So, I have about three more lessons before the Oral Exam for Private Pilot and the final Checkride. It’s getting intense and my review sessions still aren’t going that well. I keep on getting distracted and end up baking cookies and eating them with ice cream. Now, I have this crazy headache and things are just going bust! Wish me luck. It should be right around the corner either this week or next. I’ll keep you guys informed.

BEAR!!!

oh yeah, I want a piano now too. I think that is could ease my pains a little bit. I’ll aim for 1 song a week or maybe a month. We’ll see. Any recommendations around here in the Jacksonville Area for piano distributors? Not looking to spend that much, but shoot, I got quoted $38,900 and I want it! <– Baby Grand Model S Steinway and Sons. I know that I don’t deserve it cause I can’t play jack crap. Someone come here and give me some lessons again. How can I get better?

My Cross Country Flight was amazing! There were P3s circling Runway 11 while I was entering the final leg for Runway 6 at Gainsville. Good stuff. I landed safely, took a breather and then head to another airport for a landing and then back home. This was all yesterday (April 6th). Today was a review of cross wind, soft field, short field landings. The first one of each was rocky, but after that, it was all good from there.

So where do I stand now? I’m awaiting a time slot for my Stage II exam. This consists of the Cross Country Checkride, diversion and emergency procedures, then I’ll only have about 1.5 weeks till private oral and checkride. Kind of scary how fast we are moving but this is the pace that I wanted back at home. Wish me luck!

To top it off, I have a presentation due tomorrow, a final in CAPT Safety, Stage II check, Adelle is coming into town, and the oral that I have to get ready for! Should make for an interesting week!

This is probably the best picture of us caught in the act of being dazed and confused in Florida! I was confused about what the heck I was doing here and Du was just having fun. This candid was just a misunderstanding! Honestly!!! Duong came out for her Pharm. Conference and I was able to round up some people that just finished some testing at CAPT to come out w/ us to Pleasure Island which was convieniently on our way home from Tampa Bay. You might be asking what I was doing in Tampa Bay? I got to meet some of Manoj’s family and have authentic Indian food. It was amazing. To say the least, the house was incredible and the family was more than accommodating. The food was amazing! (did I say that already?) But now, off to studying. Dancing was fun and for the first time since being here (3 months and counting) I was able to let go and have a little fun again. I can’t wait for Adelle to come out here again now that I have a car! Miss you babe!

Not the best pictures of us eh?

I put on a new tie, I iron my shirt and got out of the house feeling good about tonight’s flight. I look up and see clouds beginning to gather. Not a good sign. To top it off, we are assigned N807ER which was just bashed up by the other crew on a botched short field landing. They hit the tail of the airplane really hard on approach and cancelled the rest of the flight. I decided that for tonight’s cross country, I wanted a plane that was without recent incident. We got N802ER. Excited, we continue to plan along.

So, after preflighting the plane, getting my course VFR Plan all precise, I sit in the back of the plane and get ready for flight. I call out the checklists and we’re off. Forrest is at the helm. We begin to make for a Left Downwind Departure after taking off on Runway 11, a low and behold, the front moves in. We notice some bright lightning bolts straight off to Daytona Beach and up north to St. Augustine. So, we stay in the pattern, do a go around and try to climb higher and circle a bit to get a better look at the oncomming weather. Before you know it, while facing towards 210 (our intended course) we see a myriad of bolts and flashes. In conclusion, we ground ourselves and are forced to watch the skies above until we get another shot at the night VFR Cross Country flight on Monday.

I’ll update ya till then.

Thanks mom for understanding about letting me get the V6. I love you so much and I know that you are supporting me in everything that I do.