November brought the first GA experience to my niece, a new piece to my home entertainment puzzle, a memorable Thanksgiving flight, and more home projects completed.
November 2
Ever since my niece, Kendra, could talk and understand that I fly airplanes, she's wanted me to take her for a flight. For years, I was too nervous about her reaction to the sight of the earth dropping away below the wheels on takeoff. I kept telling her that she would have to wait until she was older. This year, Kendra turned eight years old. I talked to Tom about taking her flying, on the condition that he go along - as a security blanket - and that both he and Lanna agreed that she was ready.
Susan and I flew down to Chehalis and met Tom and the kids at the airport. We asked Kendra if she wanted to go flying and she said yes. Lanna wasn't sure at first, but she came around after some discussion with Tom. We put Kendra in the back seat by herself, but close to Tom so he could keep a watchful eye on her to evaluate her state of mind. We gave her headphones so we could talk to her and point out sights for her to see. After the normal preflight procedures, we took off to the north towards Olympia.
As we climbed, I asked Kendra how she was doing and she said she was fine. As we flew, we pointed out landmarks that she knew, as well as pointing out farm animals and other tiny objects. Nearing Olympia, I asked the tower for permission to do a touch-and-go and continue to the north. The tower said yes, so I descended, landed, then took off again to the north. We flew past the state capitol building and on to the Puget Sound.
Eventually, we turned around and headed back to Chehalis. On the way, I circled over Kendra's house, but she couldn't recognize it among all the other houses in the neighborhood. I turned back towards the airport and prepared for landing.
Once on the ground, Susan and Kerissa met us at the airplane and we took victory pictures with Kendra. Later, we presented a certificate to Kendra, congratulating her for completing her first flight in a General Aviation airplane.
November 3
Hiked to the Carbon River Glacier
November 16
Ever since that evening in September, when I first witnessed high-definition TV up close and in person, I've been thinking about buying an HDTV. My old 20" RCA was still in fine shape after 11 years of faithful service, but I was ready for something a little bit bigger. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted the Sony model that I saw earlier; the only question was when to buy it.
I finally built up the nerve to go ahead and spend the money (sometimes, it's hard to separate the two of us). Susan and I drove to Video Only and wandered back to the HDTV section, past all the miniature kitchen models and the round screen models. There it was, gloriously displaying high-definition scenes from HDNet. We found a salesman who eagerly agreed to sell us that model, but unfortunately, he was out of stock today. He said he could have one delivered the following week. That was fine with us.
Since the Sony is so wide (16x9 ratio, rather than the standard 4x3 ratio), there was no way it would work in our current entertainment cabinet. Even if it would physically fit, it weighs several hundred pounds and would destroy our existing cabinet. Sony makes a custom stand for the TV, but it isn't included in the price, of course. We decided to get the Sony stand and we found a nice gray entertainment center for our stereo components in the next aisle.
To expedite the delivery process we took the entertainment center and TV stand home and assembled them in preparation for the arrival of the star attraction. In the mean time, we set the (quite puny looking) RCA on the new stand in the living room.
November 17
Drove to Washington Pass to see the snow.
November 18
To help fill the huge hole in my checking account created by the purchase of the Sony HDTV, I placed a sell order on 200 shares of Cisco stock at $15.
November 21
The sell order on 200 shares of Cisco stocks went through.
November 22
The big day has finally arrived and I anxiously await the arrival of the Video Only delivery truck. The truck arrives and two large guys wrestle the TV out of its Styrofoam and cardboard cage and into the living room, where the matching stand awaits. The TV slides into the slots on the stand and is strapped down in the back for safety. You really wouldn't want that monster dropping on your toe!
November 24
Cleaned gutters, drove to Snoqualmie Pass for lunch.
November 25
While browsing the internet, I stumbled across Classmates.com. Just for fun, I started entering data for some old friends I knew back in Ohio when I was still in college. Surprisingly, I found the step-sister one of my college girlfriends. I hadn't seen her (the step-sister; or the girlfriend, for that matter) for over 12 years and we had somehow lost touch with all of my moves since then. I couldn't resist the urge to sign up and drop her a line.
November 28
One of the reasons for getting my pilot's license was to avoid automobile traffic on holiday weekends. Thanksgiving weekend has some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. One year, it took us six hours to go 100 miles. Every year I think, "Wouldn't it be great if we could fly down to Chehalis?" This year, we made that dream come true.
After collecting the weather reports, the flight was iffy at best. The sky was clear in Seattle, but a low fog was covering the majority of the flight route. The reports called for clear skies south of Chehalis with clearing throughout the day. We decided to go to the airport and make our decision from there. Heading south on I-5, we could see some fog off to the west, over Elliott Bay. Going around a bend in the highway, we could see Boeing Field and it looked clear. We decided to make the flight.
In the plane and climbing to the west, we could see the huge expanse of fog to the south, but well below our altitude. The rules for flight require that I stay 500 feet below, 2,000 feet horizontally, and 1,000 feet above the clouds and maintain at least 3 miles visibility. That was no problem; I could clearly see the mountains in all directions and I was 3,000 feet above the fog. Even so, I was starting to get nervous. I told Susan that we'd turn back if the fog layer didn't break by Olympia. I flew on in silence, debating with myself whether to continue or turn back.
As we approached Olympia, we could see a line of clearing ahead of us, so we continued our trek south. From the GPS, I knew I was crossing Centralia and that the airport was 5 miles in front of me, but I couldn't see it yet. Looking straight down, I could see the ground, but there was just enough fog remaining to obscure my vision at that angle. A few minutes passed and I could see the big number "33" on the end of the runway. I entered the pattern and descended to the runway. Phew, we made it safely and avoided the highway traffic.
After dinner with the family, we were dropped off at the airport for the return journey. The weather had improved, as predicted, and the flight home went smoothly. The fog was still blanketing the Puget Sound, but we were up high in the clear dusk sky. As we landed and taxied back to our parking spot, the sky erupted in one of the prettiest sunsets I've ever seen.
November 29
Continuing the shed project, we filled in dirt behind the new wall and cut down two trees small trees.
November 30
Our back yard has several small and ugly trees that like to reach out and poke me in the eye when I mow the grass. Well, I'd had enough of that, so I decided to cut a few more trees down and plant grass. Meanwhile, we started moving boxes to the shed. For my birthday, Susan bought me a bug deflector for the Honda. I finally got around to installing it. Checking the mail, I found my check for the Cisco shares that sold.
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