Come fly with me........

Surgery

2009-01-20T11:29:00.002-06:00

Sorry that I haven't blogged in a long while.

A lot has been happening that has my world upside down.

One of those things evidently happened about the time the previous post pictures were taken.

I ruptured the disc in my back between L5 & S1 vertebrate.

It was diagnosed on December 18, 2008 and I had surgery last Thursday, January 15, 2009.

I am not allowed in a car for 2 weeks and no lifting or work for 8 to 12 weeks.

Plus, I am having some other problems that have kept me from working.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers for the next few months, so that I can physically and mentally heal.

Getting ready for Christmas...

2008-11-29T18:41:00.003-06:00

With a lot of help from my son, grandson, and son-in-law, they got the exterior of out house decorated for Christmas.

The propeller on SNOOPY's plane goes around.

We made a runway for SNOOPY and his plane in our front yard.

Santa can use it too, on Christmas Eve.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Trick or Treat...

2008-11-02T16:49:00.002-06:00

Bradley as..... The RED Power Ranger

Kalliegh as....... Tinkerbell

Natalie as ......... A Ballerina

Street walking for candy. Brad found out that if you empty your bucket every 3 houses, you can get more candy. People think that you don't have any candy so they give you more than just 1 piece at a time. Not realizing that the main stash is in the wagon mom is pulling behind her.

They all three had a great time together. And at every house singing in chorus... "TRICK OR TREAT"!

Jack O' Latern carving....

2008-10-30T11:48:00.002-05:00

Natalie and her baby pumkin...

Daddy carving the Daddy and Mommy pumkins....

Natalie coloring the baby pumkin....

"Okay, let's remove the pumkin guts".... "OOOohhhh ICKY Daddy!"

"Okay, we have got to get rid of all the pumkin guts, so we can put in the candle." "Reach real deep down to the bottom."

Weekend with Aunt Diann..Celebrating Westley,s Birthday

2008-10-30T10:51:00.003-05:00

Uncle Scott....

Aunt Diann.....

Natalie....

Birthday boy Westley (16 years old)...

The family at Red Robin resturant...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESTLEY....

2008-10-26T22:32:00.002-05:00

Sorry I am late.

But Happy Birthday to my oldest grandson, Westley. He turned 16 on Saturday.

Not driving yet, but probably in a couple of weeks.

More pictures from the pumpkin patch...

2008-10-26T22:15:00.002-05:00

Natalie's first time on a horse, She loved it pony ride.

Another kind of pony ride at the pumpkin patch.

Riding down the slide...

Scott and his daughter riding down the slide together...

Getting ready for Holloween...

2008-10-21T09:07:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we took Natalie to a nearby pumpkin patch. We bought a couple of pumkins, and went down some neat slides, and rode on a couple of different kinds of horses.

More tomorrow...

update

2008-10-20T11:14:00.003-05:00

I have been under the weather the last few weeks. Long story.

Here are some photos of my Grandson Westley and his date for theirHigh School Homecoming Dance.

Last photo is of Susan, Scott and Natalie at the pumkin patch last week. More of those pictures tomorrow.

Love you DADDY!

2008-10-03T09:55:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE......

2008-09-11T09:16:00.003-05:00

Today is my youngest grandchild's birthday.

Natalie Nicole Hoffman is 4 years old today.

Yes 9/11 is her birthday. Hard one to forget.

2008-09-10T09:12:00.002-05:00

**Warning**

Do NOT proceed if you can't take a joke!! Not intended for those with strong political outrage!!

No Democrats or residents of Minnesota were harmed while reading this joke!!

Now this is just Minnesota funny.

The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither the Republican candidate nor the Democratic candidate had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, court challenges, etc., but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed to be the sportsmanlike way to settle things.

The candidate who caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election.

Therefore, it was decided to have an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner.

After much back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest would take place on a remote, frozen lake in northern Minnesota.

No observers would be present, and both men would be sent out separately on this isolated lake, then return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties.

At the end of the first day, John McCain returned to the starting line, and he had ten fish. Soon, Obama returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having a 'bad hair' day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the next day.

At the end of the 2nd day, John Mc. returned with 20 fish, and Obama came in again with none.

That evening, Harry Reid got together secretly with Obama and said, 'Obama, I think John Mc. is a low-life, cheatin' son-of-a-gun. I want you to go out tomorrow and don't even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating.'

The next night (after John Mc. returns with 50 fish), Harry said to Obama, 'Well, tell me, how is John Mc. cheating?' Obama replied, 'Harry, you're not going to believe this, .......but he's cutting holes in the ice.'

Basement project

2008-09-10T08:35:00.004-05:00

After the removal of the drywall.

The window at the far right is the original window that the builder installed. The window at the left is the new replacement window I installed.

Original window.

Replacement window.

Still woring on the walls before I go to work. The next picture is about the same angle as the picture above.

Here are some pictures of our "Hot Tub Room" This was before we found some mold on the west side wall. That is the wall the hot tub is against.

Been working at home...

2008-09-08T16:37:00.002-05:00

Sorry that I haven't blogged in a week, but I have been real busy.

I have been trying to catch up on all the little things to fix around the house and also clean out one storage shed and move to a smaller one.

Saturday we went to a wedding. The young man that used to live across the street got married. He lived at our house almost half the time over the last 18 years. He is 3 years older than Scott, but they were best friends. Daniel was like a big brother to Scott.

We wish Daniel and Erica Conley the very best that life and married life has to offer.

Saturday morning while cleaning the hot tub room, we found mold on one of the walls. So yesterday and all day today I have been busy removing drywall and installing new basement windows (double pane).

We are pretty sure that a combination of the hot tub and the poor design of the original windows that the builder installed, was the cause of the mold.

I did the original drywall almost 16 years ago, before Westley was born.

Tomorrow I will install the insulation and repair some electrical outlets. Then install new green board. Green board is sheet rock that is water resistant.

Won't get to paint until I get back at the very end of the month.

Will take some photos and post later.

The Flight back from Ypsilanti

2008-08-31T21:43:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures I took on the trip back from Ypsilanti.

Thank goodness that Snoopy and I are both Able to fly on Instruments.

The last hour of the flight home was flying into the setting sun and haze. Visibility at 4000 feet was about 1 mile. Anyone without an Instrument rating would had have some trouble flying without having a horizon reference.

The last picture was about 10 miles prior to entrering the bank of haze.

More pictures from the air...

2008-08-30T15:52:00.003-05:00

Flying " Snoopy" to Ypsilanti, MI

2008-08-29T19:22:00.003-05:00

I have to be in the simulator in Ypsilanti, MI. So I flew "Snoopy" from KSET (St Charles, MO) to KOXI (Knox, IN) to KYIP (Ypsilanti, MI).

Here are a few of the pictures I took in the air at 5,000 feet.

I also got to checkout my new turn coordinator (lower left hand instrument) and my rebuilt Directional Gyro ( just to the right of the turn coordinator).

Also used my new Garmin GPS 155XL. Not pictured, but will post picture of it tomorrow.

They all worked great. Love the moving map feature on the 155XL. It also gives me ground speed, distance and estimated time of arrival information.

Natalie the Little Mermaid...

2008-08-28T06:56:00.004-05:00

She calls this her "Game"...

She like to stand on the pool ladder and jump into the pool. A distance of about 3 feet from me to the ladder. She 1st stands on the top step of the ladder then directs me on where to stand, then she does a little dance where she wiggles her butt, then she LAUNCHES herself into the pool at me to catch her. And she giggles the whole time in the air. LOL...

Wednesday is the day Scott has his daughter Natalie for 3 hours. And sometimes she goes to sleep in the car ride from her moms house to our house. Last night was one of those nights.

Susan and I were in the pool cooling off after a hard days work (she at the office, me in the yard) waiting for Scott and Natalie to show up.

Natalie is a water rat, and LOVES to go swimming (along with the other grand kids).

After a while Susan and I got tired of waiting and got out and went inside to fix dinner.

When I got in the house there was Scott with Natalie in his arms, in my rocker/recliner, sleeping.

So I went up to her and started gently talking to her to wake her up (we only get her for 3 hours and 1 hours is spent in the car getting her back and forth).

I tried everything to get her to wake up but nothing was working. She was out like a light.

Then I asked her if she wanted to go SWIMMING.

Well that woke her up. LOL... She was now wide awake. Susan, Scott, and I were rolling on the floor laughing. I had finally said the "magic words" to wake her up.

These pictures were taken just 19 minutes after she woke up.

More pictures from Kansas City

2008-08-24T07:07:00.004-05:00

Brother-in-laws ED and Rick watching my nephew Chad, throw a ball to his kids...

Two of the triplets, Chase, and Macy watching dad throw the ball to Devin.

Macy trying to catch the ball from Devin. Just a little short.

Uncle Vince, Mom and Aunt Edna talking over old times.

My nephew Nick and his new daughter Lorali.

Bradleys HAUL...

2008-08-23T07:05:00.003-05:00

The FUN hauler...

Take a peek...

Open Seaseme!!!!!
Even a robot...

And a HAPPY camper

While we were in Kansas City earlier this week, my sister Diann gave us a truck load of toys and games and books for Bradley.

Vacation

2008-08-22T08:12:00.003-05:00

From left to right: Brother-in-law Rick watching my nephew Chad play catch with his son Devin...
Devin missing the ball...
WAIT!!!!... Chase and Macy want to play too...
Okay... Macy, throw the ball to Devin... and Chase you have to wait your turn.
MY dad's sister Edna, my mom's brother Vince, and the birthday girl herself, Lucille.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. We are on vacation this week.

We went to Kansas City Monday and Tuesday and had a BBQ at my parents house for my mothers birthday.

My sisters, Connie and Diann, and their husbands were there along with two of my nephews, Chad and Nick, and their kids.

Good food and good times.

Just glad they all left when they did....

LOL...

Friday

2008-08-15T08:57:00.002-05:00

We were trying to go to Yankee Stadium today. We wanted to go see the House That Ruth Built.

But the tickets on eBay were just going for too much $$$$$$. So we abandoned the idea.

The bonus to going was that the Kansas City Royals are in town to play the Yankees in a weekend series.

Just a couple of more days to work for this month. But I do have recurrent simulator at the end of this month.

Going to have to try and talk scheduling into letting me go home a day or two early.

Newark

2008-08-14T09:13:00.002-05:00

Not much happening this week. Just sitting at the hotel in Newark.

August seems to be our slow month for the past few years.

I am going to get a limo ride from Newark to JFK. Then I will ferry an aircraft back to Newark.

Planning on going to Yankee Stadium tomorrow night. And as an added bonus, the Yankees are playing my beloved Kansas City Royals.

As some of you know, I used to have season tickets to the Royals (from 1977 to 1982). Then I worked for the Royals as "Event Security" from 1983 to 1986.

So now I get to go see the House that Ruth Built, and where infamous "Pine Tar Game" with George Brett #5.

Words of wisdom

2008-08-12T14:54:00.002-05:00

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals.

So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question.

Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question?....What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer. But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first . The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.

He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table. Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:

What a woman really wants, she answered....is to be in charge of her own life.

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared. And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half. Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day....or night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself. Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

Now....what is the moral to this story?

The moral is..... If you don't let a woman have her own way....

Things are going to get....

UGLY!

CESSNA 150/152 FLY-IN @ Clinton, Iowa

2008-08-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVBwri3Wqk

Click on this for a great video.

Even if you don't like flying or country music, you will love this video.

SNOOPY in action

2008-08-10T10:29:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures taken of me flying SNOOPY taken my someone else at the Cessna 150/152 Fly-In @ Clinton, IA.

In Newark, NJ for the next couple of days.

We flew out of Oscoda, MI last night and encountered a thunderstorm over Bufflo, NY. severe to extreme rain. We had to divert to north of Toronto, Canada.

Time for your close-up...

2008-08-08T08:16:00.002-05:00

Brad...
Natalie.....
Westley...
Scott...

Zeus...

What happens at my house when I am gone...

2008-08-07T07:03:00.002-05:00

Natalie, Scott, Brad, & Kalliegh

Zeus standing on my Kansas City Chiefs throw rug.

Brad checking out the camera lens to make sure it is clean...

Scott checking Brad's backside to see if it is clean...
Scott and Westley just sitting on their backsides...

Natalie and Nana

2008-08-06T07:41:00.002-05:00

We got some maekers that can write on glass and wipe off with Windex.

So of course, Natalie likes to draw on the front door glass.

See how good she is?

Now it is time to go walk in the rain.

So, off they go for their walk in the rain.

New Home for SNOOPY

2008-08-05T16:10:00.003-05:00

We moved SNOOPY into a new hanger at St Charles County (KSET) last week.

When I got back from the Cessna 150/152 Fly-In Friday the 25th of July, Susan and I got Snoopy into his new "dog house". Then last Monday and Tuesday, Westley and I started moving all my "stuff" into the "dog house".

Got some more things to move over from the house to the "dog house" when I get back home in two weeks.

Sitting in Oscoda, MI for the next couple of days waiting for maintenance to finish up with repairs to a couple of planes then off to JFK at the end of the week. (I think). (At least that is the plan for this hour).

Finally!!!! Birthday pictures!!!!

2008-08-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Bradley !!!!!

2008-08-04T17:50:00.002-05:00

Today is my youngest Grandson Bradley's birthday.

This is the 1st time since he was born that I was able to be home for both his and Kalliegh's birthdays.

Will try and download some of the pictures of him opening his gifts later. Right now for some reason Blogger won't let me.

Kalliegh got to open her presents also, but the camera batteries went dead. So I will try and get some pictures from Shannon to post.

Pigs need Lovin' too...

2008-08-01T14:28:00.000-05:00

A farmer had five female pigs. Times were hard, so he decided to take
them to the county fair and sell them.

At the fair, he met another farmer who owned five male pigs. After
talking a bit, they decided to mate the pigs and split everything
50/50.

The farmers lived sixty miles apart. So they agreed to drive thirty
miles each, and find a field in which to let the pigs mate. The first
morning, the farmer with the female pigs got up at 5 A.M, loaded the
pigs into the family station wagon, which was the only vehicle he had,
and drove the thirty miles.

While the pigs were mating, he asked the other farmer, 'How will I know
if they are pregnant?'

The other farmer replied, 'If they're lying in the grass in the morning,
they're pregnant. If they're in the mud, they're not.'

The next morning the pigs were rolling in the mud. So he hosed them off,
loaded them into the family station wagon again and proceeded to try
again. This continued each morning for more than a week.

The next morning he was too tired to get out of bed. He called to his
wife, 'Honey, please look outside and tell me whether the pigs are in
the mud or in the grass.'

'Neither,'yelled his wife,' they're in the station wagon and one of
them is honking the horn

Why we speak English

2008-07-31T09:32:00.000-05:00

When in England, at a fairly large conference,

Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury

if our plans for Iraq were just an example

of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United

States has sent many of its fine young men and women

into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.

The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return

is enough to bury those that did not return.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of

international engineers were taking part, including French

and American. During a break, one of the French engineers

came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest

dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft

carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What

does he intended to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our

carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several

hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply

emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they

have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000

people three meals a day, they can produce severa l

thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each

day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in

transporting victims and injured t o and from their flight

deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference

that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian,

Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception,

he found himself standing with a large group of Officers

that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped

their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that,

whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn

only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have

to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking

French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe

it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans

arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in

Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his

passport in his carry on.

'You have been to France before , monsieur?' the customs officer

asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France

previously

Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'

The American said, ''The last time I was here, I didn't have to

show it.

'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports

on arrival in France!'

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard

look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore

at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country,

I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

2008-07-29T19:15:00.001-05:00

This is from a musix video from when MTV first started. Shannon loved this video. It is Toni Basil, singing her 1 hit wonder "MICKEY"

Enjoy....

Another GREAT Video

2008-07-29T17:13:00.003-05:00

Watch the whole thing!!!!

GO CHIEFS!!!!!

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80924c91

Kalitta Air Landing

2008-07-28T21:10:00.002-05:00

Here’s a pretty cool video of a Kalitta Air landing.

Enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XicX8XPHUA4&feature=related

CESSNA 150/152 FLY-IN @ Clinton, Iowa - Part II

2008-07-27T22:54:00.002-05:00

More pictures from the Fly-In....

CESSNA 150/152 FLY-IN @ Clinton, Iowa

2008-07-27T13:33:00.003-05:00

After recurrent ground school in Ypsilanti, MI. I flew SNOOPY to the annual CESSNA 150/152 Fly-In @ Clinton, IOWA.

I could only stay for about 22 hours. But still met a bunch af great people and had a good time. Entered the landing/bomb drop contest. Still don't know how I faired. But I did NAIL the first 2 of 3 landings.

Here are some of the pictures I took.

Camp Woodland Hills

2008-07-24T23:46:00.003-05:00

Here is a preview of the new sales pamphlet for the camp grounds that our church owns.

If you look very closely, the girl sliding upside down on the slide, is Kalleigh, my granddaughter.

Got into Clinton a little before 8 pm CDT. Lot of planes to look at and things to do, and people to meet tomorrow.

New wheel pants and SNOOPY

2008-07-24T14:14:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of SNOOPY in the hanger in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Ready to leave in an hour for Clinton, Iowa for the Cessna 150/152 Club Fly-In.

Too much blue?

Prep work...

2008-07-24T14:04:00.002-05:00

Finally got the pictures to down load off the camera to my laptop.

Here are some of me and my son-in-law Frank getting the wheel pants ready to paint and of the finished product.

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

2008-07-23T16:46:00.001-05:00

1.. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

2. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.

3. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

4. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

5. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU’LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

6. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN’T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN’T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

7. IF YOU CAN’T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU’VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.

DAILY THOUGHT:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

Thanks Shannon

2008-07-22T14:17:00.002-05:00

I would like to thank my daughter Shannon.

She is updating and adding some things to my blog today.

So, take a closer look at the right side and see what is new.

And as always, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and keeping up with my adventures "Around The World In a Daze"...

New Home for SNOOPY

2008-07-22T12:27:00.002-05:00

I got a call from the airport manager at St Charles County Airport last Saturday.

He wanted to know if I still wanted a hanger.

YES!!!!!!

So, when I get home this Saturday I will get SNOOPY moved into a nice cool dry (if it doesn't flood again) place to call home.

So, next Monday and Tuesday, I will be moving all my airport "stuff" from the house to the hanger which will now be called the "DOG HOUSE".

Still sitting in recurrent.

Recurrent Training

2008-07-21T08:38:00.002-05:00

Flew "SNOOPY" to Ypsilanti, MI yesterday to attend Recurrent Ground School this week.

5 hours and 1 fuel stop was all it took. Filed IFR (Instrument Fligh Rules) on a fairly clear day.

"SNOOPY" got his new wheel pants installed Sunday morning. Will take pictures and post later.

But my son-in-law did a fantastic job of repairing and painting the wheel pants. When I post the pictures, you need to guess which one had a 2 inch diameter hole in the very front.

Used about 5 gallons per hour, at a cruise ground speed of 105 mph.

Later....

Back home..

2008-07-18T23:47:00.002-05:00

Got back home Wednesday night. But was sick Thursday morning. So, I didn't get much done Thursday.

But this morning, mowed the lawn, got the Cessna 150 it's IFR certification for the next 2 years. Planned for my flight in the Cessna to Detroit and Sunday.

Went to the pool supply shop and got some lights for the pool. Took Susan for a standard doctors appt. Got keys made for the Cessna. Went to South County Mall and got some new Croc sandels, and Susan got make-up. Got propane for the grill. Stopped at Costco for dog food, milk, etc. Went to Borders for a couple of books.

Finally got home and ate dinner and went swimming (night swim). New lights were neat. Will try and take some pictures tomorrow night, and post later.

Back in the USA....

2008-07-14T14:22:00.002-05:00

We got back into JFK this afternoon.

Nothing much else happening for now.

Hopefully scheduling will let me go home a day or two early.

I have ground school next week. So it would be great to have an extra day or two at home instead of just sitting in New York on reserve for the next three days.

Mcguire AFB

2008-07-12T18:01:00.002-05:00

We are just outside McGuire AFB in New Jersey, waiting for the Air Force to load our airplane . We are going to Germany, then limo to Liege, then take another plane to Stolkholm, Sweden, then back home.

Got to go to Ypsilanti, Michigan for recurrent ground school starting the 21st though the 24th of this month.

Not much else happening......

Bahrain

2008-07-09T01:43:00.004-05:00

We were in Bahrain a few days ago.

And just wanted you to see where part of your gas $$$$ are going.....

Enjoy.....

Anchorage

2008-07-08T17:18:00.002-05:00

Got an e-mail from one of the Cessna 150/152 members who lives in Alaska. He said the he was flying into Anchorage and wanted to know if I wanted to go to lunch with him and then go out to Merrill Field, in Anchorage.

So this afternoon he picked me up at the Hilton Garden Hotel and took me to lunch at "Club Paris".

Now just wait a minute!

Not what you think!

Just a bar and grill in downtown Anchorage. No toppless og bottomless. LOL.....

Then he took me out to Merrill Field, just south of downtown Anchorage.

His Cessna 152 just got painted last year.

Terry was really a gracious host. And will see him again this month at the Cessna 150/152 FLYIN @ Clinton, Iowa.

2008-07-08T12:38:00.001-05:00

Because I'm a man , when I lock my keys in the car, I will fiddle with a coat hanger long after hypothermia has set in. Calling the car club is not an option. I will win. ______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, when the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another man shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start." We will then drink couple of beers and break wind, as a form of holy communion.
_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, when I catch a cold, I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan. You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do, so for you, this is no problem.

_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like beer, milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like "cumin" or "tofu." For all I know, these are the same thing.

_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, when one of our appliances stops working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together. _______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I may miss a whole show looking for it.....though one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator..... ( applies to engineers mainly).

_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man , there is no need to ask me what I'm thinking about. The true answer is always either sex, cars, sex, sports or sex. I have to make up something else when you ask, so don't ask.

_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, I do not want to visit your mother, or have your mother come visit us, or talk to her when she calls, or think about her any more than I have to. Whatever you got her for Mother's Day is okay; I don't need to see it. And don't forget to pick up something for my mother, too.

_______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, you don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't....and if you are feeling amorous afterwards....then I will certainly at least remember the name and recommend it to others. _______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it, looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now? _______________________________________________

Because I'm a man, and this is, after all, the year 2008 , I will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes, and I'll do the rest...... Like wandering around in the garden with a beer wondering what to do. This has been a public service message for women to better understand men.
_________________________

Bogota mishap

2008-07-07T13:14:00.002-05:00

To everyone who follows me on this blog.

I am alive and well in Anchorage, Alaska.

We did lose another 747 in a crash 15 miles north of Bogota, Columbia.

Eight (8) crew on board, all survived. Some hospitalized.

All that is known now, is that they had a problem(s) after takeoff and tried to return to the airport. They went in about 15 miles north of the airport.

Will post normal stuff later...

4th of JULY

2008-07-05T17:22:00.006-05:00

Sorry I am a little late with this. But we have been on the go since the 4th of JULY. We left OBBI (Bahrain) on the evening of the 4th and flew 9 hours in constant light turbulence.

When we got to VHHH (Hong Kong) the Captain and I went to the "Ladies Market" and the "Golden Computer Center" to do some shopping.

Then we came back the hotel and ate.....

then crashed!!!!!

Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or a Southerner?

2008-07-04T01:03:00.001-05:00

Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or a Southerner?

Here is a little test that will help you decide.

The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.

Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you,

screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock cal 40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

..............................................................

THINK CAREFULLY AND THEN SCROLL DOWN

Democrat's Answer:

Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!

Does the man look poor or oppressed?

Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?

Could we run away?

What does my wife think?

What about the kids?

Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?

What does the law sayabout this situation?

Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?

Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?

Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?

If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?

Should I call 9-1-1?

Why is this street so deserted?

We need to raise taxes, have paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.

This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

...........................................................

Republican's Answer:

BANG!

Southerner's Answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! Click..... (Sounds of reloading)

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! Click

Daughter: 'Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the

Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?'

Son: 'Can I shoot the next one!'

Wife: 'You ain't taking that to the Taxidermist

K C Bar-B-Q

2008-07-01T17:42:00.004-05:00

The restaurant/bar featured in the movie TOP GUN starring Tom Cruise, is a place in San Diego, CA.

Friends of ours, Gary and Mary who live in Los Angles, took me there a couple of months ago to see the place and eat some Kansas City style Bar-B-Q. At first I didn't want them driving the 2 hours down from LA to San Diego, with gas at $4.00 per gallon. But they insisted.

We got there, and all around this place were brand new buildings. It was just a little old one story building, surrounded by 40 story skyscrapers.

Went inside to eat and see the bar where "Mavrick and Goose" sang "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" and the final scene of the movie where "Mavrick" and "Charlie" get together, with the Richeous Brothers singing "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".

Food was good and it was a very interesting place to visit.

Now I am very glad that Gary and Mary dragged me down there...

Last week the place burned down.....

Wished I would have had Gary and Mary take some pictures of me sitting at the bar where "Mavrick" sat.

But at least I can say I was in the place and had some good Bar-B-Q.

Here is a clip of a funny parody I have. Which I had a real clip of the movie with the bar scenes.

Enjoy...

The Truth Hurts sometimes...

2008-06-30T22:27:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-29T11:26:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-28T14:22:00.003-05:00

I enjoy this short movie...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2008-06-26T21:39:00.002-05:00

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.

2008-06-24T12:25:00.003-05:00

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

2008-06-22T22:03:00.006-05:00

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...

2008-06-21T11:18:00.003-05:00

This is a video of what happens to mad squirrels.

Back from Camp... Part II

2008-06-21T10:55:00.003-05:00

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

Back from Camp...

2008-06-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-17T08:24:00.006-05:00

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....

2008-06-13T21:49:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-05T12:57:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-01T11:26:00.002-05:00

Got into Anchorage last night.

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

Pool Installation Part 2

2008-05-31T06:18:00.002-05:00

More pictures of the new pool. Water has been going for about 16 hours now, and probability another 7 hours to go before it is filled. We has to use some water from both next door neighbors to get it started.

Then I had to hard plumb the filter and new clorinator. The clorinator uses salt to produce clorine. Almost no chemicals to add.

Got to put up the ladder this morning, then get packed to go to work.

Pool Installation

2008-05-30T07:17:00.003-05:00

the pool installers came last night at 6:00 pm to start the pool installation.

They first cleaned out the area where the pool is going, then started laying the concrete blocks that the wall supports will go.

They are supposed to be back sometime this morning.

I need to re-wire the electrical and once they are finished, I need to plumb the pool for the pump and filter. And redo part of the deck.

More later...

FLYING & MEETING NEW FRIENDS

2008-05-29T23:50:00.002-05:00

Flew from St. Charles (KSET) to Moberly, MO (KMBY) today.

I met up with a couple of guys from the Cessna 150/152 Club.

I met Hung and Jim. Hung is Vietnamesse and lives in Topeka, Ks. Jim is American and in Rogers, AK. Both of them fly 152's. So, when we got airborne, they kind of left me in their dust. Hung did try to get some aerial photos of "Snoopy". But we were just too far away.

Just before departure from KMBY, I got a phone call from the pool installers. They wanted to start installing the pool at 6:00 pm today. So after about 50 miles of flying with Hung and Jim, I broke off and headed back home to meet the pool installers.

Still had a good time meeting Jim and Hung. Both are great guys.

Jim's Cessna is the Red/Silver/White one. His wife designed the paint scheme. It has an outstanding paint job. The red and silver are metal flake! It looks awesome! He is in the process of redoing his interior also. So we swapped ideas.

More photos later and info on the pool install tomorrow.

Just about done...

2008-05-28T13:31:00.002-05:00

But, ready to FLY...

Got the brakes repaired. Just needed to bleed both sides.

Went for a short flight this morning, just to test hop "Snoopy" for tomorrows trip. Everything seems to be "A-OKAY".

These are some new photos of "Snoopy". And one with "Snoopy" and "Colorado Red"

Interior finished

2008-05-27T16:34:00.005-05:00

Well got the interior finished for now.

The 1st picture is of the panel that separates the cabin from the tail section of the fuselage. It was yellowed and cracking. I repaired the cracks and installed extra cabin ventilation. I then cover the panel with cloth from my seats on my Piper Cherokee that was left over. Used contact cement to glue the cloth to the panel. Worked quite well.

Also,took some pictures of the new CESSNA decal on the wingtips.

Rained again today, But got "Snoopy" in a hanger for the rest of the week.

Kalitta Air B747

2008-05-26T13:48:00.002-05:00

I am home and okay.

For those who are wondering, I was not involved in the mishap in Belgium yesterday.

I only know what the news says and what I read on the Internet.

Please do not speculate or guess of what might have happened to this aircraft and it's crew. Let the Belgium CAA and the USA NTSB do their investigations. It is not fair to the company or crew to Monday morning quarterback on pictures and innuendo.

Spring Planting...

2008-05-24T12:37:00.003-05:00

We have Scott's little girl Natalie this weekend. So we stopped at Lowe's and got some plants for her and Nana to put in the flower beds in the front yard.

She is a prissy girl. She doesn't like her hands to get dirty. So we put some gloves on her and that was better.

And she and Nana got busy planting all the flowers and putting water in the pond and feeding the fish.... UNTIL.....

It started RAINING!!!!!

I was out on the back deck repairing the privicy fence that we have on the west side of the upper deck. Got about half way done before the rain started. Hoping it will end in a little while so we can finish.

Natalie and Nana are going over to Shannon's house

Progress

2008-05-20T17:42:00.003-05:00

Well I am making progress on "Snoopy". This is what Susan and I named our little Cessna 150. I went out today and installed the brackets for the left side wheel pant. Fit a new left side door post cover. Finished wiring the right side strobe. Cleared the drain hole in the aft belly so rain water could escape.

The first picture is of the instrument panel when I got "Snoopy". The second picture is what ti looks loke today after some modifications. Will get better pictures by the end of the week.

Then came and mower the lawn. Tomorrow is yard waste collection day.

I will stay home tomorrow and get ready for the pool installers to come. Still don't know what day they will be here, but still got be ready for when they do come.

Out with the old in with the new...

2008-05-17T16:56:00.002-05:00

Got home yesterday, and got up this morning at 6:30 and started tearing down our pool of 21 years.

The first picture is of how it used to look. Thie other pictures is of how it looks now. Still got a lot of work to do before the pool installers come Monday or Tuesday.

I will take more pictures of this process and post.

Boy am I pooped.

Don't Speed...

2008-05-16T08:14:00.001-05:00

Speeding in Missouri

1) Good: A Desoto, MO policeman had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting many. Then he discovered the problem. A twelve-year-old boy was standing up the road with a hand-painted sign, which read 'RADAR TRAP AHEAD'.

The officer then found a young accomplice down the road with a sign reading 'TIPS' . . . and a bucket full of money. (And we kids used to just sell lemonade!)

2) Better: A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar post in St Peters, MO. A $40 speeding ticket was included.

Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40.

The police responded with another mailed photo of handcuffs.

3) Best: A young woman was pulled over for speeding. As the Missouri State Trooper walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, 'I bet you're going to sell me a ticket to the State Troopers Ball.'

He replied, 'Missouri State Troopers don't have balls.' There was a moment of silence while she smiled, and he realized what he'd just said.

He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left. She was laughing too hard to start her car.....

Wash our sin away

2008-05-15T09:43:00.002-05:00

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick.

Suddenly, my daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat. "Dad, I'm thinking of something."

This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"The rain! ;" she began, "is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away."

After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Aspen." Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little girl take this revelation? So I asked... "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?" Aspen didn't hesitate one moment with her answer:

"We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.

When forwarding this message, you will probably not send it to some on your address list because you're not sure how they would feel about receiving it or what they will think of you for sending it to them.

Sad isn't it, how living in today's world has caused us to be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us?

Still sitting in Detroit

2008-05-13T08:20:00.002-05:00

Not much happening. Just sitting here in Detrooit on reserve. Another 4 days to go, after today until I go home. Then I will really have to go to work. All the "Honey Do's" are waiting for me.

How To Install a Husband

2008-05-12T11:46:00.003-05:00

Subject: How To Install A Husband:

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but it is no longer available.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

Dear Desperate,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command "http: I Thought You Loved Me.html" and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program; These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,

Tech Support; Tricia Keever

Thank you for your inquiry and have a great day.

Happy Mothers Day

2008-05-11T15:04:00.002-05:00

Happy Mothers Day,

To my mother Lucille. The mother of my children, Susan. Shannon, my daughter, and all the other lovely ladies I know. Your children love you very much, and do appreciate all you do for them.

A friend gone..

2008-05-11T09:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I flew back to St Louis to be a Pall Bearer for a grand gentleman. Allen Breckenridge, age 86, passed away Wednesday in Independence, MO.

We met Allen and Jane when we moved to St Louis in 1989. They had just retired from 45 years of service in the church. Their main focus of their ministry was in Tahiti and French Polynesia.

There are 3 men I KNOW that are sitting at the right hand of God today. They are Bill West ( a friend from Wichita, KS who died from Lou Gehrig's Decease), Maurice Barnard ( my father-in-law) and Allen Breckenridge.

May God take his soul and Bless his wife Jane and their family.

The Magic House

2008-05-09T18:12:00.003-05:00

I found some pictures of when Susan and I took our youngest grandson Brad to The Magic House. It is an 18th century house that has now become a kids museum of sorts. With a lot of 'hands on" things to do and experience.

We were there for about a little over 2 hours. Only way we could get out of there was to ask Brad if he was ready to go to McDonalds.

Why did the Chicken cross the road?

2008-05-08T08:23:00.005-05:00

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure – right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE ' of t he road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain. Alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side'. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how itexperienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% ........ reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

Sitting in Detroit

2008-05-08T08:05:00.002-05:00

Not much happening the last couple of days. Went to EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) on Monday night. Now just sitting in the Hampton Inn and waiting for scheduling to call with a trip.

Did find out that the FAA has changed the rules on me.

In order to fly "Heavy Metal" (FAR Part 121) I need to have 1500 hours of Pilot In Command. I only have 750 hours, but the FAA will count half of my 6500 hours of Flight Engineer time ( up to a max of 750 hours) towards the 1500 hours. So therefore I qualify to become a First Officer.

But wait....

The FAA now says that I can only count 500 of those 6500 Flight Engineer hours towards the 1500 hours. CRAP!!!!

So it is a good thing we bought an airplane. We figure it will take me about a little over a year to get the extra 250 hours PIC time I need to qualify.

This is why I fy cargo...

2008-05-06T13:58:00.004-05:00

Sunday, I traveled on US AIRWAYS from LAX to Philadelphia to Detroit. The following happened on the 5 plus hour flight.

I was assigned seat 22D which is an exit row seat on the aisle. This seat has a little more legroom than most exit row seats because the emergency exit doors are full size, stand up straight, walk thru doors and nor over wing exits. Which are smaller. So I have about 4 feet of empty floor space between me and the seat in front of me. The window seat is occupied by an older lady. And the middle seat is empty.

GOOD NEWS!!!! No one in the middle seat. YEAH!!!!

BAD NEWS... CRAP!!!! After take-off a passenger about 4 or 5 rows in front of me asks the Flight Attendant if he could sit in 22E (the seat next to me and the lady). She asks him the required FAA questions about occupying an exit row seat. And he comes back to take the middle seat at row 22.

Now this is not that much of a big deal. It was a full flight, and US AIRWAYS has the FAA minimum spacing between seat rows. So, I can understand the young man wanting to get some more legroom. That's why I am there.

Now for the BAD NEWS.....

About 5 minutes later, one of his European buddies comes back to talk. Okay, that fine, but this chat goes on and on and on....

After about 15 minutes of chat, I get up to use the lavatory. When I come back to my assigned seat, the buddy is sitting in my seat and not giving any indication of moving!

After about of minute and a half of me standing there waiting for this bozo to get out of MY seat he finally gets up and sits down in front of the exit door at our feet. And the chat continues.

So now the lady and I have to put up with these two having a 2 hours chat with Bozo II sitting right in front of us! Both her and I are not happy about this situation.

Then the chat is over, Bozo II gets up goes to the overhead where his seat is at, gets an inflatable ball, brings it back, lays down at the foot of our feet and proceeds to go to sleep!

Like a good American, I keep my mouth shut. Blood is dripping down the sides of my mouth. (for I am now biting my tongue) and my blood pressure is rising.

I then decide to try and take a nap. So I recline my seat, but on my Bose noise cancelling headset, and try and stretch out, as much as possible, and dose off.

About an hour or so less, just half asleep, I go to uncross my legs, and I hit someone...

As I open my eyes, I see another Bozo (III)standing over my legs, stretching against the overhead storage, chatting with Bozo I and Bozo II.

At this point I say "OKAY GUYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!"

They look at me like I am rude and crazy!

Just about that time the Captain comes over the PA and says everyone is to return to their seats, and he then turns on the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign. These 3 Bozos ignore the PA announcement and the sign being illuminated.

So, this is when I have had enough and go into Aircraft Pilot mode.

"Okay you guys need to go back to your assigned seats"

"The Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign"

Again they look at me like I am nuts and start telling me where to go...

About that time a Flight Attendant shows up and tells the 3 Bozos the same thing I had just said. As they are getting to their seats, Bozo I, setting next to me, starts chastising me about my poor attitude and lack of sympathy. He informs me that Bozo II has a hernia and I show a little more compassion.

I said, "I have been showing you 3 hours of compassion. And I had foot surgery a few month ago, so don't go there about your buddy hurting, because I am also". "How would your buddy like it if I laid down in front of his feet in the row he is supposed to be SITTING?" I then but back on my Bose noise cancelling headset and ignore him. He is saying "%*^^#($)$($#(#*#(*#(*$)$)*@*". I wanted to also say (but didn't) "If you don't like my attitude, why don't you go back to the seat YOU WERE ASSIGNED?"

After about an hour goes by and the Captain turns off the Seat belt sign. And guess who comes back with his pillow ball...

He lays back down at our feet and goes to sleep again. And stays there until we are on decent and the seat belt sign comes on again and the Flight Attendants shew him back to his assigned seat for landing.

Once we get to the gate and the seat belt sign goes off and everybody gets up to collect their belonging which may have shifted during flight...

After Bozo I goes to get his things, I lean over to the lady in the window seat and apologize if I was too much of an ASSHOLE to the 3 Bozos. She starts to laugh and tells me "No, you were not the ASSHOLE" She says that she was glad I had finally said something and agreed with what I said, and my assessment of our 5 plus hour ordeal.

Thanks God the flight to Detroit went a lot smoother.

So was I out of line? And was I an ASSHOLE or worse?

Los Angles

2008-05-02T18:03:00.002-05:00

I have been in Los Angles for the past couple of days on reserve. I am leaving Sunday morning for Detroit.

Monday I am attending a class so that I can go out on the line and instruct our pilots on the usage of a new piece of equipment.

We are installing an Electronic Flight Book. This is being installed on our airplanes. It is an electronic version of the Jeppensen charts that we use for departures, approaches, landings, and airport ground movement.

This is a very user friendly system, and will keep a lot of trees from dieing.

Back in Hawaii

2008-04-30T00:07:00.003-05:00

Got back to Honolulu this morning.

And leave again tomorrow afternoon local time. We fly back to LAX. Then I am on reserve for the next 17 days. So that is a total of 29 days gone from home.

Here are some more pictures from last week when Susan was with me in Hawaii.

Lunch

2008-04-28T18:28:00.001-05:00

An Irishman , a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, 'Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building.'

The Mexican! Opened his lunch box and exclaimed,' Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too.'

The blonde opened his lunch and said, 'Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too.'

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, 'If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!'

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, 'I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much.'

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said, 'Don't look at me. The idiot makes his own lunch.'

Vacation time over...

2008-04-26T11:40:00.001-05:00

Well, I took Susan to the Honolulu International Airport this morning (5:30 am) to catch a 7:10 am flight to LAX then on to St Louis. She should get home at about 11:00 pm tonight.

We had a great time here. Last night we took a walk through Waikiki Beach to watch the sunset.

I am scheduled to fly later today from here to LAX. Then stay in LA until Tuesday morning.

Swimming with the Dolpfins

2008-04-24T16:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we went to Sea Life Park. We got to swim and touch and ride the dolphins. We had a great time there. I am trying to upload the pictures but not having much success at this time. I will try later.

I am leaving to go to LA and back in a few hours. We had breakfast this morning and then went to Waikiki Beach, just in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and went swimming there for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow we just plan to go to the beach and relax for the day.

THE PICTURES JUST UPLOADED!!!! YEAH!!!!!!

Susan leaves for home Saturday morning.

More later...

DIVE, DIVE, DIVE........

2008-04-21T23:12:00.003-05:00

Today we went "Under the Sea" on the Atlantis. It is a 68 passenger submarine. Top depth we went was 120 feet.

We first took a 10 minute ride out to the Atlantis. Then transferred on board to the ATLANTIS. It was about a 35 minute dive.

The last photo is of a turtle resting on the bow of a sunken ship that is now a reef off the coast of Waikiki Beach.

Time to go to work tomorrow afternoon. Susan will be on her own for a day. She is already planning her day alone.

Whale Watching...or is he watching us?

2008-04-21T14:48:00.002-05:00

The whales come up very quickly and plus the fact we bought a new camera, I was a little slow on getting pictures. This is about the best one that I could get of them. But I was the one who say this one first. I first saw him just below the surface of the water, just before he came up to the surface.

We are going down to the International Market Place and also see about some outer tours for the week.

Susan is sunburned a little on her arms from yesterday. We ran into my first officer and had dinner with him last night.

More of our adventures tomorrow.

"CAPTAIN!.....They be whales!!!!!"

2008-04-20T21:50:00.003-05:00

Susan came out to Hawaii to be with me this week.

We went on a Whale Watching Cruise. Last day of whale watching here in Hawaii. But, we did see a couple of whales.

Thinking about going to swim with the dolphins tomorrow.

Sunny and 85F here in Honolulu today.

More later.....

This Old Airplane....Part 3

2008-04-17T18:31:00.001-05:00

Here are some photo's of the new wingtips I got and finished installing them today.

Forgot to get new pictures of the new re-vamped Instrument panel. We were in a hurry to get out of the hanger this afternoon.

Nav lights, new landing lights and old landing light (now new taxi light) all work. We did some re-wiring also. We had a couple of issues with the new strobe lights, but hope to have them corrected next time I get home.

Ran out of time to get the starter installed this time, but will get it next time.

Also got the new right side forward door post trim installed. Again, ran out of time to complete the left side.

More later.......

This Old Airplane....Part 2.....

2008-04-14T21:30:00.003-05:00

Well I have the ADF installed. The electronic tachometer is installed. Two of the three instrument panels are repaired and painted.

Frank (my son-in-law) is painting the new wingtips and wheel pants.

Got the strobe light wiring harness and the new landing light wire routed thru the wings and into the fuselage.

Waiting for some parts to arrive tomorrow and Wednesday to try an finish up before I go back to work on Friday.

Going to have to go to work to get some rest.....

LOL.......

This Old Airplane....

2008-04-13T08:33:00.002-05:00

Didn't get to work on the Cessna yesterday or today.

Yesterday, we went to see our granddaughter Kalleigh test for her white belt in Tae Kwon Do. She did find, will find out next week if she passed.

Then we went to R & S Pool Supply to get a new pool. Ours is 21 years old this summer. Liner needs to be replaced, And the railings and walls are shot. We got a really great deal from Bob, the owner, whom we have known since moving to St Louis 19 years ago. Now we have a meeting with an installer on Tuesday morning.

Progress is slow but sure with the Cessna. Repairing interior plastic and repainting. But had to order 3 new pieces. The 3 pieces I am replacing just crumpled in my hands when I removed them to run wiring for the new Landing Lights and Strobes I am also installing.

These plastic parts just take a beating with the hot sun beating threw the windows. They become very brittle. Got to get a hanger!

Cessna 150

2008-04-10T07:17:00.003-05:00

Started working on my airplane yesterday afternoon. Got a good start on things. Will be out at the airport all day today and tomorrow. Only got the hanger space till Monday.

I got lots to do by then.

Installing a different Directional Gyro, ADF (Automatic Direction Finder, AM radio), Indicator of ADF, Electronic Tachometer, new wing tips with strobe lights, new started, re-painting some interior parts, wheel pants, tail hold down bolt.

Will try and take pictures everyday to show progress.