Tom got his ride!

Last Saturday was arrival day for us. I went out to center field and helped to lay out and weigh down a 5000-foot by 40-foot plastic show line. This was extremely hot, heavy work with 1500-pound rolls of diaper plastic and 30 pallets of paver bricks. Not the place you find most medicoes.
But right in the middle, sweating like a farmhand was Tom Diemer, an internal medicine doc. Every day, Tom was slinging bricks and doing whatever it took to get ready for the show.
Tom was the alternate for the Blue Angels ride in the #7 two-seater with Lt. C.J Simonsen. A local weatherman, John Dissauer, got one ride, a fitness trainer and Boy Scout leader the other, but we were all pulling for Tom.
Unfortunately everyone stayed healthy and foolhardy so Tom didn't get the jet ride. But the Blues also do a tactical demonstration with the C-130T called "Fat Albert" during the actual show, and Tom got to go! To say he was pumped and ready is really weak! I've never been so happy for a guy that I only knew for a week, but Tom's genuine, open enthusiasm is very contagious!
Micky and I met Tom and his wife before the show. I thought we'd have to keep Tom in range of a hard-point to tie him down! He was working the medical/first-aid station doing things like pulling beautiful Missouri June Bugs out of ears and watching for heat cases, but that all stopped as showtime neared.
Fat Albert does some pretty dramatic, but actually standard maneuvers. Coming into a landing area with steep terrain or people shooting at you off the ends requires a theme-park steep approach and climbout and the C-130 delivers that kind of performance. And gravity still applies inside the airplane. From the front with all the windows is impressive, but strapped into a sling seat in the back with all the cargo in the center is fun too!
Tom got the cockpit ride and a signed picture! And I couldn't have been happier if I had went. Way to go Tom!