Monday

Not much about today. Steve had a drug test to take down in Noblesville, and so did Jon and Spencer, all for the CAF.  So they all got that done this afternoon.  I had one student this afternoon, and ran him through the pre-solo stuff.  Normal takeoffs and landings, a direct crosswind at 13 knots takeoff and landing, go-arounds, engine out to landing in the pattern, and me yanking on the yoke 50' up and totally messing up his landing and him fixing it properly.  He's someone else's student, but I told him that I'd tell his instructor that if he came out there the next day and showed the same consistency and safe landings, him kicking us out of the plane wouldn't be far off.  Those are fun flights after someone has been struggling with landings for awhile.  :)

Me, Steve, Chuck and AE met up at Harvey Hinklemeyers for dinner, and had a nice evening.  I got Ann a sweet potato for dinner tonight, to see if she'd let Patsy get her dinner tonight.  Lately Ann hasn't been eating dinner for her and we can't figure out why, as she always eats dinner just fine for us, and if you ask her about it, she's just confused and assumes she ate what she was supposed to.  So I thought maybe if I had Patsy give her a 'treat', she'd be more likely to eat it.  We'll find out any minute here.

I've spent three whole days upping my exercise and paying attention to my food again.  Shouldn't I be down 10 pounds by now?  ;)  Just kidding, I haven't actually looked at the scale, and won't for a long while here.

I sent off a few photos to go with the article thing I wrote, and I don't know which ones he'll use.  One of them is the goofy one with my hair all spread out in the PT, because he asked for it.  The rest are more normal pictures.  We shall see.  I'm just glad it's all in and done and out of my hands, and hope it turns out well.

Now I need to start working on my presentation for April.  But not this week...

Spring-ish

Steve has headed out to the airport for a flight with an instrument student, while I stay here with all the window "curtains" open to let the sunshine in. I thought about going out and flying the Champ, because it's almost 40° and sunny today, but the whole next week looks good, so I think I'm going to take today and "lollygag", as a friend of mine put it.  That means usual house upkeep, a little exercise, paying some bills, and then watching some TV.  I'm wondering if maybe "Red Dawn" wouldn't be a good thing to enjoy.  The real one with Patrick Swayze, not the 2012 abomination remake.  ;)  Seems apropos for some reason.

A story I forgot to say.  When Jeff was out at the airport with Steve and his cousin Dave the other day, one of my students was there working on some stuff. Jeff asked her what she wanted to do with the flying stuff once she got all her certificates and ratings and such done, and over dinner he told me that her response was "I want to be Laura".  What a compliment, I don't even know how to really address it.  Of course I want her to be the best version of HER, and do even more.  But that's a responsibility on my end too, to be very careful with someone who feels that way.   

That led me to watching a press tour some guy has on a movie he has coming out, adult him runs into 12-year-old him through an accidental time warp thingy. You know the story line, it's been around awhile.  But the interviewer asked him, "If YOU were to meet yourself at 12 years old, what do you think 12-year-old you would think of you today?"  He answered honestly, and that made me think about that for the first time, and it was a really weird feeling.  I've known what I was like at 12, and I've thought about how others who knew me as a pre-teen or teen would feel about me today, and I've thought about how I feel about myself today, but I've never thought about how 12-year-old me would see today me.  It's a darned weird exercise, if you haven't done it.  For one thing I can't differentiate completely to only the 12th year, because I have big gaps in time on memories.  But I have a general overview of the general time frame.  But one thing I'm pretty sure of is that 12-year-old me would think current me was a fallen girl for not going to church every Sunday, that I wasn't even one of those (insert words said with a sneer and condescension) "C&E Christians".  She would also be surprised that I don't have my nose buried in a book at all times.  Maybe that I didn't have a farm full of animals that I was taking care of.  And I won't get any more personal than that, but I think if kid me saw adult me she'd be pretty surprised all-around, because for the most part, I don't think little me would even recognize big me.  Whether that's good or bad, well probably both, I suppose.  Hopefully more good than bad.  :)

Okay, off to find a decent snack and then perhaps settle in for a lollygag while Steve is gone.

One Down

Originally I was supposed to meet a guy at 10:30 am, who was flying in from Ohio, in his Cub, to get my signature in his logbook from the T-6.  Just as I was getting ready to head to the airport, he messaged me that the weather was bad over there, and he'd had to turn around and go back home.  So instead, Chuck, Nathan, Steve and I went out to eat brunch.  Chuck voted for Choo Choo Magoos in town, so I said sure.  When Steve found out, he told me why we've never eaten there before. I had forgotten this was that place.  But basically the owner of that restaurant got the restaurant by stealing it from the previous owner. He was a person in a position of authority over businesses who used that authority to take over a restaurant by lies and manipulation and then put a couple of other restaurants in competition with him out of business.  He was demoted, benched, caught, but somehow he's still able to own the restaurant.  Unfortunately the food was really good, some of the best bacon I've had, it's nice inside, and it's a very nice place.  But we're not going to further support a business owner who is as crooked and skeezy as it gets and has stolen the livelihood of a lot of people.  He should have gone to jail.  But it was really good food.  I wish he'd sell it to someone else so I could go enjoy it.  ;)  

We left there and went to the airport, where I had an IFR cross country to Crawfordsville with a student.  It went pretty well, was really nice weather for it, and two hours later, it was mission accomplished, and he's all done with his cross countries towards the Instrument Rating.

When we went to go home, I had locked the keys in the car.  I don't actually know how it happened, because I never lock the car out there. Ever. So obviously the switch got hit on accident.  We had to take our courtesy car home, and tomorrow we'll have to go back out and fetch it.  And my purse, which is locked into it, but at least it's locked in it and there's nothing in there but $60 and my credit cards.  And a pen. And chapstick.  In other words, nothing too bad.  

Steve had the guys over tonight. He's switching from Fridays to Saturdays for a few reasons, so they went to the deck, and I left the TV off and started working on the article for Warbird Digest magazine on BOB, the C-45.  I had been thinking about an angle, and was able to come in with it, and when I sat down and pounded it out, it came out to 850 words.  It was supposed to be at, to a max of, 800 words.  So it took me longer to rework it and figure out what to leave out, than it did for me to write it in the first place.  I like it when something just flows.  I arranged it, changed some wording, eliminated something that was a bit of a duplicate/repeat, and got it down to 781 words.  Perfect.  I read it to the guys on the deck, they thought it sounded good, and I held my breath and sent it off to the editor.  About 15 minutes later he shot back a "Perfect!  Thank you!" (whew) and then said he wanted some photos of me to use with it.  Yikes.  I'll get back to him on that, maybe tomorrow.  I'm done for tonight, and it's going to take some time going through a ton of photos again.  I have them all well organized by date, but I don't know the dates, even the YEARS sometimes, of when things happened. I need to be able to search my photos and say "I need all photos of me in the Twin Beech" or "Show me those photos I took of the ice covering the C-340 that one time I thought I was gonna die" or "I need all the photos of me and Kaylee together in an airplane".  You have no idea how much time I've spent searching for some things like that.  lol 

So the article for the C-45, other than hunting through my photos again, is out of my hands and off my plate, and I THINK I did okay with it.  We'll find out I guess.  :o

Happy Friday

I worked all day yesterday on info for an article on the C-45, BOB, for Warbird Digest magazine. Originally he'd asked me to write the article, so I did, and then he changed his mind right before I sent it to him, and did a question an answer thing, and wanted photos, and then asked me to write a specific 800 word article different than what I already wrote.  So I got everything done yesterday except that article, which I need to accomplish this weekend.  In silence, by myself, when I can concentrate, no TV, no other people around.  Maybe at midnight or something.  I do my best work at night.  :)

Anyway, I was non-stop yesterday, from the time I woke up until evening, on answering the questions, hunting down photos, sending everything on, etc.  When I took a break to take a shower, I didn't even go to lunch, I plugged away all day.  Then right at 4:30, I realized Ann still didn't have her meds, and she was out.  So I called CVS. They said the doctor's office didn't send in the order. I call the doctor's office.  They say they sent in the order Feb. 22nd at 3:15 pm and their end showed "verified received".  I called CVS.  They said they don't have it.  I get mad.  CVS finds an 'old' script from her other doctor and say they can fill that one.  Fine.  Good.  Just do it.  

On the way home the ice pellets hit hard, and then big glops of snow started slapping onto the window. They were just huge chunks falling from the sky.  The roads got slick for a little while, and then it was all coated in white, and we were right back to winter.  It was 60° a few days ago, and today the world is white and frigid again.  But at least we're almost into March.  We're coming to the end of this, which is good, because I wouldn't want to do another full month like this.  I could never live in Alaska, at least not in the winter.

So we learned more about Jeff and his daughter.  She and Jeff go out to dinner sometimes, and she always starts off sweet and calling him 'daddy' and being loving, and then by the end she's being rude, mean, cruel.  The last time, he told her she wasn't going to treat him like that any more, that he wasn't going to let her treat him like that any more, and he dropped her back off at her mom's early.  She was online, talking to a guy, complaining about her dad.  The guy flat out asked her if she wanted him to kill her dad.  She said yes, she really did.  And he said he'd do it.  Cindy saw the communications, and called the police, who felt that it was credible enough that Jeff should leave while they looked for the guy, so he did.  They investigated, they found him, and he's fairly young too, I'm not sure if he's a minor or not, but young.  They talked to him, his parents, the daughter.  Basically if Jeff wants to press charges, then things will happen, and if he doesn't, they won't, this time.  Last I knew he hadn't decided, but I doubt he will press charges against his daughter and the guy.  But the fact that she actually sent someone after him, and hangs out online with people who are claiming to be willing to commit murder, no matter how immature you are, that's a messed-up line to cross.  I think she's dangerous, and will be even more so as she gets older.  Sad.

I told Steve that these are the things that get to me. Greg A was a light-hearted, nice, smart, gentle man. His wife passes away, leaving him with a daughter and a son both with pretty severe issues, neither of whom have so far shown any sign they'll be able to be self-sufficient adults.  He tries to work, take care of everything on his own, plus everything M dealt with on a daily basis.  Last time I saw him he looked terrible. Bloated, pale, scattered, and empty.  And then he ends up with addiction issues, and has a breakdown.  Life beat him with a baseball bat over and over for years, until it broke him.  Jeff was a happy, bouncy, optimistic, light-hearted guy.  His wife divorced him, he lost his home, his daughter wanted him dead, he's living in section 8 housing as a 70 year old man, trying to start over.  He looks and acts old. Life beat him with a baseball bat too. Over and over.  I've gotten beaten a time or two too, but you know what it really takes to break you, we've come to believe?  Your kids.  Jobs, money, even typical health scares, all those are manageable, even if hard.  But your kids...yeah...that can break you.

In 13 days I turn 50.  We're not planning on doing anything, that I know of anyway.  I accomplished a lot of things I wanted to in the flying arena before I turned 50, and I'm happy about that. I think maybe what I should focus on more for this upcoming year is my health.  The older you get the better off you are if you start off in good health.  I mean, I'm still healthy big picture, but I won't be for long if I don't take more action.  So...I'm going to try to come up with a better plan and get myself in better health.  Might as well start out the 50s on a good path there.  I did the same thing in my 40s, and I succeeded for awhile, and then fell off.  40 would've been easier than 50, but it's not too late.  So...so be it.

I have done something, I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I'm going to give it a go.  It is an online consultation with a physician regarding headaches, and it's outside of my regular physician and not run through any insurance, so as off the grid as I can get it.  I've had five of them in February so far, which is a new record.  So I've asked him some questions, and we'll see how it goes.

And then...

I don't have any new news on either situation from yesterday.  If I hear anything, I'll let you know.  I'm still a little flummoxed.  Kaylee and I have communicated about it back and forth a few times today, and find it incredible and unbelievable and weird and sad.

Last week someone asked me to be a guest speaker at the Indy Aero Club's April meeting.  He said that he thought I had an interesting history and career, and that along with the Women's Air Race Classic racers they are supporting this year and bringing in to award scholarships to, he'd like me to give a presentation about myself, basically.  This is an upper scale group. They meet on the 3rd floor of a very exclusive country club, with high dollar members in the group.  I waited almost a week before responding because of all the obvious reasons. Steve said I should do it, I felt like I should do it, but man, I don't want to do it.  Finally I said I would, yesterday, and he let me know that they have audio visual equipment for me to use for my presentation, and that it should be 45-60 minutes long.  WHAT?  That's longer than a Sunday Sermon, because at least on Sunday mornings there is also singing and praying and talking first and at the end!  I have to come up with a full-on visual presentation about Myself that lasts at least 45 minutes long?!  Oh dear.  I need something to wear because my warbird t-shirt won't cut it there.  And I need to come up with this thing. And practice it.  And not procrastinate and wait until the week before like I usually do for speeches. Everyone meets at 5:30 pm for "cocktails" and "mingling", and then there is a formal dinner at 6 pm, and then my presentation.  Steve was invited to attend as their guest as well.  Eye yi yi, heaven help me.  It's April 12th, if I don't come down with the flu the week before, or disappear for good.

WHAT a DAY

When I woke up this morning, after getting 3 hours of sleep and the headache I half expected, I read on Facebook from Grace that her dad, Greg, has been institutionalized at a facility for at least a month and likely longer for both mental health issues (not surprising with all he's facing) and "long-time addiction issues" (a little more surprising because of who and how he is).  But follow me here.  Noah moved out a year ago to his grandparents' house, has disappeared, has never held a job or done anything outside the home or church.  Grace has severe mental health issues of her own, has attempted suicide repeatedly, severe eating disorder issues, a recent break-up, doing random things like poorly done online dating, saying she's being sexually assaulted, wildly vacillating between okay and very much not okay.  She now lives in that large expensive house---by herself.  When Greg had to go get help, and he went to a facility somewhere, he had to leave her in the house alone. I can't imagine how bad off he had to be in order to make that choice.  Noah won't move in the house with her, I don't know why she isn't moving in with her grandparents too, and now one of the most unstable people I know is on her own, basically.  That was the first thing I saw this morning.

Then tonight it got even weirder.

Steve got a text letting him know that his cousin Jeff is on his way up here to live in Kokomo, after finding out today that his 14-15 year old daughter Megan hired a hitman to have him killed.  Yeah, you read that right.  Cindy found correspondence between Megan and a hitman and called the police, who found it credible and are currently searching for the hitman. I don't know anything else, but I would assume she is in custody, and for attempted murder as a minor, I'd also 'assume' she'd be put 'away' until she was 18.  Then...watch out.  All speculation at this point, don't actually know anything more.  But isn't that crazy?? What a day!!  

And I thought I was having a rough year.  

Springy

So while I tried to not talk about the weather as much, I can't help it, because it was in the mid-fifties today, and I was able to wander around in a t-shirt all day, and it was marvelous.  Marvelous I say!

I got this new stuff to try to help fend off headaches, and I woke up this morning, with the drastic change in temp and pressure, with the start of one.  So I took it, and I didn't feel great for a few hours, but by afternoon, it was gone.  Now I don't know if it was that stuff, or if it was just more manageable today and tomorrow I'll be in more trouble as the temps and pressure drops from the 60s down to 24.  *sigh*  We shall see, I guess.  I'm half not wanting to go to sleep because I feel okay right now and I don't know that I will when I wake up again.

I went over to Muncie in a Bonanza, and dropped off a friend so he could pick up his other airplane.  I left his airplane in a different state than I found it, something I don't usually do, but I enjoy picking on him.  I switched his XM station to a nasty hair metal screaming station, and I turned up the volume.  So he won't know about it until he turns on his tunes, which he doesn't do a lot in the Bo unless he's taking it on a trip, and these days he usually takes his other plane on trips.  So it's going to be awhile before he discovers this, but when he does, it's going to be loud and bad, and I am going to laugh and laugh.

This afternoon I went up with a student for checkride prep.  Not quite ready, having trouble remembering what to do and when for every maneuver, still.  We're getting there, but out of about a dozen maneuvers, she got about two of them right without missing something important.  Ground is the same way, needing more work.  Getting close to the end, but not quite there to schedule the checkride.

Tonight we went out and had a meeting about scholarship applications for our EAA chapter.  We've got a few candidates and we're looking forward to helping them accomplish their flying goals.  It's great that we get so much scholarship money in to be able to give people a lift in this rather expensive venture. It's hard to get that first leg up...

Kaylee with her goofball cat

A warm February day in a Bonanza

Me in a t-shirt in February.

Florida

Yesterday was one of the weirder flights I'd had in a long time, and was a "first" on a couple of levels.  I posted the story on Facebook so I'll copy that here, but after that I'll post what I've since learned.

I went to pick up my clearance this morning, all I got back was something along the lines of "There's an edict, 1917, current time 1027."  I sat there, confused, and I think I asked to say again, and got the same thing. No clearance, I didn't know what they meant, and my brain was just...not...so after a giant pause I came back, keyed the mic and just said "I...don't know what to do with that."  Nathan called up and asked for the clearance and they gave it to him, then said the same thing about estimated departure at 1917.  I got a little more info then about the NAS having an issue and he couldn't release me or do anything about it until 1917.  Nathan says "You mean like five hours from now??"  And the controller said yes, and there was nothing he could do on his end, and we could expect to not be able to pick up our IFR and be released for 5 more hours.  Out of Kokomo.  Ooooookay.

Next up, make sure you have enough fuel to go low across the country in a turboprop.  Then look at the weather and make sure you can stay VFR all the way across the country.  Look up airspace and see what may be an issue, restricted, etc.  We called up and said we were just going to go VFR, and the controller said "Good luck". 

Bombing down to Florida at 17,500', dialing in nearby ATC to listen in, using the VFR sectional charts, changing baro pressure along the way, and around Atlanta I call up 122.1 and listen on the nearest VOR and talk to Flight Service like this is 1995.  Talk about old school.  Flight service says Kissimmee says they aren't experiencing any delays now, and I should contact Atlanta to see about my IFR.  I contact Atlanta, and our flight plan has now timed out of the system, but I could go back to Flight Service and file in the air.  By this time I'm only an hour out anyway, so FORGET IT, we'll finish the job VFR.   Avoiding airspace, and getting below the cloud deck that was reported at 1500' right at Kissimmee at the time, we came on in for a landing.

And that's how I made the most confused non-standard radio transmission of my life, made an impromptu unplanned 800 nm VFR cross country doing 330-350 kts groundspeed into some cluttered and busy airspace in a turbo-prop, and talked to Flight Service off of a random VOR, in one day. 

The trip home? Fine.  IFR at FL280 like a normal person, with almost no work whatsoever all the way home.

So when I got home, I posted about it on a controller page and my own.  On the controller page they're like "traffic" and "this is normal" and "I don't know why people are surprised".  It got a little irritating; I asked our local controller that I know, if he has ever in his career given out an "EDCT" out of Kokomo or any surrounding airport they service.  And he said no, never.  And I in almost 30 years here, have never gotten one.  So no, it's not normal.  Come to find out, low staffing numbers plus increased traffic due to the Daytona 500 and the snowbirds, and rocket launches to the east closing down routes, caused the delay.  See, there's an answer. 

When I got home, Steve, Kaylee and I met AE at Pastarrific and had a nice dinner together, came home and watched the Olympics.  I was tired even though I spent most of the day sitting--having to concentrate for several hours to not goof up will do that to you.  ;)

Today was...barely getting the Wordle done in 6 tries, catching up on laundry and dishes, muting "How It Is Made" when the voice gets too irritating, and working on the last of the scholarships I need to judge.  And resting.  And watching the wind blow.  And wondering if the person taking the airplane out today in these winds should be doing so.  You know...not much of anything.  ;)

The plane looks big--and a palm tree. ;)

Just cruising.

Friday

Last night I got a surprise message from two pilot friends from Arizona that I've never met in person. They happened to be stopping in Kokomo for the night, so I met them for dinner at Half Moon.  It's a father and son, and the son just got a job at Kalitta Airlines.  He has 1 hour of multi PIC time.  That's how desperate the airlines are right now.  Unreal.  His first type rating is in a Falcon 20, and he did his type rating checkout and ride in three days, with 1 hour of multi time.  Just...wow.  I used to think maybe I wouldn't be able to do type rides, I wasn't sure how difficult it would be.  But the people I've seen go through?  Yeah, I could do it.  Not all of them of course.  This young man doesn't have a ton of hours, but he's already a very good pilot for his age.  :)  

They walked over from the hotel and found it a bigger problem than expected with the highway in the way.  While we were eating, it started sleeting and snowing, and everything was covered in slick ice.  So I drove them back to their hotel before heading home carefully.   And off they go to Michigan in February, from Arizona.  Enjoy.  Heh heh.

Earlier in the day, I went in for a Red Cross blood donation.  They want you to register online first now and make an appointment, and when I did that, I couldn't find any option for normal blood donation, just "Power Red".  Whatever that is.  So I signed up for it.  Holy cow.  First, you're there for 45-60 minutes.  Secondly, it's a whole thing.  You're hooked up to a machine (oh, Mom, you might want to quit reading now), and they take your blood, cycle it, remove red blood cells, mix it with saline and something else, and pump it back into you.  Then they take another cycle and do the same thing, like three times.  They get more 'bang for their buck' with this kind of donation, apparently.  To test my iron levels, instead of dropping it in a cup of something to see if your blood floats or sinks, they have a machine now that tells them your exact iron level as to whether or not you can donate.  The minimum was like 13.0 and I was at 13.2.  So I squeaked by, again.  :D  They told me I'd probably get cold when it went back in my arm, as it's chilled.  It was cold, but that wasn't the problem.  I'm sitting there, been there for awhile, it's going fine. She's a pro and it didn't hurt getting hooked up.  But suddenly I get really lightheaded, pale feeling, and queasy.  Next thing I know, I'm having to lay my head down, close my eyes, I'm breaking out in a cold sweat, and I am about to barf on their floor.  I'm like...WHAT IS THIS??  I don't get sick giving blood!  She asks if I'm okay and I say "I feel queasy and lightheaded", and she said "Oh, that's the .... whatever it's called.... being pumped back in.  Sure enough, in a few minutes when it started taking blood again, I felt absolutely fine.  I was like "whew".  Then it cycled through again.  I'll tell you what, I had to concentrate to not pass out or throw up.  Whatever was going on, my system did NOT like it.  When it was all done though, and they unhooked me? I felt completely, 100% fine.  It was only while that stuff was being pumped back in.  I walked out of there feeling totally normal.  Weird, man.  I won't be doing that again, though.  It took an hour, and I thought I was going to lose it on their floor, and I missed doing so by the skin of my teeth.  Next time I may not be successful.  Meanwhile I saw other people in there doing normal blood donations, so I will figure out how to go about doing THAT again.  In and out in 15 minutes.  No throwing up or passing out.  Thank you.

I feel twitchy and agitated and bothered, mostly by life.  Ann's caregiver wanted to quit today, because she said Ann is shooting daggers at her and doesn't want her there and she doesn't want to sit there where she's not wanted.  She's supposed to be an expert at Dementia and Alzheimer's, but she doesn't act like it.   So he convinced her to stay as of tonight, and we'll just have to see how it goes from there.  But we lose her, and we've got even bigger problems.  Steve and I listed out everything going wrong this last year, the various continuous ongoing stressors, and now his cousin is coming back here and is another needy individual, and we're at...capacity.  I'm at capacity. I'm ALL full up, folks.  The next major issue that hits and *I* may need to find a facility.  I can't even drink to take the edge off or I end up with a migraine.  Can't have any more of those than I already do.  Steve at least has Friday nights where he hangs out on the deck with his friends and drinks and has a cigar and talks over life and has therapy with buddies.  That's good because he has more on his plate than I do. But man, these long term problems don't have short term solutions and there's not really any hope that any of them are going to get any better for...years.  So I'm just trying to hang on, honestly.  I enjoy the flying, it's an escape for me.  I'm truly happy and feel peaceful when I'm up there, when I post the photos of those things, that's a happy place for me.  I'm not trying to make other people think my life is perfect, I'm trying to focus on something good and enjoyable.  So in February when that is also curtailed, well, that's hard too.  Too bad that exercise didn't do it for me as a stress reliever.  I'd love to be in the best shape of my life.  lol  But when I walk again, I'm tired when I start, and I have to make myself, and I'm just glad to sit back down.  For now, sometimes that's enough, just putting one foot in front of the other, ya know?

Our EAA meeting was canceled yesterday because of the sleet storm. The airport is iced over, and the gate was frozen shut today.  That was new!

Tomorrow I head to Florida in the Cheyenne to pick up Kevin and family.  It'll be about 5 hours in the air, listening to music, eating a snack on the way home, enjoying about an hour of 80° temps, before coming home to a HIGH of 17°.  But it'll be a break, and I'll take it!

Finances

Kaylee called today, she's taken over her own FAFSA (College financial forms).  She took a class this morning on college financial aid, and she dove in and started trying to get her form in by the end of today to meet some criteria even though it's not totally due until April.  Steve was quite pleased and impressed.  When she called me just to chat, she told me that she really appreciated the foundation we'd given her with finances.  She said that most of it was common sense, and she knew most of it already, but she loved hearing it in one dedicated class that put it all together for her.  Apparently some of the questions other people asked amazed her at how bad/simple they were.  So she wanted to thank us for giving her a good financial understanding and background.  Steve is the most excited because it's been his...thing.  He's helped set her up with an excellent credit rating for her age, she's had her own credit card and bank account and these minimal student loans that are designed to also help her credit in good part, etc.  So everyone around here feels relatively accomplished, listening to her talk finances with us and actually GET it.  Better than a lot of adults I know.  Well, older adults than her.  :D

I attempted to start exercising again today.  I was tired and out of breath within ten minutes.  *sigh*  Gotta start somewhere.  I think my weight doesn't help with headaches.  I used to get one a month.  Now I am getting about 3 a month, the last several months.  I'm not sure if that's part of the problem, but it doesn't help. Man I wish they had pills that actually worked to "melt fat" without damaging your heart, organs, brain, and threatening your life. Just pop a pill and be done with the effort.  It's 2022.  Whoever comes up with that is going to be a very rich person/company.  I don't like how I feel or look either one right now, so I really need to find the motivation to work at it again.  It's just so tiring and slow and irritating to focus on that too.  But boy you feel better when you're carrying around less.

I had one flight this afternoon, an IFR cross country in the 172RG where I was an observer there just for safety while I let the student do it all on his own, make the mistakes, fix them, etc.  I only had to speak up three times to prevent us from getting in trouble on the IFR flight plan, which isn't bad all in all for a first run where he's not being instructed, but is being his own PIC.  :)

Buying supplies is still problematic right now. Cat food is such a chore, and she's eating a lot of wet food because that's all she eats. She won't eat crunchies.  She's also thin, so we can't exactly not feed her as much.  But keeping up with cases of food that she'll eat that stays in stock has been a real pain. I finally got a case today of chunky ones, and so far she's eating them, so...we're okay for the next two weeks before I need to find another case.  Pain in the rear.

I think that'll be about it from me for a day or so. Tomorrow's weather looks terrible, so no flying, most likely.  No trips.  It'll just be paperwork and laundry and house stuff and maybe reading a book or something, and some exercise just to keep going on a better path than the current one.  I'll catch up with you Thursday, unless something interesting happens or I get bored enough to talk to myself about nothing again.  ;)

Local Mayhem

It was good to see AE today at lunch--he's been in California for the last two weeks, and today was his first day back. 

I ran a Valentine's Day card, flowers, and candies to Ann, and left a little candy heart thing for Patsy too.

After lunch I had a checkride prep flight in the 172, and in the middle of it, a friend texted that he was stuck in Muncie and could I go get him.  I was going to use his other plane, but I couldn't get it started before the battery started running down in the cold, so I took our 172RG instead.   Nothing much went right this afternoon, but we all survived so that's fine.  lol

Steve and I ran through Culvers for dinner, and are watching 9-1-1 Lonestar.  Glad to get a break from the Olympics, wish other shows would still air too.  We don't all want to spend 2.5 weeks watching nothing but the Olympics. I'd like choices, not just re-runs. 

Tomorrow I've got a cross-country with a student, Thursday I'm donating blood, Saturday or Sunday going back down to Florida to pick up Kevin and all.  Tomorrow I was going to go to St. Louis, but D is going to go himself. He doesn't need me for that trip on a nice weather day now that he's current. Unfortunately.  All my guys are good enough to go without me now, and there goes my income, too; boo.  :)  Also I don't get hardly any flights where I just fly or where I can take someone along.  I'm sitting right seat when Ethan flies, sitting right seat when Dustin flies, and Nathan goes on most Cheyenne or Aerostar trips, so not hardly any bringing folks along on flights I do any more.  I need another additional something to come along.  It usually does sooner or later.  :)

Views from the 172RG on the way home from Muncie

Kokomo at sunset

Kissimmee

Steve had overbooked himself. He had a student at 9 am for a cross country, was supposed to meet a guy to do the wing attachment angle inspection on the T-6 at 10 am, and was going to help us pull the Cheyenne out at 9 am because it rained then froze and then snowed a little and was a bit slick.  But he got lucky, because the weather didn't let his 9 am student go, and the inspection guy showed up early, so I let him in at 8:30, and I was able to get the Cheyenne out just fine.  So Steve stayed there and helped the guy with the inspection, while Nathan, Kevin, his wife, daughter, and son-in-law hopped in with me and we went down to Kissimmee, FL.  It was quiet, uneventful, easy.  When we got down there, I took off my sweatshirt because it was 80°, and Nathan and I grabbed a car and went into town to a little place downtown called "Shrimp & Fries Bistro" which doesn't sound great, but was. They have very fresh fish, oysters, clams, all of the good stuff.  So we split a bowl of shrimp bisque that was quite good, and then had grilled grouper sandwiches and coleslaw that was also amazing.  Everything was good, from the bun, to the light sauce they put with it, to the fish itself, to the obviously freshly made slaw, and I don't even care about slaw that much.  They had key lime pie that he took home, and we agree that we'll have to go back there and try some of their other foods.  They had octopus, crab, steamers, just...lots of good stuff.  So, now I have a place to go back to, less than 10 minutes from the airport, with a nice environment and good food.

It is grey and gloomy in Indiana, a high of 21° here, and just the pure definition of February.  I'm glad I was able to soak in a little sun today, even if it didn't last long enough.  I didn't put my sweatshirt back on until we were on the ground in Kokomo, and it was time to concede. All I can think about is...March is only a few weeks away, and it'll START getting better then.  And we've gained an hour of daylight since Dec. 21st. 

When I went next door tonight at 7:30, Ann was a little lost. She asked me who was coming over to stay with her, and then asked how she was supposed to get home.  I told her she was home, and nobody comes over to stay at night.  She said she doesn't think that seems right, that she's old now and it wasn't supposed to be like this.  I told her Steve and I are next door, which seemed like news to her, but she was glad to hear it.  During the day she's mostly all right, but at night...at night the darkness comes in multiple forms.  I turned off her lights and told her to get some sleep and we'd be back over in the morning with breakfast... hard.

Me & Nathan with our sandwiches

Seriously, it was delicious. And yes I picked all the onions off.

Across the street, another little downtown bistro

Me while Nathan rested

A series of photos of descending into the bleh

Going

Going

Gone

Bleh.

St. Louis

Thursday morning early I was back out, pulling the 340 out, and heading to St. Louis with Dustin and Terry.  Dustin had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before, having gotten in from vacation in S. Florida at like 3 am due to airline delays.  The guys were heading to MO because of a problem with their St. Louis plant.  I got a rental car, a 2021 Ford Expedition, in mint condition.  Dropped the boys off at their plant, and then I headed out for breakfast.  I ended up in a place in downtown St. Louis, kind of fancy, had good food and decent views of the city.  I went shopping for awhile, and then somewhere around noon I went to the hotel, and they told me it would be about 3 pm before I could check in.  I was really tired by then, I wanted a quick nap.  I'd eaten, I'd driven around downtown, I'd walked around some stores, and now I needed to rest. I also had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep last night, which was more than Dustin but not enough for me. Since I couldn't get into the hotel yet, I sat in the giant Ford and put my head back and halfway slept in there. When I did get into my room, I tried to lay down for awhile but now I couldn't.  lol  So I looked up a good steakhouse for dinner, and I had lobster bisque that was *very* good, fresh baked bread with three types of butter (regular whipped, herb butter, and blue cheese butter, which sounds gross but really was very good on warm fresh bread).  Then I had a chicken dish, baked potato, carrots that I didn't eat because I don't like carrots, and then a carrot cake to go because I do like carrots if they don't taste like carrots and are blended with big chunks of nuts and covered in cream cheese.  ;)  When I got back to my room, I looked at that carrot cake, and y'all, there was an entire cake in that thing.  It had like 6 layers, it was huge, and heavy, and like 6" long.  Unreal. I put it in the fridge after staring for a minute.   Next up it was time to go watch a movie.  I had three choices.  "Moonfall", which Steve would like to see too.  "Jackass" which is basically the 3 Stooges for 2022, and "Marry Me", with Jennifer Lopez.  I figured I'd watch Moonfall with Steve and I can't stand Three Stooges stuff, so I watched a silly romantic comedy, and it was silly and it was fine and I didn't mind it even though you can see most of it coming.  It was nice. And there were only about three of us in the whole theater, so I had the place to myself, too.  I can dig it.  Oh, one of the stores I went into, I was the only person in the whole store, minus the guy behind the checkout desk.  I was not within 15' of another human.  I had my mask in my hand (they're pickier about masks in St. Louis than most other places I've been lately except NYC), and the guy behind the counter 15' away says "I Need you to PUT your MASK back ON."  I seriously thought about picking a fight about it.  Not only are we all vaccinated, I'm sure, but I'm more than twice as far away from you as the required 6'.  So pith off, buddy.  I took long enough to comply that I'm sure he was wondering as much as I was if I was going to do it or if we were going to have a problem here.  ;)

Anyway, after the movie, it was late. I came back to the hotel, ate some carrot cake and watched some Olympics, and passed out for the night.

This morning I slept in, ate breakfast in the hotel, checked weather, checked out, drove the car to the gas station to top it off for the return, went to the FBO, paid the fuel bill, asked them to move our plane closer as we were now back in the Back 40 and would have baggage, read a book by the window and watched it spit rain, then left to go pick up the boys in town.  They were running late, and come to find out, they hadn't gotten to bed until after 3 am, and were back out there at like 7.  Got another 2-3 hours of sleep, they said.  That meant Dustin had slept something like 5 hours over the last two days.  He still wanted to fly us home, so I sat right seat and made sure he didn't do nuthin' dumb.  He didn't.  In fact he made a better landing than he did when he wasn't tired.  :D  I told him it was because he knew he was wiped so he focused more.  Our forecast was for 1/2 mile visibility and 100', but fortunately that didn't end up being the case. We also had bad icing, clouds, rain, and most of that was gone by the time they were ready to go because they were running so late.  So all in all it was an uneventful flight.

D with his giant cup of Starbucks--triple espresso. 

My bisque and bread

I like the cool old movie theaters.

What the weather was supposed to be when I arrived at 5-6 pm.

What it actually was.

Standing water in the field after it rained here all day.

Air Time

Kaylee stopped by tonight for me to lance a cyst behind her left ear, because apparently none of her roommates would do it for her and she can't see it well enough to do it herself.  I used both a razor blade and a needle, and it wouldn't "pop", so I put alcohol then antibiotic cream on it and told her to leave it alone for a few days and we'd check in on it later.  While she was here she picked up her space heater that she's taking back to her dorm room to try to have a warmer night's sleep than she's been getting.  She seems to be doing okay all in all.

My day was full of flying things, which actually felt pretty good.  An hour in a Piper Malibu doing steep turns, emergency descents, stalls, and instrument approaches.  Then I took the Champ up with Spencer just to do some takeoffs and landings.  I hadn't flown it for almost two months with anyone else, and hadn't flown it for 4 months actually doing the flying myself.  I did a couple of steep turns, some slips to landing, a couple of three-points, a wheel landing, a one-wheel landing then switched wheels.  Spencer said "show off".  But mostly that's what I do whether someone's with me or not, it's how I practice.  So then I said it was his turn to do some from the back seat, but he said he wasn't feeling well.  I'd made him queasy.  He's been motion sensitive in the past but I thought he was past it, seems to have been for the most part, so I felt really bad for being more aggressive with him on board after all.  I opened the window and went to a nice stable slow final approach to a 3-point landing and taxi off.  But it felt really good to fly the Champ again.  From there I hopped in the 172RG and did an IFR cross-country with an instrument student, down by Indy, into busier airspace, practiced two more instrument approaches with him, an ended the day almost at sunset after a two hour trip.  

My schedule has gotten very busy with the corporate things and I can't complain, but the dance is getting tricky here and there.  I was supposed to go to Catalina Island with Ethan's family, drop them off and come back on Friday, then go down to Orlando on Saturday in the Cheyenne with Kevin and family.  But today Ethan said he was set up for Saturday, not Friday, but I can't on Saturday.  So we start working on that and then MBros says they have a trip to St. Louis Thursday morning, and need me to either overnight or pick them up on...Friday.  I'd be back by 5 on Friday, but that gets us down to Catalina Island late and me home in the middle of the night just in time to turn around on Saturday and fly back down.  So.  Now it goes like this. I have two days with MBros tomorrow and Friday. Then if the weather is good, Ethan flies himself down to Florida and I don't get to take that trip.  If the weather is bad, Ethan waits until Saturday and goes down later, after I get back from Orlando with Kevin.  If Ethan flies himself down this Saturday morning, and next Saturday the weather is bad, he'll send me an airline ticket down there, and I'll come down and fly back with them all.  So I don't get it all done, but I do stay busy and do get some good flying in too still.  Just not the 22 hours in the 340 to Catalina Island and back twice, most likely.  Ah well...

Arching

I had to wake up at 5 am this morning, and it wasn't quite enough sleep.  I was a little on the groggy side, but I didn't have long to stay drowsy considering it was 9° and we had to get the 340 out on the icy ramp.  Spencer came out to help me, and fortunately we got it out without as much trouble as we thought.  

When I walked into the FBO in St. Louis, the blond lady behind the front desk said hello, said it had been awhile since I had been there.  I said yes--I went back and looked it up, and it's been almost *3 years* since I was there.  She said "Laura, right?"  Amazing.  She said she'd wondered where I ended up, so we chatted for awhile, I told her what I did and where I was, and we talked about the pandemic and vaccinations and life.  It was pretty neat, and like I said on Facebook, it's a small world, and that's a good reason to be a decent person and not cause trouble wherever you go.  I've got people in a lot of different airports that know me, so I'd better behave!

I took a courtesy car early on, because there were a lot of jet pilots hanging out in the pilot's lounge, so I went and grabbed some breakfast, drove into St. Louis, past the Arch, into downtown, to a place called "Roosters".  Chocolate chip french toast and bacon, hard to go wrong there.  Nice day for a drive, so I cruised around for awhile and enjoyed the day.  When I got back, the pilot lounge was full of sleeping pilots and I just didn't feel comfortable going in there and picking the one remaining chair.  But I too was really tired, and now I was full, too.  But there's nowhere else to go but the main lobby.  I went out there anyway, sat in a chair, kicked up my feet, and actually fell asleep sitting in a chair in front of a TV in a main lobby with a bunch of people walking around.  That's how tired I was.  Other pilots got hosed on getting a car for lunch, so I was glad I went when I did.  Too many of 'em.  ;)

The guys got back after 4 pm, and we headed back to Kokomo.  Terry had wanted to try wearing the oxygen to see if it helped with his headaches he gets sometimes from flying.  So he wore it on the way there, and threw up halfway there.  So that wasn't good.  I came home low on the way home, and we were out of oxygen, but he did fine on the way home.  I need to get the oxygen refilled now, too.

Dustin and I got the 340 put away all right, and I got home after 7:30 pm.  Long day but not a bad one.

Snow out our front door

Snow at night behind our house

How I feel sometimes

How I feel many times

Also how I feel many times. ;)

Trip to St. Louis today.

Series of landing shots at Kokomo tonight.

Icy ramp in front of our hangar.

Noted

Just a quite note.  I took Ann to the doctor today. She's been her family doctor for a very, very long time, and Ann has always loved her.  Today she was a stranger to her, and Ann was pleasant and polite, but no recognition.  Which I guess is good, because the doctor is moving to Indy and is cutting her patients back to 600 out of 2800, and was wondering if we would mind switching to the guy she is passing off her people to.  A couple of years ago I'd have said no, because they had a relationship, a good one.  Now, it doesn't matter to Ann, so it doesn't matter to me.  *sigh*

She's in good physical health. Weight holds steady, bloodwork has been good. They said if it stays good on iron this time, she can stop taking the iron and the Vitamin C, which will be two fewer pills she has to take, which would be nice.

Today was the first time Patsy was able to make it back over too, as we've been snowed in until this weekend.  So I think Ann was glad to have her back tonight, and we were glad for the break after about a week again.

I took her with me to get the mail at the post office. I walk in, get the mail, walk out, walk up to the Buick, go to open the door, and there's a man in my driver's seat.  I jump, jerk backwards, stare over to the right seat to see if Ann is over there.  Look at the car.  It's my car.  But it can't be my car or Ann would be a big younger man.  So I keep walking around the next big truck, and on the other side of the big truck next to it, is my car.  I ran into my doppelganger car again.  I tell Ann about it, and we're laughing, and I tell her I'll point it out when we back up.  I back up, and so do they, at the exact same time.  I stop and point at it to show her, and the guy in the car sees me and my car, and his whole face lights up and he starts laughing as he now understands why some rando woman tried to get in his car a minute ago. Buicks of Kokomo Strikes Again.

Tonight I had a school board meeting.  We had homemade chicken and noodles and mashed potatoes and green beans and chocolate pie, and it was quite tasty and well worth going to a meeting for, even if I did have to talk about budgets and such.  ;)

Kaylee was here for the weekend, and we went over some stuff in her room to get rid of, pack up, etc.  Going to eventually turn it into another guest room, and my treadmill in there too.  Right now it's still her little girl room and it makes her feel weird to be there surrounded by her grade school and middle school and high school stuff.  So we're going to repaint the room eventually, swap out the bedding, give away the toys and stuffed animals and books that are too small for her, and just clean up and organize it a little bit better.  She was in there saying 'Keep this, toss this, donate this" and we got through quite a few things.  Twas good.

The Wordle took me six tries today.  My brain just was not coming up with anything.  It was almost the first one I didn't get at all.  Yikes.  I definitely need to wait until I'm more awake to hit those!

Difficult day tomorrow, trying to get the 340 out of and back into the hangar at 6:30 am an 6:30 pm respectively.  The ramp in front of it is a sheet of ice. Tugs won't work. So we're looking at a tow bar and a pick up truck and hoping it works.  Did I mention at 6:30 am, you know, when it'll be 7° out?  I don't get paid enough for this...  ;)

Quietly

I haven't had much to write about the last couple of days.  I've had sinus/head problems, enough that I actually took a left-over home Covid test. It was negative, and I finally felt better today, so that was probably not it anyway.  I finally felt better today, but my nose still feels a little stuffy.  

Steve shoveled out the full foot of snow from our entire driveway and parking area.  That was a LOT of snow, and I couldn't even help because I felt like crap.  He managed very well for a 62 year old man, actually.  We have a snow blower by the way.  Just not here.  Because...I don't know why.  Ask him.  ;)

Kaylee came home yesterday, and we've been hanging out. Tonight we went to Pastarrific for dinner, the first time I've been out of the house in days.  I got some sweet potato casserole for Ann, as she loves anything sweet potato.  :)  Then while Steve had a deck night with Kenny, Kaylee and I watched the story of Ted Bundy with Zak Effron as Ted.  It was pretty good, Zak did a pretty nice job playing a personable psychopath.  I, like a lot of people, have a fascination with serial killers and psychopaths/sociopaths.  I read books about them, watching movies about them, have done research on them.  I find them psychologically fascinating.  I think if I could be one, I'd be good at it.  But don't worry, fortunately I have morals and a conscience and zero desire to actually hurt most people.  And I'd be too good at it to go after the people I'd actually WANT to take out, because that would be too easy for law enforcement, going after people I have an obvious motive to get rid of.  ;)  So the world is safe from me.  But it's still interesting. 

They had a story on the news on the blood shortage. Apparently it's pretty severe right now, in good part thanks to Covid, canceling school blood drives, etc.  Whomever they were interviewing said they were down to a one-day supply of blood. Surgeries were being rationed, they're one big trauma away from being too short to save people, etc.  So I signed up to donate my O-.  It ain't much, but it's something.  They make you make an appointment now, instead of letting you walk in, which I hate, but I did, and on that date, all 8 appointments were "open", nobody else donating that day so far.

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, Sunday.  Kaylee'll head back to school at some point tomorrow, and I don't have any flights until Monday or Tuesday.  Long stretch of not flying...which was fine because I didn't feel good anyway.  Now, on to the next week.

Yeah, It Snowed

According to the news, we have gotten a little over 12" of snow thus far.  It should be the end of it here, with the real problems being the single digit frigid temps and the high winds blowing all that snow all over the place.  We're fine and cozy in our house, with power, and food, and TV, and books, and movies, and candles, and half-baked fudgy brownies with walnuts in them.

MBros texted me and said "You are going to think I'm crazy, but what would you say if I and three pax needed to fly to Charlotte tomorrow morning?  I thought I'd run it past you to see if you are as crazy as I think you are!"  I texted back with "Lol, Seriously?!"  He said "You know you love me".  So I looked into the weather, the weight and balance, and the airport.  I got back to him and said "The four factors go like this: 1) Pilot's available and crazy. 2) W&B will work. 3) Wx may be an issue with severe icing possible and 4) Airport conditions may be untenable.  So that's two thumbs up and two thumbs sideways at the moment, will get back when I know more."  Bottom line, the #3 factor didn't matter, because there is no way to get the airport up and running by 9 am tomorrow.  They have worked on it non-stop, and every time they get the runway clear, the snow blows back over it.  They cleared a path to our hangars, and it's gone.  They have snow piled up too high for low wing airplanes too close to the taxiways. The ramp isn't clear at all.  They shut down 14/32 and just tried to keep open 5/23, and eventually had to give up.  So they were going to stop at 8 pm tonight, shut down the whole airport, and try again in the morning to get it clear.  There is a sheet of ice underneath everything too.  So even if we could get the hangar door open, we couldn't get traction to get the plane out.  We've used tow straps and a Jeep before, but...even if this was an emergency we couldn't really get the job done, especially with the whole airport shut down.  I don't think I've ever seen the whole airport shut down.  Usually we are the one place that has at least one runway open.  But we're not alone.  Every airport around is shut down, even some of the bigger, busier ones.  Indy Exec, Muncie, Ft. Wayne and they have airline service!  Kokomo, Peru, Logansport, Wabash, Marion, Huntington, Monticello, Indy Metro, half of Lafayette and Mt. Comfort, Eagle Creek, Henderson County, Plymouth, Smith Field, Rensellear, Shelbyville, Goshen is officially open by they have braking action of "none", meaning nobody is going in or out of there, Danville, Richmond, Heck, South Bend is all shut down, and they also have airline service.  So as you can see, it's a mess out there, and I told MBros not to feel bad, nobody else is getting in or out tomorrow morning either.  

This is good, because our driveway is under almost 2' of snow too and we have some shoveling to do tomorrow to be able to get ourselves out. It's a little too high to just put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive and go for it like we usually do. ;)

We watched "Hitch" with Will Smith to give us something to laugh at today, after Steve spent a lot of time answering dozens and dozens of pages of questions from the lawyers on "the other side".   This was just for three of the entities that they're suing.  We have like three more coming later.  I think I mentioned I was named personally in the suit now too, because if they can get both me and Steve, there isn't a marital protection on any of our assets, as there would be if they just get him.  Meanwhile, the two people who actually could be considered responsible...the estate of the pilot who crashed, and the person who arranged for the boys to go on the flight, neither are named or under fire.  Just the non-profit kid flying program, the EAA chapter, me personally, Steve personally, the company name that the plane was in, oh, and the airport.  As I've said, most of these have nothing to do with it, and here we sit trying to maintain our own morals while still defending ourselves against this...mess.  You know there's no winning, right?  If we successfully defend ourselves, we'll still end up the bad guys.  People will get dragged in and hurt and angry.  That's how this works.  Don't believe me?  Wait and see.

Speaking of "Christians" who don't walk their talk, there's this family...my good friend who is a pastor's daughter, has had increasing discord with her family's teachings, actions, etc.  So recently she took the very hard for her step of having them come over, sitting down, and discussing with them like adults why her family was leaving their church, that she still loves them, they're still family, she's not trying to hurt anyone, but she feels led in a different direction spiritually.  That went over as well as you can imagine it did, and they have been 'punishing' her and her family ever since.  But the one that just gets me angry enough I've had to deliberately tell myself to stay out of it, is that my friend's son's birthday passed without a single member of her family calling, texting, sending a card, or a present, or a note, or saying "Happy Birthday".  They blew off their own grandson's birthday.  Their own nephew's birthday.  They are punishing their grandson because they are mad at their daughter for daring to want to attend another church that they feel is more aligned with their spiritual beliefs.  Because THAT'S Godlike, right there, right?  I'm so mad at them I can't get to sleep tonight so far.  I get why they're hurt, and upset, I do.  But you are grown ass people and this is your family, who is still reaching out, still saying "I love you", just today on her dad's birthday post in fact.  Who is still there, still trying, and is trying to show the grace and maturity that You Are Not.  Way to prove that you're not the spiritual leader that you like everyone to think you are.  Asshole.  If Ann was still reading this I'd never swear, for the record. But she doesn't, and he is one, and I can't think of a more accurate word.  Narcissistic over-controlling egotistic douche-canoe?  Douche isn't a swear word, right?  

So "Christians" are on my short list right now.  Not all of them, like the guys from MBros, who practice what they preach.  But a few of them...they are the stumbling blocks for others.  They say not to have a glass of wine with dinner because you may be a stumbling block for another Christian's journey.  But it's okay to try to wipe out family members who were only supportive of your kids, and it's okay to blow off your grandson's birthday out of pettiness, and that makes more people want to be Christians like you, too.  Right?

I'm mad today, obviously.  I'm mad at the lawsuit, mad for my friend, and mad at the TV who has done non-stop coverage of it freaking snowing in wintertime.  I'm mad at the cat for being a black hole of need, I'm mad at Dementia for creating a black hole and a black hole of need, and I'm mad at Kaylee who has started skipping some of her morning classes, especially when we saw the yearly money put into that school for the upcoming tax season. I'm mad at winter because I hate winter anyway.  I'm mad at Grace who is doing everything she can to seek attention in every way, from her eating disorder to going out on dates all the time trying to find a man to save her, which is NOT how this works, and now ending up dating, and I shit you not (I'm going to swear a lot today, and it's fine), the guy who dresses up as Batman and goes jogging around town.  He's in his mid-30s, he has a Batman fetish, and now he's "in a relationship" with mentally ill, physically ill, desperate to not be alone, 21 year old physically and about 14 years old mentally/emotionally, Grace.  This is not going to end well.  Her poor dad is probably completely lost.  I feel really bad for him.  I'm not mad at HIM, at least.  But I am pretty mad tonight.  Good thing I don't have to wake up early tomorrow for anything.  I have to get un-mad before I can get to sleep and so far that's not going well.  ;)

Wordle 229 3/6

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I guess it's after midnight, I could see what the next one is.  But if I'm tired and it takes me 5 tries I'll be mad again.  ;)

Well, I think it's finally stopping snowing.  It's pretty.  Now it can go away and be Spring and bring out the taildraggers and the flowers and my allergy pills.  Thank you. Goodnight.