BOB

It was a long, busy one.  I woke up at 7 am, got ready, took care of the cat and got Ann ready for the day, and then made it out to the airport to take the Aerostar and (hand fly) to DuPage, Illinois, by Chicago.  Rides begin at 9, and I was going to be there at 8:45.  At 8:30 I got a text in the air that my first passengers were already there and paid for and waiting for me.  That's a good way to start the day!  So I landed, walked over, preflighted the plane, fortunately Dave had left it ready to go for me, loaded up all the passengers, a family, and then headed up for the first flight of the day.  I ended up with 5 rides flights, which is not bad at all.  The problem was, I over did it.  I stood out there in the sun from 9 am until after 5 pm, in a flight suit over clothing, and I talked to people, and when I loaded up the plane, we'd sit in there for 20 minutes on the ground waiting to go, with no air flow, and it was hot, muggy, humid, and kind of brutal.  I was drinking water and Gatorade all day, and a Diet Mt. Dew in there to make sure I had caffeine too, and by the end of the day, I was already in trouble.  I was over-heated, over-sunned, and dehydrated no matter what I drank, and I could feel the headache coming on.  I took six Tylenol throughout the day, but by the end, that wasn't enough.  I did one last ride, sweating so badly that it was running into my eyes and contacts and made it hard to see.  We flew, everyone got out, and then I had to secure the airplane.  Fueling it up, fetching the ladder and setting it up, climbing up and down, fueling, putting the catch cans on, securing the hot cabin, closing the windows, securing the seat belts, the control lock, took rags and wiped down the oil off of the airplane, by the time I was done, I was not in great shape.  I waved at everybody and got in the Aerostar to go home.

In the Aerostar, I had brought an extra shirt, other than the polyester CAF shirt I have to wear.  So I got up in the air, and I took off my shirt, and sat there topless with two air vents aimed at my head and neck, and then put on my clean cotton shirt.  Drank another water on the way home.  About 1/2 way home, my head was throbbing, and I was not feeling well.  You know I always say I know myself and my limits? I was at them. I concentrated very hard coming in to land, making sure I didn't forget the gear, took the two Imitrex I had in my purse, left the plane on the ramp, went into the hangar, laid down on the couch, put my sunglasses on and a pillow over my head, and I rested for an hour like that.  I only got up about an hour later when the queasy went away and I started feeling better again.  I slowly put the plane away, locked up, and drove to Cone Palace where I got some ice cream and some mushrooms, and came on home, finally, after a long and tiring day, full of people and talking and socializing and extroverting and being "On", in a sauna.  

When I got home, Lon & Cathy have made it in, and have been taking care of Ann today while I was gone.  And the cat.  lol  Ann had been put to bed but she came out to wave at me on the porch. I waved her back inside to go to bed.  

Now...I'm going to go to bed. Get some sleep.  Sleep in.  And tomorrow be careful about how much heat/sun exposure I get.  Heat exhaustion is cumulative and I accumulated a lot of it in one very long day...

With a happy family in the Beech today

Sweaty me with Fifi

Cool clouds over Fifi. I wish I had a better photo of the plane to go with it.

Me crashing on the couch afterwards. Me coming back alive after crashing on the couch, actually.