PK Yonge Comencement Speech

Bridal Veil Falls...I stopped on the way home and impaled my WRX on a rock...Shit.

Oh well, it was worth it...

I’m home for a month, before my children’s writing class at the Oregon Coast. It’s good to be home. Summers here are beautiful, and the days are long and slo0ww…especially when we start harvest in July…or August? It’s a late year, but the crop looks good.

I put all  my new pictures up of Italy, unpacked and did laundry. Time to relax!

Tuscany countryside canvas with Kevin’s farm equipment underneath!

Pisa and Montepulciano in my dining room!

Italy, my house is plastered with canvases! I'm running out of wall space...time to buy a beach place!!

My high school alma mater is PK Yonge, the University of Florida’s developmental research school. I like to joke that we were guinea pigs, but its true. What other high schools offered Aviation as a science elective way back in 1971?

The new PK Yonge auditorium

PK Yonge cafeteria...lots of good memories here!!

PK Yonge library...oh, what a memory here!!

Everyone has been asking how my speech went, and what I said. Luckily my sister-in-law, Carla, recorded it for me.

So, I was wrong - our class did have a graduation ceremony - Go figure! I sure didn't remember it until I found this in Mom's storeroom this week.

After the introduction, my whole life story and then some, what more could I say?????

While I was tempted to just say, “What she said!” I didn’t.

This was my ad-lib speech. I know I could do it better with practice…

THE SPEECH

“One of my girlfriends says that with that many things someone likes to do, they are either a renaissance woman or ADD. I hope I’m a renaissance woman….

When I graduated from PK Yonge nearly 40 years ago, I never expected to be flying a jumbo jet around the world. In fact, I didn’t know what I wanted to be, and once again, there were too many choices to choose just one. What I did learn from PK was that there were no limitations and that I could do anything I wanted. I think that’s the most important thing to take away from PK because I know you all can do anything.

If I can fly a jumbo jet that weighs over 833,000 pounds – 400 tons – longer and wider than this room with these little weenie arms, you can do anything you want: anything. Anything! (laughter)

Of course, the 747 is all hydraulic, so you don’t have to be strong – you just have to use your brain.

When I was at PK Yonge, math was the only class that I felt I really had to work at, and for those of you who have had my brother, Mr. Bice, for three years of math (Standing ovation, cheering, clapping!!!), I was going to say I feel your pain, but you all must like him, so go figure. (Laughter) He’s been my brother for 54 years. (More laughter) Yes, I know, that’s a long time. (Laughter, again!)

He’s told me quite a few stories about all of you, but I really hate to tell them in front of your parents, so maybe later we can get together and I’ll tell you what he told me.

My favorite class at PK of course was aviation, and I would like to thank Dr. Gadsden over and over again for being a great physics teacher, and then a great aviation teacher. When I learned how to fly, I didn’t plan on doing it for a living. I just did it so I could fly my friends over to the beach (chuckles). I know, it’s not a great goal or a huge goal, but that’s what kept me going – putting one foot in front of the other, and always having something I couldn’t wait to do next – something I was excited about.

I soloed at 16 at the Gainesville Airport, and one of the notations in my logbook said, “Student must stop counting swimming pools and start concentrating on learning how to fly.” (Laughter) Every time I went up I was looking for a friend’s house or something exciting in the air, and I still love to fly and it has been a wonderful career. I hope that our graduating students realize that this world has so many places to go, so many things to see, its incredible.

When I was flying the whale, which is what we call the jumbo jet, 4 engines, 55,000 horsepower each engine, we would usually go to Asia, but I also flew to Europe. The whole nose of the airplane would lift up when I was flying cargo. We would load on race cars, pigs, giraffes, antelope, zebra (laughter)…we took a whole zoo to Asia once.

We had thousands of chicks peeping underneath our cockpit all the way over, and you couldn’t hear the engines over the chicks – that’s a lot of chicks!

We flew saltwater fish, and probably every Nintendo game or Playstation or computer that you all would use. We couldn’t wait to see what cargo we had!

(I said incredible again, need a new adjective…5 total!!!! Yikes…at least I didn’t say “umm”).

You could look from the front of the airplane, if you pretend I’m at the front now, all the way to the back of the room where the tail would be – it was almost as long as a football field. An (incredibly) fun plane to fly, into foggy airports like San Francisco, icy runways in Alaska – for me the most exciting thing is a challenge, and I loved it when the weather was down, or I had to make a crosswind maximum gross weight.

I think finding your passion and being able to do it in this world is incredible (yes, 4 times). I know you’ve all heard how hard it is to make it in this world, how everything is changing so fast…but I would love to start over – the incredible  thing about this world is that there is always something new in it…flying down to Singapore over the South China Sea, flying over the Saipan where the ocean goes down 7 miles, when you are flying 7 miles up – almost makes me an astronaut, right? 14 miles above the bottom of the ocean?! (Laughter)

I was flying on 911 when the skies were closing and I was one of the last planes in the sky. To me, one of the best parts of aviation is that it is always changing. You have to stay on your toes.

My life has been so fun and exciting…if I could tell you just a few things to keep your life fun and exciting, I would say:

Stay positive.

Hang on to your integrity.

Surround yourself with positive people.

I know you all have supportive people in your life, because your parents had to sign you up to get into PK Yonge. But I don’t just mean your family…

Surround yourself with positive friends and people who are going places and have dreams and ambitions. I find I can only have two people in my life at a time who are negative because they such the life right out of you. (nods, agreement)

Keep positive people around you, keep putting one foot in front of the other. You don’t have to know where you are going to get there…unless you are in a jet like me – then it helps to know where you are going, say to Singapore. (laughter)

Anyway, I think the world is yours and I’m excited for you, and I wish I could come back in 40 years to see what you do with your life.

Congratulations and good luck.”

1000 words, 7.5 minutes

Plans for the new wing at PK Yonge...wow!

PK Yonge modulars...I wish Sherman County would do this! It's amazing how many resources there are when K - 12 are on one campus.

Inside the modular classroom...much better than the originals!

Breaking ground for the new elementary wing

Now this is my kind of curriculum!! Rome, yes!!

Driving in Italy

Our peppy little Lancia.

Driving in Italy…what an experience!

Lots of tunnels in Italy! I never realized how mountainous it was….I tried to pay attention to road signs while on the bus to Sorrento, before renting a car.

Rent a motorcycle if driving isn’t exciting enough…

Suzanne and I both went to AAA and paid for International Driver Licenses before we left the states. We never needed them, but we could see why they were good to have. Italian police officers do not read or speak English! I am going to practice my Italian for next time…. At least I bought maps in English before we left, too.

We picked up our car in Rome at the airport. (Referencing my last blog…) The car was supposed to cost 298 euros for the week. $450. I got the extra insurance, added Suzanne’s name to the agreement, and a GPS. Now the cost was 615 euros and we hadn’t even paid for gas. That’s a whopping $900 to rent a car. Ooh la la. Mama Mia.

But how else are you going to get to a farmhouse in Toscana? I looked into bus’ and trains, but we were 5KM from the nearest town.

Italian countryside

The hardest part is the language barrier and lack of flexibility. I should have memorized the signs and more Italian before I drove. Yes, many signs are understandable – just like ours. But others are not. Most things with a red circle around them mean danger or don’t. I was expecting a slash through the circle if it was not allowed. Besides, the red minus signs are everywhere and drivers just ignore them.

http://www.accessitaly.com/post/Driving-in-Italy-part-10-e28094-Italian-Road-Signs.aspx

Roads in Sorrento looked easy enough to traverse…:)

Driving in Tuscany was pretty laid back…

The highway is like the German Autobahn and the cars go fast. I didn’t want a ticket, so I drove the speed limit. Well, most of the time. Suzanne had to keep telling me to slow down. We were obviously noticed because the trucks were all honking and flashing us. Did the license plate list us as newbies???

Driving was okay even though I am not as aggressive as the Italians. Actually, it was fun! Yes, they drive fast, but at least they are on the right side of the road for me. I didn’t have any scary close calls, but I did have to brake a few times…and pull over when they zoom up behind you flashing their lights.

Maybe the signs would be less confusing if there weren’t so many of them!

Montepulciano

See the lady walking in the white hat??? She’s the one who gave us the ticket…grr.

We couldn’t find our farmhouse, so we stopped in Montepulciano. Turns out we were only three miles away! Why they didn’t tell us that when we rented it is beyond me. We really need a latitude/longitude because the directions said “about 4 km” “about 2 km” and there were no street signs or directions on the main road.

While asking directions in the Montepulciano tourist office, we got a ticket on our car. 39 euros. I thought Suzanne was going to cry. I felt like laughing. What a day. Good thing we are rich airline pilots…!

Don’t get me wrong. The farmhouse and the experience were worth every dime. We both filled squares on our bucket list – squares I didn’t know I had!

Suzanne wanted to fill another square on her bucket list by going to Pisa – a childhood dream of hers. I thought the Leaning Tour was just touristy, and if you read this blog, you already know I don’t like bucket lists. I really didn’t want to go and was in a pissy mood after our late start.

We ended up on some really crappy roads going to Pisa because Suzanne wanted the scenic route instead of the toll roads. Understandably. The countryside was beautiful, the toll road wasn’t, and we had paid enough toll from Rome – a whopping $23. But we hadn’t left the house until 11 that morning, and I didn’t want to take all day going to see the stupid leaning tower.

PISA leaning more than usual?

Motorcycles everywhereAnd we think gas in the states is expensive….

Way cooler than I ever expected the Leaning Tower to be!!

I’m sure I was frustrating Suzanne because I was reading signs and not always trusting the GPS. Then I would miss a turn, and instead of telling me, the thing would find a new route. We never knew if we should go back or stay on the new path. It was a TomTom, and quite different from the ones we were used to. Maybe that’s why Hertz calls it “Never Lost” – because it never lets you know you are.

The slow life in Tuscany

For five days we drove around Italy, eating and drinking (most of my drinking was done back at the farmhouse – Italian drinking and driving laws are strict – .05%!), sightseeing and shopping.

The Cat House

Enjoying life in Italy

At first, I kept second guessing myself about the extra expense. Did we really need a GPS? The extra insurance? We did. The only thing we really didn’t use was the extra driver. The one day Suzanne did drive, her international license was in the farmhouse, so I go nervous about her getting in trouble. Luckily she didn’t, but I don’t think we were supposed to be in the little streets of Chiusa – and it wasn’t just the little red minus signs that gave me that impression. There just weren’t many other cars.

Chiusu, Italy

But, we squeezed our way through and went to a lot outside town.

We were glad we had the GPS, especially when going to Pisa or Venice. But we used it all the time in Tuscany, too. If we weren’t supposed to be in some places, it never told us. Like the red circle with the minus sign…. In fact, it led us into some one way streets. Grr.

You’ve got to be kidding us…$6 a gallon! WOW!

When the time came to fill the car with gas, we were both shocked. Wow. A whopping $75, and we weren’t quite down to a quarter of a tank.

On the last day in Tuscany, we decided to pay our fine. Again. Not that we hadn’t tried. The police station was closed the other times, but it was the wrong station. We thought about mailing it, but found out that wasn’t a possibility. And we thought about having Hertz do it, but we think there would have been a huge penalty. Apparently you can only pay in one police station, inside the city walls, or wait in the long lines at the post office.

All our luggage was in the trunk, and I didn’t want to leave it too long. Suzanne walked up the hill to pay the ticket, and told me to meet her in front of the church.  I drove into the town of Montepulciano to pick Suzanne up because there were lots of other cars doing it. (I know, if everyone else was jumping off a bridge…) Who knew? It takes a special permit to drive inside the city walls. I parked and waited for her, clueless until the municipal police drove up and asked for my registration and license. One of them was the same girl who had given us the ticket the first day. Uh oh.

I almost started laughing at the irony of being given a ticket while paying one. Somehow I made myself understood, with the help of a nearby shopkeeper. They let me off when they understood, and I could have sworn they almost started laughing too. The meter maid told me to wait right there for my friend. Then the two of them started giving out tickets right and left to the multitude of people driving in. And they weren’t cheap. All the drivers that got ticketed were angry. No one saw the sign. If we thought our parking ticket was high (39 euro), the fine for driving into Montepulciano was at least twice that. Bam. $120 or more, according to my interpreter.

Apparently there is an international symbol for “do not enter without the correct ticket”! I’ll have to do an internet search…. When you are staying in the town, the hotel sends you a parking pass. It was hard to figure out where to pay our fine. Not the police outside the wall. Not the carabinieri within.

The wrong police station…again! They didn’t speak English, but they did Google translate for us!

The long walk up to the police station…Lots to look at while waiting for Suzanne and keeping the police at bay….

The cutest little flag boy!!

The special municipal police office way up the hill into the main square, in a section of town we hadn’t seen yet. Suzanne wished she ha her camera with her, because the main square was huge.

Suzanne was tired when she finally got back to the car. It was a three-mile hike! And I was just leaving because the police were beginning to get frustrated with the long wait for her.

Please, not another ticket!!!

Relieved, and free at last, we drove to Venice. Suzanne said the policeman she paid the fine to handed her change out of his own pocket. Along the way we talked about the system and had visions of Italian jail because of something stupid we had done. Or at least lots of cash.

The toll road to Venice.

Arriving in Venice…by bus!

I did take the toll road to Venezia. Or really, just to the crew hotel in Mestre. Tunnels and trucks, tunnels and trucks. It looked like California and then, Pennsylvania. It took a good 3 ½ hours, but at least it was uneventful! Except for the toll charges. Mama Mia: $30 from Tuscany to Padova, another $5 to get back on the toll road after I took the wrong turn.

At least we drove straight to the hotel, parked and checked in. No incidents. Or close calls.

Venice at night.

We took the bus to Pt. Roma and the Vaporetto around Venice. Then we walked and shopped and ate. I went back to the place I had first eaten at, next to the Marconi Hotel, where Aldo was the waiter, and Suzanne agreed it was perfect. We went back to the room, satiated, after almost falling down the bridge steps. Limoncella and bed. Suzanne gave me her Capri bag because I couldn’t stuff everything in my suitcase!

Suzanne with Aldo, my old boyfriend!

Suzanne with Sean Connery

Me with Aldo, the waiter at Marconi Hotel – 7 months ago in Venice

Airplane arriving at Marco Polo, Venice

Speaking of cash, I didn’t have any to buy gas on the way to the airport with the rental car. I found a station, but it was self-service and wouldn’t take my card. If I didn’t fill the car, it was another $150!!! A nice Italian man with a mohawk told me what the machine was saying, and asked if I had enough gas to get where I was going. He pointed out a bank across the street.

I think I should have gotten up earlier! It was 5:30 in the morning, and my plane left at 7:10. At least I was First Class, so I didn’t have to wait in any lines. Marco Polo Aeroport is small, and the way to get there is really roundabout. I had good directions from the hotel, but stopped to load the GPS just in case. Finally I found it and the rental car return.

The man I walked in with from the parking lot was from Fayetteville, NC. He used to lived in Italy, and was just back seeing friends on business for the week. He told me to check in first, then turn the car in. Good thing, too. I had to go back to the parking lot to put TomTom back in the car because the rental slot was only for papers…Hertz wasn’t open yet either!

Morning takeoff over Venice

In Paris, getting off the plane, I ran into Matt – the man from NC – again. Turns out he’s military, an air force C135 pilot. We talked all the way to our gates. My gate was in Timbuktu…it took at least half an hour to get there. Both flights were boarding when I got to the gates this morning, Venice and Paris! The funny thing is, I have been calm inside this whole trip. The driving was fun, and every thing that happened was an adventure, not a calamity. I must be feeling better, back to my old self.