Planes and Helicopters

A few days ago my lovely wife Becka blogged about one of our new favorite places to picnic in Boise. It's at the end of the runway at the Boise airport. You can read Becka's post here. In Becka's blog her main focus was the fighter jets flying around. I'm sort of continuing Becka's post by adding a few more pictures. I know, I know, here I am plugging away my own pictures, forcing them into your face. Not really, but I do love airplanes and helicopters so I thought I would share.




This Firehawk helicopter flew so close over head I almost got a kink in my neck trying to take the picture.



Being a former Horizon employee, I enjoy taking pictures of these crappy Q400 planes. I'm not saying flying on a Q400 is unsafe or anything but it's probably a good idea to make sure you have life insurance before you board the plane. Also, if you weigh over 125 pounds be prepared to travel like a sardine. On second thought, be prepared anyway.

These pictures look really good enlarged. When the planes approach from the west of the runway you can get really close making it easy to get good pictures.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Thanks to getting the internet back last week, my hiatus from blogging is over! After moving Becka and the boys to Nampa last month it's been a roller coaster. Actually it's been one long continous plane ride for me. I stay part time in Seattle and part time at home in Nampa while I wait impatiently for my transfer to the Boise Airport.
My normal work week is Saturday through Wednesday. I try to work as much as possible in this period of time, picking up extra shifts whenever possible. Lately, overtime has a been a little harder to come by. So what do I do in my spare time? Naturally, I fly...home...then come back...an hour or two later.
When I can't pick up extra hours in the evening I try to fly home even if it's only a couple hours. Then, every Wednesday night I fly home(warm weather), stay two nights, then fly back to Seattle (cold weather, I know, it's July, summer lasted two weeks...that's not a joke, it's a fact).
Then it's back to the grind of working and flying.

Now, I figure I fly a minimum of 2-4 round trippers per week. That's up to 8 individual flights per week (I know everyone can add, it added emphasis). The catch is I don't always take the direct flights. I fly standby and flights between Seattle and Boise are busy. It's not uncommon to go through Califorina, Eastern Washington, and Northern Idaho before finally making it home. Or back to Seattle for that matter. As you can imagine I've read a lot of books in the last month due to all the flying, including a 600 page bonzer about the Bin Ladens. I barely finished it, I'm proud of myself.

To top things off, Horizon Airlines serves one speficic snack for an entire month before switching to something different. I am so tired of Bruschetta. Remember, this is airplane food, so it's more like stale bread chips. The first 12 times or so I had this bagged stale treat I thought they were "ok". Now, I put them in my back pack until I have a huge collection then give them to my boys on one of my trips home. They devour several bags in minutes like a pack of hyenas over a dead antelope.

Through this unusual grind I remind myself how lucky I am to be fortunate to spend so much time with my family despite working 500 miles away from them. Hopefully I will get my transfer soon. Then we can get back to "normal".