Thursday, November 5th, 2015

I got up once about 3am, heard a dog fight about 5:45 and got up and looked out the window hatch of the front door.  I saw a German shepherd behind the plants in front of the finca so I believe they are the dogs from a little further down the valley.  A few minutes later I heard that piercing squeal you hear when a dog is badly hurt so I think someone got bit.

I finally woke/got up at 9:30.

I called Barnes & Noble, they found my order, I gave them the 2^nd line address that I wasn’t allowed to enter online, and they said my order should be released within 24-72 hours.  So I guess if I don’t receive confirmation by Monday I’ll be calling them back on Tuesday.

We ran out of liquid propane for the stove (last fillup was September 2^nd so we’re due) so Teresa called Felipe to bring a refill.

I filled out the Socal Security form #7161.  Now I have to return to MBE to send it back to the States.  Hopefully I’ll remember to make a copy of it first.

Felipe showed up and replaced the lp gas tank for 45mil.  Next expected refill should be early January.

From 3:25 to 4:20 every afternoon Monday thru Friday I like to watch a National GEOgraphic program called Mayday: Air Catastrophes.  Today it was about American Airlines flight 191 that crashed on takeoff at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in 1979.  I remember I was working on the 48^th floor of the Sears Tower when that accident occurred.  It is one of those events (like the JFK assassination and 9/11) that you remember where you were when it happened.  

“American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by American Airlines from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Los Angeles International Airport. The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 crashed on May 25, 1979, moments after takeoff from Chicago. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. It is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States.
Investigators found that as the jet was beginning its takeoff rotation, engine number one on the left wing separated and flipped over the top of the wing. As the engine separated from the aircraft, it severed hydraulic fluid lines that locked the wing leading edge slats in place, and it damaged a three-foot section of the left wing's leading edge. Air loads on the wing resulted in an uncommanded retraction of the outboard slats. As the jet attempted to climb, the left wing stalled while the right wing, with its slats still deployed, continued to produce lift. The jetliner subsequently rolled to the left until it was partially inverted, reaching a bank angle of 112 degrees, before crashing in an open field by a trailer park near the end of the runway. The engine separation was attributed to damage to the pylon rigging structure holding the engine to the wing, caused by faulty maintenance procedures at American Airlines.

Investigators looked at the aircraft's maintenance history and found that its most recent service was eight weeks before the crash, during which this particular engine had been removed from the aircraft for repairs. The pylon, the rigging holding the engine onto the wing, had been damaged during the procedure. The procedure recommended by McDonnell-Douglas called for the engine to be removed from the pylon before detaching the pylon itself, but American Airlines, along with Continental Airlines and United Airlines, had begun to use a procedure that saved approximately 200 man-hours per aircraft and "more importantly from a safety standpoint, it would reduce the number of disconnects (of systems such as hydraulic and fuel lines, electrical cables, and wiring) from 72 to 27."^[7] The new procedure involved mechanics removing the engine and pylon as a single unit. A large forklift was used to support the engine while it was being detached from the wing – a procedure that was found to be extremely difficult to execute successfully, due to difficulties with holding the engine assembly straight while it was being removed.^[7]

While maintenance issues and not the actual design of the aircraft were ultimately found responsible for the crash, the accident and subsequent grounding of all DC-10s by the Federal Aviation Administration added to an already unfavorable reputation of the DC-10 aircraft in the eyes of the public, caused by several other incidents and accidents involving the type. The investigation also revealed other DC-10s with damage caused by the same faulty maintenance procedure. The faulty procedure was banned, and the aircraft type went on to have a long passenger career. It has since found a second career as a cargo airplane.”

Source: Wikipedia.com.

For the past week or so we’ve been seeing advertisements, in Spanish of course, for a new mini series (King) Tut starring Ben Kingsley.  I had a chance to watch it alone several times during the day but waited until 7pm to watch it with Teresa and Laura but then we found it was in English without subtitles.  They let me watch it but I’m sure they didn’t get much out of it.

I took my sleeping pills at 10:45 and went to bed at 11pm.