Twas a tad on the windy side today. For the logbook, I flew an hour this morning in the RG with a guy who is starting his instructor's rating, and learning to do things from the right seat instead of the left seat. The two seats aren't that far apart, but the visual cues are a little different and you use the opposite hands to hold the yoke and power, and it can take a little time to get used to. We also had a bit of a crosswind, and it was bumpy, so all in all it was a good day to practice. ;)
When I got down, I ran out to Glenndale to see if I could get some Citabria flying in before the worst of the days' winds hit, but he wasn't there yet, and by the time 11 a.m. rolled around the winds had rolled in too. Gusting upwards of 30 knots does not make for a nice time in a light taildragger. But we needed to get the Cherokee 180 from Sheridan to Kokomo by the end of today for maintenance, and the winds were fairly close down both airports' runways, so Chuck drove us to Sheridan and we flew her back to Kokomo. When T landed the 180, it stopped so short thanks to that headwind that we had to add power to get to the taxiway. ;) Last I heard the winds were gusting up to 33, so we took the Baron up for a quick flight too. A little maneuvering, a little single engine stuff, a landing and done. :)
I ran home, ran errands, ran back home and freshened up, and went back out to Kokomo to meet up with the ABS (American Bonanza Society) guys who came in tonight for a formation clinic ground school. There are three trainees, of which I am one, and there are supposed to be I think 12 airplanes coming in tomorrow, if the weather will allow them. Tonight we just had the three trainees, two presenters, and two safety pilots there for the ground school, which took about two and a half hours. It's all pretty familiar at this point, a good refresher as it's been since last summer since I last studied the formation stuff. They're looking at doing four "sorties" tomorrow, wx permitting, with each trainee flying off of a different plane each time. One of the "leads" is in a Baron, and I'm in the Baron, and everyone else is in various Bonanzas (single engine). Should be interesting, and I look forward to it. After the ground school we all went to Outback, before heading home.
I have to be back out there around 7 a.m. tomorrow, so...I'm going to bed! Another early morning on the way...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Some Like It Hot...
The water heater is heating water as I type this. Woot! It went down sometime Monday night, and is just now back up Thursday evening. Would anyone else like to go without hot water in their house for three days? Fortunately I'd already done dishes so there wasn't that problem, lots of laundry can be done on cold anyway, and thank heavens we had a house next door where we could shower. :) Still...it's awful nice to be able to do a lot of things with hot water tonight!
I'm afraid I had one of those productive, boring days that are non-stop but nobody wants to hear about. I'm keeping my stuff organized, which means I dealt with all the stuff that came in the mail the last few days, took care of a lot of personal stuff, made a trip to the BMV (successfully this time), ran to the library, did some accounting stuff, some house cleaning, the usual errands, laundry, some research for a few things, returned a few phone calls, hung out with the water heater repair guy, and so forth. Tonight I should start the billing since tomorrow is the last day of the month and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I think I've already wound down for the night here.
Kaylee came to the Jeep after school hauling a giant root with a twig on top. This is her "Pin Oak" tree that was given to her. It wasn't in a container, not wrapped in papertowels, it's just...a root and a stick. It's a little strange, and we're not quite sure where to plant it, but Steve is giving it a shot in a large planter we have that has been recently vacated by its previous owner--the rubber tree we've had since Devon's funeral in 1999 from Mom's former work place that just croaked off for good not too long ago. We'll see how this thing grows, and if it survives my household we'll take it out somewhere and plant it for good. :) She's also come home from "Earth Day" week with a "Sensitive Plant" that folds when you touch it, a snap dragon plant, a Dogwood tree, and pretty flowers potted in a cut off milk jug decorated up. My own school doesn't realize I'm the Great Plant Destroyer, apparently, and we now have all these poor little plants I'm trying not to kill off. Plants have to be hardy around these here parts. Of course, don't we all? :)
I'm afraid I had one of those productive, boring days that are non-stop but nobody wants to hear about. I'm keeping my stuff organized, which means I dealt with all the stuff that came in the mail the last few days, took care of a lot of personal stuff, made a trip to the BMV (successfully this time), ran to the library, did some accounting stuff, some house cleaning, the usual errands, laundry, some research for a few things, returned a few phone calls, hung out with the water heater repair guy, and so forth. Tonight I should start the billing since tomorrow is the last day of the month and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I think I've already wound down for the night here.
Kaylee came to the Jeep after school hauling a giant root with a twig on top. This is her "Pin Oak" tree that was given to her. It wasn't in a container, not wrapped in papertowels, it's just...a root and a stick. It's a little strange, and we're not quite sure where to plant it, but Steve is giving it a shot in a large planter we have that has been recently vacated by its previous owner--the rubber tree we've had since Devon's funeral in 1999 from Mom's former work place that just croaked off for good not too long ago. We'll see how this thing grows, and if it survives my household we'll take it out somewhere and plant it for good. :) She's also come home from "Earth Day" week with a "Sensitive Plant" that folds when you touch it, a snap dragon plant, a Dogwood tree, and pretty flowers potted in a cut off milk jug decorated up. My own school doesn't realize I'm the Great Plant Destroyer, apparently, and we now have all these poor little plants I'm trying not to kill off. Plants have to be hardy around these here parts. Of course, don't we all? :)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
St. Louis Downtown
My alarm was set for 4:08 a.m., which gives me one "snooze" before I have to get up at 4:15. Typical Laura fashion, my mind woke me up right after 3 a.m. I have an inner alarm clock and when something is new or important it used to wake me up a minute before or the minute of when I wanted to wake up. These days I'm older and not used to using it and it tends to wake me up an hour or more early. This is bad, and IT does not have a snooze button. Once I'm awake, and know I'll have to get up soon anyway, I'm just awake, and I lay there from 3 on in that half-awake, half-daydreaming phase. I'd gotten everything ready the night before, so I basically just piled out the door and headed for the airport, where we'd also gotten the plane ready the night before. I like making my life easy when the day starts that early. ;)
It looked like a full moon, and the skies were clear, it was a little chilly but it was nice. We took off and headed to St. Louis Downtown airport, with the giant full moon in front of us and the sun rising behind us. I didn't take any pictures this time, but trust me, it was lovely. ;)
The best view though was coming in to land. I really wish I could have taken photos
and landed at the same time without frightening anyone. The sun was coming up and glinting off of the Arch and the downtown St. Louis buildings. There was a misty fog on the ground in patches, the sky was sunrise multi-colored, and the light was just perfect. I had to remind myself to quit staring and get back to business.
When we arrived, we got there before their tower was even open, so I had the field to myself. Having looked up where we were going ahead of time, I knew where to taxi to, which is kind of important if you're on a big field and there's nobody to ask where to go. The bad deal was that I walked off without my laptop, and worst of all I didn't have any reading material to bring. That's not a big deal, as usually you can take the courtesy car for awhile and pick up a paperback and a good meal. They
don't have a courtesy car here. Gah! They do have internet available though. :) The pilot's room was really very nice-it was a sun room, with wicker furniture, real plants, a gas fireplace and two walls that were nothing but windows with slats with a full view of the tower, ramp, and runways. Nice!! Oh, and their bathroom had a giant hanging biplane for a light fixture, and the first person that popped into my head was Dawn Brier. :) That's a must have, I think!
After awhile I got sleepy and bored, so I walked the ramp a couple of times, about a mile total, but I kept waiting for security to stop me. I asked before I went, but they have no restrictions on that. I wandered all over the place by a bunch of airplanes without anyone even saying "boo". Since I didn't have a courtesy car, I had to wait to eat until 11 a.m. when the restaurant on the field opened, and since it was clear across the field, I had to be driven over to it and back by the poor busy guy at the front desk. It was worth it though.
It was a neat little airport restaurant called "Oliver's", with an "old-time" aviation motif. I would have killed for reading material while I sat there by myself, but I passed the time instead by watching the runways and the traffic out the window of the restaurant, and by listening to all the pilots seated against the windows. The restaurant had seating down in an area with no windows, and it was completely empty, of course, and every time a plane would go by, every conversation halted long enough for every head to turn, and snippets of "I think that's a Commander" and "Nice performing airplane" etc. could be heard in the background chatter. Me, I was amazed at how far down the runway everybody was landing. The taxiway the majority of the airplanes were touching down at was 2300' down the runway, and several airplanes touched down a thousand feet past that. (I looked it up.) Good Grief. Just because you have 7000' of runway available doesn't mean you need to only use the last half! If they tried to land at Glenndale that way they'd end up on Alto Road in Kokomo.
When we left, I got my camera out and decided I'd snap a couple of pictures of the Arch and the city when they turned us on course. By the time they actually turned me on course I was so far away I'd have needed a telephoto lens to get the shot, which was now also hazy instead of the early morning crispness, so...oh well. I have the view in my mind, at least until I go to sleep and it gets erased. ;)
Unfortunately the flight home wasn't as smooth as the flight there. I ended up climbing up several thousand feet to try to get to smoother air, and did, but even coming back down to land was just very bumpy and not much fun for the folks with me. :(
As soon as we got done, I was met by Kaylee in her Awana outfit driving the golf cart-it was time to go to Awanas, so I left Steve at Kokomo to take care of putting stuff away, and I dropped her right at the church for her group. I was out of gas so I had to stop for that, too. When I finally got home, my eyes are gritty and I'm bouncing around on that "I didn't get enough sleep but I'm a little wired up right now and soon enough I'll crash, don't worry" thing.
I did have to smile when I checked my email though, because the Viking was on a flight plan home from Florida, the Baron had just landed, and the 172RG was also on a trip. The only thing missing was the Saratoga, and that's just because it's being worked on at the moment. We had lots of our crew out buzzing around today.
I just spoke on the phone with the winner of the T-6 raffle/drawing from the Muncie event, and it's a lady who is building a J-3 with her husband, a pilot herself, has lots of tailwheel time, and she is Extra Excited about flying in the Six. That ought to be fun. :)
I did take a few more photos today but these here pretty much cover it. :) Oh, and we still don't have hot water, no, but the part is sitting on my deck at least, so maybe tomorrow? Good thing I'd already washed dishes and such Monday night before it died!
It looked like a full moon, and the skies were clear, it was a little chilly but it was nice. We took off and headed to St. Louis Downtown airport, with the giant full moon in front of us and the sun rising behind us. I didn't take any pictures this time, but trust me, it was lovely. ;)
The best view though was coming in to land. I really wish I could have taken photos
and landed at the same time without frightening anyone. The sun was coming up and glinting off of the Arch and the downtown St. Louis buildings. There was a misty fog on the ground in patches, the sky was sunrise multi-colored, and the light was just perfect. I had to remind myself to quit staring and get back to business.When we arrived, we got there before their tower was even open, so I had the field to myself. Having looked up where we were going ahead of time, I knew where to taxi to, which is kind of important if you're on a big field and there's nobody to ask where to go. The bad deal was that I walked off without my laptop, and worst of all I didn't have any reading material to bring. That's not a big deal, as usually you can take the courtesy car for awhile and pick up a paperback and a good meal. They
don't have a courtesy car here. Gah! They do have internet available though. :) The pilot's room was really very nice-it was a sun room, with wicker furniture, real plants, a gas fireplace and two walls that were nothing but windows with slats with a full view of the tower, ramp, and runways. Nice!! Oh, and their bathroom had a giant hanging biplane for a light fixture, and the first person that popped into my head was Dawn Brier. :) That's a must have, I think!After awhile I got sleepy and bored, so I walked the ramp a couple of times, about a mile total, but I kept waiting for security to stop me. I asked before I went, but they have no restrictions on that. I wandered all over the place by a bunch of airplanes without anyone even saying "boo". Since I didn't have a courtesy car, I had to wait to eat until 11 a.m. when the restaurant on the field opened, and since it was clear across the field, I had to be driven over to it and back by the poor busy guy at the front desk. It was worth it though.
It was a neat little airport restaurant called "Oliver's", with an "old-time" aviation motif. I would have killed for reading material while I sat there by myself, but I passed the time instead by watching the runways and the traffic out the window of the restaurant, and by listening to all the pilots seated against the windows. The restaurant had seating down in an area with no windows, and it was completely empty, of course, and every time a plane would go by, every conversation halted long enough for every head to turn, and snippets of "I think that's a Commander" and "Nice performing airplane" etc. could be heard in the background chatter. Me, I was amazed at how far down the runway everybody was landing. The taxiway the majority of the airplanes were touching down at was 2300' down the runway, and several airplanes touched down a thousand feet past that. (I looked it up.) Good Grief. Just because you have 7000' of runway available doesn't mean you need to only use the last half! If they tried to land at Glenndale that way they'd end up on Alto Road in Kokomo.When we left, I got my camera out and decided I'd snap a couple of pictures of the Arch and the city when they turned us on course. By the time they actually turned me on course I was so far away I'd have needed a telephoto lens to get the shot, which was now also hazy instead of the early morning crispness, so...oh well. I have the view in my mind, at least until I go to sleep and it gets erased. ;)
Unfortunately the flight home wasn't as smooth as the flight there. I ended up climbing up several thousand feet to try to get to smoother air, and did, but even coming back down to land was just very bumpy and not much fun for the folks with me. :(
As soon as we got done, I was met by Kaylee in her Awana outfit driving the golf cart-it was time to go to Awanas, so I left Steve at Kokomo to take care of putting stuff away, and I dropped her right at the church for her group. I was out of gas so I had to stop for that, too. When I finally got home, my eyes are gritty and I'm bouncing around on that "I didn't get enough sleep but I'm a little wired up right now and soon enough I'll crash, don't worry" thing.
I did have to smile when I checked my email though, because the Viking was on a flight plan home from Florida, the Baron had just landed, and the 172RG was also on a trip. The only thing missing was the Saratoga, and that's just because it's being worked on at the moment. We had lots of our crew out buzzing around today.
I just spoke on the phone with the winner of the T-6 raffle/drawing from the Muncie event, and it's a lady who is building a J-3 with her husband, a pilot herself, has lots of tailwheel time, and she is Extra Excited about flying in the Six. That ought to be fun. :)
I did take a few more photos today but these here pretty much cover it. :) Oh, and we still don't have hot water, no, but the part is sitting on my deck at least, so maybe tomorrow? Good thing I'd already washed dishes and such Monday night before it died!
Here's the Baron on the ramp...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Unnaturally...
Twas an interesting start to the day. Steve was washing his hands bright and early this morning when he realized the water was pretty tepid. He checked out the water heater to find that the pilot light was out. And wouldn't light again. He messed with it for quite awhile before he gave up and called a water heater guy. Meanwhile he had to go on a lesson, while mine wasn't for another two hours, so I stayed with the repair man while he worked on it. Unbelievably, he got there Right Away. (I wonder how much that costs?) He also worked very hard to get it working. What made me laugh was that the first time he tried to light it, it went. I started laughing, said I was going to text Steve, and within 60 seconds it went out again. He said "That's not good." He cleaned some ceramic plate, yadda yadda, it lit again, it went out again. He said "That's a thermo-coupler". This is where the fun began. Lowes no longer carries parts for our furnace--even though it's only five years old. This guy had a thermo coupler in his shop but didn't know if it was the right one or not, and neither Lowes nor the manufacturer of the heater would tell him if it was the right one. It's a matter of security and all that. He ended up having to UPS Next Day Air the part to our house. Which means no hot water for two days here.
Fine. I got ready as best I could and headed out for a day full of flying in a small enclosed airplane. ;) We were in the 172, and the winds blew up on us so we got to play with some pretty good crosswinds for a person's first time back in the air in a month. We stopped for lunch, did a cross-country flight to a nearby airport, then stopped in at Glenndale for his first ever short field soft field crosswind takeoffs and landings. By this time the wind had died down to fairly reasonable, so I had him fly the 172 to Sheridan while I stayed close by in the
Citabria. We did what I'd call loose formation all the way there, had an uneventful arrival, had the next guy in the 172 ready to take it, and then the student flew me home in the Citabria from the front seat, and had some fun with that. First time in an airplane in a month and ended up doing strong crosswind takeoffs and landings, cross-country work, light formation, grass strip work, then ended up doing tailwheel grass strip crosswind stuff. I think he had fun, and so did I. ;)
I didn't get home until after 5:30 p.m., at which time I had a couple things to work on. I returned a call to the formation clinic organizer for this weekend, then worked on getting together my information and planning for a trip I'm taking tomorrow to St. Louis. I'll be in the air by 5:30 a.m., so I need to get everything ready tonight that I can.
Which brings me back to...we don't have any hot water. Does a person stand under freezing cold water to take a shower at 4 a.m., or go for the second day in a row with unwashed hair? Bzzzt. Okay, perhaps I can take a shower next door. Oh yes, the water is shut off next door. Steeeeeeve? (He's over there now seeing if he can get it turned on and get the hot water heater going over there.)
The bad news is that I only have a couple of hours here before I need to be going to bed so I can function properly while flying in and out of St. Louis at an ungodly early hour. (I'm going to BE there by 5:45 a.m. their time. That's just unnatural.) At least the weather looks reasonable, which makes my life easier, which I certainly appreciate...
Fine. I got ready as best I could and headed out for a day full of flying in a small enclosed airplane. ;) We were in the 172, and the winds blew up on us so we got to play with some pretty good crosswinds for a person's first time back in the air in a month. We stopped for lunch, did a cross-country flight to a nearby airport, then stopped in at Glenndale for his first ever short field soft field crosswind takeoffs and landings. By this time the wind had died down to fairly reasonable, so I had him fly the 172 to Sheridan while I stayed close by in the
Citabria. We did what I'd call loose formation all the way there, had an uneventful arrival, had the next guy in the 172 ready to take it, and then the student flew me home in the Citabria from the front seat, and had some fun with that. First time in an airplane in a month and ended up doing strong crosswind takeoffs and landings, cross-country work, light formation, grass strip work, then ended up doing tailwheel grass strip crosswind stuff. I think he had fun, and so did I. ;)I didn't get home until after 5:30 p.m., at which time I had a couple things to work on. I returned a call to the formation clinic organizer for this weekend, then worked on getting together my information and planning for a trip I'm taking tomorrow to St. Louis. I'll be in the air by 5:30 a.m., so I need to get everything ready tonight that I can.
Which brings me back to...we don't have any hot water. Does a person stand under freezing cold water to take a shower at 4 a.m., or go for the second day in a row with unwashed hair? Bzzzt. Okay, perhaps I can take a shower next door. Oh yes, the water is shut off next door. Steeeeeeve? (He's over there now seeing if he can get it turned on and get the hot water heater going over there.)
The bad news is that I only have a couple of hours here before I need to be going to bed so I can function properly while flying in and out of St. Louis at an ungodly early hour. (I'm going to BE there by 5:45 a.m. their time. That's just unnatural.) At least the weather looks reasonable, which makes my life easier, which I certainly appreciate...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday Meanderings
I saw a post that said "If every day is a gift, does anyone know where I can return Monday for a refund?" I like that, even if my Monday has been fine...
I had to do several things today. On top of the usual errands, I also needed to go into a bank and ask them about a discrepancy, which they told me they couldn't help me with for a few weeks because they'd changed over to another bank and the other records were in the basement of a building over in Converse. Well, that's nice! It's just $400, don't worry about it, right?! Anyway, even after hearing about the poor person who will have to go into the basement and pull my records, I still insisted politely that someone needed to, unless they'd like to just add the $400 without the effort. :) Next I headed over to the BMV, to find an empty parking lot and a "closed Sunday/Monday" sign on the door. If I went to the BMV more than twice a year, I might be able to remember which day they are closed (it used to be Wednesday by the way), but I don't, so I won't, so this will be the second (at least) trip I've wasted getting my stuff together and driving over there unsuccessfully. I ran over to pick up some business cards which was painless and quick, as was a quick trip to the computer store; a trip here, a trip there, a trip to drop off and pick up the kid...I put some decent time in a car some days, and today is one of them!
The day went steadily uphill, however. It started off cold and wet and gray, I ran into those few little irritations, and then I met Steve and a few fellows for lunch at Culvers. While we were sitting there, a lady came around who said that they had pints of ice cream that were at or past their "sell by" date, and wondered if we would be interested in having them, free of charge. Well, YEAH. It's good to be a regular where the folks behind the counter know you. ;) So we each got a pint of free Culvers ice cream to take home. I didn't need THAT staring at me in the freezer, but I'm not idiot enough to turn down free butter pecan and cashew delight ice cream, either. ;) As we were leaving Culvers, we looked up and realized that the clouds, gray and rain were gone and that it was now a beautiful, sunshiny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. MUCH better, thank you. I then got an email from the formation clinic guys this afternoon setting up the the time for the ground school, which is also good, although the current weather forecast for this weekend is not so much. I'm sure hoping it changes for the better again by then, both because their clinic last weekend was a rain-out and because I'd like to participate in it this year. They may be "spam cans" as opposed to warbirds, but they take it a lot more seriously, professionally and carefully than some warbird formation clinics out there do. Besides, as Nathan said, "Seat time is seat time."
I had some extra energy today, so I did something else slightly shocking-I jogged. I made it five entire minutes to .27 of a mile before I decided I was all caught up on jogging. ;) (I could have actually made it farther, but I decided that was a nice rounded-off place to stop.) Since I've always said I'd only run these days if I was being chased by someone much meaner than I, I surprised even myself at the urge. Believe it or not, that is farther than I'd have gotten in a while. My ankles are stronger than they used to be (always weak) and my stamina is higher than even before Devon back when I was thinner, so while that 5 min/.27 mile is pretty laughable on one hand, I'm sort of pleased with it on another. Maybe I was making up for one bite of that greasy fish sandwich and fries I had at lunch. ;)
To end-another post from today that made me smile was from an SMA Mom named Monica: "I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?" I'm with you, Monica! Ha.
Happy Monday. :)
I had to do several things today. On top of the usual errands, I also needed to go into a bank and ask them about a discrepancy, which they told me they couldn't help me with for a few weeks because they'd changed over to another bank and the other records were in the basement of a building over in Converse. Well, that's nice! It's just $400, don't worry about it, right?! Anyway, even after hearing about the poor person who will have to go into the basement and pull my records, I still insisted politely that someone needed to, unless they'd like to just add the $400 without the effort. :) Next I headed over to the BMV, to find an empty parking lot and a "closed Sunday/Monday" sign on the door. If I went to the BMV more than twice a year, I might be able to remember which day they are closed (it used to be Wednesday by the way), but I don't, so I won't, so this will be the second (at least) trip I've wasted getting my stuff together and driving over there unsuccessfully. I ran over to pick up some business cards which was painless and quick, as was a quick trip to the computer store; a trip here, a trip there, a trip to drop off and pick up the kid...I put some decent time in a car some days, and today is one of them!
The day went steadily uphill, however. It started off cold and wet and gray, I ran into those few little irritations, and then I met Steve and a few fellows for lunch at Culvers. While we were sitting there, a lady came around who said that they had pints of ice cream that were at or past their "sell by" date, and wondered if we would be interested in having them, free of charge. Well, YEAH. It's good to be a regular where the folks behind the counter know you. ;) So we each got a pint of free Culvers ice cream to take home. I didn't need THAT staring at me in the freezer, but I'm not idiot enough to turn down free butter pecan and cashew delight ice cream, either. ;) As we were leaving Culvers, we looked up and realized that the clouds, gray and rain were gone and that it was now a beautiful, sunshiny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. MUCH better, thank you. I then got an email from the formation clinic guys this afternoon setting up the the time for the ground school, which is also good, although the current weather forecast for this weekend is not so much. I'm sure hoping it changes for the better again by then, both because their clinic last weekend was a rain-out and because I'd like to participate in it this year. They may be "spam cans" as opposed to warbirds, but they take it a lot more seriously, professionally and carefully than some warbird formation clinics out there do. Besides, as Nathan said, "Seat time is seat time."
I had some extra energy today, so I did something else slightly shocking-I jogged. I made it five entire minutes to .27 of a mile before I decided I was all caught up on jogging. ;) (I could have actually made it farther, but I decided that was a nice rounded-off place to stop.) Since I've always said I'd only run these days if I was being chased by someone much meaner than I, I surprised even myself at the urge. Believe it or not, that is farther than I'd have gotten in a while. My ankles are stronger than they used to be (always weak) and my stamina is higher than even before Devon back when I was thinner, so while that 5 min/.27 mile is pretty laughable on one hand, I'm sort of pleased with it on another. Maybe I was making up for one bite of that greasy fish sandwich and fries I had at lunch. ;)
To end-another post from today that made me smile was from an SMA Mom named Monica: "I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?" I'm with you, Monica! Ha.
Happy Monday. :)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Day of Not Rest
I think Steve put something in my water bottle first thing this morning, because about 30 minutes after I woke up, I grabbed my stack of paperwork that had been growing on my side of the desk and got to work. After I got that pile organized with the junk thrown out, the appropriate stuff filed in SMA, flying and personal filing locations, and the remaining Things To Do separated into their appropriate folders, I moved on to the pile of paperwork I had hidden in a cabinet under the scanner and got it all taken care of. Then I moved on to the papers in my original "inbox" on the desk. Then I hit the small pile under the little chair area and got IT taken care of too. Since I was on such a roll, I went ahead and updated my logbook, too. My areas are now pristine. I think Steve may swoon. ;)
Meanwhile, Steve went on a tear of his own, went through a bunch of paperwork on his end, shredded, tossed and organized a bunch of stuff, and we are feeling quite accomplished. However, nobody is allowed to send me anything else in the mail. No bills, no insurance papers, no letters, no school papers, no doctor notices, no bank statements. I like not having a single piece of paper lying around out of place. But tomorrow is Monday, and Monday is a mail day. You wouldn't think little pieces of paper could bury you, but they can. You also would think it was easy to just deal with one or two pieces as they come in and not end up with a pile, but it's not as easy as it sounds to some of us. :) In fact, I actually get a small pile every day, just from Kaylee's school alone. Anyway, I think maybe it will be a little better now that things are a bit better organized, and that pleases me. I'm considering knocking off some of my email work too, but my inbox only has a dozen things in it and I'm not that far off on it, and maybe I've had enough work for one day. ;)
Meanwhile, Steve went on a tear of his own, went through a bunch of paperwork on his end, shredded, tossed and organized a bunch of stuff, and we are feeling quite accomplished. However, nobody is allowed to send me anything else in the mail. No bills, no insurance papers, no letters, no school papers, no doctor notices, no bank statements. I like not having a single piece of paper lying around out of place. But tomorrow is Monday, and Monday is a mail day. You wouldn't think little pieces of paper could bury you, but they can. You also would think it was easy to just deal with one or two pieces as they come in and not end up with a pile, but it's not as easy as it sounds to some of us. :) In fact, I actually get a small pile every day, just from Kaylee's school alone. Anyway, I think maybe it will be a little better now that things are a bit better organized, and that pleases me. I'm considering knocking off some of my email work too, but my inbox only has a dozen things in it and I'm not that far off on it, and maybe I've had enough work for one day. ;)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Rain and Shine
Everyone started off a little slow this morning. It was a cool, gray, rainy, cloudy day, and unfortunately for them, today was the fly-in event at Muncie. We've established a bit of a relationship with the folks over at Muncie, and had told them we'd bring the T-6 and ourselves over and help flesh out their event. Chuck hadn't slept well last night, Nathan didn't feel 100%, and none of us was really just jumping up and down to go out and do this, but we'd told the Muncie folks we would try to come, so we felt we should do it, and now that the weather was cruddy, it seemed even more important as that was going to impact their turn-out drastically. Nathan and Jon left first in the T-6, and Chuck, Kaylee and I left about ten minutes later. By the time I went to leave, the clouds and visibility had come down too far for me to legally fly without being on an instrument flight plan, so I filed a quickie with Grissom and we were on our way. They didn't have to do that, they could have left me hanging, but I asked very nicely and I thanked them for their help after they got me my clearance. Being polite is always a good thing, and being a girl probably doesn't hurt in that instance. ;) It was an uneventful and quick flight, I took the GPS approach into the airport for the practice, and landed to a wet and empty ramp. It was raining lightly when we got there, so the guys had put the cover on the T-6 to protect the parachutes from rain, and we had our umbrellas out to stay dry while we got in to the big hangar where the booths and such were set up.
Steve and Justin took off in the Saratoga shortly after that, coming on in IFR as well, and we all ate lunch at Kacy J's restaurant on the field. Afterwords Jon got up on the wing and let people come up and look in, answered questions, all that good stuff, while Kaylee played with her balsa wood airplane or sat on the wing of the
T-6 and relaxed. They were supposed to have some Blackhawk helicopters there today, but they canceled yesterday morning due to "threat of weather". The wusses. WE made it. ;) In an odd coincidence, there was a Chinook helicopter there, which was flying from Connecticut all the way to Washington (State). They had to stop due to bad weather, and ended up stopped at Muncie on the very day of Muncie's fly-in when their other copters had bailed. So the Chinook guys opened up their bird and let people come through and check it out, even get up and look into the cockpit and such. They really did not have to do that, and it was nice of them to give folks something to enjoy looking at. Kaylee and I went through it together, and it was pretty well equipped. When it took off to continue its journey to Washington, it had all of our attention. That is one loud, noisy, big ole thing.
There were four planes on the ramp today. Three of them were ours, and the fourth was also from Kokomo. The rest of the folks that came today ended up driving in. I wished we could have had more planes for them today, but flying in IFR to a fly-in is not usually something that goes over well, so everyone did the best they could. :)
We did meet a couple of interesting guys this afternoon though. A father and son came up to the T-6 and were asking some questions. Come to find out, the father was 94 years old, still working, had stomach cancer but had beaten it holistically, had applied for his FAA medical and passed it with the exception of his choice of cancer treatment, which flummoxed the FAA. The man started flying in 1937, got his instructor's license in 1939, and is still sharp as a tack today at age 94. Unreal! And he was a charmer, too. He asked about the pilot, we told him the pilot wasn't here at the moment, and Chuck said something about me being a pilot on it too, and his mouth opened in shock and he said something like "But she's beautiful!" Three or four times he came up to me and said "You are so beautiful! Such a pretty girl! You're the most beautiful pilot I've ever seen!" He took my hand several times too, and I wasn't quite sure what to say after that besides "Well, thank you!" Made me smile anyway, even if his eyesight was a little off. ;) He is who you hope to be when you're 94 years old. Energetic, healthy, fit, sparkly, positive, active, mentally sharp, and out DOING stuff and having fun. You go, sir!
The trip home was better weather, and we got everything put away, stopped for a Steak-n-Shake treat, and spent the evening finally relaxing and unwinding a little bit from the week...
I did put up some photos from today, too, of course!
Happy Birthday, Richard! We love you and appreciate having you beside us, figuratively, and a few months a year, literally. :)
Steve and Justin took off in the Saratoga shortly after that, coming on in IFR as well, and we all ate lunch at Kacy J's restaurant on the field. Afterwords Jon got up on the wing and let people come up and look in, answered questions, all that good stuff, while Kaylee played with her balsa wood airplane or sat on the wing of the
T-6 and relaxed. They were supposed to have some Blackhawk helicopters there today, but they canceled yesterday morning due to "threat of weather". The wusses. WE made it. ;) In an odd coincidence, there was a Chinook helicopter there, which was flying from Connecticut all the way to Washington (State). They had to stop due to bad weather, and ended up stopped at Muncie on the very day of Muncie's fly-in when their other copters had bailed. So the Chinook guys opened up their bird and let people come through and check it out, even get up and look into the cockpit and such. They really did not have to do that, and it was nice of them to give folks something to enjoy looking at. Kaylee and I went through it together, and it was pretty well equipped. When it took off to continue its journey to Washington, it had all of our attention. That is one loud, noisy, big ole thing.There were four planes on the ramp today. Three of them were ours, and the fourth was also from Kokomo. The rest of the folks that came today ended up driving in. I wished we could have had more planes for them today, but flying in IFR to a fly-in is not usually something that goes over well, so everyone did the best they could. :)
We did meet a couple of interesting guys this afternoon though. A father and son came up to the T-6 and were asking some questions. Come to find out, the father was 94 years old, still working, had stomach cancer but had beaten it holistically, had applied for his FAA medical and passed it with the exception of his choice of cancer treatment, which flummoxed the FAA. The man started flying in 1937, got his instructor's license in 1939, and is still sharp as a tack today at age 94. Unreal! And he was a charmer, too. He asked about the pilot, we told him the pilot wasn't here at the moment, and Chuck said something about me being a pilot on it too, and his mouth opened in shock and he said something like "But she's beautiful!" Three or four times he came up to me and said "You are so beautiful! Such a pretty girl! You're the most beautiful pilot I've ever seen!" He took my hand several times too, and I wasn't quite sure what to say after that besides "Well, thank you!" Made me smile anyway, even if his eyesight was a little off. ;) He is who you hope to be when you're 94 years old. Energetic, healthy, fit, sparkly, positive, active, mentally sharp, and out DOING stuff and having fun. You go, sir!
The trip home was better weather, and we got everything put away, stopped for a Steak-n-Shake treat, and spent the evening finally relaxing and unwinding a little bit from the week...
I did put up some photos from today, too, of course!
Happy Birthday, Richard! We love you and appreciate having you beside us, figuratively, and a few months a year, literally. :)
Friday, April 23, 2010
All About Kaylee
We were out of some important household items such as toothpaste and shampoo, so I took Kaylee with me to Meijer (like a clean, nice Super Wal-Mart for those of you not in IN/OH/MI). When I parked the car I said "We are not here for you to get toys, we are here for important stuff." She jumps up and down and says "But if I see something I really want, can I pay you back when we get home? I have money!" She's a little shopoholic! I did end up getting what we needed, managed to avoid the toy aisle completely, and got out safely. ;) I was buying myself a new water bottle because my old one leaks and drips on me and shoots water out the top in little sprays unless you open the thing wide, and I'd had about enough of that. So she insists that she needs a water bottle too. I remind her of the three water bottles she has at home, but "those are not like THIS one, Mom!" I told her she'd have to buy it herself, and she did. $7 for a water bottle that looks like an ice cream soda/shake, including bubble top and long straw. She chose purple and white, and she's quite pleased with it. As part of the deal, when we got home I threw away several of her little kid cups and glasses that she'd insisted on keeping up till now, so it was $7 worth it to me, particularly since it wasn't my $7. ;) She's also in need of a few shirts as she's outgrown most of her shirts and is always wearing the same few over and over. I can no longer buy clothes for her without her being there, I've discovered, because she knows what she likes and doesn't like and she might not be able to explain why, but she knows. So she was trying to choose between two outfits that she liked, same style but different colors. One was shades of pink and white, the other was shades of black and white and a little pink. Her trouble was that she liked the colors on the one, but she liked the pattern much better on the other, and this one had a shinier belt than that one. She spun her wheels until she saw something completely different nearby, and said "That's it, Mom, that's the one I really like!" At one point I held up this frilly shiny number and said "Hey, Kaylee, check this out." She turned around and her smile kind of froze, and she just kept looking at it with this smile, until I started snickering and she said "You WERE kidding! Oh thank heavens!" We had fun, and she got a few things she needs. Like toothpaste, shampoo and a different shirt to wear now and then. ;)
This morning when I went to take her to school, she was running late. I detest being late, and it doesn't bother her in the least, so we butt heads over that now and then. I didn't have to be anywhere right after she went to school and I was planning on doing a little treadmill walking, so I was in an outfit even I know is ridiculous. Short cut-off multi-colored striped cotton pants, a green t-shirt, my ancient gray and white plaid flannel shirt to cut the chill, my glasses, wild woman hair, and ancient tennis shoes with holes. She was already about 10 minutes behind so I walked up to her and said "If you don't hurry, I'm going to have to walk into school with you and walk you to your classroom." (School rule if you're late.) She shrugs, then looks me up and down while I say "I'll say to everybody 'HI! I'm KAYLEE'S mom! How you guys doing'?" She looked at me with her eyebrows raised all the way up to her hairline and just said "I don't think so." We made it on time, but as I got there I put the Jeep in park, unbuckled my seatbelt and said "I'm coming in with you." The look of shock and horror on her face was priceless as she said "WHY?!" When I said I was just kidding, that I have more respect for myself than to be seen this way, she hit me in the arm, kissed my cheek, and headed off to her Friday at school in peace.
She's so much fun. :D
Seriously, I think this is the best age. She's old enough and mature enough that I can talk to about almost anything, including some pretty serious topics; she's smart and thoughtful, goofy and responsible, just a very fun person to be around when she knows you. She's not old enough to not want to be around us any more, and not young enough that she's attached to my hip. I don't just like her because she's my daughter, I happen to think she's a fun and enjoyable person. :)
This morning when I went to take her to school, she was running late. I detest being late, and it doesn't bother her in the least, so we butt heads over that now and then. I didn't have to be anywhere right after she went to school and I was planning on doing a little treadmill walking, so I was in an outfit even I know is ridiculous. Short cut-off multi-colored striped cotton pants, a green t-shirt, my ancient gray and white plaid flannel shirt to cut the chill, my glasses, wild woman hair, and ancient tennis shoes with holes. She was already about 10 minutes behind so I walked up to her and said "If you don't hurry, I'm going to have to walk into school with you and walk you to your classroom." (School rule if you're late.) She shrugs, then looks me up and down while I say "I'll say to everybody 'HI! I'm KAYLEE'S mom! How you guys doing'?" She looked at me with her eyebrows raised all the way up to her hairline and just said "I don't think so." We made it on time, but as I got there I put the Jeep in park, unbuckled my seatbelt and said "I'm coming in with you." The look of shock and horror on her face was priceless as she said "WHY?!" When I said I was just kidding, that I have more respect for myself than to be seen this way, she hit me in the arm, kissed my cheek, and headed off to her Friday at school in peace.
She's so much fun. :D
Seriously, I think this is the best age. She's old enough and mature enough that I can talk to about almost anything, including some pretty serious topics; she's smart and thoughtful, goofy and responsible, just a very fun person to be around when she knows you. She's not old enough to not want to be around us any more, and not young enough that she's attached to my hip. I don't just like her because she's my daughter, I happen to think she's a fun and enjoyable person. :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tail Dragging
I...didn't get enough sleep last night. I've spent the day with my tailfeathers dragging.
It was an aviation day around here. I was out flying late last night from
Glenndale, and I posted a few fuzzy photos taken from the not-great camera from yesterday up on my site. I tried not to disturb the families living on the runway, only did one takeoff to get out of there and one landing to get back in and did the rest of our night flight work elsewhere. It's just one of those things where students have to get 3 hours of night flight in, it has to be an hour after sunset which is late this time of year, that's where the airplane is, and you just try not to be a jerk about it.
First thing this morning we were back out there, Steve needing a ride to Sheridan to pick up an airplane. So I rode in the back of the Citabria while he flew us there for his lesson, then I flew back into Glenndale, arriving just in time for my 10 a.m. flight in the Champ to finish off a guy's tailwheel endorsement. When we got done it was time to go over to Kokomo, where the guys had pulled out the T-6 and the Baron. Nathan and Jon flew the T-6 over to Muncie for lunch while Chuck flew me, Steve and Steve Cusick over in the Baron. It was a smooth as glass day to fly to start with, but by the time lunch hit it was getting really turbulent. Steve C. flew us home, and I had about half an hour on the ground before it was time to go get Kaylee from school. It was good to see the 6 fly again.
Steve had something come up and needed me to take his instrument student this afternoon. I was also supposed to do some aerobatic flying, but I really wasn't feeling too whippy to start with, so I canceled the Decathlon flying and went out to Kokomo to go with Steve's student instead. (Going around and doing instrument approaches and holds isn't too strenuous...at least not if you're not the student. ;)) Forty-five minutes later, however, he hadn't arrived, so after trying to call with no luck, I gave up and came on home, not having accomplished either one. I could have waited and flown the Decathlon anyway, but I'd have had to wait another hour and a half before it was available, and like I said, I hadn't slept well and didn't feel all that great, so even though it's supposed to rain for the next three days, I gave up and called it quits for today...
It would have been an interesting day though. Start off last night in the 172 at night, then the morning in the Citabria, then the Champ, both doing tailwheel stuff. Then the Baron doing multi-engine stuff. Then it would have been a Cherokee 180 doing instrument stuff. Then a Decathlon doing aerobatic stuff. Quite a diverse flying 24 hours. :)
This whole week has screamed past, and I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. There are some things we have to get done tonight, and then I'm hoping to conk out early and catch up on some rest!
It was an aviation day around here. I was out flying late last night from
Glenndale, and I posted a few fuzzy photos taken from the not-great camera from yesterday up on my site. I tried not to disturb the families living on the runway, only did one takeoff to get out of there and one landing to get back in and did the rest of our night flight work elsewhere. It's just one of those things where students have to get 3 hours of night flight in, it has to be an hour after sunset which is late this time of year, that's where the airplane is, and you just try not to be a jerk about it.First thing this morning we were back out there, Steve needing a ride to Sheridan to pick up an airplane. So I rode in the back of the Citabria while he flew us there for his lesson, then I flew back into Glenndale, arriving just in time for my 10 a.m. flight in the Champ to finish off a guy's tailwheel endorsement. When we got done it was time to go over to Kokomo, where the guys had pulled out the T-6 and the Baron. Nathan and Jon flew the T-6 over to Muncie for lunch while Chuck flew me, Steve and Steve Cusick over in the Baron. It was a smooth as glass day to fly to start with, but by the time lunch hit it was getting really turbulent. Steve C. flew us home, and I had about half an hour on the ground before it was time to go get Kaylee from school. It was good to see the 6 fly again.
Steve had something come up and needed me to take his instrument student this afternoon. I was also supposed to do some aerobatic flying, but I really wasn't feeling too whippy to start with, so I canceled the Decathlon flying and went out to Kokomo to go with Steve's student instead. (Going around and doing instrument approaches and holds isn't too strenuous...at least not if you're not the student. ;)) Forty-five minutes later, however, he hadn't arrived, so after trying to call with no luck, I gave up and came on home, not having accomplished either one. I could have waited and flown the Decathlon anyway, but I'd have had to wait another hour and a half before it was available, and like I said, I hadn't slept well and didn't feel all that great, so even though it's supposed to rain for the next three days, I gave up and called it quits for today...
It would have been an interesting day though. Start off last night in the 172 at night, then the morning in the Citabria, then the Champ, both doing tailwheel stuff. Then the Baron doing multi-engine stuff. Then it would have been a Cherokee 180 doing instrument stuff. Then a Decathlon doing aerobatic stuff. Quite a diverse flying 24 hours. :)
This whole week has screamed past, and I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. There are some things we have to get done tonight, and then I'm hoping to conk out early and catch up on some rest!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Light and Dark
Again-why do I like Aldi's? Because I can get $75 worth of groceries for $38, that's why. Of course you'd better eat any fruits or veggies pretty fast, but otherwise it's pretty good. :) At least our house is not completely empty any more...
The day before my birthday I got a little ticket. It has to be paid by the end of April, so I waited until close to the end of April, and today decided I'd better pay it before I forget it and get in trouble. So you can pay your ticket by going online. Except, if you do it online you have to provide your "Cause Number", which you can only get by...calling on the phone. After you get off the phone you can then go ahead online and pay it. Efficiency at work. :/
Supposedly it takes about 30 days to make something a habit. Today I was shaking my head at myself, because apparently a few things have become more of a habit for me...and they are actually GOOD habits. Or at least not bad ones. ;) I've been wearing my contacts more and it takes me a lot less time to actually get them in any more, while taking them out is no issue at all any more. Not a big one, but handy for some flying things where I can't wear glasses and sunglasses at the same time and yet need the sharper vision. Another habit? Over the last few days I'd eaten more junky food in more quantities and drank less water than I had in awhile. This morning I woke up and felt icky. I had the urge to drink water. We went to Culver's for lunch; Culver's of the yummy Butter Burgers? I wanted a Grilled Chicken/Caesar salad. I wasn't trying to be "good", that is what I actually wanted. Me. The Junk Food Queen. Wanted a salad for lunch. (I'm still not quite over that. I have never considered a salad to be a viable or legitimate meal.) The fried and greasy foods I've always enjoyed are not nearly as tasty to me as they were just a few months ago. At first I ate better foods because I knew I had to in order to behave. Now I actually Like some of them. I'm going on about this because I've never understood how people could claim to enjoy healthy foods as much as I enjoyed my junk, but my tastes have actually changed somewhat, and if they can change on ME, after this many years, they can change on anybody. (I also bet it wouldn't take me two months to get back into the habit of eating mostly junk, though.) ;) The other decent habit? Exercising a little. Nothing to go crazy over, here, just some walking on some of the mornings that I don't have a flight. Anywhere from 1-2 miles depending on my energy level that day. Nothing at a sprint, nothing to glow in pride over, not every day, but certainly more than I used to do, something within reason that isn't "all or nothing". Now if I could kick biting my fingernails and popping my knuckles, I'm not sure I'd know who I was any more. ;)
Tonight I had a night flight out of Glenndale with a student who needed to get his night cross-country out of the way towards getting his pilot's license. Flying out
of Glenndale at night is different--it has non-standard lights that don't cover the whole runway, looking a little different than normal airports at night, but it works. We went over Indianapolis, into a small airport south of there, and the view was nice. I took quite a few pictures, but it's almost 1 a.m. I didn't get home until almost midnight, and I'm not going to get the rest of the photos up tonight...
*Yawn*
The day before my birthday I got a little ticket. It has to be paid by the end of April, so I waited until close to the end of April, and today decided I'd better pay it before I forget it and get in trouble. So you can pay your ticket by going online. Except, if you do it online you have to provide your "Cause Number", which you can only get by...calling on the phone. After you get off the phone you can then go ahead online and pay it. Efficiency at work. :/
Supposedly it takes about 30 days to make something a habit. Today I was shaking my head at myself, because apparently a few things have become more of a habit for me...and they are actually GOOD habits. Or at least not bad ones. ;) I've been wearing my contacts more and it takes me a lot less time to actually get them in any more, while taking them out is no issue at all any more. Not a big one, but handy for some flying things where I can't wear glasses and sunglasses at the same time and yet need the sharper vision. Another habit? Over the last few days I'd eaten more junky food in more quantities and drank less water than I had in awhile. This morning I woke up and felt icky. I had the urge to drink water. We went to Culver's for lunch; Culver's of the yummy Butter Burgers? I wanted a Grilled Chicken/Caesar salad. I wasn't trying to be "good", that is what I actually wanted. Me. The Junk Food Queen. Wanted a salad for lunch. (I'm still not quite over that. I have never considered a salad to be a viable or legitimate meal.) The fried and greasy foods I've always enjoyed are not nearly as tasty to me as they were just a few months ago. At first I ate better foods because I knew I had to in order to behave. Now I actually Like some of them. I'm going on about this because I've never understood how people could claim to enjoy healthy foods as much as I enjoyed my junk, but my tastes have actually changed somewhat, and if they can change on ME, after this many years, they can change on anybody. (I also bet it wouldn't take me two months to get back into the habit of eating mostly junk, though.) ;) The other decent habit? Exercising a little. Nothing to go crazy over, here, just some walking on some of the mornings that I don't have a flight. Anywhere from 1-2 miles depending on my energy level that day. Nothing at a sprint, nothing to glow in pride over, not every day, but certainly more than I used to do, something within reason that isn't "all or nothing". Now if I could kick biting my fingernails and popping my knuckles, I'm not sure I'd know who I was any more. ;)
Tonight I had a night flight out of Glenndale with a student who needed to get his night cross-country out of the way towards getting his pilot's license. Flying out
of Glenndale at night is different--it has non-standard lights that don't cover the whole runway, looking a little different than normal airports at night, but it works. We went over Indianapolis, into a small airport south of there, and the view was nice. I took quite a few pictures, but it's almost 1 a.m. I didn't get home until almost midnight, and I'm not going to get the rest of the photos up tonight...*Yawn*
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tickled
Kaylee brought home her Terre Nova testing results from 3rd grade today, and she tore into them before I got a chance to look at them. She did really well in everything except science, where she did right at her appropriate grade level, which is kind of funny considering both myself and my mom and her grandpa Stants always loved science. :) But in reading she kicked hiney, ending up in the 99th percentile and reading at the 12th grade plus level. That made me smile a little, because I was the same way on that testing, only my "about average" area back then was math, not science. Her overall national score/level was 94th percentile. Go Kaylee!!
I asked her what she was having trouble with in science, and she said "I don't know, nothing, I just think it's kind of boring, that's all." Well, that does make it a little hard to excel in something that makes you yawn. Like say how alternators work or something. ;)
In the car on the way home from dance, Kaylee says "You know what really bugs me?" No, what. "Bad grammar." I actually snort/laughed out loud. "I'm serious, Mom. Kids on Disney Fairies will say something like 'I no you want to play' and that is totally wrong and it doesn't make sense and it drives me crazy!" More laughing from me. "Or they'll say 'I want to go their' and that's the wrong word. Why can't they use the right word?" The brown hair and eyes, the freckles, the reading penchant, the use of $50 words, the grammar police...I don't care if she does like pretty shoes, shopping, changing hairstyles and chatting on the phone with friends, she is still definitely my kid!
This afternoon Steve took me around in the Citabria, going over to Kokomo and doing various takeoffs and landings. As always, it's nice to fly together. He doesn't get as much of a chance to actually fly himself as I do, as he mostly instructs, so we've been trying to fix that a bit-besides, it's nice when he gets to show off (but just a little.) ;)
A productive day, ended by a little ice cream after dance and a little NCIS for the grown-ups...
I asked her what she was having trouble with in science, and she said "I don't know, nothing, I just think it's kind of boring, that's all." Well, that does make it a little hard to excel in something that makes you yawn. Like say how alternators work or something. ;)
In the car on the way home from dance, Kaylee says "You know what really bugs me?" No, what. "Bad grammar." I actually snort/laughed out loud. "I'm serious, Mom. Kids on Disney Fairies will say something like 'I no you want to play' and that is totally wrong and it doesn't make sense and it drives me crazy!" More laughing from me. "Or they'll say 'I want to go their' and that's the wrong word. Why can't they use the right word?" The brown hair and eyes, the freckles, the reading penchant, the use of $50 words, the grammar police...I don't care if she does like pretty shoes, shopping, changing hairstyles and chatting on the phone with friends, she is still definitely my kid!
This afternoon Steve took me around in the Citabria, going over to Kokomo and doing various takeoffs and landings. As always, it's nice to fly together. He doesn't get as much of a chance to actually fly himself as I do, as he mostly instructs, so we've been trying to fix that a bit-besides, it's nice when he gets to show off (but just a little.) ;)
A productive day, ended by a little ice cream after dance and a little NCIS for the grown-ups...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Run Run Run-Around
It was a busy Monday, as usual. I ran around to the tax office three times in one day, various banks three times, out to Glenndale, made several phone calls, ordered a few things online for SMA Support, did some paperwork, answered some mail, did seven loads of laundry and a load of dishes, and generally kept myself busy.
When I picked Kaylee up from school, I took her to the downtown library, which has been moved to a closed-down elementary school while the downtown building is being remodeled. Kaylee was really excited to be there, got her own library card in her name, and checked out all seven "Elizabeth Gail" books that the library had that she hadn't read yet. She hopped all the way to the car, and as soon as we buckled up she had the first book cracked open, reading all the way home. When we got here, she bypassed the computer, which she had planned on getting on right away and fixing up her virtual room, bypassed a snack, which she NEVER does after school, and went right to her room and read for almost two hours. Pretty soon I'll be telling her to put down that book and be sociable. Hehehe. She passed a task in gymnastics tonight, but she couldn't remember the name of it. She was happy about it anyway though. ;)
The Citabria is back up as of this afternoon, so tonight I pulled it out and took it up for a quick 45 minutes before I needed to get Kaylee from gymnastics. I basically worked on it all--wheel landings, 3 point landings, crosswind, landed on the left main only, landed on the right main only, just trying to fine tune some things. There were a couple guys standing out on the ramp in a transient airplane that probably thought I was either crazy or a terrible pilot, because I never got more than 500' in the pattern and was rolling along the runway on one wheel half the time, sometimes wobbling, but a girl has to practice somewhere, and any locals would have just thought it was a tired Ty, so I'm probably safe. ;) I spent about six months flying (mostly riding along while other people flew) just the trainers, the C-172s, the 180, and sometimes the Baron, so getting back into the tailwheels has been good for getting back in flying shape...
When I picked Kaylee up from school, I took her to the downtown library, which has been moved to a closed-down elementary school while the downtown building is being remodeled. Kaylee was really excited to be there, got her own library card in her name, and checked out all seven "Elizabeth Gail" books that the library had that she hadn't read yet. She hopped all the way to the car, and as soon as we buckled up she had the first book cracked open, reading all the way home. When we got here, she bypassed the computer, which she had planned on getting on right away and fixing up her virtual room, bypassed a snack, which she NEVER does after school, and went right to her room and read for almost two hours. Pretty soon I'll be telling her to put down that book and be sociable. Hehehe. She passed a task in gymnastics tonight, but she couldn't remember the name of it. She was happy about it anyway though. ;)
The Citabria is back up as of this afternoon, so tonight I pulled it out and took it up for a quick 45 minutes before I needed to get Kaylee from gymnastics. I basically worked on it all--wheel landings, 3 point landings, crosswind, landed on the left main only, landed on the right main only, just trying to fine tune some things. There were a couple guys standing out on the ramp in a transient airplane that probably thought I was either crazy or a terrible pilot, because I never got more than 500' in the pattern and was rolling along the runway on one wheel half the time, sometimes wobbling, but a girl has to practice somewhere, and any locals would have just thought it was a tired Ty, so I'm probably safe. ;) I spent about six months flying (mostly riding along while other people flew) just the trainers, the C-172s, the 180, and sometimes the Baron, so getting back into the tailwheels has been good for getting back in flying shape...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Upside Down
This afternoon didn't quite go as planned, but it worked out. :)
I was supposed to fly with a student to give him a pre-solo checkout flight. It's a brand new instructor's first pre-solo student, so you send up the student with a more experienced instructor first and make sure everybody's on the same page before he goes up into the wild blue yonder on his own. But something came up for him and he had to cancel--which was too bad because it was a Gorgeous day and he probably could have soloed today. But that's the way it works sometimes!
Next I was to go up in the Decathlon and work on some aerobatics with Mike. We got going, and today was the first day since I've begun doing this aerobatic refresher that we've actually had a horizon. (A horizon is very handy when you're trying to get a sight picture of lines and such in the air.) I did knife edges to the left (where the plane's left wing is pointed straight at the ground with the right wing pointed straight up at the sky), then did some inverted flight, which I just love, then went into right knife edges. The plan was to then go into slow rolls, but when I was rolling from inverted back upright, Mike said "Do you hear that?" I didn't, but flew along straight and level for a minute, and then I did. There was a light flapping noise that definitely did not belong. We wondered if some fabric had ripped on the plane. I immediately slowed down and headed back in to land, and as we flew along the flapping noise became a lot more pronounced, becoming a little eyebrow-raising. I came straight in and landed, and when we got out, found it was just the rubber seal that connects the wing root to the fuselage. It had come loose at the base and was whipping on the fabric over Mike's head. We didn't have the stuff or the guy to fix it, so we pushed the plane away, and canceled the rest of our flight and the flight that was supposed to be in it after us. I was glad to get the practice in as much as we did though, as it has been great for me. You spend so much time as an instructor in training flights and/or in corporate flights being as straight and level and smooth and in the middle of the envelope as possible that it's nice to be able to get back out there and explore more of the edges of that envelope, improve your skills..and have a little fun while you're at it. I love viewing the world upside down. Hanging by your seat belts, blue sky below you, green earth above you, flying along like that without a care in the world. It's Awesome.
After our abbreviated flight, I went over to the T-6 hangar. It's back up and running, you know, and it was a beautiful day. But when I took a look at it, it was parked into a spot that impressed me. Inches from the Baron spinner, just a foot or two from the Cheyenne, and mere inches from the left wing to the hangar door. Pulling it out would have been a trick, let alone by myself without spotters on the wings, but putting it back away into that scenario, well, I'm just not that good. So with a pat on the cowling, I left it right where I found it, deciding to live to fly another day. I texted Nathan and told him I was darned impressed with the tug parking job he'd done on it, and he said "First try, too!" which is even more impressive. The man can run a tug. Me, I need at least a LITTLE space in which to work. ;)
On the way home from the airport I stopped at Dairy Queen for the family, okay, and myself (the new caramel brownie blizzard is pretty tasty, but chocolate X-treme still wins)...and thus ends reportable parts of the day. :)
I was supposed to fly with a student to give him a pre-solo checkout flight. It's a brand new instructor's first pre-solo student, so you send up the student with a more experienced instructor first and make sure everybody's on the same page before he goes up into the wild blue yonder on his own. But something came up for him and he had to cancel--which was too bad because it was a Gorgeous day and he probably could have soloed today. But that's the way it works sometimes!
Next I was to go up in the Decathlon and work on some aerobatics with Mike. We got going, and today was the first day since I've begun doing this aerobatic refresher that we've actually had a horizon. (A horizon is very handy when you're trying to get a sight picture of lines and such in the air.) I did knife edges to the left (where the plane's left wing is pointed straight at the ground with the right wing pointed straight up at the sky), then did some inverted flight, which I just love, then went into right knife edges. The plan was to then go into slow rolls, but when I was rolling from inverted back upright, Mike said "Do you hear that?" I didn't, but flew along straight and level for a minute, and then I did. There was a light flapping noise that definitely did not belong. We wondered if some fabric had ripped on the plane. I immediately slowed down and headed back in to land, and as we flew along the flapping noise became a lot more pronounced, becoming a little eyebrow-raising. I came straight in and landed, and when we got out, found it was just the rubber seal that connects the wing root to the fuselage. It had come loose at the base and was whipping on the fabric over Mike's head. We didn't have the stuff or the guy to fix it, so we pushed the plane away, and canceled the rest of our flight and the flight that was supposed to be in it after us. I was glad to get the practice in as much as we did though, as it has been great for me. You spend so much time as an instructor in training flights and/or in corporate flights being as straight and level and smooth and in the middle of the envelope as possible that it's nice to be able to get back out there and explore more of the edges of that envelope, improve your skills..and have a little fun while you're at it. I love viewing the world upside down. Hanging by your seat belts, blue sky below you, green earth above you, flying along like that without a care in the world. It's Awesome.
After our abbreviated flight, I went over to the T-6 hangar. It's back up and running, you know, and it was a beautiful day. But when I took a look at it, it was parked into a spot that impressed me. Inches from the Baron spinner, just a foot or two from the Cheyenne, and mere inches from the left wing to the hangar door. Pulling it out would have been a trick, let alone by myself without spotters on the wings, but putting it back away into that scenario, well, I'm just not that good. So with a pat on the cowling, I left it right where I found it, deciding to live to fly another day. I texted Nathan and told him I was darned impressed with the tug parking job he'd done on it, and he said "First try, too!" which is even more impressive. The man can run a tug. Me, I need at least a LITTLE space in which to work. ;)
On the way home from the airport I stopped at Dairy Queen for the family, okay, and myself (the new caramel brownie blizzard is pretty tasty, but chocolate X-treme still wins)...and thus ends reportable parts of the day. :)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Championship Style
At 5:45 this morning, Steve and Kaylee literally physically hauled me out of bed against my will. Usually I can get up fine when I need to any more, but the 3 hours of sleep I got the night before had piled up on me and I was well in the middle of "catching up" as far as my body was concerned. I was so exhausted that it felt like I had cotton in my head. But we were in the Jeep and driving our way up to South Bend by 6:30 a.m. I thought about flying, but it's one of those situations that doesn't work well for flying. It's an hour and 40 minute drive (and WHO decided we had to be in S. Bend by 8-9 a.m.?!) and it's only a 35-40 minute flight. No problem, right? Except that whole driving to the airport on both ends thing and having to get a car there adds almost as much time and more hassle than just driving that distance in the first place. So I drove while watching my second sunrise in two days.
When we arrived at the church in S. Bend that was hosting the State Finals for the Awanas Pinewod Derby Races, we weighed her car, registered it, sent it off for judging, then stopped up at the cafeteria upstairs and had a little breakfast before the festivities began. Judging was first, and they announced the winners for "original" and "traditional" car designs. Kaylee won third place in "original" design! Then the races began. The leaders went first, and then came the 3rd and 4th grade girls. Now that's fortuitous, because once your bracket is done, they hand out awards and you can go home and don't have to wait through the entire roster. That wasn't great planning on their part-they should have done it like Bible Baptist and handed out awards at the end so we all had to stay there and watch everyone the whole time, but personally I was grateful!
The track was huge-a big tall thing with a big hill and then a long straightaway. We were half hoping that Kaylee's car would just make it all the way to the end without getting hung up. See, we knew the majority of the people there had taken this thing very seriously, using liquid spray-on lubricant on the wheels, all sorts of stuff. The fact we made it to "state" at all kind of surprised us, but we didn't
do much of anything to prepare for the day--just add a bit more graphite and throw the car in a plastic bag and show up. There were cars that did not in fact make it all the way down the track without getting hung up...but Kaylee's was not one of them. The bracket of kids going sit on the stage in chairs waiting for their turn to put the cars on the top of their assigned lane on the track, there are six lanes and each kid gets to race once in every lane; the kids run to the end of the track and sit in the chairs to await the results, the cars are released, and a digital display at the bottom puts the cars in order of placement, with a computerized display stating who came in what place and with what time, down to the thousandths of a second. This is displayed on about four large screens around the auditorium with the kids' names, placement and times. The kids then pick up their cars and run back up to the stage to wait for the next heat.
Kaylee's car won first place on one or two (she insists two) heats, and came in second place the rest of the time. Of course with a large group you may not race against the fastest car, so it goes by time, not "placement" every race per se. Her car was in 4th place for awhile, dipped to 5th, and ended up coming in 4th place, just one spot shy of winning a trophy, and the difference was down to a few hundreds of a second. Afterwards we found out that the reason her car weighed in at 4.9 oz. instead of the allowed 5.0 that it used to be was because one of her weights had fallen off. We're pretty sure that had she had that last weight on there, that fraction of an ounce would probably have been enough to gain that hundredth of a second that she needed to place at state. Pretty cool, really! She did well! She got her trophy for 3rd place in design and her ribbon for participating, I took her picture, and we were done. No Nationals, if they have such a thing. ;)
On our way home we stopped at "The Dutch Cafe", which is a Mennonite-owned restaurant on Hwy 31 right across from Grissom Air Reserve Base. Oh MAN was that some serious food. Now I've lost 15.5 pounds so far, but I'm pretty sure I gained back a couple today, and I liked it. ;) They had a breakfast and dinner buffet going at the same time, and for one price you could mix and match whatever you wanted. We got there at 11:30, so both sounded good. The food was all homemade, with home-grown ingredients as they always do, and we just ate our weight in food. It was sinful good. Have you ever seen that Staples commercial where the guy goes from one item to another yelling "WOW! Now THAT'S a low PRICE!" Well, that's how we were with the food. "WOW! Now THOSE are some AWESOME potatoes!" "WOW! Those are REAL biscuits and apple butter!" Mmm, making me hungry again thinking about it...
When we got home we saw that our front yard pear tree was in full bloom. I have a
12-year tradition now that I take a picture of myself and my kids in front of that tree when it's in full bloom. I started with Devon, and moved on to Kaylee. In fact, one year I had my good 35mm camera on a tripod to do just that, the tripod fell over, and broke my camera, which was the impetus for getting the new digital Canon camera that Christmas. :) So this afternoon Steve took Kaylee & my photo in front of the tree. It does make me laugh though, because the tree has grown a little too tall for us to be able to get the white flowers behind our heads in the photo any more. I may have to get a little ladder or something to stand on from now on!
I took photos from today's festivities, which are up on Kaylee's site. Nathan took the T-6 over to Purdue for a pancake breakfast, its first time out and about since last Fall. Steve is camping out with Kaylee tonight up front, I took a huge nap this afternoon to catch back up on some of that sleep I needed, and it's been a lovely Saturday. :)
When we arrived at the church in S. Bend that was hosting the State Finals for the Awanas Pinewod Derby Races, we weighed her car, registered it, sent it off for judging, then stopped up at the cafeteria upstairs and had a little breakfast before the festivities began. Judging was first, and they announced the winners for "original" and "traditional" car designs. Kaylee won third place in "original" design! Then the races began. The leaders went first, and then came the 3rd and 4th grade girls. Now that's fortuitous, because once your bracket is done, they hand out awards and you can go home and don't have to wait through the entire roster. That wasn't great planning on their part-they should have done it like Bible Baptist and handed out awards at the end so we all had to stay there and watch everyone the whole time, but personally I was grateful!
The track was huge-a big tall thing with a big hill and then a long straightaway. We were half hoping that Kaylee's car would just make it all the way to the end without getting hung up. See, we knew the majority of the people there had taken this thing very seriously, using liquid spray-on lubricant on the wheels, all sorts of stuff. The fact we made it to "state" at all kind of surprised us, but we didn't
do much of anything to prepare for the day--just add a bit more graphite and throw the car in a plastic bag and show up. There were cars that did not in fact make it all the way down the track without getting hung up...but Kaylee's was not one of them. The bracket of kids going sit on the stage in chairs waiting for their turn to put the cars on the top of their assigned lane on the track, there are six lanes and each kid gets to race once in every lane; the kids run to the end of the track and sit in the chairs to await the results, the cars are released, and a digital display at the bottom puts the cars in order of placement, with a computerized display stating who came in what place and with what time, down to the thousandths of a second. This is displayed on about four large screens around the auditorium with the kids' names, placement and times. The kids then pick up their cars and run back up to the stage to wait for the next heat.Kaylee's car won first place on one or two (she insists two) heats, and came in second place the rest of the time. Of course with a large group you may not race against the fastest car, so it goes by time, not "placement" every race per se. Her car was in 4th place for awhile, dipped to 5th, and ended up coming in 4th place, just one spot shy of winning a trophy, and the difference was down to a few hundreds of a second. Afterwards we found out that the reason her car weighed in at 4.9 oz. instead of the allowed 5.0 that it used to be was because one of her weights had fallen off. We're pretty sure that had she had that last weight on there, that fraction of an ounce would probably have been enough to gain that hundredth of a second that she needed to place at state. Pretty cool, really! She did well! She got her trophy for 3rd place in design and her ribbon for participating, I took her picture, and we were done. No Nationals, if they have such a thing. ;)
On our way home we stopped at "The Dutch Cafe", which is a Mennonite-owned restaurant on Hwy 31 right across from Grissom Air Reserve Base. Oh MAN was that some serious food. Now I've lost 15.5 pounds so far, but I'm pretty sure I gained back a couple today, and I liked it. ;) They had a breakfast and dinner buffet going at the same time, and for one price you could mix and match whatever you wanted. We got there at 11:30, so both sounded good. The food was all homemade, with home-grown ingredients as they always do, and we just ate our weight in food. It was sinful good. Have you ever seen that Staples commercial where the guy goes from one item to another yelling "WOW! Now THAT'S a low PRICE!" Well, that's how we were with the food. "WOW! Now THOSE are some AWESOME potatoes!" "WOW! Those are REAL biscuits and apple butter!" Mmm, making me hungry again thinking about it...
When we got home we saw that our front yard pear tree was in full bloom. I have a
12-year tradition now that I take a picture of myself and my kids in front of that tree when it's in full bloom. I started with Devon, and moved on to Kaylee. In fact, one year I had my good 35mm camera on a tripod to do just that, the tripod fell over, and broke my camera, which was the impetus for getting the new digital Canon camera that Christmas. :) So this afternoon Steve took Kaylee & my photo in front of the tree. It does make me laugh though, because the tree has grown a little too tall for us to be able to get the white flowers behind our heads in the photo any more. I may have to get a little ladder or something to stand on from now on!I took photos from today's festivities, which are up on Kaylee's site. Nathan took the T-6 over to Purdue for a pancake breakfast, its first time out and about since last Fall. Steve is camping out with Kaylee tonight up front, I took a huge nap this afternoon to catch back up on some of that sleep I needed, and it's been a lovely Saturday. :)
Friday, April 16, 2010
Yawn & Yay
For whatever reason, I was awake until past 1 a.m. and woke up bright-eyed and glaringly awake just before 4 a.m. I laid there for awhile, and finally around 4 I gave up and got up and just watched the sun rise, read my mail, turned on the tv, etc. Somewhere around 7 a.m. Kaylee woke up and wanted to cuddle for awhile before she had to get up for school, and even though I was a little afraid that if I laid down in a warm bed and cuddled with her I'd get sleepy and be unable to get going, that didn't happen...she fell asleep cuddled up to me, but I was still wired up. Somewhere around 10 a.m. I started feeling like I was on another planet, but I made it through to the afternoon. I ran the usual errands, then stopped and picked up the fried chicken for our Glenndale lunch.
After lunch I flew with one of our new CFIs-he's doing a Discovery Flight for us tomorrow since Steve and I and Ty will all be out of town, but he'd never flown out of a short or grass strip before and needed a quick checkout on our procedures out there. Of course it was lightly raining and rather blustery, but it was good enough to go for a quick two trips around the pattern.
I picked up Kaylee from school, brought her home, gave her my phone and computer, told her not to answer my phone unless it was her dad, whom I assumed would call at some point, told her not to disturb me, and laid down to take a hopefully long nap. Less than an hour later I was back awake, so I went out to Kokomo Airport where Nathan & Steve were working on getting the T-6 ready to go. I sat up in the cockpit and read through the checklists, looked up the numbers, read over emergency procedures, and basically did a mental re-familiarization of the airplane. They put the plane up on jacks and had me do a manual gear extension to check that. I can say that pumping the gear down by hand takes a little bit of muscle at the end there. I was using two hands at the end, and was picturing myself flying along with the stick in between my knees so I could use both hands to get the gear down and locked in case of hydraulic failure. Kind of amusing, kind of not amusing at the same time. ;) (Adrenaline and a good night's sleep would take care of that needing two hands thing...) It's good to have it back up and running, and the Citabria is super close to being ready too. Good news all around!
Now, all I need to do is get some sleep for tomorrow...
After lunch I flew with one of our new CFIs-he's doing a Discovery Flight for us tomorrow since Steve and I and Ty will all be out of town, but he'd never flown out of a short or grass strip before and needed a quick checkout on our procedures out there. Of course it was lightly raining and rather blustery, but it was good enough to go for a quick two trips around the pattern.
I picked up Kaylee from school, brought her home, gave her my phone and computer, told her not to answer my phone unless it was her dad, whom I assumed would call at some point, told her not to disturb me, and laid down to take a hopefully long nap. Less than an hour later I was back awake, so I went out to Kokomo Airport where Nathan & Steve were working on getting the T-6 ready to go. I sat up in the cockpit and read through the checklists, looked up the numbers, read over emergency procedures, and basically did a mental re-familiarization of the airplane. They put the plane up on jacks and had me do a manual gear extension to check that. I can say that pumping the gear down by hand takes a little bit of muscle at the end there. I was using two hands at the end, and was picturing myself flying along with the stick in between my knees so I could use both hands to get the gear down and locked in case of hydraulic failure. Kind of amusing, kind of not amusing at the same time. ;) (Adrenaline and a good night's sleep would take care of that needing two hands thing...) It's good to have it back up and running, and the Citabria is super close to being ready too. Good news all around!
Now, all I need to do is get some sleep for tomorrow...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday
I was supposed to send a student off on a long cross-country today, but the winds were forecast to be too blustery for that, so instead we did a little hood work, VOR tracking, that kind of stuff. As soon as we were done, I hit a drive-through for lunch and went out to Kokomo and had a flight to Cleveland. A couple of hours on the ground, a nice trip home, and made it back in time to say 'hi' at the EAA Chapter meeting for a minute before getting home about 8 p.m.
Not a very poetic update, but I've been sitting here long enough staring at this. The End. ;)
Not a very poetic update, but I've been sitting here long enough staring at this. The End. ;)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Smile!
That blinding white glow that you might have seen radiating from somewhere in central Indiana? That was me wearing shorts for the first time this season-sorry. ;)
It was in the lower 80s today, bright sunshine, gorgeous day. We had some flying going on thanks to the finally lower winds and pretty day. I sent my student off on their second solo today after spending half an hour with them getting back in the 'groove', and Steve had a couple of lessons as well.
Kaylee ended up spending time in After Care at school, and when I picked her up she was happy about that because her friend was in there with her and they got to spend over an hour playing outside on the playground running around. I walked in and she and her friend looked me up and down, not used to seeing me in shorts, and Kaylee paused and said "Are those skorts?" I said "Sort of." And the girl who insisted on wearing out to dinner the other night dark blue capri pants, a light blue shirt, a bright orange sweater and bright green flip flops said "Your shoes don't match it." ;) When we got home, I set up her "Slip-n-Slide" and set her loose for over an hour to play in the water. More running around outside in the sunshine...lots of Vitamin D today! She had a blast, and only came in because it was time for Awanas.
In case I haven't mentioned it, I love Spring. ;)
It was in the lower 80s today, bright sunshine, gorgeous day. We had some flying going on thanks to the finally lower winds and pretty day. I sent my student off on their second solo today after spending half an hour with them getting back in the 'groove', and Steve had a couple of lessons as well.
Kaylee ended up spending time in After Care at school, and when I picked her up she was happy about that because her friend was in there with her and they got to spend over an hour playing outside on the playground running around. I walked in and she and her friend looked me up and down, not used to seeing me in shorts, and Kaylee paused and said "Are those skorts?" I said "Sort of." And the girl who insisted on wearing out to dinner the other night dark blue capri pants, a light blue shirt, a bright orange sweater and bright green flip flops said "Your shoes don't match it." ;) When we got home, I set up her "Slip-n-Slide" and set her loose for over an hour to play in the water. More running around outside in the sunshine...lots of Vitamin D today! She had a blast, and only came in because it was time for Awanas.
In case I haven't mentioned it, I love Spring. ;)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Can You Tell It's Spring?
Steve and I have spent the last couple of mornings going flying together in the various little taildraggers, just getting back in the swing of things and all, and 
we've enjoyed it. Yesterday was the Chief at Kokomo, and today was the Champ out at Glenndale. You have to start both airplanes by having one person on the brakes inside and one person outside swinging the propeller around hard until it fires and starts running. So today I got it started three times in a row, and it kept dying. Steve and I switched places and he got out there and got it started a couple more times, it died on me once and then the last time we kept her running. We're taxiing down the taxiway and it dies again, which caused much irritation and annoyance and thoughts of putting it away. Except we had to start it again anyway to get it put away, since we were halfway down the taxiway, so once we got it started we went ahead and did it anyway, and had a nice flight. Here's a bad-quality phone photo of Steve in the front seat coming in to land, and you can see the grass runway in front of him to the right side of his head. :)
I pulled into the driveway this afternoon and saw that our trees are starting to bloom and that our yard has the tiny purple flowers and some dandelions too. I know
that this technically means that we have weeds in our yard and that we need to eradicate them if we want to have the perfectly green, manicured yard that you are "supposed" to have, and I'm sure we will. But why is that? Who decided that a perfectly green yard is the best way? I think the tiny violets and the splashes of purple and yellow are pretty, and it's a little ironic to kill off all the pretty free little flowers that grow naturally only to then go buy different-shaped purple and yellow (and other beautiful color) flowers to plant in specific areas only. Modern Lawn Care Rule really IS a strange and odd thing, I think. :)
we've enjoyed it. Yesterday was the Chief at Kokomo, and today was the Champ out at Glenndale. You have to start both airplanes by having one person on the brakes inside and one person outside swinging the propeller around hard until it fires and starts running. So today I got it started three times in a row, and it kept dying. Steve and I switched places and he got out there and got it started a couple more times, it died on me once and then the last time we kept her running. We're taxiing down the taxiway and it dies again, which caused much irritation and annoyance and thoughts of putting it away. Except we had to start it again anyway to get it put away, since we were halfway down the taxiway, so once we got it started we went ahead and did it anyway, and had a nice flight. Here's a bad-quality phone photo of Steve in the front seat coming in to land, and you can see the grass runway in front of him to the right side of his head. :)I pulled into the driveway this afternoon and saw that our trees are starting to bloom and that our yard has the tiny purple flowers and some dandelions too. I know
that this technically means that we have weeds in our yard and that we need to eradicate them if we want to have the perfectly green, manicured yard that you are "supposed" to have, and I'm sure we will. But why is that? Who decided that a perfectly green yard is the best way? I think the tiny violets and the splashes of purple and yellow are pretty, and it's a little ironic to kill off all the pretty free little flowers that grow naturally only to then go buy different-shaped purple and yellow (and other beautiful color) flowers to plant in specific areas only. Modern Lawn Care Rule really IS a strange and odd thing, I think. :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Giddyup
This whole day just flew by.
It was Kaylee's first day back to school for the last ten days, and she actually did pretty well with the whole thing. She got ready quickly, got all A's on her work for today, and has been in a good mood too. Now we'll see how tomorrow morning goes. ;)
Steve and I went flying in the Chief this morning for about 45 minutes, then he got out and another Steve got in and I flew with him for about an hour too. We finished up, shut down, and my phone said "Muncie for lunch, wheels up at 11:30", which was right about...now. Chuck pulled out the Cheyenne and five of us got in to go over. Nathan let me fly it over and back, and it was kind of funny going from the 65 hp Chief that climbed out at about 200 feet per minute into the 2000 hp Cheyenne that climbed about 2000 feet per minute and comes in to land at a faster airspeed than the Chief can even fly at all. Just a bit of opposite ends of the spectrum, there. :) When we got to Muncie and left the plane at the shop, we realized the restaurant on field was closed Mondays, so we took a courtesy car into town and had soup and salad at Olive Garden while we waited instead.
I got home in time to pick Kaylee up at school, and she started harassing me immediately about taking her to the library, so that's what we did. She picked out three books, and she started reading one of them in the back seat of the car on the way home. Usually when she gets home she wants to play on the computer for awhile, but today she read for over an hour first, and made it almost halfway through a good-sized book. She likes to read when she lays down to go to sleep at night now too. What I found interesting was that I recognized and had read almost all the books in that section of the library. There are a few new additions like "Hannah Montana" and "Lizzy McGuire" books, but the section was full of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and Judy Blume and "The Secret Garden" and "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and "Black Beauty" (which I wouldn't let her pick out) and all the classic kid books. Blast from the Past!
We were home for just a little while before I had to head out to a school board meeting and Kaylee had gymnastics. My meetings can last anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours, depending, but this month we were done and out of there in 45 minutes. That was amazing, and really a good thing, because it meant everything is running smoothly and there just isn't much to discuss. :)
Finally Monday night is here, and I have some work to finish up to top off the night...
It was Kaylee's first day back to school for the last ten days, and she actually did pretty well with the whole thing. She got ready quickly, got all A's on her work for today, and has been in a good mood too. Now we'll see how tomorrow morning goes. ;)
Steve and I went flying in the Chief this morning for about 45 minutes, then he got out and another Steve got in and I flew with him for about an hour too. We finished up, shut down, and my phone said "Muncie for lunch, wheels up at 11:30", which was right about...now. Chuck pulled out the Cheyenne and five of us got in to go over. Nathan let me fly it over and back, and it was kind of funny going from the 65 hp Chief that climbed out at about 200 feet per minute into the 2000 hp Cheyenne that climbed about 2000 feet per minute and comes in to land at a faster airspeed than the Chief can even fly at all. Just a bit of opposite ends of the spectrum, there. :) When we got to Muncie and left the plane at the shop, we realized the restaurant on field was closed Mondays, so we took a courtesy car into town and had soup and salad at Olive Garden while we waited instead.
I got home in time to pick Kaylee up at school, and she started harassing me immediately about taking her to the library, so that's what we did. She picked out three books, and she started reading one of them in the back seat of the car on the way home. Usually when she gets home she wants to play on the computer for awhile, but today she read for over an hour first, and made it almost halfway through a good-sized book. She likes to read when she lays down to go to sleep at night now too. What I found interesting was that I recognized and had read almost all the books in that section of the library. There are a few new additions like "Hannah Montana" and "Lizzy McGuire" books, but the section was full of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and Judy Blume and "The Secret Garden" and "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and "Black Beauty" (which I wouldn't let her pick out) and all the classic kid books. Blast from the Past!
We were home for just a little while before I had to head out to a school board meeting and Kaylee had gymnastics. My meetings can last anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours, depending, but this month we were done and out of there in 45 minutes. That was amazing, and really a good thing, because it meant everything is running smoothly and there just isn't much to discuss. :)
Finally Monday night is here, and I have some work to finish up to top off the night...
Sunday, April 11, 2010
You Spin Me Right 'Round
It's the last day of Spring Break, something which does not please Kaylee in the least. I have a feeling Tuesday morning will not be a pleasant one. The first morning you're usually in a little shock and you get it done, but by that second morning you're exhausted and don't feel like getting up At All...
The crime scene tape was taken down yesterday two blocks away where a triple homicide occurred Friday morning. Fortunately that's extremely rare in this city, but it's always a little unsettling when it happens close by. (It appears to be a domestic dispute and they have a 'person of interest' in custody.)
I went out to the airport and flew the Decathlon with Mike this afternoon. We went back over 45 and 90 degree lines and moved to Hammerheads. I had fun, got a little more precise a few things, and my tolerance was built up better today too. We ended up doing +5 Gs and just under -1 G, and I held out fine today until at the end when we did a whole bunch of Hammerheads one right into the other. After about the 9th one, Mike said "Why don't we start in on the slow rolls?" and I said "Why don't I just keep flying straight and level instead?" ;)
See, it took me a few years and a lot of denial, but after last Summer's County Fair Spinny Ride Debacle, I have finally both realized and admitted that I no longer have a stomach of iron. Instead of ending up nauseated, headachy and "delicate" feeling for a few hours, I've been quitting as soon as that little feeling becomes a medium feeling instead of waiting for it to be a gut-it-out feeling. So to speak. :) It makes for a much more pleasant experience, I tell you.
When we were done, I went back to the hangars where Chuck was working on his trailer, and we were eating a late lunch just as Nathan and the kids got out there too. I pulled out the Chief and took it up for awhile. I was going to fly over to Indian Hills and see what they were up to over there, but it took me so long just to get on downwind of my own airport, I decided to skip that and stay local and do a few takeoffs and landings. The plane was full of fuel, there was very little wind, and by the time I got up in the air, I only made it up a few hundred feet. It doesn't climb so well, poor thing. ;) It was a nice flight, though, first time I'd flown it since last Fall.
Tonight Steve and I had dinner out with a student and his family, sitting for two hours and talking, after which it was time to come home and relax for a bit before Monday and the week ahead starts in...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Flying Rodents
Today was "Family & Friend Day" for "The Flying Squirrels", which is a non-profit Boy Scout group for teenagers interested in aviation. Dr. Wild gave aerobatic rides to the teens in the Decathlon, and I gave "normal" rides to family, friends, and teens who didn't want to go upside down, in the Cherokee 180. :) We grilled out burgers and hot dogs and opened up the hangar and basically had a "welcome to aviation" day.
The one downside of the day was that it was really windy. One dad flew in with his son, and when he landed he said "You guys aren't giving the aerobatic rides today, are you. It's just so windy and bumpy." I said "Yes, actually we are, and if your son is interested, just head back there and talk to Steve." The people I took up, most of them had never been in a small airplane before in their life, and today would not be the day I'd choose for people's first flights, with the bumps and wind, but that was the weather we got, so I warned folks ahead of time and then we went for it. I had one young man who said this was his best Spring Break ever because now he could go back to school and say "Oh, I took off and flew an airplane...what did you do?" Another young man wants to go into the Air Force and be a pilot. This was his first time even sitting in a small airplane, and he was cranking and banking the plane around (with his sister and grandfather in the back seat!), grinning, and right before we came in to land he said "I love this. I SO belong up here." I was asked the usual "So...how long have you been doing this, anyway?", had one nervous mom who stayed on the ground after all, and one nervous teenage girl who went for it anyway and ended up enjoying herself. Nobody got sick, even in the aerobatic realm, and the day went well!
Steve spent the day making sure everything ran smoothly, talking to parents and kids, setting up and tearing down, all the hard work that people don't think about that goes into an event. And Kaylee, Kaylee spent the day running, biking, scootering and otherwise playing with three other kids that came out, having a fun time and getting lots of sunshine, lots of exercise, and a whole lot of fresh air.
In fact, we all got a little too much fresh air. It was SO windy that by the time I got home tonight, I felt like I'd been sitting in a sand blaster for hours. My eyes are dry and gritty, and I'm just worn OUT. Steve feels the same way, and Chuck mentioned it too.
Chuck got his trailer water leak fixed, Nathan got work done on airplanes, we got Flying Squirrel stuff done, Kaylee got more time outdoors in the sun, several teens today were inspired about doing something that actually requires study, discipline and commitment, and all in all I'd call today a success. :)
The one downside of the day was that it was really windy. One dad flew in with his son, and when he landed he said "You guys aren't giving the aerobatic rides today, are you. It's just so windy and bumpy." I said "Yes, actually we are, and if your son is interested, just head back there and talk to Steve." The people I took up, most of them had never been in a small airplane before in their life, and today would not be the day I'd choose for people's first flights, with the bumps and wind, but that was the weather we got, so I warned folks ahead of time and then we went for it. I had one young man who said this was his best Spring Break ever because now he could go back to school and say "Oh, I took off and flew an airplane...what did you do?" Another young man wants to go into the Air Force and be a pilot. This was his first time even sitting in a small airplane, and he was cranking and banking the plane around (with his sister and grandfather in the back seat!), grinning, and right before we came in to land he said "I love this. I SO belong up here." I was asked the usual "So...how long have you been doing this, anyway?", had one nervous mom who stayed on the ground after all, and one nervous teenage girl who went for it anyway and ended up enjoying herself. Nobody got sick, even in the aerobatic realm, and the day went well!
Steve spent the day making sure everything ran smoothly, talking to parents and kids, setting up and tearing down, all the hard work that people don't think about that goes into an event. And Kaylee, Kaylee spent the day running, biking, scootering and otherwise playing with three other kids that came out, having a fun time and getting lots of sunshine, lots of exercise, and a whole lot of fresh air.
In fact, we all got a little too much fresh air. It was SO windy that by the time I got home tonight, I felt like I'd been sitting in a sand blaster for hours. My eyes are dry and gritty, and I'm just worn OUT. Steve feels the same way, and Chuck mentioned it too.
Chuck got his trailer water leak fixed, Nathan got work done on airplanes, we got Flying Squirrel stuff done, Kaylee got more time outdoors in the sun, several teens today were inspired about doing something that actually requires study, discipline and commitment, and all in all I'd call today a success. :)
Friday, April 09, 2010
Friday Fun
This
evening Chuck and Judy brought their trailer out to Kokomo Airport and brought along Maggie and Hannah, so we took Kaylee out and the girls got a chance to play outside for several hours. Kaylee needed the fresh air and exercise, that's for sure! The girls rode bikes and scooters, rolled down the grass hill, played tag and detective and all sorts of fun games, and ended the night wrapped up in blankets sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows at sunset. Kaylee was not happy to go home!
I brought some food out, and Judy had some more food there, so we had a nice dinner in the hangar. A club member was out flying the Decathlon, another club member was practicing take offs and landings in the 172 with our new instructor Scott, Bob flew down to Indy and back in the Saratoga, and got back at sunset just as Steve was taking me around the pattern in the Chief. The winds calmed down, the sky was beautiful, and it was a lovely evening for a flight...
p.s. In the last two days I had two different people out of the blue ask me if I'd lost weight. As a matter of fact, I've been working on that for almost two months now, and I've lost 13 pounds so far. I can't really tell yet, other than my jeans fit better, but apparently it's slightly noticeable at least. I'm glad-I've been exercising more, eating less, drinking more water, and basically trying to behave. ;)
evening Chuck and Judy brought their trailer out to Kokomo Airport and brought along Maggie and Hannah, so we took Kaylee out and the girls got a chance to play outside for several hours. Kaylee needed the fresh air and exercise, that's for sure! The girls rode bikes and scooters, rolled down the grass hill, played tag and detective and all sorts of fun games, and ended the night wrapped up in blankets sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows at sunset. Kaylee was not happy to go home!I brought some food out, and Judy had some more food there, so we had a nice dinner in the hangar. A club member was out flying the Decathlon, another club member was practicing take offs and landings in the 172 with our new instructor Scott, Bob flew down to Indy and back in the Saratoga, and got back at sunset just as Steve was taking me around the pattern in the Chief. The winds calmed down, the sky was beautiful, and it was a lovely evening for a flight...
p.s. In the last two days I had two different people out of the blue ask me if I'd lost weight. As a matter of fact, I've been working on that for almost two months now, and I've lost 13 pounds so far. I can't really tell yet, other than my jeans fit better, but apparently it's slightly noticeable at least. I'm glad-I've been exercising more, eating less, drinking more water, and basically trying to behave. ;)
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Meanderings
Yesterday was spent doing house stuff and errands, basically. I had a 10 a.m. meeting with a lady from the "Indiana Department of Revenue" for a sales certificate renewal, was there an hour, and ironically we spent about five minutes talking about flying and about 55 minutes talking about SMA. She had Googled me (hm) and saw the info on SMA and she was fascinated by that. It was an interesting meeting, for sure!
This afternoon I took Kaylee shopping. She's running low on clothes and has outgrown most of her pants and shirts. This is really the first time I've gone clothes shopping with her-she's always had clothes before. It's interesting because she's changed some on what she does and doesn't want to wear, and things she would have loved in the past she wrinkled up her nose at now. At one point I pointed at a pair of shorts for the warmer weather that she would have liked before, and she said "I like the soft material, but that color is terrible. I can't stand the colors!" Made me snicker. We then went to a changing room for our first time ever and she tried on some dresses, pants, shirts. At one point she put on a dress that was really unshapely and looked like a baggy sack on her. We locked eyes in the mirror and made a face like "No Way". Next dress she put on was just kind of boring. I didn't say anything, she didn't say anything, she just looked at me, and then at the same time we wrinkled our noses and shook our heads "no". She started laughing and said "I was just waiting to see what you thought." Another one I thought was pretty but she didn't like how it made her arms look. The first thing she put on was a shirt that she said was "fine", but I said I didn't think it looked good on her, and she agreed with some relief. I told her then that you have to be honest about what you think about this stuff because you're buying it and you only want to buy what you will wear, and you might as well only buy things that you feel look good on you, make you confident and comfortable. From there on out she tossed aside things left and right for various reasons until she found the items she did want to keep. It was...fun. Tiring, but fun. :)
She asked me to get her "Elizabeth Gail" books, and that threw me back to being a kid. She's reading all the books that have been patiently sitting in her room on her shelf that were too 'big' for her, that were my books as a kid, and the Elizabeth Gail series is one of them. They are Christian fiction, and she wants more of them. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to find that series in the library, and it wasn't in the book stores either--apparently it's too old ;)-- but I'm going to give the library and then used book stores a shot. I just didn't think she'd really be a big reader-she used to complain like crazy about having to do reading for school. Now she's gone from reading little kid books to reading older-than-her-age books in one fell swoop, reading late at night when she should be sleeping, plowing through the older books on her shelf. I could not be more pleased.
We were in the car driving to the store this afternoon and I was talking to her and she wasn't answering. I turned around to look at her and her eyes were closed. I said "Are you sleeping??" She finally opens her eyes and says "I'm PRAYING. Do you think I'd sleep with my hands folded in a prayer position??" I said "Hey, you can't get snappy at me while you're PRAYING! That's just...wrong!" She started giggling and said "Well, you bugged me!"
She's playing (too much) on the computer on her Spring Break, but she's really enjoying it, and it's actually been a fairly good learning exercise too. For one thing she's been doing larger number paper and pencil math as she figures out what she needs of what, when, how much, and how much she has vs. how much she needs. Secondly, she's always working on her spelling because the site makes you spell the words properly in order to be able to "chat". Last but not least, she does these "quests", and sometimes she asks me the strangest questions. I was working on the computer this afternoon and she pipes up with "Hey Mommy. What effects do Global Warming have on our planet?" Huh?? It was a question she had to answer on the game in order to win a patch in the "Nature Club". So I gave her some of the answers that they probably wanted, and then I told her my opinion of Global Warming too. So an online Disney game about fairies has for example in two hours today promoted math skills, typing skills, spelling skills, and prompted a conversation between parent and child about the environment and Global Warming. Not bad, man.
I'm finishing up the night reading about aerobatic aerodynamics. In my 20s I could read that stuff once or twice, memorize it, fly it just fine, and really have no actual mastery of it. Things are different now in many regards--including the fact that my days of reading something once and having it memorized are over. ;) But it's interesting to me, I'm really enjoying it. I also like this book better than the others I've been reading because it's no-nonsense, thorough, and detailed. It doesn't just say "To do a roll, put your aileron here, your elevator here and your rudder here at this airspeed." It explains the forces, why you need to do what you need to do, how to tell when you're doing it right or wrong, and exercises to do to get a better "feel" for things. And I knew I'd like the book when on page one it said:
"Whether you fly for an airline, for the military, or even with your best friend on a day trip to the next state, you lack freedom in the air. You are bound by tasks, procedures and limitations. The romance and pure joy of the unrestrained flight of birds are missing. Pure flying involves no application. It has no purpose other than personal fulfillment. It is selfish and pointless. It is also utterly inspiring and addictive. There is no other way of squandering money on machinery that comes close to providing the three-dimensional freedom of expression and timeless joy of limitless pure flight. Cars, boats, yachts, jets...you can keep them all. They don't even come close."
I like this guy. :)
This afternoon I took Kaylee shopping. She's running low on clothes and has outgrown most of her pants and shirts. This is really the first time I've gone clothes shopping with her-she's always had clothes before. It's interesting because she's changed some on what she does and doesn't want to wear, and things she would have loved in the past she wrinkled up her nose at now. At one point I pointed at a pair of shorts for the warmer weather that she would have liked before, and she said "I like the soft material, but that color is terrible. I can't stand the colors!" Made me snicker. We then went to a changing room for our first time ever and she tried on some dresses, pants, shirts. At one point she put on a dress that was really unshapely and looked like a baggy sack on her. We locked eyes in the mirror and made a face like "No Way". Next dress she put on was just kind of boring. I didn't say anything, she didn't say anything, she just looked at me, and then at the same time we wrinkled our noses and shook our heads "no". She started laughing and said "I was just waiting to see what you thought." Another one I thought was pretty but she didn't like how it made her arms look. The first thing she put on was a shirt that she said was "fine", but I said I didn't think it looked good on her, and she agreed with some relief. I told her then that you have to be honest about what you think about this stuff because you're buying it and you only want to buy what you will wear, and you might as well only buy things that you feel look good on you, make you confident and comfortable. From there on out she tossed aside things left and right for various reasons until she found the items she did want to keep. It was...fun. Tiring, but fun. :)
She asked me to get her "Elizabeth Gail" books, and that threw me back to being a kid. She's reading all the books that have been patiently sitting in her room on her shelf that were too 'big' for her, that were my books as a kid, and the Elizabeth Gail series is one of them. They are Christian fiction, and she wants more of them. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to find that series in the library, and it wasn't in the book stores either--apparently it's too old ;)-- but I'm going to give the library and then used book stores a shot. I just didn't think she'd really be a big reader-she used to complain like crazy about having to do reading for school. Now she's gone from reading little kid books to reading older-than-her-age books in one fell swoop, reading late at night when she should be sleeping, plowing through the older books on her shelf. I could not be more pleased.
We were in the car driving to the store this afternoon and I was talking to her and she wasn't answering. I turned around to look at her and her eyes were closed. I said "Are you sleeping??" She finally opens her eyes and says "I'm PRAYING. Do you think I'd sleep with my hands folded in a prayer position??" I said "Hey, you can't get snappy at me while you're PRAYING! That's just...wrong!" She started giggling and said "Well, you bugged me!"
She's playing (too much) on the computer on her Spring Break, but she's really enjoying it, and it's actually been a fairly good learning exercise too. For one thing she's been doing larger number paper and pencil math as she figures out what she needs of what, when, how much, and how much she has vs. how much she needs. Secondly, she's always working on her spelling because the site makes you spell the words properly in order to be able to "chat". Last but not least, she does these "quests", and sometimes she asks me the strangest questions. I was working on the computer this afternoon and she pipes up with "Hey Mommy. What effects do Global Warming have on our planet?" Huh?? It was a question she had to answer on the game in order to win a patch in the "Nature Club". So I gave her some of the answers that they probably wanted, and then I told her my opinion of Global Warming too. So an online Disney game about fairies has for example in two hours today promoted math skills, typing skills, spelling skills, and prompted a conversation between parent and child about the environment and Global Warming. Not bad, man.
I'm finishing up the night reading about aerobatic aerodynamics. In my 20s I could read that stuff once or twice, memorize it, fly it just fine, and really have no actual mastery of it. Things are different now in many regards--including the fact that my days of reading something once and having it memorized are over. ;) But it's interesting to me, I'm really enjoying it. I also like this book better than the others I've been reading because it's no-nonsense, thorough, and detailed. It doesn't just say "To do a roll, put your aileron here, your elevator here and your rudder here at this airspeed." It explains the forces, why you need to do what you need to do, how to tell when you're doing it right or wrong, and exercises to do to get a better "feel" for things. And I knew I'd like the book when on page one it said:
"Whether you fly for an airline, for the military, or even with your best friend on a day trip to the next state, you lack freedom in the air. You are bound by tasks, procedures and limitations. The romance and pure joy of the unrestrained flight of birds are missing. Pure flying involves no application. It has no purpose other than personal fulfillment. It is selfish and pointless. It is also utterly inspiring and addictive. There is no other way of squandering money on machinery that comes close to providing the three-dimensional freedom of expression and timeless joy of limitless pure flight. Cars, boats, yachts, jets...you can keep them all. They don't even come close."
I like this guy. :)
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Blowhard
Now that the skies have cleared off, the winds have picked up. This has kicked out three student pilots from being able to move on to their solo work for over a week, which stinks.
This afternoon I took the Baron over to Muncie and back on a mission. It was a breezy day, and when I landed back at Kokomo and listened to AWOS, it was reporting gusts up over 30 knots. That made for a bit of a bumpy ride and a super easy short-field landing....
Tonight I'm working on updating my logbook again. I didn't think it was that far behind, but I was wrong. It's amazing how fast time goes by and suddenly I've got four months worth of flights to put in! I'm just now up to March 1st. March was a busy month. *sigh*
Back to work!
This afternoon I took the Baron over to Muncie and back on a mission. It was a breezy day, and when I landed back at Kokomo and listened to AWOS, it was reporting gusts up over 30 knots. That made for a bit of a bumpy ride and a super easy short-field landing....
Tonight I'm working on updating my logbook again. I didn't think it was that far behind, but I was wrong. It's amazing how fast time goes by and suddenly I've got four months worth of flights to put in! I'm just now up to March 1st. March was a busy month. *sigh*
Back to work!
Monday, April 05, 2010
Family & Fun
As Mondays go, this one was interesting, at least for me.
Steve, Kaylee and I met up with my cousin Jimmy and his wife Jane for lunch today. I haven't seen them in a couple of years now, and they live in Kansas. They were only here because they came to the NCAA Championship Final Four games, and since we're only an hour away, they made time to come on up and say hi, which is great. :) Jim was looking at Kaylee and he told her that he remembered when I was born, and that she looks exactly like I did at that age. He was one of my favorite cousins when I was a kid--fun loving, mischievous, "ornery", and he was the first person to let me drive a real car on the backroads when I was too young. ;) Anyway, it was good to see them!
I did all those "administrative duties" like post office, getting all the airport bills out, going to the computer store, doing a few things at home, etc., and then went back out to Kokomo to go up in the Decathlon with Mike and do some aerobatic basic components. We flew close to an hour and a half, and I enjoyed it. I'm doing a refresher course from 'back to the basics' on to get back more of my proficiency in aerobatics. Today was working on crisp up lines and down lines and transitions and such. I started off doing a 45 degree up and down line, then did the 90 degree up and down lines (vertical straight up at the sky and straight back down at the ground). After about an hour and a half of working on fine tuning where to look and when and managing the changing forces on the plane as your airspeed and pitch changes, I was starting to feel it, that little voice in your head that says "keeeeeep going and you're not going to feeeeeel good." So I did two more because I wanted to get something down a little better, then called it for the day and came in and did a couple of takeoffs and landings. It felt good and I enjoyed the workout on pitch and look forward to the next one where we'll start working on the basics of the roll axis. Knife edge, inverted, etc. Another nice thing is that it helps get me back into the arena of how it's best taught; the progression of maneuvers, good phraseology, etc...
Fun!
Steve, Kaylee and I met up with my cousin Jimmy and his wife Jane for lunch today. I haven't seen them in a couple of years now, and they live in Kansas. They were only here because they came to the NCAA Championship Final Four games, and since we're only an hour away, they made time to come on up and say hi, which is great. :) Jim was looking at Kaylee and he told her that he remembered when I was born, and that she looks exactly like I did at that age. He was one of my favorite cousins when I was a kid--fun loving, mischievous, "ornery", and he was the first person to let me drive a real car on the backroads when I was too young. ;) Anyway, it was good to see them!
I did all those "administrative duties" like post office, getting all the airport bills out, going to the computer store, doing a few things at home, etc., and then went back out to Kokomo to go up in the Decathlon with Mike and do some aerobatic basic components. We flew close to an hour and a half, and I enjoyed it. I'm doing a refresher course from 'back to the basics' on to get back more of my proficiency in aerobatics. Today was working on crisp up lines and down lines and transitions and such. I started off doing a 45 degree up and down line, then did the 90 degree up and down lines (vertical straight up at the sky and straight back down at the ground). After about an hour and a half of working on fine tuning where to look and when and managing the changing forces on the plane as your airspeed and pitch changes, I was starting to feel it, that little voice in your head that says "keeeeeep going and you're not going to feeeeeel good." So I did two more because I wanted to get something down a little better, then called it for the day and came in and did a couple of takeoffs and landings. It felt good and I enjoyed the workout on pitch and look forward to the next one where we'll start working on the basics of the roll axis. Knife edge, inverted, etc. Another nice thing is that it helps get me back into the arena of how it's best taught; the progression of maneuvers, good phraseology, etc...
Fun!
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Eggstravaganza
A Happy and Blessed Easter today, with hope and renewed life!
It's been an atypical Easter for us around here, I guess. It started with me waking up at 4 a.m. with a sickening headache. I got up, drank some water, took some painkillers, and laid down on the couch for awhile to try to kick it. I got up a few more times and took a few more painkillers and ended up in bed until about 11 a.m., and it wasn't until about 1 p.m. that it finally faded out to manageable.
Kaylee never has done the "Easter Bunny", we just stay with the Christian celebration
of Easter for the main focus, but for the fun of it I do fill a basket for her and we hide eggs outside and she goes on a hunt and enjoys that. So while I was down and out, Steve went outside and hid a ton of eggs and her basket that I had gotten ready, and after lunch she went out looking. It was a beautiful day outside today, and she had fun finding everything then coming inside and seeing what was in all her eggs. Usually I have her dress up, but this year I wasn't able to muster it up. Here are the photos from the search and such. :)
Steve went to grill us up some burgers for dinner but the plan was aborted when 1) he opened the box of frozen burgers and they didn't pass the sniff test, and 2) the grill bit the dust. We were not destined to have burgers today, apparently, at least not our own.
We've actually spent the evening working on airport billing stuff, which also seems very un-Easter-ish, but I guess this wasn't a typical Easter for us this year in very many ways. But one way it was typical--Kaylee's Grandma and Grandpa called and sang the Silly Easter Song for her and we all enjoyed that!
Ah, I just got a message from someone, one of those that is so difficult: "My brother is undergoing a trauma of very severe medical problem with their only girl child. All doctors and medical researches have failed to solve the problem. They say that this is a genetic disorder and the genes responsible to build the muscles in the body are absent, which means that if the girl survives, she would not sit or walk, but that she will probably die. Her parents are terrified. She is so innocent and little sweet angel that her presence is the family enchants every one. Brother I plead to you to help me. This angel is only 1 year & 2.5 months old. And attached are the reports of the child. Looking forward to your cooperation. Very sincere Thanks."
Attached to the email was a doctor's report detailing the specific genetic deletions the child had that provided the diagnosis of SMA. You know what makes these emails harder and harder? The hope in the person's e-mail when they reach out. Every child is their parent's angel. Every parent would do anything they could to save their child. They need me to email back and tell them that the doctors were wrong, that the child will be okay, that I have something special to be able to tell them, to give them, to make it all go back the way it was before the doctor appointment that changed their lives. But all I can do is tell them that they aren't alone and that if they need help with equipment or just to talk, someone is out there to help with that. That's all, it's all I've got, and that's a pretty helpless feeling sometimes. Anyway, pardon the deviation. :)
It's ironic-the news tonight showed a clip from the movie "Hoosiers", and Indiana is reliving that classic movie these days. Butler University is a tiny little no-name place who has just made it to the NCAA Championship game. David vs. Goliath, going up against a team nobody expects them to be able to beat. The part I enjoyed though was when one of the Butler players said "People keep asking how we're going to defend against Duke. Well, how is Duke going to defend against us? We have some guys who can play pretty well too." I hope Butler wins; I don't care at all about college basketball in general, but I do enjoy a good underdog story!
Time to finish up the billing for the night and get some rest. I slept too long trying to kick the headache, but by the same token the headache took a lot out of me. Time to get some sleep and get ready for Monday, which Kaylee may have off, but the rest of us don't. :)
I hope you all had a more normal Easter than we did, and enjoyed the celebration that is this special day!
It's been an atypical Easter for us around here, I guess. It started with me waking up at 4 a.m. with a sickening headache. I got up, drank some water, took some painkillers, and laid down on the couch for awhile to try to kick it. I got up a few more times and took a few more painkillers and ended up in bed until about 11 a.m., and it wasn't until about 1 p.m. that it finally faded out to manageable.
Kaylee never has done the "Easter Bunny", we just stay with the Christian celebration
of Easter for the main focus, but for the fun of it I do fill a basket for her and we hide eggs outside and she goes on a hunt and enjoys that. So while I was down and out, Steve went outside and hid a ton of eggs and her basket that I had gotten ready, and after lunch she went out looking. It was a beautiful day outside today, and she had fun finding everything then coming inside and seeing what was in all her eggs. Usually I have her dress up, but this year I wasn't able to muster it up. Here are the photos from the search and such. :)Steve went to grill us up some burgers for dinner but the plan was aborted when 1) he opened the box of frozen burgers and they didn't pass the sniff test, and 2) the grill bit the dust. We were not destined to have burgers today, apparently, at least not our own.
We've actually spent the evening working on airport billing stuff, which also seems very un-Easter-ish, but I guess this wasn't a typical Easter for us this year in very many ways. But one way it was typical--Kaylee's Grandma and Grandpa called and sang the Silly Easter Song for her and we all enjoyed that!
Ah, I just got a message from someone, one of those that is so difficult: "My brother is undergoing a trauma of very severe medical problem with their only girl child. All doctors and medical researches have failed to solve the problem. They say that this is a genetic disorder and the genes responsible to build the muscles in the body are absent, which means that if the girl survives, she would not sit or walk, but that she will probably die. Her parents are terrified. She is so innocent and little sweet angel that her presence is the family enchants every one. Brother I plead to you to help me. This angel is only 1 year & 2.5 months old. And attached are the reports of the child. Looking forward to your cooperation. Very sincere Thanks."
Attached to the email was a doctor's report detailing the specific genetic deletions the child had that provided the diagnosis of SMA. You know what makes these emails harder and harder? The hope in the person's e-mail when they reach out. Every child is their parent's angel. Every parent would do anything they could to save their child. They need me to email back and tell them that the doctors were wrong, that the child will be okay, that I have something special to be able to tell them, to give them, to make it all go back the way it was before the doctor appointment that changed their lives. But all I can do is tell them that they aren't alone and that if they need help with equipment or just to talk, someone is out there to help with that. That's all, it's all I've got, and that's a pretty helpless feeling sometimes. Anyway, pardon the deviation. :)
It's ironic-the news tonight showed a clip from the movie "Hoosiers", and Indiana is reliving that classic movie these days. Butler University is a tiny little no-name place who has just made it to the NCAA Championship game. David vs. Goliath, going up against a team nobody expects them to be able to beat. The part I enjoyed though was when one of the Butler players said "People keep asking how we're going to defend against Duke. Well, how is Duke going to defend against us? We have some guys who can play pretty well too." I hope Butler wins; I don't care at all about college basketball in general, but I do enjoy a good underdog story!
Time to finish up the billing for the night and get some rest. I slept too long trying to kick the headache, but by the same token the headache took a lot out of me. Time to get some sleep and get ready for Monday, which Kaylee may have off, but the rest of us don't. :)
I hope you all had a more normal Easter than we did, and enjoyed the celebration that is this special day!
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Eggcellent!
I was supposed to take the Decathlon and Mike (he's an IAC or International Aerobatic Club competition aerobatic pilot and instructor) and go up and work on some aerobatics today. I was looking forward to it, but unfortunately right about when I was supposed to go the clouds rolled in, the winds blew up and the rain started falling. Plans, Postponed. But no worries, I'll get to go throw myself around the sky another day. ;)
Instead, Kaylee and I dyed Easter Eggs. I did it a different way this year, using
little plastic baggies and dyes and glitter instead of the cups where you soak the eggs, and I only did 8 eggs instead of the dozen or two we usually do, but they turned out very colorful and sparkly. :) There is also less drippy mess on the up side, and on the down side we're not able to take all the colors and do an exercise in pouring them down the sink and watching colors mix and turn into other colors. Even Easter can be educational that way you know! You can see the photos of our egg dyeing at the bottom of this page.
I made it out to the store since our house rations were down to scrounging for crackers and rationing TP. We're still not in full stocked mode, but it's a start. For dinner Kaylee helped me make the pizzas that we bought for her school fundraiser from Little Caesar's. She made one the way she wanted it and I made one the way I wanted it, and we made part of each of our pizzas the way Steve wants it. See, she just likes cheese. Steve likes pepperoni. And I like pepperoni with mushrooms, black olives and green olives. Since I didn't have most of that, I made half of mine with green olives and the other half with pineapple chunks. So I had the strange pizza. (Little Caesar's really does have good pizza by the way.) Making the pizza with Kaylee reminded me of making pizza with my mom growing up. We used to make the dough and everything, and make it up the way we liked it. Kaylee had fun making her pizza, but it would take a little longer if she liked something besides cheese! Maybe I'll do the homemade dough next time too-she'd like that. :)
Instead, Kaylee and I dyed Easter Eggs. I did it a different way this year, using
little plastic baggies and dyes and glitter instead of the cups where you soak the eggs, and I only did 8 eggs instead of the dozen or two we usually do, but they turned out very colorful and sparkly. :) There is also less drippy mess on the up side, and on the down side we're not able to take all the colors and do an exercise in pouring them down the sink and watching colors mix and turn into other colors. Even Easter can be educational that way you know! You can see the photos of our egg dyeing at the bottom of this page.I made it out to the store since our house rations were down to scrounging for crackers and rationing TP. We're still not in full stocked mode, but it's a start. For dinner Kaylee helped me make the pizzas that we bought for her school fundraiser from Little Caesar's. She made one the way she wanted it and I made one the way I wanted it, and we made part of each of our pizzas the way Steve wants it. See, she just likes cheese. Steve likes pepperoni. And I like pepperoni with mushrooms, black olives and green olives. Since I didn't have most of that, I made half of mine with green olives and the other half with pineapple chunks. So I had the strange pizza. (Little Caesar's really does have good pizza by the way.) Making the pizza with Kaylee reminded me of making pizza with my mom growing up. We used to make the dough and everything, and make it up the way we liked it. Kaylee had fun making her pizza, but it would take a little longer if she liked something besides cheese! Maybe I'll do the homemade dough next time too-she'd like that. :)
Friday, April 02, 2010
Good Friday
When I got up this morning, one of the first things in my inbox was a notification by the FAA that pilots who are on antidepressants can now get approved for a medical. Up till now, pilots either lied about being on the medication so they could continue to work, or they were simply no longer able to fly, period, once they began taking them. The FAA also has a one-time "gimme" period where for six months here starting the 5th, pilots who have lied about taking these meds up until now can come clean, hand in their medical, and get a new one issued to them if the underlying condition itself isn't disqualifying, without any repercussions for having lied up till now. (No, I have never been on any medication and find it interesting only because of the number of people it does affect.) Well, that was certainly a major change in the aviation community though...
Kaylee had a doozy of a nightmare this morning, waking up and pounding on the wall in between our bedrooms because she was too scared to get out of bed and cross the entire house to come get us. Steve went in her room, and then she came in and crawled in bed with me around 7:30 or so this morning and passed back out. As I watched she started dreaming again, her eyes half opened, and she started twitching like it wasn't a good dream again. I just rubbed her and held her until she fell still again, but when she woke up for good today the first thing she said was "I had a terrible dream..." Poor kid!
I took Kaylee with me out to Glenndale's lunch today, and we had ho tdogs on the grill. It was 81 degrees today, which broke some kind of record, and we had a "Red Flag Warning" for the first time in over ten years, which is a "conditions are ripe for a bad fire" warning. No bad fire happened and the warning expired as we are getting rain tomorrow and the temps have dropped a bit with the upcoming system, but it was different.
While we were at Glenndale, Chuck said it would be okay if we drove his 4-wheeler, and that if she was doing well, he didn't mind if I set her loose on it. So Kaylee and I drove along and had some fun. She did great, as she always does, having a good time but staying within safe and responsible limits. When we were together I would check for traffic and use the runway. When I let her go off by herself I told her she needed to stay clear of the runway altogether, and she didn't even argue, which is somewhat unusual for her. ;) She had been going for awhile and then she said "Okay Mommy, it's your turn. Go REALLY fast!" and she stuck her arms out to the sides a la "Titanic" while we went flying down the runway. Another day to make a Spring person happy. Hot dogs on the grill, 81 degree day, and running around on a 4-wheeler at a fairly high rate of speed. Life is good!
Kaylee had a doozy of a nightmare this morning, waking up and pounding on the wall in between our bedrooms because she was too scared to get out of bed and cross the entire house to come get us. Steve went in her room, and then she came in and crawled in bed with me around 7:30 or so this morning and passed back out. As I watched she started dreaming again, her eyes half opened, and she started twitching like it wasn't a good dream again. I just rubbed her and held her until she fell still again, but when she woke up for good today the first thing she said was "I had a terrible dream..." Poor kid!
I took Kaylee with me out to Glenndale's lunch today, and we had ho tdogs on the grill. It was 81 degrees today, which broke some kind of record, and we had a "Red Flag Warning" for the first time in over ten years, which is a "conditions are ripe for a bad fire" warning. No bad fire happened and the warning expired as we are getting rain tomorrow and the temps have dropped a bit with the upcoming system, but it was different.
While we were at Glenndale, Chuck said it would be okay if we drove his 4-wheeler, and that if she was doing well, he didn't mind if I set her loose on it. So Kaylee and I drove along and had some fun. She did great, as she always does, having a good time but staying within safe and responsible limits. When we were together I would check for traffic and use the runway. When I let her go off by herself I told her she needed to stay clear of the runway altogether, and she didn't even argue, which is somewhat unusual for her. ;) She had been going for awhile and then she said "Okay Mommy, it's your turn. Go REALLY fast!" and she stuck her arms out to the sides a la "Titanic" while we went flying down the runway. Another day to make a Spring person happy. Hot dogs on the grill, 81 degree day, and running around on a 4-wheeler at a fairly high rate of speed. Life is good!
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