Blog: Ramblings and Rants

After every flight, pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

(P = The problem logged by the pilot.)
(S = The solution and action taken by the mechanics.)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

My maternal grandmother passed away Saturday night before 11 PM EST.

The wake is scheduled for Tuesday evening in Quincy, MA, with the funeral the following morning. I don’t know if I can or will travel from Oregon in time to make either the wake or funeral.

At the moment I’m just trying to finish my column for InDesign Magazine as a means of ignoring reality and remaining functional.

I’m in total denial, and am therefore maintaining my composure quite well. I honestly don’t know how I’ll react when I allow myself to accept the fact of her passing.

My grandmother, Sarah Taylor, is dying. Last weekend she was brought into New England Medical Center hospital for extreme low blood pressure, which her regular doctor said Tuesday was a relatively innocuous byproduct of recent medication dosage changes. Ma—I’ve always called her Ma and have been more like her seventh child than her first grandchild—was slated to be discharged on Wednesday. That was before her lungs began filling with fluid, her kidneys began to shut down, and her blood pressure dropped even lower than 60/80. All of this after discovering an inoperable anuerism in her aorta in May of 2007.

She’s so doped up at the moment that she can’t even remember her children or discern how many people are in her room.

On 2 February 2008 Ma turned 90 years old. Her only husband, George Taylor, died thirty years before in December 1977. She never remarried nor even dated, and often cried over her late husband’s grave despite the years.

Although she’s been pronounced dead a few times, given Last Rights more often than I can count, and spent cumulative months in the hospital over the course of her 90 years, this time I don’t think Ma is coming home.

Her passing, so near after my uncle Rick’s death at Thanksgiving 2007, will be a tremendous blow to the Taylor family, one that will almost certainly splinter the already strained family relations.

For me personally, well… Ma’s passing is the event I’ve dreaded all my life, the one that could break my will. I’m stronger, healthier now, but I don’t know how, if, or in what state I will emerge from what seems will almost certainly come to pass in the next few days.