Recombobulation?  It is not in the dictionary.  The word, however, strategically used by somebody in the management of the Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport, provided us with a chuckle last weekend.   As we completed the TSA security checks, we were comforted by the sign indicating that we were at the “Recombobulation Area” and would be able to sit down, gather our belongings, compose our thoughts, and then move on to our boarding gate.

B has been aching to hunt squirrels, so that is what we did last weekend.  It was his first hunt as a shooter.  Our strategy was  good, we got one squirrel quickly, and we saw three others that B did not get a shot at.  Later, as we were cleaning and cooking the animal, Dad related how he used to go shoot three or four squirrels and his family would eat them for dinner.  He added that Pa (B’s great-great grandfather) also liked to boil the heads.   Apparently, this is a common practice.  Interestingly, B shot this squirrel with Pa’s 20 gauge Ithaca Model 37.

 

The young P’s and I lately returned from Cincinnati.  We experienced a few challenges downtown, but the response we received was refreshing.  Three times we ran into issues with directions or parking, and each time, someone came along to help out.  In the first instance, it was a random lady walking down the sidewalk who gave us helpful information — unsolicited — and in the last two cases, two different garage employees helped us with difficulties at our parking garage.  We thank you Cincinnati.

C and I spent last weekend away and found out that our hotel was the site of the local atheists convention. We found ourselves wondering. Who are these atheists? What do they discuss at their conventions? What are their goals? These questions and more need answers, and there are answers.

C, possessing her father’s knack for this sort of thing, asked some of these questions directly of one of the attendees. He looked uncomfortable. She also struck up a conversation with the driver of the billboard. He was bemused by how hard these people were working at believing in nothing.

J says, “80% is mediocracy.”

Lately asked by an associate to justify my request, I responded, “of whom much is asked, much will be required.”

There is important news from this weekend.  I achieved my goal — to receive a complex aircraft endorsement by the end of 2011.  The endorsement took about ten hours of instruction in a Piper Arrow II (PA-28R-200).  We could justifiably gripe a bit about the glide ratio of the Arrow, but it is a forgiving, enjoyable, and I think capable cross-country machine.  Next step…a real cross-country flight!

The other day we witnessed something remarkable. The crane operator at the junkyard was using his crane to extract the motors from refrigerators, obviously for the copper.  The following was his process:

1. Snatch one refrigerator from pile o’ refrigerators.
2. Set refrigerator on ground.
3. Violently smash refrigerator with crane, sometimes twice just for fun.
4. Find motor and grab with crane.
5. Lift.
6. If motor does not come loose, shake, yank, smash, till it comes loose.
7. Toss motor 75 feet through the air to pile of motors.
8. Toss refrigerator 50 feet through the air to pile of miscellaneous scrap.

Upon noticing this fascinating process, the boys would mark each smashing with a chorus of “whoah!” and each tossing with a laugh.  They did not want to leave so we stayed for a few more.