Slacking

Right now, I should be finishing my History paper. I've been working on it for a little while now, and I'm thankful to even be close, seeing as I didn't know it was due until this morning.

Taking 15 hours a quarter to graduate in three years is not an easy task. It was also my glorious decision to splurge on 2 400 level history classes in one quarter. In all, I've read 6 books and written 8 papers in a 10 week quarter. 1 more left to go, too.

Hopefully I'll have a loooong break coming up in a few days. I really need it. Work has been stressful the last few days. I've got 2 instrument, 1 commercial, and 1 private student up for PTs next week, and its been really busy. Trying to cover all my bases is getting tough.

In other news, my roomate got an adorable cat named Ramsey. Since he's never around, Ramsey has taken to me, and believe me when I say this is the cutest cat I've ever seen. Did I just sacrifice masculinity? oh well.

Back to work...

Daily Grind

The last two weeks have been extremely busy in my work. The weather finally picked up, my IFR students got motivated, and I had a long nerve-wracking ride with the FAA last week. More on that:

Tech recently achieved Part 142 Training Center certification. All this means is that we are a 141 school which uses a Level 6 FTD for a fair bit of training time; saving students money. Overall, it will be a positive switch, but regulations are tight and we are having to cut a lot of red tape. One such item was designating a TCE (Training Course Evaluator). This is a Designated Examiner with a different acronym. In order to be certified, our selected TCE needed to evaluate a student on a practical test under supervision of our Principal Operations Inspector last Wednesday. Needless to say, the failure rate is a little elevated in these situations. After two students got cold feet and denied, we were in danger of losing our certification. After looking through some regs, I got the brightest idea to volunteer for a standardization ride in lieu of a practical test. The idea was accepted.
So after a cloudy Mardi Gras, I returned to Tech to face this new ride. Our 141 Standrides last about 2 hours, so I was expecting similar fare... Wrong. We spent 3 hours of oral, 2 hours of simulator, and an hour of flight making sure that I was good enough to teach what I've been doing for two years and 600 hours. After wasting my time, they thanked me and left... without pay. So now that I've vented on my poor exerience...

I had a pretty awesome dream the other night. In this dream, I recieved this as a present:

This is the Fokker E.III. For some reason, I was given a full scale 1916 Eindecker as a present from my girlfriend. Thanks to its relatively short takeoff and landing distance, I kept it hangared at my house here in Ruston and flew it off of Redwood street.
Oddly enough, I don't have many dreams about flying. But it seems that when I do, they are pretty much the best dreams ever. And apparently, I can build a 3/4 Scale E.III for a fair price. If only I could build planes...

Introduction

After much internal debate, I've decided to start a blog. I never thought that this would come about, and I'm still not even sure why it is called a blog and not a journal. But in the end, I've given in to the nameless hype in favor of publicly displaying my thoughts and actions for all to see... if anyone ever watches.

First, here's a little about me. At the time of this writing, I am 10 days shy of 21. Native of Luling, LA (About 20 miles southwest of New Orleans. I'm very proud of my home and its uniqueness. Flying became an interest to me when I first flew on a commercial airliner in 1994, at the age of 8. From that moment on, I was dead set on flying for the rest of my life. I began flight lessons in high school (2003), and achieved my private on June 5, 2005.
At the end of Summer, I began college at Louisiana Tech University. I've also come to love this University even with its downfalls. After screwing around for two years on my private, I moved through my instrument, commercial, and CFI in 14 months. I still managed to have fun too! My parents were very happy as it meant the end of them paying my flight fees (Thanks mom and dad). Since getting my CFI in August 2006, I have worked for Louisiana Tech as a part time instructor and full-time student. I should graduate from the University in May with a B.S. in Professional Aviation and a minor in History.
Other than flying, I really enjoy music, history, coffee, playing a little golf every so often, and cooking. I've been dating a beautiful redhead by the name of Marghee for a year and a half. She's got some typical redhead traits, but can certainly be sweet when she puts her mind to it.

Introductions aside, this blog is mostly about my career as a professional pilot. I'm starting it to review my own perspectives about living as an instructor, and hopefully moving on at the end of my tenure at LATech. If blogs are still around for a while, someone may look back and be interested. Otherwise.... I doubt anyone looks while I create mischief over here.

Oh... and the title of my blog is "My Airplane!". Every CFI and most students should know what that's about.