All posts by cs

What is old is new again

The trees were wiped clean by Hurricane Andrew ’92 but the nature trail / sea wall loops that I explored just the same, were lush with sea grasses, palmettos, shrubs and native plant restoration. My jog route was landmarked by the Cape Florida Light house on bottom and No Name Harbour at the top boundary. Lots of warm sun. I had the idea to contact the realtor to find us a winter home 😉 but BOURGIRL sez, “it’s kinda high rent” here. Aw shucks.

Flew Normals 1 in the Airbus Sim today which included a raw data, hand flown approach to Washington Baltimore Intl. While this stage involves deep concentration, this is because we are still absorbed in understanding what does what when why and how. The mechanics of the beast will become instinctive after a period of time as we progress. We will get into additional routines and abnormals, that will make these early lesson plans look like piece o’ cake.

first date

A jog between the aquarium and the mid span of the Biscayne causeway gave me a lift today. The city skyline view and the breeze and warm sunshine from the bay sparked resolve to go again — before the weekend crowd gets the same idea. Tomorrow, I am back in the saddle with a 0700 sim session.

too bright but notsobright

With the recent rash of “Laser painting” reports against random homeland aircraft and the worry and fret for industry economic health (panic amongst those who buy airline tickets), it was only a matter of time before they lassoed one. It is only too easy to arm oneself with one of these devices. They sell them at the Home De Pot in the shape of a carpenter’s level for less than 15. The sucker – caught – will pay a huge price as they attempt to make a poster child out of him. Nip this fad in the bud.

Pollo Tropical

The traffic signals take on new definition during the evening commute. Yellow means go. Even after the light goes Salsa, this means at least one more car and usually two get through. A reprieve of sorts — No study for tonight… The verbal exam for tomorrow’s AM has been pushed back. So, after a plastic cup of draft from the lobby (comp) and a few war stories traded poolside we ventured down Red Road for heaping plates of roast pork, black beans, and rice local style.

AB narrow body 1

Today started with a stress test, a 2 1/2 hour written exam, and several in our group had tummies doing flip flops. But, after we got rolling it was a routine validation of what we know that we already knew. We’d been studying the pure magic of system logic (a.k.a PFM) for most of December. Passing this milestone we were rewarded with the “dollar ride”, a 60 minute hop in the simulator. 30 minutes stick time, each. An intro flight that wet appetites and demonstrated the advanced protections that make our new bird the safest yet. The automation — impressive. WOW!

The adventure is in the journey

There are 6 in our group split between two flights. 3 Budget cars. Twoguys from the first flight take one each leaving the remaining car for thefour of us and all of our gear. We looked like Americans in Panama allcrammed into our plain vanilla sedan. The local traffic are either exoticLambos, M3s with dark windows or clapped out Toyotas or Nissans somerunning without lights. I mean literally, one of them physically had noheadlights (or grill). The local roads are near capacity and just crazy.We cruise by a lifeless pedestrian crumpled where he was hit whenJ-walking. EMT enroute.

choose your battles

There is this need to save face, maintain personal space, or defend your right of way. At what cost? Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest saved his honor but sacrificed a years wages — maybe his career. This guy may have been a superstar hero but now he’s reduced himself to a zero. The challenger has a whole lot less at stake. Whether it’s a Road Rage incident or a customer trying to push your button the lesson from the basketball game brawl is to just walk away.

Halo 2

Got ta have it. Used to be that your parental units suggested that you wait until your Birthday or Christmas, which ever came first. No instant gratification. But these days new toys are launched according to a production developer marketing timeline. Like a hot new car design or major motion picture debut there is plenty of fan fare, pre publicity, hype and a frenzy of spy photos, screenshots, trailers, leaked details and teasers. This culminates in midnight madness on the official day when you retrieve your item if you were savvy enough to advance reserve your copy of the much anticipate sought after and limited edition hard to get. Good luck urging Master Chief to have patience until his/her personal holiday.

benchmark record

Punch out at 1845. Hustle from Terminal A to the Main Terminal and out through baggage claim. Jump on an employee bus for the ride to the North Lot. Sprint to my airport car, jump in and drive the 10 minute journey back to the crashpad. 1905, stuff my rollerboard collect my gear and race it out to the car reverse course. Wait for bus and climb in at 1922. Cruise through security at 1930 and ride the tram back to my departure gate by 1935 just in time to board the 2000 flight home. Whew!

sometime i crack myself up

Worn out cogs and rollers or a SNAFU with the paper tray, my briefing packet held a blank page sandwiched in amongst the other sheets with the data. I rifle through them as I advise my crew of the pertinent particulars until I reach the blank. With a perplexed look, I slide it out and wonder out loud if there was supposed to be something important printed there. Their minds race for few seconds but get traction when they figure out that I’m just messin’.