Moving to Bend, Oregon June 18, 2009
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: Abingdon Watches, Bend, Lancair, Oregon, Redmond, sales
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You heard it hear first folks! I am moving to Bend, Oregon in August. Excited, you ask? Yes! Nervous, you ask? Yes! But as one who takes to the skies, and has never settled, I am looking forward to this as an adventure full of new people, new terrain, and new experiences I never thought I could have.
The reason for my move is that I have taken an offer from Lancair Aviation to assist with their sales department internationally and domestically. The company is based in Redmond, Oregon – just north of Bend, and so I go. Of course, Abingdon Watches will still be going full strength (By the way, did you see the article this month in AOPA about the company? Read it here), so don’t worry about that! Expect some new products shortly.
If anyone reading this has anything to tell me about Bend that I should know, I am all ears! I would love to know about this new place I call home. I hear it’s an awesome town full of all sorts of things to do, so I want to make sure I don’t miss out on anything. Thank you in advance for any advice you have!
Wonderful Wintry Days December 28, 2008
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Whenever in doubt about what to speak of in social situations, we all divert to the weather. Well now, the weather is quite incredible this winter season and worth talking about! I flew to Las Vegas last week and the ground was covered in snow. Vegas – as one taxi driver told me – sees weather like this once ever 30-40 years. Some of my colleagues at Cirrus Aircraft in Duluth, Minnesota could not go to work as their roads were filled waist high with snow – much more than in past years. And here in Los Angeles, my good friend Jeff, who is from New York, says that the weather in LA is more like east coast weather than typical west coast.
The verdict is in: We are in for one cold winter. I’ll be bundling up near my little electric heater. It’s about the size of a record player, but that little guy will toast bread if put close enough to it. Unfortunately, my scooter days are being shortened, but I know that will be temporary.
To everyone out there who is working with this wintry windy wet wailing weather, I hope you stay warm and wrested.
I’ve Held My Breath For Too Long! November 2, 2008
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So it’s been awhile since I have added to the blog, but I’m back and it’s good to be so! This summer has been busy with airshows and traveling, breaking up with boyfriends (I know, it stinks), and meeting new friends. Recently, my cousin from England, Emma Wishart, came to visit on holiday for three weeks. She just left yesterday and I already miss her! As this was her first time in America, I had to show her as much as I could. We went to Reno, Sedona, San Francisco, and Las Vegas all in a period of two and half weeks! And let’s not forget that I am in Los Angeles as well. Needless to say we were tired by the end of it, but she said it was the vacation of a lifetime, and I am glad she enjoyed it.
Ann Darr December 11, 2007
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: Ann Darr, Female, Pilot, WASP
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I have often read the work of Ann Darr without knowing how much I had in common with her. As it turns out she was a woman after my own heart, as brave as they come, who opened the door for women in flight as one of our nations early aviatrixes.
After reading this article, I was prompted to look more deeply into Ann’s life and into her writing. I discovered a whole host of writings dedicated to her experiences as a WASP, and while many things have changed, many have remained the same.
Typically men in the business of piloting are welcoming and friendly, but the culture in flying is still that of a boy’s club and all of us female pilots have had our run-ins with the unpleasant. Ann had to work very hard to overcome an extreme atmosphere of masculinity. We may have come a long way, but reading this article made me realize there is still a ways to go.
It’s up to all of us established women pilots to at least show other women that we have made it, and they can make it too, regardless of age, culture, or class.
Here’s to you Ann, who can show us the way even in death.
Thanks November 26, 2007
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: Thanksgiving
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After a long and glorious Thanksgiving weekend I had to take the time to say thanks to everyone who has stuck by me during this crazy year. Though you are too numerous to mention individually (and for fear of leaving someone out), believe me when I say that I couldn’t have done it without you.
The business is going along great and word is starting to spread among women pilots that there is a sisterhood between us all be our reason for flying military, commercial, or just because we love the sky. As the lineage of aviation becomes long enough to be legendary we can rest assured that women have secured a small but prominent (and ever growing) piece in the tapestry of that legacy.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and while I don’t have any physical offspring, my various interests take a great deal of time and energy to foster and would not have developed without the helping hands of people from all over the country. My hobby has become an occupation, and my occupation a defining characteristic of my life. Ergo, you have all touched my life in amazing and positive ways, and that’s surely something I am thankful for.
OH, Shizzzle…! November 14, 2007
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: Live Music, Los Angeles, Music, Santa Monica
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It is official, the Renee Myara Quartet(“yeah, and there’s six of them!”) has restored my faith in live music. They played the Temple on Wilshire last night and tore it up, flat out, brought the house down. Their dynamic sound defies genres labeling and the sound is incredible powerful, while still maintaining a razor sharp artistic edge. If they come to a venue within a hundred miles of you, you must go.
Usually the story of a live music invitation ends in tragedy. You know the drill, it’s like: “So what’s up tonight?”…”Oh, I’m going to see a friends show, do you wanna go?”…and you think [Grr, probably gonna be terrible - but I guess I'll check it out so I can claim I have a life tomorrow at work]. So you say, “Sure!”…((Four hours and two overpriced girlie martinis later))… [I'm not tipsy enough to have a good time, and this band is even worst then the last one that made me swear I'd never go to a live show again]. You utter to your friend defeatedly, “I’m gonna go…I’m really tired and I have work in the morning.”
YEAH, not this band. No way in H.E. double-hockey-sticks. I had a great time and they were shockingly awesome on stage. Not a whole lot of screaming and clapping, it was like a bunch of people with their jaws dropped, totally intoxicated by the sound coming from the stage. Woah.
Check it out. Click the link!
One Crazy Week November 6, 2007
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Ok, so I haven’t written for a week, but there is a very good reason. My check ride was Thursday and my birthday was Saturday. For the entire week I studied, studied, and studied some more, but come Thursday morning I was ready to rock. I had a great ride and passed with no real trouble.
The rest of the day was totally relaxed. I went out for a nice dinner at a hidden spot here in Santa Monica and then headed over to the monthly meeting of my chapter of the 99’s.
Ladies, you have got to join the 99’s if you haven’t yet (assuming you have a local chapter). After all of the business is done, the evening is spent having dessert and trading stories about racing, close calls, and basically how everyone is doing in their various endeavors. It’s a little like a mini Thanksgiving once a month.
Since I studied through Halloween night, my birthday party was a huge costume fest. My house filled with my friends, all dressed in random crazy outfits. Good food, great friends, and wine all mixed up with costumes that were not at all “G” rated made for an awesome party that went until almost four in the morning.
Long story, short. Last week was one crazy week!
U.S. Airways Waives Fees to Southern California October 24, 2007
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: Airline, California, Fire, Southern California
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I thought this was really cool and I wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!
From the Aviation Weblog:
If you watch the news, then you know about the wildfires in Southern California. Over a million people have been evacuated and homes have been destroyed. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is or will be affected by…
On Fire October 23, 2007
Posted by Juice in General Ramblings.Tags: California, Fire, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica, Southern California
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Southern California is my home and it has been my whole life. I don’t mean Santa Monica (where I’m based now) specifically, I mean all of Southern California. I grew up in Burbank and went to college in San Diego, and since graduating I have been meandering about, setting roots in various places all generally in SoCal.
I feel like the entire quarter of the state from Bakersfield to Los Baños and from Big Bear to Venice Beach, has really been my village and my playground. Flying has done even more to shrink the broad Southland into a partitioned yet tight community, and I count among my friends people from many walks of life living all over this vast, yet familiar, landscape.
Right now my house is safe, but my home is on fire. The statistics – 500,000 evacuated/1,300 homes gone/360,000 acres of earth scorched – are the type that register in most people’s minds as extraordinary, but then evoke little emotional response. I’m not sure why that is, but I’ll go as far as to admit that I have watched tragic events on T.V. and have been fascinated or mesmerized more than compassionate. This is not one of those times. It is so painful to see it all burn: The hills around San Diego, the canyons of Malibu – just a few minutes up the PCH from my place of business – the lakes, the golden hills behind Magic Mountain, and the grasslands of Irvine.
Maybe people can’t realistically relate to the terror of sudden evacuation or the grief of losing a home, but I’m betting a lot of people can relate to me right now.
The normal cerulean of the sky has been dulled just slightly but everywhere, bringing about a distortion unique to fire. The sunlight filtering through the thin, ubiquitous layer of ash has taken on a distinct lead-orange color that transforms the look of life into something like an old Technicolor movie. The change of color is not inherently unpleasant, but knowing it means fire makes for an ever-present feeling of uneasiness, and then there’s the smell.
I spent hours on my mobile phone today and I’m not any more satisfied my friends are safe than I was when I woke up this morning. They say everything’s fine, they politely decline my offers for a place to stay, I hang up, and the sublime tug of worry keeps on.
Gathering information has become an addiction. It started with T.V., a gateway drug for the inquisitive. Now I’m stacked here in something that looks like mission control (laptop, desktop, cell, T.V. on, e-mail open) and believe me Houston, we’ve got a friggin’ problem. It seems like every few minutes there’s a new fire. “Magic Fire,” “Slide Fire,” “Mc Coy,” the list goes on. The names start to get familiar, and that’s bizarre, like my mind is accepting fire as the new not-on-fire.
The good news is, the winds slowed today and both the governor and the president have authorized the military to lend a helping hand. I know it will end eventually, but it just doesn’t feel like it will end at all, ever.
To everyone fleeing the fire, fighting the fire, and flying over the fire, you have my well wishes for a safe return home. I am one of many, I’m sure, that holds you in my heart as we all band together and move through this difficult time in our Southern California community.
Half-Baked Genesis October 23, 2007
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Hello World!
As someone who spends a lot of time reading about women’s issues on-line and generally using the web to do everything from conduct business to get the news, I suddenly felt the need to be a part of the hubbub. I’m not exactly sure where this blog will take me, but I figure that’s the fun of it all.
While the banner at the top of the page reads “flight blog,” I don’t really see myself sticking solely to flight related issues. I mean, how many times can I write about how fun it is to do a loop or a barrel roll (Really, REALLY fun – just for the record)? What I suppose I’ll do is just keep doing what I do normally, but instead of just giggling about the stuff I come across in life and online internally, or bouncing it off my friends, I’ll do those things and then finish up here with a post wrapping the whole thing up in a neat little package.
I’m totally looking forward to the dialogue aspect of this whole thing, so if you’re reading this, drop me a line or e-mail me. For now, I’m just glad I got my shiny new piece of the gigantor-blog-o-sphere to look the way I want. Onward and upward!
