Driving sucks...

Fwiw, my travels to and from abq sucksucked this year also, but having a 4 month old that is on supplemental o2 and whining the entire trip makes it a special new kind if suck...
 
Oh, and not a trip to ABQ goes by that I don't wish AIDS upon those in the FAA thst decided that kidney stones are a disqualifying condition.

1.5 hrs vs 6 hours. Bastards.
 
Oh, and not a trip to ABQ goes by that I don't wish AIDS upon those in the FAA thst decided that kidney stones are a disqualifying condition.

1.5 hrs vs 6 hours. Bastards.

Harsh...
 
Not all kidney stones are disqualifying.

True.

I had one so big it had to be surgically removed. It was a disqualifier. Now on the other side I have one so small that it is deemed to not cause any problems if it passes, plus it is in an area that it is unlikely to fall out.

I had a special issuance after the surgery, but next medical the SI went away.
 
I had a special issuance after the surgery, but next medical the SI went away.

Great.

Two weeks ago I got the news that right now, my stone situation is such that successfully applying for a medical would be virtually assured.

But right now I'm perfectly happy flying as a Sport Pilot. I just don't feel like taking even an infinitesimal risk of being denied. And those annual SI's are something I'm more than happy to leave behind.

Curious - by "surgery" do you mean real "surgery"? Or a lithotripsy or laser procedure. Don't answer if you feel it's personal.
 
For me, it is more complicated and I literally cannot get a medical, and I have already consulted the man (Dr. Chien) on it.

Someday.
 
Naw, Colorado had one blast and we still have to deal with it...


Have you seen the propaganda videos the government put out for that one? Wow. Talk about "tell them what they want to hear"!

Fracing with nukes. Wheeeee!

I keep meaning to get over there sometime to see the cap/marker... Not much else to see there.

Hey Clark, check this out. This company snagged the old Western Crude Oil logo... And almost the whole name. Saw the truck in NM... They just changed the color of the oil drop in the "weeping W"...

d34bee084aa6394456612582f70f07bc.jpg


We like trying to catch radio talk shows from locals on the way through places, kinda interesting to see what folks are debating outside of your local bubble...

In NM it was whether or not they want to become a right-to-work State. That was fascinating since CO has been that way as long as I've been working. The other fascinating tidbit from the show was that NM's General fund is 31.5% funded by energy taxes.

Those evil energy companies, paying for 30% of running the entire State... Terrible. ;) ;) ;)
 
Great.

Two weeks ago I got the news that right now, my stone situation is such that successfully applying for a medical would be virtually assured.

But right now I'm perfectly happy flying as a Sport Pilot. I just don't feel like taking even an infinitesimal risk of being denied. And those annual SI's are something I'm more than happy to leave behind.

Curious - by "surgery" do you mean real "surgery"? Or a lithotripsy or laser procedure. Don't answer if you feel it's personal.


It was (almost) old fashioned surgery. The doctor, with his dry sense of humor told me he was going to have to go through his medical school notes on dissecting cadavers to remember how to actually cut me open. He asked me if I wanted a local so I could observe the surgery. No, I'll take the drugs please...:lol:

I have a 4-5 inch scar. I tell people I accidentally backed into a prop, and their next question is, was it moving?...:lol:

I was out of flying for a month until the FAA OK'ed me to fly. It took 2 days for the SI to be issued. Having the right AME is everything.

The original stone was discovered during my medical. I was never denied a medical, my AME just stopped the physical until I had the slight pain in my side checked out. After we found out what was causing the pain and what needed to be done, he told me we would finish the physical after the surgery.

The stone in my other kidney is so small that it can only be detected in an MRI, and it was discovered after the surgery as I was getting checked to see if any of the original stone had been left behind. The FAA has determined that it is too small and in a "good" place so lithotripsy or laser would not be logical, and it is now not worth having to evaluate it for each medical. As I understood, the SI was issued because it was determined that I "shall" have the second stone evaluated after one year.

Good luck on your stone. I never had any stone passing problem but I understand they can be debilitating if they want to pass.
 
Have you seen the propaganda videos the government put out for that one? Wow. Talk about "tell them what they want to hear"!

Fracing with nukes. Wheeeee!

I keep meaning to get over there sometime to see the cap/marker... Not much else to see there.

Hey Clark, check this out. This company snagged the old Western Crude Oil logo... And almost the whole name. Saw the truck in NM... They just changed the color of the oil drop in the "weeping W"...

We like trying to catch radio talk shows from locals on the way through places, kinda interesting to see what folks are debating outside of your local bubble...

In NM it was whether or not they want to become a right-to-work State. That was fascinating since CO has been that way as long as I've been working. The other fascinating tidbit from the show was that NM's General fund is 31.5% funded by energy taxes.

Those evil energy companies, paying for 30% of running the entire State... Terrible. ;) ;) ;)

Oil companies and fracing are evil! They should be banned! Hey, turn up the thermostat, it's getting cold!

On Gasbuggy, I read the technical papers on the results. I'm sure (well, hope anyway) someone warned them ahead of time but all they really did was make a glass lined chamber underground...
 
Have you seen the propaganda videos the government put out for that one? Wow. Talk about "tell them what they want to hear"!

Fracing with nukes. Wheeeee!

I keep meaning to get over there sometime to see the cap/marker... Not much else to see there.

Hey Clark, check this out. This company snagged the old Western Crude Oil logo... And almost the whole name. Saw the truck in NM... They just changed the color of the oil drop in the "weeping W"...

d34bee084aa6394456612582f70f07bc.jpg


We like trying to catch radio talk shows from locals on the way through places, kinda interesting to see what folks are debating outside of your local bubble...

In NM it was whether or not they want to become a right-to-work State. That was fascinating since CO has been that way as long as I've been working. The other fascinating tidbit from the show was that NM's General fund is 31.5% funded by energy taxes.

Those evil energy companies, paying for 30% of running the entire State... Terrible. ;) ;) ;)

New Mexico is currently (or at least, when I lived there was) a "At Will Employment" state. Better than Right-to-Work, IMHO, since unions essentially don't exist there anyway.
 
New Mexico is currently (or at least, when I lived there was) a "At Will Employment" state. Better than Right-to-Work, IMHO, since unions essentially don't exist there anyway.


Interesting. I hadn't had time to look up why their newfound interest/debate over it. It's just fun to listen to local radio on drive thrus to see what folks around the country are talking about.
 
Nothing says "relaxing car trip" like a nice ride down I-95.

:hairraise: And you only get the southern end of it, where traffic moves well. The stretch from Boston to Richmond is as relaxing as ten bottles of 5 Hour Energy....

I used to routinely angle west to I-81 to follow the mountains down. Usually shot over on I-66 running west out of DC.

Meant a few more miles total, but better scenery and less traffic than I-95.

Not any more.

Scenery is better, but 95 is three lanes and I-81 is only 2. With all the traffic that's trying to avoid I-95. And we won't even discuss the traffic on I-66 from the Beltway to Haymarket, pretty much any time of day.:hairraise:

81 USED to be a great ride, now it's easy to get stuck behind a line of 30 cars behind a truck that doesn't have enough power to make it up a hill at highway speed passing a slower truck in the right lane. There are even signs on 81 that read: "Vehicles traveling less than 70 MPH must stay in right lane".
 
I like driving. In fact, I've been thinking how I need a good road trip.

Time to buy a new car in another state and drive it home. :)

Buy a Porsche Cayman, used , from penske porche in Ohio and drive it home. Anything after a 2009 is safe engine wise. Great drive, especially with the pdk transmission. The base model is plenty unless your a professional driver.
 
Oh, and not a trip to ABQ goes by that I don't wish AIDS upon those in the FAA thst decided that kidney stones are a disqualifying condition.
Try to think of it as an excuse to work smarter and get money for Phoenix. Oh heck, even a Stemme. Either of those is faster than a Cherokee and yet you can fly them with a denied medical.
 
Try to think of it as an excuse to work smarter and get money for Phoenix. Oh heck, even a Stemme. Either of those is faster than a Cherokee and yet you can fly them with a denied medical.

Not denied. Just not renewed. And I won't do sport pilot because I need to take my wife and kids with me.
 
Not denied. Just not renewed. And I won't do sport pilot because I need to take my wife and kids with me.

Given your hatred of government and "the man" I'm surprised you haven't gone outlaw.
 
Given your hatred of government and "the man" I'm surprised you haven't gone outlaw.

Meh. Hard to find someone to rent to you without checking your medical these days.

Also - I don't hate the government or the man. I just want the government and the man to be controlled by the citizen, as it should be. Case in point: no way the citizens would allow a completely isolated case of kidney stones from many many years ago to inhibit one's ability to enjoy a hobby...
 
I didn't know one could eat a green chili chorizo burger wrapped in a condom. Kinda chewy that way?

You know, if you don't use the condom, it wouldn't be very pleasant to get green chile juice on your manhood.

Also - "chile"
 
I've driven from Tampa to Little Rock in one swoop. A nice 15 hour day with three gas stops, two meals and a sightseeing stop in Biloxi, MS.

It actually wasn't bad at all. I listened to a podcast marathon of "Stuff You Should Know" and "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me".
 
I don't mind long trips as long as I'm driving or riding in the front.

I will actually plan my routes to look at interesting sights and/or avoid big cities. Some of my favorite drives are on lonely two lane back roads.

On the trip to Tampa and back I took roads through miles and miles of nothing but flat fields. My longest stretch was about 30 miles. Never experienced that type of driving, so I wanted to see how it was.

Now I did love driving in LA. It was like a giant puzzle and you get to drive like a madman.
 
I used to think it was strange that people who liked flying could dislike driving since they are almost the same thing, manipulating a vehicle. But people gave me so much crap for saying it that I quit. Until now. :D
 
Some of my favorite drives are on lonely two lane back roads.

I do all of my motorcycle trips via two lane roads, and I tend to choose smaller state and county roads at that. One can make surprisingly good time on back roads.
 
I used to think it was strange that people who liked flying could dislike driving since they are almost the same thing, manipulating a vehicle. But people gave me so much crap for saying it that I quit. Until now. :D

I'm in full agreement with you. I do understand preferring the time savings of flying, which is where I am more than anything. It used to be about the journey for me, but at this stage in life (i.e. family and small kids), it's more about the destination. Flying makes the journey shorter.
 
I do all of my motorcycle trips via two lane roads, and I tend to choose smaller state and county roads at that. One can make surprisingly good time on back roads.

I do recall you riding up to my house on one of your crazy motorcycle trips.

And, I might add, Laurie and I are jealous of those trips. One day... :)
 
Oh by the way, the diesel is fun at sea level.

(well 1000 MSL or whatever...)

It keeps whining that it's over boosting because I set the boost alarm conservatively in Denver.

May have to go into the computer and change that. ;)

Did you drive the truck empty or drag the 5er with you?
 
Not denied. Just not renewed. And I won't do sport pilot because I need to take my wife and kids with me.
Well, there's an easy loophole, then! Get your wife through Commercial and CFI, and voila: you can fly as much as you want with her in the right seat. Note that -- as far as I know, subject to correction by Ron or R&W -- she only needs the 3rd Class.
 
She really only needs a private and a third class medical as long as she is willing to be responsible
 
Nate and Karen need to be home to "share" this fine weather....
 
On my last long drive up to CO, I took a bit of a detour. I went across hwy 50 through the western part of the state. I stopped at a place called Amache, it's near a little town called Granada and about 70 years ago, the US imprisoned thousands of people there without due process.

It was pretty sad in more ways than the normal. Driving in off the highway, there was a small brown sign - "Amache camp" and an arrow to the left. Like it was some kind of kids play area. When I got there, no gate, or any kind of monument. There was a small visitor area with some info panels about the people and the place, and some historical references to the war. I drove up into the prison(camp) and looked around with my kids. I wanted them to remember this. I would bet that of the younger generation, only about 20% even know about the Japanese internment during WWII.

We left, and kept driving west, but it stuck with me. My kids never mentioned it again. I had several hours of driving to think on it. There is no way to get there by comm plane without driving. There's a small dirt strip a dozen miles away, has maybe seen a plane once in the past 5 years. Lamar is 15 miles away to the west. Without driving you really can't get there.
 
On my last long drive up to CO, I took a bit of a detour. I went across hwy 50 through the western part of the state. I stopped at a place called Amache, it's near a little town called Granada and about 70 years ago, the US imprisoned thousands of people there without due process.

It was pretty sad in more ways than the normal. Driving in off the highway, there was a small brown sign - "Amache camp" and an arrow to the left. Like it was some kind of kids play area. When I got there, no gate, or any kind of monument. There was a small visitor area with some info panels about the people and the place, and some historical references to the war. I drove up into the prison(camp) and looked around with my kids. I wanted them to remember this. I would bet that of the younger generation, only about 20% even know about the Japanese internment during WWII.

We left, and kept driving west, but it stuck with me. My kids never mentioned it again. I had several hours of driving to think on it. There is no way to get there by comm plane without driving. There's a small dirt strip a dozen miles away, has maybe seen a plane once in the past 5 years. Lamar is 15 miles away to the west. Without driving you really can't get there.
When I was a kid I would hear my older relatives and family friends talk about having been to "camp". I don't think I truly realized the significance until I was in high school since it was not taught in schools, at least not back then, and my parents apparently didn't want to get into the political part when I was young. So I just took it as a given.
 
On my last long drive up to CO, I took a bit of a detour. I went across hwy 50 through the western part of the state. I stopped at a place called Amache, it's near a little town called Granada and about 70 years ago, the US imprisoned thousands of people there without due process.

It was pretty sad in more ways than the normal. Driving in off the highway, there was a small brown sign - "Amache camp" and an arrow to the left. Like it was some kind of kids play area. When I got there, no gate, or any kind of monument. There was a small visitor area with some info panels about the people and the place, and some historical references to the war. I drove up into the prison(camp) and looked around with my kids. I wanted them to remember this. I would bet that of the younger generation, only about 20% even know about the Japanese internment during WWII.

We left, and kept driving west, but it stuck with me. My kids never mentioned it again. I had several hours of driving to think on it. There is no way to get there by comm plane without driving. There's a small dirt strip a dozen miles away, has maybe seen a plane once in the past 5 years. Lamar is 15 miles away to the west. Without driving you really can't get there.

Thanks for mentioning this. I will have to take my family there in some time to make sure they understand why we cannot automatically trust the government. This and the McCarthy era garbage is enough to drive that point home I think.
 
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