Friday, December 29, 2006

Light at the end of the tunnel

We had a nice holiday break. A had 5 days off. In a row. It was amazing. I know, it'll be the last time that happens for a while. We're already thinking about how we might work next year. I made A sit down and update his logbook. Turns out, he's nearing that golden 500 hour mark that means he can start applying for regionals. It's good to see that he's made so much progress. December was a slow month for building hours with the wedding/honeymoon, kid's surgery and the holidays. A is now the senior instructor so has first dibs on the available hours. Plus they are down a few instructors now. Hopefully the rest will come quickly in the next few weeks.

Been fighting with the green eyed monster a little this month. Two of A's former training partners got hired by a regional. They both started out with more hours than he did, so it's no suprise. But it's still hard to see them go and wonder- when is it HIS turn? Sometimes feelings defy logic.

We are still undecided about what we are going to do. I know I'll stay here when A is in groundschool. Originally I was going to go with him when he hit the reserve stage, but now he is leaning more towards me staying here where I'm already settled. I'm torn between going with or staying. Is it really so hard to uproot? Probably apathy will make the decision for us in the long run. I guess if I really felt strongly one way or the other I would be compelled to change it though. We'll consider moving more seriously when he is able to bid a line.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

What to do when bad weather strikes

Last week we had a few days of bad weather, low ceilings, fog that prevented A from being able to do any training. So instead, all of the CFI's had to do random office chores like reorganizing binders, pinstriping a new whiteboard, moving a simulator and painting a "hold short" line on the carpet.

He could have more effectively used the time to update his logbook and start gathering the info needed for applications to airlines. But then again, it's all about what the company needs and not what he wants.

He's picked up another cold, most likely from M, so he's miserable once again. I suprised him with cookies and snacks at the aiport yesterday to make him feel better and I think it worked for a bit.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Officially a pilot's wife

We tied the knot last week. It was nice, kind of anticlimatic for us since we've already been living together. But at least now I'm guarenteed the death benefits when he crashes into a firery pit. So that's good.

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on our way to our honeymoon destination. We were nearly touching down on the runway when the pilot pulled up sharply and we ended up doing a go around. That was interesting; I've never done that in a commercial jet before. It seems that someone didn't get their plane off the runway in time for us to land. The woman behind us was freaking out. It was funny to be flying there with A since he had flown there before. He was talking all about the approach, how it seemed like we weren't coming low enough in time, etc. And sure enough, the pilot had to really slam on the brakes and we were pretty close to the end of the runway. A reminder that professional pilots occasionally mess up too.