There was a farmer in my county that had a large dairy farm and he called me fairly often for advice. He was also a fellow pilot and owned a Mooney 231 with a retractable landing gear and all kinds of avionics, including radar. I got to fly it once. It cruised at 230 miles per hour, almost twice the speed of my plane.

On occasion, he would tell me about this very nice teacher at a school several miles from the farm. All his kids had her in school and all the kids respected and loved her. And she loved to teach mathematics. WHAT! Math? That was one of my worst subjects. He kept saying, "You really ought to meet her." I said, "Nice try, Jim, but no thanks."

A short time later, I got a call from Jim's wife. She said, "We're having a Christmas party in our farm shop with food and we have hired a band for dancing. It starts at 8:00 pm. Be there!" Then she hung up. I thought nice going Irene. Why don't you tell it to me straight instead of beating around the bush. Ha, I thought. Fat chance.

Then I thought about it. Maybe this nice school teacher might be invited too. So, instead of saying, "I can't" I decided what the heck. I'll give it a try."

Would this be another fatal mistake? Stay tuned.