Travelin' Light...

New App, More Posts (?)

2011-02-06T00:46:00.001-07:00

Blogger now has an Android app. I may reconsider my lack of blogging. Time will tell.

In the meantime, here's a nerdy picture.

North Texas Visit with Family

2010-04-14T19:04:00.001-06:00

• Current Location: Seat 11C, US Airways 396, Boeing 737-300, FL360, Over New Mexico
• Current Music: O.A.R. - Lay Down

After a fun weekend of friends visiting in St. George and a friend's wedding in Vegas, I had three more days off, so I decided to fly to Texas. My grandmother is having surgery next week, so I wanted to visit with her. I hitched a jumpseat from SLC to DFW on one of our CRJ-900's (N822SK for those of you keeping score at home...that's her center console above). I was due for yearly observation time, so killing two birds with one stone was nice. It was a good ride down to DFW and, hopefully, we learned a little for each other while we were up there.

I got to spend about 40 hours in Gainesville. I managed to get to visit Sammy & Tambra, Paige, Laura Otts (missed Barry, once again), my parents, and, of course, Nanny & Papa.

Nanny has always been the one person in the family that I turned to when I was on trouble. I get my stubborn nature and my love of current events and politics. As much as a tend to credit my Aunt Kim for it, I sometimes think I to get my wicked (and, at times, sinister) sense of humour from her, as well. Throughout my life, when the going gets tough, I head to Nanny and Papa's. So, you can maybe imagine that, as much as I hold it together when I'm with her, I'm scared to death of this latest surgery she's about to have. I have no doubts in the abilities of the doctors and the plan...I guess I just worry about the normalcy of life afterward for her and Papa. Despite my concerns, I know they're gonna be just fine.

As I type this, I'm sitting by myself in the exit row of a three-quarters empty B733 to LAS. We've been bobbing and weaving around the tops around FL360, but the ride has been smooth. I just tossed back an Arnold Palmer and a snack box. I figure buying the snack box is the least I can do for the free rise home. I booked a seat on the SGU Executive Shuttle and I'll get home to my lovely bride around 2215L.

It really has been a fun day of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles to get home to St. George from Gainesville. My itinerary has looked like this (all times local):

• Amtrak 821 GLE-FTW (1130CST - 1315 CDT)
• Trinity Rail FTW-DFW Airport Station (1347CDT - 1410CDT)
• DFW Airport Shuttle (1415CDT - 1445CDT)
• US Airways 396 DFW-LAS (1715CDT-1755PDT)
• St. George Executive Shuttle (1915 PDT-2215 MDT)

Three time zones and roughly 12 hours of travel...but, I love and live it. Travel, to me, is just as much in the getting there as it is the destination. Yeah, I know, I'm weird.

One of those nice clouds we deviated around.

White Sands, NM

Anyhow, I'm comin' home honey! Speaking of...here's one of me and the little lady. Our engagement pics turned out quite nicely...

Yeah, I don't know what she's doing with a schmuck like me, either...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Headed to the Swamp

2010-03-05T22:49:00.001-07:00

Current Location: Somewhere over central Utah.
Current Music: Steve Earle - Galway Girl
Current Mood: Happy mixed with Non-Rev Anxiety

Greetings from FL230.

Headed to Salt Lake City on another Brasilia. Happy to have made it on; had to use an S2 priority, though. Still much traveling ahead of me.

Lindsey and I are going on a cruise that departs from Miami tomorrow evening. Since, in typical non-rev style, I decided to get a head start...I'm trying to get to FLL through ATL. The likely 4-hour jumpseat ride on a B757 doesn't exactly appeal me, but a free ride is a free ride and it will be worth it in the end. We've both needed a vacation...and it's finally here.

We're taking Celebrity's Century from Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica...then to Grand Cayman,where we will put on our "Super Tourist" shirts and swim with the Stingrays (I'm not complaining...it should be a blast!). All in all, it should be a ab awesome and relaxing trip...

Much going on in life...Linds is 3/4ths of the way through the school year. I'm working tons, but the fact that I'm gainfully employed right now outweighs any complaints I may have about working as much as I have been lately. Things are still better in comparison with last year's "Work+SADA" insanity. ;)

It is warming up in SGU, which means it'll be scorching hot sometime in the next few weeks. So glad we have a pool at the condo. Can't wait to trade in the gym with after-work swimming.

Life is good, I'm the happiest I've ever been. Now to lose that pesky 50 pounds & win the Powerball and life will be perfect.

Seeya!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Five Years Into The Rest Of My Life

2010-02-10T15:25:00.001-07:00

Five years.

This morning, I found myself realizing that it was five years ago today that I started my airline career as a cross-utilized agent for AirTran Airways at DFW. It has flown by so quickly.

I'll be honest. It was never my intention to stay in this business. I was leaving behind my dream of working in radio broadcasting and looking for employment. I had just quit my job as a salesman at North Texas Nissan. I was there about two weeks when I decided that I wasn't willing to sell my soul along with the Xterras I was pushing out the door. While searching for jobs, I found several airlines hiring and I applied with all of them. I figured I'd work at the airport, travel a little, and move on to something else. Things didn't really go that way.

As a kid, I loved going to the airport. I loved when we drove through DFW on our way to the Metroplex. I always wanted to work around the airplanes...this was my chance. I never knew I would get bit by the bug.

I worked at AirTran for a couple of years, then got my Aircraft Dispatcher certificate and moved on to SkyWest. I've been here for three years. In the last five years, I've traveled like no other, seen places I never thought I'd see, experienced things I never dreamed of, made friends from so many different backgrounds, and found the woman I plan to marry someday.

It's been an incredible ride and I look forward to what then next five years in this crazy business will bring.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Another new year...

2010-01-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've got a pretty solid feeling about 2010. Nevermind the fact that I spent the 1st morning of the new decade in the emergency room with an extremely painful eye condition. Oh well, right? It at least pushed me to go to the eye doctor and get new glasses and whatnot.

Christmas and NYE was a blast. Spent New Year's in Vegas with Linds, her brothers Blair and Dylan, Dylan's girlfriend Jess, and our friend Sydnee. We spent the days leading up to NYE hanging in Vegas...wandering the strip, checking out Penn & Teller's awesome show at the Rio, and gambling small amounts of money. Great time, really.

Now, we're back at home, being domesticated and whatnot. Loving 2010, thus far. Here's to keeping it together.

Downtheroad...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SGU by Helo and AT-SAT Test

2009-10-29T14:15:00.007-06:00

What a week.

Yesterday, I took the AT-SAT exam in Salt Lake City. Basically, it's the FAA's Air Traffic Controller entry test. Long story short, it was tough and I'm beating myself up over it at the moment. Oh well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. It's not like I'm living or dying by this.

Before I left for SLC, Linds called me prior to getting to the St. George airport to ask if I wanted to go on a helicopter ride. After I realized she wasn't kidding, I hauled tail to her school's soccer field. It's Drug-Free week and a local helo pilot was shuttling the St. George Police's canine unit around the local elementary and middle schools as part of the Red Ribbon Week assemblies.

Since Lindsey's school was last on the list for the day, the pilot asked if some of the teachers wanted to go on a quick sight-seeing tour of St. G. I've gotta admit, I think I appreciate the beauty of what we have in our backyard alot more now that I've seen it from a low-altitude hover. I also have to admit that earning a helicopter pilot's license would make me immensely happy man. I've got it all planned out in my head. I get a commercial helo license, Lindsey ta kes a teaching job in Costa Rica, and I fly tours and shuttle passengers to San Jose and Liberia. It's quite the spectacular pipe dream...but, hey...a guy can dream, right?

Click on the pic above for my Flickr photoset... Linds has one or two on her blog.

-----------------------
Current Music: None
Current Location: Hurricane, UT

Feels So Good To Be Feelin' Good Again

2009-06-18T16:00:00.001-06:00

Robert Earl Keen once wrote and recorded a song called "Feelin' Good Again"...a song that, in many ways and many times over, has always inspired a hope in me.

The tune essentially follows a man who has felt lost in life and finds his soul refilled by good times with old friends, a few lucky coincidences, and, in the end, being able to share those soul refilling moments with the woman he loves. While, at the moment, I don't exactly have to "woman I love" to share with, I've had plenty of friends and great times to fill that void this week.

Life has been pretty nutty lately and, for the sake of my sanity, I really needed these last three days to be good to me...and these last three days have really delivered. Since I got back from Costa Rica, I've really been trying to make some life changes. In a lot of ways, I'm doing really well at them...I've lost weight, cut back on many of my vices, and been doing much more physical activity than the norm in recent months...others have been a bit discouraging.

Working on pay proposal presentations and policy revisions for the folks I represent at work has been messy and dividing. In the last three weeks, I've been accused of being "self-serving", of "not being realistic" (when, in actuality, I feel I understand the pitfalls and possibilities better than most), and of "being worse than Hitler". I'm especially proud of that last one. Between the work stuff, not being happy with my current living arrangement, and trying to repair a few past mistakes in order to move forward with my life...I was in dire need of a soul refill. Costa Rica did it for me, but the craziness I've been dealing with zapped that pretty quickly.

It all started with my little brother and his wife having my first real nephew this week (I have a step-neice and two step-nephews, all three of whom I love dearly, as well...but it just feels different when it's your bloodline who is doing the reproducing...haha!). I was planning on going to Shreveport to see the new mom, dad, and kiddo...but my mom made it pretty clear that my presence would be more of a pain in the ass than anything. I know she doesn't do it intentionally, but she does it so well, regardless. So, with three days off and nothing to do...I just started flying. Would you expect anything less?

I headed up to Salt Lake with the intention of catching my friend Kaycee's SLC-Denver flight, then catching lunch with her and Brian at DIA. I ran into Kaycee between flights at SLC and she had just been called up to fly another quick turn out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa...so lunch was off. At random, I remembered that the Colorado Rockies were playing Tampa Bay that night at home...so we decided we'd all go to the game that night.

By 6pm, we (Me, Kaycee, Brian, Chuck, Mo, and Mo's friend Sarah) were at Coors Field. We scored to pretty spectacular seats on the third base line thanks to Chuck and had a great time despite the Rockies having their 11-game winning streak snapped. Plenty of beer, laughs, and fun times all-around. By the end of the night, I was so tired that I passed out on Brian & Chuck's couch within 30 seconds of laying down on it. That's a good day, right there.

I had talked to some other friends in Texas earlier that day that were going to the Rangers/Astros games at The Temple...so I set up to hop a flight home to DFW the morning after the Rockies game and go to one of the Silver Boot Series games. Again, great times with friends, old and new...this time with an extra innings Ranger win to take the Silver Boot from the 'stros!

Amidst all of this, I realized something. Nothing fills my soul like being alone in airports and hanging out in ballparks with great people.

As I type this, I'm on my 4th leg of this completely unplanned journey...headed to Vegas from Dallas. I'm headed there to hang out with Jennifer (and her family), starting an annual tradition of sorts. We did this last year on her yearly family trip to LAS. We'll grab some dinner and do a little some small-time gambling (I AM hoping to recoup my expenses from this trip at the blackjack table. Something tells me I won't, though...probably the fact that I'm a piss-poor blackjack player.). From there, I just shuttle back to SGU.

All in all, a pretty solid three days off....and it really does feel so good to be feelin' good again.

Sent via iPhone

Spectacular Days Off in Texas

2009-04-12T19:51:00.001-06:00

I somehow managed to pull off weekends off for the month of April (OK, so it wasn't that mysterious...for training purposes, scheduling needed to give my Coordinator line to someone else and I was given a dispatch line that was vacated by someone who is filling in on overnights...I'm not complaining). I decided to take advantage of this and head back to Texas. For the first time in a looong time, people I wanted to hang out with didn't have to work.

I flew out of SGU on the early AM flt. to SLC and connected to the first SLC-DFW flt. While waiting to board, I got chat briefly my "sister" TMiller, who just happened to be flying that morning. How I miss her sometimes. She's almost as twisted as I am. ;).

Anyhow, I texted Lacey before I left SGU...telling her to leave work early, pick me up from DFW, and go to the Rangers' afternoon game that was scheduled to start about an hour after my arrival at DFW. I fully expected her to have to work and not be able to go...I just sent them mostly to tease...but, it just happened that she was off. She was at E14 baggage claim for me when I got to Dallas and away we went to Rangers Ballpark.

It was such a beautiful day for a ballgame. The beer was cold, the dogs were fresh, and the right field home run porch was a perfect place to be. The Rangers took the early lead and never let up...the won a solid game. A perfect spring day at the ballpark...

In the 5th or so, the ballpark got hazy and it smelled a bit like firewood. When we left, you could tell that there were wildfires to the west...turns out, these fires were deadly and destructive.

After the game, I had Lace drop me off at a MickeyD's off Cooper and I-20 to meet up with Dearing. She complained about it the entire way... ;). I said adios to Lacey, tossed my stuff in Dearing's Jeep, grabbed a Big Mac to go, And we were off...headed out out to his parents' lakehouse at Lake Granbury to fish.

I was beyond beat down, so I slipped in and out of conciousness between Arlington and the Lake. The smoke and haze seemed to get worse before getting better...but it DID clear up back to beautiful blue skies.

We stopped at a little roadside bait shop on the way out to the lake...a place called Alice's. We walked in to find a...ahem...heavy-set woman with a glorious mullet and moustache that made me envious willing to sell us minnows. We ordered up three dozen (Alice threw in a crawdad for free...what a steal!) paid up and got the he'll outta there before it became a re-enactment of the movie "Deliverence". Between my earring and Dearing's mohawk (he lost an academic-related bet with his students), they were starting to look at us all kinds of funny.

We made it out to the lakehouse and it could not have been anymore perfect. Nice, quiet, comfortable, that musty scent of lake...and a fishing platform/dock right there in the backyard. We set up the iPod speakers outside, plugged on the iPhone connected to Pandora (playing Texas country, of course), poured a couple Jack & Cokes, baited...a few hooks that is...and waited for the fish to bite.

After about an hour, we decided the fish weren't biting...and it was in that moment that I got my first bite. I fought with him; I just knew this was that bass I saw jump only a few minutes earlier. Having not fished in years, I was ready to brag about this one. When I pulled this monster outta the water, my allusions of a trophy piece were shot out of the water...it was a 4-inch perch. I guess my line was a little snagged on the reel-in, so it felt bigger than it was. I took a picture of him anyway. I can't believe he swallowed that humongous minnow whole.

The rest of the evening was much of the same...small fish, good music, good conversation with a bro i don't get to see often, and calmness. Something I've needed for a long while. About nine o'clock or so, the dull headache started to come back. I've been having these headaches and fatigue, off and on, for weeks. They suck...and zap my energy. Also, I barely sleep a full night these days.

With all that, I decided to lie down on the couch for a bit. At two in the morning, Dearing woke me to tell me I could use the bed in the extra bedroom. Glory hallelujah...Mama Dearing has created the most amazing bed...ever. I have not slept so comfortably in God knows when. Despite how restful it was, I still slept for another seven hours...and it was good.

I got up...fished a little more and we packed up. We stopped at Babe's Chicken Dinner house in Granbury on the way out. If you've never been to a Babe's...GO! That was the closest thing to home-cookin' I've had in a while.

Dearing took me to get my rental car and we headed to Three Justins HQ. JB and I rocked out to Guitar Hero: Metallica for a while, got dinner, and I was off to Gainesville.

I pulled in at Shaun's place pretty late thanks to a wrong turn near Fort Worth...and, yes, I did refuse to consult Google maps on the iPhone. I just forged ahead 'til I found my way.

Shaun and I caught up for a bit and then decided to knock out the one thing we had planned on doing while I was in town: checking my credit reports.

I was an irresponsible teenager with a credit card at the beginning of this decade...and, as a result, my credit has sucked for years. With the the help of Shaun's amazing knowledge and experience in these types of financial matters, I've been able to claw my way back up to a pretty decent credit situation. The last time we checked, we were seeing the first real signs of significant improvement...this time, I was hoping to see an even greater amount of improvement. Without sharing too many details of my current credit report, I can say that Shaun's methods and recommendations have worked 100%. My level of improvement in the last 3-6 months has been incredible...and my financial goals are within reach. It's a pretty amazing feeling after the feelings of hopelessness over the years.

I got up Saturday morning and headed over to my parents' house. There were a million cars parked out front and...not having seen my little brother's truck there...I feared someone had died and mom forgot to tell me (I have jokingly stated many times since my move to Utah that mom would do just that if a close relative ever should , God forbid, pass away unexpectedly). When I walked in, the place was filled with women and I realized that it was a baby shower for my sister-in-law. Upon realizing this, I td mom I would come back later and made a b-line to get the hell outta there.

I headed down to Denton for the day...got Rudy's BBQ with Lorenzo, got fitted for the tux I'll be wearing in Sammy's wedding, hung out with Cody for a little bit, and hung out with old tailgating buddies at the 6th(?) Annual GoMeanGreen.com Bowl. It was especially great to see Stebo and meet his Emily...it had been too long.

Got back to Gainesville and hung with my grandparents. Papa and I talked baseball for a while...I fixed a few things on Nanny's computer...and we caught up on things. My Nanny & Papa are great to spend time with...I'm so glad to have such a close relationship with them. I think sometimes I take that for granted...:-/

From there, I went back to Mom and Dad's for a historic evening. We hung out, all evening, all together...and, for the first time in our family's history, we didn't get into any kind of argument. You may laugh, but this is huge progress for my family. Of course, all of us had a beer or two in our systems, but that's neither here nor there. To top it off, a pretty awesome storm rolled in during all of this. I needed that to refuel my gypsy soul...LOL!

I nightcapped the evening by stopping in at Chad's birthday shindig at his amazing apartment above the old KXGM-FM studios on the courthouse square. It was an interesting hodgepodge of folks I haven't seen in years. From there, Shaun and I grabbed late-night Whataburger to complete the "Texas Food Odyssey"...which is, in no particular order:

1.) a Shiner Bock beer
2.) Rudy's or Deiter Bros.' BBQ
3.) Blue Bell Ice Cream
4.) Whataburger

This morning...I got dressed in some business casual, loaded up my "dorky, pilot rollaboard" (as Brandon Murray calls it) into my rented Dodge Charger, and went to Easter lunch with the family. I love our semi-redneck family meals at my aunt & uncle's place. The food rocks: my Uncle Jeff's kickass cheeseburgers and deer chili, Mom's baked beans, Nanny's potato salad...I want a second helping just thinking about it. We don't do "traditional" and I love it.

I said my goodbyes after lunch, headed to DFW, and here I am...typing this blog entry on my phone from the Hell Seat on a DFW-SLC flight. Yes, the Hell Seat on a SkyWest CRJ-900...20D. No window, no recline, right next to the crapper, and a CF34 engine screaming on the other side of the wall. To top it off, the aisle seat is occupied by a very fidgety four year old. But, hey, it's a ride. It just irks me that (after a party of five split their reservation and took that almost guaranteed first class seat), with my seniority on a SkyWest operated flight, I get this seat...but the commuting mainline Delta pilot well below me on the standby list gets the best coach seat in the house...5A. Explain that...oh, I know, it's a mainline station.

All in all, though, it's a small price to pay considering it was one of the best weekends home I've ever had.

A Quick Question About Flying

2009-04-09T10:35:00.001-06:00

Is it ok to booze it up at 0830 when you're flying in first class? I
say, "Yes!".

Sent via iPhone

My Friends Are Ridiculous...or perhaps...Ludacris...

2009-02-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

2009-01-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

So, my buddy Keith tells me all the time that I should write a book with all of the stories that, according to him, are tales of "things that only happen to Dub". The following is one of those stories.

I've been in LAX since last night in preparation for a work meeting today. The meeting was quick and productive, however, it left me with 6 hours to kill before my flight back to SGU.

Seeing the opportunity to complete my required yearly Brasilia jumpseat observation time, I decided to pick a quick roundtrip that would get me there and back with enough time to eat when I got back to LAX. I chose Oxnard, California because it was a really quick trip and because I had never been there before. The gate agents in LAX were excellent and let me go down early to meet with the crew & get my things situated prior to boarding.

When I went down to the ramp, I found a weasily, "shirt & tie" type of man milling around and, without looking at his ID's, knew he was a Fed. I wasn't wrong...and he immediately notified me that I was being bumped from the observer seat. Lovely.

The gate agents caught this and came to the plane to suggest that I do a quick roundtrip to Palm Springs roundtrip. Her exact words were "it comes right back, too!". Lo and behold...it didn't. Well, to be fair...it did come back...2 hours later. Of course, I didn't know this until the First Officer pointed that out as we set the brakes at the gate in PSP.

So, here I was, spending the next 2 hours on my phone while sitting around in the Palm Springs airport.

I boarded the return flight to LAX with at least a small amount of hope that we would make it in early and the SGU flight would be late. Lo and behold, it wasn't. Again, to be fair, the same gate agent set me up on the next flight to Salt Lake City (which was leaving in less than 5 minutes at that point) and called the agent at that gate to make sure to get me on.

So here I sit...in seat 6C on a SkyWest CRJ-700 to SLC...where I will sleep in the crew lounge...and hope to get to work at a somewhat decent hour tomorrow.

Only me...only me.

Down the road....
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The Crazy Holiday Travels...

2008-12-24T17:17:00.001-07:00

I finally managed to get some semblance of time off for the holidays, as senority starts to allow over the course of time, and decided to try to do a little pseudo-Christmas with the family. I still have to be at work on Christmas morning...so, I bought a ticket on US Airways back to Vegas on the 24th and decided to non-rev/jumpseat to DFW.

Since I'm planning on flying back to LAS on the 24th, I needed to start my trip out of there so my car would be waiting when I got back. My grand plan was to cut work early, make the drive to LAS, and fly to DFW via Denver from there.

Well, as with anything in my life...things didn't quite go to plan. Work was crazy busy thanks to broken airplanes and weather issues...not to mention several sick calls. I originally was trying to cut out by 11am...but, I volunteered to cover a dispatch desk on top of my coordinating duties. Talk about non-stop stress and phonecalls.

One of my friends from work, Jenn, was trying to cut out early, too...but, as with me, the sick calls prevented her from getting out of there and she stuck it out. Because of this, she wasn't able to catch her 9am flight home from St. George to Salt Lake and continuing on to Gunnison/Crested Butte, Colorado. Knowing each other's situation, we decided to ride to Vegas together...then over to Denver. Both of our connecting flights in Denver were later in the evening...so we figured we could just hang in the airport bar 'til it was time for us to catch our flights home.

We hit the road at 1pm Utah time...and, with traffic, construction, parking, security, etc...we made it to the gate at 2:39pm for a 2:59pm flight to Denver. Nice timing, eh? We immediately checked in to request the jumpseat and, for once, we had a great UA gate agent who gave us E-Plus seats together on a Ted A320 with a new regular United Airlines paintjob...with no one in the between. So far, so good. We decided we deserved a Bloody Mary after the day we'd had...so we killed one apiece while making fun of pilots on Channel 9 (a favorite pastime of mine on the LAS-DEN run).

Touched down in Denver...where the temp. was a lovely, comfortable 7 degrees F out there. Sweet Raptor Jesus.. Jenn claims the flight attendants made some kind of announcement on approach to 35L about "in event of impact, please take crash position"...I just think that Bloody went straight to her head.

Pulled in at gate B-16...and had to make the one mile trek to the B-80's gates. Thaaaaat was fun. LOL. But, the payoff was some Fat Tire beers and a pretty excellent sandwich & salad. OK, fine...we had quite a few Fat Tires...LOL. I was supposed to get on a 7pm flight...but it went out full. That gave us 2 more hours of drinking time...and that was awesome.

In the midst of our beer drinking and scattershooting (and me screaming at the Cowboys on the TV)...Jenn got a text message from a colleague that said "just got report that CO 737 crashed on DEN 34R". We both looked at each other like so as to say "What the hell?". We had a great view of the approach end of the 35's and we noticed that all approaching traffic had broken off and the runway lights had been dimmed. At this point, we both knew something was up. We decided to keep quiet about I...until an hour later when the word trickled to that side of the airport. (Turns out, the report was true...a Continental Airlines 737 did a rejected/aborted take off and, somehow, found themselves in a snowy ditch when it was all said and done. The aircraft did catch fire...but, apparently, a full evacuation was completed with mostly minor injuries. Kudos to the crew.)

Jenn and I parted ways after a couple too many beers to head over to our flights. Because of the aircraft incident, the airport was pandemonium with misconnecting passengers, etc. My flight was delayed another hour...allowing for some folks that were trying to get to Austin and OKC to be moved to the DFW flight. Tack on the fact that there was already a pilot requesting the jumpseat (which was beside the point since, after sip number one of that glorious Two Below, I was no longer legally eligible to ride up there). About the time I realized all of this, I got a text from Jenn saying "MY FLIGHT IS CANCELED!!! DAMMIT!!!".

Yup...good times. Seeing that we were stuck...we quickly found a cheap room with 2 beds at a hotel near the airport before all others figured out THEY were stuck. One teeny-weeny problem...Jenn green-tagged* her bag when she boarded her Gunnison flight...and never got it back when it was canceled (* - tag that indicates that this bag is a carry-on that won't fit on a smaller regional jet...the passenger is supposed to get this bag back at the gate when they get to their destination.). We spent the next two hours using every bit of pull, clout, and people we know to find that bag. It didn't surface before we decided to find a hotel shuttle, get checked in, and snag some sleep.

We were both awake by 0600...damn the nature of our normal sleep patterns...so I called and convinced Brian and Chuck to pick us up for breakfast. Flying J truckstop breakfast buffet is actually pretty good...but I hear the coffee is awful...LOL.

Jenn picked up some toothpaste, etc. at the truckstop and we scored ride to the airport from B&C...

Lucky for Jenn, we found her bag almost immediately.when we got to DEN and she managed to score the jumpseat to GUC. I got a seat in the exit row on a 757...should have been 1st class...but the gate agent used my jumpseat priority instead of my non-rev priority...grrr.

All in all...a pretty funny story all around...especially drunken texting by both of us....
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Home...

2008-12-10T15:19:00.001-07:00

There's just something about home that, no matter who's couch I'm crashing on, feels just right. From landing at DFW and crossing the bridge to Terminal E...to the drive up I-35...to taking exit 496 and down California Street...its always a bit heart-warming to visit home, see old friends and family, and enjoy an area you know like the back of your hand.

I got home Sunday night on a Delta/SkyWest flt. from Salt Lake. I picked up a rental from Enterprise (who had the cutest girl working for them...I wanted to take her with me...LOL) and made the trek home to Gainesville. Enroute, I made the traditional stop at the QuikTrip on 121 Business and picked up the usual Sugar-Free Red Bull. I've not made the trek from DFW to G'Ville without that stop...or without that Red Bull. I'm not sure I could make it without.

On the way home, I called Cody and we decided I would stop in and visit (he was at the sheriff's house, and I hadn't seen Cody's parents in a long time either). the sheriff was super excited to see me and we determined that his buddy from one of his tours of Vietnam lives down the road from me. Small world, right?

From there, I went to Shaun's house to crash on his couch. It was too late to bother my parents and I was about to pass out...so that couch was a welsome sight. I don't remember falling asleep. Got up next morning and drove around to make the rounds. I went and saw mom at school, my aunts, Barry & Laura, and numerous others. Part of me loves to stop in here and there just to remind people I'm still alive.

I only got the rental for one day...because the next day was going to be more than triple what I payed the previous day...so I came up with a pretty solid plan to get rid of it and get home. I conned Shaun into going with me...and it turned out to be kinda fun.

We took the car back, caught a shuttle to the Trinity Rail station, then the train to Ft. Worth. From there we caught Amtrak from Ft. Worth to Gainesville. It was actually kinda fun...Amtrak turned out to be a pretty solid, inexpensive option for getting to Gainesville in the future.

Got to see my grandparents after we got back to G'ville...it had been a couple of months since I had seen them. We got caught up on the post-election stuff and everything going on with them and trhe family. Of course, we respectfully disagreed with one another on most of it but we always do.

My plan was to catch Amtrak back to FTW and backtrack the way I came up the day before...but I discovered at the last minute that the Gainesville Depot doesn't have ticketing capabilities and I couldn't even buy a ticket from the conductor...thus screwing the plan. I wound up catching up with Ben Smith (yes, THE Ben Smith) and we grabbed a pretty excellent lunch at Smokehouse in Lindsay. I was a good boy and got a pretty farkin' awesome salad...I was also a really bad boy and had a chopped BBQ beef sandwich & Shiner Bock draft. Oh well, one outta 3 ain't bad, right? I mean, how often do I have an opportunity to get Smokehouse?

We talked at length about Ben's music career and both agreed that we had figured he would be further along than he is. I've been feeling a draw to get back into the Texas music scene...and am thinking perhaps I should lend my promotions talents to getting Ben on track again. He's a solid artist and deserves to be promoted to the point of a good launching point. We shall see.

Ben and I continued our conversation while I caught a ride with him to Denton. Enroute, keeping with the theme of the day ("Go Wherever The Winds Take Me"), Lorenzo texted and I had Ben drop me off on the UNT campus where Lo works.

It was cool to catch up with Lo...even cooler was the added perk of Lo randomly giving me a new pair of Doc's boots that didn't fit him. Score! I love a good freebie. Lo had to get back to work...so, I waited for Cody to get out of his Psych final. We grabbed some beers at Riprock's...then back to his place where we both passed out (and his dog proceeded to eat one of my Justin Boots...little bastard).

I woke up just moments before my phone rang...I was surprised to see it was SJ. We hadn't really had a chance to talk since we went to dinner last week...for a bit there, I was stressing that I had run her off after sending her flowers. Luckily, I guess I hadn't... ;). We talked for a bit...and decided we'd try to get together Wed. night or.next week. Either way...it was great to hear her voice. She's got to be the sweetest girl on the planet...a total keeper...I guess we'll see where it goes. No rushing anything....

I'm hanging out in SLC 'til I hear from her...we might grab dinner or coffee before I head back to St. George. I'm killing time by hanging in the gate for the SLC-Paris flight. Few things in life are more entertaining that watching passengers....especially for international flights. So far, I've seen "Elitist Frenchman" (typically an older man in clothes that you find only in the first 45 pages of GQ and a really douche-y scarf, and speaks loudly in French. This one in particular looks a lot like Fidel Castro), "First-time International Traveler" (also usually older...they check in with the gate agent 47 times prior to scheduled boarding time to ask a million questions that have obvious answers like 'is this the right gate?' and 'do I need my passport out right now?'), and "Backpacker Couple" that appear like they stepped out of a North Face ad. I wasn't banking on "Asian Girl in Catholic Schoolgirl Uniform", but she's here, too.

I could sit in aiports for hours and just document the funny things I see...perhaps I should. TMiller and I have toyed with the idea of a blog about the funny things that happen on our day to day in this business...maybe we should get on that. Anyway...that's enough from me. Gonna go wander for a bit.

Down the road...

I'm flying...so that must mean I'm blogging....

2008-12-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

Decided to try to go home to Dallas last minute...so here I am, seat 2C on my beloved Brozilla, headed to SLC to attempt to catch our brand new CRJ-900 (N822SK) to DFW. Its gonna be tricky since the back is oversold and there are ton of people on the list. Should be interesting. Equally interesting is the fact that this Bro flight comes with a bit of a twist.

The twist is...the flight attendant on this one is...the ex. Mauricea. Yes, Penny Lane. Haven't seen or really talked to her in months...definitely for the best...but even being on the same 30-seat blender is feeling a little awkward. Awkward "hello's", awkward smirk from me while she did her safety demo. She's just as attractive as she was the day we made the trek to Paris...which, as most of the people who read this known turned into a momentous disaster...and, as much as I don't want to (like the overly-emotional little bitch that I am), I can't help but look.

I suppose part of me wonders "what if"...what if we hadn't been so alike in certain ways? What if I had been more assertive and stood my ground instead of taking her shit and coming back like a domestic abuse victim? What if she wasn't batshit insane? Alas, "what if" gets us nowhere...and has no bearing on the fact what happened between us...specifically, the way it ended...was likely the best thing. We would have killed each other...believe me, there are times where I wish I had killed her (kidding, kinda). I'm sure she probably had the knife ready and waiting for the right time to take me out...

Anyway...I'm definitely glad that part of my life is over...but there's always that little part of you that sees an ex-significant other and can't help but have a certain level of care for them still. Or maybe that's just me and my god-forsaken heart of gold.

So, I have no plan for this trip...I have no idea why or where I'm going, either. If I don't make the DFW flight...I dunno if I'm gonna try something else, or just go back to SGU. It would feel like a bit of a waste to get all the way to a hub and turn around. I guess we'll see.

Gonna shut down the Glorious Crackberry to conserve battery...I forgot the charger. Oops.

Down the road....

Another flight...another blog.

2008-11-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's a b-e-a-utiful day in Santa Jorge today...and, here I am, leaving it behind for Denver by way of Salt Lake.

Woke up early this morning...packed my overnight backpack, grabbed some breakfast, and ran errands. It feels pretty good to have all the laundry done, a clean room, so on and so forth before doing anything else for once. Put up a curtain last night...making my room even darker. Lovin' it.

After the errands, I had a dentist appointment. (I'm such a weirdo in the fact that I kinda enjoy going to the dentist. I attribute this to the fact that I had a great dentist when I was a little kid and a mother who was pretty hardcore about making us go.) Just a routine cleaning and checkup. On the way there, I stopped at the airport and checked in on the kiosk...so I could haul from the dentist to my 1:10pm flight...and I made sure to tell the hygenist that I needed to get going ASAP. She knocked out the x-rays, cleaning, etc. in record time...even with stops in between for her to ask questions about my job (ok, mainly the flight benefits part). Of course, all said and done...I have this funky waxy flouride treatment on my teeth right now that kinda takes away that fresh, clean feeling you expect when you leave the dentist. Bummer...but, hey, fluoride is good, right? Hygenist Brooke and the good Dr. got me out juuuuust in time to get to the airport, clear security, and catch my flight with time to spare. Awesome. I always complain about the customer service in SGU, but that doesn't go for the health/dental folks...haven't met an un-accomadating Dr./dentist yet.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night...my right calf was tight/pulling/straining/whatever to the point that my foot was immovable.. Hurt like hell. Of course, when that happens in my sleep, I barely remember it the next morning...'til I step out of bed. Holy hell, I early fell over when I stepped onto that leg. I've been walking with a limp and am wearing my cowboy boots for a little extra support. Truth be told, I've been wearing the cowboy boots a lot lately strictly because they're damn comfortable. One of the best, most comfortable Christmas gifts I've ever got...coming up on 5 years.

So, I'm headed to Denver for "Thanksgiving Dinner", so to speak, with my "airline family"...Brian, Chuck, and Kaycee. Shevon is overnighting in DEN, so she might come, too....which would be awesome. ;). I kinda miss her gorgeous smile.

I was originally going to fly out of Vegas, but this flight (SKW7772) was wide open...as is the DEN flight (knock on wood)...so I figure I'll fly through Vegas on the return since it will be in the middle of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Thank the deity of your choosing for CASS and the jumpseat...again, knock on wood. With any luck, I will have a little time on the connection to visit with Marie in SLC Ops...she rocks.

Did I mention it's a beautiful day? We're just a little over halfway between SGU and SLC right now...probably just north of Delta...and it's just perfect out there. No snow yet...but such a "clear and a million" kinda day. If SGU was cool like it has been year around...I'd never leave. OK, maybe not...LOL!

Gonna close up and enjoy the view on descent...if I don't post anything before then...I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I much prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas...it is a solid reminder of how our lives aren't as bad as many of us think they are. I know I'm pretty content with mine... ;).

Down the road...

Blackberry?...or iPhone?

2008-11-18T19:53:00.001-07:00

I'm torn. Ever since I got this Blackberry, I've come to understand why they call them "Crackberry". I'm a million times more organized now that I have my life easily in the palm of my hand. I've owned a PDA, even had another "smartphone" before this one...but the ease of use and customization (once you figure it out) is awesome.

That said, I'm a sucker for a new high-tech toy. I've played with iPhones and I like them, but I'm unsure about the touchscreen texting. I'm a text junkie and the Crackberry allows for that.

Long story short, I'm asking you to give me some opinions. Should I go iPhone? Or go with an updated version of my addiction...

Denver...and Portland.

2008-11-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

I managed to snag the absolute last seat out of Salt Lake City over to Denver and got there, on-time, around 11pm on Sunday night.

When we landed, I got a reply to a text I had sent earlier...and in the ensuing conversation, I learned that Tiffany was sitting in the Denver airport. I was almost to the train to baggage claim and went back to say hi. I hadn't seen her in a month and I, based on the month she and I have both had, I figured we both needed a hug. It was great to see her...

Brian picked me up and, since my chunky ass was starving, we went to one of the 3 places that is open that late...Del-Frickin'-Taco. Picked up a fish taco and headed back to Brian and Chuck's place. We hung out for an hour and I passed out on the couch.

We got up eaaaaarly (for an off-day) and were just lazy ass coffe drinkers 'til Kaycee landed from Grand Junction. As soon as she escaped the airport and managed to get changed out of her uniform, we grabbed lunch.

Had Olive Garden...I forgot how much that place requires a nap afterward...and instead we went shopping. Of course, I tried on new jeans and none fit. A pretty good sign that it is time to drop 65 lbs or so... (Hopefully, I can regain the motivation I had before and get back in the gym everyday. I need it, badly, in order to really be happy with myself.)

After shopping, we went back to the apartment and Brian made chicken stir-fry...'twas excellent. We watched "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and I realized why so many have mentioned to me that the main character reminded them of me. Hell, it felt like one of my breakups all over again...and the type of stupidity I'm capable of when a girl is involved. I loved that she realized what she had and he wouldn't take her back. The level to which that warmed my soul, seeing a a chick treat a nice guy like dirt and get hersin the end, was immeasurable. ;)

Speaking of the stupidity that women cause me...I haven't blogged about it, but there has been this girl that has been giving me fits. OK, really, they all give me fits...but this one in particular. We met months ago and have managed to get together a few times since then (she lives in Northern Utah). She's incredibly gorgeous, sweet as can be, seemingly has things together. We seem to "click" when we do talk, she understands where I'm coming from and the crazy life the profession provides...but it's been so long...hell, possibly never...since I've had a semi-normal dating relationship without some kind of almost immediate exclusivity. I'm not complaining about that. It's not even that we're dating seeing that we've barely hung out but here and there...but she's just that kind of girl with whom you really hope things might progress to something awesome.

I guess my complaint is this...I've never played "the game", nor do I plan on starting. Perhaps this is why I'm single...but, if it is, screw it. Yet, when I mention the fact that I like the girl to close friends, they insist on giving me all this stupid advice like "don't make yourself too available" and "let her call you first". I make myself as available as I am...no more, no less. If she calls, she calls...if I have something to say, I say it. On the flip side, I don't want to drive the girl away if she is indeed interested, either. It's an odd position to be in. Whatever happens, happens, I suppose.

So, I'm sitting in 12C on United 369 to PDX. Listening to Townes again...blogging away. Brian got TDY'd to Portland and I've never been to the PacNW at all...so I figured I'd go up there with him, hang around, and then find my way home from there.

The creepy lady in 10D just spent 10 minutes staring at the back of the plane. She looks like the type that likely owns 47 cats.

Watching the E! True Hollywood Story of Heath Ledger...and am loving all the random Australian actresses they're interviewing. MMMmmm, hot Aussie girls.

In my last blog, I mentioned that "Waiting Around To Die" wasn't a good song for my "flight playlist". I take that back...it's a solid song no matter where you listen to it. Absolutely excellent...as are the vast majority of Townes' writing. Such wonderful story telling in all of them. Don't have any Townes in your iTunes playlist? Do it...now. I'll wait. ;)

Headed to Denver...

2008-11-16T20:02:00.001-07:00

Sitting on another Brozilla, this time to Salt Lake. Hoping to catch a flt to Denver to go hang with Brian and Chuck (and, perhaps, my future wife...Kaycee...LOL).

I'm zoned out with a little Metallica blasting in the glorious QC2s (still my best purchase in, perhaps, forever)...sitting on the aisle between the lovely wife of one of our maintenance controllers and some random cute girl (who I've never seen before, but has a SkyWest I'd). Cute as hell...wow. Everyone who knows "what I like" probably has at least an idea of what she probably looks like...

As I sit waiting for my spicy tomato w/ ice, I'm thinking how much these peanuts are really getting old...I miss the Plane Cheesy crackers. These are ridiculous things that only I think of. I'm also thinking that, as much as I love Townes Van Zandt's music, I've really gotta take "Waiting Around To Die" out of my flying playlist. One of the greatest songs of all-time in my opinion, but doesn't play well at 25,000 feet...especially after Metallica.

As always, I have no real plan...and this was, as always, a last minute "throw some crap in a bag and haul up to SGU airport" kinda trip. I haven't seen the boys in months...so that's gonna be cool. From there, I'm thinking of roadtripping back to SGU. Yes, airline boy is gonna drive...

My co-worker, Jenn, is picking up a new car in Grand Junction on Tuesday...so I'm probably gonna fly down to GJT from DEN and roadtrip back with her. 10+ hours in a car with Jenn...that oughta be entertaining. With any luck, we will hit a FedEx truck or something...LOL!

Oh yeah, I forgot...I called about my jury duty last night and found that I don't have to appear. As awesome as that is, I had already reserved a rental car and traded into the earliest shift possible...which I forgot how much I actually like working at 0200.

The early morning dispatchers like to get breakfast at one of the 4 usual options...the hospital cafeteria, Vior's (awesome breakfast burritos), Alvaro's (greasier, slightly unholier, yet equally awesome breakfast burritos), or Mickey D's. Today, we went to he hospital...they do up a pretty good spread and, since I've done pretty well this week as far as eating better, I decided to get "the works". Biscuits and gravy, sausage, scrambled eggs w/ cheese, and a small chicken fried steak. It all looked spectacular...up until I started eating it. I'm sure it was fine, but I realized that I hadn't eaten hospital breakfast since before the overnight stay for my appendectomy. Mid-bite of some biscuits and gravy, I flashed back to sitting up in my hospital bed and trying to choke down the absolutely awful, greenish tinted, chicken broth they served me for lunch that day. I couldn't eat anymore. The eggs were fine, as were the sausage...but I had to toss anything with gravy in the trash. There was something mental about the gravy that associated with that broth. Needless to say, I think it's Vior's burritos from now on when I work that shift...

Time to close up shop...getting close to SLC. Despite telling the story of that nasty broth...I'm hungry. I just realized that I haven't eaten since this morning...with exception of my little package of peanuts I just finished. Might have to forage for food at SLC...wish I had time for Squatter's.

Maybe I will work up a little courage and talk to the girl next to me, too. Riiiiight. Did I mention she's cute as can be?

Descending now...gotta run. More later.

Some Might Say...

2008-11-15T18:18:00.002-07:00

Ever since Richard and Adam picked up the new Guitar Hero: World Tour, I've been somewhat obsessed with Oasis' "Some Might Say". I vaguely remember it from "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?"...but middle school was forever ago, so the memory is a bit fuzzy.

Either way, it's one of those songs that, when you take another look at it, you realize how awesome it is. I share...because I love it...

Back to SGU

2008-11-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

So, our plan to go to Boston kinda fell through. Due to unforseen circumstances, the only way to get home was going to be on the butt-crack of dawn early flights...and we weren't going to get to BOS til late as it was...thus making BOS a less than stellar option.

Instead, we hauled over to Delta an caught flt. 85...BACK TO LAX. The Jew is from Studio City, so it made sense to go there and crash at his parents' house (which I'd like to steal the blueprints for if I ever build a house...loved it).

We landed almost any hour early since, by some miracle of the deity of your choosing, the normal 1 hr+ taxi delays were non-existent. Not bad, considering the President was flying out on Air Force One just a couple hours before.

Since we were early, we caught an earlier FlyAway bus to Van Nuys and were picked up by Adam's 'rents. For the person that told me to behave myself...it should be noted that I was dead asleep within the hour.

Grabbed breakfast/lunch with Adam's dad...whom I really had to resist calling "Mr. Broslovski". Good Mexican joint called Bronco...tasty enchiladas that will likely catch up to me later this evening.

So, here we are, on 580SW on the way back to SGU. We ran into Blair in the terminal...wound up having a few drinks in the airport bar (enough to force me to re-type that statement 3 times to correct spelling errors). Ready to get home, have a beer, run some errands, and clean up my room...finally. Work at 0300...so its early to bed if possible.

Back to my Coke and iPod...

My arse is asleep...and other scattershoots from UAL22.

2008-11-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

We made it onto United 22 to JFK with a few minutes to spare...very few. When we got to the gate, we were told that there was one First Class seat...and, since I'm senior to Adam, I could have that or we could have 2 coach seats together. I opted for the 2 seats together, being the nice guy that I am.

As always (I say always since this is the 2nd time in a week I've declined First to sit with a friend...and the millionth time overall...), I'm halfway across the country and really wishing I had that legroom. At least Adam got the middle seat...hahaha.

Since we were some of the last to board, and partially because of the general public's average drop of 15-45 IQ points the moment they walk into an airport/onto an airplane, there was no overhead bin space with 110 people onboard an aircraft that normally carries 180 people (if a rollaboard does not fit in the bin wheels-first, check it or buy one that does...grrrrr) . I had to cram my backpack under the seat and, despite the "extra legroom" in "Economy Plus", the backpack is keeping me from stretching my right leg. Oh well, free ride, right?

We've been getting rocked for a while...continuous chop for at least the last hour...probably the remnants of the convective crap that gave us fits last night. If I could stretch out, I would so be passed out right now. Wait...we just climbed to FL370 and things are smooth again.

A couple things of note...

• I shelled out $9 for the smoked turkey and swiss club wrap...and, I must say, it was quite excellent. Almost worth the $9. I would have to highly recommend it if you fly United.

• Listening to Channel 9 (because I'm a total airplane geek)...I just heard Southwest 3409 get cleared "direct JDUBB". This excited me to no end. It is somewhere around Indy Center airspace and plan on building some kind of routing that utilizes it.

• The little old lady 3 rows ahead of me just headed to the lav for the 7th time. Kill me before I get that old.

• They are showing the TV show "Monk" right now and, no matter how much I try, Tony Shaloub will always be the cab driver from "Wings" to me. Also, Joely Fisher has really fallen off...she used to be kinda hot. What happened? For some reason, she looks like Kaley Cuoco + 45 years...and, as hot as Kaley is...that just ain't right. ;)

• Here goes the little old lady's husband for the 3rd time this hour. Once again, kill me before I get that old. ;)

• Did I mention my ass is asleep?

I think we are about an hour or so out...looks like they're knocking out one last beverage service...good thing too since I'm frickin' parched.

More later...

Another week...another trip.

2008-11-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my usual spot...9A on United Express/SkyWest 5711 from SGU to LAX. It should be noted that we have some pretty awesome crews. My glass of ginger ale hasn't been even half empty the entire flight. I know that shouldn't be something that is notable...but in this day and age of service cutbacks, our inflight folks just do it right. Now if only United hadn't cut snacks out of the service on shorter hops...I'm starving and could go for some peanuts right now.

Last time I blogged, I was headed home from voting in Texas. Most of my candidates won...including President-Elect Obama. Man, it feels cool to know that, in 70 days or so, our nation will be headed in a new direction...one that I feel will put us on the right track again. I do hope the Democrat controlled congress don't go too wild and crazy with power...because, while I lean a little more to the left than I used to, there are some conservative ideals that I'd like to see adopted in the spirit of bipartisanship. Time will tell. All I can say is this: after seeing Barack's first press conference as President-Elect...I know deep down that we chose the right guy. Something about his calm demeanor and ability to even pick on himself that makes it easy to call the guy "my leader" (not to be confused with "dear leader"...LOL).

So, back to the trip. Adam hasn't exactly got the whole "non-rev" thing down...and, domestically at least, I'm a borderline professional at it. So we're headed to LAX right now...then to the east coast. Where better to learn the ropes of getting home under crappy circumstances as a space available standby than the clusterf&#k that is New York-JFK? So it's United to JFK...then maybe JetBlue down to Boston...Delta back to SLC tomorrow. At least that's the tentative plan...you know I love to change those. ;). Hoping to stay in Boston tonight with one of oldest friends in the world from back home...Lenzie. We shall see.

Looks like we're nose-down and on the arrival into LAX...time to close up shop to be ready to haul tail to our JFK gate (we got out of the gate in SGU a bit late thanks the the fueler throwing on a bunch of extra, unnecessary fuel).

Here's to hoping for First or Business class to JFK...I've been trying to get it on the United P.S. Service 757s for a while...to no avail.

And now I wait...

2008-11-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sitting at gate E84 in SLC hoping they call my name...not banking on it since there were only 8 open seats when I checked earlier.

We had a little excitement on approach into SLC...the gear was down, so we only had about 7 miles to go, when the pilots pushed the throttles up to go around power and pulled the gear up. Apparently, the hotshots at SLC approach didn't get the landing sequence right and they asked us to go around and resequence. Of course, I knew exactly what happened...but the guy next to me was about to freeeeak out. I got a chuckle.

Whoohoo! I got a seat...time to board.

On my way back...

2008-11-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm so pumped after last night. I truly believe, no matter what the conservative Christians might try to tell you, that Obama is the right man for the job at this time in American history. It's time to put away the divisive nature of partisan politics. Let's get behind this president and hope he can steer us in the right direction.

So we left Gainesville a little late for OKC this morning...thus missing any chance at the 0830 to SLC or the 0900 to LAX. Honestly, though...I think this works better. Took the 1108 flt to DEN and met Kaycee for lunch. I hadn't seen her I ages...so it was great to see her always smiling face. We got burritos on concourse B and she had to be on her way. Not before injecting a little positivity into my day...encouraging me to be more assertive in persuing a certain someone.

I wound up catching the 1400 to SLC...which I'm on right now. Rory at the office told me it was heavy snow and low visibility in SLC...and all I wanted to do before leaving was change into some shorts...LOL! We are making a slow descent from FL360...it has been pretty bumpy and there are ominous clouds out ahead. I'm honestly ready for winter...Adam has me interested in learning to snowboard. We shall see.

Our shallow descent just got steeper...judging from what I can see through the clouds, I think we're about 20 minutes from SLC (booyah, captain came on after I typed this to say we are 18 minutes from landing...I rule!). Time to finish my orange juice and close up shop.

Maybe a little more from SLC.

In ATL...

2008-11-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

Made it to Atlanta...this place is nicer than I last saw it.

I had 4 hours to kill, so I wound up getting something to eat with Courtney. She was bored and had nothing better to do...not to mention she's a weirdo like me when it comes to sleeping better on airplanes and enjoying a breakfast at random airports...so, she came with me. And, like a curse that follows me...I was of course, offered first class at the last minute and declined it to sit with her (it seems like anytime I've gone anywhere with Courtney, I wind up getting first and feeling bad about leaving her by herself...so I decline the upgrade). My back hates me for it right now.

Off to find some foodstuffs...I'm praying for first to DFW in hopes of some sleep. I'm such a first/biz class snob these days. Sleeeeeepy...

On my way home to vote...

2008-11-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

As I type this, I'm sitting in seat 8A in a SkyWest Brasilia...enjoying the cool, dry air in the cabin, kicking back a spicy tomato w/ ice, listening to The Killers on the ol' iPod. The pilots just pulled back to cruise power and we're just above the clouds, the moon is reflecting on the clouds like it does on the ocean, and we're starting to pick up a little moderate turbulence.. I have my awesome new Bose QC2's on...so it is a sort of serenity that, anyone that knows me, would consider to be my "happy place".

Flying to Salt Lake...then catching the redeye to Atlanta...the the early morning flight to DFW...then a 1 hour drive to Gainesville. All of this just to vote.

I'm not doing it because I want to say I voted in this historic election...where we are probably going to elect our first black (or, at least half-black) president. It is because I have the right to vote...a right that so few in this world have...and, at least in national and state elections, I want to exercise that right. The long trek is a result of forgetting to take care of my absentee stuff and the fact that, with airline capacity and schedule cuts, the logistics of getting to DFW on any airline but American Airlines is a somewhat daunting task.

So, speaking of voting, I talked to my mom last night about my coming home to vote in the town of my legal residence. She tried to convince me to just not vote rather than vote for "that liberalist"...LOL! Here's my mom...a teacher that hates "No Child Left Behind"...voting for the regime that brought that stinking turd of a program to us. More disturbingly, here was my mom spouting off the GOP talking points...the ones that spread through email like "Obama is a socialist" and "Obama is a secret Muslim". That bothered me a little. I'm not going to ridicule anyone's vote...so long as they get out to the polls...yet, my mom was advocating my skipping the most historic election of my life. Sad. (I love ya, mom...but I'll be there in the morning to cancel your vote).

Picking up some icing and turbulence on descent into SLC. I gotta run for now...time to turn off all electronics and put our seats and tray tables in the upright and locked position.

God Answers All Prayers...

2008-10-31T20:47:00.001-06:00

God Answers All Prayers...it's just that, sometimes, the answer is "no".

Another Boring Day @ The Desk

2008-10-28T14:14:00.000-06:00

So, here I am, just cranked out release #52 on the day...less than an hour to go. The weather is perfect everywhere but in the northeast, so my brain has been on idle all day.

Yesterday was another story. 3 broken airplanes...including one in Canada (which is a huge pain when you have to involve customs pre-clearance, etc.)...kept my head on a swivel all day. Trying to figure out a way to save flights from being canceled in a situation like that causes a tension headache so hardcore.

So, like I said in the last post...I'm posting from my Crackberry (thanks for the replacement, SJ). This little sucker has me wondering if I even want to upgrade to an iPhone. Of course, the more I look, the harder the choice is. Maybe I should hold out for the inevitable 32GB model.

Just some scattershooting...I'm so tired, I've got nothing else.

Down the road...

Crackberry Blogging

2008-10-27T19:36:00.001-06:00

So, I've never really blogged much from the road...but I think that might change now that I have this evil little Crackberry. I'm addicted....
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

MySpace.com - Front to Back: Ben Folds Five Reunion! Live, Sept 18th.

2008-10-23T11:41:00.001-06:00

I still...to this day...LOVE Ben Folds Five.

Ben Folds Five - MySpace Front To Back concert

The Sox Might Be The Death Of Me...(Dub Blogs from the 7th inning on in...)

2008-10-19T21:47:00.000-06:00

2022 - Top of the 7th...Tampa leads 2-0. Youk up to bat...and he pops it up and out. This game might kill me.

2024 - I keep a pack of Camel Lights in my underwear drawer that I let myself break into when I'm about to go nuts...and I just broke into it.

2026 - The Sox took the early lead...all was well. Then the Rays have scored twice and I'm getting nervous. Garza should be getting tired by now...well above 100 pitches now. And he walks J.D. Bay is up...I know he has it in him. Two strikeouts tonight...he's due. Let's get 2 runs here!

2029 - I've been imbibing the unofficial beer of Soxtober...Sam Adams Octoberfest...'til 1900 when my 8 hours was up. I wish I was drunk.

2030 - Bay gets a hit to left! Two on now...one out. And Maddon is on the mound to talk to Garza. Leave him in...leave him in.

2031 - TBS is on a roll with the "Hottie Cam"...plenty of hottie Florida girls in the crowd. Also, plenty of white trash Florida girls as well. It's feast or famine.

2032 - Just saw on FARK.com that the Bucs retired Mike Alstott's jersey tonight...and misspelled his name on one of the framed jerseys. LOL! I remember Madden '98...that guy was unstoppable!

2033 - Kotsay just popped out...but got J.D. over to 3rd. V-Tek up to bat. Oh, Captain, My Captain! I put my trust and faith in you! Let's knock another out like the 6th inning last night...that would be huge.

2035 - Tek has a 1-2 count. Garza at 115 pitches...come on Tek-Money!

2036 - Tek strikes out. TBS cuts to an annoying Lincoln MKS commercial. I love "Space Oddity"...but I'm not sure which version is creepier. Bathroom break to avoid the Charles Schwab "We're begging you to not take your money out of our investment firm" commercial. Damn...not fast enough.

2041 - Back...leftover pizza not exactly sitting well with my body's disdain for milk/cheese products. Sat down in time to see frickin' Willy Aybar bomb one to left. In the starting lineups, Buck Martinez mentioned that Aybar hadn't hit one out in the ALCS and I remember thinking to myself, "he'll knock one out". And, he did.

2043 - Lester hasn't lost consecutive starts in his MLB career. Let's not start tonight! I'll settle for an Okajima/Papelbon win. Let's just get this one!

2045 - Yes, we know Chip, Rocco Baldelli is an "inspriational story". For the 4th time tonight. We get it. Have you forgotten about the guy on the mound and his story?

2046 - 2 down, bot. 7th. Barlett up. Lester has 2 strikes on him by way of foul balls...and Bartlett just won't go down. Crisp grabs the popup...and we got to the 8th.

2048 - OK, a note about this announcing crew. I can't stand Buck Martinez on XM Radio...I really can't stand him here. He's a poor man's Jerry Remy (at least in the semi-whiny-voice department). Ron Darling...I always wanted to punch that guy when I watched him pitch as a kid. Chip Caray...will never be his grandfather. And, yes, if I were a hot dog, I WOULD eat myself, Norm.

2052 - E6! I'll take it! Man on first...and Maddon pulls Garza. Getting ancy.

2054 - OK, the DirecTV ads with the little girl from "Poltergeist" bother me. I mean, it's not that she's dead. Anyone who knows me knows that, with me, nothing is sacred. However, there's just something odd about dead little girl pitching satellite TV.

2056 - Dan Wheeler...how's about a repeat of the other night? Pretty please? Cut to Garza squatting in the dugout...looking a bit like me in the woods on my last camping trip.

2057 - CoCo at the bat. Cora at 1st. Wheeler seems a bit nervous about Alex's speed. CoCo tries to bunt and pops it foul...2-2 count. CoCo gets a base hit to right! Men on 1st and 2nd...and Chip Caray is doing his best to jinx it with phrases like "You give the Red Sox life, the take the life from you!". Grrrr...

2059 - My boy Pedroia up. "The Little Horse". MVP of this series if they pull it out. And he's got a 1-1 count...but he IS the best 2 strike hitter in baseball. And he pops out out to left...thanks for more jinxing, Buck.

2101 - Maddon pulls Wheeler...and more commercial fun. Orbitz sucks. Seriously. May all of those little websites die. Bring back real travel agents!

2103 - J.P. Howell now pitching. Lefty/Lefty matchup with Papi. Howell has fear in his eyes. Papi looks at strike one. Cut to shot of crazy Rays fan. I didn't know they had those. He must be drunk and forgot where he is.

2105 - Papi 0-2 count. I still have the faith.

2106 - Papi 1-2 count. I still have the faith. I'm wondering what Papi's undershirt says...

2106 - Papi check-swing that just scared the living piss outta me. I honestly thought he went around for strike 3.

2107 - Still trying to figure out what Papi's undershirt says around the collar.

2108 - I just saw an old woman in a Rays jersey screaming "Come On, Papi!". She's a bit confused.

2109 - Papi grounds to 2nd and they get CoCo at 2nd. Cora on 3rd...Papi on first. The Greek God of Walks (and 10+ pitch at-bats) is up next. Maddon pulls Howell.

2112 - OK, I admit. New Bond flick looks awesome. i wish I were Daniel Craig. But, I digress.

2113 - Bradford in. Yoooooouk is up. Batting .400 against Bradford...and almost takes one to the right knee. 2 balls for Youk (insert rimshot here). Make that three and take away my crotch humour...

2115 - Youk's beard is glorious...just for the record. Full count...and Youk is staying alive. Runners will go...need a blooper! Ball 4! I'll take it! Bases loaded... And Maddon brings in another pitcher for J.D Drew. With any luck, he'll run out.

2117 - Our Sweet Clean Lord Jesus...Oh, Prophet Mohammed...All Knowing Buddha...Dearest Lord Raptor Jesus...whoever...just let J.D. earn his bloated paycheck in this at-bat.

2119 - Drew strikes out on a piss-poor checkswing. Shit.

2120 - And now, an iPhone commercial. Sorry Apple, I'm holding out for that 32GB model you're holding over our heads.

2123 - I have to work at 0300. And I'm staying up. For this.

2125 - Okajima has 2 down in rapid succession. Maybe we should have put him in earlier. Pena up...TV now on mute. I can take no more of Buck Martinez.

2127 - TV muted, iTunes up...Dropkick Murphys blaring on the lappy. And Okajima gets 3 up, 3 down. "Tessie" plays on repeat to the end...well...maybe some "Shipping Up to Boston".

2130 - "'Tessie',
"Nuf Ced" McGreevey shouted,
We're not here to mess around.
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only, only, only!"

2131 - Price nearly takes Bay's knees. You're 3 outs from a World Series and you're throwing shit. Nice.

2132 - Bay is keeping the at-bat alive.

2133 - Still foulin'.

2134 - Ball four! Kotsay up. Kotsay...it's your turn! OK, the bunt was a decent idea...but, alas, no dice. Strike one. Foul down the 1st bas...hello, concerned Red Sox hottie. What was I saying again?

2136 - Kotsay strikes out looking. Pitchtrax shows the pitch way outside. Now, I know that thing isn't exactly accurate, but...ahem...FUCK YOU UMP!

2138 - Tek at bat. 1-1 count. For the love of God, Tek...show us why you're our Captain. Make that 1-2. Looks at ball 2 high. Hell...I'll settle for anything here.

2139 - And Tek strikes out. The Rays are 1 out from the World Series. One...Frickin'...Out. And our final hope is...Jed Lowrie???

2140 - Shit. The Rays. An expansion team that once had a rainbow-esque yellow/orange/purple in their team logo...are going to the Series. The Rays. *sigh*

2143 - Cue the Dropkick Murphys "Amazing Grace"...poor a glass of Chocolate Silk Soymilk...and prepare for the barrage of anti-Sox text messages.

2144 - I still want to shop where Craig Sager gets his suits. That purple paisley tie with the pin-striped jacket is awesome.

Congrats Rays...thanks for ruining my week.

And, now, for words I never thought I would ever say: GO PHILLIES!

Scary...

2008-10-18T21:35:00.001-06:00

I got saw this on my friend Margaret's Tumblr...and it reminds me of the Bill Maher movie Religulous that I saw last week (which, by the way, if you haven't seen it yet...go see it!).

I must ask, when did the United States become a "Christian Nation"? Oh, wait...we're not. Our forefathers had the foresight to keep religion separate from the law...yet the religious kooks have taken and bastardized the views of those who were deliberate in leaving our basis of law religion-free.

Like Thomas Jefferson said in a letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814: "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law".

Let's keep it that way.

Obey the Cheerleader!

2008-10-18T19:08:00.002-06:00

So my Sox did it the other night. It was...AWESOME! I was riding a high that has put me over to the game tonight. As it stands right now...the Sox are leading 2-1 in the bottom of the 3rd.

I have the faith. Let's do it again! Until then, here's some greatness. A) It's funny...and B) Hayden is hot and deserves more face-time on this blog. :)

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

On the verge of a heart attack...

2008-10-16T21:17:00.003-06:00

Why? Why do the Red Sox do this to me? They get themselves in a hole...then give me hope. They put me on pins and needles...I hope for the best...expect the worst. It's the best/worst feeling in the world. Papi comes through in glorious ways...Youkilis and Pedroia give it their all...but will it be enough? That's the hardest thing to watch for a Sox fan.

So, c'mon Sox! Give me one more game! We'll take it from there!

I still don't know why this is so funny to me...

2008-10-15T14:21:00.001-06:00

I still don't know why this is so funny to me...but it cracked me up.

Busch Stadium in STL

2008-08-19T15:45:00.002-06:00

My advice to my little sister...

2008-08-18T18:43:00.005-06:00

Little sis has hauled off to college for her freshman year...and I felt the need to pass on some brotherly advice. I'm so good with advice:

Little Sis - i have made zero friends
Me - find a geeky club and join. sororities are gay. i mean, unless you want to automatically be known as a slut. that's what i always thought about sorority girls. primarily because they were sluts. so, do yourself a favor and don't buy your friends (and your reputation as a slut...earn that...lol)
Little Sis - great advice
Me - you'll thank me for that someday.

-----------------------
Current Music: Seether - Rise Above This

Trip to Sydney, Australia...August 2008

2008-08-09T00:08:00.002-06:00

I went to Sydney this past week...took a few pics here and there. You can find one of my favorites below...click on it, and you'll find all of them.

The View From Our Seats...

2008-05-01T16:46:00.003-06:00

Tier Box 617, Seat 10

The Yankees Finally Admit It...

2008-05-01T15:06:00.002-06:00

They finally admit to being toolbags...

Pretty damn exciting week ahead...

2008-04-28T23:01:00.004-06:00

Wow...the next few days have all kinds of potential for "awesome".

I'm off after 3pm tomorrow for a few days. After work, I'm gonna pack a bag, one last run to the gym, and then head to el aeropuerto to start heading to New York. The plan is to wander the city Wed./Thur. and then go to the Yankees-Tigers game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. Everyone knows I'm not a Yankees fan, but I really want to see Yankee Stadium before they close it after this season. That said, I will still be rooting for the Tigers...unless Joba Chamberlain or Mariano Rivera come in the game...then I have to pretend to like the Yankees for the sake of the survival of my fantasy baseball team. I'm so conflicted...

OK...so the Yanks game is Thursday night, so I'm gonna make the quick turnaround and catch the first available flight out of JFK the next morning to wherever I have to go to get back to SGU ASAP. Why in the hell would I want to get back to SGU so quickly? Because Cross Canadian-Freakin'-Ragweed are playing at The Electric Theater in downtown St. George, that's why! And I've gotta get home early enough to load up my flask with Jack and down some beers before going out since I'm fairly certain the venue, like so many places in Utah, is an "alcohol-free establishment". (and, yes, I did break out one old, old pic of me and the band from my radio days...hilarious).

So, yeah...can't wait. Now if only my damn load of laundry in the dryer would dry the hell up...grrrr.

Keep on rockin' in the free world...

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Current Music: The Verve Pipe - The Freshmen

In-N-Out Burger, St. George, UT

2008-04-25T12:02:00.003-06:00

Well...I braved the 35 min. drive-thru line...and, damn, was it worth it.

STILL The Greatest Ad Campaign Ever...

2008-04-25T10:38:00.000-06:00

Terry Tate, Office Linebacker...

Travels, work, baseball...

2008-04-21T09:28:00.004-06:00

So, it's been awhile...again. Yeah, I know...I suck at blogging.

It's been a fun couple of weeks...been all over the US and working my tail off. Hitting the gym more and starting to run. I have a goal...a mission...and a personal reward at the end. I just have to stay focused.

I've been working alot...big surprise there. I've been working as a trainer for a couple of months now...but now I'm looking at moving into coordinating (the guys that keep the schedule moving by strategically canceling flights, etc.).

I'm less than confident in my training abilities right now. When I was a ramp trainer at AirTran, it was all hands on...but trying to teach software, weather and air traffic theory, and getting hit with tons of questions that I know the answer to but fear I'm leading someone astray is something completely different. I like it to a certain extent, but I'm not sure it is for me.

I did my annual jumpseating on the jet this past week. Flew up to Milwaukee and did a Newark out-and-back with Aaron Krebs from back home. Had a great time...it's nice to fly with someone you know to a place you've never seen.

Flew outta Vegas...got caught in traffic and missed the non-stop AirTran flight to MKE...so I had to fly through Denver. Luckily, Frontier rocks and let me on last minute...as opposed to the AirTran agent who got nasty with me for even asking to jumpseat.

Before leaving Las Vegas...an old friend, Dave McKenzie, texted me asking if I knew who the crew was on his MKE-EWR flight that day. I knew what Dave was really asking..."Is Krebs the pilot on my flight?" (Dave and Krebs were roommates in college)...so I called him right then to tell him he missed it by one day. At the time, we thought that Dave was going to be on our EWR-MKE return flight the next day. That would have been entertaining...three ol' Gainesville boys on the same flight, on the same day...what are the chances? As it turns out, Dave was on the flight before ours...which was a bummer because Krebs had come up with some funny stuff for the "Welcome PA"...

I got into MKE later in the night and stayed at a hotel near the airport. We get an airline crew rate of $35 bucks there, so I booked it ahead of time and crashed out (after 7 beers and 4 shots with a bunch of local UPS employees at the Applebee's next door of course). The next morning, I went to the airport early and met up with Aaron. He showed me around, introduced me to the Chief Pilot and others in the crew lounge and we grabbed a light lunch. After the near act of God Almighty Himself to get my jumpseat credentials checked, we headed out for EWR.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful, but the approach into EWR was pretty sweet. The final approach to runway 22R rides parallel to New York with amazing views of the city, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, etc...the kinds of views you only get while sitting in the front office of a jet. Kinda wished I had taken a camera...but with sterile cockpit on approach, probably wouldn't have been kosher.

So we landed in EWR and I had to go to the gate to fill out the jumpseater paperwork for the gate agent. When I came back down, I found my big backpack that I had gate-checked and should have got back in the jetway had been taken to baggage claim. Aaron chased down a ramper and had him go look for it, but it was too late...my bag was already on the carousel. I had to run like a bat outta hell to baggage claim, get my bag, and go back through security. Of course, the TSA line was half a mile long and, when I finally got to the metal detector, it got bumped by other people twice...and I had to be wanded and have all of my other stuff checked. I got back to the gate just in time for final boarding...took my seat up front, and away we went.

Amazingly, there were no delays into/out of EWR, so we got back to MKE way early. I was able to catch a flight on Frontier over to Denver at the last minute. Of course, I had been fairly lucky all day...so the luck ran out and we wound up taking a long mechanical delay due to computer issues. The guy behind me kept running his mouth to impress the girl next to him...making fun of the mechanic that was sent to fix the problem...so I wound up taking my airline ID's off and let into him for not knowing what he was talking about. Ahhh, that felt good. My tolerance for passenger ignorance just isn't what it used to be.

Landed in Denver pretty late and it was freakin' snowing. We let all the connecting passengers off first so they could run like hell to make their flights. Brian picked me up and I hung out with him, Chuck, and Kaycee for a couple days of relaxing. It was nice to have absolutely nothing to do and hang out with those three...they rock. We had some beers, played Trivial Pursuit, airline-geeked it up...just alot of nothing.

Got back to SGU on Saturday night...and here I am back to working. I'm planning on going back to NYC next week for a Yankees-Tigers game at Yankee Stadium. If you know me, you know I'm a die-hard Red Sox fan, but I'm a baseball fan first and I've never been to Yankee Stadium. Considering this is the last season they will be playing there, I figured it would be good to go see it and take the tour...alot of history there.

Speaking of the Sox...that was the original plan for this past weekend. Dearing, his dad, and I were supposed to go to Fenway to see the Sox play the Texas Rangers...but a miscommunication between me and Dearing (I was waiting on him to tell me he had plane tickets before I bought game tickets, he was waiting on my to tell him I had game tickets before booking a flight) kept us from going. Oops. Would have been a great game to see...the Sox came back from 5 runs down in the late innings to win 6-5...even after Manny got ejected in the 2nd. Oh well...

Well, for those of us that were at work at 0300 this morning...it's lunch time. Veggie enchiladas, here I come!

SkyWest Ship 821SK @ Chicago O'Hare

2008-04-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

Boston Logan Gate C19

2008-02-28T12:41:00.002-07:00

Note the flag on top of the jetway. C19 was the gate that United Flight 175 (the second plane to crash into the World Trade Center) departed from on 9/11/2001.

Kenmore "T" Stop, Boston, Mass.

2008-02-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

In-N-Out Burger, Las Vegas, NV

2008-02-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

9/5 Ramble.

2007-09-05T11:41:00.000-06:00

So yeah...it's that time again. That time where I sit down and think about all the things in life that suck. This will be rambling...so I apologize in advance.

I'm bringing back the "Current Weight" part of my signature. It's gotten so outta control with the whole "sitting on my ass all day at work" thing. I need motivation. I have motivation...but it's not the kind of motivation I want. I finally met a girl out here...and, despite her flaws, I dig her alot. However, she's obviously not attracted to me because I'm ridiculously overweight. I just don't need to be doing the crazy weight drop just for some shot at a girl...again. So, fuck it. I'm never going to be anyone's ideal. I accept that. I'm way too emotionally fucked up. My weight fluctuates in ridiculous ways. I'm "too nice" (whatever the fuck that means). I am who I am. It's mostly genetic...I was doomed from the get-go.

I'm such a fucking co-dependent...it sickens me sometimes. Something in me makes me feel like the only way I'll ever feel like I'm on the right track is having someone to share it all with. I had that for the time the ex and I lived together. Everything felt so right...even though, oftentimes, things weren't right. Then we started concentrating on our careers and it all fell apart. I have this messed up instinct that I should be caring for someone...and I have such a love/hate relationship with it.

I still like the job...and I'm damn good at it now. I still hate the town. I'm trying to find some kind of balance. There are nights where I get lonely and just want to go home, though. There are times I wish I traveled more than I do. Sometimes I wished I were a little more active. But, then again, there are times I wish I could just be a normal guy that didn't grow attached to any woman that is batshit insane and/or walks all over me...and we all know that's never gonna happen. I digress.

One of my favorite Dallas musicians was shot and killed the other night. Carter Albrecht from Sorta. I had only recently (within the last couple years) got into Sorta, but their music has been so calming for me on days that my soul needed to be picked up a little and I was just recently starting to hear some of Carter's other stuff. I was planning to finally see them live sometime this month (I had seen them a couple times but didn't know who they were back then)...but I guess that will never happen. Though I never knew you personally, rest in peace Carter.

I finally found my way to the big liquor store in Mesquite, NV. It was like angels were singing and a light shone down from the heavens when I walked in. Then, I got to thinking that maybe they should play some kinda of ethereal music in the background to enhance the shopping experience. When I walked up to check out, I laughed about how great the place was...and the check-out girl immediately pointed out that I "must be from St. George". How sad is that? EVERYONE knows how dry this place is.

Hanging in there...trying to anyway.

-----------------------
Current Music: Sorta - Nothing Left To Say (possibly the most beautiful song I've heard in a long time)
Current Weight: An embarrassing 267

A Trip Home to Texas

2007-08-17T10:26:00.001-06:00

As always, it's been months since I've even thought about updating this damn thing. I've been busy, cut me some slack.

I'm home in Gainesville right this moment...it was a sort of "failed" trip to Sydney that got me here but, really, it was nice to come home and see people I haven't seen in ages. I wish I had longer to stay here.

So, yeah, this whole thing started on Sunday. My plan was to hit Sydney, Australia for a few days...then home to Texas for a couple days...then back to SGU. It was hotter than hell in SGU on Sunday (just like any other day this summer), so I knew that getting to LAX on the non-stop 30-seater would be tough due to weight restrictions (for the uninitiated...temperature, altitude, and runway length play a huge part in how much weight an airplane can take off with). I was #1 on the list, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet.

When I got to the airport, a pilot, his wife, and two kids were in the check-in line in front of me. I knew immedately that I was pretty screwed. By some miracle of God, I got a seat...just had to strap my big bag in a seat so it wouldn't count in the checked bag weights. Right before we shut the door, one of the CS agents came onboard and pointed at me and a United flight attendant and said, you're gonna have to come off. D-OH! The outside temperature had spiked 3 degrees in less than an hour and, because of this, we had to pull 600 lbs. off the plane. Since passengers count as 250 lbs, no matter how much they actually weigh, me and the UA F/A accounted for most of what they needed to come off.

After the flight left (it almost left with my passport and company ID that I had tossed in the seatback pocket...luckily one of the CS agents ran aboard and got it for me), they got me booked on the next flight out to Salt Lake. When I got to Salt Lake, I took a look at the departure board and realized that the next Delta flight to LAX was just about to leave and there was a United flight leaving soon. I ran over to the UA gate, but it was oversold and one of our pilots took the jumpseat ahead of me. I probably could have taken a jumpseat on Southwest, but the fact that Southwest res told me that I would likely only be getting on if I took an actual jumpseat and one look at the amount of pilots standing around in the Southwest gate area...and I decided to crash in Salt Lake and figure it out from there.

I had called Courtney earlier in the day just in case I got stuck in SLC...so, as soon as she got in from ORD, we took off to her place. I crashed like a log after spending an hour trying to help her find a way home from DEN on a one-way trip she had picked up for someone.
She had to be at the airport at 7am and I just happened to wake up and look at the clock at 6am. She had set the alarm for 6pm on accident. We scrambled to get to the airport.

When we got there, I pulled out the laptop and made my decision on where I was going to go. After looking at all options...I just decided that this trip was to be stress-free...and that home to Texas was the best bet. I called Brent back at the office and had him list me...then got transferred to Salt Lake Ops to let them know that I was in a long security line and for them to plan for a jumpseater in the weight and balance. Marie in SLC Ops rocks and had to gate have the jumpseat stuff waiting for me and the pilots notified. All I had to do was run out to the plane and get situated in that lovely jumpseat.

When I got to DFW and stepped off the plane, I started thinking that maybe I should try to at least get out of the country for a couple days. Once I came to this decision (with a little prodding from the lovely Penny Lane about how I'm "not spontaneous enough"), I ran over to the Delta ticket counter in time to have the ticket agent tell me I was too late to check in for the next flight. She told me she would relist me for the "7 o'clock flight"....yeah...she told me 7...it was really 5:20. That's what I get for not paying attention. I showed up at 5:10 in time to miss the flight to ATL. Oh well. At this point, I decided that I wasn't supposed to go anywhere...so, I called Dearing and he picked me up.

We got dinner with his new girl and Wilson...then played Xbox 360 for essentially 2 days. So relaxing. Rented a car...made the rounds...went to 2 movies with Shaun and Rocky last night (The Simpsons and Bourne Ultimatum). Gonna go hang with the grandparents for the second time in 2 days...and see some more folks before heading back tomorrow.

It may not have been as exotic as going overseas...but this trip has been so recharging...good stuff.
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Current Music:

05/04/07

2007-05-04T15:27:00.000-06:00

Life is extra boring at the moment. There really is nothing to do in this town. I've done laundry and picked up my room a bit...had a few beers...and watched a bunch of TV. Kinda sucks. I guess I could go join a gym (and I should, I'm getting so fat spending 90% of my days in front of a computer), but I feel less than motivated lately. I think work is one of the only things that make coming out here for this job bearable. I work alot...then I travel for a few days. If I have downtime in St. George, I go crazy. I really do like my job...but I am more and more starting to hate living here. Thank God I'm able to fly out of here when I want.

I've worked 2 days in the last week and a half. This paycheck is gonna suck. I was off for 5 days when I went home to Denton for a few days...then off my normal 3 days off after 2 days of work.

In Denton, I played in our annual flag football game (my team won...on the shoulders of former North Texas TE Andy Blount and Rec Sports guru John Wilson) and kept a nice steady flow of Shiner Bock going. It was pretty relaxing, but I feel pretty crappy about not going to Gainesville for at least one day and visiting family.

Yes, I said it. I feel bad for not visiting family. My relationships with my immediate family pretty much suck. I've got issues with them, they have issues with me. I do love visiting my grandparents, though. However, despite the crappy relationship I have with my family, my little brother...whom I've never really gotten along with...is leaving for Air Force basic training tomorrow and I wish I could have at least got a beer with him before he left. We've had our differences in the past, but I wish him the best of luck and I'm proud of what he's doing. I'm not much of a "pray-er" these days...but I'll definitely be thinking of my brother alot.

I've had alot on my mind lately as far as being depressed, not really having any real friends out here, and general loneliness. I heard from someone really special to me last week for the first time since right after I moved here...and my overwhelming desire to try to rekindle that relationship has got me feeling a bit rollercoaster-ish. I still love her...and really, I kinda think she may feel the same to a certain extent. Since that initial contact last week, I haven't heard anything from her...so now I'm left just kinda feeling like maybe I really should just move on. Of course, that's not what I want...I want to be with her again...or at least see her again. I was really happy to hear that she was doing alot better than she was when things went south for us. Seems like things are much better than before. I don't think the problems were my fault...nor her fault. Circumstances just sucked.

Been thinking about trying to go back to school and get a degree. Maybe Aviation Management from Utah Valley State. They offer a completely online degree where most of the course work is flight school. However, despite the fact that I was barely above the poverty level last year, being male, middle-class, and white keeps me from qualifying for jack squat as far as grants and subsidized loans go. I don't currently have the means to work full time, make a living, take classes and do flight school everyday...so I guess that's off, for now anyway. Right now, I need to concentrate on clearing up my credit issues, maybe doing flight school and a degree later, and working on perking up a little.

The Mavs blew it last night...not sure what the hell happened to Dirk. Hopefully third time will be the charm next season. Speaking of sports, I need to go to a baseball game soon. Usually, I've been to one or two by this point in the season...and there's no pro baseball in Utah. Well, there's a minor league team up in Salt Lake...but I want my Red Sox and Rangers. Hopefully, I'll make one in the next few weeks. Gonna try to visit Lisa in Baltimore soon and go to an O's game. Kevin Millar is still one of my favorite players...and it's Major League Baseball...good enough for me.

Also, I'm looking to make a trip to London or Sydney sometime soon. I just don't want to go alone and my travel partners are...well...non-existent. Might go by myself anyway.

Oh yeah, lost my damn iPod. Well, I guess it was Karma. I found it in a seatback pocket on an airplane when I wa working at the other airline. I think I left it in the seatback pocket of the Delta flight I took to DFW last week. Oh well...at least I have my laptop now.

Guess that's all I got for now. Gotta get one last load of laundry in the dryer and iron some shirts. I really need to just start dropping my shirts and decent pants to the cleaners. I hate ironing.

One last thing...
If you're bored...check out the "Three Justins" Blog.

Barnett, Dearing, and I pretty much just blog about random stuff and answer random questions emailed to us at askthreejustins (at) gmail.com Check it out!

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Current Music: Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up
Current Weight: Too Much

New Glasses, new tires, new lappy, and NYC...

2007-04-04T17:36:00.000-06:00

Wow, once again, while assuring the masses that I would update more often...I have failed. Does that really surprise anyone though?

It's been good times since I lost blogged...so heres we goes.

I guess i should start with my trip home. Of course, that was something like a month ago. I went home to Texas for a few days. Just to see some friends and go to a North Texas basketball game. Of course, I wound up having a knock-down-drag-out with my mother like always...I'll leave it at that.

I flew home after a couple days. Of course, getting home meant taking the jumpseat of a CRJ-700 from DFW to SLC. Well, only because I'm a nice guy...there were 2 seats left on the plane, but by taking the jumpseat, they were able to get 2 more standbys on (a woman and her young son)...who were extremely excited to get on the plane. Gotta be good to the other non-rev's when you can. It's non-rev karma.

It was my first time jumpseating in the jet. I called the office to find out if I could log the time since it was going to be almost 3 hours block (they said no...grrr). Flight crew was pretty cool, the F/O flew the leg. We encountered an interesting autopilot issue over the Rockies...very interesting to say the least.

When I got back to Utah, I was slated for a pretty full week or two of working. Of course, that started with a 0400 shift the day after getting back from Texas. I left the house a little earlier than usual for one reason or another. About 3 miles away from work, my front left tire blew out. BLEW OUT is more like it. BOOM! Took chunks of the bumper, the corner lights, the blinker, and dented the front fender. Talk about suck. The tire tread was wrapped around the axle. Took me 45 minutes to get the damn thing unwrapped and swapped for the donut. I went and dropped the money on replacing all four later that day. I still need a new blinker/bumper/etc. Ugghh...

Let's see...went through jet ground school the next week. 3 days of cramming something like 4 tons of info into our brains. Here we are, three weeks later, and I finally got my first day of jet on the job training yesterday. Talk about overwhelming. LOTS of stuff going on in comparison to the turboprops. My ass was so kicked after 10 hours on the jet yesterday, I came home...passed out around 1730 and didn't wake up til around 0700. That's alot of sleepin'. I have three more days of jets this week. I guess we'll see how I do tomorrow. Yesterday was rough because of storms in ORD...but really when are there not storms to deviate around.

I got a new laptop. I decided against the MacBook this time. Time will tell if that was a bad move, but I think my next one will be a Mac. I love Macs...I just wasn't ready to commit this time. If you're a computer idiot, then yeah...the Mac is a good move. However, if you know how to handle a Windows system's little problems and spyware issues...it's still not too bad of a choice. I just have too much tied into Windows programs. (Yes, I know I could run Windows with Parallels on a Mac.)

So far, I like my little HP. I got a TV Tuner card and have it running like a DVR. I got my Adobe Audition running...still trying to trouble shoot the microphone and integrated webcam issues. Vista hasn't crashed on me yet...still learning it's little idiosyncrasies. And I'm still testing alot of little things I haven't used in ages. And I am SO ready to drag this thing through TSA...hahaha. Yet more crap coming outta my bag when going through "security".

Let's see...what else. Oh yeah. I went to NYC with Courtney, a flight attendant friend of mine. We met up in Los Angeles...took the redeye up to JFK...spent the morning in New York...and came back that afternoon.

Never been there before...didn't spend much time there...but I really wanted/needed to go to the World Trade Center/Ground Zero. It was definitely worth the trip. Just the emotions and the feeling when you stand there. Tough to swallow. I had to walk away once because I was so choked up. Almost hurts physically to stand there for the first time and just think about things that happened there and the people on those aircraft. :(

Courtney brought her camera...here's some pics. The first one is the one that made me choke up the most...

Oh...and I got new glasses. Oakley frames...most expensive set of lenses I've ever bought...but I'll tell ya. The Crizal is frickin' worth the money. These suckers rock...as you can see below.

For future reference...when you have the opportunity to fly first-class in United Airlines' p.s. 757's from JFK-LAX...don't be a dumbass and give your seat to the girl that is 2 months junior to you on the seniority list just because she's having a bad day. You'll regret that decision when you settle in next to two other guys about your size back in coach...

So, I guess that's all for now. I have jet OJT again tomorrow. I think it's going to be a complete asswhip...but that's why I got into this job. I like having my ass kicked in the workplace.

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Current Music: Randy Rogers Band - This Time Around

SBN, The Sweeney Crew, and Snow...lots of snow!

2007-02-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I'm sorry for never writing in you, blog. I promise to work on that.

It's been a pretty alright few weeks. Been working almost nonstop...but managed to take a few days off and go to South Bend, Indiana to see some Notre Dame friends. Had a blast and a half and got too see some folks I never get to see. Crashed at Fox and Murph's (sounds like a bar...hmmm)...got to spend some quality time with Bauters (we went and got Jimmy John's and a haircut in that order)...got dinner with THE Skipper (so great to see him)!

Flying out there was wild ass. When I woke up that morning, my original plans were to go to Texas that day. However, my place to stay in the DFW area kinda fell through,
and the ND Kids were still wanting me to come out there...so I cut outta work 2 hours early and caught the 1250 flight to SLC...then the 3pm flight to Cincy...then the 945pm flight to South Bend.

When we landed in SBN, it was snowing pretty hardcore and I could feel the plane sliding a little when Chautauqua guys fired the thrust reversers...a little scary.

After the cab ride from hell (think 450 lbs Vietnam Vet driving on snow and ice while smoking a Marlboro Red and telling you about how the Agent Orange caused his diabetes), I got to Fox and Murph's place. We in turn, got ANOTHER cab and went to Corby's Bar.

The cab to Corby's was an old minivan...I was sitting in the back. When we got to the bar, I was disembarking the cab when my foot got caught on the seat belt. Thank the Lord there was a foot of snow on the ground...because I went face first into the ground. It was awesome. Went inside, had some pitchers...annoyed a bunch of people by shelling out almost 20 bucks on the jukebox and playing nothing but Texas/Red Dirt music for a long while.

Here's a shot of me, Fox, and Ray (I think that was his name) right after I ate it getting outta the cab.

Next day, I woke up way late in the day...watched a little Giada de Laurentiis on the Food Network...got showered and went out with Melissa for a while. We got Jimmy John's, I went to the Great Clips next door and got a haircut, and then we ran over to the Notre Dame bookstore to pick up a couple shirts.

From there, we went out to eat with Skip and crew. Skip, Sissney, Chris G., and others were in town for Camp Sweeney recruiting...and Skip was treating everyone to Rocco's pizza and big beers. I think I told way too many Sweeney stories that Skip probably didn't want some folks to hear...but that's what happens when you buy me beer.

Went out that night...racked up a rather heavy duty bar tab...but it was a blast.

Just hung out the next day...wandering in the snow on campus at ND.

Had to be at the airport at 5am to catch a ride home. This time, I was going through Chicago O'hare...to Salt Lake...to home. They must have canceled a flight the night before, because when I had originally checked the flight load, it was wide open. Now, it was oversold. By 4 people. Damn.

No worries. It was United Express operated by Mesa...I can jumpseat in the cockpit on the UAX carriers..even without being in the CASS system. Or, so I thought.

A really nice Air Wisconsin(-in) customer service agent named Deb tried like heck to get my jumpseat stuff to go through and she was having trouble. While she worked on my stuff, since she was the only ticket agent working, I checked all the passengers in on the kiosks and even tagged their bags...it was like old times!

Deb couldn't get my jumpseat authorization to go through, so we just decided to talk to the crew and get it done that way. Well, as it turns out, Mesa Airlines doesn't take other-airline dispatchers in the cockpit. BASTARDS!

So here I was, completely about to freak out not knowing how I was going to get home because everything else was oversold all day. It was Deb to the rescue when she told me 5 people didn't show up, thus leaving one open seat in the cabin...whoo-hoo!

The rest of the trip home was pretty painless...well, except for that turbulence on the way in to St. George. I was asleep with my head against the wall of the plane...and we hit a rough patch. You can only imagine how my head felt.

So, I've been working my tail off since the trip. Put in another 60+ hours this week. I like the overtime. Even after a decent sized contribution to my 401(k) every paycheck, I'm still saving alot of money and trying to get my finances in order. For the first time in my life, I see a light at the end of the financial tunnel and am already starting to make long term plans as far as buying a home and living comfortably.

I think I'm going to Texas this Tuesday night...we shall see. If not, I'll just work my tail off just a little more or go somewhere ridiculous.

After my run to wherever I wind up, I get to come back for jet training. Finally, we're getting trained on the CRJ's! I'm actually kinda excited about that. Now, I'll have alot more options when it comes to overtime and I'll no longer be a "Brasilia Puke" as one of my co-workers calls us.

Alright, time to get showered, get some food in me, and run some errands. Adios!

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Current Music: Angels and Airwaves - The Adventure

ADD Meds and Identity Thieves

2007-01-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Where to begin...

First post of 2007...22 days in. Oops...

Been pretty bored lately. I've been averaging 6 days a week...and that includes a 3 day trip back to Texas. The money is good when there's overtime on the paycheck.

Been feeling kinda depressed lately. When I went home, it was mid-week so I didn't really get to see anyone except Margee, Barnett, Shaun, Rocky, and my parents and grandparents. Of course, I had it out with my mother, which just put me in a foul mood. Been in a pretty crappy mood ever since.

The thing my mom just doesn't get is...despite all my fuck ups throughout my life, all I've ever wanted was her approval. Approval that I'm doing the right thing.

She's been telling me for years that I need to get back on some meds...ADD meds and antidepressants...and that I need to consider going to therapy. So here I am, my health insurance about to kick in on Feb. 1, and I'm finally deciding that I need to do SOMETHING. So, after telling me for years I need to do this...suddenly my mother decides that it's because she was just "such a horrible mother and she's the reason I have all my problems". I give up. I'm done with it. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't with her.

I really do need to do something. I have some issues in my head that I need to work out before I can ever be with someone and before I can be really happy. Little subconscious things like the fact that almost none of my friends have met my parents. I've hidden my relationships with my friends since I was a kid. I never wanted anyone staying at my house when I was growing up...unless we were camping in the backyard. I just always feel weird about anyone being around my parents. Hell, I feel weird around them. I never feel welcome or accepted in their house. Ever since I moved out of my parents' house, I never stay there when I'm in town. I'll stay at Shaun's or Sammy's or my grandparents before I'll stay there. I can't let myself be around my mom for more than 30 minutes at a time anymore...because it always becomes a fight. We're too damned alike.

I am who I am because of my mom...that's not necessarily a bad thing. My mom is a good person who always taught me the right things to do...and, though I have a warped sense of humour and different political beliefs, my moral compass is good because of my mother.

I'm having a tough time out here. I'm something of a co-dependent person...so I don't do well just being by myself. Sure, there's a small group of people I hang out with out here...drinking and gambling buddies that I watch football with...but I miss having people I'm close to. And to top it off, the girl I'm most interested in...the girl that just makes me crazy with how cool and wicked hot she is..is back home in Texas. *sigh*, But I digress.

Around 2200 every night, I really get lonely because there's so few people to talk to...no one answers or returns phone calls anymore. I can't be mad...we're all growing up and are busy with our lives and careers...too busy to really play catch up. But still, I just miss having people to share my life with.

I'm the kind of person that needs a hug every now and again...I don't have that here. It'll get better, I know...but right now, my life is kinda boring. I work just about everyday at 0400, home around 1430, sometimes I take a nap...watch TV, have dinner, and go to bed. Then repeat. There's not alot going on out here for the non-Mormon single guy. No dating scene, no bar scene (no bars for that matter), little else to do but work. I guess it's good that I'm not blowing my money.

I did fly out to San Francisco and back in one day earlier this month. Of course, it was snowing like hell in Salt Lake, so we sat out on the deicing pad for close to 2 hours waiting for the snow to let up before we deiced. That was no fun. Just flying for the sake of being on a plane and going somewhere...I never stay in my destinations more than an hour. But I do get to catch up on sleep and reading...so those little trips are about as good as I can get as far as therapy.

Speaking of reading...I have to recommend "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk. I don't really read books that often anymore. When I do get around to reading something, my ADD really keeps me from finishing a book in anything less than a week. But this book drew me in. I bought it at DFW Airport for my flights back to Utah on my trip to Texas...by the time I got to my car in The George I was 3/4 of the way through that book. Granted it's not a really long book at only 289 pages, but it sucked me right in and I finished it the next day after work.

Been having lots of weird dreams lately. Most of them I don't remember...I just wake up thinking, "That was weird".

I vividly remember one...made me feel like absolute crap. It was me and the ex...and she was telling me she was sorry she broke it off and that she still loved me. It all felt so real...I had to check my cell phone received calls just to make sure I was dreaming and that I didn't have a sleepy conversation. Just really bummed me out. I really do miss her, sometimes. :-\

For the first time in a while, I still have money in the bank with payday fast approaching. It's a good feeling. I'm putting as much as I can into savings and I'm going to try to clear up my credit with that. It's going to be only a matter of time before I need a new car...the Honda is in her dying days...and I'm going to need some decent credit. Shaun's working up some stuff for me that will maybe get some things off my credit report for minimal money...but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Speaking of finances...I think I might be a victim of credit card fraud. I only have one card these days, a Visa debit card that pulls from my checking acct. I was looking at my acct. online and noticed a random $1.05 taken out by some random company I've never heard of. I Googled the company name and found some credit message boards where people were taking about having these same transactions at them being fraudulent charges...trying to get you to not notice by taking only a dollar or 2 at a time. I called my bank and they said that, since it was still listed as a pending transaction and it hadn't posted to the acct. yet, they couldn't do anything yet. As soon as it posts, I have to call them back, dispute the charge and they're going to send me a new card. The crappy thing is, because these people only grab a dollar at a time out of thousands of people's accounts, they never get caught. It's just not a significant amount of money for the banks to go after.

Then today, I got a phone call from an Atlanta area code. I didn't answer it, but I Googled it, too. Sure enough, there's a website called "WhoCalledUs". I searched the number it various reports of someone claiming to be Visa Customer Service and MasterCard Customer Service. Identity Thieves. Hoorah. As if I needed anyone else messing with my finances.

Thinking about going home at the end of the month. Just want to try to do it on a weekend so I can see old friends. I really wanna get to hang out with the old crew...the Justins, Cody, Phil, Jefe, Margee, Jen and so many others. And I desperately need some good BBQ and Shiner Bock.

I guess I'm outta here...and I wish the identity thieves good luck...even I don't know who I am anymore.

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Current Music: none

Mean Green Desktop @ Work

2006-12-28T16:00:00.001-07:00

First Christmas Alone.

2006-12-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wow...tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I just realized that I'm going to be spending Christmas working. In Utah. Away from everything and everyone I know and love.

I really didn't expect it to bother me that much, but the realization that I'm really alone out here with no one I really give a rat's ass about just really started to get to me. I know I'm doing the right thing by being here and starting an actual career. Still it doesn't make this first Christmas alone hurt any less.

I have no tree, no lights, no presents. That doesn't bother me that much...but it's still just....weird.

I'll get over it. Just needed to write.

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Current Music: Jack Ingram - Great Divide

6 More Shopping Days to Christmas...

2006-12-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

...and I've done NO shopping whatsoever. Oh, well...I'll figure it out. I always do.

Hearing that sentence today got me thinking..."what do I want for Christmas?". I haven't put together a list since I was a kid. I quit doing it because, as most of us age, our toys get more expensive...and there's no real point in asking for things no one, including yourself, can't afford.

But, alas...I'm gonna make a list anyway and, if you're loaded & feeling generous, I will gladly provide you with a shipping address upon request. ;)

Presenting....

My Big Ass, Expensive Christmas WishList

1.) A New Vehicle - Nothing ridiculous, but if you're feeling ridiculous, huge trucks seem to be the norm around here in Southern Utah. Even more than back home. Something like...this...maybe?

2.) A MacBook - I'm ready to go Mac (again). And I'm not looking for the huge MacBook Pro. Just a regular 13" MacBook...with 2GB RAM and the biggest HD you can cram in there...

3.) A Sweet Watch - I spend a good chunk of my day at work thinking about time. And jumping back and forth between Zulu time and 4 different time zones. So, I'm really needing a watch that displays Zulu and Local times...all while looking frickin' sweet. I'm a big fan of the Torgoen T6.01.05.B01.

4.) A nice headset - I've been thinking about slowly working on getting my private pilot's license (finally) and I'd really need a good headset. I'd really settle for a new "low-end" David Clark H10-30.

5.) The West Wing Complete Series Collection - For some reason, the more liberal I become, the more I love this show. Weird, eh? Greatness in television right here.

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Current Music: Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down

Jumpseating...

2006-12-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

I had to do my 5 hours of required cockpit observer on Wednesday. Had a blast doing it, but not looking forward to doing it again anytime soon. The jumpseat on the Brasilia is so damn small...and I am not. I wokeup this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a freight train. Back, shoulders, legs...all sore.

Either way, it was a great experience. I figured I'd share the experience leg by leg. Sorry for the lack of real pictures...I don't really have a camera anymore.

Date: Dec. 13,2006
Route: St. George, UT (SGU) - Los Angeles International (LAX)
Airline: United Express/SkyWest Airlines
Flt. #: SKW5711
Aircraft Type: EMB120 Brasilia
Reg. #: N580SW

Seat: Cockpit Observer Jumpseat
Distance: 348 Miles
Duration (Block Time): 1 Hour 22 minutes
FlightAware.com Info for SKW5711

I rolled up to SGU Airport around 0600 for my 0655 flight. I went to check in with the ticket agent and let her know that I had to ride in the actual jumpseat for training. She got really nasty with me about how Flight Control is supposed to take care of my reservations and supposed to notify the captain, blah, blah, blah. I believe this is the practice on Delta Connection flights, but not on United Express flights. I told her there should be a comment on the dispatch release, so the captain should know I'm coming. She scoffed and gave me the form I had to fill our for their paperwork. Not a great way to start my day.

Having been warned repeatedly that the cockpit jumpseat on the Brasilia is a huge pain in the ass to get set up, I decided to board last. I introduced myself to the flight attendant, Eddie, who set up the seat for me. That works for me because, as I learned later in the day, I look like a total jackass trying to unlock the damn thing out of the floor. The Captain and First Officer were going through a checklist, so I held off on the introductions. I didn't want to hop into the flight deck without the captain's permission, so I stood there for a minute or so before the captain waved me in.

I got settled into the hell seat, introductions were made and we were set to leave. The captain was an older gentleman...been with the company 20+ years. The FO was much younger, female, and fairly new to the company. And she was cute, too. :) I told them this was to be my first jumpseat ride and I was a bit nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've flown/flown in Cessna's and whatnot...but never in an airliner with a real crew (no matter how small the airliner was). They briefed me for the flight and away we were.

We taxied out to the end of runway 16, got our clearance from LA Center, let traffic know we were taking off, and before I knew it, we were barreling down the runway. The V speed callouts were made, positive rate, gear up, and we were on our way to LAX. Once we got above 10,000 feet, the captain let the autopilot takeover the rest of the way and we just shot the breeze for an hour.

The captain grilled me about how we do our fuel planning, amongst other things. I tried to answer his questions as best I could...had to play the "I'll try to get an answer for you on that" card a few times. The rest of the hour was spent just talking about all sorts of things...and flirting with the FO (I'm a horrible person, I know).

We made our way onto the KIMMO2 arrival into LAX, were cleared for runway 24R as expected, and followed a Southwest Airlines 737 in for landing.

We touched down with a perfect landing and made our way to gate 86. After we parked and let all the pax off, I hopped out, said my goodbyes to the great crew (while resisting the urge to ask for the FO's number...LOL), and went to find my gate for the Modesto roundtrip I was to take next. Despite the pain in my back and legs that was already starting to develop, I was having a blast.

Date: Dec. 13,2006
Route: Los Angeles International (LAX) - Modesto, CA (MOD)
Airline: United Express/SkyWest Airlines
Flt. #: SKW5769
Aircraft Type: EMB120 Brasilia
Reg. #: N585SW

Seat: Cockpit Observer Jumpseat
Distance: 292 Miles
Duration (Block Time): 1 Hour 09 minutes
FlightAware.com Info for SKW5769

When I got to the gate area for my Modesto flight (a whopping 2 gates away), I realized I had a little time to kill. I checked in with the agents, filled out my forms, offered to buy them coffee as I always offer for gate agents (they declined), and went to the Starbucks across from the gate.

I was originally going to get a coffee, but decided that it would stimulate my need to use the restroom...which is a bad thing to need to do when you're in that cramped seat behind a locked door. So, I got a really overpriced sandwich since I was starving. I grabbed a ham and cheese focaccia sandwich. Amazingly, it was damned good and actually semi-fresh. I scarfed it down, walked back to the gate. We were ready to board and did the drill all over again.

Another senior captain (who looked disturbingly like Willem Dafoe), another new-to-the-company female FO. This bird was missing the headset adapter, so I wouldn't be able to listen in. We were still able to have some conversation...but the situational awareness wasn't quite as good.

Taxi out was quite fun...we were behind a couple of heavies the whole time...and had to give way to a couple of international 747's. LAX has so much going on at any given time, so much more fun to watch than the American Airlines MD-80 Fest at DFW.

The flight to MOD was pretty uneventful. It was a bit overcast in Modesto and it had been raining. Landed on runway 28...took us no more than 20 seconds to get to the terminal. Another SkyWest bird was on the ramp, having fallen a victim to San Francisco ATC Flow Control.

Date: Dec. 13,2006
Route: Modesto, CA (MOD) - Los Angeles International (LAX)
Airline: United Express/SkyWest Airlines
Flt. #: SKW5769
Aircraft Type: EMB120 Brasilia
Reg. #: N585SW
Seat: Cockpit Observer Jumpseat
Distance: 292 Miles
Duration (Block Time): 1 Hour 12 minutes
FlightAware.com Info for SKW5769

A little bit of a ceiling rolled in during our 20 minutes or so of ground time, but not enough to effect the operation. Greg (the dispatcher for our flight...and my trainer for the last few weeks) had planned us to land with 2000 lbs of fuel on board so we didn't have to buy any fuel in MOD. We landed with 2050, so we were all good there.

I helped the F/A cross the seatbelts and pick up any trash in the cabin before the pax boarded, the captain went to the little boys room, and the FO did her walkaround. Less then 10 minutes later, we were straped in and at the end of the runway ready to take off for LAX. This trip was even more uneventful. KIMMO2 arrival again...for runway 24R again...followed a Delta 757 in for landing.

Again, I thanked the crew for the ride...walked inside...and did the whole check-in thing all over again....again.

Date: Dec. 13,2006
Route: Los Angeles International (LAX) - San Diego International (SAN)
Airline: United Express/SkyWest Airlines
Flt. #: SKW6096
Aircraft Type: EMB120 Brasilia
Reg. #: N292SW

Seat: Cockpit Observer Jumpseat
Distance: 109 Miles
Duration (Block Time): 53 minutes
FlightAware.com Info for SKW6096

Warning: "Too Much Information" Alert.

Alright, so at this point, I was REAAAALLLLLYYY needing to use the restroom. I went to the first men's room...and every single stall was occupied. Grrrr... I walked for awhile and found another john...freshly cleaned...LOL. I'm sitting there, doing my thing, and I hear "Paging Line Check Passenger Cook, final boarding call for United Express/SkyWest flight 6096, service to San Diego". After spending a few seconds trying to figure out why she was calling me "Line Check", I realized they were trying to go early. DAMMIT. I finished what I was doing, washed my hands and didn't bother drying them, and ran like hell. I barely made it.

I got on board, asked the captain if he minded if I rode along, flipped the seat up, dove in, and heard the cabin door shut. I reached back, locked the cockpit door, and we were being pushed back within 10 seconds.

This crew was young and all-male. Made for some interesting conversations that would have likely embarrassed my mother at the NTSB Cockpit Voice Recorder hearings if we'd gone down. Flight time was something like only 25 minutes and we never got above 9,000 ft. We did get buzzed by a little Columbia 400 about 700 ft. below us and the TCAS warnings went nuts. Cool to see how that little box works.

We were vectored the whole way...most of the route was down the coast. On final approach we had to make a fairly elongated S-turn to buy about 20 seconds to let the A320 that was on the runway complete it's take off.

On the ride in, the captain told me that they were swapping aircraft and sitting in SAN for an hour so, if I wanted to get back to LAX sooner, they could tell San Diego Ops to list me on the 6096 return flight that was leaving sooner. I thought it was a good idea, so that's what we did. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all.

Date: Dec. 13,2006
Route: San Diego International (SAN) - Los Angeles International (LAX)
Airline: United Express/SkyWest Airlines
Flt. #: SKW6096
Aircraft Type: EMB120 Brasilia
Reg. #: N292SW
Seat: Cockpit Observer Jumpseat
Distance: 109 Miles
Duration (Block Time): 49 minutes
FlightAware.com Info for SKW6096

When we deplaned in SAN, I walked in to the secure side, rather than follow the rest of the pax to the non-secure side. I checked in with the agent, filled out ANOTHER jumpseat form, and waited to board. Turns out, the crew for the "earlier" flight back to LAX was running late. Thanks to this, I was just going to get back at around the same time as the one was originally scheduled to hop on. Oh well, new crew...that last crew wasn't as nice as the rest of them...so it would work out.

Met the new crew, 2 more young guys, really funny guys...could tell we were all just having a blast being there. No, really. No sarcasm. The captain was fresh off of IOE and on his first trip on his own.

Since we were running late, they were tearing through the pre-flight checklists and the such. I got into the jumpseat (at this point I was like a frickin' pro at it...and was starting to look like one of the Duke boys sliding into the General Lee when I did it with my newly developed system of getting in and out). I got strapped in and set up my headset while they were working up the Before Engine Start checklist. In the middle of the checklist, Caution lights started flashing and the master alarm kept going off. All 3 of us, at the same time just went..."SHIT!".

The captain called maintenance control and a MX tech was there within a few minutes. In the meantime, we watched as the flight I was SUPPOSED to be on taxied out. Turns out, it was just a switch we had to reset. MX guy was there for all of 20 seconds...but I still had to get out so he could see what was going on. So, I Dukes of Hazzard'd my ass back in and we were gone. We got to LAX in record time. Captain was ex-Navy, so we slammed down on the runway as soon as there was pavement to slam down onto...took the first highspeed exit...and were in gate 88 in less than 20 seconds. That's almost unheard of at LAX. The crew asked if I wanted to go to Monterey with them, but I was beat and had the hours I needed. I went inside and wandered the airport for almost 6 hours. My flight back to SGU was at 2040

I wound up running into Kirk and Greg (the SAN-LAX flight crew) later on and started to wish I had gone to MRY with them. It was all fogged in and they had a missed approach. They were supposed to go back to MRY later, but it was canceled because of the fog...so we went and got dinner. Timing could not have been better because I was about to go nuts not having anyone to talk to and my cell phone about to die.

I made it back to SGU around 2330. Was driving up St. George Blvd. when I got pulled over. I didn't know why, but I was starting to think maybe they thought I was drunk since I was so tired. Turns out, I just had a headlight out. Oops. I was let go pretty quickly and was in my bed by midnight. I think I was asleep by midnight-01.

Not much else to say...I vegged out all day yesterday...and I'm about to go get groceries and a replacement headlight for the Honda.

More to come...

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Current Music: Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand In Mine

Lazy Monday.

2006-12-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting today. Just watched a little TV, did a little laundry, played around on the computer, taught myself some simple songs on the guitar, and read/studied. My pre-comp check is this week, comp check on the 12th and I'm nervous as hell about it.

I feel like I lost alot of what I'd learned by working this weekend. I had the LAX turboprop desk both days...beautiful weather ALL weekend in SoCal (except for some nasty surface winds in a few places). It was TOO easy. And, oddly, I kinda like the 0500-1500 shift. Kinda went by quickly and I still had time to do things in the sun.

Managed to get into an argument with a pilot about to takeoff out of Yuma, AZ. Hard to explain what the argument was about without talking technicalities, so I'll spare you. Just wound up feeling really smart when it was all said and done...

It's kinda cold here (for those who keep asking, no it's not snowing...it doesn't snow in this part of Utah). The extreme changes in temperature are killing me...my head cold just won't go away. And for some reason, my "good" shoulder is in such pain. I don't know what I did to it...but I can't rotate it or carry anything in my left hand. I'm falling apart.

Had a nice IM conversation with Dabney this morning. For someone I haven't seen in 6 years...and have just begin talking to in the last few months for the first time in that same span of time...I really kinda miss that girl. Our conversation left me kicking myself for being so stupid when I was in high school. But, nonetheless, I was left much happier than I was before talking to her this morning. Perked me right up. She's spectacular.

My TV watching today was...interesting. It consisted of:

"Inside The Actor's Studio - Dave Chappelle"
Caught an episode of "Friday Night Lights" on nbc.com
"Heroes"
"Studio 60"
A couple episodes of "The West Wing"

The last West Wing episode pissed me off a little. It was one I hadn't seen before...and it was an assassination attempt cliffhanger. Now I have no clue if I'll ever see the ending of it. Syndication sucks sometimes.

Wow...that was too much TV talk for one day.

I think I'm gonna try to run tomorrow. It's been awhile and I recently quit smoking. I'd be labeled a "social smoker" now, anyway. But, I've gone almost 2 weeks if you don't include the couple I bummed while drinking beers at Tavern last week and the one I bummed in the Atlanta airport. I hope my poor lungs can handle the running. Gotta work up to it.

I suppose that's all for now. Look for my Christmas wishlist sometime later this week. If you have extra money laying around, you can blow it on me...

Until next time...

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Current Music: SouthFM - Where Did You Go?

Warning: Whine-Fest Ahead

2006-12-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

(I gotta bitch about some things in my life or I'll go nuts. Read if you wish, if you don't...you're not missing much and I won't be offended.)

Well, the rental car in Texas wound up costing me MUCH more than expected. Not because of the actual cost of the damn thing, but because the deposit on my card wound up debiting from my bank acct. immediately. Because of that...and the fact that Bank of America sucks and doesn't tell you your account balance is low/in the negative when you've signed up for banking alerts to tell you just that very thing...I wound up with about $200 in overdraft fees. Great, eh?

Well, take the $200+ out, the rent, the utilities, the car insurance payment, a tank of gas, as well as a certified, raised-seal copy of my birth certificate so my "expedited" passport application that has been held up somewhere in New Hampshire for over a week can finally be processed (I need it for work/play...I know I could have done it for cheaper)...and I'm left with 2 bucks on the day after payday. This 2 dollars has to last me 'til Friday the 15th...and sometime between the 13th and the 16th I have to fly all over the damn place to pick up my Brasilia jumpseat time.

I'm a mess. I've been sick all week with a shitty head cold, my left shoulder..."the good shoulder"...is hurting so bad I can barely lift my car keys, and I'm kinda depressed after being home. Hell, I was kinda depressed anyway. I miss my friends, my girl left me a month ago, I'm a financial wreck when I thought I'd be caught up on most things by now, and I still don't really know anyone here except for a few coworkers I occasionally converse with at work, but little else.

Luckily, I managed to get my guitar here after the trip to Texas. Been working on re-learning how to play it. Taught myself Reckless Kelly's "Break My Heart Tonight" after I got home from work.

I hate sounding like such a pansy and bitching about everything...but I really don't know what else to do now. Nothing has gone my way since I got this job. That's a bright spot...I like my new job. But, my competency check is coming next week and I'm so afraid I'm going to bomb it.

(insert encouraging words...please)

And once again...you know I'm not too proud to beg...

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Current Music: Reckless Kelly - Break My Heart Tonight

Man Law Reminder

2006-12-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

With the NFL playoffs fast approaching I must remind you of the following Man Law:

"A man shall not don the colors of a championship team lest he as documented proof he wore them prior to the start of the season."

That said...Go Cowboys!

Oh...and one more Man Law..."A man must tip a hot female bartender more than a fast male bartender. No Exceptions."

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Current Music: Bob Schneider - The Californian

Getting ready to go back to Utah.

2006-11-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go...waiting on my last load of laundry to dry so I can pack up and get out to the airport. My flight doesn't leave for hours, but I'm going to play the charm card and try to get the the nice lady I used to know at the DL ticket counter in Dallas to let me go early...and not through ATL.

Had fun out in Denton the other night. Went and picked up Barnett in Mansfield and grabbed some Krystal Burgers before we went out. Hung at Tavern all night. Stebo and Courtney came out. Always great to see my bro. They really are getting married...crazy! Phil showed up and we had a great time being total weirdos. Sammy and Alan were there, too. Tack that onto Dearing and the beautiful Lori working the bar and Jarrod working the door...it was almost like old times.

There were 2 girls at the end of the bar who started talking to me...they were pretty nice. The brown haired girl got about 2.3 drinks in her and was flashing her breasts to anyone that asked to see them. Who knew it was that easy?

Sammy was talking to some random girls over by where he was sitting and he mentioned in passing that I was in town from Utah. One of them freaked out. Turns out, she grew up Mormon and had family in St. George. That's nice. Just don't become clingy, non-nonsensical, drunken girl on me because of it. Oh wait...she did. I couldn't talk to anyone without her clinging onto my arm after that.

While being followed by crazy girl, I started talking to my old friend Jen and her (really hot) friend. My joke of the night was coming up to girls I knew and saying "Hey, um, can I stick my tongue down your throat?". So crazy girl heard me say this to Jen...and sticks HER tongue down my throat. Ugggghhhhh...bad enough I wasn't attracted to her. The breath was pretty bad, too. Grrrr.

Phil and I escaped to another bar for a while to get away from her. When we came back...there she was...waiting for me. I ignored her until she started hugging me and wouldn't let go. Told her I needed to pay my tab, pretended to pay said tab (seriously...I never have a tab at that bar...ha!), said my goodbyes and ran like hell. Once I finally found Barnett...he was somehow several miles away...it was off to Gainesville. (For the record, yes I drove. I only had 2 alcoholic beverages over the course of 5 hours. I've become a water drinker.)

Fairly unproductive day yesterday until towards the end. Just watched TV (got caught up on South Park), messed around on the internet, and got my iPod somewhat updated. Wound up going out to Pawless Guitars to visit with Vince and have him give my Martin acoustic a check up before I took it home to UT. Vince is such a cool guy. I learned alot about guitars over the couple hours I was there. It was a 20 minute job working on the guitar. But somehow I was there almost 2 hours. The guitar sounds beautiful now...better than ever. Thanks Vince!

So...uh...yeah. Almost time to head to DFW. Hoping like hell I can get somewhere early. I don't want to have to drive at midnight tonight...got work at 6am Tuesday.

It was great to be home...great to see everyone...and good times were had. I really don't want to leave Texas right now. Utah is where I lay my head...my heart is in Texas. It probably always will be.

Yeah I like Texas, Ain't it fine here,
Like to pick my guitar down in Luckenbach, and drink that Shiner Bock beer,
Yeah I like Texas, man there ain't no doubt,
just listen to me 'cause I know what I'm talkin' about.

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Current Music: Hootie and the Blowfish - Let Her Cry

Good Times...

2006-11-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got the rental car. Or shall I say, rental truck. The first thing that came in was a fairly badass Nissan Titan quadcab. Pretty exciting. Except for the $46.50 gas bill I paid to fill it up.

Went over to Shaun's for a bit, then my grandparents' house to eat some leftovers (then to get into a nice political/religious debate that I LOVE to get into with them).

Went to Deiter Bros. for some EXCELLENT Texas BBQ sandwiches. That SO hit the spot. It's what I've been craving since day 2 in Utah. It was me, Shaun, Rocky, Ta'Sauna Laurence (and her little 2 year old...possibly the only kid I'd ever consider "cute"), Stephen Monahan, Ginger Dieter, and the Krahl brothers. Pretty much the last of the great Tom Thumb office employees. We shot the shit and had BBQ and Shiners for a couple of hours. Good times.

After that...me, Shaun and Rocky went out to the casino and blew about $80 of Rocky's money on the slots. Yup, that took a whopping 20 minutes.

I wound up staying in Denton after that and now I'm over a Dearing's apt in Lewisville thinking about taking a shower. It's weird, I saw the planes landing on the 17's and 18's into DFW and just had to smile. Anyway, I think tonight's the night for Fry St. Tavern..then back to the 'Ville for Sunday with family and friends there.

Heard this morning Stebo's getting married to Courtney next month in LAS. Holy shit...that poor nice girl. She has no clue what she's done. :) Just kidding.

Time to go clean up. I feel like a greaseball. Thanks alot Italian heritage.

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Current TV: Dearing playing Madden '07

Post Turkey Day..

2006-11-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Thanksgiving was great. Lots of food and family. Not seeing those people all the time kinda makes you appreciate them.

Flew in to DFW yesterday morning after a red-eye from Vegas to ATL.

For future reference, Delta Air Lines legroom in coach sucks. Service was fine...the new interiors they're installing on the 757's look great with the indirect lighting...but I felt like I've been hit by a truck after sitting awkwardly just to be comfortable enough to sleep. Maybe I'm just a first class snob now...thank God I had the legroom of the exit row from ATL to DFW.

Ate lots of turkey, ham, stuffing, sausage balls, spinach dip, coconut pie, etc. I still had enough room for a Shiner Bock (exciting, eh?) later.

Went out with Margaret to Stoolie's to see Ben Smith play. Met up with Kayla and her boyfriend John and just hung out for a few hours...swapping stories, old memories, and lots of laughs. To paraphrase Jen, I can think of no better way to spend an evening.

Was supposed to get my rental car at 1030 this morning...got there and they told me they tried to call and they had no car for me yet. So, I'm sitting here waiting for a phone call so they can have a car for me. They're gonna give me whatever they have at the time...I'm hoping for the Dodge Charger or the Cadillac DTS. :) Either way, they need to hurry up, I'm starting to get pissed.

Hopefully, I'll be able to go see some friends soon...maybe?

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Current TV: Texas A&M - t.u. Game

My Epic Trip (In Audio)...All Gone.

2006-11-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently AudioBlogger no longer exists and my AudioBlogs documenting my trip to SGU were pretty much gone. I never saved the mp3 files of them...so hopefully someone has them(?). Stebo, I'm looking in your direction.

Oh well.

I'm off to Texas tomorrow night. Taking a red-eye from Vegas to ATL then on to DFW on the earliest flight on Delta. My first positive space ticket in a couple years. I get to wear ratty jeans! YES! Unfortunately, I'll be getting back to St. George LATE on Monday...with a 7am (mst) shift on Tuesday.

I did get my "check-out" date this past week. December 12th, I have my EMB120 Brasilia competency check. After that, I do my 5 hours jumpseat time, then I start working as an actual dispatcher.

Well, hopefully I'll get to see lots of you when I get home Thursday. I'll be there Thursday (23rd) - Monday (27th). Feel free to call my cell. Don't know the number? Comment with your number and I'll call you.

Be good and see you soon. Texas, I'm coming home to you!

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Current Music: Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly

24 Hours, 15 Minutes

2006-11-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

That's how long it took me to fly from St. George, UT to Boston, Mass. and back...connecting in LAX both ways.

And that's not just flight time...that's from walking out the front door to walking back in the front door and diving onto the couch.

Here's some quick facts.

The trip was four flight segments. SGU-LAX-BOS-LAX-SGU.
The SGU legs were on an EMB 120 Brasilia.

The LAX-BOS legs were on a Boeing 757.

Total Miles Flown : 6222
Total Block Flight Time: 15 hrs. 2 min.
Total Beers Consumed in First Class Enroute LAX-BOS (in one hour at 37,000 ft.): 5
Headaches Caused By Drinking at Altitude: 1
Times an Air Traffic Controller Lost His Cool While I Listened to United Channel 9 (ATC Feed): 1 ...All flights checking in with him kept asking if the turbulence was going to get better. After the 20th time he told them it wasn't getting any better at any flight level, he went on a tirade. It was....awesome.

It was an adventure. I'm a little pissed though. I was going to get a new Red Sox hat at the Boston Airport. Apparently, the concessionaires in Boston are morons because they don't stock Sox hats. Grrr...

A little somber moment this morning on pushback. We pushed from Gate C-18. On pushback, I saw the flag on top of the jetway on C-19 that memorializes United 175, the 767 that crashed into the WTC on September 11th. Got chills.

I'm sure there's other stuff I could tell you about this adventure....but I'm tired. Time to pass out.
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Current Music: Bob Schneider - Mudhouse

Will Update Very Soon.

2006-11-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Going on "Dub's 'Stay in the Air As Much As Possible In 36 Hours' Non-Rev Extravaganza". St. George to LAX to Boston and back again in less than 36 hours. Hopefully :)

Will Update Soon! I PROMISE!

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Current Music: Reckless Kelly - Break My Heart Tonight

Moving...and Marisa.

2006-08-25T16:06:00.000-06:00

Wow...does it get any better than Marisa Miller?

Well, that was just a quick distraction from the real news. Looks like my Texan ass may be moving to Utah. St. George, Utah to be exact.

I got a job offer from SkyWest Airlines as an Aircraft Dispatcher this morning. At least I think I got a job offer. I was half asleep when the Assistant to the Director of Flight Controls called me this morning.

They'd have to fingerprint me and all that other fun pre-airline-employment stuff, but nothing to worry about there. Contrary to what many of my friends may believe...I've already passed a 10 year FBI check.

So, I may be trading in Boeing 717's for CRJ 700's and Big A's on the tails of my birds for United Express and Delta Connection.

The Texan goes to Mormonland...this should be interesting. I wonder if Marisa wants to go with me...

Well, here's a shot of one of what could be one of my new babies...
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Current Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
Current Weight: 237

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

2006-08-03T18:04:00.000-06:00

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon
The blackest of rooms

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

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Current Music: Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Current Weight: 238

I'm alive...ALIVE!

2006-01-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well kids,

I'm still alive.

Things are going alright. Still with the airline...promoted to lead agent. Putting some of that useless airline/airport knowledge to work. Still trying to piece together other parts of my life at the moment...but overall, I can't complain.

Considering making an airline change...looking at the options. I just feel like I can't make it any further with this company. Supervisors at this company have way too many expectations on them...I just know I'd have a tough time hanging, whereas I know I could make it somewhere else.

My resolution for this year was to log at least 3 flight hours towards my private pilot's license. At that rate, I should have my license sometime in 2047. I just didn't want to make some unattainable goal.

Gotta run some errands. Maybe I'll get this thing updated more often...maybe.
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Current Music: Fall Out Boy - Dance, Dance
Current Weight: 227 lbs.

One Hot Minute

2005-09-17T15:27:00.000-06:00

So alot has happened since I last posted anything other than pics of 777LR's and 737 nosegear from the pushback operator's view.

I applied for a position with our SOC in the FLIFO dept. I flew to HQ and had my interview. It went well, as did the follow up interview. Unfortunately, I found out yesterday that I didn't get the position. They gave it to someone who was equally qualified, but already living near SOC. :(

This will be hard for many of you to believe, but I've got a beautiful girlfriend now. She's a saint.

Gotta cut short, NORTH TEXAS HOME OPENER TODAY! I'm out!

2005-08-31T17:45:00.000-06:00

Fucking Beautiful....

2005-08-12T23:13:00.000-06:00

I must be trippin'

2005-08-11T12:14:00.000-06:00

It's been an interesting week or so.

My car is still inop...but as I type this, Mel is scoring the parts for me and it will hopefully be fixed by tonight. The peice of shit will FINALLY be paid off this coming week, but I'm gonna have to look into the possibility of having to get a new one. We'll see...having HORRIBLE credit isn't going to help me at all. :(

So yeah, non-rev'd all over the place the other day. 25 hours, 5 flights, 16 alcoholic drinks on said flights...a very interesting day. Routing of DFW-BWI-BOS-PHF-ATL-DFW.

I guess I should preface and say that I met a darlin' of an F/A a couple of weeks ago while covering someone's gate for them. She was scheduled to take one of our LAX flights out and I was a total smartass to her when they checked in. She was a smartass right back to me (something I'm inexplicably attracted to) and we kinda joked around about getting a beer when she came back to DFW that night. Well, I wasn't sure if she was joking, so I left her a note with my number for the gate agent to give to her when she returned to Dallas. She called...we hit it off over the course of her off days and the next thing I knew...I was on my way to PHF to hang out with her.

I caught a few snags on my trip. Non-rev travel is almost always space available standby. I was cleared through to Boston from DFW...but I got pulled when I got to BWI. I wasn't going to make the next flight to Boston, either...but I kissed a little butt while I was there and they got me to Boston. My flight from BOS-PHF was wicked delayed due to a fucking monsoon coming through BOS...so I wound up helping the gate agents in Boston with all the delay questions and helped them get a flight boarded. My F/A came in on a flight from PHL that turned around to PHF...so I finally got out of Boston and we were on our way to PHF.

The flight to PHF was possibly the best flight I've ever been on. The flight ahead of us for takeoff was an AerLingus A330...such an awesome takeoff. The clouds were really dark in the bay, but the sun was setting just below the cloudline and that made for a beautiful sunset over the waters. Tack on the hardcore thunderhead off the right wing for most of the flight, the continuous drinks, and the Texas Rangers game on the XM radio...oh yeah, and the cute flight attendant...it was the best flight ever.

We just hung out and had a good time in Virginia...I was catching the 0530 flight through ATL to get home in time for work at 1200 the next day. I got to the airport and they had 2 available seats on the flight. I was the number 3 standby. Grrrr. But, good luck came along in the form of an airstart. The ramp crew there was mostly new guys and airstarts in PHF are few and far between. None of them knew how to do one. I, however, DID. So I told them that I would airstart the plane if they gave me the last seat on the flight. It was a deal.

So, there I was, in my business casual clothes...hooking up an airstart and telling the captain to "spin one"...then running up the jetbridge and jumping in my seat. Good times.

I got back to Dallas at 0901 CST, started working at 0930. I was exhausted at the end of the day. My F/A and I haven't really talked much since then...I guess I scared her off or something. Oh well. She was really cute, though. But, then again...I'm just her layover buddy in Dallas. So I guess I'll hear form her soon enough...or whatever.

I'm on my day off today...I wanna go out tonight...but my car is still dead. Melinda is here working on it as I type this...but it's not being nice. The bolts to the u-joint yoke are tighter than...well...something that's air-fucking-tight. The airtools aren't even budging it. Hopefully it'll be up soon.

Well, back to handing her tools and watching her 5 year old.

2005-08-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

Really fun non-rev weekend...details soon.

Dragging Driveshafts, Happy (Emergency) Landings, and Smartass (however, wicked cute) F/A's!

2005-08-04T12:32:00.000-06:00

Once again, I've let WAAAY too much time pass since my last entry.

I guess the big thing that's happened since I last bitched about stuff is the fact that Blackie, my '98 Explorer and all-around peice of shit car, is currently in the driveway...and her driveshaft is sitting on the front porch. Therefore, she's completely inop. And like the old "Ugly Duckling" car ads used to say, "Life Sucks Without A Car".

>>A week ago, myself and a bunch of my co-workers went out to the Hooters north of the airport and had a few beers, some wings and, and shot the shit for a little bit. Margee was coming back through the airport when she called me, so she came out as well. When it came time to leave, I decided to go to Denton with Margee and get a few more drinks with our friends there and then just crash on her couch.

We stopped at a stoplight on northbound 121 and, when the light turned green, I hit the gas and heard a big BOOM!. My car stopped accellerating and it felt like I was dragging something. I WAS dragging something. My driveshaft was still connected to the transmission until I stopped on the side of the road. Basically, my car blew a u-joint and, because it dragged on the ground, there was a little bit of damage to my actual driveshaft.

One of my co-workers, Melinda, fixes cars as a hobby. (I am aware of how sad it is that I have to get a chick to fix my car for me.) She came over the other night and tried to fix it...and it turns out the u-joint bracket is practically rusted onto the car. Not good. We're still not sure how we're going to get the damn thing off. I mean, she brought the airtools and everything. It sounded like a NASCAR pit row in my driveway when she was working on it. So, here I am....stuck at home on my day off. It's killing me. I have so many things I NEED to do, but at least I'm not wasting gas.

>>Things are getting better at work. School starts soon and the loads are getting lighter. We've mastered the art of quick turns with heavy loads...so we should kick some ass until November. I think management is considering sending me to CI training this month. Imagine that...ME...training people. HA!

Ahh, who am I kidding. I've already trained half of our new crew in the nuances of the ramp. I just can't sign them off on equipment. And I think they've all turned out to be quite good. In fact, the ones I trained are EXCELLENT. I'm quite proud of that.

Had a little drama at work yesterday. My first emergency landing. One of our outbound flights turned back to Dallas due to indications of a right-side hydraulic failure. They had to manually drop the landing gear...which means they landed with the main gear doors open...dragging them like a driveshaft on a '98 Explorer.

The aircraft landed safely...much respect to the captain for such a smooth landing in overweight and emergency condtions. It was swarmed by fire trucks & EMS vehicles and a crew of us were escorted out to runway 17L to tow the plane to the gate. When we got there, we could tell it WAS a complete hydraulic failure on the right side thanks to the thrust reverser still open on that side. It never retracted.

We kicked a little ass to get the plane off the runway ASAP. A plane on the runway for more than say, 25 minutes, becomes a PR nightmare. News choppers were probably scrambling. Gear pins were put in, towbar hooked up, and we tried to get the gear doors in place (that wasn't happening thanks to damage). We got her back in the gate 24 minutes after she landed....including a 8 minute tow from 17L.

Knowing that everyone was safe and we got them to their destination safely, though a few hours late, allows me to say that it was exciting. It was my first time out on the runway...and my first time dealing with that kind of situation. One of our rampers brought his digital camera with him to the runway, but I won't be posting any of those pics here since they would be a dead giveaway of who I work for. Not that you guys don't already know...but I just want to stay on the safe side.

>>Not a whole lot else has been going on. I met a smartass F/A the other day...I let her get away with it because she was really cute...and we've been talking the past few nights. I wouldn't say she hit on me...but she's definitely the only female F/A to (unofficially) give me her number...HAHA! Either way, apparently, I now owe her dinner and a few beers. I wouldn't owe her if my car were working the other night when she overnighted in Dallas...grrrr. Hurry up, Dirty Blackie, get fixed! You're killing my social life.

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Current Music: Bowling For Soup - Almost
Current Weight: 223

Tales from Airside...

2005-07-21T14:22:00.000-06:00

So I owe you guys a couple of fun stories...mainly because I just checked The Jumpseat Diaries and remembered I owe Noorster the one about me telling one of our F/A's to "fuck off". So...ummm...here goes.

The Bitchy F/A

So, as I stated in my last post, we've been hardcore shortstaffed and really busy. We had a bird roll in just after we had unloaded another plane. After we got it chocked in the gate, the other 2 rampers went to load up the other plane as quickly as possible while I stayed to unload the new flight.

We had about 3 gate checked stollers (carriages, prams, whatever the hell you want to call them)...just enough that I'd have to make 2 trips up to the jetbridge to take them to the pax. Instead of wearing myself out, I decided to do something we've done a million times before...reach up and hand them to the person catering the aircraft. The caterer is already on the aircraft, so they can take them across to the passenger door. We don't do that often, but if we're pressed for time or short of people, it's not uncommon and, as far as I know, there's no company policy against it.

After the caterer ran the first 2 strollers across, I tossed the third onto the catering catwalk...where there was an F/A standing there staring at me. She immediately starts screaming at me. No "can you please not do that", no "it would be better if you didn't do that"...no niceness whatsoever. To make matters worse, I remember this F/A from my catering days. I remember her for being a total bitch that made a scene when I told her we were out of a certain item (a central supply problem)....when she had MORE than enough in the galley.

She stood there on the catwalk, screaming "YOU CAN'T DO THAT...YOU MUST BRING THEM UPSTAIRS YOURSELF!" I replied, "Darlin', I'm down here by my bloody lonesome down here, I'm exhausted, and I'm trying to knock this out as quickly as I can..."

Her reply? "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT...THAT'S YOUR JOB AND YOUR PROBLEM. If you're shortstaffed, take it up with your station director, not me. You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for your shitty little job."

Ooooooooo.....I was out for blood now. I want to preface my reply to her by saying that I know F/A's work hard. I know that it's alot more than being a waitress in the sky. I know there's tons of lifesaving training that goes into your job. I love most F/A's I've met. But, I was already having a bad day and this one just set me off...

"Listen here, missy. My 'shitty little job' is to ensure your happy little ass gets the hell outta Dallas as quickly as I can safely get you out. Shouldn't you be serving up some sodas or sitting your fat ass on the jumpseat reading the latest on Brad Pitt? Because, Lord knows, you haven't done half the work I've done today. In fact, you probably haven't done half the work I've done today in weeks of pushing your little beverage cart up and down the aisle. Damn, I bet that's fucking hard. So ya know what, I'm gonna help your lazy fat ass maybe lose a couple of calories. (at this point I pulled the stroller off the catwalk and put it on the ground) Come down and get it, bitch! And FUCK OFF the next time you decide to rip on people whole actually fucking work for a living!"

So maybe, just maybe, I was a little harsh. But, I was exhausted, covered in sweat and jet A burnoff, and in no mood to put up with this woman. I apologize if I've offended anyone...but she deserved it. Here's another fun story of what we get to deal with UPstairs.

There's No Place Like Home (Especially When You're A Drunkard)

On our last outbound flight of the night, the ramp turned the flight in under 15 minutes, so I decided to run upstairs and see if there was any way I could help the gate agent get the flight boarded.

When I got upstairs, I saw a supervisor, another lead, and the gate agent about to go onto the aircraft and pull a passenger off in order to evaluate if he was too drunk to fly. The conversation between the supervisor and the pax was hilarious...and I bring it to you. For better effect, read the "Drunk Pax" lines in your best Cheech and Chong whiney-stoner voice...this coming from a businessman in his late 40's.

Supervisor: Sir, are you aware of why we've asked you to step off the aircraft?
Drunk Pax: Yeah, man...you probably think I'm drunk. Well, I kinda am.
Supervisor: Yes sir, we noticed you stumbling down to the aircraft and the flight crew has asked us to evaluate your whether or not to let you fly.
Drunk Pax: Man, I've just been at my nephew's wedding and I just wanna go home, man. Yeah, I've been partying all day...so I'm a little drunk. But I just wanna go home, man. You guys are good guys, man.
Supervisor: Well, thank you, sir.
Gate Agent: Sir, the lady that you boarded the plane with. Are you two traveling together?
Drunk Pax: What? No. No! I just met her in the bar. I'm MARRIED, man! (shows ring)
Gate Agent: I see, I guess I was just thrown off by the fact you were kissing that lady a moment ago.
Drunk Pax: Please don't tell my wife, guys. She's already mad at me, man.
Supervisor: I can understand that. Sir, I think we're going to ask you to come upstairs with us and we'll rebook you for tomorrow.
Drunk Pax: Please, no....please...I just wanna go home. You guys are good guys! Trust me, I'll be a good boy. I just wanna go home...to my wife. There's no place like home! If I could, I'd just click my heels and I'd be home. But, please, I promise, I'll be good. Can I please ask the Captain? Plllleeeeease?

At this point, I was about to bust out laughing at the Wizard of Oz reference and had to leave the situation. The captain allowed him to fly...the F/A's came back through DFW the next day and said the man was a perfect angel...but his little girlfriend on the side puked at least 8 times inflight. Maybe we should have pulled her.

And this is what we deal with everyday.

Oooo, baby, baby it's a wild world...

2005-07-20T14:36:00.000-06:00

It's been wild for the last few weeks...where to begin...

Summer travel season still hasn't let up at all...and working full loads with only three (yes, THREE) ramp agents during the midshift has been taking it's toll on us. The only thing that has saved us is weather, either here or at destinations, causing ground delays and letting us slow down a little. We had 2 planes on the ground last week that had identical departure times...so the other 2 of us loaded one while I unloaded the other by kicking a bunch of bags out of the cargo bin, loading them up into a bag cart, and diving back in to repeat the process. Entire plane unloaded by one person in 12 minutes. None too shabby, sucker.

Luckily, we've got a bunch of new hires on the way. We've got a new class of something like 12 rampers right now...and we've been training them the last few days. Some will be really good, some won't last long...but a few is all we need. We had another class of something like 8 in training a few weeks ago, but I heard a couple failed either drug tests or FBI background check minimums. So I think we wound up with 4. Of those four, we have 3 left thanks to a minor catasrophe....

So these new hires weren't signed off to drive ANYTHING. No tugs, no beltloaders, hell...they weren't even supposed to move the bag carts. However, one of them drove a tug to run some late bags out to a plane....and barrelled into the right wing. He dragged the cart along the wing, putting some pretty deep gashes into the slats, about a 6"x20"x1/2" deep dent in the number 2 inboard slat, and almost ripped off one of the carbon fiber air separation pylons. Obviously, that bird was going nowhere.

We canceled the flight, hardstanded the aircraft and we had our A&P mechanic on-site in about 15 minutes. He and I took the pictures to send to the MX control folks and they sent out a 4 man crew with a new slat and carbon fiber thingamajiggy. 25 hours and $500,000 later...that bird was ferried back to the hangar at our hub for further inspection and put back into service a couple days later. Either way, this little thing cost the company alot of money...and cost this new guy his job.

Anywhos...I worked the gates a little this week. Not by myself, but I'm trying to learn the gate agent end of the job a little bit...just so I can have the skills I need to move up someday. That shit is stressful. With the exception of dispatch and ATC, that has to be the HARDEST job in the airline industry. Dealing with people who think that they're entitled to yell at you because they bought the cheapest ticket they could find. Uuuggghhh...they make me sick.

I also FINALLY got pushback certified this week. I've been doing it for a while, but they never officially signed me off. About damn time. Executed my first turn this week...135 pax on board...and i'm playing around with the plane on pushback. Scary, eh?

My birthday was last Thursday. I'm a whoppin' 23 now. Mom called me on my cell at 0941 (the minute I was born) like she always does. Like Recklace, I definitely didn't get enough presents...so click here and redeem yourself. And speaking of Lacey...I have a present for her. :)

More to come...

It's my birthday....on Thursday, anyway.

2005-07-10T17:33:00.000-06:00

My birthday is Thursday...so...uh...go to my wishlist and buy me something.

Good night, pretty sunrise...

2005-07-08T05:07:00.000-06:00

You know it was a fun might when you see a Texas sunrise on the way home.

Such a cool ass picture...

2005-07-07T17:50:00.000-06:00

Photo by Aleksandar Knezevic, U2005.com

Amen, U2...Amen.

Grey Sky Morning...

2005-07-07T02:55:00.000-06:00

Long week...rough couple of days thanks to medical diversions and weather on the east coast...more to come. Just feeling this song right now...not sure why.

So you sailed away
Into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay
Love can be so boring

Nothing's quite the same now
I just say your name now

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You don't want me back
You're just the best I ever had

So you stole my world
Now I'm just a phony
Remembering the girl
Leaves me down and lonely

Send it in a letter
Make yourself feel better

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You don't need me back
You're just the best I ever had

And it may take some time to
Patch me up inside
But I can't take it so I
Run away and hide
And I may find in time that
You were always right
You're always right

So you sailed away
Into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay
Love can be so boring

What was it you wanted
Could it be I'm haunted

But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
I don't want you back
You're just the best I ever had
The best I ever had
The best I ever...

2005-06-30T16:53:00.000-06:00

When I die I may not go to heaven…

I don't know if they let cowboys in…

If they don't just let me go to (North) Texas…

(North) Texas is as close as I've been.

No news...

2005-06-30T16:44:00.000-06:00

I'd love to give you some kickass update or something, but really...there's not a whole lot new going on. Just alot of work, not alotta play.

I've been waiting around for a call to help a (now former) co-worker get moved out. But, as it turns out, my phone has been on silent all day and she's been trying to call all day. Oops!

I guess I'm gonna hit up Denton. Then, from there, who knows. Probably hanging out with my boy Cody...perhaps some drinking...perhaps.

Only really exciting thing today is the fact that I'm almost at the 40 mark. Almost 40lbs. lost since February. I was 265 when I went to training for my airline. I stepped on the scale today and I'm sitting at 228. 37 lbs gone. I need to drop 40 more, but I'm getting there.

I know it's almost July, but summer is only now official. I'm going to get a Sno-Ball snocone in Gainesville, right....NOW. "Tiger's Blood" snocone, here I come. And there's a liquor store next door now. Hahahahahaha!

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Current Music: Cross Canadian Ragweed - Carry You Home (iTunes Linkage)
Current Weight: 228

All hail the internet...

2005-06-24T14:24:00.000-06:00

Ahhh, finally a new blog post. For the record, I spent an hour last weekend updating this thing on Dearing's computer...only to have said computer eat my damn entry. So I'll try to remember all the crap I touched on in that entry.

Not a whole lot of new things going on. I now work a 0430-2030 shift pretty much at least once a week. I've started calling it "working the slate"...as in working our entire slate of outbound flights. I did it this week on zero sleep...that was an adventure. They let me go around 1700, yet I wound up staying until almost 2100 due to our operations agent needing a hand and helping work a gate. Me and Brian, the other guy that works the 0430-2030 mess, were both running on almost no sleep...yet our flight was the only on-time departure for the afternoon. Eat that, afternoon shift.

Those 16 hour shifts are ass kickers and require a 45 minute shower just to get that funkiness off my body and outta my hair. I've never seen so much nastiness go down the drain. Just the pure black water from when I wash my hair after work. I look like a damn coal miner.

With the weather getting hotter (it was 100-plus with 98% humidity this past week), the funk just gets worse. I've been drinking at least 15 liters of water/Gatorade a work day to stay hydrated, yet I never pee because I sweat it all out. That's alot of sweat. Tack on the smell of Jet A burn off...and you get an idea of what us "below-wing" folks smell like at the end of the work day.

Somewhat exciting news from last week...I did my first pushback last week. I still need to get with the CI to finish my other 3 certification pushes, but I now have one under my belt. It ain't easy to do, either. When you grow up as a Texas country boy like I did, you're used to hauling trailers behind pickup trucks and turning opposite of where you want the trailer to go when maneuvering it. With a pushback, you're using a dual-joint towbar, so you turn into the maneuver...and that takes some getting used to when you're accustomed to a hay trailer.

For those of you non-aviation folks, a pushback is where we hook up a big ass tractor-like vehicle to the nose gear of an aircraft and push them out of the gate (or off of the hardstand) to where they will begin their taxi to the runway. We do this because a plane can't exactly just throw it in reverse and go. Sure, almost all commercial passenger aircraft have reverse thrust...and sure, the MD-80,-88,-90, the 717, the DC-9 and other rear mounted engine aircraft can safely powerback using reverse thrust, but there's FOD and safety issues with wing-mounted engines powering back, so it's safer and more economical to do pushbacks.

For that few minutes or so you spend pushing the aircraft, the pushback operator is the person responsible for the aircraft and everyone on board, so that's a little nerve racking. On a busy ramp, you really have to depend on your wingwalkers to be your eyes. I know in my nervousness, I jolted the plane a few times by letting off the gas a little too much. I asked the flight deck to pass on my apologies to the f/a's since it wouldn't surprise me if I nearly knocked them on their asses. (Noorster, does this ever happen? Bad pushback turning into someone being almost knocked on their backside?)

So, the internet has been down all day. I'm actually typing this entry in a notepad file and will cut and paste later when the damn DSL comes back up. Apparently, some jackass cut a fiber optic cable between here and Dallas...and that's affecting DSL and 911 service. Screw 911 service...just gimme my internet back!

Luckily, I have alot of music on iTunes I haven't had a chance to really listen to and "Groundhog Day" is on TV. Bill Murray is a golden god.

Been trying harder to hang out with friends lately...had a few chances to hang out with new friends as well...Linds and Miss Cooper rock my world (Miss Cooper just a little more than Lindsay...lol). It's been a good couple of weeks.

I went to the Frisco RoughRiders game last night with Robbie Mac. He scored SWEET tickets from the doctor he's house sitting for...behind home plate, 2nd row, free beer, free chili dogs and sitting next to a smokin' hot girl from Frisco. And to top it off, the bat boy is one of my old campers (Scott, the KPFC radio all-star), so I got a couple of game used balls. After all of that, whos cares that the Riders got shelacked to the tune of 13-0. ;)

Last week (or was it the week before?), I got to see Bob Schneider 2 nights in a row...meaning I got to hang out with old friends that I haven't seen in ages like Margee, Phil, Katie, Rica, Cody, Justin, Micah, Holly, and others. That was a blast and a half...few things bring us all together like a Bob show.

Hmm, what else? Not a whole lot going on. I bought new steel toes and kneepads...that's exciting. Hahahaha! I didn't get the Ramp Lead position I really wanted, but I understand my seniority was much lower than the ones that got the positions. I'm gonna try to get outta town next week if I can pull it off. Getting outta Dallas/Ft. Worth as a non-rev on our airline is close to impossible right now. Damn summer loads.

Well, I'm gonna go fire up the TiVo and watch "Groundhog Day" until the internet comes back up. I need to shop for car insurance...c'mon SBC! I need my DSL!

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Current Music:
Current Weight:

2005-06-09T01:53:00.000-06:00

I love staring these bad boys down...

Pot Pies, Wild Ass Weeks, and New Stuff...

2005-06-03T23:21:00.000-06:00

In a change of pace from the usual airline rant (don't worry, that's coming), I want to start by voicing my displeasure with frozen chicken pot pies. It's so much work for such little food. I mean, c'mon, I grew up with a microwave. I'm used to being able to throw a frozen food straight from the freezer to the microwave and be eating in less than 4 minutes. None of this preheating, burning myself on the oven rack, and having to wait 33 or more minutes for a 7 oz. pot pie that I will eat in less than 3 minutes. Such a waste of time.

So yeah, it was another one of those weeks at the airport. Weather at our hub for almost 3 days straight royally screwed things up. One ramp crew, 3 planes on the ground...at well into 2100 (our last outbound flight is scheduled for around 1945). Rough going for the DFW crew.

Yesterday takes the cake for rough days this week, though. I'm no longer working nights...I'm now on middays...which is great for my social life, by the way. Because I'm actually getting sleep, I agreed to cover 3 hours for our Operations agent. On a normal day, that would have been great. However, I walked into a shitstorm when I got there at 1700. A flight cancelled due to maintenance issues was still sitting in the gate, that flight caused an aircraft routing issue since that tail number is supposed to come back through Dallas from it's original destination, then on to our hub as an overnighter. On top of that we had cargo and mail that was pulled from other flights in order to make weights & balances work on previous flights.

Our planners at HDQ decided to turn one of our terminator overnighters into that flight back to our hub...with the pilots flying that overnighter in from Baltimore flying the delayed flight and swapping out the flight attendants. Well, the pilots decided to be total arrogant douchebags and took off for the crew hotel even though they were notified mid-flight that they needed to fly back to home base on that next flight. Crew scheduling canceled their hotel rooms, but these guys were adamant that they weren't coming back to the airport. After about an hour and a half of haggling, begging, and getting the top brass involved...the captain and F/O came back to the airport. They were total dicks to everyone upon their return, but we pushed that flight out as quickly as the F/O could hammer out the weights and balances.

My 3 hour (1700-2000) cover shift turned into a 6 hour (1700-2300) fiasco, but I learned alot. I'm gonna start coming in on my days off and getting trained as an (unofficial) operations agent just so I know how to handle messes like that without help.

Wednesday night, I got to hang out with Kari after work (I was 3.5 hours late). A fun Wal-Mart run, Whataburger, Ace Ventura, and other good times were had. :) Hopefully, now that I live in the metro-mess, I'll get to see alot more of her.

Thursday night, after the mess at work, I got to go see Margee and Rica, Justin and Cody, and a bunch of my Camp Sweeney buddies...all in one night! I like being off before midnight! I kinda have a social life now.

I'm kinda rushing because I've gotta pack ups some more of my crap and get it loaded in the car...then go see a friend of mine before I go back to the apt.

One last thing though...I've added (ANOTHER) box on the right hand side. It's called "Downline Connections" and it will be airline/aviation industry related links. The first three are Airliners.net, The Queen Of Sky, and The Jumpseat Diaries. Airliners.net may have replace GoMeanGreen.com as my daily timewasting obsession...the QueenOfSky is the blog of a former Delta F/A that was shitcanned for nothing more than blogging (ever notice how I never refer to who I work for or where the hub is even if it's incredibly obvious?)...and The Jumpseat Diaries is the blog of another F/A who was lovely enough to comment on my last entry. Thanks Darlin'! I'll add more links in that box as I come across them.

Until next time...please refrain from yelling at the operations agent when he comes up to try and help the gate agent prepare his paperwork...DAMMIT!
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Current Music: Everclear - El Distorto de Melodica (Instrumental)
Current Weight: 233

Getting my ass kicked and my breath taken away...

2005-05-28T07:31:00.000-06:00

I feel like I've had my ass kicked...repeatedly. My back is all kinds of outta whack. I had to call in sick to work Thursday because I can do little more than sit or lie down.

I'm sore all over. Two days in a row it was just myself and one other ramper working the last outbound of the day. All thanks to our corporate office's decision to fly half our afternoon crew to recurrent training this week. Well, that and the fact that none of the other half of that crew gives a shit about helping one another, so they haul at right at the time their shift ends (1830).

Well, Wednesday I was already worn down from being overworked the previous day. I unrolled the PCA (pre-condiontioned air) duct when the plane rolled in and hooked it up, then dove into the aft bin to unload the local bags. I felt a slight tweak in my lower back as I unrolled that hose...but it got alot worse while in the bin.

See, the good folks in our hub city didn't do their job correctly (big surprise there, the fucking retards) and failed to properly tag several small bags as "HEAVY" and, in my rush to get the plane turned, I tweaked my back even more. After the aircraft was pushed, I sat down in operations and the pain got progressively worse. I fought through it the rest of the night and hoped to go back and finish the week out strong (I'm in OT and I'm a total whore for OT). Alas, the pain is still pretty hardcore so, here I am with a 3 day weekend.

I've been a total lazy bum. I've sat on my ass, slept, watched TV, and that's about it for 2 days. I did drive around town by myself for about an hour the other night...that brought back memories. Almost 23 years old and making the drag in small town Texas like a high school kid. Awesome.

I did manage to get off my duff last night just long enough to go see the man, the myth, the legend Jack Ingram in concert in my hometown. I've now seen the man in concert almost 50 times, yet he never gets old. Such a great show. Got to hang with my old buddy Ben Smith for the whole show. Ben is an up and coming songwriter just getting started with his musical career...so you should check him out (and buy his CD's, of course).

I saw an old friend last night who's family, when we were in high school, were a host family for an exchange student from Germany. The exchange student was a cute blonde girl who I was just absolutely in love with back then. Hell, I still have a little thing for the girl. Well, last night, while talking to the the slightly inebriated old friend, she mentioned to me that the cute German girl still asks about me when she emails. I was like, "whatever, she does not...quit messing with me". To which she replied, "No, really...I swear you're one of like 4 people she still asks about all these years later...you need to go get that girl. Go get her, Dub."

I'm not really sure where to go with this...not really sure if she was just messing with me because she knew how I felt about the girl back then...or because she was kinda drunk. But she told me to call her today and get the girl's email address. So, I guess later today I'll give her a shout. I don't want to read too much into this whole thing, but I really want to talk to this girl...I'm a little giddy at the thought. :)

Well, I need to ice my back, take my drugs (over the counter, not the illegal kind) and get packin'. I'm moving today. A place closer to work with one of my coworkers. I move in today, he leaves for Germany for 2 weeks tomorrow. Hmmmm, maybe he can bring me a cute blonde souvenir from Lübeck... :-)

"I know who Charlie Robison is, I know who Randy Rogers is, I know who Wade Bowen is, I know who Cross Canadian Ragweed is, I know who Jerry Jeff Walker is, I know who Pat Green is, I know who Waylon was...and I feel a change comin' on...WE NEED A CHANGE!" - Jack Ingram, 5-27-05

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Current Music: U2 - One
Current Weight: 235

Fun things found in airplane cargo bins

2005-05-26T18:32:00.000-06:00

This sums me up pretty nicely...

2005-05-23T13:10:00.000-06:00

I tear my heart open,

I sew myself shut.

My weakness is that I care too much.

And my scars remind me that the past is real,

I tear my heart open just to feel.

The Green Monster! Pt. II

2005-05-20T19:21:00.000-06:00

The Green Monster!

2005-05-20T16:45:00.000-06:00

I've got stickers!

2005-05-18T05:29:00.000-06:00

Allllllllllllllllllllllright...I'm so tired, I'm wired. Does that make sense?

I put in close to 40 hours over the weekend (Sat-Mon), so my sleep schedule is still screwed up. Luckily, though...we have a new shift bid coming up, so I just have a week or 2 more of the night shift.

We've been short-handed all week (any surprises there?) thanks to the suspension of the girl who caused damage to a 737 in a jetbridge accident. Gotta watch out for those probes on the side of the plane. She's back to work later today...we hope. We need that extra body on the night shift.

Yeah, that little accident cost the company a whole helluva lotta money. Of course, they charter a LearJet to get an inspector, a mechanic, and the part to Dallas...just to get here and realize they brought the wrong damn part. Idiots. They wound up swapping out parts with "An evil DFW eMpiRe" for a price and the plane wound up taking a 3.5 hour delay thanks to the repair. On a Friday. With tons of misconnecting passengers. Not good. Oh well, shit happens.

I worked morning shift twice this week on top of night shift. Wore me out, but I enjoyed it. I just worked in the operations office one of the mornings...that was easy cheese. I got to yell at people for screwing up...proving once again the fact that I was made to yell at underlings.

We've been having problems with the rampers in our hub city incorrectly loading bags. Mixing local, thru, and connection bags altogether. Sometimes behind mail and cargo. And throwing gate claim items behind bags...and sending an entire day's worth of mail shipments on the last flight of the day (screwing the night shift over even more). I dunno which one pisses me off most, but I'm ready to catch a flight to our hub and knock some people around. Them and one of our west coast stations. The ramp isn't rocket science, but for the morons on both coasts...it's damn close to it. I mean, c'mon, a trained monkey could do most of this job. Grrr....

This weekend is my trip to Fenway. I can't fucking wait. I leave for Boston on Friday morning, check into my hotel a few miles from BOS, meet up with Suzanne, and head to Fenway to see the Sox kick the Braves' asses! I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm...so...scared! Uhhh, sorry...Jesse Spano moment there. I'm gonna be seeing Suze for the first time in a long time. 2 years I think. That's gonna be a little weird, but it'll be nice to see her again. I'm looking forward to the whole trip. I plan on killing some of Boston's finest booze while I'm at it all. :)

Lastly, I'd like to share with you another proof that I'm the least lucky man alive. This week, I ordered new contacts online, as well as a new lanyard for my ID badges (ok, ok, and some of those cute little pudgy airplane stickers) from Boeing's webstore. Really, all I need is the contacts and the lanyard. Both are fucking backordered. Yup. Two separate orders from two separate companies...both of the necessities are backordered.

But hey, at least I get my pudgy airplane stickers! Boeing went ahead and shipped those babies!

-----------------------
Current Music: Dropkick Murphys - Tessie

Oh, the irony...

2005-05-14T03:57:00.000-06:00

Oh the irony...I fucking HATE ATL. With a passion. And I LOVE Chicago...

American Cities That Best Fit You:

65% Atlanta

65% Las Vegas

60% Austin

55% Denver

50% Chicago

Traffic, TAT Probes, and The Sox!

2005-05-13T05:28:00.000-06:00

Rough day/night...good ending, though.

Took me 2.5 hrs to get to work today thanks to the worst traffic in history. I got "written up" for being almost an hour late to work. Hooray!

All planes were 15-20 minutes late tonight...that didn't make things any easier.

Then, the catastrophe of one of my co-workers damaging a 737 while pulling the jetbridge up to the aircraft. She elevated the cab of the jetbridge while too close to the a/c and bent the TAT (Total Air Temperature) Probe that is on the side of the plane. It was a complete accident, but all in all, it's an accident that is going to cost the company a boat load of money. We're talking in the tens of thousands of dollars. Hell, they had to charter a LearJet to get the part and a mechanic to Dallas.

Good news when I got home though...I have tickets for next Friday's Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston! Fuck yeah!

I'm off today...looking forward to doing NOTHING! Yes!
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Current Music: Ben Folds - Landed

One Broke Douchebag

2005-05-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

Does it make me a douchebag that I've watched the movie "Love Actually" something like 5 times in the past week? I think it does...:-\ Damn sappy movie.

I have managed to offset some of my douchebaggery with watching lots of Texas Rangers baseball and a killer 40 point win by the Mavs.

I've been broke for close to a couple of weeks. I get paid every other Monday, so doing anything on my days off on every other weekend has been kinda out of the question. I literally left the house once this weekend in an attempt to save money.

It's Mother's Day today...be sure to NOT follow my example and be sure to at least call your mom. I still need to do that. I'm too poor to give her anything now...so, I'll get her something tomorrow.

Well, off to work...I kinda miss the smell of jet fuel.

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Current Music: None...Texas Rangers on the TV

Where Did I Go?

2005-05-06T23:25:00.000-06:00

So yeah, it's been a little while. Uhh, sorry. I never realized people read this thing until I started getting threatening emails and text messages about my lack of updates. So, here goes...I'm gonna backtrack a little.

Things are starting to settle at work a little bit. Things at the new terminal have gotten a little better and things on the night shift, though every night is a pain in the ass, have gotten better as well. We've kinda got a routine down now. Except when all hell breaks loose. :) About a week ago, actually exactly a week ago we had a little incident.

Well, not 'we' per se...but one of our planes took a bird on the nose during final approach. Birdstrike, baby! Nothing left of that little fucker except blood and feathers on a newly delaminated radome. OK, so maybe that was speaking Greek to some of you. I'll explain.

Dictionary.com defines a radome as a domelike shell transparent to radio-frequency radiation, used to house a radar antenna. In the case of this (and most aircraft) the radome is the nosecone of the airplane. It's made of composite materials and is pretty damn sturdy considering the light weight of the materials.

Well, composites are typically in a "laminated" state that support the structural integrity of the item. When hit hard enough (like hitting a fucking bird at 400mph), the composite item can become misshapen and the integrity of the composite is compromised.

Basically, long story short, radome+bird(speed)=grounded airplane.

We're an outstation, so we have contract mechanics...very good at what they do, especially when they have to improvise. One was on site when the plane landed around midnight, checked the plane out through and through for about an hour to ensure the bird never entered the engine intakes or anything like that...then began the business of hunting down a radome.

There was alot of drama in between in all of that with our night crew. Basically, alot of pissiness because of lack of communication and lack of similar views on what the real goal needed to be...was it getting to leave work on time? or was it helping the mechanics when asked and avoiding the lost revenue of a canceled flight? Anyone in the airline business knows the correct answer to that...

We're an 'outstation', therefore we have no hangar, and few spare parts just lying around. Usually, if we need a part, it can be there in a couple of hours...or we can "rent" the part from another airline. In this case, we rented a radome from "Evil DFW Empire Airlines" that runs similar, very silver a/c. Must be nice to have VERY expensive parts just lying around.

Our mechanic managed to get the radome and began the replacement by 0330. He recruited me to help him out off and on through the night. I started helping him full time at around 0630 and had to hold the damn thing in the air after the supports were disengaged. My arms were sore the rest of the weekend. The thing is lightweight, but standing on a ladder and holding something in the air for about an hour is kinda tough.

That plane was supposed to leave at 0700, but a tail swap pushed that a/c's push time to 0810. New radome was in place and had it's airworthiness signed off at 0830. Not too shabby for one A&P licensed mechanic and a lowly ramp rat.

Anyway, so there's my "I got to play with a 30 lb. nosecone that costs more than a really nice house" story. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. We've been a man short at night all week. We finally replaced our smoky-ass, dying piece of shit of a pushback tug. I pushed a solid turd into a hole with a big waterhose in the pouring ass rain (yes, I just typed that). Unloaded "precious cargo" into an armoured truck. Got to work my first full on triple-ops. Good times, eh?

I've accomplished nothing today. I was thinking about non-revving to somewhere fucking random like LA or Tampa, but decided to sleep all day instead. So I've sat on my ass all day and talked to people online, played around with the blog, watched some TV.

I did leave for a little bit with Robbie Mac to go eat. We went to Ye Olde Smokehouse II and had BBQ sandwiches and onion rings. When we got there, we saw our old Sunday school teacher from when we were in high school, Dave James his wife, kids, and mom-in-law. Dave was definitely the coolest Sunday school teacher I ever had and honestly, one of the only people from FBC Gainesville that I still like. He sat with us for little bit and we played catch up. Still very cool. I actually miss that guy.

Robbie says he was contacted by someone with the military in regards to Cpl. Compton's security clearance and that he referred them to me. Well, I'm gonna act all skitzoid if they call me and tell them Cody's an Islamic radical. :)

So yeah, I really wanted to do something this weekend...but really, I'm down to 10 bucks until my check decides to direct deposit itself...any minute now. I'm finally gonna be almost caught up on bills for the first time in a while. There's still a ton of credit card debt, but I can deal with that. My car is ALMOST paid off and I'm gonna try to work some OT and get it paid off ASAP.

I'm still looking for a place. Something has opened up, but it's kinda in the other direction from where I want to be and it's gonna be open at the end of the month. I dunno if I'll have the cash to do anything by then. We'll see.

Saw some of my Sweeney buddies last week. Met them at the airport...that was fun. Saw Skip there, too...that was kinda awkward. Oh well...I can't make them like me. I can only know that I changed that place for the better, no matter what Ernie thinks.

Hmmmm, what else. The lovely Kari intro'd me to a pretty sweet ass band. They're called SouthFM. You can get my favorite song from their new CD at iTunes using the link below. Great song...and I leave you with the lyrics. Be good, folks...and be good to each other.

so save your breath
for the rest of this relationship
cause it will get harder
and harder
for us to breathe
and when you fall find my hand
to help you stand again
cause times will get harder
and harder than these

where did you go
I thought I'd be the first in line to know
you know that I have trouble letting go
and when the world has taken
everything you have to give
I promise I will never say
I told you so

we'll prove two people can stand
when everybody else is falling apart
in a world that keeps ending
I know you and I could
make a new start
my days go by

Oh, one last thing...the BWI supervisor chick, Gina, on the show Airline is wicked hot...I might have to make another BWI trip. :) That's all.
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Current Music: SouthFM - Where Did You Go

Your Wrap Up Of Another Wheels Off Broadcast Day...

2005-04-26T05:59:00.000-06:00

OK...so it's not The Ticket Top Ten...Dear Lord, today was a crazy one. Let's see here...where to begin?

I actually rolled into work early today, just in time to get pelted with some hardcore rain. I flipped from my usually spot on the dial (1310 The Ticket's FM repeater on 104.1) over to KRLD just in time for them to mention a tornado was seen southwest of the airport. Now I LOVE storms. I love rain. I wish for rainy days the way most people hope for sunny days. I'm weird like that. However, I am NOT a fan of even just the idea of a tornado.

So, I'm driving down the service road that leads to the south employee parking lot already slightly freaking out about the whole idea of a tornado. I make the left merge into the crossunder that leads to the parking lot and my car decides to hit a slippery patch and come out from under me. I spun around a little more than 90 degrees and went up onto the curb and into a chain link fence. Yep, I got into a wreck in the middle of a massive thunderstorm 5 minutes from work. That was a somewhat decent sign that my day was gonna be crazy. I started predicting right then and there that today was the day I was gonna get sucked into a 737 engine.

I got into work and decided I would pop my contacts in my eyes before hitting the ramp (which was temporarily closed thanks to lightning in the area) so I could wear sunglasses. I grabbed my glasses case out of my gear bag and made a run to the restroom where I washed my hands and pulled my left contact out of the case. I put it in my eye and it immediately felt like someone was pouring acid into my fucking eyeball. Yep, it hurt so bad I was literally blind for a good 5 minutes. Blind. And to top that off, I lost the contact. After recovering my sight, I began counting the minutes 'til that 737, with it's roaring wing mounted engines, was to pull into the gate. Today was my day to get sucked in.

That flight came and went without incident...hell, it didn't even take me that long to cater that sucker in the rain. So, I started thinking all would be well in the world. Things were looking up.

Then the next flight rolled in and I knew everything was gonna be okey doke. Our last flight of the day is a through flight that originates in our hub city, stops in Dallas, then goes on to LAX. In Dallas, the flight crews allow the passengers going on to LAX to deplane and stretch and maybe catch a bite to eat on the concourse. Well, tonight...we had a Buddhist monk on his way to LA who didn't quite understand the concept of the through flight and thought he was in Los Angeles when he obviously was in Dallas. He sat around and waited for his bags and came to the realization that he was in Dallas/Fort Worth right around the same time the plane was supposed to depart.

He approached one of our ticket agents and tried to explain as best he could with the little English he knew. She called the gate agent and the captain decided to let the guy board. They were already over an hour behind thanks to delays...what was another 5 minutes, right? Well, since he wasn't middle class or white, he had the dreaded SSSS on his boarding pass and he had to go through extra screening. 5 minutes quickly turned into 15 minutes. At this point, I was asked to let the flight crew know what the delay was. After a few more minutes, here comes the monk (in full monk garb), waddling down the jetbridge.

I swear to God, that man reminded me of E.T. for some reason or another...but you couldn't help but smile when you saw him smile. It was that infectious of a smile. Big and toothful. And I realized that I don't do that enough. I let everything stress me out. Here's this guy, on the verge of being stuck in big ol' Dallas/Fort Worth Intl. Airport by himself with no bags and no real grasp on the English language, yet he was still happy and showing no signs of stressing. That's pretty cool.

Planes were late, but staggered, so we kicked some ass and got outta there at a decent hour. I was the last to leave and I got out at 0315. That's not too bad for a bad weather day.

Well, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned my Cingular wireless situation here...so why not now. When I went to our hub city for training right after I got hired, I used my phone alot. Afterall, I was on a nationwide, no-roaming wireless plan, right? WRONG! I thought I was, but the good folks over at Cingular wireless decided that I wasn't really on a nationwide plan. Because of that, I racked up an $850 phone bill while in the evil city de hub.

Thanks to this, I've been having to put off moving to Denton for over a month. Thanks to the loan I took out from Shaun prior to getting a job with my airline, I'm having to pay him back in installments of $150 per paycheck. After all my deductions and taxes, that leaves me with less that $120 to last me almost 2 weeks. YES! I can't wait to not eat!

I've been doing alot of thinking lately. That's dangerous, I know, but I can't help it. I've been having all of these constant little reminders lately of how stupid I am and how I always manage to fuck up the good things in my life. Alot of this revolves around Maureen and how much I really miss her friendship. There are just so many songs and so many things that make me think of that girl. This morning on the way home it was doubled thanks to "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain being on the radio as I passed the big sign at Fouts Field while it said in huge letters "MEAN GREEN SOFTBALL". Yeah, that's a quick route to feeling like shit about how stupid I am.

But Mo isn't the only one I've been thinking about lately. I've also been thinking alot about how the only 2 girls I ever broke up with (as opposed to me being the dumpee...which is the more often occurance) are the only 2 that were keepers. Chaulk up another fuck up for me!

Oh well...I better hit the hay. Another fun day at the airport is coming right up in just a little bit!

I leave you with this...

I never wanted
This to be.
What has happened here?
I believe
I never said it
So, I must have read it
Between the lines
We find the time to grieve.
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Current Music: Jackson Parten and Folktronic - No Importance
Current Weight: 235 (it's finally coming down!)

Yet another Weekend Update...audio-tastic!

2005-04-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

(Non) Revvin'

2005-04-13T13:08:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh, nice to be awake before 3pm. :)

(Note that this part was written a week ago...)

Had a super good night at work last night. Damn near flawless. Everything was on time, loads were light, cabins were mostly clean. Lav tanks were full. Wait...that was a flaw. I had lav duty last night...and I swear it took me 20 minutes longer than usual. Hooray for dumping doo doo! Oh well, operationally speaking, yesterday rocked. :)

Went to D.C. to visit Lisa this weekend. I knew it was gonna be wheels off when my trip started out with me showing up at 0756 for my 0800 flight. I had to punch in the code to the jetway door myself, run down to the plane, toss my work gear bag to the gate agent so she could put it in my locker down in operations, and jump onto the plane in time for them to close the door right behind me. The F/A's were having a field day with making fun of me being late...so I made them work. I was three coffe and Bailey's deep before takeoff. Mmm...:).

Got in the air, about 100 miles east of Dallas and the plane started a sharp bank to the left. At the same time, the flight deck interphone dinged, and the F/A that answered...well, judging from her face, I was pretty sure we were under nuclear attack at that point. A look of sheer horror. Then the Captain comes on the PA and all he says is "Hi there, ladies and gentlemen, at the request of our dispatch in Orlando we're turning back to Dallas/Fort Worth. We'll have mor details when we get back on the ground". So I'm sitting there wondering "what the hell". The man sitting next to me saw my airport badges when I walked onto the plane and started asking me question after question about why we would be turning around. Of course, I don't want to tell him what I really think (malfunctioning aircraft parts), so I start making shit up about not having a proper dispatch release on hand or something like that. I don't quite remember what I told him...but I do remember it being so genius that he left me alone the rest of the day.

We got on the ground and I realized I still had my badges in my pocket...so I hopped off the plane (leaving the rest of those suckers on the plane, no less) and walked the F/A's to where they could smoke a cigarette. Stopped by operations and got the real story on the gate return...VOR2 went out and we had a replacement on hand at DFW, so it made more sense to go ahead and make the swap then. We were grounded for about an hour, then back towards BWI.

Good flight...booze and sleep. Does it get any better? Got to BWI and, since Miss Lisa can't leave the lovely Commonwealth of Virginia, I had to wait for her friend Amanda to come get me. Nice girl but I could tell she was less than thrilled about driving half an hour to pick up some dude she doesn't know. We got back towards D.C. and Amanda dropped me off with Lisa on base.

Lots of drinking and poker...lots of Lisa throwing me under the bus regarding who I voted for in the presidential election.

I've been meaning to post this entry for a while...so I'll stop here and continue later since I just got called into work early.