Two Pilots & an LSW: Action

I had a mission Friday, which is kind of nice. So I was out at the airplane by 8:45, and met Cody there. He has taken lessons and is interested in flying and would have loved to fly up front with me, but I told him I wanted us to keep some space, and that he needed to sit in the back. I know he was disappointed, but to get in the front seat you literally have to put your face right in the face of the person already in the other seat. You don't even have to do that in a 172, though you're still very close. So he rode in the back, more than 6' away, (with the outflow valve in the back so none of his air went by me, either. ;)). I went down at 31,000', with my oxygen mask on the hook by my hand. I filed to a waypoint down there, then did a full route clearance, as Florida is always very busy and always makes you fly airway routes anyway. I got close to my first waypoint, and they cleared me direct destination. I stuttered when I responded, because I was so shocked. Of all the times I've flown into Florida, never once have I gotten direct to my destination. Ever. So on the way out, I filed one VOR and then direct. Also unheard of. You get a full clearance, with departure procedures, airways, etc. I got it as filed, took off, and before I even got to my VOR, they cleared me direct Kokomo. I was shocked. That shows you how empty the skies are right now. I also flew over Atlanta, the busiest airport in the country, and there there 3 planes showing on traffic in their entire airspace. Stunning.

When I got to Florida, it was beautiful. The deeply bright blue sky, not a cloud in it, and it was 77 degrees and low humidity. It was just a beautiful Spring day. That's a good thing, because when I got up to the door, it was locked, with a sign on it saying you can't come in unless it's an emergency due to COVID, that their state had just been put on lockdown. They still got me Jet A fuel, and took the credit card through a gap in the door. At one point I'd had a 2:15 hour flight, had an almost 3 hour flight on the way home, and I needed a bathroom. So she let me in, I went to the bathroom, she walked me back to the door, then took out wipes and wiped down the inside, outside, handles, everything on both sides of anything I touched. So they took that seriously! I sat outside at a table. For awhile I had to sit in the sun, as someone else was at the table in the shade. It felt good for awhile, but I was going to be there two hours and I wondered if I should've brought sunscreen! Eventually they left, so I took my own wipes and wiped down a chair in the shade, and I was there the rest of the time.

While I was waiting, a husband and wife flew in in their 172, and had lunch together at the table in the sun. They said they just had to get out of their house full of 3 mopey angry college kids, so they socially distanced by getting in their own plane and flying to another airport and eating lunch together, away from everybody else. We chatted--from about 20' away--for about 20 minutes. Nice folks, and yes, I socialized. :)

But I hadn't had anything to eat or drink, and now was out in the bright sun for hours, and I couldn't get anything to eat or drink. Me and dehydrated don't do well together. I had them bring me a cheeseburger when they came back to go home, and I ate it in the plane once I was leveled off at 30,000' for the flight home. It was under 3 hours home, and uneventful again, beautiful weather. I had tunes, he and his grandma rode in the back all the way home. I couldn't really drink because it was too long of a flight home and no bathroom. By the time I landed, I had a headache. I started with a small dose of Tylenol and PowerAid, but it wasn't going away, so I thought, hey! I have a lot of extra pretty big pain pills left over, I'll try one of those. Lord, that was a mistake, and I won't do that again. Me and hydrocodone do not get along. I took it, and within about 20 minutes I felt it starting to kick in, but within about 40 minutes I was queasy, and in about an hour I lost my dinner. I spent the rest of the night queasy and trying not to get sick again, and my head only felt marginally better. So, that is not the kind of pain that stuff is for, and you will never have to worry about me getting hooked on hydrocodone. OH it made me sick. Just one relatively small dose. Mental note to self for the future if I ever need big meds for anything in the future--not that one! So I went to bed early, and slept all the way through this morning until I had to get up for my CAF Ground school for the T-6.

I was still dehydrated, so I started drinking water and PowerAid this morning as I could stomach it now. At 10 am we started the CAF groundschool, and we took no breaks until we were done at 2:15 pm. So I had nothing to eat or drink today until 2:15. I should have just gotten up and gotten something, but I kept thinking we'd take a break. Joke's on me! lol So tonight I'm making up for it with a steak and broccoli from Grindstone's. ;)

While I was gone, Steve taught Kaylee how to work the clutch on the Corvette. They stayed in the driveway, but just practiced engaging the clutch and going into first gear, into neutral, into reverse, and Steve said she did well with it. Now we just need to take her out on the road. Steve put a new battery in the motorcycle today, and got it running too. The first few times he tried to start it, it backfired so loud I thought a shotgun went off in the back yard. It scared us both to death. But this afternoon he got it running better. One step at a time!

I watched "Three Musketeers" today, the 1985 one. They were all so young, and it was a fun and funny movie. We enjoyed it. Now we're watching Charlie's Angles, the newest one. Then I guess we'll get some stuff done. Maybe. Or just mess around until it's time to go to bed. Probably that. ;)