Woke up at 8:00 A.M. Went downstairs and grabbed some breakfast, then came back up and talked with my sister for the first time since giving birth. She seems to be doin' alright!
I headed over to the airport to help with the 100-hour some more, and I started putting panels back on. I would say I have put a couple hundred screws back in this airplane. It's crazy! And I might have to do it again in a month?! CRAZY!!! I was thrilled to get out of it, though, by taking my boss to the International airport. I more than volunteered for that drive.
He's been with me for the past couple of weeks, but he starts his retirement tomorrow. Crazy stuff. 24 years old. He made some pretty big financial moves at a young age. Well-played, sire. Speaking of which, I was soooooooooooo mad at myself for NOT buying a stock this past week. I've had a bid on a stock for a few days now, but it just released its quarterly report (I was not aware it was this soon), and it shot up 22%. I was almost sick to my stomach. I KNEW it was a good buy. I ended up tryin' to save a couple of dollars and missed out on hundreds. STUPID. I'm still mad about it! I'm better than that! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Anyway, I said good-bye to Mike, then drove back to the airport. I stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch, and I received a phone call from a guy named Mike. Jennifer had hooked me up with him, but we've been playin' phone-tag for a couple of days now. Basically, he's a pilot for United...and he wanted to hear about my plans/desires/ratings/whatever! It wasn't anything too beneficial, frankly. I knew quite a bit more about the current state of the industry than he did (he admitted he hadn't applied for a job since the mid-90's). He said with my times that I should be incredibly competitive for the regional airlines right now. I told him not so much...that I am barely (and sometimes not even) meeting their minimums. What a change.
He did encourage me a bit, though, by saying that the average hiring age of an FO in the 90's was around 31 years old. That sounds about right. It makes sense. So that's a nice thought...it's not like I'm "late" or anything. And I definitely have an upper-hand on some others...with plenty of PIC time since I fly solo most of the time. But still, at the end of the day, I'm still doing what I do and not flying for an airline. For better, for worse. He told me to get my ATP and to actually keep this job as long as I could...he said it sounded great! ha! Oh, man...way to throw another wrench in the system. I did appreciate the talk, and it's always nice to have a connection in the industry. But we'll see how it all plays out.
I finished eating, then headed back to the airport. And for the next couple of hours, I drove around running errands for my mechanic. Camlocs, brake pads, aluminum foil, distilled water, tools. I had to make several stops. It was ok...I guess there wasn't much else to be doing...
I talked to Kristina today, and I think I'm goin' to get together with her tomorrow. She was supposed to call me back tonight, but, well, yeah, about that. I still hope we can do something tomorrow!
The weather today was kind of crappy...virga in the distance, a few snowflakes in the area, and it looks like plenty on the foothills. What a crazy place. It was around 50 degrees...and tomorrow is May! This is nuts.
I came back to the hotel around 5-ish. We went out to eat around 7:00...hit up a fast-food Indian place. It was good, but it's not so much agreeing with me right now!
All in all, I logged 79.5 hours this month. Not terrible, but not great, either. I mean, I'll certainly take it! And the fact that it's multi-time is GREAT!!! But the last half of the month simply didn't compare to the first half. I flew 61.5 in the first 15 days...and only 18 in the last 15. What a crazy job.
My airplane is still under-going its 100-hour inspection...we're waiting on a couple of parts. It's no big rush, though...there's not much flying to be done. The other guys flew 0.5 hours today on a scouting flight, and they plan on goin' out tomorrow, but frankly, we watched the clouds drop down some type of precipitation on the mountains most of the day. It's probably not goin' to look too good out there. I guess time will tell.
Ended up goin' to bed at 11:45 P.M. Alarm is set for 8:00. Hopefully I'll get an afternoon scout in after my plane is put back together. Maybe even with a lady by my side. :)
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