Food Storage

Food Storage.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  Well, it's a lot more than fun...it's a Commandment.  Surely, it's not on the Top Ten Commandments most Christians are familiar with, but it's just as important.

But moreso than a Commandment, Food Storage is essential to providing for your family through all manners of affliction.  From lost wages, to increased food costs, to diminished food supply, a simple food storage system will help alleviate any concerns of not being able to feed your family.  Does that mean we're becoming survivalists?  Building bomb-proof shelters underground and setting up camp outside of town when the riots and zombies run rampant through our community?  No.  We're just being prepared, and following the guidance of our Savior.

Many in our religion are familiar with the concept of food storage, but I, not having been raised in the Church, am unfamiliar with it's necessity, how it works, and what we should do about it.  Same goes for my family, as bringing up the idea of a food storage conjures up the zombiepocalypse survivalist questions.

Ideally, we should have a year's supply of everything we need.  Food, water, stuff to cook, stuff to cook the stuff with, money, etc.  A year.  I know what you're thinking.  Or, I'll try to make a guess.  You're thinking about a shed in the backyard filled with cans of Spaghetti-O's and boxes of Macaroni and Cheese. Well, as cool as that would be to find another way to add some tension to the HOA Compliance Committee, that's not what we're thinking.  See, many traditional Mormon families have set up in their basement a pseudo-grocery store, with many things canned, bagged, and placed into huge buckets or drums.  Typically, they consist of things like wheat, beans, fruit, and other items that store for a long time.  However, a year's worth of wheat is going to do us no good, because bread can only get you so far (and, seeing as it is an Evans Family Directive that any sandwich eaten must be accompanied with chips, we would not get too far).

Thankfully, Stefani had the opportunity to go to our friend Angela's house and learn about freeze-dried foods that are ideal for food storage.  Unlike dehydrated food items, freeze-dried foods retain the nutrients within them, making them rank high on the usability and storability scales.  And, this company, called Shelf Reliance, cans and freeze-dries things we'd typically eat.

Now, a year's worth of food sounds like a huge heap of cans and water drums laying around, but, if used properly, won't take up too much space.  See, instead of just having a year supply in your basement, realistically, you'll rotate through your supply throughout the year and replenish it as you go on.  This is similar to what we've been doing up until now, where we've bought a few extra cans of things and put them in the pantry, and made an attempt to keep an honest supply in store.

So, before we go ballistic and buy a crap-ton of food to store, we're going to try some out, and we'll share with you what we've liked and disliked.  If it's anything like Stefani's first try at astronaut ice cream, we're in for some more funny faces.

Figure 1. Not sure if this was the "Will you marry me?" face or the "I just ate astronaut ice cream face".

This is going to be fun for us, as we're going to see what it's like eating all this space food.  I'll see if I can whip up some sweet meals and invite people over for them and keep the fact that they're eating our food storage a secret...just to see what their reaction is.  Again, if it's like the pic above, we're in for a good set of pics.

I'd write more about it, but Stefani went to the party and learned more about it than I did.  I'm just relaying what she would say if she was awake, but our poor happy-face girl is working a night shift again, so she's catching her z's.

Oh, in other news, I passed all my checkrides for my upgrade...and just have one ride-along with the FAA and then it's all done.  However, from this point forward comes the pay raise (which Stefani quickly points out is not half of hers), sitting in the left seat with passengers on board (no need to worry, an instructor will be in the right seat), and the four bars on my shoulders.  Perhaps that face above is the "YAY YOU'RE FINALLY A CAPTAIN!!!" face.  Either way, that's what my face will look like when Stefani finds out I posted that picture on the blog and she kicks me in my bathing suit area.

Ground Training - DONE.

This is what I've been doing for the last two weeks.  Looks like I'm deep into concentration, but really, I'm pretending that I'm testing the alarm lights as part of the Originating Check (mind you my hand is really on the Sterile Cockpit light).  But really, this is about it.  Oh, well, there's the eight hours of classes a day, plus the countless hours of group study, individual study, and some time here and there for a little meal, nap, time to "space out", and attend to my personal hygiene.  But really, that's about it.  And a few yoga routines.

Ground school is as fun as it can be.  Thankfully, we're lucky to have two instructors that not only know their stuff, but love doing what they do, and can make a few wise cracks here and there.  Also, we've got a great gaggle of Baby Captains who are also able to take a few wise cracks.  It will surely be a great time once we're all out on the line.

More important than systems, though, is flows.  Flows are methodical orders established for completing checklist items that pilots are required to memorize.  Such things as Propeller Overspeeds to Emergency Evacuations to the Engine Start Flow are examples of these.  In college, flows were the way of life.  See, back when I was just a plain ol' Private Pilot, checklists were done in a 'read-do' format, like somebody reading a recipe then doing what the recipe is instructing.  Nowadays, with the cost of fuel, the complexity of aircraft systems, and the growing number of tasks that need to be completed, flows help keep things organized, quick, and efficient.  Obviously, a checklist will be used to back-up the flow, but now items completed in the flow can be given your complete attention.

There's a few flows to memorize, and, since we're all upgrading, we've been tasked to learn the First Officer flows as our sim partners are also our classmates (all upgrades) and since we're hiring pilots, we've been told that knowing their flows will help us make sure things get done correctly.  Great.  Add that to systems of an airplane I've never flown, all the profiles, procedures, emergency actions, and now you can see where my time is going.

As stressful as that all may sound, we all successfully completed our Ground Training portion of the upgrade/transition.  Last Friday, after successfully completing the Systems final, the Emergency Equipment test (where 100% was required), and our flow validation, we were all given our Captain wings, our Certificates of Completion, and a gaggle of firm handshakes from our peers and our instructors.

So here I am, home for a few days, while half of the class is traveling to Fresno to get a head-start on the simulator portion of training.  And while I may have some days to relax, realistically, I'll be studying.  Right between the story times, the Thomas movies, and the fort building.  Might be tougher than I thought.  Oh well.  I figure if I remember the ol' 'houses get bigger, houses get smaller' concept, I'll do just fine.  Right?

This is Winter

Figure 1. Winter

This, my friends, is winter in Arizona.  Nice, isn't it.  Light whispy high cirrus clouds, moving ever-so-gently through the blue skies with a light breeze, and a sun radiating it's power to...blah blah blah.  It was gorgeous outside.  So, seeing as though I will be stuck in classrooms and simulators for the month of February, we've decided to enjoy the time we have...even if that means playing hookie on getting my work done this month.

Figure 2.  The Iron King Trail

The Iron King Trail (again, trying to educate you people on every post), used to be the route of the Prescott and Eastern Railroad.  It was completed in 1898.  Now, it is a great path that connects Prescott and Prescott Valley and many runners and bikers enjoy the scenery along the path (more as it approaches the Granite Dells).  It's even adorned with old rail cars at almost every mile marker, and the bridges you use to cross over some dry washes are made from flatbed rail cars.

And off we went, to the Iron King Trailhead, with two bikes, our Chariot, and the typical picnic faire and supplies.  It was a gorgeous day at home...but a little windy on the trail.  In fact, we had what we in the biz call a "headwind" all the way until we approached the lake.  On top of that, the trail was uphill.  On top of that, it was over four miles uphill, and Stefani hasn't ridden her bicycle in a while.  On top of that, I've never pulled the kids in the dirt / mud in the trailer which was stuffed with picnic necessities, such as:

• Picnic blanket (I believe it was a gift to us at one point, but can't remember)
• Picnic essentials, such as:
• Bread slices
• Cheese slices (only the finest Tilamook cheddar)
• Mayonnaise in a small baggie (see, instead of carrying a knife, take the mayo and put it in a snack-size baggie.  Then, when it's time to spread it, cut off the tip of the bag and spread it like frosting, and use the cheese slice to spatula any of the remainder)
• Turkey
• Potato chips (because it is an Evans Family Directive that chips accompany EVERY sandwich)
• Granola bars
• Pretzels
• Orange slices
• Crackers for the kiddos
• Ample water
• Peanut butter and jelly for Hammer
• Diaper bag (just in case)
• Camera

So, it was not a light load, but we both made it just fine.  Fine enough to enjoy a picnic.

Figure 3. Picnic Activity

And it was an enjoyable time.  The kids absolutely loved walking around in the Dells, and Hammer learned the time-honored tradition of throwing rocks at girls.  So, add that to the potty training, sharing, and apologizing list of things I need to accomplish.  Kenzi made more attempts to eat dirt, but Stefani made sure to intervene at the right moment...kind of like when Hammer would open the door to the porta-potty when I was inside with my pants down.

But for a January afternoon, it wasn't too shabby.  In fact, it was awesome.  And so was the trail, because after 4+ miles of in-the-wind uphill riding, 4+ miles of tailwind-enhanced downhill riding made the trail back to the car an enjoyable time.  Except for Hammer and Kenzi, as their tiredness could not overcome the bumps on the trail.  And we forgot milk.

Here's to a few more days of enjoying Arizona, time with the family, and relaxation (minus the midnight requests for Thomas and Friends).  Soon, I will be a few miles away, knee-deep in studying, enjoying the finest hotel room my employer can negotiate for under $40/night.

the busyness

after nagging roy to set-up a new blog, here i am five months later with my first post.

what do i do with all my time?  i think i'm a pretty productive lady and i get it from my grandma durtschi.

she did everything.  with five young kids at home she graduated nursing school as valedictorian.  a blurb on the program read, 'Gloria Durtschi.. Valedictorian.. Always raises class curve.. Knits her own clothes.. Delightful.'  and that about sums it up.  she could do anything.  make chocolates, knit, crochet, sew wedding dresses, make porcelain dolls..  and when my grandpa was too busy to build a rock retaining wall for the backyard- she told him to leave the recipe for the cement mortar mix and she'd build it herself.  and she did, a 75 foot rock wall.  add rock mortar to her list of talents.

my busyness doesn't sound near as cool as my grandma's.  but when i'm not cleaning (to keep my sanity), doing laundry, grocery shopping, working full time, being single mom, or playing with my babes, .. i'm slowly learning to sew.  it's my dream to make awesome things on my sewing machine.  my obstacles are that i'm a total beginner and a perfectionist.  i can totally relate to this girl, i think we could be besties.  i can't see myself spending any amount of time on something, for it to come out substandard and have me feeling like it was a complete waste of time and money.  but i came to the conclusion that the only way i'm going to learn is by practicing, and making mistakes.

my friend angela is super crafty and got me started making a busy book/quiet book for the kids.  (a quiet book is something crazy mormon moms make for their kids to keep them occupied and quiet for church/appointments/in the car/etc)  it's been a blast thinking of ideas and putting it together.  they are pretty time consuming so it's no wonder no one sells them on etsy.  here are some of my finished and pages in progress:

some of the things like snapping, tying, and braiding are a little too hard for jack right now.  he mainly loves the i-spy rocket page so i think i'll do another one of those.  i remember seeing kids at church with these and always wanted one, so if my kids don't love it at least i've fulfilled my childhood dreams.  hopefully after i import my mom next month for a week or so, i can get back to sewing some more pages.  more to come!

The End is the Beginning is the End

Figure 1.  The Beginning and The End. 

I have this weird habit that when I am looking at computers, keyboards, or anything with a keyboard attached to it, that I have to somehow evaluate the ergonomics of said keyboard by typing "The End is the Beginning is the End" over and over again.  I don't know why, but I just do.  But, the other day it brought with it some significance that I'd like to share.

After a few years of waiting for my time in line, I was awarded an opportunity to upgrade to Captain.  While it is every pilot's dream to upgrade to Captain, it has been mine more-so the last few months than ever.  As many of my pilot friends can attest to, something is going to happen within the aviation industry, and it's time I get ready.  Whether it is a massive amount of retirements followed by a massive hiring binge, or the destruction of the regional airline market, something is going to change.  And I want to be ready.  Ready to become a single-income family, and have a ton more babies.

Little did I know that two weeks ago I would have flown my (potentially) last flight in the Barbie Jet.  If I would have known that, I would have done a better job in Appleton, but you're going to have to cut me some slack...it was gusting over 35 knots (for you non-airplane readers, 'knots' is shorthand for 'nautical miles per hour', which airplanes use over miles per hour because of the correlation between nautical miles and the earth grid system) which is just over 40 miles per hour.  And I would have preferred to fly with some of my more memorable Captains in my last month, and share some laughs, a few stories, and a decent game of Travel Scrabble, I think I went out with a bang (or two, if you count the side-loaded upwind main landing gear).

My upgrade class comes at the time where Stefani and I were planning on taking the kids somewhere warm.  She said "Florida" but I deemed "New Zealand" appropriate.  So...warm weather is going to have to wait for a while.  It also comes at a time where we realize that we're going to have to rely on our support group to help out with the babies.  A lot.

See, I'm upgrading into an airplane to which I've never flown.  And, even a super pilot like myself is intimidated because of this.  But I know that with the right amount of studying, and (sadly) some time away from the kids (to the tune of three weeks of training) will help me be successful in my quest for greatness (and a passing score).  I'm happy that my friends have been encouraging me to start studying now, and I'm happy to report my first limitation memory item: flight with the window open (yes, finally an airplane with opening windows) is permitted up to 140 knots (161 mph).  Bubble hard in the double R flashin' the rings, with the window cracked, holler back, money ain't a thing.  Jay-Z knows what I'm talking about.

All excitement aside, the probability that I will not be home as much is high.  Having to commute to what I deem a third-world country (some call it Central California) is going to be an additional challenge.  The probability that I will be "on-call" versus on a schedule for a few months is slight, but enough to warrant some stress.  But the challenge...the adventure...is going to be worth it, right?  We'll see what my new friends at the Coarsegold KOA have to say about it.


So, the end is the beginning is the end.  And here's the end of this post.  Hammer is dancing around watching his shadow and I can't miss my opportunity for the next dance.