The first few hours of my first solo shift were great. Beautiful weather, good aircraft, no problems. Then a flock of birds got in the way of a Hartford departure. At least one bird went through the core of the engine, producing strong vibrations, a loud explosion, a nice cooking-bird smell in the cabin, and a big fireball out the tailpipe. The engine immediately returned to normal operations, but the passengers were a little upset. The captain decided to return to Hartford as a precaution and landed without incident. I had to write an irregularity report, amend the flight release, and call the FAA Command Center to report the diversion. I’m glad everything went fine, except for the birds, but I was hoping for a slightly less exciting first day. The next two were much better. I even got called in for overtime this afternoon! Today’s desk includes Chicago departures to the southwest, and it’s snowing right now, which could cause some weight issues on takeoff. Should be interesting!

Happy new year, everyone! I had to work the morning of New Year’s Day, so we just relaxed at home the night before and went to bed early. Jenny and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary on Wednesday, Jan 4. It’s hard to believe we’ve been married so long already! We went to the Stars-Canucks game that night to celebrate. Congrats to the Longhorns on their national championship! Once Baylor fell out of contention for the title, I decided to pull for the Horns this year. I’ve started my next class, Airline Operations and Management, which should be interesting. Finally, as of today I am an official dispatcher for Southwest. My first solo shift is this afternoon working departures from the northeast going to the south. I’m working afternoons exclusively through February. This is the day I’ve been preparing for since the fall of 2002, and it feels great.