A Higher Being?

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Maybe that’s what Bush & Co. were waiting for after Katrina.

I was absolutely disgusted when I heard, on BBC World (via NPR), still-President Bush’s comment regarding the flooding in Iowa. He was in Paris on his last publicly paid vacation to Europe. It was easy enough to find the source of the quote on AP:

PARIS (AP) — President Bush on Sunday expressed concern to those affected by record flooding in Iowa and other parts of the Midwest.

Bush, addressing reporters after attending a church service in Paris, said his “thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering from the floods in our country.”

“I know there’s a lot of people hurting right now and I hope they’re able to find some strength in knowing that there is love from a higher being,” the president said with first lady Laura Bush at his side. (emphasis added)

This makes me sick. In a week when four boy scouts were killed by a tornado, two young girls were brutally murdered in Oklahoma, and one of the media’s finest reporters was permanently struck down by a sudden heart attack, our president is reminding us that a “higher being” loves us?

People have lost their homes and everything in them. Some people have lost their lives. Is that the way a “higher being” shows love?

It should be interesting to see how this midwest flooding drama plays out. Will it be another FEMA fiasco? Maybe that’s what FEMA was waiting for when Katrina struck: intervention from that “higher being.”

Forecast Calls for More Days Off

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And I can’t decide if I should be happy about this.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? A job that guarantees days off, with some pay, whenever the weather is good.

Today is the third day in a row that I’m facing a beautiful day with absolutely no chance of rain. And here’s what’s coming up in the forecast:
This Week's Forecast

If this forecast doesn’t change, it looks like I have the next five days off.

But I didn’t come up here to have a paid vacation. I came up here to fly, to build new skills and learn more about agricultural flying. And although I’m being paid a perfectly satisfactory standby pay, I would make a lot more if I got to fly. And due to the nature of this job, I won’t be flying unless it rains.

Join me in hoping for two rainy days here each week. That’s all I want.

A Day Off — Kind Of

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Good weather sets me free.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know I’m in Quincy, WA, with my helicopter on a cherry drying contract.

The contract requires me to be on “standby” during daylight hours seven days a week. Here in Washington these days, that’s basically from 5 AM to 9 PM. During that time, I can receive a call from one or more of the three growers I’m currently covering. I’m expected to respond quickly, to fly my helicopter over to the orchard(s) and begin drying. The cherries must be dried within 2-3 hours to prevent damage. I have 78 acres to cover, and if you figure 40 acres an hour, I don’t have much time to waste.

Of course, I don’t have to dry the cherries if they don’t get wet. So if it doesn’t rain, I’m not likely to be needed. That’s when I can move a bit farther afield.

And that’s what I did yesterday. It was a beautiful day with no chance of rain, so I took a “day off” and went to Wenatchee.

Now, Wenatchee is only 30 car miles from Quincy. And my orchards are between Wenatchee and Quincy — one of them is actually closer to Wenatchee than Quincy. So if the weather changed over my orchards while I was in Wenatchee, I’d know and be able to hightail it home. So I don’t in any way feel that I was being irresponsible with a day trip to Wenatchee while I was on standby.

Besides, I had work to do in Wenatchee. I’d finally gotten the missing gaskets for my fuel tank setup and had reassembled the tank and pump. For some reason, however, I couldn’t get the pump to work. I figured it might have to do with the tank not being primed. Since I had to fill the tank anyway, I figured I’d get it filled in Wenatchee and troubleshoot the problem there.

So I hit the road and drove to Wenatchee. It’s a pleasant drive, much of which is along the Columbia River. There’s a spot along the way where you turn a bend in the road and the Rock Island Dam is spread out before you. If I could find a place to pull over and take a photo, I would. So far, no luck.

I crossed a bridge and made my way onto Wenatchee Avenue. From there, I went to Wenatchee Petroleum near 6th Street. The folks there were very pleasant. I moved the truck over to their pump and Ken topped off my tank. We couldn’t fill it to the very top because fuel kept spitting out, so I only took 12 gallons. But the price was good and I’m likely to get all my refills there.

I experimented with my pump and it still wouldn’t work. It seemed to be the pump motor. I worked my phone and tracked down the local dealer for the pump, which turned out to be just a block away. After I explained that no, I didn’t have separate suction pipe, the suction pipe was built into the tank itself, we got down to business. We fiddled with the switch and pump. Suddenly, it started working. The problem appeared to be in the switch. I think it had some moisture in it that was preventing it from working properly. Once it dried out, it worked.

For the first time since installing my $2,000+ fuel transfer system nearly a month ago, it worked. (It was about f*cking time.)

Downtown WenatcheeWith that load off my mind, I could goof off a little. I drove into downtown Wenatchee and parked right on Wenatchee Avenue. I immediately spotted a Mongolian BBQ restaurant. I hadn’t had Mongolian BBQ in 10-15 years and my stomach was grumbling for lunch — it was 12:15 PM, after all — so I went in. I had a great lunch. Then I came back out into the sunshine and walked a few blocks down and then up Wenatchee Avenue, looking into the shops. There’s a great sporting goods shop on the east side of the street and I’ll probably be going back next week to buy a new bicycle seat there. I treated myself to a vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso on top before heading back to the truck.

Two more stops. First, Home Depot to buy a large plastic planter, potting soil, and some plants for a little garden at my camper. Tomatoes, basil, and some flowers. Then Safeway in East Wenatchee for a few groceries. I was very disappointed that they didn’t sell 8 O’Clock Coffee, which is my favorite brand.

I took the road past Wenatchee Airport on the way back. It might be a little longer than route 28, but it’s a pleasant drive through farmland with occasional views of the Columbia River Valley before joining up with Route 28 near Rock Island.

It was nice having a day off.

And I guess I have a pretty good deal: I only have to work when the weather is bad, so I always have nice weather on my day off!

TV to Go

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I get my Daily Show fix.

I’m not a big fan of television. It’s the universal pacifier and the majority of current programming is so mindless that I think it can do more harm than good. But there is one television program I try hard not to miss: The Daily Show. I find Jon Stewart’s news commentary both eye opening and extremely entertaining. In fact, when the writers’ strike was in full-swing, it was the only program I missed.

Daily ShowAt home, I watch The Daily Show via DVR (digital video recorder, like TiVo, that’s built into our Dish Network satellite receiver). Not only can I store them away until I have time to watch them, but I can fast-forward through the commercials. (I really hate watching commercials. What a complete waste of time!) But here in Quincy, where I’m spending the summer in my camper, I don’t have a television at all. And after a week of withdrawal from the Daily Show, I decided to do something about it.

While I can go to Comedy Central’s Web site and view entire episodes online, my funky, unreliable Internet connection makes that positively painful. Too many pauses! So I broke down and bought a “season pass” on the iTunes Store. For $9.99, I can get the next 16 episodes of The Daily Show downloaded directly to iTunes. Even though my Internet connection fades in and out, iTunes keeps track of where the connection broke and resumes the download from that point. So I can actually download an episode over several Internet sessions. I can then watch the episodes at my leisure.

I should mention here that I’m a bit of a news junkie. The stereo in my camper is almost always tuned into NPR. While NPR gives one view of the news, it’s great to be able to supplement it with Jon Stewart’s take on current events.