Checkride Jitters

The past several weeks have been full of little things that somehow swallowed up all my time. Classes have permanently closed their doors to me for several weeks now but, it wasn't until last friday that I could finally shut my books for a bit. The check ride that has been looming darkly on the horizon has come and gone in a wave of stressed nerves and urgent prayers.

This has been the sixth check ride of my flying career, and I think I have now figured out a way to best beat it without turning into nervously twitching wreck. I learned to face it in the same manner I imagine I would face fighting an unwinnable battle. I prepare myself for certain death. Once I resign myself to enevitable failure I can focus on performing my tasks without worrying about the formidable acheivement of performing everything perfectly.

This past friday I was able to face my examiner with the fortitude of a dead man ready to meet his executioner head on. I went down swinging. Somehow, when the smoke cleared after the three and a half hour oral exam, I was still standing, ready to preflight for the flight portion. Again, I climbed into the airplane prepared to fail, but ready to give him the best performance he had seen. An entire checklist of maneuvers later, I climbed out of the cockpit still alive and a multi-engine flight instructor to boot.

It is indeed an odd thing that preparing for failure with a resolve fight anyway gives an odd confidence and focus that allows one to succeed where a cocky assurance of success will only lead to failure.

Sleep, Good Coffee, and a Book I Want to Read

Yesterday was my last final. The week before, my last class. Gone forever are the days I have sit through classes I don't enjoy to get a piece of paper I don't really need. In two days I will take the walk across the stage to pick up that piece of paper (or at least the folder it is supposed to come in).

My college career ended, but it went more quietly than I anticipated. It just sort of faded away in the midst of preparation for other tests and checkrides. I guess that is the key. I don't really care about the degree. It isn't the degree I worked so hard for. My focus has always been on the Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Flight Instructor Certifications. It is those qualifications, not LeTourneau's piece of paper that has the chance of getting me somewhere in life. The degree has only been the backdrop.

Now I am left to finish up the odds and ends. I have a couple of written tests for the AMT certification, and the check ride still looms darkly on the horizon. But for now, life unfolds at a slower pace. There is nothing like a vacation in a setting that once was a frenzy of study and work to make one appreciate the extra couple hours of sleep. Now I can relax, drink good Costa Rican coffee and finish reading Homer's Odyssey. Life begins again after the Christmas season. Or is this life and all else merely unnecessary craziness?

MayWhat?
Rants and Delusions

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Eagles Rivalry Takes Flight
Rants and Delusions

"What looked like an ordinary Monday around the city of Dallas was surely something else in the city of Philadelphia. It was Day One in a seven-day countdown to Armageddon." This was a quote I found in yesterday's Dallas Morning News. I think this town is finally figuring out what I have known all my life. "These [Eagles fans] really hate the Cowboys."

During the Eagles and Cowboys last meeting on Oct 12, I ventured into that dreadful Texas Stadium to watch what I hoped would be an exciting win on the road against the hated Cowboys. What I saw was an injury stricken Eagle team lose to their Dallas rivals. On a side note, I was also suprised by the amount of green jerseys I saw. If the roles were reversed and I ventured into Veterens Stadium Lincoln Financial Field wearing a cowboys jersey I wouldn't make it to my seat without having my shirt torn to shreds along with my upper torso.

This rivaly has been going on since the days of Tom Landy and Buddy Ryan. At one point Ryan put a bounty of several hundred dollars to take out the kicker and the quarterback. They got the kicker by Aikman managed to escape. Philadelphia fans are notorious for their lack of respect for anything sacred. They cheared when a certain cowboy's wide receiver went down with a career ending neck injury. Ed Rendell, now governor of PA, once started a snowball fight during a game against Dallas that forced the chearleaders to evacuate the sidelines. The old Veterans Stadium, and I'm assuming new Lincoln Financial Field, has a built in prison and judge to deal with crowd infractions. They have even booed the arrival of Santa Claus.

Back to the upcoming game. This Sunday the 9-3 Eagles are hosting the 8-4 Cowboys in what is being called a revenge match even by several of the Eagles players. Dallas needs to win at least two of their next four games to make the playoffs. The Eagles are hoping to remain on top of the NFC East and continue a 7 game winning streak that started after their 23 - 21 loss to the Cowboys earlier this season. This is going to be a good one. I'm pumped already.

UPDATE: After the first half it wasn't even close. The Cowboy's couldn't get any throwing game going and the Eagles ended up jogging to a 35-10 victory. It was everything I thought it could be.