Flying (27 of 104)

All I wanted to do from about 9 years old to about 18 years old was fly planes. Unfortunately the reality of a very crappy inner ear and finances never made it happen. But working with the airplanes in my job now is pretty damn satisfying, even if I never leave the ground.

We had a successful test flight on Sunday though there were some problems with my instrument. I fixed everything with the help of my programmer yesterday and now today there is an 8-hour science flight over California for the California Air Resources Board.

The time spent on the ground during the science flights is always Hell for me. I'm usually a nervous wreck worrying about the instrument. For my own health I really need to stop doing that. It really does no good to worry.

But I do.

I'm sort of ready to take off for Canada on Thursday. When the plane gets back tonight we have to do a little work loading and such. It looks like I can't avoid coming into work tomorrow but it will be a short day so I can hang out with Jasper in the afternoon. Then it's off to Canada for almost three weeks. I'll be flying on a commercial plane while the P-3 flies up there at the same time. Of course they won't have to mess with security lines, rental car lines, baggage claim lines etc... Lucky bastards...