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Epilogue
The airport is only about a mile from Blanquita's and my flight is scheduled for 11:40 AM so I had plenty of time and decided to load my gear up on the luggage cart and walk it out there.
On the way is a VW owners place. They are so fond of that car they had the gate made to fit it.
The prospect of spending four hours sitting on the plane wasn't attractive and I wanted the exercise so I trudged the road of happy destiny.
Me and my 'stuff'.
It's amazing all the things I collect and surround myself with at home and I can live quite happily in Mexico out of two checked bags and a carry-on.
And did it rain, as predicted?
Yes, but only after I got on the plane.
'29' is short for the runway's heading of 290º, 270º is straight West.
We took off and flew out from under the rain headed for Playa and got a great view of CZ on the way out.
. . . . And a distant look at PDC too as we turned North.
A friend is staying at the Mayan Palace with her family this week. Is that her waving from the beach?
The plane was just a few seats short of full and I'm glad I made a seat selection on-line when I bought my ticket. Incidentally, those seats are leather even in coach. Later in the flight things seem to be well lit because of the snow reflecting so well.
And just what am I looking at?
A pal of mine has been on the waiting list for years for hanger space at a little air field South of So. St. Paul and I think we flew over it coming in. Maybe not; it seemed like we followed an unusual flight path this time.
As promised, I took my ride to Q.Cumbers for dinner to catch up on the news and try to repay the kindness of the lift. Mickey must have known I was coming because they had my favorite soup ready.
Once I got my gear hauled into the apartment, John agreed to help with the ritual of starting a 29 year old diesel after a couple months sitting, stone cold.
Rattle, Clatter, Smoke and Chatter. . . . Varoooom.
-3ºf (~ -20ºc)
Only had to pull it three blocks to get it to wake up. It probably would have started on it's own if I'd plugged the block heater in for a couple hours, but I was late for a meeting so it got the torture treatment.
Speaking of making an AA meeting. . . . A few weeks ago I received this audio file on the benefits of drinking Tequila and just to add some balance to this page I should let you hear it. It's very persuasive so don't be letting the kiddies listen.
(Non Mac users may require QuickTime Plugin)
(If you have trouble getting this to play, please let me know)
I sure hope you got that audio file to play. I've been trying like hell to get it to work for you. I even took a Web Authoring friend to lunch for some tips. We went to a bicycle friendly place called the the 'Hard Times Cafe'. I thought she started to smile at something I said until I looked behind me at the sign below this clock.
('Don't unplug the Effing clock')
Returning to the subject of AA, lets look at some of the wall art donated to the Sahara Club, my Monday night meeting location.
"Who Knows What"
3 framed slogans
(You will note that 'Think, Think, Think' was not chosen. . . . . think about that!)
7th Step Prayer
Best of all is the authentic antique tin ceiling. It is actually painted silver but the tungsten lighting and late afternoon sun warms it up some.
Part of the crowd of over 250 at the Thursday night Central Pacific Speaker meeting,
my home group.
I did make it to the Shipwreck Divers Convention and it was Huge! There were all sorts of booths and interesting things to see and hear. How about an underwater fishing rod (yes it's legal)? The Navy recruiter was there and when I asked about the age requirements, he just smiled.
I liked this item from a 'Hard Hat' collection:
(looking out, at myself)
One of the presentations was a representative from Florida who gave a great talk on the Navy ships being sent from the mothball fleet to become artificial reefs. Showed us how an Aircraft Carrier got processed. (Real Big deal)
There was an outfit offering classes on compressed air tank inspecting. They had a video on the manufacturing process I got to see. They start with a slug cut off a large diameter rod of Aluminum. It is pressed into this mandrel at high pressure:
It is pressed so hard that excess metal is squeezed out between the ram and the mandrel.
The deep cup shaped tank body is then jammed into another mandrel that closes the top. Awesome!
Two pictures from the convention aren't much to show but it took most of the day to see it all.
I guess I've got to quit the journal somewhere this year and this is going to be it.
Thanks for the read.
Here is a final sun set behind my apartment building, viewed across Lake Calhoun.
Does it look like 4ºf on this mid February evening?
-Home-