Spring Break(s)

Since my last post, I've had several adventures. The last weekend in February, I took advantage of my flight benefits and visited Andy and Lacy Lundgren in Glen Ellyn, IL. For dinner on the night of my arrival, we stopped at a Portillos for chili dogs. Lacy made me some peanut butter bars which were delicious. We hung out playing video games and watching movies. I ended up staying and extra day because one of the flights from O'Hare had canceled causing the seats on my flight to fill up.
The next 12 days were filled by working at the airport, something I hope to not do again in the near future. Last weekend Mom, Dad and the fam visited to kick off spring break week. We visited the Mall of America on Sunday afternoon. Amanda got some jeans and Kyle and I walked a complete circuit on each of the three levels around the mall.
Monday, we visited both zoos in the area. The Minnesota zoo is closer but the admission fee was too exorbitant for our time frame. We then made the drive up to the free Como Zoo in St. Paul. Afterward we took a scenic drive around St. Paul to get to Target Field. No tours were available so we just poked our heads in the gates where we could. I'm looking forward to getting to several games this year, but I hope to keep up with the Cubbies as well. Dad wanted to see the Guthrie Theater and it's "endless bridge" so we stopped by that before dinning at El Loro, a local favorite
Mexican restaurant.
This past weekend I decided to drive down to Dubuque and visit my high school friends Trent and Jacob. Iowa received a small winter blast on Friday and snow covered roads resulted in my sliding into the median on I35. A wrecker had already responded to another car in the median about 1000 ft from where I slid in and after pulling him out, they came to check on me. No damage was suffered, but I was stuck too far down in the sogginess to get out under my own power. The rest of the weekend was enjoyable. We watched the NCAA tournament games, including UNI's victory over Kansas. On Sunday, I stopped to see some former coworkers from the airport before heading out of town. I also stopped in Cedar Falls to see Amanda for a few minutes on my way back to the Twin Cities.
My vacation continues tomorrow as I have taken the day off to use up some of my paid time off from 2009 before it expires. I've got a list of chores though, so it will be a mixture of relaxing and catching up.

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend I joined roommates Patric and Erin in Winter Park, CO to witness their vows to each other. I took a flight to Denver after work on Friday and was fortunate enough to catch a ride with another friend of the couple going to the wedding. I saved half of what I would have had pay the shuttle service. We made it to the rehearsal dinner at Azteca about 30 minutes late, but were welcomed with open arms. It was good to see friends from the University of Dubuque and meet some new acquaintances. I stayed in a hotel room with Aaron Soenksen (my former flight instructor) and his wife Shannon and Neil Weston (a former UD instructor) and his wife Molly (a former classmate at UD).
Saturday morning I slept in as best I could. As you know circadian rhythm is hard to break. I took some pictures around the lodge and borrowed Aaron's laptop to stay current with what was going on in the Facebook world. I hung out with the groomsman and ushers before the ceremony. We had some sandwiches for lunch and I took a few more pictures of the mountains out the window.
The ceremony began around 3:15. It was fairly short and sweet. The backdrop of the mountains was beautiful but definitely something that had to be experienced firsthand. A cocktail hour followed the wedding ceremony while the wedding party took pictures. We had Italian buffet for dinner. I had chicken and penne noodles, vegetables, bread sticks and salad. After dinner the dance party got underway. I was the recipient of the garter. If anyone is keeping track, this is the 4th garter I've caught from the last 5 weddings I've been to. Not sure that that says anything though.
On Sunday morning we hit the road at about 8:30. I rode back to the airport with Nick Sieberg (a UD alum, pilot for Mesaba and "crashpadder" at the Leuschke house), his wife Brianne and their son Landen (the ring bearer). Landen got altitude sickness overnight even though they had been there since Wednesday or Thursday. He was spitting up, so we hurried to get him off the mountain. Once we got to the airport he was much better and he was back to himself by the time we got to Minneapolis. The flight from Denver to Minne was full so we were all slightly worried about getting a seat. We made it without incident and I was home by 7pm after giving a ride to some other friends who took the flight after us.
After the fun-filled weekend I still had Monday off from work to recoup and get some chores done. I picked up Jackson and Sam from the boarders and they were really excited to see me. It was another cold week at work, but the prospects of next week are looking better. This weekend my plan is to get my tax returns filed. It might also be a good opportunity to make something in the crock pot. I don't think it's been used lately except for smokies at New Years.

Still Searching for Lake Wobegon

Well, it’s been a quiet week in Eagan, MN my new town, on the edge of Minneapolis. The holiday travel season has just about come to a close. Many a passenger sat and waited for their flight, hoping that the inclement weather had not forced the flight to cancel. The ramp agents didn’t seem to mind too much. Bag loads increased slightly and the snow made it difficult to push the carts around and more shoveling had to be done, but there were less flights to load so it all worked out. Even in the brief moments of chaos, co-workers pulled together to get the job done. In a way it brought everyone a little closer for the holidays, even if they couldn’t get home to see their families on Christmas day.
I was one of the fortunate ones who had to work on Christmas day and Christmas Eve day. Knowing that the holiday flight schedule would be less demanding than normal and the weather may leave me with almost nothing to do, I brought my laptop and a few of my favorite holiday classics to watch. On Christmas Eve, our break room enjoyed three movies through the course of our 10 hour day. Not too shabby if you ask me. Christmas day played out in similar fashion. It’s unfortunate for the people traveling, but such is the nature of the beast.
After the storm had passed, I did make it home to Mom and Dad’s house on Saturday afternoon. I left Eagan at about 10:45 and arrived in Pella at 3:30. The roads were fair, but I did count about 8 vehicles in the ditch along I-35 and 2 resting on their roof near Ankeny. We opened gifts shortly after I got home and later that evening we went bowling with Darel and Jacob. I bowled a 123, 100, 171 series. All over the board, but you get to drop your two lowest scores, right?
On Monday, Jacob helped me change the oil in my car and rotate the tires before I headed back to Minnesota. We ate lunch at Pizza Ranch because I had been craving it for so long. I grabbed a valance from Dad’s office for my bedroom window which I hung when I got home. I think it sets the room off nicely and the theme fits with the locale.
As promised from my last post, I would be happy to share my new address if you don’t already have it. However, I prefer that you email me and ask for it rather than post it on the internet for everyone to see. I’ll try to keep up with this news medium/ creative outlet more this year. Thanks again for your patience.
That’s the news from Eagan, MN where there’s not a Hy-Vee to be found, a casserole is called a hot dish, and you just pray your car starts at quarter after 4 in the morning.

Farewell DBQ!

First of all, I can't believe it's so long since I've written. My apologies. I guess it's been a busy summer. It's been a chiller summer than usual. We didn't have hardly any days that were unbearable, which allowed us to keep the windows open and helped keep our electric bill down.
Since the last time I wrote, I had a birthday. A friend made dinner and a cake for me. The menu consisted of baked salmon with a jalapeno apricot glaze, rice, and broccoli. It was quite a treat.
I spent a couple weeks house sitting for co-workers while they took summer vacations and that helped keep the food bill down.
I interviewed in Duluth, MN for a coordinator position with Mesaba. I was turned down because another candidate had prior experience with the Delta computer system which is different that Northwest's. I wasn't too upset. I think Duluth might have been a pretty cool place to live, but there wouldn't be much opportunity for upward movement. After the interview, I went back to Minneapolis, but instead of boarding for Dubuque, I took a flight up to Toronto, ON to do some sightseeing. The flight got in around 8pm, so I didn't have much time to waste. I cleared customs and took the subway downtown. I went directly to the CN Tower because it was only open until 11pm. I got some really good time lapse shots before visiting the gift store. On my way back to the subway station, I grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor. I got back to the airport around 12:30am and hung out until customs and security opened at 4:30am. I took a 6:30 flight to Detroit and got lucky getting on the next flight to Minneapolis. I then had an hour layover before taking the afternoon flight back to Dubuque. It was a fun trip but I was definitely exhausted.
I've been putting in quite a few hours at Mesaba and Avis in sprint to the end. Mesaba's last day in Dubuque was yesterday, the 31st. The last flight left on time, just as the first arriving flight did on June 20, 2008. I spent quite a bit of time contemplating my future plans. I could either stay in Dubuque and hope for some students to fly with from UD, continue working for Avis and possibly another part time job. Or I could relocate to Minneapolis and stay with Mesaba, maintaining my seniority, and look for other employment to supplement my income. I decided that flight instruction was a priority to build hours, but keeping my foot in the door with Mesaba was also an important factor. That is why I started working for Mesaba in the first place. So I have come to the determination that it would be best for me to move to Minneapolis to continue working for Mesaba and look for flight instruction at one of the nearby airports. Training is sometime next week and I will be making the move in either the third or fourth week of September. I am looking for roommates via Craigslist, but until I finalize my training schedule I won't be able to setup any apartment showings. In the meantime, I will keep working hours at Avis in Dubuque. I'll be sure to inform you all of my new address when I get settled into a place.

Check out more pictures from Canada.

Catching Up

There's been so much going on, but I just haven't had time to sit down and write about it. The most notable event occurred last weekend in DeWitt, Iowa. I drove down for a friends wedding on Saturday after working at Avis in the morning. Aaron Soenksen married his college sweetheart Shannon Meyer at the Grace Lutheran church at 3pm. Aaron was also my flight instructor throughout my commercial flight training. We have kept in touch and even attended a couple of minor leage baseball games together. The service was beautiful and the music and vocalists were enchanting. My favorite part was releasing of butterflies after the service before moving on to the reception. The butterflies were flown in overnight and when they opened the boxes that they were in, they woke up and flew away. It was very cool. Most of the other people that I knew from school were in the wedding party, so I was assigned a table with a few "randoms". I met a few familes that were members of the country club and another gentleman who was a pilot in the second world war. Dinner consisted of salad and a pasta buffet. Afterward there was dacing for those who stuck around. I stayed for most of the night, but had to drive back to Dubuque since I had not made any plans to stay at a hotel or with anyone.
Sunday through Tuesday it was back to the grind. I put in a good amount of hours. Tuesday I worked for my boss at Mesaba in the morning after working the night before so that he could go home to see family. He was supposed to fly out, but ran late and missed the flight. So I drove him to Moline, IL to catch another flight. Later that day, we ran out of paper for printing contracts on at Avis and we had a car with inoperative air conditioning. So my Avis boss and I drove down to Moline again to get paper and drop off the car to be repaired. Needless to say, I didn't need directions the second time around.
Wednesday, I the day off entirely. I woke up around 11:30 and did a few chores around the house. Laundry needed to be done badly and I needed to enter some receipts in my ledger. I was about to leave the house when I saw that a new roommate was moving in with the girls up stairs. They had to get a kitchen table, a tv, and a sofa up stairs. So I offered to help them. We got the table up no problem because the legs were easily removable. Fortunately, I was still working on putting the table back together and I didn't have to help with the TV. It fit through the doors fine, but it was a heavy TV and took a lot of grunt work. The sofa was an entirely different story. It didn't fit up the front stairs because the door frame was too narrow. The back stairway and doors were wider, but we had to get the couch around 3 - 90 degree corners. We put a small hole in the wall forcing it up the stiars, but we got it! Afterward I headed over to a friend's parents' house to swim. Following that we went to the new Tony Roma's in town. I had the grilled norwegian salmon with rice and fresh broccoli. We had to cut out early though to make it to the movie on time becase the waitress was so slow. We saw the proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. It was very funny. And that was my day off!
Today before work I got measured for a tux for the wedding that I will be in on August 8th. Sadly, this means that I won't be able to attend the Koopsen reunion this fall. Will try to make up for it some weekend tho. Kalamazoo is a fairly easy destination to get to and with relatives close by it would be an easy mid week or weekend getaway.
All for now. Time to go clean some cars!

Galloping down Granview

If you are familiar with the annual Klopmen Classic race in Pella, you know that runners often joke about actually having to wear wooden shoes to compete in the race. I don't want to spoil the surprise for those of you who haven't run, but you don't have to wear wooden shoes. Thankfully the same is true for Dubuque's annual race, the Grandview Gallop. Runners don't actually have to gallop. But can you imagine what it'd be like if they did?

There are essentially two ways to get into a swimming pool when the water is cold. Some prefer to wade in the shallow end and work their way up to the knee, then the waist, then the armpits. Others jump right in the deep end and and make a big splash. I liken my recent training regiment to the later method. I tested the water with with my tippy toe on Wednesday with a 35 min jog and dove in head first on Saturday with my first race of the season.

It was 55° and misty Saturday morning at 8:00am as the gun went off. Perfect weather for a road race. 750 plus runners came out to partake in the 4th annual Granview Gallop. The course lies on the beautifully landscaped boulevard of South Grandview Ave. in Dubuque, which is relatively flat believe it or not. The race beings and ends at Murphy Park. Runners head north on Grandview and double back when they get to third street. It gives everyone a chance to see who's beating them as well as who they're beating which may or may not offer some added motivation.
I kept pace with one of my cross country and track teammates. She has been doing quite a bit of training for her upcoming cross country season. I on the other hand have not, so it really felt like she was dragging me along the whole way. We crossed the one mile mark at 7:30 and the two mile at 14:55. My legs were feeling like jello as we crossed the three mile mark and I don't even remember checking my watch. I did the best I could to pound out the last mile. It should have been easy because I knew the course, but everything is more challenging when you're out of shape. My partner took off with between 800 and 1200 meters to go. I managed to pass a few more runners, but I couldn't catch up with her. I crossed the finish line in under 29 minutes. Our automatic timing chips recorded our official time. This was the first time I had seen a disposable chip. It is a flexible plastic piece that loops around the shoelace. They are programed with the same number as the bib and when you cross over the reader it records your time. After our cool down we went to the results station. They had two micro computers that printed out a ticket with each runners stats. All I had to do was type in my bib number. My legs were extremely sore yesterday, but today I don't feel a thing.
For lunch yesterday, I made my first attempt ever at potato salad. The only potato salad I truly like is my mom's, so I borrowed her recipe. Mine turned out ok, but only because I didn't have all the necessary ingredients. I didn't feel like going back out to the store and mom said they weren't essential. I beg to differ. When you're trying to recreate a masterpiece that reminds you of home, every detail is important.
Tomorrow I have to head up to Minneapolis on the morning flight for a day of recurrent training. We spend 8 hours in a class room and then have to wait 4-5 hours to catch the last flight home. I will probably spend the evening watching planes or looking for crew members that frequent Dubuque, just to say hi. Today we've got a full flight and people are beginning to check in, so I better look busy.

Looks like full race results are available for a limited time. http://www.thonline.com/grandviewgallop/

Summer 09 is lookin' fine

Time for another update! It's been a busy spring so far between work and flying. Thankfully, now I can say that the load has been lightened as I have completed the requirements for my Certified Flight Instructor - Instrument Airplane rating. My checkride came up a lot quicker than I expected. I figured that I had at least a couple weeks of flying left to do, but my instructor felt I was ready. I felt a little under prepared, but I knew that just mean I had a lot of studying to do. Fortunately I had Wednesday and Thursday off from work and my checkride was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. I took Wednesday to study the book knowledge that was required of me and Thursday morning I went up with an instructor to just get comfortable in the airplane again. I'm glad I did because the last time I flew was the 11th of May. I even got some actual instrument time (flying in the clouds) on Thursday. Before that, I hadn't flown in actual since December 16, 2006!
After the refresher flight, my instructor helped me get all my paper work in order. I went home for lunch and to grab a couple things before going back out for my checkride. My checkride was conducted by a check instructor from Davenport. He made the trip up to Dubuque because he was testing another student from Dubuque also. It was nice not having to pay to fly down to Davenport. We started with a few questions to test my knowledge. We talked about some instrument procedures and regulations. When he was satisfied with the oral portion we hopped in the plane for the practical portion. The flight consisted of slow flight, stalls, unusual attitudes, a GPS hold, followed by a GPS approach and a ILS approach. Now if you're thinking to yourself, gosh, I wish I knew what he was talking about, shoot me an email or send me a comment. I figured I'd spare the rest of you ALL of the details. And that does it! Afterward, he signed my paperwork and gave me a temporary license. My real one comes in the mail in a couple weeks. For those of you who haven't experienced this before, it doesn't feel official until you have it in plastic. So for now, I try to pay off all that I've spent since my loan money dried up. I also plan to start sending out my resume despite the dismal short term outlook.
This summer I'm looking forward to traveling a little more than I have been recently. Not flying should free up my schedule enough to visit some of the places on my list. Last week, I had the opportunity to go back to Pella for Amanda's graduation. This trip was long awaited because I had not been back since December for my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I left on Friday from work giving myself just enough time to grab a sandwich at the house before the commencement ceremony. I went to a family friend's grad party on Friday night and saw quite a few people that I hadn't talked to in a while. After Amanda's graduation party on Saturday morning, I went golfing with Dad and Grandpa and Grandma Erickson who flew up from Florida. Not my best outing, but I can't expect much when I haven't played in over a year. Saturday night, I got to hang out with Jacob, who I hadn't seen for a while either. We went out to eat at George's. It was a tough decision between that and Pizza Ranch because I had been craving both. I went to early church with Mom before heading out on Sunday morning. So it was a short, but sweet 40 hours in Pella. I left from work and got back just in time to work again on Sunday.