Monday, August 4, 2008

Getting Around

Busy last 7 days. Kelli and I were only in the same bed two nights in the last 7. I was in and out quite a bit working. She went to Sacramento,CA on Friday while I flew (for work) to Santa Barbara, CA Saturday. I still chuckle when I see my plane listed as a regional jet. Flying from Dallas, TX to Santa Barbara, CA....a 3 hour flight....is not regional. I flew back Sunday and Kelli flew back today. Kelli was my test subject of sorts by chance. The flights on American Airlines from Sacramento to Dallas were extremely full (oversold on a few) today. Kelli and I can travel on almost every airline in the world for an extreme discount (normally 90% off or less a normal ticket). I was always told Southwest Airlines is very nice to non-revenue passengers. Getting Kelli on the list was easy and took less than 4 minutes. I then called American Airlines and arranged for a travel voucher for Kelli to travel from Sacramento, CA to Phoenix, AZ to catch an American Airlines flight home. The only tricky part for Kelli was first stopping by the American Airlines ticket counter, paying for the voucher, and then going over to Southwest Airlines. She had no issues. The only bad part is we pay per segment and Southwest flights can have a couple of stops along the way. She could have flown to Dallas Love Field but it would have been at least 2 stops and the risk to getting bumped are higher. For now on I will stress less about getting home on American Airlines direct as we can always hop on Southwest (or just about any other airline) and either get to an American served city that has open flights (Phoenix was very open today) or all the way home if its a direct flight. Loving my perks even more.

So I will get to keep my job. However I will lose my seat in my current plane. Right now I fly the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 700 (CRJ-700 for short). They are reducing the number of CRJ700s in DFW (that's the plan, who knows if they will actually do it). I had a choice to either be based on the CRJ700 in Chicago (only crazy people who join the FBI move there!) or pick a new plane in Dallas. I chose the ATR 72 Turbo-prop. I could have gone to the smaller jet but the ATR has a better quality of life for me. On the ATR I will be #25 out of 60 pilots...so I will hold a "line" or a set schedule. On the smaller jet I would have been on reserve for a long time. The pay is much lower on the ATR, but I will be able to fly overtime which will help make up the difference.

Still debating on a motherboard and CPU solution for the security computer.

Our power bill jumped to over $300. We didn't use that much more power, the rate went up $0.03 per kilowatt hour!

I am still enjoying my multi-activity vehicle.

Looking forward to Vegas this week and seeing the finals of The Last Comic Standing.

My mother in law comes in for a week starting Saturday.

I am going to pick up a part time job picking tomatoes at a migrant farm in South Texas on Sunday.

I have been on a reduced calorie diet and exercising for about two weeks. I haven't weighed myself in over two months. I get too paranoid when I do. I feel better and my clothes fit better. I might weight myself some time in the fall.

Good times.

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