Chesno Aspiration?

I found out the other day what happened to our helicopter. According to the pilot, the compressor, "aspirated a foreign object".

What does that mean? Well, that the height we were, there is but one choice. A bird was sucked into the engine and we went down.

We'll see if it happens again. I have Take 2 of helicopter fly time on Monday.

Chesno "Coughs?"

The hour after we returned from Boise on Monday I had to leave on a business trip to south-central Utah to do surveys along proposed oil exploration lines. Part of these surveys involved me going in a helicopter to look for birds of prey and their nesting sites. We do this by flying over mountain tops low to the ground where you can see the nests or the birds as they are flushed from the nests by the helicopter.

We took off on Tuesday morning and flew our first line to survey. We flushed one red-tailed hawk and were just about to begin the next line when the helicopter jolted two times with a bad noise.

Having been shot at while flying in helicopters in Iraq, my immediate reaction was that we had been hit. My co-worker looked back and said, "When we get down, get out fast!" I said, "OK", and braced as the pilot brought the bird down fast. He was able to land softly, but I jumped out quickly. That was when I saw the smoke coming out of the engine.

After we got out, my co-worker climbed to the top of a hill to get cell coverage and the pilot got on his phone. I overheard him say, "We felt two coughs."

"Coughs?" I thought. The engine wasn't coughing, it was more like jolts and smoke, but hey, I'm not the professional. Clearly, we were done flying for the trip. We went about our surveys, but now on foot and the pilot towed the helicopter up to Salt Lake for repairs. I'll let you know when I find out if it has the flu, an allergy or was being examined for testicular cancer. Afterall, it only coughed.

Chesno Easter

I haven't written in a little while because my family took a trip to visit my brother in Boise and then I had a business trip to leave on within an hour of returning. We were there for Easter on the 16th and my 31st birthday on the 17th.

My brother and I come from a family of great cooks. That is what we were looking forward to doing during the visit--cooking together. For Easter dinner after church we made a garlic and fresh rosemary-studded pork loin, mashed potatoes, apple gravy, homemade dill and onion bread, and steamed green beans. I am used to cooking for literally an Army, so I think I may have gone overboard. Evidently, three young girls and two small boys don't each eat a pound of potatoes.

For desert Jon made me his own recipe of dense chocolate cake in four layers with alternating almond paste and seedless raspberry jam all topped with mountains of chocolate frosting.

The easter bunny also showed up and delivered all kinds of treats to the kids. By strange coincidence the adults all found out that sour Starburst jelly beans are about the best easter candy ever made and those nasty Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs don't hold a candle to the sour beany goodness Starburst created.

Most importantly, Jon and I were able to talk like adult siblings and friends. This doesn't happen too often as when we are together it is usually in a setting where we are trying to hold the family together and create an environment that (somewhat), resembles holidays of our youth. If not for anything else, that part made the trip a success.

Chesno Hiving

I got a disappointing phone call on the 11th. Turns out that because of rain in California, my bees wouldn't be ready on the 22nd. The date was pushed back a week to the 29th, and maybe even until May. However, if I wanted, there were some extra packages (2.5 pounds of bees + queen), available immediately. I wanted.

My wife was kind enough to drive down to Salt Lake City and pick them up and transport approximately 15,000 buzzing bees an hour and a half back home. No doubt it was mildly intimidating, but she got it done.

That night they arrived home too late to hive, so I did it the next day at lunch time. There were thousands of bees flying around, but they all went to their homes just fine.

It's amazing how many people become interested in this hobby when you tell them that is what you're doing. If your not even the slightest bit interested, don't ask a beekeeper about his hobby, he will drone [delicious pun] on about it for an hour.

Chesno Year

Last night my wife and I were laying in bed and she asked me, "Have we reached the year mark of you being home [from Iraq] yet?"

As a matter of fact, we had. To the day. It was one year ago yesterday when I came home.

She asked, "Are you at a place now that you expected you would be one year from returning?"

I can (and did), honestly reply, "I am." It's been a good year. A fast year, but a good year. We have a new house. We have a new baby on the way. We have a good job. And, we have about 25,000 new bees that will be joining our family on the 22nd. Life is good.

Chesno Varenchiki

This last Sunday my wife, son, and I went to a friend's house for dinner. The house we went to was that of some Ukrainian friends of mine that I knew while I lived in Odessa on the Black Sea. It was mostly a chance to catch up on old friends, and laugh about how rusty my Russian is (as I haven't really spoken in 10 years).

More than all that though, it was a chance for me to gorge myself on the wonderful cuisine of Ukraine including borsch, golopsi, tvorog, and most importantly vareniki s'myasom. The food really is wonderful as long as you stay away from the cold meat jello (holodetz), blood sausages, and raw meatless bacon (salo).

We had a great time, stayed more than 6(!) hours, stuffed ourselves, and I began to bring my Russian back. All in all it was a great night. Plus, we were sent home with enough leftovers that I was able to enjoy it all over again yesterday for both lunch and dinner.