Upland, Fall 2007

Family

Laura and I visited Upland to celebrate Lightrider’s 20th anniversary.  It was Laura’s first time to Upland, where I spent many formative years, and it was a very fun time.  Click the picture above to enjoy the pictures of our visit.

Dad’s new blog

Family, Internet


My dad has a new blog up today.  It has every Scattershooting story he’s ever written, with the newest ones on the blog page and the older ones archived for your reading enjoyment.  They really are neat stories and I encourage you to browse a few of them when you have the time. To get there, click the Blogger picture or here.

Success!

Family


I called Hong Kong this evening at 9:20 p.m. and talked to Abby de Beer.  She gave me the good news that I was successful in my interview at Cathay Pacific and sent a confirmation e-mail as well, just in case I thought I was dreaming!  They will let me know when I start, but rumor is it will be sometime in April/May.  Five months of training in Hong Kong, and then it’s off to the big leagues.
Thank you to all of you who prayed and kept me in your thoughts.  Also, praise God for leading me to this and providing the strength to prevail.  Cathay Pacific is thought to be one of the toughest interviews in the world.  Why do pilots put themselves through it?  For this:

Cathay Pacific Interview

Aviation

Below is the story of my trip to Hong Kong for my interview with Cathay Pacific Airways.

Trip to Hong Kong

October 18th

The much awaited trip started with little fan fair but a lot of anticipation. It was raining as I drove to the airport in Columbus at 9:00 a.m. and consequently got pretty wet as I moved my four bags (rollerboard, briefcase, laptop case, and suit in a plastic bag). I had to tell Joe Ogden, a captain friend of mine that I was going to a wedding because he saw me in the employee van with the suit bag. I was fortunate enough to catch the 10:55 a.m. jetBlue flight to JFK. I got a seat in the back and did some review of my notes, but not too much review as I’d have 16 hours to review on the way to Hong Kong! As I deplaned in JFK, the captain saw the suit bag and said, “Got an interview, eh?” I was shocked and told him, yes, in Hong Kong with Cathay. Later, at the curbside, waiting for the hotel van, a man walked up to me and said, “Got an interview?” Again, I was surprised, and told him yes. He asked if it was with jetBlue (because we were in JFK). I said, no, it’s with Cathay. He said, “Ah, and where are you working now?” I said Chautauqua. He replied with, “That figures.” I asked how that figured and he replied, “Cause there’s no pay!” I agreed. He told me he worked for Polar on the 747-400. He wished me luck and walked on. A few minutes later, he came back and asked if I had a free ticket to Hong Kong or not. I told him that Cathay did indeed buy my ticket. He mentioned this because if they hadn’t, he’d put me in touch with the jumpseat person at Polar, and let me jumpseat on them for free. I thought that was really nice. The hotel van ride was long and when I walked into the lobby, the front desk clerk told me that I looked like I was going to an interview! Wow, no hiding it I guess. I was wearing a pilot uniform and carrying a suit bag – don’t do this if you want to hide the fact you are going to an interview somewhere . . . Continue reading Cathay Pacific Interview →