Low and Slow Along the Oregon Coast

The local WX this weekend was beautiful, clear skies, temps in the mid forties, a little windy but not too bad. The wind was just strong enough and coming across the runway enough to make flying the Pacer interesting for an old guy that hasn’t flown tail draggers in more than 30 years.

Pat did her first flight lessons in the Pacer on Saturday and Sunday. I used the time she was practicing to sightsee. Saturday we went up the coast to the north and Sunday we went south. The Oregon coast is a magic place; I never get tired of seeing it.

Strange how as we age we return to things of our youth. I don’t really think I’m trying to slow aging or even trying to recapture youth. It is more a return to the basic things that give pleasure, a return to the reason I chose the road taken. Low and slow with such a feeling of freedom, knowing that the whole world is open to you, that you control the most amazing machine made by man, yet such a simple machine, one that could be built with simple hand tools and by almost anyone.

BTW, teaching Pat is part of the joy, watching her struggle, then understand and gain control. To see the same feeling of accomplishment I had when I first learned to fly. For someone with itchy feet there is nothing to compare with the joy of learning to fly.

Our little Churchills

A must read post from Glenn Greenwald....." We've now arrived at the point where the White House and its followers reflexively characterize any criticism of the Leader's war of any kind as aid to the Enemy and an attack on our troops. They don't even bother any more to pretend that some types of criticism are "acceptable." It is now the duty of every patriotic American to cheer enthusiastically for the President's decisions. Anything else is tantamount to siding with the Enemy...."

SOTU

It is time for the Asshole from Midland to go.

Blog for Choice Day

Some Personal History

Abortion choice is as important for men as for women. Just before Roe became the Law of the land my future wife became pregnant. We were young with almost no money. She was in Nursing School; I was working two jobs, nights at a hospital lab and days turning wrenches at the airport, to pay for my flight training. We didn’t have the money to go to NewYork for a legal abortion and there was no way we could have a baby and have any future. By chance one of my jobs while I worked my way through college was Medical Sales and one of my customers was a “Dr. Brown”. I never met Dr. Brown but it was understood that he provided abortions for the wealthy and well connected of Texas. Someway we scraped together the $500 needed to have Dr. Brown end BJ’s pregnancy and we both went on to have productive lives. Most in our situation at that time would not have had our options. Their choices would have been have the child and who knows what would happen to their future, give the baby up for adoption, or have an illegal back alley abortion. We must keep Choice.

Why

That's Shrub ..."Second, and more impotant, nothing we have seen or heard from this President in his public appearances and utterances over the last six years supports the notion that he is anything other than an inarticulate, illogical and muddleheaded thinker who is incapable of putting together an honest, realistic and coherent assessment of anything as complicated as Iraq..."

IED

The photo is of an IED found on the Kabul, Afghanistan airport. It couldn’t be simpler, a large pressure cooker, some explosive, a little wire and a motorcycle battery. A few dollars spent and you have the potential to kill and maim many and to destroy multi-million dollar equipment.

Back for a Post or Two

What a year.

Can Shrub fuck up Iraq any worse that it is? Knowing his history I don’t want to know the answer.

I’m now the owner of a 1954 Piper Pacer. It puts a smile on my face every time I see it.

The GIV has new paint and carpet……looks pretty good. I will post a photo later.