The season has come upon us. Wife and I sort of push back a little against the celebration of the season.
I am very much a sentimental old softy about Christmas. I push back a little in the area of pressure and deadlines. I know that the stores set up xmas products before Halloween, so when I saw that happen I was ready for it. Not shocked. But "holiday creep" happened again this year. "Black Friday" is now known by all, but has been expanded to the evening of Thanksgiving. So now while you are actually, virtually, celebrating Thanksgiving, you are indeed Christmas shopping. But that's not all. "Cyber Monday" has now become "Cyber Week". In keeping the pressure off, I have never participated in these shopping holidays. I don't care how many shopping days are left before Xmas. And I usually shop on Christmas day. There is a little liquor store near me that is open on Christmas. And wines and spirits make great gifts. During the season I usually get myself a few gifts while I am at it. It turns out I'm really good at buying myself stuff. Actually I get that kind of shopping done early. As far as stuff for me, my xmas shopping is done already! I feel good about that. I can check it off. We packed up a box of stuff for our son. He lives in California. We bought him stuff from Target, Radio Shack, WalMart, Walgrens. It's in the mail now. A few years back I bought a really nice artificial xmas tree. It was high end price wise and I bought it after xmas for pennies on the dollar. It has never been opened and I won't be setting it up this year.
I usually have a favorite Christmas Carol every year. I think this year it will be "Run Run Rudolph".
This song was by Chuck Berry and was featured in the movie "Home Alone" from 1990.
The song was circa 1958. I noticed something about the lyrics. The author refers to two Korean War era aircraft. The "Saber Jet" (which was the F86) and the "Shooting Star" (which was the F-80).
There's a new Christmas carol out this year. I saw it on the internet. I don't expect it will catch on.
It's a song defending Christmas from those who would dare to celebrate a different winter holiday, or none at all. The lyrics tell the listener if they see a "happy holiday" sign in a store window, they should walk by the store and not enter. If they are in a store and are greeted with "seasons greetings", they should walk out of the store. The listener is told there is only one winter holiday. The birth of J. Christ.
I know that fundamental Christians don't like people asking them to adjust their Christmas celebrations in public. They are happy and proud about their religion and their holiday. And rightly so. Are they truly happy with good will toward men if they believe that the winter season can only be celebrated in terms of their god? By not acknowledging the phrase "seasons greetings" and being put off by it, it seems to me the fundamentalist is showing fear and insecurity at a time when everyone is just trying to have a nice holiday season. The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. Everyone on our planet can enjoy the knowledge and feeling of the promise of spring. So let's celebrate. Why play "my god's better than yours" when we're all just trying to light up the long winter's night. Christians have to be constantly reminded that they don't own history, and they don't own the seasons.
To all my friends: Baptists, Hindus, Druids, Atheists. Happy Holidays .
LLITTY :::::+:::::
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
It Doesn't Matter Who Wins the Election
I'm long overdue for a political rant. This one will be somewhat bipartisan. Maybe. In terms of the big coming election, the conventions are over. The catty primary spats are over. We're 6 weeks or so away from the big day. There will be no significant third party or fourth party threat. No spoiler to swing the election. Just the incumbent and the challenger. Both candidates call it a "clear choice". Is it?
We all know, and everyone keeps saying, that both candidates are waging a war of advertising against each other that will go on for the next six weeks. Hundreds of millions of dollars. Both sides are being bought. Both sides are being invested in by the gigantic Wall Street international banking and cooperate oligarchy. Both candidates are beholdened to those who gave them money. We all know this in a bipartisan way. Your candidate and mine are bought and they owe.
It doesn't matter who the President is. The financial world will run the country and control the government.
Can this be changed? Anything is possible. But from where I sit, I don't see how.
There are a lot of books coming out right now about the shrinking middle class. It didn't happen because of eight years of George Bush. It didn't happen because of 3.5 years of President Obama. It didn't happen because of Democrats or Republicans. It happened because of normal human behavior. Should we be surprised that people are greedy and want to take everything for themselves? We are surprised, but we shouldn't be. We Homo sapiens are stupid. Very stupid. Being greedy is the least of our problems! We kill each other over territory. We kill each other over imaginary gods in the sky we believe in. We are stupid. That is why we can't eliminate starvation and war. So of course! we can't stop the shrinking of the middle class. It's just human behavior. Are we a thousand years away from having relations with our fellow man where the bottom line in disagreement is not violence?
How long will the Human Race survive? Of all species of critter ever on the planet, 99 percent are extinct.
What is the probability that humans will be around long enough to learn not commit violence against one another? Let alone set up a society where all creatures are treated fairly. We are stupid, we are greedy and we are violent.
Do I sound negative? I just want to be rational.
We are stupid. We argue about whether "global warming", more softly called "climate change", is going to be caused by man or caused by cycles of hot and cold. Or will radiation from war weapons kill the atmosphere? These things are bad. But they are not bad for the Planet. It only takes a few degrees hotter or colder to make Man extinct. The Planet will do just fine without Man. A forest fire is a tragedy for Man, and some critters, not the Planet.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: We are going to go ahead and kill each other. We are going to go ahead and cook the planet until we kill ourselves. We are going to go ahead and wipe out the middle class and end the U.S. as we know it. It won't be because of who wins the 2012 election!
Let me end with a ray of hope. I think it's a huge ray of hope. We are learning facts at a very fast rate. We are sending these facts around the world in seconds due to our World Wide Internet. If a new Genome is discovered from some unknown species and it sheds light on who we are, we can all know about it the next day. If we know more about ourselves we may not need or want to kill each other.
I met a very smart young PhD the other day, and we were chatting about evolution and how half of America prefers the Garden of Eden story. I told the professor folks could look at how our bodies are larger just since WW2. Then he said "Oh well, you can prove natural selection over lots of generations in the lab. Can do it in a few weeks." I said "Go on". He said, "Well yes, you get some grad students and some fruit flies and you raise the temperature in their container and half of them die. You take the survivors and let them multiply a few generations and then repeat the experiment by raising the temperature again and so on. Instant heat resistant fruit flies. Mutation, natural selection. No big deal." We talked about my dogs, and our mutual friend Professor Mike, and what we were having for dinner etc. But I remembered the fruit flies and the ray of hope not just for the next four years, but for as long as man is on this Planet.
If fear, superstition, and hate, and the clinging to old wrong ideas can fade away, there is a chance that science and technology can teach us humans we are all in this together on the planet we all share as we hurtle through space and time.
LLITTY ::::+::::
We all know, and everyone keeps saying, that both candidates are waging a war of advertising against each other that will go on for the next six weeks. Hundreds of millions of dollars. Both sides are being bought. Both sides are being invested in by the gigantic Wall Street international banking and cooperate oligarchy. Both candidates are beholdened to those who gave them money. We all know this in a bipartisan way. Your candidate and mine are bought and they owe.
It doesn't matter who the President is. The financial world will run the country and control the government.
Can this be changed? Anything is possible. But from where I sit, I don't see how.
There are a lot of books coming out right now about the shrinking middle class. It didn't happen because of eight years of George Bush. It didn't happen because of 3.5 years of President Obama. It didn't happen because of Democrats or Republicans. It happened because of normal human behavior. Should we be surprised that people are greedy and want to take everything for themselves? We are surprised, but we shouldn't be. We Homo sapiens are stupid. Very stupid. Being greedy is the least of our problems! We kill each other over territory. We kill each other over imaginary gods in the sky we believe in. We are stupid. That is why we can't eliminate starvation and war. So of course! we can't stop the shrinking of the middle class. It's just human behavior. Are we a thousand years away from having relations with our fellow man where the bottom line in disagreement is not violence?
How long will the Human Race survive? Of all species of critter ever on the planet, 99 percent are extinct.
What is the probability that humans will be around long enough to learn not commit violence against one another? Let alone set up a society where all creatures are treated fairly. We are stupid, we are greedy and we are violent.
Do I sound negative? I just want to be rational.
We are stupid. We argue about whether "global warming", more softly called "climate change", is going to be caused by man or caused by cycles of hot and cold. Or will radiation from war weapons kill the atmosphere? These things are bad. But they are not bad for the Planet. It only takes a few degrees hotter or colder to make Man extinct. The Planet will do just fine without Man. A forest fire is a tragedy for Man, and some critters, not the Planet.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: We are going to go ahead and kill each other. We are going to go ahead and cook the planet until we kill ourselves. We are going to go ahead and wipe out the middle class and end the U.S. as we know it. It won't be because of who wins the 2012 election!
Let me end with a ray of hope. I think it's a huge ray of hope. We are learning facts at a very fast rate. We are sending these facts around the world in seconds due to our World Wide Internet. If a new Genome is discovered from some unknown species and it sheds light on who we are, we can all know about it the next day. If we know more about ourselves we may not need or want to kill each other.
I met a very smart young PhD the other day, and we were chatting about evolution and how half of America prefers the Garden of Eden story. I told the professor folks could look at how our bodies are larger just since WW2. Then he said "Oh well, you can prove natural selection over lots of generations in the lab. Can do it in a few weeks." I said "Go on". He said, "Well yes, you get some grad students and some fruit flies and you raise the temperature in their container and half of them die. You take the survivors and let them multiply a few generations and then repeat the experiment by raising the temperature again and so on. Instant heat resistant fruit flies. Mutation, natural selection. No big deal." We talked about my dogs, and our mutual friend Professor Mike, and what we were having for dinner etc. But I remembered the fruit flies and the ray of hope not just for the next four years, but for as long as man is on this Planet.
If fear, superstition, and hate, and the clinging to old wrong ideas can fade away, there is a chance that science and technology can teach us humans we are all in this together on the planet we all share as we hurtle through space and time.
LLITTY ::::+::::
Friday, August 3, 2012
We Think of Him Often, Remember Him Well
For some reason I feel like writing with a Canadian accent. My father was Canadian. He called the Montreal hockey team the "Cana-dee-aans". And he would end a sentence with "do you see?" or eah? We had a back yard hockey rink when I was a kid in New Jersey. We'd had a few pretty cold winters strung together for a few years. My dad had terraced off the back yard to make a level grass court. He would flood it in the winter with hot and cold water from the house. It wasn't very big but we had some little hockey games and lots of neighbors came over to skate. My dad could really skate. He had played a few seasons of semi pro when he was young and it was in another world. On our little rink I don;t remember him ever skating forward, except once when I asked him to just go fast. He just ran across the rink on the toes of his skates. He was 56 years old then. Later when I was in junior high, he taught me rifle shooting. And he was a pilot too. He was long out of that by the time I started flying. But it seemed he added a lot of input and influence and encouragement to my flying career. When I started flight instructing I think he was proud of me. He had instructed during the war in the civilian program. I wasn't thinking of a career really. I was 22 years old and assumed I was immortal and knew everything. But my father used to tell me flying stories and they always had a moral. Usually a safety warning. But when I got that instructor rating he gave me his professional advice. He told me there were only three ways to make money in aviation. And instructing wasn't one of them! Get into crop dusting (he called it spraying); sales; or the major airlines. That's it son. He taught my brothers and I how to play chess. We kept trying to change the rules and make it more fun and play war with the pieces like toy soldiers. He would not let us do that. He made us be quiet and respect the game. We would also try to just take each others men in a sloppy chess battle. He would have none of that either. Either go for the checkmate or he puts the game away. Put the game away. When we got rowdy he used to say "put it up". He would sometimes play harmonica and sing old songs. Really old songs. We would sit by the fireplace and sing songs. But my father would only want to hear the old ballads.
My older brother has been playing chess for 56 years. He's been a rated player for maybe 25 years. He got the bug from Dad.
My younger brother played guitar and sang ballads professionally for many years and is still in the music business. He got the bug from Dad.
I'm the pilot. I got the bug from Dad.
I have a sister too. She is the oldest. The first born. She is like our mother. Very sweet, kind, gracious, sympathetic, tender, beautiful. But Mom wouldn't have had the drive or focus or will to go to law school and become a successful attorney. Sister got that from Dad.
It's almost 2AM. What shoud I do Dad, keep sitting at the computer?
"Put it up!"
LLITTY :::::+:::::
My older brother has been playing chess for 56 years. He's been a rated player for maybe 25 years. He got the bug from Dad.
My younger brother played guitar and sang ballads professionally for many years and is still in the music business. He got the bug from Dad.
I'm the pilot. I got the bug from Dad.
I have a sister too. She is the oldest. The first born. She is like our mother. Very sweet, kind, gracious, sympathetic, tender, beautiful. But Mom wouldn't have had the drive or focus or will to go to law school and become a successful attorney. Sister got that from Dad.
It's almost 2AM. What shoud I do Dad, keep sitting at the computer?
"Put it up!"
LLITTY :::::+:::::
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
111 Days To Go
A heat wave. A stalled economy. A drought. A deadlocked congress. This is like something of an an ancient mariner's epic. There was a lot of political jazz to listen to during the Republican primary. It was fun. Now we're just waiting for something, anything, to happen before November. I know a way to spice it all up! Tell you at the end of this post. The next pseudo- event I guess is Romney picking a VP. But the short list isn't really very interesting. What if Romney picked Chris Christie? I know, I know, Christie wouldn't do it. I'm saying what if. It would then be a great ticket. All you would have to do then is switch the candidates position so that Christie would be the nominee and Romney the VP. Then of course Christie would want to pick his own VP and it sure as hell wouldn't be Romney. Then Romney would be off the table and Obama would be defeated. In a piss poor economy the incumbent is pretty easy to beat. But you simply need a good candidate. Romney just isn't that good. He might just win anyway. But why not play it safe and put a better guy up against Obama? Is it too late? I don't know how a "brokered convention" works. But it would sure be exciting. Imagine a Republican challenger with the core and the moderates behind him. With an aura of excitement about him and the wind at his back. Then you could win. Not maybe win.
It's amazing to me how polarised the electorate is now. And more so every year. I think Obama is a polarizing force. Because there is a bloc of folks who will never ever ever vote for Obama. No matter what. They simply hate Obama. Part of it is race of course. But Hillary Clinton as a candidate was the same way. With conservatives you have an unbending stance. In a previous blog post I was sniffing around this concept of division and the line drawn in the sand of polarization. I said things like "haves and have nots". "Democrat vs Republican" Liberal vs Conservative". I want to go one little tiny step further.
I want to say: "those that believe everything can be boiled down to "right or wrong" "Yes or no".... VS "those who don't know because there are too many variables"
To me, conservative thinking is religious thinking. There are no grey areas.
Liberal thinking is making up your mind on a situational basis.
I pick on conservatives. But I know that one definition of a conservative is "A Liberal who has just been mugged!"
I'm very curious about an issue in the upcoming election campaign. My big questions are: Will the Democrats play the religion card against Romney? Is it a cheap shot to do that? Does a candidate's religion get a free pass? Exactly how wacky is Mormonism? If it is really wacky, could it hurt Romney? Wacky or not, could an attack backfire on the Democrats? Can it be the Dems haven't thought of this?
I think there is a special team in the Obama camp that is working on this Mormon thing. I think they are holding back. I think they have recruited disgruntled Mormons who had to escape from the religion and want to tell their bitter tale. The team is accumulating data that will shock us all. Maybe they want to explode it in October.
I have a blog post myself about the Mormons. It's called "Utah" from Sept. 2010. I was at the "Temple Square" in Salt Lake.
And last night I Googled up the Mormons and found these claims: Of course I don't know if they are true!
If you get married in a Temple you have to get naked.
God lives at a star called Kolob.
You wear special underwear 24-7.
The underwear has the logo of the Free Masons on it!
Some of the ritual sacrements are the same as the Free Masons.
Joseph Smith was a known con man before he became the prophet.
The Mormans have a living prophet that is exalted as a god.
There are 12 disciples the living prophet is the head of.
When a man dies "sealed" as a Morman he has his own planet in the afterlife with thousands of women at his command (this is so better than 70 measly virgins)
Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon while reading golden plates which no one ever saw. He stayed behind a screen when he dictated. The guy writing it down decided to test J.Smith and claimed to have lost the previous page to see if J.Smith would then be able to dictate the exact same words from the golden plates. J. Smith got very angry about the page being lost and said that God was angry and that a different place on the plates would substitute because God was omitting the original page!
And there is more and more and more. Maybe it's a low blow. But I hope the Dems go for it. And I thought Romney was boring!
LLITTY ::::+::::
It's amazing to me how polarised the electorate is now. And more so every year. I think Obama is a polarizing force. Because there is a bloc of folks who will never ever ever vote for Obama. No matter what. They simply hate Obama. Part of it is race of course. But Hillary Clinton as a candidate was the same way. With conservatives you have an unbending stance. In a previous blog post I was sniffing around this concept of division and the line drawn in the sand of polarization. I said things like "haves and have nots". "Democrat vs Republican" Liberal vs Conservative". I want to go one little tiny step further.
I want to say: "those that believe everything can be boiled down to "right or wrong" "Yes or no".... VS "those who don't know because there are too many variables"
To me, conservative thinking is religious thinking. There are no grey areas.
Liberal thinking is making up your mind on a situational basis.
I pick on conservatives. But I know that one definition of a conservative is "A Liberal who has just been mugged!"
I'm very curious about an issue in the upcoming election campaign. My big questions are: Will the Democrats play the religion card against Romney? Is it a cheap shot to do that? Does a candidate's religion get a free pass? Exactly how wacky is Mormonism? If it is really wacky, could it hurt Romney? Wacky or not, could an attack backfire on the Democrats? Can it be the Dems haven't thought of this?
I think there is a special team in the Obama camp that is working on this Mormon thing. I think they are holding back. I think they have recruited disgruntled Mormons who had to escape from the religion and want to tell their bitter tale. The team is accumulating data that will shock us all. Maybe they want to explode it in October.
I have a blog post myself about the Mormons. It's called "Utah" from Sept. 2010. I was at the "Temple Square" in Salt Lake.
And last night I Googled up the Mormons and found these claims: Of course I don't know if they are true!
If you get married in a Temple you have to get naked.
God lives at a star called Kolob.
You wear special underwear 24-7.
The underwear has the logo of the Free Masons on it!
Some of the ritual sacrements are the same as the Free Masons.
Joseph Smith was a known con man before he became the prophet.
The Mormans have a living prophet that is exalted as a god.
There are 12 disciples the living prophet is the head of.
When a man dies "sealed" as a Morman he has his own planet in the afterlife with thousands of women at his command (this is so better than 70 measly virgins)
Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon while reading golden plates which no one ever saw. He stayed behind a screen when he dictated. The guy writing it down decided to test J.Smith and claimed to have lost the previous page to see if J.Smith would then be able to dictate the exact same words from the golden plates. J. Smith got very angry about the page being lost and said that God was angry and that a different place on the plates would substitute because God was omitting the original page!
And there is more and more and more. Maybe it's a low blow. But I hope the Dems go for it. And I thought Romney was boring!
LLITTY ::::+::::
Friday, July 13, 2012
Friday the 13th
In our day to day lives it seems we rarely step back from ourselves. And say "hey wow, this is summer, and it's a nice day". I had a really nice day today because I spent some quality time with wife. Breakfast on the deck with the barn cats. Later in the day, upstairs in the office with the window unit running long and hard, dripping water on the butterfly bush below and keeping us cool. I had some leftover pizza from Papa Johns and I'm not supposed to have that. It's a lotta carbs. I wound up falling asleep for a 90 minute nap. The nap was more like a hyperglycemic coma. When I awoke the sun had eased off on the windows and I didn't know where I was or whether it was morning or evening. I shook off my sore back and went downstairs. Wife said "I thought you were going to Denton tonight". I said something like "Yes I am going, where is it I'm going again? She said it was maybe too late now, but there was a car meet I had talked about for Friday the 13th. I started begging her to go with me, but alas, she had things to do, and didn't want to change out of her grubbies and wanted to visit and feed critters.
It was a bit too late. I rallied and threw a foldable canvas chair into the VW. And my decaf and a water.
There was no time to even rinse the car with the hose. It was dusty from the ramshackle garage it hides in.
Next thing I knew I was rattling along on highway 16 for the remaining 15 miles to Denton. The windows were down and the summer air was warm, but not hot.
When I got to main street there was no missing where the cruise-in was. About 20 street rods, customs and restorations were lined up along the main drag of this little town. Beautiful. A big bake sale. A big inflateable movie screen ready for dark, all the shops open, an ice cream truck, a hot dog stand. It's like something from the fifties. The car guys have greasy hair, never too long, and they smoke cigarettes. The car girls have short shorts and makeup. The guys and girls are like me. Not young.
I ease the Beetle into a fine parking place. Between an Orange Super Bird, and a black circa 1963 T-Bird. I wander around and and it's just so nice that I wish wife had come along. I got to look at all the cars before they started leaving. I bought a fine salad and set up my chair in front of my car and the outdoor movie was beginning. Like a drive-in! It was Tim Allen, Star Trek, Star wars... or something. Space, Comedy, Drama. I didn't stay to the end of the movie. But I did stay until I was the last classic car.
The Bug seemed to like the cool ride home. It went along without complaining. I enjoyed the cool not cold night air and left the windows open.
There was no gate to drive thru. No entry fee. No trophies given out. No announcements from a loud speaker. No hot sun. There was an outdoor movie. On my empty passenger seat there was placed a dash plaque and a flyer. Not a flyer for another car show someone is trying to get me to. A flyer from this cruise-in, as a souvenir. My thanks to the Town of Denton. You guys know how to do summer.
And Friday the 13th.
It was a bit too late. I rallied and threw a foldable canvas chair into the VW. And my decaf and a water.
There was no time to even rinse the car with the hose. It was dusty from the ramshackle garage it hides in.
Next thing I knew I was rattling along on highway 16 for the remaining 15 miles to Denton. The windows were down and the summer air was warm, but not hot.
When I got to main street there was no missing where the cruise-in was. About 20 street rods, customs and restorations were lined up along the main drag of this little town. Beautiful. A big bake sale. A big inflateable movie screen ready for dark, all the shops open, an ice cream truck, a hot dog stand. It's like something from the fifties. The car guys have greasy hair, never too long, and they smoke cigarettes. The car girls have short shorts and makeup. The guys and girls are like me. Not young.
I ease the Beetle into a fine parking place. Between an Orange Super Bird, and a black circa 1963 T-Bird. I wander around and and it's just so nice that I wish wife had come along. I got to look at all the cars before they started leaving. I bought a fine salad and set up my chair in front of my car and the outdoor movie was beginning. Like a drive-in! It was Tim Allen, Star Trek, Star wars... or something. Space, Comedy, Drama. I didn't stay to the end of the movie. But I did stay until I was the last classic car.
The Bug seemed to like the cool ride home. It went along without complaining. I enjoyed the cool not cold night air and left the windows open.
There was no gate to drive thru. No entry fee. No trophies given out. No announcements from a loud speaker. No hot sun. There was an outdoor movie. On my empty passenger seat there was placed a dash plaque and a flyer. Not a flyer for another car show someone is trying to get me to. A flyer from this cruise-in, as a souvenir. My thanks to the Town of Denton. You guys know how to do summer.
And Friday the 13th.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Flight Engineer
Everything at North Central Airlines was amazing. They actually had one of their airliners decked out as a cooperate style aircraft with a luxury cabin. This was for the Board, and the top execs. It was a Convair 580. The paint job was in the North Central colors. But very subdued. Just some modest thin stripes. And the Mallard Duck logo not on the tail like the line 580's, but discreetly on the forward fuselage by the main door. The pilots assigned to fly the cooperate 580 were regular line pilots. The duck logo was the most recognized in the industry. The duck had a name. "Herman".
I had applied to most of the major airlines. This was in 1978. I wasn't getting interviews. My resume was pretty much the story of a light plane pilot. I had lots of hours. But only my DC-3 time set me apart from the CFI's with college degrees. You had to be in a three piece suit. You had to have your log books, You had to have a four year degree. You had to have an ATP. You had to have your hair cut. You had to know somebody. You had to have the "Flight Engineer written" passed. I had everything. Except I didn't know anyone. And airlines like Delta and American were hiring military pilots with "Jet Time". Not civilians like me.
There was a company called "Flight International" doing different things. Charters. Government contracts. Overseas endeavors. One day I saw a little tiny ad in "Trade a Plane" or "AOPA Pilot" or something. The ad offered a Flight Engineer Rating for $2995. From Flight International in Atlanta. Must be a missprint. I thought. Don't get me wrong, in 1978 $3K was a lot of money. But an FE Turbojet rating usually went for four times that. Well it wasn't a missprint. Flight International had lost it's VA approval and could no longer train the veterans that were getting the airline jobs. So they needed cash. And they had the waiver which allowed the Flight Engineer ticket to be issued without the student ever being in a full blown motion simulator. I got my FE "ticket" . All my "simulator time" was in a "procedures trainer". One that Delta used to get their students ready for the real simulator. This "paper trainer" was the meat of the course. I had to take the "oral" from the FAA in Atlanta. I had to do a "walk around" with the school examiner. This was the same day as my checkride in the B727-100 which was a Federal Express aircraft. My hop around the pattern in the engineers seat was a blur.
I updated all my applications with my new FE rating. The interview offers started coming like crazy in the mail. There was no e mail. There were no cell phones. I went to nine interviews in 1978. World, Braniff, American, Delta, Northwest, Federal Express, United, etc. Now I had the interviews, but no offers.
It's true, I didn't know anybody. But somehow I seemed to fit with North Central. I had done a lot of flying out of Ypsilanti, next to Detroit. I was used to seeing those 580's and DC-9's with the duck on the tail. I was tired of the cattle calls and three piece suits and WWII aircrew selection tests. When I went up to Minneapolis I had shed the polyester. I had my blue wool blazer which was probably the only piece of quality clothing I owned. The moment I got on the DC-9 at BWI, I could tell that this airline, North Central Airlines, was different. Everyone was nice. Everyone was recommending to me that I come to work there, because it is nice. And there was a big merger coming. Southern Airways will merge with North Central bringing to the party it's fleet of DC-9's and it's Atlanta hub. The new airline would be called "Republic".
Downstairs at headquarters my personnel interview went fine. Upstairs even better. Just me and the Flight Ops guy. In the empty company board room. After a few pleasantries he said "Lloyd, tell me about the DC-3." So I did, and he told me about his first job at North Central. As co-pilot on the DC-3. I listened. North Central retired it's highest time DC-3 and donated it to the Ford Museum in Dearborn where it still resides.
As I rode home from Minneapolis to Baltimore with my positive space pass, I knew this was the best interview I had ever had. North Central had just ordered it's first 727's. They weren't on the property yet. I had a turbojet engineer rating. North Central had just begun service to DCA out of Detroit and Minneapolis. I was from Washington, DC. All the Captains I would fly with at North Central had flown DC-3's. I had a DC-3 type rating. North Central was hiring a lot of civilian pilots due to the 580's and the operating into smaller towns like Hibbing, Oshkosh, etc. I was a civilian.
Up in the loft of my hanger in a box gathering dust is the wall style, rotary, yellow, kitchen phone from my parents house. The phone on which I was offered employment as a pilot with North Central Airlines. The same phone that ten years before I had been called on to tell me that I had passed, on the final try, the third and last chance try, the exams to complete the Spaatz Award. This was the completion of the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program. This would be comparable to "Eagle Scout".
Why did I save that phone? Because I'm a pack rat? Yes I am. But I'm sentimental.
I had applied to most of the major airlines. This was in 1978. I wasn't getting interviews. My resume was pretty much the story of a light plane pilot. I had lots of hours. But only my DC-3 time set me apart from the CFI's with college degrees. You had to be in a three piece suit. You had to have your log books, You had to have a four year degree. You had to have an ATP. You had to have your hair cut. You had to know somebody. You had to have the "Flight Engineer written" passed. I had everything. Except I didn't know anyone. And airlines like Delta and American were hiring military pilots with "Jet Time". Not civilians like me.
There was a company called "Flight International" doing different things. Charters. Government contracts. Overseas endeavors. One day I saw a little tiny ad in "Trade a Plane" or "AOPA Pilot" or something. The ad offered a Flight Engineer Rating for $2995. From Flight International in Atlanta. Must be a missprint. I thought. Don't get me wrong, in 1978 $3K was a lot of money. But an FE Turbojet rating usually went for four times that. Well it wasn't a missprint. Flight International had lost it's VA approval and could no longer train the veterans that were getting the airline jobs. So they needed cash. And they had the waiver which allowed the Flight Engineer ticket to be issued without the student ever being in a full blown motion simulator. I got my FE "ticket" . All my "simulator time" was in a "procedures trainer". One that Delta used to get their students ready for the real simulator. This "paper trainer" was the meat of the course. I had to take the "oral" from the FAA in Atlanta. I had to do a "walk around" with the school examiner. This was the same day as my checkride in the B727-100 which was a Federal Express aircraft. My hop around the pattern in the engineers seat was a blur.
I updated all my applications with my new FE rating. The interview offers started coming like crazy in the mail. There was no e mail. There were no cell phones. I went to nine interviews in 1978. World, Braniff, American, Delta, Northwest, Federal Express, United, etc. Now I had the interviews, but no offers.
It's true, I didn't know anybody. But somehow I seemed to fit with North Central. I had done a lot of flying out of Ypsilanti, next to Detroit. I was used to seeing those 580's and DC-9's with the duck on the tail. I was tired of the cattle calls and three piece suits and WWII aircrew selection tests. When I went up to Minneapolis I had shed the polyester. I had my blue wool blazer which was probably the only piece of quality clothing I owned. The moment I got on the DC-9 at BWI, I could tell that this airline, North Central Airlines, was different. Everyone was nice. Everyone was recommending to me that I come to work there, because it is nice. And there was a big merger coming. Southern Airways will merge with North Central bringing to the party it's fleet of DC-9's and it's Atlanta hub. The new airline would be called "Republic".
Downstairs at headquarters my personnel interview went fine. Upstairs even better. Just me and the Flight Ops guy. In the empty company board room. After a few pleasantries he said "Lloyd, tell me about the DC-3." So I did, and he told me about his first job at North Central. As co-pilot on the DC-3. I listened. North Central retired it's highest time DC-3 and donated it to the Ford Museum in Dearborn where it still resides.
As I rode home from Minneapolis to Baltimore with my positive space pass, I knew this was the best interview I had ever had. North Central had just ordered it's first 727's. They weren't on the property yet. I had a turbojet engineer rating. North Central had just begun service to DCA out of Detroit and Minneapolis. I was from Washington, DC. All the Captains I would fly with at North Central had flown DC-3's. I had a DC-3 type rating. North Central was hiring a lot of civilian pilots due to the 580's and the operating into smaller towns like Hibbing, Oshkosh, etc. I was a civilian.
Up in the loft of my hanger in a box gathering dust is the wall style, rotary, yellow, kitchen phone from my parents house. The phone on which I was offered employment as a pilot with North Central Airlines. The same phone that ten years before I had been called on to tell me that I had passed, on the final try, the third and last chance try, the exams to complete the Spaatz Award. This was the completion of the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program. This would be comparable to "Eagle Scout".
Why did I save that phone? Because I'm a pack rat? Yes I am. But I'm sentimental.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Good Morning
I have blogger's block. Either I can't write, or I simply haven't done anything to write about. Yes all winter I did little to occupy myself. But when Spring came, there seemed to be a flurry of activity. I bought a "light sport" aircraft. Not a new $150K "light sport". An old classic $20K light sport. Last Friday I flew around a bit in my "new" old airplane with a mentor who is an instructor to get "checked out". While I was trying to figure out how I was going to pay for that airplane; this last weekend I went to two car shows. I took my beater VW to a Kent Island car show on Saturday. Then Sunday I took my beater TR6 to a car show in Easton. I tried to rest up from that. Then on Tuesday I left for Asheville driving. Driving wife's car fortunately.. It is sweet. Then a couple days in A-ville. I got to play on the stage at my buddy's Cantina and I sang a song called "Motorsickle Bill". Drove home through the mountains in gorgeous weather. One short night's sleep and went to New Jersey with my buddy while he picked up his car. Again gorgeous weather. Road trips over, and ready to fly the little "Luscombe", but now the weather is stormy. And I'm getting behind on the mowing.
Today I woke up with nothing planned to do. Of course I have a lot of things I could or should do. But there was nothing I had to "go" to and no time to be somewhere. It's a stormy Tuesday with no agenda. The sun keeps peeking out at intervals. I could try to wax that little plane for Saturday's Horn Point Fly-in. If it doesn't get too wet there are a lot of chores. I have correspondence I should attend to. The hangar is a complete mess. And lots of other projects. Wife would like a yard of mulch for her new garden.
I liked the way my wake up went this morning. When I got up I wasn't compelled. I was wondering what I might wind up doing today. I didn't expect I'd be writing to you. I didn't expect to see the sun. I like it this way. It's less stressful. They say not getting enough sleep may be the cause of the obesity epidemic. So I wrote to you. Now what shall I do? I'm leaning toward getting that mulch and maybe a cheeseburger on the way home. I'm to be very busy Friday and Saturday. But tomorrow......and hopefully for most days... nothing planned. I don't think I'll shave, but I guess I better get dressed.
Peace you guys. LLITTY ::::+::::
Today I woke up with nothing planned to do. Of course I have a lot of things I could or should do. But there was nothing I had to "go" to and no time to be somewhere. It's a stormy Tuesday with no agenda. The sun keeps peeking out at intervals. I could try to wax that little plane for Saturday's Horn Point Fly-in. If it doesn't get too wet there are a lot of chores. I have correspondence I should attend to. The hangar is a complete mess. And lots of other projects. Wife would like a yard of mulch for her new garden.
I liked the way my wake up went this morning. When I got up I wasn't compelled. I was wondering what I might wind up doing today. I didn't expect I'd be writing to you. I didn't expect to see the sun. I like it this way. It's less stressful. They say not getting enough sleep may be the cause of the obesity epidemic. So I wrote to you. Now what shall I do? I'm leaning toward getting that mulch and maybe a cheeseburger on the way home. I'm to be very busy Friday and Saturday. But tomorrow......and hopefully for most days... nothing planned. I don't think I'll shave, but I guess I better get dressed.
Peace you guys. LLITTY ::::+::::
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