What Day Is It?

Mike and the Camel are out of vogue now, but every once in awhile I still think "HUMP Day!" 

My first flight of the day stood me up--slept through his alarms and didn't show.  I didn't want to get up this morning either, was dragging, so he kind of owes me.  Harrumph.  After lunch I had a flight in the Cub.  It was somebody's second tailwheel lesson, his first time in the Cub, my first time in the Cub since last summer, the winds were a direct crosswind gusting up to 16 knots now and then, and swapping from a crosswind with a headwind to a crosswind with a tailwind, my favorite thing in tailwheels.  I did manage to get in and out of the airplane without too many gymnastics at least.  We went up and did slow flight, steep turns, stalls, slips straight down a road to practice the crosswind coming up, a little rudder exercise, and then came on in.  It wasn't the right day for him to practice takeoffs and landings yet, but we'll probably start in on that next time.  This, by the way, is my view straight ahead from the front seat, at my eye level.  I see a panel, a few inches from my face, and that's about it.  At least you can look off to the sides and see something a tad more interesting.  ;)

The last flight I had for the day was actually the little brother of a friend of Kaylee's.  His nickname is Ky, and his brothers and sisters are all gone on various adventures, camps, mission trips, etc., and he didn't have anything and was home alone all week for the first time ever, so his mom asked if I'd take him up in an airplane. I took the 172 so she could come too, and we took off and went over their house, their friend's house, their school, all of it.  I let him do a lot of the flying, and he thought that was the coolest thing ever.  Then he wanted to do some "rollercoaster stuff", and his mom said she did too, so I did a few different things there before stopping while I was ahead and nobody was getting sick.  :)  Well, when we got down on the ground, he started asking questions.  How much are lessons, how old do you have to be, can I work for you and earn money towards lessons, what other planes are here, can we fly that one next time, how does this work, how does it turn, what makes it...he was hooked.  Hard.  He wants to join the Flying Squirrels next summer when he is old enough, he wants to start saving his money for flight lessons, he wants to wash airplanes or do whatever he can to earn time, and he really wants to fly the Cub most of all.  He appears to be hooked through the nose.  I apologized to his mother for quite possibly infecting him with the aviation disorder.  It's always fun to see kids so into it though...makes me smile.

Me & Ky

 

 

Ky by the plane he wants to fly the mostest.  :)

 

Steve and I went out to dinner for the first time since Kaylee has been gone.  Usually we eat out at places we can't take her or she doesn't care for or are expensive for three people but easier for two.  It's good that we haven't been eating out a lot though--I've been being more...judicious...in my eating habits these last almost 3 weeks now.  It's been paying off, slowly but surely.  Tonight I splurged and took home a piece of raspberry chocolate chunk new york cheesecake...looked it up with a restaurant app I have, saw the calorie content, and decided it would wait for tomorrow.  I'll have to make some extra space tomorrow for something really baaaad for me.  ;)

On a serious note, I'd like some extra prayers for Steve's dad, Richard.  He's been dealing with the cancer, and the treatments, and he's doing well, but he found out today he also has shingles.  :(  Thank goodness that for now it seems to be contained to a small area, and they started the treatment for it, but shingles can be really unpleasant sometimes, and he's got enough to put up with for now, and we'd like this to go away quietly and quickly and let him get his strength back!