Theo's Dog Blog

A Flying Dawg?!

So, I hope you’re all enjoying summer (or winter, if you’re “down under.” )  We’re sliding into August, and the days here on the lake have been starting out a bit cloudy, then warming up to just the right temperature.  It’s great for flying.

And we had a distinguished guest this week – my friend Kit’s dear friend, Dr. Harry Bruce, who is the Dean of the Information School (“iSchool”) at the University of Washington.  (And, the University of Washington is the home of the Huskies, hence, the ‘Dawg’ days of summer – see what I did there?)

Kit and Harry enjoyed an introductory flight together, and marvelled at the beautiful “UDub” campus from the air.  They even peeked at Harry & wife Lorraine’s house from the air, too — it’s always fun to see your own house from 1,000 feet above.  Makes the garden and the deck and so forth look even better, sometimes.

And here’s something else that I think is cool – Harry and Lorraine are originally from Australia!  As in “down under!”  Another place I love to hear about……..

Harry’s flight was a gift from my friend Nancy, who teaches at the iSchool.  I’m telling you this because maybe you have somebody in your life who would just love the gift of flight.  Consider yourself hinted at…..

My friend Nancy, and my "brother" Oliver Murphy

The Information School received some attention last year for this student-produced video, “Librarians do Gaga.”   It went “viral” on YouTube, and got mentioned all over the place. So, this is the kind of fun they’re having over at the iSchool!

So, I hope you’re enjoying the dawg/dog days of summer, and I hope maybe we’ll see you here soon, too! The weather’s fine, and we’re flying.

Harry and Kit, all smiles after the intro flight

Cheers,

Toby James

Busy, busy, busy!   That’s how it’s been for us here at Seattle Seaplanes!

We’ve had a couple of checkrides recently – two more ASES-rated pilots passed their checkrides. Our instructor Richard worked with two really nice guys, Dale and John, and both passed with “flying colors.”  Here’s a picture of John, who’s a “flying Saluki” (he attends Southern Illinois University, that is)

My pal John, a proud holder of a new ASES rating

(I’ll get a picture up here of Dale as soon as I can get it off of Richard’s camera!  Richard is a hard-working high school teacher, and he’s taking advantage of the summer break now for some well-deserved R&R)

Meanwhile, although Seattle is having a somewhat cool summer, (especially compared to the rest of the country!) we’re having our share of nice, sunny days, too.  Here’s a picture, (courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons) of what the lake looks like on a busy day

We like it this way – we know you will, too.  Come see us!

cheers,

Toby James

I like chasing rats, does that count?!

Hey, everyone,

Here at Seattle Seaplanes, we’ve become quite the fans of roller derby!  Seattle is home to the famous Rat City Roller Girls, a league composed of four rough & tough derby teams.  My “mom and dad,” and several of our employees, have faithfully attended several bouts now, and Seattle Seaplanes is even advertising in the bout programs!

What is roller derby?  The Rat City web site explains it a lot better than I can, but it looks like hell on wheels!  It’s a great sport for women, who, during the day, might be doing something like teaching in an elementary school, or working as a doctor, or pulling shots of espresso.  Come bout time, though, and these ladies are transformed into rolling marauders, with derby names like “Carmen Getsome”, “Kamikazi Kim”, or “Valtron 3000.”   They skate around and around the flat track, hoping to score points, and inflict some pain on the opponents. Wow!

I decided my Derby Name should be “Toby Wan Kenobi,”  in honor of that most noble of Jedi Knights.  What do you think?

Come support roller derby with us – see you at the bout!

Cheers,

Toby James

p.s.  I don’t know who really is #7 – I hope she doesn’t mind me “borrowing” her number….