A text conversation between me and Kaylee today.
"Mom. If something terrible were to happen to me and I was like a vegetable, what would you do?"
"Eat you with butter and salt?"
"NOT what I meant. :/"
"Fine. I'd pull the plug and let you go, where you could be healed and free."
"Good. I'd rather have that."
So at this point, as a Mom, my mind is going to what a terrible thing it would be to have to go through that (again in a way), and I'm frowning at lunch, wondering where that came from, and the next text is
"So, can I go to the Eastern Library from 5-7 for free ice cream?"
Kids.
Yesterday I had a long IFR cross country, and we actually got well over an hour in actual, along with four instrument approaches. Good practice. I need to log that while I'm thinking about it. All those approaches count towards my currency too, you know. ;)
July is here, school starts next month, the Kokomo Airshow is in a few weeks and Oshkosh is only 3 weeks away. Time is racing.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Images
This wasn't really a day of rest...I was up and in the air around 9:30, doing as much Mavrx image flying as I could get in during their required hours of 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. I had two separate "missions", one north and one south. The clouds were supposed to roll in to the southern area by 12:30-1 p.m., while it was supposed to stay clear to the north all day, so I went south first. They had changed the flight so that instead of 4 fields, I now had 16 of them to do in one mission, and 6 to do in the other. I made it to ten fields before the clouds rolled in down south. It was time to stop for gas, so I used Garmin Pilot to find the nearest airport with a 24 hour self-serve pump, which was Seymore, IN.
When I pulled up to the self-serve pump, a guy was standing there next to his taildragger close to the pump, and he walked up and said, "Well hello there, Little Fly Girl, do you need any help?" I smiled and said "No thanks, I'm fine." After that he was really amused by me, and was rather...smug. He kept asking me, three or four times, "Are you sure I can't help you, fly girl?" I'm just topping off a 172, it's not like it's rocket science here. As I was up on the ladder finishing up on the right tank, he was trying to hand prop his taildragger, with no success. He'd chocked both wheels and was having trouble handpropping it by himself. I was dying to go up to him and ask if I could help him hand prop his airplane, Little Fly Guy, but I decided that would neither be taking the high road nor worth the time. We do all have egos though, to some degree. He asked me if I'd ever been here before, and I bit back the urge to say "Yes, in a T-6, and in formation with an Aerostar and a P-51 for a fly-in here." I just said "Yes", because otherwise you're THAT person, and that's just not cool either, even if the other person assumes things they probably shouldn't based on what they see right then. We all do it, I suppose, to some degree.
The first three fields I did were actually right by Indy International. Luckily it was a high altitude imaging process, so I was up at 7500', which was well above their airspace, and right on top of them like that, I wasn't in the way of their airliners arriving and departing, either. It still felt a little wrong maneuvering around right by the Class C airport like that.
I was in the 172 we affectionately call "The Slug". It's a little slower than the other 172s, but it got the job done. I left the ground around 9:45 a.m. so that I could be down south by 10:30 a.m., the earliest time they wanted me to start taking images. I nailed it, too, hit it at like 10:28 a.m. I flew down there until 12:30, when the clouds rolled in, then stopped for gas. It then took me well over an hour to get to the northern route, which was up by Warsaw, well north of Kokomo, and the area that was supposed to be clear, wasn't. There were scattered clouds below me, and there were large areas of clear, but you couldn't know how your field was going to be till you got there. I had several fields that had at least one cloud in the way, but I was already up there, and it was mostly clear, so I went for it and imaged it anyway, and hoped they could use most of it. Then the software started freezing so that I didn't know where I was supposed to be on the next pass, and then it crashed, and when I reopened it, it told me I hadn't done anything and that I should start over. Gah. Obviously I didn't, I finished the last of the fields up north, and then called it a day, right close to the end of the sunlight time frame that they wanted. It ended up being almost 6 hours of flying with only one small break, and by the end, I was getting sloppy and tired. I had ear buds in, and even read a book for a little while on the cross-country part of it.
When I got back to Kokomo I wanted to get gas, but the fuel truck is broken and there were already two airplanes at the self pump station waiting for gas. So I just parked it, locked it up and left. I shouldn't be this sleepy after sitting for 6 hours, but it actually is a little work.
Steve and Kaylee had a plan that involved having a fire in the back yard. The mosquitos were out in full swarm thanks to all the standing water, but some good bug spray took care of that. The wood was all extra wet thanks to the Noah-like flood rains we've been having, but Steve and a flame thrower held to the wood for a long period of time got it going, and we had a nice little evening outside with the cats and a fire...except for the spiders. But Steve killed them, so I guess all's well that ends well...
When I pulled up to the self-serve pump, a guy was standing there next to his taildragger close to the pump, and he walked up and said, "Well hello there, Little Fly Girl, do you need any help?" I smiled and said "No thanks, I'm fine." After that he was really amused by me, and was rather...smug. He kept asking me, three or four times, "Are you sure I can't help you, fly girl?" I'm just topping off a 172, it's not like it's rocket science here. As I was up on the ladder finishing up on the right tank, he was trying to hand prop his taildragger, with no success. He'd chocked both wheels and was having trouble handpropping it by himself. I was dying to go up to him and ask if I could help him hand prop his airplane, Little Fly Guy, but I decided that would neither be taking the high road nor worth the time. We do all have egos though, to some degree. He asked me if I'd ever been here before, and I bit back the urge to say "Yes, in a T-6, and in formation with an Aerostar and a P-51 for a fly-in here." I just said "Yes", because otherwise you're THAT person, and that's just not cool either, even if the other person assumes things they probably shouldn't based on what they see right then. We all do it, I suppose, to some degree.
The first three fields I did were actually right by Indy International. Luckily it was a high altitude imaging process, so I was up at 7500', which was well above their airspace, and right on top of them like that, I wasn't in the way of their airliners arriving and departing, either. It still felt a little wrong maneuvering around right by the Class C airport like that.
I was in the 172 we affectionately call "The Slug". It's a little slower than the other 172s, but it got the job done. I left the ground around 9:45 a.m. so that I could be down south by 10:30 a.m., the earliest time they wanted me to start taking images. I nailed it, too, hit it at like 10:28 a.m. I flew down there until 12:30, when the clouds rolled in, then stopped for gas. It then took me well over an hour to get to the northern route, which was up by Warsaw, well north of Kokomo, and the area that was supposed to be clear, wasn't. There were scattered clouds below me, and there were large areas of clear, but you couldn't know how your field was going to be till you got there. I had several fields that had at least one cloud in the way, but I was already up there, and it was mostly clear, so I went for it and imaged it anyway, and hoped they could use most of it. Then the software started freezing so that I didn't know where I was supposed to be on the next pass, and then it crashed, and when I reopened it, it told me I hadn't done anything and that I should start over. Gah. Obviously I didn't, I finished the last of the fields up north, and then called it a day, right close to the end of the sunlight time frame that they wanted. It ended up being almost 6 hours of flying with only one small break, and by the end, I was getting sloppy and tired. I had ear buds in, and even read a book for a little while on the cross-country part of it.
When I got back to Kokomo I wanted to get gas, but the fuel truck is broken and there were already two airplanes at the self pump station waiting for gas. So I just parked it, locked it up and left. I shouldn't be this sleepy after sitting for 6 hours, but it actually is a little work.
Steve and Kaylee had a plan that involved having a fire in the back yard. The mosquitos were out in full swarm thanks to all the standing water, but some good bug spray took care of that. The wood was all extra wet thanks to the Noah-like flood rains we've been having, but Steve and a flame thrower held to the wood for a long period of time got it going, and we had a nice little evening outside with the cats and a fire...except for the spiders. But Steve killed them, so I guess all's well that ends well...
A little of the flooding at Kokomo Airport.
Hooked up to a camera and ready to go image this morning.
Flying over Indy International towards my first field of the day.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Home Again
Bummer, I should feel like talking so I could write a story about our epic journey in a car to Ohio and back, since we couldn't get Kaylee by plane this time. ;) But I don't feel very chatty. The weather looked pretty ucky, and the forecast was even worse. We could have gotten there, but getting home was a big question mark, especially almost 8 hours later when we'd need to be coming home. We had to make the decision early as it's a long drive, so finally we decided that for a flight we're not getting paid for that didn't have to be done, there was too much uncertainty and potential things to worry about, and decided to drive. We went ahead and rented a car here in Kokomo, and it was a lovely small Ford SUV all loaded with fancy things. I hooked my phone up via Bluetooth, played music and answered a phone call and all that stuff with it, just for the fun of it. It was bright blue, and on the way home, Kaylee was playing with the interior lights and found that they all changed colors, from blue, green, purple, orange, white, red, yellow. Pretty wild, actually, and things were lit up like little lights by your feet, door handles, etc. It was space age and Kaylee wanted us to buy the car. :D
Speaking of Kaylee, she was horrified when she found out we'd have to drive home. We kept telling her that we already drove all the way here and she had no room to complain!
Steve drove on the way down, and I drove on the way home, so I got the leg getting to drive tired in the dark and the rain, but he had a terrible sinus headache by the end of the day and wasn't having any fun after that either. We were going to return the car that night and pick up our own Jeep there in the lot, but he felt so bad we just went home. We walked in the door around 11:30 pm, and he went right to bed, Kaylee went right to bed, and I unloaded the car, did the litter boxes, food and pee pad, then sat up and tried to unwind a little. Flying is better, and what makes the drive worse is that we could have made it home. It would have been IFR and raining, but I can handle that--it wasn't convective, the storms were mostly gone, so we'd have been home in an hour (and a half including the drive home from the airport) instead of at 11:30 at night. Oh well, better off being on the ground wishing to be in the air than in the air wishing to be on the ground and all that. It's a true statement albeit a cliché.
Kaylee had a great time, and wants to stay there. She'd love to stay three weeks this year; not sure we can make that happen. She's trying though.
It did rain so hard and dump so much that everything around here, which was already saturated, is flooding. The park is flooded by our house, with the roads closed. Glenndale's lake was back, smaller, but there. There's even a lake by Kokomo Airport now, too. Driving home from the airport I came across two flooded roads. Both times I was fortunate, because there was water running across one of the roads where a river had risen over the top of it. I'd have turned around, because you couldn't see the road any more, but I happened to arrive in time to see a much smaller car go through the water and see how shallow it still was, so I went on through. The second road was just static flood water, not running water, and a kid on a bicycle was driving through it, so I could see how deep that one was too, even though it was deep enough you lost sight of the road. Kokomo has been hit a lot with water, and unfortunately, other than tomorrow, we're looking at at least 3 more days of storms and rain coming up. Fortunately our house is on a hill, so we're fine. The airport might not fare as well if it keeps dumping like this though. And I don't even want to talk about the flying we're not getting done.
A Pitts went down at an airshow in Missouri today. You can see in the video that he botches a maneuver, stalls the plane and can't get it recovered in time. It always amazes me when other pilots see the video and say "Pilot incapacitation? Control failure?" Horses, not zebras, folks. He made a mistake, in a field where you have very little margin for error. There are a few every air, professionals who had done the same routine countless times. Nothing new there, but it's sad and a little scary--I wonder as these accidents get more press how much longer airshows will be able to get insurance, sponsorships, and be allowed to keep operating...*I* don't want to do it, but that doesn't mean I think nobody should be allowed to do it if they make the choice to...
I have some photos of flooded Kokomo but I don't feel like pulling them off and messing with them. I think I will go have some Marsh Sushi, which is a questionable thought but I'm going to give it a try.
We're home, we're good, peace.
Speaking of Kaylee, she was horrified when she found out we'd have to drive home. We kept telling her that we already drove all the way here and she had no room to complain!
Steve drove on the way down, and I drove on the way home, so I got the leg getting to drive tired in the dark and the rain, but he had a terrible sinus headache by the end of the day and wasn't having any fun after that either. We were going to return the car that night and pick up our own Jeep there in the lot, but he felt so bad we just went home. We walked in the door around 11:30 pm, and he went right to bed, Kaylee went right to bed, and I unloaded the car, did the litter boxes, food and pee pad, then sat up and tried to unwind a little. Flying is better, and what makes the drive worse is that we could have made it home. It would have been IFR and raining, but I can handle that--it wasn't convective, the storms were mostly gone, so we'd have been home in an hour (and a half including the drive home from the airport) instead of at 11:30 at night. Oh well, better off being on the ground wishing to be in the air than in the air wishing to be on the ground and all that. It's a true statement albeit a cliché.
Kaylee had a great time, and wants to stay there. She'd love to stay three weeks this year; not sure we can make that happen. She's trying though.
It did rain so hard and dump so much that everything around here, which was already saturated, is flooding. The park is flooded by our house, with the roads closed. Glenndale's lake was back, smaller, but there. There's even a lake by Kokomo Airport now, too. Driving home from the airport I came across two flooded roads. Both times I was fortunate, because there was water running across one of the roads where a river had risen over the top of it. I'd have turned around, because you couldn't see the road any more, but I happened to arrive in time to see a much smaller car go through the water and see how shallow it still was, so I went on through. The second road was just static flood water, not running water, and a kid on a bicycle was driving through it, so I could see how deep that one was too, even though it was deep enough you lost sight of the road. Kokomo has been hit a lot with water, and unfortunately, other than tomorrow, we're looking at at least 3 more days of storms and rain coming up. Fortunately our house is on a hill, so we're fine. The airport might not fare as well if it keeps dumping like this though. And I don't even want to talk about the flying we're not getting done.
A Pitts went down at an airshow in Missouri today. You can see in the video that he botches a maneuver, stalls the plane and can't get it recovered in time. It always amazes me when other pilots see the video and say "Pilot incapacitation? Control failure?" Horses, not zebras, folks. He made a mistake, in a field where you have very little margin for error. There are a few every air, professionals who had done the same routine countless times. Nothing new there, but it's sad and a little scary--I wonder as these accidents get more press how much longer airshows will be able to get insurance, sponsorships, and be allowed to keep operating...*I* don't want to do it, but that doesn't mean I think nobody should be allowed to do it if they make the choice to...
I have some photos of flooded Kokomo but I don't feel like pulling them off and messing with them. I think I will go have some Marsh Sushi, which is a questionable thought but I'm going to give it a try.
We're home, we're good, peace.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Fed Up
So this post will have nothing to do with Kaylee (I have no idea how she's doing but I assume she's having a blast and will probably not want to come home), or flying (I didn't do any today). It's not even going to be about politics, although it's getting really close now that I saw that Warner Bros is taking the "Confederate flag" off of the General Lee car from the Dukes of Hazard, that Amazon will sell you Nazi materials but not the Confederate flag, and now Apple is banning Civil War games on their app store because of the flag. Nope. I'm just going to talk about health/fitness/weight loss, and feel free to skip it.
I gave a bath to my FitBit today, in the washing machine. I have the simplest, cheapest version of the Fitbit, and even that isn't cheap, it was like $50. It doesn't track your sleep or do anything else fancy, but I don't need something to track my sleep, I need it to tell me how much I've walked and I'm interested in how many calories that burns off. I think it's neat that it calibrates and goes directly to my iPhone, where it transfers into MyFitnessPal app and calculates what I've eaten with what I've moved and where I stand. I don't have to have it, but I think it makes for an interesting tool that helps keep somebody like me better on track. When I quit paying attention to what I'm doing, bad things creep back into my habits. The Fitbit and the food app together work to make me remember to pay attention, if nothing else. In the last couple of months, I've worn the FitBit but not paid a lot of attention to it. I've not plugged food into MyFitnessPal (MFP). And I got content with just staying under what I call my Red Line, which in flying is Vne or a "Never Exceed" speed. That means I put back on about 4 pounds from my lowest, but stopped it there. Every time I'd go to go back down, though, I'd get below Red Line and just relax, a special occasion would come up, there would be a big cookout, we'd eat out several nights in a row, something, and I'd go right back to Red Line. So in the last few days I decided I needed to move my Red Line down. I started working on that about two days ago, and then last night we went to Outback, of course! I'm okay with it though, I compensated by upping my exercise yesterday and today, avoiding the appetizers, sticking to one small piece of bread, getting vegetables instead of potatoes, that kind of stuff, and I still Really enjoyed my steak and little bit of dessert and such. So after lunch I was just starting my hike on the treadmill, watching a show on my iPad, when I reached down to tap my FitBit and see where I was starting, when I realized it wasn't there, which means it was still on my other pants, which...crap, were in the washing machine Right Now. I hopped off the treadmill and ran into the other room, and had to fish around to find my pants, only to find that it was still there. And working. It's still working! It soaked in a full washing machine for quite awhile, and I'm not sure how it didn't get fried, but I'll take it. It is smiling at me right now as I've crossed 10,000 steps today. I'm pleased on both accounts. :)
The whole thing, along with my 1-year-anniversary going by, and a walk I made last night, made me reflect a little on the last year as far as health/fitness goes. When I decided to go down to the park last night, it was something I didn't used to do a lot of. The park is at the bottom of a steep hill, one that is fun to go down, and was Not so fun to go back up. I would trudge up that hill, and by the time I got to the top, my heart would be pounding in my chest, my lungs would be constricted, and I'd have trouble getting the rest of the way home which was also slightly up hill. And it's not far, folks. Last night I walked down to the park, stood and enjoyed the music, then powered up the hill and was back in the door, with barely an elevated pulse rate, and I recognized and enjoyed the progress. Not numbers on a scale, but an appreciable difference in performance and capability, and nothing feels better than feeling stronger and more capable, in anything.
More than a year ago, I saw a woman refer to herself as "The Three F's." I asked what that was, and she said "Forty, Fat and Frumpy." Apparently that's a relatively well-known saying that had passed me by, but I thought, man. Not too much later, when I stepped on the scale at the medical examiners office and saw the number, I decided it was 4 F's, and the fourth one was Fed Up. That day I didn't know what TO do but I knew a little of what NOT to do, and when I stopped at McDonald's on my way home I got a small burger and no fries and unsweet tea and tried to figure out how I was going to change this. The switch flipped, I was done. And it was actually fairly easy, I have to admit. You have to think about it, but when you want it and you're focused on it, it's not that hard. The last couple months though, is when things got harder, because I (and presumably plenty of others) fall into the "good enough" syndrome. It's not a crisis any more. The emergency is over. I can relax. Except...the journey wasn't done and I stopped early. So...I need to finish, and instead of being satisfied with not crossing a red line, I need to just get to where I need to be. That's not a number. Red line is a number, but not that, that's a fitness level, a visual thing, a health thing. So I'm kicking back in and working a little more. Not sure it'll be anything anybody else would notice visually, but I'll know, and that's what matters. :)
So that's my health ramblings for the day. There are two sayings I've seen on Facebook that also sort of helped me kick start last year. The hardest part about doing anything is deciding to do it and actually taking the first steps. That is a big hurdle, and once you cross it, the rest is better. These quotes kind of hit me in the head with the logic, and that was enough...
"Never give up on a goal because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."
and
"The time will pass anyway. You can either spend it creating the life you want, or spend it living the life you don't want. The choice is yours."
I gave a bath to my FitBit today, in the washing machine. I have the simplest, cheapest version of the Fitbit, and even that isn't cheap, it was like $50. It doesn't track your sleep or do anything else fancy, but I don't need something to track my sleep, I need it to tell me how much I've walked and I'm interested in how many calories that burns off. I think it's neat that it calibrates and goes directly to my iPhone, where it transfers into MyFitnessPal app and calculates what I've eaten with what I've moved and where I stand. I don't have to have it, but I think it makes for an interesting tool that helps keep somebody like me better on track. When I quit paying attention to what I'm doing, bad things creep back into my habits. The Fitbit and the food app together work to make me remember to pay attention, if nothing else. In the last couple of months, I've worn the FitBit but not paid a lot of attention to it. I've not plugged food into MyFitnessPal (MFP). And I got content with just staying under what I call my Red Line, which in flying is Vne or a "Never Exceed" speed. That means I put back on about 4 pounds from my lowest, but stopped it there. Every time I'd go to go back down, though, I'd get below Red Line and just relax, a special occasion would come up, there would be a big cookout, we'd eat out several nights in a row, something, and I'd go right back to Red Line. So in the last few days I decided I needed to move my Red Line down. I started working on that about two days ago, and then last night we went to Outback, of course! I'm okay with it though, I compensated by upping my exercise yesterday and today, avoiding the appetizers, sticking to one small piece of bread, getting vegetables instead of potatoes, that kind of stuff, and I still Really enjoyed my steak and little bit of dessert and such. So after lunch I was just starting my hike on the treadmill, watching a show on my iPad, when I reached down to tap my FitBit and see where I was starting, when I realized it wasn't there, which means it was still on my other pants, which...crap, were in the washing machine Right Now. I hopped off the treadmill and ran into the other room, and had to fish around to find my pants, only to find that it was still there. And working. It's still working! It soaked in a full washing machine for quite awhile, and I'm not sure how it didn't get fried, but I'll take it. It is smiling at me right now as I've crossed 10,000 steps today. I'm pleased on both accounts. :)
The whole thing, along with my 1-year-anniversary going by, and a walk I made last night, made me reflect a little on the last year as far as health/fitness goes. When I decided to go down to the park last night, it was something I didn't used to do a lot of. The park is at the bottom of a steep hill, one that is fun to go down, and was Not so fun to go back up. I would trudge up that hill, and by the time I got to the top, my heart would be pounding in my chest, my lungs would be constricted, and I'd have trouble getting the rest of the way home which was also slightly up hill. And it's not far, folks. Last night I walked down to the park, stood and enjoyed the music, then powered up the hill and was back in the door, with barely an elevated pulse rate, and I recognized and enjoyed the progress. Not numbers on a scale, but an appreciable difference in performance and capability, and nothing feels better than feeling stronger and more capable, in anything.
More than a year ago, I saw a woman refer to herself as "The Three F's." I asked what that was, and she said "Forty, Fat and Frumpy." Apparently that's a relatively well-known saying that had passed me by, but I thought, man. Not too much later, when I stepped on the scale at the medical examiners office and saw the number, I decided it was 4 F's, and the fourth one was Fed Up. That day I didn't know what TO do but I knew a little of what NOT to do, and when I stopped at McDonald's on my way home I got a small burger and no fries and unsweet tea and tried to figure out how I was going to change this. The switch flipped, I was done. And it was actually fairly easy, I have to admit. You have to think about it, but when you want it and you're focused on it, it's not that hard. The last couple months though, is when things got harder, because I (and presumably plenty of others) fall into the "good enough" syndrome. It's not a crisis any more. The emergency is over. I can relax. Except...the journey wasn't done and I stopped early. So...I need to finish, and instead of being satisfied with not crossing a red line, I need to just get to where I need to be. That's not a number. Red line is a number, but not that, that's a fitness level, a visual thing, a health thing. So I'm kicking back in and working a little more. Not sure it'll be anything anybody else would notice visually, but I'll know, and that's what matters. :)
So that's my health ramblings for the day. There are two sayings I've seen on Facebook that also sort of helped me kick start last year. The hardest part about doing anything is deciding to do it and actually taking the first steps. That is a big hurdle, and once you cross it, the rest is better. These quotes kind of hit me in the head with the logic, and that was enough...
"Never give up on a goal because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."
and
"The time will pass anyway. You can either spend it creating the life you want, or spend it living the life you don't want. The choice is yours."
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Snapshot
Hmm, I talked too much yesterday, don't feel like talking today. ;)
I did partial panel VOR approaches this morning with someone, ran around like crazy to do an imaging flight at the last minute including having Steve take my next flight, but then the clouds rolled in and I was done there. So after lunch I took the next flight in the RG, complex procedures, and then went up with the young man who went up and soloed for the second time, this time going for an hour and a half, to where we were wondering if we should start looking at fuel or get on the radio and tell him to bring it in. He had fun, so much that when he got him his Dad texted me and said he was talking about it non-stop. That's fun!
Steve and I met Nathan and Tre and family at Outback and had too much but excellent tasting food. When I got home I went walking in the park, where they were holding a band concert. I enjoyed listening to the band (band as in drums, horns, sax, etc.), and when it was over they played the National Anthem and asked everyone to sing along. There were a few hundred people there, and they all got to their feet, all the hats came off, hands covered hearts, people faced the American Flag, and everyone sang. It was respectful and patriotic and country and peaceful and right. Made me glad to be there.
I did partial panel VOR approaches this morning with someone, ran around like crazy to do an imaging flight at the last minute including having Steve take my next flight, but then the clouds rolled in and I was done there. So after lunch I took the next flight in the RG, complex procedures, and then went up with the young man who went up and soloed for the second time, this time going for an hour and a half, to where we were wondering if we should start looking at fuel or get on the radio and tell him to bring it in. He had fun, so much that when he got him his Dad texted me and said he was talking about it non-stop. That's fun!
Steve and I met Nathan and Tre and family at Outback and had too much but excellent tasting food. When I got home I went walking in the park, where they were holding a band concert. I enjoyed listening to the band (band as in drums, horns, sax, etc.), and when it was over they played the National Anthem and asked everyone to sing along. There were a few hundred people there, and they all got to their feet, all the hats came off, hands covered hearts, people faced the American Flag, and everyone sang. It was respectful and patriotic and country and peaceful and right. Made me glad to be there.
Just a fraction of the cars parked in the park for the concert. The cars went well behind me and well past where you can see here.
A small section of the crowd, with the lit stage to the left (and the American flag mounted on the back wall of it.) The crowd went in sections to the left and right both of this cross-section. The city holds free concerts every Wednesday night in the park...a nice thing from Kokomo.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Bama
If you want to email Kaylee at camp, go to This Page and type in the password "happycamper". Just put you don't know what cabin she's in, because it's not listed. We saw some photos of her yesterday. She was running and laughing and playing flag football in one of them. She looks like she's having fun. :)
I have a problem. The small Christian school that I'm a board member for...they did a Facebook posting and "boosted" it (I guess that costs money), and as I was looking through it I realized that they misspelled Kindergarten. They spelled it Kindergarden. I told them about it, and was told the administrator can't fix it because it was a boosted post, and the guy who posted it would have to look into it. That ad has been up for days, and we are advertising for people to send their kids to a school that looks like it can't spell Kindergarten. Actually the academics were higher than the local public schools on testing, and the local public schools are top notch in the state! Ugh.
Well, I am feeling very pleased and satisfied today, even though I had to get up at 6 a.m. The weather was perfect. The ride was smooth. The passenger slept the whole time, and I read a book and listened to music while I was cruising for 5 hours at 16,000'-19,000'. I didn't have to worry about a thing. I had time on the ground in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to drive around, and it's a neat, scenic, beautiful old place. Even though it's a fairly large towered airport, it's far enough outside the main city to make you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. I did some research before I left the FBO, and went to a slightly expensive but nice place in a sort of "trendy" part of town, on the water, where they actually had other than fried seafood. (I've noticed how hard it is to get grilled or raw seafood down south--all fried up seems to be the main popular choice down here.) I had really good grilled fish and a half dozen really big raw oysters, and that just hit the spot. And it's low calorie, too. I actually ate the oysters last, as dessert, because, well, I can. ;)
There's a "Heat Advisory" out for this area, with head indexes reporting to go up to possibly 107. I was actually kind of surprised that they put out heat advisories in the south in the summer. Isn't that kind of...expected? It gets horrid hot down here in the summer. Who doesn't know that? God Bless the South's pure mastery of sweet tea, hospitality, and Air Conditioning. You practically need a coat to go into and out of any buildings down here, and then you step outside and it's like...WHAP...glasses fog over instantly, can't really breathe well, instant sweat bath...good times. I do love the South, but the humidity/heat, they can keep.
When it was time to take off for home and I climbed back in the plane, as soon as the door was shut, I immediately broke into a sweat, like a REAL sweat, and before I even started taxiing, I had sweat running right into my eyes, which got in my contacts and made it hard to see. I truly needed a handkerchief or a towel or a headband. Gross.
The new iPad performed like a champ, no problems. The battery life of the newer iPads doesn't seem to be as good as the older generation, which seems backwards, but maybe it just seems like it.
Speaking of iPads, how has technology made life as a pilot easier? A dozen little ways just this morning. Let's skip the obvious avionics for navigation, weather, and finding frequencies easily without having to have written them down before you left or go off an approach plate you've got flipped open in your lap and hopefully don't misplace or lose your spot at an inopportune time (gee, never happened to me, yeah...) Let's go to just the ground stuff. I'm on the ground in Tuscaloosa, and I need to know where to go eat. Eating is important to pilots, you know. At least this one. The line person is rarely great help any more. So I hit Siri on my phone and say "Seafood Restaurants within 20 miles". It comes up with a list of 9 of them. I look at each one, and all on one screen it rates how much each place costs in general, how many stars it got, their hours of operation, and provides reviews right there, as well as step by step directions to it with the hit of a button. So I look up the reviews and see things like "Great for fried, but if you want anything but fried, go somewhere else." Thank you, I will. "A bit pricey but excellent grilled seafood." Oops, they don't open until 4 pm. Okay. Next. And so forth. Find the place you want, hit the directions button, get in the car, and follow the little blue line or the voice telling you "In 1/2 mile, turn right on to..." Once I am done eating, I can even get back to the airport without getting lost. When I do get back to the airport, nobody seems to be paying attention at the locked gate to let me back in. I sit out there for about two minutes, try hitting a couple buttons on the push pad to see if it beeps inside, nothing. So out comes the phone again. This time I pull up Garmin Pilot, go to Airport Info, pull up Bama Air, it lists their phone number, and I don't even have to go to the phone part and memorize or write down the phone number and then dial it in. I just tap on it. And it calls the front desk, to whom I say "I'm the pilot of Nxxxx, outside at the gate, returning the courtesy car, need let in please." And boom, the gate opens. While I wait at the airport, I can exercise by walking and log my steps on the fitbit which translates to my phone and automatically adjusts the calories I ate with the exercise I did. I can also get online on my tablet and do whatever work or play I may need or want to do, instead of sitting there staring at an old TV or at a wall or trying not to read through an entire paperback book too fast. I will get a text from my passenger anytime within the next couple of hours, who will give me a 30 minute heads-up that he's on his way back. At that point I'll pull out my iPad or phone, double check the weather with no delay and without having to speak to anyone, figure out at what altitude the winds aloft will get me home with an accuracy sometimes of down to the minute (it was dead on this morning), file a flight plan, and then get a text and an email both that will let me know that my flight plan was successfully filed and will actually be there waiting for me when I go to pick it up. In case you're wondering, that's all NOT how this used to work. And I'm really happy that it does now. Some things may be more complicated, but others...others make life SO much easier.
Tuscaloosa was actually a little busy to get into this morning. They ran me around a bit, dropped me down on top of it, then told me to slow to my final approach speed while I was still 9 miles out because there was a King Air in front of me and it was so hot and hazy I couldn't see him out the window, only on the traffic system on the computer screen in front of me, which is cool but totally doesn't count. Finally I got him in sight and had to crank around and drop down to get down because they wouldn't let me turn or descend until I either saw him or he landed. My poor passenger did get slopped around at the end there, and it seemed unnecessary to me considering I wasn't going to catch a King Air. But...better safe than sorry.
On my way back to the airport, I stopped on a whim at this beautiful old wooden trestle style bridge. Huge logs, huge bridge, and I took several photos of it but had no way to provide depth to the photo to show the size. I was standing on top of a tall drop-off, which fell to a creek that wandered into the woods nearby, and then the bridge/train tracks maybe had thick tall tree-sized logs as supports at the base in various locations, and it went up very tall. I tried to take a one-eyed selfie to show scale, but that didn't work either. It made for a nice walk though, very peaceful and country. I just had to be careful because that drop off I was standing on was loose stone, and I almost wiped out and ended up at the bottom of that thing, which probably would have broken something. Hopefully I would have at least still had my handy dandy phone with which to call for help, or locate the nearest hospital, or something. ;)
I have a problem. The small Christian school that I'm a board member for...they did a Facebook posting and "boosted" it (I guess that costs money), and as I was looking through it I realized that they misspelled Kindergarten. They spelled it Kindergarden. I told them about it, and was told the administrator can't fix it because it was a boosted post, and the guy who posted it would have to look into it. That ad has been up for days, and we are advertising for people to send their kids to a school that looks like it can't spell Kindergarten. Actually the academics were higher than the local public schools on testing, and the local public schools are top notch in the state! Ugh.
Well, I am feeling very pleased and satisfied today, even though I had to get up at 6 a.m. The weather was perfect. The ride was smooth. The passenger slept the whole time, and I read a book and listened to music while I was cruising for 5 hours at 16,000'-19,000'. I didn't have to worry about a thing. I had time on the ground in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to drive around, and it's a neat, scenic, beautiful old place. Even though it's a fairly large towered airport, it's far enough outside the main city to make you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. I did some research before I left the FBO, and went to a slightly expensive but nice place in a sort of "trendy" part of town, on the water, where they actually had other than fried seafood. (I've noticed how hard it is to get grilled or raw seafood down south--all fried up seems to be the main popular choice down here.) I had really good grilled fish and a half dozen really big raw oysters, and that just hit the spot. And it's low calorie, too. I actually ate the oysters last, as dessert, because, well, I can. ;)
There's a "Heat Advisory" out for this area, with head indexes reporting to go up to possibly 107. I was actually kind of surprised that they put out heat advisories in the south in the summer. Isn't that kind of...expected? It gets horrid hot down here in the summer. Who doesn't know that? God Bless the South's pure mastery of sweet tea, hospitality, and Air Conditioning. You practically need a coat to go into and out of any buildings down here, and then you step outside and it's like...WHAP...glasses fog over instantly, can't really breathe well, instant sweat bath...good times. I do love the South, but the humidity/heat, they can keep.
When it was time to take off for home and I climbed back in the plane, as soon as the door was shut, I immediately broke into a sweat, like a REAL sweat, and before I even started taxiing, I had sweat running right into my eyes, which got in my contacts and made it hard to see. I truly needed a handkerchief or a towel or a headband. Gross.
The new iPad performed like a champ, no problems. The battery life of the newer iPads doesn't seem to be as good as the older generation, which seems backwards, but maybe it just seems like it.
Speaking of iPads, how has technology made life as a pilot easier? A dozen little ways just this morning. Let's skip the obvious avionics for navigation, weather, and finding frequencies easily without having to have written them down before you left or go off an approach plate you've got flipped open in your lap and hopefully don't misplace or lose your spot at an inopportune time (gee, never happened to me, yeah...) Let's go to just the ground stuff. I'm on the ground in Tuscaloosa, and I need to know where to go eat. Eating is important to pilots, you know. At least this one. The line person is rarely great help any more. So I hit Siri on my phone and say "Seafood Restaurants within 20 miles". It comes up with a list of 9 of them. I look at each one, and all on one screen it rates how much each place costs in general, how many stars it got, their hours of operation, and provides reviews right there, as well as step by step directions to it with the hit of a button. So I look up the reviews and see things like "Great for fried, but if you want anything but fried, go somewhere else." Thank you, I will. "A bit pricey but excellent grilled seafood." Oops, they don't open until 4 pm. Okay. Next. And so forth. Find the place you want, hit the directions button, get in the car, and follow the little blue line or the voice telling you "In 1/2 mile, turn right on to..." Once I am done eating, I can even get back to the airport without getting lost. When I do get back to the airport, nobody seems to be paying attention at the locked gate to let me back in. I sit out there for about two minutes, try hitting a couple buttons on the push pad to see if it beeps inside, nothing. So out comes the phone again. This time I pull up Garmin Pilot, go to Airport Info, pull up Bama Air, it lists their phone number, and I don't even have to go to the phone part and memorize or write down the phone number and then dial it in. I just tap on it. And it calls the front desk, to whom I say "I'm the pilot of Nxxxx, outside at the gate, returning the courtesy car, need let in please." And boom, the gate opens. While I wait at the airport, I can exercise by walking and log my steps on the fitbit which translates to my phone and automatically adjusts the calories I ate with the exercise I did. I can also get online on my tablet and do whatever work or play I may need or want to do, instead of sitting there staring at an old TV or at a wall or trying not to read through an entire paperback book too fast. I will get a text from my passenger anytime within the next couple of hours, who will give me a 30 minute heads-up that he's on his way back. At that point I'll pull out my iPad or phone, double check the weather with no delay and without having to speak to anyone, figure out at what altitude the winds aloft will get me home with an accuracy sometimes of down to the minute (it was dead on this morning), file a flight plan, and then get a text and an email both that will let me know that my flight plan was successfully filed and will actually be there waiting for me when I go to pick it up. In case you're wondering, that's all NOT how this used to work. And I'm really happy that it does now. Some things may be more complicated, but others...others make life SO much easier.
Tuscaloosa was actually a little busy to get into this morning. They ran me around a bit, dropped me down on top of it, then told me to slow to my final approach speed while I was still 9 miles out because there was a King Air in front of me and it was so hot and hazy I couldn't see him out the window, only on the traffic system on the computer screen in front of me, which is cool but totally doesn't count. Finally I got him in sight and had to crank around and drop down to get down because they wouldn't let me turn or descend until I either saw him or he landed. My poor passenger did get slopped around at the end there, and it seemed unnecessary to me considering I wasn't going to catch a King Air. But...better safe than sorry.
On my way back to the airport, I stopped on a whim at this beautiful old wooden trestle style bridge. Huge logs, huge bridge, and I took several photos of it but had no way to provide depth to the photo to show the size. I was standing on top of a tall drop-off, which fell to a creek that wandered into the woods nearby, and then the bridge/train tracks maybe had thick tall tree-sized logs as supports at the base in various locations, and it went up very tall. I tried to take a one-eyed selfie to show scale, but that didn't work either. It made for a nice walk though, very peaceful and country. I just had to be careful because that drop off I was standing on was loose stone, and I almost wiped out and ended up at the bottom of that thing, which probably would have broken something. Hopefully I would have at least still had my handy dandy phone with which to call for help, or locate the nearest hospital, or something. ;)
On the way to Tuscaloosa
Oh yes I did. Freshly shucked and raw.
A bunch of little places to eat with outdoor seating (not me, I wanted AC), and shop.
The really large bridge/trestle. Those logs are bigger around than telephone poles.
My failed attempt to show scale. You can't even tell there's a 15 foot drop right behind me or how much taller that thing is.
Prettier not blown-out colors version.
You have to love a larger tower-controlled airport that has a series of rocking chairs on the "front porch" facing one of the runway. Only in the south.
Nice little thunderboomer I didn't fly through or under. Taller than it looks here and showed up as a nice red cell. But it's pretty from outside of it.
Monday, June 22, 2015
The Day
Today is the 16th anniversary of Devon's death. He was on my mind, today.
No flying today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow on my way to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I like those trips. The distance is far enough to make it a good trip and not so far I have to worry about gas even if the weather isn't the best. There's just the one fellow in the back, and that's nice too, because there's no pressure to socialize for the whole trip like there can be with some passengers. The days I don't have a problem socializing AND I have an open front seat AND I won't be on the ground for hours and hours are the trips where I can take someone along to fly right seat with me, and enjoy that too. Tomorrow I'll be on the ground most of the day, so that's not a good one to take someone on.
It felt like a day off today, not as busy flying as normal, but it worked out nicely as we had other things to do. For one thing, we got two boxes at the airport today, and they contained some new electronic devices for us. Steve finally got a new phone. I think I heard angels singing. His old phone had to be hooked up to a charger all the time, in the car and at home, or his battery would be dead in no time flat. You could send him a text or try to call, and the odds were about 75/25 against that he'd actually get it within a reasonable time frame. Kaylee also got a new phone. It's her first new phone since she's had one, and her old phone is out of storage, it couldn't back up properly any more because of it, the camera doesn't work properly, and her volume buttons don't work well either. She's held on to her phone and not broken or lost it for three years, which for a kid is better than about anyone else I've known her age (and many older). She will get it when she gets back from camp, and she'll be excited. Me, I have a new iPad. I too have had a very old iPad2, it's also lasted me for years and years, and it has a cracked screen and is starting to bog down with all the new operating system updates with the newer apps I had on it. So today Steve and I have spent setting up our new stuff. My iPad went Super easy. (I have a new severely protective case on the way for it, too.) Steve's phone was also really easy. Kaylee's phone has given me a few fits, but I think I have it almost completely done now. Finally. Now that it's almost midnight. So we're kind of a pleased family around here. We use these devices a TON, for work more than play, so we're glad to have this new batch of devices to last us as long as possible again.
There is a line of thunderstorms moving through tonight that is supposed to be pretty severe. One moved through Tipton Saturday night severe enough that it left a lot of destruction in its path, including taking down part of Nathan's fence and leaving limbs and branches all over his yard, so thick you couldn't see grass. He said the storm lasted for an hour straight at a real strong intensity, that it got a little creepy after awhile because you're not used to them going that hard for that long. So when we heard another one was rolling through tonight, calling for hail and all, I ran out to Kokomo to move the Suburban inside a hangar. Everything else we have is already as sheltered as possible, and no airplanes are sitting out; thank God the Cheyenne is at Muncie in a hangar still and not parked out on the ramp. They're calling for a "tornado watch" now. We'll see. I'm not too concerned, it's not that wide, but we at least wanted to protect the vehicles, in case.
I think I got firmly back on the bandwagon today. I did some good fast walking, watched the food, and ignored all the tasty things Kaylee and the Bonanza guys left behind. I even made a turkey sandwich for dinner. We haven't even gone out to eat once since Kaylee's been at camp. It annoys me that I'll have to get my medical a few pounds higher than I should be and than I was a couple weeks ago, but that's how it'll have to be--it's still better than what it was last year. ;)
On that note, I have to get up early tomorrow, where I'll take my new iPad out for its first stroll, and hope that all goes well (I've printed off one approach plate/chart for my destination JUST in case, even though the charts are also on the G500 in the airplane, because...backups are good.) Kaylee's phone is trying to download all her photos, and I'm working on getting her signed back into all her apps and mail and all that good stuff. It's been a productive electronics day and we art pleased. :)
No flying today, but I'll make up for it tomorrow on my way to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I like those trips. The distance is far enough to make it a good trip and not so far I have to worry about gas even if the weather isn't the best. There's just the one fellow in the back, and that's nice too, because there's no pressure to socialize for the whole trip like there can be with some passengers. The days I don't have a problem socializing AND I have an open front seat AND I won't be on the ground for hours and hours are the trips where I can take someone along to fly right seat with me, and enjoy that too. Tomorrow I'll be on the ground most of the day, so that's not a good one to take someone on.
It felt like a day off today, not as busy flying as normal, but it worked out nicely as we had other things to do. For one thing, we got two boxes at the airport today, and they contained some new electronic devices for us. Steve finally got a new phone. I think I heard angels singing. His old phone had to be hooked up to a charger all the time, in the car and at home, or his battery would be dead in no time flat. You could send him a text or try to call, and the odds were about 75/25 against that he'd actually get it within a reasonable time frame. Kaylee also got a new phone. It's her first new phone since she's had one, and her old phone is out of storage, it couldn't back up properly any more because of it, the camera doesn't work properly, and her volume buttons don't work well either. She's held on to her phone and not broken or lost it for three years, which for a kid is better than about anyone else I've known her age (and many older). She will get it when she gets back from camp, and she'll be excited. Me, I have a new iPad. I too have had a very old iPad2, it's also lasted me for years and years, and it has a cracked screen and is starting to bog down with all the new operating system updates with the newer apps I had on it. So today Steve and I have spent setting up our new stuff. My iPad went Super easy. (I have a new severely protective case on the way for it, too.) Steve's phone was also really easy. Kaylee's phone has given me a few fits, but I think I have it almost completely done now. Finally. Now that it's almost midnight. So we're kind of a pleased family around here. We use these devices a TON, for work more than play, so we're glad to have this new batch of devices to last us as long as possible again.
There is a line of thunderstorms moving through tonight that is supposed to be pretty severe. One moved through Tipton Saturday night severe enough that it left a lot of destruction in its path, including taking down part of Nathan's fence and leaving limbs and branches all over his yard, so thick you couldn't see grass. He said the storm lasted for an hour straight at a real strong intensity, that it got a little creepy after awhile because you're not used to them going that hard for that long. So when we heard another one was rolling through tonight, calling for hail and all, I ran out to Kokomo to move the Suburban inside a hangar. Everything else we have is already as sheltered as possible, and no airplanes are sitting out; thank God the Cheyenne is at Muncie in a hangar still and not parked out on the ramp. They're calling for a "tornado watch" now. We'll see. I'm not too concerned, it's not that wide, but we at least wanted to protect the vehicles, in case.
I think I got firmly back on the bandwagon today. I did some good fast walking, watched the food, and ignored all the tasty things Kaylee and the Bonanza guys left behind. I even made a turkey sandwich for dinner. We haven't even gone out to eat once since Kaylee's been at camp. It annoys me that I'll have to get my medical a few pounds higher than I should be and than I was a couple weeks ago, but that's how it'll have to be--it's still better than what it was last year. ;)
On that note, I have to get up early tomorrow, where I'll take my new iPad out for its first stroll, and hope that all goes well (I've printed off one approach plate/chart for my destination JUST in case, even though the charts are also on the G500 in the airplane, because...backups are good.) Kaylee's phone is trying to download all her photos, and I'm working on getting her signed back into all her apps and mail and all that good stuff. It's been a productive electronics day and we art pleased. :)
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Kid Stuff
Kaylee's 24-hour Movie Marathon went great. The girls had enough snacks to feed a small horde of teenagers, and they stayed awake until 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, at which point Kaylee fell asleep first (that might be a miracle), and the other girls let her so they could go to sleep too. They watched all sorts of things from comedy to scary to action to drama to Tinkerbelle. I let them sleep for about 4 hours, then woke everybody up, and they were pretty zombified. The other two girls left in about 30 minutes, and then Steve and I went out to Kokomo where the Bonanza formation guys were, while Kaylee stayed home to pack for camp and NOT nap. ;) We didn't get home until late, and Kaylee was already in bed. I woke her up, and she was not only all packed and ready to go, she had Everything ready, and had not overpacked. That's impressive. Every other year I've had to go through her stuff and help her pare it down and make it work. This time she just had it all down cold, very impressive. She's really matured in the last year, and this was another sign of it. I didn't have to do a thing to get her ready for camp but fill out and submit the paperwork.
The weather Saturday didn't let the Bonanza guys do any flying here, so they packed up and flew off to Illinois where it was clear and they could get some sorties done. They left us with a lot of food and drinks though, which we appreciated, and a lot of us took care of that throughout the day and the next.
Kaylee wasn't sure she was going to get to sleep last night, she was so excited about going to camp. But she did, and I didn't! Well, I did, but I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and never really got back to sleep again. When I checked the weather at 4:30, there was an area of rain/storms between us and Ohio, and I thought, man...but by the time I checked again at 7:30, it was all gone, and there were clouds, but no storms. Whew!
We ended up with a nice mid-sized car, red, not grey, and Steve was pleased because it had the ability to be automatic or manual, and had more buttons than he knew what to do with. We only needed the car for about two hours total, but we almost felt like we were going in sort of style. ;)
Everything went like clockwork. We left right on time, landed right on time, drove to the camp right on time, no bad weather, no problem. I hadn't flown the Aerostar since last year before it went in for paint and such, so it was a good day for a refresher. I got to do a little hand flying IFR, on round gauges instead of the glass, a couple of pretty decent sized crosswind landings, and messed with an RNAV approach back into Kokomo, all good things; I enjoyed that.
The weather Saturday didn't let the Bonanza guys do any flying here, so they packed up and flew off to Illinois where it was clear and they could get some sorties done. They left us with a lot of food and drinks though, which we appreciated, and a lot of us took care of that throughout the day and the next.
Kaylee wasn't sure she was going to get to sleep last night, she was so excited about going to camp. But she did, and I didn't! Well, I did, but I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and never really got back to sleep again. When I checked the weather at 4:30, there was an area of rain/storms between us and Ohio, and I thought, man...but by the time I checked again at 7:30, it was all gone, and there were clouds, but no storms. Whew!
We ended up with a nice mid-sized car, red, not grey, and Steve was pleased because it had the ability to be automatic or manual, and had more buttons than he knew what to do with. We only needed the car for about two hours total, but we almost felt like we were going in sort of style. ;)
Everything went like clockwork. We left right on time, landed right on time, drove to the camp right on time, no bad weather, no problem. I hadn't flown the Aerostar since last year before it went in for paint and such, so it was a good day for a refresher. I got to do a little hand flying IFR, on round gauges instead of the glass, a couple of pretty decent sized crosswind landings, and messed with an RNAV approach back into Kokomo, all good things; I enjoyed that.
On our way to Mannsfield, Ohio, no more thick clouds.
(When I poofed into the clouds after takeoff, Kaylee pipes up with "Hey Mom, it's the inside of a cloud, get your camera out!" Smart aleck.)
I still like Reflections.
Walking to our nice red car, on the way to camp, after arriving in style!
Friday, June 19, 2015
Painful but Necessary
First thing this morning, Kaylee had a dental appointment to fix a small cavity. It may have been small, but it still required needles and drilling. She did much better this time than the first time. I think part of it for her was not knowing what was going to happen or what it was going to be like the first time, and having survived it once, she was able to handle doing it again better. I sat there and warned her to close her eyes with a hand motion when he reached over and grabbed the needle. She said the first one hurt, but she couldn't feel the second needle at all. It took about an hour, and while she's not going to say she enjoyed herself, she was okay, and that's a vast improvement. I was kind of proud of her. She comes from a long line of dental fraidy cats who have done probably above and beyond the call of avoidance because of it. So she comes by it naturally, and I sympathize and empathize with her plight. But you still have to get stuff taken care of, and it will make her life a lot easier if she can start dealing with it at 14 rather than as an adult when nobody will be there to help make it better. ;)
Kaylee then is having two friends over for a movie marathon today and tomorrow. This means I'm home with them vs airport lunch, and not being able to go out to Kokomo this afternoon to meet up with the Bonanza Formation clinic guys, do the ground school refresher, hang out and cook out and talk and relax and go out to dinner afterwards and the other things I was looking forward to doing this weekend. It does feels like this flying season doesn't exist thus far. It's kind of a weird feeling, like it's still the end of Winter or something, except summer 'vacation' is half over. :o
The girls are doing fine up there. I bought enough snacks to give all of us Diabetes, and some fruit too, just in case somebody gets sick of the rest. The only issue is choosing what to watch. One is in the mood for one thing, one for another, one has already seen that, one is tired of watching a sad show, one likes to talk during the movie while the other likes to focus on it, but all in all, once they get in a groove on a particular movie, once they find what they want to watch, they're funny to listen to as they get into it and start talking to the TV.
Kaylee had a voice lesson this evening, one that was hard to get out of, so I took all the girls out to Greentown, dropped Kaylee off for her lesson, took the other girls to the ice cream place, then came back and picked her up, went through for ice cream for her, and then came home. But on the way home, I found myself in this weird time warp. There I was, sitting in a car singing loudly along to "Living on a Prayer" and "Back in Black" with a group of girls. The time warp is that I was singing those songs with my daughter and her friends who are the same age I was when I was singing loudly to those same songs. Weird, man.
Right now they're starting a horror movie. The other two girls have already seen most of the scary movies, and their parents are fine with it and watch them with them. In fact, one of those moms is the first person who ever introduced Kaylee to a horror movie, without asking, actually. I'm less eager for Kaylee to watch them. What you put into your head you can't really ever get out, and there's really nothing good that comes from it. But she's also 14 and it's kind of a phase that most people hit at some point. I let her, but we talk about the movies. We agreed she watches the ones that have an actual plot, like psychological thrillers, verses the ones that are just slaughter flicks, at least.
But right now I'm staying in the back, throwing the occasional food up front, eating my own pizza, and getting ready to watch my own show. Happy Weekend. :)
Kaylee then is having two friends over for a movie marathon today and tomorrow. This means I'm home with them vs airport lunch, and not being able to go out to Kokomo this afternoon to meet up with the Bonanza Formation clinic guys, do the ground school refresher, hang out and cook out and talk and relax and go out to dinner afterwards and the other things I was looking forward to doing this weekend. It does feels like this flying season doesn't exist thus far. It's kind of a weird feeling, like it's still the end of Winter or something, except summer 'vacation' is half over. :o
The girls are doing fine up there. I bought enough snacks to give all of us Diabetes, and some fruit too, just in case somebody gets sick of the rest. The only issue is choosing what to watch. One is in the mood for one thing, one for another, one has already seen that, one is tired of watching a sad show, one likes to talk during the movie while the other likes to focus on it, but all in all, once they get in a groove on a particular movie, once they find what they want to watch, they're funny to listen to as they get into it and start talking to the TV.
Kaylee had a voice lesson this evening, one that was hard to get out of, so I took all the girls out to Greentown, dropped Kaylee off for her lesson, took the other girls to the ice cream place, then came back and picked her up, went through for ice cream for her, and then came home. But on the way home, I found myself in this weird time warp. There I was, sitting in a car singing loudly along to "Living on a Prayer" and "Back in Black" with a group of girls. The time warp is that I was singing those songs with my daughter and her friends who are the same age I was when I was singing loudly to those same songs. Weird, man.
Right now they're starting a horror movie. The other two girls have already seen most of the scary movies, and their parents are fine with it and watch them with them. In fact, one of those moms is the first person who ever introduced Kaylee to a horror movie, without asking, actually. I'm less eager for Kaylee to watch them. What you put into your head you can't really ever get out, and there's really nothing good that comes from it. But she's also 14 and it's kind of a phase that most people hit at some point. I let her, but we talk about the movies. We agreed she watches the ones that have an actual plot, like psychological thrillers, verses the ones that are just slaughter flicks, at least.
But right now I'm staying in the back, throwing the occasional food up front, eating my own pizza, and getting ready to watch my own show. Happy Weekend. :)
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Thursday
It's funny, I was trying to remember how my day went and I was having trouble remembering anything except the ending. Huh.
Kaylee and I went shopping for snacks for tomorrow, when she's having a couple of friends over for a 24 hour movie marathon. Of course you must have suitable snacks and beverages to stay up for 24 hours, right? I also got some healthy snacks just in case, but we got our share of junk, too. The problem will be me not eating it all. Oh, who am I kidding, three teenage kids will decimate all that, even if they are girls. I remember Stephanie and I making an entire batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and dividing it in half and eating the whole thing while watching movies. For ONE of the snacks we had. Along with bags of Doritos and cases of Mt. Dew. Etc. Why was I not huge?? Anyway, so I figured...who am I to deny Kaylee a night of bad eating and probably bad movies. (Bad as in quality, not bad as in BAD, of course.) I just hope they don't get too bored up there and that I don't have to try to entertain them. I've never been good at that. The Bonanza Formation clinic is supposed to start Friday afternoon through Sunday, and I'd like to at least go out and say hi if they come. The weather is iffy though, so I guess we'll see how it goes...
Tonight was our EAA Chapter 235 Meeting. It was "Ladies' Night", and we had a guest speaker, Judy Birchler of Ladies Love Taildraggers. She brought a video presentation and did a nice job. I texted Kaylee and asked if she wanted a t-shirt and sent her pictures, and she said she did, so I got us both one (not matching). The ladies brought a metric ton of good food and desserts, and it was a nice evening. At the end there was a gorgeous sunset, so I had to key up the runway lights and go try to get a good photo with the iPhone. The closeups where you got the purples were too fuzzy for the low light conditions, but I had to take a few of them anyway for posterity. I didn't touch the color on any of the below photos. This is how they came out of the camera. Gorgeous night.
Kaylee and I went shopping for snacks for tomorrow, when she's having a couple of friends over for a 24 hour movie marathon. Of course you must have suitable snacks and beverages to stay up for 24 hours, right? I also got some healthy snacks just in case, but we got our share of junk, too. The problem will be me not eating it all. Oh, who am I kidding, three teenage kids will decimate all that, even if they are girls. I remember Stephanie and I making an entire batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and dividing it in half and eating the whole thing while watching movies. For ONE of the snacks we had. Along with bags of Doritos and cases of Mt. Dew. Etc. Why was I not huge?? Anyway, so I figured...who am I to deny Kaylee a night of bad eating and probably bad movies. (Bad as in quality, not bad as in BAD, of course.) I just hope they don't get too bored up there and that I don't have to try to entertain them. I've never been good at that. The Bonanza Formation clinic is supposed to start Friday afternoon through Sunday, and I'd like to at least go out and say hi if they come. The weather is iffy though, so I guess we'll see how it goes...
Tonight was our EAA Chapter 235 Meeting. It was "Ladies' Night", and we had a guest speaker, Judy Birchler of Ladies Love Taildraggers. She brought a video presentation and did a nice job. I texted Kaylee and asked if she wanted a t-shirt and sent her pictures, and she said she did, so I got us both one (not matching). The ladies brought a metric ton of good food and desserts, and it was a nice evening. At the end there was a gorgeous sunset, so I had to key up the runway lights and go try to get a good photo with the iPhone. The closeups where you got the purples were too fuzzy for the low light conditions, but I had to take a few of them anyway for posterity. I didn't touch the color on any of the below photos. This is how they came out of the camera. Gorgeous night.
The office building at sunset.
The runway at sunset
This is fuzzy. Zoomed in, low light, but I had to post last one anyway...
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Tennessee
The alarm at 5:30 this morning wasn't too pleasant, but the weather I pulled up was even less so. We agreed to hold off an hour and see if we could sneak in behind a large area of storms, which is exactly what we did, and the flight out was uneventful. We picked up a little ice, we got rained on, but we didn't have any real problems. We were headed to Sparta, Tennessee, and down there it was very hot, very muggy, and very clear. So about 20 miles out we canceled our IFR, and did some emergency procedures. I'd kill an engine with the fuel selector valve, and we'd go through the drill, do a few things. The last one we took all the way down to a landing. (After he was done with setting it up properly, I'd turn the fuel back on and make sure that everything was running properly, and with two of us and half fuel, we were plenty light enough to stay on one if we had to, in case you're worried.) We haven't done many emergency procedures in that airplane out of a desire to treat the turbocharged engines gently. But you also really need to practice now and then to make sure that should something happen, you're ready and prepared to handle it. I was as gentle as possible, no slamming stuff around. It was a good thing to practice today.
In Sparta, the rental car didn't show up, so the airport gave D a courtesy car. He'd told them to top off the two mains and the two aux tanks. Well, after he was gone, I was inside the main room, when the guy came back in and called D on the phone and was asking him... "there are six tanks on there, which four do you want again?" D kept trying to talk to him, but phone service was bad, so finally he got out "Talk to Laura, she's there!" The guy hangs up, comes over to me and says very uncertainly "Well, D said you could help, do you know which of the six tanks I'm supposed to fill?" I said "There are only five, but we just want the two tip and the two aux tanks topped." He said "But there is one on top of each engine too." I said "No, there's one on top of the left tank, not on the right, and we don't want anything in that one." He really didn't trust me. lol So I did what I have to do now and then, and start pilot-speaking, to prove I'm legit. After a little of that, he decided I was okay, and wanted to know if I wanted to use the second courtesy car to go into town and get some food. Yes, yes I did, thank you. :) The courtesy car didn't have working air conditioning, and there was a heat index of 98 degrees down there, but I was used to being hot by then and I was grateful for the chance to get lunch regardless.
We were supposed to be home by 1 pm, but D was running late, and then the weather decided not to cooperate very well either. Looking at it in the air, I decided to have us power way back, slow down, and go behind it to Lafayette and follow a nasty cell in after it went through Kokomo, rather than try to power up and beat it right in front of it. ATC came on to tell us about a convective area with "extreme" precip, and then the next guy wanted us to turn early towards Kokomo, and I'm saying "no thanks, we came this way on purpose". The timing was about perfect. There was a cell off the end of Runway 23, there was a cell just to the southeast of the airport, but the airport itself was clear. There was a scuzzy layer of scattered clouds down low, but we had one problem. If we had to shoot an instrument approach in, well, we couldn't shoot an instrument approach in because we would have been vectored into a nasty cell. Any approach out there would have put us in a bad spot. So we were in and out of the cloud bases, and then poof, there was the airport 4 miles in front of us. We dropped down, and had to go straight downwind for the crosswind runway 32, because we'd have lost the airport and gone into something unpleasant on base for 23. In and down with no complications, pushed it into the hangar, and the next wall of rain moved through. Couldn't ask for better timing.
My day wasn't over--I was supposed to fly with and re-solo the kid today. Well, that was easy enough. No way no how was that happening today. Next on the list, I was supposed to take Kaylee shopping for camp supplies and clothes. I was really tired from having to actually concentrate and stuff today. ;) But as soon as I pulled in the driveway, Kaylee came out, ready to go, and off we went. We found shorts and socks and hair clips and all that good stuff, and we didn't have any trouble finding everything we needed, which was great. Too much money later we stopped for dinner and a beverage and finally home for good. :) Kaylee and I were in the store when it started dumping rain again, and we debated between waiting and running for it. Finally we both voted to run for it. The worst thing that would happen is we get a little damp. And so we did--it was coming down hard--but we had fun running to the car. I could outrun her too. Of course I was in tennis shoes and she was in flats. But still. ;)
Kaylee has an app where she took our pictures and put different hair on us. It's actually pretty good. I don't look too bad as a certain shade of blonde or a red head. Black wasn't so good. And Lady Gaga hair was definitely not good. Whitney Houston's hair was the goofiest of all. I looked like Little Orphan Annie meets Martha King. NOT good. Kaylee implored me to never, ever cut my hair short after seeing a few of the short styles on me. Already way ahead of you kid. Why do you think I'm 43 and still have long hair?
I think I don't have to do anything tomorrow morning, so....good enough! So, what you've been waiting for--photos from the day. ;)
In Sparta, the rental car didn't show up, so the airport gave D a courtesy car. He'd told them to top off the two mains and the two aux tanks. Well, after he was gone, I was inside the main room, when the guy came back in and called D on the phone and was asking him... "there are six tanks on there, which four do you want again?" D kept trying to talk to him, but phone service was bad, so finally he got out "Talk to Laura, she's there!" The guy hangs up, comes over to me and says very uncertainly "Well, D said you could help, do you know which of the six tanks I'm supposed to fill?" I said "There are only five, but we just want the two tip and the two aux tanks topped." He said "But there is one on top of each engine too." I said "No, there's one on top of the left tank, not on the right, and we don't want anything in that one." He really didn't trust me. lol So I did what I have to do now and then, and start pilot-speaking, to prove I'm legit. After a little of that, he decided I was okay, and wanted to know if I wanted to use the second courtesy car to go into town and get some food. Yes, yes I did, thank you. :) The courtesy car didn't have working air conditioning, and there was a heat index of 98 degrees down there, but I was used to being hot by then and I was grateful for the chance to get lunch regardless.
We were supposed to be home by 1 pm, but D was running late, and then the weather decided not to cooperate very well either. Looking at it in the air, I decided to have us power way back, slow down, and go behind it to Lafayette and follow a nasty cell in after it went through Kokomo, rather than try to power up and beat it right in front of it. ATC came on to tell us about a convective area with "extreme" precip, and then the next guy wanted us to turn early towards Kokomo, and I'm saying "no thanks, we came this way on purpose". The timing was about perfect. There was a cell off the end of Runway 23, there was a cell just to the southeast of the airport, but the airport itself was clear. There was a scuzzy layer of scattered clouds down low, but we had one problem. If we had to shoot an instrument approach in, well, we couldn't shoot an instrument approach in because we would have been vectored into a nasty cell. Any approach out there would have put us in a bad spot. So we were in and out of the cloud bases, and then poof, there was the airport 4 miles in front of us. We dropped down, and had to go straight downwind for the crosswind runway 32, because we'd have lost the airport and gone into something unpleasant on base for 23. In and down with no complications, pushed it into the hangar, and the next wall of rain moved through. Couldn't ask for better timing.
My day wasn't over--I was supposed to fly with and re-solo the kid today. Well, that was easy enough. No way no how was that happening today. Next on the list, I was supposed to take Kaylee shopping for camp supplies and clothes. I was really tired from having to actually concentrate and stuff today. ;) But as soon as I pulled in the driveway, Kaylee came out, ready to go, and off we went. We found shorts and socks and hair clips and all that good stuff, and we didn't have any trouble finding everything we needed, which was great. Too much money later we stopped for dinner and a beverage and finally home for good. :) Kaylee and I were in the store when it started dumping rain again, and we debated between waiting and running for it. Finally we both voted to run for it. The worst thing that would happen is we get a little damp. And so we did--it was coming down hard--but we had fun running to the car. I could outrun her too. Of course I was in tennis shoes and she was in flats. But still. ;)
Kaylee has an app where she took our pictures and put different hair on us. It's actually pretty good. I don't look too bad as a certain shade of blonde or a red head. Black wasn't so good. And Lady Gaga hair was definitely not good. Whitney Houston's hair was the goofiest of all. I looked like Little Orphan Annie meets Martha King. NOT good. Kaylee implored me to never, ever cut my hair short after seeing a few of the short styles on me. Already way ahead of you kid. Why do you think I'm 43 and still have long hair?
I think I don't have to do anything tomorrow morning, so....good enough! So, what you've been waiting for--photos from the day. ;)
First up, this is a doggone beautiful picture of a 340 that I'd swear was mine except the photographer said he took it in Colorado. Even so, it's "mine". What a great shot.
Next up, Richard! Looking great!
Photo Imaging over in Van Wert, Ohio, where everything was flooding.
Ft. Wayne, Indiana on the way to doing a photo imaging job.
Cloud deck on my way home in the 172 the other day.
I don't know. Mirror Selfie. Because.
Getting ready to take off today to head to Tennessee. It was just rain and clouds. As I said on Facebook, there have been better days to go somewhere, but hey, there have been worse ones too, so...
Clouds down low in swoopy form...
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Hopping
This is all aviation.
My first flight of the morning was canceled for weather, and then from lunch on I was a hopping person. I flew from 2-4 in the 172 in the pattern with someone, and then stopped and filled up gas at the self-serve pump, getting done just in time to grab a water and get back in the plane with another student. Right as we were taking off, so was one of the aerobatic guys. I wanted to solo the young man today, so I didn't volunteer to leave the pattern this time, and we worked together fine, he stayed high and above us and we tried to stay low and out of his way too. After about 45 minutes of flying, with me making him do go-arounds and me goofing up his landing and making him fix it, and me sitting through his landings with my feet crossed not saying a word, I told him to pull up to the terminal and let me out. It surprised me that he was actually nervous. He's a good kid. He's only 16, and as good as he was doing, he didn't really know it, he's not cocky at all, and he wasn't too sure. Normally people know, but he was surprised, even though I'd let him know it was coming soon. He just didn't think it would be yet. But he didn't need me in there any more. He said he was super nervous on his first takeoff, and it got better, until the last landing when it was bumpy in the air a bit, but he said he kept hearing my voice in his head and he just did it. He texted me about 4 hours later, when it finally truly hit him, and he was really excited and thankful at that point, and sent me the nicest text that I might have to hang on to. :) The aerobatic fellow finished before I soloed him, and then right when I sent him off, a Piper Turboprop single of some kind came in, and was messing him up. The guy came in on 5 while Jesse was on 32, which is fine, but then did a missed approach because he hadn't checked his NOTAMS and didn't know what was going on with the runway, then he was kind of barking at J asking what he was doing and being kind of rough and unpleasant on the radio. When he finally landed and came inside, J was still out soloing, and I told them that he was a kid on his first ever solo, and the pilot had the grace to be embarrassed about how he was acting towards him. Then the other pilot was shocked that I was the instructor, and asked why I wasn't out there running around waving at the kid (and he actually made kind of a rude comment too), and why wasn't I nervous. I told him I'd been doing this awhile and I know when someone's ready to solo, no nervous. Other than when somebody comes bombing into the pattern and starts trying to fluster the kid, anyway, and that's not nervous as much as irritation. ;)
After he was done soloing, we put the plane away, and I ran home to grab my iPads, then went right back out to Kokomo, got in the other 172 with the camera imaging equipment, and flew to Ft. Wayne and then Van Wert, Ohio, to get as many fields as I could. By the time I took off it was 7 pm, so by 8:30 I had gotten two out of four fields, and the sun was going down, and I was going to be out of daylight (and fuel) before I got the last ones done. I landed around 8:45 pm, had the plane put away by 9, finished and uploaded the information to Mavrx, and was home by 9:30 pm.
It's now 11 pm, and I've been working on a bunch of stuff I needed to get done tonight, including getting the solo photos out and posted, talking to Mavrx about the flights, and getting ready for a flight I have to Tennessee in the morning, which I will be getting up at 5:30 a.m. to do.
So, yesterday I was in the Cub with two brand new ones, today had two students in the 172, including soloing someone, then went out to do an imaging flight, so that first thing in the morning I can take the 340 on a likely IFR trip bright and early. Diversity and busy are good. When I get back tomorrow from TN, I promised Kaylee I'd take her shopping for camp supplies and some clothes. I may need a nap...but for now I need to get to bed so I can get back up in 5.5 hours and get going on the day.
My first flight of the morning was canceled for weather, and then from lunch on I was a hopping person. I flew from 2-4 in the 172 in the pattern with someone, and then stopped and filled up gas at the self-serve pump, getting done just in time to grab a water and get back in the plane with another student. Right as we were taking off, so was one of the aerobatic guys. I wanted to solo the young man today, so I didn't volunteer to leave the pattern this time, and we worked together fine, he stayed high and above us and we tried to stay low and out of his way too. After about 45 minutes of flying, with me making him do go-arounds and me goofing up his landing and making him fix it, and me sitting through his landings with my feet crossed not saying a word, I told him to pull up to the terminal and let me out. It surprised me that he was actually nervous. He's a good kid. He's only 16, and as good as he was doing, he didn't really know it, he's not cocky at all, and he wasn't too sure. Normally people know, but he was surprised, even though I'd let him know it was coming soon. He just didn't think it would be yet. But he didn't need me in there any more. He said he was super nervous on his first takeoff, and it got better, until the last landing when it was bumpy in the air a bit, but he said he kept hearing my voice in his head and he just did it. He texted me about 4 hours later, when it finally truly hit him, and he was really excited and thankful at that point, and sent me the nicest text that I might have to hang on to. :) The aerobatic fellow finished before I soloed him, and then right when I sent him off, a Piper Turboprop single of some kind came in, and was messing him up. The guy came in on 5 while Jesse was on 32, which is fine, but then did a missed approach because he hadn't checked his NOTAMS and didn't know what was going on with the runway, then he was kind of barking at J asking what he was doing and being kind of rough and unpleasant on the radio. When he finally landed and came inside, J was still out soloing, and I told them that he was a kid on his first ever solo, and the pilot had the grace to be embarrassed about how he was acting towards him. Then the other pilot was shocked that I was the instructor, and asked why I wasn't out there running around waving at the kid (and he actually made kind of a rude comment too), and why wasn't I nervous. I told him I'd been doing this awhile and I know when someone's ready to solo, no nervous. Other than when somebody comes bombing into the pattern and starts trying to fluster the kid, anyway, and that's not nervous as much as irritation. ;)
After he was done soloing, we put the plane away, and I ran home to grab my iPads, then went right back out to Kokomo, got in the other 172 with the camera imaging equipment, and flew to Ft. Wayne and then Van Wert, Ohio, to get as many fields as I could. By the time I took off it was 7 pm, so by 8:30 I had gotten two out of four fields, and the sun was going down, and I was going to be out of daylight (and fuel) before I got the last ones done. I landed around 8:45 pm, had the plane put away by 9, finished and uploaded the information to Mavrx, and was home by 9:30 pm.
It's now 11 pm, and I've been working on a bunch of stuff I needed to get done tonight, including getting the solo photos out and posted, talking to Mavrx about the flights, and getting ready for a flight I have to Tennessee in the morning, which I will be getting up at 5:30 a.m. to do.
So, yesterday I was in the Cub with two brand new ones, today had two students in the 172, including soloing someone, then went out to do an imaging flight, so that first thing in the morning I can take the 340 on a likely IFR trip bright and early. Diversity and busy are good. When I get back tomorrow from TN, I promised Kaylee I'd take her shopping for camp supplies and some clothes. I may need a nap...but for now I need to get to bed so I can get back up in 5.5 hours and get going on the day.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Cubbing It
Richard is doing great! He was walking around today without assistance for awhile, getting stronger every day. :)
Kaylee wanted chocolate chip pancakes this morning, so we made them before I headed to lunch. I am not very good at flipping pancakes, but we succeeded in the end. She's been munching on those pancakes most of the day. Not the best food source, but she also ate a veggie tray and has been bugging me to make her the avocado shake, which I will do as soon as I can find the recipe...
Steve, Kaylee and I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had these grilled fish tacos, and they were good, but there was one too many of them. However, the thought of re-heating grilled fish tacos in the microwave after a day or two just doesn't work for me, so I ate 'em all anyway. Afterwards I walked about an hour on the treadmill, and I still feel full at 10:30. But they were good.
The rest of my afternoon was spent at Glenndale. I was supposed to fly at 2:30 with two Flying Squirrels. In case you're new to this, the Flying Squirrels is a program for kids ages 14-18. For like $200 they get 5 hours of flight time in the J-3 Cub and 10 hours of ground school. CFIs donate their time, ground school instructors donate their time, airplane owner donates his plane, kids get a pretty cool experience. So my first two kids were today. A 16 year old boy and his 14 year old sister. We had several issues that kept coming up. The weather this whole week is off and on storms and rain. I called them up and warned the mom that it was 1) very windy, up around 20 knots, a crosswind of course, and that meant it was going to be bumpy, so if that bothered them, I was letting them know ahead of time, and 2) we had storms and rain that kept popping up and blowing over the area, some severe, and I couldn't promise we'd get to go flying at all, so if they lived far away, they might have to decide whether or not to risk it. They were both super eager to get going though, so they were willing to risk it and wanted to come out anyway. When we all got there, I was a little surprised. They are very large kids, large enough I wasn't sure that they would be able to get in and get the seat belts buckled. And, for the record, it was very close there. It took some maneuvering to get in and get the buckle to buckle. The plane was left empty, so that meant hand propping it, taxiing it up to the pump, shutting down, filling up, and starting up again, either by myself or with a brand new person who'd never flown sitting in it holding the brakes. Not a super huge problem, but not ideal. Then the rain. Little cells kept blowing up just to the west of us and moving on top of us. I walked around and did a preflight with them, and then we sat for 40 minutes and waited out a small storm. When it passed, I got the boy in the plane, and off we went. Fortunately I had no trouble starting the Cub, something I wasn't confident in since I haven't flown it in a long time and since I have had trouble starting the Champ. But fortunately, I got it started on the first pull attempt 2 out of 3 starts, and the first start just took about 3 attempts. Not bad. As soon as we got up, you could see the next cells building up to the west of us, so we did all our flying to the west, and when we got pushed into the traffic pattern, I landed. The winds were a little strong to let someone touching it for the first time do much down final. Fortunately the winds let me use Runway 18, or we probably couldn't have gone, wouldn't have made it over the wires. We landed, I pushed the plane into the hangar, and it started dumping rain again. (Kaylee wants me to tell you about how the boy passed gas right when he was getting out of the plane, leaning forward and bringing it all up to the front seat where I couldn't escape it. He couldn't have waited another 10 seconds?! :P ) Anyway, we waited that cell out, and then the next break came, and the girl got in...but her seatbelt was broken. The boy had taken apart the seat belt trying to get out. She had to get back out, I repaired the seat belt, she got back in, and all this took some time and effort, and the next round of rain was moving in. She had worn flip flops, which are close to impossible to fly a tailwheel in. She ended up kicking them off and trying to fly barefoot, which is also a little difficult. She agreed that next time she'd wear tennis shoes. ;) We got in the air, and did some flying, and this time the cell that was coming was pretty big. We stayed up as long as we could, and then we started getting rained on, before the main rain even got to us. The rain had big fat droplets, like big enough for a goldfish to swim around in. I brought us in, and the rain hitting the windshield was so big and blobby that I couldn't see. I didn't really realize that I did use the view out the front of the windshield, mostly my head is too low anyway, but the ole peripheral did use it after all, and when it was gone I wasn't left with much to look at, since from the front seat you don't really have the view out the door either, unless you turn your head and look out it, and that would be a mistake. So I got to make a nice mostly blind crosswind landing, and it ended up being a lovely landing, which made me smile since today's the first landing I've made myself in a Cub since last year sometime. The rain caused the runway to start flooding too, so there was standing water in a couple places, and the ground was squishy everywhere else. After I landed, I was taxiing back, getting rained on pretty well, and the girl said "Um, the door back here (baggage door) opened, and a book came flying out right when you were landing." Fortunately it was just our time sheet book. After it quit raining, I drove down the runway in my Suburban and found it in the middle of the runway, a little damp, but none the worse for wear.
So, I gotta tell you, the J-3 is one stout airplane. We were full of fuel, on a nice hot day, with about 3000' density altitude, on a wet grass runway from the rain, with some standing water in several places, and generally not short grass, with a very large backseater. The ole Cub just yawns and says "Whatever". Seriously--tough old bird. Respect.
Kaylee wanted chocolate chip pancakes this morning, so we made them before I headed to lunch. I am not very good at flipping pancakes, but we succeeded in the end. She's been munching on those pancakes most of the day. Not the best food source, but she also ate a veggie tray and has been bugging me to make her the avocado shake, which I will do as soon as I can find the recipe...
Steve, Kaylee and I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had these grilled fish tacos, and they were good, but there was one too many of them. However, the thought of re-heating grilled fish tacos in the microwave after a day or two just doesn't work for me, so I ate 'em all anyway. Afterwards I walked about an hour on the treadmill, and I still feel full at 10:30. But they were good.
The rest of my afternoon was spent at Glenndale. I was supposed to fly at 2:30 with two Flying Squirrels. In case you're new to this, the Flying Squirrels is a program for kids ages 14-18. For like $200 they get 5 hours of flight time in the J-3 Cub and 10 hours of ground school. CFIs donate their time, ground school instructors donate their time, airplane owner donates his plane, kids get a pretty cool experience. So my first two kids were today. A 16 year old boy and his 14 year old sister. We had several issues that kept coming up. The weather this whole week is off and on storms and rain. I called them up and warned the mom that it was 1) very windy, up around 20 knots, a crosswind of course, and that meant it was going to be bumpy, so if that bothered them, I was letting them know ahead of time, and 2) we had storms and rain that kept popping up and blowing over the area, some severe, and I couldn't promise we'd get to go flying at all, so if they lived far away, they might have to decide whether or not to risk it. They were both super eager to get going though, so they were willing to risk it and wanted to come out anyway. When we all got there, I was a little surprised. They are very large kids, large enough I wasn't sure that they would be able to get in and get the seat belts buckled. And, for the record, it was very close there. It took some maneuvering to get in and get the buckle to buckle. The plane was left empty, so that meant hand propping it, taxiing it up to the pump, shutting down, filling up, and starting up again, either by myself or with a brand new person who'd never flown sitting in it holding the brakes. Not a super huge problem, but not ideal. Then the rain. Little cells kept blowing up just to the west of us and moving on top of us. I walked around and did a preflight with them, and then we sat for 40 minutes and waited out a small storm. When it passed, I got the boy in the plane, and off we went. Fortunately I had no trouble starting the Cub, something I wasn't confident in since I haven't flown it in a long time and since I have had trouble starting the Champ. But fortunately, I got it started on the first pull attempt 2 out of 3 starts, and the first start just took about 3 attempts. Not bad. As soon as we got up, you could see the next cells building up to the west of us, so we did all our flying to the west, and when we got pushed into the traffic pattern, I landed. The winds were a little strong to let someone touching it for the first time do much down final. Fortunately the winds let me use Runway 18, or we probably couldn't have gone, wouldn't have made it over the wires. We landed, I pushed the plane into the hangar, and it started dumping rain again. (Kaylee wants me to tell you about how the boy passed gas right when he was getting out of the plane, leaning forward and bringing it all up to the front seat where I couldn't escape it. He couldn't have waited another 10 seconds?! :P ) Anyway, we waited that cell out, and then the next break came, and the girl got in...but her seatbelt was broken. The boy had taken apart the seat belt trying to get out. She had to get back out, I repaired the seat belt, she got back in, and all this took some time and effort, and the next round of rain was moving in. She had worn flip flops, which are close to impossible to fly a tailwheel in. She ended up kicking them off and trying to fly barefoot, which is also a little difficult. She agreed that next time she'd wear tennis shoes. ;) We got in the air, and did some flying, and this time the cell that was coming was pretty big. We stayed up as long as we could, and then we started getting rained on, before the main rain even got to us. The rain had big fat droplets, like big enough for a goldfish to swim around in. I brought us in, and the rain hitting the windshield was so big and blobby that I couldn't see. I didn't really realize that I did use the view out the front of the windshield, mostly my head is too low anyway, but the ole peripheral did use it after all, and when it was gone I wasn't left with much to look at, since from the front seat you don't really have the view out the door either, unless you turn your head and look out it, and that would be a mistake. So I got to make a nice mostly blind crosswind landing, and it ended up being a lovely landing, which made me smile since today's the first landing I've made myself in a Cub since last year sometime. The rain caused the runway to start flooding too, so there was standing water in a couple places, and the ground was squishy everywhere else. After I landed, I was taxiing back, getting rained on pretty well, and the girl said "Um, the door back here (baggage door) opened, and a book came flying out right when you were landing." Fortunately it was just our time sheet book. After it quit raining, I drove down the runway in my Suburban and found it in the middle of the runway, a little damp, but none the worse for wear.
So, I gotta tell you, the J-3 is one stout airplane. We were full of fuel, on a nice hot day, with about 3000' density altitude, on a wet grass runway from the rain, with some standing water in several places, and generally not short grass, with a very large backseater. The ole Cub just yawns and says "Whatever". Seriously--tough old bird. Respect.
Showers/little storm cells in the distance
Annnnd coming our way. Behind that one was a nice-sized cell.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Accomplished
It was a rainy day, and I decided to do something productive with it, so I did my Flight Instructor Renewal Course (FIRC). It's not due until the end of July, but we will be in Oshkosh from mid-July on, where I would have no way to get to it if I didn't get it done in time, and I'm getting really extra busy with Flying Squirrel students starting this week, CAF students I'm supposed to be flying with, my own students, some of whom have just come back from winter, Mavrx flights, one of which is waiting for me, and whatever MBros trips may come up. So...doing it when I have a chance here seemed the wiser course of action.
It took pretty much all day, but I got through 16 quizzes and all the required material, and have sent it off online for them to review and send back to me to "sign" electronically. The hard part is done, at least. As soon as they get back to me, I'll be good until July of 2017 to keep on instructing. It's a little annoying having to do this every two years, but hey, it's one day every two years, and it's not like it's super difficult, so...
So that's all I did today. Steve worked on a problem next door with the ice maker and water leaking all over the kitchen. Richard is walking more today, eating like a champ and gaining weight, Kaylee is not doing much of anything but she'll be crazy busy soon enough. And thus was our day.
It took pretty much all day, but I got through 16 quizzes and all the required material, and have sent it off online for them to review and send back to me to "sign" electronically. The hard part is done, at least. As soon as they get back to me, I'll be good until July of 2017 to keep on instructing. It's a little annoying having to do this every two years, but hey, it's one day every two years, and it's not like it's super difficult, so...
So that's all I did today. Steve worked on a problem next door with the ice maker and water leaking all over the kitchen. Richard is walking more today, eating like a champ and gaining weight, Kaylee is not doing much of anything but she'll be crazy busy soon enough. And thus was our day.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Life
A lady brought us a huge Tupperware container full of strawberries on Thursday, and even though Kaylee loves strawberries and has been eating them like crazy, and Steve loves strawberries, and Ann has had some, the container doesn't seem to be down nearly enough berries. These are home grown and fresh, and I don't want to waste them, so today I went to the store and grabbed a big bucket of vanilla ice cream, and tonight when Steve gets back from visiting with his Dad, he's going to make a bunch of real strawberry shakes. As such, I have not had dinner, as I'm going to drink it, and I walked for an hour on the treadmill, which won't be enough but it's better than nothing. Normally I wouldn't worry about it for one evening, but I haven't been worrying about it much lately and it's time to pay attention again. ;)
It is going to be harder to walk on the treadmill now though. Now that summer is here, it's HOT out on the deck, and muggy. Even if you have a fan blowing at you, it's blowing hot air. And while some people get a thrill from getting all sweaty, I am not that somebody. I'd rather walk in air conditioning and get the exercise minus the sweat. I know, but hey, at least I'm exercising. So I dug out a pair of spandex shorts I've had for years and not worn. Don't worry, world, I will still never be wearing them in public. But they're a lot better than the last time I wore them. ;) But still, I walked a fair amount slower than I normally do just so I wouldn't get all nasty sweaty. It's definitely not cardio that way, but it's still moving, at least.
Mom said she and Ernie helped with 25 Young Eagle flights today. For some reason they didn't want to get in a plane with her, but she is doing the paperwork, and that's the harder and much less fun part of the whole gig. ;) Glenndale sounded like it was busy today on the radio. Kokomo, I didn't do any flying, but a few others around did. It's hot out there, but then again, it's mid-June, so what do you expect. Time to start sweating in the little airplanes!
Not a lot going on, just errands, getting billing out, getting a little food in the house, working on killing more ants, doing dishes so we can enjoy homemade shakes tonight, you know...stuff. Life.
I just realized...today is the 1 year anniversary of when I started losing weight and working on getting healthier. June 13th, 2014, the day I got my medical renewed, and saw the number he put on the piece of paper, and was so embarrassed by it that I decided then and there that I was done, I was never going to see that number again. I lost most of my weight in the first 9 months, and ended up losing (depending on the day) 42-47.5 pounds so far, and 8" off both my hips and my waist. I'm not totally done yet. I'm probably going to aim for another 5-10 pounds. If I'd have paid attention to the date, I'd have done it before the anniversary, but I wasn't paying attention. That's okay, I'll get it done anyway, and at least I'm healthier, smaller, and more fit now. I certainly feel a lot better. And on that note, I need to make an appointment and get my medical renewed again. Every year, Second Class Medical time. I'll see if he notices or remembers what I weighed before vs what I weigh now. First medical I've looked forward to in awhile. ;) I guess it's not a bad thing that I celebrated with a strawberry shake and an hour long walk on the treadmill today...
It is going to be harder to walk on the treadmill now though. Now that summer is here, it's HOT out on the deck, and muggy. Even if you have a fan blowing at you, it's blowing hot air. And while some people get a thrill from getting all sweaty, I am not that somebody. I'd rather walk in air conditioning and get the exercise minus the sweat. I know, but hey, at least I'm exercising. So I dug out a pair of spandex shorts I've had for years and not worn. Don't worry, world, I will still never be wearing them in public. But they're a lot better than the last time I wore them. ;) But still, I walked a fair amount slower than I normally do just so I wouldn't get all nasty sweaty. It's definitely not cardio that way, but it's still moving, at least.
Mom said she and Ernie helped with 25 Young Eagle flights today. For some reason they didn't want to get in a plane with her, but she is doing the paperwork, and that's the harder and much less fun part of the whole gig. ;) Glenndale sounded like it was busy today on the radio. Kokomo, I didn't do any flying, but a few others around did. It's hot out there, but then again, it's mid-June, so what do you expect. Time to start sweating in the little airplanes!
Not a lot going on, just errands, getting billing out, getting a little food in the house, working on killing more ants, doing dishes so we can enjoy homemade shakes tonight, you know...stuff. Life.
I just realized...today is the 1 year anniversary of when I started losing weight and working on getting healthier. June 13th, 2014, the day I got my medical renewed, and saw the number he put on the piece of paper, and was so embarrassed by it that I decided then and there that I was done, I was never going to see that number again. I lost most of my weight in the first 9 months, and ended up losing (depending on the day) 42-47.5 pounds so far, and 8" off both my hips and my waist. I'm not totally done yet. I'm probably going to aim for another 5-10 pounds. If I'd have paid attention to the date, I'd have done it before the anniversary, but I wasn't paying attention. That's okay, I'll get it done anyway, and at least I'm healthier, smaller, and more fit now. I certainly feel a lot better. And on that note, I need to make an appointment and get my medical renewed again. Every year, Second Class Medical time. I'll see if he notices or remembers what I weighed before vs what I weigh now. First medical I've looked forward to in awhile. ;) I guess it's not a bad thing that I celebrated with a strawberry shake and an hour long walk on the treadmill today...
Friday, June 12, 2015
Next Up
While I could have used today to catch up on a few things, I in fact did not. I made it to lunch at Glenndale, I ran a few errands, I took Kaylee to voice lesson and back, we stopped at a store for some ant killer stuff and other supplies we needed, I got gas and food, and that was about the extent of the day. I did manage to spill a cup of coffee in a busy gas station, and I did manage to do some pointless internet searching. I should feel bad about this, but I don't today.
Two of the things I found today had to do with Embry Riddle, whose pilots I and a few others refer to not so affectionately as "Riddle Diddles". They're a super expensive pilot mill which shoots out generally less than impressive pilot candidates. Here are two examples of the overall general reputation of the school.
First, is this article on how two 172s ran into each other...on the ground...while taxiing...head on...with two instructors and two students total. You know what that means? That FOUR people were all looking down at their G1000 (fancy airplane radios) or iPads while they were taxiing along, and not one of them heard, saw, noticed, or looked up in time to avoid taxiing right into the other plane. I'm sorry, I know anyone can make a mistake, but that is chock full of Derp (stupid) right there. One of the planes was from Riddle, the other from Phoenix, which is another, less famous Riddle.
Secondly is the below video. Now, there is a swear word in here, so if you want to keep the sound off, you can still see just fine what happens with the plane. Also a Riddle student, on a solo. We would never allow anyone off on their own in one of our airplanes if they showed ANY of the tendencies this guy did. Land fast, land flat, when it hops push the nose down, start in on a porpoise, and finally the only thing he halfway does right, add power and go around, but then make it bad again and don't put in any right rudder. This is a terrible demonstration of how not to do it.
Kaylee had pie for lunch, and for dinner she wanted Cheez-its, and I said "C'mon, help me be only a half-bad mother, not a fully bad mother. Eat some roast beef here." She said "If you want to be a good mother, you can go get those ingredients to make me the homemade avocado shake (all natural ingredients in a blender that tastes good but is completely healthy)." I said "How about we compromise and I just get you a multi-vitamin." She ate half the roast beef and half a bowl of cheez-its. And a multi-vitamin. I'm not sure if that's a win or not.
I was looking around today in my house, and saw this plaque on the shelf. I bought this in my 20s, and it's been sitting on my shelf for years, and you kind of forget that stuff is around and what it says sometimes. It's worth a re-read, a worthy goal to strive for, a solid creed.
Two of the things I found today had to do with Embry Riddle, whose pilots I and a few others refer to not so affectionately as "Riddle Diddles". They're a super expensive pilot mill which shoots out generally less than impressive pilot candidates. Here are two examples of the overall general reputation of the school.
First, is this article on how two 172s ran into each other...on the ground...while taxiing...head on...with two instructors and two students total. You know what that means? That FOUR people were all looking down at their G1000 (fancy airplane radios) or iPads while they were taxiing along, and not one of them heard, saw, noticed, or looked up in time to avoid taxiing right into the other plane. I'm sorry, I know anyone can make a mistake, but that is chock full of Derp (stupid) right there. One of the planes was from Riddle, the other from Phoenix, which is another, less famous Riddle.
Secondly is the below video. Now, there is a swear word in here, so if you want to keep the sound off, you can still see just fine what happens with the plane. Also a Riddle student, on a solo. We would never allow anyone off on their own in one of our airplanes if they showed ANY of the tendencies this guy did. Land fast, land flat, when it hops push the nose down, start in on a porpoise, and finally the only thing he halfway does right, add power and go around, but then make it bad again and don't put in any right rudder. This is a terrible demonstration of how not to do it.
Kaylee had pie for lunch, and for dinner she wanted Cheez-its, and I said "C'mon, help me be only a half-bad mother, not a fully bad mother. Eat some roast beef here." She said "If you want to be a good mother, you can go get those ingredients to make me the homemade avocado shake (all natural ingredients in a blender that tastes good but is completely healthy)." I said "How about we compromise and I just get you a multi-vitamin." She ate half the roast beef and half a bowl of cheez-its. And a multi-vitamin. I'm not sure if that's a win or not.
I was looking around today in my house, and saw this plaque on the shelf. I bought this in my 20s, and it's been sitting on my shelf for years, and you kind of forget that stuff is around and what it says sometimes. It's worth a re-read, a worthy goal to strive for, a solid creed.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Lack of Productivity
This was a day of being totally busy while accomplishing absolutely nothing. I was supposed to do an imaging flight today, but they were supposed to send me the mission yesterday, and by the time I went to bed at 12:30 a.m., it had never arrived. I actually slept in this morning, the first time in awhile. When I got up at 9, I saw they had sent the mission after 2 a.m. I looked at the weather, and it was perfect...right now...but was going to go downhill. The next 3 days look bad, so it's now or a problem. Well, from that point on it was a race. I threw myself into the shower, ran out to the airport, got the plane ready, and then...had to download the mission, which took 45 minutes because now it was a 4 area big mission. After sitting 45 more minutes, I took off, got 3/4ths of the way to the first area, and the clouds rolled in. It was too late. So I turned around and flew back to Kokomo so as to minimize the loss, landed, and it was time to go to lunch. Half the day gone, wasted, nothing accomplished. I ate lunch, went back out to Kokomo and had a one-hour flight, and then was trying to solo the kid. But the winds were gusting up to 18, which is not great solo weather for a new student. I kept hoping it would die down, but it didn't. I waited, then finally called him off, because there's nothing else he needs to do but solo. I cancel him and the winds switched to right down the runway at 14 still gusting to 17 or 18. He could have handled it. But it's still a gusty day for a first solo. But he could have handled it. *sigh* Now that he was canceled, the weather looked possible for doing that imaging flight again. But questionable. So I sent an email to them asking for their input--did they want me to give it a try knowing it may not work out, but it's the last good day for the next several days, or did they want me to wait. Normally they get back to me in 5 minutes. This time an hour went by while I sat in the hangar, until I sent another message saying "In 15 minutes I'm going to hang it up for the day as I don't want to take on that flight with possible wasted hours without your consent." He got right back to that, and looked, and told me not to try, it wasn't worth it. It was now 5 pm and I'd still accomplished nothing.
So I stopped at Culvers and got a chocolate concrete mixer with Reece's Peanut Butter Cups in it, and was only going to eat half, but it was REALLY good, so I ate most of it and a salad and spent some extra time walking instead. ;)
I was invited to do a 5K Run on Chicago O'Hare's Airport Runway 10L. I told them I'd walk it, but I'm not running it. I haven't heard back, so I guess that wasn't a good response, but it is what it is. I've already told them I'm not a runner, and never will be, so, sorry, but no. I'd sprain my ankle in the first 100 yards, and be walking by 200 yards anyway. Optimistically.
How many times do you talk someone off of a ledge before you either walk away and leave them to their own devices, tell them to go ahead and jump, or maybe even push them off of it yourself? Just wondering.
We are getting hit with ants again. My stuff doesn't seem to be working, and it's no longer clear colored like it used to be, so I'm going to buy some more tomorrow, and hopefully that will do it. The ants also got into the cat food on the deck, were climbing all over it. Nasty little buggers. So Steve sprayed the deck tonight, and will be spraying around the baseboards in the house too. Hopefully that chases off spiders too. He said it did, then he said it didn't and he just said that to make me feel better, and now I'm not sure what to believe. ;)
Tomorrow should be no flying, bad weather, and maybe a little time to catch up on some stuff. I hope.
So I stopped at Culvers and got a chocolate concrete mixer with Reece's Peanut Butter Cups in it, and was only going to eat half, but it was REALLY good, so I ate most of it and a salad and spent some extra time walking instead. ;)
I was invited to do a 5K Run on Chicago O'Hare's Airport Runway 10L. I told them I'd walk it, but I'm not running it. I haven't heard back, so I guess that wasn't a good response, but it is what it is. I've already told them I'm not a runner, and never will be, so, sorry, but no. I'd sprain my ankle in the first 100 yards, and be walking by 200 yards anyway. Optimistically.
How many times do you talk someone off of a ledge before you either walk away and leave them to their own devices, tell them to go ahead and jump, or maybe even push them off of it yourself? Just wondering.
We are getting hit with ants again. My stuff doesn't seem to be working, and it's no longer clear colored like it used to be, so I'm going to buy some more tomorrow, and hopefully that will do it. The ants also got into the cat food on the deck, were climbing all over it. Nasty little buggers. So Steve sprayed the deck tonight, and will be spraying around the baseboards in the house too. Hopefully that chases off spiders too. He said it did, then he said it didn't and he just said that to make me feel better, and now I'm not sure what to believe. ;)
Tomorrow should be no flying, bad weather, and maybe a little time to catch up on some stuff. I hope.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Good News Wednesday
I took Kaylee to the walk-in clinic today after lunch, because I was concerned about flying her to camp, about swimming, about exactly how bad was this ear. Usually doctor visits are a waste of time and money, while they tell you to take Tylenol if it hurts and "monitor" it for it to get worse. No duh. But this time it was worthwhile. He said that her ear drum is *not* punctured. She scraped the canal in there, which is what bled, but did not perforate the ear drum. (And how does a fuzzy piece of cotton take out a chunk in your ear canal? The stick wasn't exposed, they're expensive Q-tips, not the cheapy ones that I can't stand.) That is really excellent news, now I can quit worrying about the rest of it. He still gave us antibiotic drops to put in her ear twice a day for a week, to keep bacteria from growing in the cut in her ear and causing an infection, but honestly I'm kind of debating using it still. I'm not a big fan of using antibiotics unless you need them, and most cuts don't require antibiotics. Of course most cuts aren't in a moist dark canal like your ear, either, so I should probably follow doctor's orders. He also suggested Affrin as a nasal spray for her allergies before she goes flying, to reduce the likelihood of her having more sinus issues and severe pain when she flies with a stuffy head. Her dad ought to consider that more than she should, really, as he gets worse than she does. But all in all, it was worth the $125 for the 5 minutes we were in there so he could look in her ear with a light, to know that she could safely fly to camp in 10 days and not worry about swimming in the lake. I do feel better, so that's worth something.
I told the nurse and doctor that I was there out of concern for an upcoming flight, and both the nurse and the doctor separately asked "Where are you flying to?" She said "Ohio", and they both were puzzled. As in, why are you taking an airline to Ohio, man, what's over there? She'd say "camp" and they were even more confused as to why someone would take an airline flight to camp. So I piped up both times and said "We're pilots, we fly her over in a small plane." The look on their faces was pretty funny. The nurse said "Well that's COOL!" and the doctor just raised his eyebrows in surprise and said "Oh". If nothing else Kaylee saw that for normal people, flying airplanes to camp is not. Normal, that is. ;)
Kaylee was looking through my phone the other night, and she said "Mom, you have way too many pictures of clouds. Clouds are boring. Nobody wants to see that." I told her that clouds are beautiful, and people DO like to see pictures of them. I showed her a video, and she said "Is that a video of CLOUDS?" I said "No, it's a video of flying on top of clouds and then descending into the clouds." She watches it all go gray and says "Great, now it's just a video of gray. Lovely." So I showed her another video. All she could see was flashing lights. She said "What is that?" Pregnant pause from me before I came back with "Flying in the clouds...at NIGHT! HA!" She was pretty disgusted. Five minutes later she "Liked" a photo of mine on Instagram. I said "Hey Kaylee, did you just 'like' a photo on Instagram of mine that is of CLOUDS?" She said "Yes. But I'm trying to be supportive--you don't have a lot of followers on Instagram." I do enjoy her. :D
I had two flights today, both times the winds were gusting up around 25 knots. The second time was with the young man who catches on very quickly. I took him to the runway where it was a direct crosswind. The last landing we made the winds were around 22 knots, 90 degrees off, and he rolled it on. He got his medical today, but it wasn't the right day for that. We fly again tomorrow--if the weather and winds cooperate and hold off, he may solo tomorrow. But the forecast...I don't know...Soon, though, that's for sure.
It was 91 degrees today. Helllllo, Summer and my first sweaty t-shirt of the season. ;)
I told the nurse and doctor that I was there out of concern for an upcoming flight, and both the nurse and the doctor separately asked "Where are you flying to?" She said "Ohio", and they both were puzzled. As in, why are you taking an airline to Ohio, man, what's over there? She'd say "camp" and they were even more confused as to why someone would take an airline flight to camp. So I piped up both times and said "We're pilots, we fly her over in a small plane." The look on their faces was pretty funny. The nurse said "Well that's COOL!" and the doctor just raised his eyebrows in surprise and said "Oh". If nothing else Kaylee saw that for normal people, flying airplanes to camp is not. Normal, that is. ;)
Kaylee was looking through my phone the other night, and she said "Mom, you have way too many pictures of clouds. Clouds are boring. Nobody wants to see that." I told her that clouds are beautiful, and people DO like to see pictures of them. I showed her a video, and she said "Is that a video of CLOUDS?" I said "No, it's a video of flying on top of clouds and then descending into the clouds." She watches it all go gray and says "Great, now it's just a video of gray. Lovely." So I showed her another video. All she could see was flashing lights. She said "What is that?" Pregnant pause from me before I came back with "Flying in the clouds...at NIGHT! HA!" She was pretty disgusted. Five minutes later she "Liked" a photo of mine on Instagram. I said "Hey Kaylee, did you just 'like' a photo on Instagram of mine that is of CLOUDS?" She said "Yes. But I'm trying to be supportive--you don't have a lot of followers on Instagram." I do enjoy her. :D
I had two flights today, both times the winds were gusting up around 25 knots. The second time was with the young man who catches on very quickly. I took him to the runway where it was a direct crosswind. The last landing we made the winds were around 22 knots, 90 degrees off, and he rolled it on. He got his medical today, but it wasn't the right day for that. We fly again tomorrow--if the weather and winds cooperate and hold off, he may solo tomorrow. But the forecast...I don't know...Soon, though, that's for sure.
It was 91 degrees today. Helllllo, Summer and my first sweaty t-shirt of the season. ;)
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