4 posts tagged “reserve”

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.

Well, I guess I have some updating to do since I haven't posted in a while.

I did my first IOE trip last week.  It was a 4-day out of Newark, with overnights in Dallas, DC, and Buffalo.  I got to commute in the night before, and the company put me up in a hotel.  On the last day we finished early enough that I was able to go home that day.  It was a pretty cool trip.  Seems as tho I'm pretty good with the airplane, except for a few minor things, and the crew I was with were really nice people.

This past weekend Jeannie and I ventured down to Raleigh to look at houses.  We found a development of townhouses that we really like, and I think we're going to try to buy.  I have no idea how the whole process works, so it will be a pretty steep learning curve.  I hope it all works out.  We had such a great time - I didn't realize how much I missed being in a city that has everything.

I'm currently on my second trip of IOE.  It's just a two day trip, and tonight I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We got here early enough that we were able to walk downtown and check out the sights.  Throw in the fact that it was a beautiful, clear day and about 80 degrees F...very cool.  I think a summertime vacation up here would be very enjoyable.

Tomorrow we do a turn out of Newark to Rochester, and then we're done.  I should get signed off, and then I'll be good to go.  I actually received orders from the Army to report to the nearest reserve station and update my records on Friday, so I'm guessing that I'll be in Houston next week sitting reserve.  Joy.  I love the flying, but reserve blows.  I'm hoping that they use me a lot.  I don't want to get a crashpad right away, so the more they use me, the better.

So, about that workout...I need to start it again.  I'm looking a little pathetic these days.  My spare tire is inflating, and that's no good.  Time to deflate.

Did you know that Halifax is an hour ahead of the east coast?  That makes it 10:30 here now, and I have to get up at 4am.  Time to go to bed.

Well, I guess the first one isn't really a rambling:

Jeannie has decided that we should have a baby.  I am in agreement.  I need to get to work.  ;o)

I'm home today, so far.  I'm on reserve, but they haven't called yet.  If they don't call by 4, I should be pretty safe for today.  Who knows about tomorrow.  I mean, it is Christmas, so I'm sure there will be people calling in sick.  Although if I had a trip on Christmas, I probably wouldn't call in sick.  They will probably make these "sickies" go get doctors notes (which they pay for, by the way), and sometimes that's more trouble than it's worth.

I've applied to become a Federal Flight Deck Officer.  That's one of those pilots who carries a gun in the cockpit.  In case you didn't know, they're out there everywhere.  It seems like every other time we have a jumpseater, he's armed.  If you had any doubts about your safety on an airplane, know that on most flights, there is usually someone on the plane who is armed, whether it's an Air Marshal, a cop, an FBI agent, secret service, or the pilot.  Some flights have more, some less.  I think I've had 3 cops on one flight before...which is a lot for a 37-seat airplane.  Anyway, considering my time in the Army, I would think that I should get approved for the training.

Daphne (our cat) is meowing.  She's usually a quiet cat.  Either she's hungry or she wants to play.  You should see this cat jump.  She gets a good 4 feet in the air when she tries.  OK, she wants to play.  She brought her toy mouse to me and dropped it at my feet.

OK, time to go make breakfast.

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.