When I am weak, she is strong.
When I am timid, she is bold.
When I come up blank,
She is amazingly creative.
She keeps me organized.
She keeps me from thinking I'm all that and a bag of chips.
Because really, I'm not. And maybe just a single chip.
She is strong, independent, loyal.
She is tender, nurturing, and caring.
She is a spectacular mother, and an awesome wife.
I am glad that she let me pick her.
I love you Baby, Happy Birthday!
wingnut
30 December 2008
23 December 2008
Snowblowing
I was rushing up and down our icy driveway, trying to clear it before I left for work. I had wanted to be finished with it already, since I really had to leave right now to make it to work on time. Old Man Winter had other plans. My mother, who watches The Boy on Tuesdays, ran into her own weather difficulties, and didn't get to our house when she wanted to.
She was running late, and as a result, I was running late. And as a result of that, I was rushing to clear the driveway, my mind on a hundred different things I had to to at work, and a hundred excuses for my boss when I was late.
I was close to cursing winter and selling our house when I looked up and saw Eli looking out the picture window. He was taking in the beautiful winter scene before him, and then he noticed me. His face broke out in a huge grin, and even from outside I could see his three and a half teeth (with one on the way).
I waved like a madman, and he pounded the window and smiled.
Then I threw a snowball at the window, and he tried to find it after it poofed apart on the window.
Then I did one better, and I aimed the snowblower at the window.
Just before the spray of snow obscured my vision, I saw Eli throw his arm up in front of his face.
When the snow cleared, I saw Eli and Grandma laughing. Grandma's nose was crinkled and her eyes shut, no doubt giggling over Eli's reaction to the snow.
Eli's head was thrown back and his shoulders rocked with great deep guffaws.
I could hear them in my mind, clear as a bell, though I was outside running a noisy snowblower.
I began to laugh behind my scarf, and blew more snow at the window. And for five minutes, I didn't care that it was winter and that I was running behind.
wingnut
She was running late, and as a result, I was running late. And as a result of that, I was rushing to clear the driveway, my mind on a hundred different things I had to to at work, and a hundred excuses for my boss when I was late.
I was close to cursing winter and selling our house when I looked up and saw Eli looking out the picture window. He was taking in the beautiful winter scene before him, and then he noticed me. His face broke out in a huge grin, and even from outside I could see his three and a half teeth (with one on the way).
I waved like a madman, and he pounded the window and smiled.
Then I threw a snowball at the window, and he tried to find it after it poofed apart on the window.
Then I did one better, and I aimed the snowblower at the window.
Just before the spray of snow obscured my vision, I saw Eli throw his arm up in front of his face.
When the snow cleared, I saw Eli and Grandma laughing. Grandma's nose was crinkled and her eyes shut, no doubt giggling over Eli's reaction to the snow.
Eli's head was thrown back and his shoulders rocked with great deep guffaws.
I could hear them in my mind, clear as a bell, though I was outside running a noisy snowblower.
I began to laugh behind my scarf, and blew more snow at the window. And for five minutes, I didn't care that it was winter and that I was running behind.
wingnut
18 December 2008
INVASION!!!
I have been listening to NT Wright lately. NT Wright is one of my favorite (if not the favorite) theological thinkers. He has just some absolutely amazing and I think groundbreaking insights into what it means to be a follower of Christ.
I have listened to these talks before, but now I have discovered fresh insights that I did not realize before. The more I thought about it, the more a few parallels began to make themselves clear. I've said before that I'm not quite sure where this is going, but sometimes the glimpse of what might be is even more exciting than finally arriving.
Let's think about the creation story. God created the world, and then He placed in it a garden. This garden was a paradise, the pinnacle of His creation. It was Heaven on Earth. God had, in a sense, invaded the Earth with a little bit of Heaven.
After the Fall, the garden ceased to be. But eventually, God worked through human history to bring about the nation of Israel. He made a covenant with them, and blessed them and freed them from their bondage. God said that He had set aside land for them that was to be their land forever. And so what did the Israelites do after making the covenant? They invaded their land to take it and use it.
But the Israelites also fell away from the covenant, and were carried back into bondage, away from their land. Their Holy Land ceased to be.
But eventually, God worked through human history to prepare for the arrival of His Perfect Human, Jesus. Some Israelites followed this new leader with these new teachings about what it meant to be perfectly in the covenant with God. And what did Jesus tell these followers of his to do? Go out and make more followers of him. Jesus told his followers to invade the world with the message that Jesus is Lord.
Joshua was the leader in charge of the Israelites when they had to invade their land and take it.
Jesus was the leader of the movement to reclaim creation to God's purposes.
We have been ordered to continue the reclamation process.
Erwin McManus once said, when asked what his job was, "My job is to continue the revolution that Jesus started 2,000 years ago."
This is going to get really cool!
wingnut
I have listened to these talks before, but now I have discovered fresh insights that I did not realize before. The more I thought about it, the more a few parallels began to make themselves clear. I've said before that I'm not quite sure where this is going, but sometimes the glimpse of what might be is even more exciting than finally arriving.
Let's think about the creation story. God created the world, and then He placed in it a garden. This garden was a paradise, the pinnacle of His creation. It was Heaven on Earth. God had, in a sense, invaded the Earth with a little bit of Heaven.
After the Fall, the garden ceased to be. But eventually, God worked through human history to bring about the nation of Israel. He made a covenant with them, and blessed them and freed them from their bondage. God said that He had set aside land for them that was to be their land forever. And so what did the Israelites do after making the covenant? They invaded their land to take it and use it.
But the Israelites also fell away from the covenant, and were carried back into bondage, away from their land. Their Holy Land ceased to be.
But eventually, God worked through human history to prepare for the arrival of His Perfect Human, Jesus. Some Israelites followed this new leader with these new teachings about what it meant to be perfectly in the covenant with God. And what did Jesus tell these followers of his to do? Go out and make more followers of him. Jesus told his followers to invade the world with the message that Jesus is Lord.
Joshua was the leader in charge of the Israelites when they had to invade their land and take it.
Jesus was the leader of the movement to reclaim creation to God's purposes.
We have been ordered to continue the reclamation process.
Erwin McManus once said, when asked what his job was, "My job is to continue the revolution that Jesus started 2,000 years ago."
This is going to get really cool!
wingnut
15 December 2008
10 December 2008
Questions?
Why do some of us consider ourselves "Soldiers of Jesus", and others barf at the mere mention of soldiers?
Can we really not get beyond the cultural implications to understand the metaphor?
And how come I never hear any "Emergent types" talking candidly and openly and honestly about spiritual warfare? Am I just ignorant to it? Is it going on and I just don't notice people talking about it?
It seems we accept that there is evil in the world, and that is as far as we're comfortable taking it.
We are quick to say, "Yes, human beings have been given a spiritual component, and that spiritual component allows us to experience God in beautiful ways."
We are not so quick to say, "Yes, human beings have been given a spiritual component, and that spiritual component is as vulnerable as our physical beings to the ravages of sin and evil."
And speaking of evil, who talks about Satan anymore? Have we moved past that? Can we name this evil, this enemy, this oppressive being that sets up man to worship himself?
Do we need to discover a new way to frame this dialog? Do we need a newer framework in which to hang the idea that we are, in fact, fighting against something malevolent in this universe?
Or are we content to simply go along acknowledging all the sin and oppression and evil in the world, and not talk about the source of the evil?
I should go to bed.
wingnut
Can we really not get beyond the cultural implications to understand the metaphor?
And how come I never hear any "Emergent types" talking candidly and openly and honestly about spiritual warfare? Am I just ignorant to it? Is it going on and I just don't notice people talking about it?
It seems we accept that there is evil in the world, and that is as far as we're comfortable taking it.
We are quick to say, "Yes, human beings have been given a spiritual component, and that spiritual component allows us to experience God in beautiful ways."
We are not so quick to say, "Yes, human beings have been given a spiritual component, and that spiritual component is as vulnerable as our physical beings to the ravages of sin and evil."
And speaking of evil, who talks about Satan anymore? Have we moved past that? Can we name this evil, this enemy, this oppressive being that sets up man to worship himself?
Do we need to discover a new way to frame this dialog? Do we need a newer framework in which to hang the idea that we are, in fact, fighting against something malevolent in this universe?
Or are we content to simply go along acknowledging all the sin and oppression and evil in the world, and not talk about the source of the evil?
I should go to bed.
wingnut
05 December 2008
Oh What a Beautiful Morning!
I hate mornings.
Well, I guess I don't have to be that harsh about it. Let's just say that I am nowhere near a morning person. I don't like being up anything before 9am. And even that, if there's nothing going on, seems a bit early to me. I would much rather stay in bed until around 10 or so, then maybe get up, surf the Internet for a while, feed The Boy, and stay in my pj's until I have to go to work in the afternoon.
I have always preferred the nights instead of the mornings, as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid, my parents would send me to bed, and I would just stay up and play with Legos or my GI Joes (or both) until I fell asleep. There are a few times I remember waking up the next morning next to my bed, with Lego pieces stuck to my face.
I never wanted to go to bed.
In college and after, if I ever saw 5am, it was usually from the other side. As in, "Holy cow, it's 5am! I really need to stop drinking coffee and go home!"
For the past ten months, I have been able to hang out and watch movies and generally have wonderfully relaxing mornings with The Boy. It's been awesome! Sure, I have to complete my share of the chores, but chasing around a crawling (and now walking) baby made things interesting and fun. Plus, I've been able to watch cartoons all the time, and have excuses to crawl around and play with toys too.
It helps that The Boy is not much of a morning person either. We would both prefer to sit on the couch for a while before we get moving around. I don't quite know if he was simply wired that way from the start, or if I trained him that way. Either way, I'm not complaining.
But there is a down side to this Ante Meridiem utopia: The Bride and I don't get to see each other except for on the weekends, and groggy fifteen minute intervals if I happen to wake up when she leaves for work, or if she happens to be still conscious when I get home from work.
That's not much of a marriage, and it's not much of an example for The Boy to follow.
So, starting sometime around the New Year, I will be making a massive transition to first shift. The gentleman co-worker that previously held the position retired last month after 37 (!!!) years with the company, and I have been given first rights to it.
I am super stoked. I cannot imagine the positive changes that are in store for me, for us as a family, and for those around us!
It will be a hard transition to make, for various reasons. As it is right now, my Bride and I have worked separate shifts for nearly our entire relationship. We have developed our own ways of doing things, and our own habits, and there will be some friction. But that is to be expected, I think, and with our patience with each other and God's grace to us, we'll figure it out.
Also, first shift begins at 0600 hours. Remember what I said above about 5am? Yeah, that's going to be my new alarm clock setting. Unless there's an early departure, then I would be required to be at the airport at least one hour prior to scheduled departure. The little New Ager in me is frantically scrambling to rearrange my biorhythms in order to establish wellness within the paradigm of my new circadian cycle.
It's going to hurt.
But the hardest thing about this shift change will not be the new schedule. No, the hardest thing about this shift change will be that I will miss out on mornings with Eli.
I treasure waking up to hear him jabbering in his crib. It warms my heart to see his gummy, groggy, sleepy smile when I walk into his room. I love the way he tries to climb into my arms.
I love getting ready to face the world with my son.
It is special to me, and now instead, I will have to face the morning with cold, hard metal machines and unforgiving, inflexible schedules.
There is much to be excited about, but I will miss mornings with Eli.
wingnut
Well, I guess I don't have to be that harsh about it. Let's just say that I am nowhere near a morning person. I don't like being up anything before 9am. And even that, if there's nothing going on, seems a bit early to me. I would much rather stay in bed until around 10 or so, then maybe get up, surf the Internet for a while, feed The Boy, and stay in my pj's until I have to go to work in the afternoon.
I have always preferred the nights instead of the mornings, as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid, my parents would send me to bed, and I would just stay up and play with Legos or my GI Joes (or both) until I fell asleep. There are a few times I remember waking up the next morning next to my bed, with Lego pieces stuck to my face.
I never wanted to go to bed.
In college and after, if I ever saw 5am, it was usually from the other side. As in, "Holy cow, it's 5am! I really need to stop drinking coffee and go home!"
For the past ten months, I have been able to hang out and watch movies and generally have wonderfully relaxing mornings with The Boy. It's been awesome! Sure, I have to complete my share of the chores, but chasing around a crawling (and now walking) baby made things interesting and fun. Plus, I've been able to watch cartoons all the time, and have excuses to crawl around and play with toys too.
It helps that The Boy is not much of a morning person either. We would both prefer to sit on the couch for a while before we get moving around. I don't quite know if he was simply wired that way from the start, or if I trained him that way. Either way, I'm not complaining.
But there is a down side to this Ante Meridiem utopia: The Bride and I don't get to see each other except for on the weekends, and groggy fifteen minute intervals if I happen to wake up when she leaves for work, or if she happens to be still conscious when I get home from work.
That's not much of a marriage, and it's not much of an example for The Boy to follow.
So, starting sometime around the New Year, I will be making a massive transition to first shift. The gentleman co-worker that previously held the position retired last month after 37 (!!!) years with the company, and I have been given first rights to it.
I am super stoked. I cannot imagine the positive changes that are in store for me, for us as a family, and for those around us!
It will be a hard transition to make, for various reasons. As it is right now, my Bride and I have worked separate shifts for nearly our entire relationship. We have developed our own ways of doing things, and our own habits, and there will be some friction. But that is to be expected, I think, and with our patience with each other and God's grace to us, we'll figure it out.
Also, first shift begins at 0600 hours. Remember what I said above about 5am? Yeah, that's going to be my new alarm clock setting. Unless there's an early departure, then I would be required to be at the airport at least one hour prior to scheduled departure. The little New Ager in me is frantically scrambling to rearrange my biorhythms in order to establish wellness within the paradigm of my new circadian cycle.
It's going to hurt.
But the hardest thing about this shift change will not be the new schedule. No, the hardest thing about this shift change will be that I will miss out on mornings with Eli.
I treasure waking up to hear him jabbering in his crib. It warms my heart to see his gummy, groggy, sleepy smile when I walk into his room. I love the way he tries to climb into my arms.
I love getting ready to face the world with my son.
It is special to me, and now instead, I will have to face the morning with cold, hard metal machines and unforgiving, inflexible schedules.
There is much to be excited about, but I will miss mornings with Eli.
wingnut
04 December 2008
We DO Know Where This is Going.
On my church's website, they have begun a blog specifically for the Advent season. The first week of posts (started on November 30) are all having to do with hope.
One of the posts talked about how there is an element of despair in every hope. Hope, the writer said, is sometimes hopeless.
We talk about how we can hope for something "against all hope", or that there is no hope in a given situation.
But hope and despair come hand in hand. We can hope that we don't get laid off, but only while we are experiencing the despair that comes with the threat of losing our job. We can hope for a comfortable retirement account, but that hope is focused through the despair of a bad economy. We can hope for a better, stronger, brighter America in the future, with despair in the knowledge that it will get worse before it gets better.
Hope is only real when times are tough. Hope only has meaning if one has every reason to despair.
The Bible has much to say about hope. Any sort of casual reading through the prophetic books will show you what despair looks like. I mentioned the Israelite Exile to Babylon briefly last week, and I would like to revisit that in order to illustrate hope.
The Israelites had literally everything taken from them. Their possessions were stolen, their Temple had been destroyed. Their homes were burned. They even had their land taken from them, as they were forced to move to Babylon. It was the absolute lowest point in their history since they were in Egypt.
And during this exile, during this horribly desperate time in their history, the Israelite prophets spoke of the despair, of the pain, of the judgement that they were experiencing from God.
But then they also spoke of hope. Hope for a future where everything is "put to rights". A future where justice prevails, where poverty is eliminated, where everyone eats enough and can afford daily necessities. Where no-one dies in wars, where no-one has their possessions taken from them by force. The prophets wrote that this hope would be for not just the nation of Israel, but for all people, everywhere.
This should be our hope as well.
We believe that the hope of the exiled prophets for a new, better world came to fruition in the flesh of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the hope that the prophets were talking about. Not just for Israel, but for all people, everywhere.
The Book of Revelation is a strange book to read, and a difficult book to understand. As a child, the book nearly drove me away from faith, but that's a different post.
If we look at the last two chapters of Revelation, we see a glimpse of where Creation is going. We catch the slightest sideways glance at what God, through Jesus, has set in motion:
A New Jerusalem.
A New Heaven.
A New Earth.
A New Creation.
What we're seeing is Hope. That means that I can stand before anyone and tell them that I know where this is going. I know what will happen. I know how this story will end. In this time of growing despair, of fear and war and death, we shall begin to see more clearly the hope that we all have for the future. This hope is firmly rooted in the fact that Jesus has "put the world to rights" in God's eyes. Jesus has enacted the hope of Revelation 21 and 22.
He enacted the hope that we have for the future, and he also empowered us to live out that hope in our lives today.
Gandhi said that we should try to be the change we wish to see in the world.
In this Advent season, when we think of the hope we have for the future, we should attempt to be that hope.
wingnut
One of the posts talked about how there is an element of despair in every hope. Hope, the writer said, is sometimes hopeless.
We talk about how we can hope for something "against all hope", or that there is no hope in a given situation.
But hope and despair come hand in hand. We can hope that we don't get laid off, but only while we are experiencing the despair that comes with the threat of losing our job. We can hope for a comfortable retirement account, but that hope is focused through the despair of a bad economy. We can hope for a better, stronger, brighter America in the future, with despair in the knowledge that it will get worse before it gets better.
Hope is only real when times are tough. Hope only has meaning if one has every reason to despair.
The Bible has much to say about hope. Any sort of casual reading through the prophetic books will show you what despair looks like. I mentioned the Israelite Exile to Babylon briefly last week, and I would like to revisit that in order to illustrate hope.
The Israelites had literally everything taken from them. Their possessions were stolen, their Temple had been destroyed. Their homes were burned. They even had their land taken from them, as they were forced to move to Babylon. It was the absolute lowest point in their history since they were in Egypt.
And during this exile, during this horribly desperate time in their history, the Israelite prophets spoke of the despair, of the pain, of the judgement that they were experiencing from God.
But then they also spoke of hope. Hope for a future where everything is "put to rights". A future where justice prevails, where poverty is eliminated, where everyone eats enough and can afford daily necessities. Where no-one dies in wars, where no-one has their possessions taken from them by force. The prophets wrote that this hope would be for not just the nation of Israel, but for all people, everywhere.
This should be our hope as well.
We believe that the hope of the exiled prophets for a new, better world came to fruition in the flesh of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the hope that the prophets were talking about. Not just for Israel, but for all people, everywhere.
The Book of Revelation is a strange book to read, and a difficult book to understand. As a child, the book nearly drove me away from faith, but that's a different post.
If we look at the last two chapters of Revelation, we see a glimpse of where Creation is going. We catch the slightest sideways glance at what God, through Jesus, has set in motion:
A New Jerusalem.
A New Heaven.
A New Earth.
A New Creation.
What we're seeing is Hope. That means that I can stand before anyone and tell them that I know where this is going. I know what will happen. I know how this story will end. In this time of growing despair, of fear and war and death, we shall begin to see more clearly the hope that we all have for the future. This hope is firmly rooted in the fact that Jesus has "put the world to rights" in God's eyes. Jesus has enacted the hope of Revelation 21 and 22.
He enacted the hope that we have for the future, and he also empowered us to live out that hope in our lives today.
Gandhi said that we should try to be the change we wish to see in the world.
In this Advent season, when we think of the hope we have for the future, we should attempt to be that hope.
wingnut
03 December 2008
Dispatches From the Line Mk.VI
Work Work Work.
When I say I work at the airport, the next question, without fail, is "What do you do at the airport?"
I attempt to explain to them that my job is basically fueling our airplanes when they come in, and making sure that the airplanes are ready to go for their next trip.
This really doesn't cover it, but if I were to tell people exactly what I do, they wouldn't follow me for long. Or, if I tell them that my job is anything not covered by someone else's job description, they still would have no idea what I get paid to do.
So when I punched in today at 1430 (2:30pm), I tried to keep track of everything I did at work.
When I got in, there was an airplane out on the ramp that was renting hangar space from us. The mechanics were putting it in the hangar, and finished up just as I punched in. I talked with our director of maintenance and he briefed me on what was going on that evening. There was going to be another jet renting hangar space from us that was going to be over shortly, so I had to keep my eye out for that.
After that, I filed some paperwork left over from the weekend, and organized my office a bit. Then I went up to the front office to check in with scheduling to see if there were any schedule changes. There wasn't any. On my way back, I got stopped by Jody, our receptionist, who introduced me to her replacement, since she is leaving for Norway in two weeks.
As I walked back into my office, I was stopped by our facilities maintenance man, who was telling me about the Christmas tree plans and that I might have to help.
When I finally got back into my office, I checked my email and double checked the schedule on the computer. As I was doing that, the jet taxied up for hangar space.
One of the girls at our other facility across the airport had called the hotel shuttle for the pilots, and so I informed them of that, and let them into the front office when they were done shutting down the airplane.
I then waited with them for the hotel shuttle, which drove by once and disappeared. After a half-hour of waiting, I told the crew that I would take them to the hotel. So I dug our crew car out from the snow and ice and drove them to the Airport Hilton on the corner of 28th and Patterson.
When I got back to the airport, I was cornered by one of the office girls, who wanted me to help set up the Christmas Tree. So I helped her do that. As we were working on that, the pilot for my departing airplane was ready to go, so I pulled the jet out of the hangar and got it all set up out on the ramp. The weather was pretty nasty, so I called my supervisor to have the deice truck standing by when they were ready to go.
As I was fueling the departing aircraft, the pilot informed me that they would need a deice, and I confirmed that the truck was on it's way.
The deicing truck arrived, and my jet started up and taxied across the ramp to the deice pad. I climbed into the deicer and drove it while my co-worker, Jerry, sprayed from the bucket.
A deice truck, by the way, looks kinda like those telephone work trucks, with a big boom and bucket on it, enabling whomever is in the bucket to spray the deice fluid even on the tops of the big airliners. I think the bucket can get up to 60 feet high.
When we were done deicing the jet, I signaled to the pilots with a thumbs up, and they left. I finished up the paperwork for the deicing and then went to start stacking my hangar.
Now when we move our airplanes around, we have to use wing walkers, who act as extra spotters to watch and help the tug driver not smash hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of airplane parts together. I usually coordinate with the airplane detail crew. We talk about what airplane we're going to move where, and what all has to be done first.
Today, I had to get a different tow bar attachment to move one of the airplanes who had rented hangar space from us. That meant that I had to drive over to the other side of the field to get it at our other facility.
So back in the crew car I go, over to the other facility. When I got over there, the other line guys were using the attachment that I needed, so I helped them move the airplane they needed to move. They were pretty busy over there, so I helped them fuel the airplane before it left, and then I helped them stack their hangar before I was able to get back to my hangar.
When I got back, the detail crew was waiting for me, so we stacked the hangar. It was an easy stack, we only had to move two airplanes, so it didn't take long.
So far, it's been a fairly typical day at the airport.
I still have one more airplane to fuel and then put in the hangar. I need to update my schedule to the most current version, and I have to make sure all my airplanes are in the right spot for the mornings departures. Then I have to service the potty on one of our airplanes.
Then I still have to top off my fuel truck, and make sure it's ready to go for tomorrow. After that, I have to enter today's fuelings into the computer and make sure our fuel meter numbers match up.
Then I have to update my big status board in the office for the next shift, so that they know what's going on.
It seems like chaos, but it's a controlled chaos!
wingnut
When I say I work at the airport, the next question, without fail, is "What do you do at the airport?"
I attempt to explain to them that my job is basically fueling our airplanes when they come in, and making sure that the airplanes are ready to go for their next trip.
This really doesn't cover it, but if I were to tell people exactly what I do, they wouldn't follow me for long. Or, if I tell them that my job is anything not covered by someone else's job description, they still would have no idea what I get paid to do.
So when I punched in today at 1430 (2:30pm), I tried to keep track of everything I did at work.
When I got in, there was an airplane out on the ramp that was renting hangar space from us. The mechanics were putting it in the hangar, and finished up just as I punched in. I talked with our director of maintenance and he briefed me on what was going on that evening. There was going to be another jet renting hangar space from us that was going to be over shortly, so I had to keep my eye out for that.
After that, I filed some paperwork left over from the weekend, and organized my office a bit. Then I went up to the front office to check in with scheduling to see if there were any schedule changes. There wasn't any. On my way back, I got stopped by Jody, our receptionist, who introduced me to her replacement, since she is leaving for Norway in two weeks.
As I walked back into my office, I was stopped by our facilities maintenance man, who was telling me about the Christmas tree plans and that I might have to help.
When I finally got back into my office, I checked my email and double checked the schedule on the computer. As I was doing that, the jet taxied up for hangar space.
One of the girls at our other facility across the airport had called the hotel shuttle for the pilots, and so I informed them of that, and let them into the front office when they were done shutting down the airplane.
I then waited with them for the hotel shuttle, which drove by once and disappeared. After a half-hour of waiting, I told the crew that I would take them to the hotel. So I dug our crew car out from the snow and ice and drove them to the Airport Hilton on the corner of 28th and Patterson.
When I got back to the airport, I was cornered by one of the office girls, who wanted me to help set up the Christmas Tree. So I helped her do that. As we were working on that, the pilot for my departing airplane was ready to go, so I pulled the jet out of the hangar and got it all set up out on the ramp. The weather was pretty nasty, so I called my supervisor to have the deice truck standing by when they were ready to go.
As I was fueling the departing aircraft, the pilot informed me that they would need a deice, and I confirmed that the truck was on it's way.
The deicing truck arrived, and my jet started up and taxied across the ramp to the deice pad. I climbed into the deicer and drove it while my co-worker, Jerry, sprayed from the bucket.
A deice truck, by the way, looks kinda like those telephone work trucks, with a big boom and bucket on it, enabling whomever is in the bucket to spray the deice fluid even on the tops of the big airliners. I think the bucket can get up to 60 feet high.
When we were done deicing the jet, I signaled to the pilots with a thumbs up, and they left. I finished up the paperwork for the deicing and then went to start stacking my hangar.
Now when we move our airplanes around, we have to use wing walkers, who act as extra spotters to watch and help the tug driver not smash hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of airplane parts together. I usually coordinate with the airplane detail crew. We talk about what airplane we're going to move where, and what all has to be done first.
Today, I had to get a different tow bar attachment to move one of the airplanes who had rented hangar space from us. That meant that I had to drive over to the other side of the field to get it at our other facility.
So back in the crew car I go, over to the other facility. When I got over there, the other line guys were using the attachment that I needed, so I helped them move the airplane they needed to move. They were pretty busy over there, so I helped them fuel the airplane before it left, and then I helped them stack their hangar before I was able to get back to my hangar.
When I got back, the detail crew was waiting for me, so we stacked the hangar. It was an easy stack, we only had to move two airplanes, so it didn't take long.
So far, it's been a fairly typical day at the airport.
I still have one more airplane to fuel and then put in the hangar. I need to update my schedule to the most current version, and I have to make sure all my airplanes are in the right spot for the mornings departures. Then I have to service the potty on one of our airplanes.
Then I still have to top off my fuel truck, and make sure it's ready to go for tomorrow. After that, I have to enter today's fuelings into the computer and make sure our fuel meter numbers match up.
Then I have to update my big status board in the office for the next shift, so that they know what's going on.
It seems like chaos, but it's a controlled chaos!
wingnut
01 December 2008
Happy....Holidays
I didn't get the Thanksgiving post up.
I naively thought that I would have time this weekend to get it done, since we had two extra days off. Plenty of time, right?
Nothing to do but eat, watch TV, and lay around the house, right?
Somewhere between here and Toledo, we filled up our long weekend. It was good though.
The Bride and The Boy and I enjoyed ourselves.
Even though the dinner conversation started out awkward and only got worse. Even though there were stresses hanging over us that didn't go away. Even though we didn't quite get to to everything we wanted to do.
It was still a good weekend, and I'll tell you why:
We weren't at work. We were with family. We got to watch our son discover stairs. And noisy birds. And football. We ate spectacular food. We got to go shopping. We got to walk around outside for a while. We watched movies on a massive screen while eating popcorn and sitting in chairs that are designed to put you to sleep no matter how well rested you are.
But the Thanksgiving was held in tension. The economy is not so hot right now, and those that work in the banking industry are feeling the pinch. That means us.
As at any family gathering, those who are present remember those who cannot be present, and this Thanksgiving was no different.
So it was with more sober thoughts that we gave thanks this year.
But this weekend also was the beginning of the Advent season, a time to prepare and anticipate the birth of Jesus. This anticipation is the anticipation of the New Heaven and the New Earth, the renewal of all creation.
No matter what situation we find ourselves in, Advent is the ultimate Thanksgiving.
wingnut
I naively thought that I would have time this weekend to get it done, since we had two extra days off. Plenty of time, right?
Nothing to do but eat, watch TV, and lay around the house, right?
Somewhere between here and Toledo, we filled up our long weekend. It was good though.
The Bride and The Boy and I enjoyed ourselves.
Even though the dinner conversation started out awkward and only got worse. Even though there were stresses hanging over us that didn't go away. Even though we didn't quite get to to everything we wanted to do.
It was still a good weekend, and I'll tell you why:
We weren't at work. We were with family. We got to watch our son discover stairs. And noisy birds. And football. We ate spectacular food. We got to go shopping. We got to walk around outside for a while. We watched movies on a massive screen while eating popcorn and sitting in chairs that are designed to put you to sleep no matter how well rested you are.
But the Thanksgiving was held in tension. The economy is not so hot right now, and those that work in the banking industry are feeling the pinch. That means us.
As at any family gathering, those who are present remember those who cannot be present, and this Thanksgiving was no different.
So it was with more sober thoughts that we gave thanks this year.
But this weekend also was the beginning of the Advent season, a time to prepare and anticipate the birth of Jesus. This anticipation is the anticipation of the New Heaven and the New Earth, the renewal of all creation.
No matter what situation we find ourselves in, Advent is the ultimate Thanksgiving.
wingnut
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