This will be my first tipsy blog. As long as it takes me to write these damn things, this very well might turn into my first drunken blog. You've been warned. HAHA!
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" That is a quote from Dante's Inferno. I am going to print it out the next time I go to the simulator and place it on the simulator door.
I had my annual Proficiency Check a few days ago, abbreviated in the pilot world as "PC." A PC is simply a flight and knowledge test that pilots have to endure in order to remain employed. Here, it's a yearly event for First Officers (copilots), and every 6 months for Captains (well.... the test is every year, but they must do time in the sim every 6 months). Honestly, it's a really good idea, because you'd be surprised how much stuff a person can forget in a year's time if they don't use it. Stuff like the company mandated emergency procedures and callouts, for example. What sucks about it, however, is that it's a jeopardy event - meaning that if I screw up, I could potentially be out of a job. OR, if I "unsat" any items that need to be trained to proficiency in order to keep my job here at Chautauqua Airlines, I must then attempt to explain why I screwed up the missed approach with an engine failure to a potential employer from a REAL airline who may or may not be sympathetic.
I studied for a few weeks, going into the PC feeling like I was ready for the Captain upgrade. However, after a few questions, I realized that I could not build them an airplane like I thought I could, and my confidence was a little shaken.
Hang on......
All right, I'm back. I needed to refill my wine glass. Aaaaannnndd.... the cat was in the kitchen (not the cradle. haha). So, I needed to sing a few bars to her. Today, it was O SOLO GATO...... (instead of O solo mio). Sweet Clara the Cat gets serenaded every time we're both in the kitchen. I'm Italian, so she's Italian by association. Italians are silly.... I digress.... back to my checkride......
We moved from the briefing room to the simulator. The sim is ice cold and smells of sweat, fear, failure, and dreams that have been raped and shat upon. My sim partner goes first and I am simultaneously joyed and dismayed that I have to go last. I make a fine "checklist bitch" and we get through his checkride with no problems at all, but I am worn out. After a short break, it is my turn to be baptized by fire. Specifically, a #2 engine fire. I manage to make it through the checkride with a satisfactory performance, yet I am humbled and angry that I didn't perform as well as I know I could have.
But.... I'm good for another YEAR!!! YEAH BABY!!
I just spent 2 hours playing the piano after YEARS of letting dust collect on it. As my current Facebook status says, " Poor Beethoven will come haunt me in my dreams, Billy Joel will
probably sue for property damage, and the cat probably won't come out of
hiding until late evening. My right wrist hurts, but my soul feels
good! I need to get my piano chops polished up again."
I remember a time, when I was a music major, before I ever THOUGHT about being a pilot....... when the piano was my best friend. I used to break into the music building in college after security closed it, wheel the piano out into the hallway for better acoustics, and hammer away Beethoven sonatas and Rachmaninoff pieces, mixed in with a little Billy Joel. There was no better therapy. The piano got me through uncertainty, heartbreaks, and the stress of not knowing what the future had in store. My soul always felt cleansed and pure after playing the piano. When my fiance dumped me, I used to place his picture on the piano and play until the keys were soaked with tears. Like a friend holding me as I cried, the piano never let me down.
Where the F did THAT memory come from?!?!? Stupid wine, haha!
When I was a tot, having temper tantrums because I hated to practice the piano, Mom used to say, "someday you'll thank me for making you play the piano." She was right!!
Anyhow. There is another captain bid out. Also, we've announced that our Grand Rapids and Milwaukee bases are closing. I swear, this company opens and closes bases like Lady Gaga opens and closes her legs. I can say in all honesty - I am at peace with whatever the results of this bid are. If I upgrade, I will lose my vacation (it's just our company's way) - which I have coming the last week of Feb and the first week of March. The half-marathon I've been training so hard for these past few months is on March 4, and I will be SUPER PISSED if I have to miss it. But, if they call and want me in class, you'd better believe I will be shit-flippin', flyin' F##K happy to be in class!! After my PC, I was looking forward to reading things that don't concern airplanes at all.
So.... whatever fate has in store, BRING IT!! I have my piano, my Sweet Cheeks, my cat, and my WINE.
Cheers!!
