A new approach

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Then he took me out to dinner with the $50 tip his last student gave him and made me feel better.

I decided, in a fit of humor and whimsy, that since A was so good at memorizing checklists and flows that I needed to make him a checklist to run through when I was in a foul mood. That way he would know what I needed without my having to ask for it all the time (as a woman, if you have to tell him what to do it just seems less sincere when he does it b/c he didn't think of it himself. It's a vicious cycle.)

So here's a sample of the flow for Someday's Feeling Unappreciated-

• Sit Someday down and ask what problem is
• Adminster hugs and kisses as needed
• Quote sappy lyrics of random love song
• Make empty promise to be sure to empty litterbox/take out garbage/pay bills/do dishes next time
• Take preventive measures against repeat occurance by sending text message with more sappy lyrics within following two days
• In case of serious disturbance- remove self and child to nearest pizza place and allow Someday "alone" time at nail salon or other pampering spot. Present with cash or reservation information prior to departure.

We'll see how it works.

And we are still waiting for to hear back from the airline. Darn it.

Mystery visitors

I've had 188 site visitors in the last 6 or so days. And yet, I've only had one comment the entire time I've been blogging here. I'm so curious as to who is checking my stuff and even more- is it interesting?

I've started in on the obnoxious email checking on A's behalf for an interview email. Logically, I know nothing will come before Monday, but still, what if it's there waiting for us to see it RIGHT NOW??? Damn my obsessive-compulsive personality.

Holding pattern

Ok, we got the application in. FINALLY. So now we sit and wait for the magic to work. Thanks to the school aggreement with the airline, he'll get a bump to the top of the list. I saw on the forum that the next round of interviews is around March 1, so hopefully he'll be invited to those. I know one of his friends had that quick of an invitation. So now it's just fingers crossed.

Two friends just finished their initial training with the airlines. Now they have about 4 weeks to wait before their next step. Boy, I can't wait for A to have that much time off, paid. I'll start working on my list soon.

I know that A is so nervous about applying b/c he doesn't want to fail. So he's procastinating. But I know he can do it, so I keep pushing. I guess it's what a supporter has to do.

One more hurdle passed

A is down to needing just 9 hours before he can apply. He definetly has senioritis and just wants to get out of there at this point. I don't blame him. I think a person can only handle that type of high stress environment for so long.

Passed the transition course with no problems. Scored 2nd highest on the systems test and had the best sim ride of the day. I think that after seeing the other people in the class do just as well as he did, even though they had had the prep time that he didn't gave him a lot of confidence. Hopefully it gave him the confidence to also make it though initial training when the time comes.

It looks like he'll be ready to submit an application next week. Except that he doesn't have all his forms together yet. Some of these things are going to take a few weeks to get if we have to request, wait for processing and wait for them to be mailed to us. I have been after him for a while on this one and he hasn't done it yet. I swear, it's like he's trying to shoot himself in the foot here. So today I had to collect info on how to request driving records from different states to help him out. Sometimes I wonder if I am married to a savant- the man can fly a plane but can't manage to fill out a form. I guess his being a technical person and me being a wordsy person extends to all facets of life. Somehow I always get stuck reading the fine print and handling the paperwork.

Thinking

A friend of our passed away sometime saturday night. She was found at the bottom of her stairs by her boyfriend sunday morning. It's currently unknown whether she fell down the stairs or collapsed at the bottom of them. Got me started thinking about what would happen to us if something like this happened to me. We'll be alone a lot, does M know what to do if he found mama hurt? He's only 4. How would the medical team find A to notify him? What if something happened to A when he was off on an overnight? Seems like we need to start thinking about a plan...

A is still stressed about the course he's taking. But says he feels better after watching some of the other people's sim sessions. They aren't doing any better than he is so I think he feels reassured. His friend arrived in town. Of course the school didn't have a space in the housing for him. I wish they would just hire me to work out stuff like that, it doesn't seem like it would take a brainiac to figure this stuff out (watch me end up eating those words in a few months...). He and the friend have a flight planned to Atlanta on Monday and I know they are both looking forward to it. Only two more days of this course and we can all breathe easier again.

In a year's time

Today marks a full year since A started his training.

I can't believe how far A has come. When we came here, he had 0 flight time and no licenses. Now, he's got all the licenses, nearly (19 hrs to go) 500 hrs tt, had 20 of 22 students pass their own exams and is a well regarded instructor here at the school. It's been a hard road, but I am so proud. It's taken a bit longer than we both anticipated, admittedly. We both thought that by now he have that coveted FO job. With all the year has brought, we've been slowed down by a few months, but still steadily on course. And most importantly, a)our family hasn't fallen apart and b)we haven't gone completely broke. Any year in which those two things don't happen can pretty much be counted on as a good one I guess.

This week A is taking the regional jet transition course. It is very intensive and he's been putting in even more hours at class than he did as an instructor. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. He's there at 8:30 am to study, ground school and then sim from 7-11pm. Luckily he was home this morning to kill the cockroach that appeared in our shower. Can't say the man is never there for me when I need him...

I have to give the teachers of this class some credit for taking extra time with him to make sure he gets through. He wanted to take the class 2 or so weeks ago when one of his friends was taking it. But they said 3 days prior was too late to sign up b/c he wouldn't have time to study the pre-course materials. So he signed up for the class this week. And they forgot to mail him the materials until 3 days prior to class. The notes say that you should plan to spend about 40 hrs studying prior to class. Well obviously that didn't happen. His teacher is helping him cram and from what A reports, he is doing as well as everyone else in the class. As stressed as he is about this class, he had better be. He is so worried that we will get angry at him for not being here. As if...

I noticed that one of the things the school told him to get ready for an interview is a copy of the marriage certificate. I'm questioning this. I can see needing one as proof of marriage when applying for benefits, but for an interview? As far as I know, it's illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of marriage. It's illegal to even ask about it in an interview. Although I doubt some hopeful FO is going to stand up in an interview and announce that what they are doing is illegal if they are in fact asking for marriage info. He'll shut up and hope he gets the job. I'm having A investigate further why one would need this.

Got a burning question for me? Ask away.