lights, busted cars, and vacation

I learned a new aviation term this past weekend: attitude indicator. Otherwise known as the artificial horizon. I guess I knew all along that there was such an instrument on an airplane, but I had no idea it was called the attitude indicator. I find the word 'attitude' interesting...I wonder the origin of that word for that purpose.

My dear, sweet, newest nephew was baptized Saturday evening. After the baptism we joined with family for a nice dinner before we drove the 1 hour 20 minutes back to our house. Steve had a couple beers during dinner, whereas I had coffee, so I drove home. Safety first. While driving, I got on the topic of airplanes.

Steve typically doesn't talk shop with me. A lot of times, when I ask questions he will answer them with simple questions.
Why do you slow down in turbulence? 
Why do you go slow over a speed bump? 

Why do you cut back on the engines when descending? 
Do you have to pedal your bike when you go down a hill?

I have to admit, these simple responses were annoying at first but they really do help me understand otherwise complex concepts.  I don't even know how I got to think about the attitude indicator. After that subject we went to talk about his recent PC. He gave me a run down of everything. I must have zoned out for a bit, because before I knew it we were pulling into the driveway. Perhaps it's a good thing I don't talk shop much with him. Once we got home Steve and I took Niko for a walk. As I was waiting outside while Steve was trying to find his hat, the crisp, clear sky showcased a number of beautiful, bright stars. And then I saw a plane passing...red and green lights.

I know about red and green lights...directional. The same goes for boating. But, during the walk we talked about all the all the other lights: strobe, landing, logo. We talked about when they are on, and off. There's a lot of fucking lights...I had no idea. 

***

Steve's PC was last week. He left on a Wednesday and came home Thursday. I think. The days just run into each other, anymore. While driving into work he accelerated around a slow car on the highway. The car started to shutter, and then a warning light came on. Excessive misfire. When he landed later that day, he called and told me. I then called the shop to schedule an appointment.

For what it's worth, Steve drives a 2010 BMW 535, 6 speed. Because stick-shift is the best way! It's an awesome car. Really it is. It just hit 100,000 miles, and it's rarely in the shop. The oil is synthetic, so it needs an oil change every 15K, which is about once a year with the way we drive it.

Thankfully when he drove the car after he got home from his PC, everything was okay. He drove it straight to the car shop, and we met him there. They looked at the car Friday. Turns out that three coils were busted, as was some boot. Once the car was ready to be picked up, the rain/ice/snow combo was hitting our area, so we elected to leave the car there over the weekend. Why chance anything. This meant I had to drive Steve to the airport Monday morning. 6am show. We left the house at 5:15a. It was super early, but necessary.

Steve had a short 2-day, so we picked him up at the airport Tuesday evening around 8:30p. We got there a bit early, and parked ourselves so that we could see his plane land. He was the third 737 to land within about 5 minutes, so we weren't sure which he was. But, it was still fun for the kids. They even got slushies from Burger King as a treat.

Niko's back there somewhere...his black hair makes him hard to see

Niko's so dang smart...I swear he recognized where we were,
and that Steve was about to walk out of those doors

Steve was delayed a good a couple minutes...something about an icy ramp and the need to unload the cargo bin before putting up the tail stand. Is that what they are called? Once he hustled into the car, we drove right to the car shop.

I've been driving his car to work the last couple mornings, and it runs just like new. Here's to an awesome car, and the hopes that I didn't just jinx it.

***

February 19th. That the first time Steve has to report for work in the month of February.

He got his schedule Thursday morning. I was in the kitchen with the kids, getting breakfast prepared and snacks packed for school. I hear the toilet flush upstairs, and then eventually heard footsteps down the stairs. And then he disappeared. At one point I wondered where he was, but "whatever"...I'm used to mornings without him. He showed up in the kitchen after a couple minutes.

He slapped a white sheet of paper onto the cold stone countertop. His schedule.

I saw a whole lot of VAC VAC VAC VAC
followed by a whole lot of * * * * * * * * * * * *

February, fucking, 19th.

"Who are you sleeping with?" I mumbled, so that the kids couldn't hear. Both of us had stunned grins on our faces.

"What's going on?" the kids asked, while eating their eggs and granola. I showed them the schedule, pointed to the date, and told them that Daddy was going to be home for a good while. And then I told the kids that "we will want Daddy to go back to work by this point." I love when Steve is home, Truly, I do. But, I like my alone time, too. 

Steve says it was his 10th bid group. I say 10 is a pretty good number.

***

Speaking of vacations, in a short while we will be heading on one....and we still don't know where we are going. Here are the things we are considering:
cruise
Sedona
LA/San Diego
all-inclusive
Paris

We are strongly leaning towards an all-inclusive. But where? Jamaica? Punta Cana? Cancun? Aruba?

Across the board, loads look good. So, we are starting to lean towards destinations that have multiple legs to hubs, for the comfort of having a back-up plan.

I think people are a bit shocked when I tell them that we don't have a destination yet. But, I don't mind. We'll figure it out. It's ironic, I have started to see a therapist about my anxiety (which mainly is centered around flying, boats, and health), and it seems that my anxiety stems from control. I was telling my therapist about my control issues on one hand, but yet on the other hand I can be totally "go with the flow" when it comes to travel. Go figure.

***

Random, but I have another super-duper recipe to share: crock pot roast.

- chuck roast
- potatoes (I always like yukon gold)
- carrots
- onions, if you would like. Totally optional
- mushrooms, if you would like. Totally optional.
- lipton onion soup packet
- campbell's golden mushroom soup

Put it all into a crockpot, set on low for 8 hours, give or take. Done. I'm serious, that's it!

Super easy, and super tasty!

***

Have a great weekend. Stay warm. It's cold a heck here...our little get-away can't come soon enough.