Chapter 33

The five o'clock alarm was too early, but I remembered what I was going to do. I did the triple S, dressed and headed out to the air park. John arrived at almost the exact same time, with his ever-present smile on his face. He says just being near airplanes makes him happy.

The night crew already had a 172 out on the tarmac ready for us. I went through the preflight checklist and we prepared to takeoff. The tower wasn't going to open till seven this morning so we went to the end of the appropriate runway to head into the light wind. We announced to the world that Cessna 7449 was taking off on runway 27. This was to tell any aircraft that might be preparing to land that there was traffic on the runway.

The four hours went by quickly flying up to Ocala to do a touch and go and landing in Panama City to refuel. We did the return landing in Brooksville, cruising the coast for a few miles before making the turn to come back to the airpark. As we were nearing the airpark, but not in the pattern yet, John reached over and pulled the throttle out, simulating an engine shut down.

I was near panic, but remembered that instructors do those things. My electronics were not off and my altimeter said I was at seven thousand feet. Knowing I was six miles from the airpark, had it been an emergency, I would have used the radio to declare an emergency but would still have headed toward the runway. The plane glided so well that I actually had to bleed off a lot of altitude faster than the plane was descending naturally. Setting it down was not difficult, but I could understand that if I had not been prepared for this to happen, it could have been a problem.

John said, "If the examiner does that to you, it will probably be near a large open field somewhere and he'll just pull out the throttle simulating shutting you down. Just try to determine the wind direction and head into the wind. If you have enough altitude, make a gliding pass over the area to make sure there aren't any logs or ditches then just set it down. If you can land the plane, there is usually enough room to take off again. As you've learned, taking off from grass isn't any different than dirt or a paved runway. Pavement is just smoother. In all likelihood, the examiner will have you abort the landing when you line up to land. He just wants to know whether you can make a good decision. He'll test you on all the stalls that we've practiced and all the maneuvers. Just fly like you've learned to fly."

I had to throttle up the engine to taxi back to the hangar where John proclaimed my basic instruction complete. He smiled and said, "As soon as you get your license, I want you to begin your instrument training. Steve said he was going to assist you financially with the instrument training if you would agree to help out with some instruction to his security people."

I happily said, "Sounds like a plan to me. I'm using up my fun budget pretty fast. If we didn't have the flights for work, I would be a couple of weeks away from the examination."

John smiled, "Don't worry, Steve wants you to get as many hours as you can get so you might help out here doing some instruction down the road. That'll be after a lot of flying, but it's a goal. It's fun too, as you get some hours while you're teaching."

John made an appointment for me for Friday at nine in the morning for my examination. He said that first I would fly up to Brooksville where the examiner would be. The first hour or so would be an oral exam that would cover all of the questions he had been quizzing me on when we were flying. The next step would be flight planning for a flight the examiner wanted me to take. The actual air time would probably be for about an hour or a little more. We would do landings as directed.

I called Wanda to make sure Friday was open for me to be out of the office. She said that I was still considered on partial disability leave for my leg, since she had not logged me back in full time yet.

That reminded me about my peg that might be done, so I called the prosthesis shop to see if it was ready. The lady answered the phone and told me to come and get it. She said they wanted me to try a new peg they had designed that had a pneumatic shock built into the peg to make it more comfortable to use.

I drove to the shop and once there, I took off my regular leg and put on the peg. Walking around was strange as I was used to the big foot with the flexible ankle. There wasn't the "ker-plop" of heel/toe contact but just a "thump" as you set down on the rubber ended peg. The shock absorber for the peg had adjustments for stiffness and travel distance. They messed with it as I walked around the small room before having me walk outside on concrete.

They taught me how to put it on and take it off quickly. This would be perfect for most stuff around the house, but I would still need the regular leg for the treadmill. I paid what I thought was a very reasonable price for the peg with the special boot and headed to the office to arrive just in time to be included in the Subway sandwich order.

Wanda had me go over several questionable reports and write my comments to transmit to the stations, and showed me an e-mail from Sam Wilson thanking me for the promotion. His e-mail was from the new station and he even mentioned that the personnel there were very interesting. Jan would appreciate the e-mail so I forwarded it to her and Frank.

No sooner had I sent it than Frank called saying, "If you have a minute, stop in to see me. If I come up, I may disrupt your staff and I don't want to do that."

After eating my sandwich, I went to see Frank. He and I got some coffee and went into his office to sit and chat. "Chuck, you may not know this yet, but Conish has received her uncontested divorce. I further complicated her life by asking her to marry me. I know this is fast, but we've really hit it off and seem to enjoy being together. She has asked if we could just live together for a while to see how we get along and I have agreed. I hope you don't feel this is improper for me to do?'

"Congratulations, Frank. I guess it's premature for that but it's great you have found a companion. You look good, so I can tell you're health has improved. It's amazing how some love in your life helps your outlook."

"That it does, Chuck."

Frank continued, "The other thing is that we've picked up the other two yahoos that were involved in your snake party. The good news is they are not part of the Ruskies or any big time organized crime group. They are a couple of locals that were burned when you closed down the employment fiasco. They didn't get pulled in then as we thought they were mostly innocent guys taken along for the ride. They weren't. They are three guys that were making good money for doing nothing. They were using one of the offices to make some deals in and collect a training salary from the government. They figured out where you lived as one of the guys worked for a pool cleaning outfit that takes care of your pool."

"So what's the bad news, Frank?"

He smiled, "The bad news is you probably have to testify about the snakes in your pool cage, patio, hot tub, and car. They won't make a deal, so the prosecutor is going to send them away for breaking and entering your property and your car, plus eighty-five counts of attempted murder against each of you at your house. There were eighty-five snakes so that's how many counts there will be. They won't be back on the street until you have grown grandchildren."

"That's some good news, Frank. I can take off the vest for a while then. The folks living out at the house will be happy as well. We're using the alarm now, so that is a beneficial result of the incident. We know that we can be vulnerable if we are not careful. It's kind of stupid to have protected cars and a protected house, and not use the basic alarm system for the house. I did get a car alarm now that turns on with the wireless lock. Don't you just love the remote control locks and trunks on the cars now?"

I thought of something, "Are you going to have Conish be a stay at home companion?"

"No way! The first thing she said after I asked her to marry me was that she was not giving up her job in your office. She says this is the first time in her adult life she feels needed and useful in business. She loves working with Angie and Wanda, and you too, of course, but you're hardly ever around."

I was happy, "That's good news. I'm sure Wanda will be happy to hear it as Conish has been really good at learning all our procedures and paperwork."

Back up in the office, I called Wanda into my office with my doors closed and discussed Frank and Conish. Wanda said, "She told Angie and me the next morning. She also said she wasn't leaving under any circumstances, as she really likes her job."

"On another thing, Mr. Johnson, I'm going to log you back in Tuesday, only using one day off for your prosthesis. You ended up working all day Monday and these other times are covered by your formal pilot training."

"Ah, what do you mean formal pilot training?"

"Because of your need to move around so much, there is a little used provision where a senior deputy can be trained as an aviator so he can fly unassisted when necessary. This also means the services budget is covering the cost of your training. I've been able to separate some of your flying as a combination of travel and training. It just reduces our budget figures a little."

I sat back in my big chair and said, "That's really great. I haven't worked out a budget for myself and was a little concerned about how much the training was costing."

Wanda said, "I hope you don't mind but I've worked out a budget for you that should make you feel good. It's in your personal files. It includes the house payments and utilities. You have no personal credit card debt, so the house is your major cost. We four girls each contribute a flat amount that offsets your house payment, utilities, housekeeping, landscaping, and pool care. You even have some left over that I think will cover enlarging the garage if you really want that."

"I don't want to overcharge you guys for rent. You four or three or two could share an apartment for say four or five hundred a month."

"Not hardly. You may have lived in a cheap apartment, but if we were to get an apartment, the cheapest we can find is about seven hundred for a very small two bedroom. I think we're all happier at the house than living like cliff dwellers in a large complex. If Jan or Marie ever wants to move out, your budget is still on the green side, so to let you know, you are putting money away with every payday."

"Hmmm, how much am I paid anyway? I've never looked at those little slips they've sent. I know it's a lot, as I see the deposits, but I've just been concerned that there is money in the account for when I go to the grocery store."

"That's the other thing, Mr. Johnson, the five of us are going to put a fixed amount into a pot for food each month. We're starting at a hundred dollars a month each and expect you to contribute as well. We will adjust the amount as we find out what's real."

"Don't make it hard on you girls. I enjoy the company and would be very lonely if you all weren't around, even if there were only Bobby or just you, Wanda. The other two girls are nice fun to have around though."

Wanda said while looking down, not looking me in the eye. "How would you feel if there was another girl to join us at the house? You have one last suite that's open and this girl doesn't have a car."

"It's not just me, Wanda, there are three other women at the house and you know we don't have a conventional relationship out there. Do you think this person would be compatible?"

Wanda grinned, "Oh, I think she would be more than compatible. She's losing her apartment as she's making more than allowed to live where she is right now, so she needs to move and our house would be convenient."

"Why's that, Wanda?"

Wanda lowered her voice, "Because Angie could ride back and forth with me or Bobby or Jan or even you. She has been talking to Marie, and asked Bobby, and now me, if I would ask you."

"So what did Bobby say?"

"You know Bobby, she loves and welcomes everybody."

"What about you, Wanda?"

"Thank you for thinking of me, Mr. Johnson. I like Angie and think we would be good examples for her. She should fit in well with us even though she may have some mental adjustments to our lifestyle. I've spoken with her extensively, and she is eager to become a part of our household."

"That would be neat, an Angelina to go along with a Marie Antoinette. Sure, bring her out for a couple of nights this weekend, and let her make up her mind. There is a but, though. I'm not sure about another intimate relationship. Don't you think you and Bobby are probably twice as much as I'm capable of taking care of? Add Marie and Jan into the mix and you're stretching any man's abilities. One more could break the bank."

"Mr. Johnson, we can't really discuss this sort of thing here, so let's talk about it later at home. I just wanted to get your opinion so I could let Angie know."