- Rave: MovieQuotes.com. If you need a good way to kill some time and love movie quotes like I do, try the quote game. My sister and I interact exclusively through quotes from ten 1980s movies. OK, not quite, but close.
- Rant: Fog in Islip. Why can’t they add a CAT III approach at KISP (Long Island-MacArthur near Islip, New York)? Southwest had to cancel several flights yesterday due to thick fog, while we could have landed safely at several other airports in the northeast under the same conditions. With a CAT III approach, we can land safely with as little as 700 feet of visibility. To be fair, there might be a technical reason preventing such an approach, such as an obstacle or lack of room for the required lighting system.
- Rave: Smartphone Syncing. I like my new Blackjack. I loaded my Dec work schedule and events into it and synced it with my home PC. Then I reversed the process, loading my Jan and Feb work schedule into the PC, and then syncing it into my phone. That rocks.
- Rant: Ethanol. The government has apparently decided that ethanol is one of the best answers to our dependence on foreign oil. Unfortunately, ethanol is inefficient and expensive to produce and difficult to distribute, and it is driving up the price of many items that use corn during production (milk, for example). Adding ethanol to gasoline actually reduces your fuel economy. For more info, check out this article. I’m no energy expert, and I realize there’s no easy answer to our energy problems, but I don’t think ethanol is going to save us. Think hydrogen, people!
- Rave: My Family After getting to see most members of my extended family and in-laws over the Thanksgiving week, I must say how thankful I am for all of them. My family is no more perfect than any other, and we have plenty of interesting stories, but they’re overall good folks, and somehow we all manage to get along and have a good time together despite all of our little quirks and differences in personality. I actually look forward to seeing my family during the holidays.
Category Archives: Movies
People, Interrupted
I’ve been noticing something lately: people in general, including myself at times, are really bad about interrupting each other. Sometimes it’s coincidental and unintentional – people simply start talking at the same time and continue until one or both stop out of courtesy. Sometimes a person is telling a story when a listener (such as myself on many occasions) jumps in with a question or comment that interrupts the story. It’s less annoying when the interjection is on-topic, maybe a clarifying question or an “active listening” comment that assures the storyteller that the listener is indeed listening. But some people (listen up, b/c you DON’T know who you are) jump in with completely off-topic comments that derail the discussion and attempt to move it somewhere else entirely. Some people are so bad about this, you aren’t sure they were even listening to the conversation they derailed. Your homework for the next few days is to pay attention to the conversations you hear: both what others say and what you say. Is it an actual conversation or merely a cacophony? Do the speakers seem to respect each other and value each other’s opinions, or is each person simply itching to jump in and enlighten the group with his/her own comments?
In other news, if you want to see an outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role, rent The Last King of Scotland and watch Forest Whitaker at the top of his game. The movie is about Idi Amin, the charismatic but brutal dictator of Uganda in the 1970s.
I’m set to leave for Alaska next Friday for a couple days of salmon fishing and bear watching with Dad. I finally ordered a new digital camera with a good zoom, hoping it will arrive in time for me to take it on the trip. This trip will involve many firsts: first visit to Alaska, first attempt to fly standby on another airline (Alaska Airlines), first attempt at salmon fishing, and first ride in a floatplane. Should be fun!
Getting Fit, Saying No, and Other News
My internet connection is STILL having problems. I’m also spending lots of time at my parents’ house and sleeping there to facilitate showings. So it’s difficult to update the site. To make up for that, you get a big entry today.
First, Elvira is here, and she rocks! If you need a car, I recommend Hondas, and I recommend getting yours from John Eagle Honda in Dallas. Talk to Anthony Hickman. He and I worked out the deal over email, and the whole process was very smooth. The Honda Fit is fun to drive, easy to park, very flexible, and has lots of great extras like cruise control and speed-sensitive volume with the Sport trim. Katy is borrowing my old car until the wedding because hers died hard. Soon afterward I’ll give Sarah to IBC.
We got the first offer on our house, but it was unusual. The buyers wanted to close in TEN DAYS, and their financing was odd. We couldn’t agree on the terms, so the deal fell through. It was encouraging to get an offer within the first month, though. We’ve had a few showings since then and still have hope for a good outcome.
I saw an amazing movie recently called Hotel Rwanda. It’s about the Rwandan genocide and civil war in 1994, an event that the West largely ignored at the time despite the deaths of nearly 1 million Rwandans. The founder of ALARM is from Rwanda and lost family members and friends in the tragedy. The movie tells the true story of Paul, a hotel manager who turned his hotel into a safe haven for over 1000 refugees and helped many of them to escape. It draws you in emotionally from the beginning with fantastic acting (particularly Don Cheadle, who plays Paul) and a great script. Today we have a similar situation in Sudan near Darfur, with similar apathy here among Western political leaders. I wonder how our reaction would be different if sub-Saharan Africa held the oil reserves of Iraq.
Jenny and I went bowling last night for Date Night. We visited Golden Triangle Bowl in Irving, a place where I attended a lock-in back in high school. I was thrilled to find that Golden Triangle is now SMOKE FREE! One employee said they’ve gotten lots of comments about the policy, both good and bad. I told him I thought it was great. My lungs didn’t shut off during the two games we bowled, and I didn’t come out smelling like smoke. I think and hope that most public buildings except bars will be smoke-free within 5-10 years. We are winning!
Somewhere in the Darkness, the Gambler, He Broke Even…
Today I want to talk about music, right after I recommend a slick new movie: The Illusionist, a turn-of-the-century mystery-romance starring the incomparable Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jessica Biel. It kept me guessing till the end. Anyway, music…
First of all, I am mourning the loss of one of my favorite radio stations, Smooth Jazz 107.5 The Oasis. Monday afternoon the evil leaders of Infinity Broadcasting transformed one of the few unique stations in the Dallas area into yet another station that plays hip-hoppy music. I intend to send them hate email after I finish today’s entry. I suggest you do the same.
Second, I’m exploring a new hobby: guitar. That’s right. I borrowed Jenny’s mom’s acoustic/electic guitar, found guitar.about.com, and started tinkering with it on Sunday. So far I’ve played 9 chords, if you can call them chords, plus a lot of really bad combinations of notes, buzzing, and dead strings. But sometimes the chord sounds halfway decent. Acoustic guitars soothe my soul. The first song I’ll try to play is “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers.
Third, I want to introduce you to a fascinating internet radio site called Pandora.com. This is only worthwhile for you broadband types, If you’re still on dial-up, let Pandora be your wakeup call to upgrade. (It might even be cheaper than AOL.) Anyway, you tell Pandora a song or artist you like. Pandora responds by gradually building your own “station” or playlist with that artist plus many other similar artists. You can give each artist a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and over time Pandora learns your tastes and refines your list. You can have many different stations for yourself. It’s lots of fun, and it’s free, so check it out.
Recent Events
The Check Engine light is still on. I just exchanged the replacement sensor for another one, just in case it was a bad sensor. I have about 2 weeks left to get the problem fixed and the car inspected. In happier news, my brother-in-law Phillip graduated from college on Saturday and started his new job as a loan counselor/officer today. We’re very excited for him! We had a cookout at our house for Mother’s Day with Jenny’s family and mine. Friday night we saw Poseidon, which is pretty good despite the Titanic flashbacks it causes. Ironically, it reminded me that I want to go on another cruise. =) And finally, if you haven’t seen it, I reorganized my writing pages and added one for aviation essays in case you’re having trouble sleeping. Right now they’re all Word files, but I might convert them into HTML later. Enjoy!
Two Week Report
Here’s the two-week report: 500+ flights planned and/or overseen. 11 shifts. 1 air turnback due to a bird intake. 1 weather diversion (thunderstorms in Houston). 1 very busy day (Dallas desk with thunderstorms near Houston plus a problematic charter flight). 1 overtime shift. 10 fairly easy and calm days (counting the bird intake day as a calm one). $1 million+ worth of fuel consumed. I’m having a great time!
In other news, Jenny and I have gotten much better about working out. The trick was putting a calendar on the fridge and recording the days we work out on it. If we miss several days, the calendar shows a big gap and makes us feel bad. =) We saw a great movie Saturday night called Hoodwinked. It’s very funny and clever, the voice acting is great, the computer graphics are well-done, and it’s just a fun movie. I’ll be done with my labor relations class in about a month. Despite my apprehension going into it, I must say I’ve learned a lot from the class, and I’m better off for taking it. I’m still not a big fan of unions, but I better understand their value and purpose. It’s easy to forget that not all companies treat their employees as well as Southwest does.