Crash and Burn

I let Amber fly my airplane after I got it up to a nice altitude. It took her all of five seconds to put it into a maneuver I didn't think possible: a vertical downward spiral among the trees. Luckily, the airplane did something else I thought impossible: it went inverted. Thankfully, it went inverted about 3 feet off the ground and flopped in the snow unharmed when it stalled. Needless to say, she is banned from flying my airplane.

Later the same evening, I was backing up the car and decided to crunch another car's bumper. The superior Japanese engineering of our Honda exhibited no damage; it took a long time to find a teeny tiny scuff in the daylight. The poor Mercury's bumper, on the other hand, in the cold and thanks to the angle of attack (diagonal), cracked in about three directions. The car is the personal vehicle of one of Medora's policemen. I felt so bad. I agreed to pay for the repairs, which brings me to the next topic: money!

I finished doing my share of the taxes, pending my CFO's (spouse's) approval. Having filed in four states now, I can rank them on ease of preparation: #1 North Dakota, #2 Montana, #3 Minnesota, #4 Wisconsin. However, I like Montana's the most (if it is possible to like a tax form) because I tend to get the biggest refund.

Weather has continued to be wintry, but tolerable. No extreme cold lately, just hovering in there near zero at night a lot of the time. I look forward to the return of bluebirds and meadowlarks next month.

Word on the street is I will hear something from Denali soon. I have doubts about how I will feel about a position there. Then again, those sled dogs look very lovable.

I'm getting close to finishing my painting for the Glacier Centennial art contest. I'm planning to add a goat to it, for some foreground interest. It won't win but it's not bad as far as my efforts go.