Here’s the vehicle that parked next to me at lunch today.
December 2011
Legislation.
I am going to preface this blog entry by stating that I think talking on your cell phone is not the smartest thing to do while you’re driving and that sending a text message (or doing updates, etc) while driving is just downright stupid.
The NTSB announced yesterday that nearly a year after a multi-car pileup in Missouri as the result of a 19-year old sending 11 text messages in the 11 minutes prior to the crash, they are recommending that all states immediately institute laws banning the use of electronic devices by drivers of motor vehicles. Electronic devices would include everything except GPS units or the use of a cell phone in an emergency.
Here is a prime example of what is wrong with our government. I think the NTSB’s recommendation is a bunch of grandstanding hysterics. The NTSB is going down the path of trying to legislate common sense. It’s never a good path to take.
Let’s consider this:
1. Entering an address into a GPS unit is no different than sending a text message, yet one is perfectly fine and the other would be against the law. In fact, entering an address into a GPS unit is usually more difficult to accomplish than sending a text message.
2. GPS units are usually mounted to the windshield. This is unfortunate, because they often obstruct the view of the motorist, creating an unnecessary blind spot. Yet, this is okay.
3. Some folks (including me) use the GPS functionality of their iPhone for navigation purposes. I am not about to go purchase another electronic device to keep in my car when I don’t have to, yet using the iPhone would be illegal because it’s not a dedicated GPS unit.
Let’s go into this a little bit further:
1. A man can no longer shave with an electric razor because it could probably be considered an electronic device, yet a woman could still put on makeup while driving because that’s manual all the way. I’ve mentioned my dislike of men using electric razors before so you know that I’m not defending either activity in this case. Another broad piece of recommended legislation that doesn’t make any sense.
2. Wanda Wigout can still get a hot cup of coffee from McDonalds, ignore the warnings printed all over the cup and proceed to dump the hot contents of the cup all over her va-jay-jay as she tries to balance said cup of coffee on her knee. Since the coffee cup is not electronic, there’s nothing wrong with that, other than a burned va-jay-jay. And quite frankly I don’t care about her va-jay-jay, but I bet she would be distracted and could easily smack into another vehicle while screaming about the pain she is feeling in her nether regions.
3. The recommendation includes the banning of MP3 and CD players but allows the use of radios, which is a hoot to me because apparently you have to listen to one station at one volume because adjusting anything would be against the law. You are not to be distracted by changing the track or anything like that.
3a. Does that mean that we will get a payment from the government to have the CD and/or MP3 player removed from the dash of our car? What do I do when SiriusXM flashes the artist and title of the song I would like to dance to but dare not do, do I ignore it? Do I risk hitting the nob to blank the display? Do I shake both hands in the air and silently say “help me, help me?”
4. As a roadgeek I can apparently still take photos and movies of road signs and highways as long as I am using a film based camera, but I can’t do it if it’s a digital device.
5. If I were a smoker, I could still smoke and drive with one hand and not be in trouble in anyway for doing so.
6. We’ve already covered Ms. Wigout’s va-jay-jay, but consider that eating a Whopper and smacking kids in the back seat of the car would still be okay, because no one is electronic unless I adopted a robot.
7. It is apparently perfectly fine to drive by looking around the flailing ass of a random Irish Setter.
8. What happens to On*Star? Do I risk pushing the button built into my review mirror or do I drive the car into a guide rail to get their attention?
35 states already have legislation banning both hands on cell phone conversational and text messaging use by a driver. These laws are ignored by a good majority of the driving public and attempts to enforce these laws are feeble at best. Why does the NTSB think that making a national legislative recommendation such as this going to get any sort of special consideration?
Look it, as I’ve said before, I think that when you’re behind the wheel you should be concentrating on your driving and doing little else. I’m not afraid to risk scratching my nuts once in a while and quite frankly I can handle having brief conversations while using my headset. In fact, if you’ve talked to me on the phone while I’m driving recently, you’ll note that I precede the conversation with “I’m talking on my headset!” I am so tired of our government trying to legislate anything and everything down to the lowest common denominator of intelligence. And quite frankly, this is none of the federal government’s business, it is a matter that belongs to the states. If I don’t like the laws in one state, I always have the option to move.
The NTSB will probably get their way by conning someone to withhold federal highway funds unless a state complies, just like they did when some states didn’t feel the need to raise the drinking age to 21 in the mid 1980s (which, by the way, has done little to reduce alcohol-based road fatalities yet ended up with an increase in under-age drinking).
Our government is too big, too intrusive and apparently has too much time on their hands. Education, not legislation, is the key to solving the problem of distracted driving. I would much rather see a significant increase in the standards of obtaining a driver’s license (and the need to retest in specified intervals to maintain your license) before just adopting more repetitive, unenforceable legislation.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Turning.
With the all the changes in our lives the past couple of weeks I feel like I have turned some corner around a major point in my life. Going back to work I find myself asking questions on the projects that I am working on and not getting emotional or stressed about it in the process. I’m still passionate, I’m just not raving about it. I was out the door five minutes earlier than my normal time, and getting out then felt good. I worked out this morning, doubling the number of situps I did the last time I worked out in our makeshift gym in the basement. I want to make another run at working out this evening after work.
I feel like my priorities have changed a little bit and it’s all for the better. I want to do what needs to be done in regards to my father’s affairs and the like. On the other hand, I really want the world to slow down a bit so that I can catch my breath. I don’t feel stressed as much as I just feel there’s a lot to do. I want to be able to sit down, with no expectation or no upcoming plans, and just enjoy not doing anything for a little bit.
This isn’t the time for that. And that’s okay for now.
Turning this corner and entering this new part of my life is good. It’s different and right now it’s rather sad, but in the long run it’ll be good. One of Earl’s colleagues wrote that boys don’t really become men until their father has passed on and it is then that we carry on their legacy.
I get that. Having turned this corner, that’s how I feel.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Resume.
Earl and I are back home after a weekend with his family celebrating the life of his father. Tomorrow our regular programming resumes already in progress.
I am looking forward to getting back on track, all with new and cherished memories loaded and ready to go. As Earl said during his father’s eulogy yesterday afternoon, we have decided to not be sad anymore. It’s time cherish the memories and continue along our paths.
Odd.
So yesterday I wrote that I was looking for some normalcy to return to our life after the death of my father. It seems that this is not quite ready to come to fruition, as this morning when I arrived at work I received a phone call that my father-in-law had passed on this morning. He has been I’ll for a while; doctors had found spots on his lungs and my father-in-law opted to keep them undiagnosed.
Dad passed in his sleep this morning shortly before 8 a.m.
Earl and I are in Earl’s hometown near Philadelphia for the weekend. We had already planned on visiting this weekend to visit Dad. Now we are here to spend time with his family, reflect and share memories.
Surprisingly, I told Earl this morning that I feel more spiritually centered and grounded than I have in a long time. This feeling did not change after receiving the news about my father-in-law. I’m okay, I think we are both okay, but life does feel a little odd right now.
Normalcy.
So I’m sitting in the Jeep at lunchtime, after a morning’s worth of work. I had a good number of emails to catch up on when I got in and reports for November were due before close of business today. I’m happy to say that I was able to still beat the deadline.
Everyone is expressing their condolences with me today and they are all much appreciated. I thanked my supervisor for the cooperation of the company during this difficult time. He said it went without saying, I still think it’s nice to say thank you. I also had to let him know that my father-in-law is not doing well and that I might some additional time off to be with my in-laws. He was perfectly understanding.
As an avid people watcher, there is a part of me that was fascinated by the folks that I shook hands with and hugged during my Dad’s calling hours Monday night. Each human being is so unique. No two people said or did the same thing. I love that.
So today I work and do what needs to be done. I find comfort, satisfaction and enjoyment in doing this.
I even find myself smiling from time to time.
Family.
My sister and brother-in-law just left after an afternoon visit. We spent most of the time going through the family photo albums looking for photos of my Dad to display at the calling hours and memorial service. It’s not easy to summarize 64 years in 40 photographs. We made a decent attempt.
I haven’t left the house today. Everyone at my dad’s thought I needed downtime today because I’ve been going non-stop since the crash answering phones, answering questions and coordinating things. If this were to happen again I guess I would need an assistant. On second thought, my family here at home has been very helpful. Scott spent the day adding to the outside Christmas decorations he put up yesterday. They look beautiful. Jamie scanned all the photos we selected. He was kind enough to crop out my ex. That made me happy.
Even though I haven’t left the house today I am exhausted. Oddly, the blahs that I felt a few months ago have not returned. This should be a good thing. My sister remarked that dad smiles a lot in all the photos. I need to remember that and follow his lead.
It was nice to visit and reminisce today. I feel centered. I’m ready for the services tomorrow and Tuesday. There is comfort in knowing that I feel ready.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Repost from Aug. 23 ’05: “Flying With Dad!”
This is a repost of an entry from Aug. 23 ’05.
Tonight I had the opportunity to do something I haven’t done in a long time. Dad and I went flying together.
My father has been a private pilot for a long time. I’ve complained about flying in the past, but those complaints are limited to flying the commercial airlines, mainly because they herd you like cattle through a shoot. I also have another beef, no pun intended, about flying commercially. I don’t know the pilot. And I can’t trust a pilot I don’t know.
I’ve been flying with my father since I was six months old. My grandfather was a private pilot, so we’d fly with him, and then my dad became a pilot in his late 20s. Where most people have blood flowing through their veins, my father has aviation fuel.
When I was growing up, we started off flying in the pilot’s association’s Cessna 150 (which is still going this day, I might add) and then a Piper Tomahawk. Later in the early 1980s, my grandfather and father bought a 1940 Piper J5-A that my dad stripped down to the metal and rebuilt. He had that for several years, before building the plane you see in the picture, his Acrosport.
The Acrosport is a lot of fun to fly in, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s open cockpit, so you get to wear all the Snoopy gear. I had the honor of wearing my grandfather’s pilot gear tonight. The passenger’s seat has the ominous warning: “PASSENGER WARNING: THIS HOME-BUILT AIRPLANE IS EXPERIMENTAL AND THEREFORE DOES NOT MEET FAA SAFETY REGULATIONS”. Who cares. It’s rare that I feel that free as when I’m sitting in the passenger’s seat of my father’s airplane. Just be sure to sit low in the seat so the wind doesn’t blow your sunglasses off!
Right after take off, the engine backfired a little bit and did a little sputter thing, just as we were banking to the right. My father straightened the plane to the horizon and it stopped. Another quick bank to the right to make sure it didn’t do it again, then a zip around 180 degrees to buzz (that means fly really low and fast) my sister and Earl, who were standing along the airfield watching us, both waving. Did the sputter worry me? Absolutely not. I was in the capable hands of my father, so that meant there was nothing to worry about. He’s been in worse situations and has never had even a close call. Nothing to fear.
The rest of the flight was awesome. We flew eight or nine miles to the west of my hometown to fly along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario a little bit before heading back home. I wasn’t ready to take the controls to fly yet, though Dad would have let me. I used to fly occasionally with the club instructor or my dad when I was younger, given the controls of the Cessna or the Apache. And I’m eager to try my hands at a Cessna 150 or 172, but not his Acrosport. Not yet.
Afterwards, we had a wonderful meal with my Dad, his girlfriend Karen and my sister Jennifer. Great conversation, delicious food and a flight down memory lane.
A wonderful evening.
You can click on the picture above for more pictures from the flight.
Connection.
First, I have to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support. The love from friends and family, far and wide, old and new, has been nothing short of amazing and it is with the most heartfelt words that I can express in a blog that I can say thank you. Thank you very much.
Secondly, I have mentioned before that I sometimes use this blog to express my thoughts in an electronic therapeutic endeavor. I know that when I feel uncertain about something, I want to know if anyone has experienced what I am experiencing or about to experience; for example, when I needed surgery a while back, I read blog entries from others that had experienced the same surgery and knowing what they experienced helped my experience. See, the powers of technology can be used for something other than automatically flushing a toilet, they can be used for good.
So I’m going to write some things in this blog entry just to process things a little bit.
I have been the “family spokesperson” for the family. Because my dad died in a plane crash, the FAA and the NTSB are involved. I have spoken with the investigator leading the effort to find out why the plane went down. Since the plane was a private plane, there’s no black box or anything of that sort. Investigators interview eye witnesses and examine the wreckage as closely as possible to determine the cause of the crash. It’s going to take a while. The investigator from the NTSB is a really nice guy.
Also, because dad died in a plane crash, the news media wants to know things, so I have been answering questions with television reports, newspapers and the like. One of the local stations wants to do a interview with the family this weekend. I think that’s nice.
And because dad died in a plane crash, I’m never going to be able to see him again. No open casket, no viewing. That doesn’t particularly bother me, as I know Dad wanted to be cremated and his wishes will be honored, but I needed to feel one last feeling of connection before I could release what has been bubbling inside of me since hearing the news Thursday afternoon. I tried walking around his workshop in the garage where much of the assembly work of the airplane was done. Earlier this year I had given Dad one of my old school clocks from the collection to hang in the garage, I noticed that he had cleaned it up, replaced the stem used to set the time and had it running proudly on his wall. That made me smile. The garage/workshop was still just as he left it Thursday morning, where he had undoubtedly stopped before heading to the airport. I felt good things being in the garage but I didn’t feel the connection that my heart and spirit needed to feel. I needed to spend some alone time with Dad just one more time (that alone time still including Earl in the mix). So, despite the bad roads (it was snowing up there yesterday), I told everyone in the house that Earl and I needed to run out for a few minutes, stating that we’d pick up some groceries we needed, and we headed up to the airstrip that my Dad co-owned.
The inch or two of snow on the grown prevented us from driving into the sandy parking lot, so Earl and I parked along the dead end road that runs parallel to the runway and we hiked over to the hangers. Knowing how Dad buttoned everything down, I was able to squeeze into the airplane hanger and see his other plane, the one that he and I had last flown together in, his AcroSport. As soon as I touched the plane, I felt the connection that my heart was looking for. I put my hands on the engine cowl and then laid my head down on it, and that’s when all the emotions let loose. And that’s also when I instantly felt better about things and knew that everything was going to be okay.
The plane was all set for the winter. The open cockpit covered with the custom fitted coverings perfectly in place, cloth “socks” over both ends of the wood prop, protecting it from damage. The prop was perfectly horizontal, a sign of dad’s regimented, perfectionist behavior that permeated his entire life.The battery charger was in place, keeping the battery at the level it needed to be so it wouldn’t get damaged during the winter.
Walking around the plane I stopped at the tail, which bears the identification N number that contains his initials. I smiled. Coming around to the other side I paused and silently told Dad that I would make sure that the plane was well taken care of until we could find a new pilot to fly it.
Earl stood by my side the entire time and comforted me, he’s the only one that can occupy the space I find when I need to be alone.
I snapped a few photos of the plane on my phone so that I could carry them with me. When we returned to the house, I found a photo of Dad standing in front of that plane. I added that to my phone as well. I’m sorry that I will never be able to fly with Dad in the Tailwind as I really wanted to and had no hesitation to do so, but I’m so happy that I got to fly with him in the Acro. And I’m going to take good care of it until someone else can take it airborne once again.
Here’s one of the photos of the Acro Sport that I took yesterday.
And here is a photo of Dad in the Tailwind the first time it was taken out. If you look close you can see him at the controls. He only taxied it that day as he didn’t feel it was quite where it needed to be to go airborne. Though it met the FAA certification standards, he felt he had a little more tinkering to do to meet his own safety standards.
I found out something about my dad yesterday that I knew but didn’t know he shared in this way. When asked why he was such a happy man, perhaps by a customer at the family owned business, he had a standard response…
“I’m a man that can fly.”
Soar.
My first blog entry ever (04 Aug 01) contained this:
My dad is a private pilot and has built his own airplanes as well. Tonight was also the first night that I’ve ever flown in his new Acro Sport. WOW! It’s an open cockpit bi-plane (four wings instead of two) that cruises at about 110-120 MPH. He used to have a Piper J-5A from the 40s that cruised along at 80 MPH, so this one is really a rush. You get to wear the old aviator’s helmet and goggles and everything in this!
My dad has aviator fuel for blood, and he’s happiest when he’s flying or working on his airplane. We used to fly a lot together, it was nice doing it again today. I imagine that I’ll become a private pilot someday as well.
I think that dad might have been at his happiest when he was behind the controls of an airplane. He learned on a Cessna 150, but his first plane was a 1940 Piper J-5A that he co-owned with my grandfather. He and I would go to small airports in the area for their weekly “fly-in” breakfasts. We’d chug along at 80 MPH. I loved flying in that plane with him. My grandfather would sometimes go along in his homebuilt Jungster. As a teen, flying with my dad is when I felt closest to him.
The plane mentioned in the first blog entry was his first homebuilt plane. It’s an AcroSport and he said that while it was fun, piloting it was like driving down the road at 100 MPH with the hood up, just because of the way the plane sat. He felt like he could never see where he was going. However, it was a solid plane and one that I enjoyed a few trips with him in. The plane sits at the airport up the road from his house, a grassy airstrip that he co-owns with a number of other pilots.
His latest project was a Wittman Tailwind W10. The plane received it’s tail number in September and after meeting all the necessary inspection requirements, a couple of weeks ago he took it up for it’s first flight. He called me the night of the first flight and told me about it. I could hear the excitement in his voice. I could hear the pride in his voice of again flying something that he had built with his own two hands. The plane was a lot faster than he thought it would be but he knew he would enjoy it once he got used to how it handled. When he built the plane he used the engine from my grandfather’s now decommissioned Jungster. Others had built the same type of plane using the same type of engine, so he wasn’t in any new territory here.
Today my father took the Tailwind for it’s second flight. Earl called me at work today to let me know that the plane had come down; news reports say the plane crashed about a mile from the airport where the plane was kept. My father did not survive the crash. This weekend, amongst all the arrangements and everything that is done in these sorts of situations, I have asked Earl to go with me to where the plane crashed and my father passed on.
My dad died today doing something that made him really happy. I really believe that the medical examiners are going to be surprised when they find aviation fuel in his veins, because being a pilot was what my dad was. His eyes lit up in an amazing way when he was behind the controls of a plane. You could feel that he was in control of his destiny. He was a wonderful man and a dad that a son could easily look up to. I stand in awe of my father and I’m sad that I’m never going to be able to fly with him again but I’m happy that he was doing what he liked to do right up until the end.
I have many pictures I would love to share and I probably will, but I quickly found this one from my 30th birthday. When this photo was taken, he had proclaimed to the crowd in attendance that he was proud of his boy.
The feeling was mutual. I love you, Dad. I’m going to miss you very much.
