Waukegan

First on the agenda this morning was my eye exam. I go to 20/20 Vision. I used to go to Dr. Mike, but his office is SO expensive, his glasses are like $800 as a baseline, the exam is expensive, and I don't have vision insurance. So I went to Wal-Mart, and that was a good idea, because I could pick up a set of contacts anywhere in the country if I needed them. But then my eye doctor there yelled at me. Twice in one day. Blew me off when I said my contacts fog over the first day I put them in, said I just had grease on my finger, and when I proved it to him there in his own office by putting in a new pair, he said I had eye make up on and that was it. And then it was during the "Wear a mask or you're a horrible human" phase, and I had a mask on, but when he would ask me questions and I would answer him, my mask would slip below my nostrils as I was speaking, and he said "Pull that up!" I did, and said somewhat pleasantly that I keep pulling it up but it rides down a little when I talk and he snapped at me "Then YOU need to get a better FITTING mask". I was done. I don't need a Wal-Mart doctor to speak to me that way. I don't need ANYbody to speak to me that way. I walked out of there and never returned, and went to 20/20 Vision. The exams are $150, which isn't terrible, and he's actually very good. He takes his time and is thorough, and cares about helping you be able to see your best. The contacts are a decent price. So I have no regrets. He said I am looking good, my eyes are fairly stable, didn't hardly change at all in two years, no cataracts, no start of macular degeneration, no problems. He is updating my contacts to a slightly stronger bifocal and that's about it. So that was all good.

It started off less than great. I arrived in the rain at 15 till, not knowing they didn't open their doors until 9. So I sat in their parking lot until they opened at 9:01. I walk in, check in, I'm the first appointment of the day, and I don't get seen until 9:20. I know they weren't behind because of a previous client. But he made up for it in the end. ;) AND, they fixed my Ray Ban sunglasses, which I had managed to bend all out of shape somehow, so bad they sat on my face funny. They still don't fold up quite properly, but they do sit on my face correctly at least! I could probably take them back to a Ray Ban place, but...they do fit my face at least!

I stopped at a coffee place and picked one up on my way out to the airport. It was still raining, low and cloudy and yucky. I met up with Morgan out there, and we finished getting the Aerostar ready to go. Tre arrived, and I loaded up her bags, walking stick, and walker, and we launched into the 300' overcast ceilings. I was hand flying, and then got set up and put on the autopilot, and...it wouldn't hold altitude. Wouldn't capture, wouldn't hold. So now I get to hand fly the whole time into Chicago's very busy airspace, and fly an ILS approach reporting 200' ceilings when we left, which is minimums. I told Morgan it was her job to make sure I didn't kill us, and she agreed, but I didn't do badly after all. ;) Shot the approach in, helped Tre get with her son whom she hadn't seen in 2-3 years, and then took a crew car and went into town to eat at Jester's, which is a local Chicago style pizza place.

We got a "double decker cheese pizza", and it was huge, and thick, and gooey, and Really, really good. You could only eat one piece of the thing and you were loaded with dough and cheese. I brought the rest of it home, and Steve and Jeff each had a piece too. Good stuff, man, good stuff.

I hung out at Kokomo for a few hours with Steve and Morgan, worked on my receipts and logbook and billing, and scheduling upcoming flights, and then headed for home and a piece of homemade pumpkin pie. Did a little shopping to replace some house staples like paper plates and Reddi Whip. You know, important stuff. ;) 

Watching a Landman episode before I have to get to bed early here, because I have to be up at 4:45 am for the trip to Guymon, Oklahoma, then over to Dodge City, Kansas. We're taking the Conquest so thankfully that will be faster, but it'll still be a good 6 hours flight time. I still don't know when we're going to be able to leave, but I'll have it figured out by sometime tomorrow. ;) I also need to check the weather, since the Aerostar doesn't have a working autopilot, I don't need bad weather if I can help it, so will try to see when it looks good. Haven't had a chance to do that stuff yet.

A giant Chicago style cheese pizza

Broke out at Kokomo around 500'

Nice glasses ;)

A friendlier version in the plane