(no subject)

I think I need to talk to the vet again. Shula keeps having problems when it's time to take a dump. I've been giving him Laxatone regularly, and I've been adding pumpkin to his food, and he still only tries to go every other day- and works himself into a state where he briefly operates in reverse first before spending the next twenty to thirty minutes crouching anywhere other than his litterbox. I'm assuming the litterbox avoidance is due to him associating the attempts and the location with pain, as I'm told that happens with cats, but the rest....

He's had trouble before. He's had to stand on his hind legs to go as long as I've known him. If he's got an internal defect I need to accommodate to make this easier for him, that's fine. I'll deal with that. I just need to know what I need to do for him.

(At the moment he's purring happily in my lap, having made horrific messes in the kitchen earlier when I was trying to get some Saturday morning sleep. Ah well. He's a good boy and I love him. I just want this to be easier for him.)

(no subject)

1.2 hours in the air today, practicing flying patterns- takeoff, crosswind, downwind, base, final, and many practices of landing technique without actually touching down. Had to do the radio communication several times, too, which was all right but I kept forgetting my lines. Nothing serious, thankfully- the tower could tell what I was asking for. Had to avoid interfering with two other helicopters in the same patter, one of which was a good deal faster.

It's kind of interesting to do a turn at 70ish miles an hour (airspeed is measured in knots, but a knot is a nautical mile an hour, so it's basically 'a mile an hour plus a bit' times seventy) when your vehicle has no doors.

Instructor says I'm doing well. Looking forward to my next lesson in two weeks' time.