I Turn Down Work

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It’s too hot to fly!

I got a call yesterday afternoon. The caller wanted to know if I was doing any more tours that day. A lot of people think that Flying M Air has a helicopter tour schedule. They don’t realize that we do tours on demand, by reservation.

Although I’d done a tour early that morning — for some smart passengers who understood that when I say “the earlier, the better,” 7 AM is a good time — I had nothing booked for the afternoon. I didn’t want anything booked for that afternoon. It was over 100° out (in the shade) and my helicopter doesn’t have air conditioning. Even with all the doors off and flying 500 feet above the ground, it would still be over 100° in the cabin in the sun. So I told the caller that we were done flying for the day. That it was just too darn hot. That we didn’t fly after 10 AM in the summer months and would be available after 8:30 AM on Monday.

She sounded a little disappointed and I’m not sure if she’ll call back. But I’m not so desperate for revenue hours that I have to put myself through hell just to make a few bucks. And, frankly, I don’t think my passengers would have enjoyed it much, either. Summer thermals tend to make things bumpy and uncomfortable.

An interesting side note here: Silver State Helicopters, which operates flight schools in the Phoenix area, won’t fly when the temperature exceeds 104°. They say it’s because the performance charts only go that high — the same reason that was used to close down Sky Harbor one day when the temperature reached 124° years ago (I believe jet performance charts go up to 50° C while Robinson’s go up to 40° C). I’m not terribly worried about that. Performance can be extrapolated and it isn’t as if I’m going to operate at max gross weight. But it also isn’t as if I want to operate when it’s that hot.

I really do need to get out of here for the summer.

Stanley, ID

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Yet another photo from my midlife crisis road trip.

I rolled into Stanley, ID one day on the second half of my trip. I’d started the day in McCall, ID, and would end it in Sheridan, MT. According to my notes, I drove 452 miles that day. It was one of the longest driving days of the trip.

Stanley, IDI was immediately struck by the beauty of Stanley. It was a nice, small town with the Salmon River running through it. The Sawtooth Mountains bordered the area to the southwest, the direction I’d come from.

Stanley has an airport, which I was quick to check out. Unfortunately, the elevation there is 6403. Although that’s fine for operations in my helicopter at less than max gross weight, heavy loads at high temperatures affect performance at that altitude. It would limit my capabilities. And, after all, the whole reason for my trip was to find a summer (or year round) place to live and operate my business. Stanley, although beautiful, was not the answer.

I took this picture as I was heading out of town. I stopped alongside the road, got out of the car, and pointed the camera back toward town. Down along the river, two people were riding by on horseback with a pair of dogs. The drive so far that day had been very refreshing, following one mountain stream or river after another. Although I didn’t know it then, in less than 3 days I’d be back in the desert, missing all that flowing water.

Gazpacho

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A nice summer soup.

GazpachoMike is a huge fan of gazpacho, a tomato-based, chilled vegetable soup. We’ve tried a bunch of recipes and, as usual, have come up with our own variation. I just made a batch today; we’ll have it for dinner tonight.

Ingredients:

  • 4 large ripe tomatoes
  • 2 medium cucumber
  • 1 medium pepper. Most people use green peppers, but I prefer yellow or orange, which have a milder flavor and don’t make me burp peppers for the next six hours. Today we had 1/2 of each leftover from another meal, so that’s what I used.
  • 4 green onions. If you like a sharper onion flavor, use 1 small onion or 1 medium sweet onion.
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Mike really likes b-vinegar.
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • Tabasco (if desired) to taste. We don’t use this; we prefer a mello gazpacho.

Preparation Instructions:

  1. Chop the first 4 ingredients. Put half of each in a blender or food processor (we use a blender) and the other half in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add remaining ingredients to the blender or food processor.
  3. Puree until very smooth. The mixture should have a pinkish color.
  4. Add pureed mixture to mixing bowl with chopped ingredients. Mix well.
  5. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours but not more than 3 days.
  6. Enjoy cold.

And if you see a gazpacho recipe that looks good to you but includes bread and water, just omit the bread and water. (The idea of including soaked bread in a soup really grosses me out.) As you’ll see, you don’t need bread to make the soup hearty and delicious.

When the Sun Shines in Arizona, the Sand is Hot

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The valuable lesson I learned today.

About a month ago, I put a standing bird feeder in the backyard. It’s a metal pole with a decorative tray that holds a pie pan. I pour seeds into the pie pan and birds come to eat it. Squirrels and chipmunks and other rodents can’t climb the pole, so the seed (that isn’t scattered to the ground) is for birds only.

Bird FeederAn amazing variety of birds come to the feeder every day. Cardinals, orioles, doves, quail, thrushes, and all kinds of birds I can’t even recognize. It’s such a good show that I’m trying to figure out how to put a Webcam on it.

Of course, the birds don’t come if there isn’t any seed. I bought a 50 lb. bag and keep it on the back patio, in the shade, with a plastic container in it to use as a scoop. Mice haven’t found their way into the bag yet, which is a good thing. The birds go through roughly one scoop a day.

A while ago, I noticed that the seed supply in the feeder was getting low. I decided to fill it. I also made the fatal decision to go outside without my shoes on.

I must have been getting too much sun on my head lately because it was a decision only someone who is brain dead could make. I didn’t feel how hot the sand was in the backyard until I got halfway to the feeder. Then, since I was already halfway there, I figured I might as well go all the way. (Second bad decision.) Thank heaven I’d turned on the sprinkler for our mesquite tree (and the birds) before hitting the sand. After virtually throwing the seeds into the feeder, I ran back to the sprinkler. I think I even heard the hiss of steam as I used the water to cool my feet.

So today’s lesson is this: When the thermometer reads 107° and the sun is shining, put your shoes on before going outside.

Duh.

Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies

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“A guide to language for fun and spite.”

Grammar Snobs CoverI just started reading June Casagrande’s book, Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies. I picked it up the other day at Books, Inc., a wonderful independent bookstore in Mountain View, CA.

Ms. Casagrande is the author of a weekly grammar column in a community news supplement to the Los Angeles Times. Over the years, she has gotten many letters from “grammar snobs” who go out of their way to rudely correct her grammar. In most cases, these snobs are simply wrong. Her book is an attempt to educate the people who care about grammar about the grammar rules that matter — as well as a bunch that don’t. Armed with this information, anyone can fight back when attacked by a grammar snob.

Although I’m only four chapters into the book, I’m thoroughly enjoying it. The reason: Ms. Casagrande’s excellent example sentences. Some of them are hilariously funny. And the book uses examples from a pop culture, including (so far) The Simpsons and Star Trek (the original). That help makes the subject matter approachable for the average reader. In other words, you don’t need to be a grammar snob or word nerd — or a wannabe — to enjoy the book.

The book is both educational and fun to read — my favorite kind of book. The short chapters make it something you can pick up and put down whenever time permits. (Something my husband might enjoy as bathroom reading, if he liked to read about grammar. Alas, he doesn’t.)

So if you’re wondering what I’m doing today, as the patio thermometer reads 106.5° F (at 1:10 PM) and Mike has just gone off to see The Da Vinci Code again (he thinks the movie might be better if viewed from a seat farther back in the theater) — you know. I’m learning how to fight back when attacked by one of those mean-spirited grammar snobs.