Autumn into Winter
Autumn into Winter
This year I missed
out on my usual journey to Thailand in time for the Loy Krathong
Festival, a favourite time for me.
But these past five years have been difficult, and much has had
to go by the wayside. Carry on regardless!
Flyingwise,
climate change has increased the size and ferocity of Autumn
Atlantic storms.
One by one they landed on British shores. The latest was Storm
Darragh with a Red
Warning appearing
on my mobile phone in Devon. The wind speed reached 96 MPH over
Berry Head in South Devon.
Fortunately there appears to be only minor damage at Popham where
the aeroplane is based.
On Friday I drove
a final load to Devon in my hard worked CR-V, and returned to
Guildford on Saturday with a strong following wind.
It's 172 miles from Redhill to Devon, and 147 miles back to
Guildford, and I have rented a van to do this five times, and
then numerous times in the CR-V as well.
The CR-V now has over 157,000 miles on the odometer which was
unthinkable mileage when I drove Vauxhall Viva HA cars in the
1970's and 1980's.
There's been a moan about paying for petrol for the CR-V, it's
not economical, but it certainly carries a load reliably. At
£1,450 I think it's been superb value for money these past five
years.
What's not considered when petrol is being paid for is the just
over £100 per month tax and insurance, and then the Honda needs
some new tyres.
I logged three
flights in the Aircoupe in November, and flew as passenger with
David Crouchman for one.
The first flight was with Iain who wanted to record the movements
displayed by the instruments. All the instruments worked
perfectly as I manoeuvred the aeroplane.
Iain is developing an AI program as part of his University
studies. This program will read the instruments and transmit the
data to a ground station.
This could help a hapless passenger should the pilot become
incapacitated.
Next I flew with a potential new group member, Henry, who is quite tall, but who settled himself in and enjoyed flying the Aircoupe.
Another 'David'
came down from Norfolk, he is interested in buying the Aircoupe
from me, and it's given me something to think about.
I put the price down to £17,000 for a quick sale, and this would
mean I'll be only £5,000 or so out of pocket.
I also have an offer to buy a half share, and to continue the
status quo whereby the aeroplane slowly recoups it's cost.
A third or even a fourth share can be sold if anyone is
interested.
The consideration
for me is that there's value in retaining a hangar space, plus
access to an aeroplane.
I am not willing to give up flying yet.
Devon
I've been treated
like a twenty year old, lugging furniture into the CR-V or the
rented van, and my back certainly feels it.
I put my back out in my twenties when I went to move a Tiger
Moth. It's easy to lift the tail high and the weight falls off as
the engine counter balances it, and then move it around on it's
mainwheels with the tailskid clear of the ground.
If you let go the nose could hit the ground!
So I went to lift it expecting one thing, but it was extra heavy
as the engine had been removed!
When I suffer, as I have suffered recently, I try to walk it off.
I know the A303
quite well now, I've been up and down it so many times
Yes, I agree, it would have been easier and even cheaper to hire
a lorry and a man to move everything to Devon from Redhill but
Thai's don't think like that and it resulted in critical
arguments when I suggested something else.
Even after all of this I am reminded that I am a burden... 'Takes
me back to my childhood.
I never ever want to be a burden on anyone, and so hopefully I
will get a job and start earning my keep again.
Unlike my father's generation, there's no proper pension for
me...
'Applied for Pension Credit in August, this was acknowledged, but
I have heard nothing since.
A phone call, and then going through the menu, resulted in:
"If you have already applied, hang up".
Those of you who
think what a wonderful life I have lived should realise, yes,
it's been a great experience, but in the end, not making a good
financial living during a working life will result in an awkward
old age. I have a wealth of experience, but one has to out live
it!
I think the main thing I missed in life was guidance.
I was indeed a burden to be evicted at 19, and then it took years
to realise that nearly all I was taught at 'home' was wrong,
totally wrong.
I think that having a good mentor in one's life is highly
beneficial. If you find a good partner in this psychologically
stressful modern existence where political correctness often goes
against the natural, I think you can be all the better for it.
Of course in Canada this could mean 'co-dependency' which is a
highly criticised state of being, but good partners are
co-dependent and they achieve more through this than the sum of
individual self centred efforts.
A
brilliant morning
Finding enthusiasm
to fly recently has been difficult... I don't have the money, and
there are demands on my thai-m.
It was the day of the potential sale, and fearing the loss of the
aeroplane, David wanted to go flying. He has a credit to fly off
as well.
I turned up, the aeroplane was out, and there was an offer to
come along.
We had a brilliant flight to Didcot where steam rose through the
fog. This located a power station, and historically such a rise
of steam allowed pilots to find aerodromes when there were no
electronic navigation devices to approach by.
Storm Darragh failed to do it's job and blow down the high trees.
Sold at
last!
It took the whole summer, over seven months, to sell a house
after "Sale Agreed".
The greed of incompetent solicitors who failed miserably to do
their job.
I am not 'professional' in
many things, but in flying, and in mechanical inspection, in
operating a flying school, and everything I profess to be able to
do, I believe I am.
So I have a certain intolerance for those who profess to be
professional and turn out not to be.
So there's been an angry exchange between me and the 'paralegal'
we were lumbered with. He simply did not know what he was doing.
We released a Charge and a Caution against the property
ownership... This should have been the solicitor's
responsibility.
The Swiitch Law solicitors were not pro-active, did not keep us
informed, and this caused excessive delays.
Their final bill included removal of the above Charge and
Caution, which we sorted ourselves when the Paralegal wrote that
he could not!
Then there was a bill for paying off the mortgage to the mortgage
company... There was no mortgage, it was free title, I got them
to strike this off.
The previous sale of a flat
was done through XYZ Law, and solicitor Kayleigh did such a good
job we employed her for the Devon house purchase.
When someone is professional we should use them again, and we
should have used Kayleigh for the Redhill house transaction.
I hope I have reason to update this webpage again this month, but if I don't I hope that all my readers have a happy Christmas/Yuletide, and fun in the New Year.
Let's hope that the year of the Snake brings good luck.