The Truth Hurts sometimes...

Father/daughter talk...

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew.

She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, 'How is your friend Audrey doing?'

She replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'

Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.

'The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!

'The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently,

'Welcome to the Republican party.'

Liege, Belgium

We got into Liege at about 8:00 am local time. That is about 1:00 am CDT.

Not a happy camper though. Took about a 5 hour nap. Then went to go get something to eat. But the local ATM machines will not accept my debit card!!!!!

Now I have to wait until I can call my Credit Union tomorrow to get them to fix it!

Looks like we will be here for at least a day or two.

405 the Movie

I enjoy this short movie...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Had to take Susan to work this morning. Her Saturn Hybrid was in the shop over night. Long story. Lets just say the dealer screwed up and forgot to call us when it was done.

Played golf this morning. Then went to check out everything at the airport.

Not too good. The water just keeps rising. So I moved "Snoopy" to 1HO (Creve Couer) which is about 12 miles south of (SET) St Charles County airport. Only about 6 airplanes still left at SET.

Then I had to go get Susan from work, and pick up the Saturn Vue Hybrid.

Then ate, got packed, and temporarily put up the guttering at the end of the house.

Start in Newark, NJ tomorrow.

Just got back from the airport (KSET).

18/36 is closed (NOTAM). 9/27 still open. Water is now covering the north end of 18/36.

If you go look at the photos you can now see how much the water has risin' in the past 24 hours.

Corp of Engineers says that it should crest by tomorrow afternoon.

Look again at the first picture and you can see "Snoopy" on the east side of the ramp, the 4th plane from the north.

I moved "Snoopy" a little farther south on the ramp. As a matter of fact I am next to a "Panther". And next to him is a DC-3.

Please keep your fingers crossed.

Scott Kalitta

I normally get about 20 to 25 "hits" per day on my blog. But for the last couple of weeks I am getting more than that average. Today I have recieved 87 "hits". This is from people around the world "Googling" the Kalitta name. First because of the mishap in Brussels , Belgium.

Now because of what happened Saturday.

Scott Kalitta, 46 year old son of Connie Kalitta, died Saturday while driving his NHRA "Funny Car". It exploded while he was racing at 300 mph.

My family and I send our heart felt condolences to Scott's family and to my boss Connie Kalitta.

I did have the opportunity to meet Scott Kalitta in 1995 and get his autograph for my son Scott. Scott Kalitta was very accommodating in signing his autograph for my son.

This is what happens to mad squirrels who hijack blogs...

This is a video of what happens to mad squirrels.

Back from Camp... Part II

Had to add a second post to include the swimming pool pictures and added a couple of other pictures from camp.

Back from Camp...

We got back from camp yesterday. Got a lot of pictures to share with you all.

The first night they had dancing lessons. These are pictures of Kalliegh (9) and Nick (8) learning to dance. Kalliegh told Nick, "I have never danced with a boy before". Nick responded, "I have never danced before!"

Also, Westley (15) and Carolyn (15) practiced and learned together.

And Bradley was just all over the place. First dancing with Lori Ann and then "Break Dancing" by himself.

And of course, anythime the pool was open we were there.

We all had a good time. And again Brad didn't want to go home.

The Take Over

This website has been taken over! I repeat this website has been taken over! The mischievous Mad Squirrel has taken over her father's blog! ::evil laugh:: Hey while the big freight dog is away the children will play! Or in my case the extremely bored, motherless, oldest child; who is nothing but pure goodness and never causes trouble. ::evil laugh::


Dad is away at family church camp in St. Clair, MO. He has no internet access and he is already hurting! He has my children with him and they are on "holiday", as my British friends would say. They are swimming, laughing, learning, having campfires, and getting bug bites. While I am sitting in a half way clean, and I mean deep clean, house.



How do you pack children for 7 days away at camp? Very carefully! I packed Bradley in two backpacks and Kalleigh in one small bag. Girl Scouts teaches me lot and lots of practical things. Like make sets for your children; bottoms, tops, and underwear and than roll them up and put a rubber band around them. That is how I pack my children in 3 bags. My oldest packed himself and ended up with a large suitcase and a large duffel bag. I claim not relation in that matter.

Bradley's bags

Kalleigh clothes rolled.

Kalleigh's clothes in the bag.

Kalleigh's Bag!

Since I have none of his current pictures I am going to share pictures of the camp when I was in high school and went there! There are also some pictures when I went back and was a counselor.



I'll be back tomorrow with more humor and laughter! You can always come visit me at Mad Squirrel's World or 365 Days of Madness.

Home Again....

Got home late last night.

Sorry for not blogging for a while but I either didn;t have access or very limited access to the internet the last week.

I am leaving for a week tomorrow to take 3 of the grandkids ( Westley, Kalleigh and Bradley) to a family church camp.

Put $165,00 worth of chemicals in the pool. And Westley and I worked on taking down some of the mound of dirt. We were doing okay until the rain started.

Will try and take some pictures at reunion (camp) and post if I can get some internet at the camp grounds.

Oscoda, Michigan

We brought a plane from Newark, NJ 2 days ago. We were scheduled to take another plane back to Newark, NJ today at noon local time. But, after getting packed and out to the airport and the airplane, the weather set in.

We need a 3 mile visibility and 1000 ft ceiling to depart Oscoda. Well we only had a visibility of 1 3/4 miles and a ceiling of 400 feet. Not quite what we are looking for. Plus forecast is for thunderstorms this afternoon.

So after spending a few hours sitting on the plane, they sent us back to the hotel to wait out the weather.

Looks like we will try this all over again later this afternoon or evening.

Plus they wanted me to continue the trip on to Leige, Belgium with another Captain and First Officer. Don't think that is going to happen now. We are limited by "duty time" the number of hours that we can be on duty, not necessarily flying time.

Anchorage

Got into Anchorage last night.

I will be departing for Columbus, Ohio at 11:30 am local time. Then from Columbus to JFK.