Blogger pains

Blogger is being a pain in the butt!!!

The format etc et al on the "Miracles" post... I keep trying to 'fix' it and Blogger keeps doing it their way.

argh...

It's F-R-eakin' hot and WINDY. The Alaskans didn't seem to care for it but I love it.

OK, I DON'T love it but I do much prefer it.

My new A/C unit is great. I leave it on low fan and low cool when I leave in the morning. When I get home it's bearable but I have to crank it up to high to make it through the real heat of the day. During the night I turn it down and eventually off.

Today when I got home it was 93 degrees and felt like 97.

Ref. Previous post... if it Feels Like F-R-eakin' 97 Degrees it IS 97 Degrees!!!

The Frankenstein airplanes (from the "You Want It When" post) are making headway.

All four engines are on and mostly connected. 183 has her props.

OH! Didya know that a 1900 has THREE props?!

Well, of course not but 183 did get one prop installed twice! LOL!

One of the Directs ram rodded the R/H prop install this morning. Good Job!

Then he set about getting the L/H up.

Well, when he uncovered the L/H prop he noticed a plastic plug in the pilot shaft, "Oh, s--t. I hope I pulled the plug out of the other prop... I don't remember. I don't remember seeing it. Crap!"

"Dumbass.", said gentle and caring me.

They pulled the R/H back off and sho-nuff...

No plug in the way.

You can tell by my generous and sympathetic reply that I completely understood the Boys' plight.

He's smarter than he looks.

In my opinion any wrench that doesn't sweat over his every move should not be there.

That is not a very concise or clear thought but...

A certain amount of self doubt is healthy.

To this day not a launch goes by that I don't fret.

I often think back to being all alone with that King Air in Teguc as chief cook and bottle washer.
Mechanic, Book Keeper, Parts Guy, GSE Guy, Inspector... For three years.

I flew on her EVERY chance I got.

I fretted over EVERY launch.

Frequently I woke up in the middle of the night asking myself if I did this or that. (Still do.)

More than once I went back to the hangar to quadruple check.

You can take it to an extreme. Ref. Me last year.

My head was SO So so far out of the business.

I didn't just terrify myself. I terrified my co-workers.

I don't blame them.

This is a totally different environment.

Here I stay engaged. I get handed things and I handle them.

Here I have people coming to me, "David, how do I do this?".

"David, I need these but can't find them. There aren't any in stock."

"David, I've never seen a 1900 before. I'm a sheetmetal guy. How do we hang this engine?"

"Dave, there's a King Air coming in and..."

"Dave' there's a Cessna 152 coming in..." "A WHAT?! Yo no se nada de ninguna 152!!!" "Whatever Dave. Fix it." (I did fix it. I LUCKED OUT! LOL!)

BTW, Rodolfo, if you're out there I lucked out by putting my hand on every electrical connection I could in the starter circuit. When you go to inspect or trouble shoot something, TOUCH IT! Wiggle it, Twist it. Shake it. Etc. You'll be surprised how many things you find/ solve because something is loose.

Do you know why it's different here?

I can TRUST these guys and they TRUST me.

I've been in and out of this hangar since '01 or so. I've known some a couple of these guys for 20 years and a lot of them for 6 or 7 years.

They know me well enough to know that the last thing I would ever do is LIE or COVER something up or OMIT it from my explanation.

If I don't know something I'm gonna make it clear.

If I F-up I'm gonna shout it out.

I do love my job too. Once again.

Now, if I can figure out to move it 480 miles south...

I'm working on it!!! (Really, it's not unprecedented.)

This thing sorta spun out didn't it? All I was gonna do was whine and bitch because Blogger wouldn't cooperate.

Classic Nada I guess!

The sun is going down and I've notched the A/C down a click or two. Maybe it's safe to take out the trash now.