Tuesday, November 17, 2009

November 16, 2009

Knew it was goin' to be a non-flying day.  The forecast was callin' for crappy weather, and well, what do ya know?!  They got it right.  We have a pretty slow low system hangin' over our heads here.  Clouds were low (1500 feet) and weren't expectin' to lift more than 4000 the rest of the day.  On this project, we need to fly at 5500 MSL...

So what does a guy do on a day off?  Well, today consisted of...

Waking up at 7:30.  Checking the weather.  My roomie and I headed out to the airport to do a little work on the airplanes.  And by a little, I mean A LITTLE.  I had purchased glass cleaner yesterday, and I was about two weeks overdue for my windshield.  I had seriously destroyed bugs from Daytona Beach to Fort Worth.  No prisoners taken.  I figured I might as well reduce the number of "airplanes" I see when Traffic Control calls one out to me...definitely not as much fun, but probably quite a bit safer.  Anyway, it took me all of about three minutes to wash the windshield...and it was cold, so I was ready to leave anyway.  Texas went from mid-60's down to the 40's.  Not cool.  Yes, it IS November, and this Illinois boy is more than used to cold temps in November, but what can I say, I'm a pansy now...I've tasted the south in the winter, and I'm lovin' it.

Went out to eat at some local restaurant.  I love doing those.  Actually, that's a fairly regular routine for me.  I do chains, but I try to do the local stuff first and most.  Nothin' but business folk on their lunch breaks.  Matt and I ate, then just sat and talked.  We had absolutely NOTHING to rush for.

Went back to the airport this afternoon.  Just to talk with other locals, really.  The only person there was the FBO lady, so we chatted for a bit.  Headed back to the hotel after that.  Stayed there a bit, almost went crazy, so we looked for somethin' else.  Well, it turns out that Walls has an outlet store across the street from us.  It's pretty much Carharrt-type stuff...so we did that for a bit...and then...

Went out to eat at Golden Corral tonight.  We had no idea, but it was "Veterans Eat Free" night.  Needless to say, the place was packed.  It was pretty sweet, though...I hold those men up in a pretty big honor.  Most were old (all but one), but it was still pretty humbling to be amongst so many veterans.  Loved it.

Went back to the hotel, but again, I couldn't stand to be there.  So I went out tonight...stayed out for a few hours.  Came back to the hotel and goin' to bed at 11:30.  Tomorrow is looking promising for flying.

This marks Day 2 of not flying.  Really, that's not bad at all.  I've seen much, much worse.  As I tell the newbie, you learn to appreciate your days off.  Because when you do fly, you may never know when another break is coming.

And frankly, that type of flying kind of sounds nice right about now...

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