Well this is Inconvienent

[PilotMan]

Surgery on Friday morning. I've had to resort to turning off our video cameras randomly and feigning ignorance of some kind of error. I'll be back to work in October as a best guess. Sigh. Day 3 and I'm not having fun dealing with this.

[Thomkal]

ugh

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Surgery on Friday morning. I've had to resort to turning off our video cameras randomly and feigning ignorance of some kind of error. I'll be back to work in October as a best guess. Sigh. Day 3 and I'm not having fun dealing with this.

I wish for you a successful surgery and recovery.

My best friend's wife, who is a pilot for Skywest, fell down the stairs and shattered her leg. Her anticipated leave will be 12 months. I hope yours is not that long but I don't know about airline/union policies.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I wish for you a successful surgery and recovery.

My best friend's wife, who is a pilot for Skywest, fell down the stairs and shattered her leg. Her anticipated leave will be 12 months. I hope yours is not that long but I don't know about airline/union policies.

That is awful. I hope that they have decent LTD. That kind of injury can be brutal. It's not about airline/union as much as it is about FAA medical authorization. They ultimately hold the key depending on the injury.

[Ksyrup]

Sorry to hear about all of this. Late to the discussion, but I would have told my wife the next day and downplayed the severity until she got home, assuring her she didn't need to worry about it and me and the kids have everything under control.

On an unrelated note, I discovered the show Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel a couple of months ago and am hooked. My family thinks I'm crazy and no longer wants to fly, but I find it pretty fascinating. It's like Forensic Files for the airline industry. Apparently it's a Canadian-produced show that's been around for years. I've actually learned a lot from watching.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Surgery on Friday morning. I've had to resort to turning off our video cameras randomly and feigning ignorance of some kind of error. I'll be back to work in October as a best guess. Sigh. Day 3 and I'm not having fun dealing with this.

I'll hook you up - lmk what you want on Steam, brother. Hang in there!

[tarcone]

Your wife may be more mad that she has to deal with you every day until, at least, October.

Good luck.

[PilotMan]

Well I finally spilled the beans about an hour from when she's getting home. She was relaxed and in a good mood before I told her and then I told her, and she said that I can never, ever be mad at her for keeping anything from me while I'm working. I explained that's why I felt like it was ok. She asked a million questions, and I had all the answers. She said she wasn't mad at me, but she was pretty incredulous that I kept all of that from her for the whole time and that the kids were in on it.

She said she wasn't mad, just worried, couldn't believe that I didn't tell her. Said she would have come home no problem, and I told her that's exactly why I didn't tell her. She says, "You remember last summer? When child #2 broke his collar bone and ruined all our plans and we said we weren't going to do that again?" I said, "Yeah." She replied, "Well, you fucked that up!"

So that's who we are. We'll laugh about it. I'll never live it down, and she'll be stuck at home with me while I get better. I said, "Look on the bright side! I'll be home with you for a while and we can hang out together." And she's like, "Yeah, I like that, but I don't like the whole waiting on you all day part. That's a silver lining that I could live without."

So she's got a good sense of humor about it. She had a good getaway, and that was the most important thing. I think she'd have wanted to come home to help take care of things, but the fact that she got to stay and have a good time, really went a long way to smoothing things over.

I'll heal, we'll try not to go broke in the meantime and hope that the surgery goes well and the rehab and healing all goes according to plan. Like I've told the boys this whole time. There's always someone else out there with it way worse than you. Just be thankful for that and deal with your situation. It'll be ok.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Sorry to hear about all of this. Late to the discussion, but I would have told my wife the next day and downplayed the severity until she got home, assuring her she didn't need to worry about it and me and the kids have everything under control.

On an unrelated note, I discovered the show Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel a couple of months ago and am hooked. My family thinks I'm crazy and no longer wants to fly, but I find it pretty fascinating. It's like Forensic Files for the airline industry. Apparently it's a Canadian-produced show that's been around for years. I've actually learned a lot from watching.

It is very interesting. The chain of events that leads up to each incident is one that we train to avoid as much as possible. Airline regulations, as they say, are written in blood.

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

I'll hook you up - lmk what you want on Steam, brother. Hang in there!

That's very nice of you man, thanks! Nobody has ever said that I'm short of games on Steam though. I love the though.

Originally Posted by tarcone

Your wife may be more mad that she has to deal with you every day until, at least, October.

Good luck.

Yeah, you may have a point. Lol.

[Breeze]

Man, so sorry to hear about all this...and glad to hear your wife took the cover up so well. Sounds like you've got a good one.

Good luck to you, I'll say my prayers for a fast recovery.

[Edward64]

Glad she took it well.

[BYU 14]

So can I tease you on Facebook now?

I kind of had the feeling it would turn out like this, and glad she is good with it overall.

When I snapped my Achilles playing softball years ago and asked Candi to come get me from the Hospital so my ride didn't have to wait, she asked why I couldn't just put ice on it and come home. She realized that the Achilles was pretty serious when I exclaimed "because I can't fucking walk!!"

We still laugh about her lack of anatomical knowledge and my Sam Kinison volume reaction to this day

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

So can I tease you on Facebook now?

I kind of had the feeling it would turn out like this, and glad she is good with it overall.

When I snapped my Achilles playing softball years ago and asked Candi to come get me from the Hospital so my ride didn't have to wait, she asked why I couldn't just put ice on it and come home. She realized that the Achilles was pretty serious when I exclaimed "because I can't fucking walk!!"

We still laugh about her lack of anatomical knowledge and my Sam Kinison volume reaction to this day

I just laughed out loud in my cube and people looked at me...and I said...he couldn't walk..LOL..

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

So can I tease you on Facebook now?

Yes, the cat is out of the bag now.

Tease away. I've earned it.

[PilotMan]

Hey look! It's been 2 months now since I broke my ankle.

I don't miss work. Well, I do. I miss the job itself. I miss the airports, and the plane and the flying. I don't miss living out of a suitcase, and I don't miss being away from home. We got a good thing here and I don't think anyone is sick of me. Especially the wife. Although, she is blaming me for her not being in her normal routine and getting fat.

My middle son is going through some stuff, and having me home every day is the right place for me, for him, right now.

I am moving much better now than I was, but 3 times in the last week I've overdone how much moving around I can really do and it's left me swollen, sore and tired. I'm still in a boot, but less and less of needing a crutch to get around.

I'm still looking at like 10 more weeks or so until I'll go back to work. I'm not complaining about that either. Especially, as I am able to move around more like a normal human.

Oh, and the wife did leave to go and visit one of her friends for a couple days, and trusted me to be at home with the boys. So that was one question answered! Nobody broke anything either! WootWoot!

[ColtCrazy]

I haven't been on here in forever, but this thread has been a great read. Glad your wife took it in stride and I think what you did came from the heart. I did the same thing a couple of years ago when I broke my foot. Hurt like hell but the time off was priceless.

[Thomkal]

I guess we knew your wife better than you did...wait that's not what I meant


Glad you are recovering well and being able to spend more time with your family

[PilotMan]

Latest update from me:


After 4.5 months since my accident on 6/24, I got my medical back last week. I am officially able to return to work. So now I just wait for the LTD (all 1 month of it, still better than nada) people to process my paperwork, and for the company to schedule my landing currency training in Denver and I'll be back to work.

The last few weeks where I've been able to move around like a real person have completely spoiled me. The guy who runs my crash pad in Newark told me that I'd find out what retired life is like (he said it's good), and he's right, it's pretty damned good. Going back to work does get me a little excited though. I'm worried about what I've forgotten, and the procedures that have changed, the new variant of equipment that we have to learn, but it'll work itself out. The plane will come back to me. I just need to get the rust knocked off.

The bigger question is when will they get me to training. With the holiday coming up next week they may have everything booked, but I'm guessing they'll try and ram me in this week, before the holiday. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Edward64]

Good news!

I guess the Aflac duck (or like) actually does come in handy.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

The bigger question is when will they get me to training. With the holiday coming up next week they may have everything booked, but I'm guessing they'll try and ram me in this week, before the holiday. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Hey, if you fly an Airbus, you can get back up to speed watching my occasional X-Plane streams. I'm sure I do everything according to RL regs.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Hey, if you fly an Airbus, you can get back up to speed watching my occasional X-Plane streams. I'm sure I do everything according to RL regs.

I don't, but there's a strong possibility that it's in my future at some point, so perhaps I'll be able to watch so I can learn how that thing works.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I don't, but there's a strong possibility that it's in my future at some point, so perhaps I'll be able to watch so I can learn how that thing works.

I would not recommend watching me, unless you want a laugh. The one I do "fly" is a study-level version of the 320. It's actually shocking how close they are to the real deal now. Some of the big boy streamers have a few pilots who watch and comment. You actually learn a shocking amount about how to operate those aircraft.

That said, assuming you fly Boeing, there's a ton about the Airbus, system wise, (aka not just the switch from yoke to stick) that is just weird if you're used to the Boeings. Why they decided to reverse the up-down arrow behavior in the FMC is beyond me.

[PilotMan]

You're spot on. My dad, who got typed in the 737 years ago, taught on the MD-80 and was hesitant about moving over to teach the Airbus. He found though, that he really liked it. To the point that he says there are 2 types of pilots. Guys who hate the Bus, and guys who have never flown it.



I am on the 737, so it's all Boeing for me thus far. The wife and I have been talking about getting ready for the next phase of my career which has me going to the widebodies before I upgrade so I can be comfortable with what they do and where they go as a First Officer, instead of needing to learn all that stuff first time as a Captain.


I'm really enjoying the quality of life that I have right now where I'm at and the family disruption and change that comes with a switch like that takes a little getting used to. I won't be able to pass on the pay for long with 2 kids screaming toward college at breakneck pace though.

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm obviously a computer pilot and not a real one, but I'm with your dad. I went from a pretty advanced 737 sim aircraft to the 320. There's a *few* things where I think Airbus wants to help too much vs the Boeing, but yeah. Once I figured out the differences, and untaught myself to think Boeing systems, I really enjoy fake-flying it.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I'm obviously a computer pilot and not a real one, but I'm with your dad. I went from a pretty advanced 737 sim aircraft to the 320. There's a *few* things where I think Airbus wants to help too much vs the Boeing, but yeah. Once I figured out the differences, and untaught myself to think Boeing systems, I really enjoy fake-flying it.

Obviously, there's a lot of other considerations in PC v real flying, however, if the similarities were substantial and useful, they wouldn't be very good simulators would they? I would bet that you'd be able to make a pretty good transition to the actual simulator after you learned more about the plane and the standards for checklists and various other things. Flying is 90% mental. Stay ahead of the plane, understand what it's doing and needs to do, look for things that are out of the ordinary, and maintain your positional awareness. Don't knock yourself too hard on the fake part. You can take your knowledge and do a lot more with it than you think.

[Coffee Warlord]

Not at almost 40. Even if I wanted to, I don't think a career in aviation is in the cards. That said, I really do enjoy the sims, now that they've gotten so incredibly detailed and advanced. I've had a few conversations with real pilots about systems, flight plans, a lot of technical, and can actually understand the jargon and keep up. It's fun.

That said, I could PROBABLY get an Airbus down in one piece if one of those crazy "is there anyone who can fly a plane?" scenarios happened. Landing gear would probably need some maintenance, and I'd probably catch the breaks on fire, but I could get us down.

[PilotMan]

A week beyond 5 months and I'm now an active employee again. I finished my work in the sim yesterday and legally can fly big planes again.



I couldn't bid for a December schedule so the company has now dumped an absolutely shit holiday schedule on me. As if I were a new hire, bottom of the barrel. Basically any day that I would want off, I don't have. I've got complaints in to the flight office and the union. I'm in shock as I had no control over when I could come back, so penalizing me as if I was a new hire seems extreme, especially with 5.5 years of seniority under my belt. Basically, where I'm at, in my base, on my plane, I should be able to get pretty much any day off that I want this year for the holiday, so this is a big problem. My expectations were something completely different. I'm hopeful that things will change, or at the very least, that I'll be able to get the flight office to adjust my schedule somehow to make it more palatable. I really don't know though. I can't wrap my head around the possible reality that it might actually be this bad. It's a complete fuckjob right now.

[Ksyrup]

That sucks. Years ago, my father-in-law had a similar situation at UPS when he came back from a injury (either back or wrist, I can't remember). All I remember is hearing that he was constantly fighting with them through the union to get back his regular route, or a similar route for someone with his seniority.

[Thomkal]

That does suck PM and unfair given your history. Hope you can work something out. On the other hand, you are working and back in the air, so concentrate on that maybe

[PilotMan]

So I should probably update this little story one more time.

I heard from the flight office that the way the schedule was built was accurate per our working contract. So then I started complaining to the Union who also agreed that the contract was followed correctly. I pushed my point that it was total bs to do that to someone who had no control over when they were coming back, and after a couple more exchanges I was offered some sort of help and asked what I would be looking for and that they would try to get the company to give something, but no promises. They urged me to be realistic and cautioned against a full rebuild.

I looked at my schedule, which had 2 days off between the 21st and the 29th (the last day of our month), neither of which were Christmas, with me working every single weekend. So I needed at least 4 days off around Christmas and asked for the 25th and 26th (to go with 27 and 28) in exchange for leaving everything else (and adding those working days earlier in the month.)

Lo and behold everyone came though and gave me that. It's nothing even close to what I would have held if I could have bid, but it's at least an opportunity to be home on the right days.

I had 4 days available with Christmas eve being the last day of my run. What I didn't want was to be in a situation where I was stuck in Newark late on the 24th and unable to get back home on the 25th. I could have rolled the dice and stayed home, but I think that stress of knowing that I could get tagged and lose control of my schedule was too scary. So instead I picked up a trip that finishes very late on Sunday. This trip has such cosmopolitan layovers as Mexico City (where I'm at now) and Cleveland. The idea being, that even though I have 1 more day left (when I finish), that I've just finished a trip, should keep me lower on the call list when I do get back. Then I can try and fly back home early on the 24th, be home by noon, and proceed with the holiday.

For the first time in my career I bought a plane ticket to go to and from work just so I can be sure that I don't get stuck in Newark. Flights get very sketchy the later you go on the Christmas eve, and undoubtedly they will all be full. I have spent past years stressing over just how I am going to get home, or trying to beat other pilots to the jump seat. It's a really great feeling to know I have a seat.

So I'm going to finish on Sunday night, sleep in the crash pad, and hope they don't screw with me on my last day. Take a morning flight back home and cross my fingers it all works out for the best. The weather looks good, and that can be a big help. I can't wait until January and things are fully back to normal again. This month hasn't been as bad as I feared, but it's far from where it should have been, had I been in control of my schedule.

[Thomkal]

Wait you are in Mexico? How are you going to get back over the Wall? (sorry couldn't resist ) Your situation sounds a lot better now and hope the weather cooperates to fit your schedule.

[Coffee Warlord]

Did you make it back in time?