Click on Laura’s photo by the VW for more pictures from the car show. The show was just down the street from our house and takes place every year around the third week in September. The air was cool, the weather was beautiful, and since it was my parents last day in Ohio, we decided to take a stroll through the car show.

It was neat to see all the old cars, and the VW convertible and Microbus van were my favorites. They reminded me of my first car, a ’74 Super Beetle that was bright yellow and had a sunroof. I loved that car and miss it today.

For small little Groveport, the car show is a good time and a lot of cars show up each year, with more each time than the last. Mostly for me, it was just something fun to do with dad and mom before I had to tell them goodbye.

After the show, we got some blizzards down at the DQ and then it was off to the airport to drop them off. I was really sad to see them go because I hadn’t seen them in a long time. Also, I know I won’t get to see them for a long time, and I know that I have a lot more stressful testing with Cathay to get behind me before we can once again relax together and enjoy one another’s company.

It was so good to reminisce, enjoy meals together, forget about the world’s problems, and just have fun together. Being so far apart is actually getting harder on me as I get older. When I was younger, my thought process was different toward my parents. I never thought about how they are getting older, I’m getting older, time is slipping by, memories need to be made today because we aren’t guaranteed that tomorrow will come. When I was younger, I always thought that there would be time for visits and memories, and time to soak them up as much as possible. As I age, I realize that I don’t want to spend more time away from them by pushing our meetings further and further back. I want to see them as much as I can.

Time sure flies when we get older. It’s this knowledge that made it hard to get any words out at all as I hugged them on the curb at the airport. Words wouldn’t come, only tears. As that familiar pain in the back of my throat came on strong as I fought back my emotions, I tried to keep things together so everyone else on the curb wouldn’t think I was a complete wreck.

It’s so easy and typical for us as people to not appreciate what we have until it is gone. Living away from my parents has helped me to truly love them and appreciate every moment that I have with them. As I’ll soon be over 8,000 miles from them, and Laura too, it makes the training and time in Hong Kong even more bittersweet. But, it sure makes the return even sweeter. I suppose sweeter homecomings and reunions are nice and almost necessary to remind us how much we should truly love one another. I just wish, in my frailty, that I could be with them all the time, but also love and appreciate them like I haven’t seen them in years. I guess I’ll have to wait for Heaven to be able to do that . . .

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During my short visit to Ohio during my training, I was lucky enough to have my parents fly up from Texas for a few days. It was so refreshing to have them here, to catch up in person, and to see them, after all the stress of training.

There is just something calming and stabilizing about being around my family. I know that a lot of families stress out when they are around each other too much, but because I live so far from them and see them so few precious times throughout the year, each visit is something that I cherish.

Because of the storms that we had from hurricane Ike, my dad and I spent some time in the trees, cutting out broken branches, and my mom was a good sport by raking up all our mess.

We also picked up a Mossberg 410 pump action shotgun at Gander Mountain. The gun was my grandfather’s, and after he passed away, my grandma wanted us to have it for Laura. I never realized that UPS, FedEx, and others, including the USPS, won’t allow shipping of guns. So, my dad took the gun to the local Gander Mountain in Tyler, and they were able to transfer it to their store up here in Ohio. We picked it up, cleaned it off, and took it to the firing range for some fun and practice with it. It’s a great gun for Laura because a 410 is much smaller than the familiar 12 gauge shotgun. Also, it is very small and light because it has a pistol grip on it, instead of a big stock that goes up against the shoulder. I’m glad we have it, and Laura did a great job shooting it. We blasted a lot of holes into the paper targets in the range. Think again before entering our house unannounced!

After the firing range, we headed down to Hocking Hills to see Old Man’s Cave. My parents haven’t seen that part of Ohio, and it was fun to get out of the house. The air under the shade of the trees was cool and comfortable. Hopefully, they will be able to visit again some year when the fall colors are at their best.

It was a great day. Shooting the shotgun, visiting the views of southern Ohio, and topping it off with a great dinner at Texas Roadhouse. During stressful or sad times in my life, I’m so blessed to be able to remember, look back at pictures, and think about the fun that we’ve had together as a family. I’m blessed with parents who’ve taken an active role in my life, to pray for me, visit me, help me with projects, and be the great loving parents that all kids should have. I’m so glad they came to visit.

Click on the photo of my parents at the top of the blog to see more photos of our time in Hocking and at the firing range.

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I’m back in Groveport, Ohio this week for a quick break from training in Hong Kong. Cathay builds a few weeks break into our schedules because they don’t have the training staff to carry everyone straight through without any pauses. It saves them money on per diem and hotel costs, it allows us to recharge our batteries at home, and helps get rid of our alloted vacation for the year.

It’s certainly nice to be home for a little over a week, but on the flip side, I’d almost rather stay in Hong Kong until the job is done and training is over. Training has been very stressful and all through this break I have it lingering over my head that I have more, hard exams to go back to in Hong Kong. Also, just as I get back on Ohio’s time, it will be time to head back to Hong Kong and I’ll have to start my time change adjustment all over again, while I’m trying to pass tests in the simulator. My circadian rhythms are going to kill me.

I have a very hard and stressful simulator check to go through when I get back (I appreciate any and all prayers!) and passing that, I move on to flying the plane with revenue passengers on board as I start my line training. Line training is normal procedures that would be used each day, like flying under normal circumstances. In the sim, we practice emergencies and non normal flying that would be unsafe to learn in the real plane. After the sim, we move to the real plane to learn normal flying. Flying is really the least difficult aspect of normal flying. The hard stuff is all the knowledge that needs to be recalled and fully understood, like: fuel policy, regulations, company policy, calculations for alternates, fuel for alternates, how much fuel would we need at a certain point in our flight to get to a safe landing, etc. The list goes on and on. From what I’ve heard, the training I’ve been through so far is nothing compared line flying, so it will be time to hold on tight. If you think of me, say a prayer, it’s going to be the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my 30 years.

But this is what I signed up for, right? :o)

After getting home late on Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, the remnants of hurricane Ike rolled through central Ohio. The same storm passed over my parents house a day or so earlier and didn’t cause much harm. Because of this, I was thinking that it would be an even less traumatic event, as we live so much farther inland than my parents. I was wrong. The winds picked up to about 75 miles per hour and knocked down tree limbs all over the city, including our back yard. We now have several trees in our yard that will probably not live to see next summer. One branch fell within a few feet of our Passat that would have most certainly totaled the car. Thankfully, it missed and life continues.

Then the power went out! No lights, no cool air, no fans, no TV, no internet, no nothing! It ended up being off for almost two days, and what a bummer that was. I couldn’t sleep at night because my time was still 12 hours off, set to Hong Kong time. I woke up Sunday night about 11:30 p.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. I tried, but to no avail, so I got up. When one can’t sleep at night, usually, it’s no big deal to go downstairs (as to not bother the other half) and pass the time by doing the usual: watch TV or a movie, read a book, listen to music, surf the web, add a blog entry, or whatever. In my case, with no power, there was absolutely NOTHING to help me pass the time! I tried to play “real old school” and read the Bible by candle light, but after almost going blind and burning my fingers on hot, dripping wax, I gave that up. The only other thing to do was go drive around in the car.

I checked up on Laura’s grandparents house to see if they had power (they did) and moved a branch out of the middle of main street. I adjusted and aligned the headlights, took out the trash, and snacked on some chips — and I still needed to kill several more hours before sunup! If you ever find yourself jet-lagged in a house with no power, be prepared for some serious torment.

The power is now back on, and I’m catching up on e-mail, this blog, and getting ready for my parents to visit in a few days. They are flying up on Thursday to stay for several days, and after all the stress of training, they will be a sight for sore eyes. I’m looking forward to them seeing all the hard work we’ve put into the house and catch up with them in person, instead of over the phone with Vonage.

Once they leave, it will be time to head back to Cathay City. It will be a bittersweet trip back into the “teeth of the tiger.” I want the training over, but at the same time, it really is an amazing experience, one that I will remember for the rest of my life: Learning to fly a 747.

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We headed down to Causeway Bay for some dinner at the Outback Steakhouse on Hong Kong Island and it was great! Click on the picture of the Outback sign I took outside the restaurant for more photos or our evening.

I’ve been so busy with studies and training, that I had one afternoon to go out, relax, and get away from the “biosphere” training center. Laura and I had a hankerin’ for some good food from the USA and since we hadn’t had steak in a long time, we found an Outback Steakhouse. It was eerie how similar it was to the ones back home. There were so many similarities: the wood steps and flooring, the Australian memorabilia, low hanging lights over the booths, the dark bread and butter, and even the same music. If we didn’t look outside, we would swear we were back in Texas or Ohio.

The steak was awesome and so was the blossom. The meal cost almost twice what it would have back home, but I guess there is a premium price for good food from the USA here in Hong Kong. It was good to get out and walk around. We took the blue line to the Causeway Bay stop and then after dinner, because we wanted to walk and sight see, we walked down to the next MTR stop, about a half mile down. The streets bustled with people, double-decker busses and taxis raced around, and old, narrow, open roofed, double-decker trolleys rolled down the center of Hennessy St. There are several Outbacks here and we ate at the one on Hong Kong Island.

Laura will be trying to head home in the next few days, but it looks like all the flights are full. Typhoon Nuri, that passed through Hong Kong last week, cancelled lots of flights and has caused havoc at the airport. Nuri caused lots of damage, with trees falling across roads and closing the airport. Nuri was a level nine, second strongest, from level 10, and there hasn’t been a level nine since 2003. With summertime in Hong Kong, the threat of typhoons seem to loom over the city every day.

I sure am going to miss Laura when she heads back to Ohio, so I’m trying to soak up as much of her as I can before she makes like a tree and leaves. Tomorrow night, we plan to eat on the top floor of the hotel we are staying in, which provides a great view of the area. As for Laura, she’s enjoyed her time here, and with the travels, seeing a new city, sleeping in, taking it easy, and being off of work, I can honestly say that she isn’t ready to leave. As all good things come to an end, she’ll be headed back soon, but a few weeks after that, I too, will hopefully be on my way back as well.

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