DCA

One word....FAST!!! The approach into KDCA doing the River Visual into 19 is awesome but damn it goes by so quickly. I wish that I had more time to sightsee a little bit rather than just diving in. It was a good approach but too bad that it wasn't my leg. Tomorrow might be my leg out of here, but we'll see. I definitely don't want any trouble executing it correctly with all the restrictions surrounding the entire airport!

My auntie is picking me up for a quick trip to her house. Should be fun!

also quick note: tonight was the first night that I had some pretty good turbulence. It wasn't too radical but definitely rougher than normal. It wasn't expected either. I also had a 3.27 minutes ground time in ATL which turned into a 4 hour being that we needed a Captain. Shortage is here folks. Start the negotiations!!!

Does the July Schedule link work for you guys at all?

Am I really holding a line?

Being that today is the second day of my new 96 and some change line, I haven’t had the chance to feel any different in terms of being used up by scheduling to cover flights throughout our system. I ended up dutying in for a trip to Baton Rouge and when we arrived, it was known that we were going to be delayed quite a bit for the oncoming weather. As we were maneuvering for an approach into Runway 31, we were advised that there was a microburst recoreded 1 mile off of the approach end and the winds shifted to favor an approach into 22 R. Of course, the ILS was out of service and the last 1000’ of the runway wasn’t usable either. It was happening a little fast but the Captain made an awesome touchdown and there we were. We were planned to have a 3 hour layover which then turned into a 6 hour layover due to the ground stop in ATL for the thunderstorms and rain showers that they were experiencing. I looked at the weather radar and I have to admit that I haven’t seen it that bad in a long time. It was ridiculous! I’m just glad that we didn’t have to divert like so many other aircraft that was flying into ATL.

Anyways, on our way back to ATL 6 hours later, when I called in that we were in range, they told us that the aircraft that I was on was going to be a spare and that the crew had to call operations when we landed. I was excited a little bit to find out that the Shreveport trip was cancelled so that I could go home to my crashpad, but once I called in the times, I was told that I had a trip that was going to White Plains. I was able to get my bearings a little bit and print out a schedule in the D concourse operations center (the printer sucks there by the way. And it just smudges everything!) I headed to the aircraft that I suppose to be on and met a very cool Captain that I ran into a couple of nights previous. I have never flown with him and he is one of the most senior here at ASA. Well, to make this long entry short, we landed in White Plains, New York around 3:00 in the morning and we didn’t get to the hotel until 4:00am. I woke up around 11:00 because just thinking of waking up early for breakfast didn’t seem doable and then got ready to deadhead back to ATL. Here I am now in the aircraft just waiting to see what I get from scheduling when I land. The website and everything else was down the entire morning and I was able to see my future trips, but I’m running into federal regulation time issues. We’ll see what they decide to do to me!!!

update: Looks like I was released from the airport and from duty but I bet that it was only because I'm going to have greater than 30 hours in 7 days before I get to finish my 4 day trip this week! It's going to be fun!

waiting and waiting...

I decided that I should finally get my 10K mile service this morning right after the Valdosta Nap that I had. I'm not that tired just yet but I guess that I should be especially after having only 2.5 hours of sleep. I've been slacking when it comes to the daily things such as bills, car washes, you know...the basic stuff. I've been spending a lot of time just traveling and relaxing a little bit. Today marks the last day of my relax schedule as you can see if you click on my July Schedule, I'll be flying around 96 hours and some change. It's going to be a doozy and I guess if you were to take in the time that I am "On Duty," I'll be working more than 40 hours a week when you compare it to the normal worker bee. Make sure that you look at the calendar and see if you are going to be at the cities that I will be having a layover at and if you are, leave a comment...Let's have dinner.

I was driving yesterday to work while the thunderstorms were surrounding Atlanta and of course, we were delayed by a few hours. What do you expect you know? But one the way to the parking lot, I had my windows down and the driver next to me in a Honda Accord coupe looked at me, and rubbed in fingers together in a way while saying, "You making the ends eh?" I was just laughing a little bit, but I have to admit that I'm a little irritated that people or the general public still think that pilots make a lot. It provides for the perception that since we make so much that 1) We don't care about the passengers 2) We are too good to be them 3) We don't deserve the raises that we are fighting for. It makes us look spoiled and in fact, I have to think twice if I can buy a stupid value meal at McDonald's for breakfast which in fact I just did and it was good. We couldn't even get breakfast at the hotel this morning because they don't start the service until 0700! We left at 0545 of course to go get ready. The fact is is that ALPA needs to begin informing the public a little bit better at the airports or something. I mean, it'll definitely be a while if not it'll take me my entire life to achieve the American Dream if I just sit back and hang out at the airports.

I was on top of the iPhone news debut yesterday and am still frantically thinking about getting one. I can't believe it because I can't afford it, but damn...all the videos look sick! I guess I'll do better as long as I don't go to the store and look at one. I heard that once you touch it, you can't let it go. Damn this tech addiction!

Anyways, like I might have mentioned a few days ago, I'm going to try and be better in updating this blog. Please leave you comments and stuff and it'll motivate me even more.

updating + time

I've been just really up to no good lately. I've gotten lazy and after I get to the hotel at the various places that I go, I'm just tired. I'll try to better again in July and keep it more up to-date. I'm not sure if you have been following along but I'm activated the "twitter" feature and usually you can find the latest short ramblings to the right of the main title of the blog. It's meant to be short and sometimes I'm just that lazy to type anything out so I just use my phone. It's actually really nice.

I've also update my pilotcrossings profile with my full July schedule. (it's easy to look at my schedule as long as you sign up for it. It's free for everyone and its actually really cool. I'm blocked to fly approximately 96.06 hours!!! It's going to be a crazy month but I guess that I should get with the program and accumulate more hours rather than sitting on my ass. I get to fly to Freeport, Bahamas next month but its not an overnight. It should prove though to be a lot of fun. I can't wait. I'm doing the same trip for 3 weeks in July and I'm also planning to go to Anchorage to visit one of my buddies from CAPT. Should be fun and I hope that the loads work out!

My friend Bobby is finishing up his Doctor of Osteopathy degree and studying for his boards on July 22nd. I was able to catch up with him and he even showed me a thing or two. It's awesome how I'm at the age where my friends are now professionals. I still have a way to go till I get upgraded, but maybe once I'm there, I'll feel like I'm somewhat on par.

I haven't gone shopping in a while but there were some awesome sales at Ruehl, Abercrombie and Hollister so I had to buy a few shirts. I've been watching movies like crazy lately with Adelle. We were able to catch up with some of the latest and greatest such as Spiderman 3 on IMAX, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Carribean part 3, Oceans 13 (wow that's a lot of sequels eh?), and Knocked Up. The most fun was probably the last one but they were all somewhat entertaining. The most disappointing of the batch was probably Shrek the Third. They should stop probably with this one.

The iPhone is coming out and I'm not as excited for it as much as I am for the new Sprint Mogul phone. It can do just about everything but just has a smaller screen and runs Windows Mobile 6. There are a lot of limitation with the iPhone but I'm sure that when Apple can release different models on other carriers, I'll start to garner a little more interest on it. I'm probably going to call Sprint though and see what kind of deal I can get by staying with them. If not, then hey, I'll go grab the iPhone!

Padres are doing alright and we were first for a while, but once again, the hard division that we are in is just getting the best of us. I hope that it ends well though which I'm sure it will!

I'm checking out the Otterbox right now and am tempted to grab it for my iPod video. I'm into swimming more so right now as it is less intense than running on my joints. I just feel like doing it with some tunes in my ear. We'll see how the headphone set works with it too! I'll do a review or something of the set once I get them. Alright, that's enough right now. I'll post more later. CYA!

I was home this past weekday to celebrate my mom and girlfriend's birthday. I didn't get to do anything with my mom, but Adelle and I went to Sea World and just hung out. It was good times!

The Life of a Commuter

I tell everyone that commuting is worth the "better" life in San Diego and as long as I keep telling myself that, the 10 hours that I spend traveling back and forth is all the more worth it. I find myself spending less on gas which is awesome but a little more on food. I haven't done any grocery shopping though lately and my workout routine is suffering a little bit. I have yet to study for the new endeavor into the Air National Guard but we'll see how that pans out. I've got the books coming to me this week .

These last two days I've been eating a lot of hamburgers again and loving it. I just started spending more money too which isn't the best thing financially, but my stomach is definitely more happy! Last night in Fort Wayne, Indiana I headed out to a Bar / Club named "Club 412" and had two pints of beer along with an awesome cheeseburger. I had two pints of the Blue Moon Honey Special which was actually really good. I definitely enjoyed the night but I find myself having a little too much of alone time. Even this evening as I ate dinner in the A Concourse, I realized that being a pilot really takes someone that likes to be alone. I mean, it's easy to meet people along the way, but it isn't conducive to creating long and everlasting friendships; it's a colleague here and a friend there. I'm not complaining but the ride as been so far so good.

I met a guy on the plane who told me about a possibility in the Border Patrol and that might be an interesting turn especially if I get to fly! We'll see where it goes!?

I also did a little bit of shopping the other day and found a good deal at Hollister for a brown long sleeve thermal looking shirt. I got it at 50% off for $12.90. Then of course, I ended up getting the bug and realized that I needed board shorts and since Pac Sun was having a 25% sale off of boardshorts, I got a new pair of Billabong shorts and a Hurley Shirt. That's as much shopping as I have done lately except for the all the pilot stuff that I've needed and it was nice.

I'm on the plane back to San Diego right now and am watching the HBO Series "Extras" which is a hit in Britain. I have to say that it's just simply hilarious! It's by the creator the Office and the comdy is just excellent. I'm sure that it'll become a show in th US sometime soon and depending of the actors, I'm sure that it'll take off right away.

waiting...

So, I still can't seem to get the twitter flash widget to appear on my blog homepage on Firefox or Internet Explorer, but it seems to work on Safari. It's a little annoying really and I'm just thinking about simplifying the entire page because of this. So, I'm just waiting to get a couple hours of "time off" before I start on this journey. It's going to be a little difficult really being that its all setup and stuff. I'm just on happy with it.

Did you see that dunk last night by Mr. Davis?! Man, he just slammed that one in. It was like I was watching a replay from NBA Jam or something. Amazing. Also in sports news, 10Ks by Padres pitcher Jake Peavy!!! Tremendous job in setting the record for 4 games in a row with double digit strikeouts.

I'm waiting for a package that should come in today from a friend and we'll see what it contains when I get it. It'll be hopefully awesome.

I'm also waiting to see if I get a line next month. I'm not necessarily going to be expecting it, but we'll see what I get. I noticed that I moved down 3 spots on the CRJ FO list for ATL from #361 to 364 out of 435. My chances of getting a line are a little slim, but who knows.

The Office was definitely awesome but that's all I have to say. I'll end it with a quote: "may God guide you in your quest."

breakfast: spinach, albacore tuna, two slices of bread.

*blink*

I'm just coming back from a three day trip which ended up being pretty fun. I have to say that flying is still definitely exciting and fun especially when you have a great captain. Three day trips I find are a lot better than being out for four. I found that on my last roundtrip yesterday (ATL-AVL-ATL) I started to actually deteriorate a little bit in terms of preciseness and accuracy. It wasn't anything to make the flight bad, but my expectations of myself and those from my captain just seemed to be getting lost. I was missing a couple of call outs and I guess I could feel myself slacking off even though I was trying to stay on top of the ball. It was getting annoying, but I'm just glad that I'm resting it up.

The last roundtrip to Ashville, North Carolina was pretty fun. It was a short flight so I thought that I could handfly the whole thing. It ended up being quite a lot of work and afterwards, I found my right hand a little blistery from gripping the control yolk too hard and that I was sweating a little bit more than normal. There was some good weather and build up along the way making things a little bumpy and the fact that the airport was a little hidden away in the mountains, etc., made it feel like even more of a challenge. I'm still in the learning phase, but I was definitely more comfortable than ever before. I'm no 100% confident pilot ready for an upgrade, but I got some good words from the captain and that made me feel a little better about the whole thing. I even got some of those words on paper for the May Evaluation worksheet. =)

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Guard / Reserve and it seems like right when its out of view, something just brings me back into it. This time around, I'm going for an honest effort here to get myself back into shape for the interview in December as well as mentally prepare for all the various tests that I'll be doing. I have a good schedule in front of me today: work out, buy a study guide book and begin at least 50-100 pages of it, finish up the book that Justin is letting me read ("blink" the power of thinking without thinking) and getting ready for what might be another exciting night in Lithia Springs.

links...

Well, my friend Jojo finally just sent me some of the links that he religiously checkout every time he opens up a web browser and I found an awesome picture of a pretty nice looking athlete. You have to check it out at http://withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=2811. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed and don't feel guilty to think that she's hot because she just turned 18! But man...I'm sure that after a few more records in college, she'll definitely be attracting some seniors when she steps on campus. Anyways...

Flying my trip today was pretty fun. I have to admit that I'm feeling really good about flying here at ASA lately because I've been blessed with having some awesome Captains while some of my other colleagues aren't that lucky. I was able to execute a night visual approach with a little more confidence but I was still a little behind (or at least I thought I was) in spotting where the runway was. That led me to keep the automation on a little bit longer until I was aware of my situation but everything turned out well. My speed on was target and my two landings today were great. I feel like I've gotten over the hump or plateau that I had a couple of weeks ago where things weren't going well. It's all good now though and I'm happy. I find that I'm heading in to Cincinnati more often these days and it's funny that there are quite a few ASA pilots hanging around the terminal. It seems like we are all getting more than 1 hour layovers and have time to get something to eat which is awesome. We all happen to congregate around the Subway / McDonalds tables. Look me up if I'm in CVG when you are!

I'm starting to feel like I'm saving more money by bringing my lunches and I've been into the commuting the day of my trip. So far so good from San Diego as I'm not getting too tired and I'm loving the fact that I'm able to see my friends and girlfriend on a more regular basis. I haven't been able to see my folks that often though as I'm only there for a very short period anyways. I'm hoping to be home this weekend for Mother's Day and the Padres game.

I was able to see the Padres beat the Braves in ATL which was awesome. They lost tonight though. Oh well...tomorrow should be awesome with Maddux vs. Smoltz. I'm happy for Nicolas Sarkozy in France. That should be awesome esp. with the fact that he wants to change the French and American relationship a little towards a more positive one. I'm also starting to exercise on a more regular basis and my diet is getting better. Things are good and so with that, I'm going to sleep now!

Commuting back and forth...

It's nice to be able and come back to San Diego when I'm done with a 4 day trip. The only downside was that during this last commute I didn't have my Bose Headphones to drown out the engine noise. It really does make a difference in terms of fatigue and restlessness. I able to get some sleep though and it helped out. I came home to Lisa's place, hung out for a bit and then we headed out to get some awesome sushi at Niban! I love that place. I wish that Atlanta had some affordable food like that. I was able to save quite a bit though not eating out while on this trip and just eat out of my lunch pail. I of course packed quite a bit and couldn't help but eat a lot of it during the first day of my trip. I was just non stop.

I got to swim one night and then the next day, I ran 2 miles and biked another. It was definitely a good workout. I'm starting to feel a little lose around my waist again and it's definitely going to help me stay away from the freshman pilot 20. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I flew with a Captain that started out at ASA weighing in at 180 and 6 years later, he's weighing in at a heavy set 230. That's just not healthy. The time that we have in between flight to eat fast food really just ruins out diet and intake but we have to do what we can to keep healthy. I don't think that it's that cool seeing a really heavyset Captain let himself get away with it. The industry has definitely turned us into a group of people like that, but I'm not going to let it get to me.

I'm going to try to watch the Chargers Mini-Camp practice at 4-6 today. I didn't make the early one though because I just didn't want to get up. Hopefully I get to see some drills run. I got the new jersey last week and I'm just excited to wear it! I've been reading a lot more Charger news lately which is really getting me excited about this season. I hope that it ends with a Ring! The new jerseys rock by the way especially when put together with the white helmets! I'll be going back to ATL tomorrow and should be back at the Loxford Lounge for a bit. See you guys there!

a Crazy 10 hour duty!

It all began with last night's debacle in trying to depart Atlanta for Wilmington, North Carolina. I dutied in early and decided that since the screen said that the aircraft was at the gate, I would show up early and get going. I showed up to the spot at 2030 (8:30pm) and didn't see anything. I went back in the Crew Lounge and tried to find more out but didn't get anywhere. Finally, I got a call from Flight Ops and they told me to call the tower to ordered up a shuttle to transport us to the aircraft at Delta North which was on the other side of the airport. After a 3 different phone calls, a shuttle ended up picking us up 1.5 hours later. It was ridiculous! Then, we got to the aircraft, and there was no cleaning done, the aircraft was filthy, didn't have any catering, the lavatory was broken and deferred and the aircraft needed to be turned around. I was beginning to feel like it wasn't meant to be. I got the chance to taxi on Atlanta's new Taxiway Victor which is pretty out there on the departure end of 26R and 26L. I'm just going to make this story short, but after it was all said and done, we needed to get de-fueled, catered, cleaned up and boarded. About 3.5 hours after our scheduled departure, we finally left ATL for ILM. We made up a little time, but I got to sleep around 3:30AM. It was almost like a nap. I didn't have to meet the crew until 12:00 for the shuttle over to the airport which was okay but of course, the morning was a little rocky. I started up waking up at 1 hour intervals again from 8-10, then I setup my final alarm for 11:00. My phone's charging port is a little loose, so every time my phone vibrates, it comes loose and it just deactivates the alarm. It really stinks because that's what probably happened. So, I woke up at 12:00 exactly. I through my pants on, packed up and left for downstairs. On top of it all, there wasn't any power to the entire building because of the electrical shutdown they had planned and I had to find the stairs in the dark, ended up at the side of the hotel, ran to the lobby and forgot the lunch box. I went back upstairs to grab it, and it was all good. I thought that I lost my pajama shorts but I found them when I went to use the restroom. I ended up wearing them underneath my uniform pants! That was fun.

Well, after a 4 leg day, ILM-ATL-PIA-ATL-ATW, I'm resting in the Hampton Inn waiting for a 1500 (3:00 pm) departure. I went swimming tonight by myself and will try to work out tomorrow. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was able to get some good sleep on the Tempur-pedic Mattress in Wilmington. You have to love the Hilton there. The Hampton is nice because they have breakfast in the morning. I can't wait. I just have to wake up now. =)

Diet for today: Banana, Apple, Orange, Nature Valley Granola Bar, trail mix, small bag of hot cheetos, peanut and butter jelly sandwich, waters, Zesty Lemon Pepper Starkist Tuna Packet. It was a good day but too bad that I dont' have that much left for the next two. I have to restock on the fruits or something tomorrow morning. Till then!

and I'm back...

Hawaii was an awesome trip. I have to say that I did just about everything that I did when I went there in 1996 with my high school band. It was nice reliving the experience but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in how "modern" and "mainland" Waikiki has turned out. We got to our hotel rather late in the night, but when we arrived, it seemed as if I was just back in Fashion Valley Mall. There's new construction everywhere, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Coach and just about every other high end retail store on the main street that parallels the beach. It's isn't what it use to be but of course nothing is, yes I know. Next time I head in that direction, I definitely want to check out a volcano and head to the big island or Maui. I heard that it's nice to really venture out and get away from it all.

I just got back from a Nap to Florence, South Carolina. It was a nice trip but drama with the van driver was quite interesting. Let's just say that we might not be using their services again because of how awkward or threatened we felt. Just plain rude. I am reserve again next month holding a Nap line. I'm on reserve in other words from 1900-0000. It's kind of nice that way because I get to "commute" in the same day from San Diego.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to play Pokemon DS. It would be easier if I had the books that I've been meaning to read here with me in ATL, but they are all still in Florida. We'll see in the next few weeks. Chargers are making some good draft picks. A little interesting in the WR choice, but I'm sure that AJ know more than I do. The Padres are doing alright. Trevor Hoffman blew a big game, but I'm sure that it'll all start to click again.

I got my tax return of $600.00, but of course that basically funded this Hawaii trip. I'm still in debt and I just have one more month until my loan repayments start kicking in. I'm a little scared, but I'm sure that I should be able to work it out. I haven't gotten a chance to fly out of LAX yet as all my other 6 roommates have including a couple of other friends that I went through training with. It's kind of ridiculous how I can't get it even though I'm there. It's a little disappointing but what can you do. Here are some of the details. I'm in San Diego calling scheduling that I'm available to fly out LAX. They instead tell me that there are no trips available, have one of my friends deadhead out to LAX, take a trip the next day and I have to fly back to ATL to do a trip there. Even when I call and tell them both our employee numbers and ask for a trade, it doesn't happen. It's a little frustrating, but like I said earlier, what can you do?

I'm just excited that I actually got what I requested which was the Nap reserve in May. I am now #362 out of 510 which is pretty neat. I hope that I'm able to get a line next month, but it's all good. Alright, well, I'm finally going to get some rest. C'ya!!!

don't forget to check out trelijah under the links for some more updated pix and just random notes. I'm thinking of just combining the two blogs already. We'll see. I'm also thinking of just using WordPress, but I don't want to bother yet. We'll see. I just want to do everything and can't make up my mind.

getting home...

is impossible when you are on reserve. You're days are switched out all over the place and its just hard to finally get some flight scheduled are ready to fly home. It's definitely going to be a little harder, but its all good still. Adelle and I are still going to try to salvage what we have this up coming week and see where it takes us. I should be taking a flight directly from ATL to LAX then to HNL. We'll see how it works out.

Oh yeah, I'm in Cedar Rapids right now on a trip that I didn't think that I was going to get. I tried to get it swapped out but we're hurting so much in scheduling that they needed everyone that they could possibly get. We need pilots like every other regional out there.

Tonight's flight was pretty cool. I'm still trying to perfect the visual approach, but I still end up trying to figure out why the Approach Mode in the FCP (Flight Control Panel) didn't activate the 2nd time we pressed it. I ended blowing through the localizer, but made an awesome recovery and landing. It worked out pretty well, but like I've said before, it's not to my standards at all. The 10 knot crosswind landing though was pretty sick. It was a 90 degree and just blowing 30 knots up until 500 feet. It just all came together really well. I love flying by the way!

Packing for 8 days...

I just got scheduled for another NAP (or COD - continuous on-duty or also called a standup.) If you haven't already gotten the terms, it just means that I will be arriving really late at the away station and leaving back for Atlanta early in the morning. More or less, I'm going to be getting very little rest. I'll be arriving around 2200 local if there are no delays, taking a shuttle to the hotel (15 mins) and then try to go to sleep right away. Then I'll be catching a crew bus at 0500 which means that I'll be having to wake up around 0415 to get ready. I should be getting back to Atlanta around 0845 and hopefully, I'll be able to take a flight directly back to San Diego that leaves at 0900. If I don't get that one then I could go at 1100. It's going to be a long 24 hours but should be rewarding when I breathe the SD air!

Oh yeah, Adelle and I are also planning a trip to Hawaii this upcoming Sunday through Thursday. Should be pretty fun and like always, she's all geared up to go eat at these recommended places and do the touristy things. She's definitely a great little travel agent! Thanks beeb!

Two of my roommates also got LAX trips for the next few days! Why am I getting excluded from the West Coast Flying! I want to get out there bad. Hopefully I'll get out there for the last 3 days of this month. Hopefully, it'll work out well. =)