J.P.

Delta 2274.

So I’m a flight from Raleigh-Durham to Detroit. After a three hour layover in Detroit I will be headed home. Flight plans for the coming week all involve me as pilot; no commercial flights in the next few weeks.

This is my eleventh commercial flight in the past ten days, and I’m kind of happy about that because with today’s flight I become a Delta Silver Medallion customer for 2016. It’s a little thing but it makes me feel good. I’ve been quite happy with Delta Airlines, save for that incident when we went to Vancouver and the flight attendant was hurt after not putting her seat belt on for takeoff.

I’m finally catching my breath after a whirlwind of travel and adjusting to the new job. This coming week will be the third week of the new job but my first week of working from home, which is now my official office. The team I belong to is based in Greenville, S.C. but my employee profile pegs me as an employee of Central New York. This is quite comforting to me.

The new job is going splendidly. Last week I was part of a meeting for the management team of the group and it was during that meeting that I felt like I had made the absolute right decision for my career to move to this new opportunity.

The only drawback thus far is being away from Earl and Jamie as much as I have been over the past two weeks. This weekend I visited our friends Jeff and Mark in the Raleigh-Durham area; this trip was planned prior to the new gig. It was a great weekend.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming layover in Detroit. I’ll enjoy a little dinner, do some people watching and live the life of a jet setter. Earl and I just made flight plans for the holidays in December because we wanted to get a really good rate.

So much life to look forward to.

21 June 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Elevator Logic.

I started the new chapter of my career this week. I am in Greenville, S.C. and starting the path of “Senior Consultant” at Windstream Communications. I officially have a Virtual Office; I will be doing most of my work from our home office, but if I had decided to move us to Greenville, I’d be working in my own office (complete with door and windows) in the 23rd storey building shown in my photo. Our team is situated on the fifth floor.

I’ve noticed each morning that there is quite a traffic jam at the bank of elevators. I like to think that I’m pretty adept at the operation of an elevator: press the button in the desired direction of travel, await the arrival of an elevator car, step aside to let passengers out of the elevator and then get in, face front, press the button of your desired floor and try not to pass gas. It’s pretty simple.

These people ALWAYS press the elevator call button in BOTH directions, regardless of where they are going. I don’t know if there is some sort of code that I missed in the orientation manual or if it is some secret incantation that only works in the south, but every person that wants to get on the elevator in the lobby calls the elevator by pressing both the up and down button. Invariably the down bound elevator arrives and people pile in. They head down and then in a few moments the same car load of people arrive and the elevator opens the door in response to the “up” request. Because the car is full of people, I’m not stepping foot in the elevator.

Today I was a rebel and joined a couple of other men in the service elevator, even though the sign said “no passengers”. The metal lined walls had a sleek look to them and I figured the elevator was rated for more weight since it was designed for service purposes. Plus, the service elevator doesn’t have CNN blaring in the car like the five other cars (designed for passenger service) do. I’m not a fan of CNN blaring in the elevator.

It covers the sounds of someone passing gas. Without that, there’s no warning.

DCA National Airport.

I’m at DCA in Washington, D.C. on my way to Greenville, S.C. for my first day at my new job. This is my first time flying through this airport. The approach was quite nifty; I’m surprised the FAA allows low approaches that pass so close to government buildings. The low turn from base to final reminded me of the sight picture when flying the Cherokee.

I am passing from gate 31 to gate 43. They are nowhere near each other but rather in separate terminals. At every other airport I’ve ever been to, it’s a matter of walking a bit to get to your next gate. I always shun the shuttles because I’m trying to be a healthy American and all that.

At DCA you need to pass through security again to go to another terminal. Because I’m getting more cantankerous in my Middle Age, this irked me a bit. I tolerate the security theatre when getting on a commercial flight, it keeps the sheep feeling safe and employees thousands of people, so it isn’t all bad, but I do not enjoy having to stand in line, disrobe, decloak, show my documents and then get dowsed with radiation again just to pass between gates.

This whole farce had been around for over a decade; one would think that the TSA would figure out something better for this airport. Like Kansas City’s security setup farce, this is a fail in my book.

7 June 2015 by J.P. Why. 0

Helicopter.

We are home from our Alaskan Cruise as of lunchtime today. It’s been a long while since I’ve gone over 24 hours without sleep, so I’m feeling a little wonky this afternoon. I woke up feeling a little confused. Hopefully everything will reset tomorrow with a good night’s sleep tonight.

I’m going through all of the photos taken during this magnificent journey and this one that Jamie took is one of my favorites.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR0159.

Now if I could just get all of my photos on my iPad to magically update the Photos.app on my Mac like it’s suppose to do.

2 June 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 2

Fairmont Hotel.

So Earl, Jamie and I are back on the North American mainland, as we arrived in Vancouver, B.C. this morning. Faced with a 14 hour wait for our flight home, which leaves at 11:00 p.m. this evening, and the fact that we couldn’t even check our bags, pass through security or customs or get to the “good side” of the airport near the gates, I decided to get us a room for day use at the attached Fairmont Hotel.

The money was well spent.

We have been able to nap, relax, surf the Internet and the like in the comfort of this lovely hotel room. We have to be out by 8:00 p.m.; at that time we’ll be able to check in, grab a bite to eat and then relax before boarding the red-eye back home.

The rooms at the Fairmont Hotel are very high-tech in that all of the lights, climate controls, television remote and such are all wired together to this nightstand console.

Naturally this has given me some ideas on how to upgrade our bedroom accoutrement at home. Earl just smiled but I think on the inside he rolled his eyes a little bit.

Our hotel room also affords us a most excellent view. It’s an aviation enthusiast’s paradise.

1 June 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Opportunity.

If you see a mountain, climb it.

29 May 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Mountainous View.

I thoroughly enjoyed this view on our flight yesterday.

24 May 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Vancouver, B.C.

So Earl, Jamie and I arrived in Vancouver, B.C. last night after our adventures on the flight from Atlanta. The flight was 2 1/2 hours late. We cleared customs, grabbed the rental car and went on a brief drive before heading to our hotel near the airport.

This morning I noticed that this hotel is great if you’re an aviation geek.

We leave on our cruise tomorrow, so today we are going to explore Vancouver a little bit and get acquainted with whatever one can do in Vancouver in 24 hours.

If they get me away from watching airplanes all day.

24 May 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 2

DL 1805.

We are currently on a flight from Atlanta to Vancouver. This is our second attempt at flying to Vancouver today, about n hour into the first flight we had to return to Atlanta. The flight attendant in the back jump seat either didn’t put her seat belt on or did it improperly and slid out of the seat on take off. Word is she broke two ribs. She had struggled through the safety briefing, using cue cards to recite the narrative.

During the first flight another flight attendant asked for our patience because they were down one FA and the beverage service would be delayed. About 30 minutes later we were headed back to Atlanta. I didn’t think being down a flight attendant would fly that well.

I noticed that during this crisis the flight attendants didn’t stick to procedure, there was no check of seat backs, tray tables or seat belts prior to landing. This irked me, because the flight attendants were acting on behalf of the captain and if I was captain of an airliner I would want to know that all my passengers were safe.

We got back to the gate, the paramedics came on board and escorted the injured flight attendant off. Delta decided the pilots needed to stay behind as well, so a new flight crew, a new flight attendant and some more fuel was added and off we went.

The flight attendants again did not check for seat belts, tray tables or seat backs in their upright position. There were at least four violations within my eyesight. The flight attendants walked back and forth several times like they were checking but they were just going through the motions.

If I’m ever just going through the motions as a pilot, please keep me on the ground.

I didn’t say anything to the procedure violators or the flight attendants because I didn’t want to create a scene because I don’t want to get booted off the airplane, but I did contact Delta via Twitter and their app and shared my feelings with them. I don’t know if it will make a difference but at least I did my part.

Things happen, I get that, but what makes the friendly skies so safe is that you always stick to rules, procedures and protocols. That’s how pilots handle airplanes so well in emergencies. Stick to what you know.

It’s a shame that the flight attendants on this flight forgot that.

23 May 2015 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

The Moral Direction.

So last night I decided to wind down a little bit before falling asleep by watching an episode of “The Secrets of Isis”. If you’re not familiar with this show, The Shazam!/Isis Hour was a Saturday morning staple on CBS in 1976 and 1977. There were two seasons of the show, for a total of 23 episodes. I was a fan of both “Shazam!” and “The Secrets of Isis”, though my interest was stronger in the latter. Andrea Thomas, Isis’ alter-ego, was the cool teacher that everyone wanted. She cared about her students, had the most amazing speaking voice ever and seemed like a genuinely nice woman. I like to think that Joanna Cameron’s real personality came through her portrayal of Andrea Thomas and Isis.

At the end of every episode, Isis broke the fourth wall and relayed the moral of the story directly to the audience. The Saturday morning show sought to teach the viewer something, whether it was bad to play with a gun if you didn’t know what you were doing, we should always strive to respect the environment or that race and differences in people were no reason to be judgmental, among many other topics.

Watching these morals, which are included as an extra feature on the original DVD release from the mid 2000s, reminds me that these messages had a profound effect on my moral compass as an adult. I try to respect the environment, I certainly strive to appreciate the differences in all of us and I never played with a gun until I knew how to properly shoot one. I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that once in a while I might think back to what Captain Marvel on “Shazam!” or Isis would teach us to do when presented with a certain situation.

Of course, I found Joanna Cameron to be absolutely stunning in beauty in her looks, demeanor and voice. It’s no wonder that she at one time was in the Guinness Book of World Records for having participated in the most television commercials. Ms. Cameron retired from acting in the early 1980s and found other ways to contribute to society, first in the home health care field and later managing hotels in Hawai’i.

One of these days I’ll have to venture out to one of her rare appearances at a Sci Fi convention and shake her hands as a gesture of thanks. She certainly had an impact on this kid.

23 May 2015 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Delta 2274.

Elevator Logic.

DCA National Airport.

Helicopter.

Fairmont Hotel.

Opportunity.

Mountainous View.

Vancouver, B.C.

DL 1805.

The Moral Direction.

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