Merry Christmas Everyone!!

To show my spirit, I put up some lights. Both at the front of my house and at the rear.

I met death again

I met death last Monday and managed to put him off. This was not the first time I have had a visit from him, but the fourth. Each time, he gets closer and this time, he was standing beside me.
The panic I felt was the most intense and scary thing I have ever been through in my life, because this time I thought it was actually the end. The other times were quick and I didn’t have time to realize what was happening. So far I’ve managed to survive.

Monday morning on the First of November, I was running late for work. I didn’t take time to eat breakfast, but would stop for a McMuffin and eat it on the way. I put my vitamins in my shirt pocket as I didn’t want to get sick by taking them on an empty stomach.

I finished my muffin and pulled into my parking spot. I unscrewed the cap on my water bottle and it shot out of my fingers, never to be found again. I drank a big swallow of water and then reached into my shirt pocket and grabbed the vitamins. Tossing them all into my mouth I took another big drink of water and swallowed. One of the vitamins got stuck sideways into my throat, and I was having difficulty breathing. I opened the door to the car and started heaving and choking. I was alone in the dark and felt I was about to die. The panic was completely indescribable. I actually thought I was going to die out in the parking lot before school started.

It subsided somewhat when I realized I could still breathe, although with difficulty. I was very scared up to this point when I figured I would not die, but still in a state of panic.
I went to the restroom and stuck my finger down my throat, and started heaving some blood with the bile. I could feel the vitamin with my finger but could not budge it.

I then decided I had better go to the emergency room at the hospital about 4 miles away. Some people had started arriving by this time and one of the teachers at the school asked if I needed a ride. Not being able to clearly think at this point, I felt it was important for him to be at class on time so I said I could drive myself. That was a mistake as about halfway there, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it as I started choking again.

I made it to the hospital, but could not find the emergency entrance as it was not very clearly marked as which way to go. I walked in and wandered around until I could find a nurse who took me to the E.R. I was able to explain to the ER nurse my predicament and he got me situated. My blood pressure was 190 over 120 and I was asked, “Do you have a blood pressure problem?” I could say I about choked, but that goes without saying.
After a couple of hours of choking and heaving in the E.R., I told the doctor to get me a pair of needle nose pliers and I would get it out myself. They had given me a shot to relax my esophagus so the pill would go down, but it seemed that it was moving upward and a lot more painful than before. They decided to put me out and take me to the outpatient operating room where they would go in with an endoscope.

When I woke up, they showed me it wasn’t a vitamin, but the bottle cap! The water bottles you get at Walmart or the grocery store do not have the regular sized caps, but very thin ones.

My mate Fingers was figuring odds recently and I might need his help in calculating the odds that this cap shot out of my fingers and into my shirt pocket.

One thing has changed. I take my vitamins one at a time now.

ASA Fly-In Was AWESOME!!

I went to the American Sonex Association Fly-in October 7-9, 2010 in Crossville, Tennessee. Although it's not a big place it's about an hour from Nashville, which is a big place. We had 29 Sonex airplanes. This also includes the Y-X version which deviates from the standard airplane tail to one that is shaped like a Y. They are cool, but I'll take my Sonex. The green paint, the nose art and the stripes on my wings were a hit.

I did some formation flying, high speed passes and took a bunch of people for rides. It is an awesome time every year, but this year, we almost had 10% of the entire Sonex fleet at the fly-in. It was the largest showing of Sonex aircraft anywhere at any time to date. That was cool!

Here I am flying in relatively close formation with my buddy Peter and his wife Shayne. She took the picture and it's my favorite one.

There is also one with all the planes in it.

I have been warned!

Well, the FAA decided against me, but in their infinite wisdom, I now have an official warning in my file. What that means, is that this letter states I flew into Class C airspace without permission and will be in my file for two years. OK, I didn't know I had a file. Since it's not like a driver's license, I don't get points, but if I should happen to get another warning, then they may take action of making me get some specific instruction.
I've been flying since I was 13 years old and this is the first warning I've gotten. Granted most pilots don't get them, but as I stated to the FAA guy, I'm not completely at fault here. The specific phrase from the air traffic controller should have been, "I'm not receiving a proper transponder signal, do not enter class C airspace until the situation is resolved."
What I got was I'm not seeing a proper transponder signal, cycle your transponder." After a couple more back and forth radio transmissions, I was told that they had radar contact.... but still no, "Cleared into Class C Airspace".
Anyway, I'm not a threat, and was well away from JFK airport, but the pissy NY rent-a- controller needed to extert his authority and make a point.
So, my insurance won't go up and since I am not a professional pilot, the warning means nothing. That is as long as I stay out of any more trouble.
I'm sure I will.

The FAA motto: We're not happy until you're not happy.

BUSTED!!!

Well, so much for trying to do things right. I have my new panel, which is AWESOME!

Installing the new panel was no easy or fun task. I had an extender cable for my transponder antenna (the thingy that tells Air Traffic Control your altitude and position) made so I could attach it without replacing the whole thing.

So everything was perfect. Charlotte ATC could see my transponder signal and altitude, so when I flew to New York for a reunion, I landed in New Jersey to file a flight plan, get flight following and be directed to Republic field on Long Island.

That's where everything went to shit.

I filed the flight plan online. when I was leaving the airport in New Jersey, the Flight Service guy couldn't find a record of it. So I filed another one with him over the radio.

Contacting NY ATC, didn't go so well either. They couldn't see my transponder signal and I was circling and gave the guy a position off my gps.

He couldn't find that position, so I was trying to get another one off the gps so he would know where I was. While doing that, I wasn't circling anymore and went into NYC airspace.

When I landed in Farmingdale, I was told to call the FAA guy at some number, which I did, and now I'm in trouble.

After talking with the first FAA guy, I called Flight Service to cancel my flight plan, they couldn't find it either! That just inspires me with great confidence.

I should have just lied about my altitude and everything would have been OK.

So now I might get a "ticket" which stays on my license for 2 years, might have to get some additional training, might be fined or might even have my license suspended for a period of time.

I was never a threat to any aircraft navigation, was never close to JFK airport (unless 12 miles is close) and was in contact with ATC like I was supposed to.

YAY!

On the other hand the rest of the time was good flying. 1800 mile trip from home to Long Island New York, on to Maine to see a buddy and a 900 mile trip home, which was fun. Visibility was poor on the way home, but weather was pretty good the whole way.

Pilgrimage

I finally made one of the things on my bucket list. I flew my plane to the Atlantic Ocean. I was hoping to be able to see both oceans (Atlantic and Pacific) in my plane this summer, but funds and job prohibited that. So, my plan is to make the West coast trip next summer.

I went to Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers made their first powered flight. I paid my respects and headed back inland. Next summer the plan is to fly to Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles.

New Instrument Panel

I've been very busy re-doing the instrument panel in my airplane. The old Electronic Flight Instument System (EFIS) quit last summer. I sent it in for repair and it took a couple of months, but I finally got it back. It lasted less than 5 weeks and quit again. The company went out of business soon after.

I've been saving for a new one and Dynon offered a $1,000 rebate to the customers of that company if you send them your old unit (doesn't have to be operational). So for a few hundred more than I wanted to spend, I got the bestest, coolest one you could get.

Removing the old panel and redoing the wiring was a whole lot more work than I really wanted to do.

Pretty slick huh?

Now I just have to learn to use it.

4 more days of school left.

It has been a long grind these last few weeks of school. It is scary to think that these kids have no focus or direction. I am at a rural high school now and all too many of them don't realize that knowledge is power. Most of what we learn in life is not really used, but definitely keeps us from being screwed having our car fixed, or which item is a better buy and certainly getting us an edge over the next person in finding a job.
We have a new charter school opening up in a nearby county. The legislation in funding charter schools is WRONG!!! There is certain data that suggests that charter schools might test a bit better than a regular public school, some data that suggests they are worse and some data that says there is little difference.
A major part of the education of a student is learning how to get along with others. Public school is by far the best place to do that.
If this school opens in August, then our school district will have to give them about $850,000!!!! This is for a school not even in our county! Their (The state's) reasoning is that they will serve some of our students. They have a choice in who they serve. They do not have to take anyone they do not want. A public high school has no choice in that matter, but we are judged by our test scores. The exceptional children we serve are judged in the same way as our valedictorian on test scores. Granted, a few of our students who are physically or mentally not capable of taking a test are exempt from the tests, but the rest are not.
If this is allowed to continue, then these types of schools will bankrupt our public schools. Then what happens to the teachers?
Public schools have more resources, and we should not have to give them up for a school who does not offer the same types of courses or the same populations of students. A nearby school system is fighting the legislation that requires them to provide some of the pre-school funding when the charter school does not even offer pre-school. We also are required to provide Career and Technology (Federal) funds to that school which does not offer any Career and Technical Education Courses. How fair is that?

5 weeks of school left!!

Pretty cool huh??

Usually it is the last 2-3 weeks where the kids act completely stupid. They just act a little stupid after spring break, but they are 3-4 weeks early.

I'm tired, and not sure why. Maybe it's the allergy medicine. I've been going to bed early enough, but I'm exhausted.

I guess the 80 or so hours during spring break to paint my airplane got it started, and I just can't quite catch up.

Big baseball game tomorrow night, and then up early Saturday to be chase plane for a friend who will be making his maiden flight in his airplane.

I'm not complaining about the 80 or so hours as the plane looks awesome!!! I'm still tired though.

The Green Hornet!

Well, now that Spring Break is over and I've had another weekend to put the plane back together...HERE IT IS!!! It is the same color as my Honda Insight although the Insight has faded over the years. I apologize, but the pictures do not do it justice!

I have some stripes to put on and the reg. numbers, but it looks better than I could have hoped.

Oh Boy! Free Health Care!!

For any of you who aren't from the good ol' USA, we have just passed our first major health care reform. Now we get to spend 600 Billion dollars more than the trillions we've already committed to.

Don't get me wrong. I think that we have an obligation to fix a broken system. The problem I have is with our government and the way they get things done. The system and insurance we currently have is, for lack of better words, corrupt. If you have insurance and have a procedure done, the insurance company makes deals with the doctors and hospitals and after you pay your deductible, they pay a percentage of what the hospital bills you for.

If you have no insurance and are not on medicaid or medicare, then you get billed the full amount (unless you are an illegal alien then you are not expected to pay anything) and there is no negotiation of the amount.

This, coupled with the exorbitant rates that are charged for medical procedures and supplies are nowhere near fair.

Our politicians will not vote for anything unless a "deal" is made. One Congressman changed his vote as there will now be a new hospital built in his district. There are other deals made as well.

My issue with the politicians is why can't they do what is right, not what benefit they can gain for their constituents which will help them get re-elected. The other issue I have is that from what I know, the politicians will not subscribe to this new health care system.

That just majorly pisses me off.

My plan for the next several elections is to do what I can to vote out EVERY incumbant. I don't care who they are or to what political party they susbcribe.
I have never voted a straight party ticket and I will know who ALL the incumbents are. I also feel that to get to that level of politics, you have to be somewhat corrupt.

FIRE ALL THOSE PINCHE PENDEJOS!!!! (fucking assholes!)

A Touch of Grey

I am a fan of the Grateful Dead. I was a bit late to listen to them originally on the radio, but a former boss of mine was a read "Deadhead". I picked it up from him. Although I didn't get to go to many concerts, the ones I did go to were great fun.

I have a collection of Grateful Dead / Jerry Garcia ties. I have about 109 of them. The reason I say "about", is my dog Betty got hold of one and chewed the side of my very favorite one, so even though I still have it, it's not wearable.

I have been on ebay several times a week trying to find a replacement, with no results.

Jerry designed all but one of them that I have, and lately there are a lot more coming on the scene. Although he did the artwork, his estate is taking other artwork and making them into ties. There are hundreds of them now.

He was a graduate of the San Francisco School of the Arts and was very talented. He turned to painting as therapy when trying to get off the drugs.

He was unsuccessful in the long run, but produced some nice artwork. Not all of it was "Dead" related or abstract, but I like my "Dead" ties the best. A lot of them have "Easter Eggs" (Skulls or Roses) hidden in the fabric or in the design.

RIP Jerry, A lot of us still miss you.

The "Steal Your Face" Logo above is on the watch I got off ebay recently for $1.