Have you ever been asked a question and you were utterly perplexed as to how to answer, because the only way to answer it properly was to tell a long story, but the asker was only looking for a simple "yes" or "no"? I got asked one of those questions Wednesday night. At the time, I was mercifully saved from attempting to stutter my way through an answer, but I've been thinking about the question since it was asked, and I still have no clue how to answer it simply. What's really funny is that, at a time when I'm absolutely desperate for clear, genuine encouragement in mine and Jen's course, this question was posed to me by a prominent member of our church here, and it only reinforced my perception that our current position is dreadfully misunderstood by so many people around me. While I make a point of not being insulted when people, in ignorance, say or ask offensive things, in truth this question was insulting to me. It hurt.

Sucker Punch!

Jen said in her latest blog post that I would provide details later. Fair enough. Since I'm online and can't find a single job for which I qualify, I may as well give you those details now. So, as I've mentioned, I found this job opening in a periodical called Air Jobs Digest. I e-mailed my resume and the owner of the company e-mailed me back, telling me to feel free to call him about the job. Keep in mind that I stated very plainly on my resume that I was still in school and wouldn't finish til the end of September. I called the guy, and we had a sort of impromptu phone interview, during which I told him, again, that I was still in school. He expressed a desire, several times, to meet me in person, so I flew from AZ to ID to meet the guy, at my own expense. We face-to-face interviewed for over two hours, during which time I told him, again, that I was still in school (you're seeing a theme here, and that's good). The guy decided to hire me, on a thirty-day trial period, beginning as soon as possible AFTER I FINISHED SCHOOL. So I finished school and Jen and I moved to ID, and I started work. Last Thursday was day 30 of my thirty-day trial period, so at the end of the day, I asked my boss for an answer on whether or not they were keeping me. After a fair amount of hemming and hawing, he told me he thinks I'll be a fine mechanic once I get up to speed, but I'm currently slow because I don't have any experience in the field (BECAUSE I JUST FINISHED SCHOOL). That being the case, he's losing money on me and he can't afford to keep me. I asked him if I should bother showing up the following day (Friday). He asked me if I wanted to show up and I said yes, so he told me to show up.

Friday morning I got to work, and we had no electricity in the hangar because of an electrical fire in our main breaker box. My supervisor (not my boss) pulled me outside and asked me what had happened the previous day, because our boss wouldn't tell him anything. I gave him the whole story, and he asked me, "If I can talk the boss into keeping you on at reduced pay until you find something else, would you be interested?" I couldn't really say why, but I didn't have peace with the idea. I said yes anyway, though, because a little income is better than no income.

Lunch time came, and I went home to eat with Jen, like I normally do. At 1:00 I was back at work, just like normal. My boss and my supervisor came in a couple minutes later, and everything seemed normal. Our power was back on, so I walked into the hangar to get started on a project. My supervisor followed me in, and said quietly, "Why don't you pack up your toolbox and I'll drive it home for you?" I said, "Wow, the conversation went that well, huh?" He replied, "Yeah, at this point, I'll be lucky to have a job on Monday." So I made sure all my tools were in my toolbox, and wheeled it out to my supervisor's truck. Meanwhile, my supervisor took my timecard to my boss, to make sure I got my last check before I left. Then he came out and helped me lift my box into his truck, and we got it all strapped down. After that, my supervisor ran back into the building real quick to grab my check (keep in mind that I hadn't so much as glimpsed my boss during this time, except for when he first got back from lunch). I followed my supervisor in (I don't think I was supposed to). My boss was standing at the front counter, talking to a customer. When my supervisor walked in, my boss just held out his hand with my check in it. He didn't say a word to my supervisor; he didn't even look at him. So I started walking toward my boss. He noticed me and looked wary for a second, so I stuck out my hand to make it plain I wanted to shake his hand. Then he stuck out his hand; I shook it and said, "Thank you for the opportunity," and I walked out.

My supervisor followed me home with my tools. After we got everything unloaded, he told me I have his phone number so call him if I need anything, and to use him if I need a reference. I asked him again, "So the conversation really went that bad?" He answered, "Let me put it this way: sometimes people REALLY don't like hearing the truth." And that was all he'd say about it. It was clear to me that he felt really awful about my being let go like that, but he was powerless to do anything about it. And that's the story.

Here's where I'm at now. I've been pursuing aviation since 2003, when I was so certain I'd been called to it by God. Jen and I spent 3 years in AZ so I could get my commercial pilot certificate, my instrument rating, and my A&P certificate. Now that I'm looking for a job in my field, it strikes me how completely worthless my education has been. I don't have the minimum hours required for ANY pilot job, I wasn't able to get my flight instructor certificate so I can't even teach, and thanks to the economy there really aren't any entry-level mechanic jobs out there right now. Lest you think I'm exaggerating, Cessna (one of the biggest general-aviation aircraft manufacturers) has laid off about 70% of its workforce in the last year or so, and all the other aircraft and engine manufacturers are following suit. The market is saturated with experienced mechanics who are scooping up all the jobs that, at one time, would have been the domain of the newly-certificated. I'm seriously questioning what I have, for the past 6 years, believed to be my calling. I'm finding it hard not to deeply regret not going to school for something, ANYTHING, else. I'm wondering if it was all a mistake. Don't get me wrong: I still have faith in God. I still believe He is who He is. I'm just wondering if I somehow misheard Him, if it was all just wishful thinking on my part. After all, He made me with certain strengths and skills, and those strengths and skills are certainly not compatible with aviation. Doesn't it seem far more likely He'd call me to something that made use of the skills and abilities He's given me?

I've been thinking for a while now about giving an update on here, since the last time I blogged we were still living in AZ, and I hadn't done my powerplant practicals yet. Now we're in Idaho, and my practicals seem like ancient history. Suffice it to say, I passed practicals, and I did it in a single day, no less. So now I'm working as an aircraft mechanic in southern Idaho. Or, rather, I'm getting my REAL education in aircraft maintenance. I started work on the 29th of Sept, and quickly discovered that my 15-month maintenance education was almost completely useless, when it comes to actually maintaining actual aircraft. The last couple weeks have been ENORMOUSLY frustrating and difficult, but I'm learning quite a bit (it feels like I've learned more in the past 2 weeks, than I did in 15 months at Cochise). It's hard to go from being top of your class, to feeling completely clueless and useless when it really matters. I'm still in the "trial period" of my job, which only makes me all the more conscious of every mistake I make and the depressing number of times in a day when I have to admit I have no clue how to do a project. I'm sure someday I'll look back at this time and laugh, but right now it's certainly doing an amazing job of keeping me humble.

Hitting the Wall Hard Enough to Splatter

For two weeks now, my life has been a discouraging marathon of frantically studying my Powerplant textbook, overloading to the point of forgetting what I've already studied, then scrambling to try to relearn the stuff I just forgot. And then, when that all gets too wearisome, I pack a few boxes which, on the whole, is far more satisfying and far less stressful than cramming. At the same time, though, it's hard to predict what we will and won't need to use/wear/read/etc in the next 9 days, so it's hard to know exactly what can and cannot be packed just now. It's also a little frustrating, because my FAA examiner won't return my calls to verify that I'm testing this weekend. If I don't test this weekend, then we can't move next week. If we can't move next week, I can't start my job on the 28th. If I can't start my job on the 28th, I don't know if I'll still have a job. So I'm stuck in this holding pattern that just begs and begs to be a source of ENORMOUS anxiety in my life, and all the while I'm trying to jam about 700 pages of information into my brain before this Saturday. I'm tired, and I mean just absolutely burned out. I'm frustrated. And I'm trying so very, very hard not to be discouraged or afraid. The war between my spirit and my flesh has never been so dramatically obvious in my heart. I have this constant murmuring in my mind born of all the 400 or so pages I've already read, and underneath that, I hear this: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." So here I am.

The Scoop on Idaho

There are lots of questions regarding my new job and our upcoming move to Idaho. I'm going to attempt to answer as many of those questions as I can, all in one fell swoop. Here goes...

I first read about the job in the Air Jobs Digest, which is this periodical consisting of nothing but aviation-related classified ads. The ad was maybe 2 lines long, and didn't really say much, but I was e-mailing my resume to other places, so I figured I'd toss out a line and see if anyone bit. The next day I got a reply from the owner of the business in question, telling me to feel free to call him about the position. I called him the day after that, and we talked for maybe 20 minutes. His name is Kevin; he owns an FBO that does maintenance on General Aviation aircraft, at the airport in Burley, Idaho, which is about 45 minutes east of Twin Falls. His FBO maintains all the aircraft for the Civil Air Patrol in Idaho and Utah, plus the firefighting aircraft for Idaho. He keeps a staff of maybe 3 mechanics, in addition to himself, and was looking to fill his #3 spot. He thought I sounded like a good guy, but really wanted to meet me. I closed my flight account at the college, which gave us a little extra money, and I flew out this past weekend. I met Kevin at his shop on Saturday, and we talked for about 2 and a half hours. He offered me the position, which I gladly accepted.

I finish school on September 24, and Kevin is expecting me at work on September 28. I'll be working Monday through Friday, 8 - 5, with paid holidays. There will be some overtime, because the shop is too busy to not have overtime, but Kevin tries to keep it to a minimum. I'm still working on getting in touch with an apartment complex and a lady who owns 10 rental properties in the Burley area, so I can figure out where we're going to live. Burley is roughly 3 hours away from Nampa, ID, where Mission Aviation Fellowship is headquartered. MAF, as you'll recall, is the missions organization Jen and I want to go through when we're finally ready for the mission field. Additionally, Burley is maybe a 17-hour drive from Douglas; we'll probably be renting a U-Haul truck to move our stuff from here to there.I think that just about covers it. Feel free to let me know if there are any questions I haven't answered.

Business Trip

I've hinted at something on Facebook a couple times in the last week or so, and I've told a select few what's going on. I've decided to go ahead and go public with the news, which should save Jen and me the time and effort of having to tell the rest of our peeps on a one-on-one basis. So here's the news: I sent out a half-dozen resumes via e-mail last week. A guy in Idaho e-mailed me back and told me to call him about the job. I called him, and we kind of did an impromptu, informal phone interview. He owns an FBO at a little non-towered airport in southern Idaho and has a staff of 3 or 4 guys who do maintenance on General Aviation airplanes. During our conversation, he mentioned more than once that he'd like to meet me face-to-face, so I decided to use some of my flight account funds to make a weekend trip out to meet him. He told me in no uncertain terms, though, to check with him before I actually buy my ticket, just in case he gave the job away before I could make my way out there. I called him today to see if the position was still open. It is, and he agreed not to hire anyone until after next weekend, and he's looking forward to meeting me next Saturday. So I'm flying out to Idaho next weekend to meet my prospective future boss. I made all my reservations and whatnot today, so I'm set to go. Unfortunately, Jen won't be able to make the trip with me, as she has to work next Friday and Saturday. I'm taking the digital camera with me, though, and I plan to take as many pictures of as many things in Idaho as I possibly can, so she can at least take a photo tour of our potential new home. And now you know.

"I'm Spider-Man, no more."

And now, curiously, I feel motivated to write a real, new post, now that I've just posted about how I'm intimidated by the thought of posting. (Yeah, I know. If you were ever able to see into my mind, you'd probably claw your eyes out. Or you'd mercy-kill me. Either way.)

I posted, almost two months ago, about how I had just become an intern at the airport in Benson. Here's the update: The week after I started being an intern in Benson, I stopped being an intern in Benson. To fully explain why, I'm going to have to provide just a little bit of backstory. At the time, my class schedule had degenerated to the point where I'd sit in class for about 2 hours on a Monday morning, then have the rest of the week off (my class is SUPPOSED TO be from 7:30 til 4, Monday through Thursday, no exceptions). That being the case, I had appalling amounts of spare time on my hands. I thought to myself, "I just earned my Airframe license. Wouldn't it be sweet to volunteer as a mechanic and score some hands-on experience in my down-time?" So I got in touch with a friend at New Tribes Mission Aviation, and I explained my situation to them. They took my offer of free labor to the rest of the guys in the shop, and they decided not to take me up on it. Apparently, there were some pretty big political issues happening within the mechanic-y side of NTMA, and they didn't want an "outsider" to see the drama, especially when said outsider would eventually be working for an organization that frequently partners with NTMA. So they shot me down. My friend, though, suggested that I volunteer to do grounds maintenance at NTMA for a while, and eventually I would probably be able to worm my way into the hangar to do some mechanic work. I met with the guy in charge of grounds maintenance. He told me he was semi-retired, so his schedule tended to be a little erratic, which meant we would probably have some difficulty connecting, since the highly erratic nature of my own schedule was why I was trying so hard to volunteer in the first place. The other big problem (in my mind, at least) was that I had attempted to volunteer as a mechanic, to do some free labor in an area I had just spent 9 months get certified in. They would get free help, and I would get some really great and relevent experience. What I was actually being handed was a chance to do some free labor in a field in which I had no training or skill, that wouldn't really benefit me in any way, besides providing that vague possibility that maybe, just maybe, someday I would be able to eventually work my way into the hangar to be able to do the kind of stuff I was volunteering to do in the first place. It seemed very... not what I was after.

Meanwhile, around this same time, I'd been in touch via e-mail with the owner of the FBO at the airport in Benson (FBO stands for Fixed Base Operator; FBOs are where you go to rent planes, buy fuel or pilot supplies, etc. They're the party store of aviation). I'd contacted him to get some information about the planes he has for rent. In the course of our correspondence, he mentioned he was looking for an intern to help out around the FBO. After NTMA shot me down and the grounds maintenance thing didn't look promising, the FBO guy offered me the internship. I thought to myself, "Finally, a chance to do something aviation-related, that I can put on a resume," and I jumped on it. After my first weekend on the job, I really got to thinking about the situation. My ideal had been spending my down-time from class out at NTMA, picking up some hands-on experience from some solid Christian missionary guys, so I could say on my resume that I actually had some experience in the field. The reality of things was that I was giving up two of the three days a week I got to spend home alone with my wife, spending just over 3 hours a day in my car, to work for free at a job that would really and truly have zero bearing on my resume. The internship was so far from what I'd originally desired, that I couldn't really find any reason to stick with it for even a second week. So I let it go. And now you know.

Why don't I blog more?

That's a pretty fair question. After all, it's not like it takes any kind of actual effort to hammer out a blog post. So what's my deal? Well, I'm going to level with you. A curious thing happens to me, when it comes to blogs. I'll start a blog and have no problem at all pounding out posts fairly frequently (I am, for instance, a five-time veteran of Livejournal; I kid you not. Most of those have been deleted over the course of time, however, so don't bother searching for them). But after I've gotten my blog well-established, I start to get intimidated by the thought of writing new posts. I'll log in and go to type a post, and I just go totally blank. Or else I'll start typing, make it halfway through a post, decide what I've just written is stupid, and delete it all. Eventually, it gets so bad that I come to dread the sight of the big white box on my screen, just waiting for me to fill it up with my words. I really and truly don't know what the problem is. Performance anxiety maybe? Can't say for sure. But, whatever the reason may be, that's why I update my blog so infrequently. The only bright side, I guess, is that just about all the people who used to read my blog with any kind of regularity, have given up checking for updates, so even if I do write the most idiotic post in the world, the only people who will read it are me and whoever might accidentally stumble across this blog while Googling random words.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

In a scant 8 months or so, I'm going to be a dad!!!! Hot diggety dog!!!

Intern!!!

Hey! I'm officially an intern at the airport in Benson! I start on Friday, and will spend all day Friday and Saturday there each week, doing whatever needs to be done. It's an unpaid position, but I'll be given $30 in gas money each day I work, and I'll have something aviation-related to put on my resume. Not too shabby!

In class we're learning how to overhaul a reciprocating engine. Our test on overhaul is next Thursday, and our Phase 4 final exam is the following Thursday. And then, two days later, WE LEAVE FOR MICHIGAN!!!!!!! I'm very excited to see family and friends again, and to deliver a couple gifts here and there (mostly there). I'm also looking forward to chowing down on a #18 (whole, white, cold, everything on it) at Intermission Deli. Mmm...

Update on My Grandma

It turns out one of the valves in my grandma's heart was letting blood back into her heart, and then the blood was clotting in her heart, which was throwing things out of whack. They did some sort of procedure on her to make the valve act normal again, but they won't know for 6 weeks whether or not it worked. In the meantime, she's on some meds that will keep any new clots from forming, and the doctor says that over time her body will re-absorb the clots that have already formed. Thanks to everyone who prayed (and who asked me how she was doing, because I wouldn't have remembered to post an update, otherwise).

Prayer Request

My mom just called to let me know my grandma is in the hospital. Her heart has gone out of whack, and she's having some kind of test done in about an hour (5:30pm, MI time) to see if there are any clots in her heart causing the problem. I honestly don't know if my grandma is a Christian (if faith in the Catholic church was all it took, there would be no question). Please pray that God wouldn't end her time here unless and until she has saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Getting High in Douglas, AZ

Cochise College, Douglas campus.

Here's a happy guy enjoying his David Clarks.

The LaBo house, from 6300ft MSL.

The golf course and fairgrounds in Douglas.

The big, tan building is Super Wal-Mart (the heart and soul of Douglas). The metropolis at the top of the picture is the north end of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico (you're looking south in this picture). I'm not joking. The black line just below the start of the city is the border fence.

I PASSED!!!

I'm now the proud owner of a mechanic certificate, complete with Airframe rating!!! Thanks to everyone who prayed for me over the course of these past couple weeks.

My Trial

My Airframe practicals begin again tomorrow morning at 9am. Last weekend wasn't too bad at all, and I have a very good chance of completely finishing up and getting my mechanic certificate (well, the temporary one, anyhow) by close-of-business tomorrow. I don't know quite how to explain how I'm feeling right now, except maybe to say that I feel caught between two realities. In one reality, the practicals are small potatoes, hardly worth even thinking about because they're just another step in the path on which God has placed me. They're an unfortunate way to have to spend an entire Saturday, but little more than that. In the other reality, the practicals are the hinge point around which the rest of my future rotates. So much is riding on the outcome of those tests, that I'd be a fool NOT to be nervous. And so I sit in the gap between these two realities, relentlessly buffeted by currents from both, but unable to completely pull myself into either.

If anyone wanted to pray for me tomorrow, I wouldn't object.

Well, they're clearly not THAT fast. I drive a Buick, for Pete's sake!

Some time ago, Jen and I were told about a snake that lives here in the desert, called a red racer. It's supposed to be a pretty shade of red/pink, and very quick (hence "red racer" instead of, say, "red creeper"). I saw one once, very briefly in our back yard. It was sunning itself on some rocks on the far corner of our back porch, and I startled it when I opened the back door. By the time I realized I was looking at a red racer, it was already long gone.

Today, as I was driving home after sitting in class for one measly hour, I got to see one for real. I was on Lee Station Road, driving through the pasture that the cows are currently in, so I was taking it nice and slow (the calves think they're dogs and insist on running into the road and chasing our car when we drive by). Suddenly, I noticed something long and reddish draped across the right half of the road. "Huh," I thought to myself. "What on earth is that? Wait a second. Could that be a-" By this point in my mental monologue, I had to look in the rearview mirror to confirm or deny my suspicion, since I'd just run over the mysterious length of pink something. The rearview revealed that the victim of my hit-and-run was now coiled up instead of all stretched out. Typically, old lengths of hose don't coil on impact, so I figured I'd probably just had my first real encounter with a red racer. Being the type who likes to poke dead things with a stick, I threw the car in reverse, got up close to the roseate bundle, and got out for a closer look. For just a moment, I was sure I'd killed this beautiful reptile. But then his black tongue flicked out for a sniff of me. Assuming I'd merely wounded the racer, I wandered off to the side of the road for a stick with which to examine him more closely. In the time it took me to bend over, pick up a stick, and turn around, the racer had recovered from his tire-massage and was beating a hasty retreat off the other side of the road. Naturally, I followed him til he started making his way under a little desert scrub plant. Then I reached down and stroked the end of his tail. Apparently he prefers being rubbed by car tires, because he picked up his pace considerably and got the rest of the way under the plant, post-haste. My only regret in the whole episode is that Jen couldn't be with me to see it for herself. At least my sexy new cell phone has a decent camera.

PS- I'm not sure why, but Blogger has decided to make it impossible to enlarge my posted photos by clicking on them. If you want a larger view of the snake and you happen to be my friend on Facebook, look for the photo there. It will actually let you enlarge it. Stupid Blogger.

The Deeply Unfortunate Return of "Angry Josh"

Where on God's green earth have all the Christian guys in the 25-35 demographic gone? Thanks to Facebook, I recently re-befriended a guy who was instrumental in my coming to faith in Christ Jesus. I've had a couple really great online conversations with this guy, and I can't help but look at our reacquaintance as a gift from God. But, at the same time, it's given me a much better appreciation for what I DON'T have, and haven't had for a very long time. Apart from my conversations with Facebook guy, I haven't had a truly good talk with another Christ-following guy my age in so long a time, I can't remember the last one. Certainly, I've interacted with other Christian guys in the not-so-distant past, but a conversation that actually means something with a guy who shares the frame of reference of my demographic, has become a sort of unicorn in my life: I'm always trying to catch one, but I don't even really know where to start looking anymore. I have no Christian peers here. When I go to church, I'm surrounded by Christians, some younger than me, some older, but there is a noticeable hole in the age range, and I'm smack in the middle of it. As far as I know, I am the only Christian guy, of ANY age, in the entirety of the Cochise College aviation program, so no schoolyard chums are going to meet that need in my life. So where the heck else do you look for a "bosom friend" (huh, I guess I DID get something out of watching Anne of Green Gables with Jen)? I know I've bemoaned this particular disappointment in my life before, probably often, but it's an unmet need that continues to cause an ache right in the center of me.

Along those lines, I have another question for the Christ-ones who occasionally pop by: Do you ever get tired, spiritually? I was outside a little while ago, still working on ripping out that shrub. I spent a couple hours on it, made good progress, but just got to a point where my weary body was done. My motivation dribbled out of me like the lifeblood from a gutshot bandito, and I found myself just sitting in the dirt with no more will to labor. Then I realized that's how I'm feeling spiritually lately. In my heart, I think I've been muttering, "Okay, God. I'm done. I've got nothing left. I'm tired of being 'nice' to people who could really benefit from a good verbal evisceration or a solid backhand. I'm so weary of slogging my way through "the aviation maintenance program that common sense, competence, and teaching ability forgot." I'm sick of living in America's armpit, far enough away from roots that my family treats me like a casual acquaintance instead of a son and brother, and no one here knows me. I've worked hard enough for one lifetime; I've jumped through all the hoops you've put in front of me. Just give me a bloody rest already." Does anyone else ever get to feeling like this? I'd ask some of my face-to-face Christian friends, but...

Between this and the shower lizard, I'm starting to feel like the desert Dr. Doolittle

Recently, our campus bookstore had an amazing sale on a lot of their merchandise. Most notably, they had a number of hardcover novels for less than $2 (and, in some cases, less than $1) each. I picked up two of them on a whim, thinking that even if I didn't like the books, I was only out a couple bucks for the experience (and I can always resell them for store credit at Hastings).

Last night, after we had gone to bed, I decided to try out one of the books. Maybe 30 pages into it, I decided I wasn't too crazy about the plot, so I would just skim through the rest of it and get the big picture. I tend to be a slow reader (I like to really take in the words I read), and I discovered last night that I'm also a slow skimmer. I made my "skim" decision at about 10:00. At 11:50, I was still making my way to the back cover. I generally don't stay up much past 10, but I knew I could afford to sleep in this morning, so I wasn't worried about it. Anyhow, at about 11:50, I heard a strange sound. I'd been hearing strange sounds for a while, but we sleep with a fan on, so I figured things were just moving in the breeze. The sound at 11:50 was different, though. For one, it was a continuous sound, not just a quick paper-crackle or rustle. For another, it wasn't a sound I'd heard before. Ever. It was almost like bacon frying, sort of an odd hissing-sizzle. Being the type of person who likes to know what's making the freaky noise in his bedroom in the middle of the night, I tried to pinpoint the sound and determined it was coming from a cardboard box about 3 feet away from my side of the bed. Well, it turns out that odd hissing-sizzle is what it sounds like when a four-inch centipede crawls around on cardboard.

I need to make absolutely clear, here and now, that I hate centipedes. Most of the other desert oddities we deal with don't bother me too badly, not even the rattlesnakes, but centipedes just freak me the crap out. So it was that as I tried to figure out the most expeditious way to dispatch the multi-appendaged wickedness, my muttered cursing woke Jen up. Jen's not such a big fan of centipedes, either, and I imagine waking up and being told there's a centipede in the room is probably an emotionally strenuous scenario, but she handled it like a pro. We both got up and watched the despised intruder for a few moments, then I grabbed an old sneaker and my hunting knife (surely, you remember my hunting knife from some of the photos Jen posted when we first moved to the ranch. It's very good for making bugs wish they'd stayed outside... and then dying.). The only other time I've had to deal with a centipede was when I found that five-inch charmer in our shower, and neither a shoe nor my knife was terribly effective against it (they're really the only bug-killing weapons I have, though; the .38 leaves holes in the floor). Fact of the matter is, centipedes dislike dying more than just about any other insect I've ever met. Tarantulas even go down easier than centipedes. MUCH easier. ("But tarantulas aren't insects; they're arachnids." Yes, thank you, Adam Veihl.)

Thus armed, I waited for the centipede to move to a spot where I'd have a clear shot at him with the sneaker. By now, he'd crawled off the box and, as we watched in growing alarm, he made his way under my dresser. We debated for a bit whether or not to move the dresser and go after him, but he resolved the matter by coming back out and heading across the floor. Bingo! I brought the sneaker down hard enough that my arm hurt afterwards, right on the front half of him. The impact was enough to kill that end of him, but not enough to even splatter his guts. For all intents and purposes, the centipede was still intact, though, mercifully, dead. Or so I thought. I'm no entymologist (again, that's Adam's field), but it seemed like after the front half of our intruder was dead, the back half took over. What I mean is, I poked at the front half of the centipede with my knife, and nothing happened. I poked at the back half, and it went crazy. Its back feelers started swinging around like the front feelers had done, and it was trying in vain to crawl away, backwards, as though the butt had become the head. Thankfully, the front end was completely stationary, so it wasn't going anywhere, but it was certainly animated. I put the tip of my knife through its butt, and then sliced down, trying to kill whatever was still driving it, but to no avail. It was still kicking, and it was angry. So what on earth do you do with a semi-undead centipede who has become impervious to stabbing and chopping? Glad you asked. Helpful soul that I am, I assisted my friend into his brand new Ziploc suit, and then I assisted him into the freezer.

Josh LaBo desert survival tip: When dealing with stubborn, hard-to-kill household pests, never underestimate the effectiveness of simple home cryogenics. It's the no-fuss, no-messy-gut-clean-up way to dispatch even the most diehard creature.

I checked on the centipede this morning, and I'm very happy to say the matter has been firmly dealt with. What's kind of cool is that, since he froze with his legs sort of sticking out, you can clearly see the spines on the end of each leg. I'm eager for Jen to get home so I can show them to her. Bugs are much less terrifying and much more interesting, when you can be sure they're dead. I took a few pictures of the bug in his gallon-size coffin, just before I put him in the freezer last night. I'm willing to bet they'll be showing up on Jen's blog before too long, so keep an eye out, if you really want to have a look at this most nasty and despicable of all God's creations. The part of this whole episode that impressed Jen the most last night, was that I was awake at 11:50 to find the horrible thing. As I said earlier, it's ENORMOUSLY rare for me to be awake much after 10, so we have to assume my book-skimming was really God watching out for us.

The Things You Find in the Shower

A couple weekends ago, I spent some time outside doing yard work (I'm working on digging up an ugly old shrub; no mean feat when the ground hasn't seen a drop of rain in a few months).

When I came in for the day, I was covered in dirt, so I turned on the shower, got the water just right, got out of my clothes, and just as I was about to step in, I noticed something...

Apparently, lizards get to feeling grimy sometimes, too. After waiting for Jen to take several photos of our unexpected guest, I struggled back into my work clothes, caught the little freeloader, and turned him loose outside.

If he looks a little traumatized in this picture, you'll have to excuse him. He did, after all, see me in the buff.

State of the Union

I guess it's right about time for me to post again. My wife was... kind (I guess) enough to point out to me that I have to post more, because I used to be funny. No pressure, right? On the other hand, by this point I'm sure no one even bothers to check this blog for updates anymore, so no one will notice if I fail at being funny in this particular post. Because, I have to admit, I can't do funny on demand. Come to think of it, I'm not particularly good at doing ANYTHING on demand. How disappointing for Jenny. :(

I miss flying. (See? That wasn't funny AT ALL.) I know I took that ride in the Super Cub out at NTMA a week or two ago, but other than that I haven't flown since January 15. That's a LONG time to go without doing the only thing that makes me even remotely cool (and even then, I'm working from a HUGE deficit). And I'm not sure when I'll get another chance to get back up in the air. I'm supposed to be doing some review work on my instrument rating, but with practicals still looming in the unknown distance, I feel like I really need to focus my mental energies on that. Plus, it's been extremely windy here in southeast AZ for the last couple months (ah, spring in Douglas), which isn't conducive to flying Spam cans (as one of my classmates calls the type of planes I usually fly). I will say, though, that I'm giving serious consideration to the idea of pulling some money out of my flight account in June, and renting a plane while we're in Michigan. The plane that I used to train in in Saginaw, is the same model (and even the same year, I think) as the smaller planes I fly out here at Cochise. I've got over 100 hours logged in that type of plane, so it shouldn't take any effort at all to get checked out in the one in Saginaw, if I decide to go that route. (Hint: this is the time to start begging for plane rides for you and your kids [if you have kids] if anyone is actually reading this post which, again, seems terribly unlikely). It would be bloody fantastic to FINALLY take my wife for a plane ride (no, she STILL hasn't been up with me). We'll have to think and pray about this one some more.

I've also had something else floating around in my mind lately. I'm not sure what to make of it yet, though.

On the AMT front, I'm STILL waiting to do my practicals. The good news is that there are only 3 of us left who haven't done them, and the examiner did two students at the same time this past weekend, so my turn is definitely coming. I'm going to guess that, if I pass, I will be a certificated (not "certified"; the FAA likes "certificated". They also say "practicable" instead of "practical", as in, "The pilot in command will land as soon as practicable." Weird, I know. Oop, I'm off on a rabbit trail!) mechanic with Airframe rating, by the end of April. In the meantime, we've started Powerplant. In fact, today marks the start of week 2 of Powerplant. I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far, but there's so little new information to occupy us for the next 3 months, that our days are a little... short. We're supposed to be in class 7:30 til 3:00 Monday through Thursday, but even with the thirty-minute morning break and the (roughly) half-hour we waste chatting at the start of class each day, we're still out for the day by 11:00. That's nice, because it lets me eat lunch with Jen. But it also sucks, because then I either sit around campus until 5:00, or I go home and have to come back at five to pick Jen up from work. Sometimes being a one-car family is just a little bit lame. There are worse things, though, I suppose. At least I've got my Pokerman (no, you're not supposed to get this joke; it's for my wife's enjoyment only. And no, it's not dirty. Shame on you for even thinking that!).

So that's what's new with me. I think I'll go study some more now. Nah, who am I kidding? I've only got about 40 minutes until I have to go get Jen. That's hardly enough time to study.

Savage Tribesmen

Yesterday I got the chance to go hang out at New Tribes Mission Aviation for the day. I got a really great tour of the facilities from Doug (the other guy in the picture), a New Tribes guy who goes to our church. Doug was patient enough to answer all of my many questions about the aircraft and aircraft parts that we saw on our tour. Doug also surprised me with a flight in a Piper Super Cub, which was a really great experience. It was my first time in a tailwheel airplane, my first time in a fabric-covered plane, my first time taking off from a gravel strip, my first time flying with a stick instead of a control yoke, and my first time using an ANR headset (I'm glad I didn't know about the flight before I left the house, because I would've brought my own headset and missed a really great experience using ANR). I had a really, really great time, and I'm enormously grateful for the opportunity.

The picture is of Doug and me in front of the Super Cub, right after our flight. That's not any sort of camera trick or optical illusion, either; the cockpit really is as narrow as it seems. I felt like I was wearing it, instead of riding in it. But it was a fantastic time, nonetheless!

The Wheels...

Monday morning is my final Airframe pre-test. It's also the Phase 3 final exam, even though Phase 3 doesn't actually end until late in March. It has to be that way so we can take the exams we need to take, when we need to take them. Practicals begin on March 16. They will involve an oral exam and a hands-on exam for General (Phase 1), and an oral and a hands-on for Airframe (Phases 2&3). Passing means I will have my AMT certificate and my Airframe rating. Phases 4 and 5 will be for Powerplant, and I'll take those practicals in September. And that will be the end of our time in Douglas, AZ. Just over 3 years here... that have seemed like so much longer. And then it's on to somewhere else. Just like that. Maybe some other part of Arizona, maybe some other part of America. Sometimes I'm blessed with an iron-clad certainty that all of this has been according to God's plan for us. Sometimes, I get so caught up in whatever step I'm on, that I completely lose sight of the path. And sometimes I look behind me and can't see where the path started; I look ahead of me and can't see where the path is leading. Those are the times when I feel so infinitesimally tiny that it snatches my breath away from me. Guess which one of those three tonight is.

There's some screwy stuff happening on the Internet tonight. Very strange, indeed.

Island

The majority of the time, I'm totally cool with not really having any friends besides my best friend, Jenny. But, I have to admit, there are times when it makes me really sad (and lonely) to think that, with VERY few exceptions, the only texts/phone calls/e-mails I get are from Jen. I'm not fishing for sympathy or whatever; I'm just having one of those moments and thought I'd put it in writing. So there you go.

It's Over!!!!!!!!!!

As every one already knows, I passed my commercial check ride on Thursday. The really cool part, though, is that during my debriefing my examiner told me, "Overall, you handle the plane well and you have good reactions." I had to ask him specifically for areas in which I could improve, before he said anything less than positive. You know that old saying about getting blood from a turnip? That's usually what it's like trying to get positive feedback from this guy.

One Last Hurdle

So here I am. The oral is over. It's done. There's no more studying and no more feeling guilty for every moment I spend not studying. Now I've just got one last hurdle, one last hoop to jump through, and a journey I started in January of 2005 will be at its end. All I have to do is go fly one last flight with every ounce of skill I've feverishly honed in the last couple weeks. The other day Jen texted me a really fitting quote from her work calendar: "No amount of worry brings security. Let go and let God and just enjoy the ride." So tomorrow that will be my game plan. One last flight. One more time. You can't have any idea what this feels like unless you've been here. But it's absolutely awesome.

It's over!!! After a very shaky start, I managed to pull off a decent oral exam. Since it was dark when we finished, I couldn't do the flight portion of the exam last night (we were expecting this, though), so I'll be finishing up on Thursday. I've got my letter of discontinuance, saying I successfully completed the oral, so I just have to knock out a decent flight on Thursday after class, and I'm a commercial pilot! Thank you to everyone who prayed and/or sent along encouraging words. I really appreciate all the support.

3:40. Examiner out smoking. Waiting for exam to start. Panicking. IBS going into overdrive. Longing to just fall into bed and actually get some sleep. Wanted to share my experience with you all.

It's funny how, when stuff is going on in your life, you can get so focused on yourself that you become your entire universe. And then you find out what's going on in someone else's life, and suddenly your issues really don't seem that major. At least that's how it works in my life.

Holy Smokes!!!

My commercial certificate check ride is Tuesday/Wednesday of next week. I've flown 9 times since Monday morning in preparation. That's a lot of flying. I was supposed to fly again right now, but I'm so tired and Belinda assured me I'm ready for the test. On Monday, I will spend my lunch break doing a mock oral exam with Belinda, and when class is done for the day I'll go out and fly a mock check ride, just to make absolutely certain I'm ready. I really need to get this check ride behind me so I can start studying for my AMT oral and practical exams in March.