Good for another 6 months

Passed my annual training and checkride and now I'm ready to take on the nasty weather that seems likely to enter north Texas next week. Sounds like Hurricane Rita will be progressing pretty far into Texas and effect much of my route. I'm probably looking at delays, turbulence, heavy rain, lightning, and of course more cursing. Nope, it doesn't sound fun.

Then again, once the bad weather passes, it's such a good feeling knowing that you've plowed ahead against some really bad stuff and accomplished the mission that you were given. Oh, I know my "mission" of delivering overnight air packages probably won't save the world, but it's my mission.

I'll update my travels through Rita as I encounter them. Until then, c-ya.

Back in the daily grind

It's Monday, which means that I will be departing from the Oklahoma panhandle in a few hours. The weather seems very docile today. I'll be headed for Tulsa, eventually ending up in Dallas before midnight. This week will be dominated by training and a checkride. Under FAR Part 135, I'm required to perform a proficiency check every 6 months. This will be the second "checkride" for me, so obviously I've been studying. That's one thing about Part 135 and 121, there are many checks and tests. Each one of them critical to your career. So if your career destination is a cargo or passenger airline, you better get used to checkrides.

Last week the weather was crazy. Low clouds and rain on one side of Oklahoma and massive thunderstorms on the other. It was super challenging last Wednesday and Thursday. Early Wednesday morning ( around 3:45 AM ) I could be found in my Caravan picking my way through rapidly building lines of level 4 and 5 storms. Yep, there was a lot of rain, lightning, turbulence and cursing going on. Good times. But hey, I'm alive and the freight got there on time. I did my job. Plus I relearned the lesson that large thunderstorms really suck to fly through.

Incidently, I did get a job offer from my last interview. I didn't take it. It would have required a mandatory relocation to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, which I was unwilling to make.

Until next time, cheers.