The Life of a Commuter

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I tell everyone that commuting is worth the "better" life in San Diego and as long as I keep telling myself that, the 10 hours that I spend traveling back and forth is all the more worth it. I find myself spending less on gas which is awesome but a little more on food. I haven't done any grocery shopping though lately and my workout routine is suffering a little bit. I have yet to study for the new endeavor into the Air National Guard but we'll see how that pans out. I've got the books coming to me this week .

These last two days I've been eating a lot of hamburgers again and loving it. I just started spending more money too which isn't the best thing financially, but my stomach is definitely more happy! Last night in Fort Wayne, Indiana I headed out to a Bar / Club named "Club 412" and had two pints of beer along with an awesome cheeseburger. I had two pints of the Blue Moon Honey Special which was actually really good. I definitely enjoyed the night but I find myself having a little too much of alone time. Even this evening as I ate dinner in the A Concourse, I realized that being a pilot really takes someone that likes to be alone. I mean, it's easy to meet people along the way, but it isn't conducive to creating long and everlasting friendships; it's a colleague here and a friend there. I'm not complaining but the ride as been so far so good.

I met a guy on the plane who told me about a possibility in the Border Patrol and that might be an interesting turn especially if I get to fly! We'll see where it goes!?

I also did a little bit of shopping the other day and found a good deal at Hollister for a brown long sleeve thermal looking shirt. I got it at 50% off for $12.90. Then of course, I ended up getting the bug and realized that I needed board shorts and since Pac Sun was having a 25% sale off of boardshorts, I got a new pair of Billabong shorts and a Hurley Shirt. That's as much shopping as I have done lately except for the all the pilot stuff that I've needed and it was nice.

I'm on the plane back to San Diego right now and am watching the HBO Series "Extras" which is a hit in Britain. I have to say that it's just simply hilarious! It's by the creator the Office and the comdy is just excellent. I'm sure that it'll become a show in th US sometime soon and depending of the actors, I'm sure that it'll take off right away.

waiting...

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So, I still can't seem to get the twitter flash widget to appear on my blog homepage on Firefox or Internet Explorer, but it seems to work on Safari. It's a little annoying really and I'm just thinking about simplifying the entire page because of this. So, I'm just waiting to get a couple hours of "time off" before I start on this journey. It's going to be a little difficult really being that its all setup and stuff. I'm just on happy with it.

Did you see that dunk last night by Mr. Davis?! Man, he just slammed that one in. It was like I was watching a replay from NBA Jam or something. Amazing. Also in sports news, 10Ks by Padres pitcher Jake Peavy!!! Tremendous job in setting the record for 4 games in a row with double digit strikeouts.

I'm waiting for a package that should come in today from a friend and we'll see what it contains when I get it. It'll be hopefully awesome.

I'm also waiting to see if I get a line next month. I'm not necessarily going to be expecting it, but we'll see what I get. I noticed that I moved down 3 spots on the CRJ FO list for ATL from #361 to 364 out of 435. My chances of getting a line are a little slim, but who knows.

The Office was definitely awesome but that's all I have to say. I'll end it with a quote: "may God guide you in your quest."

breakfast: spinach, albacore tuna, two slices of bread.

*blink*

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I'm just coming back from a three day trip which ended up being pretty fun. I have to say that flying is still definitely exciting and fun especially when you have a great captain. Three day trips I find are a lot better than being out for four. I found that on my last roundtrip yesterday (ATL-AVL-ATL) I started to actually deteriorate a little bit in terms of preciseness and accuracy. It wasn't anything to make the flight bad, but my expectations of myself and those from my captain just seemed to be getting lost. I was missing a couple of call outs and I guess I could feel myself slacking off even though I was trying to stay on top of the ball. It was getting annoying, but I'm just glad that I'm resting it up.

The last roundtrip to Ashville, North Carolina was pretty fun. It was a short flight so I thought that I could handfly the whole thing. It ended up being quite a lot of work and afterwards, I found my right hand a little blistery from gripping the control yolk too hard and that I was sweating a little bit more than normal. There was some good weather and build up along the way making things a little bumpy and the fact that the airport was a little hidden away in the mountains, etc., made it feel like even more of a challenge. I'm still in the learning phase, but I was definitely more comfortable than ever before. I'm no 100% confident pilot ready for an upgrade, but I got some good words from the captain and that made me feel a little better about the whole thing. I even got some of those words on paper for the May Evaluation worksheet. =)

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Guard / Reserve and it seems like right when its out of view, something just brings me back into it. This time around, I'm going for an honest effort here to get myself back into shape for the interview in December as well as mentally prepare for all the various tests that I'll be doing. I have a good schedule in front of me today: work out, buy a study guide book and begin at least 50-100 pages of it, finish up the book that Justin is letting me read ("blink" the power of thinking without thinking) and getting ready for what might be another exciting night in Lithia Springs.

links...

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Well, my friend Jojo finally just sent me some of the links that he religiously checkout every time he opens up a web browser and I found an awesome picture of a pretty nice looking athlete. You have to check it out at http://withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=2811. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed and don't feel guilty to think that she's hot because she just turned 18! But man...I'm sure that after a few more records in college, she'll definitely be attracting some seniors when she steps on campus. Anyways...

Flying my trip today was pretty fun. I have to admit that I'm feeling really good about flying here at ASA lately because I've been blessed with having some awesome Captains while some of my other colleagues aren't that lucky. I was able to execute a night visual approach with a little more confidence but I was still a little behind (or at least I thought I was) in spotting where the runway was. That led me to keep the automation on a little bit longer until I was aware of my situation but everything turned out well. My speed on was target and my two landings today were great. I feel like I've gotten over the hump or plateau that I had a couple of weeks ago where things weren't going well. It's all good now though and I'm happy. I find that I'm heading in to Cincinnati more often these days and it's funny that there are quite a few ASA pilots hanging around the terminal. It seems like we are all getting more than 1 hour layovers and have time to get something to eat which is awesome. We all happen to congregate around the Subway / McDonalds tables. Look me up if I'm in CVG when you are!

I'm starting to feel like I'm saving more money by bringing my lunches and I've been into the commuting the day of my trip. So far so good from San Diego as I'm not getting too tired and I'm loving the fact that I'm able to see my friends and girlfriend on a more regular basis. I haven't been able to see my folks that often though as I'm only there for a very short period anyways. I'm hoping to be home this weekend for Mother's Day and the Padres game.

I was able to see the Padres beat the Braves in ATL which was awesome. They lost tonight though. Oh well...tomorrow should be awesome with Maddux vs. Smoltz. I'm happy for Nicolas Sarkozy in France. That should be awesome esp. with the fact that he wants to change the French and American relationship a little towards a more positive one. I'm also starting to exercise on a more regular basis and my diet is getting better. Things are good and so with that, I'm going to sleep now!

Commuting back and forth...

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It's nice to be able and come back to San Diego when I'm done with a 4 day trip. The only downside was that during this last commute I didn't have my Bose Headphones to drown out the engine noise. It really does make a difference in terms of fatigue and restlessness. I able to get some sleep though and it helped out. I came home to Lisa's place, hung out for a bit and then we headed out to get some awesome sushi at Niban! I love that place. I wish that Atlanta had some affordable food like that. I was able to save quite a bit though not eating out while on this trip and just eat out of my lunch pail. I of course packed quite a bit and couldn't help but eat a lot of it during the first day of my trip. I was just non stop.

I got to swim one night and then the next day, I ran 2 miles and biked another. It was definitely a good workout. I'm starting to feel a little lose around my waist again and it's definitely going to help me stay away from the freshman pilot 20. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I flew with a Captain that started out at ASA weighing in at 180 and 6 years later, he's weighing in at a heavy set 230. That's just not healthy. The time that we have in between flight to eat fast food really just ruins out diet and intake but we have to do what we can to keep healthy. I don't think that it's that cool seeing a really heavyset Captain let himself get away with it. The industry has definitely turned us into a group of people like that, but I'm not going to let it get to me.

I'm going to try to watch the Chargers Mini-Camp practice at 4-6 today. I didn't make the early one though because I just didn't want to get up. Hopefully I get to see some drills run. I got the new jersey last week and I'm just excited to wear it! I've been reading a lot more Charger news lately which is really getting me excited about this season. I hope that it ends with a Ring! The new jerseys rock by the way especially when put together with the white helmets! I'll be going back to ATL tomorrow and should be back at the Loxford Lounge for a bit. See you guys there!