Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Winds, Winds, Winds--June 7, 2010

Woke up at 9:30 A.M.  Had originally opened my eyes at 8:18 A.M., but that was a terrible idea.  So I went back under.  It was too late to get breakfast at 9:30, so I just took a shower.

We eventually made our way over to the airport where we treated ourselves to homemade concoctions of the fancy-schmancy coffee maker.  I had some crazy espresso/steamed milk/foamy milk/Splenda drink.  It was mighty fine, if I do say so myself.  I headed out to fly for a little scouting flight.

But I had problems again.  My right engine started up no problem.  But I had the darndest time with my left engine again.  It seriously took me 20-25 minutes just to get it started.  Not goin' to lie, it's getting a little frustrating!!!  Especially when the line girl is standing in front of the airplane waiting to marshal me out!  Oh well.

It finally spun over, and it ran with no problems.  We had a flurry of activity all of a sudden with numerous jets coming and going, so that was pretty fun.  I taxied over to 11 where Pete had literally been waiting for 15 minutes to take off.  The Tower literally told him to wait that long as he was expecting arrivals.  Um, last time I checked, we were in GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO!!!  C'mon, folks.  It's kind of comical to me to think about this being "crazy" for the Tower.  We are so used to taking off a couple of miles in front of a landing jet or taking off right behind one that it's just funny when "The Big Push" is just a few jets.  To each their own.  I guess that's the beauty of it all.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find Pete down at the end of the taxiway after I had wasted 20 minutes getting started!  ha!  No time lost!  I was in front of a Learjet and SkyWest airlines.  The Lear was actually cleared for take-off behind me, but I was definitely first in line and blocking the way.  I had already told Tower I was ready for departure and that I was blocking the way...but I didn't hear anything.  He asked if I was ready to go, and I said, "Yup!"  But he asked me again!  Aghhhhhhhhh!!!  I had made all of my calls on the stinkin' company frequency!  I forgot to flip the switch.  And here I was, looking like a stupid pilot just blocking the runway!  And I had been ready for A WHILE!!!  Grr!  Hate when I do that!  And in front of jets?!  Agh!!!  haha!  Oh well.  Suck happens.

I only flew a little, but that was fine.  I ended up logging 0.8 hours.  Our boss was asking for detailed information from my alternator, so I had to land and take the cowl off to get him that information.  Looks like he is getting all of the necessary paperwork together for the next transition!  It's gettin' close!  Flirted with the desk girls when we came back.  The cutest one called me a "Creeper" today!  No kiddin'!  All in good fun, of course, with the beard, but c'mon!  She is sooooooooo cute.  Just...grr!  So stinkin' attractive.  I'd take her on a date in a heartbeat.

We headed for a Mongolian restaurant for lunch, and I was disappointed to pretty much eat Chinese food.  Man, I have just done a 180 and hated that stuff anymore!  It's so bad for me!  But I got sweet and sour chicken.  It was pretty...blah.  Oh well.  I vowed to never again eat this crap!  My body was tore up from yesterday's food, and I knew this wasn't going to help!  I need to start eating simple sandwiches again!  I miss that!

We came back to the hotel and had a pretty low-key afternoon.  I went for another run, and I was pleasantly surprised to find my body ready for the challenge.  I ran an entire mile without stopping!!!  Loved it!  I had a close encounter with a car on the run back to the hotel, so close that I actually slapped the back of her car as she laid on the horn!  Oh the fun of it all.

We went out to Texas Roadhouse for supper, and I was pretty stinkin' excited about that.  One of my favorites!!!  I had the typical.  Man, I love steak.

Came back to the hotel and had a low-key evening, too!!!  I did some laundry and ended up going for a drive around 9:00 o'clock to watch some lightning in the distance.  It rained for a whopping few minutes.  But I had a blast as I took a tiny Chevy Cobalt deep into the desert towards the mountains.  The road went from gravel to rock to obscene huge rocks.  I kept on going!  Well, until the frame started bottoming out consistently while I was going 10 MPH.  Seriously.  I could just see myself getting stuck out here 10 miles from the closest person!  But it was so stinkin' sweet.  I loved every bit of it.  I also came across some OHV park where I could see dirt roads just heading up and over these huge hills.  I thought about taking the Cobalt out there but wasn't sure if it was open at night or if I needed a pass.  Needless to say, I'll be back.  I definitely need a chick in the right seat, too!  So perfect out there!  I live for this stuff.

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Came back to the hotel, folded my clothes and headed for bed.  The winds are supposed to be too strong again tomorrow up at 15,000 feet.  35 knots.  Wednesday miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight be doable with 25 knots out of the west, but Thursday is a definite wash.  ha!  We go from crazy flying to no flying!  Here's tomorrow at 8:00 A.M.:

utahwinds

Oh well.

Had a good day.  An enjoyable one.

Went to bed at 10:40 P.M.  Alarm is set for 7:30 A.M.

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