So we’re on a break from a ground school class the other day. A bunch of us are standing around outside and (for lack of a more vegetarian term) chewing the fat, when one of the guys mentions something about “the dude from Sunrise who crashed and burned a couple months ago.” Huh? Funny how I somehow missed out this… Read more →
Month: September 1998
First Solo
They say that the day a pilot first flies an aircraft alone (“solo”) is something he or she will always remember. Today was my day, and now that it’s over I understand what they mean. Every pilot faces that moment when the CFI has left the aircraft and you’re taxiing back to the runway, excited yet all the while wondering… Read more →
A Year Later
It’s been a year since the the day the wedding didn’t happen, and I’m still alive. There were times, especially early on, when I thought I might not make it–but with the help of God and some great friends & family, here I am. I almost didn’t notice that it had been a year! But I was driving around the… Read more →
Recovery
Vacation ’98, Day Seven Every vacation should end with a “recovery day”. This one did. Slept in like crazy, then went to look at new housing developments around Irvine. They’re trying to build stuff which doesn’t look like tract housing. I’m not sure they’ve totally succeeded, but I have to admit they’re trying very hard. Dinner was at the Crab… Read more →
Movie and a Ballgame
Vacation ’98, Day Six Someday I’ll laugh at the fact that I paid $14.00 for two tickets to see The Avengers. I really will. Mind you, I’m not a harsh film critic. Very rarely do I see a film I really dislike, and most of the turkeys, like Spice World, I just avoid from the get-go. But The Avengers is… Read more →
Aquarium of the Pacific
Vacation ’98, Day Five The Aquarium of the Pacific , located in Long Beach, has been touted as another Morrow Bay Aquarium. That tends to create some pretty high expectations; Morrow Bay is one of the world’s greatest aquariums. I tried to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific a while back–a week after opened–and when I drove up, the ticket… Read more →
Magic Mountain
Vacation ’98, Day Four A snag. The plan for today was to visit the new Getty Museum complex in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it’s already booked to the end of the year. So, in the same cultured and heady spirit of the great artistic masters, I endeavored to select something similar as a replacement. A place of learning, a place of… Read more →
Resting
Vacation ’98, Day Three God may have rested on the seventh day, but hey, I’m only human. So after Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, I did the geriatric thing today and stayed inside. It wouldn’t have been so bad were it not for the heat. I do believe I picked the hottest time of the year to engage… Read more →
The Funky Monkey
Vacation 1998, Day Two Day two! Still in San Diego, spent the night at the Hanalei Hotel, a halfway swanky place with a perfect halfway location between Sea World and Day Two destination: the San Diego Zoo. It was another scorcher of a day (100+ degrees with 40-50 percent humidity), but did that stop me? Hell no! We were once… Read more →