Why Amature

I am going to break with one of my rules of not engaging with commentators I don't know to try to explain my description of my father as an amature pilot.  

My father earned commercial and instrument flight ratings in single engine land aircraft.  He worked very hard to earn those ratings with written and flying exams. If I describe him as a private pilot, I am failing to recognize his accomplishment. If I describe him as a commercial pilot, people want to know who he flew for. He never flew for money. 

He flew for the pure love of flying.  He refused to accept payment for flying.  I was at the airport with him one Sunday afternoon and a guy came in who had lost a radio controlled model airplane airplane, on like the second time he had flown it.  He had spent all winter building it, and within a couple of hours he had lost it in the trees.  None of the flight instructors was available to take him out to find it from the air, and the FBO manager, said - George why don't you take him out.  Within 15 minutes they had located the model airplane from the air, safely in a ditch. When they came back to the airport my father steadfastly refused to accept $20 for his time.  He did let the model owner pay for the airplane rental, but not the pilot time.  He said, I fly because I think it is the most magical thing you can do, I hope you fall in love with it and come back and learn to fly.  

So he was a commercial pilot, who preferred to remain as a hobbyist, doing it purely for the love of flying. I know a couple time he flew freight, in one case a corpse that needed to be delivered in time for a funeral, again refusing payment for his time.  
His unfulfilled dream was to spend his retirement as a flight instructor.  He let his insecurities get in the way, and failed the flight check - twice - and gave up.  I am sure if he had more self confidence, if he had tried again he would have passed.  You can do what you believe you can do, success is measured not by the number of times you try and fail, but by the one time you succeed.  

He learned to fly in the 50's, in aircraft that required the pilot to truly master the skills of flying. He was an amazing pilot. He flew a wide array of single engine aircraft.  He logged a couple thousand hours of flight time over about 20 years.  

Home

I have mentioned that my father was an amature pilot, I grew up around little airplanes and little airports in Michigan and Florida.  I also mentioned that I was an uber camera nerd as a teenager.  I bought a lot of camera equipment, with money I earned.  Some of it I earned working on the family farm, but even more I made taking aerial photos of farms and businesses. 

If I am at all familiar with the geography, I am very good at finding things on the ground from the air.  If I know your neighborhood, I can find your house from the air.  

So here I am, taking a picture of my house from an Airbus A-320.  Not your typical aircraft for taking aerial pictures.  Above the wingtip, there are four (it may look like three) buildings that are kind of crescent shaped.  I own a condo in one of them.  The house in the DC burbs. 

When your time comes, make the best of it.

Actor Gene Wilder died today.  News reports say he had dementia, and had been in poor health for sometime.  He died at home surrounded by family listening to his favorite music - Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  When you time has come, what a wonderful way to go.

Random Observations From The Office

The deli in the lower lobby of my building was training a new person on the sandwich line last week, my turkey and swiss on whole wheat with mayo and pickles, was missing the swiss.  The manager really needs to hire staff with a firm grasp of English or working hearing aids.  

One of my dear co-workers came into my office and closed the door and uttered those most dreaded of words, "I wanted to tell you personally" - my first thought was oh-my-god-we-are-losing-her.  Instead she told me she has decided to spawn again, that explains why she has looked a little "green-around-the-gills" for the past three months.  We will lose her for 2-3 months early next year.  I still don't understand children, why does anyone do that?  I am pretty sure she knows what causes it.  Oh well, if it makes her happy.  

My project budget is in the process of being renegotiated with the funder.  The funding has been cut, and cut and cut and the final indignity - they zeroed out my travel budget.  I can sell my time to other projects, but losing my travel budget - it is a good thing I am not close to retirement age that might have been the last straw.  

  

Technology Questions

How about a picture of a place that has not changed much in 100 years, to lead off my Sunday Five, with five questions on technology. 

1: A recent study found that if forced to give up something to keep  a smart phone, 38% said they would rather give up sex than their smart phone.  So - your phone or your sex life? 
2: You know how Facebook has added new "reaction" buttons, now it is not just like, but, love, laugh, angry, crying, shocked.  Still no really negative ones, if you could add one of the following which would it be: a) dislike b)You Idiot or c)You need help?
3: Desktop or laptop, which do you prefer to use? 
4: Do you use electronic boarding passes, or print them out? 
5: GPS or printed maps? 

My answers: 
1: So - your phone or your sex life?  - I'd give up my phone  - it just annoys me most of the time. 
2:  Facebook would you add  a) dislike b)You Idiot or c)You need help? B=You Idiot 
3: Desktop or laptop, which do you prefer to use? Desktop 
4: Do you use electronic boarding passes, or print them out? Paper - I am forever bumping the wrong spot on the screen at the wrong time.  
5: GPS or printed maps? GPS most of the time. 

Birthdays Past

As Bill Clinton put it, I have more yesterdays, than tomorrows - with luck I have a few more good years to go.  I have lost track of birthdays, they just keep happening, at this point having birthdays beats the alternative.  Nearly 50 years ago, the Schwinn above was a birthday present from my parents.  Funny, I was try to remember birthday presents past.  There is a sweater my sweet bear gave me about 25 years ago, and the funny sign from Germany from last year, and the bike (I still have those three.)  I can't remember any others.  All of the fuss that goes into finding just the right gift or at least finding something, and can we remember the gift even a year later? 

What is your most memorable birthday gift?    

Where was I last Year?

I interrupt this regularly scheduled posting, to announce that this blog has recently passed the 100,000 page view mark.  Thank you to my readers and viewers, I couldn't do that without you! I now return you to the regularly scheduled posting! 

I mentioned recently that I was copying my photo archive to a cloud server.  The data transfer took several days, there were nearly 100-gigabytes of images.  My first Windows desktop computer - just 20 years ago, had a whopping 1-gigabyte drive.  I am wondering if 1-terabyte is big enough on my next desktop.  

A couple of people commented on the cloud, kind of wondering what it is.  It is space on a server someplace that you can copy and store files on.  I can access those files from any web connection.  Can my files be stolen, yes, but it is just photographs and do I really care if someone uses one of them?  Can they be lost, yes, but I have lost files here at home to a hard drive failure.  My primary computer and my back-up server sit side by side, if the building collapses, I would lose both.  The offsite cloud back-up is the back-up to my back-up.  I went with a cloud server as part of a service I am likely to keep for a long time - if I quit paying - the files would go.  

So what does all of this have to do with where was I last year?  I get a daily pop-up on my phone with images taken on this date, going back as far as the digital files go.  Every day, I can see where I was last year,  the year before, the year before, I had one today from 11 years ago (I was a legal aid conference in the middle of no-where Kentucky- I miss the people - but I don't miss that venue.) 

So where were you last year?    

Slow motion adventures

I live just off US-1, the original road connecting Maine to Key West.  I had lived just off of US-1 as a teenager and into my early 20's, my parents live a mile from US-1, about 850 miles south of here.  I have periodically thought about going out the front gate, turning right and meandering down the old road, all the way to my parent's home in Florida.  It would turn the 12-14 hour drive, into a 24-36 hour drive.  I usually stop part way and break the trip over two days, taking the old road I would need at least 3 days each way.  Maybe I will get to the point that I have the patience to do that.  Not yet, but maybe some day. 

Last Saturday I decided that a little jaunt in the northern Virginia countryside would be fun.  I have been saying that I wanted to go to Fredericksburg, about 50 miles from here for the longest time.  From what I have seen the old downtown area is quaint, and there is the largest most successful distillery in the state there.  So off I went, leaving about 9:15 in the morning.  It took me 2.5 hours to drive 52 miles, over an hour to go less then 14 miles.  There are a couple of little towns between here and there that have installed traffic lights that let 7 or 8 cars pass through every two minutes.  The result is traffic backed up half way to the moon on the weekends.  Small towns that should be bulldozed.  I am sure they are saying we they are trying to preserve the quality of life in their community, what they have created is traffic that is a living hell for anyone trying to move through there - with the possible exception of the middle of the night.  

On Saturday I just kept reminding myself that I was not in a hurry, and the journey - even if it was in slow motion, was part of the adventure.  I took the expressway home, it only 1.5 hours to cover the same 52 miles.  

One time my ex-in-laws drove from Florida to visit family here in the DC area.  They got as far as the stretch of expressway that took me 1.5 hours to go 52 miles, and turned around and went back to Florida.  

Do you every give up on traffic and turn around and go home? 

The Wonder Dog

The picture is in my parent's home in Florida, the dog is my sister's dog, Blitz the wonder dog.  

I didn't grow up with dogs in the house.  My father and grandfather had hunting dogs, dogs that never crossed the threshold of the house.  I was tasked with feeding them, without them escaping from the run.  It was not easy, one was escape artist, the other was a nasty little thing that would try to bite the hand that fed him.  Over the years I feared or loathed most of the dogs I met.  

Then along comes Blitz, aka The Wonder Dog.  He is sweet, well behaved and I kind of fell in love with him the first time we met.  For a young dog, he is only 3 years old, I amazed at how mellow he is - I wonder what my brother in law mixes in that dog food! 

Soon, I will go visit The Wonder Dog, and the rest of the people who live in that house.  My sister is fun, but you really should meet her dog.     

Conundrum

Riding the New York Subway 

I have a couple of professional licenses, one of which I need to maintain as active for my current employment, and one that I have not used since June of 1995 - but keep renewing.  

I have had a real estate license in Florida since 1978, I have had a brokers license in Florida since 1980.  I made a living with it doing sales and marketing for home builders for 15 years, 3 or 4 of those years I made an exceptionally good living. 

I keep renewing that license.  It costs me less than $100 every other year to do the continuing education and pay the fee. If I wanted to, I could activate the license online and in minutes be legally able to receive a fee. If I fail to renew it, or ask them to cancel it, and ever want to have it back, I have to start the entire licensing process over again repeating the course work, exams, background checks, and post licensure education, for the brokers license there is a minimum experience requirement between the associates license and brokers licence. It would be costly and time consuming.  So on the off chance that an opportunity to fast easy money might come along, or I might somehow find myself in Florida trying to figure out how to fill my time, I keep renewing it. 

Yet, I know there is little if any chance that I will ever return to Florida.  I have fond memories of Florida, but I would find it a difficult adjustment after 21 years living back north. In many ways the 10 years I spent getting a BA in Florida were some of the most fun years of my life.  The license is kind of a part of me, a part of my old identity.   

So the conundrum, how long do I keep renewing? I have two more years to think about it, I just renewed through the end of September 2018.     

I used to think

Spo recently posted a list of things he once thought were true, that he no longer believes are true followed by Ron in Delaware.  Here is a list of ten things I once thought were true, that I no longer believe. 

1. Working for psychopaths was worth it, as long as they paid me well.  
2. That I had to live my life to satisfy others.    
3. That I had to be thin, to be happy.  
4. Money was the source of happiness.  
5. That great leaders were perfect.
6. That if I worked hard enough, I would always be successful. 
7. That Richard Nixon was just misunderstood. 
8. That all doctors were quacks. 
9. That I was a simple person. 
10. That if I quit running, I would get fat - well maybe I was right on that one. 

If granted five wishes, what would you ask for?

John Gray recently posted a list of ten-things he would want, nothing extravagant.  Now there have been times in the recent past when what I would have asked for on the spur of the moment, was a certain co-worker's head on a platter, but I am really not that kind of a person (unless I am provoked.) Because it is Sunday, it is five, so here are my five questions about what would you ask for if granted five simple wishes.

1: Would you ask for more vacation time time or more money?  You can only have one of the two.
2: Where would you go, if you had to leave today and come back in a week?
3: What space in your home would you like someone to clean for you and why?
4: What item, under $50 (or pounds or euros) would you buy for yourself?
5: Who would you wish to win the lottery and why?

My answers:
1: Would you ask for more vacation time time or more money?  You can only have one of the two.
I am running short of paid vacation and leave time.  I would like to spend more time with my parents and with J in the other house. So for me vacation time.

2: Where would you go, if you had to leave today and come back in a week?
London, with a side trip to Wales to meet John in person. It has been too long, I really miss my ancestral homeland.

3: What space in your home would you like someone to clean for you and why?
My closet needs cleaning and organizing.  Being a little bit stingy it is the hardest space for me to clear out, and I know there are things in there I will never wear again.

4: What frivolously item, under $50 (or pounds or euros) would you buy for yourself?
I'd like another drone, the last one ended up stuck in a tree.

5: Who would you wish to win the lottery and why?
My father, it would mean so much to him, and at nearly 89 and in bad health, he wouldn't spend it all.

Tough Old Birds

One of the things that I have learned about myself over the past 30 years is that I am a tough old bird.  I've been through a lot of adventures, some good, some not, and I have made it through.  You don't really know what you are made from, until you have challenged yourself and life has challenged you.  

I come by being tough honestly, my grandmother's lived long complicated lives, my grandfathers spent their lives doing back breaking work, my parents have endured into their late 80's.  I have a lot to live up to.  No two of us have faced the same path, but all have experienced great adventures in life.  

Peaking under the surrface

Grand Staircase in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 

Underside of the stairs 

When we were in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last week, J pointed out the grand staircase, saying it was a landmark within the landmark.  We walked past it and into a small gallery, a gallery tucked into the space under the stairs.  I looked up and realized that I was looking at the underside of the granite stairs. While the top side of the stairs is all smooth and polished, the underside is rough, raw natural stone.  

When you get a chance look under the surface, you see what things are made of.  A lot of buildings and a lot of people are smooth and polished on the one side and rough, raw and natural on the other side.  

Which side do you show to the public most days?  Do you ever let your "underside" show? 

Porn

The lines, the curves, the sexy it evokes, the details that entice, titillate, engage your interest, fill you with desire, appeals to your animal urges, and fill you with lust. Great automotive design has all of the same qualities porn.  

Unless daddy wins the lottery, I will never own a Ferrari, but I lust over the deigns.  The trip to Modena and Maranello to see the museums was fantastic.     

So if you won the big one, what car would you buy? 

Like an Egyptian

Nope, I still don't dance, like an Egyptian or otherwise. While we were in New York one of the short list of things we wanted to do was visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Egyptian collection.  I have been fascinated by ancient Egypt since 8th grade world history class.    

The collection at the Metropolitan is amazing,  I would say easily the best I have seen.  The Museum sits in Central Park at 82nd  Street.  The nearest subway station is about a 15 minute walk away (we should have taken a taxi, it was hot and we are getting old.)  The suggested admission donation is $25 per person.  The museum is huge, you could spend days there.  We explored the ground floor, for me the highlights were the Egyptian, Greek/Roman collections, and a series of rooms from grand houses of the past.  

It was well worth the visit, worth going back to.  

What is your favorite museum?  

Yeah, in my dreams!

In case you wondered what DG's office looked like. A little much, a little over the top?  Yes, well only in my dreams.  The reality is 100-square-feet (that is a 10-foot by 10-foot space) with modern furniture.  

What would your dream work space look like? 

Photo Geek Pilgrimage

I grew up as a camera geek.  When I was about 10 my father set up a simple darkroom in the corner of the garage - one of his flying buddies had a darkroom.  That year for Christmas I got my first Instamatic camera and I was hooked.  I think I was 15 when I bought my first 35mm single lens reflex camera.  By the time I finished high school I had two top of the line Cannon 35mm bodies and a bag full of lenses and two professional large format cameras.  In my late 20's when I was making really good money for a couple of years, I added more lenses and a motor driven body.  Over the years I have sold or traded almost all of it, I still have a 35mm Nikon, and a 120 twin lens reflex, oh and my father's first Cannon 35mm SLR.  I have not shot film in nearly a decade, there are two very good digital cameras on my desk, an ultra compact Samsung, and a Fuji fixed lens SLR. 

Needless to say, once a camera geek, always a camera geek.  I actually know what all of this means, and how most of it works.  I made a living doing commercial photography for a year or so one time.  

Back in the 1970's the cheapest place to buy camera equipment was New York city, and if you were not in the city, you could order from the big dealers there.  The back 1/3rd of Popular Photography and Modern Photography magazines were packed with advertising from the big discount camera dealers.  I would check the mail every day waiting the for the latest issues to arrive and then spent hours searching the ads for what I wanted to own next.  And I discovered that if I had the number and expiration date for my father's credit card, I could call the toll free number, order stuff and have it delivered to the farm.  I'd slip my mother the cash and she would pay the bill when it came in.  I don't think my father figured out that I was doing this for a couple of year (and I was spending a thousand dollars a year on cameras and lenses.)  

So when we were in New York recently and I looked down the block and saw B&H, I had to stop.  I had spent many hours drooling over their ads, and had ordered from them several times (the first time they sent me the wrong lens a 35mm instead of 135mm.)  I had to go in, it is photo geek heaven. 

The equipment has changed from the days of fine German and Japanese brass and glass, but the place is absolutely amazing.  If I ever win the lottery, I could drop a couple-hundred-grand in there in an hour.  Who knew that the new top of the line Hasselblad was over $45,000 - then you need to add lenses. 

So what is your geek trigger?  

So How Are You?

My Sunday Five Questions for this week are about how are you?

1: When you ask how am I doing, do you want to hear only the positive, or the full answer?
2: So, how are you doing?
3: What is your greatest health fear?
4: How do you really feel about getting older?
5: Do you always tell the full story about how you are doing?

My Answers:

1: When you ask how am I doing, do you want to hear only the positive, or the full answer?

I want to hear what you are comfortable talking about.  We all need someone to listen to the full story, but we don't always want to share it.  When you start to tell the full answer, I will always try hard to listen. I want to hear as much as you want to tell.

2: So, how are you doing?

The question is often asked, so are you back to normal?  The real answer is, I am about as good as I am going to get, this is the new normal.  I will never have the body I had before.  I am okay with that, my recovery far exceeded expectations, but, there is permanent nerve damage.  When I move or sit there is pinching and pressure along my spine,  I feel my ribs in ways that are not normal, and always will.  Most nights I wake a couple of times and have to reposition to get comfortable.  For at least a few minutes everyday it hurts when I breath.  That is my new normal, I can live with it.  I am so fortunate, I was very close to losing movement in my legs permanently.  I manage without pain pills, because I choose to, I don't like the feelings of the pills.  It would help if I would lose more weight.  I will get back to working on that.

3: What is your greatest health fear?

Living too long.  I am looking for life in my years, not years in the life.  Seriously, I worry that the fix on my spine will cause expanding complications over time. Every new pain, or change in sensation makes me question how long the fix will last.

4: How do you really feel about getting older?

I rather like it, I am maturing, ripening like an apple in the October sun.  I know that aging brings with it changes.  I am determined to age with dignity and not fight or fake being anything other than an adult who has experienced a lot of adventure.

5: Do you always tell the full story about how you are doing?

No, I am usually polite, and say great, or "I am Feeling Much Better Now."

Green Acres

So today, Jay heads back to Hooterville to teach for the semester.  Both of us feel the same way about our little slice of Green Acres, we went there for the opportunity it offered, and for that we are grateful, but to quote Lisa, "New York is Where I'd Rather Stay!"  

So this past week we did a little get away, to one of the great American Cities.  

Kind of stumbled across this looking for a subway station 

Went up by train 

Times Square 

Seldom seen, but still traveling after all these years.