Scrod - Not Getting An IFR Examination Done Anytime Soon

There once was a man who flew in to Boston and wanted to have some of their famous tasty small cod, oft referred to as scrod.

So, leaving the airport he got in a taxi and asked the driver:

"Can you take me to where I can get scrod around here?"

The driver replied:   "Sure," said the cabdriver. "I know a few places and get asked that a lot... but I can tell you it's not often I hear someone use the past pluperfect subjunctive anymore!"

In short, I am now scrod. 

Hadn't heard from my primary instructor since December 10.  He's off doing charters for the company and apparently doesn't get or respond to texts etc while doing so as they oft go international this time of year.

All other instructors were stating I'm ready, but they couldn't and can't sign me off.

Finally still not hearing from my primary, I call the school today and talk to the head instructor after not hearing back from mine and she says I can book it now, but their preferred examiner is now not available until January 19 and others similarly won't be available given the time of year.

Well, great.  

Problem is, I have surgery set for January 13 (more on that upcoming fun later and the fun I've been having leading up to it) that will knock me off flying for at least 8 weeks at best and possibly longer.

Oh, and my flight review is due in March 2022, too.

So I'm ready now,  but will now have to spend a lot more time and money to retrain, and then get back up to proficiency after not flying for a few months to do the test. 

I'll have to keep studying ground stuff at the same intensity for even more months, including remembering the really important stuff like how the inside of an altimeter works and how to explain the electrical system of the plane down to the last resistor (yes, their preferred examiner really gets off on you having to explain the entire electrical diagram in the POH and correctly identifying all the unmarked electrical symbols on the diagram - for your IFR exam no less), and of course how to do the paper Nav performance and wind correction heading calculations that no one uses in real flying anymore.

I also now have to pay for and do a flight review (would have been automatic with a new rating, now I need to hire an instructor to get that done - potentially post-haste as it expires in March), and all that due to people not doing what they are supposed to do.  Really hate that.

Should simply tell myself there's no rush and I'll do it when I do it, and what's another additional unnecessary kilobuck, or two, or three, down the drain when dealing with flying, which is exactly what is now going to happen. 

But, I was sure as heck primed and ready now for both the ground and air portions. Drat.

Comforting The Bereaved

I had mentioned before our friend and his wife and child who had suffered the double loss of first his father, who had lived with them for 20 plus years dying, and then whose son committed suicide within days after his father's death.

Today was our day to bring them dinner. Basically, a bunch of friends and neighbors have all signed up to coordinate and check in with them regularly, bring them a meal, and offer what small amounts of comfort that is possible in such a situation, which really isn't much.

So we brought them a full meal, and talked with them. They've got their cousins there, who are staying over which certainly helps.

They get regular visitors from their church, and their strong connection to their faith is certainly helping, as is the flood of friends and family constantly being around. But, they're certainly living with a terrible sorrow and trauma.

You can tell that they've been having a rough time which is more than understandable. Losing a child is every parent's nightmare and they're living that right now. Add the loss of the grandfather of the family and it's a horribly heavy burden. Their grieving is perfectly normal and I would have been surprised if it was any less than it was.

They're the first people outside of our own family who we've hugged since this whole lock down thing, which was very surreal but needed.

We stayed and talked with them for awhile, reminisced about those they lost, and then had them get back to their family.

Really good people, and I hope they can recover from this family tragedy in due time.

Well, Just Damn It

Just heard that the son of a friend of mine committed suicide today.  That's going to wreck his family's Mother's Day from here on out. 

He was a college kid, a good kid, at home due to the shutdown.  A whole lot of talent and promise.

His grandfather had died in early April, not from Covid, but in his sleep basically of old age, and the kid had been very upset about that and a lot of the things that have been going on these days. Now it will be two funerals  for that family, each a month apart.

Look, it's getting rough out there.  This situation and lock down is hard on everybody.

If you need help, get it.

If you feel the need to talk to someone, call and talk to a friend, a therapist whoever.

No one will think any less of you if you do.

We'd all rather you stick around to see what comes next and to live to see things get better.  Hang in there.

On Funerals, Shivas, And The Cruds

The funeral was last Sunday.

About 800 people attended, which was impressive. Marilyn had been a professor at University of Toronto prior to her retirement and had a ton of good friends and knew many, many people.

My dad gave a fantastic eulogy if I say so myself, and her daughters followed with a fine one as well. Lots of tears were shed.

It was quite the funeral procession to the cemetery, with prayers said there and the burial.

Afterwards we would got to synagogue in the mornings and sat shiva through Wednesday, including through Monday's record breaking ice and snowstorm in Toronto that dropped the most snow in 36 years for November. Unfortunately Tasha and the kids were driving home in it which made a 4.5 hour trip into 7.5 hours of fun.

The shivas were always busy which is good, as it surrounds the grieving family with friends and acquaintances and keeps you very busy, but the long days can and did get tiring. It's also nice to talk with people who had known her for a long time and some fun stories came out, as well as much about her accomplishments. Yes, she will be missed, and I regret we weren't as close as we could have been.

I headed back Wednesday night on the train which was rather a pleasant way to travel.

Unfortunately, I picked up a case of the shiva cruds - uvulitis where I can't really talk, its hard to swallow and it feels like I'm having trouble breathing constantly. Fun. So I got some antibiotics for that and hopefully they will kick in and I should recover soon, but for now its a tired feeling of crud-iness combined with being unable to sleep from waking up feeling like I can't breathe and then nodding off again. Yuck. Ah well, a case of the cruds is worth it to have been there and to support the family.

Farewell And May Your Memory Be For A Blessing

Marilyn Chapnik Smith died today.

Marilyn Chapnik Smith was an amazing person and I was honored that she was my step-mother for the past 24 years.

Today, after a long battle with cancer, she died peacefully and on her own terms, surrounded by her family and in the loving arms of her husband. The world will be a lesser place without her, and she will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

As always, fuck cancer.