Tricky

I had the darndest thing today. One of my students gets motion sick. When he first started flying, he would throw up every lesson. After the 3rd time I suggested he use ginger, and he never threw up again, even on windy or bumpy days. He'd eat these ginger chew things before and during flying. Well, he's a teenager in highschool, and he's had to take 6 months off for school stuff. Now he's in checkride prep, and we're pushing to finish him. Today was his first flight in 6 months. (Neither of us thought to mention ginger). We're going through the maneuvers, and he says "Can you take it? I'm not feeling so well." Shoot. I take the plane, but it's a bumpy day, winds gusting to 25, and I aim for the airport. He says "I'm gonna need a bag." I hand him an envelope, and he opens it, and I'm trying not to stare at him, but about 45 seconds goes by and I look over and he says "I can't get it open." I take the bag and fly with my knees while I'm opening the bag, only...THE BAG IS SEALED. Who made a sick sack that won't open?? Hello, quality control! This poor kid is just holding it while I fly with my knees, twisted around in the back seat hunting in the back pockets for additional bags, and I come up with the large gallon ziplock bag we keep our fuel strainer and fuel stick in. I dump that stuff out and hand it to him and he calmly throws up in this bag. The kid can hold it this whole time until he has something to let go in.

He felt terrible about getting sick, but I was just thoroughly impressed at his control. I also gave Steve the sick sack and said "What kinda product did you get us, here?!" He said it was military surplus that was given to us. We also have a box of official "Sic Sac"s to use, fortunately. Who knew you'd need to pre-open sick sacks to make sure you had one when you needed it, huh?

I've been trying to become an instructor for the CAF in the T-6.  I took the checkflight in August or September.  In December one of them asked me, finally, for my info, to submit it and allow me to instruct.  Now two months later, in February, the same guy emails me and asks me again to send him my info because he's going to start working on it.  I told him I sent it to him two months ago.  Today I found the email I'd sent with all the info and resent it on to him.  Good ole CAF, so organized and efficient and helpful.  :/

Kaylee's last drive is on Thursday the 15th. She will have to go to the BMV to take her test to get her license. She has something after school every single day, for musical, for weeks.  Saturday she has her state ISSMA for vocal solo.  The BMV is only open 8:30-5:30.  So I'm actually going to take her the morning after her last drive, and get  her to school late, so she can get her license.  I hope she passes the first time...

Yesterday Kaylee had saxophone ISSMA with a quartet of two freshmen, a sophomore, and her.  Their 4th backed out so the band director begged her to do it.  They ended up with a silver, and Kaylee was very upset.  She'd never gotten a silver at anything but barbershop quartet and she'd intended on keeping it that way, so this silver really honked her off.   She's not very graceful at losing, however, and could use a little practice on keeping herself in check, keeping her crap together, showing grace in person and being mad in private.  Nobody likes to not win.  But you're not always going to win, that's just not how life works.  So deal with it.  Learn from it.  Get better, move on.

Tomorrow we get more snow and it's a day off, minus Kaylee going to church...