Memories and Old Airplanes

Santa Paula has a small private airport  with a wonderful history, it opened in 1928. (https://www.santapaulaairport.com/history/airport-history) It's home to just over 300 aircraft, many of them historic, some military, some private, it's a busy little place with almost 100,000 take offs and landings yearly. Every Sunday the airport  has an open house and the public can wander around the airport, the little museum, talk to the aircraft owners and watch the plans take off and land. Santa Paula Airport brought back memories for both Cakes and I. 

My father was a WWII pilot, he fell in love with flying when he was a young farm boy,when he flew with a barnstormer in an old Jenny. Dad was hooked for life. He joined the Army Air Corps cadet program when WWII broke out. After the war my dad taught flying in a Army surplus J3 Piper Cub. One of his students was a local car dealer, he convinced Dad he shouldn't be a school teacher and the rest is history.

The first plane I can remember flying in was a Stinson Station Wagon. We flew it to Iowa to see one of Dad's WWII pilot buddies, Mom was right seat and my Cocker spaniel, Dusty  and I were the passengers. mom brought a potty chair along "just in case"

Here's another "station wagon" we saw yesterday, a late 40's Chevy Suburban

I flew with my Dad in a Stearman biplane, I could barely see out of the cockpit..we saw this beautiful restoration yesterday. Helmet and googles required.

I flew with dad in Er Coupes and Naviatons...the Naviaon was built on the WWII T-10 airframe, tough as nails. Yes, the seats got wet when it rained or snowed.

We flew in every Cessna made including the light twins. Dad's all time favorite single engine  aircraft to fly was the V Tail Beech Bonanza, the Bonanza was the first high performance single available to the public. Beech is still building them. The Bonanza will cruise at 160 knots for almost 600 miles,, we could fly the 2100 miles from ND to Florida in 11 hours of flight time, we'd stop 4 times for food and bathroom breaks, we could have made it with 3 stops, but Dad would never push the margins.

Beech doesn't build the V Tail anymore, it's hard to fly since it was quirky for inexperienced pilots. My dad had in addition to his Private pilot's license, he had his instrument, mult-engine ( up to 4) he was an instructor, he could do acrobatics and sky writing.dad was licensed to fly float planes and ski planes too.

His dream and mine was to get me licensed by age 14, I was well on my way when he had his first heart attack the summer I turned 14.The FAA grounded him for several years. I took some lessons later in my early 30's and soloed in 5 hours, Dad's teachings came rushing back and flying seemed so natural and easy., Soloing was enough for me. I still think about flying though.

I would have loved to have the old man with us yesterday at Santa Paula, the hours we spent there with the old airplanes were bittersweet.

One last plane, this is a restored 1936 Howard, 19,000 hours of restoration, the owner still flies the old Howard a lot, it's leaving soon for a trip to Idaho Falls. It's got a hopped up Pratt and Whitney rotary engine giving it about 150 more horse power than stock, it performs as well as any modern single but uses much more fuel. The plane is flawless. The owner's father had one when he was a boy.

Sometimes keeping up is just so damn hard

From the "Facts" folder...

                     The new administrator of the VA has no administrative experience, none.

To replace David Shulkin, an experienced hospital administer who previously oversaw Beth Israel Medical Center and was a pioneer in patient centered care, Trump has selected … his personal physician. The one who says Trump is 6’3” and not obese. 

The experience that the new head of the Department of Veterans Affairs has in running healthcare organizations appears to be limited to the running of himself. Dr. Ronnie Jackson finished medical school in 2004, and served a year in Iraq as an an emergency physician. From there he was appointed a White House physician in 2006, and has been there ever since.  Now he is running the 2nd largest organization in the Federal Government.

Beer Sales by millions of cans sold

Bud Light     35.250        16.2%

Coors Light   17.125       7.9%

Budweiser    14.375       6.6%

Miller Lite     13.240      6.2%

The vast majority of Americans drank no Bud Light in 2016.  In fact the total number of people who drank Bud Light at any point in the previous month during that year is estimated to have been about 28.5 million.  That, as it were, is the Bud Light nation — a nation not much smaller than Canada or California, whose residents imbibed an average of 409(!) Bud Lights in 2016.

Given the typical distribution of consumption within this sort of cohort, this means that the 10% of regular Bud Light drinkers who performed the most herculean feats — that is, a group made up of nearly three million people — must have each on average drunk many thousandsof Bud Light beers in the course of the year that.

I know a guy who averages roughly 22 beers a day or about 8,000 beers a year. Starts promptly at 7 each morning and rolls with a nice, mellow buzz all day long.

From the "Quote of the Day" files...

"White Castles are what you eat when the only alternative is the baby"

An un edited beginning

1.

Christ it’s windy at Logan, Larson pulled the collar up on his coat as he waited for his turn in the taxi line outside terminal B. January in Minnesota is brutal, January in Boston only brutal every couple of weeks, mostly it’s annoying. Slushy, slippery, white then dingy gray and windy like today. The wind is from the southwest, generally that means warmer temperatures. Wet and slushy and slippery at night. 

Larson checked in to the Ritz Carleton at the corner of Arlington and Newbury Streets, he was in his room and unpacked just after 4. He drank a scotch from the honor bar, his room is on the 5th floor on the Arlington Street side, as he drank the whisky, he looked at the snow covered Public Garden, on to the Common and the Golden Domed statehouse on Beacon Hill. He lay down on the bed and immediately fell asleep. He was up at 6, showered and shaved, he put on a Brooks Brothers suit, black with a faint red pinstripe, white long point collar shirt a red rep tie with black stripes. He used the shoe cloth in the bathroom to buff his black, monk strap shoes. He looked in the full length mirror on the back of the closet door, he thought he looked good. He folded his lined raincoat over his arm, in case he needed it. He was in the 1st floor bar by 6:50, ten minutes early, sitting at a table for two under the window looking out on Arlington Street. The traffic is bumper to bumper outside the window. The car’s lights reflected on the wet street. 

The old waiter,Walter, in his starched white jacket brought a silver bowl of mixed nuts and a cloth napkin, “Will another party be joining you sir?” 

“Yes in a few minutes.”

 “May I bring you something while you wait?” Larson ordered a Johnny Walker Blue, water on the side. “Very good sir.” Walter was back in minutes with a silver tray. On the tray was a glass for the whiskey, a small bowl of ice with silver tongs, a water glass, a small crystal pitcher of water and the Johnny Walker served in it’s own 3 ounce decanter. At a traditional bar like the Ritz, you mix your own. it’s very, very old school. Walter also brought another starched white napkin, he set it across from Larson and smoothed it. “Is there anything else I can get you sir?” 

“Not at the moment, thank you.” Larson made his drink and watched the door, he was nervous, sitting here, waiting for her. At 7 there she was, she looked the same, better really after 12 years. Her hair is still long and shiny. She's wearing a long black wool coat, a red scarf. She’s looking for him. 

Larson stood and smiled at her across the room, Caroline Mackenzie smiled back. They met in the middle of the room. Caroline put her hands on his arms, looked Larson in the eyes and said,”It’s my Goddamned Viking Prince.”

Larson kissed her lightly on the lips and said, "It’s my Goddamned New Bedford fisherman's daughter.” They held each other for a long time in the middle of the room, surrounded by people. Some of them stared at their little reunion.

Caroline ordered a Vodka martini, very dry, from Walter, who said, "It will be my pleasure, mam."  

Larson couldn’t take his eyes off her, “No wine, you always drank wine.” 

“I still do, I need something stronger right now.” 

They finished their drinks and ordered two more. Caroline looked across at Larson, reached out and took his hand, “I have an idea, let’s get an appetizer, eat ,finish our drinks and then go up to your room and fuck our brains out , how does that sound?” Caroline looked sly and sincere at the same time, no easy thing to do. 

“I think I just came in my pants.” Larson said. 

“Save that for later Larson. How do oysters sound to you, we can get a dozen,”

“Make it two.” 

“Now you’re talking.” Caroline said.

Random Thoughts as I Un-Ass a portion of the Connected World

I'm tired of being a product, tired of being sold to bidders who want me to buy stuff i don't need. I'm tired of when a facebook friend invites me to play Candy fucking Crush my stuff is put up for sale again. I'm tired of quizzes that data mine me , my family and friends, sure they're fun but, they slice and dice us even more, but most of all II'm tired of the lack of security of our personal information, Zuckerberg's attitude is, "That's What You Signed Up For" Facebook doesn't need me and I need them even less. Buh-Bye.

I was in the radio business for a huge part of my life, my generation put rock on FM at a time when the so-called smart/big guys didn't care about the FM band at all. They were blindsided by it's success.

Two things happened to radio, the first was deregulation that gutted the ownership rules and the ensuing increase in station evaluations. The investment bankers and venture capitalists poured into the business with huge bags of borrowed money and now the loans are due and they can't pay them. The VCs and Bankers never missed a paycheck but the employees have and will. I hope the station values crash and creative people can get their hands on them again.

In the past few weeks, Mitt Romney's company Bain Capital has declared bankruptcy for three of their major investments, IHeart Media, Toys R Us and Guitar Centers. Romney,s MBA financial engineers extracted over 400 million dollars in fees from IHeart alone, toss in the other two companies and the fees approach a billion god damn American dollars. Once again who will pay the price for these colossal fuck ups? The employees and the small shareholders.

Elliot Broidy, the deputy finance director of the Republican National Committee is a convicted felon. Let that sink in for a minute. Okay?

From the NY Times:  

An investor and defense contractor, Mr. Broidy became a top fund-raiser for Mr. Trump’s campaign when most elite Republican donors were keeping their distance, and Mr. Trump in turn overlooked the lingering whiff of scandal from Mr. Broidy's 2009 guilty plea in a pension fund bribery case. After Mr. Trump’s election, Mr. Broidy quickly capitalized, marketing his Trump connections to politicians and governments around the world, including some with unsavory records, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Broidy suggested to clients and prospective customers of his Virginia-based defense contracting company, Circinus, that he could broker meetings with Mr. Trump, his administration and congressional allies. Mr. Broidy’s ability to leverage his political connections to boost his business illuminates how Mr. Trump’s unorthodox approach to governing has spawned a new breed of access peddling in the swamp.

Like I've said a million times, "You Can't Make this Shit Up"

You can keep in touch with me on this blog...

The Shootist...

"There's a snake under the the grill!"

Sure as hell when the grill cover came off, there was a rattle snake fast asleep under the stainless steel grill on my buddy's patio. The rattler was startled and started flicking it's tongue, moving it's head to see what had awakened it.

"Hang on, I'll take care of the son of a bitch." my friend said.

He went in the house and came back with a 9mm Glock pistol, "This will fuck that snake up!"

"Hold on, you want to shoot the snake with a pistol? What if you miss? There's a propane tank in the grill, the patio is concrete and your neighbors house is 50 yards away, you could burn your house down or shoot your neighbor." As I said those words, he cocked the pistol.

"9 rounds and one in the snout. Should be enough to take care of that god damned rattle snake."

"When's the last time you shot that thing?"

"I went to the range last year."

"Have you fired it since?"

"No it's too powerful to shoot out here." He lives in a desert area north of Phoenix and he and his neighbors routinely shoot at rabbits in their backyards with .22 rifles.

"If it's too powerful to shoot out here, why the hell are you going to use it on that snake that is right next to your house underneath a fucking propane tank, are you crazy?"

He paused for a moment. The snake is tightly coiled and still flicking it's tongue. The rattler looks to be about 6 feet long and I'm guessing it would like nothing better than to get off the patio, fast. My friend goes back in the house, our wives are inside looking out the sliding glass door, they are terrified. My buddy comes back out with a pellet pistol, the kind that shoots the hard metal pellets.

"Okay you pussy, I'll use this." He stands about 30 feet away from the grill and takes a shot, the pellet hits the grill just to the right of the gas controls. He misses the snake by at least three feet. Of course he's one handing the pellet pistol, he takes another one handed shot. The pellet hits the grill door on the right hand side. It's the door that covers the propane tank. The pellet ricochets off the door and hits one of the patio chairs with a loud ping. Missed again. he takes another shot, hits the concrete in front of the snake, the pellet bounces up, hits the grill and disappears into the flowers alongside the patio. He's taken three shots and his hand is shaking. The snake is still coiled and now it's ready for anything.

"Give me that god damned thing." I took the pellet pistol from him. I haven't shot a pistol since I qualified Expert in the Army with a .45. The pellet pistol is light, too light really, it looks nasty though. I know a rattler can strike about 1 and a half times it's length. In this case that's 9 feet. I position myself about 15 feet from the snake, get down on one knee, put two hands on the pistol, take a deep breath, let it out and squeeze off a pellet. I hit the snake in the eye, It dropped and uncoiled under the grill. Dead. Frankly I felt like shit, it should have gone on to spend it's life eating mice and gophers for a living. Rattlers do have a purpose in nature.

"Good shooting!" My pal yells and pops a beer and hands it to me.

"Right and you ought to sell your fucking Glock before you shoot your wife some night."

We scooped the snake up with a shovel and dropped it the dry wash behind his house, we cooked dinner, drank too much wine and went to bed. I said to my wife, "I hope he learned something today."

He didn't, he called on New Years and I heard gunshots in the background, I asked him what was going on.

"The neighbors and I are just celebrating New Years."
'

I'm the guy behind...

Hi, I'm the guy behind you in the checkout line at WalMart. You don't know it but I have a gun under my shirt, it's a 9mm Glock with a SMG 17 round magazine, I have 2 more in the pocket of my camo pants and 5 others in my car out in the lot.

I also have an Armalite AR 15 in the trunk of my car, it's locked and loaded with a Magpul Pmag AK-74 5.45x39mm 30-Round Magazine. I have 10 other 30 round mags in the trunk too. Just in case anything happens here at WalMart you'll know that I should be able to take care of any trouble with my supply of 466 rounds of ammo

I recently had bump stocks installed on all my AR 15s. I have three more at home, one in the closet in the front hall, one next to my chair in front of the TV and one next to my bed, not to mention the Sig Sauer 9mm I have under my pillow, just in case. I also have an old Colt Python in the kitchen spice cabinet and a .357 Magnum long barrel in the junk drawer. A guy never knows when he just might need to get his hands on self protection, in this day age one just doesn't know.

You might be wondering why I walk with a limp, it's an easy explanation, I was cleaning my Glock one night while watching TV and darn it, it was loaded, lucky I always keep the barrel pointing down just like the NRA suggests. Lucky too that I live on the ground floor of my apartment complex. After I got out of the ER I had to stop and get a bag of Sakrete to repair the concrete floor. I found a nice throw rug to cover the hole, blood and powder burns in the carpet. I'm a resourceful guy.Pissed me off that I ruined a brand new pair of tactical boots too.

I bet you like movies, don't you? My latest favorite is "American Sniper" I'm pulling overtime shifts at the warehouse and driving Uber to save enough money to buy a Barrett 50 caliber with a scope, they sure are expensive, about 12k with the scope I want. And man that 50 caliber ammo is expensive! Worth every penny though, because you never know what's going to happen or when you'll need it do you?

You look like my kind of girl, if I wasn't so shy, I'd talk to you, but for now, it's just good enough that I'm just here ready to protect you. Hey, keep an eye on that Muslim looking couple over there. I don't trust them, not a bit.

Wait! What did you just say to me about standing too close to you? Did you say I'm breathing on you? You bitch, you're just like all the rest, you're lucky I don't....

Yelling at even More Clouds

It's raining here and I love it, Cakes loves it and Anze the Dog hates it, but...

I spent a couple of hours last week cleaning the gutters and drains getting ready for the predicted rainy weather, so I was set or so I thought

The roof has a new leak, it's easy to forget about your roof when you live in a place it only rains a few times a year. The leak sent me to the DIY Center to get a plastic tarp, so I was on the roof in twilight putting it down, getting wet while I did it. Apparently I wasn't the only person with a leak, the tarps were almost sold out. I also picked up some red bricks for  41 cents a piece to hold it down so the wind won't blow the plastic off. So far so good.

I was bright enough to put a load of firewood in the garage, dry wood is a good thing to have when your furnace conks out in cold and wet weather. On the other hand we have 2 zone heat and the system on the second floor works. That will be a comfort when the temp drops into the low 40's tonight. Once again, I'm not alone, the furnace guy is impossible to get a hold of today. He just called, he's tied up for a week.

I should have thought of "Executive Time" when I was running radio stations, close my office door and piss around for a couple of hours, But, since I'm not a "stable genius", I just ground it out 8-10-12 hours a day for years. Silly me.

If I see or read another profile of a "Trump Voter" I'm going to throw up...or see or read another pundit trying to rationalize irrational behavior. I've had it.

I'm 72, be 73 in 5 months and this is the first time in my life I'm:

1. Ashamed of my country

2. Ashamed of my fellow old, white guys. (some of you women as well)

Read an interesting article this morning written by the mother of a 20 something son, she was distressed that he, his wife and child we're immigrating to Norway. He told her, "Mom, I'll make better money, there are incredible schools, college tuition is covered, health care and day care covered, great roads, safe bridges and retirement is covered and all that will cost me roughly 20% more in taxes than I pay here. Do the math mom, it's a better deal and a better lifestyle."

Makes me wish I was in my 20's. I looked it up, the kid is right, everything is cheaper there, housing especially. Groceries are more, but you make it up by other savings.

I have a friend from broadcasting who works for Rueters in Switzerland, he's been offered much bigger jobs in the US, After 17 years in Geneva he won't move back to the USA.

One more thing...

From the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas:

Toyota and Pizza Hut have have partnered up for for a driver-less pizza delivery system. The pizza will even be cooked in the car.

Look, if I have to put on my shoes and walk out to a god damned parked driver-less system to get my pizza from some shitty chain. My pizza wasn't delivered. They just don't want to pay a delivery person.