Still here

Ok it’s been a helluva long time since I’ve posted – so much water under the bridge! Am now back flying based at East Airport since July and it’s a relief to be back home again.  No more commutes to Liverpool.

Lot’s of work going on with my house. New kitchen fitted after weeks of chaos!

Currently on days off till Sunday – it’s my birthday tomorrow!

Not in a relationship at the moment but what the hell?

Am looking for serious people to join me in an exciting venture. Do you know anyone who wants to make some extra money?

Just off to the quiz at the Lord Roberts!

Tina Turner – O2 this Sat

Well am a bit gutted cos I got a ticket for Tina Turner this Saturday at O2 and there is no way I can get the weekend off – the joys of being an airline pilot! So if anyone wants it let me know asap. It cost me £109!

Well it’s been a while since the last posting but that’s life! Am on standby today but once that is finished I will be hitting the road back home for a few days off. As they are somewhat short of Captains at Liverpool I don’t do too many standbys but it’s quite nice to get the occasional one which enables me to play catch up on paperwork and also have a bit of a breather between duties. Contrast this to the first officers at Liverpool who are not doing that much flying as there is a surfeit of same. This means they earn less money so some of them are not so happy.

It’s pay negotiation time at the moment. When I use the word “negotiation” it’s in a fairly loose sense! One perspective is that in the current financial situation especially with the airline we are lucky to have a job. My answer to that is that the employers are lucky to have our skill, expertise and dedication! I still enjoy my job (that’s the bit when the wheels are off the ground) but could easily weep when I see some of the things that are now happening in the airline industry. There seems to be a continual eroding of terms and conditions, a lack of respect for our profession, not to mention banal security checks which we are subject to every working day of our lives.

I am concerned that Britain (which used to be Great) is not far short of a police state.  I see recent legislation has been enacted that you cannot take a photo of a policeperson in uniform! Good grief you really couldn’t dream this stuff up! Are they going to arrest every Japanese tourist who snaps one of the boys in blue whilst on vacation in London?

I predict that we are not far off a revolution in UK and the collapsing economy will be the catalyst to get it going. I only hope it will be a peaceful one! My sense is that HM Government (and I include all parties in this) have really lost the plot.

I am following quite closely the discussion on www.pprune.org/forums on the accident at Buffalo, NY state to the Q400 turbo prop with the loss of all on board (48  I believe) and one on the ground. Aviation is a family and we mourn their loss. Modern flying is outstandingly safe by any reckoning and I wish to assure any readers that they can fly with the confidence that all will be well. Very occasionally things can got wrong but the NTSB investigation will find out what went wrong and what lessons are to be learned. Turbo prop aircraft fly lower so spend more time in icing conditions which are not dangerous as such but can bring extra challenges. If you think of a block of Swiss cheese it has holes in it. It’s only when all the holes line up that an accident occurs. It’s never one things but a chain of circumstances which if not checked lead to an accident (this can be applied to almost all transportation accidents).

I have got tickets for Tina Turner in London in a couple of weeks but it’s nigh impossible to arrange a day off with my employer. Maybe I can get a swop but I just have to book tickets for shows and then take pot luck – maybe this time I won’t make it.

Son Martin is reovering well from the slipped disc operation. He has another one in his neck but that is less serious. I renewed my annual medical last week (and passed with flying colours!) and mentioned him to the doctor and that he was circ 6ft 6 ins tall and worked as a bartender. Doctor said trouble is these places are just not designed for tall (or short) people. So if you’re tall then you are more likely to suffer from this type of injury.

The exercise routine goes well. Ran 16 km (= 10 miles) in 92 mins yesterday and felt good on it. Aiming for Marathon later this year.

Well thats all for now. Have fun and Live with Passion!

I think it was Sir Winston Churchill who once said that sometimes you just have to “keep buggering on”. I am halfway through a block of earlies which means setting the opportunity clock for about 0400 for a report time of about 0500 for a 0600 departure. I was looking forward to a nice two sector day to Skavsta and back tomorrow with departure at 0730 but crewing have now put me on a 4 sector day to Poland and back and Ireland and back departing 0605! Still it’s all part of the job and is, as I often say, part of life’s rich tapestry. By the way, I never call it an “alarm” clock – who wants to wake up feeling alarmed? So I call it an “opportunity” clock since every day is a great opportunity to Carpe Diem (= Sieze the Day!).

Today I went to Rome (Ciampino) and back. Despite the fact that we arrived a few minutes early we left late which is quite common there due to the rather slow, “laid back” ground handling. I love Italy and the Italians but, from an aviation point of view, I regard them as a third world country!. Anyway we arrived back at Liverpool only 5 minutes late as the enroute winds were quite light. The view of the UK as we crossed the south coast was quite amazing due to the covering of snow and even at 40,000 ft it was easy to pick out the M1 and other motorways as a black line in the whiteness.

I am pleased to report that my son Martin is progressing well after his slipped disc operation. He is now walking again and I took him to NHS Direct to have the 16 staples removed from his back when he was visiting in Nottingham. We also went to see my other son Chris who is a manager for MacDonald’s “restaurant” in Nottingham. It’s not that common for us to be together these days as we all have busy lives so it was fun to do so.

Life seems to consist of a lot of work these days. There seems to be a shortage of Captains at Liverpool (as opposed to a surfeit of First Officers) so every working day I am flying (as opposed to being on standby). I really prefer this since apart from meaning extra money (as well as a basic salary we also earn “sector pay” for every flight we make) I might just as well be flying when I am in Liverpool for my 5 days on. We are limited to 900 hours flying per year (and as we come under the Irish aviation rules the clock starts running on the 1st of April – yes really!) so it’s possible I will hit 900 hours before the 1st of April in which case I cannot do any more flying till after that date. Oh and by the way that’s 900 hours actually IN THE AIR – we do a lot more duty time since we have to do pre and post flight duties!

I am amazed at the hysterical media reaction to the snow. Even the radio forecast today was talking about it being “very cold” – hell man they want to go to Canada in the winter when it’s 30 degrees below zero. I drove up from Nottingham on Thursday where there had been quite a lot of snow. Before I left about lunchtime I followed by usual ritual of going to the gym (a car journey of a few miles) and then stopped off at the local shops in Ruddington for some fresh fruit and veg. It was an amazing experience – amazing because I had no problems at all getting about and was able to park right outside the greengrocers as hardly anyone else was daring to venture out, no doubt put off by the scaremongering on the radio and tv stations. I then went home, packed up the car and completed the 106 mile to Liverpool in record time of 1.50 ! Record because there was a dearth of traffic and the main roads were completely clear!

On Monday I am looking forward to meeting the guy in company who decides on basing issues. He is quite elusive but he is visiting the Liverpool base so a number of us will be asking about how our base transfers are going. Whilst I ove my job and LPL is a great base to work from I cannot wait to get back East Midlands and start living a “normal” life again.

Well time for bed now.

Faith

The last couple of days seem to have been challenging but I am glad to report that Martin seemed much better today when I visited him in hospital this morning. Anyone who has had children understands how it feels when one of them is injured/sick or unwell. But sometimes you just have to rely on the F word – FAITH! I do have a Christian belief and also believe in the power of prayer. Many seem to think that prayer is about asking for what you want. At some level it is but my main prayer is please God help me to deal with what is going on.

That said I do feel quite out of step with the world at the moment. There is no news about when I might get back to being based in East Midlands. The flatshare in Liverpool is handy but it’s not home! I am very attached to Nottingham and my friends there. People I fly with ask me why don’t I go and work abroad? Do I have to have a reason? We seem to live in a fear based culture where people are scared stiff of making any mistakes! Get Real! Often “mistakes” are our biggest learning experiences! As I say if you are going to screw up then make a BIG screw up! There seems to be so much negative thinking about at the moment (and yes I know that is a negative statement!). Have you ever noticed that some people just cannot wait to tell you their bad news? At some level we all have challenges but some people just want to “puke” all over you with all their bad luck. I know that may sound very unsympathetic and actually I am a very caring person but when I look at the challenges which I have faced in my life I sometimes think “You aint seen nothing yet”. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t wish bad luck on anyone but folks have got to realise that in a lifetime it’s likely that a few crisis will happen to you. So I implore you all to start looking on the bright side of life – count your blessings!

I am a big observer of human behaviour. As I walked into the health club the other day I said to the lady on reception “Another great day!” . She replied “Well let’s hope it brightens up later”. But I was NOT talking about the weather! I was referring to the fact that it was “another great day”! Do I always get up in the morning thinking “It’s a great day”. Well I have to be honest not always but I always go out to MAKE it a GREAT day! Sometimes I say “Have a great day” and people reply “I’ll try” to which I say “Don’t try – go and make it a great day”. Ok enough of that.

Tomorrow I have a 6 sector day with quite a new first officer which should be fun. Dublin twice and Belfast. Then one more duty on Sunday then four days off!

Slipped Discs

Well today is the last of my days off but there is only really one major thing on my mind and that is that my younger son has been diagnosed with a slipped disc or two and needs to be operated on pronto. At one level I am relieved since his loss of sensation in a leg and arm could have signalled something a lot worse. I did a check on the web and the success rate for the op is high but he will be out of action for a few weeks. Whilst they were unable to do tests over the weekend (they don’t have the staff around at the weekend!) and one does hear horror stories about the NHS, I do feel we are so fortunate to live in a country where good health care is readily available. My son is being moved to one of the top teaching hospitals in the country so fingers crossed it all goes well.

I am back to Liverpool tomorrow so will be able to see my son on the way.  I can get compassionate leave (the company are very good about this) but at least I am on lates with some quite nice days.

The health club has very much featured in the last 2 days with 2 sessions with my personal trainer. Am not a big cinema goer but have seen Valkyrie (6 out of 10) and Slum Dog Millionaire (9 out of 10). The latter was fabulous and you need to go and see it. The culture of India is so colourful in everyway and the film shows that well.

Am off to the “Breakout” group in Nottingham. All are welcome but it’s for Gay, Bisexual and TransGender men and we meet every Tuesday at 8 pm. Quite often we have a guest speaker or we have other fun activities! It’s a safe pleace for GBT men to come and the group varies between 12 or 30 people from all walks of life.  Usually we go down to the pub afterwards but that’s optional. It’s a great place to meet like minded guys in a pleasant safe social setting. I have made some good friends at Breakout.

I am pleased to see that the new Parkway rail station at Ratcliffe On Soar near East Midlands Airport opened yesterday. For me it will be quicker (and cheaper) now to drive to the new Parkway and get a train to London (assuming that’s where you want to go ! lol). There are also shuttle buses to the airport.

That’s it for now!

Home Again

Yes am back home in Nottingham again. Yesterday’s flight to Lodz (Poland) and back went well – the weather there was low cloud and zero degrees C – had a brill first officer quite new but dead keen and a joy to fly with. We arrived back a few minutes early and then it was the usual routine, back to the flat, pack my bags, load the car and hit the road before the Friday rush hour bites. I left at 1330 and was home for 1600 – the SatNav decided to send me a different non motorway route for some reason but it was a relief to get home again.

The new drive to the house looks cool but they managed to damage a fence so they are coming back today to fix it – they won’t be getting the cheque until they do! My car insurance renewal is due in Feb and the new details were in the post but they’d omitted by no claims so I spent a frustrating 30 mins on the phone on hold most of the time whilst they sorted it. Then it was off to the gym for my usual 40 mins workout before returning home. Was thinking of going out but was too knackered so decided to get to bed. I think I slept ok – when you’ve done 5 days on earlies getting up at 0430 your body gets into a different routine, hence I woke up at 5 am today feeling incredibly horny too! It’s been a while since I have had a shag so I am open to offers!

My younger son had rung in the early hours and left a message that it wasn’t serious but he was in hospital with leg pain and that he would call again later – hope he is ok. Said a prayer for him.

Am about to go out into the big world. A few chores to do – uniform to the cleaners,hope they can do it by Tuesday as am back to work on Wednesday. Talking about work have been based at Liverpool for a year now so I hope the transfer to East Midlands comes through soon.

Yesterday was quite a long day but we got back ten minutes earlry from Limoges and Krakow. It makes such a huge difference when you have a First Officer who is up to speed! I still managed to get a visit to the gym before crashing into bed to be up at 0500 for a 0705 take off to Nantes and back. The weather there was wet and windy as it’s on the Atlantic coast. We got back 20 minutes early at 1000. When my mum was still alive I often used to pop in and see her after work and she could never really comprehend that I had been to, say, Tenerife and back in the day. People forget that modern aviation is actually a miracle. You can get in this tube and a few hours later be almost halfway round the world! They couldn’t really do that 50 years ago let alone 100 years ago.

It was nice to finish early today, quick dash back to the flat to change and then out to the gym where I did a long run – 20 km in 2 hours – that’s a half marathon! Am aiming to do a marathon later this year – wish me luck! My personal trainer advises me that the London Marathon is a good one to do first – not too many hills! So when I run it I expect all my fans to turn out in their thousands, a bit like Obama’s inauguration!

Am looking forward to getting back home after tomorrow’s flight – going to Lodz (Poland) and back, we should be back about 1230 so if I get on the road at 1330 I can beat the Friday rush and be home for tea time. Can’t wait to see my new driveway which has been completed whilst I have been away at great expense but it will be worth it. Am also looking forward to having a weekend off and I intend to party with the boys!

More later.

Watch that Self Talk!

It’s work – earlies at the moment. Went to Riga and Derry (Ireland) yesterday, been to Rome today. Got back ten minutes early today which is unusual from Ciampino as the handling there is quite slow. I think I got a few hours sleep last night. My flatmate’s Spanish girlfriend seems incapable of closing a door without slamming it. The bathroom is next to my bedroom and I lost count as to how many times she visited same last night. I am on the verge of asking her to close the door quietly as there’s hardly anything worse than being on an early and not getting quality sleep.

I have been in the flatshare here in Liverpool for a year now. It’s worked out quite well really until my flatmate’s girlfriend appeared on the scene. Before she arrived my flatmate did his washing up. But not long after she moved in (that seems to be what’s happened) I came back from work at the kitchen looked like Armageddon had arrived with virtually every utensil used and unwashed. My initial reaction was “Why should I do their washing up, I will only do mine!” But then one of my beliefs in life is that what you give out comes back a million fold – not always from the direction you might expect it but, as they say, what goes around comes around. So I spent 20 minutes or so restoring the kitchen to an acceptable state. I did this on a couple of occasions and it seems to have paid off since, although by no means perfect, the pair of them are now in the main doing their washing up. But what staggers me is that neither of them has acknowledged that I sometimes do their washing up or even thanked me. My flatmate hardly ever speaks and I wonder even whether they have an agenda to try and get me to leave which I have no intention of doing until my tour of duty at Liverpool has finished.

Ciampino and back is quite a nice day’s work, not too long and not too short. The thing which affects me job more than anything is who I am flying with. We have a huge range of nationalities, experience levels and backgrounds who fly for the company. It’s inevitable that you get on with some more than others. Also, but not exclusively, when you are flying with a newbie (and I was there myself once) you need to keep a fatherly eye on what they are up to.

Some aspects of human nature amuse and puzzle me. After I had landed today there were 3 voice messages on my mobile home from a guy who is laying a new driveway at my house. People just don’t seem to understand that I cannot talk to them on my mobile phone when I am flying! This is the company with whom I paid a deposit in July and told me there was a 4 month lead time before the job could be done. Now it’s six months and they seem to want to get the job done in record time but I need to decide what pattern and colour I want. They are ringing later tonight so plans can be finalised.

Have been to the gym as I was finished at work by 1 pm. As well as my usual cardiovascular 40 min workout on the cross trainer I did a 5 km run (in 30 mins) which went really well. A quick shop at M & S for some food and back to the flat to sort out and cooked myself some pasta which was nice. All is quiet at the flat but wait with baited breath for the return of James (my flatmate) and his scatty girlfriend who leaves things strewn all over the place.

Tomorrow I have a 0615 take off to go to Limoges (central France) and back and Krakow (Poland) and back – we should arrive back at Liverpool at 1625. It always amuses me the way some guys come in to work and utter some incantation such as “It’s a long day today” to which I often say “How can we make it feel shorter and more enjoyable” because you see everytime they incant “It’s a long day today” they are programming their unconscious mind to bring this into their reality. OK yes being on duty for nearly 12 hours (or longer sometimes due to delays etc) can be challenging but I basically enjoy my job even when I am feeling tired. It’s a bit like when I go through security before going airside I often say to the security personnal “What a great day!” – they often think I am referring to the weather but I am not! Now don’t get me wrong security personnel have all my sympathies – it’s not a job I would want or relish. But when I ask many of them “How’s it going?” they say “Well it’ll be ok in 2 hours”. I pretend not to understand and say “What’s happening in 2 hours then?” and they reply “I’ll be going home then”. Then I think (but don’t say) “What’s up, don’t you like you job then?”. Now there are even some aspects of my job I don’t like but if you are doing it there is no point in being miserable or making it worse than it actually is. Then sometimes I say “Well you cannot change the weather but you can adjust your sails accordingly” Once again they often think I mean the weather! This morning I added “And I am NOT talking about the weather! – I AM talking about life”. What with all the news about the economy at the moment things don’t look that good BUT there is little you or I can do to change the economy. BUT we can change our ATTITUDE to what’s going on – in fact I believe that attitude (one’s own that is) is the ONLY thing we have really got control over. Compared to many in the world we are vastly rich in almost every way. I am not living in Iraq wondering whether a car bomb will go off as I walk down the street or Gaza worrying about when the Israeli jets are going to start bombing again! Do you or I have challenges? Of course we do, EVERYONE does! But my Dad used to say to me “Count Your Blessings, Son!” When I was younger this statement used to infuriate me but now I realise how right he was. In fact, years ago I started making a list of everything in my life that I was thankful for. After a while I started writing down things like air to breath, water to drink, flowers and trees to marvel at, good friends etc. There is SO MUCH we often take for granted – as Tony Robbins says human beings are “deletion creatures”.

Well it’s time to prepare for another early start. Will set the “opportunity clock” for 0415. I call it the opportunity clock (the herd call it the alarm clock) because every day I wake up I have another opportunity to live life to the full.

Very unusually I had a night in last night! I have been quite tired – maybe a few things catching up with me. I have been based at Liverpool for exactly a year today during which time I have been travelling back and forth to Nottingham every ten days or so. Apart from that work has been busy. Not that I mind that because generally I enjoy my job and if I am up here in Liverpool I might as well be working. We get extra money for every flight we fly (called “sector pay”).

The night before last I did go out and met up with Chris who is a good friend. That said I didn’t stay out too late for me and was back home by about 2 am. Can’t even recall what I did yesterday so it can’t have been that eventful! It was quite nice to stay in last night and I was able to catch up with some paperwork. I set the clock for 0730 this morning and managed to wake up naturally (!) at 0700. I listened to Paul McKennna’s “I can make your rich” cd first then the usual breakfast before heading off for the gym for 40 mins cardio-vascular followed by shower and shave and then straight to the 10 o’clock service at St Pauls in West Bridgford. I wouldn’t describe myself as very religious but I do think that it’s important to stay in touch spiritually. I also have a lot of friends in the congregation.

Then it’s back home for lunch and to pack for another tour of duty in Liverpool. Looks like quite a nice week coming up. Tomorrow is Riga and Londonderry and back – early take off at 0630 so will set the clock for about 0430. I don’t think anyone really relished early starts especially at this time of year when it’s dark but once you get into the rythymn of 5 earlies on the trot it’s quite good fun!

So here I am in the flat in Liverpool. My flatmate is good to share with but he never really speaks! But the flat is 5 mins from the airport so very handy. I usually do a bit of preparation for the flight the evening before. We go to a lot of regular destinations so we get to know them quite well. Weather has a big impact on the the operation and planning. A quick look for tomorrow doesn’t seem too bad – bet wet and windy in the morning, Riga forecast fair and even Derry should be ok.

Hope you all have a great week too!