USMB Coffee Shop IV

[williepete]

I specialized in hydraulics, landing gear systems, turbine engines, and auxiliary systems.

Hydraulics, electrics, fuel and powerplant are my favorite subjects to teach outside aircraft performance. After teaching the heavy metal systems, you'd be horrified to see the single hydraulic systems of some of the little bizjets.

 

[beautress]

b727 landing on merrill field - Bing video

Nice vid. Hope those guys got paid a lot.

I think that was the last flight for the pilots and engineer, too.

Godspeed to your home in Alaska, gallantwarrior. And I sure enjoyed your sightseeing posts.

 

[Montrovant]

My job search is so far going nowhere. I did get to take the postal exam, but that hasn't led to anything despite my passing it, and right now there are very few open postal positions. By very few, I mean the USPS site shows 3 in the entire state of Georgia (and 2 in all of Florida, which I checked out of curiosity). My employer is selling the house, which is supposed to happen on the 25th of April, or the 19th if they can get it pushed up a little. I'm not going with them to the new house. My plan had been to move in with the little one's father, and despite my inability to so far find a new job, I could do that with my savings if necessary, at least for a little while. I'd have to stop looking for jobs I want and just take anything available, but I could do it. Unfortunately, he's not in a position to do that now, and I'm not sure when he will be, so I'm having to view things as if that won't be happening.

Luckily I have friends who live about an hour's drive away who are willing to take me in until I can get myself into a new job and find a place to live. Unfortunately, I don't think my current job is really much help in my job search. Unless I try to get some sort of childcare position, my experience for the past decade is fairly worthless. I've got my associate's, but none of the various healthcare places/positions I've applied for have shown any interest. I've been mostly avoiding applying to jobs in Atlanta, because I very much would like to avoid having to commute there, but that's where most of the jobs are.

It's a frustrating time at the moment.

 

[Ringel05]

My job search is so far going nowhere. I did get to take the postal exam, but that hasn't led to anything despite my passing it, and right now there are very few open postal positions. By very few, I mean the USPS site shows 3 in the entire state of Georgia (and 2 in all of Florida, which I checked out of curiosity). My employer is selling the house, which is supposed to happen on the 25th of April, or the 19th if they can get it pushed up a little. I'm not going with them to the new house. My plan had been to move in with the little one's father, and despite my inability to so far find a new job, I could do that with my savings if necessary, at least for a little while. I'd have to stop looking for jobs I want and just take anything available, but I could do it. Unfortunately, he's not in a position to do that now, and I'm not sure when he will be, so I'm having to view things as if that won't be happening.

Luckily I have friends who live about an hour's drive away who are willing to take me in until I can get myself into a new job and find a place to live. Unfortunately, I don't think my current job is really much help in my job search. Unless I try to get some sort of childcare position, my experience for the past decade is fairly worthless. I've got my associate's, but none of the various healthcare places/positions I've applied for have shown any interest. I've been mostly avoiding applying to jobs in Atlanta, because I very much would like to avoid having to commute there, but that's where most of the jobs are.

It's a frustrating time at the moment.

From the moment we left Virginia (and even before that) the wife was constantly looking for work, worked part time when we were in Colorado Springs when she finally landed the job in Trinidad CO which ultimately didn't work out. Again she landed a good job in El Paso TX but I believe she was hired as a scape goat when the fast approaching deadline could not be reached so the manager and director wouldn't be blamed. The only thing she was able to find the whole year in Albuquerque was part time retail until she snagged the Job Corps position here in Roswell NM and you all know what's happened since.
In most cases the good jobs are in the major cities like Atlanta or out in the real boonies where they have trouble finding qualified people and no one really wants to live. You may have to take that plunge and deal with a commute or a much higher cost of living. Unfortunately that's just the way it is.
I hope and pray you have better luck than we did.

 

[Ringel05]

But giving credit where credit is due, I doubt I could figure out those maps pilots use, at least without much study.

With enough bananas, you can train a chimp to fly. Trust me. I've done it.

I teach ground school part time in my retirement.

I teach aircraft systems, avionics and procedures to pilots. (Read: I toss bananas to chimpanzees). Up on the 4th floor, aircraft mechanics go through instruction. I often go upstairs to flesh out an inquiry. I've developed a relationship with the maintenance instructors up there. Whenever I can, I sit in on the maintenance classes.

I teach kick ass classes to pilots that I'm proud of but when I sit in a maintenance class, I feel like this:

Until recently, I was teaching aviation maintenance at University of Alaska. My move out of the Anchorage area limits the amount of time I have to do that any longer. I specialized in hydraulics, landing gear systems, turbine engines, and auxiliary systems. As long as I taught, I was the only instructor who still worked full time on aircraft. I love the big Boeings and Airbuses. I also worked on DC-10s and MD-11s and caught the tail end of the DC-8 era. When UAA acquired a B727 that FedEx retired, there were only two or three instructors who knew much about it. Unfortunately, the school just doesn't have the equipment needed to keep up with that old plane. The UAA Aviation facility is located at a general aviation airport built on an old landfill in Anchorage so it was quite a show when the landed the B727 there..
b727 landing on merrill field - Bing video

Yup, looks just like an airplane to me........

 

[Dajjal]

OUCH ! I just got my computer taken over. I had to delete a program, and reset my homepage, but I think I am back to normal. I was searching for ' entities in the aura' and I got an entity try to take over my computer.

 

[Foxfyre]

My job search is so far going nowhere. I did get to take the postal exam, but that hasn't led to anything despite my passing it, and right now there are very few open postal positions. By very few, I mean the USPS site shows 3 in the entire state of Georgia (and 2 in all of Florida, which I checked out of curiosity). My employer is selling the house, which is supposed to happen on the 25th of April, or the 19th if they can get it pushed up a little. I'm not going with them to the new house. My plan had been to move in with the little one's father, and despite my inability to so far find a new job, I could do that with my savings if necessary, at least for a little while. I'd have to stop looking for jobs I want and just take anything available, but I could do it. Unfortunately, he's not in a position to do that now, and I'm not sure when he will be, so I'm having to view things as if that won't be happening.

Luckily I have friends who live about an hour's drive away who are willing to take me in until I can get myself into a new job and find a place to live. Unfortunately, I don't think my current job is really much help in my job search. Unless I try to get some sort of childcare position, my experience for the past decade is fairly worthless. I've got my associate's, but none of the various healthcare places/positions I've applied for have shown any interest. I've been mostly avoiding applying to jobs in Atlanta, because I very much would like to avoid having to commute there, but that's where most of the jobs are.

It's a frustrating time at the moment.

It is really tough to get good jobs as an adult when you have been out of the workforce for an extended period. Or even if you are just unemployed for awhile. Because Hombre was transferred so much the first half of our lives together we made the decision that he would be the primary bread winner and I would be the one to start over in each new place. Plus I insisted on the flexibility to be there for the kids when they needed me.

So many times in each new town, I had to take whatever job I could get, often at minimum wage, just to get myself re-established. I generally was able to make myself valuable enough to merit a decent wage after a short time, and as often as not was able to use that entry level job as a stepping stone to a better one. When you are employed you look more employable to employers.

So don't despair. I suspect at this point you are flexible enough to be able to consider all possible options. I don't know if you have though about it, but have you considered applying to child care facilities or other organizations that work with children? Your current employer would certainly give you great references and that might be counted as practical experience.

Or you are probably pretty good on a keyboard and have computer skills. You might look for warehouse counter jobs or other front desk entry level jobs. Foot in the door. . .

 

[Foxfyre]

Meanwhile I've been busy today doing laundry and a few other chores mixed with earnest attempts to straighten out people who are wrong on the internet. But I really do love you guys.

 

[Montrovant]

I've applied to some data entry jobs as well as some front office jobs that are more secretarial. I can't say that I want to deal with customers; I prefer clerical work where I can be away from the public. Unfortunately, customer service or retail seem like the only 'easy' options.

I'm going to continue looking for things I'd prefer for now. I have a problem with location, as the house I'll be moving to is an hour or more north of here, on the other side of Atlanta. I don't have to drive through Atlanta to get there, but it's far enough away to make it much more difficult than I had hoped to visit the little one, and because of the location, I'll be looking at north Atlanta jobs if I start trying to get something in the city. That would put me in a poor commuting position should the little one's dad end up getting his stuff together and wanting to get a place, because he wants to move somewhere close to where I am now, south of Atlanta by about 45 minutes.

Getting a regular job and finding a place to live are going to be stressful enough for me, since I've lived a remarkably 'young' style life despite being middle-aged: I've never lived on my own, only got a license and car less than 2 years ago, never had a credit card, haven't had to pay income tax in more than a decade, etc. In a lot of ways I've managed to remain in my teens or early 20s in lifestyle, but that leaves me somewhat unprepared to jump into a more normal adult life. I wish I didn't have to worry about not getting to see the little one much, as well.

Of course I realize my situation isn't even in the same realm of difficulty as some of our other Coffee Shop members. I don't want to whine, and I certainly don't want to sound as if I think my troubles compare. I wish that I could help Ringle and the Mrs., or Gracie and hubby, get down to just my level of life struggles. I'm just using this space to vent, because I don't really do much of that IRL.

 

[Foxfyre]

I've applied to some data entry jobs as well as some front office jobs that are more secretarial. I can't say that I want to deal with customers; I prefer clerical work where I can be away from the public. Unfortunately, customer service or retail seem like the only 'easy' options.

I'm going to continue looking for things I'd prefer for now. I have a problem with location, as the house I'll be moving to is an hour or more north of here, on the other side of Atlanta. I don't have to drive through Atlanta to get there, but it's far enough away to make it much more difficult than I had hoped to visit the little one, and because of the location, I'll be looking at north Atlanta jobs if I start trying to get something in the city. That would put me in a poor commuting position should the little one's dad end up getting his stuff together and wanting to get a place, because he wants to move somewhere close to where I am now, south of Atlanta by about 45 minutes.

Getting a regular job and finding a place to live are going to be stressful enough for me, since I've lived a remarkably 'young' style life despite being middle-aged: I've never lived on my own, only got a license and car less than 2 years ago, never had a credit card, haven't had to pay income tax in more than a decade, etc. In a lot of ways I've managed to remain in my teens or early 20s in lifestyle, but that leaves me somewhat unprepared to jump into a more normal adult life. I wish I didn't have to worry about not getting to see the little one much, as well.

Of course I realize my situation isn't even in the same realm of difficulty as some of our other Coffee Shop members. I don't want to whine, and I certainly don't want to sound as if I think my troubles compare. I wish that I could help Ringle and the Mrs., or Gracie and hubby, get down to just my level of life struggles. I'm just using this space to vent, because I don't really do much of that IRL.

Well the Coffee Shop has been helpful to many of us in various ways. And being a place to safely vent or talk out issues or problems is sometimes one of them so long as we don't wander into restricted territory which rarely happens here.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I specialized in hydraulics, landing gear systems, turbine engines, and auxiliary systems.

Hydraulics, electrics, fuel and powerplant are my favorite subjects to teach outside aircraft performance. After teaching the heavy metal systems, you'd be horrified to see the single hydraulic systems of some of the little bizjets.

No I wouldn't. I've worked on some GA stuff that doesn't even have hydraulics but little on bizjets. Oh, I also teach fuel systems. What did you want to know about how a carburetor works? It's magic, really, how physics works for us. Electric is the big mystery for me. I know about the magic black boxes that won't work if all the magic smoke escapes.

 

[gallantwarrior]

b727 landing on merrill field - Bing video

Nice vid. Hope those guys got paid a lot.

I think that was the last flight for the pilots and engineer, too.

Godspeed to your home in Alaska, gallantwarrior. And I sure enjoyed your sightseeing posts.

Due to complications, I am in a holding pattern in Honolulu until the ticket gates open for my flight. My taxi driver was nice enough to take me out to Waikiki. What a zoo. Lots of us Alaskans like fewer people rather more...and Waikiki is definitely a more people kind of place. I did get some photos I'll share later. At least I can say I've been to Waikiki beach now. Was that even on my bucket list? I'll list it and then cross it through now...
I'll be home by 0600 AK time. That gives me a day and a half to get settled back in before reentering the rat race that is work. Partner says it's melting fast and our trail to the driveway is impassable. We park in a lot about 1/4 mile from the house and use a sled to drag stuff in. Happens every year so we expect nothing less.
The biggest problem with visiting loved ones is I miss them so much more when you leave.

 

[gallantwarrior]

My job search is so far going nowhere. I did get to take the postal exam, but that hasn't led to anything despite my passing it, and right now there are very few open postal positions. By very few, I mean the USPS site shows 3 in the entire state of Georgia (and 2 in all of Florida, which I checked out of curiosity). My employer is selling the house, which is supposed to happen on the 25th of April, or the 19th if they can get it pushed up a little. I'm not going with them to the new house. My plan had been to move in with the little one's father, and despite my inability to so far find a new job, I could do that with my savings if necessary, at least for a little while. I'd have to stop looking for jobs I want and just take anything available, but I could do it. Unfortunately, he's not in a position to do that now, and I'm not sure when he will be, so I'm having to view things as if that won't be happening.

Luckily I have friends who live about an hour's drive away who are willing to take me in until I can get myself into a new job and find a place to live. Unfortunately, I don't think my current job is really much help in my job search. Unless I try to get some sort of childcare position, my experience for the past decade is fairly worthless. I've got my associate's, but none of the various healthcare places/positions I've applied for have shown any interest. I've been mostly avoiding applying to jobs in Atlanta, because I very much would like to avoid having to commute there, but that's where most of the jobs are.

It's a frustrating time at the moment.

Sometimes you have to take less until better comes along. Be careful, though, some employers are pretty nasty if they find out you are still looking. What you should try to avoid is moving from on job to another too often. Find one that "will do" and stick with it until that much better job comes along. When I first retired from the military and had earned my airframe & powerplant license, no one would hire me as a mechanic because I lacked experience, despite 20 years in the military. Good luck, kiddo!

 

[beautress]

b727 landing on merrill field - Bing video

Nice vid. Hope those guys got paid a lot.

I think that was the last flight for the pilots and engineer, too.

Godspeed to your home in Alaska, gallantwarrior. And I sure enjoyed your sightseeing posts.

Due to complications, I am in a holding pattern in Honolulu until the ticket gates open for my flight. My taxi driver was nice enough to take me out to Waikiki. What a zoo. Lots of us Alaskans like fewer people rather more...and Waikiki is definitely a more people kind of place. I did get some photos I'll share later. At least I can say I've been to Waikiki beach now. Was that even on my bucket list? I'll list it and then cross it through now...
I'll be home by 0600 AK time. That gives me a day and a half to get settled back in before reentering the rat race that is work. Partner says it's melting fast and our trail to the driveway is impassable. We park in a lot about 1/4 mile from the house and use a sled to drag stuff in. Happens every year so we expect nothing less.
The biggest problem with visiting loved ones is I miss them so much more when you leave.

May you fly on the wings of angels
May your landing be soft and then
May there be no winds or tangles
So you're safe when you're home, amen.

 

[beautress]

My job search is so far going nowhere. I did get to take the postal exam, but that hasn't led to anything despite my passing it, and right now there are very few open postal positions. By very few, I mean the USPS site shows 3 in the entire state of Georgia (and 2 in all of Florida, which I checked out of curiosity). My employer is selling the house, which is supposed to happen on the 25th of April, or the 19th if they can get it pushed up a little. I'm not going with them to the new house. My plan had been to move in with the little one's father, and despite my inability to so far find a new job, I could do that with my savings if necessary, at least for a little while. I'd have to stop looking for jobs I want and just take anything available, but I could do it. Unfortunately, he's not in a position to do that now, and I'm not sure when he will be, so I'm having to view things as if that won't be happening.

Luckily I have friends who live about an hour's drive away who are willing to take me in until I can get myself into a new job and find a place to live. Unfortunately, I don't think my current job is really much help in my job search. Unless I try to get some sort of childcare position, my experience for the past decade is fairly worthless. I've got my associate's, but none of the various healthcare places/positions I've applied for have shown any interest. I've been mostly avoiding applying to jobs in Atlanta, because I very much would like to avoid having to commute there, but that's where most of the jobs are.

It's a frustrating time at the moment.

Best wishes, Monty. You deserve something good.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I've applied to some data entry jobs as well as some front office jobs that are more secretarial. I can't say that I want to deal with customers; I prefer clerical work where I can be away from the public. Unfortunately, customer service or retail seem like the only 'easy' options.

I'm going to continue looking for things I'd prefer for now. I have a problem with location, as the house I'll be moving to is an hour or more north of here, on the other side of Atlanta. I don't have to drive through Atlanta to get there, but it's far enough away to make it much more difficult than I had hoped to visit the little one, and because of the location, I'll be looking at north Atlanta jobs if I start trying to get something in the city. That would put me in a poor commuting position should the little one's dad end up getting his stuff together and wanting to get a place, because he wants to move somewhere close to where I am now, south of Atlanta by about 45 minutes.

Getting a regular job and finding a place to live are going to be stressful enough for me, since I've lived a remarkably 'young' style life despite being middle-aged: I've never lived on my own, only got a license and car less than 2 years ago, never had a credit card, haven't had to pay income tax in more than a decade, etc. In a lot of ways I've managed to remain in my teens or early 20s in lifestyle, but that leaves me somewhat unprepared to jump into a more normal adult life. I wish I didn't have to worry about not getting to see the little one much, as well.

Of course I realize my situation isn't even in the same realm of difficulty as some of our other Coffee Shop members. I don't want to whine, and I certainly don't want to sound as if I think my troubles compare. I wish that I could help Ringle and the Mrs., or Gracie and hubby, get down to just my level of life struggles. I'm just using this space to vent, because I don't really do much of that IRL.

Vent away, Montro. If it's any comfort, lots of us would help you if we could. How do you feel about milking goats?

 

[Foxfyre]

I've applied to some data entry jobs as well as some front office jobs that are more secretarial. I can't say that I want to deal with customers; I prefer clerical work where I can be away from the public. Unfortunately, customer service or retail seem like the only 'easy' options.

I'm going to continue looking for things I'd prefer for now. I have a problem with location, as the house I'll be moving to is an hour or more north of here, on the other side of Atlanta. I don't have to drive through Atlanta to get there, but it's far enough away to make it much more difficult than I had hoped to visit the little one, and because of the location, I'll be looking at north Atlanta jobs if I start trying to get something in the city. That would put me in a poor commuting position should the little one's dad end up getting his stuff together and wanting to get a place, because he wants to move somewhere close to where I am now, south of Atlanta by about 45 minutes.

Getting a regular job and finding a place to live are going to be stressful enough for me, since I've lived a remarkably 'young' style life despite being middle-aged: I've never lived on my own, only got a license and car less than 2 years ago, never had a credit card, haven't had to pay income tax in more than a decade, etc. In a lot of ways I've managed to remain in my teens or early 20s in lifestyle, but that leaves me somewhat unprepared to jump into a more normal adult life. I wish I didn't have to worry about not getting to see the little one much, as well.

Of course I realize my situation isn't even in the same realm of difficulty as some of our other Coffee Shop members. I don't want to whine, and I certainly don't want to sound as if I think my troubles compare. I wish that I could help Ringle and the Mrs., or Gracie and hubby, get down to just my level of life struggles. I'm just using this space to vent, because I don't really do much of that IRL.

Vent away, Montro. If it's any comfort, lots of us would help you if we could. How do you feel about milking goats?

I just had the wierdest vision flash before my eyes. With so many of us in various forms of transition, I imagined the entire Coffee Shop forming a sort of commune on GW's goat farm in Alaska. At least there would be a lot of us to do chores.

 

[Ridgerunner]

GW damn dude... Should have honked when you went bye... I understand how stuff happens when you are dealing with the military... Did you fly into Hickam or what ever the new name is? I would have bought you a cup of joe... Thinking you might still be here if you don't get into ANC until 0600 03.26.19... Sure could have pointed you in a better direction than Waikiki... I guess it can be considered a destination of sorts... Hope everything goes smoothly for you... Officers Club on Hickam used to have some really good chow and a pretty good environment... Happy Trails my cyber friend...

 

[gallantwarrior]

b727 landing on merrill field - Bing video

Nice vid. Hope those guys got paid a lot.

I think that was the last flight for the pilots and engineer, too.

Godspeed to your home in Alaska, gallantwarrior. And I sure enjoyed your sightseeing posts.

Due to complications, I am in a holding pattern in Honolulu until the ticket gates open for my flight. My taxi driver was nice enough to take me out to Waikiki. What a zoo. Lots of us Alaskans like fewer people rather more...and Waikiki is definitely a more people kind of place. I did get some photos I'll share later. At least I can say I've been to Waikiki beach now. Was that even on my bucket list? I'll list it and then cross it through now...
I'll be home by 0600 AK time. That gives me a day and a half to get settled back in before reentering the rat race that is work. Partner says it's melting fast and our trail to the driveway is impassable. We park in a lot about 1/4 mile from the house and use a sled to drag stuff in. Happens every year so we expect nothing less.
The biggest problem with visiting loved ones is I miss them so much more when you leave.

May you fly on the wings of angels
May your landing be soft and then
May there be no winds or tangles
So you're safe when you're home, amen.

Thank you, beautress

 

[gallantwarrior]

I've applied to some data entry jobs as well as some front office jobs that are more secretarial. I can't say that I want to deal with customers; I prefer clerical work where I can be away from the public. Unfortunately, customer service or retail seem like the only 'easy' options.

I'm going to continue looking for things I'd prefer for now. I have a problem with location, as the house I'll be moving to is an hour or more north of here, on the other side of Atlanta. I don't have to drive through Atlanta to get there, but it's far enough away to make it much more difficult than I had hoped to visit the little one, and because of the location, I'll be looking at north Atlanta jobs if I start trying to get something in the city. That would put me in a poor commuting position should the little one's dad end up getting his stuff together and wanting to get a place, because he wants to move somewhere close to where I am now, south of Atlanta by about 45 minutes.

Getting a regular job and finding a place to live are going to be stressful enough for me, since I've lived a remarkably 'young' style life despite being middle-aged: I've never lived on my own, only got a license and car less than 2 years ago, never had a credit card, haven't had to pay income tax in more than a decade, etc. In a lot of ways I've managed to remain in my teens or early 20s in lifestyle, but that leaves me somewhat unprepared to jump into a more normal adult life. I wish I didn't have to worry about not getting to see the little one much, as well.

Of course I realize my situation isn't even in the same realm of difficulty as some of our other Coffee Shop members. I don't want to whine, and I certainly don't want to sound as if I think my troubles compare. I wish that I could help Ringle and the Mrs., or Gracie and hubby, get down to just my level of life struggles. I'm just using this space to vent, because I don't really do much of that IRL.

Vent away, Montro. If it's any comfort, lots of us would help you if we could. How do you feel about milking goats?

I just had the wierdest vision flash before my eyes. With so many of us in various forms of transition, I imagined the entire Coffee Shop forming a sort of commune on GW's goat farm in Alaska. At least there would be a lot of us to do chores.

And a lot of us to dance, and sing, and celebrate each small thing! Oh, yeah, and share recipes.