I gave my wife a sign for Christmas that says "You are my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye." It seemed fitting considering the in and out nature of my life. Most couples would have a melt down after this much time together, but not us. Thirty-five days. Yep, you read that right. Thirty-five days. That's how long I've been out of an airplane and away from work. Now granted, some of it was by design and some of it was due to things outside of my control, but I can't deny that it's been both nice and hard to be away that long. There is something about the my job that scratches an itch that you just can't quite reach otherwise. I know that sounds a little hokey, but it's true for a lot of guys in aviation. When I was learning to fly back in the day you'd see guys come in and try it because they wanted the money or the lifestyle. They weren't prepared for what the job actually entailed and they found out quick that this kind of thing was not just something that you'd pick up on the way.
So like true to form I got my March bid in at nearly the last possible opportunity. I had been procrastinating doing it because I just didn't know what I wanted to do. Ultimately I had to go much more generic with my options. I had to really emphasize that flying in and out of LGA is just too much a pain for me personally and that if possible I'd avoid it at all costs. I had to decide what (if any) were important dates in March. My middle son has a band concert and it's in a position in the month that is going to be difficult to get off based on the days off I have at the end of February. My goal was to avoid the 4 on-2 off-4 on-2 off-4 on that February turned into that had all of my flying crushed in the middle of the month. I'm currently bidding about 76% among lineholders, meaning that only 24% of the group of lineholders bids after me. There isn't a lot to count on, especially when you consider how challenging the last 2 months were to schedule. Ultimately I decided on a very generic bid where I am trying to get a continuous cycle of 4 days on and at least 3 days off in between. No preference for weekends off or even any other specific days. It's a schedule I think my family and I could handle for a long while. It's something that we've handled well in the past and it just makes the month go better with things more spread apart. It makes commuting easier as well. I just don't feel like bidding for specific days is really going to work again until maybe summertime when the schedules get much heavier.
I do have one thing going for my in March/April and that is my vacation. It hardly seems like I should be excited about vacation after just having 35 days at home, but I am. We are taking a trip to Hilton Head for the first time ever and I'll get to take my wife to Savannah, a place I've always wanted to take her. It'll be the first family vacation in 2 years and the first long driving vacation we've had in 5. These last 35 days were NOT a vacation. It was work. Just the kind that my wife usually does.
My vacation should help with my schedule as it counts as a certain number of flight hour credits and will mean that I don't need that many trips to have a schedule built. Who knows though? I'm already nervous that I've fucked something up again.
The crash pad is quiet tonight. I'm the only one here which is nice. I've only been here 2 times in the last 2 months. It's not exactly paying for itself right now, but it's still worth it. It really pays when it's quiet and you have the room to yourself. I only have a little bit of trepidation about the time away, like suddenly I've forgotten everything I'm supposed to do. I had this feeling once last year after a particularly quiet time and I found out that I have nothing to worry about. It all comes back and it comes back so easy. Even landing planes. I think I can still nail a good landing even after 35 days away. I guess I'll find out tomorrow or Saturday, depending on when my turn to fly comes up.
I'll leave you with the last line from one of my favorite movies. Fast Eddie Felson steps up, smiles big and says "Hey, I'm back!" So I am.