for a perfect sim & pho!

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I'm going to do it. I swear I will. There will come a day and hopefully it'll be Sim #3 where I am not going to be making silly mistakes and making call outs with confidence. Really, I promise you. I'm going to try to take it easy tomorrow and just review a couple of small things. I've made about a page of notes on what I could have done better today and another page yesterday full of things that I could work on. Of course, I have to work on quite a bit, but I'm going to tackle each problem one by one and before you know it, I will be awesome! I mean, there's really no choice. I need to be awesome.

Sim #1 and #2 were both a little tough. I was basically just getting the feeling for the sim and it took a little longer that I would have liked. I have a good feeling though that I have it done. I just have to go in with the right attitude and keep it up. Wish me luck and pray for me please!

I found Pho in Atlanta almost two weeks ago and finally found the chance to head out to Pho Dai Loi #2 up on Buford Highway NE #G. It was great. I was like Pho Hoa Cali great. I walked in with Eric and it was just like any other Pho place in San Diego. The smell of familiarity made me feel right at home. You usually are seated right away, check, handed menus and water right away, check, and receive your food about 2.5 minutes right after you order...check! I was hoping to taste something that slightly tasted like Pho and I know that you can't really go wrong with it, but trust me, I've tasted Pho that didn't taste good but this was good! It was tasty and spicy and just right. I ordered the normal, noodles with rare steak, an appetizer of spring rolls and Vietnamese Coffee to cap it off. I thoroughly enjoyed it along with the company. I always enjoy going out to places and bringing along friends who have never tried a specific kind of food. Makes it all better and complete when its done and the other is satisfied. I'm just glad that it was what I hoped it to be. I'm going to have some rice and pork chop next time I go there. I can't hardly wait. Maybe tomorrow night for dinner or like on Friday. I don't know. I'm just glad that I have the option.

I also found an Indian restaurant called Rose of India somewhere around Peachtree. This website says it all: click here

Well, I'm about to just head off to sleep. Oh yeah, I fell asleep like at 1930 (7PM) last night. Sorry about not having an update. I didn't even get to work out either. Oh well, I'm going to take tonight as another break from exercising. It's probably a good idea to give my body a rest anyways.

seriously now...

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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...

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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

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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 getting on an open flight!

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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

...of moving

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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

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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 getting behind

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I just can't keep up with some folks when it comes to studying. I did take some rather longer breaks than normal today but I couldn't help it when the last few days have been just full of pain either in my stomach or my head. I haven't felt a headache like this since I could remember. Every time I get up from sitting down or lying in bed, my head feels like it just wants to drop to the floor! I didn't drink any caffeine today or sugary beverages. That is a break from the 2-4 cups of coffee a day and an added soda at the end. Could this be a caffeine headache at all? I was able to stay awake though in class so that's getting better at least.

So, back to trying to "get ahead," I was able to finish the today with a step out ahead, but when compared to my colleagues, I'm just on par. They too are where I am if not farther. I did end the night good with some checklist memorization with my partner but lets just hope that I recite them well tomorrow in the morning when we get back together.

I had a hilarious txt msg conversation with an old flight partner today by the name of Kevin Lubic. He just started his training at GoJets this past Monday in St. Louis. I wish him the best there as the timing with weather couldn't have been better! He also started a blog which you could find at http://klubic.blogspot.com. I've enjoyed his posts quite a bit because I could just imagine him narrating it. It is that hilarious to me. You have to meet him someday to understand his humor and take on things. Here's the conversation that took place on my phone while I was trying to get ahead.

Me: Did Gaven just tell Katie what he heard happened true?

Kevin: True that which Gaven heard is that?

I just keep on repeating that conversation to myself and it's a winner! It really is. I know that I didn't make sense either, but the premise of the conversation was just that...Just enjoy the laugh! Goodnight!

...to resist the contagious laughing syndrome

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Today's itinerary included waking up early and heading out to see some of the sights in the city. We first headed to the Georgia Aquarium. That was rather cool at first, but it was more of a little playground than anything else. I have seen better pet shops really that were more entertaining than this! Even Sea World beat the show hands down, no question. I'm not sure if I just wasn't feeling it, but I can't say that I would hit it up again anytime in the near future.

The CNN Center was really cool! No, I'm not some extreme leftist or anything, but the fact that it was fascinating was awesome. I didn't really want to see it because it was CNN, but rather because I wanted to know what happened behind the scenes and that's exactly what happened. It's really cool what goes on inside it all and seeing the live broadcasts being taped and how there were no actual camera men in front of the news anchors but instead joystick-controlled ones were amazing. One news anchor even used a foot pedal for controlling the speed of the teleprompter while using a clicker to change stories or whatever. They control their own taping!

At the very end of the tour, we had a chance to purchase a recording of ourselves in the Headlines Newsroom Mockup and my two friends did just that. They got to have a DVD created for them and I upped it to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. I'm probably going to have to edit it because it is too long (4:29 minutes) but the end is good. I didn't get to record one, but I will one of these days. Enjoy! Overall, I was pleased with the day. Watch the video till the end!