Operation Fix-A-Cat wrap up

This is (hopefully) the final episode of Operation Fix-A-Cat. It's taken about three months to catch the targeted neighborhood strays and get them their shots and neuter/spay done. The final tally: Six neutered/spayed and released back into the neighborhood, seven unknowns sent to animal control, and two more that had to be quarantined after they bit me. The first of the biters I reported on back in January. While I've regained most of the use of my right thumb, it is still visibly swollen compared to my left, and there are still visible marks on my left hand as well. The last of the targeted cats was one of last year's crop of kittens, from the same litter (we believe) as Blackie and Fluffy, both of whom have featured in earlier reports. Unlike those two, this one, dubbed "Tiny" by my neighbor (who couldn't tell them apart), looked almost exactly like the mother - who was the first biter. Not only did she look like her mother, she acted like her too: She also bit me, and managed to draw blood through the leather gloves I was wearing. I didn't realize that she had actually gotten through the gloves until the blood soaked through them from the inside. Even so, the damage was much less than last time; maybe a half-dozen spots total. Here she is, still in the trap, having convinced me to leave her there:

We definitely wanted to get this one as she had shown all the signs of being in heat about two weeks before we finally got her - naturally the day after the appointment I'd made for her at the clinic. The unexpected part was the five cats that I'd never seen before that showed up in the trap during the week we were trying to catch this one. Sadly, the six that we released back into the neighborhood have been targeted by the park management because of complaints about the number of loose cats. I've been in negotiations with the management to allow a select few (hopefully about six . . . ) to remain as rodent abatement troops. The undecided question is what to do about them when it comes time for me to leave. Since that doesn't appear imminent, I'm not too worried about it. For now, the traps and crates have been put away - I've had enough of messing with extra cats, and my resident four are feeling a bit neglected by all the attention devoted to the various strangers.

Next time, I'll get back to airplanes, I promise!

All in a day's work

I was puttering about in the hangar yesterday with NPR's All Things Considered playing on the radio when I heard a story about a controller in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who talked a student pilot through landing her Cessna 172. For his efforts, he's been awarded NATCA's Archie League Medal of Safety. That student got lucky - not all air traffic controllers are pilots; here at LAX I'd estimate that about half of our controllers have some sort of piloting experience. Most other places I've been the pilot count among the controllers was somewhat less, perhaps somewhere between ten and thirty percent, but I don't think I've ever been the only pilot assigned to an air traffic facility. She was also lucky in her choice of airplanes: the Cessna 172 is just about the universal general aviation airplane, with an admirable safety record. In case you've never seen one, here's one I caught on the run-up pad this afternoon:



The most incredible part of the story to me was that she later flew away again. Since there was no further mention, apparently that landing went okay. I guess you really do have to get right back on the horse.

Here's a link to the NPR story: Flight Controller Honored for Grace Under Pressure

Delta Airbuses spotted

Last month, I showed you pictures of the Delta/Northwest B747, B757, and Airbus 330. Since then, a few of the A320-series Northwest Airbuses have shown up wearing the new Delta scheme. Northwest has A319's and A320's, the two middle models of the range, which runs from the A318 to the A321. The larger the number, the longer the fuselage. While I should use this as the starting point for the next part of the LAX Aircraft Spotter's Guide, the iBook's battery isn't up to the task right now, so you'll have to stay tuned!

In this picture there's one of each: the Delta is an A319, while the silver Northwest is an A320.
An easy way to tell the two apart (aside from length) is the overwing exits: the A319 has one, while the A320 has two.

This fuzzy shot through the tower windowshade was the first A320 I've seen in the Delta livery. I must concede that I'm not yet used to seeing Delta colors on Airbuses.

Here's a little Airbus lagniappe: Air Jamaica's one daily flight arrives and then departs again after dark, and so photo opportunities are few. I caught this A320 at Terminal Five last week.

Happy Mardi Gras Y'all!

I'm typing this during my lunch break at the tower, so no long drawn-out missive today. But I couldn't let it pass without wishing everyone a happy Mardi Gras. As you might imagine, Mardi Gras isn't quite the big thing in L.A. that it is in New Orleans or Rio. The first most folks here at the tower heard about it was when I hit the top of the stairs wearing my beads. They all seemed okay with it though when the king cakes arrived (gotta have beads and king cake!)

For those who need a Mardi Gras primer, here goes: Mardi Gras (in French "fat Tuesday") or Carnival is the celebration running up to Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent. In New Orleans, where I learned my Mardi Gras lore, the Mardi Gras season begins on Twelfth Night, or the Feast of the Epiphany, which is January 6th (this is the twelfth of the twelve days of Christmas in the carol - Many people don't realize that the twelve days of Christmas are after Christmas Day, not leading up to it like an advent calendar). Fat Tuesday itself is always the day before Ash Wednesday, which is in turn forty-six days (forty if you don't count the Sundays) before Easter, which is in turn the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 20th. Thus, the date of Mardi Gras moves each year just as the date of Easter does, and can be as early as the third of February or as late as the ninth of March. The king cake is ring-shaped (like a king's crown), and is in honor of the three wise men in the tale of the baby Jesus. That's also the origination of the baby in the cake, although in some cultures a bean is used instead. The tradition says that whoever gets the baby in the cake has to host the next celebration (in other words, provide the next cake). The traditional colors of purple, green, and gold respectively represent Justice, Faith, and Power. I was going to show you the cake, but . . .

I didn't think to get a picture of it before taking it upstairs, and food of this sort in the tower cab has no chance of approaching its 'sell by' date. So instead, here's the box it came in, all the way from Louisiana:

In other so-called 'news', the Oscars ceremony was this past weekend. While I didn't go, and in fact don't even know who did, I did get a shot of one of the full FBO ramps. Lotsa heavy iron in town:


Post script: The calculation of the date of Easter is known as computus, and is actually some what more involved than my abbreviated explanation above. For more, you might see this Wikipedia article.