Non-rev Karma

The non-reving world is a funny one. My multiple trips to LA have proven what an interesting and slightly stressful experience it is. There are times when it's the smoothest thing ever and others, well, you end up stuck in the Knoxville airport all day.

My first trip out I got the last seat on the plane, but only because there were groups of two and three that didn't want to split up. On the way back, I had to use up a precious S2 to get the middle seat on the red eye in order to get back in time.

The second time, I left work to catch the flight and it looked wide open. By the time I got to the gate, I was 50th on the list and had to run to catch the flight to orange county. On the way back, I got the a seat in the last row of a 777.

And this time. A hellish flying day in atlanta due to bad weather meant I was 39th on the list and the flight was delayed by an hour. I checked into two others just in case. And then? I got cleared for 1st class. I tried to get out on sunday, but my favorite flight back on the 777 was canceled which backed up the rest of the day. Monday put me on the flight leaving at 1115... it only had room because it was actually scheduled for 730 and ended up with lost of space after everyone deserted and stood by for the later flights.

They say it used to be much easier. Most of the times it's not bad.

Non-rev chronicles, continued

My non-reving karma must be completely gone. Aaron finally made it to New York while Danny and I ended up in Atlanta. We couldn't get to LGA that night, so we went home just to try again the next day. Our luggage went, though.

Sunday morning the flight was pretty booked. Due to re-booking by some not so bright TYS ladies, we were no longer listed together. We told the guy we were in a party, but that didin't prevent him from cancelling and clearning one or the other a couple of times. Finally he just tells danny to get on the plane and find his own seat.

I end up in first class, which is great since daddy d owes me, but I'm sitting next to possibly the most disgusting person on the planet. Dressed and smelling like a bum, this guy obviously had a cold since he insisted on loudly snorting back his snot despite my donation of my entire pack of tissues to him. Not only that, but at one point he begins to cough, spits up his bagel, wipes it off and eats it again. Classy.

The way back was no better. This time both of us were in steerage, and I was sitting next to a nice oal captain until the most enormous black man I've ever seen squeezes himself down the aisle with his wife to the back of the 757. He won't fit in the seat, so much so that when the armrests are down the best he can do is sit on top of them. His wife ends up in the window, him the middle and me on the aisle, armrest-less. This guy proves to be just as enormous of a jackass as he is in size, from telling the flight attendents how to do their jobs, complaining about having to hold his breathe that the seat is too small, and pulling the racism card on several subjects. Not only that, but he tries to impress by sharing all of his aerospace knowledge, including wake turbulence and shear ("man, did you feel that wind shear?") His poor wife wasn't feeling well, evidently due to "altitude sickness."

I'm pretty sure the airplane didn't fail to pressurize.

I'm glad to be home and in the ATL for a few days.

I have the best job ever

Yes, I get 2% towards my 401k then they match 100% of the next 5% that I contribute. Yes, the flight benefits are awesome. Yes, most of my coworkers are awesome. But those aren't the only reasons my job is awesome. For an aviation nerd, it doesn't get any better than this.

This past Monday, after going straight to work from the flight back from Brazil (in business class), a coworker informed me in the morning of a flight test on an airplane in my fleet an asked if I wanted to go. I almost turned them down: I'd just spent the entire night on a plane. But, what the heck.

It ended up being a great experience. I got to sit in the cockpit for takeoff, run around (which made me a little motionsick, especially during the turns) to help troubleshoot, and after that was done enjoy some peanuts (which I tasted for the rest of the day) and Sex and the City reruns in the comfort of business class.

And to think I get paid for this. To have fun. It's better than I could have hoped for.

Flight

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-DaVinci

No matter how many times I drive to the airport, go through the mess that is security, sit and wait, often on a late flight or maintenance, deal with the crowds, the people who can't read, I still love the flying part. I request the window seat (when I have the luxury of choosing, which doesn't happen too often when you fly standby) and spend most of the flight with my nose pressed to the window, despit knowng that my neck will cramp up later. When there are cities to look at, ocean, or even when there's nothing to see but sky. Or dark, with the lights of all the other airplanes in our crowded skies twinkling in the void or watching the spiderwebs of cities spreading out beneath me.