Another Car Crash

I was in another car crash yesterday.

Luckily the car in the picture wasn't in my crash. I just found that on the web. I'm sure those people aren't doing well.

I was just about recovered from my previous car crash when I was hit yesterday.

This is the third time in 20 years I have been smashed from behind.

I was coming back from the dentist and turned right off of a 4 lane divided road onto a two lane road.

About 300 yards ahead, I stopped to turn left into a strip mall. As I am waiting for the traffic to allow me to turn left, a "kid" about 18 in a 1991 red Talon, whatever that is, hit me doing about 35 mph. I'm stopped and he's doing 35.

I usually know what is going on behind me since I've been clobbered two time in the past. But this time, I didn't see him coming. I just heard him lock his brakes up and he left about 30 feet of skid marks.

He told me he was looking for his phone and didn't see me.

The sound of crunching metal and that thud is something you'll never forget.

Especially when your car is 3 weeks old. A brand new BMW 330. Well it used to be brand new. Now it is a hoopdy car. Like in the circus. I fit in well in Atlanta traffic now.

His car was totaled. He is very lucky he had his seatbelt on or he would have been through the windshield into my backseat.

My car took a good beating and really doesn't look too bad. The gas tank is messed up, the bumper is destroyed, the exhaust system is bent and I hope the frame is OK.

So now all of my previously almost healed injuries are back with a vengeance. Yipee.

The worst part is that I am truly paranoid/afraid to drive now. How many times can I be hit and still keep getting in the car. When ever I stop I'm waiting to get it.

People in Atlanta drive very fast and wrecklessly. On the interstate, the traffic will be doing 80 and then just stop. From 80 to zero just like that. That is really scary. I wonder how it would feel to get hit by someone doing 80 when you're stopped. I don't think you would feel anything. Just see the bright white light. Ooops you're dead.

Thank God I'm mostly OK.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

It is such a beautiful day here.

What a great Easter.

Delta Evolution

I should explain this picture.

This is a picture of our former illustrious leader Ron Allen.

He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in engineering and became our CEO in the 80s.

Ron couldn't lead anyone to anything.

He grossly overpaid for Pan Am Airlines. We bought Pan Am for over a billion dollars and then quickly proceeded to dismantle and sell everything we had bought. He only bought the European operation and not the South American operation. His rational for that was that in S. America they don't do business honorably and the Delta way. Unfortunately, S. America was the only thing that made money for Pan Am. Of course we wouldn't want that.

Here is another bone head thing he did. Every other airline allows their pilots and those from other airlines to ride in the cockpit jumpseat if there are no other seats in the cabin. It's a good deal and an extra set of pilot eyes in the cockpit is a good thing. Especially when things start going bad. Another guy to talk on the radios, etc.

Because other Delta employees couldn't ride in the cockpit, he said no way. He actually said we would get the jumpseat over his dead body. This was in contract negotiations in 1996. Now the pilots were going to give up millions yet again in a concessionary contract in 96. This was a no cost item we were asking for and Mr. Genius made the over my dead body statement.

Did you know until Leo Mullin was our CEO in about 1997 that Delta previously never had a budget. They just bought what they wanted. And every department bought their own stuff. So instead of the corporation buying 8 zillion staples, Susie and all the other secretaries bought their own for their office and got sent a bill from a vendor. But somehow we still made money.

Anyway, what does this picture mean?

We'll it first is Ron's evolution from a monkey, which I think is very funny. And behind it is the Delta widget and 7.5.

The 7.5 is from "leadership 7.5". This came from one of their harebrained ideas in 1996. Delta was going down the toilet. Almost bankrupt due to their stupidity.
Guess how Valuejet aka Airtran got their first airplanes to go in business head to head with Delta? That's right. We sold them our old DC-9s for almost nothing. 3 million a copy. It's always good to help the competition.

Back to my explanation. Ron told us that we needed to get our costs down to 7.5 cents per seat mile. That means it costs 7.5 cents for one passenger to travel one mile. Our cost per seat mile back then was probably 10 cents or so. 7.5 was nearly impossible. Ron told us if we all just took these huge pay cuts that Delta would be competitive and make money forever. What a lie. Just another ruse to get money from the employees.

So that's where the picture comes from. A delta pilot made it and it was going around.

Where is Ron you ask?

He was fired in about 1998 and given millions to go away in retirement.

We also kept him as a "consultant" for 10 years. He was paid about $750,000/year for his "consulting". I wonder how much does someone consult who is fired?

We also paid $450,000 to renovate office space for him. Paid his country club membership for 10 years and paid for his secretarial help for 10 years.

That's a good deal for ruining the company!

No Strike

Well, "management" and our pilot union representatives reached an agreement this morning.

Unfortunately, the union leaders have to be briefed on the deal and think about it before the lowly line pilots get to see it.

Union leaders at Delta are all Delta pilots. Some people have this image of Tony Soprano being our union boss. No it's all Delta line pilots who volunteer for that glory.

So it's not surprising that we reached a deal. We always do. now whether or not it will pass is another matter. If it has any other cuts in it or other work rule changes I don't see it passing.

For instance. Delta management, for some reason, doesn't think pilots get sick. Well we do. Each Delta Captain has to sign a piece of paper before every flight called the flight release. On it he is certifying, by his signature, that he has certain items in his possession and he is fit to fly. If you're sick you aren't fit to fly. By FAA regulation, we can't fly on medication. Or while sick. An office worker can work with a cold. We can't. Do you want your pilots ear drums bursting in flight? Me either. So getting paid sick days is a no brainer. Plus the cockpits are filthy. No wonder we get sick. And when they harass people for being sick, then they come to work sick. When I take the aircraft from another pilot who is sick, his germs are everywhere. And I get sick. See?


When I told my german friends about our limited sick time, they looked at me like I was nuts. In Germany, there is no such thing as a certain amount of sick time. To quote them, "if you're sick, you're sick". Very true.

As I was driving into work today, I heard a local radio talk show going on about the "spoiled, Delta prima-donna pilots". The host said, "if they don't like it then they can just quit". We'll that is exactly what we were going to do. All at once.

I don't understand the general public's disdain for unions and workers. When the talk of strike was on the radio, not one person said that the company could stop it. It was always the workers fault. It's a two way street. Any strike is under management's control. They can save the company. If they allowed us to go on strike and the company went down it's their fault.

You would think that after the American worker has been screwed continually for how many years, that we would stick together. After the corporate robber barons take their millions, leave the companies ruined, and the employees too.

The CEO of Exxon-Mobil last year made $72 million dollars. He is retiring with a lump sum of $400 million. Exxon made I think $32 billion in profit last year. Where is the outrage?

So we'll see what the evil doers have cooked up this time and I'll let you know how I'm going to vote.

I wonder if the Delta Corporate Crooks think it was worth it to cause all of this grief? We'll see. It's amazing that any crew flying out there can remain focused, safe, and professional with all of this crap going on.

STRIKE

Well, we dirty rotten pilots at the Big D are going to go on strike April 17th if the evil doers at OUR company get rid of our contract.

Delta has had the best pilots now for 75 years. We've never even threatened to strike. Now management, and I use that word loosely, has gone to court to have our legal employment contract dissolved.

The bottom line is, we ain't working without a contract.


We have taken a 50% pay cut already and they want more more more.

When we agreed to our 32% paycut earlier, they agreed in writing that they wouldn't come to us for more money. Of course they did and they claim that that really isn't what that agreement said anyway.

So for the equivalent of 4 days revenue, Delta is going to risk going out of business.

Lunacy!

Right now the company and pilot negotiators are locked in a hotel room, in NYC.

The agreement would take about 30 seconds to come to if they were just locked in our rat infested layover hotel. Yes the glamorous life of a pilot.

Most Delta pilots are former military pilots.


When we came to Delta, most of us weren't real crazy about unions. But after a while of seeing what the evil doers in management do, it's very obvious why we need a union.

So here we are.

Management is spending all the good will with our passengers, getting them all worked up, not to mention the other employees, over 4 days revenue.

It's not logical.

It's stupid.

Unless they have another motive. Who knows. Maybe they want to liquidate us.

The one thing that is for certain is that whatever happens, they evil doers will always come out millionaires.

Human Nature

I like to read Andre's blog. It's always interesting.

In his last post he was discussing why people are afraid to speak to someone that they would like to meet. This is usually out of fear of rejection.

Almost everything that we don't do in life is fear based. And usually the fear is unfounded.

Some people have described me as aloof. That is not the case. I'm just not as outgoing as they might want me to be. I usually sit back and observe before I put my foot in my mouth. I also used to be really shy. I still am to a certain degree but the USAF cured me of that. One person who is my friend now said that when he first met me and before he got to know me he was intimidated by me. Really? It's interesting other people's impressions of you.

When I meet my co-pilot for the first time before we fly, my first impression is usually dead wrong. Sometimes I've had the most fun trip with someone I would bet would be a real dud.

As I get older I keep discovering the same thing. And that is that we are all alike.

If you think your problem, fear, anxiety, habit, fantasy, whatever is unique, you are wrong.

I used to think that I was the only person who felt a certain way. Or was afraid of training. Or afraid to be in a certain social situation. Most people have the same insecurities as everyone else.

I wonder if TV and Hollywood contribute to that belief that everyone else is fine.

I guarantee you that as perfect as Donald Trump's life appears, he has the same insecurities, fears and problems as everyone else.

Something else I think is fascinating as I get older is I am doing things I never thought I would do.

For instance, I used to drive really fast. And a little bit crazy. My horn definitely was used. Now I drive like I'm 110. I actually have two hands on the wheel. What happened?

Anyway, back to the original subject, most people are fragile and have barriers up to protect themselves.

I agree with Andre. Say hello to a stranger. Make a new friend. Spread some love around. What's the worst that could happen?

Allergy Treatment

I went back to the Chiropractor to see if I was cured.

I do feel better. He tested me and it seems that the treatment took. Weird huh?

He then did some kind of laser treatment on my sinuses. He held a flashing laser light at my closed eyes. Who knows if that works.

So, yesterday I had some tunafish. Plain old tunafish from the store in one of those pouches. Can you get food poisoning from that? Wow, last night was fun. That goodness for medication.

What did people do even 100 years ago? I guess they just either were miserable or died.

I'm glad it's 2006.

Cato Can fix Anything

Thank goodness for Cato.

Cato is my friend in Norway who is computer genius.

Thankfully, he helped me about two weeks ago set up a backup system for all of my pictures, movies, music, whatever.

It's a good thing because two days ago my computer got a worm or something and was dying fast.

Cato can log onto my computer remotely from Oslo, work on it and in no time, all better.

He is a amazing.


Everyone should have a Cato. (not sold in stores)

Pollen in Atlanta

This happens every spring in Atlanta. I've never lived anywhere like this.

The pollen is so bad that your car is yellow. I'm not exaggerating. It is covered with thick, bright yellow pollen.

If you wash your windshield, go into a store and come out, it's covered again.

And I am going to die. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

I am really allergic to this stuff I guess.

The night before my 5am training period I got almost no sleep.

I won't go into graphic detail, but the pollen allergy was making it very difficult.

Even with two good hits of Nyquil. Well, after the second one, I did slip into a semi-coma. That training period was fun. In my sleep deprived Nyquil induced haze, as I'm trying to remember anything about this new airplane, Mr. Perky Co-pilot keeps showing me up. Of course I hacked and blew my nose frequently to let the instructor know of my grave condition and thus to explain my stupidity.

Yesterday I go to the Chiropractor because he can allegedly cure people of allergies.

He actually did cure my of my MSG allergy. I have no idea how it works but it did.

I don't normally eat MSG but there was a soup in this recipe that had MSG and I didn't realize it. I ate it and had no ill effects. I could taste the MSG. That's how I came to look at the label. Before my treatment, if I ingested MSG, it was like I was having a heart attack. Not fun.

So anyway, I tell the Chiropractor I'm dying and he needs to cure me.

He comes back with two vials of what he thinks I'm allergic to and tells me to hold to them with my right hand and hold out my left arm.

He pushes down on my left arm and it's like a noodle. Ahhh he says, that's what you're allergic to. He looks in a book and has me hold these vials in my right hand while I tap my right hand with my left index finger 29 times in a specific place on my right hand. Then he taps my back and I breathe in and out.

Then he has me hold out my left arm again with these vials in my right hand. Hard as a rock. No way that arm is going down.


That's it he says, you're cured.

I will report the results of this treatment.

Humor, or Lack Therof

My instructor for the new airplane I'm going to is a biker guy. He rides some kind of motorcycle. Not a Harley. He doesn't like those. Some other one.

So the other day, I asked him, "you're going to watch American Idol tonight aren't you"?

I knew he wasn't, but it was a joke.

He became very agitated and told me how stupid it was and how he couldn't imagine anyone watching it. He then told me how much he loved some biking program on TV.

Because of his very animated response, that of course really made me go for it.

So then I asked, "well, you watch Grey's Anatomy don't you"? NO!

How about desperate Housewives, then? NO!

Surely you watch the OC. No No NO!

How about Dr. Phil? No NO NO! Oprah? Extreme Makeover?

Oprah really sent him off on a rant.

The co-pilot by this time is just about to fall on the floor laughing because this guy still doesn't get that I'm joking with him.

So much for my attempt at humor.

I thought it was funny at least. You have to keep your sanity in training.

That's rule number one.

Kenny Rogers and American Idol

I like American Idol. Ok, there I said it. What's the big deal? I like it.

When you tell that to other guys or some people in general, they look at you like you've lost your mind.

Some weeks on American Idol they have a celebrity guest. This week it was Kenny Rogers.

There is no one in entertainment that I don't like more than Kenny Rogers.

I have no idea why I just don't. I don't like country music in general, but I really don't like him.

Anyway, he is on the show and looks like one of the Golden Girls.

What in the world has he done to himself? He looks really weird. His skin is all pulled tight and something else has been done but I can't put my finger on it.

Why a man would want a face lift is beyond me.

Women, I sort of understand. I am alergic to pain so there is no way I would ever voluntarily have someone cut on me.

That's all. I just think poor Kenny looks really freakish.

Time Change

I don't like it.

I have to change a zillion clocks. Not to mention my car clock. I change the car clock. Yes. If I left it on the wrong time I would lose my mind.

Why can't we just leave the time the same.

It's all relative.

We can call it whatever we want.

Move it up 6 hours. Whatever. Just keep it the same.

All that matters is that the minutes are the same around the world.

But they aren't. There are some places that are 30 minutes off of the US.

What's up with that.

I don't want to change the time.

Booooooo.

I basically don't like any kind of change.