Saturday morning, Jon and I decided it had been far too long since we had enjoyed nature, and our wives were kind enough to let us go hike Squaw Peak together... It was a gorgeous day- nice and sunny but not too cold. It was so nice to get out! Here are a few pictures of the trip:
So I've been thinking that it would be interesting for people to see what it's like to be a brand-new pilot. This is the first installment, so let's get right down to it...
First of all, for those who are interested, the first picture is just an example of some of the things you put up with during the first year of airline employment (not to mention any of the things your spouse puts up with)...
This is my bedroom for tonight. The Minneapolis Airport has a nice, out-of-the-way quiet seating area that actually has soft, stuffed chairs that don't look too hard to sleep on. :)
Either way, they'll have to do for tonight, because I've already paid for a hotel five times this month, and that's more than enough! When I'm on a company trip, they cover the hotel expenses, but I ended up with a lot of reserve assignments this month - which means lots of commuting to work so that I can spend lots of time waiting for maybe a phone call to cover for someone last minute. I have to be within 2 hours of the computer in the crew lounge at the airport to check in at all times and I have ten minutes to respond to a phone call from crew support. It's more stressful to me than flying an 80,000-plus pound airplane with 80 people on board!
Now don't start thinking I hate my job... I LOVE my work; I just look forward to the day in the (near?) future when I can sit reserve at home in Salt Lake and get paid to putter around the house and do something productive! Until then, I'll just enjoy the view from my office and bide my time!
And I'll thank Kristen every day for putting up with this craziness until it gets better. (It will, honey, I promise!) :)
