Only about 7 and 1/2 weeks till takeoff to St. Croix for the Abbey Animal's Final Fixit program. Just met with my Penn Vet Rep. Jennifer who so graciously arranged with her supplier of sutures and gloves to donate supplies. We were thrilled to get these gifts and they will be put to good use. Thanks again Jennifer and to Penn Vet for their support. Also thanks to everyone who has donated so far, its great to get support for this noble cause.
The past several weeks have been crazy. The Six went through her annual inspections with Tom Stevens (thanks Tom) and is ready to go. I had to stop my IFR lessons during this time but now I am back on line. I tried to use the simulator but its just not the same… Rick says that if you can fly a simulator you can fly the real thing. Simulators are a mental work out. They can be "touchy" and they expose all of your mental weaknesses. I found out that I needed to spend more time with my VOR without the help of my GPS. I have a great up-to-dated IFR certified TSOed GPS but what am I going to do if (Heaven forbid) it goes out… I need to be able to navigate with my VOR. This should be simple but it can get rather confusing especially since I only have one VOR in my plane. It makes for a busy pilot when you are trying to triangulate with only one VOR… it can be done but you need to keep moving to stay ahead of the curve! Any way, I took her (the Six) up for her maiden voyage (post inspection) and everything checked out great… it was great to get back up into the "Wild Blue Yonder"!
I was able to fly up to the Shenandoah Valley for the weekend during the checkout and helped out with a "Work Day" at my families' farm. When I got there I was met with a surprise of wasps nests in my car door! I had to do battle and clear them out of my car before I could get going. For those of you who don't know me, I have a history of being allergic to wasp stings. This was at night and I still had to drive 40 minutes in the dark where I was sure the bees were in the car and crawling up my legs… luckily this was not the case, but I was on high alert the rest of the drive (you can imagine!). I took pictures of the nests when I got back to the parking lot 2 days later… Bee Armageddon!
I got to the farm and we cleared a lot of brush and mowed the yard and replaced several broken windows and updated some of the plumbing and on and on. This place is pre-civil war and takes a lot of care. There is still plenty to do. My nephew was there and it was great to catch up with his life. I haven't seen him in years… he told me he is about to turn 29… where does the time go? Let me tell you those 29 years went FAST! I took a picture of him with the chainsaw that makes him look like he is from Texas!!!
Ok, well its back to work… another cup of coffee… bye for now, Robin.
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