Two Pilots & an LSW: Plugging Along

Kaylee is spending the night with a friend in Bloomington tonight, for her friend's birthday. She's basically a college kid, off doing her thing, checking in now and then, and don't tell anyone, but she still snuggled for a little while the other day.

You know something I like about my new phone? Besides the pictures, which I like a lot? The facial recognition is so good and so fast, that in the dark or the light, with glasses, sunglasses, or no glasses on, looking at it sideways, head on, up, or down, it unlocks so fast that I wasn't sure it was ever actually locking at all until Kaylee tried to do it. We were curious if her face, which Google and Facebook mistakes as mine sometimes, would unlock my phone. Nope. So when I get a new text, it pops up and tells me I have a new text, but until I look at it, it won't show what the text actually is. That's a nice level of privacy, so I can leave my phone face up in public and I'll know who texted me, or that I have a notification of something, but until I look at it, nobody else will see it. I like that. That facial rec stuff, it used to be slow, you had to be at the right angle, a hat or glasses could mess it up, etc. Steve's Android sometimes runs into that, but Android came out with it way before Apple. But this is pretty cool. I was disgruntled that they got rid of my fingerprint access because I'd just hit the button and be in. But this is way better. I have to admit it. And the night light photos, I love it. Absolutely love it. I wish I'd had it for Thanksgiving. You're going to be forced into seeing some Christmas light photos though, I'm sure. ;)

Yesterday was my first day back to work for a couple days from not feeling too well. I've had a string of not feeling too well, so I'm looking forward to feeling well again. I haven't been hungry, so it's been easy for me to at least eat better the last few weeks. :)

Yesterday was a super busy one to start back in. A couple guys from a different CAF wing flew in in their T-6, to do their required annual check flight. They both wanted to fly from the back seat, so that makes my job even easier. I flew with one first, we landed, flew with the second one for longer. He did stalls, and an aileron roll, and a few barrel rolls. Which was fun. Takeoffs and landings were the rest. Landed, got gas, went back up with the first guy, who went from Marion to Kokomo a couple times to do takeoffs and landings from the back. Landed from that, and my 3 pm guy was there waiting. I hadn't eaten yet, mind you, but no time now. Went up with my 3 pm guy at 3:30 when I finished with the others, and soloed him, but had to wait until he was done, around 4:45. Finished with him, and I had a 5:30 pm night flight. Still hadn't eaten today, so I ran to McDonalds and got a cheeseburger and a holiday pie, and ran back to the airport in time to meet Mr. 5:30. Flew to Shelbyville and back, and then he said he wanted to practice stalls. Right then. At night. Well, whatever. So we did stalls. Power off, power on, turning stalls. It's trickier for them to see if they're yawing on the power on stall with it all dark and no horizon to look at. Heh. Anyway, got home at like 8:30 pm and it felt like midnight.

This morning I was up early and out the door for a flight. The weather was okay and supposed to be okay until about 10 am. When I woke up it was clear. When I left the house it was like 2500'. When I got to the airport, it came down to 1300'. Out of nowhere. She drove there, I drove there, we both had to turn around and leave. So I stopped and picked up some oatmeal for me, and some breakfast for Steve. I ordered an unsweet tea. They gave me sweet tea, which I always discover after a large slug of a drink that shocks. The percentage is about 65 to 35 as to whether I get unsweet tea or sweet tea, even when the screen says unsweet, even when I repeat it. It's like people here can't believe anyone would drink unsweet tea. So I drove through a different McDonalds to pick up an unsweet tea. And this time when she handed it to me, I opened the straw and took a drink right there with her looking at me waiting for me to move. By george. ;)

I made it to Glenndale for lunch, and they only had a few things to eat with a lot of people. So I took a normal sized plate and gave half of it to Steve. (Women go first, he always goes last, there'd be no food left). I hand propped a guy in the Champ so he could go fly, and then headed back out. I wanted to cancel my 3 pm flight because today, still not feeling great. But...the weather cleared up. I didn't have a good excuse to cancel. So I went. It was a cross country, and it didn't go well for him at the end. I was going to send him on a solo cross country after today, but that's been backed up a good bit. Part of it was bad enough that I quit being tired and slightly annoyed, and just laughed. When we got parked and were debriefing, I asked him, "So, what was THAT?" He closed his eyes and shook his head and said "I panicked". Which made me laugh even more because that's what Steve and Kaylee say when they do something like this. Anyway, I'm sure the lesson was learned. But he's going to have to prove it. ;)

I do have some bad news. Judy Rider. She was originally diagnosed with an "easy to treat" cancer with oral medication only that shrank the little tumors in her brain and lungs. Well, it was looking fine, and then, like cancer seems to do, it rebounded, the tumors grew. They worked on radiation on the ones in the brain to fix that. Then her vocal cords had an issue, they claim not radiation or cancer caused even though the timing is suspicious. Then came the big blow. Cancer in her hip. It was in her bone. They had to do a procedure to strengthen the bone so they could radiate it, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to hold up. She became unable to walk, couldn't eat, and started sleeping a bunch. As of today she is on Hospice, at home. Chuck says she sleeps 20 hours a day. She doesn't have long. I wish there was something I could do for Chuck, Brad and Gina, Maggie and Hannah. This is so hard. Judy was vibrant and healthy and always happy, and this just...invaded and felled her, and it's not very fair. (I know, life isn't.) So, prayers for her in her last days, prayers for THEM in her last days, and the ones to come, without her.

After that, I'm just going to leave some photos from the last couple days.