Thursday, August 28, 2008

What is work?

Working. I haven't done it in a while. I go fly planes mind you. But I don't work. I have fun. The only time I really "work" is when I get exactly 8 hours of "rest" between duty periods...i.e. over night trips. When I land at 10PM and depart at 6AM...that's work. I end up getting 5-6 hours sleep to work a 14 hour duty day with 4 or 5 flights mixed in. Flying tired is dangerous....and it is work to me. Most days though...I go fly around a multi-million dollar aircraft at hundreds of miles per hour...with one hand on 24000lbs of thrust and the other on the flight controls. I sweep around clouds to make it comfortable for the people in the back. Every now and then I am packing up my stuff in the cockpit (I literally build a little nest on my side of the plane) and a voice from the back says "thank you" or "nice flight". I turn around and smile most of the time. Today one comment stopped me. A lady poked her head toward the cockpit and said "Thank you for getting us here safely". I had never heard that before. I did make it as smooth as I could. I avoided big turbulent clouds. I made a smooth descent from 38000 feet and I made a very nice landing with minimal "throw you forward in your seat" braking. Anyways I wish everyone could do something that is just plain fun. I have a blast flying.

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