Autumn

Here we are going into the heart of the autumn season. I went running today up the street and I was shocked to see how the trees are already changing. It can't be October already, I'm not ready for winter. I really hope that we don't get a lot of snow this year, if we do I am moving far away!!!! Three great things has happened already this month; graduated from college, selected to take FAA ATC test, and 4 months at Skywest. Hard to believe that it has been four months already, I remember I started blogging when I went for training in Salt Lake, now here I am. Time does go by fast and I guess that what makes life so precious.

Fast forward

It's been a couple of months since I did my last blog. I must say that a lot of stuff has happened. It has been two full months since I joined Skywest and I must say I have mix feelings about it. I feel that I am a great assist to this company, just because of my knowledge of working on the ramp over at Horizon. But the company don't do a good job treating me well. A couple of days ago I was supposed to be off work at 7:30 in the morning, but I decided to hang around until 1:30 in the afternoon. Usually we are supposed to have 10 people on the ramp, but for some reason we only had 4 people including me. We had a Delta 737 and a Northwest A320. Normally it would take five people to turn a plane. Four wouldn't be too bad, but again NWA pulled in and two people had to bring in that plane. When I went over to help out NWA I saw a man stacking bags all by himself. Delta 737 loading bins are small in height and long in length. So imaging walking on your knees back and forth trying to load 110 bags. I love doing what I am doing, but it is real frustrating a lot of times. What is keeping me going are the people I work with. I have my wing man Scott who works very hard and he has been a good friend to me. Kurt who I beat all the time at Rochambeau. Amanda, who is leaving for good on Thursday, I enjoy making her laugh, since we have a strong passion for Family guy. I can't forget about Evie, who has been a good friend, we have been going out playing tennis, eating, talking, and watch the ducks swim in the pond. It's nice to join work collages out side of work, so we can talk about other stuff beside work, and to see their real true colors. These are the people that make my job very enjoyable and without them I would be gone in a heartbeat. I got some flying gigs that are coming up soon and I hope that I get them. I would be flying all over the United States doing aerial imaging. This will allow me to get paid to fly and also I can gain almost 600 hours, which will allow me to be more competitive if the airlines ever start hiring again. I've noticed that some people are reading my blogs and I thank you for spending some time reading my life story.

Week 2

I must say time goes by fast!!!! I've just finished my ground training portion at the Spokane airport, which means I am now a Skywest employee. The only downside is that I am stuck in Salt Lake City for another two weeks for customer service training. I wished that my job only had one side to it, but I must be trained on the customer service and ground side. Week one I was in Salt Lake for only one day, now I am back a week later. This training is completely frustrating!!! I am learning the customer service part and I must say that I bow down to whoever invented these computer programs. I remember going to the airport and checking in, it was fun watching agents typing really fast and getting me checked in lickety split. Now it is my turn to do this kind of work and I must say, how in the world can someone do this so fast? I'm having a hard time remembering all the accronoms. Oh well, one thing I am enjoying is the food! I think I had crembule almost every single day now, I can't stop eating it! I've gone to fancy restaurants every single day, since I arrived here three days ago. Skywest gave me $120 to spend on food for five days and I am putting this money to good use. I must say that I am addicted to Olive Garden bread, that is the best bread I've ever tasted. Now I am going to bed because it's going to be another long day tomorrow and I hope I'll continue to do well in training.

Week one

Skywest flew me out to SLC one day early, so I had some time to look around. I went down to Temple Square and looked at the Mormon temple. I must say my first impressions were, "WOW" this thing is huge! While I was walking around I met two Mormon women. One was from Brazil and the other was from Mexico. Many Mormons come all over the country for missionary training for 18 months. So it was interesting to learn about the Mormon culture and learn about these young women.

Then the next day, I spent most of the day at Skywest training facilities at SLC and it was mostly a orientation about travel benefits, health, money, and etc. I also had to do a pee test and agility test, there was one lady who couldn't lift a 60 pound bag above her head, so she was asked to leave. The flight back to Spokane was the bumpiest I've ever been on, but I had fun, I enjoy bumpy flights.

Today Tuesday I had to go to the airport to start my training at 2pm until 8:30pm. I must say I hate training because it is so boring. I have to take three tests today and I must get above a 80 percent on all of them. Sure enough I got a 100 percent on all of them, airline tests are like a joke to me, you must try really hard to fail. So I'm happy right now, but I still have four more weeks of training and I'm not looking forward to it, but oh well.

First time

Even though I am a senior in college, I still can't write. This is my first time doing this, so I'll try and recap about my life. As of right now I am 21 years old and I am a senior at Everglades University. I take online classes because weather plays a huge impact on where I live. I'm getting very excited because I only have three more months until I graduate. Afterwards I don't know what is going to happen, I have been thinking about getting my master degree, but the question remains, do I want to spend another 20 grand on school? Maybe someday down the road, when I get settled into a steady job.

My flying career has been filled with a lot of tears and joy. I love flying, but with this crazy economy, I'm not looking forward getting back into aviation. I have my CFI license which allows me to teach private, commercial, CFI, and ATP. But I want to get my CFII and MEI, which will allow me to teach other students as well. All together I'll have to spend another 5 grand on training. I was a instructor at Riverside Flight Center in Tulsa OK, which was a big change for me, since I am from Spokane WA. When I first got off the plane, I thought to myself, this is where I'm going to live now? This place looks so much different than home, since it is so flat and extremely hot. But my real goal was to teach, I lived in Tulsa for about 6 months and accumulated around 600 hours. I was planning on joining the airlines, but thanks to this economy that changed in a second. So I moved back home and I was stuck trying to find another job because I lost out, focusing all my attention on getting a airline job. It's hard to stomach to think, if I were still in Tulsa I might already be a MEI instructor and have around 1,000 hours. I enjoy flying multi airplanes, even though I had two engine failures so far, but I love the power and the speed a twin airplane can produce. Now I am forced to try and work as a ground agent for Skywest Airlines. I'm happy because in the past I worked for Horizon Airlines as a Ground Agent, I really love the free travel. This will give me time to earn some money, travel, and give me time to think. I been thinking about becoming a air traffic controller, since they get paid more and a lot better job security. So I'll sleep on, thanks all I can think of right now, but I'll keep on blogging.