Not Much New

First off, for those of you like me that need pictures to read, just tune in next week because I don't have any pictures to go with this blog entry. Now, not a lot of newsworthy events to report to you all. The past week was the first week of flying the "almost actual" simulators...and doing it between midnight and 3 am. The schedule is pretty wacky and it doesn't lend itself for a good weekend because by the time I wake up it is Friday afternoon and I have to be back at work on Sunday night.

The flying isn't that bad. The plane isn't too hard to fly, it is all the other stuff that is proving to be the most difficult. Things like having a whole gaggle of people in the cockpit, running a million and one checklists, and watching twice as many gauges tend to make me feel a little behind the aircraft...and as a pilot, typically you should be in front of the aircraft.

The C-130 is a beast and hard to taxi. If there were cops on the runway, they would have pulled me over for drunk driving. I made myself sick just from taxiing. The sim is very realistic with houses, buildings, other planes, etc. but when you are flying along and the instructor pauses it, it can get your inner ear to start to spin. That is what happened when I was at Laughlin (actually flying, with no pausing...that would defy our buddy Newton's laws) in the first stage and puking was the result. Fortunately, the results haven't been the same, but I can't say I felt like eating a milkshake right away. Our instructor has been good and the training is actually a little enjoyable. They treat us like equals that are just trying to learn more...as opposed to idiots that don't know anything and supposedly don't have the drive to increase their knowledge.

Outside of flying, not much else. Candi is still bringing in the beacon by working each day. We were invited to see a band by another couple (husband in my class) and the lead singer and one of the other band members were from Stanley, ID. I talked with them afterwards (obviously not that popular) and found that we had a mutual friend in E-town. I figured since that was two less in Stanley, that we could safely say that a quarter of that town's population was in Arkansas on Friday night.

I have been having real bad back and neck problems and look forward to seeing a doctor or quackpractor when I get home for the break. Being subject to the Air Force's random drug testing, I haven't been able to alleviate the pain with the herbs, like my wife does. I don't trust the locals here and the base doesn't have someone for backs and necks so I will have to wait until the break to get some help.