Once in a lifetime opportunity...almost.

So there I was...

...on my way to work, but running about ten minutes late. I'm listening to the morning news and weather and stuff on the radio when I hear them say something special is about to leave Offutt. They are giving the play by play every few minutes. "It should be departing within ten minute," "it's now moving into takeoff position..." All I can think is, I hope it takes off this direction as I hurry my pace to work.

Well, ten minutes from work they tell me that it has departed to the East...meaning I don't have a chance of seeing it. "Well," I think to myself, "I am sure it comes through here every once in a while, I'll catch it next time I hope."

WRONG!!! The next thing the radio tells me is that this is only the second time it has had to stop here on its way back home. Where is home you might ask? WEll, its Florida...more specifically Kennedy Space Center. And if you haven't guessed it by now, it was the shuttle piggie-back atop a specailly fitted Boeing 747. I missed it, because I slept in 10 minutes too long.

So next time you better think twice about hitting that snooze button, you never know what you might miss. Until the next time I will look longingly at the pics someone else managed to take first hand. Hope you enjoy it too.

King of the Road...almost

So there I was...


...riding down the highway at 70 mph, wind on my face, smell of summer in my nostrils, and nothing by my motorcycle between me and certain death (ie. the pavement). "What's this?" you say. That's right, you heard me. Jelaine and I now own a motorcycle. It is going to need a little bit of work to get it all cleaned up and riding like a gem, but it commands the road already!

She's a 1999 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100cc. The best part is it only has 3900 miles on. Can you beleive that? Of course that did cause a problem today when I was in an intersection and killed and then the battery didn't have enough juice to start it again.

I mean, I have ridden it three time since I bought it and that make my riding experience a grand total of 5 times. Does that make me crazy? I mean buying a 600lb bike after only having ridden twice before? Oh well, it sure is fun. And I have to practice a lot so I feel comfortable enough to take Jelaine for a ride the next time she is home.

Next step: Biker Boyz. It has quite a ring to it don't you think? Fat chace though huh? Well at least "E" will join me, and I bet Scotty will too someday.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Jelaine and I are super excited!

Kilroy was here!

Random Weekend Fun...

So there I was…It was Friday evening, I had jut gotten back from Crossroads (college and career small group at church) thinking I wasn’t going to have anything fun to do this weekend.

Boy was I wrong! It started with mowing. I know this doesn’t sound fun but after mowing and doing a little thatching raking of the grass, I got to play with the sprinkler system. Justin can tell you how much fun it is to play with a new sprinkler system. We put ours in, in October right before the first freeze so I haven’t gotten to use it till this weekend. I tested it and checked everything out and it is soooo cool. Only problem is that it runs at 0400 every other day so when I sleep with the windows open. (I bet you guys in Texas didn’t know you could do that without dieing in your sleep from heat exhaustion) anyway, it wakes me up cause it is loud when it is getting started and pushing the air out of the lines.

Wow, that was a lot of talking about a sprinkler system. Oh well. The weekend just got better though. I went with my friend, Ben, to go trap shooting! It was awesome! I have never been before. He has a semi-auto pump action 12 gauge shotgun. You can only load 1 round at a time on the range but it is cool. The best part was that I beat him. His gun, he’s gone several times before and I still beat him. We shot two rounds of 25 clays and I got 13 the first time and 15 the second. I think better than 50% is pretty good.

Well, Sunday was great too! We had a great message at church as always! Have I told you how awesome my church is? One of the assistant pastors has a blog. If you wanna check it out right now he has this great blog about how he explained justification by faith alone at a home school graduation ceremony. Its pretty amazing how he can turn such an important truth into a simple and effective illustration. http://www.irishcalvinist.com/

After church I got to go test ride a motorcycle. It was a 2000 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100cc. That is a big bike for me considering the only other one I have ridden was a 250cc in a parking lot for two days. I’m not going to lie, it was scary. And to top it off, those of you who ride, know that carry someone on the back makes riding harder. I carried the 220lb owner behind me as he taught me how to ride. I know that is not a picture you don’t want to try to imagine…so don’t! J Anyway, I think I need some more practice before I go buying my own, but for some reason no one wants to let a guy who’s only ridden two bikes, borrow theirs to practice on. Anyway, here's what it looks like...but it is gray on the side and has saddle bags...vote on whether I should get it or not.

Well, this is a long blog, but I wanted to tell you that I am flying 6 of the next 10 days so I am going to be busy for the next few weeks. Catch you soon though.

Kilroy was here!

PS: If you've made it this far, go check out Jelaine's blog. That's right, she back from the land of the dead and has a story to tell about her recent amazing accomplishment.

Warning: Graphic Material Below!

First of all, I want to warn you all, this is not my usual lighthearted blog. Instead it is an atempt to share my recently aquired knowledge of a horifying reality. You may choose not to read below if you would prefer to remain ignorant on the process commonly know as partial birth abortion.

To begin, I will tell you that the actual term for the proceedure is "Dilation and Extraction for Late Second Trimester Abortion" As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I will give you a few, but before I do that I would like to note that these pictures were requesitioned by a
Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and have been approved as accurate by no less than two professionals.

http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/Levatino_on_illustrations.pdf

http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/Bowes_letter_PBA_illustration.pdf

These men support the facts that prove the unborn babies experience extreme pain throughout the proceedure. (Prior misconceptions say that the anethstesia given to the mother prior to the proceedure kills the baby....this is simply untrue).

In short, the baby is pulled feet first from the womb, then stabbed in the back of the neck and the brains are removed through by suctioning them out. The depiction below shows this clearly. A complete procedure is available here: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/Levatino_on_illustrations.pdf (but once again I want to warn you of the graphic proceedure ahead of time.

I know this may seem a bit extreme, but until yesterday I had no idea what it involved. If more people, including mothers who were thinking about this proceedure, understood the pain they are putting their baby through, they would be less concerned about their own ability to choose and more concerned about, at the very least, providing a humane alternative. I mean we give dogs and cats more respect and concern than we do the unborn. There is even a Congressional Statement supporting the need to inform the mother of the pain they are causing their children before the process can be completed. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/Fetal_Pain/SAP.html.

If you still want more information, try starting here. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/ There are a lot of documents linked from this page. I pray this was as sobering for you as it was for me. Its not about choice or life folks....lets just start with humanity and then go from there.

New Official Sport...

So there I was...

Talk into another hairbrained scheme by one of The Boyz and loving it! That's right...this time it was "E". Although I think it all started with Scooter, but that's another story. Anyway, E started bowling in a PE class, and since he never blogs, you wouldn't know it but he now owns his own shoes, 3 balls rolley bag that holds 4 balls and two towels...oh and a wire brush for his shoes. He also bowled 3-over 200 games this week. His best has also out shot my fluke 248 from years ago. Anyway, I decided to take it up and now own my own shoes, bag and ball. I just got them this week actually and only bowled 2 games with my new ball but it is awesome. So, I figured I would share with you all my awesome ball and at the same time since three on the boys as well as Laura I believe already have thier own equipment, and I know the other two boys at least enjoy the sport I could unofficially name bowling the sport of The Boyz. I will wait until we have an opportunity for at least a majority vote on the subject before making it official.

Anyway, the real reason I blogged was to show off my bowling ball so here it is!

I plan to catch up with all your blogs this weekend so stand by to stand by.

Kilroy was here!

And now...Little know facts with Armand II - or - A three hour tour

So there I was...

Stranded on a tropical island paradise, beginning to understand the meaning of island fever. No really, you can get tired of a beautiful place like this.

I know I shouldn't be complaining, but when you are told you are going to be some place a max of 25 days and you are still there 2 weeks after that deadline, you start to wonder if you got on the S.S. Minnow by accident.

But this blog isn't for complaining it is intended to enlighten you on a few interesting facts. Fact Number 1: In the military there may actually be an allowance called Island Pay. I tried looking it up, but was unsuccessful. But how strange is that. I mean, I understand hazardous duty pay, and family seperation allowance and I love Military tax exclusion zones, but island pay? Here lets send you to a tropical island and since it is such a hardship, we'll give you extra money. I just want to say thank you to everyone who is paying a little extra in taxes this month for my island pay. :-)

Fact Number 2: The Brits really have this uniform thing down. They actaully have uniforms with shorts. This makes total since when you are in a place like this. The funny thing is, they just look like Scoutmasters in good shape. The shorts for the battle dress uniform are almost exactly like our old boy scout shorts with the exception of fewer pockets...they are just as short though. And the khakis have a khaki shirt and shorts. The only other thing they are missing is long socks. In fact, they don't wear socks at all. Just penny loafers. And to top it off they have berets. It is awesome! Most people here would laugh at me for saying that, but I would totally wear it.

Fact Number 3: The Cobra Ball's so called "stealth wing" is not actually stealthy, or maybe it is but since the rest of the plane isn't, it doesn't really matter does it?

Fact Number 4: Philipinos have an awesome way of popping backs. I found this out when getting my second 15 dollar hour long massage. What they do is lie you on your stomach and then a little philipino woman tells you to relax as she stands on one side of your body and grabs the oposite quadracept in one hand and holds the associated shoulder against the table. Then she pulls your leg up and back across your body toward her. I know this sounds quite uncomfortable but when you think your leg can't go any further back all of a sudden every vertibre in your back releases with a syncronized *CRACK*! It is amazing.

Well, I had a bunch more fun facts but they have slipped my mind so I will write again when I think of them.

Till then...

Kilroy was here!

Two in one week...what is going on?

So there I was...

Blogging for the second time in one week. I hope you guys aren't too overwhelmed. Make sure and read the last one if you haven't already. Things are still going well here. Today I was actually productive. I worked hard and put in a pretty long day. In the end it was a good day though. Not a whole lot to say other than that.

On another note though. I was trying to keep up on my current events and found an article I think you will all find quite interesting. Just take a few moments and check it out. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253918,00.html

Anyway, hope you are all doing great. I hope to catch up on everyone elses blogs tomorrow.

Blue Skies and God's Speed,
Armand II

The "Footprint of Freedom"

So there I was...

...stuck in the middle of the Indian Ocean on a tropical island paradise with nothing to do...

Did I say stuck? Well that might be stretching it. Ok, yes, the Air Force did send me here without warning or even asking whether I wanted to go or not. And yes, I don't get to leave until they tell me too, and even if I wanted to, I would have no means of leaving because they control all modes of travel in and out of Diego Garcia B.I.O.T. But I guess I could be a lot worse off.

Did I say nothing to do? Ok, so that was just an outright LIE! Since I have been here I done the following (in no particular order):

Snorkeled 5 times
Swam in the pool
Windsurfed once
Ran on the island (Running a 5k tonight to get a free T-shirt)
Played in a beach volleyball tourney for a free T-shirt
Sailed twice (recieving a legitemate sailing license)
Watch out Scott, I am going to be ready for that sailing trip from New York in no time)
Deep Sea fished twice...with another trip in the making (the second one got cut short due to
inclement weather so the next trip is free)
Toured this cool Satelite tracking facility
Visited Turtle Cove (A protected area of the island for sea life)
Eaten freshly caught and cooked/grilled fish at least 6 times (two were the fish I caught, to
include: Grouper, Snapper, Jobe Fish, Sweet Lips, Bonita Tuna, Yellow Tail Tuna, another
kind of tuna, and my favorite: Whaho (sp)

And to answer T3s question, if there is such a thing as to much fresh fish, I am getting pretty close.

Oh and lets not forget the 1 hour massage for 15 bucks. (I plan to get another one of those)

Well, I am sure I am forgetting something but my time is just about out and this guy just showed up next to me with a huge waad of tobacco that is stinking up the whole room and making me sick. :-) (random...)

Oh, I guess I should mention that we've flown a few times to.

I only wish my wife...and maybe the boyz were here to share it with me.

Kilroy was here!

Flawed "Diamond"

So there I was...

...not home 24 hours from my last trip when Diamond decides to break her leg. Yeah, you heard me. She decided that it would be a good idea to slip on her way up some wooden stairs. The dumb part is that she was at the same house on the same stairs she had been on for the last 2 weeks. Anyway, she was running back up the stairs when she lost her footing or something and slipped in between two of the stairs (since wooden stairs don't have a vertical backing between connecting one to the next like indoor stairs do). Needless to say she plummeted about 6-8 feet down to the snow packed frozen ground.
She did quite a job too. For you medical types, she gave herself an oblique fracture of both the Ulna and the Radius in her right foreleg. Basically she broke clean through both bones in her forearm. I immediately picked her up and could see it was bent while she screamed bloody murder. I call it a scream because her whine is so high pitched it might as well be a scream. I carried her inside where my friends also have a min pin and when she heard Diamond she decided to join in the misery. It took us about two minutes to get them to stop.
Well, long story short, I took her to the pet emergency room, they knocked her out, took x-rays, splinted the break, and gave her pain meds, and I spent my entire tax free from my trip to the desert. Oh, well, that's life I guess.
Anyway, now you know why I haven't blogged since I have been back. Here is a picture of her in her cute pink splint...it has hearts, but you can't really make them out.

She is getting around much better the last few days, but the vet is going to put an even longer splint on on Friday so that the joint above the break will be immobilized too. Apparently, since the emergency vet was a girl, and couldn't have been a boy scout she never learned that both the joint above a below a break must be immobilized for proper healing. (J/K!)
Kilroy was here!

Sleep when you are tired, Eat when you are hungry, Fly when you're told to

So there I was...in the desert.
If you don't know where, talk to Jelaine or "E", they'll fill you in. But after a day of in processing and getting settled in to a room (lodging is long trailers lined with small rooms, each room with two bunk beds and two small metal wardrobes), I asked "What do we do now?" And as the title eludes, this is the answer I got: "Sleep when you are tired, Eat when you are hungry, Fly when you're told to." Sounds good to me!
Actually that's not far from the truth. I wake up at midnight, (I work nights here), eat breakfast, go fly if I am scheduled to fly or study a little if I'm not. I work out, check email, take a shower, and then it is time for lunch. Then I have the rest of the day to read, go to the BX, see a movie (which I haven't done yet) or any number of other things...pretty much free time. At about noon I eat dinner. Then I get ready for bed, read some more and am asleep by 2pm. Not to bad, huh?
It's also very cool here...literally, even the desert cools down in the winter. That parts really nice. Well, I think that is enough info from me. I hope everyone is doing well. Jelaine is posting this blog for me since they won't let me access it here so if you want to comment, you should send me an email instead. armand.fondren@gimail.af.mil.

Blue Skies and God's Speed,
Kilroy was here!

Now you see me, now you don't...

So there I was...

...minding my own business, trying to plan for a local flight, unsuccessfully I might add, when out of nowhere I get asked THE QUESTION: "Are you ready to go?"

"Uhhh...What...Uh, I...uh, I guess so, why?"

Well, I wasn't supposed to be going anywhere, but someone else could go so now I am going. Now you might ask when and where I am going and I would love to tell you, but I'd have to kill...no really...I mean it this time. :-) So, anyway, I wanted to let you all know now that I finally started posting again it might be a little while till you see another post from me. I will not be in Omaha for an indefinite amount of time starting very soon. That's about all I know at this point. So, if you get the chance, say a little prayer for me, and Jelaine, and my family...mom is worried of course...that's what moms do best!

BTW, Jelaine, "E" and I missed the rest of you at New Years. We had a great Christmas with family and friends. We only wish it would have been with the boyz too!

As I like to sign off at work:

Blue skies and God's Speed,

Armand II

"Diamond" in the Ruff...

So there I was...or should I say: So there we were...

Jelaine and I that is. We were visit our local pet world for the humpenth time to check on this puppy who had been there since we found the store basically. This was last weekend and when we walked in, sure enough she was still there. The background to this event is that I go in there often for fish supplies, and Jelaine and I already have one wonderful dog, Second Chance "Legend". Most of you know of him at least. He is a Miniature Pincher. I know Jelaine blog about him before. Well this puppy in the pet store also happened to be a black and rust min pin, but she has been bred unusually small. Needless to say, she is adorable and we, especially I, had become quite attached. So much so that we had even named her. Thus the title. So, as you can see, I, unlike "E", intentionally use my mispellings as a play on words.

Long story short, after watching her live in a glass box for nearly five months we couldn't stand it any more. So we brought a 3.2 lb Diamond home last Saturday and SHE IS AWESOME!!! Since Jelaine keeps Legend, and he was already house trained when we got him, I never really understood how much work it is, and how you have to keep a vigil eye on your pet constantly. But alas it is worth it. The best part is that she plays fetch like a champ. She can't sit or come or heel or anything, but she can fetch her little yellow bear like she has been doing it for years.
So, other than toting around her pink kennel, it is awesome having Diamond around! We just hope her and Legend get along. He loves other dogs, but she barks at herself in the mirror, and is scared of every other dog she has met so far. Hopefully that will change. They will meet each other for the first time over Thanksgiving. How exciting!

Kilroy was here!

PS: Talked to Justin today and we have begun revising the posse plan. I am afraid the sky diving is probably out, but T3...the president and I are type rated in the Beachcraft 400 twin jet engine business liner. I think it holds five passengers, so the ladies my not be able to join us, but we can make it happen. Just got to wait to see if the AB is ever going to come back from Turkey.

This Counts...Right?

So there I was...

...Feeling really bad about not blogging in a coon's age. Well, I was. So I decided to drop everyone a quick line between, cooking dinner, eating dinner, doing the dishes, doing the laundry so that I can pack, packing for a retreat that I am going on tomorrow and printing off the map to get to the retreat. Blah. It has been a really busy day...and a busy week.

You guys all know I was down in Texas. Well I ended up staying down there almost two weeks. Jelaine got to join me there over the long weekend. We wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Despite the circumstances that brought us down there, we had a wonderful time visiting with my family. Jelaine even got to meet all of my extended family...most of them for the first time since we had the wedding in Arkansas.

Anyway, I got back up here and they I have jsut about finished moving over to my new squadron, my "REAL" squadron. I got a squadron T-shirt that I really like. The back just about sums up what we do in one short phrase:

IN GOD WE TRUST - ALL OTHERS WE MONITOR

Well this ended up being a pretty reasonable blog afterall. I hope to catch up with you all a bit next week. God bless!

Kilroy was here!

Need some prayers...

Hey Guys, sorry about being so long in posting. No good excuses. I even had some great things to blog about this week. Last weekend Mom and Dad came up from Fort Worth, and Jelaine came from Ohio to see my first barbershop concert. It was really fun. I also got to take them to the zoo and Jelaine and I went to the Air Show in Lincoln too! I was going to have some really great pictures, but I don't have time right now.

I am in the middle of packing to go to Fort Worth. I am driving down tomorrow because my grandmother is dying. Dad's mother, Nana has very severe alsheimers and is to the point where her brain isn't even reminding her that she needs to eat and drink. So, needless to say, they think she will pass any time now. I believe she is going to see Jesus soon. I know she has always talked of Jesus and always kept the family in church and praying, but pray for her soul anyway. Also please pray for my family. It seems the only time my dad and his siblings get together anymore is when someone dies. I pray that there aren't any complications over funeral services or fights over the will. That is what tore them apart in the first place. And please pray especially for dad. You guys know him, and he is a strong man, but this is his mother. He is the oldest sibling, and a husband, father and grandfather now. He will essentially be the head of the Fondren family. That is a lot of wieght for one person. I know he will want to be strong for everyone else, but he shouldn't have to be. I only hope I can help carry a little of that burden by going down there to be with him, and everyone.

I think it is better at this point to pray that Nana goes peacefully than that she hangs on to her worldly body for a few more feeble moments in eternity. I love her though, and I would like to tell her that in person one more time. One thing I consider a miracle is that she has never forgotten me. I have always been her "Little Armand" (since her husband, my grandfather was Armand) But even when she has forgotten my other cousins or thier children, and maybe even her own children at times, she has always known me...and Jelaine! Just Tuesday mom showed her a picture of us and told her they were up here visiting and she recognized us both and called us by name.

Thanks for your prayers and support guys. You are my family, and I know your thoughts will be with us. God Bless.

Armand II

Museum Mischief

So there I was...

...with Jelaine as an reluctant lookout and "E" as my accomplice. We went to the SAC (Strategic Air Command) Museum. The museum consists primarily of two hangars full of old bombers, fighters and recon planes. Well, you can imagine that we were really into this place and we noticed right away that it had great potential for unauthorized exploration. So we exploited the given potential to our benefit. The three of us were checking out the bomb bay of a B-36. This is the largest bomber ever made. Also the only bomber to never drop a bomb during wartime. If you were the normal tourist, this is what you might have seen.

Well, that wasn't quite good enough for us. So as we were checking out the underside of the plane we noticed that we could see part of the cockpit from the bomb bay. "E" also noticed with his keen and refined since of mischief that I could climb up into the bomb bay and, once concealed inside the belly of the beast, continue unobstructed upwards into the cockpit. Once we committed to the task J decided she had had enough and left the bomb bay. So I got up and in without to much trouble, other than making quite a bit of noise. I climbed over what appeared to be some sort of downward facing radome and through another section into the cockpit. It was pretty cool, and from the picture above you can see that it is pretty high up too. After taking one blurry picture with a malfunctioning camera, I heard our signature "iron will" whistle and assumed the cover was blown. So I returned to the bomb bay and awaited the all clear signal to make like a bomb and drop from the rafters of the bay. Well, as I was ready to jump another official looking man came way to close to discovering the bomb bay so "E" with his cunning techniques of distraction began to discuss the wiring with J as I stood there helpless. Finally, he gave me a quick signal to move. I then proceeded to knock my ear on the rafters as I freed myself from the bowels of the bomber. I know Jelaine was thinking "serves you right," but at least she pretended to be concerned.

Nevertheless, we once again proved our skills of stealth and mischief are still intact.

Our visit with "E" here in Omaha was awesome! Jelaine had to leave Monday for Ohio to start school and "E" took off Tuesday to head back to Texas. I am so glad they got to come up for the weekend.

On another note, I passed my check ride so I will be mission qualified very soon. Praise the Lord for great weather and a great flight. Catch you all soon.

Kilroy was here!

Vice Presidential Flyover...almost.

So there I was...

Flying 3000 ft about the ground 30 seconds in trail of another jet flying an orbit pattern when we get the call: 5 minutes to target. (The target was overhead the Vice President at Offutt AFB at the end of his speech. Unfortunately I was only the B team...what's new right?

What I mean by B team is that we had two jets flying in circles waiting for the end of his speech so that in the case that the first one broke or was out of position we could make the pass instead. The other plane was right on time and had no problems. I guess it worked out pretty well, and it look cool from the air when the other jet peeled off our orbit and over the VP and the stands. Anyway, I'll always be able to say I almost flewover VP Cheney...almost.

On a different note:

As for my delenquency in blogging, I appologize. I would also like to appologize for any pocket calls I might have made to any and all of my readers. And if your into that kind of thing, just wait, you might be next.

Kilroy was here!

Flying Fiasco...

So there I was...

...minding my own business on the bus on Tuesday, trying to go fly. (We have to take an hour long bus ride to the airport since our runway is being redone. ) But let's back up, shall we?

So I get to work on Tuesday morning to find out that the plane we are supposed to fly is broken, but don't worry, we have a spare...oh, but wait, the spare is broken too, but it is supposed to be fixed by the time we get there. I suggested that we call it a day right then, but no one listened to me. By that evening, they all agreed with me.

So we got on the bus, like I said earlier, to drive to Lincoln in the hopes that one of our jets would be fixed in time for us to take off. Well about halfway there the bus begins to coast to a halt on the highway, the bus driver didn't tell us anything until we ask what was going on. Come to find out the engine has some light that when it lights up, the engine shuts down. Well the light was on, and we were stranded on the side of the road. Luckily it was only 85 degrees instead of 100 like last week, but the humidity was about 85% too. So we stood outside the bus for an hour waiting for another bus to come save us.

It did, and we finally got to Lincoln an hour late only to find out that our jets were still broken. We went inside and sat while the instructor and aircraft commander tried to figure out when it would be ready to go. After an hour of waiting they had narrowed it down to either an hour from then (about 5:30pm) or 11 o'clock that night. Finally the commander down there decided for us that we should call it a day and go home.

So lets recap, we leave base knowing that our planes are broken for an hour bus ride. The bus breaks down on the way. We finally get there, and as we were told before we left, the planes are all broken. But (as they say on the Price is Right) WAIT THERE"S MORE!!! We got on the bus and headed home. Once agian we are on the highway when the we notice the bus is getting warm, (A/C is off) and it is once again coasting to a stop. At least we made it off the highway this time, but once again we waited for an hour, for the third bus to come rescue us. (IF you can't tell, like many Government contracts, the lowest bidder won the bus contract. WHAT A DAY.

Well, I went flying on Thursday, and since there were six jets we could take this time, we managed to get one off the ground. The flight was fairly uneventful, but we did have to avoid some pretty bad weather, which was interesting.

Kilroy was here!

Jelaine's Curtains - or - An Inspiration for "E"

So there I was...showing Jelaine's mom the new curtains via the webcam. I know I sound like a geek, but whatever. Jelaine made these curtains by herself, and I am really proud of her. I want to show you all. What it took to get these pictures is a whole 'nother story. I had to reconnect my computer, webcam and cable modem in the basement and run the long cords back up to the first floor. It's ok, it was worth it. So here they are.

Aren't they great? Jelaine is amazing!

This brings me to my second reason for this post. As most of you know, I am constantly trying to convince E to come up here and live with me while Jelaine is at school. So asyet another futile attempt in luring him up here, as well as a way to show the rest of you our new basement digs, I am adding some pictures of developing "SWAMP." You migt even notice that the basement is rug is green...that's kind of swampish. :-)

So it isn't a whole lot to look at yet, but eventually Jelaine's Futon will be down there and maybe one of those Luv Sacs you see in the mall. Plus Jelaine already has the TV stand her parents gave us that will replace the trunk under the TV. As for the rest of the basement. That is all for you "E".

We also plan on using all this great space for our company over New Years! :-) Or maybe we can just build a giant fort down here. I have started collecting the boxes already.

I guess that is enough for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Kilroy was here!

This ain't your daddy's air force...

...but it might be his airplane.


Ok, so I have had three flights now and haven't told you about any of them. My training flights are in a plane like the one above. One of my co-copilots gave me that phrase above. I wish it weren't true but it is. Our fleet was built in the 1960s. It has been modified a lot since, but it is still the old airframe. That's crazy huh? The most recent upgrade has been the engines. They are now much bigger than the ones above. In fact the inboard engines only have 18 inches of clearance from the ground. That makes it very important that we land on centerline with less than 2 degrees of bank in our wings or else we scrape a pod (engine). That being said, I'll tell you I have gotten 17 landings in my 3 flights. I only had 2 unsuccessful attempts. Both of witch I did actually touchdown but my IP called a go-around right before. That's really not bad. In fact my two landings yesterday were actually quite nice. The guys in the back of the plane actually said they slept right through it! :-)

For real, the guys in the back all have important jobs, but they get all of their work done when we are up high flying around in circles, then they just have to hang on for dear life in the back while we practice landings. So for them to say that they slept through my landings is pretty good. As far as what they do back there I honestly don't know. One of these days I will get the chance to walk back there and find out.

As for memorable experiences in my first few flights, I have two I will elaborate on. First air refueling:

So there I was...one of two 250,000 lb aircraft flying 275 knots, at 26,000 feet above sea level, twelve feet apart, connected by an aluminum straw full of jet fuel.

(Use your imagination to insert a picture here since Blogspot isn't cooperating with me tonight. Or if your imagination isn't too good, just look at the sidebar...I figured out how to post the pic another way.)

Sounds pretty crazy huh? Well it is but it is cool, and neccessary. I haven't gotten to actually be at the controls when we were in contact, but watching it is awesome. I can see out the "eyebrow" window (the window above our heads) and at one point the refueling boom was only about a foot and a half away from it. That was awesome. The picture above is what it would look like from the refueler to look at us while we were refueling. I can't find any pics from our point of view.

The other really cool thing that happened was yesterday while we were orbiting over Oklahoma. We were in a right hand turn in an orbit for the back end when I glanced out the pilot's side (left side), and saw an airplane come out from under ours. It was about 2000 feet below us and I did a double take when I realized it was a Buff (B-52) Bomber. I said "look at that! It's a buff!" Everyone else was surprized and even the instructor navigator got out of his seat to come look, since he used to be a nav on B-52s. 2000 ft is pretty close. Not so close as to be dangerous, but even so it was a bit surprizing to see a plane that big flying right under where we were turning. It was cool.

I think that is enough for now. I would ahve put a picture of the Cobra Ball here but again I couldn't get it to load. I'll try again later.

Kilroy was here!

Sidebar sorrows...

So there I was...

Sitting at the computer, about to tell everyone about my first flight today...when I realized that not a single person has commented on my sidebar riddle. It may be important to one of you out there but I can't tell you who. That's part of the riddle. Anyway, I'm not telling you about my flight until someone at least acknowledges it's there. I mean, I even changed the subtitle of the whole page just so you would notice. GOSH!!! :-)

Kilroy was here!

PS: ARRRRR! (said with a pirate accent)