Being a First Officer, I am second in command. We act as a crew, and for 99.9% of the situations that come up, we discuss and decide as a crew. Sometimes my opinion gets thrown out the window. Such as what happened yesterday.
Spring time in Texas means storms. We have had quite a few. Yesterday I flew from Amarillo to DFW at 6AM. I looked at the radar before I left the hotel and saw a line of Thunderstorms from Amarillo to new DFW. There was a way around the storms by going west and then south to go around the back of the storm.
After take off ATC (Air Traffic Control) advised us to head south and to avoid the worst of the weather. The Captain and I both had our weather RADAR on. We could also see outside. The radar was full of nice pretty colors (meaning bad weather). The view outside was the same. The Captain chose to decline the advice from ATC and fly throught the storm. I advised that it might be a good idea to head south. The Captain stated he didn't want ATC flying "his" plane and that we had a good idea of what the ride would be like.
There was nearly non-stop lightening all around the plane. The turbulence was non-stop. The ride was bad enough that the flight attendants had to remain seated. I am used to turbulence and am rarely bothered by it. The bumps were enough for me to cinch down my seatbelt and shoulder harnesses.
Due to the cold temperatures, high humidity and rain, I had to turn on every safety system we have. I turned on the anti-ice systems to keep the wings and engines free of ice. I then armed the continuous ignition systems to keep the engines from flaming out. The turbulence mode was turned on for the autopilot to allow the plane to deviate from the desired course more than normal (to keep the autopilot from contstantly correcting the course due to turbulence).
For 35 minutes non-stop we were kicked around.
After getting home I looked at the flight path with the weather overlayed as it existed during the flight. If we had gone south we would have avoided most of the weather.
[singlepic id=493 w=640 h=480 float=center]
If we had just gone south and west we could have avoided most of the weather and had a smooth flight. Pilots are confident and remain cool and collected most of the time. During this flight I did have a moment or three that we just might not make it.
The next flight was to Des Moines, IA. This was MY leg. I looked at the RADAR before we left and had a plan of attack in mind.
We had enough fuel on board to literally fly to Boston...but we were only going Des Moines. The line of storms was still there. I decided to fly north east and climb until I could find a "hole" in the weather. Just east of Texarkana I found my hole. The ride was much better and we didn't need any of the extra safety systems turned on.
[singlepic id=495 w=640 h=480 float=]
I learn things from each Captain I fly with. Some good....some bad. One day I will be Captain. It's good to be the Captain.
On a totally unrelated note a friend of mine (also a pilot for my airline) had a baby boy today....named him Bergen. Interesting name. Photos can be seen here http://lintonlanding.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
$100 Steak lunch.......at The Big Texan
I am in Amarillo. The plan was for me to fly the flight here and have Kelli in the back as a passenger. I haven't flown a flight with her on board. At the last minute the flight downgraded to a smaller plane which I don't fly. Oh well. Kelli and I both rode in the back as passengers.
After we arrived Kelli got the rental car while I got my bags. We made our way to The Big Texan Steakhouse. The Big Texan is known for their "Eat a 72 oz steak and the dinner is free". We wouldn't be doing that.
We forgot today is Mother Day. The restaurant was packed! We walked around the gift shop and the waiting area. They had slot machines for play! They were play only...couldn't win any real money. I didn't play.
After being seated we chose to go for the Mothers Day buffet. The buffet was $7 for Mothers...$15 for everyone else. Kelli is an honest person. The waitress asked if she was a mother, Kelli said "I could be". Hmm...
We ate a lot of food. A lot of food. The bill came...both full price. The reason I titled this blog "$100 Steak lunch is related to the term "$100 Hamburger". This is basically flying out to a city just for lunch. Kelli and I had $100 BBQ two years ago. Nice. On the way out the Richmond gene kicked in and Kelli bought some homemade fudge.
[singlepic id=490 w=320 h=240 float=center]
The candy area had these really pretty bubblegum candy thingies. Be a shame to actually eat one.
[singlepic id=489 w=320 h=240 float=center]
Big Tex has a fleet of limos offering free pickup in the area....not sure about return service though. In true Texas style they all have horns on the front.
[singlepic id=492 w=320 h=240 float=center]
The hotel I was staying at was just down the street. She had a few hours before her flight. We hung out for a bit and she made her way back to the airport. Since I work for the airline I told her the inbound plane was delayed. At the time it was only 30 minutes or so late.
After she arrived she sent me a text. The plane was still in Dallas with mechanical problems! Nice. Eventually the plane left Dallas.
Kelli then sent me a text that police were standing by to meet the plane. Turns out a passenger assaulted a Flight Attendant. I know one of the Flight Attendants very well as I flew a whole month with him. I know the Captain very well also.
The plane arrived. The passenger (an old man) was escorted off. The plane ended up leaving an hour and a half late. Kelli has bad luck when she tags along with me on my trips.
She came along with me for the first time a few months ago when I went to Shreveport. The overnight then was 18 hours long on a Sunday. Shreveport has a casino. We love to gamble. We rented a car and had a great time gambling. I would be flying the first flight out the next day. Before we left to go to Shreveport, the return flight to Dallas had 40+ open seats. When we got back to the hotel after gambling the flight was full. A flight had canceled that night and all the passengers rolled over to the morning. I tried to reassure Kelli that the first flight of the day is the most missed flight as passengers sleep in/decide to take a later flight/just don't show up.
In the morning we drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car. The rest of the crew was taking the hotel van. The ground crew were a little confused seeing me arrive by myself. I prepped the plane for the return flight before the crew arrived. The plane sat right in front of the departure gate and I could see my wife from the cockpit. She sent me a text that ALL the passengers showed up and she wouldn't be getting on. Feeling bad for my wife I went up to the gate and gave her my laptop bag. The passengers gave us an odd look. Here was this pilot giving his laptop bag to some passenger? Yeah. Kelli then sat in the airport for 12 HOURS missing 7 other flights! A flight attendant who was commuting to work (and also getting bumped off flights) saw Kelli sitting there and asked if she worked for the airline. After a few minutes the flight attendant realized she knew ME and told Kelli that if she didn't get on a flight she could stay the night at her house. Airline people take care of each other. Thankfully they got on a flight home.
Kelli is on her way home now. Not sure if she will ever come to an overnight with me again.
This trip has been fun. I made two butter smooth landings today. They were kind of exciting. With low clouds I didn't see the runway until 10 seconds prior to landing. Fun! The Captain I am flying with is 61. He needs to retire. Getting on there with his memory.
Tomorrow I have three flights before being off for 2 days. I am still planning on going to Vegas for the day Wednesday.
My mother in law comes in town next week.
In my plane I carry pets in the cargo area often. There is a switch that must be turned on for them to survive. If I don’t turn it on….whatever pets we have in the back will likely freeze to death. As part of our checklist we always turn it on after takeoff. What the switch does is allow conditioned cabin air (after it’s been passed through all the smells associated with the cabin) to enter the cargo compartment. During the summer I will turn the switch on before we leave the gate to keep the pets at a comfortable temperature. Anyway here is a picture of the “dead puppy switch”.
[singlepic id=488 w=320 h=240 float=center]
I have yet to kill I pet....I always check!
Time for the Amazing Race finale.
After we arrived Kelli got the rental car while I got my bags. We made our way to The Big Texan Steakhouse. The Big Texan is known for their "Eat a 72 oz steak and the dinner is free". We wouldn't be doing that.
We forgot today is Mother Day. The restaurant was packed! We walked around the gift shop and the waiting area. They had slot machines for play! They were play only...couldn't win any real money. I didn't play.
After being seated we chose to go for the Mothers Day buffet. The buffet was $7 for Mothers...$15 for everyone else. Kelli is an honest person. The waitress asked if she was a mother, Kelli said "I could be". Hmm...
We ate a lot of food. A lot of food. The bill came...both full price. The reason I titled this blog "$100 Steak lunch is related to the term "$100 Hamburger". This is basically flying out to a city just for lunch. Kelli and I had $100 BBQ two years ago. Nice. On the way out the Richmond gene kicked in and Kelli bought some homemade fudge.
[singlepic id=490 w=320 h=240 float=center]
The candy area had these really pretty bubblegum candy thingies. Be a shame to actually eat one.
[singlepic id=489 w=320 h=240 float=center]
Big Tex has a fleet of limos offering free pickup in the area....not sure about return service though. In true Texas style they all have horns on the front.
[singlepic id=492 w=320 h=240 float=center]
The hotel I was staying at was just down the street. She had a few hours before her flight. We hung out for a bit and she made her way back to the airport. Since I work for the airline I told her the inbound plane was delayed. At the time it was only 30 minutes or so late.
After she arrived she sent me a text. The plane was still in Dallas with mechanical problems! Nice. Eventually the plane left Dallas.
Kelli then sent me a text that police were standing by to meet the plane. Turns out a passenger assaulted a Flight Attendant. I know one of the Flight Attendants very well as I flew a whole month with him. I know the Captain very well also.
The plane arrived. The passenger (an old man) was escorted off. The plane ended up leaving an hour and a half late. Kelli has bad luck when she tags along with me on my trips.
She came along with me for the first time a few months ago when I went to Shreveport. The overnight then was 18 hours long on a Sunday. Shreveport has a casino. We love to gamble. We rented a car and had a great time gambling. I would be flying the first flight out the next day. Before we left to go to Shreveport, the return flight to Dallas had 40+ open seats. When we got back to the hotel after gambling the flight was full. A flight had canceled that night and all the passengers rolled over to the morning. I tried to reassure Kelli that the first flight of the day is the most missed flight as passengers sleep in/decide to take a later flight/just don't show up.
In the morning we drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car. The rest of the crew was taking the hotel van. The ground crew were a little confused seeing me arrive by myself. I prepped the plane for the return flight before the crew arrived. The plane sat right in front of the departure gate and I could see my wife from the cockpit. She sent me a text that ALL the passengers showed up and she wouldn't be getting on. Feeling bad for my wife I went up to the gate and gave her my laptop bag. The passengers gave us an odd look. Here was this pilot giving his laptop bag to some passenger? Yeah. Kelli then sat in the airport for 12 HOURS missing 7 other flights! A flight attendant who was commuting to work (and also getting bumped off flights) saw Kelli sitting there and asked if she worked for the airline. After a few minutes the flight attendant realized she knew ME and told Kelli that if she didn't get on a flight she could stay the night at her house. Airline people take care of each other. Thankfully they got on a flight home.
Kelli is on her way home now. Not sure if she will ever come to an overnight with me again.
This trip has been fun. I made two butter smooth landings today. They were kind of exciting. With low clouds I didn't see the runway until 10 seconds prior to landing. Fun! The Captain I am flying with is 61. He needs to retire. Getting on there with his memory.
Tomorrow I have three flights before being off for 2 days. I am still planning on going to Vegas for the day Wednesday.
My mother in law comes in town next week.
In my plane I carry pets in the cargo area often. There is a switch that must be turned on for them to survive. If I don’t turn it on….whatever pets we have in the back will likely freeze to death. As part of our checklist we always turn it on after takeoff. What the switch does is allow conditioned cabin air (after it’s been passed through all the smells associated with the cabin) to enter the cargo compartment. During the summer I will turn the switch on before we leave the gate to keep the pets at a comfortable temperature. Anyway here is a picture of the “dead puppy switch”.
[singlepic id=488 w=320 h=240 float=center]
I have yet to kill I pet....I always check!
Time for the Amazing Race finale.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Back to normal...back to being gone
I am leaving today for four days for a trip. Until this month I have been home almost every night. When I was gone it was only for one night. This month things are a little more "normal" with me being gone more often.
Last year I was away from home 9-11 nights a month. I flew more....and was thus gone more. With the reduction in flying by the general public...airlines flew fewer flights...thus I flew less. The summer flying season is ramping up and I somehow got a normal (non-airport standby) schedule this month. Amazing. I think Kelli is a little annoyed at me being gone after having me home so much. I also think she will be a little happier with me being gone so much as I won't be around to leave a mess behind.
I go in for my yearly checkup with my FAA doctor on Tuesday. It's been just over 3 years since I started flying. My blood pressure has dropped from 140/90 to a more reasonable (and healthy) 118/75. All without drugs. Go me.
My sister in law might take one of OUR baby names for her next kiddo if it's a girl. We picked the name Amelia back on June 27, 2007 (http://byrdintheoven.com/?p=28). She can use it if she wants....ours will be the REAL Amelia. Bleh.
Mother in law coming in town in less than two weeks. We are supposed to fly back with her. Flights are getting a little full. We might have to get creative. As a backup we might have to go to Denver and then take United or Southwest to Portland. Getting back should be no issue.
I installed Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro yesterday. Windows 7 is the next version of Windows. Microsoft is allowing anyone to use Windows 7 for one year free of charge. It feels the same as Vista.
Tonight I am staying in a Raddison hotel. They have Sleep Number beds. Should be interesting.
Gotta shave my head and get ready for work. Back to normal. When I get back I will have been gone 7 nights so far this month. My paycheck at the end of June (when I get the per diem for this month) should be pretty hefty....enough to buy another slot machine. I love my wife.
Last year I was away from home 9-11 nights a month. I flew more....and was thus gone more. With the reduction in flying by the general public...airlines flew fewer flights...thus I flew less. The summer flying season is ramping up and I somehow got a normal (non-airport standby) schedule this month. Amazing. I think Kelli is a little annoyed at me being gone after having me home so much. I also think she will be a little happier with me being gone so much as I won't be around to leave a mess behind.
I go in for my yearly checkup with my FAA doctor on Tuesday. It's been just over 3 years since I started flying. My blood pressure has dropped from 140/90 to a more reasonable (and healthy) 118/75. All without drugs. Go me.
My sister in law might take one of OUR baby names for her next kiddo if it's a girl. We picked the name Amelia back on June 27, 2007 (http://byrdintheoven.com/?p=28). She can use it if she wants....ours will be the REAL Amelia. Bleh.
Mother in law coming in town in less than two weeks. We are supposed to fly back with her. Flights are getting a little full. We might have to get creative. As a backup we might have to go to Denver and then take United or Southwest to Portland. Getting back should be no issue.
I installed Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro yesterday. Windows 7 is the next version of Windows. Microsoft is allowing anyone to use Windows 7 for one year free of charge. It feels the same as Vista.
Tonight I am staying in a Raddison hotel. They have Sleep Number beds. Should be interesting.
Gotta shave my head and get ready for work. Back to normal. When I get back I will have been gone 7 nights so far this month. My paycheck at the end of June (when I get the per diem for this month) should be pretty hefty....enough to buy another slot machine. I love my wife.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
All this crap over $50?!?!?!?!?
Our neighbor really blows. She never cuts her grass. Her two tress died. She has had a Minivan parked in her driveway that hasn't moved in over a year. Her bushes are all overgrown. The only good thing is the state of her house makes ours look amazingly awesome.
When the fence blew down Kelli to the ropes and got estimates and then placed a detailed note (with a picture of the damage) on our neighbors door. The estimates were all for $300. We needed three post installed. Only two were damaged. The third post was to insure this wouldn't happen again.
I explained to our neighbor the estimate and the repairs. She said it sounded like it was too much money for the work needed. I then explained for me to do the work the materials alone would cost over $180. She said she would only help pay for two post and not three. The only way should would pay for three post is if we got our neighbors BEHIND us involved. The fence portion damaged was ONLY between our two houses. The neighbors behind us did erect a fence and attach it to part of our fences, but that in no way caused the failure. I tried to explain this to her. She relented. Fine, we agreed to split to cost of TWO of the three post. So her portion was $100 instead of $150. She got all worked up over $50...really?
The fence is all fixed. The repairman didn't leave Kelli and receipt. She is supposed to call and inquire about one today.
I had a fun day at work yesterday flying to Des Moines. Today I am just sitting in the airport on morning airport standby.
When I did morning airport standby all month in February I had a routine where I would sleep for 3-4 hours, get cheap coffee that offered free refills, watch TV for a few hours and then head home. This morning I am back on the routine.
Next Wednesday or Thursday I am planning on going to Vegas for the day to look at a slot machine. The Slot Machine isn't in Vegas...it's actually in Golden Valley, Arizona which is just 90 miles south of Vegas. I know I am crazy....no need to remind me.
I am going to install Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro today. Microsoft is allowing users 1 free year of use from the new Operating System. Should be interesting.
Just 4 1/2 hours left till I can go home.
When the fence blew down Kelli to the ropes and got estimates and then placed a detailed note (with a picture of the damage) on our neighbors door. The estimates were all for $300. We needed three post installed. Only two were damaged. The third post was to insure this wouldn't happen again.
I explained to our neighbor the estimate and the repairs. She said it sounded like it was too much money for the work needed. I then explained for me to do the work the materials alone would cost over $180. She said she would only help pay for two post and not three. The only way should would pay for three post is if we got our neighbors BEHIND us involved. The fence portion damaged was ONLY between our two houses. The neighbors behind us did erect a fence and attach it to part of our fences, but that in no way caused the failure. I tried to explain this to her. She relented. Fine, we agreed to split to cost of TWO of the three post. So her portion was $100 instead of $150. She got all worked up over $50...really?
The fence is all fixed. The repairman didn't leave Kelli and receipt. She is supposed to call and inquire about one today.
I had a fun day at work yesterday flying to Des Moines. Today I am just sitting in the airport on morning airport standby.
When I did morning airport standby all month in February I had a routine where I would sleep for 3-4 hours, get cheap coffee that offered free refills, watch TV for a few hours and then head home. This morning I am back on the routine.
Next Wednesday or Thursday I am planning on going to Vegas for the day to look at a slot machine. The Slot Machine isn't in Vegas...it's actually in Golden Valley, Arizona which is just 90 miles south of Vegas. I know I am crazy....no need to remind me.
I am going to install Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro today. Microsoft is allowing users 1 free year of use from the new Operating System. Should be interesting.
Just 4 1/2 hours left till I can go home.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Finally home
Kelli dropped me off at the airport at 6PM on Thursday. I had originally planned on being home early Saturday afternoon. Well crap hit the fan when storms moved in Friday night and stayed around all day Saturday. The weather caused my flight back home to be cancelled. Later Saturday night I was reassigned to work thru Sunday morning. Then on Sunday morning I was reassigned to work thru Tuesday evening.
Prior to this weekend, I haven't been away from home, for work, for more than one night since January. I stayed the night in a Comfort Inn in Little Rock Thursday night, a Crowne Plaza in Cleveland Friday night, a La Quinta in Little Rock Saturday night and a Marriott in Cleveland Sunday night. The first two hotels had hard beds...didn't care for them. The Marriott had the best beds of the four....which is a great thing as I was exhausted.
I flew for 18 hours over the 5 days. That's more than I flew all of last month. I am paid for 75 flight hours each month no matter how little I fly. If I fly more than 75 hours I get the extra money. The extra time away from home will help on my paycheck at the end on June. The nearly 97 hours away from home will net me $170 in per diem. That's more than I get in a month of airport standby.
Being gone so long really sucked when the fence blew down in the storm. Trying to help Kelli while being states away wasn't easy. It will be interesting when an offspring is involved. I did get a chance Sunday afternoon to rush home and erect the fence to let it dry out. I used twine to "rig" up a support system. Last night when I got home I bought nylon rope and made a much more robust support system. Estimated cost to fix the fence $300. Our neighbor is still out of town. Hopefully she will agree to pay half the cost.
A slot machine is still in my future. I was going to go look at one today....but I am exhausted. After working 15 hours Saturday, 12 hours Sunday and 9 hours yesterday, I need som timee to just sit. Right now I am working on going out next Tuesday to look at a few slot machines. The one in Houston is still my top pick, but the seller hasn't gotten back to me with more details.
I am now using Twitter. After months of thinking it was a silly communication medium.....I changed my mind. I have many thousands of interesting thoughts (well I think they are interesting) throughout the day. Many times I forget them. With Twitter I can instantly post my thoughts on this page. The Twitter account I am using is shared with my aviation blog so it might seem odd at times.
Prior to this weekend, I haven't been away from home, for work, for more than one night since January. I stayed the night in a Comfort Inn in Little Rock Thursday night, a Crowne Plaza in Cleveland Friday night, a La Quinta in Little Rock Saturday night and a Marriott in Cleveland Sunday night. The first two hotels had hard beds...didn't care for them. The Marriott had the best beds of the four....which is a great thing as I was exhausted.
I flew for 18 hours over the 5 days. That's more than I flew all of last month. I am paid for 75 flight hours each month no matter how little I fly. If I fly more than 75 hours I get the extra money. The extra time away from home will help on my paycheck at the end on June. The nearly 97 hours away from home will net me $170 in per diem. That's more than I get in a month of airport standby.
Being gone so long really sucked when the fence blew down in the storm. Trying to help Kelli while being states away wasn't easy. It will be interesting when an offspring is involved. I did get a chance Sunday afternoon to rush home and erect the fence to let it dry out. I used twine to "rig" up a support system. Last night when I got home I bought nylon rope and made a much more robust support system. Estimated cost to fix the fence $300. Our neighbor is still out of town. Hopefully she will agree to pay half the cost.
A slot machine is still in my future. I was going to go look at one today....but I am exhausted. After working 15 hours Saturday, 12 hours Sunday and 9 hours yesterday, I need som timee to just sit. Right now I am working on going out next Tuesday to look at a few slot machines. The one in Houston is still my top pick, but the seller hasn't gotten back to me with more details.
I am now using Twitter. After months of thinking it was a silly communication medium.....I changed my mind. I have many thousands of interesting thoughts (well I think they are interesting) throughout the day. Many times I forget them. With Twitter I can instantly post my thoughts on this page. The Twitter account I am using is shared with my aviation blog so it might seem odd at times.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
If I were a betting man....wait I am a betting man
I moved my schedule around this month in a pretty daring way. I set myself up to work 6 on, 1 off, 6 on. I figured (based on 4 months of data!), that I would be home most of the time (and nights). I haven't been away from home for more than one night in the last 3 months. Yeah about that.
I worked airport standby Wednesday...and went home. I left home Thursday afternoon and was supposed to be home Saturday afternoon. The flight to Cleveland Thursday was very rough. The roughest I have ever been thru. Somewhere over Indiana we got rocked so hard by turbulence the plane suddenly dropped 500 feet and rolled violently to the right. The Captain fought for over 20 seconds (which seemed much longer) to keep the plane level, while our altitude shot up and down. I advised the flight attendants to sit down. One didn't make it to her seat as was weightless for a while. Thankfully she has been around a few years and braced herself and avoided injury. No passengers were injured, but many has stained shirts from drinks being spilt and more than a few filled up the air sickness bags.
By Saturday morning everything still looked okay for my plan. Saturday afternoon thunderstorms changed the plan. I flew back to DFW and had to keep my hands on the controls for over an hour as we were kicked around by turbulence again. Not as bad as the day before, but close.
Originally my crew was to fly from Cleveland to DFW to Fayetteville, Arkansas to DFW and be done. Well we were re-assigned to fly to Little Rock, Arkansas and back...being done about an hour later our original schedule.
Once we arrived in Little Rock yesterday at 1PM, thunderstorms in the area delayed our departure. First by an hour...then another hour...then 2 more hours and so on. I am legally only able to be on duty for 14 hours a day. There is one exception in that I can fly up to 16 hours as long as the aircraft is off the ground before the 14 hour mark and I can complete the flight in the 16 hour window. Sixteen hours is a long work day. My crew started the day at 6:00 AM Eastern (5:00 AM Dallas time) Saturday morning. The flight from Little Rock to DFW normally takes 1 hour 7 minutes. Due to weather we were being routed over Oklahoma, to west Texas then to DFW. The new flight time was 2 hours 10 minutes. The last departure time we were given was 5PM Dallas time. We would be barely legal to go. Then ATC advised us that they wouldn't allow us to take off until 6:45 PM. At that point we knew we would be illegal. The passengers were in luck that an entire crew was deadheading (flying as passengers) on our flight and agreed to fly the plane to DFW. After waiting around the Little Rock airport for 6 hours, we finally went illegal and went to the hotel.
We were supposed to deadhead back on a 6:55AM flight ot DFW. At that point I was being sent back to Cleveland for an overnight. I didn't really want to go. I want to go home. An hour later my crew was scheduled to fly the flight back instead of deadhead. All of this was predicated on the DFW to Little Rock flights making it in. This morning I checked my schedule again. Two DFW to Little Rock flights last night cancelled. My crew is now going to fly back at 12:15PM. I then sit around for 4 hours before flying to...........Cleveland!
I'm tired. I really wasn't thinking I would be gone for 5 days. I packed for it though.
The flight I was supposed to fly back from Little Rock did make it to DFW, but not before holding (flying circles in the sky) for quite a while over Oklahoma. Below is the flight path along with the weather radar at the time.
Still loving my job. Not liking it right now....but still loving it.
I worked airport standby Wednesday...and went home. I left home Thursday afternoon and was supposed to be home Saturday afternoon. The flight to Cleveland Thursday was very rough. The roughest I have ever been thru. Somewhere over Indiana we got rocked so hard by turbulence the plane suddenly dropped 500 feet and rolled violently to the right. The Captain fought for over 20 seconds (which seemed much longer) to keep the plane level, while our altitude shot up and down. I advised the flight attendants to sit down. One didn't make it to her seat as was weightless for a while. Thankfully she has been around a few years and braced herself and avoided injury. No passengers were injured, but many has stained shirts from drinks being spilt and more than a few filled up the air sickness bags.
By Saturday morning everything still looked okay for my plan. Saturday afternoon thunderstorms changed the plan. I flew back to DFW and had to keep my hands on the controls for over an hour as we were kicked around by turbulence again. Not as bad as the day before, but close.
Originally my crew was to fly from Cleveland to DFW to Fayetteville, Arkansas to DFW and be done. Well we were re-assigned to fly to Little Rock, Arkansas and back...being done about an hour later our original schedule.
Once we arrived in Little Rock yesterday at 1PM, thunderstorms in the area delayed our departure. First by an hour...then another hour...then 2 more hours and so on. I am legally only able to be on duty for 14 hours a day. There is one exception in that I can fly up to 16 hours as long as the aircraft is off the ground before the 14 hour mark and I can complete the flight in the 16 hour window. Sixteen hours is a long work day. My crew started the day at 6:00 AM Eastern (5:00 AM Dallas time) Saturday morning. The flight from Little Rock to DFW normally takes 1 hour 7 minutes. Due to weather we were being routed over Oklahoma, to west Texas then to DFW. The new flight time was 2 hours 10 minutes. The last departure time we were given was 5PM Dallas time. We would be barely legal to go. Then ATC advised us that they wouldn't allow us to take off until 6:45 PM. At that point we knew we would be illegal. The passengers were in luck that an entire crew was deadheading (flying as passengers) on our flight and agreed to fly the plane to DFW. After waiting around the Little Rock airport for 6 hours, we finally went illegal and went to the hotel.
We were supposed to deadhead back on a 6:55AM flight ot DFW. At that point I was being sent back to Cleveland for an overnight. I didn't really want to go. I want to go home. An hour later my crew was scheduled to fly the flight back instead of deadhead. All of this was predicated on the DFW to Little Rock flights making it in. This morning I checked my schedule again. Two DFW to Little Rock flights last night cancelled. My crew is now going to fly back at 12:15PM. I then sit around for 4 hours before flying to...........Cleveland!
I'm tired. I really wasn't thinking I would be gone for 5 days. I packed for it though.
The flight I was supposed to fly back from Little Rock did make it to DFW, but not before holding (flying circles in the sky) for quite a while over Oklahoma. Below is the flight path along with the weather radar at the time.
Still loving my job. Not liking it right now....but still loving it.
Friday, May 1, 2009
I think I found my slot machine
It's located down in Crosby which is in north Houston. If I can negotiate a fair price I might drive down and pick it up next week.
The machine can easily be converted into other games with a different kit. This machine is the most recent machine (called an S2000) out in casinos. This model comes with a 4th bonus wheel, bill validator and more. Kelli will not be pleased. Yeah you read that right.
The machine can easily be converted into other games with a different kit. This machine is the most recent machine (called an S2000) out in casinos. This model comes with a 4th bonus wheel, bill validator and more. Kelli will not be pleased. Yeah you read that right.
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