Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Thoughts and Props

We live in an online world. Everything is available to us via Google. If there is anything in the world that you need or want to read, see, view, or listen to, Google will probably have it or have a way to get to it. Try it sometime. However, this era of information at the speed of light, is accompanied by personal information at the speed of light. Your diary or blog or live journal or whatever you would like to call it, for example. You’ve put it online for all your friends and the voyeurs of your mind to read and browse at their leisure. This very blog for example is a way for me to release. A way for me to let my mind simply flow forth into words forming the occasional eloquent statement afforded by my limited literary ability. I scribe the entries to the clutches of the internet when time allows and thoughts are invoked. Sometimes I write because I want to put out there something I’ve learned and value. Sometimes I just write because it’s something I enjoy doing. Other times I hope it can inspire others who desire to scrawl their mental stirrings onto electronic paper for the world to see.

Recently though I have been shown, yet again, how regressive, juvenile, and blatantly ignorant of others people can be. Although those of us who chose to post or publish take a well known risk in putting our scribbles out for the general public to read, we never intend for someone to use this information against us or to prey on our insecurities. While we do allow comments and replies to our entries, (at least for me) this is more so to become a better writer or person or to simply allow someone who was affected by these writings to let me know how they were affected. I do not intend for this to be a public forum for those who wish to attack and demolish me or my loved ones. In an effort to keep the exchanges on my blog in the desired subject arena I wish to keep them in, I have made some adjustments to my account settings. I would suggest that all bloggers do the same to weed out any comments that do not pertain to your subject matter.

With the above mentioned business taken care of, it’s not often I have the time or patience to read other’s blogs. I do however wish to change this in the future so if you have any that you think I might find interesting or fascinating, please feel free to comment me or to email me.

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Flying is one of the few things that some people believe if man were intended to do, we would’ve been given wings. However man was given the ability to engineer wings, and engines, and guidance systems to enable us to hurl ourselves skyward and to keep us there. Being airborne is one of the things I greatly enjoy in life and have little time or money to do so anymore. Rising cost of petroleum, increased ticket prices, and the lack of funds for general aviation have all kept me from this beloved activity. If any of you reading this have ever been in my home, you instantly know that someone living there has an affinity for aviation. Boeing 727-200s, 757-200 & -300’s, 737-800s, Lockheed L-1011 Tristars, Air Force 1, Marine 1, and (my favorite) the Airbus A380-800 all adorn my humble abode in 1:200 scale models. If the starting salary for an airline pilot was more than $18,000 and all major airlines weren’t on hiring freezes for pilots I believe being a pilot is something I would enjoy doing. Shuttling people from place to place seeing the country at first and eventually the world would be a fantastic existence. Right? Well maybe not. I have worked in the aviation industry before but on the more grounded side of things being a ticket agent, ramp agent and gate agent at a small airport and did fly as much as I could while working there. Seeing a few cities, visiting family when I wanted, so I’ve seen the glamorous side and the not so glamorous side of things and I can tell you, the not so glamorous side is very UN-fabulous. It’s hard work for little pay. You spend long hours in the air and on the ground away from your home. Away from everything you know is comfortable all the while you’re either ushering a multi-million dollar aircraft full of people from place to another or you turn into a human pin cushion for the grabby drunk business men sitting in row 1 seats B and C.

It takes a special breed of person to work in the air and I can say I’m not one of them. Though the experiences I had flying jumpseat on a 34 seat twin engine turbo prop or assisting a mechanic change the starter on an engine were things I’d never trade for the world, I’ll keep my feet planted on the dirt for my career. But my hat is off to those who, for them, there is no greater thrill than hearing their copilot call out “V1 – Rotate….Wheels up time 2359. Another red eye.”
~Preston

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