In the News

Today is the first day I woke up feeling good again.  Head was still stuffy, but not in a painful way at least.  Kaylee is back to herself, and Steve never got sick, so I think we're back in good shape over here.  Now you don't have to worry about getting sick when you come visit, Mom.  ;)

I used the last drop of milk in Kaylee's bowl of cereal this morning, which was the end of the last box of cereal we had, too.  We had only a few Diet Cokes left, and my last roll of paper towels was up in the kitchen.  We were all munching on cashews, because there weren't any other snacks in the house, either.  Kaylee had Ramen noodles for dinner.  I'd either been gone or sick for the last week.  So today was the day.  My grocery store had power again, though the businesses across the street didn't, and the bank that was in front of my store has been leveled by the storm.  The store had announcements going about how you could donate to a family who was displaced, and everybody walking around was talking to perfect strangers about "Where Were You" and "How Bad Did You Get It".  What I was happiest about?  They had 24 Hr Claritan D in stock and it was on sale.  I wanted to buy a few packs of it, but you can only buy one at a time.  I guess so it takes you a week to make that meth instead of just a day.  But I digress.

So, for Laura's News Commentary of the Day:

Pilots Rely Too Much on Automation, Panel Says.  Well, no duh.  But automation is insisted on in commercial aviation because computers make fewer mistakes than people.  So we're telling airline pilots to use the automation, and then telling them that they're starting to suck as pilots because they're using too much automation.  The "new" "trend" is to push a focus on getting the airline pilots back into polishing up on areas such as basic stalls and recovery.  They are now "systems managers" instead of pilots. Their words.  You know, the other day we were flying along, on autopilot, when suddenly the airplane started a pitching oscillation.  Before we disconnected the autopilot, we were getting an 1800 fpm dive.  See how well that goes IMC on an instrument approach (which is what we were headed towards doing).  So what did we do?  Hand flew the approach.  Yawn.  Automation fails.  You'd better have something to back it up, whether you're in the little puddle jumpers or the big people-carrying busses.  An airliner fell what, 30,000' from the air in a stalled condition with the pilot holding the stick back the whole time.  Another airliner went down in Boston when the co pilot retracted the flaps without orders while the pilot kept pulling back against the stick shaker in a stall.  Going back to the basics sounds good to me, if I'm going to have to fly commercial.  ;)

Flight Time More Important than Money for Air Force Pilots.  This one kind of cracked me up.  Air Force pilots were offered a $225,000.00 bonus if they'd sign on for a 9-year commitment...but the majority of them are passing on an almost quarter of a million dollar bonus because they're not getting enough flying in.  One guy said "If you can't fly your F-22, you might as well go fly something."  They're deserting to the airlines, mostly.  And THAT'S a pilot.  Forget the money--I just want to fly something!  Heh.

The Truth About 'Boring' Men.  This is a sweet one.  Turn down your speakers or click on the 'pause' button for the music on the bottom left.  I hate websites with music.  But this article is talking about the recent craze of wedding proposals that are over the top, videoed, and put up on YouTube, hoping to go viral and get a bazillion hits vs what love and marriage actually is.  Someone coming up with a Flashmob to propose to you vs a guy who will unplug the toilet at 2 a.m. for the third day in a row without complaint, who will be there through blood and guts and thickening middles and will think his wife is just as beautiful as the day they met, who will clean the gunk out of the bottom of the dishwasher every night for 37 years without any cameras rolling.  A nice message.

Girls.  This is a video about three little girls watching a princess thing on TV who then cut loose with an engineering thing and a song about how they don't need all their toys to be pink and frilly.  It's a great little video of one thing knocking down the next which causes the next to go, etc., whatever those are called.  You should watch it.  :)

All Is Right With The World.  This little one minute sports commercial made me laugh out loud.

Best Voicemail Ever.  Another humor one.  A guy calls to leave a voicemail for his boss, when he witnesses an accident.  He then gives a play by play of four little old ladies beating up a guy, laughing so hard he can hardly talk sometimes.  This is just pure entertainment.  ;)

More Regulations on a Medical.  The FAA wants to start implementing a new mandatory test for pilots with a BMI of over 40, making them get a sleep apnea test. You know how many airplanes have been known to crash because the pilot had sleep apnea?  None.  No known cases.  After they get established at a BMI of 40, they want to eventually lower it on down.  In fact, the doctor in charge of the initiative, Dr. Tilton, says, and I quote: that "once we have appropriately dealt with every airman examinee who has a BMI of 40 or greater, we will gradually expand the testing pool by going to lower BMI measurements until we have identified and assured treatment for every airman with OSA."  Oh, that's perfect.  AOPA is currently fighting this.  In fact, I think this is one all the aviation alphabet soups will be working against, one of the only things I can imagine the GA groups like AOPA and EAA joining forces with the professional business groups like ALPA and NBAA.  Ain't nobody going to want this.  I'm not saying that people with a BMI of 40 or over don't need to do something about it, but this is just a plain and obvious fishing expedition, for no real good reason, and one more regulatory straw piling up on ye ole camel-back.  It needs to go away.

Pilots vs. Aviators.  Did you make it this far?  This is a long article, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It talks about the differences between being a pilot and an aviator.  Pressuring the controls instead of forcibly moving them.  Feeling like the airplane is an extension of you as opposed to it just being a machine you make cooperate.  I passed it on to a former fighter pilot acquaintance/friend of mine, and he had this to say:  "Almost anyone can become a pilot. All you need for that is a CFI, some bucks, and the ability to pass the written and the flight check.  An aviator on the other hand, considers the point where he/she becomes a pilot as the starting point for a life long process of learning and experience that never quite ends.  Aviators are never satisfied with their performance. To be an aviator, the next flight will HAVE to be better than the last one due to lessons learned on that last flight.....because if not.... God forbid.....the aviator will discover he/she is nothing but a pilot after all."  I think it's funny that most people who read or posted this article said they were aviators.  As Doug R. likes to say, "about 80% of pilots think they're above average, in the top 20%; but think about it--the reality is that 50% of us are actually below average."  Apparently all the top 20% of aviators out there all just happened to have read and commented on this article.  ;)  I've felt like an airplane is an extension of me.  I've also felt myself ham-fisting one around, too.  I usually come out of a flight with mental notes of what should have been done better, what got sloppy. I don't come out of a drive with mental notes.  Even though Steve would like it if I did, because then maybe I would be easier on my brakes, perchance.  ;)  The people I consider "aviators" are the ones who can get in anything and make it fly like they owned it.  The ones who can put it in any position and get it out of any position.  The ones I want to be when I grow up some day.  ;)  I think that maybe most people aren't "pilots" OR "aviators".  I think there are, like in anything, degrees.  Sometimes pilots can be aviators in the right airplane for them, but not in anything else.  Other pilots are flat out aviators in anything they get their hands on.  Some people never will be anything but pilots.  Their brain just doesn't work that way.  But anyway, I thought it was an interesting article.

No more news articles.  Kaylee is off at play practice, and I get to go pick her and her friend up at 9:00 p.m. so she can then start in on her homework.  Congratulations if you made it this far.  ;)