Flight Before the Storm

There’s a major winter storm forecast to hit the mid-Atlantic. Taking advantage of the calm before the storm, I took a nice flight to Cape May Airport. Winds were calm, visibility decent, and the venerable Cessna 172 running fine. I headed south to Wilmington, DE then turned south east, basically following the Delaware Bay. Here’s a look at the finger of Cape May sticking out:

From this point, Cape May is more than 20 miles away. Notice all that snow on the ground from the last storm. But no worries. I headed into KWWD, also known at Cape May Airport. It looked like this:

Plenty of runway there to land and take off. Looking a little closer now.

A friendly sight if you need to land. Anyway, I came in, landed, taxied back, and took a few minutes to reset all my instruments and such. Then it was back up in the air. On the way back, I snapped this shot of KILG, also known as Wilmington, Delaware.

Again, those are big runways designed for heavy planes. I have landed there many times but only for practice with the tower. Normally, I stay clear of the bigger airports and aircraft. No need to mix with them.

All in all it was a great flight. Of course, probably won’t be able to go for another two weeks given the horrendous weather on the way.

Popi’s Restaurant, Philadelphia

In South Philadelphia, not far from the sports stadiums, you’ll find Popi’s Restaurant. This is a neighborhood place with lots of regulars, entertainment on weekends, and some very good food.

I’ve been going to Popi’s for years now, sometimes stopping in for a drink at the bar, other times having an expansive meal with friends. Either way, you’ll find yourself in a friendly environment, hosted by people who truly care about your experience.

Last night, my wife and I were there with a dear friend, the three of us at a corner table, relaxing, catching up, and generally having a great time. After a trio of salads we moved on to the entrees. Our friend ordered the chicken marsala, which is pictured below:

My wife likes Popi’s crab cakes and ordered them as her entree, as can be seen here:

I’m a simple guy and last night was looking for hearty food. Thus, I decided to go with rigatoni bolognese, an old standby.

Add a few glasses of wine, lots of conversation, a great waiter, and it all comes to a fine evening out. Popi’s is the kind of place you think of when you want a quality italian meal in a setting where you feel like you belong. The staff is on point, the hostess keeping an eye out, and everyone else in the place is enjoying themselves. That feeling is contagious, which is why I keep coming back to this place. Sometimes my wife and I will stop in just for dessert and a drink at the bar.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, or not, give Popi’s a try. After all these years, they’ve never let me down.

Down the Valley

It’s one thing to fly an airplane thousands of feet above the ground, and quite another to fly it down a narrow valley in the back country. This blog has previously featured the Aviat Aircraft “Husky.” Here’s another video of the same aircraft following a valley to a grass strip for a very nice landing. The camera is mounted near the tail of the aircraft giving a great view of the whole approach.

Clearly this type of flying requires plenty of instruction, skill, and practice. And then the thrill of accomplishing this type of flight is priceless.

Always do your checklist!

More risk?

According to Mr. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general at the Treasury Department, there are dark clouds on the financial horizon. That’s right, the brilliant people from the past administration and the current one have only kicked the can down the road. They’ve given the taxpayer a few chips to play the roulette wheel of life. Only the odds are against the taxpayer and the stakes are higher than the kids’ tuition money.

Mr. Barofsky’s report warned that the government “has done more than simply support the mortgage market, in many ways it has become the mortgage market, with the taxpayer shouldering the risk that had once been borne by the private investor.”

You guessed it, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. You bailed out the banks and the mortgage companies all at the siren call of “we have to do something.” Really? It would have been better to take the hit and learn the lesson. If you buy junk you’re stuck with it. Now the lesson is, buy all the junk you want, the government will give you gold for it. Absolute balderdash. Sure, there might have been a depression or some severely tough times. Still, economic laws are much like the laws of physics. You deny them at your peril.

And these fools, the government that is, want to run healthcare? And decide how much college should cost? And regulate emissions? And decide what kind of jobs are good? And on and on and on. If there’s an adult in Washington, please stand up. We can’t see or hear you. It’s time to close romper room and install people who understand reality.