyone, so her drawing actually won recognition. It's really very pretty. I'll try to take a photo of it and post it later, but the photo won't show the shimmery surface over the top of the ice skating pond. She did a great job with it!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Truth is Stranger than Fiction...or Is It?
Also known as "I couldn't make this stuff up." You'll see.
The day started with us all getting up extra early for Kaylee's field trip at school today. Her class went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, and they were leaving about 30-40 minutes early. On my way home from dropping her off, as the car I was behind passed an intersection, a black car I couldn't see turned right into me. He apparently hadn't seen me either, and he just was going for it to cross the intersection. I slammed on the brakes and drove off into the grass, and he missed me by...very little. Fortunately nobody was behind me and I had somewhere to go to get out of his way. And at least my reflexes are still good. More interesting to me, I actually screamed. I just don't generally do that unless a close encounter with a spider is happening, and that's usually more a high-pitched strangled sound. ;) Since I didn't yell when the Oldsmobile was hit (also by someone pulling in front of me at an intersection by the way), I figured it was more the trauma of the idea of somebody hitting my Chrysler. ;) In all seriousness, I was glad Kaylee wasn't with me, because it took her most of a year to recover from being in the Oldsmobile when it was hit, and it wasn't even hit that hard. For months every time I applied the brakes just a little harder than normal or made a turn just a little more sharp than normal, she got scared, and we had conversations about fires and cars and accidents forEver.
After I dropped her off, I came back home. I was planning on waiting for Steve to finish up and then get ready myself. What actually happened was I fell fast asleep. I've certainly been more tired than normal lately. Better get back to taking my vitamins I guess. :)
I ran errands, then went out to Glenndale so Chuck could fly me to Kokomo so I could bring the Decathlon back into Glenndale. Convoluted, but that's how many of our airplane swaps go. :) We got that done, then went to Applebees for lunch with the two Steves, Nathan, his brother and friend, and Chuck.
After lunch was my "encounter" of the different kind. I flew three people from an organization around to a few places in Tipton and Howard counties, and they photographed various fields and areas. They were from "Mufon", which stands for "Mutual UFO Network". You heard me. They are investigating the "boom" that happened last Wednesday night, and they do not believe the official version that it was an F-16 sonic boom. Sonic booms are double booms and this was one boom, and they investigated the local air bases and found that all military aircraft were down and parked prior to the boom happening, though one of the air bases claims it was their F-16. They did a satellite search of the area's fields, and found a few things they thought looked odd, went to several of them in person, and then wanted to fly over them and get some aerial photos. So that is what I did. One of them is a student pilot with about 100 hours of flight time and an aerial photographer, the second is retired Air Force, and the third was his wife. We were full of fuel and had four of us, so I said I was not going to be going as slowly, steeply, or low as I otherwise might, and everyone agreed that was a good plan. I flew over the pre-determined areas, and then when they found what they were looking for (areas with black burn marks, circles, a hole in the field, etc.), I would do a fairly tight right-hand circle in a slip/skid over the area so they could get the photos they needed.
When we met, the gentlemen introduced themselves with their credentials, and had a laptop where we went over the mission on the ground ahead of time. The one asked if I'd ever flown for aerial photography before, I said yes, and then decided since they had given credentials, I'd let them know they weren't going up with a student pilot or something, and I told them mine, too. I'm well aware that I don't "Look" like a pilot, and in fact have gotten some great reactions over the years from customers who didn't know ahead of time who their pilot was going to be. Remind me to share some of those sometime. ;) Anyway, these guys were fine, and after we briefed, we headed on out and did our thing.
The two in the back didn't have headsets, but after I landed, I heard the gentleman up front turn around and say "See, I told you women make better pilots than men." Apparently they'd had a conversation about it prior to coming out after I had called them back to set up the time. They guy in back said "I've flown with both men and women who were good and not so good." Front said "Yes, but women just have more finesse with the controls." Back agreed then said that men were more likely to get themselves killed by hot dogging. I took off my headset and piped in with "There are timid and aggressive men and timid and aggressive women, but if one was doing a general characterization, I'd say I've found that men are more aggressive and have more difficulty asking for clarification if they don't 'get' something, and women are easier on the controls but don't always have the confidence they need to have if something out of the ordinary happens. But those are just generalizations and people don't fit inside that all the time." It was funny, when I rolled out on landing, Back said "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying Laura Air. We the judges would like to award that landing a 9.7, 9.8 and 9.9 respectively! Nicely done indeed!"
Actually, we had a good time. They have said that they would definitely like to use me again in the future for any other unusual occurrences in the area, which they say happen at least every Spring, so I presume I'll see them again.
So, today I flew several UFO hunters around central Indiana so they could take photographic evidence of unusual occurrences happening in our area. What did you do today? ;)
At least life is rarely dull around here...
The day started with us all getting up extra early for Kaylee's field trip at school today. Her class went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, and they were leaving about 30-40 minutes early. On my way home from dropping her off, as the car I was behind passed an intersection, a black car I couldn't see turned right into me. He apparently hadn't seen me either, and he just was going for it to cross the intersection. I slammed on the brakes and drove off into the grass, and he missed me by...very little. Fortunately nobody was behind me and I had somewhere to go to get out of his way. And at least my reflexes are still good. More interesting to me, I actually screamed. I just don't generally do that unless a close encounter with a spider is happening, and that's usually more a high-pitched strangled sound. ;) Since I didn't yell when the Oldsmobile was hit (also by someone pulling in front of me at an intersection by the way), I figured it was more the trauma of the idea of somebody hitting my Chrysler. ;) In all seriousness, I was glad Kaylee wasn't with me, because it took her most of a year to recover from being in the Oldsmobile when it was hit, and it wasn't even hit that hard. For months every time I applied the brakes just a little harder than normal or made a turn just a little more sharp than normal, she got scared, and we had conversations about fires and cars and accidents forEver.
After I dropped her off, I came back home. I was planning on waiting for Steve to finish up and then get ready myself. What actually happened was I fell fast asleep. I've certainly been more tired than normal lately. Better get back to taking my vitamins I guess. :)
I ran errands, then went out to Glenndale so Chuck could fly me to Kokomo so I could bring the Decathlon back into Glenndale. Convoluted, but that's how many of our airplane swaps go. :) We got that done, then went to Applebees for lunch with the two Steves, Nathan, his brother and friend, and Chuck.
After lunch was my "encounter" of the different kind. I flew three people from an organization around to a few places in Tipton and Howard counties, and they photographed various fields and areas. They were from "Mufon", which stands for "Mutual UFO Network". You heard me. They are investigating the "boom" that happened last Wednesday night, and they do not believe the official version that it was an F-16 sonic boom. Sonic booms are double booms and this was one boom, and they investigated the local air bases and found that all military aircraft were down and parked prior to the boom happening, though one of the air bases claims it was their F-16. They did a satellite search of the area's fields, and found a few things they thought looked odd, went to several of them in person, and then wanted to fly over them and get some aerial photos. So that is what I did. One of them is a student pilot with about 100 hours of flight time and an aerial photographer, the second is retired Air Force, and the third was his wife. We were full of fuel and had four of us, so I said I was not going to be going as slowly, steeply, or low as I otherwise might, and everyone agreed that was a good plan. I flew over the pre-determined areas, and then when they found what they were looking for (areas with black burn marks, circles, a hole in the field, etc.), I would do a fairly tight right-hand circle in a slip/skid over the area so they could get the photos they needed.
When we met, the gentlemen introduced themselves with their credentials, and had a laptop where we went over the mission on the ground ahead of time. The one asked if I'd ever flown for aerial photography before, I said yes, and then decided since they had given credentials, I'd let them know they weren't going up with a student pilot or something, and I told them mine, too. I'm well aware that I don't "Look" like a pilot, and in fact have gotten some great reactions over the years from customers who didn't know ahead of time who their pilot was going to be. Remind me to share some of those sometime. ;) Anyway, these guys were fine, and after we briefed, we headed on out and did our thing.
The two in the back didn't have headsets, but after I landed, I heard the gentleman up front turn around and say "See, I told you women make better pilots than men." Apparently they'd had a conversation about it prior to coming out after I had called them back to set up the time. They guy in back said "I've flown with both men and women who were good and not so good." Front said "Yes, but women just have more finesse with the controls." Back agreed then said that men were more likely to get themselves killed by hot dogging. I took off my headset and piped in with "There are timid and aggressive men and timid and aggressive women, but if one was doing a general characterization, I'd say I've found that men are more aggressive and have more difficulty asking for clarification if they don't 'get' something, and women are easier on the controls but don't always have the confidence they need to have if something out of the ordinary happens. But those are just generalizations and people don't fit inside that all the time." It was funny, when I rolled out on landing, Back said "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying Laura Air. We the judges would like to award that landing a 9.7, 9.8 and 9.9 respectively! Nicely done indeed!"
Actually, we had a good time. They have said that they would definitely like to use me again in the future for any other unusual occurrences in the area, which they say happen at least every Spring, so I presume I'll see them again.
So, today I flew several UFO hunters around central Indiana so they could take photographic evidence of unusual occurrences happening in our area. What did you do today? ;)
At least life is rarely dull around here...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Working Out, Snoozing, Speed and Fear
This morning I got up early to head out to the airport. I had some small things to do for Steve like putting the 172SP away in its hangar out of Nathan's so it would be ready for a potential trip today, putting stuff in the 150's hangar, getting a microfiber towel for the Decathlon's hangar, that kind of stuff. And then at 8:30 I went up flying for almost two hours. It was actually quite a work-out; one I enjoyed and needed. I'm working on something in general and something in specific. The general I'm fine on; I don't quite have the specific where I want it yet, but I've got the basic idea and just need to practice until it clicks into that smooth/proficient arena.
After I was done flying, I met up with Steve and Kaylee at Steak 'n Shake for lunch, and we headed home. Steve went out and started working on the snow blower, the motorcycle, the Corvette, all that manly garage stuff that guys do on weekends, and Kaylee was helping him. They also had a fire out there in the fire pit for awhile too. As for me, I laid down on the couch and promptly passed out for a couple of hours. I was asleep. I didn't hear a thing for quite awhile. Finally Kaylee came in and touched my arm and had her face in mine and I jumped a foot. She said "Grandpa is the same way-if you touch him when he's asleep he might freak out like you. Why is that?" I was too tired to come up with an explanation beyond "because it startles us when we are asleep and someone bumps us", but that seemed to be good enough. :) So Kaylee climbed on top of me, we talked for a minute, and then next thing I knew, SHE was fast asleep!
I had been ready to get up, but once she fell asleep on me it was a little hard to decide to wake her up. So I just lay there and relaxed and listened to her snore for awhile. It reminded me of when she and Devon were both little, and I would lay on the couch or kick my chair back to recline, and I would lay them on my chest just over my heart, and watch them sleep. They both seemed to sleep like rocks like that, very peacefully and contentedly and...safely. Now she practically covers my whole body with hers, she's getting so tall. Anyway, she slept for a good 40 minutes. My phone rang and it didn't wake her up. Dulce climbed on top of us both and walked around on her back before finding a spot to settle down in (monkey pile on Laura now!) and that didn't wake her up either. At this point I had been lying there quite awhile myself, wide awake, but I still couldn't bring myself to wake her up. Finally she sat straight up, like someone had turned her switch from "Standby" to "On", and she said "How long was I here?" Me, I wake up slowly with things winding up and gears slowly turning until they get up to speed. She is either full on or full off. Amazing! We sat there on the couch and cuddled and talked for another 20 minutes before she decided it was time to go do something interesting.
We invited her next door neighbor friend to come play for awhile, and Kaylee enjoyed that. It was a quick play date, but sometimes quick ones are the best-no time to get in disagreements. ;)
Kaylee is feeling better and hasn't had a fever in a day and a half. I don't know what that was exactly, but it doesn't seem to have been much of anything, thankfully.
Steve and Kaylee took the Corvette out and about today, and that's what they were driving when they met me at Steak 'n Shake. Kaylee said Daddy didn't drive fast enough for her today, and she couldn't wait until she could drive the car. I said "You're going to drive it safely, aren't you." Steve laughed and Kaylee said "I'm on Daddy's side, I want to drive it FAST." Mom warred with Person as finally I said "Okay, don't get me wrong, I happen to like fast things too, but I want you to be safe." Besides, there's that little thing called a "speed limit". ;) Ironic, isn't it? I can see some day my daughter thinking I don't "get it" about things like that. Me who used to think that living in Germany would be most excellent where they had stretches of road (ah, Autobahn!) with no speed limit. Me who finds driving five miles under the speed limit an exquisite form of personal torture. Me whose smile increases in width in direct proportion to the speed/power of the aircraft in which I am sitting. Ah, well. Here's the deal. If she does end up being like us in this regard, she will get proper training, and I suppose I'll get a dose of my own medicine by then having to not worry about her like my mom doesn't worry about me. ;)
---------------------------------------------------
Funny I ended on the word 'worry', as that was what my quotes for the day were about. Not relating to my previous conversation really, but certainly good to keep in mind for living life:
"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do."
~Pope John XXIII
"The fear is worse than the pain."
~Shannon Bahr
"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."
~Helen Keller
"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death."
~Betty Bender
After I was done flying, I met up with Steve and Kaylee at Steak 'n Shake for lunch, and we headed home. Steve went out and started working on the snow blower, the motorcycle, the Corvette, all that manly garage stuff that guys do on weekends, and Kaylee was helping him. They also had a fire out there in the fire pit for awhile too. As for me, I laid down on the couch and promptly passed out for a couple of hours. I was asleep. I didn't hear a thing for quite awhile. Finally Kaylee came in and touched my arm and had her face in mine and I jumped a foot. She said "Grandpa is the same way-if you touch him when he's asleep he might freak out like you. Why is that?" I was too tired to come up with an explanation beyond "because it startles us when we are asleep and someone bumps us", but that seemed to be good enough. :) So Kaylee climbed on top of me, we talked for a minute, and then next thing I knew, SHE was fast asleep!
I had been ready to get up, but once she fell asleep on me it was a little hard to decide to wake her up. So I just lay there and relaxed and listened to her snore for awhile. It reminded me of when she and Devon were both little, and I would lay on the couch or kick my chair back to recline, and I would lay them on my chest just over my heart, and watch them sleep. They both seemed to sleep like rocks like that, very peacefully and contentedly and...safely. Now she practically covers my whole body with hers, she's getting so tall. Anyway, she slept for a good 40 minutes. My phone rang and it didn't wake her up. Dulce climbed on top of us both and walked around on her back before finding a spot to settle down in (monkey pile on Laura now!) and that didn't wake her up either. At this point I had been lying there quite awhile myself, wide awake, but I still couldn't bring myself to wake her up. Finally she sat straight up, like someone had turned her switch from "Standby" to "On", and she said "How long was I here?" Me, I wake up slowly with things winding up and gears slowly turning until they get up to speed. She is either full on or full off. Amazing! We sat there on the couch and cuddled and talked for another 20 minutes before she decided it was time to go do something interesting.
We invited her next door neighbor friend to come play for awhile, and Kaylee enjoyed that. It was a quick play date, but sometimes quick ones are the best-no time to get in disagreements. ;)
Kaylee is feeling better and hasn't had a fever in a day and a half. I don't know what that was exactly, but it doesn't seem to have been much of anything, thankfully.
Steve and Kaylee took the Corvette out and about today, and that's what they were driving when they met me at Steak 'n Shake. Kaylee said Daddy didn't drive fast enough for her today, and she couldn't wait until she could drive the car. I said "You're going to drive it safely, aren't you." Steve laughed and Kaylee said "I'm on Daddy's side, I want to drive it FAST." Mom warred with Person as finally I said "Okay, don't get me wrong, I happen to like fast things too, but I want you to be safe." Besides, there's that little thing called a "speed limit". ;) Ironic, isn't it? I can see some day my daughter thinking I don't "get it" about things like that. Me who used to think that living in Germany would be most excellent where they had stretches of road (ah, Autobahn!) with no speed limit. Me who finds driving five miles under the speed limit an exquisite form of personal torture. Me whose smile increases in width in direct proportion to the speed/power of the aircraft in which I am sitting. Ah, well. Here's the deal. If she does end up being like us in this regard, she will get proper training, and I suppose I'll get a dose of my own medicine by then having to not worry about her like my mom doesn't worry about me. ;)
---------------------------------------------------
Funny I ended on the word 'worry', as that was what my quotes for the day were about. Not relating to my previous conversation really, but certainly good to keep in mind for living life:
"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do."
~Pope John XXIII
"The fear is worse than the pain."
~Shannon Bahr
"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."
~Helen Keller
"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death."
~Betty Bender
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Slow Day...
Kaylee has seemed a little better today, though she says her throat still hurts. She's a little warm, but it's more low-grade than the previous day's 102 F. We didn't really do anything, and I let her rest, until about 3 pm when I took her with me out to Kokomo to meet up with a family I know through SMA Support. :) They brought lots of equipment/supplies over, including a power wheelchair, a stander, etc. It's always funny meeting people you've 'known' on-line for years but never met in person before. They're a great family and it was nice to finally meet in person after all these years, even if it was just a quick one!
I seem to be spending the day recovering. I have a few sore muscles and my throat is a little sore too. I'm just a little droopy today, with nothing interesting to report.
Oh, one last thing. Kaylee took our watering can, and made about six trips with it out to her Grandma's garden, where she made sure to water all the newly flowering spring plants. She wanted to make sure they would stay pretty and alive for Grandma. It was her idea, and I thought it was pretty sweet. :)
I seem to be spending the day recovering. I have a few sore muscles and my throat is a little sore too. I'm just a little droopy today, with nothing interesting to report.
Oh, one last thing. Kaylee took our watering can, and made about six trips with it out to her Grandma's garden, where she made sure to water all the newly flowering spring plants. She wanted to make sure they would stay pretty and alive for Grandma. It was her idea, and I thought it was pretty sweet. :)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday
Wednesday night we had the "boom" that woke up Kokomo. They went from airplane crash to meteor to Sonic Boom. I'm not sure what it was, but at least it wasn't a disaster of any epic proportion like a tanker crash. The very next night, we had an earthquake here in Indiana. 5:38 a.m. houses rattled and shook. Everybody felt it except for my family. lol We were all apparently out cold enough to not notice. There was another quake (probably an aftershock) around 11 a.m. too, but I was up flying at the time so I missed it. People always think of California when they think of earthquakes, but actually Indiana has the biggest fault line of the country running under it. A little tidbit of trivia for you there. The earthquake the night after the boom was the talk of the town these last couple of days.
Friday morning I did a little flying with my iPod in, up until it was time to land at Glenndale for lunch. After lunch we needed to go pick up one of the 172s at Sheridan, so Chuck took me over in the Citabria. The wind was blowing pretty good by this point in the afternoon, and as he was fighting the wind down short final and getting ready to flare, his traffic warning device started saying (loudly) "Test Test Test Test" over and over. It was a little distracting, and impeccable timing. :) I flew the 172 back to Glenndale, and we had great tailwinds all the way home.
I picked Kaylee up at school, and she told me her throat hurt. Well, that isn't good, but it isn't that bad either, since she has allergies and it's not an uncommon thought that she very well might have a sore throat from drainage. I took her over to Culvers to get her a drink and to meet with Mrs. R, and we weren't there for 15 minutes before Kaylee laid down on the bench seat with her head on my lap, and came very close to falling asleep. THAT isn't like her at all. I asked if she was okay, and she said her head, throat, and ears hurt. She felt a little warm, but nothing too bad. I wanted to cancel our evening appointment at the park if she was not feeling well, but she insisted she was good to go, and I didn't want to cancel on Miss Maggie, so we went. Unfortunately, after about an hour, Kaylee came up to me and said "I'm ready to go home, Mommy." I told her that if we go home, if she's that tired, she needs to go to bed. She said "okay." This from the girl who would stay awake until midnight every night if I let her. So I took her home, and as soon as she walked in the door, on her own she went into her bedroom and laid down, and passed out cold for over an hour. When she finally woke up, she came wandering out into the living room, and I knew for sure. She had the flushed cheeks and glazed eyes, and she started crying and saying she felt dizzy and funny every time she lifted her head or walked. I took her temp and in an hour it had spiked to 102. I had Steve pick up some children's Motrin for us, and basically I cuddled her on my lap for another hour before the meds kicked in and I put her back to bed. She slept for another hour or two before getting up for awhile to sit outside with us at the fire we had in our back yard last night, and then she was down for the night. Well, most of the night.
Early Sat. morning, Kaylee got together a pallet in the living room of blankets, animals, etc., then wrote out a note that she passed to Steve that says "Can you come out? The time is 5:11 am. Please! To: Dad From: Kaylee JoAnn Stants". He came out and saw her work, so he slept on the couch while she slept on the floor. Me? I had the king-sized bed all to myself for a couple hours. ;)
She's not throwing up, not coughing, and doesn't have a stuffy or runny nose-she just complains of a headache and a sore throat, and she has the fever. Not sure what this is, but she's doing okay so far. She didn't eat yesterday, but today I got oatmeal down her, and strawberries and goldfish so far...
Friday morning I did a little flying with my iPod in, up until it was time to land at Glenndale for lunch. After lunch we needed to go pick up one of the 172s at Sheridan, so Chuck took me over in the Citabria. The wind was blowing pretty good by this point in the afternoon, and as he was fighting the wind down short final and getting ready to flare, his traffic warning device started saying (loudly) "Test Test Test Test" over and over. It was a little distracting, and impeccable timing. :) I flew the 172 back to Glenndale, and we had great tailwinds all the way home.
I picked Kaylee up at school, and she told me her throat hurt. Well, that isn't good, but it isn't that bad either, since she has allergies and it's not an uncommon thought that she very well might have a sore throat from drainage. I took her over to Culvers to get her a drink and to meet with Mrs. R, and we weren't there for 15 minutes before Kaylee laid down on the bench seat with her head on my lap, and came very close to falling asleep. THAT isn't like her at all. I asked if she was okay, and she said her head, throat, and ears hurt. She felt a little warm, but nothing too bad. I wanted to cancel our evening appointment at the park if she was not feeling well, but she insisted she was good to go, and I didn't want to cancel on Miss Maggie, so we went. Unfortunately, after about an hour, Kaylee came up to me and said "I'm ready to go home, Mommy." I told her that if we go home, if she's that tired, she needs to go to bed. She said "okay." This from the girl who would stay awake until midnight every night if I let her. So I took her home, and as soon as she walked in the door, on her own she went into her bedroom and laid down, and passed out cold for over an hour. When she finally woke up, she came wandering out into the living room, and I knew for sure. She had the flushed cheeks and glazed eyes, and she started crying and saying she felt dizzy and funny every time she lifted her head or walked. I took her temp and in an hour it had spiked to 102. I had Steve pick up some children's Motrin for us, and basically I cuddled her on my lap for another hour before the meds kicked in and I put her back to bed. She slept for another hour or two before getting up for awhile to sit outside with us at the fire we had in our back yard last night, and then she was down for the night. Well, most of the night.
Early Sat. morning, Kaylee got together a pallet in the living room of blankets, animals, etc., then wrote out a note that she passed to Steve that says "Can you come out? The time is 5:11 am. Please! To: Dad From: Kaylee JoAnn Stants". He came out and saw her work, so he slept on the couch while she slept on the floor. Me? I had the king-sized bed all to myself for a couple hours. ;)
She's not throwing up, not coughing, and doesn't have a stuffy or runny nose-she just complains of a headache and a sore throat, and she has the fever. Not sure what this is, but she's doing okay so far. She didn't eat yesterday, but today I got oatmeal down her, and strawberries and goldfish so far...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thankful Thursday
There are lots of things to be thankful for today. Let's see:
1. Just enough wind to play with.
2. Airplanes that drag their tails and airplanes with two engines.
3. Blue skies and sunshine.
4. Lunch with friends.
5. A happy Kaylee singing and dancing in her room.
6. A cold Vanilla Coke Zero when one finally relaxes.
Tuesday is our trash day, and the trash guys notoriously come at the most odd times. Sometimes it is so early in the day you can't get out there in time, and sometimes it is almost in the afternoon before they arrive. This week it was "so early you can't get out there in time", and I heard the truck coming up our alley. So I run out in my pajamas and drag the trash cans out there, making it just as they were at the house next door. On my way in the house, I hear a loud noise. Come to find out, I was in such a hurry I set the trash bins too close to our wooden fence, and the machinery on the truck punctured a hole in our fence. A fairly good sized slat is missing. And the worst thing about it? They couldn't hook the bins, so our trash cans are still full, too. *sigh*
Last night we were sitting in our living room, when suddenly there was the sound of an 'explosion'. It was loud enough that I jumped out of my seat and said "WHAT was THAT?!" I thought it was right in our back yard. Come to find out, it was the boom heard round Kokomo (and Tipton). The local police scanners were alive with response teams searching for aircraft wreckage and anything else they could find. A reporter called Steve's cell phone and asked if he'd like to go live on the news as a local aviation expert. He declined, claiming to have absolutely no clue what was happening in this situation. By the time we went to bed last night, they thought for sure it was a meteor, because there was a meteor shower happening. Well, tonight they are claiming that it was an F-16 who broke mach and caused a sonic boom. I wonder why there wasn't two booms if that's the case, but after hours of searching last night, the police never found anything on the ground that would explain an 'explosion' of that magnitude. There is a local guy who is a "UFO" searcher, and he actually stopped at Glenndale airport tonight trying to pick people's brains. He doesn't believe the military's explanation of a sonic boom. So, a little excitement in the Kokomo arena last night...
This morning I took up the Decathlon again. It was a good day to practice some crosswind stuff, so that's what I did. I need a better way to get it in and out of the hangar it is in, but other than that it was a worthwhile morning.
We went to lunch at Applebees, then I went back out to Kokomo and took the Baron for a quick flight to do two practice approaches, since it has been quite awhile and just in case I have any actual IFR on any upcoming trips.
After that it was basically time to get Kaylee, take her to gymnastics, and do the rest of the nightly routine right up to this part where I find it takes me just a few lines to talk about what I did the entire day. Not exciting, I know, but it worked for me. :)
1. Just enough wind to play with.
2. Airplanes that drag their tails and airplanes with two engines.
3. Blue skies and sunshine.
4. Lunch with friends.
5. A happy Kaylee singing and dancing in her room.
6. A cold Vanilla Coke Zero when one finally relaxes.
Tuesday is our trash day, and the trash guys notoriously come at the most odd times. Sometimes it is so early in the day you can't get out there in time, and sometimes it is almost in the afternoon before they arrive. This week it was "so early you can't get out there in time", and I heard the truck coming up our alley. So I run out in my pajamas and drag the trash cans out there, making it just as they were at the house next door. On my way in the house, I hear a loud noise. Come to find out, I was in such a hurry I set the trash bins too close to our wooden fence, and the machinery on the truck punctured a hole in our fence. A fairly good sized slat is missing. And the worst thing about it? They couldn't hook the bins, so our trash cans are still full, too. *sigh*
Last night we were sitting in our living room, when suddenly there was the sound of an 'explosion'. It was loud enough that I jumped out of my seat and said "WHAT was THAT?!" I thought it was right in our back yard. Come to find out, it was the boom heard round Kokomo (and Tipton). The local police scanners were alive with response teams searching for aircraft wreckage and anything else they could find. A reporter called Steve's cell phone and asked if he'd like to go live on the news as a local aviation expert. He declined, claiming to have absolutely no clue what was happening in this situation. By the time we went to bed last night, they thought for sure it was a meteor, because there was a meteor shower happening. Well, tonight they are claiming that it was an F-16 who broke mach and caused a sonic boom. I wonder why there wasn't two booms if that's the case, but after hours of searching last night, the police never found anything on the ground that would explain an 'explosion' of that magnitude. There is a local guy who is a "UFO" searcher, and he actually stopped at Glenndale airport tonight trying to pick people's brains. He doesn't believe the military's explanation of a sonic boom. So, a little excitement in the Kokomo arena last night...
This morning I took up the Decathlon again. It was a good day to practice some crosswind stuff, so that's what I did. I need a better way to get it in and out of the hangar it is in, but other than that it was a worthwhile morning.
We went to lunch at Applebees, then I went back out to Kokomo and took the Baron for a quick flight to do two practice approaches, since it has been quite awhile and just in case I have any actual IFR on any upcoming trips.
After that it was basically time to get Kaylee, take her to gymnastics, and do the rest of the nightly routine right up to this part where I find it takes me just a few lines to talk about what I did the entire day. Not exciting, I know, but it worked for me. :)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Manual Labor
This morning was non-stop errands. Bank, post office, UPS store, BMV to get plates for the Corvette (which went amazingly well), Staples, then out to Kokomo airport to distribute pens and pads of paper to each of the planes out there. Took some extras back out to Glenndale airport, walked in, set it down, and headed right back out to lunch. After lunch was over, me, Chuck, Nathan, and Charlie B. went out to Nathan's hangar where we worked on digging a trench, laying pipe, etc. My jobs included rock removal, dirt digging, and pipe gooping. ;) A couple of my fingers still have purple stains on them. When I left, all that was left to do was shovel the dirt back in the trench over the pipe. Soon we should have a phone line, cable tv, and internet access over to the other hangar as well. I left there to pick up Kaylee from school, do her homework, get her a snack, do two loads of laundry, and study for her Awanas. We left for Awanas and I went to dinner with Ty and Steve, then it was 8 pm and time to get Kaylee from Awanas, get her in bed, and Sit Down. A rather busy day, this one!
This morning on one of the talk shows, a doctor came on and said the way to avoid seasonal allergies is to shut up all your windows and doors, turn on your air conditioning, run air purifiers all over your house, and change the filters in your house. He also said that people should change clothes when they come in from outside, and that if you are in a field or around a lot of pollens, you should shower and change clothes every time you come in. The host of the show said "Can't we just enjoy Spring?" and the doctor said "not if you have allergies." You know, 50 years ago there was a fraction of the allergy problems there are today, and they didn't have air conditioning, air purifiers, or change clothes/shower every time they came inside. They also certainly didn't have any fewer plants/pollen/allergens to deal with back then. What caused people's increased sensitivity to these things? Answer THAT question, and maybe they can do something about it. Putting yourself in a bubble isn't the logical answer to me. It smacks a little too much of everybody using so much antibacterial stuff that they no longer have immunity against much of anything. (And yes, I understand why the SMA families who do it, do. When your child could die from the common cold, you tend to take germs very, very seriously. That is a very different scenario than what I'm talking about.)
I'm sure there was something else I was going to say, but I can't remember it at the moment, so I guess I'll save it for another day...
This morning on one of the talk shows, a doctor came on and said the way to avoid seasonal allergies is to shut up all your windows and doors, turn on your air conditioning, run air purifiers all over your house, and change the filters in your house. He also said that people should change clothes when they come in from outside, and that if you are in a field or around a lot of pollens, you should shower and change clothes every time you come in. The host of the show said "Can't we just enjoy Spring?" and the doctor said "not if you have allergies." You know, 50 years ago there was a fraction of the allergy problems there are today, and they didn't have air conditioning, air purifiers, or change clothes/shower every time they came inside. They also certainly didn't have any fewer plants/pollen/allergens to deal with back then. What caused people's increased sensitivity to these things? Answer THAT question, and maybe they can do something about it. Putting yourself in a bubble isn't the logical answer to me. It smacks a little too much of everybody using so much antibacterial stuff that they no longer have immunity against much of anything. (And yes, I understand why the SMA families who do it, do. When your child could die from the common cold, you tend to take germs very, very seriously. That is a very different scenario than what I'm talking about.)
I'm sure there was something else I was going to say, but I can't remember it at the moment, so I guess I'll save it for another day...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
At the End of the Day
I took up the Decathlon this morning; it was a beautiful morning to fly and lots of people were out playing and learning. Our instructors are booked solid, and the planes are so busy it's hard to keep them clean and hard to schedule routine maintenance. Good problems to have, I must admit. :)
When I picked up Kaylee from school, she got in the car and said "Mrs. F and Mrs. B are mean." I said "Why is that?" She told me that they are always grumpy and never laugh or smile. (They are both teachers of various grades.) I asked about another teacher, and she said "She's nicer, except when somebody is bad, but that's okay because ALL teachers get mad when you do something wrong." I said "Did Mrs. R, Mrs. W or Mrs. B (teachers from her former school) ever get mad when the kids did something wrong?" She paused and said "Well, no, actually they didn't. But all the teachers here get mad at the kids when they're bad." I take that with a grain of salt, a rather large one in fact, but what a perception to have.
She also said "Have you noticed anything different about my skin?" I looked her over and said "No, what's different?" She said "My skin is darker than it used to be." I said "Oh, yes, that's called a 'tan'." She wanted to know if that was bad, and I said that she'd been wearing sunscreen, so no, a tan wasn't a bad thing, it just meant she had spent some extra time in the sunshine. Lucky little bugger, she gets that special sun-kissed glow I used to envy when I was a teenager. :)
After school I took her to Glenndale. Dale has an ancient roller hooked up behind an ancient tractor, and with our runway finally firm enough to fly off of, he and Chuck started rolling the runway. This smooths out the lumps and bumps that happen on a grass/dirt runway, making it a slightly more pleasant landing experience. I asked Kaylee if she wanted to roll with me, as she had done it last year and enjoyed it, and she said
sure, so after a stop at Steak 'n Shake for a banana shake, we headed out. Unfortunately there wasn't enough room on the tractor seat for both of us safely, so she didn't get to end up going anyway, something she took rather better than I expected. I did take a turn however, and it was really kind of funny. You've got your iron bar clutch, and a little iron lever that you can either push forward, which turns you left, or pull backwards, which turns you right. And there's one more lever that is your throttle that you push up to go slower and down to go faster. I may have those backwards. lol There really was nothing whatsoever intuitive about driving this thing, which makes it kind of fun to try out. :) Here, Justin took a picture, so this ought to give you a better idea. You can click on it to blow it up and see better. Every time I look at the picture, the theme song for "Green Acres" goes through my mind for some reason...
I did in fact get more things done today, and funnily enough have more to do than when I started somehow. Ah, life. :) Happy Tuesday!
When I picked up Kaylee from school, she got in the car and said "Mrs. F and Mrs. B are mean." I said "Why is that?" She told me that they are always grumpy and never laugh or smile. (They are both teachers of various grades.) I asked about another teacher, and she said "She's nicer, except when somebody is bad, but that's okay because ALL teachers get mad when you do something wrong." I said "Did Mrs. R, Mrs. W or Mrs. B (teachers from her former school) ever get mad when the kids did something wrong?" She paused and said "Well, no, actually they didn't. But all the teachers here get mad at the kids when they're bad." I take that with a grain of salt, a rather large one in fact, but what a perception to have.
She also said "Have you noticed anything different about my skin?" I looked her over and said "No, what's different?" She said "My skin is darker than it used to be." I said "Oh, yes, that's called a 'tan'." She wanted to know if that was bad, and I said that she'd been wearing sunscreen, so no, a tan wasn't a bad thing, it just meant she had spent some extra time in the sunshine. Lucky little bugger, she gets that special sun-kissed glow I used to envy when I was a teenager. :)
After school I took her to Glenndale. Dale has an ancient roller hooked up behind an ancient tractor, and with our runway finally firm enough to fly off of, he and Chuck started rolling the runway. This smooths out the lumps and bumps that happen on a grass/dirt runway, making it a slightly more pleasant landing experience. I asked Kaylee if she wanted to roll with me, as she had done it last year and enjoyed it, and she said
sure, so after a stop at Steak 'n Shake for a banana shake, we headed out. Unfortunately there wasn't enough room on the tractor seat for both of us safely, so she didn't get to end up going anyway, something she took rather better than I expected. I did take a turn however, and it was really kind of funny. You've got your iron bar clutch, and a little iron lever that you can either push forward, which turns you left, or pull backwards, which turns you right. And there's one more lever that is your throttle that you push up to go slower and down to go faster. I may have those backwards. lol There really was nothing whatsoever intuitive about driving this thing, which makes it kind of fun to try out. :) Here, Justin took a picture, so this ought to give you a better idea. You can click on it to blow it up and see better. Every time I look at the picture, the theme song for "Green Acres" goes through my mind for some reason...I did in fact get more things done today, and funnily enough have more to do than when I started somehow. Ah, life. :) Happy Tuesday!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday
Funny, I'm not sure what to say about today.
I have worked pretty hard these last two days, and have gotten my email inbox down from almost 200 to 54. (That is a LOT of doing stuff by the way.) Tomorrow I'll be able to knock a few more off of there. I've gotten quite a few checks sent out, equipment ordered, websites set up, questions answered, situations handled, and all manner of things Done. I may still have a lot to do, but at least I have progress, and progress is good.
We got a refund on our property taxes this year. You are always happy to get your own money back, aren't you?? Anyway, I took that to the bank today, and hit the post office. I was really amazed, I went past the post office twice today, and both times it was Packed Out. I mean, cars out in the road waiting to get in and a line out the door. Am I missing something? Tax day?? Does everybody need to stand in line for that? Anyway, it was a mess. Unfortunately I had a package. Fortunately it was left in a locker instead of me having to stand in that line, which is a good thing because all it ended up being was a free box of kitty food some company sent me. I'd have been Highly Bothered if I'd stood in line for 20 minutes or more just to pick up a sample box of kitty food I hadn't ordered in the first place.
It was the ballet/cheer run after school today for Kaylee. It was her first time back since before Spring Break, so she was happy to go. Her costumes are in finally for her upcoming recital, and I must admit they are pretty cute. The tap costume is black with neon colored polka dots, and the ballet costume is pale blue and frilly. She's pleased.
Kaylee tried to go to school today in a blue flowered dress, with blue pants underneath, yellow socks, red shoes, and blue and gray striped pullover shirt over top of the dress. She informed me that there was yellow and blue and gray in the dress so everything matched. I got her to wear a white nice blouse unbuttoned over the dress like a dress jacket, white socks and white dress shoes, and let her keep the blue pants under the dress because 1) they were solid blue and actually did match and 2) she's required to wear pants or shorts under her dresses at this school. Whew. Sometimes she has more fashion sense than I do, and other times she comes out with stuff that is...well, very colorful. :)
I got a picture back today taken of the kids in Kaylee's school all dressed in Colts gear. It's really a cute picture, and I'll scan it in and post it later.
Well, my flight helmet is in, I've already got the flight suit, and now my flight gloves are in too. Fire resistant, army green, go up to my forearms. I believe all I am missing now is the boots. All the gear seems excessive, and frankly I am not fond of getting trussed up, but there are safety factors involved in this type of aircraft and flying, which for the sake of Kim Neel and my mother I won't talk about ;), along with tradition, and I am just doing as I am told like a good little student. :)
Steve picked Kaylee up from cheer for me because I had a board meeting tonight. I have lots to say about it, but I doubt the world wide web is the place to do that. It's an interesting process, and there is SO much to do and figure out. We were there for two hours tonight and still didn't accomplish everything we needed to on the agenda. I am on a finance sub-committee, which is meeting next week as well. Busy busy.
That got me home for the first time since just after lunch at around 8:45 p.m. Long day for sure, I'm glad to be home finally. I had a few more things I wanted to do before bed tonight, but I do believe I will wait for tomorrow after all. *yawn*
I have worked pretty hard these last two days, and have gotten my email inbox down from almost 200 to 54. (That is a LOT of doing stuff by the way.) Tomorrow I'll be able to knock a few more off of there. I've gotten quite a few checks sent out, equipment ordered, websites set up, questions answered, situations handled, and all manner of things Done. I may still have a lot to do, but at least I have progress, and progress is good.
We got a refund on our property taxes this year. You are always happy to get your own money back, aren't you?? Anyway, I took that to the bank today, and hit the post office. I was really amazed, I went past the post office twice today, and both times it was Packed Out. I mean, cars out in the road waiting to get in and a line out the door. Am I missing something? Tax day?? Does everybody need to stand in line for that? Anyway, it was a mess. Unfortunately I had a package. Fortunately it was left in a locker instead of me having to stand in that line, which is a good thing because all it ended up being was a free box of kitty food some company sent me. I'd have been Highly Bothered if I'd stood in line for 20 minutes or more just to pick up a sample box of kitty food I hadn't ordered in the first place.
It was the ballet/cheer run after school today for Kaylee. It was her first time back since before Spring Break, so she was happy to go. Her costumes are in finally for her upcoming recital, and I must admit they are pretty cute. The tap costume is black with neon colored polka dots, and the ballet costume is pale blue and frilly. She's pleased.
Kaylee tried to go to school today in a blue flowered dress, with blue pants underneath, yellow socks, red shoes, and blue and gray striped pullover shirt over top of the dress. She informed me that there was yellow and blue and gray in the dress so everything matched. I got her to wear a white nice blouse unbuttoned over the dress like a dress jacket, white socks and white dress shoes, and let her keep the blue pants under the dress because 1) they were solid blue and actually did match and 2) she's required to wear pants or shorts under her dresses at this school. Whew. Sometimes she has more fashion sense than I do, and other times she comes out with stuff that is...well, very colorful. :)
I got a picture back today taken of the kids in Kaylee's school all dressed in Colts gear. It's really a cute picture, and I'll scan it in and post it later.
Well, my flight helmet is in, I've already got the flight suit, and now my flight gloves are in too. Fire resistant, army green, go up to my forearms. I believe all I am missing now is the boots. All the gear seems excessive, and frankly I am not fond of getting trussed up, but there are safety factors involved in this type of aircraft and flying, which for the sake of Kim Neel and my mother I won't talk about ;), along with tradition, and I am just doing as I am told like a good little student. :)
Steve picked Kaylee up from cheer for me because I had a board meeting tonight. I have lots to say about it, but I doubt the world wide web is the place to do that. It's an interesting process, and there is SO much to do and figure out. We were there for two hours tonight and still didn't accomplish everything we needed to on the agenda. I am on a finance sub-committee, which is meeting next week as well. Busy busy.
That got me home for the first time since just after lunch at around 8:45 p.m. Long day for sure, I'm glad to be home finally. I had a few more things I wanted to do before bed tonight, but I do believe I will wait for tomorrow after all. *yawn*
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Oh, Indiana
There's a 60% chance of snow today, and it's a whopping 38 degrees. How...pleasant!
I finally ran out of the ability to procrastinate going to the store any further, as we were out of all caffeinated beverages and completely out of milk, too. Along with just about everything else. So I went to the store with my mental list of what was needed, only one item which Steve had said-super glue. I came home $200 later, with everything except super glue. Oh well, I guess that one just didn't stick. (Insert groan here). While I was there, out of habit I stopped in the chocolate aisle again, and like usual lately I remembered how many pounds of chocolate I had left at home from that 20 lb basket and kept on walking. Only one thing caught my eye, and I had to try it out of mostly amusement. It's a Snickers limited edition called "Charged". Get this-it is made with, and I quote, "Caffeine, Taurine, B-Vitamins". To give you that extra kick to get you through the day. Just think, now I can eat my candy bar and get my Vitamin B at the same time! Along with the healthful benefits of cocoa and nuts, why, I have found the health kick of the year! (Actually, the taste and texture is just a little 'off', so I will probably stick with the health properties of the almond snickers, and just have that extra Diet Coke for the caffeine.) ;)
I was listening to Kaylee watch a (kid) show, and it sounded like it was getting kind of scary. She is easily nightmare prone, so I try to keep an eye on that. I said to Kaylee "It sounds like it is getting a little scary Kaylee-if you need to change the channel, go ahead." She said "Nah, it's not scary Mommy, it's just silly." I said 'okay', and kept an ear on it. Soon enough I heard the spooky music and the creaking footsteps and I looked at her face and she was staring at the TV. Suddenly she switches the channel and says out loud "Okay, I stand corrected, it WAS getting scary." It still amuses me to hear adult phrases come out of her mouth like that.
I have some work to get done before tomorrow, checks to print, some emails to return, and some reading to catch up on as well, so that's about what the level of excitement of the rest of my day will be. Good thing I have that Snickers Charged Bar to help keep me going. ;)
Well, this is the end of Kaylee's Spring Break--tomorrow is school, ballet, cheer, and I have a meeting that night too. Good ole' Mondays. See ya tomorrow night...
I finally ran out of the ability to procrastinate going to the store any further, as we were out of all caffeinated beverages and completely out of milk, too. Along with just about everything else. So I went to the store with my mental list of what was needed, only one item which Steve had said-super glue. I came home $200 later, with everything except super glue. Oh well, I guess that one just didn't stick. (Insert groan here). While I was there, out of habit I stopped in the chocolate aisle again, and like usual lately I remembered how many pounds of chocolate I had left at home from that 20 lb basket and kept on walking. Only one thing caught my eye, and I had to try it out of mostly amusement. It's a Snickers limited edition called "Charged". Get this-it is made with, and I quote, "Caffeine, Taurine, B-Vitamins". To give you that extra kick to get you through the day. Just think, now I can eat my candy bar and get my Vitamin B at the same time! Along with the healthful benefits of cocoa and nuts, why, I have found the health kick of the year! (Actually, the taste and texture is just a little 'off', so I will probably stick with the health properties of the almond snickers, and just have that extra Diet Coke for the caffeine.) ;)
I was listening to Kaylee watch a (kid) show, and it sounded like it was getting kind of scary. She is easily nightmare prone, so I try to keep an eye on that. I said to Kaylee "It sounds like it is getting a little scary Kaylee-if you need to change the channel, go ahead." She said "Nah, it's not scary Mommy, it's just silly." I said 'okay', and kept an ear on it. Soon enough I heard the spooky music and the creaking footsteps and I looked at her face and she was staring at the TV. Suddenly she switches the channel and says out loud "Okay, I stand corrected, it WAS getting scary." It still amuses me to hear adult phrases come out of her mouth like that.
I have some work to get done before tomorrow, checks to print, some emails to return, and some reading to catch up on as well, so that's about what the level of excitement of the rest of my day will be. Good thing I have that Snickers Charged Bar to help keep me going. ;)
Well, this is the end of Kaylee's Spring Break--tomorrow is school, ballet, cheer, and I have a meeting that night too. Good ole' Mondays. See ya tomorrow night...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Well...
The weather turned a little unpleasant this weekend, which ended up meaning all Steve's flights for the day were cancelled. Steve worked on the computer most of the day (still is off and on, actually). I read the latest Jonathan Kellerman novel and did several loads of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, that kind of stuff. Kaylee has made up a tent in the front living room, and is doing a sleep-over with Steve tonight. They do that once in awhile on a weekend just for the fun of it. :) Unfortunately, she woke up coughing *really* hard, so I hope she's feeling okay. The temperatures have gone from warm to cold and in a few days will be going back to warm, so that always wreaks havoc on all of us, often making us sick, either with allergies or...something. Hopefully not, as I'd hate for her to get sick just as Spring Break is over and school starts back up.
Kaylee spent a lot of time today doing face painting with watercolors. You know, she's actually rather good at it. She did on herself everything from binoculars and cat whiskers to tears to snot in her hands (that was for you, mom) to a butterfly on my cheek to a cat on Steve's face. She spent probably a couple of hours putting on one design after the other on her face and washing it off. It made a delightful mess, but she cleaned up the bathroom and I did the laundry, so it all came out well in the end. I took a picture of my butterfly for her to 'remember' it by, because I had to wash it off fairly quickly. A whole lot of entertainment for a box of watercolors! She asked if she could do the face painting at the next BBQ Bash we have. ;)
Tonight Kaylee was having a conversation with Steve about boys, marriage, divorce, etc. She said that one boy in her class was someone who was like she is, that they are both a little goofy, and that he's nice. (She had previously told me that he liked her for who she was.) The line that made us laugh and shake our heads at the same time? She told Steve in a whisper that HE likes the word "poop" too. Then she pumped her fist in the air and said "Now THAT is MY kind of MAN!" *gulp* Like I said, do I laugh, or do I wince and shake my head?! Probably a little of all the above. ;)
I just heard that the yellow T-6 that Tim Savage and Midwest Texans built/restored won Grand Champion Warbird at Sun 'n Fun this year. Congratulations to them! It IS a beautiful airplane that shows all the hard work they put into it.
Well, I guess that's it for tonight. A quiet rainy day at home, and we're all doing well. Hope you are all having a good weekend!
Kaylee spent a lot of time today doing face painting with watercolors. You know, she's actually rather good at it. She did on herself everything from binoculars and cat whiskers to tears to snot in her hands (that was for you, mom) to a butterfly on my cheek to a cat on Steve's face. She spent probably a couple of hours putting on one design after the other on her face and washing it off. It made a delightful mess, but she cleaned up the bathroom and I did the laundry, so it all came out well in the end. I took a picture of my butterfly for her to 'remember' it by, because I had to wash it off fairly quickly. A whole lot of entertainment for a box of watercolors! She asked if she could do the face painting at the next BBQ Bash we have. ;)
Tonight Kaylee was having a conversation with Steve about boys, marriage, divorce, etc. She said that one boy in her class was someone who was like she is, that they are both a little goofy, and that he's nice. (She had previously told me that he liked her for who she was.) The line that made us laugh and shake our heads at the same time? She told Steve in a whisper that HE likes the word "poop" too. Then she pumped her fist in the air and said "Now THAT is MY kind of MAN!" *gulp* Like I said, do I laugh, or do I wince and shake my head?! Probably a little of all the above. ;)
I just heard that the yellow T-6 that Tim Savage and Midwest Texans built/restored won Grand Champion Warbird at Sun 'n Fun this year. Congratulations to them! It IS a beautiful airplane that shows all the hard work they put into it.
Well, I guess that's it for tonight. A quiet rainy day at home, and we're all doing well. Hope you are all having a good weekend!
Friday, April 11, 2008
The End of the Week
Whew, it was a tough work week, but finally it's Friday. ;)
I did the run of errands during the morning, and then we went out to Glenndale for the day, and we were there until dinner time. Today was Kaylee and Jamie's last day of Spring Break, so they were both out at the airport playing until Jamie had to go home.
I got most of our stuff put away and the laundry mostly caught up again, and now it's Friday night, I have some catch-up to do on emails and receipts, and I do believe I will relax. Since I don't have anything interesting to report on the day, I'll leave you with some quotes.
-----------------------------------------------
"What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside you."
~Wayne Dyer
"Cherish your visions and your dreams. They are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
~Napoleon Hill
I did the run of errands during the morning, and then we went out to Glenndale for the day, and we were there until dinner time. Today was Kaylee and Jamie's last day of Spring Break, so they were both out at the airport playing until Jamie had to go home.
I got most of our stuff put away and the laundry mostly caught up again, and now it's Friday night, I have some catch-up to do on emails and receipts, and I do believe I will relax. Since I don't have anything interesting to report on the day, I'll leave you with some quotes.
-----------------------------------------------
"What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside you."
~Wayne Dyer
"Cherish your visions and your dreams. They are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
~Napoleon Hill
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Air Show Done
For the third day in a row, we were up in the 6 a.m. range (or earlier). We packed up, went down to the lobby, looked out, and saw...fog. Huh. That wasn't supposed to be there. The guy at the front desk said "oh, give it an hour, it'll be gone." Steve decided that was a full weather briefing, good enough for us, because the hotel clerk said so. :)
Once again we headed to McDonald's, and once again I had a Diet Coke and a hash brown (carefully) for breakfast. See, I have two problems. 1). I can't eat breakfast at 6 or 7 a.m. I am just not remotely hungry at that unnatural hour of the day. and 2)., my body rebels at McDonald's breakfast foods. It's actually one of the few things I like from there to eat, but, uh, it doesn't agree with me. At all. But it's also not wise to not eat breakfast when lunch may be a long time from now. So Diet Coke and a hash brown works as a compromise for me.
We drove to Bartow airport, and we wanted to leave VFR, because that way we could avoid having to get a time slot to get out of there. They had a procedure for taking off VFR, going to a certain spot, and picking up your IFR clearance there, so that's what we did. By then, as the hotel clerk predicted, the fog had burned off and it was another beautiful morning.
We had an uneventful flight to Knoxville, where we stopped for gas and lunch. It was actually a little turbulent down low, but the kids rather enjoyed that, and they would cheer every time we got tossed around. Most people would be very unhappy to sit through a ride like that, but the kids think it's great. ;) We drove into town and sat and ate and stretched our legs before heading out for the last leg home.
We had XM music going, and again it was fairly turbulent. Kaylee fell asleep in Steve's lap, and woke up not much later absolutely freaked out. That has happened at least one other time when she fell asleep in the plane and woke up completely disoriented and panicked. Today I could hear her yelling "I don't feel like myself!" Steve said she was also saying "We have to land! I have to get out!" Poor girl, she was really discombobulated for a few minutes there. I'm not sure if it's a claustrophobia thing, or a simple disorientation/panic thing, or what it is, but she gets really, truly scared for a few minutes.
Coming into Kokomo we had some rain. It looked kind of ugly on the radar, but there was no lightning associated with it, so it was just rain...no convective activity (better known as Stuff To Avoid). We landed at Kokomo and drove the plane into the hangar, after which the rain started
coming down pretty hard, and the wind was blowing enough to make sure you got good and wet trying to load up the car. When we taxied up, the door started opening, and there was Chuck's truck. He had come out to greet us! He said it was Very Very Quiet at Glenndale this week. :)
We were home in the 4 pm range, which isn't bad at all from starting off in Florida that morning. We unpacked a few things, let the cats back in the house, and then I laid down on the couch and promptly passed out for awhile. Oh, that felt good, too. More unpacking, a little laundry, putting up My Pictures, and updating my blog and that'll about take me to bed time here.
It was a busy but fun trip. I have to admit, coming from the mid 80s, sunshine and palm trees to gray, cool, and rainy was not the nicest transition, but it's still good to be home I guess. :)
Once again we headed to McDonald's, and once again I had a Diet Coke and a hash brown (carefully) for breakfast. See, I have two problems. 1). I can't eat breakfast at 6 or 7 a.m. I am just not remotely hungry at that unnatural hour of the day. and 2)., my body rebels at McDonald's breakfast foods. It's actually one of the few things I like from there to eat, but, uh, it doesn't agree with me. At all. But it's also not wise to not eat breakfast when lunch may be a long time from now. So Diet Coke and a hash brown works as a compromise for me.
We drove to Bartow airport, and we wanted to leave VFR, because that way we could avoid having to get a time slot to get out of there. They had a procedure for taking off VFR, going to a certain spot, and picking up your IFR clearance there, so that's what we did. By then, as the hotel clerk predicted, the fog had burned off and it was another beautiful morning.
We had an uneventful flight to Knoxville, where we stopped for gas and lunch. It was actually a little turbulent down low, but the kids rather enjoyed that, and they would cheer every time we got tossed around. Most people would be very unhappy to sit through a ride like that, but the kids think it's great. ;) We drove into town and sat and ate and stretched our legs before heading out for the last leg home.
We had XM music going, and again it was fairly turbulent. Kaylee fell asleep in Steve's lap, and woke up not much later absolutely freaked out. That has happened at least one other time when she fell asleep in the plane and woke up completely disoriented and panicked. Today I could hear her yelling "I don't feel like myself!" Steve said she was also saying "We have to land! I have to get out!" Poor girl, she was really discombobulated for a few minutes there. I'm not sure if it's a claustrophobia thing, or a simple disorientation/panic thing, or what it is, but she gets really, truly scared for a few minutes.
Coming into Kokomo we had some rain. It looked kind of ugly on the radar, but there was no lightning associated with it, so it was just rain...no convective activity (better known as Stuff To Avoid). We landed at Kokomo and drove the plane into the hangar, after which the rain started
coming down pretty hard, and the wind was blowing enough to make sure you got good and wet trying to load up the car. When we taxied up, the door started opening, and there was Chuck's truck. He had come out to greet us! He said it was Very Very Quiet at Glenndale this week. :)We were home in the 4 pm range, which isn't bad at all from starting off in Florida that morning. We unpacked a few things, let the cats back in the house, and then I laid down on the couch and promptly passed out for awhile. Oh, that felt good, too. More unpacking, a little laundry, putting up My Pictures, and updating my blog and that'll about take me to bed time here.
It was a busy but fun trip. I have to admit, coming from the mid 80s, sunshine and palm trees to gray, cool, and rainy was not the nicest transition, but it's still good to be home I guess. :)
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Air Show Day
This time my internal alarm clock didn't go off, my external human one did. Steve flipped on a light and said "time to get up!" The numbers on the clock still had a six in them, which is better than 4:41, but still pretty darned early for ole Laura. :) We got up, slathered on the sunscreen, put on our hats, and headed down to the lobby where the Davis boys were already waiting in the mini van outside the front door. We stopped at McDonald's on the way to Sun 'n Fun for breakfast, and then went on to Lakeland. We'd been warned that it was really muddy there, but really, it wasn't that bad. The parking was a little muddy, but that was it.
I was actually a little surprised when we arrived, because it really did look like a mini Oshkosh. See, I haven't been to Sun 'n Fun since the early 1990s, and back then it was really...tiny. Kind of boring, to be honest. But this was set up like Oshkosh with the flea market tents and the big hangars of displays and vendors, the food tents, and all the airplane displays. It's on a smaller scale, but it's still at least *something*. Last time I went I was so unimpressed I haven't really cared to go back. I hear it's declining from what it was a few years ago, and it is totally lacking in the warbird arena for various reasons, but it otherwise looked pretty good to me.
We went through the Light Sport aircraft display first, checking out the options. Nathan and I sat in one of them. Man it's hard to get in there gracefully, but once in there is actually as much room as there is in the Baron cockpit-some of them have more room. As we were walking out of there, a lady came out and got our attention and offered to let us use their port o potties. That might not seem like much of a draw to you, but you see, they were Air Conditioned potties, and looked like real bathrooms on the inside. With mirrors and sinks and normal looking toilets and potpourri dishes and what looked like marble walls and wooden floors. So by golly we went for it. Best rest stop of the day By far. ;)
Next we went through all the hangar displays. These are big buildings filled with vendors who have purchased space to display their wares. Anything aviation related you can imagine is there. Software, instrumentation, pilot supplies, flash lights, simulators, manufacturing stuff, parachutes, gauges, places to have your pilot's license engraved onto a large marble slab to hang on a wall, airplane jewelry, chicks fly t-shirts, jackets, hats, whatever you can imagine and a whole lot of stuff you can't imagine, it's there. The kids quickly tired of the displays. We were at one display for a long time because Nathan is considering putting this system in his Cheyenne, and the kids were at the end of their patience rope. Across the aisle from us was a display for a place you could live and fly out of-an airpark-called "Heaven's" something. They hired a woman to dress up like an angel, and the kids were rather fascinated by her for awhile. The poor girl was in 3" high heeled shoes and standing there for a couple of hours. I hope her paycheck covered foot aches and a lot of double-takes. Anyway, once in awhile we'd be by an exit, and we'd let the kids sit outside on the grass and relax for a few minutes. It took quite awhile to get through all four of the hangars with all the rows and rows of displays in each. It's shopping sanctioned for guys too. ;)
After we left there, we decided we needed food, so we went to the food tent where the meal for Kaylee, Steve and myself cost $34.00. That was for a hot dog, doritos and a water for Kaylee, a chicken sandwich, coke and a brownie for me, and a burger, fries and a coke for Steve. Best $34 we'd spent that day though, sitting in the shade with a drink, live music nearby, and getting to people-watch. ;)
From there we hit the flea market tents, which is more guy shopping only it's all outside in tents instead of in the hangars. You can get some really good deals sometimes at these things, so the guys always have to check them out, and it usually goes pretty quickly.
We were walking around afterwards, and a man stopped and said "Hello, Nathan!" Nathan says "Hi Tom!" and they chat for a few minutes, I shake his hand, say hello to his wife, there's a little talking. They go inside, and I walk up to Steve and Nathan who both seem to know who he is, and I say "Tom who?" Steve starts laughing at me. Well, it's not like I've looked up a lot of pictures of the guy, how was I supposed to know it was Tom Poberezny, the current president of the EAA? He seemed like a very nice man, I must say.
Next we went to the warbirds ramp. There were only a few planes there, but we wanted to see if some of the people we knew were there and check out what was there. Tim, the man in charge of building Nathan's T-6 was there with the yellow T-6 they had finished first (a really nice looking airplane). The man that flew it down was there too, and I knew his name was Rick, and he talked for awhile too. Steve enjoyed telling me that he was Rick Siegfried, the president of the EAA Warbirds division. Actually, I'd known his brother was one of the Bonanza pilots last weekend. Another apparently very down-to-earth and friendly man.
After we'd gone through all the shopping areas and the warbird and the Light Sport sections, we decided we'd pretty much seen what we wanted to of Sun 'n Fun, so we stopped back by the food tent (it was in the mid 80s for temps, so it was plenty warm) and got a drink and watched part of the air show for awhile. The jumpers with the flags, a formation of T-6s, Julie Clark, several routines. Our feet were all killing us, so sitting in the shade with a cold coke and watching people and planes go by seemed like just the antidote.
When we got our second wind, we headed to the "Flying" tent where they have the best quality t-shirts and gizmos, and we bought a few shirts for the year. They had some P-51 shirts that we got. Kaylee bought a blue shirt that says "Chicks Fly" and a fan that displays whatever you want (right now, her name and a heart) on the blades in red lights when it is on. That was actually pretty cool for $6. :) Oh, and she got a little flying bear too. We stopped at the FAA building, where there was a guy outside giving free weather briefings to all the pilots who stopped, so we found out when the weather was supposed to be moving in to Kokomo and all that good stuff, and then we walked back to our car. By this point the mud was a tad worse in some areas after having been smushed around by a lot of cars. We passed one car getting towed out by a tractor after getting stuck. But our row wasn't bad, and we were out of there and on our way back to the hotel in no time.
Once we got there, around 6 pm, we just broke ranks and went to our rooms, took showers, and chilled out for awhile. We had 8:30 pm reservations for the Bonefish Grill. Man was *that* good too. I had a lemon butter salmon with jasmine herb rice, Steve had a fillet, and Kaylee had (can you guess?) macaroni and cheese. Oh well, at least she ate crab last night. ;) Oh, we also had a delicious thing called "bang bang shrimp" and some calamari. Warm bread, and you bet I had dessert. Macadamia nut brownie. Hungry, anyone?? We waddled out of there around 10 or so, and the kids had HAD it. Well, Kaylee had had it anyway. I pretty much carried her to the car, we got back to the hotel, and again, boom, out like a light before 11 pm. All of us. We'd decided that the one day was about perfect to see Sun 'n Fun.
We came, we saw, we conquered, and we got the t-shirts to prove it. ;)
I was actually a little surprised when we arrived, because it really did look like a mini Oshkosh. See, I haven't been to Sun 'n Fun since the early 1990s, and back then it was really...tiny. Kind of boring, to be honest. But this was set up like Oshkosh with the flea market tents and the big hangars of displays and vendors, the food tents, and all the airplane displays. It's on a smaller scale, but it's still at least *something*. Last time I went I was so unimpressed I haven't really cared to go back. I hear it's declining from what it was a few years ago, and it is totally lacking in the warbird arena for various reasons, but it otherwise looked pretty good to me.
We went through the Light Sport aircraft display first, checking out the options. Nathan and I sat in one of them. Man it's hard to get in there gracefully, but once in there is actually as much room as there is in the Baron cockpit-some of them have more room. As we were walking out of there, a lady came out and got our attention and offered to let us use their port o potties. That might not seem like much of a draw to you, but you see, they were Air Conditioned potties, and looked like real bathrooms on the inside. With mirrors and sinks and normal looking toilets and potpourri dishes and what looked like marble walls and wooden floors. So by golly we went for it. Best rest stop of the day By far. ;)
Next we went through all the hangar displays. These are big buildings filled with vendors who have purchased space to display their wares. Anything aviation related you can imagine is there. Software, instrumentation, pilot supplies, flash lights, simulators, manufacturing stuff, parachutes, gauges, places to have your pilot's license engraved onto a large marble slab to hang on a wall, airplane jewelry, chicks fly t-shirts, jackets, hats, whatever you can imagine and a whole lot of stuff you can't imagine, it's there. The kids quickly tired of the displays. We were at one display for a long time because Nathan is considering putting this system in his Cheyenne, and the kids were at the end of their patience rope. Across the aisle from us was a display for a place you could live and fly out of-an airpark-called "Heaven's" something. They hired a woman to dress up like an angel, and the kids were rather fascinated by her for awhile. The poor girl was in 3" high heeled shoes and standing there for a couple of hours. I hope her paycheck covered foot aches and a lot of double-takes. Anyway, once in awhile we'd be by an exit, and we'd let the kids sit outside on the grass and relax for a few minutes. It took quite awhile to get through all four of the hangars with all the rows and rows of displays in each. It's shopping sanctioned for guys too. ;)
After we left there, we decided we needed food, so we went to the food tent where the meal for Kaylee, Steve and myself cost $34.00. That was for a hot dog, doritos and a water for Kaylee, a chicken sandwich, coke and a brownie for me, and a burger, fries and a coke for Steve. Best $34 we'd spent that day though, sitting in the shade with a drink, live music nearby, and getting to people-watch. ;)
From there we hit the flea market tents, which is more guy shopping only it's all outside in tents instead of in the hangars. You can get some really good deals sometimes at these things, so the guys always have to check them out, and it usually goes pretty quickly.
We were walking around afterwards, and a man stopped and said "Hello, Nathan!" Nathan says "Hi Tom!" and they chat for a few minutes, I shake his hand, say hello to his wife, there's a little talking. They go inside, and I walk up to Steve and Nathan who both seem to know who he is, and I say "Tom who?" Steve starts laughing at me. Well, it's not like I've looked up a lot of pictures of the guy, how was I supposed to know it was Tom Poberezny, the current president of the EAA? He seemed like a very nice man, I must say.
Next we went to the warbirds ramp. There were only a few planes there, but we wanted to see if some of the people we knew were there and check out what was there. Tim, the man in charge of building Nathan's T-6 was there with the yellow T-6 they had finished first (a really nice looking airplane). The man that flew it down was there too, and I knew his name was Rick, and he talked for awhile too. Steve enjoyed telling me that he was Rick Siegfried, the president of the EAA Warbirds division. Actually, I'd known his brother was one of the Bonanza pilots last weekend. Another apparently very down-to-earth and friendly man.
After we'd gone through all the shopping areas and the warbird and the Light Sport sections, we decided we'd pretty much seen what we wanted to of Sun 'n Fun, so we stopped back by the food tent (it was in the mid 80s for temps, so it was plenty warm) and got a drink and watched part of the air show for awhile. The jumpers with the flags, a formation of T-6s, Julie Clark, several routines. Our feet were all killing us, so sitting in the shade with a cold coke and watching people and planes go by seemed like just the antidote.
When we got our second wind, we headed to the "Flying" tent where they have the best quality t-shirts and gizmos, and we bought a few shirts for the year. They had some P-51 shirts that we got. Kaylee bought a blue shirt that says "Chicks Fly" and a fan that displays whatever you want (right now, her name and a heart) on the blades in red lights when it is on. That was actually pretty cool for $6. :) Oh, and she got a little flying bear too. We stopped at the FAA building, where there was a guy outside giving free weather briefings to all the pilots who stopped, so we found out when the weather was supposed to be moving in to Kokomo and all that good stuff, and then we walked back to our car. By this point the mud was a tad worse in some areas after having been smushed around by a lot of cars. We passed one car getting towed out by a tractor after getting stuck. But our row wasn't bad, and we were out of there and on our way back to the hotel in no time.
Once we got there, around 6 pm, we just broke ranks and went to our rooms, took showers, and chilled out for awhile. We had 8:30 pm reservations for the Bonefish Grill. Man was *that* good too. I had a lemon butter salmon with jasmine herb rice, Steve had a fillet, and Kaylee had (can you guess?) macaroni and cheese. Oh well, at least she ate crab last night. ;) Oh, we also had a delicious thing called "bang bang shrimp" and some calamari. Warm bread, and you bet I had dessert. Macadamia nut brownie. Hungry, anyone?? We waddled out of there around 10 or so, and the kids had HAD it. Well, Kaylee had had it anyway. I pretty much carried her to the car, we got back to the hotel, and again, boom, out like a light before 11 pm. All of us. We'd decided that the one day was about perfect to see Sun 'n Fun.
We came, we saw, we conquered, and we got the t-shirts to prove it. ;)
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Air Show Away
Tuesday morning dawned very early, and I do mean VERY early. It was not only still dark when I got up, it was still dark when we took off, wheels-up just after 7 a.m. Let me add that up for you. It's a 20-minute drive to the airport. Once you get there you need about 15-20 minutes to pack up the plane, pull it out of the hangar, preflight it, get everybody in it, get your clearance and get off the ground. And let's not forget the getting all the bags, two adults, two cats and a child all ready and/or out the door at home. Yep! I woke up on my own (internal alarm) at 4:41 a.m. and Steve was already up. I laid there for awhile longer drifting in and out before I finally got up for good myself. Amazingly enough, once I was up, I was actually awake.
It was a beautiful flight down; we watched the sun rise over the clouds. The kids had a terrific
set-up; they have no idea how lucky they are! Steve set them up with their own intercom system in the back of the plane, so they could talk to each other over headsets without being able to hear us, and without us being able to hear them. That way they didn't have to worry about being quiet when we were trying to listen to controllers, and, well, we didn't have to listen to them either. ;) They had a nest set up in the very back of the Baron, which has a lot more room than you might think. They had blankets and pillows back there, a dvd player, and they both brought their Nintendo DS games and they'd wirelessly play the same game at the same time on them. They could move freely about back there and be comfortable and entertained for hours. (By the way-there is a big door back there, the baggage door, and yes, I locked it every time, lest anybody get any crazy ideas and try to open that door in flight.) Basically we would take off with everybody buckled into their seats, and then once we got to cruising altitude the "seat belt" sign would go off and they'd go back there and talk and play. It worked well for us all!
We stopped at Knoxville on our way down to fuel up and grab a snack, and I took the next leg into Stuart, FL. It was over three hours, and the traffic was getting pretty busy thanks to the air show, but it was really uneventful. In fact, I was trying to stay awake a little bit at this point. :) We did hear one controller say that people had to avoid a certain area because there was an airplane who had declared an emergency for fire. I still wonder what happened and hope they got down safely. I'll have to go hunt that up, but hopefully I won't find a thing because that means they did indeed get down okay. There's a circumstance that will get every pilot's immediate attention.
I landed at Stuart and Nathan got a courtesy car and drove us to his Mom's house, where we picked her up and took her out to lunch. When we got back to her house, we just relaxed on her porch and watched the water and relaxed for awhile before our next leg into Bartow, FL. We went VFR into Bartow because to go in IFR is a bigger hassle-you have to have a time slot ahead of time, etc. So we just scooted over on our own. There was a ton of traffic, and we played "spot that traffic" for awhile. Nathan saw two first, I saw two first, and several went by that neither of us actually saw. (We know it's there because the airplane has a traffic alert system on it). We also had scattered rain showers around. Nothing exciting, but I took a couple of pictures because I know some of you might be interested in seeing what rain looks like from the air. :)
We arrived at Bartow at 6 pm, got our rental car, got checked into our hotel, rested for a little while, and then went to dinner at a little place in downtown Lakeland called "Harry's". We were all ready for some real sea food. Kaylee and I split a 2 pound order of King Crab Legs, Jamie had crab cakes, Steve had the crab legs as well, we had crab spring rolls, it was just a crab kind of evening. The service was a little slow that night but the food was quite good, and we all agree it's a place to go to again next year.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was late, we'd all been up for a very long time, and we'd traveled all day. Steve and Kaylee watched tv for a little while, but I just put on jammies and I was GONE. Out. I think it was like 10:30 or so...one of the earliest bedtimes I'd had for a very long time. I slept like a rock, too. Waking up at 4:41 will do that to me. :)
It was a beautiful flight down; we watched the sun rise over the clouds. The kids had a terrific
set-up; they have no idea how lucky they are! Steve set them up with their own intercom system in the back of the plane, so they could talk to each other over headsets without being able to hear us, and without us being able to hear them. That way they didn't have to worry about being quiet when we were trying to listen to controllers, and, well, we didn't have to listen to them either. ;) They had a nest set up in the very back of the Baron, which has a lot more room than you might think. They had blankets and pillows back there, a dvd player, and they both brought their Nintendo DS games and they'd wirelessly play the same game at the same time on them. They could move freely about back there and be comfortable and entertained for hours. (By the way-there is a big door back there, the baggage door, and yes, I locked it every time, lest anybody get any crazy ideas and try to open that door in flight.) Basically we would take off with everybody buckled into their seats, and then once we got to cruising altitude the "seat belt" sign would go off and they'd go back there and talk and play. It worked well for us all!We stopped at Knoxville on our way down to fuel up and grab a snack, and I took the next leg into Stuart, FL. It was over three hours, and the traffic was getting pretty busy thanks to the air show, but it was really uneventful. In fact, I was trying to stay awake a little bit at this point. :) We did hear one controller say that people had to avoid a certain area because there was an airplane who had declared an emergency for fire. I still wonder what happened and hope they got down safely. I'll have to go hunt that up, but hopefully I won't find a thing because that means they did indeed get down okay. There's a circumstance that will get every pilot's immediate attention.
I landed at Stuart and Nathan got a courtesy car and drove us to his Mom's house, where we picked her up and took her out to lunch. When we got back to her house, we just relaxed on her porch and watched the water and relaxed for awhile before our next leg into Bartow, FL. We went VFR into Bartow because to go in IFR is a bigger hassle-you have to have a time slot ahead of time, etc. So we just scooted over on our own. There was a ton of traffic, and we played "spot that traffic" for awhile. Nathan saw two first, I saw two first, and several went by that neither of us actually saw. (We know it's there because the airplane has a traffic alert system on it). We also had scattered rain showers around. Nothing exciting, but I took a couple of pictures because I know some of you might be interested in seeing what rain looks like from the air. :)
We arrived at Bartow at 6 pm, got our rental car, got checked into our hotel, rested for a little while, and then went to dinner at a little place in downtown Lakeland called "Harry's". We were all ready for some real sea food. Kaylee and I split a 2 pound order of King Crab Legs, Jamie had crab cakes, Steve had the crab legs as well, we had crab spring rolls, it was just a crab kind of evening. The service was a little slow that night but the food was quite good, and we all agree it's a place to go to again next year.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was late, we'd all been up for a very long time, and we'd traveled all day. Steve and Kaylee watched tv for a little while, but I just put on jammies and I was GONE. Out. I think it was like 10:30 or so...one of the earliest bedtimes I'd had for a very long time. I slept like a rock, too. Waking up at 4:41 will do that to me. :)
Monday, April 07, 2008
Prep Day
Kaylee likes to play with her Barbies in the bathtub. Well, afterwards they stay damp for a long time, and that isn't good, so I got the brilliant idea to put them in the dryer. Today I learned that Barbie hair melts and goes wanky and fuzzy in the dryer. *sigh* She didn't freak out at all at their now funny-looking hair; in fact, I was more bothered than she was. Live and learn.
We spent today getting ready for our trip. Steve spent the day flying and working, and Kaylee and I ran errands, cleaned house, and packed. It's annoying to put an entire day's work into one sentence, but that pretty much covers it. Kaylee worked hard on her room and got it picked up, I did every load of laundry in the house along with dusting, vacuuming, watering plants, dishes, packing. Kaylee even dragged the trash out and got it in the big bin for me, without telling me she was going to.
I fixed mac & cheese for dinner and let her have a little friend come over to play for an hour or so. I still have packing to do, and we have to fit everything we need into a very small space. We are filling all the seats on the airplane, full fuel, and will have baggage for five people on board as well. Therefore we need to make it as SMALL baggage as possible. It would be best if we could put one of the children in the nose baggage compartment, but somehow I doubt that would go over well. ;)
Well, we leave very (too!) early tomorrow, and I won't have room for extras like computers, so I'll try to remember what we did and I'll talk to everybody on Thursday when we return! I'll leave you with a photo. Kaylee took this with my cellphone and wanted to send it to her dad today while he was out working hard. Who needs the top of our heads anyway, right?! :)
We spent today getting ready for our trip. Steve spent the day flying and working, and Kaylee and I ran errands, cleaned house, and packed. It's annoying to put an entire day's work into one sentence, but that pretty much covers it. Kaylee worked hard on her room and got it picked up, I did every load of laundry in the house along with dusting, vacuuming, watering plants, dishes, packing. Kaylee even dragged the trash out and got it in the big bin for me, without telling me she was going to.
I fixed mac & cheese for dinner and let her have a little friend come over to play for an hour or so. I still have packing to do, and we have to fit everything we need into a very small space. We are filling all the seats on the airplane, full fuel, and will have baggage for five people on board as well. Therefore we need to make it as SMALL baggage as possible. It would be best if we could put one of the children in the nose baggage compartment, but somehow I doubt that would go over well. ;)
Well, we leave very (too!) early tomorrow, and I won't have room for extras like computers, so I'll try to remember what we did and I'll talk to everybody on Thursday when we return! I'll leave you with a photo. Kaylee took this with my cellphone and wanted to send it to her dad today while he was out working hard. Who needs the top of our heads anyway, right?! :)
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The End of the Airport Weekend
Well, this airport weekend, anyway. Now that it's Spring/Summer, there are many more to come.
I woke up before the rest of my family today and headed out to the airport to be there in time to go on a formation flight with the Bonanza guys. The briefing was from 8-9 a.m., where they went over what they were going to do, when, how, with whom, etc. After the briefing, the head guy told me who I would be flying with and set us loose. I didn't know this man from Adam, nor he me, so I told him up front that I was a pilot, that I was not going to chatter, gasp, cry, yell, or in any way be a bother to him as he was doing his formation training/flying. We took off as a formation of four airplanes, and I was in #4, the "slot". The "lead" was a Baron, and the rest of us were in Bonanzas. The lead is in charge of the whole flight, and everybody watches him. He watches traffic, he deals with communication, he covers what terrain people are over, and he controls the maneuvers and all the airplanes in his group. He has the biggest responsibility. The other pilots don't watch anything or anybody but their lead, so the safety of the flight is totally on his shoulders. Everyone in the group practiced various maneuvers together, different formations, did a "low" pass over the runway, took off and landed all in a group. It was actually a lot of fun. The flight lasted about an hour, and after it was over, I was wiped out even though I wasn't the one doing the flying. I can't help it, when I am in there, I am concentrating on what is going on whether I'm in charge or not. I took several photos. If you go here, you can see a few new ones I added of Chuck's, and then go to Page Two and see the formation flying photos from the day. I'm glad I took the opportunity to go, as I did pick up a few things too.
After my flight, Chuck, Kaylee and I hung out for awhile by ourselves, and it was Very Quiet. So we entertained ourselves by me trying on Kaylee's bicycle helmet as my back-up helmet since we had *no* idea when mine would be ready. Last week Nathan had called and they'd told him that they had trouble finding a place to do the custom head molds since the last place had to shut down because of environmental concerns with the materials they use. So I put on Kaylee's helmet, and Chuck snapped a photo, and we were going to joke that we'd found my back-up helmet, and it even already said "Princess" on it. And yes, by the way, it Did indeed fit just fine. Seriously.
I got out the Segway again, which Kaylee enjoyed buzzing around on for a bit longer today, until the owner came back and I turned it back over to him. She pouted for awhile after that one, but compensated by riding her bike, her scooter, and Chuck's golf cart. She's getting pretty good at the golf cart by the way. She had a much better feel today for making smooth turns, going straight, etc. I was impressed with her driving today; she was very conscientious about it and did quite well.
Nathan arrived after church and lunch, and he arrived with a box. He thought it was tubes. In fact, it was my helmet! Ironic since just that day we'd joked about it and taken a photo of me in Kaylee's bike helmet to compensate for not having it. It was here, finally! It has my name on it and everything. ;) So I tried it on, and it seems to fit nicely. However, I've been told to wear it as frequently as possible to make sure it is actually comfortable, fits well, doesn't have any "hot" spots pressing into my head, and because the more you wear it the better it will fit your head and be comfy. That's why Chuck started wearing it in the Citabria, and Nathan and Chuck both suggested I put it on at home and watch tv for awhile. So guess what I'm doing? I'm sitting here on my couch with my computer on my lap, the tv on, and a red helmet on my head. I have left the visor up so I can see better, naturally, but I look pretty darned funny regardless. Steve has two friends over, and they're all on the deck chatting. Just a few minutes ago, Steve came in for the first time, glanced over and saw me, and cracked up. Every time he goes by he is laughing at me. Frankly, I'm just glad my one camera has the battery out and he has never used the other, because this has *got* to be a most ridiculous sight. ;)
Later that afternoon, Steve went up with another group of Bonanza guys and did a formation flight with them too. He thought the same things I did-they did a great job, it was a fun experience, and he wore himself out concentrating even though he wasn't flying either. Sometime that afternoon, I hit a wall. I was just exhausted. Everybody else had crashed the night before, but I was wide awake until my normal time, just fine. But after an early morning, some concentration, and another mostly full day of being outside, I was just ready to Go Home and Crash, and finally that's what I did. After the Bonanza guys were done for the weekend and on their way home, we all cleaned up both hangars, and I took Kaylee and came home, got her a snack, told her I needed to rest, and I passed out for 90 minutes. I fell asleep so hard that I was in the exact same position when I woke up as I was when I initially laid down, and my eyelashes on the side of my face closest to the bed were glued together. I went out like a *rock*.
Well, I've been wearing this helmet for about an hour now. I have a sunburned scalp so it seems to be pushing on that a little bit, but otherwise I think it fits just like it's supposed to. I'll leave it on a little longer, but I may be getting close to done for the night. I'm trying to get used to having something tight on my head, but it's not exactly super instinctive for me. :)
Tomorrow is our Get ready for Sun-n-Fun day. Tuesday we head to Florida in the Baron, Wednesday we enjoy Sun-n-Fun, and Thursday we fly home. Nathan & Jamie, Steve, Kaylee and myself. Should be a lot of fun! :)
I woke up before the rest of my family today and headed out to the airport to be there in time to go on a formation flight with the Bonanza guys. The briefing was from 8-9 a.m., where they went over what they were going to do, when, how, with whom, etc. After the briefing, the head guy told me who I would be flying with and set us loose. I didn't know this man from Adam, nor he me, so I told him up front that I was a pilot, that I was not going to chatter, gasp, cry, yell, or in any way be a bother to him as he was doing his formation training/flying. We took off as a formation of four airplanes, and I was in #4, the "slot". The "lead" was a Baron, and the rest of us were in Bonanzas. The lead is in charge of the whole flight, and everybody watches him. He watches traffic, he deals with communication, he covers what terrain people are over, and he controls the maneuvers and all the airplanes in his group. He has the biggest responsibility. The other pilots don't watch anything or anybody but their lead, so the safety of the flight is totally on his shoulders. Everyone in the group practiced various maneuvers together, different formations, did a "low" pass over the runway, took off and landed all in a group. It was actually a lot of fun. The flight lasted about an hour, and after it was over, I was wiped out even though I wasn't the one doing the flying. I can't help it, when I am in there, I am concentrating on what is going on whether I'm in charge or not. I took several photos. If you go here, you can see a few new ones I added of Chuck's, and then go to Page Two and see the formation flying photos from the day. I'm glad I took the opportunity to go, as I did pick up a few things too.
After my flight, Chuck, Kaylee and I hung out for awhile by ourselves, and it was Very Quiet. So we entertained ourselves by me trying on Kaylee's bicycle helmet as my back-up helmet since we had *no* idea when mine would be ready. Last week Nathan had called and they'd told him that they had trouble finding a place to do the custom head molds since the last place had to shut down because of environmental concerns with the materials they use. So I put on Kaylee's helmet, and Chuck snapped a photo, and we were going to joke that we'd found my back-up helmet, and it even already said "Princess" on it. And yes, by the way, it Did indeed fit just fine. Seriously.
I got out the Segway again, which Kaylee enjoyed buzzing around on for a bit longer today, until the owner came back and I turned it back over to him. She pouted for awhile after that one, but compensated by riding her bike, her scooter, and Chuck's golf cart. She's getting pretty good at the golf cart by the way. She had a much better feel today for making smooth turns, going straight, etc. I was impressed with her driving today; she was very conscientious about it and did quite well.
Nathan arrived after church and lunch, and he arrived with a box. He thought it was tubes. In fact, it was my helmet! Ironic since just that day we'd joked about it and taken a photo of me in Kaylee's bike helmet to compensate for not having it. It was here, finally! It has my name on it and everything. ;) So I tried it on, and it seems to fit nicely. However, I've been told to wear it as frequently as possible to make sure it is actually comfortable, fits well, doesn't have any "hot" spots pressing into my head, and because the more you wear it the better it will fit your head and be comfy. That's why Chuck started wearing it in the Citabria, and Nathan and Chuck both suggested I put it on at home and watch tv for awhile. So guess what I'm doing? I'm sitting here on my couch with my computer on my lap, the tv on, and a red helmet on my head. I have left the visor up so I can see better, naturally, but I look pretty darned funny regardless. Steve has two friends over, and they're all on the deck chatting. Just a few minutes ago, Steve came in for the first time, glanced over and saw me, and cracked up. Every time he goes by he is laughing at me. Frankly, I'm just glad my one camera has the battery out and he has never used the other, because this has *got* to be a most ridiculous sight. ;)
Later that afternoon, Steve went up with another group of Bonanza guys and did a formation flight with them too. He thought the same things I did-they did a great job, it was a fun experience, and he wore himself out concentrating even though he wasn't flying either. Sometime that afternoon, I hit a wall. I was just exhausted. Everybody else had crashed the night before, but I was wide awake until my normal time, just fine. But after an early morning, some concentration, and another mostly full day of being outside, I was just ready to Go Home and Crash, and finally that's what I did. After the Bonanza guys were done for the weekend and on their way home, we all cleaned up both hangars, and I took Kaylee and came home, got her a snack, told her I needed to rest, and I passed out for 90 minutes. I fell asleep so hard that I was in the exact same position when I woke up as I was when I initially laid down, and my eyelashes on the side of my face closest to the bed were glued together. I went out like a *rock*.
Well, I've been wearing this helmet for about an hour now. I have a sunburned scalp so it seems to be pushing on that a little bit, but otherwise I think it fits just like it's supposed to. I'll leave it on a little longer, but I may be getting close to done for the night. I'm trying to get used to having something tight on my head, but it's not exactly super instinctive for me. :)
Tomorrow is our Get ready for Sun-n-Fun day. Tuesday we head to Florida in the Baron, Wednesday we enjoy Sun-n-Fun, and Thursday we fly home. Nathan & Jamie, Steve, Kaylee and myself. Should be a lot of fun! :)
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