Pool Installation Part 2

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

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

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...

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

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

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...

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

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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..

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

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?

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

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...

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

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.