Can't believe myself...

Toby

Toby

Cleared for Takeoff
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Feb 22, 2005
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Long Island, NY
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Toby Speed
My daughter left Buffalo today to drive home to L.I. and got caught in the snow and freezing rain that is pummeling PA. She called from the road just now and said it's icy out there, the snow's coming down and the forecast looks bad for tonight, so she's checking into a motel somewhere on route 80 and staying put til tomorrow. I actually found myself asking her to just stop for a while and see if it gets any better. I just wanted her home. She repeated that the forecast was for more freezing rain and that she didn't feel safe driving, and then she said, "Mom! You make decisions about whether to fly or not in weather. Don't you want me to make decisions like that?" I said, "Of course," and she said, "I decided not to drive. I don't know what it will be like tomorrow, but I hope they plow early, and the sun might melt the ice. Anyway, I'm not driving tonight."

I'm proud of her, but I'm sorry about what I said!
 
See, this is why we can get in trouble with this sort of thing! Everyone knows what decisions we should make, theoretically, but when the personal variables start entering into it, then things get cloudy, so to speak!

You've been given a gift, of sorts - you got to see how personal stuff mixes things up, AND you were protected from a bad impulse by a VERY smart daughter! The best of both worlds!!

So be grateful ya got such a smart kid, and stop kickin' yerself!! ;)
 
Thanks, Tom. You're absolutely right, and I'm so glad she stopped and is safe inside. I actually asked her how far she was from NY, as though that would make a difference. It was another form of "get-there-itis" -- "get-HERE-itis."
 
Toby, you have a smart girl there. I'm proud of her too!

FWIW: Based on that conversation, if she ever does decide to want to learn to fly at least you won't have to worry about her getting tangled up with the weather even if she makes you wait and wait and wait...
 
Toby said:
early, and the sun might melt the ice. Anyway, I'm not driving tonight."

I'm proud of her, but I'm sorry about what I said!
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The learner becomes the teacher. It is hard to seperate the emotions from the situation. I found myself in a situation this weekend where I was trpped by weather. I had a couple of PAX that wanted to get hom and I almost overrode my gut do to the pressure. In then end I made the right decision. It helps that I think what my wife and mother would go through if I had gone and did not make it.
 
having lived in central PA, and spent wayyyy to much time on I-80 in the winter, I have one thing to say ...

smart girl!

Toby said:
My daughter left Buffalo today to drive home to L.I. and got caught in the snow and freezing rain that is pummeling PA. She called from the road just now and said it's icy out there, the snow's coming down and the forecast looks bad for tonight, so she's checking into a motel somewhere on route 80 and staying put til tomorrow. I actually found myself asking her to just stop for a while and see if it gets any better. I just wanted her home. She repeated that the forecast was for more freezing rain and that she didn't feel safe driving, and then she said, "Mom! You make decisions about whether to fly or not in weather. Don't you want me to make decisions like that?" I said, "Of course," and she said, "I decided not to drive. I don't know what it will be like tomorrow, but I hope they plow early, and the sun might melt the ice. Anyway, I'm not driving tonight."

I'm proud of her, but I'm sorry about what I said!
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Toby,

A little plumbers heat tape on the wings and a bit on the prop (rigged remotely via battery power so the cord doesn't foul the prop) works wonders. You could have flown to pick up your daughter! Also a hair dryer plugged into the Cherokee's cigarette lighter can help clear the windscreen.


NOT!!!! Your daughter has great common sense! Rare in kids these day. :)
 
Anthony said:
Toby,

A little plumbers heat tape on the wings and a bit on the prop (rigged remotely via battery power so the cord doesn't foul the prop) works wonders. You could have flown to pick up your daughter! Also a hair dryer plugged into the Cherokee's cigarette lighter can help clear the windscreen.


NOT!!!! Your daughter has great common sense! Rare in kids these day. :)
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Haha! Great ideas, Anthony. I probably have enough batteries floating around to run the GPS and all the other stuff, anyway. And what's a little snow....I'll just fly between the flakes. If it gets a little thick, well, I've got the good folks at ATC looking out for me. They're not going to let anything happen!

Thanks to everyone else for your comments. :)
 
Smart girl!!! Roads were horrendous last night northwest of Philly where I live. Ice, sleet, snow, wind, and freezing rain. Not a night to be driving. Heck, wasn't a night to be walking. We had a hard time walking up the road to our house. Today, it's absolutely beautiful, the rain has cleared all the crap from the roads, it's in the 40s, it's a wonderful day for a drive.
 
BTDT.

Back when I lived in the NYC area, I commuted a few weekends in the winter to SW Virginia. I've made that kind of stop on I-80/I-81 more than once. Heck, I even did it a couple of times on those same highways when traveling for work. I remember ending up in a Holiday Inn that had a big sign at the check-in desk: "DO NOT DRINK THE WATER"... (and promptly made a joke about eating yellow snow...)

Smart kid. You should be proud.
 
fgcason said:
Toby, you have a smart girl there. I'm proud of her too!

FWIW: Based on that conversation, if she ever does decide to want to learn to fly at least you won't have to worry about her getting tangled up with the weather even if she makes you wait and wait and wait...
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Frank, I'm going to take you to task over that comment. Having the knowledge of how to recognize and avoid hazardous conditions does not guarantee we will always act accordingly. That is true for all of us, including Toby's daughter.

I think Toby got a little insight, courtesy of her daughter.

The main point is we should be ever vigilant.

silver-eagle said:
Smart thing your daughter did. More people should be so smart about driving in weather.
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Driving has become so mundane that it almost seems like it encourages folks to act mindless. Driving a vehicle is accessable to darn near everyone and requires no special skills after the first hours of instruction, driving is repetitive which fosters a casual attitude, and driving is most often done in such benign conditions that there is no reinforcement of whatever skills were learned. On top of that, there is minimum requirement for demonstration of skill after the DL is acquired.

Additionally, something which pertains to operations beyond driving a vehicle, all it takes is one moment of inattentiveness for an accident to develop. That means even the most proficient operator can be involved in an accident.

I agree, Toby's daughter did make a smart decision.
 
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Richard said:
Frank, I'm going to take you to task over that comment. Having the knowledge of how to recognize and avoid hazardous conditions does not guarantee we will always act accordingly. That is true for all of us, including Toby's daughter.
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She at least had the sense to say "That's it. This is stupid. I quit. I camp here. Game over." Too many people do not have that sense because "it's just a little further and here is very inconvinent."
As long as she doesn't develop a lack of brains and start resorting to social convinence behavior patterns, she'll be ok.

IMO anyway.
 
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