Bombastic

Boys and girls, the vocabulary word for the day is... ;)

I woke up this morning to unprecedented amounts of Pomp and Circumstance on television-the size of the crowds on display was amazing. I have no idea where I was when either Bush was sworn in, and I know I was on a checkride when Clinton was sworn in, but I can probably remember that I was at Half Moon with four other friends, eating fish and occasionally looking up on any of the 8 televisions in the room to see the people fainting and weeping with joy when Obama was sworn in. I have never seen that kind of emotional response to a person, and all I could think about was serious religious fervor, more so than for the Pope. I do pray for our new President as he leads this country.

I didn't say anything about this previously, because this is for now a public blog, and one should be somewhat circumspect in one's discussions. But not too long ago, someone put an argument into a local paper bashing an expansion that is in the works for Kokomo Airport. One of the board members responded on behalf of the airport, and the original complainant (we'll call him 'J') wrote back with a two-page-long scathing public diatribe in the paper. It was unfair and full of misinformation and emotional "rile 'em up" stuff, and, well, I can't stand that, so I wrote a letter to the editor to have it published in response to J's rant. It was a little long, considering I'm a wordy kind of girl and had a lot to cover, but it was indeed published a few weeks ago. "J" is a fairly prominent citizen, and he didn't take my letter to the editor very well, as evidenced by the response he arranged to have put on the front page of the paper. He used my name (badly misspelled) six times, and "she" or "her" more times than I'll count. He couldn't refute most of the facts I presented, though he tried on a couple and is still mistaken on a few of them, so he went straight to the standard back-up procedure for someone who can't beat you on the merits--attacking the person.

What I find the most amusing out of the whole situation is that little ole me quite obviously got under his skin. For example, he was defensive about his age more than once, and nothing I said had anything to do with his age. But my very favorite part was when he said he wasn't a pilot, but claims to be well versed on aviation thanks to the years he has spent as a passenger, and then he listed all the planes he has ridden in the back of. Oh, the things I would love to say to that! I've been driving a Chrysler for over a year now too, but that doesn't mean I know how the auto industry works. (That's funnier if you know who he is.) Or how about I list all the airplanes I've ridden in the back of too? Boeing 747, Airbus whatever, heavens, I'm an expert on airline travel now too! Here are the best lines he put in there:

"My involvement in corporate aviation started in 1968, and I have more hours, both with corporate pilots, corporate turbine-powered aircraft, and aviation organizations, than she has with her single engine, gas-powered aircraft." Is that where I should start trembling from fear, or from awe; I can't remember? Another one was "The private playground on which she, and a very few others, play is..." Private playground on which I and a very few elite others play? That is priceless coming from someone who has spent the last several decades riding around in the back of multi-million dollar jets and just slammed me for my little single engine gas-powered aircraft. ;)

He had a "very good friend" who "pointed out the waste of taxpayer money" at the airport. Well, we know who that friend is and what their sour grapes are and how this little vendetta was born, but "J" doesn't realize that it was my husband who took him on a local flight and helped him fulfill a dream of sitting in a P-51 Mustang not too long ago, back when he didn't think the airport was all that bad after all.

Anyway, my (hopefully final) response, which will be relegated as a letter to the editor again since I don't have the clout to get it on the front page as he did, will be professional and factual on the actual issue, not defensive and personally attacking like his was; but I have to admit it would be a lot of temporary fun to respond with the things I haven't written here that ran through my mind. I can be good at sarcastic when it is deserved. ;) That he responded at all, let alone as he did, goes to show that the piece I submitted "hit" him and/or his "people". Good. I'm not impressed by a hypocrite and/or jerk, regardless of who they know or what they have, and I don't mind saying so.

That's about the end of bombastic situations and people. Today Kaylee started coughing. I told her she is Not Allowed to come down with an illness for her birthday. We have plans, man, and no kid can be sick on their birthday, it is just against the rules. I had to give her cough medicine before she went to bed, and I'm just really hoping she gets some good sleep and can fight this off...