FRANK the PILOT, chapter 12
During the low approach just abeam the control tower, I banked U-Till to expose her precious underbelly for the ATC to visually ascertain whether the nose gear was down. Waiting for a response, I had a few seconds to accept the fact this might not end well.
I am committed. My engines are shut off, there is no option for a go-around. Planet Earth and I will meet one way or another, pleasantly or otherwise.
TEN HEALTHY TIPS, chapter 8
The Last Thing You Want to Give Up is Your Precious Sleep!
When I was in my late twenties, I operated the Boeing B747 jumbo jet from Tokyo, Japan to Anchorage, Alaska. Tokyo is 18 hours ahead of Anchorage. That means, when it is 3 a.m. in Anchorage it is 9 p.m. in Tokyo on the same calendar day. On this particular eight-hour flight, at certain times a year, depending on the jet stream winds, we, the flight crew, would observe Mother Nature’s beautiful sunrise and sunset during the same flight as we traveled through eighteen time zones.
“A very short day,” I said to myself.
“A screwed-up circadian rhythm and maximum jet lag,” my human body said to me.
Jet lag causes the human body to become disoriented, foggy, and sleepy at the wrong times of day. After flying through eighteen time zones, my body clock told me it was one time of day, and the outside environment told me it was another day. Flying jets through time zones wreaks havoc on sleep. My body traveled through so many time zones that my circadian rhythm never had a chance to readjust to a normal rhythm cycle. Your circadian rhythm influences your body’s in many ways.
Sleep loss is really bad for you!
FROM HATE to LOVE, chapter 9
When we hate someone, there are health consequences such as the effects of stress on the human body. Stress can be really bad for you. Hating someone creates negative feelings that put stress on our bodies. Distress (bad stress), can seriously damage performance and can lead to serious physical and mental illness if not controlled.The long-term effects of distress can cause physical and psychological symptoms such as………
SCHOOL and SCHOOLED, chapter 3
The wind shifted, and now the scorching brush fires were burning right up to the road. There I was on the westbound lane, gazing at ten-foot high flames, smelling fiery smoke and feeling heat on my face. Only the highway and the unburned median separated us from fire.
If the winds shifted again and jumped the road, we would die. Then I remembered I was carrying a spare 20-gallon plastic container filled with gasoline and a 22-foot hang glider kite –this could easily contribute to a vehicle explosion if the flames were to come closer.
It was a tense moment. “Why won’t the engine start?” I asked myself.
