Arrived "home"

I arrived in San Diego Wednesday after a LONG flight. I was 9 hours to JFK, with a 5 hour layover (tried to see if Niceflyer could meet me, but he couldn't), then another hour flight to San Diego where my brother and his wife picked me up.

I managed to sleep though the night, waking at 7 a.m.

I'm using my sister-in-laws laptop and having some problems adjusting to it.... the American keyboard is different then the German one (for example, the z and y are switched) and some of the keys seem to stick a bit.

This is San Diego, where it rarely rains.... today it is not only raining, but we are having THUNDER STORMS!!!

I picked up my rent-a-car this morning, which is a cute little Chevy with Colorado licence plates!

We also visited my mom this morning. I could still recognize her as mom, though she has lost so much weight! She is now skinnier then me, and that's skinny! The gals told us that this morning she had been talking up a storm, which is a good sign, and being "feisty", like throwing her shit on the ground and laughing about it. I was having a bit of trouble understanding her since she doesn't have her teeth in and she kept falling asleep. But the care place she's in seems to be great and all the workers there are just marvelous.

We'll visit my dad later today.

My son flies in tomorrow to L.A. and will arrive down here on Saturday.

I guess that's all for now.... have a few things to take care of here and won't be online too often. But I'll keep y'all informed.

Dorrie

P.S. dad is doing good...lost lots of weight, too. He's bored to death at the health care (rehab) center he's at but it's good and he finally realizes he must do what the doc says! lol

Flying "Home"

Next Wednesday I'm flying home to San Diego to see my folks. Both mom and dad aren't doing too well. I had originally planned to fly over in January, which would have suited me better, but things don't always go as planned. It's with lots of trepidation and yes, fear, that I fly over. My son, Carsten is following me over at the same time.

On a nicer note....

I never did post pictures of Tamara's first day of school. Yesterday Regina sent me this one which I definitely want to share with you all!

See that big "cone" Tamara is carrying? All kids get those... either home made or store bought, big or small depending on the parents. It gets filled with lots of goodies, usually sweets and/or school supplies, to "sweeten" up the first day of school and begin of one of life's more serious stages. More pictures can be viewed here (and I just realised, I never got around to commenting them.... I'm really getting sloppy! lol)

And here's a picture of Regina on HER first day of school!

Last night I went bowling with my co-workers. I haven't bowled in over 30 years and it was quite fun! I actually managed a couple of strikes, but generally I did terrible... *shame* But it was FUN!

I'll be busy the next days preparing for my trip. Weather has been fantastic the past days, but thunder storms, etc. are forcasted for the next days.

Keeping in touch!

Dorrie

hm...what to post about

Anita (aka Summerwind) asked me in a comment in one of her entries about my retirement, just to get me to blog something. I know, I haven't been doing much writing lately.... not even commenting! oh, shame.... what's the (blogging) world coming to??

First.... I have been more then busy lately. Since a certain someone is off on a 3 week vacation to the USA, without me, I have let my days get filled up with duty, events, as well as family (=babysitting lol). I haven't been home hardly a single evening lately!

Last weekend I spent with fellow female pilots at a town not far from where I live. It's a group of great ladies, some I have known for many years. It was so nice to see them all again! And I discovered a different, and quite interesting, side of a town I had visited often, but never really knew. Just to give you an idea.... we all had dinner at a restaurant that has existed since 1661! (no typos there!).

Anyway.... about the blogging. Somehow the urge has disappeared. I used to enjoy sharing so much with all of you... especially pictures of my world. But now... I haven't even posted pictures of granddaughter Tamara's first day of school and telling you about their tradition here with the big cone. Well, if you follow this link you'll SEE what I'm talking about.

Retirement: yep, in 22 months I can retire! There was a deal up until last December that made it possible to retire up to 3 years early. It meant that, up until July 2010 I take a cut in my pay of about €400, but after July 2012 until I turn 65 in 2015 I continue to get this pay, yet stay at home! I jumped at the chance! I am so sick of the way my job is.... so much stupidity and dumbness! It's just no fun anymore.... (well, some of you know it hasn't been fun for some time, and in spite of new co-workers and boss, it has gotten only a little better).

I think all the frustration at work, with you-know-who, the move into a new apartment, etc. etc. has just made me a bit depressed. Normally blogging should help against that, but the few times I did write entries (or even wrote in facebook *puke*), I didn't get the feedback I used to get.... and I admit, I NEED feedback! I thrive on feedback. So, I started to think.... why bother at all..... :-(

It's 11:15 pm right now so no time to write anymore. All the JS talk has almost inspired me to re-write the "Legend of the Furies" in a more story-telling way and I think I'll try to do that... when I find time *sigh*. I even have a new title for it: "The Legend of Jayess"! :-)

So, that's enough for now.... time for some shut-eye....

Dorrie aka Westy

Happy Birthday mom!

Yes, today is my mom's 91st birthday!! Unfortunately, like last year, I am unable to spend the day with her...... one of the real BIG disadvantages of living so far apart.

Mom is in a care home now, after needing a hip operation. She's been in a home for over a year now anyway because her dement got so bad, my dad was no longer able to take care of her. He is also in the hospital.... he needed a by-pass and a new heart valve!! But, from what my brothers tell me, he's doing quite well and is extremely BORED!

This is a picture of my mom as a baby with her mom. I'm so glad I have these old pictures still.....

Some years ago she started writing her memories.... if anyone is interested, you can read them here.

This picture from 1950 is of her with me, the future coca cola addict! lol

And this is my mom in 2009, during my last visit home.

I miss you mom!!

Dorrie

Job Perks

Most of you know that my job is aviation related. I used to really enjoy it, but usually not so much anymore (2 more years and I can retired! yay!). But occssionally I have some good days with some nice "perks".... yesterday was such a day.

I visited an air show at a local glider field. It was actually more of an "open house" then air show, but it did have one BIG attraction: a Junkers JU 52 aircraft was available for sight seeing tours. the flights were booked out in no time.

It just so happened, that the captain was an old time friend of mine, and when he asked if I wanted to come along on the reserve seat in the cockpit, I didn't hesitate to say YES!

This picture should give you an impression of this bird's size.....

Some old fashioned equipment....

as well as modern....

We had great weather and the German landscape is quite green after weeks of rain... (that's the Rhine River by-the-way...)

The co-pilot took this picture of me and "Captain Uwe"..

And then it was time to land...

Today we have rain showers so they probably won't be able to have any flights, and of course few people visit air shows when it rains. I feel sorry for the organzers (we have FIVE air shows in my immediate area this weekend).

So I had a fun and interesting day yesterday!

Dorrie

Family worries.....

Some of you may already know that my mom has been suffering from demenz for some time now. It got so bad soon after my last visit home 2 years ago that she had to put in a care center. Well, a couple of weeks ago she fell and had to have her hip operated on. She's now in a special care place before returning to the care center. She'll be 91 on Sept. 1 and they didn't expect her to walk too soon after the OP, but she is already practicing with her walker! Mom, you go, girl!

She's lost a lot of weight but seems to be doing well enough. She actually recognised my dad at his last visit, too! He was really happy about that!

And now I got an email this morning that my dad is in the hospital! He's been having problems for some time with walking because of a pinched nerve in his spine... or at least that was what we thought was the cause. He's been generally not feeling so well lately, which is understandable with all the problems he has gone through with mom, and having his apartment flooded some months ago!

And now it looks like he has heart problems. There are 3 alternatives for him at his age... 1. continue just using his medication which hasn't been helping much 2. put a wire up the femaral artery to see what's wrong and if a balloon can open the flow or 3. open heart surgery! My dad: "You ain't cutting my chest open!! I want nothing invasive. " (stubborn ole geezer lol). Anyway, it seems that they have talked him into getting the wire put in so the doc can see what's really wrong, and then perhaps open heart surgery after all! That decision will be made today....

So, to all those of you who pray... please add my folks! Thanks!

My new kitchen

As I've already mentioned a few times, German apartments do NOT usually come with kitchens or other fixtures already installed, except the toilet, sink, and bath tubs. So, when you move in, you either buy new or bring your old kitchen with you. That's what I did....

Over ten years ago I had a small single bedroom apartment. The kitchen area was VERY tiny with only room for a sink and two cabinets... I had to use a counter top stop for cooking. Then I moved into a larger place and, since, the cabinets were from IKEA, all I had to do was add a few matching cabinets, as well as a proper stove. Now I've moved again, and again IKEA is my friend! hah!

This is how my kitchen looked during the first week...

Since Wheelie and I both had to work, leaving us only a few hours a week to hammer away, it took a while to get things done. But I am sooooo happy with the results! And it all goes to Wheelie's credit! He did a fantastic job!

Yes, I know the doors are different tectures. That's the only disadvantage with IKEA... over the years they may change companies that produce their stuff and the wood my be a different tone... and also the original doors darken after awhile due to sunlight. But I'm not finicky about that. If it really bothered me, all I would have to do is purchase all the doors new (which would cost more then it's worth actually). But I'm not complaining!

There are still some minor deco stuff to do, and the light on the ceiling isn't installed yet (yep, no preinstalled light features except in the bath rooms, either).

In some ways I really like having homes really naked when moving in, that way I can choose myself what type of kitchen, what lamps, etc. I want and not be satisfied with what some designer thought is best.

After days of torential rains the weather is now back to warm and sunny. Nice!

Dorrie

P.S. newsbreak: KCL should be up and running next week, maybe as soon as tomorrow (Monday)