The Last Ever Shift

Last Saturday, Susan completed her last ever shift as an air traffic controller. I know from experience that that was a bittersweet moment for her... there are some truly fine people that you meet and work with in this profession and it is difficult to accept that you will not be seeing any of them again on a regular basis. Also there are some that you might never see again at all.

Twenty-five years is a long time to be doing anything and there is a tremendous sense of accomplishment associated with having made it through an ATC career to retirement. She also went the distance without ever having had a "deal".

There is no greater sense of satisfaction for a controller than to have done this job and done it well. One of the unique characteristics of this job is that you can sometimes experience that sense of satisfaction several times per shift... and you can also go several shifts at a time without experiencing it. 

Of all the shifts (6,500+ over 25 years) a controller works during their career, the most satisfying one is that one that comes immediately following all of those that came ahead of it.

Congratulations, Susan!

Figure it Out

Hint: It's tomorrow

Mildred Catharine Page

My father's only sister, Aunt Mil lived in the house where she was born in Norfolk, Virginia, for nearly her entire life. That is not to suggest at all that she was a homebody, though, for that is far from the case. Like her brother, she had an affinity for traveling to new and different places and seeing whatever there was to be seen.

She was a very generous person and was especially so where it concerned her nieces and nephews. Based on her appreciation for travel, Susan and I, several years ago, started a separate category in our savings account devoted exclusively to funding our own travels. Any monetary gifts from Aunt Mil went there as well other apportionments from our own contributions. That system has served us very well and we still use it.

The trip we are about to take was made possible in a very large part by Aunt Mil's generosity. Coupled with her infectious enthusiasm, she has been both enabling and inspirational.

This web log and our journey to see the world are both fondly dedicated to her memory.

Memories

I took a field trip yesterday with the Seventh Grade class and it certainly generated a few memories of its own, in a way that only an event involving teenagers can. During the bus ride, we were talking about our upcoming trip and one of the teachers asked if we and the kids were planning on keeping journals.

I am going to do so by means of the electronic version, represented by this blog, in spite of my disdain for modern technology. (You can visit my previous post on that topic, if you'd like.) 

For the 1963 trip, my parents had given me a journal to write in and keep and, although it was never completed, I have looked back through it several times over the past few years in advance of this trip. My comment to the teacher regarding my looking back through it included the word "embarrassed", based on the plethora of misspelled words and not-so-accurate descriptions of events and places it contains. Here's a look at a bit of it:

(click to enlarge)

By using the "e" word I was essentially making idle commentary regarding my idle thoughts and had not intended to imply that I had no plans for making the same opportunity available for Lachlan and Zeb... on the contrary, it had been in the plan for a while, but had slipped to the far reaches of the back burner. I can see how my comment didn't quite convey that.

Nevertheless, as is often the case with teachers, I promptly received a gentle but firm admonishment from her that a ten-year-old's scribblings are not expected to be perfect and, besides, that is the stuff from which memories are made. OK... those aren't the exact words... maybe they're not even close. But the point was made that I'd better not miss the chance to give the kids an opportunity to keep a journal.

Sooo... the plan has now been relocated from the back burner to front and center and will very likely have been acted upon before the sun sets today.

Thanks for the nudge, Nina! I needed that.

Gettin' Down to the Wire

About three weeks to go...

and there is still plenty to do.

We will pick up the "package" next week from the travel agent which will include all the documents, tickets and other written things which represent the culmination of nearly two years worth of planning, revising and deciding. That is the bulk of what has been completed and leaves us with only the loose ends to take care of. Things like the care of the house and lawn and the mail... and packing.

We have pretty well gone the route with those things as was suggested previously... we only need to finalize them. We have made arrangements for the paying the bills that will come in while we are away in such a fashion that, as soon as we return, we will just go back to the present system... we liked it better that way.

As far as packing goes, that will certainly be the last item we finish and we are still mulling over the best way to do it. We are now considering taking two bags, as opposed to one, since there are not too many stops we will be making where we will all four be in the same room.

I have spent some time in the past few months compiling a list of folks to send update notifications for this blog and the photo website. I will probably send out the preliminary message later today and start getting that pared down to its final form.

Otherwise, it is business as usual around here. This month is understandably busy with school winding down and all the assorted functions related to that. It seems that we have at least one thing (often more) going on every single day from here on. Here's a look at the calendar:

I wouldn't have it any other way!