A new year

So, we’ve finished all of our work, save for loading our bags and we’re simply waiting to go. The New Year celebrations weren’t too shabby. They had a local band play (and they did a damn good job) followed up by the DJ. We played some cards, drank our customary two beers, and laughed [...]

It’s definitely not the same

I know that Christmas is right around the corner but it sure doesn’t feel like it. Here’s why

1. You can’t see my building from space (it isn’t properly decorated) 2. I haven’t eaten 26,000 extra calories worth of sweets this month 3. Jessica and I aren’t working as a dynamic duo in the [...]

Hacking the mission

When I was in my first class on my way to becoming a loadmaster my instructor talked about hacking the mission. I’ve been doing that lately – quite a bit of that lately. I’m over 100 flying hours since I arrived here and I’ve moved over a million pounds of cargo. I’m not at [...]

A holiday away from home

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been away from home during a holiday. In fact, I’ve never been away from Jessica during Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’m sure that if I was home, I’d already be home from work trying to prep everything for the feast. Jessica and I would be working in [...]

Rolling with the punches

This job is a constant uphill battle. Each day we show up and try to do something that 110 years ago seemed like a pipe dream. I enjoy the fight.

The major difference between this job and my last is that we often succeed when everything goes wrong. I haven’t had a mission canceled [...]

I’ve been busy

I don’t know exactly how long I’ve been gone but it feels like it’s been a while. Sure, I could look at the calendar in the bottom left corner of my screen and do some simple math (my peripheral vision has betrayed me and it’s two weeks) but it makes the first two lines [...]

Let it snow?

It’s late October and the snow has started to fall. Luckily, the ground isn’t cold enough for any significant accumulation. The forecast could turn for the worst at any time. It’s expected to snow for the next week but there is a significant amount of rain mixed into the forecast. When it does start [...]

Here we go again

I’m off on the other side of the planet for the next few months. I’ll be gone just long enough to miss all of the major holidays. It’s a downfall of my occupation. It could be much much worse (army, marines, navy). If you visit often, you can expect an influx of new material. [...]

Almost done

The replacements are here and the pass-on has been completed. The new guy doesn’t have any of his worker bees yet but I can’t do anything about that. If all goes to plan – and there is no plan – I’ll be home within the next 14 days. Isn’t that an overly broad swath [...]

Filling the days

I’ve been adept at filling my days at work. We’ve had a constant stream of traffic coming through the door and whenever we find a lull we create additional traffic. For the last week I really haven’t had time to do anything at work but sweat and work. (our a/c is on the fritz… [...]