It's very quiet around here right now. Steve and Kaylee have gone to Warsaw with AE and Justin to get things ready for tomorrow's air show, and they're spending the night up there, so I'm here all by my lonesome. I had a 1.2 flight this morning in the 172, followed by a quick lunch and a 4-hour trip to Virginia and back. All that wasn't done until 5 p.m., which was just in time to say goodbye to the family on their way north. :) My trip was uneventful other than I got ice. I did actually pick up ice, and I even popped the boots once. In August. Of course that can happen at 19,000' in juicy clouds when it's -8C up there...
Kaylee is texting me off and on tonight, about when she's checking in to her room, about the chocolate dessert she's eating at 10:30 at night, all sorts of things. I enjoy hearing from her. :)
The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to get up early again tomorrow. I've had to get up early every day, some days overly early, and I'm ready to sleep in a morning. Just not tomorrow morning I guess.
Here's a video from the back seat of an Aeroshell Team demo flight from Oshkosh this year. The acro starts at 4 minutes 30 seconds into it. I found myself listening to the power during some of the turns/moves, watching the wingtip draw a circle in the loop like Nathan had told me, and trying to figure out what they were flying off of since it wasn't the standard "points". I've seen the Blue Angels in a cockpit video of their formation, but hadn't seen "the boys" from inside the cockpit before. I enjoyed it. Don't worry, I won't be doing formation acro any time soon. I'd have to get better at both formation and at acro first. But it sure does look like fun. ;)
Showing posts with label flying videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flying videos. Show all posts
Friday, August 16, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
Kickin' It
Man, I really need to catch up my logbook again, dangit. I let it get way too far, and here I had been doing so well for so long. *sigh*
Flew the ole "Slug" today, 32L, with a guy working on his instrument rating. You might not think that airplane is good for that because there are no gizmos and the panel is arranged in other than the normal configuration, but when you're working on the basics of interception and tracking and holding, you don't need gizmos. In fact, this may help with situational awareness in the end anyway. Really, the airplane did very well today. We were full of fuel on a not-that-cool day with two not-that-small people in it, and it performed very well. I do like that airplane. It could use a couple small things, but all in all it's a solid airplane.
Next up after lunch I got to solo a guy who has been working towards solo for...years. He's another one, he's had some difficulties, in many different arenas, but he kept on going, and today he kicked me out of the airplane and went off by himself. I always love that. When I was inside, while he went around the pattern I sat down and was watching the TV there. A guy came in and said he wished he was a CFI so he could sit at the airport and watch TV. I said "WHILE your student is on his first solo." He said I must be too scared to watch the guy land. I said no, I wasn't nervous at all about it, it just takes him awhile to get around the pattern, so I relax for a few minutes then go watch the landing. And he did great, of course. :) Yesterday one of mine passed a checkride, today one went solo, it's a good week!
Before I got out, I told the guy that there was a radio inside, that I'd be listening, if there was anything that came up, I'd be there. He said "What if I get on the radio and say 'Laura--how do I land this thing again??'" I told him that if that were the case I'd get on the radio and talk him through it, but that he and I both know I won't have to do that. ;)
The below is a video I saw last year sometime, that Nathan sent on today. That just looks like a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I'd enjoy doing that for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile. Probably just long enough to get good at it. ;) But it definitely gets the testosterone going. C'mon, doesn't this look like fun?? (I just showed this to Kaylee, who said "You would have a LOT of fun with that, wouldn't you." I'm like 'Yup!'
This weekend is slowly coming into focus. We're going to send another CFI down to support the Westfield fly-in. Steve's going to Air Boss at the Warsaw airshow. Kaylee is going to wait until the next go-around in a few weeks to test for her yellow belt, both because she wants us both there and because she wants more time to practice first. She did get a yellow stripe on her existing belt today, and she broke her first board. A thicker board than she'll have to break for her test, apparently. She's feeling pretty proud of herself. :) And me...I'm either going to Louisville for a formation thing, or going to Warsaw to give rides and fly in their show for them. I'm leaning towards Warsaw at the moment. The guy's a super nice guy, he's excited to have us there, and we'll GET gas for going, not just me spending gas somewhere else. Who needs practice anyway, right? *cough*
Flew the ole "Slug" today, 32L, with a guy working on his instrument rating. You might not think that airplane is good for that because there are no gizmos and the panel is arranged in other than the normal configuration, but when you're working on the basics of interception and tracking and holding, you don't need gizmos. In fact, this may help with situational awareness in the end anyway. Really, the airplane did very well today. We were full of fuel on a not-that-cool day with two not-that-small people in it, and it performed very well. I do like that airplane. It could use a couple small things, but all in all it's a solid airplane.
Next up after lunch I got to solo a guy who has been working towards solo for...years. He's another one, he's had some difficulties, in many different arenas, but he kept on going, and today he kicked me out of the airplane and went off by himself. I always love that. When I was inside, while he went around the pattern I sat down and was watching the TV there. A guy came in and said he wished he was a CFI so he could sit at the airport and watch TV. I said "WHILE your student is on his first solo." He said I must be too scared to watch the guy land. I said no, I wasn't nervous at all about it, it just takes him awhile to get around the pattern, so I relax for a few minutes then go watch the landing. And he did great, of course. :) Yesterday one of mine passed a checkride, today one went solo, it's a good week!
Before I got out, I told the guy that there was a radio inside, that I'd be listening, if there was anything that came up, I'd be there. He said "What if I get on the radio and say 'Laura--how do I land this thing again??'" I told him that if that were the case I'd get on the radio and talk him through it, but that he and I both know I won't have to do that. ;)
The below is a video I saw last year sometime, that Nathan sent on today. That just looks like a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I'd enjoy doing that for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile. Probably just long enough to get good at it. ;) But it definitely gets the testosterone going. C'mon, doesn't this look like fun?? (I just showed this to Kaylee, who said "You would have a LOT of fun with that, wouldn't you." I'm like 'Yup!'
This weekend is slowly coming into focus. We're going to send another CFI down to support the Westfield fly-in. Steve's going to Air Boss at the Warsaw airshow. Kaylee is going to wait until the next go-around in a few weeks to test for her yellow belt, both because she wants us both there and because she wants more time to practice first. She did get a yellow stripe on her existing belt today, and she broke her first board. A thicker board than she'll have to break for her test, apparently. She's feeling pretty proud of herself. :) And me...I'm either going to Louisville for a formation thing, or going to Warsaw to give rides and fly in their show for them. I'm leaning towards Warsaw at the moment. The guy's a super nice guy, he's excited to have us there, and we'll GET gas for going, not just me spending gas somewhere else. Who needs practice anyway, right? *cough*
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Late
At 1 a.m. as I start this, I should be in bed. But today was kind of a busy one, and I didn't have a great chance to relax quietly, so I'm taking that now instead. Kaylee has a friend over, and they're doing a sleep-over here, and they're just now going to bed, so I'm taking the quiet. Even the TV is muted. :)
There is an aerobatics competition going on this weekend, and it was going in earnest this afternoon/evening. I had a student who needed to prep for a checkride, so we went off to Marion to do takeoffs and landings and various maneuvers. We spent time on paperwork and on computer stuff, the guys unloaded the trailer from Oshkosh and cleaned up, Nathan and I took up the 340 to check out the fuel flows, which were great, Zak and crew helped us out by getting lunch and dinner going, and we had burgers and dogs and side dishes late in the evening. The only problems were the humidity and the flies--otherwise it was a very nice day.
This was in an aviation newsletter today: "Forget everything you know about operating an airplane. Forget about engine management, rough takeoffs and landings, inherent safety risks, and twin-engine operations -- oh, and half of the performance charts. The swashbuckling image of the pilot barely surviving as he wrestles the airplane to the ground is gone. In its place is a smart, savvy cockpit manager who oversees complex systems with a few simple button pushes that take him anywhere he wants to go, in comfort and unique style. The new Diamond DA42-VI is on the leading edge of light airplane technology." Sorry, but I like the swashbuckling image of the pilot in command a whole lot more than I like the button pusher pilot who is basically a manager and a passenger on his own airplane. And I even like traveling in style and comfort with lots of cool gizmos, too...
I got my pictures up of Oshkosh, and I have more to go--Justin's and Steve T's photos are in hand. :) And speaking of Oshkosh, "Slick" put up a 2013 video of Oshkosh, per the below. Slick's video of a former year, can't remember which one, 2010 maybe, is still my all-time favorite Oshkosh video. But even the ones that aren't my favorites make me smile as I look back and remember what I saw while I was there, and a few things I hadn't seen too.
There is an aerobatics competition going on this weekend, and it was going in earnest this afternoon/evening. I had a student who needed to prep for a checkride, so we went off to Marion to do takeoffs and landings and various maneuvers. We spent time on paperwork and on computer stuff, the guys unloaded the trailer from Oshkosh and cleaned up, Nathan and I took up the 340 to check out the fuel flows, which were great, Zak and crew helped us out by getting lunch and dinner going, and we had burgers and dogs and side dishes late in the evening. The only problems were the humidity and the flies--otherwise it was a very nice day.
This was in an aviation newsletter today: "Forget everything you know about operating an airplane. Forget about engine management, rough takeoffs and landings, inherent safety risks, and twin-engine operations -- oh, and half of the performance charts. The swashbuckling image of the pilot barely surviving as he wrestles the airplane to the ground is gone. In its place is a smart, savvy cockpit manager who oversees complex systems with a few simple button pushes that take him anywhere he wants to go, in comfort and unique style. The new Diamond DA42-VI is on the leading edge of light airplane technology." Sorry, but I like the swashbuckling image of the pilot in command a whole lot more than I like the button pusher pilot who is basically a manager and a passenger on his own airplane. And I even like traveling in style and comfort with lots of cool gizmos, too...
I got my pictures up of Oshkosh, and I have more to go--Justin's and Steve T's photos are in hand. :) And speaking of Oshkosh, "Slick" put up a 2013 video of Oshkosh, per the below. Slick's video of a former year, can't remember which one, 2010 maybe, is still my all-time favorite Oshkosh video. But even the ones that aren't my favorites make me smile as I look back and remember what I saw while I was there, and a few things I hadn't seen too.
Friday, August 09, 2013
Friday
I basically spent from 10 a.m. through to 6:45 p.m. with one student today, prepping for a checkride, waiting for weather, flying, doing paperwork, checking over stuff, etc. We flew for 4 hours, and by the end of it, she was exhausted and yawning non-stop, and stumbling, and I said "I think I broke you." She laughed and agreed. But this is the only time we've been able to fly for her checkride since about 3 weeks ago. We were both gone over Oshkosh, and then the weather every day this week hasn't been good enough-until this afternoon finally. We have one more flight tomorrow to see if she can remember to do it all herself--she can fly it, but she doesn't always remember everything in sequence for all the maneuvers yet. So that's what she's got to do tomorrow, and then her checkride is Sunday.
There's an aerobatics competition going on this weekend too. The weather finally let up for them, too, and there was lots of flying going on this afternoon, lots of airplanes out on the ramp. It should be a beautiful weekend for them. It kind of messes with students, and I hate to do that particularly on a checkride, but you get what you get in flying.
Speaking of aerobatics, this is Bud Granley doing a T-6 act. As best I can tell, he squeezes his eyes shut as he is performing a low level what, snap roll (?) after takeoff (?) in a T-6. Dang. You can see him checking his airspeed indicator a lot before each move. I wish I could see this from the outside as well as looking at his face and a little of the canopy behind him. Pretty impressive. I need to win the next half a billion dollar lottery so I can afford to learn and stay proficient at all the things I need (need? I suppose 'want' is the more appropriate term, though it doesn't feel like it) to yet learn/do/master. Let's see. I 'need' to be able to have Steve and I both go to Florida one cold Indiana winter weekend and do our seaplane ratings. And then go get the multi-engine seaplane rating in a Twin Beech on floats. I need to go to Alaska, find some crusty old bush pilot, and have him take me/us into and out of places that will make my heart rate go up. I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on...well, I'll just leave it with I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on stuff. Lots of different stuff. Including the below video stuff, only I'd do it higher up. ;)
And speaking of gas, part of tomorrow's plan is for me, Nathan and Steve to take up the 340 and do a little checking on fuel flows at exact power settings and altitudes. We're supposed to be getting a certain number, the data says it's getting that number, the maintenance shop said it was getting that number, but I saw a lot lower number on the way home. I'm not crazy, I was looking at it for too long to have imagined it. I'm not sure if I'm hoping to see the right numbers tomorrow, so I know there's no problem, or if I'm hoping to see the wrong numbers tomorrow, so it won't be one of those crazy things that only I saw happen and will never know why. Practically, I hope to see the right numbers. Impractically I'd like somebody else to see the wrong numbers too. lol
Kaylee was able to get together with Maggie tonight, and tomorrow night she is having a friend, Abby, over for a sleep-over. School starts the 14th, so it's good to get in some of this stuff now. She wanted to watch "Planes" again at opening night, but had company instead. Since she's already seen it once, I told her she'd survive until another night to go watch it. It IS a cute movie, and I enjoyed it too.
Oh, that reminds me, I heard an advertisement on the radio today, and a guy said he was looking for a clearance to land on "Runway thirty-nine 'Ar'." If you're gonna use pilot lingo, at least look up a real runway. I can see how the "r" can be mistaken, if you're just looking at it on a picture, but Runway thirty-nine? Ugh.
A quote attributed to Andy Rooney: "I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss." Yup!
There's an aerobatics competition going on this weekend too. The weather finally let up for them, too, and there was lots of flying going on this afternoon, lots of airplanes out on the ramp. It should be a beautiful weekend for them. It kind of messes with students, and I hate to do that particularly on a checkride, but you get what you get in flying.
Speaking of aerobatics, this is Bud Granley doing a T-6 act. As best I can tell, he squeezes his eyes shut as he is performing a low level what, snap roll (?) after takeoff (?) in a T-6. Dang. You can see him checking his airspeed indicator a lot before each move. I wish I could see this from the outside as well as looking at his face and a little of the canopy behind him. Pretty impressive. I need to win the next half a billion dollar lottery so I can afford to learn and stay proficient at all the things I need (need? I suppose 'want' is the more appropriate term, though it doesn't feel like it) to yet learn/do/master. Let's see. I 'need' to be able to have Steve and I both go to Florida one cold Indiana winter weekend and do our seaplane ratings. And then go get the multi-engine seaplane rating in a Twin Beech on floats. I need to go to Alaska, find some crusty old bush pilot, and have him take me/us into and out of places that will make my heart rate go up. I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on...well, I'll just leave it with I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on stuff. Lots of different stuff. Including the below video stuff, only I'd do it higher up. ;)
And speaking of gas, part of tomorrow's plan is for me, Nathan and Steve to take up the 340 and do a little checking on fuel flows at exact power settings and altitudes. We're supposed to be getting a certain number, the data says it's getting that number, the maintenance shop said it was getting that number, but I saw a lot lower number on the way home. I'm not crazy, I was looking at it for too long to have imagined it. I'm not sure if I'm hoping to see the right numbers tomorrow, so I know there's no problem, or if I'm hoping to see the wrong numbers tomorrow, so it won't be one of those crazy things that only I saw happen and will never know why. Practically, I hope to see the right numbers. Impractically I'd like somebody else to see the wrong numbers too. lol
Kaylee was able to get together with Maggie tonight, and tomorrow night she is having a friend, Abby, over for a sleep-over. School starts the 14th, so it's good to get in some of this stuff now. She wanted to watch "Planes" again at opening night, but had company instead. Since she's already seen it once, I told her she'd survive until another night to go watch it. It IS a cute movie, and I enjoyed it too.
Oh, that reminds me, I heard an advertisement on the radio today, and a guy said he was looking for a clearance to land on "Runway thirty-nine 'Ar'." If you're gonna use pilot lingo, at least look up a real runway. I can see how the "r" can be mistaken, if you're just looking at it on a picture, but Runway thirty-nine? Ugh.
A quote attributed to Andy Rooney: "I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss." Yup!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Not Quite Back
Well, we are sort of back, but I still have bags and suitcases not unpacked, laundry not done, and not a whole lot caught up. I did have a flight out of the gate this morning at 9, for about an hour. Kaylee got to go play over at the airport where Maggie was hanging out, so that eased her back into life in Kokomo. She also has spent the last day re-reading "The Hunger Games". She's almost done with Book 2. She read Book 1 yesterday, and is mad at me tonight for making her go to bed at almost midnight instead of finishing Book 2, because she played for several hours instead of finishing it. I don't blame her, really I don't, but you gotta go to bed sometime when you're 11. :)
Other than the usual, I also worked on pictures today. That's what I hit the hardest. I got five pages of photos up on My Site, and I'm sure I'll be adding more as other people get their pictures to me. :)
Found this video on Youtube. It's not very exciting, because we didn't do anything at that air show other than make passes, but here it tis anyway: me doing a few passes at Lost Nation, Ohio.
Other than the usual, I also worked on pictures today. That's what I hit the hardest. I got five pages of photos up on My Site, and I'm sure I'll be adding more as other people get their pictures to me. :)
Found this video on Youtube. It's not very exciting, because we didn't do anything at that air show other than make passes, but here it tis anyway: me doing a few passes at Lost Nation, Ohio.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Spitfires
I'm sorry--turn up the speakers, loud, close the eyes for about 3 minutes, and I have goosebumps. Magic. ;)
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Grass Strip Hopping
It was 84 degrees today, sunny, and windy. Ty and I were going to go flying today, and around 1:30 I got the text "I think we should go". The winds were only gusting up to 25-27 knots and we were in a Mighty Chief, so why not? ;)
Ty was helping me figure out how to find these places out in the middle of nowhere, and by jove I think I've got it. ;) We made the rounds of a lot of places. Tudor's East/West strip with very tall trees at one end, Tacket's North/South in between tress, nice and wide, Duncan's North/South, with a big upslope and phone lines at one end, then on to Indian Hills, over to Glenndale, and back to Kokomo for a few. We took turns trying to get a decent wheel landing out of it, and much merriment ensued. Ty nailed one at Glenndale, meaning it was my turn and I didn't have a prayer. When we got to Kokomo, all my attempts ended up three pointers, and all Ty's attempts ended up bouncy, and I'm pretty sure we looked crazy from the ground. In fact, I know we did, because Ty's student was watching, came up to us afterwards and pretty much let us know we looked crazy. But hey, it was a fun way to spend a few hours this afternoon. :)
Here's a video I made of our journey around these places today...
Ty was helping me figure out how to find these places out in the middle of nowhere, and by jove I think I've got it. ;) We made the rounds of a lot of places. Tudor's East/West strip with very tall trees at one end, Tacket's North/South in between tress, nice and wide, Duncan's North/South, with a big upslope and phone lines at one end, then on to Indian Hills, over to Glenndale, and back to Kokomo for a few. We took turns trying to get a decent wheel landing out of it, and much merriment ensued. Ty nailed one at Glenndale, meaning it was my turn and I didn't have a prayer. When we got to Kokomo, all my attempts ended up three pointers, and all Ty's attempts ended up bouncy, and I'm pretty sure we looked crazy from the ground. In fact, I know we did, because Ty's student was watching, came up to us afterwards and pretty much let us know we looked crazy. But hey, it was a fun way to spend a few hours this afternoon. :)
Here's a video I made of our journey around these places today...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Jet Sledding
I had a whole post done yesterday that got eaten somehow, and now I don't feel like retyping it. But in the meantime, here is a jet sledding video. And I thought tubing behind Dewayne's pick-up truck on the back roads in college was fast and fun...that was obviously amateur hour. :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Lukewarm, Cold, Warm and Hot
I'm not perfectly satisfied with this background blog photo, considering it's looking out of a back seat window on an airliner and I'm only fond of a few backseats and none of them are airliners; but after some searching through photos of my own, I have yet to find a good one that doesn't have something important framed in the middle of the shot right where the writing would cover it up. So, I'll leave this for now, and keep my eye out for something better down the road. :)
There was much whining and complaining this morning when we found out there was no school delay. Kaylee wasn't happy either. We did, however, get a decent amount of snow by the end of today, enough to make the whole world white again. People on the news are saying things like "Snow Fatigue" and how much snow we've had so far this winter, and how they are getting sick of snow. I don't mind snow, actually. It's cold and dreary I don't like. I did have to kind of laugh though. "Snow Fatigue"? Is that an official diagnosis too now? I wonder if it's medically disqualifying. It might be for me, because I'm all "fatigued" of winter about a week after it starts...long term exposure to Snow Fatigue could be hazardous to your health...hmmm.
We combated our own snow fatigue with an EAA chapter meeting tonight with homemade chili (I brought my own colby-jack cheese chunks to melt in there) and talking about putting skis on planes, how to operate them, etc. We've got a set of skis that a fellow loaned to us for the J-3 Cub; they arrived tonight so we checked them out and started in with nefarious plotting. We just need to get the attaching brackets, a couple bolts, maybe a special set of wheels, and...go for it. Now that should be fun. Heh heh. How hard can it be? ;) We also really started hitting Oshkosh plans, believe it or not, convincing AE to get a bigger trailer and coming up with automated beverage dispensers, an observation platform, etc. It was a nice warm evening--indoors, anyway!
Speaking of fun, I got notification today that I have a laptop on its way to my door, supposedly tomorrow. A new, shiny, non-glued-together, screen-all-working, non-overheating laptop. I guess I'll have to miss out on having it melt down, literally, on my lap after all. ;) But that was a little heart-warming as well!
And...last but not least, the below does a nice job of bringing the heat. I could even skip the visual, it's the sound. Spitfires and Mustangs are hard to beat for the "baddest" sounding single-engine birds out there....
Whew!
There was much whining and complaining this morning when we found out there was no school delay. Kaylee wasn't happy either. We did, however, get a decent amount of snow by the end of today, enough to make the whole world white again. People on the news are saying things like "Snow Fatigue" and how much snow we've had so far this winter, and how they are getting sick of snow. I don't mind snow, actually. It's cold and dreary I don't like. I did have to kind of laugh though. "Snow Fatigue"? Is that an official diagnosis too now? I wonder if it's medically disqualifying. It might be for me, because I'm all "fatigued" of winter about a week after it starts...long term exposure to Snow Fatigue could be hazardous to your health...hmmm.
We combated our own snow fatigue with an EAA chapter meeting tonight with homemade chili (I brought my own colby-jack cheese chunks to melt in there) and talking about putting skis on planes, how to operate them, etc. We've got a set of skis that a fellow loaned to us for the J-3 Cub; they arrived tonight so we checked them out and started in with nefarious plotting. We just need to get the attaching brackets, a couple bolts, maybe a special set of wheels, and...go for it. Now that should be fun. Heh heh. How hard can it be? ;) We also really started hitting Oshkosh plans, believe it or not, convincing AE to get a bigger trailer and coming up with automated beverage dispensers, an observation platform, etc. It was a nice warm evening--indoors, anyway!
Speaking of fun, I got notification today that I have a laptop on its way to my door, supposedly tomorrow. A new, shiny, non-glued-together, screen-all-working, non-overheating laptop. I guess I'll have to miss out on having it melt down, literally, on my lap after all. ;) But that was a little heart-warming as well!
And...last but not least, the below does a nice job of bringing the heat. I could even skip the visual, it's the sound. Spitfires and Mustangs are hard to beat for the "baddest" sounding single-engine birds out there....
Whew!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Oshkosh 2010 Video
This guy Slick does a video every year, and he does such a fantastic job. Last year's video is probably always going to be my favorite-I still watch it now and then-but here is this year's video...snapshots taken in a ten-day period of time. :)
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
AirVenture 2009
This video compilation was done by a guy named "Slick", and I thought he did a fantastic job. This is a great sampling of things I saw, and the Mustang and the checkernose T-6 even make brief appearances. But mostly it's a week of flying in 5 minutes flat... You ought to make it "full screen". :)
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
That. Is. Awesome.
It's as close as any of us will ever get to a ride with the Blues. It's almost 10 minutes long. The guy didn't put it to music, just left it raw footage, and you can hear him cackling and woo hoo-ing now and then. I would cackle and woo hoo, myself. ;)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Huh. I did not know that.
Whaddya know-Learn something new every day.
(Mental note to self about flushing while seated...)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday's Snapshots
I woke up this morning to a student-cancelled flight due to impending winds (that never really got as bad as they were supposed to get), gray skies, and the below video to bring a little cheer. The high quality version is here-I uploaded it to Google so a few people on a slow connection could still see it, but it won't let me embed it here for some reason, so here's a link to that. :) To cover the basics, the airplanes include Nathan's Checkertail Clan P-51 and T-6, and the polished/yellow T-6 that Tim S. loaned to us for awhile as Nathan's was being finished up. The people in the video: Nathan D. is the big red bobble head up front, I'm the girl you see here and there in the airplanes and the little red bobble head in the back, Jim Z. is the white bobble head, and Duane C. is the gray bobble head. The video clips were taken by me, and the photos were taken by me and Trey C. The video itself was created by/put together by Justin G. The song was the one I most often listened to in my headphones with my portable tape player on my way to the airport to take primary flight lessons as a 'kid'. Anyway, I thought Justin did a nice job on the video, thought I'd share. :)
Kaylee had a pretty good day. She's been wounding herself a lot lately though. At the airport last weekend she wiped out on her scooter on the concrete and got a nasty scrape on her arm. It scabbed over nicely, but yesterday she fell off her bed and hit that arm again, hard enough to make it start bleeding enough that I had to put an actual pad on it, not just a bandaid. Her ear infection is under control now that she's been on antibiotics for a few days, but she still has to finish the 10-day antibiotic course. Her allergies have been a little better today too, but I'm half afraid to not give her the allergy med tonight since her waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe at all is just not fun for any of us. She's doing well in school, is enjoying her after school activities, and is on course for finishing her book for Awanas. She's a good girl and lots of fun to hang out with. :)
After ballet today, she begged for some ice cream because we hadn't done that or had any at home in ages. I said okay. She took a bite, frowned, took another bite, leaned in and whispered "Mommy, this tastes wrong." So I took a bite, and she was right, it had serious freezer burn. She looked at me and said "I know, I know, I have to eat it, don't I." I said no, of course not, not if something is wrong with it. When I told her I was going to ask the lady for a cotton candy smoothie instead for her, she said "You can DO that?? You'd do that for me?" She's never seen us send food back or complain-apparently we've never had anything wrong with our food before around her. :)
First the NCAA championships take over my shows, and now Obama's press conference is. I wish the basketball was on ESPN where it belongs, and perhaps the press conference can be on CNN/Fox/MSNBC or whatever regular channel exists for people who are in the mood for political pontificating. *sigh*
Kaylee had a pretty good day. She's been wounding herself a lot lately though. At the airport last weekend she wiped out on her scooter on the concrete and got a nasty scrape on her arm. It scabbed over nicely, but yesterday she fell off her bed and hit that arm again, hard enough to make it start bleeding enough that I had to put an actual pad on it, not just a bandaid. Her ear infection is under control now that she's been on antibiotics for a few days, but she still has to finish the 10-day antibiotic course. Her allergies have been a little better today too, but I'm half afraid to not give her the allergy med tonight since her waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe at all is just not fun for any of us. She's doing well in school, is enjoying her after school activities, and is on course for finishing her book for Awanas. She's a good girl and lots of fun to hang out with. :)
After ballet today, she begged for some ice cream because we hadn't done that or had any at home in ages. I said okay. She took a bite, frowned, took another bite, leaned in and whispered "Mommy, this tastes wrong." So I took a bite, and she was right, it had serious freezer burn. She looked at me and said "I know, I know, I have to eat it, don't I." I said no, of course not, not if something is wrong with it. When I told her I was going to ask the lady for a cotton candy smoothie instead for her, she said "You can DO that?? You'd do that for me?" She's never seen us send food back or complain-apparently we've never had anything wrong with our food before around her. :)
First the NCAA championships take over my shows, and now Obama's press conference is. I wish the basketball was on ESPN where it belongs, and perhaps the press conference can be on CNN/Fox/MSNBC or whatever regular channel exists for people who are in the mood for political pontificating. *sigh*
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy Green Day
We are neither Irish nor Catholic, and really I can't find a good reason to celebrate St Patrick's Day other than it's fun for kids to get involved with shamrocks, green clothes to avoid being pinched, green foods and drinks, and a reason to do something different for a day. Hey, it works for Kaylee. ;)
Apparently when you are 8, if you can't sleep because you can't breathe, nobody else can sleep either. Not that I blame you. Poor Kaylee, she's so miserable with allergies right now. Even if I give her medicine, she wakes up almost suffocating. The last two nights were particularly bad, and she comes into our room, trying so hard to be quiet and to be considerate and just needing somebody to help her get back to sleep, mouth breathing and all. This morning she was propped up in our bed, sneezing and snuffling for hours, getting no real sleep. I looked at the clock at 6:43 and she was still awake. She fell asleep, into a deep, hard sleep for the first time, just after 7 a.m. I was supposed to wake her up 15 minutes later, but I couldn't do it, so she got a 30 minute good sleep and had to rush around to not be late for school, all of which she handled like a champ. Poor girl. She's going to be exhausted by the end of today, particularly since this is the second bad night, and about 4th not-so-great night in a row. Frankly, Steve and I are probably going to be exhausted too, but how can I complain when at least I can breathe?
Since I was running late and my flight this morning was cancelled (so I didn't have to), I didn't get ready in time, so I went forth into the world in full homeless-looking mode. I may not care to be cutting edge on my apparel or appearance, but I generally at least try to go in public in normal clothing, with hair and teeth brushed and make-up on. Not today. After I dropped Kaylee off at school, where I stayed in my car, I walked directly into a small store in sweats and a t-shirt with sunglasses partially covering the fact I have no makeup on, hair akimbo, and I purchased Zyrtek, which is supposed to be the best allergy medicine on the shelf today. It had better be for that price. I about choked. But if it will help Kaylee get a full, restful nights' sleep, it's worth it, because the other stuff I'm trying is not working for her. Of course I knew the lady behind the register at the store, who said "Good morning, Mrs. Stants" and would have gotten a tip if cashiers got tips, for pretending to not even notice my atypical state of disarray. Thanks, Sue. ;)
This morning, after I hauled 50 some pounds of dead weight out to the kitchen this morning, I set a glass of green milk in front of it. She saw it, looked up, slowly smiled, and said "WHAT is that??" I told her it's green milk for St. Patrick's Day, and she shook her head and said "You're crazy." Then she paused, looked in her cereal bowl and said "You didn't do that to my cereal, did you?" (No) She drank it all and liked it though. ;) When I picked Kaylee up from school, I handed her a
bouquet of suckers tied with a green ribbon, and she loved that. That was the end of her good day though. She was pale, listless, weepy for "no" reason, and just flat out exhausted. I tried to get her to take a nap when she got home, but she refused, even though her eyes were red and burning and she sat on my lap and just cried "and I don't know why, Mom!" For once I told her that if she wanted to cry for awhile, that was fine with me. She claimed that her head was killing her, so I gave her some Motrin, and 45 minutes later she still felt horrible. After I got her to close her eyes for 7 whole minutes, have a snack, and lay down on the couch, she finally started to feel a little better and wanted me to take this picture of her sucker bouquet before she ate a "flower" out of it. :)
I thought this was kind of funny-back in the days when flying the airlines was more than just "self-loading cargo" to flight attendants...this is a rapping flight attendant, and he does a pretty good job with it!
Apparently when you are 8, if you can't sleep because you can't breathe, nobody else can sleep either. Not that I blame you. Poor Kaylee, she's so miserable with allergies right now. Even if I give her medicine, she wakes up almost suffocating. The last two nights were particularly bad, and she comes into our room, trying so hard to be quiet and to be considerate and just needing somebody to help her get back to sleep, mouth breathing and all. This morning she was propped up in our bed, sneezing and snuffling for hours, getting no real sleep. I looked at the clock at 6:43 and she was still awake. She fell asleep, into a deep, hard sleep for the first time, just after 7 a.m. I was supposed to wake her up 15 minutes later, but I couldn't do it, so she got a 30 minute good sleep and had to rush around to not be late for school, all of which she handled like a champ. Poor girl. She's going to be exhausted by the end of today, particularly since this is the second bad night, and about 4th not-so-great night in a row. Frankly, Steve and I are probably going to be exhausted too, but how can I complain when at least I can breathe?
Since I was running late and my flight this morning was cancelled (so I didn't have to), I didn't get ready in time, so I went forth into the world in full homeless-looking mode. I may not care to be cutting edge on my apparel or appearance, but I generally at least try to go in public in normal clothing, with hair and teeth brushed and make-up on. Not today. After I dropped Kaylee off at school, where I stayed in my car, I walked directly into a small store in sweats and a t-shirt with sunglasses partially covering the fact I have no makeup on, hair akimbo, and I purchased Zyrtek, which is supposed to be the best allergy medicine on the shelf today. It had better be for that price. I about choked. But if it will help Kaylee get a full, restful nights' sleep, it's worth it, because the other stuff I'm trying is not working for her. Of course I knew the lady behind the register at the store, who said "Good morning, Mrs. Stants" and would have gotten a tip if cashiers got tips, for pretending to not even notice my atypical state of disarray. Thanks, Sue. ;)
This morning, after I hauled 50 some pounds of dead weight out to the kitchen this morning, I set a glass of green milk in front of it. She saw it, looked up, slowly smiled, and said "WHAT is that??" I told her it's green milk for St. Patrick's Day, and she shook her head and said "You're crazy." Then she paused, looked in her cereal bowl and said "You didn't do that to my cereal, did you?" (No) She drank it all and liked it though. ;) When I picked Kaylee up from school, I handed her a
bouquet of suckers tied with a green ribbon, and she loved that. That was the end of her good day though. She was pale, listless, weepy for "no" reason, and just flat out exhausted. I tried to get her to take a nap when she got home, but she refused, even though her eyes were red and burning and she sat on my lap and just cried "and I don't know why, Mom!" For once I told her that if she wanted to cry for awhile, that was fine with me. She claimed that her head was killing her, so I gave her some Motrin, and 45 minutes later she still felt horrible. After I got her to close her eyes for 7 whole minutes, have a snack, and lay down on the couch, she finally started to feel a little better and wanted me to take this picture of her sucker bouquet before she ate a "flower" out of it. :)I thought this was kind of funny-back in the days when flying the airlines was more than just "self-loading cargo" to flight attendants...this is a rapping flight attendant, and he does a pretty good job with it!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
cHump Day
Eh, what a day.
Let's see, good stuff.
Um...
Uh...
Congratulations to Anita and Matt on the birth of their fifth child, their beautiful daughter Joanna!
Kaylee had a fun day, came home and has four sections ready for Awanas tonight. She's in such a good mood she's bouncing off the walls and driving me and the cats both buggy. ;)
I sent off the registration form to participate in a formation clinic. It may or may not work out to fly in it, but I've got some studying to do and if it doesn't work out to fly, I'll still get to ride along and sit through the briefings. I really enjoy formation. The view up there can not get any better than that. Of course the view is much better when you are just riding along and someone else is doing all the work. ;)
That pretty much covers the neutral to positive aspects of today, so I'll end on a few quotes and a nice formation video.
*Edited to add*, after I sent this, I got out the iPod and practically jogged on the treadmill for a mile and a half to burn off some negative energy, which left me feeling better. Then on the way home from dropping Kaylee off at Awanas, this guy in a yellow truck kept revving his engine and looking over at me at a stoplight. I of course ignored him. But then he tried to shoot in front of me when the cross-street stoplights turned red, anticipating the green. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about a delay due to a turn arrow and had to stop. His reflexes were terrible. Our light finally turned green and I smoked him. As I glanced at him in my rear view mirror, I smiled and felt even better. (No animals or children were harmed in the filming of this event, and at no time did I exceed the posted speed limit or bend any traffic laws. He was just slower off the block than he thought he was.) And then I got home, microwaved a piece of free chocolate cake I had gotten from Half Moon yesterday for my birthday, and ate warm gooey chocolate. That pretty much topped off my reserves, and cHump day has turned around nicely at the end. ;)
-----------------------------------
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." ~Thomas A. Edison
"Worry is negative goal setting." ~Brian Tracy
"Do not give any time to your past, you can't change what happened 5 minutes ago." ~Jan Ruhe
"Being serious isn't all that important. What counts is knowing what to be serious about." ~Author unknown
Let's see, good stuff.
Um...
Uh...
Congratulations to Anita and Matt on the birth of their fifth child, their beautiful daughter Joanna!
Kaylee had a fun day, came home and has four sections ready for Awanas tonight. She's in such a good mood she's bouncing off the walls and driving me and the cats both buggy. ;)
I sent off the registration form to participate in a formation clinic. It may or may not work out to fly in it, but I've got some studying to do and if it doesn't work out to fly, I'll still get to ride along and sit through the briefings. I really enjoy formation. The view up there can not get any better than that. Of course the view is much better when you are just riding along and someone else is doing all the work. ;)
That pretty much covers the neutral to positive aspects of today, so I'll end on a few quotes and a nice formation video.
*Edited to add*, after I sent this, I got out the iPod and practically jogged on the treadmill for a mile and a half to burn off some negative energy, which left me feeling better. Then on the way home from dropping Kaylee off at Awanas, this guy in a yellow truck kept revving his engine and looking over at me at a stoplight. I of course ignored him. But then he tried to shoot in front of me when the cross-street stoplights turned red, anticipating the green. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about a delay due to a turn arrow and had to stop. His reflexes were terrible. Our light finally turned green and I smoked him. As I glanced at him in my rear view mirror, I smiled and felt even better. (No animals or children were harmed in the filming of this event, and at no time did I exceed the posted speed limit or bend any traffic laws. He was just slower off the block than he thought he was.) And then I got home, microwaved a piece of free chocolate cake I had gotten from Half Moon yesterday for my birthday, and ate warm gooey chocolate. That pretty much topped off my reserves, and cHump day has turned around nicely at the end. ;)
-----------------------------------
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
"As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." ~Thomas A. Edison
"Worry is negative goal setting." ~Brian Tracy
"Do not give any time to your past, you can't change what happened 5 minutes ago." ~Jan Ruhe
"Being serious isn't all that important. What counts is knowing what to be serious about." ~Author unknown
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