Trial: Well, That Was Rather Unusual

Had a trial recently, and the outcome is still pending.

The overview:  Defendant Douche-Bag (DDB from here on in) is a handyman that not only conned a 90-year-old with dementia into doing $100k+ in "renovation" work on her condo, for which Adult Protective Services investigates and substantiates a finding of financial abuse - but nothing is done,  He also secretly obtains the deed top her condo under interesting circumstances.  

But wait, it gets better.

DDB also becomes her guardian - at the nomination of Adult Protective Services!, cuts off family and friends from seeing her, and then bilks the guardianship funds as well, including taking over $3,500 outof the account to clean it out after her death. Oh, and he does not tell anyone that she has died for 12 days, until the day before the hearing to remove him as guardian. But he does record the deed he got to the condo the very day she dies.

The deceased's remote family, who are out of state, then sues him for the money and condo that have been stolen when they find out the extent of what has happend.

The renovation work is, shall we say, sub par.

For example the new dining room floor, which we inspect at the condo during discovery:

Yep, it is that bad, it is also wavy and not level.  Click 'em to embiggen and see the suck-age in all its glory. 

Looks like scrap wood from multiple flooring kits with edges that don't even line up. No pattern at all. Other renovations DDB has done look about as bad - like repainting the bathroom wall and not moving the toilet tank while painting it, so there's a toilet-tank outline behind it in the original paint color that is really visible.

Many other renovations DDB charged for aren't even done at all, and it looks like he was making up the proposal quotes after the fact to cover himself after all the checks were written to him - checks he wrote out and either had her sign or forged her signature.

DDB is also representing himself which causes issues - he fails to comply with discovery leading the judge to sanction him, but the judge also gives him a lot of leeway as is often the case.

So we get to trial.

I had a nice opening argument prepared and the judge states no opening arguments, and to call my first witness.

Ah, well.

So,  I begin with the accountant expert I have and we start going over the accounts.

Lots of interesting things in those accounts as we trace funds he's taken and misappropriated for himself including lots of cash withdrawals, uisng her credit card to pay for his insurance and dog vet bills and more.

About 30 minutes in DDB stands up and asks the judge if we can stop so he can get an attorney as it is "more complicated than he thought".

The judge says no as we're in the middle of a trial, but if he can find an attorney to represent him before we re-start at lunch then that's fine.

DDB's mom, who is in the courtroom rushes out at that and I continue with my questioning.

Soon a fellow walks in up to the Defendant's podium and puts his name as Attorney Quickhire (never seen this guy before at court ever) on the record and states he'll be representing the Defendant.

Welcome to the party, pal.

I happily continue my questions, Attorney Quickhire never says a word, and I get more and more damning info out about the issues with the accounts and money being spent and the Judge asks me to pause.

The judge then states Attorney Quickhire has just left the courtroom.

Yep, he stood there for a bit then walked back to the mom, said something and left the courtroom.

Ooops.

Some of  my witnesses overheard him say to the mom that he can't represent him and that wasn't what they had told Attorney Quickhire this matter was about.  

Who knew that DDB's mom would lie too?  Shocker.

Unfortunately, Attorney Quickhire just committed malpractice and is on record representing DDB.  Not good for him at all.

We continue without him, and after luch the judge again notes Attorney Quickhire is not there.  We get through most of my witnesses on the first day.

Start of the second day, no Attorney Quickhire and Judge has DDB confirm Attorney Quickhire is not representing him.

I get through my witnesses.

DDB then represents himself as his only witness and I cross-examine the heck outta him.  I'll say this DDB is a very smooth liar and given the other person present for much of what went on is dead, the lies are a problem even when at times they defy belief.

I do get him to admit he is not licensed and never puled a single permit for all the work he did - including removing a wall that seems to have been load-bearing. Oopsies.

So, I have a damn nice closing prepared and ready to let it rip.

Of course the judge then says he doesn't want closing arguments.

Dammit, it was really good and I was ready to go. Ah, well.

Instead,  the judge wants very detailed briefs going into various aspects of the case as closing arguments, and he wants the financials presented differently in the closing brief to answer some specifics he wants answered.

Overall, feeling pretty good about where it is going, but one can never tell how a judge will rule but he was not impressed with the "work" DDB did at the condo and I had a lot of good evidence showing the deceased had severe enough dementia at the time, but we will see what happens.

So I get to do that now. That will be due late January, and the decision should be released in mid-February.

In short some helpful general advice: 

1. Don't rip off old ladies, you will get caught (now, if you do this in Oakland County you likely won't be criminally prosecuted as our Democrat progressive prosecuting attorney doesn't like going after such financial crimes - apparently they are too complicated and not headline-generating enough to get her interest);

2. Don't try to represent yourself at trial when you do get caught, for you are fun to play with, and will mess up, a lot;

3. Don't wait to the date of trial to try and find an attorney; and most importantly:

4.  If you're an attorney, Don't, for the love of professional responsibility, jump into a case at trial on the day of trial with no clue as to what is going on.  Nothing good will happen.

Attorney Quickhire didn't do himself any favors and may need to let his malpractice insurance carrier know about the mess he just got himself into. If DDB is bright enough to claim he committed malpractice by representing him and then disappearing without even being released by the court from representing DDB.  Really not good.

This was rather an unusual trial in many ways, and the decision isn't in yet.

Saturday Flyday- Cold And Crisp Approaches

This morning was cold but very clear out.  Winds at 110 degrees at 8-10 knots. So we would get to do Runway 9 approaches.

Went to the airport and met up with Shaun and did the preflight on the Archer.

I then got our VFR flight following setup and took off and headed to Flint.

 A gorgeous day to fly, and the cold air made the plane perform just beautifully - great climb performance, and we were getting 125 knots indicated lots of the time, which was pretty sweet.

 

I did the ILS 9 at Flint and it went well, did the start of it with the autopilot and switched to manual as the autopilot was slow to turn to intercept the localizer.  After that it was a good approach.

The we did the RNAV 9 which was great and I rode that sucker like it was on rails.

Then back to Pontiac and I did the ILS 9R, as we rarely get the 9 side and the opportunity for the ILS at Pontiac. That approach went perfectly and I brought it in to a smooth landing.

Then we taxi'd to Royal Air for fuel and brought the plane back to the hangar.

There was enough blown snow by the hangar that the plane got stuck in it, so I grabbed a shovel and cleared enough for the wheels to get a grip.

That worked.  We then got the plane in and I shoveled the rest of the snow out from in front of the Hangar so hopefully the sun will melt it off. It was a good time and fun flying with Shaun as the safety pilot. 

That's 1.6, 1 hold, 3 approaches, 1.0 simulated instrument time, and a 1 great landing. Instrument currency happily maintained.

First Solid Snowfall of Winter

So you know it's time for bad drivers and special idiot parking season.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mr or Ms. Mercedes is in the middle of the travel row and decided to make his/her own parking space, with tons of open spots available. Probably too entitled to walk an extra 3 feet. S/He will likely be very upset if the Cadillac pulls out and smacks the car as it is trapped by the Mercedes' front end with not enough room to get out (not that they are lined up nicely in their space either, but still).

On top of seeing the parking special when I arrived, it was fun just getting to the parking lot. A lady in a Lincoln decided the best way to drive was centered on the lane divider between two lanes while she toddled along at 23 mph on a 45 mph road. She endeared herself to everyone she was blocking in both lanes for over a mile.

Patience is certainly required when driving and indeed parking in the winter in Michigan, that's for sure.

Biden Talks Tough On Iran, Sends Them Another $10 Bilion

 The Detroit News: Biden approves national security memo on China, Iran, North Korea and Russia ahead of Trump's return

 The document includes four broad recommendations: improving U.S. government interagency cooperation, speeding up the sharing of information with allies about the four adversaries, calibrating the U.S. government's use of sanctions and other economic tools for maximum effectiveness, and bolstering preparation to manage simultaneous crises involving the adversaries.

Yet at the same time as this memo talks tough on Iran, the Biden administration is waiving sanctions and approving Iran getting $10 Billion dollars that it can use for more terrorism:

New York Post: Biden admin quietly renewed controversial $10B Iran sanctions waiver two days after Election Day

Does the left hand know what the farther left hand is doing in regards to Iran?

Is The Detroit Free Press Using AI To Write Headlines?

Here's the headline for the story: The Detroit Free Press: Township of 65,000 people elects new top official by 5-1 landslide vote

Except the "Township of 65,000 people didn't vote 5-1 for a replacement supervisor, the Township Board did.

Legions of fact-checkers and all that.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, and there isn't, but the headline and later the article implies it was the voters of the township that did it, making it appear a lot more impressive a landslide than it was. 

And then he was sworn in. But two days later, Supervisor Steve Kaplan resigned to take another job. What to do?

Following the state constitution, West Bloomfield, a community of about 65,000 residents, elected a new supervisor on Monday afternoon – by a vote of 5-1.

Board members held an unscheduled special meeting, heard comments for an hour, and then elected two-term trustee Jonathan Warshay to the full-time job of running the big, affluent township that's 27 miles northwest of Detroit.

 Even the article is written implying it was a community-wide vote rather than the Board voting 5-1 to appoint one of its members as the new interim supervisor. 

In any case I certainly wish the new Supervisor success, and wish the prior one had not run for re-election if he had no intention of actually serving for another term.  But, Kaplan's running as an incumbent certainly blocked any challengers to the spot, keeping it in Democrat control (which to be fair it likely would have in any case), so that was likely simply politics and gamesmanship on his part to block competitors from the slot.

The article headline and content is still rather misleading as the citizens of West Bloomfield did not get an opportunity to vote for their new Supervisor, much less endorse him by a landslide 5-1 vote.

When The Process Is The Punishment

Daniel Penny was found not guilty of manslaughter in a case that should never have been brought against him.

NBC New York: Daniel Penny found not guilty in Jordan Neely subway chokehold death

The jury appropriately found him not guilty. 

Note that neither of the two men assisting Penny in restraining the attacking Jordan Neely, who had been threading to kill passengers on the subway car, were charged in his death. The fact that one was Black and the other Hispanic clearly had no bearing on there not being charged by the progressive DA Alvin Bragg in this matter. Surely not.

Meanwhile, Mr. Perry’s suffered  legal expenses for his excellent defense by his attorneys, and his life and liberty were put in jeopardy by the two-tiered legal system instituted under the progressive DA's office under Bragg, where viewing crime through a racial lens and "equity" is more important than justice. Under Bragg, actual criminals are given a pass, and law-abiding citizens defending themselves and defending others, as in the case of Penny are prosecuted.

 

Here, the process was the punishment along with a message being sent to other good people.

 

The message is to not intervene against a favored minority committing crimes -- even if someone's life is at stake -- or you'll be prosecuted by the same state that knowingly let the criminals walk free to commit their crimes. 

 

Sunday Flyday

The weather was finally decent enough to get out and go fly.

Mr. B. flew in to Pontiac Airport and I got in his plane and we headed off to Flint to get some approaches in for him. We did three, The ILS 27 and RNAV 27 at Flint and then the RNAV 27L at Pontiac. He did a very nice jonb on all three approaches.

Then we parked his plane and put in a refueling order for it and then headed to get in the flying club's Archer so I could get some approaches in as well.

It took forever and a half to get a takeoff clearance. The controller, a newer one, was dealing with a lot of traffic on the north-side and didn't manage the spacing to get us out.

Verily, a damn Piper Cub lapped the field three times while we were waiting to depart. Nothing against Piper Cubs, but they're slow and there is space to get aircraft out when they're on base or even the beginning of final.

We had four planes stacked behind us and after 10 minutes I politely radioed the controller that we were still holding short, and other planes were stating they were holding in sequence.

We finally got a takeoff clearance.

 Clouds were a tad lower but still no factor, and it was calmer out than forecast

I headed to Flint and did the same approaches as Mr. B:  The ILS 27 and RNAV 27 at Flint and then back to do  the RNAV 27L at Pontiac.  Didn't have time to squeeze a couple more in. While doing the RNAV another aircraft requested priority as they had fumes in the cockpit - he didn't declare an emergency but the controller acted appropriately and got him in and down fast. All was well and they landed safely without incident. That pushed us out a bit more, but that was fine.

The approaches worked out quite well.  I did a very good ILS 27 and then absolutely nailed the RNAV 27 approach and the RNAV 27L at Pontiac ending with a very smooth landing.  We then got a right turn off, were told to cross 27R and was back on the north side and to the hangar in no time.

We then heade dout for a late lunch and then I got Mr. B. back to his plane and he headed home.

That's 1.6 for me, three approaches and one very nice landing and a great time hanging out with Mr. B for an afternoon.

Syrious Change - The Assad Regime Falls

The fall of the despot Bashar Assad has opened new risks and opportunities in the Middle East.

The Detroit News: Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate end of Assad family's half-century rule

This change, after a 50-year dictatorship passed down from father to son, opens both syrious opportunities and lots of syrious risks.

The big winner - Turkey - who backed the Sunni rebels against the Alawite Assad regime and its Hezbollah, Iranian and Russian Backers. Turkey gets to expand its sphere of influence, and pushes Iran and Russia away from one of its borders.

The big losers - Russia, Hezbollah and Iran.

Russia: Syria was Russia's greatest remaining client state, and that Russia could not preserve the regime, having most of its resources tied up in its ill-chosen war in Ukraine demonstrates Russian weakness to the world.  Expect lesser client states to take note. Russia also loses its warm-water port at Tartus in Syria which is a major blow to Russian maritime strategy, such as it is.

Iran: Iran loses a close ally in the region and a easy transit route to get weapons and support to its client Hezbollah in Lebanon. A stronger Sunni Turkey is a threat to Shiite Iran as both rivals contend to try and lead the Muslim world. 

Hezbollah: Hezbollah loses an easy line of communication to its patron and controller Iran. Hezbollah having been the major puppet force of Iran in propping up the Assad regime weakened itself by its choice to launch a war with Israel that saw its command and control networks neutralized, it's forces being beaten and being on the verge of defeat until Biden, Macron, et al imposed a ceasefire on Israel. It's war with Israel distracted it from propping up the Syrian regime which fell after rebels were heavily supported by Turkey.

The possible winners:  Israel and Lebanon - The Assads kept in power as an Alawite minority in the Sunni nation of Syria by doing the typical dictator move - blame everything bad on the Jews and Israel rather than themselves.  

Israel: A new regime that may be interested in peaceful relations with its neighbors instead of supporting terrorism and continually threatening war would be a very good thing for Israel, reducing tensions on its borders and further hampering Hezbollah from getting support and supplies via an overland route from Iran. 

Lebanon:  Syria heavily supported Hezbollah in Lebanon, preventing the Lebanese from controlling their own destiny. This change may give the rather fragmented and weak Lebanese state a chance to reclaim its control over its own territory and end Syrian and Iranian supported Hezbollah domination.

Or, Syrian could fall apart into civil war with instability and a foothold for the Islamic State and Al Qaeda that would be very bad for all its neighbors, including Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, and indeed the world as Al Qaeda likes to get around.

Time will tell but it will take time before this shakes out and we see who assumes control, who influences them, and what their stance will be on the world stage.  Interesting times indeed, and the maps sure have been all flag-y and arrow-y recently.

Interesting Move By Detroit Mayor Duggan

The Democrat Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan is making a rather interesting move.

He just announced he will be running for governor.

As an independent candidate.

The Detroit Free Press: Mayor Mike Duggan aims to bridge division in gubernatorial run as independent candidate

From a lifetime as a stalwart Democrat and member of the Detroit Democrat Machine  - albeit as a highly effective and competent member of same, he's now dropping the "D" from his candidacy.

I wonder if he figures the Democratic Party has a rather tarnished image right now and he'd rather run from it than run with it.

Or it may be a matter of DEI Democrat politics, which may mandate a person of color rather than competence make the gubernatorial run.

Duggan has been regarded by many as corrupt but highly effective - which is pretty much the best you can expect or ask for when it comes to a Democrat Mayor of Detroit. Indeed, Duggan is, quite simply, the best mayor Detroit has had in decades.

We'll see if his surprise shift to independent and dropping of the Democrat brand works in his favor.

A Step In The Right DEIrection

The times, they are a changin', and DEI loyalty oaths may be on their way out at the University of Michigan.

The Detroit News: UM will no longer use diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion, tenure

This is, of course, causing some consternation among the progressive faculty set, but it may open some opportunities for ideological growth, competition, and dare we say, actual diversity? 

After all, with 98.16% of University of Michigan faculty campaign donations going to Democrats, it is quite the ideological echo chamber at present. So, removing a filter and likely barrier to entry should be rather welcome.

It's a start, at least.

A Very Valuable Donation - But It's Not Rare

The Detroit News: Rare coin left in St. Clair Shores Salvation Army red kettle

An anonymous donor has been putting a Krugerrand in the  kettle each year.

A Krugerrand is a very nice donation, as its  a valuable one-ounce South African gold coin worth around $2,700. That the donor has been doing this for 12 years is highly impressive on the donor's part and very generous too.

But Krugerrands, while valuable, are not particularly rare, nor even scarce. In the 70s and 80s, millions were minted per year. In the 1980s Krugerrands were 90% of the gold bullion coin market with millions minted. In 2010, the most recent year with mintage figures being available, over 520,000 were minted and almost 750,000 the year before.

If you want to invest in gold, a Krugerrand is likely not a bad way to go. After all, you get to posses a very beautiful coin you can appreciate as it appreciates in value.

Just because a thing is valuable doesn't mean its rare, nor is rarity a synonym for valuable, and the headline writer should know that.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Firing

You don't get a bulk discount for shooting the bad guy plus bystanders. Spray and pray is a bad tactic with innocents around:

The Detroit Free Press: Detroit cop shot 3 people while responding to summer block party, department reveals

A Detroit police officer responding to a block party shooting this summer shot and injured three people — two described as innocent young women, and a third who allegedly pointed a gun at the officer but was never arrested.

That the third, who had pointed the gun at the officer was never arrested, which raises all sorts of questions.

The officer as it turns out, was responsible for 3 out of the 4 people shot at the scene of the ongoing shooting that she responded to:

Police said in a June news conference that a total of four people were wounded at the block party with an estimated 100 attendees after shots were fired from a vehicle driving by. Nearly 100 shell casings were recovered.

Talk about not improving matters. 

The bad guy got one hit, and the officer had three hits for five rounds fired. It also looks like everybody was Kung Fu Firing:

The investigation, he said, was complicated by the chaos of the incident. Eight guns were recovered, including an automatic weapon and an assault rifle. Police believed party attendees may have shot back at the vehicle involved in the violence.

"The officer responded to an active shooter, the officers heard a barrage of rounds being thrown back and forth, so we have to really get granular with what exactly occurred," White said.

93 fired casings were recovered at the scene with 5 from the officer. 

In short, this incident was one heckuva mess, and she didn't improve things by tagging two innocents plus the individual that pointed a firearm at her.

That Was Then, This Is Biden

How It Started: CNN: Biden says he won’t pardon Hunter Biden or commute his sentence in first public remarks after guilty verdict

President Joe Biden on Thursday offered his first public remarks about his son Hunter’s conviction on federal gun charges earlier this week, telling reporters in Italy he is “proud” of him and accepts the jury’s verdict.

“I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction, he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know,” Biden said during a news conference on the margins of the G7 summit.

“I am satisfied that I’m not going to do anything — I said I’d abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him,” he added. 

How It's Going: AP: Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to

President Joe Biden pardoned his son,  Hunter, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family.

....

In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

Like most Biden promises, that one didn't age well.

To be fair he likely cannot even remember making that promise 6 months ago, nor his past public statement that he accepts the jury's verdict.

That anyone thought he wouldn't pardon his son likely believed Biden's statements that the inflation act was about reducing inflation. 

The pardon meshes well both with Joe bailing his son out on family grounds and the Democrats' general soft-on-crime outlook as long as the accussed's name is not Trump and has leftist politics.

On the upside, with pardon in hand, Hunter Biden can no longer refuse to testify regarding the Biden family crimes he committed and was involved in on Fifth Amendment grounds as he has immunity for them as the pardon covers any and all possible crime  "he has or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024".  

Hopefully, Republicans call him to testify accordingly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

The turkey I roasted came out great this year.

Possible Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement As IDF Reaches The Litani

Israel fought through Hezbollah and reached the Litani river in Lebanon yesterday.

This is rather a big deal.  The reason is that Hezbollah, per UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Lebanon War, was supposed to remain north of the Litani with nothing but the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL deployed south of the Litani.  Obviously Hezbollah ignored the resolution and it was unenforced - until now, by Israel.

So now, Hezbollah wants a ceasefire after launching thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7 of last year and finding out that was not a good choice on their part as Israel decapitated their leadership, destroyed their weapon depots and have been nailing their positions in Southern Lebanon and driving them across the Litani.

The Detroit News: Israel bombards Beirut suburbs as its leadership prepares to vote on ceasefire with Hezbollah

Assuming Hezbollah actually abides by the terms of the proposed ceasefire it would achieve the majority of Israel's aims in this conflict -  Hezbollah would have to actually stay north of the Litani, and stop shooting missiles at Israel so Israelis living in the north of Israel who have been displaced by the rocket and artillery fire since last October could come home. 

We will see if the ceasefire is implemented and how long it lasts before  Hezbollah starts breaking the terms - and if the world will try and stop Israel from enforcing the agreement, which is apparently a sticking point.

Kid Turns 21

Where does the time go?

Abby turned 21 this weekend. She came up from university with her boyfriend to celebrate her birthday with us.

Leah flew in for the celebration and to spend the Thanksgiving Break together.

As is tradition, breakfast on her birthday was a cherry cheesecake.

After cheesecake, she received her presents.

The kid is now legal to drink and celebrated with her first order of alcohol at a restaurant, and then buying a bottle of Ciroc at a store that she brought home and mixed her very first cocktail, with fresh-squeezed lime juice and including making her own simple syrup.  It was a rather tasty cocktail.

We along with her boyfriend, finished her day with a further celebration and birthday cake and she had a great day.

Local(ish) Game

Went with a friend after work yesterday to the MSU v Purdue Football game.

With an 8pm start it made for a long night including the over an hour drive to East Lansing in quite a bit of traffic.

 Quite a bit chillier than Florida, with a fair bit of wind and temps in the 40s.

I'm not a football aficionado, but it easy to see that it was quite a rough game.

To say it was an ugly game of football is an understatement.

MSU started out with a 24-3 lead, and that lead kept narrowing as the game went on into the second half.

MSU narrowly won, barely, but only by making slightly fewer mistakes than Purdue.  At times it seemed MSU decided the strategy was to run the ball as they couldn't complete a pass if their life depended on it. 

The only saving grace for MSU was that Purdue was worse including suffering a blocked field goal, a fumble, and throwing interceptions, and couldn't capitalize on the many mistakes the Spartans made. 

Still for all that it was a fun time, and good to see the home team win 24-17.

Finally got back home around 1:30 am. Quite a long day, but fun.

Woe Canada

The Loonie Drops For Thee.

CBC: Will the Canadian dollar slip below 70 cents US?

The Canadian dollar is dropping in value  not just due to the fall in the price of oil, but to lousy economic policy choices made by the Trudeau government.

The falling Canadian dollar matches the fall in Canada's standard of living under Trudeau:

"The really sad thing is, for me and you and the rest of Canadian citizens, our standard of living has dropped 35 to 40 per cent versus the United States in the last eight years," he said.

Progressives tend to run out of other people's money, and set their nations on a path to decline and ruin.  Hopefully, Canadians pull their collective head out and vote in a better government soon.

Who Knew That Lefty Progressives On Bluesky

Who knew that Progressive Lefties flocking to Bluesky are, [Checks Notes] so heavily into being purveyors and consumers of CSAM?

 

 

Yep, as proggys flock to Bluesky to recreate and double-down on the comfy ideological echo-chamber they used to have on Twitter, the posting of material depicting, promoting, and advocating for improper activities in regards to children has skyrocketed. 

So much so that the moderators there cannot keep up.

Funny, that.

Scuba Diving The Devil's Den

Devil's Den is a spring about 40 minutes from Gainesville that offers some fun diving practice in fresh water.

The UF Scuba Club had booked some of the gear setup areas with tables and it was very nicely organized. We arrived and the group all geared up and headed into the spring after checking in, doing waivers, paying the entrance fee and rental needed equipment.

Entry is through a tunnel heading downward and you need to mind your head as its rather tight.

Even though you enter through a cave entrance, there is direct sunlight through the ceiling of the collapsed cave.

That hole is rather pretty when viewed form under the water:

There's a nice platform set up that you then enter into the water.

There's a mound of rocks and rubble piled in the middle of the spring with deeper areas to the sides.

There's a few fish wandering about the spring;

There are some swim-throughs, meaning an overhead environment, but it was always a pretty quick transition through them,. and you can still see daylight,  and some swim-throughs turned out to end in blockages that require you to turn around which got a little tight but was fine.

 

There is a cave entrance, but entry into the cave is strictly prohibited.

Most springs with caves have the standard Grim Reaper with the "No Non-Cave Trained Divers Should Enter" sign.  This one is an outright prohibition.

Lights were needed as it was dark in the spring, and a lot of particulate in the water made for some difficult photos.

Leah loved her first certified dive experience, and she did great for a first dive as a certified diver without an instructor present, and did a very good job as a dive buddy.

We had a nice 54 minute run time with a max depth of 52 feet. The temperature ranged from 72-75 degrees depending on where you were in the water which made for a comfy dive.

A great dive and a great time with the kid.

Go Gators!

This weekend I went to Gainesville to visit Leah.

This was the UF Scuba Club Parent-Student dive weekend.  Leah has decided she want to get certified and she just earned her Open Water Certification last week through the club, so of course I had to be there for her first dive as a certified diver.

We had a number of activities planned, including attending a tailgate and going to watch the Gators play LSU.

The tailgate, hosted by the UF Scuba Club was a ton of fun.

Good food, fun people, and a good time had by all.

And, of course, there was a keg of beer. As no tailgate is complete without one.

After watching the kids do keg stands, there is a rumor that I was challenged to do one, and a further rumor that I then set the standard. Rumors only of course, but someone had to show them how it was done . . . .

After the Tailgate, we met up with some of Leah's friends and wandered into a frat house for some food which was also a fun experience. 

Then we headed to the game.  We had seats in the upper level endzone and it was a fun experience.

90,000+ fans. The energy was incredible.

Having 90,000 people belting out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "I won't Back Down" was quite the experience.

The Gators, while not favored to win, recovered from a rocky start and beat LSU 27-16.

It was an amazing game to attend.

 And quite the celebrated win

Quite a great day.

Amherstburg Naval Yard

When I was in Amherstburg last weekend, I decided to check out the historic site of the Navy Yard.

Used by the British in the War of 1812, the area saw heavy use ending in the Battle of Lake Erie - that the US navy won.

And of course there are Cannons

And Carronades, guns that while being shorter and shorter-ranged than cannons, packed a heavier wallop at close range:

 

There's also the flags of Ontario, the United Kingdom, Canada, The United States, and France on display:

Ok, just kidding about the white flag on the right being the French flag, mostly.

There's some nice monuments to the Battle of Lake Erie even if it looks like the gun carriage has gone missing, hopefully temporarily.

 and its a nice walk along the shoreline with Michigan across the water.

They did a very nice job with a series of connecting parks along the shoreline, and have nicely preserved quite a bit of history and it's well worth visiting, being such a short hop from the Detroit area.

First Heating Day Of Fall 2024

Turned the heat on yesterday evening as 61 degrees was a tad chilly.

 I had resisted turning it on up until now.  Certainly more comfortable, but a sign winter is coming.

Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day

In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, today is Remembrance Day marking the end of the First World War and honoring all those servicemen and women lost in the First World War and since.

I was in Canada this weekend and among other places visited Amherstberg, Ontario and the Town certainly memorializes and honors its servicemen that died in the wars, and will hold ceremonies today to honor them.  

In the United States, it is Veteran's Day, a day for appreciating and honoring those who have served our country and defended this great nation in times of open war both declared and undeclared, cold war and in preserving the peace.

Trump and America Win

Not only in the electoral college, but likely also winning the popular vote, President Trump had a very very convincing win yesterday, too big to rig as it were.

We still wait for my Democrat-run State of Michigan to get its act together and actually administer an election in a timely manner.  And also as part of that potentially more fraud out of Democrat-run Wayne County to try and tip the balance in the Senate race between Rogers and Slotkin, but that will not affect the overall outcome of a Republican victory.

I certainly wish President Trump and the country success.  

I hope that he has learned the lessons of his first term, including not to keep people in government offices that are actively working against him and stymieing his policies. I hope that he leads the country with wisdom and good judgment, and makes our nation  preeminent among the nations of the world and an example to all.

The Republicans in Michigan also wrested control of the state house from Democrat hands, ending the Democrat domination of all three branches of state government, which is a good thing.

It is hoped that the Democrats will learn some lessons from their loss.  The lessons include their error in the selection of a terrible and inarticulate candidate appointed more for her filling DEI check-boxes than for her actual ability; and their push to tilt the Overton window so far left that they left the American Middle, and even some of the American Left far behind among many other mistakes on their part.

And to my Democrat-supporting readers, as few of you as there may be: We survived 4 years of Biden-Harris, you'll make it through 4 more years of President Trump.

Flying: To CYTZ And Back

On Saturday I flew over to Toronto Island Airport to go visit the folks and celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday.

I did the electronic paperwork, called Canpass, filed my typical route and got my clearance to depart. Approved clearance was ADRIE T781 OLAMO CYTZ

I climbed to 3,000 as instructed and contacted Detroit Approach.

A beautiful day and still some fall color to see.

Detroit Approach climbed me to my filed altitude of 5,000 and then amended my clearance to just fly direct to CYTZ, which was nice.

Had a light tailwind and was cruising along at a nice 146 knot ground speed.

Crossed the border and it started getting a little overcast around Sarnia:

I got permission to climb above the layer to 6,000 and enjoyed the view.

Toronto Center then amended my clearance and had me go direct to OLAMO before heading to the airport.  I then did a practice localizer approach to Runway 26 and had a very good landing.

I had a nice time in Toronto with the folks, and the open house party on Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday went very well.

Then yesterday, it was time to head back.  The weather would, unfortunately, not be quite as nice. Overcast, rainy, and windy it would be.

I had filed what I had done for the return on the last trip, which was accepted. Easy enough.

I got to the airport, paid my parking and fuel bill, did the preflight.

 I contacted Ground, and then was told my clearance had changed and was I ready to copy?

Yep, yet again I got the PERL.4 Departure, DERLO Transition, PICUP, OKLND ONE Arrival.  So next time I go, I'm  just going to file that from the outset to save time as they seem to like it a lot on Mondays.  Knowing it well from the last time made reprogramming the system a lot faster.

I then, just before takeoff, got a further amendment to the departure procedure and was told to climb to 3,000, on heading 210 degrees, so I did that and out over the Lake I went.

It was rather overcast and I had a pretty major headwind of around 30 knots so my ground speed was around 90-100 knots, most of the time so it was kinda slow going.

Toronto Center then got me on course to the next waypoint and I was told to climb to 6,000, and then once I reached that next waypoint ANCOL, I got an amended clearance to fly straight to DERLO which saved a little bit of time.

At DERLO the Overcast became more acute and I started getting some instrument time.

It was rather solid with some light chop and light precipitation.  Air Temperature up there was 15 degrees C due to the warm front that was moving in and causing all the winds and clouds, so no icing risk which was good.

The clouds opened up just a bit as I was crossing the border.

And soon closed up again, with even more rain and bouncing around and I was again in solid IMC conditions.

Then for a brief while I was right in between two layers of clouds which was kinda neat.  The air was smooth and it was all rather beautiful.

But soon it closed up again.

I got the weather at Pontiac with winds of 14 knots at 180 degrees for a very direct crosswind for landing on 27L.  I was passed on to Detroit Approach and clearance amended to fly straight to GUZVY for the 27L RNAV and was then cleared onto the approach.

Up to the Final Approach Fix it was IFR, as I followed the glideslope down and got lower I broke out of the clouds.

Not the best visibility, and I was kinda flying sideways in the wind following the RNAV guidance.  This was a tad disorienting, so I just kept on the needles, and it took a bit to find the airport as the nose was pointed into the wind left of the Airport, even as the plane was moving on a nice straight line right to the runway.

Then I had the runway in sight before the missed approach point, and still had to fly crabbed into the wind on the way towards final.

I then made a most excellent crosswind landing, even as it felt like a lot more than 14 knots.  The excellent landing was likely due to a lack of observers of same.

I then cleared customs, then headed to the hangar and got the plane refueled and put away, and that was the end of the weekend.

November 2 I had 2.0 out, and 1 great landing.

November 4 I had 2.4 back, .9 actual instrument time, an instrument approach and another great crosswind landing.

An excellent trip flying that sure as heck beats driving, and it was good to get some actual IFR time and a real approach in and plan for and deal with more challenging conditions.