I found a copy of some old blogs on a hard drive. Note that the links do not work.23Oct2008 Finally posting some pictures from the trip to Omaha with Bill, Fay, Mikki, Aimee, Debbie and me to see Katie and the kids in September
The Lucinda Williams concert was a big disappointment. She made a few rambling political statements and seemed to think better of it and then only made things worse. Many people felt insulted and started to leave early and Debbie and I were among them. It ruins her music for me.
I found some articles that Fay has written since moving to Germany: http://www.kaiserslauternamerican.com/article.php?i=8355 and http://www.kaiserslauternamerican.com/article.php?i=8347. She has a lot of articles and photo credits on this page: http://www.21tsc.army.mil/
My first cousin Dave O’Karma is one of those people that make the world a more interesting place by his creativity and chutzpah. Here is a link to his profile on Wikipedia: span> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coondog_O%27Karma and here is a link to a video of a pizza eating contest he had against a bear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXVm_U46vDA
18Oct2008 Mikki’s baby shower was held today at the Bridgewood Clubhouse. The room was set up as a large living room and was just the right size for the group. Debbie met some more members of Nate’s family; Sharon, Tammy and Kathy. Everyone reported having a great time and Mikki enjoyed it. Debbie really appreciated how much help Aimee was during the planning and on the day of the shower. Shower pictures: 1 2 3
I had a flight lesson. We went to the “West Practice Area” which is a few miles west of Interstate 35. I practiced maneuvers for my check ride. Also landed at Winterset Airport for the first time. It has an unusual runway as it goes up or down hill (depending on the direction you land of course). There were a couple of people on the ground repacking their parachutes. Why anyone would jump out of a perfect good plane is beyond me.
On Friday the 17th Debbie took Mikki for her regular checkup and got to hear the baby’s heartbeat! It just makes it all the more real and not too far away. Poor Mikki has the little guy kicking her ribs and she is ready for the pregnancy part to be over.
We have had several calls from Bill and Fay. They are settled into their new place near the Kaiserslautern military community. They have five bedrooms and they want company! They now have a landline, e-mail and internet access. The landline number is 496371465709. As soon as I get some pictures they will be posted here.
12Oct2008 We went the Rivas’ home for a birthday cookout. Joey is 16! Hard to believe Joey was the same age when Debbie and I got married as Jackson is today. They grow up too fast!.
Debbie is volunteering again at Edmunds Academy every Thursday. One or more 2nd graders will read a story to Debbie and she asks them questions after they are done. The kids look forward to her visit and soak up the attention.
06Oct2008 The semi-annual “Preferred Folks” retirees’ luncheon was today. The big news was that Bill and Bobbi Gates are moving to Corvallis OR. Bobbi has grandchildren there and the climate is milder than Iowa. This is a big change for Bill. Among others, there were Max Vail, Bob Meyers, Mary Allen, Howard Scott, Tom Corron, Vern Shelton, Judy Brannon and Carol Newhard.
On Sunday we went to the annual Cat Show with David and Aimee at the state fairgrounds. The highlight was a costume contest for the cats. Look at this biker cat to get a taste of it. Some of the people there were so into their cats that even Aimee that they were a little over the top.
28Sep2008 Debbie’s picnic for the CGA employees and family was on Sunday. It was held at Raccoon Valley Park. Lunch was catered, we played bingo and everyone appeared to have a good time.
26Sep2008 Sunday the 21st started our latest trip to Arizona. The original plan was to use the free ticket vouchers we got from US Air for taking a bump last December. What a joke. I called the 800 number on the voucher and was connected to a service center in India. I explained what dates I wanted. After a long wait, I was told that no seats were available for a voucher code. I kept moving the dates and each time was a on a long hold only to be told no seats were available for the voucher. Then to add to the insult the customer service rep told me I could use the voucher as a $200 credit for any fare. That only made it $150-$200 more than any other airline. We ended up going from Des Moines and United had the best price for the times we wanted to travel. We did have to pay $15 each to check our bags. This new rule has people bring too much on the plane – bags that are obviously too big and heavy. It slows down the loading but really slows down getting off. The flights were full but ran on time. We got a rental car in Phoenix and made a stop at Fry Electronics on the way to Casa Grande.
Merge was in good health and we enjoyed our short visit. We went to the new Olive Garden in Casa Grande and of course the Little Caesar’s Pizza. One day Debbie and I went to Phoenix to run errands that involved Sam’s Club and Costco and I managed to get hash browns at the Waffle House. We watched some movies, Juno and Walk the Line, with Merge. Also, I hooked up my laptop to her television and went through a few years of pictures. Debbie and I made it to the pool a couple of times but it was too hot to do much walking. One day we went to Harrah’s to play bingo and Merge’s friend Debbie went with us. I hit on a $400 bingo and came oh so close on several others. Debbie and I won another $200 between us on the way to and from the buffet playing the slots. Not enough winnings to cover even a few bad minutes in our 401ks when the market is down.
20Sep2008 Time for another WPT Poker tournament – already the next to last one of the year. I went into it in third place for the year. I made it to the final table but dropped to fourth place for the year. The guy in first place has a healthy lead so he will likely win for the year although Dan W. has a decent shot at it. The regulars showed for the cash game and while I was down most of the time a late rally but me ahead over $50. Mikey was there for his second WPT tournament and he too made the final table. The first tournament ended early so, against my better judgment, I stayed and played. The problem was we had to get up Sunday morning at 4:30 am to head out to Arizona. I ended up with less than 3 hours of sleep.
17Sep2008 Katie’s new cell phone number is (308) 627-1894. Chris is (308) 627-4647.
Bill has a new cell phone with a German number. The number is 015-221-320-990. Bill’s new address: William M Conroy Box #4678APO AE 09059
16Sep2008 Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros and now AIG – what are taxpayers and investors closing in on retirement to do? We are long-term investors and plan to stay the course but what ticks me off are the outrageous compensation plans followed by golden parachutes that the leaders of these failed companies are able to keep. AIG probably means the end of state supervision of the insurance industry (good!) and SOX-like legislation to limit executive compensation. SOX drove the financial capital of the world from NY to London and the new legislation will likely drive many corporations to reorganize under a new flag too. The checks and balances of unintended consequences will be in play!
14Sep2008 I met my flight instructor at the airport at 8:00am on a cold and windy day. The first thing he said was “I hope you weren’t planning to fly today”. I really wasn’t but one always has hope for a break in the weather. It was windy on the ground, but there were 30mph winds just above the surface, and the cloud deck was likely to drop to from 3,500 ft AGL to 900 ft AGL. Instead, he provided me ground instruction and then he signed the ticket for me to take the written FAA exam. I plan to do that the week after we get back from Arizona. Also, I am planning on doing the FAA check ride in November.
11Sep2008 A group of ten of us from work went downtown to work at an event called “Meals from the Heartland”. We were assigned a table where we packaged food to be sent to various places around the world that desperately need food like Haiti. The process was to put a plastic bag under a funnel and add a specific amount of soy flakes, dried vegetables, a vitamin tablet and rice. The bag was weighed to be within 2 grams of a target weight and then sealed. The bags of food were packed 36 to a box and we filled 44 boxes in less than two hours. This was a nine-day long community event and when it was over 12,000 volunteers had donated 10,382 school supplies and 12,508 pounds of food for Iowans and packaged 4,028,136 meals for the world!
09Sep2008 Bill and Fay have arrived safely on base in Germany and are checked in at the hotel. Fay has met several of her new coworkers and describes them as very nice people. They are scrambling to find off-base housing and have a week to do so. I will get their new addresses posted here soon.
I finished reorganizing the big room downstairs and now have a dedicated study area for my flight training. Debbie finished up the kid’s room except for the crib which we still need to get out of the storage unit. Meanwhile, Nate and Mikki are finishing the baby’s room – a lot of nesting is going on along with the planning for the baby shower!
The Lanes are without cell phones and have no out-going long distance on their home phone. Their cell phones were from Des Moines and the contract has run out and they can not renew it in Kearney. Not a lot options in Kearney but the local provider that appears to have the most market share has been purchased by Verizon and will be merged into the Verizon system over the next year. That is what they plan to do and I will post the new numbers when they get them.
Aimee is enjoying school and got her first “A” in college on an algebra exam. You go girl!
Last Saturday Debbie and I went to several garage sales looking for baby clothes. We found quite a few clothing bargains to go along with the lots she has been buying on e-Bay. Also, we got a like new “exersaucer” for $15. When I gave the seller the $15 he ruefully admitted to paying over $100 for it and wished that he too had bought it used.
03Sep2008 We had a great visit with Bill and Fay and perhaps Fay is getting used to being around our unusual family. I think we ate out every day except Sunday when we had a cookout.
On Saturday Debbie, Fay, Mikki, and Aimee went shopping and had their nails “done” while the guys hung out. Fay got a lot of sister time in that day.
The Sunday cookout was fun. Mikki and Nate, Mike and Donna, Aimee, Mike, Linda and Danny Robinson were there. (The Rivas family was in Chicago, Julie had a previous commitment and John was working.) Bill and Fay picked up David so Fay got to see David’s group home for the first time.
Monday we drove to Omaha and met Katie and the kids. We met at Westroads Mall and ate at a TGI Fridays. Afterwards, we walked around the mall, shopped and visited. Jackson and Allison warmed up to their aunt and uncle by the end of the visit.
Bill needed a new driver’s license and birth certificate. We spent most of Tuesday getting it done. People were very helpful at Iowa capitol were he got the birth certificate. Usually, it is a two-day turnaround but they did it that day since he was deploying this week. At the DOT office, the receptionist had a new line opened up for him after he showed his military ID – we were out of there in 15 minutes with his new license in hand!
29Aug2008 I walked into my office in the middle of the afternoon and there was Debbie with Bill and Fay. They had just pulled into Des Moines and stopped at the office. I called it a day and led them to the house to get settled in.
27Aug2008 I made it to the end of the long road for my dental work. I had the last seven crowns seated on my bottom jaw. They look great! So let me add this up: 2 years of orthodontics, 10 crowns on top, two extractions and 7 crowns on the bottom. On second thought I don’t want to know.
This week we started reorganizing the lower level (not a basement since it is a walk out!) after Aimee moved out. The guest room for “big people” is in a quiet area under the seldom used dinning room and the “daisy room” is now the kid’s room and nursery.
24Aug2008 Bill and Fay are in Chicago! They are planning to be in Iowa on Friday, August 29. Not a lot events are planned except we will have a cookout at our house on Sunday and Monday we are going to Omaha to meet Katie and the kids. They have a cell phone that has unlimited incoming calls at (708) 297-5129. (Note: this is an updated telephone number as of 27Aug2008)
Another solo Sunday morning. This time I flew to Mason City, on to Fort Dodge and back to Des Moines. It was 200 nm and I now have all of the solo time needed for my full license. I still need a night time cross country and then I will work on the the maneuvers need to past the check ride test. We spent the rest of the day cleaning up and reorganizing the downstairs for a guest room and adding a baby section to the “kid’s room.” Debbie wasn’t I feeling well all weekend so we took it slow and just got as much done as we could.
We had our first board meeting of the IIHOF since the induction ceremony last May. We did a review of the last induction ceremony to determine what we could do better next year. I have way too much work keeping this web site up, especially the two months before the induction ceremony, but if I don’t do it the expense to have it done would wipe out much of the operating income of the organization. This is one more obligation I take “a year at a time”.
A warm-up for the upcoming WPT poker torment was held Friday night at Dan’s. It was a cash game and there were ten of us at one table. The money moved around the table but much of it stayed with Brent D. the big winner for the night with Dan W. making a strong comeback at the end.
David is 32! On Saturday Debbie and I picked him up at the Homestead and met Aimee and Mikki at Mustards for a birthday party. David loves to open gifts and was in a great mood. Lately he has been doing a lot of puzzles and his latest is tackling 100-piece floor puzzles. The 100-piece puzzles are difficult enough to be a challenge but not so difficult that he loses interest in completing them. The larger sizes of the floor puzzle are perfect for his level of fine motor skills.
I finished the research for an automation project at work. To report the results I designed a summary spreadsheet and I am quite pleased with the finished product. The data included layering vendors, functions, work flows along with initial cost, staff cost, transaction cost and on-going support cost in a matrix that broke out these costs for two business units with the two business units utilizing some shared infrastructure but with them not in phase on dates. By thinking through the end product I did get it into a single spreadsheet. This ranks up there with my spreadsheet for the disaster recovery project from a few years ago.
17Aug08 Another solo! This time I flew to Ottumwa, landed and flew to Lamoni, landed then flew back to Des Moines. This was another 200nm, so in the last week I have flown almost 600 statute miles solo or almost enough to go Kearney NE and back. The Ottumwa airport used to be a naval air station used for pilot training. Richard Nixon was stationed here during WWII. The current configuration of runways uses a small part of the original base. There are vast areas of former runways and tarmacs that have been become overgrown by weeds. Lamoni was founded by Mormons and recently many Amish families moved to the area leaving higher priced land in Pennsylvania for a more affordable rural environment.
Aimee got a laptop for school and I spent a couple of hours helping set it up with a focus on getting a full copy of Norton 360 installed. We got hung up on getting access to the wireless hub in our house. My handwriting was so bad when I wrote down the security key that we entered a wrong value in one spot. Once that was identified the rest went smoothly – although it takes a lot of trips to the Internet for a new computer to get current software. It is amazing how the price of computers continues to fall while they get more computing power, features and more comprehensive applications.
One more trip to the Iowa State Fair. We met Mike and Linda and their friends Ken and Leslie from Wisconsin (childhood friends of Mike and easy to hang with) for a tour of the fair’s highlights and dinner. Then watched Garrison Keillor’s “Rhubarb Tour” in the grandstands. The “Rhubarb Tour” is a mixture of his Prairie Home Companion radio show and a folk/CW concert. It was an enjoyable event and the final fireworks of the 2008 fair were spectacular. We parked in the north parking lot and came in the gate near the midway. We noticed both coming in and leaving that the midway area was gross. It was wet, dirty and occasionally the predominate smell was vomit. I guess beer and carnival rides don’t mix!
16Aug08 I wrote a while back that Jackson and Allison had created a set of rules when they were staying with us in June. I finally got them scanned and posted. Jackson did the writing while collaborating with Allison. Here they are in PDF format: House Rules Meal Rules Outside Rules
13Aug08 Solo flight to Cedar Rapids! A 200 nm round trip to Eastern Iowa Airport was my next cross country. Thunderstorm clouds were 75 miles to the north of my course but not expected to drift toward me. I had my flight plan prepared and was getting a weather briefing when Steve arrived at the pilot hut. I filed my flight plan, he asked a few questions and I was cleared for the flight. It was two hours round trip and I was always busy planning the next phase of the flight. I could see where flood waters receded and the area flooded was significant. I noticed that when I returned to the Des Moines International Airport I got the comfortable feeling of returning home.
While I was flying, the family met for Nick’s birthday party at Legends. It was scheduled at the last minute so my flight lesson took precedence – it would have been weeks to make up the time. Also Debbie went to the Iowa State Fair with a group from work. She estimates she walked over 10 miles.
10Aug08 Solo flight to Atlantic! Atlantic is 53nm west of Des Moines. The weather was marginal to the south with a low cloud bank. My CFI, Steve, reviewed my flight plan and quizzed me on how I would handle various emergencies. I took off and headed west. I called Debbie on the cell phone from the plane when I was south of our house. She went out to look but could not see the plane as I was too far south. Soon I was over the clouds. The clouds got dense enough that looking out forward there was no way to see the ground but looking down there were many openings. I leveled out and started planning the landing. It was routine, I back taxied and took off for Des Moines. Now the clouds were getting thicker. I spotted an opening about 30 miles west of the airport and dropped through it. The ceiling was just over the pattern altitude and I was able to land at Des Moines. I was really comfortable doing this so my training has been great.
07Aug08 The Iowa State Fair opened today. A new promotion was organized by a local radio station to provide free admission on opening day from 5:00 am to 8:00 am with everyone to also get a free corndog. The idea was to have everyone eat the corndog at one time to set a new world record. Debbie agreed to go so we left home at 6:45am and took the bypass to University Ave. east of the fairgrounds. Traffic was a mess! We ended up parking about 2 miles from the fairgrounds but we made it in time to get into the fair and into the grandstand with 11,000 other crazies. When “Chomp” time came at 8:45 am there were 11,000 people in the grandstands, another 5,000 on the Grand Concourse that wanted to get in and 20,000 others on the fairgrounds that had given up on the Corndog Chomp and went about seeing the fair.
We have heard from Bill and Fay. They are moved back on base as part of the transition to transfer to Germany. Their reporting date in Germany was moved up so they may have less than two weeks for transit from Korea to Germany so we will have a shorter visit than we originally expected. As of now, they are planning to be in Des Moines sometime during the first week of September. I will post updates as the times get closer and the plans are more firm.
With Bill and Fay’s pending transfer to Germany, I pulled out a book from WWI that has details about my grandfather’s war experiences. His name was John Conroy and he was my father’s father. I remember him as he died when I was nine years old. John was a member of the 308th Engineers. The book is titled “With The 308th Engineers From Ohio To The Rhine And Back”. It was published in 1923 by the 308th Engineers Veterans Association. It is copy 1,093 of 2,125 printed. They were part of three major operations: Ainse-Marne Offensive, Oise-Ainse Offensive and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. The book is very detailed and full of maps and pictures. Debbie and I hope to go to many of the places mentioned in the book with Bill and Fay as they will be stationed in the same area. I plan to scan the book and put a PDF copy on this web site soon.
06Aug08 Monday morning I went to the GuideOne retirees’ breakfast at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Clive. I was the last to arrive and felt like a returning celebrity. I ended up sitting next to Syd Vanderlinden and Bill Gates. I really enjoyed seeing them again and plan to make all of these events in the future.
Later that day Debbie and I joined about 60 CPCUs and their guests at an I-Cubs game. It is not the Detroit Tigers of my youth but the stadium is quite nice for a small town like Des Moines.
Sunday was another flight lesson. My instructor had me plan a trip hoping to three airports. This went well and he said my next flight would be a solo cross country.
03Aug08 We met Katie just west of Omaha on July 26th to pick up Jackson and Allison for the week. We had lunch together and then headed back home. The big church by us, Lutheran Church of Hope, was having a two-day event called “A Taste of Hope” featuring rides and a cookout so we went there in the evening. Over the course of the week, we went to Adventureland, the Blank Park Zoo (Pictures from the zoo: #1 #2), a kid fest event at the mall, an I-Cubs game among other activities. Debbie and I could not get the entire time off from work so we handed the kids off a few times and even had them at the office for lunch one time. Aimee started a new job this week (she likes it and they will schedule around her class schedule in the fall) so she wasn’t available to pick up the slack. Mikki watched them on Friday when Debbie had to go to a meeting at work as I had a tooth extracted and five more teeth prepared for crowns (ouch from the pain and the impact on our finances). We really enjoy having the kids here, making waffles, playing with Lego’s and Barbie’s and just being with the kids. Chris and Katie came to Des Moines late Friday. Saturday they went to two events tied to Katie’s 10th class reunion. They went back to Kearney on Sunday afternoon.
24Jul08 Donna threw a retirement dinner at Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse for Mike. He was only expecting me, Debbie, Luis and Ronna but to his great surprise his mother, two sisters and a nephew surprised him at the party and stayed for the weekend. The dinner was very good, we had a private table, so the conversation was flowing. Mike got some great gifts (gag and otherwise) and everyone had a great time.
23Jul08 I went to a Habitat for Humanity work site as part of a team outing from GuideOne. The house had been in progress for a while and our job that day was to put the sheathing down on the second story floor and then start to build walls for the second floor. All went well in the morning. We had a few teammates that were uncomfortable with the heights but everyone pitched in and worked hard. By the time we stopped for lunch we had the flooring almost done and part of our crew was working on building a wall for the second floor. We had lunch at the original Waveland Cafe on University Ave. (Yes, I had the hash browns.) Not long after we got back from lunch one of my co-workers, (Rita B.) walked too close to the edge and onto some foam that was intended for a wall. Rita fell from the roof about 14 feet to the ground! I was the first one down the ladder. I was sure she was dead as her body looked crumpled and motionless. She responded as she saw me and I told her not to move. I called out for somebody to call 911 and then focused on keeping her calm and motionless. She was very brave and responded well to my instructions. The EMTs arrived on the scene quickly and got her locked down to a body board. Rita asked me to go the hospital with her which I did. I canceled my Wednesday night flight lesson and left my car with my coworkers to bring back to the office. She was very, very lucky even though she did fracture her spine as it appears to be “minor”. She was scraped and bruised but considering all of the likely outcomes she was lucky.
Debbie went to Philadelphia on a business trip for work. She left Monday morning and had meetings scheduled all afternoon into the evening. She had more meetings Tuesday morning and then rushed back to the airport and was back in the office Tuesday afternoon. I picked her up at the airport and I even went into the terminal building as per her desire.
19Jul08 I am back in the running for the annual championship of Dan’s WPT! I finished 5th in the tournament and 2nd in the second tournament. So not only did I win a few dollars but I’m in 3rd place overall now with two tournaments to go. Dan invited Mike Robinson to this tournament for the first time. Mike has been on a standby list for over two years. He had a great time and made it to the final table. Debbie, Mikki and Aimee went to see the movie, Mamma Mia. They kept ranting and raving about Meryl Streep’s incredible singing voice. The consensus was that the movie was corny but very enjoyable.
On Friday, July 18th a retirement reception was held at the Iowa State Capital for Mike Geodert. We went with Ronna and Luis, we got there and parked through all the construction. The ceremony had already started and we could hear the speeches. Many nice things were said about Mike and he handled the attention well. Ronna and Debbie saw some people from their past and reminisced Donna’s retirement party several years ago. I am still trying to figure if Donna really retired since she still works two jobs and puts in more hours than most of her grandkids.
16Jul08 Our 7th wedding anniversary was today and we celebrated it low key. Hard to believe Deb has put up with me for 7 years already! We left work a little early and caught a matinee and then had dinner at the new Gateway Market location in the Villages of Ponderosa development. We went to the Sticks Furniture store in West Glen to maybe buy a “piece” but it was too expensive for our comfort level.
12Jul08 A guy at work, Dan, (this is the same guy that hosts the regular poker tournament) threw a 50th birthday party for his wife Pam at their house. There were about 50 people there. As a surprise to her he got a copy of her AARP card and had it blown up and printed on 50 t-shirts. She was downstairs when we put them all on and when she came back out on the deck we were all standing out there poised wearing a t-shirt with her AARP card on it. It was classic – and she was very surprised.
07Jul08 Deb and I showed up at GuideOne’s I-Cubs Sky Box for the IT department outing. By the time we got there the clouds were looking ominous and as predicted the storms came and the game was canceled. The very, very expensive food had been ordered and we got to eat it and left a half hour later.
Last Friday, on the 4th, Mikey and I went to the Iowa State Fairgrounds to see the Good Guys Auto Show. The show features thousands of cars from the 70’s on the back and virtually all the cars from my youth were there some restore to original condition while others were tricked out with custom parts. I wore a loud Hawaiian shirt with off colored pants just to try and outdo Mikey in the natty dressing competition but the minute he opened the door I knew I lost. We rode to the show in his 500+HP Mustang convertible – very cool!
Brother Bill bought a new motorcycle. I worry about him driving it in dense traffic around Sacramento but I can’t say much since I am flying small planes. Actually, the risk factors are very similar, i.e., injuries per time of exposure.
29Jun08 Ronna, Aimee, Mikki and Debbie drove to Iowa City to pick up Amanda and then went shopping at the outlet mall in Williamsburg. I was watching our Wells Fargo account in real time on the Internet as one baby item after another got charged to the account. Everyone had fun looking at and buying baby clothes. The group limped back to Des Moines with the car making funny noises, which $1,200.00 in repairs later was as good as new.
27Jun08 Debbie and I went to lunch at the Des Moines Art Center. It is a wonderful little restaurant with a limited menu presented California cuisine style. This has become our special place for a mid-week getaway but from work and afterwards, we go back to work. After we eat we always walk through the museum and look at our favorite artwork as well as the current exhibit.
IT’S A BOY! An ultrasound showed very graphic pictures proving that Baby Johnson is Baby BOY Johnson. Everyone is excited about planning and buying for the new baby. Joey’s really excited and can’t wait to teach him how to play baseball and the rest of us are just going to spoil him. I plan to get a least one pilot out of this generation and that will be my focus. Mikki is feeling better as the pregnancy progresses and is wearing “official” maternity clothes.
25Jun08 I got a call from an old friend and former co-worker, Tom Demand. We met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and spent time catching up on events in our lives and our common friends. Tom and Karen live in a senior community in Apache Junction, AZ and love the lifestyle. (Debbie and I effectively live in a senior community as there are only a few children in the 78 units of our sub-association.) It was great to see Tom again and plan to visit on our next trip to AZ.
22Jun08 Ronna and Luis hosted the annual Fathers Day barbeque. Ronna, Luis, Nick, Amanda, Joey, Kirby and J.R., Mikki, Nate, Aimee, Bob, and Debbie all attended. Luis did the cooking since last year the girls burnt the brats to an unappetizing shade of charcoal. We had Costco cake. It was a beautiful day and we sat out on the patio. Nate got his first Fathers Day present, a Green Bay Packers “onesy” for “Baby Johnson” due to arrive in November.
On Saturday I was recruited by Ted Lussem to help him pick out a new computer and to help get it set up. There probably aren’t four people in the world I would consider doing this for but Ted is one of them. Just because I work in IT doesn’t mean I know everything, or anything, about personal computers. I really have to work just as hard as everyone else to figure this stuff out. But Ted’s an institution (he has the most insurance designations of anyone in the world), and I have a lot of respect for him. Also I knew he was overwhelmed by the choices so I was happy to be able to help him. We met at Best Buy, he picked a computer out within the first 15 minutes but it took four hours to set it up. Glad I did it.
Later that day we went to see a play called “Defending the Caveman” at the Temple for Performing Arts, a small theatre that seats 300 people. We went with Ronna and Luis and had dinner at Centro – my first time to eat there. It is a one-man show with a little multimedia thrown in for transitions. The play uses humor to point out there really is a difference between men and woman (duh) based on our traditional roles for thousands of years as hunters and gathers. Debbie thought the show was really good!! We had dinner at Centro; it was my first time there. I can recommend the pizza.
18Jun08 The Lanes left for Kearney today but not before Papa made waffles. We sure enjoyed having the kids and dream of having a well-attended camp for the grandchildren every summer!
I had a great time flying solo at DSM Wednesday night. I took off solo and was keeping track of the number of landings in my head but lost track after awhile. I am sure I did at least 12 several of them. The controller mixed them up with left and right patterns and several were power off short approaches. On one landing I was cleared for Runway 23 following a Cessna. The Cessna floated but finally landed long. The pilot appeared confused as to where to turn. The controller was shouting at him to clear the runway immediately. I was then told to go around but at that same moment the Cessna cleared 23 for R3 (it barely made the turn at R3 and was jammed up to the edge) and I was given the option to land. I saw the Cessna wavering back toward the runway and decided to go around. The controller sent the Cessna to Ground Control and cleared a plane on 31 and another on 23. When the controller cleared me for my crosswind he thanked me for my help. Thanks to the great training that I have received it was easy to analyze the situation and make a quick (and right) decision.
17Jun08 Back to Iowa! We got up early, feed the kids, said goodbye to Merge, loaded the van and headed to the airport. We were concerned that the flooding in Iowa would close I-80 but it turns out the most dangerous part of the trip was my driving as I was both sightseeing and driving -not a good combination. The kids handled the rental return, shuttle bus, the check-in process and security screening without a bump. The flight was uneventful, we collected our luggage and I retrieved the car. Water levels were high in the rivers and streams along I-80 but we could tell that they had already crested. We took Mikki home and that put us within a couple miles of some flood damage but we did not investigate – we wanted to get home.
Sunday was unpacking, laundry and keeping the kids occupied. The kids were great the whole time about not being homesick but with the change in plans from Saturday to Monday they started missing their parents. Chris and Katie got in after midnight Sunday night.
Monday morning Debbie and I had to get back to work after being gone so we were out the door by 7:30. We had a nice family dinner at our house that night and used the seldom utilized dining room.
On Tuesday Debbie and went back to work. Aimee and I met the Lanes at El Rodeo for dinner. Debbie had an exercise class with Ronna. Mikki came over to the house a little later.
13Jun08 We had a great week in AZ. It was quite surreal to see extensive coverage on the national news about the flooding back in Iowa. I remember having a flooded basement in Beverly Hills MI back in the late 1960s (The house was on Rutland Ave just north of 13 Mile Road and between Greenfield Rd and Southfield Road) and in Hazel Park MI (The house was on E. Otis Ave west of Dequindre Rd) in the early 1970’s. It is sad to lose so many things that have good memories and the expense of recovery is enormous. I still remember the smell of the filthy water and the back-breaking work to clean and repair.
On Monday I went to the hospital while Debbie and Mikki settled into the Sundance Resort, getting unpacked and bringing in some groceries. The kids got to swim in the pool too. Merge came home that afternoon and we had Little Caesar’s pizza to celebrate.
Tuesday we went to Tucson for the day while Merge rested. Out first stop was the Pima Air and Space Museum. It was hot moving between the buildings but I think the kids enjoyed it. One of the aircraft there was Air Force One for JFK and LBJ. Amazing how austere it appeared. The communication gear seemed primitive compared to what is in my little airplane. The kids enjoyed the interactive displays. After a comically disastrous lunch at TGIF with an incompetent waitress and slow kitchen we went to the Tucson Children’s Museum. It was very interactive and the kids really enjoyed it. On our way out of Tucson Mikki spotted a Bruegger's Bagel so we stopped for a supply to hold us over a few days. Dinner was at Mi Amigo Richardo – a great local Mexican Restaurant in Casa Grande.
Wednesday was a chill out day. A trip to the pool the most energetic thing we did that day besides going to the new movie theatre and watching Kung Fu Panda (save your money). Merge continued to feel better and got her sleep patterns adjusted. The kids played well together and watched a couple of movies.
Thursday we went north. We bought a wheelchair at Sam’s for Merge, Mikki got to go to IKEA for the first time (“I want one of these in Des Moines!” – but we may settle for a trip to Minneapolis), and lunch at a Waffle House – another first for Mikki. After lunch, we went to Arizona Mills, a mall with many outlet stores. Mikki bought some outfits for her and the baby – the nesting has started! She had to work hard to get it all back into her suitcase. We had dinner at T and M in Casa Grande and it was mediocre food this time.
Friday we stayed in Casa Grande and went to the pool. We made a nice spaghetti dinner and had a sit-down meal together – best meal all week! Merge was definitely feeling stronger. My cousin Shawn, her daughter Becky and Shawn’s boyfriend came down for a nice visit. Then it was time to pack for the trek back to Des Moines. We got a call from Katie asking if we would take the kids back to Des Moines from Omaha and she and Chris would come to Des Moines on Sunday for a few days.
08Jun08 A big travel day. Debbie and I got up at 5:00am to start getting ready for the trip. I (of course) made waffles for the kids and then we carefully packed the car leaving a space we hoped would accommodate Mikki’s suitcase. It did and we were soon on the road. With all of the rain, there was some concern that I-80 might be closed but we made it to the airport without a problem. I dropped the gang off in front of the terminal, drove to long-term parking and rode a shuttle back to the terminal. Allison and was especially dapper with her travel gear as were Mikki and Jackson. We went through the bizarre screening process in our bare feet and settled in by the gate. When we boarded Mikki, Debbie and Allison sat in one row while Jackson and I sat behind them. The kids took the plane ride in stride with Allison suggesting that the tops of the clouds “look like cotton candy”. We got our luggage in PHX and rode a shuttle bus to the off-site car rental facility. The kids did a great job of managing their own luggage and seemed to enjoy the experience. We got a car after listening to the rental agent drone on about liability and oh-my-God-you-will-be-responsible-for-the-deductible canned speech intended to scare people into buying their expensive coverage. On to Casa Grande! Earlier Merge suggested we settle in at her house then go to the hospital to visit. About three blocks from the hospital there was a billboard with a slogan on that read “Merge Ahead”. Talk about truth in advertising! She was tired but glad to see us. We had dinner that night at Mimi’s – a chain similar to Applebee’s but a little more expensive (and I think Applebee’s is too expensive).
07Jun08 We continue to have a great time with the kids. On Thursday Debbie and Mikki took the kids back to the Science Center to see the Dinosaur exhibit they missed on Monday. Also, they got to see a show called “Fire and Ice” that was a live demo using liquid nitrogen. Later they went to the playground at Bridgewood school and a bike ride. Meanwhile, I went to the CPCU annual golf outing. It was at Copper Creek and on the 3rd hole I called Mikey and he had lemonade waiting for us at his back door. Don’t ask for my score – I do it a social event and have little interest in the game itself. That night Aimee helped Jackson and Allison finish painting their birthday gifts for Debbie.
We started Friday with an early morning telephone call from Mikki. She had water in her basement and the storm last night washed out all of the landscaping from around the driveway. Debbie and I went over to bring fans and view the situation while Aimee watched the kids. Later the girls went to get their nails “done” while Jackson and I hung out playing Lego’s and whiffle ball followed by a trip to the mall to get Debbie’s birthday presents. We went to Mustards for dinner to celebrate Debbie’s birthday. We got word from my sister that Merge is in the hospital and was admitted on Friday. She stills wants us to visit and to bring the Jackson and Allison.
Saturday was the “Walk Now for Autism” event. Due to flooding in downtown Des Moines and especially at Grays Lake and Fleur Drive the event was moved to West Des Moines by Valley Stadium. This was a great location and they should consider making this move permanent. There were 14 members of Team David. we had a great time and ended up at a Dairy Queen to cool off. We took David home and then we went to the Waveland Cafe for a late lunch. Best hash browns for miles in any direction! Then we went home to finish packing for Arizona. Debbie, the Queen of Organizing, has a triage/sorting center for the kid’s clothes. Some are clothes they brought from Kearney that they will not wear here or in AZ but will need to go to Omaha but not to AZ. Some are for here and AZ others are for AZ but will return to Des Moines. How she keeps this straight is beyond me.
We had a telephone call from Bill in Korea. He and Fay are doing fine and preparing for the move to Germany this fall. They still expect to be in the States in September and I will post their schedule as soon as they can confirm it.
04June08 We are getting into a fun routine with the kids. Sunday we went to Lake Panorama for something different to do. Debbie had never been there before and we had talked about going there several times so she could see it. I had been there several times when Mikey had a boat and a lot there in the early nineties. Also went to a conference in the late nineties for work. The lake is just as I remember it, a mile or so of the Raccoon River backed with stagnating, debris-filled muddy (or worse) water. Growing up in Michigan near the Great Lakes gives me a special insight to know that water is supposed to be blue and ideally with lower levels of fecal bacteria than in Lake Panorama. Iowa will have a difficult time cleaning up its water with the intense farming and livestock activities that drive much of the state’s economy. The kids played on some playground equipment near the lake then we found a Subway in Panora for lunch.
Debbie stayed home with the kids on Monday, taking them to the Des Moines Science Center, where they had lunch. Later they went on a bike ride.
Tuesday Debbie took them to work while I went to an early meeting then took them home via the mall where we played “Deal or No Deal” a few times in a video arcade. The rest of the day was bike rides, Lego’s and Barbies.
Wednesday was a continuation of the same with me staying home while Debbie worked on financial reports that were due that week. The kids and I picked up the “Team David” shirts for the upcoming “Walk Now for Autism” walk. We met Aimee at Hobby Lobby and the kids picked out unfinished jewelry boxes for Debbie’s birthday. Aimee helped them paint them (outside on the back patio with tarps everywhere) after dinner.
01Jun08 We have the grandkids! We met Katie, Jackson, and Allison in Omaha near the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. We went to dinner together then Katie and Jackson went to the zoo to spend the night as part of a Cub Scout outing. We took Allison with us. Our first stop with her was Eppley Airfield (OMA), the major airport for Omaha. We are flying out of OMA next weekend with the kids to see my mother. We wanted Allison to get used to being in the airport and it worked. She enjoyed the visit and was thrilled whenever a plane landed or departed. Later we stopped at a McDonalds on Dodge Street for ice cream. There were a few unusual characters in the place. An older man was wearing a 3-piece suit made out of the brightest red cloth I have ever seen and he was accessorized with several gold teeth. There was another older man that looked like life had beaten him down to the point of having no hope and he appeared homeless. Several others were watching an NBA playoff game and questioning most of the calls by the officials. We met Katie and Jackson at the zoo in the morning. They had a great time touring the zoo at night but didn’t get much sleep. Katie legs and feet were tired from all of the walking. We kept our visit short and just went to the primate area. We followed that with a round-trip tram ride. Finally, we went through the desert dome where Katie and Jackson spent the night. We left for Des Moines before noon and had an easy trip back.
27May08 A long weekend of canceled flights. The weather (low cloud deck, rain, and high winds) wrecked my wonderful strategy to concentrate flight lessons. By Sunday night we had severe weather in Iowa and many tornadoes. One small town of 2,000 people near Waterloo (that I flew over on my last cross country), Parkersburg, was smacked hard with four deaths, dozens of injured and hundreds of homes destroyed. Destroyed is understating the damage – it looked like they were scoured from the earth and the debris crushed like toothpicks.
Debbie and I met Donna, Luis, and Ronna at the Masonic section of Glendale Cemetery early Sunday afternoon for the annual cleaning of the Greenwood plot and decorating it with flowers. Debbie always puts one daisy over the spot where they (illegally) put the ashes of their cherished poodle, Angie.
We spent many hours this weekend working on a spreadsheet for Chris but took some time on Monday to see David. Debbie, Mikki and I took him to, where else, Culvers- followed by shopping at Wal-Mart. David was responsive but did not interact any more than he felt was necessary. He did pick out some shorts and shirts that he claims he will wear and Mikki talked him into getting a Hawkeye ball cap. David is very responsive to Mikki. She has spent a lot of time with him and she knows to give him clear instructions. Besides, David knows better than to challenge anyone that sounds like a school teacher!
21May08 Another cross country! I got to the airport a little early and found the plane in the new hanger as expected. I looked at the log book and was disappointed to see so many entries for the month-but none from me. I pre-flighted the plane and added a quart of oil. When my CFI arrived we went to the pilot’s booth to work on the flight plan. It was to be a three segment flight to Mason City on to Cedar Rapids then back to Des Moines. It was a beautiful day to fly with clear skies and little turbulence. We climbed to 9,500 ft en route to Mason City. I had to track using the GPS, heading indicator, compass and DME. I worked out the math to know when to start my descent to Mason City Airport and landed. After a taxi back to the south we departed Mason City and headed to Cedar Rapids via Waterloo. We used the VOR signals for our headings and after reaching attitude set the autopilot. I contacted Waterloo ATC and told them I was en route to Cedar Rapids and requested “flight following”. They gave me a squawk code and passed me to Cedar Rapids ATC which put me in a right pattern for landing. We went to the local FBO (Landmark) for fuel and 30 minutes later left Cedar Rapids at dusk for Des Moines. A straight line from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines goes over Grinnell then Newton and they were both glowing in the distance as we obtained a final altitude of 4,500 ft. Landing at night in Des Moines is always exciting. The runway is well lighted the only tricky part is accurately judging distance above the runway for transition and flaring. I was pleased with all three of my landings tonight and total airtime was 3.4 hours.
17May08 Debbie, Mikki and I went “garage sale-ing” Saturday morning. The weather was great and there were plenty of garage sales in West Des Moines. We didn’t get much; my biggest purchase was a comprehensive set of real estate books that I bought for Luis and Ronna, along with seasons 1 & 2 of the Family Guy, all for $5.
14May08 We had a little health scare with Donna. She went to work at Broadlawns Hospital early Monday morning and by 9:00 am she felt pain in her chest that she reported to a doctor. Ding ding ding – she was immediately treated for a possible heart attack. She was kept overnight, many tests were run, and a heart attack was ruled out. The doctors are not sure what it was but she is feeling better.
I failed to mention that I played poker last weekend in another “Wickett Poker Tour” (WPT) event. With poker it was a near perfect weekend: Katie and the kids in town, the Dr Laura event, a phone call from Bill confirming that he and Fay are safe and doing well and the family gathering on Sunday with Mikki and Nate’s big announcement. Some of the few things missing: Chris was stuck in Kearney and there was no time in the air.
Unfortunately, I finished in the middle of the WPT tournament, defeated when my pocket queens fell to an opponent’s pair of aces that he made on the river. I still have my fond memories of winning the WPT in January that is reinforced by a picture of me holding the “Willie Maas Memorial Traveling Trophy”.
Aimee likes her new job (too bad we all can’t have that)! She has already been singled out by the trainer for her incredible keyboard skills and her quickness in mastering the system. You go girl!
11May08 Today we had the combined April family birthday celebration and Mothers’ Day at our house. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats on the grill served with enough sides to feed the neighborhood. Jackson helped Luis and me with the grilling.
Mikki brought the Mothers’ Day cake and her name was listed on the cake too. Yes, it is true!! Mikki is going to be a mom!! (And we get another grandchild to spoil!!) She is due in November. Watch for details to be posted soon.
Aimee was accepted into the Human Services program at DMACC and she starts a new job on Monday.
Not much flying news. The weather has been bad (low cloud deck, rain and/or high winds) and I missed one-day last week due to the ear infection. I am on a different antibiotic and it is slowing getting better.
10May08 We got to talk to Bill for almost an hour Saturday morning. It was a fantastic relief to actually hear his voice. He and Fay are doing well. They are working long hours. He is still in the ER. Fay just returned from China. They have their orders to go to Germany this fall. They will be back in the USA in September for three weeks and as soon as their plans are set I will post them here.
Debbie, Katie and I went to dinner with Aimee, Mikki and the kids at Perkins before going to see Dr. Laura. Luis and Ronna met us there. It was a low key production, i.e., very little multimedia or props. She answered questions submitted by the audience and let the show flow like her radio program. It was two hours and went by very fast. I got permission from Van Hardin to take one of the posters home and I gave it to Katie.
04May08 We went to Kansas City with Mike and Linda to see “Dave Ramsey Live”. (It was Mark Twain that said, “There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”) Everybody was relaxed and had a great time.
We used Debbie’s GPS to guide us to the Bob Evans Restaurant in Liberty, MO for a pre-show brunch. Ohio-based Bob Evans was the choice because there are none in Iowa. All of us at one time or another lived in Ohio. In the late 1970’s Mike and Debbie even worked at the same group home facility in Lebanon Ohio but didn’t know each other. What a small world it is!
On to Kemper Arena and once again Debbie’s GPS (Garmin 660) took us right to the door. We lucked out on parking and then got decent seats in the upper seating area. It was a pumped up group of 12,500 people. The demographics appeared to be skewed to couples in their 20-40s, white, religious and conservative. This would fit the profile of typical caller to Dave’s radio program. The bag check, ticket scan, and merchandising tables were manned by local volunteers – a tribute to the blessings that Dave’s program has brought to so many. Dave came out and did a condensed version of the Financial Peace University curriculum with most of the emphasis on the first few “baby steps”. Not much new material for Debbie and me but it was great to see him in person. It was awesome to see Mike and Linda take it all in. I picked up the “I See Debt People” t-shirts I preordered for each of us and we headed to the hotel.
We had dinner with Mike’s sister Marian at an Applebee’s near her home. After dinner, we went back to the hotel where I wired up a newly purchased up-converting DVD into the HD TV in the room. We watched the movie Juno. The next morning was a stop at The Waffle House in Liberty. Love those hash browns and again Iowa has no Waffle Houses.
By the time we got home, unpacked and laundry started we were beaten. Then we got a telephone call from The Homestead. It was David and he wanted to see us. What do you do? We drove over and took him out to eat at his favorite: Culvers.
We are looking forward to seeing Katie and the kids next weekend. Chris may come too if his work schedule allows it.
30Apr08 I was fighting off a virus or bacterial infection last week and eventually, I ended up with an infection in my right ear. Wednesday afternoon I left a message for my flight instructor to cancel that night’s lesson. He called back a half hour later (having not heard my message) canceling on me due to his day job-either way I was not flying that day! Sunday morning I canceled again due to the persistent sharp pain in my ear and went instead to the walk-in clinic. I was back in the air the next day and did a dual cross country. We went to Atlantic, IA and back. I did the flight planning and was pleased when the landmarks appeared as planned within 30 seconds each time. On the way out I was so distracted with landmarks, charts, and logs that often I would dip a wing and stray off course. I was more organized on the way back. It was a night landing on runway 5 in DSM and a 1.5-mile taxi to Elliot’s for 14 gallons of avgas ($5.50/gal). Today’s lesson, a dual cross country to Cedar Rapids, was canceled due to high winds and turbulence.
Also last Saturday we had the immediate family dinner to celebrate the birthdays of Mikki and Nate and they chose to go to Red Lobster. There were six of us including Aimee and Donna. It split down the middle: 3 of us had seafood and 3 had chicken – you should be able to guess who had what. The big family gathering for April birthdays will be held on Mothers Day. Luis and I will be grilling out for the gang on my 2-tank monster grill.
I had lunch with Linda Robinson at the office on Tuesday. She was upbeat about her new assignment at Hospice and about Danny’s graduation this week from DMACC. Also, she agreed that stopping at Bob Evans in Liberty. MO on the way to the Dave Ramsey seminar was a good plan.
19Apr08 Just a reminder that if you have not already donated to “Team David” please get your pledges in soon. It is a part of the “Walk Now for Autism” at Gray’s Lake Park. Thanks for your support.
The cloud deck stayed at 700 ft AGL throughout the morning so I was not able to fly. (I looked in the log book and the plane has only been up twice since my last flight on April 6th due to the weather.) All was not lost, I did get 3 hours of ground instruction from my flight instructor. We planned our future “cross country” to Atlantic, IA and back. An Omaha Sectional Chart, an Airport/Facility Directory (AFD), a sectional plotter, an E6B flight computer, the Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) for the Piper PA-28 were needed along with current weather from FSS. It was a major data dump and somewhat complicated, but manageable, by taking it one step at a time. The next window for this flight is Wednesday after work. (Sounds like I am moving a shuttle launch!)
18Apr08 Should be a quiet and relaxing weekend. I do have a flight lesson scheduled tomorrow morning. The weather has been too windy, raining or the cloud deck too low for VFR flying most of the last two weeks. Next up are cross country flights and more work on crosswind landings.
Currently on the reading list (besides flight lessons) is “I Am A Strange Loop” by Douglas Hofstadter. He is the author of the seminal work on artificial intelligence called Gödel, Escher and Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid. This recent book (2007) is focused on his thesis that we must first define intelligence in general, and human consciousness in particular, and this has proven to be beyond our abilities (so far). At the quantum level our brains consist of quarks that make protons, neutrons and electrons that we know are the atomic/molecular building blocks of our brain cells. These cells make up the neural net in our brain that, by sending electrical and chemical signals, can manipulate symbols (we do live in our minds). So where is our consciousness in these layers? What is this thing we call “I”? Interesting book and I recommend it. I will post a list of my favorite authors and books soon.
We heard from Allison yesterday that she went horseback riding. Katie is taking her to a nearby ranch for lessons to see if she wants to pursue it.
16Apr08 We saw Billy Joel last night with Luis and Ronna. The playlist, as best I can recall, is posted below. We did our now standard pre-concert meal at Mustard’s then parked in the Allied parking lot. As is typical at an arena rock concert, we had several loud drunks seated around us but I effectively ignored their boorishness. I actually felt some compassion for the difficulty the disease-influenced behaviors must create for them (growth on my part- thank you Al-Anon).
All-in-all it was an enjoyable evening spent with 12,500 aging Boomers wanting to share a few minutes with an icon of our youth. Did you know that Billy Joel is the sixth best-selling recording artist in the United States? (The top five are: 1. The Beatles; 2. Garth Brooks; 3. Elvis; 4. Led Zeppelin; 5. The Eagles)
I had a pleasant memory return when Joel sang “We Didn’t Start the Fire” because it reminded me of Katie and Bill when they were young. The song was released in 1989, just shortly after the move to California. In July 1989, just a month before we moved to California, the next door unit to our duplex in Carlisle, Iowa had a fire. So Katie and Bill would sing “We Didn’t Start the Fire” at the top of their lungs because they thought it was so cool that a popular song came out to absolve them of any guilt in the fire. (Of course, they didn’t have anything to do with it. The fire was an electrical fire that started at the breaker box.)
12Apr08 More sad news. Louise Norpel, Julie’s aunt passed away on April 9th. She was 92 and is survived by husband Norb. Here is a link to the obit in the Des Moines Register. We saw Julie and the kids along with the whole Hannam clan at the visitation last night. While Louise had a full life and her passing was expected, it was sad to see Norb in such grief and it reminded all of Jean’s recent passing. The funeral is today at the same church Louise and Norb were married in 71 years ago.
08Apr08 Here are details on the service for Dora Annette Clements. Also here is a link to some family pictures.
06Apr08 More flying this past week. Wednesday evening and Sunday morning were focused on mastering crosswind landings. The winds today were especially good for this type of practice. The plane lost as much as 40 mph in groundspeed as I turned from base to final around 500ft AGL. We went to Ankeny Regional then back to DSM, switching runways every few touchdowns. It is all clicking. Next time up we will do a cross-country to either Lamoni or Atlantic.
While working on our calendar I noticed we have a few events coming up soon. Next weekend is the WPT (at Wicket’s) where I will attempt to defend my January poker championship. No one has won back-to-back tournaments yet – here is my chance to be the first! Additionally, we have Billy Joel on April 15 (in Des Moines with Luis and Ronna), Dave Ramsey on May 3 (in Kansas City with Mike and Linda) and Dr. Laura on May 9th in Des Moines with Luis, Ronna, and Katie. (Katie is very pumped over getting to see Dr. Laura.) We pick up Jack and Allison the end of May in Omaha. June 7 we have the “Walk Now for Autism” at Gray’s Lake Park. The next day we go with Mikki and the grandkids to AZ for a week.
05Apr08 Word from brother Bill that Toni’s mother, Dora, has died. She was at her home and surrounded by family. Services will be held the middle of next week. A link to the obituary will be posted here as soon as it is available. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Toni and her family.
30Mar08 I SOLOED! Finally, I got to solo. It was at Ankeny Regional Airport Sunday morning and I did 3 takeoffs and full stop landings from runway 18 in a left pattern. It was anticlimactic in that I was well prepared for it and to actually do it was easy. Here is a picture of me and the airplane with my flight instructor, Steve Davis after the solo. I am glad to have this monkey off my back! Yet to go: more work on crosswinds, dual cross countries and a solo cross country, a written FAA exam, an oral FAA exam and an FAA check ride.
Aimee got all of her belongings moved out of the apartment yesterday with most in the storage unit and the rest in her room here. Her cousins Nick and Joe helped her with the move.
Deb and Ray are going to be grandparents! Danny and Sarah are expecting in November-no word yet on the baby’s gender. Deb already has plans to remodel the house for a nursery.
Word from brother Bill that Toni’s mother is in critical condition. The plan is she will come home from the hospital on Monday and receive hospice services in her home. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
23Mar08 We had a great time with Katie and the kids. We saw “Horton Hears a Who” at the movie theatre – it was okay but not destined to be a classic like Toy Story or Shrek. We had an Easter egg hunt in the house early Easter morning. Jackson and Allison each found 15 plastic eggs filled with candy and money. In the golden egg, they found a clue for finding their hidden Easter baskets. Allison keep screaming “This is fun!” Easter was at Luis and Ronna’s home this year. David was there, too. He was well behaved and seemed to enjoy himself.
16Mar08 I got to fly two more times last week. The mechanics of landing are clicking better with all of this practice. We are looking forward to Katie and the kids coming to Des Moines for Easter.
09Mar08 Back in the air! I did touch and go landings at Newton, Knoxville, and Pella airports. I was concerned that I would be rusty with five weeks between lessons but it was all good. I never fail to be thankful for the privilege of being able to fly an airplane. It is like nothing else in the world to be a couple thousand of feet in the air with such freedom to soar. I continue to be surprised at how empty the skies really are around central Iowa. The untowered airports use a common radio frequency to announce approaches, landings, and departures. The range of these transmissions can be hundreds of miles. Sunday morning I heard one call for a landing at Iowa City and that was it. Outside of a few commercial planes in and out of Des Moines I may have had the sky to myself for a hundred square miles or more. Actually, I do have to share the sky with a few thousand Canadian geese and they always have the right of way.
Debbie and I went to see the movie Juno again. It is a well-made movie: realistic dialog with great casting, acting, directing and soundtrack. We both like the opening credits song “All I Want Is You” by Barry Louis Polisar to the closing “Anyone Else But You ” by the Moldy Peaches and the version performed by the young stars of the film.
I saw Tonya when I dropped off shirts at her dry cleaners. She is really pumped over her visit next week to see the Lanes. She figures she can not get lost since she just gets on I-80, drives 290 miles to the Kearney exit and then calls Katie on her cell phone for the directions to their house.
03Mar08 Our web site and e-mail were down a few days along with the CPCU site. There was some kind of equipment failure at the ISP and they restored to a new server with a new IP address. I spent quite a few hours getting things straightened out.
I got six more crowns put in! I now have ten crowns on the top front after 3 years of orthodontic and other prep work. Now on to the bottom.
Flight lessons continue to be canceled due to weather. Only had one hour in February. I will be able to book time during the week after DST is in effect and that should really help.
02Mar08 We took David over to Mike and Linda’s for a visit. He was having a good day and really interacted with us. He especially enjoyed playing with Emma, the kitten that has unfortunately turned into a cat.
Aimee has been chatting with Fay and Bill via MySpace. You might catch them online on the weekends. Remember they are about 12 hours ahead of us in time.
01Mar08 Aimee will be staying with us for a few months so we officially moved the “Kid’s Room” into the “Daisy Room” to give her some adult space. A lot of stuff is going to the storage unit that I have been unsuccessful in eliminating for years.
We went to the first service in the new sanctuary at Lutheran Church of Hope. Pastor Mike (he married Chris and Katie in 1998) continues to amaze me with his ability to connect with people using pop culture. His sermon opened with a classic clip from the movie Hoosiers where the small town team first walked into the Butler Field House. The boys were awed by the size of the facility. The coach had them measure the distance to the rim and the free throw line to show them it was the same as the gym back home. After the clip Pastor Mike and the music director measured some items on the stage to show they were the same as in the old sanctuary. Very clever.
29Feb08 Another cash game at Dan’s. My winning streak is officially over as I lost $30.
27Feb08 We got an e-mail from Fay! She and Bill will most likely be transferred to Germany later this year. They expect to be in Kaiserslautern, which is by the border with France. Fay will be going to a Warrior Leader’s Course for a month in either March or April and somewhere in Korea. Also, Baxter is on a “fat boy” plan to get him back into shape.
23Feb08 We have the schedule worked out with Katie on when we will have the kids this summer. She will be back in March over Jackson’s vacation. We will have the kids for two weeks in June and will take them to Arizona. (We already have the tickets and Mikki is going too.) In August we will have them for a week separately so they each get one on one time with us and their parents. Is there anything in the world better than being a grandparent? We doubt it!
19Feb08 I got a call from Julie that her mother, Jean Hannam died early Monday morning. As soon as her obit is on the DM Register site I will link it here. Our condolences to Jean’s family and friends. (Her obit does not have a valid link on the DM Web site. I will scan the paper copy and post it here today.) Here is the scanned copy (177.37KB in PDF): Jean Hannam Obit
17Feb08 Well, I made it to 55! Chris, Katie and the kids were back from Kearney, NE. We had the family February birthday gathering for Aimee and me at our house on Saturday with the Lanes, Ronna, Luis and Joe Rivas, Nate and Mikki, Donna and Mike and, of course, Debbie, Aimee and me. The Lanes had a safe trip home on Sunday as the big storm did not affect the roads just west of Des Moines.
11Feb08 Jean Hannam is in Mercy Hospice in Johnston. Jean is very weak and won’t be with us much longer. On Saturday Debbie and I visited her and then stayed with Julie until Tiff arrived from Chicago. I went back in the morning and had a nice breakfast with Tiff. I was supposed to fly at noon on Sunday but it was too cold to fly. Later, Debbie and I went with Luis and Ronna to see B B King. It was a privilege to see him and hear him in person.
04Feb08 I read in the Register that Bill Woodard died over the weekend at the age of 79. I went to the visitation that was scheduled for Monday evening. His sister Betty (she used to work in commercial) was there and we caught up on old times. I met the rest of Bill’s family and gave my condolences to Ray.
03Feb08 I got to fly on Saturday. My flight instructor said that I am ready to solo, just need some good weather. The lesson on Sunday was canceled due to bad weather, in fact, the cloud deck never got above 500 ft all day. We went to Mike and Linda’s for a going away party for Chris. He is moving to Ft Lauderdale to pursue his dreams! Debbie, Aimee and I picked up David and let him do his two favorite things. We took him to Culvers (he had two grilled cheese kid’s meals) then we took him to Wal-Mart in Altoona to explore the store. We did this during the Super Bowl – I guess we didn’t miss much.
30Jan08 The Lanes will be in Des Moines on February 15 -17!
26Jan08 I continue to be on a roll with poker. Saturday was the first WPT poker night in 2008 and I won over $200 in the ring game, won the main event and finished 4th in the second tournament.
24Jan08 The sales directors were in town for meetings. It was good to see old friends again. Lee Luckmann is back as a sales director and he still can’t take a joke. The RVPs: Wayne, Don, and Jim have retired and the going away party was nicely done.
19Jan08 My flight lesson was canceled due to cold weather. It was 4 degrees with a wind chill near -20. Can’t say I was too upset to not have to go out into the cold. Last night at a poker game, thrown together at the last minute by friends at work, I won over $200 dollars in a $1/$2 limit Texas Hold’em game.
14Jan08 We saw Jean Hannam today. She was very weak and sleepy but indicated she was happy to see us. She is staying at Julie’s and hospice is bringing a bed over tomorrow. Most of her children were there and she is being well cared for at Julie’s.
13Jan08 Debbie rode in the plane today! This was her first trip with me as the pilot. We left DSM International airport at 8:00 am and flew east to Newton Airport to practice landings. Debbie really enjoyed the flight even with some IFR conditions, turbulence and some “short final” landings. Turns out she went to school (k-12) with my flight instructor and they even sat next to each other when she played the French horn. After we landed we picked David up and had lunch with Mike and Linda at Okoboji Grill in PH.
12Jan08 Interesting flying experience. DSM was fogged in so we left “IFR with VFR on top” and went to Osceola for landing practice. Quite a bit of a crosswind and I struggled to get everything right but I continue to make progress. The trip home was interesting. Conditions at DSM had deteriorated and the ceiling was only 500ft. We flew IFR with Steve giving a real-time lesson. It is all about understanding and believing the instruments. We used the ILS on RW 31 and when we broke out of the clouds we were lined up with the centerline and on the glide path. When we put the plane away Steve noticed ice on the wings and on closer inspection we saw that both wings were covered including the leading edges. I am pretty sure that ice on the leading edge is a bad thing!
We went to Julie’s 50th Birthday party. It was great to see Julie’s family again. Tiff and John are doing great. It is a joy to visit with them and to see both of them happy and focused. Sadly Julie’s mom was too ill to join the party and her condition continues to worsen. We plan to visit her soon.
09Jan08 I had four crowns placed today. The four placed today are the first of ten with the rest to follow in February. This is part of a multiyear plan to get me a set of “store bought” teeth that can stay in. Already had two years of orthodontics and in October I had all ten of the top front teeth prepared for crowns with a single temporary appliance that looks much better than my originals!
Author Bob Conroy/
Posted on January 8, 2010