HAPPY NEW YEAR......

This is a picture of Mt. Fuji just outside Tokyo, Japan.

We just want to say Happy New Year to all of you who visit this blog.

We met and made new friends this year.

We lost some friends and family this year.

We made some friends unhappy with us (Sorry).

And we made some friends happy.

Without friends we would be soulless and empty. So with that we want to Thank You for being our friends and part of our family.

This is picture from Thanksgiving of some of the Grandkids and Great-Grandkids of my parents. Actually the only grandkid in the picture is Bryce ( second row from top far right). All the others are great-grandkids. This was taken at my niece Shelly's house. The kids had a great time playing with Luke and Alex's toys. And they got a lot of little "boy" toys.

Swelling in my foot is slowly going down. able to get regular sock on this morning.

Basement follow-up

Sorry about the quality of the picture, but this is the finished project of the stairway to the basement. Turned out pretty well.

We found a private carpet layer that we like, and he does good work. We will have him back in a few months when we re-do Natalie's bedroom this spring.

Only thing I get to get done is to install the hand rail. Probably going to have to get my son-in-law, Frank to come help with that item.

Toe is still sore. Really doesn't hurt as much as it is sore. But no more pain from the weather changes. I get to have a temporary handicap parking permit. But, I have to wait until next Wednesday or Thursday to get one.

Follow-up appointment with Doctor

These are pictures of my foot, taken today. They took out the 16 stitches and put on butterfly stitches which will come off by themselves in about a week. Still need to make sure I don't soak my foot for another 3 weeks.

Doctor Couchman said everything looks great. I told him I would take his word for it because all I saw was a purple and yellow foot. LOL...

He gave me some simple exercises and a flat shoe (?) to wear. Still on crutches for a few more days.

Waiting for a call back. I forget to ask about a temporary handicap parking pass.

Said that I could wear a regular tennis shoe as soon as it was comfortable. But all the swelling would be around for about 3 months.

Shannon was good enough to drive me to my appointment. And afterward I took her to lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Chesterfield Valley. We had a real nice lunch. And a good time talking.

More later.....

These were taken Sunday afternoon. We had Natalie's Christmas with our family then, because we were not going to get her on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. As she was opening her presents from Daddy, Aunt Shannon & Uncle Frank & cousins, and from Nana and me, she was stacking them on me as I lay helpless. Seems as though she didn't mind. LOL....

When it was time for her to go back to her mommies house, she wanted to take her new dolls with her. Couldn't get it through to her than her new toys were to stay here. But last night when she got here, she was glad her toys were still here.

I go back to the Doctors tomorrow to see how my foot is doing. Hopefully I can get off these crutches. My foot is tired of being wrapped up in the Ace bandages.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

On this day the Christ child is born.

In a trough for feeding cattle. His humble beginning, then rise to Savior, our reminder.

It's not how we start our journey, but how we traveled, and ended that journey.

Recovery

Day 3 of recovery from foot surgery.

Called the Dr's office to get my follow-up appointment on Friday.

Did find out that taking more than 1 pain pill at a time was not a good idea. It was the first 36 hours after surgery but not any more.

Shannon took some pictures of my foot on Sunday. Not much to see. But, I am starting to get around a little better with the crutches.

The carpet man layed the new basement stair carpeting this morning. I will have some pictures of that finished project later this week.

We hope all of you who visit this blog have a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

And my God bless each and everyone of you and your loved ones.

Still in recovery

Not much to report today. Went to church today to see Natalie preform in the Christmas play. She did a great job. Got her line right and rang her bell when she was supposed to.

Then because we will not have her on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We had her Christmas this afternoon. Shannon, Frank, Westley, Kalleigh, and Bradley came over to watch Natalie open her gifts from all of us. The gift she liked the most was a life size Barbie doll her daddy got for her.

Foot is okay, but I got my pain medication to ease the pain. LOL....

Home for foot surgery

Surgery was successful. But, because I am allergic to local anesthetics, they couldn't give me a 24 hour painkiller. So, I am on pill painkillers Oxycodone. Works pretty good. I am sleeping a lot. And it is hard concentrating just typing this blog. LOL... Needless to say, I am feeling no pain and feeling pretty good. LOL...

Will try and take a few pictures for my next blog.

Off to play a little Pogo.

Home

Sorry I haven't updated my blog for a couple of days.

I got home Tuesday afternoon. American Airlines lost my bags. Thank God I was going home and not out to work.

Been busy the last couple of days working on the stairs to the basement. Remember the foundation crew we had out in November to repair the wall? Well I had to put new drywall up and I put wainscoting on the walls over the drywall. I had Scott's friend Brad to help me with the job. It took us 2 1/2 days to get it completed enough for the carpet layer to come Monday morning and replace the stairs carpeting. Still have to put back up the door to the basement and some drywall in the basement.

They postponed my foot surgery until 6:00 pm tonight. So I won't get back home until about 10;00 pm tonight.

I am going to have Natalie this weekend be my private nurse. LOL...

Will post tomorrow for sure to let everyone know how the surgery went.

Well time to leave for the doctors.

New York, New York...

Well they got me on reserve for the today and tomorrow. Just sitting here watching TV, and playing Pogo.

Pogo is a game site that Shannon told me about. My sister Diann and her husband also play games on Pogo. I have met some nice people in the game rooms. Was surprised how many aviation people are out there playing Pogo games. It keeps me off the streets and the bars. LOL...

Weather has cleared here in Newark. Very bright and cold here today.

Bought Chinese food last night. So, I am having leftovers for lunch today.

And wait by the phone for a phone call scheduling for a trip or to let me go home. Go home tomorrow anyway.

When I get home, I got to get the basement stairs finished.

Friday afternoon, I am having surgery on my right foot. They are putting an artificial joint in the big toe. It has about 4 or 5 bone spurs and arthritis in the joint. The doctor has the x-ray on his laptop. So, I am going to see if he will give me a copy. I should be off work for at least 2 months. Probably drive Susan crazy. She is not used to me being home for more than 14 days a month for the past 12 years. LOL....

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

We got into Newark yesterday afternoon. It snowed over night. But not much, maybe less than 1/2 inch at the airport.

I just can't say enough about the crew I flew with the last couple of days. We all got along just great. Not one dispute between each other. And true, real CRM (cockpit resource management).

To Jim White and Mike Herrin, I want to thank you both for a very enjoyable few days at work, flying with true professionals.

Our crew consisted of a bird (Herrin), and color (White) and a number (Twente). LOL.......

3 more days then I go home. YEAH!!!!!!!

Amsterdam, Holland

They changed our schedule last night. They called us out to the airplane 10 hours early. And then we flew from Bahrain to Liege, and then rode in a taxi to Amsterdam. Got to the Dorint hotel at about 4 am Friday morning. We are now scheduled to leave here at 11:30 am Saturday for Newark.

In the hotel yesterday afternoon (before nap time) we watched the Kurt Russell movie "Captain Ron". So now the captain and first office I am flying with are calling me "Captain Ron" and we are saying some of the catch phrases from the movie. Like "sure Boss" , "got to watch out for the pirates of the caribeean", and "Hey Swab". Got to see the movie to know what we are talking about. LOL...

Flying with two really good guys this trip. Always makes the time go faster when we are having a good time and everyone gets along together.

Love coming to the Dorint hotel, cause they all make a fuss over me. Well not really me but my last name. They keep telling me that I am famous over here. See the right side pictures and you'll understand.

And as usual when we got here........ NO RESERVATIONS!!!!! This has got to get fixed! But they had rooms.

No pictures today. I am using a flight crew lounge computer with internet access. The only internet access we have here, so I couldn't download any pictures from my laptop.

Going over to the terminal later today and do some more Christmas shopping. Another good place to get some really neat gifts for Susan and the Grandkids.

Later......

Bahrain

Back in the Middle East again. We got back into Bahrain last night. We are supposed to leave tonight (Friday over here 5:00 am) for Amsterdam. Had a room waiting for me this time at the hotel.

YEA!!!!!

5 more days until I go home.

Just hope the weather gets better before I get back.

It is funny here. The ground personal here think it gets cold at 70F. LOL

They have parkas on and we are in our short shirt sleeves. LOL.....

It was a clear night last night flying over Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain. But when we go below 7000 feet we could taste the sand in the air. And we are not talking about Florida or Hawaii beach sand kid of taste.

More later.....

Newark

Got back to the states yesterday morning, but the Internet at the Holiday Inn here at the airport was not working. So today is the first time that I have had a chance to update.

Just got a phone call from scheduling, telling me that I am deadheading tonight from JFK to Brussels, Belgium. Then I will operate from there on to Bahrain.

We went shopping while in Shannon, Ireland. Love the duty free shop there. Bought so much I had to ship it home via UPS. So, here I am flying boxes around the world, and I got to send my our stuff home by UPS! Ironic ain't it. LOL.....

Here are the pictures I took at Doncaster,England. As you can see the name of the airport is Robin Hood Airport. and this statue was inside.

We are now in Shannon, Ireland. Got a message this morning that we are leaving tonight for Newark, NJ.

We did find free Internet service at the airport lounge. We only have it walk across the parking lot from the hotel. So looks like at least Daelyn (First Officer)and I are here for most of the day. LOL....

Sherwood Forrest

We took a plane from Bahrain to Doncaster, England. The airport name there is Robin Hood Airport. The famous Sherwood Forrest is about 20 miles west of the airport. Sorry can't download pictures yet but I will as soon as I can.

We then took a cab ride across the English countryside to Manchester, England.

We got to the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the airport. And guess what....

Yep........No resveration.......again......none of us........

Get me a manager.....get me a cell phone......get me a room !!!!!!!

Found out after about 10 minutes of talking to scheduling and hotel personnel. We were given confirmation numbers (each his own), but the name on the confirmation was the same name, and not anyone we knew. Some Chinese name. Then when the captain was signing the paper to get our rooms with this Chinese persons name on it, he realized than the name was of Hy, one of our schedulers. She had made the reservations okay, but under HER name. AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!

We leave in the morning for Shannon, Ireland, where we will pickup a plane on Sunday and fly it back to Newark, NJ, USA.

And just in time for me to get my laundry done, and not too soon either. LOL...

Bahrain

Got into Bahrain this morning. Went to the Sheraton, and guess what?........

"Sorry Mr, Twente, but we don't have a resveration for you and we are out of rooms". We have a room for your First Officer, but none for you.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Not again!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay get me a manager! Get me my cell phone! Get me a ROOM!!!!!!!

Manager comes over and sees me steaming, and presto-chango.... I get a room.

Flew all night. Was up most of the day. And I have to leave in 18 hours.

Leave at about 4 am tomorrow for Sheiffeld, England.

Oh yes, did I mention they changed my trips again?

Liege, Belgium Day 3

Should be leaving late tonight for Bahrain. Still some confusion about who is going to operate as Flight Engineer on the flight. Another FE insists that it is a trip on his line, but scheduling assures me that it is not his trip. So we'll see what happens. They are trying to get me back into position so that I can rejoin my December line as awarded.

Stay tune....

Liege, Belgium Day 2

Scheduling called last night. We are leaving tomorrow at about 2:00 pm for Bahrain and then on to Dubai. ( Get out your world atlas or google Mid-East).

That's about it for now.

Later.....

Liege, Belgium

We made it into Liege (Lee-age), at about 7:00 pm local. Now we are just waiting for scheduling to give us another trip. My schedule says that I am supposed to fly tomorrow from here to Bahrain. But that is up in the air as of now.

More later....

New York, New York...

Got into Newark last night. Woke up this morning to about 1 inch of snow on the ground here!

Scheduled to leave tonight @ 8:00 pm local time for Liege, Belgium (EBLG). Then tomorrow we fly from EBLG to OBBI ( Bahrain ).

That's about all for now.

Basement wall Part III

The basement repair crew finished yesterday at about 1:30 pm. They got here at 7:00 am. Now they tell me that I can't finish my wall in the stairwell to the basement, because in 3 weeks someone will be out to torque up the rods. So the wall repair going down stairs will have to wait until I get back from this months flying.

Speaking of...

I will be leaving tonight for Newark, NJ. Thru Charlotte, NC. 6 hours for a 2.5 hour flight. American Airlines wants $700.00 for a ticket and this flight on US Airways runs $350.00. So, I get to spend an extra 3.5 hours traveling to save the company some $$$$$.

Basement wall Part Du

The repair crew was to be here at 8:00 this morning. But did not show until 11:15 am. They did call saying they would be a couple of hours late.

Pictures of the holes in the garage. They will return to finish the job tomorrow morning.

More to follow....

Same Bat Time...

Same Bat Channel....

Basement wall

This is a couple of pictures of our stairs that go down to the basement.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but the wall has a crack about 24 inches down. This is because the garage is on the other side of this wall. And the garage floor is pushing the wall in toward the basement. In fact it has move the top 24 to 30 inches of this wall in about 4 inches!

Therefore the crack. The garage floor is being pushed by the driveway. Which is being pushed by the street in front of our house. This is caused the the kinetic energy of the cars and trucks coming to a stop at the stop sign on the opposite side of our house.

Three months ago the city came out and cut the first 8 inches of my driveway and took out the concrete and replaced it with asphalt. This in turn has created a buffer between the street and my driveway.

Now the fun part. I have to take down this wall and take up the carpet on the stairs, so that a crew can come out tomorrow and reinforce the wall. They will drill 4 holes into the wall and insert 14 foot rods through the wall into the ground under the garage floor. Then they will drill 2 foot diameter holes in the garage floor and dig down about 4 feet. They then attach plates at each end of the 4 rods and torque up the rod to reinforce the wall.

I will take and post pictures as the work progresses.

Monday, Monday...

Monday morning. Kalleigh was baptised yesterday and hope to have some pictures with in the next day or two. Ran accross this video. One of my favotites. Hope you enjoy it also.

Still Thanksgiving...

We picked up Natalie this morning, then went by church to clean and fill the baptismal font for Kalleigh's baptism tomorrow.

We are leaving in a bit for my niece Shelly's home for Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, brother, sisters and their families, who could make it to St Louis this weekend.

We will miss those of our family who could not be here this weekend.

Kalleigh's great-grandpa Twente ( my dad), will be baptising Kalleigh tomorrow. Then she will be confirmed by Elder Vicki Gunther and Elder Judy Rice.

I will be giving the sermon.

Yes, I am a member of the priesthood in our church. I know this might seem a little strange for some of you who know me outside the family and church family.

Happy Thanksgiving

We would like to wish all of those who read this blog a very Happy Thanksgiving.

The one Thanksgiving day that stands out is one that happened in about 1990.

I was working as a Ground School Instructor at Trans World Airlines. And that year I had to work Thanksgiving day. We had contract training with an airline from Sweden. And with almost all commercial eating establishments closed at least until evening. The other instructor and I talked to our wives and they agree to fix a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people.

We had all the traditional eats, turkey, masked potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls, salad, string bean casserole, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, etc...

This was the first time for those pilots from Sweden to experience this type of American food. Some were even skeptical of even trying some of the items (cranberry sauce). But everything was devoured.

But the most requested recipe was the pumpkin pie recipe! They had never tasted it before and the just couldn't get enough of it. So, Susan told them the recipe was on the back of the pumpkin can.

So that later that week I took quite a few of them to the local grocery store where each of them I took, bought at least 1 if not 2 CASES!

Once they got home they were going to have their wives make them pumpkin pie.

That year we got not only to share our special meal with them but a large part of our American culture. The Good culture part, sharing and caring for and with others no matter what nationality, color, religion.

May God Bless you and yours the Holiday season.

November 20, 1970

Today is our Wedding Anniversary.

Yes, 37 years, two children, four grandchildren, 2 apartments, one mobile home, and three houses ago, we were married at the Methodist Church in Blue Springs Missouri.

Shannon helped me put together this video that briefly shows Susan's and my journey to this point in our lives.

There were a lot of songs to choose from, but I felt that the two I chose best expressed my love and life with Susan.

I wish her a Happy Anniversary with all my heart and love.

Home

Got home yesterday morning.

Please make sure you come visit tomorrow. SPECIAL blog!!!!

DON'T MISS IT !!!!!!!

More tomorrow......

Still in Hong Kong

Scheduling called last night and said that we will be leaving Hong Kong for Anchorage this evening. That should put us in Anchorage at about 5:00 pm tomorrow evening.

After that they don't know what is going to happen.

But, I do know one thing. I am off on the 17th, but I told them that I would stay out 2 or 3 extra days if they need me.

Have to be home for our wedding anniversary on the 20th!

Or I just don't go home.......

Still in Hong Kong

We went shopping again over to Stanley Market. Got to get out of here, I am almost out of money! LOL.....

When we got back to the hotel we found out that we are going to be here at least until the 18th.

Not much else happening other than us being here for a few days longer than expected.

Until tomorrow....

Hong Kong

OK are you ready for this.........

We left Hong Kong on Sunday morning local time. Got into Anchorage Sunday afternoon. About 12 hours of flying in about a 14 hour period. We made a fuel stop in Hrabrask, Russia.

When we got into Anchorage we were told we were flying BACK to Hong Kong 13 hours later!

So, this morning Anchorage local time, we flew non-stop PANC (Anchorage) to VHHH (Hong Kong). 12 1/2 hours. We flew over Tokyo and got these pictures of Tokyo Bay and MT Fuji.

Then as soon as we got into the hotel in Hong Kong, we took the subway over to the Golden Computer Center. The other two guys I am with bought some things. I was the tour guide. Got back and went to Sticky Fingers. A local bar across the street from the hotel the crews go to for drinks. Those of you that know me know that I don't drink. So, I was the designated driver (remember the bar is ACROSS the street from the hotel) LOL.......

We are here until the 15th. Then we go back to PANC.

Life as a freight dog....

Stanly Market...Hong Kong Island

One of the captains I work with, Dieter Goerke, and I went to Stanley Market yesterday. It is an all day trip. We first board a ferry boat that takes us from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, accross Victoria Harbour. Then we take a 1 hour bus ride from the Hong Kong Central District thru Hong Kong Island to the other side, to the Stanley Market.

Once there we go SHOPPING.

We shopped for about 2 hours, looking at all the different stuff for sale. From silk scarfs to shoes, from jade to clothing, from purses to watches. I stopped by a shop that we go to to get "Greg Norman" golf shirts. These same shirts retail in the USA for about $80.00 each. Here I can (and did) get 4 for $200.00 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars). That's about $25.00 USD. Talk about a bargain!

We ran in to a couple of other Kalitta Air crew members that are staying at another hotel. We didn't even know they were in Hong Kong! We went to a cafe/bar a block away from the market and sat and had some drinks and onion rings. The restrooms were marked - Squat & Squirt for the women, and Stand & Aim for the men. It was funny to watch men not read and understand the signs on the doors of the restrooms.

After talking and drinking for about an hour, Dieter and I started back to Kowloon and our hotel. But we first went to Aberdeen Bay. These are some pictures I took. We road on a small boat to a floating restaurant called the "JUMBO FISH BOAT". The first picture is of me in front of the main entrance.

We started our excursion at about 9:00 am and got back at about 6:45 pm.

Hong Kong

Arrived in Hong Kong this afternoon (midnight CST). But not without problems.

We get to the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are 5 of us. The company has us all listed under 1 locator number on Flight 731 with JAL (Japan Airlines), flying from Japan to Hong Kong. The first problem is we notice that as she is checking us in against the list of crew members vs passports, she has a confused look on her face (universal look). She is looking very closely at MY passport. She then starts making a number of phone calls (speaking in Japanese) of course.

Finally she starts to find the living face with the passport picture and calls me up to the counter. She then informs me in broken English, that I am not on the list of crew members on the locator number the company gave us, and therefore I do not have a ticket to Hong Kong.

I ask her if she has any seats left on the flight that I could buy now. "Hy" (prounced Hi, Yes in Japanese) she says, but only in First or business class. I said go for it! I give her my company credit card and she goes about ticketing me on the flight to Hong Kong. I sat in business class.

Now what I have just explained in a couple of minutes, actually took about 1 1/2 hours to transpire!

Next stop.....Hong Kong.... 1 hour wait to go though customs!

Next stop ....and 1 hour drive from Hong Kong airport to Kowloon Regal Hotel.....

Check in at the Regal Hotel.

Again everyone has a reservation except guess who?......

Yes, me again! And they are booked up! No room at the Inn.

Okay, I'll just go over to the Peninsula (Hotel in Kowloon where James Bond stayed at in the 007 movie Man With The Golden Gun). Going to cost someone more $$$$. Either my company or the Regal or our handler in Hong Kong (Jardine Aircraft Services), they take care of our transportation and Hotels. Someone forgot me again, and now I am really pissed!

One of the Hotel managers shows up and says he will make things right and get me a room here. (Rats....not going to the Peninsula).

Got the room and will be here until the 11th. Then back to Anchorage, AK.

More later....

Toyko, Japan

Got into Yokota AFB early Tuesday morning local time. Yokota AFB is just outside Tokyo. We then took two taxi cabs to the other side of Tokyo to Narita, Japan. This is where the new International airport is located. We are staying at the Nartia Hilton. Scheduling says that they will commercial us to Hong Kong sometime tomorrow. Sorry but no pictures for today. Passed Mt. Fuji on the way in this morning, but was still a little too dark to photograph.

Well on to Hong Kong tomorrow.

Waikiki Joy Hotel

Melissa in scheduling wanted me to lake some pictures of the hotel rooms we stay at when we are in Honolulu.

The picture of the toilet is there because it has a couple of unique features. The seat is HEATED! It also has a rinse feature fro your bottom end.... LOL A bidet.

We have a kitchenette and a large Lani with patio furniture!

All in all, a nice place to relax in paradise.

God it's a tough job..... but someone has to do it...... LOL...

We leave for Guam and Japan later this afternoon.

Oh...I forgot to tell you the plan has changed. They commercialed me yesterday afternoon from LA to Honolulu. We are flying for the military to the Air Force base just outside of Tokyo, Japan. We will make a fuel stop in Guam. We are doing a heavy crew, 2 captains, 1 first officer and 2 flight engineers. I LOVE heavy and double crews....$$$$$$$$...... I get paid for the time I work at the controls and the time I sleep in the back !

So will be out of touch for a day or two.

LAX

Got into LA late last night. But good news is that I get an extra hours sleep.

Going to be here until Monday night. Then I DH (deadhead) on 1 of our planes back to Honolulu. Then 8 hours after I get back to HNL, I return back to LAX.

Still every hazy here in the LA basin from all the fires.

CHIEFS vs Packers today @ noon KC time.

HAWAII !!!!!!!!

Got into Honolulu early this morning.

Fly back to LA tomorrow afternoon. Then commercial back to Honolulu for a trip that is supposed to leave Honolulu for Japan and Okinawa on Tuesday.

We had a small generator problem last night about 300 miles east of Honolulu. Accomplished the checklist, and removed the generator off the electrical system. No big deal. Kind of like one of the problems they give us in the simulator each year. So. I guess training does payoff.

Weekend fun...

We had our granddaughter Kalleigh stay over night last Thursday and Friday. Then our other granddaughter Natalie was also with us Saturday night.

Natilie just LOVES Kalleigh! Would NOT let her be alone for one minute. They had a great time together. So much so that Natalie ignored her daddy. Didn't want to have anything to do with him while Kalleigh was here with us. We took them shopping and got them identical outfits to wear to church Sunday. They were twins. LOL!!! At least that is what they were telling everyone.

We also bought a new 22" LCD monitor for our desktop computer. It is BIG!!! But Susan really likes it and so do I.

Time to go back to work Thursday. November 1. Yes I said November 1!!! Only 2 months left in this year!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESTLEY !!!!!!

Happy birthday to my oldest grandson Westley Dylan Twente. He is 15 years old today.

In Missouri 15 year olds can get their learners permit to drive. Shannon is taking West to take the written exam tomorrow.

Then as long as he has an adult over 21 in the car with him, he can learn to drive for a year. Then when he turns 16 he can take his driving test and get a restricted drivers licence until he is 18 years old. The restriction between 16 and 18 is that he can't drive between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am.

So another teenager with a learners permit on the road and streets of St. Charles county.

We are taking over his car tonight. He is inheriting the 1994 Mercury Tempo that Scott was using for a while. Scott got it from Granny B (Susan's mother). Good car for a 15 year old to learn to drive in.

FAA Physical Passed....

Here are some pictures of our hot tub room. And yes we are originally from Kansas City. I have even worked part time for both the Royals and Chiefs.

Went to get my FAA physical this morning and passed with flying colors.

Turning cold here with rain this afternoon.

Honey Do Day

Feeling better, but still have a nasty cough. Running some errands this morning, then cleaning up the Hot Tub Room. Closed the pool last month, now getting cooler, so time to get the hot tub going. Nothing like coming home from work and relaxing, and soaking in the hot tub.

AHHHHHH......

We have a room in the basement, next to the basement walkout doors, where the hot tub is located. We have Kansas City Royals memorabilia on two of the walls. And Kansas City Chiefs on the other two walls. Will take some pictures and post tomorrow.

Still fighting the flu

Well here it is Wednesday. And I am still fighting the flu! As soon as one symptom goes away another one surfaces. I can't win for losing! We had the DirecTV guy here this morning to help repair and setup 2 of our units. WOW! what a mess. Cables everywhere. Took both of us to get everything figured out and then fixed. Good news is that after 2 hours of tracing cable we got all units working like they should.

Every time I try to do something around the house the flu knocks me back down again. This is getting old, fast.

Raining today so no yard work until tomorrow.

Hope weather and health improve tomorrow.

FLU

Sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of days. But with the funeral then me getting sick, I haven't had the time or strength.

Still weak from all the diarrhea and coughing and sneezing, and vomiting and aches and fatigue.

Got a call last night from my best friend Bob Radtke. He is with the FAA (Federal Aviation Admiration). I know it is an oxymoron. My best friend working for the FAA, but we go way back to 1986 and TWA overhaul base in Kansas City, where we met. Bob lives in Helena, Montana. He and I went to a 3 day seminar in Oklahoma City to get our IA certificates a few years ago. IA (Inspector Authorization) is an addium to our A & P Mechanics licences. It authorizes us to perform and sign off annual inspections and major engine overhauls on aircraft airframes and powerplants (engines).

Laid to rest

We had excellent weather today for my mother-in-law's funeral. The minister at the Faith United Methodist Church did an excellent job with the funeral message. We had about 100 family, friends, and neighbors of hers, stop by and pay their respects. Which is saying a lot, because most of those she knew have already preceded her in death.

She was the last survivor of her generation. My sister-in-law is now the old (new?) matriarch of Susan's side of the family.

Susan and I would like to thank all of you who read my blogs and have remembered us in your prayers the last few days.

Alma Earlene Barnard 1921 - 2007

It is with great sorrow and sadness that I share with you the passing of my mother-in-law, Earlene Barnard.

She had been in poor health the past 9 weeks. Susan has been in Kansas City every other weekend for the past 3 months.

Mom passed at 8:30 pm Sunday night the 7th of October. Both of her daughters (Susan and Kathleen) were with her. She went peacefully to be with her maker, and her husband Maurice Russell Barnard, who preceded her 12 years ago.

Visitation and funeral services are to be held tomorrow at the the Methodist Church in Grain Valley, Missouri.

She is survived by her 2 daughters, Kathleen Barnett, and Susan Twente and her husband Ronald, 3 grand children, and 6 great grand children.

I was in route from JFK to Cairo, Egypt. I was informed by scheduling as i was clearing Egyptian customs. 12 hours later I was on a KLM flight to Amsterdam, then a connecting flight on Northwest Airlines to Minneapolis, MN. Then another connecting flight to Kansas City, Mo. I got into Kansas City at 3:00 pm today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANNON......

Ok, 32 years ago today it was a Sunday night in Wichita, KS USA. My wife went into labor at about 8:00 pm and hours later at 6:00am the next morning, we had to wake her up to push!

Now mind you that she had no drugs, in natural labor and they had to wake her up to PUSH! CRAZY! But Shannon is here and that is all that matters.

Now, Shannon took her own sweet time on coming into this world. 3 weeks late! But hey, she wanted it to be the right time. I was one of the first husbands to be in the delivery room and not out in the waiting room. Susan and I were one of the first to try the LaMaze (sp) method of birth delivery.

Now here we are 32 years later, 2 grown children, and 4 grand children. And the oldest grand child went on his 1st date last night!

Where I have been..

I have add a new feature at the bottom of my blog. You can zoom in or move the highlighted area around to get a better view of where I have been. Please send me your comments and suggestions on this new feature or anything else that I might be able to improve. Thanks for logging in and sharing my adventures with me.

Scheduling called....

Scheduling called last night. Here is what I will be doing this weekend, if the trip doesn't cancel.

10/6 Saturday. Leave at 9:30 pm EDT, JFK to IAH (Houston, Bush Intl). Then go to hotel for 12 hours for crew rest.

10/7 Sunday. Leave at 11:00 CDT. IAH to CAI (Ciro, Egypt). Then go to hotel for 20 hours for crew rest.

10/8 Monday. Leave at 9:30 pm Local. CAI to VHHH (Hong Kong). Then hotel for a couple of days of crew rest and SHOPPING!

Grandkids at the park

Last weekend we took the 3 younger grand kids to a new park not far from Shannon's house. Susan, Shannon, Frank, Natalie, Kalliegh, Brad, and myself had a picnic then let the kids play fro about an hour.

Natalie thinks the sun rises and sets with Kalliegh. All three had a great time and didn't want to leave.

Scott was umpiring 4 little league games that day and Westley was at an all day cross country meet.

Not much happening today in NYC. Just waiting for scheduling to call with a trip.

New York, New York...

Ok, here goes...

Sunday at 7:15 am scheduling called and said they had a trip for me. But I have to leave at 3:10 pm that afternoon for NY. I get to NY and they tell me that the trip was cancelled. But, they want me to take a limo from Newark to JFK and ferry a plane (N704CK) back to Newark, then take another limo BACK to JFK and ferry another plane (N714CK) to Oscoda, Michigan.

I take the limo Monday afternoon to JFK and get the first plane (N704CK) and ferry it back to Newark. But, wait....

The "plan" has changed again....

Instead of taking a limo back to JFK, we are going to ferry another plane (N747CK) from Newark to Oscoda. Good news! (for a change).

We fly to Oscoda, then drive a company car (ex-police cruiser) the 4 hour drive down to Ypsilanti.

Get up this morning and run over to the office at 10:45 to see what scheduling has planned for me. At first, they don't have anything for me, but as I am standing there talking to them (time is now about 11:30 am)they change their mind. They assign me a trip out of JFK to fly to France, tomorrow morning. I rush back to the hotel, pack and get a ride to the airport for a 1:45 flight from DTW (Detroit) to JFK.

Get to the motel at JFK, call scheduling to let them know what room I am in, and guess what......

The France trip cancelled!!!!!

So here I sit until further notice.............

Here is Westley and I at our seats in Arrowhead for the Chiefs game last Sunday. I got these personalized jerserys for us. Westley has # 19 because he is not quite not a full "20" yet. LOL...

We yelled and cheered so much that when we went back to St. Louis, we were both horse.