Any of you monkeys want a banana?

Working on the site today. I've been interested in putting a calendar on the site, and found one that works well at the Codewalkers web site. It installed easily and, with a little tweaking, fits in very nicely. Once it was up and running, I started entering the 2004 Track schedule. At least now I won't need that piece of paper to keep track of when and where the meets are at. With both High School and Jr High meets to attend, it's non-stop until June, but I do enjoy it.

It was a beautiful day today. Around 60 degrees, sunny, with a bit of wind out of the Northwest. A couple more days like this one and the front yard will be completely dry. It can't come too soon for me. Of course, now we can see all the crap that the snow had covered. The coming of spring brings with it spring cleaning. A small price to pay, all in all.

The following little tale is a result of several hours in a car with the DITheads I work with. We were telling stories and this one popped out, so I thought I'd write it down. When I was in the Air Force, I worked on the B-52 aircraft that were stationed at Kincheloe Air Force Base, where I happen to work now (it was converted to a state prison in 1977). I was on flight status for a while, and flew missions when there were problems to evaluate. My first flight was so cool. I had a ringside seat right behind the pilot for the whole flight, and got to watch everything from takeoff roll to parking on the flightline. I had been given a headset to listen in with, but didn't hear anything. I remember thinking "These guys really know what they're doing. They don't even need to talk to each other". I eventually figured out it was because I had the headphones plugged in wrong.
Everything was fine until we went low-level (about 4 hours into the flight). Flying at 500 feet will shake you up pretty good, even in an aircraft as large as a B-52. Of course I had eaten my lunch, including the milk they so thoughtfully provided. Well, it wasn't long before I was puking my guts up. Note to self:Don't EVER drink milk before flying. The thing about air sickness is that you really don't start feeling better until you're back on the ground, so for the next 3 hours I was sick sick sick.
My next flight was better; at least I didn't get sick. I did, however, get a good look at the runway. For this mission, I was riding downstairs with the navigator and radar navigator. The r.n. noticed the latch wasn't completely closed on the belly hatch, and asked me to close it. Well.....instead of closing the latch I somehow opened it instead. The hatch swung open and I could see the runway rushing by (we were on takeoff roll at the time). Holding on to a support with one hand and the hatch handle with the other, I struggled to get the hatch closed so it could be latched. I was finally able to get it closed and latched without alerting the aircrew to what happened, but I've always wondered if the ground crew watching the takeoff noticed the hatch pop open.