Memories: Fire In The Sky: Dad decided to go to Alaska to visit Uncle Chuck” who was in the US Army. Remember, Dad likes to travel. Off we went, and it was the second time I had flown; I was about twelve.
We departed LA in a Northwest Orient Airlines Super Constellation with the destination of Seattle, Washington. The Lockheed Constellation is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use.
All is going well so far.
We changed planes in Seattle, and the next plane was full of Japanese businessmen traveling back home.
Northwest Orient Airlines L-1049Gs flew Seattle, Washington to Tokyo, Okinawa and Manila in 1955–57.
We were over the ocean, and it was dark, probably around 8:00 p.m. I heard a “boom” and looked outside; the wing was on fire. The plane had blown an engine. The Captian came on the PA and said not to worry. The fire is out, but we are returning to Seattle.
The airlines did not have another plane, so they put us in a highrise hotel in Seattle for the night. I remember being scared at being up so high in the building!
The following day, we went to the airport and got on a new Super Constellation, but this time, there were only twelve passengers on board; the other folks took an earlier flight to get home on schedule. They had a full complement of food, so we ate the entire way to Anchorage!
We flew without incident and continued our vacation.
Most Super Constellations were retired by their original operators after the advent of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8; the last passenger L1049 flight in the US was an Eastern shuttle EWR-DCA in February 1968. The last commercial flight of the L-1049 Super Constellation was in 1993, when the Federal Aviation Administration banned all airlines from the Dominican Republic that flew Constellations to the United States (due to safety concerns). The Dominican airlines were the last operators of any version of the Constellation.
We were up and going even before the first rooster lifted his head from his pillow! Today, Mary is going to be a speechifier! The high school is El Modena, where Mary’s youngest two went to school in 2003 and 2009. They were going to school when these kids were born!
Her message to these young and impressionable kids is simple: if you want to become a doctor, you can do it, BUT it requires work starting NOW!
Mary gets ready to speak at El Modena HS
Today’s kids come with a lot of preconceived hangups, and with parents in general having a hands-off approach to their children’s lives, they allow them to drift through life.
El Modena High School is ranked 609th in California. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams. The AP participation rate at El Modena High School is 39%. The total minority enrollment is 77%, and 42% of students are economically disadvantaged.
Villa Park: #3,723 in National Rankings with Overall Score 78.94/100.
El Modena: #4,160 in National Rankings with Overall Score 76.47/100
Kids today have a lot of baggage!
Mary springs into action as soon as the bell rings, embarking on a marathon session to inform students about their possibilities. They seem to take notice when she shares her personal story of growing up. Despite not being a privileged white girl, Mary overcame the odds and succeeded in life. She was abandoned at birth and spent several years bouncing around the foster care system. She decided she wanted better for herself and went forward accordingly.
Go Girl! Six classes in six hours!
By two in the afternoon, her voice was cracking, and her tummy was growling something fierce. The nearest place to go was Aces Bar and Grill, where Mary downed their house salad with protein; I did a flatbread loaded with jalapenos. We each had a glass of wine and discussed the morning.
That was our total intake for the day!
The bar was quiet, with only a few customers. We played music from our time on the jukebox, and the patrons appeared to enjoy our selections.
“Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.” — Mae West
Aces was close by!
During our discussion, we talked about pumpkin carving and what we could improve. Since Zack and his family will be in the desert, we now need input from Joe and his family and hope they can join us for this tradition. (See 2020 as a reminder!)
I also invited Jim Rudloff, plus the usual suspects, including Irene, Brenda, David, Dianne, and Crazy Greg, to join us for the event.
Mary gets ideas from an expert!
Mary arrived home and harvested some jalapenos to make ratones for me. The peppers were cut in half lengthwise, filled with cream cheese, and wrapped in turkey bacon. The stems were kept on to make them look like little rats!
The stretch marks on the pepper is called corking! That is when the inside of the pepper is growing faster than the outside, creating a cracked, cork-like texture on the skin. It is also referred to as cracking, checking, scaring, or even stretch marks. While corking is most popular amongst Jalapenos, it can happen to just about any hot pepper.
Soon they will be devoured; Mary is very thoughtful to do this for me as they are too hot for her.
We crashed at about 9:30 PM as we were both pooped from a day at school!
