Chunks In The Peanut Butter: Another Year In Words

By Fred Robel

Beavers and boat shacks, trains, planes, automobiles, true love, old love, sex, and hate. Everything wrapped up into a big ball of words.

There are stories and poetry in everything. Everything we see every day has beauty or horror that can be put to words. The daily exercise of performing these language gymnastics is what you have in your hands.

Consisting of both long and short form poetry, as well as short stories, and serialized stories. This collection is very different from the first from 2011. Both quality, and content have improved.

Fred Robel is a married father of three, living in Northern Michigan; where he works full time as an aircraft inspector, and part time as an author.

Check out his other books, available via the internet in both eBook and softcover.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fred Robel
• Release date: Aug 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301036271

Fred Robel

Born and raised in Michigan, and currently residing in Northern Michigan. I am an aircraft mechanic and inspector by trade, and a writer as a hobby. My wife and three kids keep me busy all the rest of the time.

Book preview

Preface

This book is a collection of the second year of my daily ‘poetry’ blog. The word poetry is now in demiquotes, due to the nature of some of the things that I have been writing as of late. Specifically, serial fiction.

I found my daily writing blog to be an ideal place to experiment in this genre. As it lent itself nicely to short, daily installments. Which coincidentally suited my short attention span tendencies.

2012 saw several serial stories begun. But less than the number begun, finished. I will be adding notation to the titles in order to make it easier for anyone to follow the storylines if they wish. Something like an abbreviation of the overarching title, and a number: such as KBKS 1, KBKS 2, etc.

The two longest serials I completed, were Kisses Blood Kerosene & Silk; and Snapshots From An American Revolution. There were several shorter, two or three parters, that for the most part, dealt with aviation. The aviation themed ones ended up in my Tales of TheWrench compilation.

Those of you who have acquired KBKS, or SFAAR, in their more official short story-book form; may notice some differences in what is here in this compilation, and what was put into the final version of the short stories. Proof positive that I do indeed edit and revise myself on occasion.

More than anything else, this book is a touchstone for me. Something that I am putting together as a record of where I went in 2012, as far as writing. With that in mind, I’ll be putting it together in hard copy format soon after this eBook comes out. That way I can have something physical, when all the zeros and ones of the binary world decide to put themselves out, or turn against us in a Skynet fueled rage someday.

I feel more confident this time around, that there are things in this massive volume that are worthy of people’s time. I hope you agree.

Cheers,

Frederick Damien Robel II

It’s Like Watching Paint Dry

Performing the apply

With robotic strokes

Tom Sawyer would approve

As would Mister Miyagi

Painting the Fence

It's the official technique

And the only one

Of which we'll speak

Now watching it dry

What a boring ordeal

Best to be done

After a hearty full meal

That way your eyelids can droop

Time will go into infinite loop

And before you know it

It's dry to the touch

Waiting for the inevitable peel

The watch hands don't stop

As long as you wind their spring

As does the seasons

Weathering your job

Whether sitting interminably

Waiting for it to happen

Or walking by periodically

To check on its progression

Eventually

The cracks will show

The paint pulls up

Curls up

And it's time to con someone

Into doing it again

BYON

At the 25% level

Most American Indian Tribes

Will let you apply for membership

To be accepted or not

Being a member entitles you to

Something

I really don't know

To be part of a group at least

Some dream that it gives them money

Or a share of a casino

A door prize headdress

Your own teepee to watch the dawn

By that same logic

Being part French

Might give you a croissant

Or maybe a free pass to the Louvre

Be recognized as part Irish

And get drunk on the house

A complimentary sack of potatoes

Some green cheese for your mouse

It's a shameless outstretched hand

Hey what's in it for me

Not by any real need

Just proving the old stereotype

Of white man's greed

Though that truly knows no color

Born in 1971

Political correctness still in the future

My pedigree papers list four things

One among them Indian

Hence the 25%

Although you'd have to wonder

If that means Native American

Or the other Indian

With the dot on the forehead

Does it really matter?

I'm as white as the snow

One is as likely as the other

(So white that I glow!)

Maybe I'd want free college

Or a job in the casino

Injuns have airplanes too, right?

Maybe I could work on one of those

But it doesn't matter

A pedigree is just a piece of paper

Easily changed or lost

If I have the urge to immerse myself

I know just what to do

I'll borrow that wigwam

And set up my Weber grill

German sausage, check

French bread, check

Irish whiskey, check

I'm a regular United Nations buffet

Are you coming?

I sent you an invite last week

I'll expect you around three

Bring Your Own Nationality

Out of Time

I’m stepping out of time

I’m tired of the rat race

I’m stepping out

Stepping back

Saving grace

Looking in from the outside

The universe isn’t so wide

I spread my arms

I can encompass it

It can’t resist my charms

Making it more manageable

I squeeze it down a bit

Not down to singularity

But something close

Something flat

A four dimensional map

Which is okay

It doesn’t hurt my brain

Not in any way

I fold it flat

And take a look at the scene

Past, present, and future

All a united meme

Confusing at first

I soak it up a bit

Then my eyes cross

So I have a sit

My cosmic armchair

All comfy and full of ether

Real Corinthian leather

And just for a touch of class

A drug lord’s beeper

I am a child of the ‘80’s

The universal map

Spread out on a war room table

I touch here

And I’m there

Watching things unfold

A planet dying

A star crying

A nebula giggling

Warring races vying

From my place out of time

I can watch anything

The moment of creation

The progress of evolution

Everything is hands off though

I can’t touch anything

I can’t change anything

I can only watch

I can even see the future

And I’m not in it

Yet I’m everywhere

I don’t know if I like this

Demi-goddery stuff

I fluff up the map

Until it regains its universal shape

I’ll let that roll awhile

Pressing the button

On my ether filled chair

A footrest pops out

It’s a galactic Lazy Boy

Real Corinthian leather creaks

I slump down for a short nap

Perhaps a few weeks

Or a millennium

Water the dogs for me

For Want of Style

I want to be Coleridge

I want to write of Xanadu

But I don’t want to smoke opium

Or be interrupted by a person from Porlock

To wander the North

In search of Service

Poking at the coals of Sam McGee

Still entombed in a firebox locked in the ice

Go left, instead of right

Hacking through brambles

Short on sight

Touched by Frost

Get on my Silverstein

Go to where the sidewalk ends

Peer into the beyond

Sing a song, make amends

Do a Seuss

Rhyme words that don’t belong

Even making some up

To amuse and enthrong

Hack like Morrison

Eat the peyote

See sad strange visions in the desert

Vomit up poetry

Ramble with Dylan

Sing incoherently

Attend Woodstock

Have the Memphis blues apparently

Finding one’s style can be elusive

And is only seen

After you stop trying

What’s left, is you

Have a Little Sugar With Your He-Man

Some treacle for your tea

It makes it palatable

Smoothes it's bitter edges

Cooks your teeth

Sitting smugly in their gums

Rots your bones

Gives you the runs

You should really eat better

Pizza every day

That's at least one full pie

Makes you fat

Makes you smile

Makes your tailor wealthy

As he charges by the yard

Finally kicking you to the curb

Pointing the way to Omar's

They make tents and awnings

Eat eat

You are too thin

Skeletor had more meat on his bones

It was the vegetables

They drove him mad

He burned down villages

Just to plant asparagus

And if that isn't evil

I don't know what is

Thank goodness for He-Man

He'll let me be fat

His show starts in twenty minutes

The Dominos guy better get here soon

Half hour or it's free you fuckers

Oh how I miss the '80's

A Bold Culinary Choice

My nuts

Are Salty

With an intense vinegar flavor

They crunch when you bite them

Kind of filling too

But not too much so

Everything about them

Seems just right

Shaped like almonds

They come in a blue container

Labeled as BOLD

Both the word and the font

Overall satisfying so I'm told

The punch line here

Would be that I have blue balls

With BOLD tattooed on my scrotum

Alas, it's not to be

I bought these at the store

You're welcome to try some

I'm sure they have more

I certainly can't share these

For this can is empty

When I asked Who wants some?

All I heard was a chorus of ME's

And I was the only one in the room

I can't believe I ate the whole can

Remote Relationship

Darkness

All through the house

Everything still all around

The bare dry wood under the peeling paint

Grey in the moonlight

A faint sound

Coming from an open window

A soft blue glow lighting the room

Softly repetitive

Small breathing sounds accompanying

A firefly zooms closer

Thinking this light to be some strange potential mate

It is not

It is a nude man

Wearing a headset

Looking at a computer screen

Upon which is a nude woman

Also wearing a headset

Both aroused

Both looking intently at the webcam

Speaking words to one another

Descriptive and loving

Then cruel and hard

There is a certain rhythm

It accompanies the words

And their movements

Disinterested

The firefly flies off

In search of a love of his own

Leaving the two lovers

Separated by thousands of miles

Such is modern love

KBKS 1 – Picking Up Towards The Middle

So I lied

The ground flashes by as I streak along at full power

Just twenty feet above the blurred earth

Razor thin wings cutting the air at six hundred miles per hour

I’d be worried about being reported

But I’ve taken measures

Well, I painted the registration on the fuselage

Just like I’m supposed to

In block letters about one shade in contrast

To the ghostly flat white that covers the exterior of the Learjet

And in the absolute minimum legal size

This is the first

And only

Test flight

So I’m flying it like I stole it

Some would say reckless

But I beg to differ

This dream

The last dream

THE dream

Is coming true

It’s my mental musing done in metal

The original sketches done on a Burger King napkin

I have no engineering degree

But I have faith and that seems to be enough

To suspend the laws of physics and fear at least for now

I pull back on the yoke hoping and praying

Leaping out of ground effect at just below the speed of sound

All the blood rushing to my feet as I pull at three gees

My thumb taps the red button

The Shiny Red Button

Held to the left grip with a dozen loops of safety wire

The airframe shudders as a new vibration joins the rest

Accompanying the sixteen thousand rotations per minute

Of internal General Electric suck squeeze bang blow

Now a trio of hydrogen peroxide and kerosene combustion

Compressed through three fixed nozzles

Collectively add twenty five thousand pounds of thrust

Bristol Siddeley’s finest contribution to chemical propulsion

Escorts me through Mach one and to a predictable problem

Almost simultaneously the primary engines compressor stall

I chop the throttles

Release the button

And level the aircraft out

In a few moments once again becoming a subsonic beast

Before descending I bring the now recovered engines back to power

Happily cruising at twenty thousand feet

And five hundred miles per hour

Yes

This airframe will do nicely I think to myself

I told the man I was going to make myself a man cave out of the

fuselage

The coolest aviation themed man cave there ever was

The wings were going to become high end conference tables

The engines

To be disassembled for decorations

Like I said

I lied

KBKS 1.5 - This Happened Before The Last

I think I’ll blame the Tequila

And way too much reading of certain Sci-Fi authors

Otherwise I have zero defense for this mad idea

I want to go to the moon and I don’t care how it happens

Everyone has a bucket list

At least lots of people do especially after that movie

And since the diagnosis I’ve decided that I’m kicking mine in

Before my body betrays me and succumbs to the sickness

I’ve got about a year

So I’m doing the easiest thing on my list and I’m going to the moon

How? A sane person might ask

I’ll try to explain this madness:

Ever seen the movie The Right Stuff?

Regardless I’ll elaborate on the scene I’m talking about

Yeager takes his NF-104A on a zoom climb to an altitude record attempt

There’s a rocket motor on the tail of the aircraft for high altitude thrust

Reaction nozzles on the fuselage assist in maneuvering in the thin air

It looks like he could get into space almost

I cashed in my retirement fund, sold my house, my collections, and moved

Here in the high desert with my truck and my dog, Dog

I can gaze out at the dry lake bed next door and think about what I’ll do

I’m seeing a guy about some surplus rocket motors tomorrow

I found an old Learjet online this morning only twenty miles away

It’s being sold for salvage

But it looks like it’s all there

I have to hurry

My left big toe has gone numb on me

I cut myself shaving today too

My hand jumped for no damn good reason

And wouldn’t stop shaking for an hour

Not enough time, dammit!

KBKS 5 – The Moon Is My Mistress

The moon is my mistress as she rises and sets

I dream of her nightly always at my best

I have no real reason to go

I don't know anyone there

Nor is it a great place to retire

Due to the known lack of air

But it calls to me like a siren

Now on these baby steps to get there

My time slowly ticking down

I draw sketches on my pad carefully

Unable to keep the shakes at bay anymore

I've taken a few private lessons in a Cessna 172

That combined with my aviation knowledge

Should be enough to help me do what I need to

My temporary outbuilding concealing my skunk works

Flutters at the bottoms as the desert breezes blow through

The dog keeping a watch for the occasional animal to wander in

At the center of attention is my project dujour

The Learjet in question is currently in partial disrepair

I dragged it home two weeks ago behind my pickup truck

What a sight we must have been on the county highway

Then cutting across three miles of dry lakebed

In this project I'm making liberal use of plywood and glue

Industrial strength deck screws are doing their part too

I'm not neglecting the traditional arts

I'm bending some metal and shooting rivets to make a few parts

I'm just cutting corners on a few things

The grains of sand are not forgiving

As they funnel down the hourglass

Time adding up for it all

I'm routing nitrogen lines throughout the fuselage

These I will use as primitive reaction jets

They'll stick through the fuselage at various points

I'll control them on a plywood control panel via manual flip valves

Fed from the two standard sized 3000psi tanks mounted behind the cockpit

Which rests right next to four oxygen cylinders

It looks like a spider's web on my hand drawings

The feed line coming from the cylinders to the board

Then fanning out to different places on the external skin

I've been bending tubing for two days now, but the end is in sight

I'm not bothering to seal up holes or get new gaskets

My new suit it coming by FedEx this week

It's Russian space program surplus from 1972

A marvelous piece of cold war engineering

Shiny, lightweight and just my size

Still saying CCCP on the breast too

This doesn't feel so mad anymore

It feels much like any job you do with a deadline

It's just that after my deadline date passes

One way or another I'll be through

Sun setting on my home encampment now

I fire up a few more halogen floor lights

Telling Dog to get me a beer just brings a crooked look

So I trudge over to the fridge and grab a couple

Throwing him a treat in the process as it's not his fault he misunderstood

I think I'll stay up on this for a few more hours

Make the most of this lovely night

KBKS 6 – Space Suit Gasket Blues

As the sun rises

It marks four months into this project

I've worked at it every day

From dawn to dusk plus a few hours

Dog has been a stalwart friend

Putting up with my lousy musical taste

Stoically watching me with Dread Zeppelin swirling around him

Not even flattening his ears

I think he deserves a doggy medal

I'll have to think of someplace for him to go

I don't think it would be fair to take him with me

It's a one way trip and he is only a few years old

He's got years and years left in him

I'm cutting new gaskets for the suit today

On a whim I decided that it would be a good thing to check

And it's fortunate that I did

As I took apart the sections of suit

The gaskets crumbled away

Some to literally dust

Apparently Russian rubber isn't that robust

So I figured out some durable rubber to use

and ordered several large pieces

And here I sit with all manner of scissors and x-acto knives

Cutting fitting and testing

Pretty boring stuff

Even Dog has gone to take a nap in the sunny spot outside the tent

I think I need a vacation

Not a real one mind you

Just a few days to blow off some steam

I think I'm going a little crazy

Sure, crazy-'er' if you insist

This wouldn't be a bad time to do it

I've got several things in motion on the jet

None of which will be ready for about a week to install

My custom titanium stressed powerplant bulkhead is being machined

All the fasteners are here though and I've laid out the pattern on the structure

It's going to look sweet when I put it in

I'm taking lots of pictures so I can share what I've done

Not till I'm about to leave of course!

Too many busy bodies would want to stop me

Probably take me down by force

Assholes

I sourced a third rocket motor similar to the first two

A little smaller in output though

I'm installing it in the rear along the centerline

Might come in handy for a little extra boost

Extra fuel tanks are being fabbed in town

One for each chemical compound

I'm maxing out the takeoff weight

And I hope there's enough to go around

I'm leaving the tip tanks on and using them for extra propellant

I'll just use the wing tanks for Jet A

I won't need as much of that

Just enough to get me up to altitude and speed

Everything is going swimmingly with months to spare

The day looks to be beautiful

What more could a man need

Right

A vacation

I think I'll go to Vegas

KBKS 7 – Vegas Bound

I'm wet

So is Dog

We set out for Vegas at dawn

The weather was beautiful

The desert sunrise breathtaking

My meds were working wonderfully

All was right with the world

Then it started raining

Which normally wouldn't be a problem

After all, a 1977 Chevrolet truck is designed to keep out the weather

But this one doesn't have a roof anymore

Last week I took a short sanity break

And had a few beers

With every passing twelve ounce

My eyes fell upon a Sawzall on the bench

Then the roof of the truck

More and more often

Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore

And the red pickup roadster was born

After removing all the jagged edges with a grinder

It was pretty not half bad looking too

I rationalized that this was the desert

How often can it rain?

Not much is the answer

Or often

At the first drops I looked up in dismay

My old mentality briefly breaking in

Dog picked up on it too

And tried to hide from the water up behind the windshield

But after a few minutes of getting good and wet

I started laughing

This is awesome

I'm driving an old pickup truck

With the roof chopped off

Through the desert

In a wicked rainstorm

What an absurdly awesome situation

I turn up the radio and start singing to the '80's station

I feel like a kid again playing in the rain

With two hundred miles to go to Vegas

Dog began barking excitedly along with my singing

I share a piece of wet jerky with Dog

This is the best time I've had in years

We motor onward to Las Vegas

Dripping water from everywhere as we go

Laughing and singing

With jerky breath

KBKS 8 – Penthouse Suite

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada

Is what the iconic sign said

After arriving I have to say I do feel welcome

Without too much trouble

And a wad of hundred dollar bills

I found a casino hotel willing to take me and Dog

The valet didn’t know what to think of the truck

He made a face at me when I tossed him the keys

Or maybe he was reacting to my squishing tennis shoes

Still wet from the run through the desert

I’m not sure

I grinned and asked him if he had a current tetanus shot

He said, What?

I pointed at the rough edges from where I sawed off the roof

And he laughed

He was good with it when I pressed a Benjamin into his hand

Money sure makes things easier

But I’ve got the budget to live large for a short time

Dog shook himself wetly on the bellhop

We both agreed it made the guy smell better

So I carried my own bags

Across the marble lobby

Dog’s tails clicking on the surface

Making time with my shoe squishes

A sample musician’s bread and butter

I’ll stop saying I tipped everyone big right here

Just assume I did

So without a raised eyebrow I rented the penthouse suite

We made ourselves at home immediately

Enjoying this swanky executive retreat

I ordered some champagne and two rare steaks for lunch

The waiter found us in the hot tub when he arrived

I waved him over and had him pop the bubbly

He seemed friendly so I invited him over after his shift

And to bring some friends too

This is not a date

I had him grab the spare room key as I didn’t know when I’d be back

I’m going down to the strip to take in a show or two

Dog plans on staying in and having a nap

It’s better than a kennel

The concierge even sent up a natural grass square

It’s for dogs to do their business on

Who knew?

Wiggling my toes in the bubbling water

I called down to the lobby

Inquiring about the rental of a tux and some shoes

I’d like to look like 007 I told them

I was told that it would be just so

Things sort of falling into place for the evening

I dried off and laid down for a nap

The meds make me a little upsy downsy

Sometimes I’m wired after taking them

At others pretty sleepy

Dog climbs up beside me

And rubs his body on the comforter

Before burrowing into the pillow

And staring at me

KBKS 10 – A Late Night Return

Three days in Las Vegas passed by in a blur

Of fun food gambling and new friends

My lovely hotel suite got worked over every night

By an assortment of the hotel staff and their friends

The good part about that is I didn't get charged if something got broken

But the good times were worth it even if I did

Dog finally learned to use the natural grass square

Much to our amusement and his horror

We'd all stop talking when he went and stare

He'd stare right back and do his business

Then go back to socializing with everyone like nothing happened

My troubles felt few as I soaked up the place

But on the last night there things took a bit of a turn

Right in the middle of a semi-sober game of charades

I had a wicked seizure which freaked everyone out

I hadn't told anyone what was wrong with me

So I got a free ride to the hospital out of it

The doctor's faces were pretty priceless

When I told them my medical issues

They recommended I stay there in their treatment

I thanked them but signed myself out

I've got other plans in mind

A short cab ride back to the hotel

I made short sad work of saying goodbye to my new friends

Collected Dog from the suite

He marked his grass square one more time

Grabbing a couple box meals to go

From the five star restaurant

And out the door we went

The four hour trip back home was pretty quiet

The stars shining down on us almost blindingly bright

Heat cranked against the desert chill

Dog curled up in the footwell to soak it up and sleep

Left alone with my thoughts in the night

I reflected on things

Questioned my plans

But reasoned that it was still right

Arriving home again Dog leapt from the truck

Checking things out to see if things smelled ok

I grabbed my stuff from the back and wandered to the trailer

On the front steps was a box and an envelope

Which read, Hello neighbor!

There were some assorted baked goods inside

Sealed in Tupperware thank goodness

Or something would have eaten them

In the envelope a hand drawn card

Signed by a large family down the road about ten miles

I've been invited to dinner on Sunday

Dog came around the corner apparently satisfied with his look around

And began nosing at the boxes

So I opened some up and spread the love with him

With a muffin in one hand and the invitation in the other

I sighed and decided to go

Though more relationships was the last thing I thought I needed

Sitting down in my favorite chair I had one more cookie

Then slowly fell asleep sitting there

Dog warming my toes

KBKS 11 – A Very Mormon Sunday

I think I've found a home for Dog

The family that invited me over for dinner last Sunday

Turns out they're very Mormon and very nice

Ten miles down the road

Up a long gravel driveway

Sits their large white house

Not large because they are ostentatious

But because there are eight members of the family there

All the kids were under seventeen

With the youngest being six

In an almost surreal contrast to the surrounding desert

Their large backyard has the only green clipped grass I've seen in the county

Needless to say

Dog loved every second of our visit

When we arrived we were ushered through the spotless home

Into the green backyard

Where most everyone was that late afternoon

I was offered ice water but no snacks

Because, I was told they were fasting until sundown that day

It was their family choice

So we played games in the backyard

Throwing the ball for Dog endlessly

Volleyball and badminton came and went

When the sun started setting Dad lit the grill

By the time the last sliver of sun disappeared

Leaving the most beautiful colors lingering in the sky

The food was ready to go

And there were mass quantities of everything!

Tired from all the playing

We all ate heartily

The food was top notch and I suspect mostly organic

It just tasted better to me

I was asked politely if I'd like to talk about their religion

Which I didn't mind

Religion is a favorite topic of mine

And I didn't know much about Mormonism

I learned a lot about them that day

How they lived and what they believed

And while I wasn't too tempted to convert

The way they were living made them happy

And I have to admit a certain degree of jealousy

Dog was jealous too

As I had to coax him into the truck

It's the first time he's had kids to play with

And he wouldn't have minded staying

The sixteen year old son complemented me on my truck

Smiling at its lack of a top

Asking me when I was going to finish it

I told him I probably would not

I might leave that up to the next owner.

I didn't tell him that as he had said that

I'd decided it would be him

The mom and dad had enjoyed having me

And told me to stop by anytime

Giving me their numbers to call

Offering to watch Dog whenever I needed it

Even asking me where I'd gotten him

And if there were any more with his personality

I shared how I'd found him in a dog pound last year

The personality part was just luck

As we drove home

Dog's head and upper body out the side of the truck

I reflected

I think Dog will like it with them

After a few days I'll bet he won't miss me a bit

KBKS 13 – Testing, Testing 1 2 3

The project was really coming together

I'd actually gotten a little help from the eldest Mormon boy

When I had first met the family

I'd told a tiny white lie

That I was putting an airplane together

To attempt a low altitude speed record

And it hadn't sounded that farfetched

Even to me

The dad thought his boy should learn some mechanical skills

So I'd happily obliged and put him to work

We'd finished installing the new titanium bulkhead in the aircraft

Him on the inside

Me on the outside

Putting in fasteners

Things went so much better with a helping hand

Dog would go from the inside with the boy

To the outside with me

For a certain dog allotted time with each of us

It made me smile to see the boy and him getting on so well

Spending so many days together

I couldn't really hide that I wasn't well from him

When I dropped a tool he'd grab it for me

Once my legs decided not to work at all for no reason

He offered me a hand up

He didn't ask what was wrong

He didn't pry

He just asked if I was ok

I told him I was

That that's just how things were

My cross to bear so to speak

He understood that

The boy helped me put together a test stand for the rocket motors

We welded one up and anchored it to the only concrete pad on the property

I had to move my trailer off its solid perch to do that

But it was worth it

I prepped all three motors and had them ready to go

We hid behind the truck with a fifty yard control cable leading to the stand

He was so excited to be there for that

His dad probably wouldn't have approved

I let him push the start button

Dog ran further away and hid under the trailer at the noise

It was marvelous how the old motors fired off

We let them go for ten seconds each

Smiling like crazy at each other

Sneaking peeks over the hood of the truck

At the awesome ground rumbling sight

I also finished up the aircraft systems

Just before I lost my helper from down the road

School was about to start

September had come sooner than I could have thought

The boy stood as ground crew for me

Giving me the thumbs up

I worked all the flight controls

Idled and ran the two stock engines until I was satisfied they'd work

Nothing overheated

Nothing flew apart and killed us

Ground tests were a success

KBKS 15 – Kisses, Blood, Kerosene & Silk

She was kissing me

Kissing me all over my face

A vision in pink

The love of my life

Her lips so soft and sweet

I opened my eyes

And Dog was licking me

I was lying halfway between the trailer and the work tent

I think I broke a tooth

I sat up and spit some blood out

This has definitely been getting worse

The meds don’t seem to be helping as much anymore

I have numerous mini seizures throughout the day

The Mormon family is worried about me

Different combinations of two or three of them stop by almost every day

They invited me to stay closer to them

Their property is almost one hundred acres

I’m almost tempted

But I have to keep my agenda in mind

Test flight is tonight

And I have several little things to get done beforehand

Passing out for almost an hour in the sun didn’t help

I’ve pulled the nitrogen and oxygen tanks for the flight

I won’t need them

I’ve already tested them and they work fine

What I need is less weight

I’ve really pushed the gross weight of the Lear

What with the extra structure, three rocket motors

And assorted support crap

I’m only filling the tip tanks with rocket fuel for the test

I’m not lighting the motors off for long

I just want to see how it handles the extra thrust in flight

Kerosene in the left

Hydrogen peroxide in the right

A nice half tank of Jet A

A clear cool night

I filed a flight plan for this evening

I don’t want any trouble

A simple flight profile

Just testing out an aircraft

Performance climb

And some low and high altitude maneuvering

Nothing to see here

Move along

This is a good dry run for Dog as well

Seeing me fly away might freak him out

Seeing me come back will reassure him

That I’ll come back next time too

I feel like such a liar though

I’ve been working on a letter to leave the Mormon family

Trying to explain what I’m really trying to do

I find myself at a loss for words mostly

I’ll just do my best

Everything is all set for tonight

I’ll just go inside, take a shower and relax

I got a couple pairs of silk underwear and undershirts

I thought that would be pretty comfortable

I get a crooked half smile

Revealing my newly chipped tooth

Then it’ll be time to put on the suit

KBKS 16 – Lucky One

I need some luck

The test flight went well

I got her back on the ground without too much trouble

The left main gear strut seals blew out on me when I