This post started off as "A Week in OKC" but I got put on night shift a few days after I started that post and haven't done much more than go to class and sleep since.

Anyway, here's a summary of the festivities...

I got here on the 16th around noon, after a rather gloomy drive over here. It rained overnight while I was in Little Rock, enough so that the thunder and lightning actually woke me up early that morning. It remained cloudy for most of the day between there and OKC. I found my way to my apartment with no problem, unpacked most of my stuff, and gave my brother a call who is staying in nearby Muskogee, OK. He shows up about 5 hours later after he gets done with work and we go out and enjoy some wings and beer, and try to catch up on things. I hadn't seen him since Christmas so it was a nice visit. He spent the night here, Sunday morning we grab some grub at a local Waffle House and then go tour the Oklahoma City Memorial. Once I figure out how to get my pictures off of my iPhone without wiping them out (hey Apple, ever thought of allowing people to drag and drop off of this thing!?! I've already had one synch wipe out most of the apps I had installed on here!) I'll post the ones I took.

First day at the Academy everyone starts out all hyped up and excited, and leaves a little underwhelmed. Not that everyone isn't still excited about the job, but in summary it is just a day of filling out more forms and then getting the same speeches about benefts and workplace behavior that you get almost anywhere you work these days. Oh, and you get told not to look at pornography on the government computers about a dozen times by just about everyone who walks into the room.

I'm not going to give a day by day run-down on Basics because it would be pretty pointless. In short, it is how the FAA crams all of the aviation terminology and concepts down everyone's throat in 5 weeks that someone is likely to encounter in ATC. As a pilot, almost all of this is nothing I haven't been exposed to or tested on before. In fact, some of the test questions were almost taken verbatim from the instrument written test. My only real gripe about it is that they spend far too much time on certain subjects, like airport markings and lighting. For example, they spent almost 4 hours on that subject, when a private pilot ground school may take up about an hour to cover the same subject. I realize that this is new material for most in these classes, but they could shrink some of this stuff down as to not bore everyone to death in the meantime.

Socially, the guys/gals I'm in class with have been a good bunch to hang out with and have made my time here significantly more bearable. Though most of our time has been spent together in study sessions or just BSing after class, we've found some down time to go enjoy some good BBQ, catch a movie (Star Trek was awesome), or enjoy a late night breakfast at Waffle House after class. Mitch, Kevin, Hsaing (pronounced "shang"), and occasionally Matt and Keef have been my partners in crime for study sessions or just to hang out. I'm trying to interact with some of the other folks a bit more, but with them all living about 20 minutes NW of here, it limits our ability to just pick up the phone and walk over there on a moment's notice.

Gotta run to the store now and pick up some stuff before class...night classes are just soo much fun!

So my journey to the FAA academy has begun. I made it out to Little Rock today, and tomorrow I will drive the last ~340 miles to my home away from home for four months.

I woke up at 5am today, tossed the last few things in the car (laptop and camera) and kissed my wife goodbye and was out the door by 5:30. I said a short prayer, then wished Georgia goodbye for at least the next 4 months, assuming the house doesn't sell while I'm away.

There was a little more traffic than I was expecting getting to I-20, but nowhere near what it would be like in another couple of hours. As light as traffic was, I was able to do 75-80 mph just about the entire way to Leeds, AL, where I stopped for a Chick-Fil-A biscuit (yummy!) Because of the time change, the time on the clock there was a scant 45 minutes after I left (6:10am CDT) but in fact I had been driving for about an hour and a half at that point.

Birmingham came and went, and before I knew it, I was in Mississippi. I fueled up just east of Tupelo, then took a reprieve from interstate driving to do a little railfanning. This has been another one of my hobbies for the last 8 years or so, although I have become a bit disolusioned with the Class 1 (classification for our country's largest railroads) operations, and specifically seeked out two smaller shortlines, the Mississippi Tennesee Railroad and the Mississippi Central. This actually worked out well, because had I just driven on to Memphis, I would have probably have gotten there at close to 10 local time. When I got to Memphis, I ran into a traffic jam, caused by, ironically enough, a 18 wheeler hauling railroad car axles. The first few had not been secured very well and had shifted, striking the rear of the cab and one ended up in the middle of the road. To avoid the traffic, I took a small detour that took me by Memphis Center, where I will be after I finish the academy.

So I ended up at my intermediate destination, Jim Neely's Interstate Barbeque right around noon, and sat down to a plate of delicious chopped pork. I think I am still full from that lunch, nearly 9 hours later!

My original plan was to stay the night in Memphis, but it was only about 1 pm local time, and I was still in the mood to drive, so I decided to head to Little Rock, AR to help shorten tomorrow's drive. While Arkansas is every bit as flat as I thought it was (I only encountered one real hill in 120 miles) it isn't as bleak as I had envisioned it. What was neat were watching the crop dusters in full force! I saw no fewer than 4 Air Tractors and Thrush aerial applicators (as they are properly called) swooping around applying fertilizers and pesticides to the numerous farms alongside I-40. I caught one taking off from Carlisle Municipal, about 25 miles to the east of here, and making a quick turn to the left, swooping over the interstate maybe a scant 50' above my car. Pretty neat!

Well, that's today's trip...let's see what the rest of the drive is like tomorrow.

This past Friday marked my last day at Eclipsys, I had worked there for just shy of two years, after being laid off from two jobs within the span of 8 months. It was nice to be steadily employed and to work with some pretty good folks, but I'm glad I'm finished there.

This time next week, I'll be in Oklahoma City, just a few hours away from starting my job with the FAA.

Fortunately, I was able to catch it before I drove 700 miles to find out about it.

I *thought* I was supposed to start the FAA Academy this upcoming Friday (May 8th). My offer letter had that date on it, and that was the date given to me verbally before I had my firm offer letter.

I had been waiting and waiting for the welcome package they send to all Academy students a couple of weeks before you get there. It has important information, oh like, when and where you're supposed to show up on your first day. Last Tuesday (the day before my last day at my current job!), I called up the lady who is responsible for sending these out, only to find out that she doesn't have me down for that date. Yikes! Never fear, she did say she remembered seeing my name on something and told me to sit tight while she got in contact with my HR rep to see what was going on.

A couple of hours later, I get a call back from my HR rep. She proceeds to tell me that there had been an error on my offer letter (I didn't mention the verbal confirmation I got back in January) and that I was supposed to start on May 18th and not the 8th. Well....that made things a little more interesting. That following day (April 29th) was supposed to be my final day at work. So after making a rather awkward phone call to my boss, here I am at work for another week.

At least this gives me another week and a half to relax at home, spend some time with family, and maybe even get in one more flight before I leave for OKC.