3 posts tagged “lazy”

I arrived in Houston five nights ago, fully expecting what was to be - five days of sitting around not flying.  I made an effort to check the open time on a daily, sometimes even on an hourly basis.  However my efforts were in vain - there were no trips to be picked up.

I've been lucky in the fact that one of my crashpad-mates, Dave, has allowed me the use of his car for my most basic transportation needs.  I could probably get away with using it more than I do, but I can't afford the money for gas.  And his car runs on premium.  I'll give him a few bucks here and there, but I can't afford to fill the tank.  These are not Army-Captain-on-six-year-flight-pay times...

My daily routine this week has consisted of getting out of bed around 11am, making some coffee and oatmeal, checking email and various message boards (all related to flying, of course), showering around 2pm, and then a combination of watching tv/playing Xbox/screwing around on the internet until bedtime, usually around 1-2am.

However, as lazy as I have been, I was actually able to accomplish some things this week.  I scheduled the second part of my army flight physical, I initiated the process to get the orders for that appointment, and I spoke with some people about an apartment in which we're interested.

Oh yeah, did I mention we're moving to Raleigh, NC, at the end of this month?  Why?  It's a nice place, it's a place to where there is nobody telling we have to move, and there's a possibility that my company will open a base there sometime within the next few years.  And it's only three hours from where we live now, so a U-haul will do just fine.

And they have Chipotle!  I have a thing for steak burritos with guacamole.

About the title - Dave just made spaghetti, and now I'm hungry.  Dammit.

So today I'm sitting on reserve.  For those of you that don't know, that basically means that I'm on call.  If another first officer calls in sick, or scheduling just decides that they need me, they call me, and I have an hour to get to the airport.  It's not a bad deal - I still get paid my monthly guarantee, but that guarantee is not anywhere near enough to survive on.  But at least I get to sit at home and wait.  If I were commuting, I would be sitting in a hotel or a crashpad (rented room with other pilots) waiting for a call that may never come.  I don't know how anyone could stand to sit reserve as a commuter.

Yesterday we were late.  And it was Philly's fault.  Well, not really their fault, as they can't control the weather, but you know what I mean.  Philly had a thick blanket of fog and all flights were delayed.  Ultimately we ended up getting home just over an hour late, so it really wasn't terrible.  I love Philly, but the airport is the armpit of the air transportation system in this country.  Maybe not even the armpit; maybe more like the asshole.  The airport is probably the worst in the nation.  Why?  The people who work there.  I think the airlines go to West Philly and find the laziest, most anti-work-ethic individuals and hire them.  You can roll into Philly, pull up to the gate, and wait 10 minutes before someone comes out to marshal the airplane into the gate.  I've been ready to depart with 20 people and 5 bags on board.  Something is obviously wrong, so I go talk to the rampies, who say that there are no more bags.  When I walk around to the other side of the airplane, I find that there are 15 bags in a pile for our destination, our flight.  They are the laziest, most ridiculous people I've ever seen.  I would've expected that type of treatment in New York, but the rampies at LaGuardia are probably the best hub rampies in our network.  I just don't get it.  Philly has always had a chip on their shoulder, but the way to fix it isn't to show the rest of the world your laziest people.  Our airline has tried to fix the problem by sending up ramp supervisors from Charlotte.  One guy went up there and threatened to fire all the lazy ones when their performance stunk.  They set his car on fire.  My recommendation to the airline - go to the 100+ colleges in the area and recruit students.  Offer decent pay and free transportation.  But my 7 years as a manager/leader coupled with a degree in Management do me no good here, as alas, I am just a piddly pilot.  I have no desire to get involved with our company's management.  Unless they offer me some compensation.  Which they won't.  So I won't help.

OK, off of my soapbox.  I should make some breakfast.

What a waste.  I didn't do a damn thing today.

Well, not entirely true.  I watched most of Back to the Future and a little bit of Back to the Future II.  And then we went to Best Buy where we bought some vacuum cleaner bags.  And then we went to eat at the Olive Garden.  And then we went to Target and bought a wreath and a shower caddy.  And then we came home.

So I haven't really said much about my wife.  Not that I haven't wanted to, I just haven't.  One of the things that bugs me about her is the whole name thing.  I think we've finally gotten it nailed down, but it's taken a while.  When we met, her name was Jenny.  So to me, my family, my closest friends, and her parents, her name is Jenny.  Well, we moved to Texas together, and once she started working (more about this some other time), she never told her employer that she goes by Jenny.  Her legal first name is Dora, and so that's what they called her.  Fine, no biggie.  Then when we moved to Arizona, she decided that she was going to go by Jeannie.  Her middle name is Jean, so Jeannie works too.  But what the hell?  My family and friends are confused.  Not confused, but they don't know what to think about it all.  One of my close friends was embarassed when she called my wife "Jenny" but then later learned that she goes by "Jeannie".  She (my friend) thought it was her fault, and then she blamed me for not "correcting" her.  Not that any of this is a big deal, it's just my current rant.

But I love her to death...she IS my wife, after all...  ;o)