Is there anybody out there?

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything on my little blog. I'm sitting in my car, killing precious time while waiting to go home from work (these mid shifts are perfect for night owls such as myself). I wonder, are any of you, my old friends, still out there in the blogosphere? So much has happened since we last spoke, so much to talk about and so much to catch up on. I find myself thinking of many of you frequently, recalling hours spent chatting on MSN, laughing, crying, giving each other the love and support each of us needed at any given moment. The love and support I was given by so many of you has enabled me to be the out and proud man I am today and for that I am eternally grateful. I sincerely hope that this finds all of you well and that we might have occasion to do some catching up soon.

Cheers!

Deadwing

It's been fun...

...but i think it's time for 2011 to get the fuck out.

Wow, another year is gone? Shit oh dear, i'm getting old! What a blur this year was. Not all of it good. Most of it was crap, actually. Between my grandpa passing away, my mom developing health issues and my grandma really not doing so well either, it's been pretty shit. I'm glad to see 2011 go away.

The above said, i still have plenty to be thankful for, and am reminded daily of just how fortunate i really am.

I wish all of you the best for 2012!

Long Time, No Spank... I Mean Speak

Well, hello there. Been a long time my friends. How is everyone doing out there in the world? Very well indeed, i hope. Everyone behaving themselves, hmm? I suspect not. ;-)

First off, this new blogger dashboard is...different. I suspect i'll get used to it, but for now it's just way too white! I'll have to tinker and see if i can customize the view.

Anywho, on to business. Tomorrow is a rather important day for me. And for E. Why you ask? An excellent question. It's such an important occasion because it is mine and E's two year anniversary. Yes, i have managed to find a man that has been willing to put up with all my bullshit for two who years! I now believe in miracles. In all seriousness though, i am the first to admit i am not an easy person to live with (and it's been nearly a year since E has moved in with me...i'm still adjusting, but i rather like having someone to come home to). He must really love to have not killed me by now. I'm moody, grumpy, loud, and i swear a lot. I snore, hog the covers and like the bedroom way colder than E would have it. I'm lazy, a slob, and i hate house work. I like to eat full flavor foods (i.e. NOT healthy), smoke cigars and drink way too much whisky (is there such a thing?). I spend money on frivolous things instead of saving it, drive a car that wastes fuel and like to live a little dangerously. But for some reason, the wonderful man that i met two years ago has stuck by my side, and remained faithful to me despite the fact that he's hot and i'm not, and he could have any man he wants. We argue like an old married couple, and i know i infuriate him at times (as does he to me), but we always kiss and make up and get over ourselves and our little problems. I know in the grand scheme of things, two years is just a single grain of sand through the hour glass of time, but it's the longest relationship i've ever been in (and E's second longest) and also the longest i've ever lived with anyone other than family. I guess in the end, all that matters is that i love him with all my heart and he loves me. God willing, this will last a lifetime.

The other part of all this is that a few months ago we dispensed with the "boyfriend" nomenclature. Now, it's "partner". It feels more serious, more real, more committed than mere boyfriends. I haven't bought him a commitment ring yet, but that is on the horizon i think. Marriage? Get back to me. Baby steps...

What else is new? I missed out on another opportunity for promotion at work. I'm kind of bummed. But, once they start paying relocation money, it opens the floodgates and people way more qualified than me bid on the openings. But still, i missed out on the big money. The pay bands for supervisors were adjusted recently, and not up. The bottom of the bad now fall below what i currently make, which means a very insignificant pay increase for me when i finally do get promoted (it's only a matter of time as i'm checking all the right boxes and kissing all the right asses). So i now have to decide if the increase in responsibility and the ultra high bullshit factor is worth the modest pay increase. I'm starting to rethink my plans. Maybe i should resign my current job as a support specialist and just go back to working the boards. Get back in the comfort zone, and get back my sunday pay, night differential and holiday pay. The people i used to work with were way more fun too. Oh, i still do work with them when i get my currency time, but offices are too fucking stuffy. That said, i bid another supe job today. Cross option, so i'd change facilities. We'll see... I went to Maui for two weeks with E back in September. First class to boot. E had to drive us from the airport to the hotel. I was a bit intoxiated... I drank every last drop of Grand Marnier on the aircraft and then some. The trip was amazing. Warm beaches, sunshine, no schedules or jobs or bosses. We went to the top of Haleakala and watched the sunset (we are both far too lazy to get up early enough to watch the sunrise). Mimosas for breakfast, Mai Tais for lunch and the best seafood i've ever had for dinner. The ultimate in relaxation in the most perfect place i've ever been. I'm ready to go back. I'm not ready for winter, and don't even mention the S word...

I went and bought a new toy a few weeks back. I purchased a brand new SIG556 SWAT assault rifle. And a few thousand rounds of ammo. I'm now ready for the apocalypse. Bring on the zombies! The lease is up on my A4 in less than a year. I'm already over my milage allowance for the term of the lease (oops), so my options are buy it out, or trade it in on something newer. I'm leaning towards new car. I've got my eye on the Audi A7. The S4 is also an option, as it will be refreshed for the 2013 model year, but i'm not sure it will have some of the goodies that i want and are available on the A7. Plus it's awful similar to what i currently have. Decisions, decisions...

Well, i should let you all go. You're probably bored to tears by now. It's been fun catching up, we should do this more often. Don't be strangers!

What A Chump.

Chump. That's the term used to describe people like me, or anyone who makes an effort to work hard, better themselves and be a contributing member of society. Why do i say that, you ask? Allow me to explain.

For you long-readers, you will most likely remember the car crash i was involved in way back in August of 2009. For those who haven't been reading long, or who need a refresher, here's what happened. I was driving to work one fine Friday afternoon minding my own business when i happened upon a long line of stopped cars where there usually isn't one. Traffic normally flows at the speed limit of 50 mph on this road, and stops at the few traffic lights are rare because there isn't much cross traffic. So, i come to a full and complete stop and notice a state pig and a DOT vehicle on the shoulder, finishing up clearing a crash. I am stopped for a good 2 minutes and am trying to look ahead to see what the problem is when BAM!!!! Some stupid fucking cunt in a giant 6000 pound SUV plows into the back of my brand new, six month old, hadn't been in for it's first service yet Audi S5. The force of the collision is so great that it pushes my car into the car in front of me, that car into the one in front of it and that car into the one in front of it.

Needless to say, my car is fucked up. In fact, it's a total loss. I file the claim through my insurance (good thing, because as it turns out, the stupid twat that hit me didn't have enough insurance to cover the property damage) and my insurance pays out pretty much what i paid for the car. Great, right? Well, almost.

The car that got killed was a 2009 model year. At the time of the accident, we are into the 2010 model year. Sure, i could have scrounged and found a used one that matched eventually, but it's a used car. I am not spending that kind of cash on a used car, especially given that my wrecked car was brand new at the time of loss, for all intents and purposes.

Short story long, I had to order a 2010 car to replace my 2009 car and of course, costs go up. All in all, my replacement vehicle cost me about $4000 more than the wrecked car, and i lost about $3000 on extended warranties, service contracts, satellite radio subscriptions, etc. on the wrecked car that couldn't be refunded to me. for a total of about $7000.

This doesn't even take into account the fact my back and neck are all fucked up, that my mobility is reduced and i've put back on the 75 pounds i lost prior to the crash. So, now i'm once again a fat fuck who is in constant pain and no hope of ever getting back to my former self.

It has taken two fucking years to settle this case. Two years of dealing with slime ball piece of shit lawyers, doctors, insurance companies and all their minions. I attended an arbitration hearing last week to see what i would be getting for my settlement for all the shit this whore has put me through. Net result, after the insurance companies and lawyers get their cut, i'll be getting about $3500. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?! For all the shit i've had to go through and still go through, that's all i get? That doesn't even cover my losses!

Partly i'm getting fucked because there is no pity in the "justice" system for people who actually have jobs and aren't fucking bums who suck those who work hard dry. The arbitrator felt sorry for the goddamn cunt who hit me and fucked up my life because she is an irresponsible piece of shit and has filed bankruptcy and has no money, and simultaneously doesn't feel sorry for me, the victim, simply because i have the means to provide for myself and have nice things.

This country has become such an ass-backwards, fucked-up, welfare state that coddles the useless and takes from the ones who work and strive to succeed. It's got to the point that working hard and trying to better ones self is pure foolishness. Why work hard only to have what you work for taken away from you? And why should i hold myself accountable for my action when nobody else is held accountable for theirs?

It's time for a revolution. Send the bums back to where they belong, the gutter. We need a class system that gives those who work hard all the power and wealth and those who don't work get nothing. No more welfare, no more social programs. I'm tired of propping things up and being the chump. Maybe i should stop working and stop be accountable and just sit back and relax for a change. After all, there are plenty of other chumps out there working hard who are ripe to have what they have eared taken from them

Oops...

I hate when that happens! I don't know how many of you have seen this little incident in the news (and if you have, you've probably only heard the edited version), but it sure made me laugh when i heard it. For those of you who don't know of this, what happened was, a Southwest Airlines pilot either had a stuck mic or had inadvertently keyed his mic while he was talking to the other pilot while in the cockpit and en route. So, the net effect was everyone on frequency got to hear all sorts of things that i'm sure this pilot is absolutely mortified went out over the air.

Now for the record, i am all for people holding whatever opinions they want about anything at all, even though, as in this case, i may not agree with them, so long as those opinions are discussed and shared in the proper venue. As this was an honest mistake, and the pilot thought he was having a private conversation with his fellow crew mate (although the fact that cockpit voice recorders can hold up to four hours of audio and transcripts of said recorders fall into the public realm if an accident should occur, nothing said in the cockpit of an airliner is really that private), i really don't see why this is such a media circus. I mean, everyone says things in private that they would never say in public, and i'm sure if this guy knew he was live and on the air he would have never said such things. In fact, occurrences such as this are not all that uncommon. It's just that the conversation is usually more benign, such as the pilots accidentally transmitting what they think is going over the PA to the passengers. Hell, even i have accidentally broadcast stuff that i didn't mean to. And considering the conversations that take place while i'm at work, i'm damn lucky the stuff that's gone out has all been G rated.

At any rate, the stuff this pilot said was pretty offensive even to my ears, but i still got a chuckle out of it thinking about how this pilot must have felt when he got call into the bosses office and heard the tape for himself.

Ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the Worlds Most Embarrassed Airline Pilot...

Aerial Photography

The following were all taken in early February 2011 from the cozy confines of my seat aboard an MD-80 using my iPhone (i was too lazy to get out of my seat and grab my good camera from the overhead bin). Not too shabby, aside from reflections in the windows and such. I have been travelling for work quite a bit and unfortunately all my travel has been to Oklahoma City. If you've never been there, don't bother. It's quite possibly the flattest, most boring, featureless, redneck infested shit hole i've ever had the displeasure of visiting.

Anyway, the only reason i thought to post these is because Gauss Jordan mentioned he'd been in Seattle and hadn't been able to visit the Museum of Flight. So, here you are my friend. Not quite the same, but a slightly different view of the outside displays anyway. Next time you're in town, shoot me an email and i'll go to the Museum of Flight with you. I love that place, and they've added a bunch to it sine the last time i was there. And just in case you didn't get a good view of the mountain while you were here, i thought i'd include a shot of it as well. Mount Rainier is one of my favorite place and i can't wait to get some hiking in there this summer.

Enjoy!


^ KBFI as seen from seat 6A on final to 16C @KSEA


^ KBFI as seen from seat 6A on final to 16C @KSEA (Museum of Flight is center frame with various historic aircraft visible below and slightly left of center)


^ Mt. Rainier on climb out from KSEA for KOKC.

A bit of porn...

Well, this ought to give you some idea as to the variety of geek that i am. Airplane porn for the win!

But Jesus! Listen to the sound of those engines! And that an airplane that big can climb like that is impressive. I was flying out of KMSP aboard a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757-200 several years back and watched the runway markers tick past on the take-off roll. That airplane only used 2500 feet of runway on take-off! That is next to nothing for an aircraft of that size. When i stopped by the cockpit to chat the pilot after the flight, he said we were climbing out at 6500 feet per minute, which again, is astounding performance.

Seeing stuff like this really makes me wish i'd pursued flying as a career rather than just for recreation. I highly doubt my local FBO will be offering an aircraft like this one for rent anytime soon.