We are thankful for ...

I woke up this morning thankful that the sun woke me up and not my alarm. I kissed my wife and told her "Happy Thanksgiving, honey." Soon I had a steamy cup of coffee in-hand, and as I sat in front of my computer reading the night's tweets, it occured to me to ask my Twitter followers what things they are thankful for. The inspiration for this certainly came from Steve Tupper's "You Might Be a Pilot" quest a few weeks ago.

The following is a of the responses I got throughout the day.

I am thankful ...

• for my awesome children, great friends, and a family who is there for me even though the distance is huge!


• that I have a job.


• for emergency responders who are working hard today.


• for the men and women of the armed forces protecting me from all enemies, foreign and domestic.


• for kids that scream "Daddy! Daddy!" as soon as I get home from work.


• for my friends and family. They are the absolute best!


• for the listens and viewers of my podcast. Without you, there would be no point. (many of us share this sentiment)


• for the patient competence of CFIs.


• that people spend a lot of time, effort, and more $$$ than I'll ever have keeping historically significant planes flying


• I live in the country where flying is the cheapest "free-est", still true despite the efforts of the government.


• for airplanes. But that was too easy. ;)


• I did such a good job of prepping yesterday that I have nothing to cook until after noon today.


• for health, freedom, good friends, good weather at the right time. Next year I'd like to be thankful for a less volatile stock market.


• for nights when the pager doesn't go off.


• for just enough cream to lighten my morning coffee.


• for the four 'F's'; Family, Friends, Food, and Football!


• for birds. Those we watch, those we fly, and those we eat!


• for approach lights at 300 AGL.


• for turbines, radar, heated wings.


• for ATC.


• for heated cowls, de-ice fluid, APU's, more thrust then you need (because there'll come a time you do need it all)


• for Jesus' life, death, and resurection.


• for happy gate agents!!!


• for the kindness & thoughtful sentiments from all my friends, both near and far!


• that the Cowboys spanked the Seahawks today ;)

A special thanks to all of the contributors, whose Twitter IDs are: sirclown82, DodieLA, isuhawkeye, hollyrn76, StephenForce, flyingcheezhead, rwc101010, yaksierra, billwil, PlaneMadness, carriecotter, and motorbikematt.

Preflighting

I've decided to bring my blog back to life. Turning Final has been grounded for quite some time now. I have never really had any clear direction in mind to take it, and as a result it just became a "whatever I wanna write about" sort of place. I suspect it still will be, but I intend to write mostly about aviation-related topics that interest me. Most of the subject matter will probably revolve around, well, me. I'll be blogging about flights I take or lessons I've endured. Any trips I take that require the use of an airplane, especially those done in the company Navajo, will also be written about here.

The caveat is this: I will not get posting here regularly. I simply don't have the time. Now I know someone is going to give me the line about how no blog ever "takes off" unless there is new material there every day.

I. Don't. Care.

I'm not here to try to become the defacto aviation blog-o-rama king. I'll let my Twitter followers know where there's a new blog post (you can follow me on Twitter: DaveFlys) and I'll try to keep it somewhat fresh. Just keep in mind I'm doing this in my limited free time and with only limited aviation experience. After all, I'm not a pilot ... yet.