Happy Blues
On Sunday we saw Heartbreak House. It's my second or third Shaw, and I keep liking him more and more. The dark humor of the time, reminiscent of later works like the Addam'S Family as portrayed in The New Yorker and the parlor comedies like You Can't Take It With You and Arsenic And Old Lace. My folks had some trouble hearing, though I didn't miss much. A lot of local actors, including my favorite, R. Hamilton Wright, and Laurence Ballard who both did wonderful jobs (and were easy to hear and understand). It is certainly worth seeing, both for the laughs and thoughts it will engender.
Steve joined us and we all had dinner at the Mediterranean Kitchen Dad and Joyce brought along birthday cards and gifts. They had a couple nice pictures from The Merchant of Venice in my larger roles as Launcelot and The Duke. Also smaller pictures in a little snow shaker, one a school picture which I'd guess was between kindergarten and second grade. The other side was me at at one or two with a towel wrapped part way around, exposing the little twig and berries. The same one which went into the program for Rumors a couple years ago. I was tempted to bring that one into the office as it makes me chuckle, but then it occurred to me it might make a few people uncomfortable, even if I claimed it was a nephew -- maybe more so. Oh well. It will go in my home office.
Last night I made it down to Boeing Field for my first flight lesson. I'd cancelled Monday's lesson as my stomache was quite upset. This detox has made my reactions ot foods my system doesn't like much more pronounced. I didn't call until an hour before the lesson. An old navy habit. You waited until the last minute to see if you started feeling better, so you wouldn't have to go into a flight down status and see that dirty rotten bastardly hound of hell before you could fly again. The flight surgeon.
I did most of the flying once we were a couple miles from the field. I tended to watch the instruments too closely -- my old navy training as a navigator. About half way through I got out of the habit and gained a little confidence so I was outside the cockpit most of the time. There wasn't any of the thrill of a first time flight, but a definite sense of returning to an old and dear friend. I do love being airborne, and look forward to more flights.
I like preflighting an airplane before getting in the damn thing. I'm always a little uneasy getting on board a commercial flight not having had a chance to kick the wheels, check the oleo's (the shiny part of hydraulic shocks or struts), look at the fuel, check the control surfaces and fuselage for connections and integrity, and so on. I caught a missing rivet, which I expect will be repaired. I'll check the same plane next time I have a chance.
We were in a Cessna 172 a small four seater, and probably the same type in which my Great Uncle gave me my first plane ride. He owned a seaplane with three or four other people, and that ride is one of my most cherished childhood memories. A four seat Cessna looks a lot smaller to a big middle aged guy than it did to an second or third grader.
It will take me some getting used to. Straight and level flight feels like a slight climb to me, so I'll need to get the feel for that. I had a light touch, on the controls until we got to the approach. I flew much more of the approach than I expected, and I was overcorrecting a little there. Should be fun. I scheduled a couple times for next week, though I'll have to reschedule the Wednesday flight as I'm taking my niece to the opera.
Steve joined us and we all had dinner at the Mediterranean Kitchen Dad and Joyce brought along birthday cards and gifts. They had a couple nice pictures from The Merchant of Venice in my larger roles as Launcelot and The Duke. Also smaller pictures in a little snow shaker, one a school picture which I'd guess was between kindergarten and second grade. The other side was me at at one or two with a towel wrapped part way around, exposing the little twig and berries. The same one which went into the program for Rumors a couple years ago. I was tempted to bring that one into the office as it makes me chuckle, but then it occurred to me it might make a few people uncomfortable, even if I claimed it was a nephew -- maybe more so. Oh well. It will go in my home office.
Last night I made it down to Boeing Field for my first flight lesson. I'd cancelled Monday's lesson as my stomache was quite upset. This detox has made my reactions ot foods my system doesn't like much more pronounced. I didn't call until an hour before the lesson. An old navy habit. You waited until the last minute to see if you started feeling better, so you wouldn't have to go into a flight down status and see that dirty rotten bastardly hound of hell before you could fly again. The flight surgeon.
I did most of the flying once we were a couple miles from the field. I tended to watch the instruments too closely -- my old navy training as a navigator. About half way through I got out of the habit and gained a little confidence so I was outside the cockpit most of the time. There wasn't any of the thrill of a first time flight, but a definite sense of returning to an old and dear friend. I do love being airborne, and look forward to more flights.
I like preflighting an airplane before getting in the damn thing. I'm always a little uneasy getting on board a commercial flight not having had a chance to kick the wheels, check the oleo's (the shiny part of hydraulic shocks or struts), look at the fuel, check the control surfaces and fuselage for connections and integrity, and so on. I caught a missing rivet, which I expect will be repaired. I'll check the same plane next time I have a chance.
We were in a Cessna 172 a small four seater, and probably the same type in which my Great Uncle gave me my first plane ride. He owned a seaplane with three or four other people, and that ride is one of my most cherished childhood memories. A four seat Cessna looks a lot smaller to a big middle aged guy than it did to an second or third grader.
It will take me some getting used to. Straight and level flight feels like a slight climb to me, so I'll need to get the feel for that. I had a light touch, on the controls until we got to the approach. I flew much more of the approach than I expected, and I was overcorrecting a little there. Should be fun. I scheduled a couple times for next week, though I'll have to reschedule the Wednesday flight as I'm taking my niece to the opera.
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