Stuff

I got this from an "Introvert" page on Facebook, and boy is it the truth. From the times I was a kid who couldn't play volleyball if my parents were watching to the times I was a young adult botching landings because I noticed people were watching me to the times I sit through an oral exam and they ask me my name and stare at me and I can't think of it for a second.  I didn't know it was an introvert thing, I thought it was a dummie me thing.  But regardless, I assure you, it's real.

The nice thing is that I've mostly overcome it.  Not totally, but I can do a TV or radio or public interview and do it well, IF I know it's coming, I know the topic, care about the topic, and am prepared.  I can actually do a pretty good job.  On the performance end of things, I've landed at the world's largest airshow, during the airshow, with a huge portion of the pilots in the country out there watching, including the head of the CAF who was there to see if I was fit to do airshow flying, with a 28 knot direct crosswind.  I get nervous sometimes landing at Glenndale in front of everyone right there staring, but I do it, and do well.  I can do the flight portions of checkrides great, I usually nail that.  So I've overcome that.  The one I haven't overcome yet is oral exams for checkrides.  My last oral exam for the Twin Beech was downright embarrassing.  I mean, really embarrassing.  I stumbled and mumbled and felt unprepared and couldn't explain how a normal prop works and I was just brain blocked, hot faced, and ridiculous.  I can give a speech or an interview but I can't be grilled on questions relating to oral exam stuff.  I suck at it.  And I need to get better at it because I have more of them coming up, and the stakes are higher.

The rest of today was just hot, muggy, and sweaty.  My morning flight canceled because it was IFR.  Our house was cleaned today, and it took six hours, but it looks good.  I stayed out at the airport today while that was done.  I called the doctor's office and asked why Ann's medication wasn't here yet.  We set up some stuff for the upcoming Young Eagles day we're doing on Sunday.  I went next door three of the four times today.  She's unchanged, relatively fine physically, struggling with anything else.  Not sure what we're going to do when we need to both be gone all day coming up. No word on Kaylee today.  

I've got like 6 students who need to do night flying. I just hit my schedule to find that I don't have a night I can do that until June 30th.  I've got something big *every morning* early, which means I can't be out late the night before, or stay awake that night late.  Flying Squirrels, Young Eagles Rides, Trips, a guy coming in for T-6 training, me going to WI to do the same, all sorts of stuff.  Until the 30th, not one good night to start doing night flying at 10 pm and go past midnight.  So they'll just have to wait.

I've also got a former student who has tried to pressure me into doing her Sport Pilot CFI certificate. I agreed to do her tailwheel endorsement. That took forever, like 40 hours.  Then she got upset at me when I said no to doing her CFIS (CFI Sport), said I knew that was her end goal. I said yes, I knew, but I only agreed to do the tailwheel endorsement.  She leaves for Florida to go do it there.  She comes back 8 months later having failed at it down there, and wants me to do it here again.  I say no.  She asks why not and tries to convince me, a third time.  I say no, and take the time to explain mostly why not.  Tonight she emailed me and asked me a fourth time, saying the FSDO said any instructor should be able to teach her how to teach, etc, and people are pointing her to us, and why wouldn't we do it.  She seems to think it's a piece of cake, but it took her 40 hours to barely get a tailwheel endorsement from the front seat of a Champ. Becoming an instructor in the back seat of the Champ is going to take a whole lot more than that. I don't have the time. I don't have the desire. I don't have the ability to do a CFI candidate. Steve does CFI candidates and he's never done a Sport, and he doesn't do tailwheel.  So I basically said for the last time, NO.  Got under my skin.  And she doesn't know me well enough to know this apparently, but the more you push me, the less I will be moved.  I wasn't going to anyway, *I Can't*, but now I'm sure not going to.  I told her that if about any CFI could do it, she should be able to find one to help her through it no problem, and I hope she did, and that's the truth. I want her to succeed, this is just not something we do, and it's not.going.to.happen.here.

Okay, I need a snack, and to get ready for tomorrow...