2008.07.26 - Slacker
I've been very neglectful of my blog for almost two months. My bad.
I hate it when people say "my bad". I mean, is it really that hard to say "my fault" or how about even "sorry"? I mean, when people say "my bad", it usually means they screwed up somehow. At least apologize for it. Ugh.
Sorry, don't know what got me on that tangent.
Anyway, these last two months have been fairly uneventful. After the beach, we've just been working and hanging out. We did take a weekend excursion up to Brenda's place last weekend. It was definitely nice to see her again, as I think the last time we saw each other was probably about 18 months ago. Nate was very young baby then. For 21 months old, he's a pretty big kid now! Anyway, it was very nice to see them again.
Otherwise, we're just counting down the days until I head out. We've been taking care of all the things that need to be addressed before I leave, like renewing leases, powers of attorney, putting bills on autopay, etc. We got a storage unit last week, and today we're going to move all of our boxes from our closets to storage. Then we get to go look for a futon for the spare bedroom so we'll have a place for guests to stay (and not a moment too soon - my parents come in next weekend for about a week). I'm trying to get all of my pre-deployment stuff squared away, stuff like classes, shots, etc. It's kind of a hassle, but it's well worth it in the end - at least I'll be employed.
My airline is going to begin furloughing pilots around the 1st of October, with the number of pilots hitting the street somewhere around 400. I'm about 320 from the bottom, so I would definitely be in that group if I weren't on military leave. By me being on military leave, they can't do anything to me. My classmates, well, they aren't as lucky. They're all probably going to be furloughed, and that really sucks. But with oil still well over $120/barrel, the airline can't afford to keep them employed. I'm just hoping that by the time I get back late next summer, my job will be back as well. If not, I really don't know what I'll do at this point. I'm flying enough with the Army that I don't need to fly for a living, but it's probably the only thing that I'll be happy doing. I could go find an office job and just fly for the Army, but again, that wouldn't make me very happy - that's why I left active duty! Another option would be to go back on Active Duty (if I'm not going to fly full-time, I may as well do something that I know). However, I don't believe I could do that and keep the wife happy, since inevitably we'd have to move. We don't want to move. I could pound the pavement when I get back looking for a flying job, hoping that the economy picks up in the year that I'm gone. The problem? Hope is not a method, as I was told many times during my Army career. Ugh...
Ideally, I'd like to get a job with a company called NetJets. They are an awesome company, seemingly not affected by high fuel costs because they just pass those along to their customers, who are usually rich enough to not have to worry about that kind of "trivial" stuff. The problem? Everyone and their brother wants to get on with them right now. The have about 3000 pilots, on their way up to about 4500, and they probably have at least 1000 resumes on file (and growing daily). At this point in time I don't meet their minimum requirements, but I should have those by the time I redeploy. I need about another 400 hours, and I also need to get my Airline Transport Pilot license (basically the next level of pilot license above Commercial Pilot). I plan on taking the written test before I leave, and then I can do the checkride as soon as I get back, in an Army airplane, and it should only cost me roughly $700-800 (of the people that have to buy their ATPs, most people pay in excess of $3000). Once I have the new license, only then can I apply. The good part? My job in the Army is to fly VIPs around (Generals/Admirals). NetJets flies VIPs around (rich, paying customers). It's essentially the same job, which I'm hoping will work to my benefit. I guess we'll see in about 12 months.
Oh yeah, speaking of the Army, I got promoted to Major. That means about a $400/mo pay raise. Next month, I go over 10 years of service, which will mean another $400/mo pay raise. Not too shabby. The year that I'm deployed I should gross about $105K, which means that I will also net $105K since I don't get taxed. Sweet!!! It's definitely a lot better than the $21K I grossed last year at the airlines...sometimes I wonder why I love flying so much.
Changing gears a little, I had to get rid of the Jeep. I wanted to get Jeannie a new car so I wouldn't have anything to worry about while I'm gone, so we traded in the Jeep. Her Honda was paid off already, and with gas prices the way they are, it only made sense to trade in the 16 mpg Jeep. This way we also keep only one car payment. So we got a silver Honda CR-V. It's a lot better on gas than the Jeep (about 27 mpg), and she's driving it to Duke every day while I drive the Accord to Ft. Bragg every day (110 mile round trip). I miss the Jeep, but this will be good for us financially. Plus, we needed a 4-door vehicle, and the CR-V meets that requirement.
Anyway, I think it's time to get these boxes ready to move. I'll try to update before I head out, and once I'm over there, I should have regular internet access, so I'll update more regularly.
