As with most weeks, last week had its ups and downs.
My mother is not doing too well. She is back in the hospital and is being handled by the hospital as an incompetent person. Even though part of me rebels against the thought, since there really is no one else to do it, Jeanie and I have started the process of seeking guardianship. Jeanie did a lot of work researching attorneys in the extended area, made lots of calls, and ended up finding what we believe will be a good attorney, skilled in these sorts of matters, right here in town. We met with her early last week and had expected the papers to be filed this week. Unfortunately, a recent (three weeks ago) Florida supreme court ruling now requires that even for emergency temporary guardianship, the alleged incompetent person must have an attorney to represent them and must have the guardianship petition personally read to them by the attorney prior to being accepted by the court for consideration. It would have been nice had we known that before we got all dressed up and drove to Jacksonville to appear before the judge in his chambers. At least, the judge was nice and since we had made the effort to appear, he "swore" us in his chambers and made sure that there were no disqualifying items (prior felony convictions or bankruptcy) that would prevent us from being able to act as guardians in the state of Florida. This will hopefully save us from having to go back to Jacksonville - our attorney should be able to file/appear on our behalf.
Depending on how well the hospital can stabilize her, she may be able to go back to the assisted living facility where she is currently residing, or she may have to go to a nursing home. Even if she can stay in an ALF, we may choose to move her back closer to here, as it just adds to the challenge of caring for her having her over an hour away.
The weekend was nice for the most part.
On Saturday, we went to breakfast at Miss Caroline's. It was crowded, somewhat slow, and the food was fine, but relatively expensive given the total lack of presentation or inclusion of any side dishes. I ordered eggs benedict and that's what I got - two English muffin halves, each topped with a piece of Canadian bacon and a poached egg, topped with Hollandaise sauce plopped on a plain white plate - nothing else. Jeanie ordered pancakes and that's what she got, three pancakes plopped on a plain white plate.
After breakfast, we went downtown to the Amelia Cruizer's 11th Annual 8-Flags Car Show. Before walking around the show, so we would still get a good selection, we stopped in at the Fernandina Farmer's Market where we picked up some fresh veggies and a small Myer's Lemon tree. The car show was quite enjoyable. The weather was lovely, and there were lots of interesting cars. Jeanie and I both thought Bob Murphy would have enjoyed the show - it is sad that Wendy and Bob live so far away.
After spending an hour or two downtown, we headed home. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the house.
Around five, I headed out to the airport for a CAP Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX). It was interesting because rather than the normal ELT search, we did a visual search. I acted as Observer on our sortie. It was more challenging than I had anticipated both because every time I had to turn my attention in to the cockpit to jot down a note or talk on the radio, I had to break off my visual search, and just because spending an extended period of time really looking for something in a systematic manner is tougher than you might expect. The exercise really made me appreciate (at least in a small way) just what the folks looking for Steve Fossett went through.
After the SAREX, a number of us stayed around to do night proficiency flying. I was very disappointed in my flying. The night was absolutely beautiful - clear skies and no wind, so the experience should have been picture perfect - unfortunately, it was far from it. Each of my approaches were quite high turning onto final. On my second approach, everything seemed fine right up to touchdown, but at the last minute, the aircraft got squirrelly and I bounced and elected to go around. I was slow retracting the first notch of flaps and let my airspeed get lower than I should have. There was no major issue and the stall warning never sounded, but I think I made my copilot nervous which really upset me. The three landings I made weren't horrible - I didn't pound the aircraft into the ground or land way long - but they weren't great either. By now, I expect that especially in ideal conditions, every landing should be perfect. I really need to focus - especially at night - on attitude flying.
On Sunday, I did my normal Sunday morning ritual of going to the airport to hang out. There was a good crowd and I ended up staying for a couple of hours. The time was pleasant, but I was still aggravated over my flying from the previous night.
Jeanie and I had planned to do some chores around the house - like planting the lemon tree, but Jeanie had a migraine, so we just spent a quiet afternoon and evening at home.
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Posted by David at October 24, 2007 07:19 PM