Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Almost Time to Fly Again?!?!?!--April 26, 2010

Woke up at 8:30 to my OWN alarm clock.  My roommate was still sleeping.  It felt so good!  I was "up and at 'em" as my dad used to say.  Nothin' like a good night's sleep.  I forgot to mention that I went to bed with it snowing last night.  And sure enough, we had snow on the ground this morning.  Kind of crazy.

Didn't do a whole lot this mornin'...checked out some stocks and even car-shopped.  The clouds were pretty low around the area, but that didn't matter much anyway.  I checked the snow totals today, and our flight plans have reports of upwards of 22 inches!!!  Anywhere from about 6 inches all the way up to mid-20's.  That is just nuts.  It's supposed to be 51 degrees, though, so that should help.  A bit.

I updated my resume at American Eagle today.  Not sure if I even have a chance, but I'm goin' to give it my best!  I spent some more time studying for the ATP written test, too.  So far I've scored 67% and 62% on practice tests.  But that's not totally fair, because I skip all of the questions with diagrams, and that tends to be around 15-20 in each batch.  I think I can knock this out in the next month or so.

Shoot, I even opened up an interview gouge and started answering the questions I didn't know (most of 'em!).  I tell ya, I'm just gettin' excited about the possibility.  I understand that nothing is a given, but I might as well give it my all.  Jenn even talked to a pilot today from back in Illinois, and he wants me to call him.  She is crazy excited about that, but I'm a bit skeptical.  I guess he flies for United, but I think I know the answer even before I call.  But it never hurts to have names in the industry.  I'll call him tomorrow.

I pretty much wrote off today as a non-flying day, but around 5:00 I received a phone call.  We were going to go scouting.  I wasn't too thrilled about the decision.  Actually, it really irked me.  I had already considered the day to be over.  But nooooooooooo.  Why couldn't we have gone at 9:00?  Or 10:00?  Or ANYTIME before then?!  I begrudgingly went over with the rest of the guys.  It was just another nail in the coffin.  There is so much I don't like about this job!  And it REALLY isn't a huge issue...but it just hit me wrong today.  I just don't have a schedule.  All just like that, I have to go fly.  It's just...weird...crazy.

I ended up doing a calibration field.  The other guys flew out to our actual flight plans, and they said that we can probably do some work out there.  I have a hard time believing that, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  I ended up flying 1.4 hours today.  It's weird being back in the airplane flying lines.  It's been nearly a week since I've done that.  My body just felt weird doing it...not used to the steep banks.  I find that odd.  It's only been a week!  The air wasn't too bad, though.  Just the typical updrafts and downdrafts.  You just push through it.

We landed and then went out to eat at a BBQ place around 7:oo-ish.  Came back to the hotel around 8 o'clock, and I eagerly awaited bedtime.  I'm excited to be back in a routine where I can go to bed early and wake up early again.  I hate being lazy.

I must admit, though...I'm a bit skeptical of our work tomorrow.  The winds are supposed to be relatively calm (around 7 knots) on the surface here in Centennial, but up at 15,000 they are supposed to be around 35 knots.  That is a problem for the twin because it makes me fly too fast if it's from the north or south.  And if it's from the west at all, well, the turbulence is goin' to be nasty even EARLY in the day.  I'm kind of anxious to see how it all pans out.  Frankly, I'm nothing short of excited to see the other guys get BACK in the mountains and fly.  It's something fierce back in there.  Low to the ground, nasty turbulence, stupid flying.  I've been doing it for a bit...I can't wait to see the others' reactions!  I'm sure I'm goin' to chuckle.

Again, I just don't see us flying more than 3 hours tomorrow.  We'll see.

But it's a moot point for me anyway.  I am down to 5.8 hours before my 100-hour inspection.  The mechanics are flying in tomorrow night, so no matter what, I'm done after tomorrow for what I'm told is going to be 3 days.  3 DAYS.  I already hate 100 hours with a royal passion.  And they are telling me the twins are that much worse.  It's not just 5 hours...it's 3 DAYS.  I've been VERY done with flying as of late, but all of a sudden, I don't know that I'm too anxious to be on the ground, either!  I can't win.  I just need to stop complaining altogether.  I hate doing that.  I just want contentment.  I'm not so sure I've found that yet.

So we'll see.  Maybe I'll fly 2 hours tomorrow.  Maybe 6.  I guess time will tell.

Talked to Matt...he called right at 10:00.  He's been sitting on his butt for the past six days with no work...not sure if he has more coming or not.  It's the end of the season for some!  He may get some more work, though...I think this week is really going to iron things out...give us all a lot more clarity.  I'm just afraid I'm flyin' through the end of May!  Uh oh!  Can I handle that?!

Went to bed at a WONDERFUL 10:30 P.M.  Alarm is set for 7:00 A.M.  Yuck.

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