CPT1

Today marked the beginning of the end of my training. It's going to only get harder from what I've been hearing and I have to admit that I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to be today. I was up to par, but did not exceed expectation nor did I feel 100% confident in my answers. I will try to be tomorrow, but I definitely will need some time to actually begin to digest and "learn" not memorize what I am doing. It's getting better though and I'm glad that it is all finally starting to all come together. I'm going to try to start running again and hopefully that will get my blood flowing better to my brain. CPT2 tomorrow from 0800-1500! Wish me luck!

We had a free lunch today from Flight Safety which was awesome pulled pork sandwiches. I had one and there were just too many not to indulge myself and have another, so I did it. I grabbed another. I felt content with one, but shoot, how can you deny free food. My flight partner did and I'm sure that he felt a little better than I did afterwards. Oh well, it was just so good!!! If there is anything that I will miss about the Southeast, it would be all the BBQ that you can get. Of course, the trade off in SoCal is the multitude of Mexican and Asian restaurants. Now weighing in on me in the dilemma of whether or not I should bid back to Atlanta because of Adelle's future college aspirations. Oh the decisions...anyone have any insight?

seriously now...

I am really having a hard time just coming up with titles that are worth it. I mean, it seems to me like its been getting old now but it was my own fault that I titled this blog. I could change it anytime, but the link would have to be redirected, etc, oh forget it. Set it and forget it!!! I'll go by that.

This past weekend was a great way of decompressing. I enjoyed kicking it and I'm still reliving it all. I just can't believe how much fun it was! Thanks guys!

I'm just coming back from studying for a couple of hours and I have to say that even though I was able to regurgitate my flows and checklists at the time, I still found myself fumbling too much when trying to recall them all at once. The panel has just become a blur to me. I'm mixing and matching what I'm suppose to so here and there and it is definitely frustrating. It's going to only get harder from here, but it just sucks that I'm not "there" yet. I should be before Friday, but it would have been awesome if I could have just gotten there sooner. I've never really felt what being over studied felt like, but near the end tonight, I just wasn't able to think anymore. Starring at the panel is all I did and I was just drawing up blanks or making stuff up. It's quite embarrassing when your flight partner just has it all down, but that's the motivation that I have. It's a good thing, but man, it sucks too. I'm going to study just a little bit more and then try to wake up early and get a head start on things. I need it really bad.

I might go eat some Pho tomorrow night which is exciting!

Adelle just got accepted to Columbia's Graduate Nursing Program!!! Congrats beeb!!! This now just put a little dent into the plans for LAX, but we'll see what happens in the next few months. Kind of stinks for me, but awesome for her!!! YEAH!!! I'm so happy and proud for her...

san diago...

Even though this weekend didn't turn out what Adelle and I was thinking it was going to be, we still enjoyed every single minute of our two days. I have to say that it was one of the best weekends in terms of "kicking" it old school where we just played video game amongst the 4-6 of us, hung out and eat at Niban Sushi, watch a play and just have an overall great time. We also had the awesome spicy pork chops from Sam Woo BBQ! Thanks for the great weekend guys! Jojo finally got his Wii today along with two Wiimotes and I got to hang out with Haas for just a little bit. It's going to be awesome the next time I come back!

I finally setup my Google Reader which, by the way, was recently updated and is so awesome and user friendly. It's all about the web applications these days.

Anyways, at Niban, I ordered two large cold, unfiltered sake bottles which were definitely put to good use. We all shared in good times. Thanks again! I've been so energetic these couple of days its awesome!

Now, I'm going to just have to get all serious and just put my head in the sand with a book and cockpit mockup. I'm up to bat and I need to hit a home run this month. It's going to get really tough! Let's see which flight I end up tomorrow. I'm hoping for a seat esp. with 6 First and 10 Coach available.

From (top) left to right: Me, Marella, Jomar, Jojo (bottom) left to right: Adelle, Corinne

of commuting to LAX on an airplane + videogames

So my girlfriend kick some major butt on Mario Kart on the Nintendo Gamecube. She took first place quite a few times while I only had it once or twice. It was good stuff. I got to hang out with some friends in San Diego tonight and that I haven't done in such a long time. The original plans were to try to make it to Hawaii on a connecting flight to LAX from SAN, but of course, as my story goes, didn't happen. We made reservations at hotels and even planned out a little excursion here and there. It was going to be nice and to think that we only planned it about 3 days ahead. Oh well. I thought that we could head out somewhere else too, but I wasn't pack for anything that had to do with some cold weather. So, only anything south of San Diego would be viable and it just wasn't going to happen this time. I posted some pix on trelijah of tonight's festivities. We also had an awesome dinner at C.P.K. Did you know that you could get a rootbeer float with Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream?

Adelle and I got to airport early enough to get listed and do whatever we needed to accomplish to actually get on board, but because of how overbooked the two back to back flights were, it made it impossible to get on. So, we missed our connecting flight Honolulu. Sadness...but, I'm just starting to learn all the tricks of the trade when it comes to non-revving. It's definitely an adventure but I'm glad that I got to hang out today and just relax a little bit. We all ended the night playing Donkey Konga and some Mario Tennis. I still have a lot of studying to do, but its going to be an awesome weekend.

Marella's brother, Jomar is in a 3 man play and we're all going to check it out at 1400 tomorrow. Probably going to see some grandma early in the morning, do some backing up of documents and pictures in the afternoon, then off to see one of my friends who's wife is due in the next 7 days! It's amazing how much things can change in about 2 years. The last time I saw them, I was just beginning my training and or in the midst of it all. Congrats to Timothy and Stacey Chou.

I can't locate a stupid Aliph Jawbone at any Cingular store in San Diego. I'm going to try a few more, but man, I just want to try it out already and write up a review. I'll post it once I get some usage out of it, but of course, I'll need to buy it. I had a chance in Florida, but I didn't think that it was going to be so scarce already!

A tornado came really close to my house in Florida but I guess I was lucky in that it stayed to the south of where I lived. I pray for those that are now without a house. It's going to be tough especially during this very cold winter.

of the vote...and trying to get on a plane

ALPA: Deal Not Good Enough, Comair Strike Possible

another link to an informational website: http://www.dcipilots.com

The above is a link to just some general knowledge of the state of the industry that I am now part of. There were a few of my follow pilots from ASA that were picketing on behalf of our other brothers in the now fledging Delta Connection Carrier, Comair. It really stinks that this comes at a time when I just signed on, but I can only hope for the best. It is a service industry out there but finally people are starting to recognize that they get what they pay for in terms of low airfare = crappy seats and service. I do believe that as pilots we are underpaid but I guess a drive from within is the only way to do it. Many say that we did it to ourselves because a lot of us wouldn't mind flying for free, but it hurts to think something like that. I guess if you were to imagine that one thing that you have been wanting to do for a good portion of your life and you had a chance to do it, you would. That's where it comes from. It is sad that I'll be playing it low key for a while, but hey, my view is better than yours!

Looks like I'll be "stuck" in San Diego this weekend. I originally made plans to try to head out to Honolulu, Hawaii with Adelle and got everything setup in like 2 days, but we weren't able to head up to LAX on a commuter flight. I knew that we should have drove to LAX, but I took the chance and just couldn't get on. The ticket counter ladies at American Eagle were very nice and courteous as well as the gentleman at the Sky West booth but nothing came out of it. I got listed as a jumpseater but I didn't want to go anywhere without my Lisa. =( Oh well, at least we have each other and lots of choices of food and I saved some money! (not by switching to Geico either)

of working slowly

The homework that we were assigned tonight consisted of completing 2 weight and balance cards complete with reading the dispatch, cargo load manifest and TLR. It really isn't that trivial and doing it over and over again will definitely make things easier, but I have to admit that I find myself sometimes adding here or subtracting even though I was suppose to do the opposite computation. I just have to slow down and make sure that I think more about it and work it out slowly. I enjoy doing them but just get frustrated when I miss a computation.

I had some Smokey Bones again tonight for dinner and Wendy's for lunch. I can't say that I've been saving my money but this hotel food thing is just getting to me. I'll try to be good.

I'm so proud of Adelle because she is helping me out in booking a flight back home this weekend and is on top of the new Delta Phone Travel Phone System. I love it when she takes charge of things. It definitely impresses me a lot! I love you sweetie.

My Scott Leather Jumbo Flight Bag came in today and it's freaking awesome! It smells so good and the work is just too perfect. Thanks a lot Dianna Taylor for fulfilling the no logo customization. I was surprised when it didn't come with the inside pocket, but I'll just have to order it later on. The Jeppesen Accessory Case will have to do for now. I took some picture phone photos of the case and you can find them on trelijah. I filled it up to the brim with some space to go, but I just can't wait to start lifting it all day long. The backpack thing and flight bag definitely was a good combo but now, I'm able to be a little more professional without the backpack deal. Maybe a side messenger bag or something would help out carry things here and there. On to the next purchase of my luggage bag from Luggage Works (formally known as Purdy). Man, this occupation is getting pretty pricey!

Enjoy the pics! Click on each of them for some comments of each.

Gen Ops Mod CRJ200 in Freezing Weather

Today was the first day of Ops Mod and we got to learn about stuff like the new Aero Data System that we are using for Takeoff Limitation and Weight and Balance figures. It went really smoothly today with another sponsored lunch from ALPA. So far, our class has gotten just about 1 or 2 free lunches every other week while we have been here in training. It's not a bad deal. The hotel is a different matter but at least the newest classes that started today got the benefit of our complaints. They got put up in the Amerisuites which just have too many nice amenities that it's a shame to even compare it to the hotel that I'm at right now. So with that, I'm not even going to start to mention any of them.

The calculations seem to be pretty easy and the homework wasn't that bad. You just have to get use to how to read the dispatch release and the actually Take-off and Landing Report. We have 3 more days of this with a test on Thursday. Then I get 5 days off before all the simulator sessions. I know that I have to study a lot and get all my flows down still, but I'm trying to work something out where I could use my time wisely and get a lot of studying done while traveling!

Adelle got to find out who was who on my travel list so she's ready to head out and use them. I told her to check out some flight, but who know how the loads are and to where we would actual travel to. I'm also still unsure on the whole cost of traveling. I'm getting my second paycheck tomorrow which is going to be tremendously large! I'm excited for that! <-- that was sarcastic by the way but who am I to complain really. I'm loving what I'm doing.

Oh yeah....totally forgot too, the temperature right now in Atlanta is freezing! I saw a puddle today that was iced over. Here's what the weather was this morning until the afternoon where it heated up to a warm 45 degrees. Now as I post this tonight, its 30F!

On other notes:

• Chick-Fil-A has a nice restaurant / diner here in Atlanta and I have to admit that I was impressed. I'll definitely go there again.
• The FAA is posed to announce that they are increasing the age limit for mandatory pilot retirement tomorrow. The new age is 65 years old. I really have mixed feelings about this because it just means that I will be forced to wait another 5 years until I upgrade. Just to think that all the major airlines are going to be postponing their hiring for another 5 years kind of stinks. On the other hand, it does prolong my "career" another 5 years. Can't complain there I guess. I think that the one stipulation is that someone in the cockpit has to be age 60 of younger while the older pilot is present. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/29/national/main2410945.shtml

of getting on an open flight!

After all the testing taking on Friday, I decided that I should try to get on a flight and use some of my benefits. To make a very long story short, out of the 3 that Justin and I listed ourselves on, I got on the last one, but decided to just stick it out together and we finally just got onto another airline. We connected in Phoenix and then made our way to San Diego. Adelle picked us up and we tackled the first thing on the itinerary list: Hit up In-N-Out Burger! I ate that Cheeseburger #2 combo so fast that I really don't even remember it.

We woke up early the next morning (Saturday) and headed to Kono's in Pacific Beach for breakfast, followed by some arcade action at Vincenzo's place then to PQ. Okay so my old time friend of more than 20 years hooked up an arcade machine with a comptuer setup and has over 4300+ arcade games. That includes the NES emulation and everything. It was awesome just playing some Street Fighter 2 and some Altered Beast again! That was a pimp setup. I hope to kick it more with him and everyone else once I get back. I just wanted to get some good old house time and we got to eat some Buckey's Ice Cream and PQ Donuts for some good dessert time. The breakfast at Kono's was just so much that I didn't even eat anything for lunch besides the pint of Ice Cream. (Mudd Pie and Toll House combo is the best) Back to Adelle's townhome for some rest and then off to Wildomar to see my parents. We had some good dinner there then drove down to Adelle's parents house to play some pool and then back up for one last goodnight. My mom has been doing really well lately and its nice to see that my father and her are "hanging" out. My mom is awesome! She just told me that she was looking into some older community place in Vegas and it looked sweet. I just don't know how the heck I'd be able to take advantage of the place because apparently we younger ones are not allowed. Oh well...

I got some Jamba Juice today which totally hit the spot. It stinks that they increased the price by 35 cents but it is definitely understandable being that California lost about $1 billion dollars of crops over this winter freeze. We drove around downtown for just a little bit and got dropped off at the airport. Found out that the PPR number works great and Justin and I were on our way to play more of the standby game. We were numbers 2 and 3 and got seats 1 and 2 out of three available. We were lucky. Our backup plans seemed good too, but this early flight was just right. The Captain announced that the flight was going to be 3 hours and 22 minutes and I was shocked! Everyone screamed a little bit on our landing in Atlanta which startled me a little bit but I thought that the crew did awesome especially in the weather that they were facing.

Ate some Ruby Tuesday's and then I'm off to bed! Goodnight! I'm going to try and head out somewhere this week, but from what I've seen, its hell trying to get on standby on a Delta flight. We'll see how things pan out. I can't really risk too much you know?

For more pictures from the trip. click here

to ride along in the air

I just found out today, by testing it out for myself, that I was able to list myself on Delta's system. The next obstacle would be to find out what fares I need to pay for and to find out whether or not I can actually use this system. Supposedly because I was able to go through with it, it should be okay! I even found it on my itinerary under Delta.com. It's going to be an interesting day today.

I did well on the System Final today. We had a great "review" prior to taking the test which helped out a bit but I ended up still averaging a 98%. Can't do anything about it anymore. I'm just looking forward to actually putting my knowledge to the test and practicing all the flows. This is when the fun begins! I can't hardly wait, but the amount of more studying to do is going to be a handful.

My friend at another airline took some good pictures today. You should check them out at http://klubic.blogspot.com. He's been good at updating his site every other day. I also have another friend from ASA who is working on his website. You can find that here. http://www.eachristiansen.com. It's a work in progress, but I'm sure that it's going to turn into something awesome!

of test taking....

I'm really going to start running out of titles for each new blog but anyways back the topic of this entry: I HAVE A TEST TOMORROW!!! It's just the written version and it shouldn't be that difficult, but I know that I'll miss a couple here and there. Hopefully I won't. You know what? It'll never end...this test taking thing. I guess there really isn't any other way to put numbers on someones knowledge of detail of skill on double checking. You know of course that that's where I fall short. I always not only question myself, but only if and only if I really really know and think that I am right, I'll be 75% sure of the answer. Not even 99% sure. I really hope that I do really well tomorrow and I think that I will but of course there are other things that I should be worrying about especially what's in store for me in the upcoming weeks. It's only going to get a little more difficult.

Back to studying!

• Breakfast - cereal and a nutri grain bar
• Lunch - two cans of Starkist tuna with some bread and cheese and lots of carrots
• Dinner - canned Chef Boy R Dee something along the lines of beef and pasta and a triple layer cheese sandwich

This diet isn't going to get me back to my old waste line huh? I'm totally like growing outward now. Good thing that I finally just gave in but I still own a good pair of motivational pants (my old size) that I'll try in 30 days. I'm going to try to work on it. I just need to workout a little bit more. Goodnight!

...of moving

I just got reassigned to LAX about a week ago and even though I won't be showing up for duty until May 1st, I can't hardly wait! It's so exciting!!! I'm heading back west. Because of that move of mine though, I'm at the bottom (2nd from last) on the seniority of first officer pilots out of 50. It kind of stinks, but hey...seniority is everything and I'm a brand new fish. I even just moved up a couple of spots because the roster grew by 20 more this part 15th with the new January training class. So, right now, I'm just thinking of what my living quarters will be like, where in the LA area, where in the Atlanta area will I be staying for the 1.5 months after IOE...there's just so many things to take care of. This Saturday will mark the 1 month date of when I started and when all my benefits commence. I can't wait!

I ate lunch at Smokey Bones!!! I'm loving it there. Made a production of it today and it ended up that 8 of us ate there. It was just so good! The pulled pork combo with two sides, loaded mashed potatoes and BBQ baked beans rock! I also got to catch up on two of my shows tonight and studied all my flash cards again. It's almost getting easier but I also started the Immediate Action Items and got most of those taken care of as well. It's going well really, but I'm still scared for the oral exam. I finished the Computer Based Training (CBT) Lessons so I'll be hopefully using my time wisely after the lunch break to continue studying for the systems final on Friday.

I worked out tonight again...had a can of tuna fish with hot sauce afterwards and now I'm headed to bed. By the way, more contract negotiations and mediation should be taking place on February 5th and 6th so I'm crossing my fingers. Looks like that is after the fact of when Delta is suppose to be finalizing their Request For Proposals and announcing who is going to do what regional flying for them.

...living without roommates

This past 3 weeks have gone by rather quickly and I have to admit that living by myself in a hotel room once again has yet to spike the "awesome" meter. As I tell everyone else, it's only cool when you're 18, single and wouldn't mind inviting people upstairs every now and then. Living the true penthouse life-style. Well, that couldn't be done here either at the oh so luxurious Red Roof Inn, Atlanta North. It's quite enjoyable when you hear little scratching between the walls then upon breakfast, your peers tell you that what you hear is the sound of mice. That's a spike in the sarcastic "awesome" meter.

Again, back to the subject, I've since lived in a place where there was always social interaction with at least someone else. From 2005 up until living in the hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Luxembourg and now, it's just not fun. Even though there are more than 16 of us floating around the floors and halls of this hotel, not to mention the other 30 or so new employees, it just doesn't have the common room effect where you could just lie down on a coach, talk random stuff and "hang out." It almost is a production every time you want to get people together. Don't get me wrong, we're all here for one thing and that is training, but still, a living room can bring the needed ingredient for sanity...at least on my end.

I was able to get a lot of studying done tonight and am surprised by the amount of notecards that I have learned. It's definitely one of the best strategies to get to know simple facts quickly. Now if I could only get the memory action items down pack, I think that I would be 50% ready for the test on Friday. We'll see how my studying goes for tomorrow.

Let's see here is my dining menu for today:

• Breakfast - One Jimmy Dean's Ham Cheese Sandwich (where after I microwaved the thing, all the cheese melted onto the plate so I had to improvise and just eat an American Kraft singles square along side it), one glass of orange juice, bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal and a Banana.
• Lunch - amazing leftovers from Smokey Bones which included half of my leftover Pulled Pork Sandwich, 1 potato skin loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon, and 1 chicken strip.
• Dinner - Canned Italian Ravioli, Deli Meat Sandwich with melted cheese and some carrots with dip.

All of this was within the confines of my awesome hotel room. I have to say that I'm very happy that I was able to save up a little money today. I even went back to Best Buy to exchange my camera, bought some batteries, and still spent less because I brought the $30 worth of coupons. Good deal! After that, Eric, Justin and I went to Barnes and Nobles and I didn't buy a thing! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

Now, if I could only find some time to actually configure my Linksys Router to the DD-WRT firmware, I could share my internet connection and save more money! Loving it! I didn't get to work out today, but at least I ate well and am drinking way too much water. I'm doing just about 750 mL every hour or two which definitely is just awesome!

sports news: Bill Parcells retired today so does that mean that the Chargers are going to lose another one of their staffing coaches, Wade Phillips? It's going to be a tough year next year. We're already lined up to play both SuperBowl contenders. How exciting!

of studying...

I need to study A LOT!!! I mean, like this past weekend, I only put in a couple of hours rather than the multiple hours I should have put in. I'm going to be hurting this week if I don't dedicate more time towards this. Don't count on multiple updates till the end of this week.

This past weekend was pretty chill. I got to go out back to the Lotus Lounge with Matty P and Kurt. That was a lot of fun and it just got me a little more points with the "scene" around here. I met an awesome bartender named Tim and the GM once again. It's a pretty chill place. The Raspberry Mojitos are awesome too.

Saturday was a late start with me just laying in bed recovering. I hadn't drink that much in a while but I definitely enjoyed myself. I just did some errands on Saturday. Best Buy, Barnes and Nobles, Sports Authority where I bought a kick ass water bottle. Since then, I've been drinking non stop! It's just so good. As long as I get the 64 ounces (~2 liters) or so it's all good for me. They say about 3 liters is the ideal if you are working out and are trying to diet a bit and that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I bought a pair of "diet" pants. I still wear a 32x32 but this one brand just doesn't want to work with me. That's my goal for the next 30 days. I'm also going to be doing some running every other night for 15 minutes. Hopefully that'll help a little. I also got some Nike Dry-Fit shirts on sale from Sports Authority but they were L and apparently that was gigantic so I exchanged them for Mediums. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure they'll fit too. I returned the shorts and saved some money. =)

I bought a new webcam because the last one I sold while I was in Luxembourg to a colleague. I bought the Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX for $57.99 because the next step, the 5000, was $89.99. I just happen to go back today and saw that the 5000 was on sale for $59.99, so I'll have to pick that one up instead. The only difference is that it has RightLight 2 Technology which probably won't be that much of a difference, but what the heck. I'm still debating on how to solve my external hard drive issue. We'll see soon.

I had Smokey Bones today which was a truly amazing experience. The prices weren't that high and the amount was a generous portion. I'm ready to have some left overs tomorrow for lunch. I'm going to try to not eat out at all this entire week. We'll see how long that goes with PB&J, Turkey, Ham Sandwichs, some carrots and whatever else. I still have some Cup-O-Noodle and some Ravioli things. I think that I'll do just fine.

Condolences to the family of the pilot who passed away on takeoff of the Continental Flight. I'm glad that everything turned out safely for the rest of the passengers.

Bears freaking just took that game away! I can't believe that the Chargers are losing Cam Cameron to the Dolphins. Hopefully he won't take that many people with him! He was a damn good offensive coordinator but he definitely deserves his chance. He would have taken over for Marty next year! I wonder why he didn't leave?! And we're losing our Tight End coach too! It's just all over the place for the coaching staff next season. Who knows, Carroll might end up down here! That would be pretty cool!