Two Months Down

Finally a picture of my cottage and expansive estate

Bismarck Airport!

Flying out of Bismarck! The temple is in the top left corner of the picture...

Where I spend most of my day... Holding down the fort!

Putting things where they go...

Rotating the tires on the Tug...

The sheer knowledge of operating this machinery really boosts my resume

80-foot deer in the middle of nowhere... oh wait there's more... they're JUMPING over a fence!

This week in photos...

It's ironic that in the "calm before the storm" you never feel calm... Atleast I didn't seeing this blow towards me.

I can now add another chore to my job description: Airline Mechanic. I had to stay late tonight to help Wayne fix a bad starter in the Great Lakes airliner. It took HOURS. We pulled the tail cone off and switched the spare starter from there with the starter in the right engine. We FINALLY got everything put back together, avoided touching anything clean with our hands, and had the pilots come out to test the new starter. It didn't work. It was dark now and if wayne had been a flower, you could have watched him physically wilt on the spot. So frustrating!

Matt and I flew down to Hettinger ND (which is pronounced HET-n-gur) a little airport with barely a hint of life; like the airport manager walking out of his trailer to greet us, and his wife screaming at the dog and offering us coffee. I saw this metal sign and laughed myself silly thinking about Brian Regan saying this with his crazy face. hahaha

PROOF that Aliens.... irrigate? ...weird.

I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to flying. I feel that not only is it liberating and exciting, but it's an ART. I think there's art in every element of flying. From capturing the emotions of anyone who experiences it, to every line and rivet of an airplane. I love taking pictures like these, and feel they are worthy of framing. Not because of photographic logistics, like lighting, subject placement, contrast, and overall relevance. But because you don't see the full picture. ...and there's the BEAUTY of it... when you're tasting flight, inside looking OUT, that's when you see the full picture. These remind me of the view.

Embracing the Truly Pointless

In my continued effort to watch my weight, I found myself driving home sipping (enter non-caffeinated soda drink here) and dipping my fries in a large chocolate frosty. As I drank, I noticed that on the plastic lid, were four or five pop-in buttons. You know the ones I'm talking about... The ones labeled "Cola, Pepsi, diet, and other" ...those little bundles of guilty pleasure you've been popping down since you were excited about happy meals. Yeah.

I started thinking about it, and I came to realize: there is absolutely NO need for these. Does any person or establishment actually take these seriously? I wonder what life would be like if we all did. "Hey can I get a refill?"

"You bet! What were you drinking?"

"....Why don't you take a LOOK at what option I popped down, then go ahead and ASK me that question again. I dare you."

Or the other way around... "Hey can I get a refill?"

"I see no beverage selected. Sir, I cannot in good conscience, satisfactorily meet your needs if you're not willing to work with me here. I'm NOT a mind-reader."

These fail, because humans communicate. It's like the first guy to think of these wanted us all to communicate through braille on cups. Sorry buddy. We're just fine without them. But ironically, I can't down a soft drink without getting my cheap thrill out of making sure there's five craters in the lid. It seems that we all, as a whole, embrace the truly pointless ideas introduced into society.

Feline from Hell

From day one, I have hated my roommate's cat. Nike is her name. Like the shoe. This cat isn't even cute. It's one of those brown-with-black nasty fur "looks like you just pulled it out of the garbage disposal" kind of cats. She's OWNS this apartment. From the moment you walk in, the smell that violates your nostrils is evidence. Then there's the framed pictures that grace her smug little whiskered face with rhinestones and the word "Princess". Then there's the litter box in the kitchen.

There is cat hair on EVERYTHING. You want to sit on the couch and watch T.V? you get a nice dose of hair with that. How about dinner at the kitchen table? There's a nice serving of hair on that too. How about getting out of the shower with wet feet? YEP there's cat hair stuck to the bottom of your trompers now. SO there is a STRICT rule that is enforced around the clock: NO CATS ALLOWED in John's room. And she can't STAND it. I kid you not, I have been woken up at 4 a.m. because she will sit there and paw at my door and sound like she's dying. If i'm sitting in the front room, she'll scamper back to see if my door is open, and lean against it trying to get in. I left it open ONCE and I found her laying on my clean laundry. Heck no.

So if I get up from my spot on the couch to get something, she'll scurry over and lounge there. She'll look up at me with a look like, "....WHAT." Then when my roommate is sitting in the room, she'll come rub ALL over my legs because she knows I won't do anything. I honestly think this cat is demonic. So being the mature responsible adult that I am, right as i'm leaving, i'll say, "Hey you wanna go outside? come on! come on!" she usually BOLTS for the door and I just slam it in her face before she can get out. Then I'll laugh all the way to the car. You think I've got problems? Well the cat started it.

MISSING!!!

I saw this online and thought it was great. I would want to meet this kid. He handles things how they should be handled.

Surprise Surprise

Okay... So my theory of North Dakota not actually existing took a strange twist today. I'm surprised to find that once you're a resident here, nothing ELSE exists outside of North Dakota. Crazy. Let me fill you in...

The day I moved into my apartment, my roommate saw my iPhone and with wide-eyed fascination, held it gently and said "what....is... THIS?" trying to stifle a crooked grin, I said, "that's my cell phone. It's an iPhone. Apple makes it." he then said quietly, "It's so small...." I was surprised he'd never heard of one! The same thing happened at the airport with all of the guys there. I mean, third-world terrorists own iPhones. come on.

THEN we were sitting there watching T.V. and my roommate matt was going through my dvd collection, and he held up The Dark Knight and said, "What's this one about?" After I cleaned my brains off the wall, I said "ummmm yeah, you're just gonna have to watch it. You'll like it." Okay, this movie has grossed over $1 BILLION worldwide, and yet it can't penetrate North Dakota's border. I know of unborn fetuses that have seen this movie. crazy.

I thought I was just overreacting and in danger of being one of those hot-shot "not-from-here" kind of guys, so I decided to lay off. After all, not everyone is interested in phones and movies. Right?

Well TODAY, I went through the drive-through of A&W and got a double cheeseburger with fries. I then made the mistake of asking for Fry Sauce. There was a long pause, and the lady said, "You're not from here, are you?" GREAT. "nooooope. Why?" ... "because every time someone asks for this fry sauce stuff, I know they're from out of town. I've heard of it, but we don't have it. I don't know why someone would wanna eat a mix of thousand-island dressing and ketchup. Gross." After chuckling at HER version of fry sauce, I realized that North Dakota needs to catch up. Haha fun times...

This month has flown by...

The view from my office...

The drive through west yellowstone brought 

many surprises...

I never thought in a million years I'd ever set 

foot in North Dakota. ..and here I am! I always 

thought it was one of those states that doesn't 

actually exist. I mean, when was the last time 

you were talking to someone that said they 

were from north dakota? yeah... NEVER.

 

A couple days after I got into town,  a tornado 

set down about three blocks south of my 

apartment! crazy! The morning after, I got to

 fly over the town and see the damage. 

Flying north up by the border of 

Canada! I think the best form of birth

control is wearing these headsets. HOT.

It finally happened

      Thanks to my beautiful sisters, I finally have a blog. Weird. I feel like the little fat kid that comes running to play a game that all the big kids have been playing for a while... "Hey guys, can I play!?" ...I put off having one of these because I kept convincing myself that my life was nowhere NEAR exciting enough to write about. Then i worried there might be a question you had to answer that said something to the effect of, "Is your life actually worth reading about? If not, we'd like to redirect you to myspace." and I just don't think I could've handled that. 

    So I decided I'll fake it. If my stories get too far-fetched and out-of-hand, just go along with it. I'm just suffering from a lack of wife and kids. Which are so easy to write about. Cheaters.