Early Morning Thoughts, 17 August

My days and nights are mixed up.

Phil and I covered Mike's vacation last week as he went to Sturgis. Phil got first dibs on the schedule, and for some reason he wanted to work one night, take the next off. then work the following night. That meant I had to work a night, take the next off, work the next, take the next off, and work another. I no longer can shrug off lack of sleep the way I once did. Working a night shift means I have to sleep much of the next day to recharge my batteries. That then leaves me wide-awake the next evening, driving Sara Jean crazy with my late-night TV watching or my tap-tapping as I leave extraordinarily intelligent comments on the blogs of others. So here I sit, in bed, laptop on lap, pecking out a post at O-dark-thirty. I'm trying desperately not to wake my sleeping beauty, 'cause she's not pleasant when she's awakened early. (I hope you realize the danger I'm exposed to here, trying to get information out to you!)

I'm headed into Bigtown later to fly a farmer I've known for years over his crops. He wants to take a look at drainage to get an idea of where his efforts are worthwhile and where he's wasting his time. He also wants to look at some real estate for a possible future purchase. Plat maps will be involved and photos will be taken.

Then I'll be headed back to my EMS base for our monthly pilot meeting. All four base pilots get together at these things to be brought up to speed on policy changes, safety matters, and sometimes, issues that have been raised by fellow employees. It's about the only time all four of us get together. Our lead pilot generally pops a pizza in the oven and we chat while dining. Three of the four of us are retired ARMY. The "odd duck" is our Britisher, who has experience flying in exotic areas and at altitudes the others of us can only dream of, so we grudgingly have accepted him into our fold, even though we frequently have to ask him to "Say that again, this time in AMERICAN!"...
A wonderful, interesting, life-filled bunch of guys.

One of the things we'll discuss today is an unforeseen problem for me...
I need time off to go get my Moto Guzzi.
It's in Pennsylvania, and I'm estimating it'll take 10 hours to drive there. So I'll need at least two days off to get it. Maybe three. The guy I'm buying it from is another interesting case...
He travels the world building plants that manufacture a very special product. He leaves for a MAJOR world capitol half-way around the world on 29 August, so I have to get the bike prior to that date. With my upcoming schedule sooner is better than later, so I'm thinkin' I'll be headed to Northern PA this weekend in a rented truck with a check in my hand. I'm excited, but it's one of those complications in my life that I'll be glad to have behind me.

So that's my Tuesday. It's not ferociously hot today, so flying will be pleasant.
I may be needing a little nap later to insure I'm not checking the inside of my eyelids on my way from Bigtown to the Base Pilot's meeting.

Watch this space... If you see a post after this one, you'll know I stayed awake and survived.