10/06 4eme semaine/ 4th week

Nous avons commence la semaine par aller a un airshow, comprenant les "Blue Angels".Pas trop mal, mais le reste un peu bidon, et ma fois, ca ne vaut pas le meeting de Salis a la Ferte-Allais. Un de ces jours, il faudra qu'on fasse le voyage en France, rien que pour ca.En milieu de semaine, nous avons vu un autre meeeting, ou etaient presentes plusieurs constructeurs avions comme Cirrus, Diamond, et Piper. Bien reve, bien salive sur ces avions neufs, tous jolis avec une avionique du parfait pilote de ligne. Mais non franchement, nous n'aurons jamais les moyens d'acheter des engins pareils!Rendez-vous etait egalement pris avec la dame qui manipule la machine des ultra-sons, un peu plus grosse celle la, (la machine, pas la dame), un peu mieux faite car Kate allonge sur la table pouvait voir le bebe en direct grace a un ecran plat installe au mur en face d'elle, au lieu de se contourner pour essayer de voir quelque chose comme auparavant. Cette fois, ca devient beaucoup plus interressant pour nous, car on peut distinctement voir les bras, les pieds, et les mouvements du bebe. J'ai bien compte, 10 doigts pour les mains et les pieds, c'est tout bon!Helas, nous ne savons toujours pas le sexe, pour ca, il faudra attendre debut decembre, date de notre prochaine visite.

Howdy, howdy, howdy! Don't really feel up to saying it - it's late, I'm tired, etc. etc., but, on the other hand, why not? HOWDY! This week Richard and I went to an airshow just south of us. It had some ol' WWII warbirds and also the Blue Angels. However, I think the show was ruined by insurance because most of the flying was straight and level, so it was boring from a pilot's perspective. Not sure the other folks understood it to be so also. Ah well. It was an ok show overall but too many people, too hot, and - again - pretty boring flying. However, I will never complain to see an operational B17, Corsair, Spitfire, Japanese Zero. I don't really care what those airplanes did. The sound of their engines was enough for me to get all giggly and excited. The jets - well, a jet is a jet is a jet. But to have one of those Spitfires and strafe one's local Walmart - PRICELESS! :) Just add some water balloons and good ol' fashioned carpet bombing techniques and, well, I'm in heaven! :) Fire one!This week we also caught a "fly-in" which means pilots fly in their airplanes from all over the US. The purpose is to chit chat (about flying), see new airplanes, take classes, see new products, etc. That was more fun. There was a DC 3 there, so that was the best of the best. We also took a look at some other planes, worth about $300,000 to $500,000. They were nice, I guess, but I prefer the old dial cockpit, as opposed to the ultra-computerized "glass" cockpits in modern aircraft. Flying a dial cockpit keeps you in tune with the basic skills of flying, which, as Richard himself says, many glass-only pilots take too much for granted, forgetting critical skills which become necessary when it all hits the proverbial fan. When flying dial, you learn to "read" the airplane, to "hear" her sounds, much like human breath, to keep an eye on her and know when trouble is coming long before any computer will tell you so. Plus, when the computer inevitably goes bye-bye, there's no worries that you don't know your flight plan, know your airplane, and know you way home. Plus...it's just so much darn cooler to be reading an ol' chart by way of a small flashlight held between your teeth, while looking outside and attempting to guide your pilot through the long, night sky. It's just so B17, it gives me goosiebumps. Glass cockpits just give me - well - nothing priceless (of course, except precision landing and fuel usage, but just ask the guys at Airbus some of the precision crashes a computer can do too!). I'll take human guts and 6th sense over silicon any day. Heck, I'd bet Richard against a computer any day (and since he can beat the simulations, he's the man to do it!). "Bombardier to navigator! Navigator to bombardier!"We topped off this week with another trip to el OBGYN wherein we received our third ultrasound. This time was cool because it was "live" so we watched the little bambino jump and fly and kick and cough. Apparently, per the technician, we were watching as the baby attempted to take breaths, which apparently demonstrated that the part of the brain which controls breathing was already active. This is practice which the apparent fetus does to give the ol' lungs a workout prior to delivery. Good news! (A significant milestone demonstrating healthy development, per the tech). Per the pictures above, and some we didn't include, we also got to see the arms, legs, hands, feet, nose, spine, brain, heart, etc. etc. Again, it was great to see, but more so in that we watched it live (on a big screen, flat screen attached to the wall above our heads), got to watch baby jump and such. The best part was when the tech was trying to get certain readings, which required the baby to be in a certain position. However, baby decided to take a nap and wouldn't budge despite all the moving and groving the tech asked me to do (including hiccup and cough). At our next ultrasound appt on Dec 4th we will apparently learn the sex (unless, perhaps, baby is laying on the goods). It will then be announced that we have a boy! (That's my two cents). Yes, Dad, could still be a girl. I'm betting a 50/50 chance on it. Other than that, we're doing just dandy. All decked out for Halloween, ready to scare the dickens out of the neighborhood kiddies. And looking forward to some cooler days of winter.Now, if only it would snow!Adios muchachos!