Quote of the Week

"I have seen the future and it doesn't work." - Robert Fulford

What an industry

Yesterday my employer was put up for sale.

It's an interesting feeling to have absolutely no idea what the future of your career might be. Just 24 hours ago everything seemed very stable. Now it's anyone's best guess...

The same thing happened to Continental Express, and it didn't work out so well for them...

ReRun

It is yet another holiday, and yet again, I am alone in a hotel room, far from family and friends. I suppose I'm starting to get used to this feeling. However, the fact that tonight's Thanksgiving dinner was comprised of chex mix didn't help matters. The only thing open nearby was a sports bar. Go figure.

Still, I have many things to be thankful for. Not least of which is the fact that I continue to live my dream of flying airplanes for a living.

In order to achieve your dreams you must make sacrifices...

Quote of the Week

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." Verbil Kent (from The Usual Suspects)

From the Airwaves

Recently heard on Jacksonville Center's frequency:

Virgin 1234 "Jax center, Virgin 1234 heavy checking in with you at 360"
Jax Center "Virgin 1234 heavy, roger."
Unidentified voice "Perhaps if you weren't so heavy you wouldn't be a virgin..."

Thanx to Russell for this contribution!

Quote of the Week

"Son, in 35 years of religious study I have come up with only two hard, incontrovertable facts: There is a God, and I'm not him." - Fr. Cavanaugh (From "Rudy")

Send the Volley Cheer on High

The mystique of the University of Notre Dame is something that has always captured my imagination. I have never been a student there, or even seen the school in person until Saturday. Somehow though, through a combination of the almost mythical football program and my Catholic disposition, I have always felt a fondness for the Golden Dome.

Back to Saturday. Thanks to the generosity of my good friend Caroline Cole, I was able to purchase two tickets for the Notre Dame vs Air Force game at Southbend this weekend. Needless to say, I was extremely excited. The anticipation of the event had been building now for several months, as I had never been to a college football game of any kind, nor been to the campus of Notre Dame. The day came, and it did not disappoint...

I worked until Friday afternoon and then spent the night in Chicago at my buddy Jim's house. Jim, an Irish Catholic, had at least a passing interest in the game, but perhaps a greater interest in seeing the school itself. We drove to South Bend on Saturday morning and ventured into the campus, where we met Caroline. She proved to be a mediocre at best tour guide... However, we were shown around part of the campus as well as inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The Basilica was a busy place, no doubt due to the well documented struggles of the Fighting Irish...

Despite a miserable season, Notre Dame Stadium was packed full for the game. Most fans in attendance left disappointed... The team, as has become habit this year, played poorly and lost by a rather large margin. The experience, however, was incredible. Our seats were right behind the student section, and watching nearly the entire student population act as one cheering on their Irish was reason enough to be entertained.

After the game, Caroline escorted us to the dining hall where a "candlelit" dinner was served to all students and anyone else willing to pay for the meal. The dining hall and the food were imaculate, making the food I ate in college look as though it came from a dumpster...

Well there is a rather straightforward description of my one and only Notre Dame experience. I still haven't figured out a good way to put into words my emotions and feelings during the visit. The Basilica, the Grotto, the stadium... Perhaps I was on sensory overload. There, in a place where some of the finest thought from some of the finest Catholic minds is produced, I simply could not take it all in.

Many thanx to Jim for his hospitality, generosity, and willingness to drive.

Many thanx to Caroline, who made this small dream possible.

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame!
Wake up the echoes cheering her name!
Send the volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky!

What though the odds be, great or small,
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching onward to victory!

I Should Have Called in Sick

So day two...

Two more airplane swaps due to maintenance, and we fell so far behind that I lost my Memphis overnight. So instead, I hustled over to United for the last flight home, and here I am. I guess I can't complain too much, I do get to sleep in my own bed.

Tomorrow of course, I have to be absolutely certain I'm at work on time... Just so I can go to Marquette, Michigan.

Livin' the dream...

Cold Bucket of Water

This was my first day back to work from vacation, and it was not exactly a triumphant return. The day started with a maintenance problem which led to an airplane swap. Later, we went to JFK, which was, as always, challenging. (New Yorkers! Ugh!) Then there was holding into Cleveland thanx to freezing rain, low visibility, and obscenely high winds. Toss in a 2 hour and 35 minute delay to O'Hare, and you've got a day served straight from hell. Great way to get welcomed back to work huh?

As I descended through the clouds and torrents of rain into Cleveland, with the wind whipping about at over 40 MPH and the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I knew there was nowhere I would rather be...

Back to Work

Vacation is over.


More's the pity...

Quote of the Week

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot.
I know of no reason the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot." - Lancelot Andrewes