A Curious and Disturbing Trend

Gadabout has noticed an unusual trend in television advertising, a trend that features men as bumbling idiots and women as the clear thinking problem solvers. In most cases, white men demonstrate caveman qualities, but not always. In some scenarios men of multiple races are targeted as fools, but in these few contained cases the purpose appears to elevate their female counterpart’s intelligence and superior value in decision making.

Don’t believe Gadabout? Well, pay attention to commercials in between your favorite television programs! Put down the pizza and Budweiser, and make a few mental notes. If you do you might notice a dunderhead blowing up his outdoor gas grill, while his size 4, hottie wife demonstrates her wisdom in selecting new Pella blinds for the sunroom. Maybe you’ll catch the long distance service promoted by a frustrated wife with her childish husband plays the air guitar in the background. Our bumbling musician is of little use in making difficult financial decisions. A new commercial shows a family man standing next to his recently installed high efficiency heating and cooling system. He is speechless and bewildered as to its many secrets leading to its extreme value, and so is his neighbor who offers his own Neanderthal like gaze.

Women are shown as the doctors, lawyers and power brokers. They are always patient, well dressed and intelligent. Men fumble, while women succeed. Keep a keen lookout for this ongoing brainwashing of American society. Silly? You decide.

Waitress—a critical film review

Gadabout recently viewed “Waitress,” a somewhat independent film by the late Adrienne Shelly. Shelly, who was tragically murdered in her Manhattan apartment in 2006, brings to the screen a southern romantic drama about a confused, lonely and strikingly beautiful waitress and culinary pie baking genius, Jenna, played by Keri Russell. Jenna, stuck in a dead end marriage with Earl, a self possessed, unstable man-boy who is incapable and unwilling to engage in an adult and meaningful relationship. Earl is an abusive thug, and Jenna dreams of an escape from her uncalculated and empty marriage through day dreams and visions of future pie projects as related to her immediate life’s situation. Pies are given names like “my horrible day being married to Earl pie.” Complicating matters for Jenna is her unplanned and untimely pregnancy with Earl’s child—a pregnancy that results “from a night of drinking.” Let all teenagers be aware of this overt connection to alcohol, choosing a mate at an early age, unhappiness, depression and dead end avenues in life.

Jenna is a master of pies, and spends her few happy hours of life working as a waitress with two fellow women who also live lives of desperation, but between the three of them they enjoy a world of happiness and understanding. All three are beautiful, caring and supportive—enough so to make life bearable.

Opposite to Earl’s protagonist role are two central characters that offer hope and wisdom. DR. Pomatter, the somewhat shy gynecologist new to the small town immediately falls in love with Jenna and a dangerous affair ensues. DR. Pomatter, who is always refereed to as such, represents hope and a meaningful future for Jenna. The crusty and aging owner of the diner, played by Andy Griffith, takes a liking to Jenna for her beauty, insight and compatibility for a younger Andy. Both characters love Jenna, but compete for her spirit at disparate, yet equal degrees of eagerness.

Waitress is a story of friendship, life’s decisions and pleasant outcomes. Earl’s efforts to control Jenna tire throughout the film, despite Jenna’s lake of eagerness to actively take any positive steps of accountability to control of her unguided and miserable marriage. True friendships that blossom across the entire crew at the diner offer pleasant moments and that brighter days are always possible, even in the face of poverty, abuse and self doubt. The positive aspects of good judgment and self control are displayed by Jenna’s decisions concerning her adulterous relationship, and her new found courage when confronting Earl.

The audience will enjoy Shelly’s film as both a comedy and a drama. Brief periods of uncertainty, abuse and despair are always short lived and are expertly balanced with scenes of happiness, personal growth and friendship. Take time out of your daily grind and hunt down Waitress. You’ll become a better person for doing so.

FAA CFII Rating Completed

SunState Aviation Campus

New Horizons

Check ride completion
Doors opening and closing
Opaque beginnings

Gadabout received his Instrument Flight Instructor Rating (CFII) today. The check ride had its moments when all could have fallen apart, resulting in a "do over," but somehow I was able to meet the minimum standards as set forth by the FAA. The check ride was fair and challenging, and I believe Mr Bill Leach is a "cut above" designated examiner.

My personal thanks go out to Brian, Jeff, Steve, Nancy, Mike, Kieth, Ivan and the entire staff at SunState Aviation (pictured above--don't let the small appearance fool you) for the personal one-on-one instruction and guidance.

Gadabout will be traveling back to Virginia Thursday morning to reflect on his future.

Gadabout Hates Love Bugs

DDT, Where Art Thou?

Pesky little pest
Swarms of millions fly mating
Splat upon windshield

Gadabout is a bit freaked out by Florida insects. Kissimmee, Florida, is infested with Love Bugs--Plecia nearctica. Love Bugs are everywhere down here, and they certainly make a mess of things. Cars have literarily thousands of splatter marks on windshields, front bumpers and grills. I have not yet inspected my radiator, but won’t be surprised if it is gummed up.

Love Bugs appear to be harmless to humans. They don’t seem to bite, and the local population doesn’t make much mention of their presence. It’s just that they possess a science fiction like quality because of the magnitude of their numbers, and the fact that they fly in a constant state of mating. You rarely see a single Love Bug. It appears that once they are hatched (I guess hatching may not be correct since bugs do the egg/larvae/pupal routine) they immediately find a mate and get down to some serious business.

Harmless or not, Plecia nearcitica is a major nuisance to life and living. My Super 8 motel no-tell is infested, the Kissimmee airport is often swarmed by clouds of millions, and I have sat on many by accident. Gadabout is on the frontier, once again, keeping America informed.

$3.25 For A Gallon of Gas? Who Really Cares?

Gadabout doubts, very much, that current fuel costs are a hindrance to the economy. A critical look at the numbers does not add up to a crisis, as we are being told on the nightly news, and I am determined to expose this rouse.

First off, gasoline is cheaper today, adjusted for inflation, than previous historical highs. In other words, we have seen these prices before. Secondly, the ratio of fuel costs compared to household incomes is at near lows. This means we are making a lot more money today than at other times in the past when confronted with high gas prices, and therefore have extra funds available for discretionary spending. Lastly, we are driving vehicles that achieve greater fuel economy. Many may disagree with this last point, but if you take a look at your personal car ownership over the years, I think you’ll see my point.

Central to the points made above is the vivid, yet unnoticed, point that SUPPLIES are not in short demand. During the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970’s, the country was out of gas. There were long lines at the pump, closed gas stations and we were in a deep recession. It was a bad time in history. Conversely, today we have moderately high prices, but have plenty of supply. The country has a healthy strategic reserve, growing alternatives such as ethanol, and oil fields that are still ripe for harvesting. It has been said that we’ll run out of oxygen before the world runs out of oil. That point is up for debate.

If the average family consumes 30 gallons of gas a week, then that family is spending $30 per week more on gas today than last year. A carton of cigarettes costs over $30. A bottle of whiskey is $20. Two DVD’s at Target goes for over $30. Is there really a problem? Some very low income families may be faced with burdens if they were to lose $30 dollars of income—no doubt about it, but this is most likely a relatively small portion of the population.

Furthermore, many Americans live in big cities and rarely drive cars (if they even own a car)! There is a population trend back to urban and semi-urban areas occurring at this time in our history. The days of suburban lifestyles appears to have peaked, highlighting that many families are fatigued with long commutes and a lack of desired cultural activities. This trend will likely reduce fuel consumption in future years.

As far as holiday driving habits go, $3.25 per gallon gas will not affect planning. If a family plans a 1,500 mile round trip over an extended holiday weekend, 83 gallons would be burned (using an 18 mpg benchmark). That trip adds up to $270 for gas, and is only $83 dollars more than last year. If $83 is a showstopper for a vacation budget, it might be best to buy a case of beer, hotdogs, hamburgers, and just hangout at the homestead.

Gadabout is Making Progress at SunState Aviation

The Staff


The Fleet


The Instructor--Brian

Gadabout has been deep in flight training for the past 5 days and is making progress. I have found myself at the point where I should have been regarding proficiency before arriving at my humble flight school--Sunstate.

Sunstate is a small flight school with about 20 aircraft, a talented staff and motivated students. I am proud to be a part of it. The school is one of the few true flight training facilities left in the country. 30 years ago you would find a Sunstate around every corner, doting the fruited plain. Today, there are only a handful left to carry on the traditions and hope that aviation brings. This is a dying industry and I am here today, experiencing the end. The adventure continues. I will report more.

OBTW, Brian, my instructor, is awesome.

First Flight--Kissimmee, Florida

Gadabout completed his first flight in a Cessna 172 today from KISM airport. The flight was completed after 1.2 hours, 2 touch and goes, 1 go around and a full stop. All aproaches were flown to runway 15. The flight focused on unusual attitude recovery, standard rate turns and precesion turns. The rust is thick, but I am studying hard and playing by the rules. More to come.

Gadabout is in Kissimmee, FL

Gadabout drove to south Orlando, Kissimmee, from Norfolk, VA., today. The trip took 12 hours flat and was uneventful. I am staying in a flee bag super 8 motel, working on some aviation ratings and pondering the meaning of life. More to come!

National Piggy Bank Day—June 19, 2007

Economic Explosion

A penny and dime
Dropped in piggy bank
Converts to savings

Gadabout has devised a plan to pump up the national economy through increased personal savings. As you might already know, Americans don’t save much money—at least that is what we are led to believe. To counter this negative trend, Gadabout is announcing the first annual “National Piggy Bank Day” where Americans are encouraged to deposit their change from piggy banks, change jars and ashtrays into checking and savings accounts. Gadabout believes this will add liquidity and stimulus to the economy that can be utilized to upgrade our country’s infrastructure, increase funds available for lending to buy homes and automobiles, and pump up the savings rate for a healthy economic outlook.

As always, Gadabout has done the research, but let’s not get bogged down with details. Instead, just take my word on it and let’s start saving cash and propping up our economy for future generations. Most American households keep a change jar of some sort. This is a fact. In fact, most individuals keep an extensive amount of change that is usually converted to dollars at grocery stores, redeemed in the form of a cash card or hard dollars discounted via a 20% fee. Forget the cash cards and don’t be robbed of 20% just because it is too inconvenient to roll loose change. Many banks and credit unions have change counting machines installed in certain locations that are free of charge where deposits flow directly into established accounts.

How much “change” is out there? Well, a friend of mine keeps a big Tupperware container for his change and he recently cashed it in for over $1,000. That is real cash! I personally keep change in a metal scotch whiskey packaging container and it holds about $300. Parents often give their children piggy banks to learn the fine art of savings, and often there is mega bucks resting peacefully within its belly. How about ashtrays in cars? Just about everyone keeps change handy in ashtrays.

Gadabout estimates that there is about $25 in loose change for every man, woman and child in this country resting "in state" at any moment in time. This excludes coin collections and dollars stashed under the mattress. Since the population is over 300 million (excluding nonresidents), that amounts to $7.5 billion in cash available for immediate deposit. That is real money, folks!

If you want to teach children how to save take them to the bank and deposit that $$$ into a savings account. They will receive monthly statements and watch their savings grow with interest over time. This might motivate them to work, save and continue to invest. It is the right thing to do. Support National Piggy Bank Day this year, and invest in America.

Automobile Annual Inspections—Q & A with Gadabout

Gadabout recently received a question from a reader in Missouri concerning annual inspections for automobiles. The question was framed as a fairness issue for the poorer classes since inspections cost money, often result in untimely repairs and amount to a disproportionate tax. This is a very good topic, and I really am happy to assist here.

The bottom line for automobile inspections is that they should improve public safety through properly operating equipment; such as headlights, brake lights, tire ware etc. If a state inspection system is viable, effective, robust, reasonably priced and uncorrupted, then the program is doing its job as intended by the governing body. If it is in place merely for Profiteering on behalf of shady repair shops praying on the weak and uninformed, then the program is broken.

Gadabout first encountered an inspection requirement in Virginia several years ago and found it to be a nuisance since I generally kept my cars in tip-top operating condition. As time passed, I came to appreciate the requirement once I realized that most cars in Virginia seemed in pretty good shape. For the few times that I had malfunctioning lights and so forth, I found it convenient to have them replaced at reasonable prices and be off again after a short time in the shop. I don’t believe I have been ripped off during one of these inspections. That indicates to me that the system is working here in our great Commonwealth.

But inspections do take a toll on lower income families in many ways. First off, they cost money. Secondly, if repairs are mandated, then families are forced to pay for services or the car essentially losses it right to drive on the roadway system. Lastly, if the car is found not road worthy, then the lower income person may be forced to miss income opportunities since the car is not available for employment. A bad scene, indeed.

To assuage these financial burdens of consequence, both the public and private sectors have opportunities to assist. The public sector can reduce tax burdens in areas of vehicle registration, driver license renewals, and personal property tax (if any), as well as other programs to assist lower income groups. The private sector can assist with used tire charity programs, free repair networks and various gifting programs to help those in need.

Gadabout firmly believes automobile inspection programs (that are expertly managed) save lives, and should continue. When the program affects lower income groups, then it is up to the public sector (supported by the private sector to fill gaps) to assist when necessary. Gadabout says, “drive safe and keep the tires rotated!”