Friday, June 11, 2010

Stood Up!!!--June 10, 2010

Woke up at 8:30.  Grabbed some breakfast, took a shower, headed for the airport.  We already had some winds on the ground, but we wanted to get up before the stronger ones came later today.  I checked the ATIS, and we had 150 at 15 knots.  Not bad.

I took off and headed west.  It was minorly bumpy around 6500 feet, so I opted to stay there for as long as I could.  That’s only 1500 feet above the ground, easily my favorite flying, and it was just providing a nice cushion from the huge currents above me that would be ramping over the mountains.

It proved to be short-lived.  About 17 miles west of town, I hit the wide-open valley, and I was just man-handled.  The turbulence was pretty aggressive and annoying.  It’s seriously difficult to focus on your instruments in this type of weather.  You try to look at them, and the next thing you know, they are moving.  In a perfect world, I would think that my eyes are going up at the same rate as the instruments, but experience has taught me differently.  For whatever reason, my eyes do NOT stay with the instruments.  I either bottom out in my seat (a common theme today) or get tossed out of my seat.  My body stretches, then compresses, and the old Aztec stays the same.  I just can’t keep pace with the rigid beast.

I flew down south over the valley for a bit, never going above 6500 feet.  I made a gingerly turn to head on back after 0.4 hours of flying.  There was just no way we could do anything today.  On the cruise back, I was doing 178 knots at just 1000 feet above the ground.  Let me tell you, that earth moves by pretty fast.  It’s a great feeling to actually see yourself move!  Sure beats flying up high.

I was #3 to the airport, and I came back in on Runway 11.  I had logged just 0.7 hours.

I took time to flirt with the FBO girls while there, then we headed out for the hotel.  After some jabbing from Pete and an insatiable desire of my own, I did a 180 and walked right back in to that FBO.

“Would you girls be interested in grabbing some supper tonight”?  ha!  The question was out there.  It would either be really creepy or…

“Sure!”

Ha!  Well, that was just too easy!!!  I talked with ‘em for a few more minutes, figured out that the one I was interested in wasn’t going to be coming and has a boyfriend, but that the other one was excited!  Works for me!!!  Haha.  We were to drop by later to let ‘em know what we had planned.  Easy enough.

Pete and I headed back for the hotel, then headed out for Pita Pit for lunch.  A nice, simple Greek wrap did it for me!  I love eating healthy.  It just doesn’t sit in my stomach like the heavy stuff!  (Although I didn’t feel very full!).  We headed back to the FBO around 1:00 and planned out a nice lil’ night at a bar/restaurant.  One of the girls was going to bring a friend.  I was stoked!  We invited the line girl on the way out, but she wasn’t up for it.  Oh well.

Something to look forward to for once!  Sure beats the routine.

I spent the rest of the day in the hotel…not really doing much.  I would walk outside every now and again just to get out.  I talked to one of the other pilots, and we tried to figure out what the next week was going to look like.  We’re kind of both in the same boat, just waiting for that phone call from our boss.  But in typical fashion, we just don’t have a clue.  Oh well.

I watched some Discovery Channel TV this evening, then waited for our lil’…date?  Fun night?  Who knew what to call it!  Actually, I was just calling it food…I was so hungry.  We headed out to the restaurant around 8:15.  Right before we got to the restaurant, we had a bit of a problem.   The road was closed. You have got to be kidding me!!!  Just my luck!!!  I had to take a couple-mile detour just to get to the other side of the street.  Hopefully these girls would do the same.  But on the other side, the road was closed there, too!  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!  I started taking some side-streets and eventually made my way in-between the two ROAD CLOSED signs.  We made it.  I told Pete I hoped these girls were bold enough to do the same…

I grabbed four seats outside, and we waited!  And waited.  And waited.  8:30.  8:45.  I told Pete that I was going to order without them at 8:50.  He said I had to wait longer…that I didn’t understand women.  He thinks he’s so good, but sometimes I wonder just what perfect world he lives in.  I gave them until 9:00, but I already knew what was happening.  I was being stood up.  AGAIN.  At 9:00, I ordered my (very late) supper.

Pete kept telling me that they could be stuck in traffic or in an accident.  Oh boy, did I ever run with that!  I mockingly said, “You’re right!  They are probably bleeding to death on the side of the road!  And their cell phone is lodged into the windshield!  There’s no way of getting to it because they can’t move their bodies!”  The poor guy has never been stood up before.  I mean, c’mon, man.  He seriously told me it’s never happened to him.  But then again, he’s had the same girl for YEARS now.  I, on the other hand, have run out of fingers to count the number of times.  I can smell it from a mile away.  He had hope.  I had given up on them hours ago.

What a life.  The frustrating thing is that it’s just going to be awkward when we see her next.  It’s not supposed to be like that.  We had had fun with them!  Now she is going to have to think of some worthwhile excuse, we’re going to have to respond to that excuse, and it’s just going to be dumb now.  I hate that!  But I guess be a person of your word, and we won’t have to deal with that, now will we?  I seriously have no room in my life for someone that doesn’t tell the truth.  That doesn’t follow up with what they say.

I hate women.  I lost even more hope in them yet again tonight.  How many times is this going to have to happen?  And people say I’m unfair for making a statement like that?  Well, if I drive 48 Ford’s and every one dies on me, should I wait and hope that Ford #49 is going to be a good one?  C’mon, folks.  That’s not hope.  That’s foolishness.

Stupid girls.

Pete and I ended up talking for a few hours.  We didn’t leave until 11:30.  We talked about me staying with the company, I toyed with getting into a different role.  I’m just ready to have friends again!  People that won’t stand me up!  I’ve thought about getting my A&P license, so we looked at possibilities of that.  Basically, we just flirted with ideas.  Who knows what will happen.  I think I’m just ready to start brand new somewhere.  From scratch.  I just don’t know what I’d do or what that looks like.

The problem is…if I think about it too much, I kind of get disappointed that flying isn’t part of the equation!  If I stay local somewhere, it’s going to be a motorcycle job, maybe an airplane mechanic job, or something like that.  I wouldn’t fly.  But if I fly, then it’s going to be another year of moving state to state every couple of weeks.

Oh, what a life.  I have so much control over it, and at the same time, I don’t have any control over it.

Went to bed at 12:15 A.M.  Alarm is set for 8:30 A.M.  The clouds and winds aren’t looking too favorable tomorrow.  We’re planning on not even scouting.  That would be the first time in a long time.  I’ve flown 13 days in a row.  And 15 out of 16 since I’ve been here.

We’ll see!  Supposedly five more days!!!

I laugh.

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