Rambling

After I took Kaylee to school this morning, I went to the post office and two banks, then ran out to Sam's Club then Target in order to pick up some things for Glenndale. I got back to the airport around 11, so Steve and I went up in the Citabria. He wanted to do some flying from the back seat, so we went up and made a few of those circuits, until it was time to come in so as to not miss lunch. You can't miss lunch around here!

Steve and I later left the airport to go to a Parent/Teacher Conference for Kaylee. The teacher had very nice things to say. She said that Kaylee just excels in imagination, creativity, writing, and story telling type things. I guess she often uses Kaylee's stories "full of descriptive words and phrases" as examples for the other kids. She says Kaylee is a very fun-loving, dramatic, artistic, affectionate girl and she could easily imagine her writing children's books some day, that she'd be good at it anyway. We came back and told Kaylee her teacher had said she needed spanked three times a day every day, and Kaylee just blew us off and said "Oh, she did not! She likes me!" :)

We came back to Glenndale, and this time I took Kaylee up in the Citabria with me. She started off a little cautiously, but she did well. She wanted to do runway checks, takeoffs and landings, and nothing else. So that's what we did. Her feet reach the pedals sort of, but not enough to actually be able to push on them, so I still have to do the rudders for her, and she handles the ailerons and elevator. The first takeoff and landing I talked her through, I ended up helping a tad at the end, but the last one she did, she did the full takeoff without me touching anything but the rudders, and the last landing she did I only took it after she got it down. We'll work on it this summer some. :) I took a few pictures that I put up on her site. Here's one of the two of us. Look at Kaylee's face-she is concentrating because she is the one doing the flying back there. :)

There was a news thing in aviation that just made Steve and I both shake our heads. A private pilot with 320 hours and an instrument rating took off in his shiny Cirrus airplane. He didn't get his door shut, and when it popped open after he took off, he freaked out and found it "extremely distracting". He hadn't turned his autopilot on yet (only being under 800 feet in the air so far), started to have trouble flying his airplane straight, so he hit the "Level" button, which is no kidding a big red "Easy" button like from Staples, which takes and makes the plane nice and level for you if you can't do it yourself. Then he decided that it might take too long and that he might crash, so he pulled the parachute on his plane, which came down safely, destroying the plane, but he walked away. Welcome to the newer, safer generation of pilots. The ones who can't fly without a Garmin 1000 panel, an easy button, an autopilot and a parachute, and heaven forbid something not go according to plan. The inexperienced pilots with the shiny new planes who have more money than ability and think they're amazing because of all the gizmos they have in the plane who then go on to get themselves into trouble because they can't actually fly; basically, simply, bottom-line fly. This sounds harsh, I know, but a door popping open is not a new phenomenon. It happened to Chuck in the Baron, and hey, he kept on flying, came around and landed, and all was well. Happened to me a couple of times. Happened to Nathan, to Steve. It happens. It's not a big deal, unless it's winter, at which time it's just rather cold. I am glad that he walked away safely, absolutely. If he hadn't had the parachute on his plane, he'd probably have lost control and might not be here today. But I'd much prefer pilots actually be pilots, not just button-pushing drivers not in charge or control of their machines, for the safety of not just them, but everyone else. (This isn't a new phenomenon...why do you think Bonanzas used to be called "Doctor killers"? Newish pilots with more money than ability getting into bigger, faster planes that they are too busy to be able to stay proficient in. Not new, but still frustrating.) *sigh* Anyway.

I'll end on a Friday Five to answer:

1. Would you return to high school life for a week? Why or why not?
**Oh heavens no. No way, no how, no thank you, No. Why not? Are you kidding me? No.

2. Who were you in high school?
**Laurie. Bookworm. Shy. Quiet. The invisible girl when I was lucky. Unpopular but I usually had one close friend to hang out with. :)

3. What was your favorite high school hangout? What did you do there?
**We didn't really do the "favorite hangout" thing. We would go to various fast food places and hang out while we ate, or mostly we would go over to each other's houses and hang out there. We'd watch movies, stay up all night on the weekend, eat cookie dough, listen to music, solve all of the world's problems and occasionally come up with some bad ideas of our own. :)

4. What were your favorite three songs in high school?
**I really have no idea.

5. What was the craziest thing you did in high school?
**Um. Lots of sarcastic comments and answers come to mind, from the real answer, to "getting a 'C' in math". But I do believe I will just...Pass. ;)