Well, so it's been a while since I've come in and commented. Recent events have made me aware of the need to take personal time again.
So let's see...
To pick up from last time, Thanksgiving was a trying time. I had reservations about the trip before we went but it was important to go spend time with my other half's sister and family for the holiday, so we packed up and took the red-eye out to get there on Wednesday morning. For those that don't remember, there was a major "nor-easter" around the Raleigh area.
Being a pilot, I was expecting some weather on arrival but what Mother Nature kicked loose on us was a heck of a lot more than what the forecasts indicated. Long story short, in my 16+ years of professional aviation, that was the worst weather I had ever been in. I now know the definition of severe to extreme turbulence. The RJ that we were on was like a tennis shoe in the dryer. The guys up front really had their hands full and I heard tones and alerts from the cockpit that you generally don't want to hear even during training in the simulator. The 60+ knot wind shear was especially kinky. At that point, they said enough and diverted to Charleston to have the poor plane inspected due to the accelerations placed on it and also allow passengers to change their underwear (just kidding on that...but not by much).
Nearly 7 hours later we were cleared to launch back to Raleigh and we completed the mission with a substantially lighter passenger load (chickens...). The crew and staff of Jet Blue were awesome and it turned out that the copilot and I had mutual friends, so it made passing the time easy.
Drove down to Fayetteville late that night and got settled into Shiloh and Nick's house. Great place and neat neighborhood. Ah, we made it.
8 a.m. Thursday morning we slowly stretch and wake up snuggled next to wife who hears the call of nature. I hear the call of Kona (coffee). As I'm filling my first cup of the day, I hear a squeak followed by loud thumping of a body going down stairs, none to gracefully I might add. That would be my adorable, yet clumsy wife. I take a sip my coffee and ask if she is ok as she is sitting down on the stairs holding her leg. I take a quick look and note the foot located in a position it isn't supposed to be in. Lovely. I answer my own question with a "no", chug half my coffee as I know that's all I'm getting for the day and zip to her side as we all snap back into the old search and rescue mode.
Note to self: Never get injured in North Carolina unless it's the parking lot of Duke University Medical Center.
Clearly it was time for a trip to an ER. We try the responsible thing and call the number on the insurance card to find a close by hospital where she can get worked up. I hate dealing with insurance dweebs. Finally tired of being offered no real help, yahoo to the rescue while I'm on the phone holding for them. Should've just called 911 but there is one 3.5 miles away. Cool. Off we go.
We get to the (you call this a...) hospital and get Dessie into the ER admitting area. Not real busy and Blessings on the admissions nurse who breezed through the paperwork with me and "made things happen". Within 10 minutes she is seen and into the exam room.
Doctor was great, but the P.A. and another nurse were clueless. X-rays showed that Ms. Over-achiever had really done a number on herself. Broken in spectacular fashion was her tibia, about 4 inches above the spectacularly dislocated AND broken anklebones and foot. She has a talent. What can I say? Well, she has another family talent that I wish she would use instead of breaking herself. Much more fun and much less painful.
So the PA and Nurse I mentioned? Yeah... they didn't know you were supposed to wet the very cool 3M splinting material. Hardens in 3-4 minutes when you wet it. They were talking like 1.5 hours. Then to really instill confidence, they were talking about splinting horses legs. Shiloh and I were looking at one another like... "give us the damn splint stuff and we'll do it." Thankfully the doctor came in got things in order, plus gave my beloved a healthy shot of "Happy Drugs" for the pain.
I'll skip the other indignities she endured but after finding relief with the help of a nurse, great pharmaceuticals, a strong doctor to reduce the break, and more happy pills, the 6.5 hour start of our Thanksgiving was over and Dessie was happily passed out in a comfy chair with her leg elevated.
Dinner was awesome and the company was great. It was really nice to be able to relax, aside from tending poor Dessie. Back to LA we flew on Saturday with the final half of the trip in on of our company's new Learjets.
Once back in LA, the land of lots of competent and skilled medical care, she got to see one of the top orthopedic surgeons around who confirmed what we expected. She needed an operation to fix all the damage, fractures, and ligaments. Did I mention she is an over-achiever?
The operation went great and lasted for 2 hours. The recovery was tough on Dessie who is normally known as the "bouncy ponytail". For nearly 2 months, she was confined to the house / bedroom while she healed but she continues to make a full recovery. She got a belated Christmas/Yule gift when the doctor took her cast off on the 26th of December.
The tendon damage is still healing and painful, but it is getting better. She has since returned to work and is driving, but it will be a few months yet before she can return to her passion of diving. I really feel for her as she has always been fiercely independent and "moves with a purpose". Because of things, she has been forced to slow down and learn to accept help when normally she would do things on her own. Her frustration with herself has been high but I try to motivate her and reassure her. I explain it like this: Since I'm older than her, I am building my "Nurse Maid" credit with her since she will have to take care of me one day. :P Oh well.
The job has been, well, interesting. I both love and hate the company. We have been insanely busy lately due to some changes the FAA rolled out on us. Once again, I bring my expertise to bear and help the team get through them. I love the care and compassion that the company expresses for Dessie and their working with me on my schedule so I can take care of her. I hate the rampant hypocrisy, nepotism and discrimination that is applied to the promotional process. The only constant is inconsistency and if you bust your ass and work harder that damn near anyone else, you get shit.
I really tire of training others, having tremendous responsibility and duties, providing service and skills well beyond my actual job, "making it happen", and then be paid shit and passed over not because of any performance issue, but because of physical appearance. They could at least raise my pay rate if they aren't going to give me the lead slot on a plane. Sorry if I'm not a GQ model for you. Yes, I need to loose some weight, but have you looked at the other guys in the fleet? Weight has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a person's job or their ability to do it. Yes, this industry is big on appearance, but get over it. What burns me up is when the chips are down, they can have me fly the lead slot in an instant, but when it comes to the daily routine, oh no...
Either you are or you aren't a Pilot In Command. I sure as hell am, that and much much more. Pity they don't know what they are loosing. Oh well, I wanted to get into the gym some more anyway.
Time for a change. Patience is a virtue and I am patiently waiting for a virtuous slot I have been promised. I only hope that this source doesn't fail me. It will truly be a monumental bucket of suck if it does.
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