I Am Being Held Captive---Send Help!

Okay. Here's what happened.

I flew my little airplane up here to Auburn, Washington so the guy could put the Garmin GNS430W in the panel. September 4th. He said he was "shooting for the 12th" and then the 17th, and then the 26th. Of September. September came and September went. No airplane. The install did not take place.

Went to Italy (see previous posts). Returned from Italy (see previous posts). October came and October went. I returned on October 29th and called the avionics guy. He said, "Hey, when are ya gonna come up and get your airplane? I need to get paid." I tell him that Monday the Monday the 5th of November (no, not September because that had come and gone; not October for same reason), but November.

So I got a guy to fly me up in his beautiful Cessna 180 with 300 horsepower P-Ponk conversion. Yeah, I know. Can you believe that? Dave says he'd be glad to do it. It would be a great day to fly.

On Sunday evening the avionics dude calls and asks if he can have one more day. I ask him again (as I had already done)---"Is the airplane DONE?" He says, of course, it's done. But the kid is sick and the wife is sick. I tell him it has to be Monday. No room to budge. Got plans Wed/Thurs and am working overtime on Tuesday. Has to be Monday. He acquiesces.

Dave and I call prior to departure from the beautifully sunny Oregon coast. The avionics dude asks if we've checked the weather cuz it was foggy "up here in Auburn." We tell him we have checked and that the weather will improve by the time we get there. It had. We landed.

Avionics dude walks up to me as I get out of the plane and says, "Damn. I goofed. I have some bad news. I cut the number two com wire by mistake." I ask him how bad that is and can I at least leave because I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT AT 3 O'CLOCK IN CORVALLIS. He says, "Oh. No way. You can't leave." I go look at the airplane. Not only is it not done, but it has never BEEN done. There are empty holes everywhere. Wires dangling everywhere. I feel sick to my stomach. Dave and I look at each other. I say some words to the avionics guy. I have to restrain myself because he still has my airplane.

Dave and I leave. I pay the 171 dollar fuel bill (at the cheapest place in the state right now, Newport, @ $3.99/gallon). I call my appointment and tell him to go ahead and bill me for the missed appointment.

Avionics dude says he will have the plane done "in a day; it will be ready tomorrow." Tomorrow, at that point, was two days ago---Tuesday. But I had to work.

By some miracle (thoughts become things!), the weather was still good on a November day when we normally pull down 18-22 inches of rain in that single month. Sunny day. Beautiful day. I call the avionics guy and confirm our appointment. He says he has one thing to do that will take about a half hour. One hour and 16 minutes later (GAWD, that 180 goes fast!), we land in Auburn, Washington. The plane is not done.

The avionics guy says "I have to do this, and that will take about 10 minutes. I have to do that and that will take about 10 minutes. And then there are these things to go in. So, it should be done in two hours."

Two hours? Dave can't wait two hours. He and I were going to fly back together. I was going to take off first and see how long it would take for him to pass me. He was going to help me push my plane into the hangar when we got back.

Dave took off. I sent him on his way. We landed at 2:15pm. I took off last night at 7:15pm. But the weather had deteriorated and the weather dude on Flight Watch at the frequency of 122decimalZEROzero said conditions are IFR along the route, VFR not recommended. There is a saying: "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots; but there are no old, bold pilots." I returned to the airport.

I love the Auburn Days Inn. My room faces the airport and I can look right down the runway. There is free coffee and belgium wallfel action in the lobby. And get this: Internet is free. FREE!!! I was expecting them to charge me 7 Euros for one hour or 4 Euros for 10 minutes (like that one place in Florence).

I called my friend, Tom last night and cancelled our fishing outing planned for this morning. I called Cindra. I called Juniper. I called Dave. I callled Bob. I called Don. Now I will call Logo and Lime.

It is foggy here. Very, very foggy. It is supposed to lift.

I want to go home. And I can't. And I don't like that. But it is a great little spot I have found and I know I will return some day. Albertson's is right across the street. I am going to go buy one of those huge pomegranates and make lemonade. Well, you get the point.

No change in the fog and it's 10:05am.