Saturday...I think...

Groggily I crawl may way from the bed this morning in search of coffee, and some form of sustenance. Getting to know Lakeland and the surrounding night life has been a fun little experiment of mine that started sometime last night, and promptly crashed and burned in the same evening. Should I have been driving...probably not, thus I walked/staggered from place to place looking for a damn good Irish pub filled with Blue Moon and a few of the beautiful women I've seen floating around.

Swing and a miss on the gorgeous girls, seems everyone takes the short trip to Tampa for good times on the weekends, not that it's bad thing I just have another city to explore.

Irish bar? Haven't located one yet but me thinks my efforts are not totally in vain. THE SEARCH CARRIES ON...till I pass out again.

I have, in fact, nailed down a job and as the last post suggests, it is of the cliche flight student variety. Inside the main FBO here in Lakeland in Tony's Airside Restaurant. By comparison to other FBO gin joints, this one is arguably the best I've seen and were it located anywhere else in this city with a little more space it could easily be a four star kind of place. Not too shabby and the tips flow is supposedly on the upper end. Evidently these older flying types (this is Florida after all) aren't incredibly tight with their cash. It was pointed out to me during my interview that I am, by and far, over-qualified for a job shuffling food from place to place and was subsequently asked directly why I wasn't pursuing something more related to my degree and work background. Being and honest guy and being hit square between the eyes with an honest question, I quick fired a response with a wry grin and look on my face that suggested that I was just crazy enough to put my lofty accolades on hold in order to do something that I absolutely wanted to do, rather than chase something within Sociology that would confine me to a office for the rest of my life. That, and because serving is so mindless a trained chimp could do it, I'm allowed to pour my mind into flying and studying flying related subjects, rather than trying to balance a stressful job alongside a continuing education.

The only catch is that I seem to be the sole flight student amongst the others I work with, who are there simply because it's just another job, or something to do. I see it as an opportunity to meet and network with other pilots, maybe even find a higher step up somewhere on Lakeland/Linder while I push for 85 total hours, 25 of which need to be cross county. Ah, perspective.

"But wait", you cry, "you only need 40+ for a private ticket" Yes, this I know, but I've also decided on a flight Academy. ATP pilot training, who requires the 85/25 before even considering your lowly flight student arse. So I'll be in Lakeland for a while.

Someone do me a huge favor though, if I'm stuck here longer than six months come down and get me the hell out of here, something must have gone wrong. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with living here, I just prefer larger cities.

Outside, while the rest of the world turns, El Presidente has decided to push forward another troop surge in Iraq. Yeah, because that worked so damn well the last four times, what's one more? Two new generals have been placed in command of operation in Iraq, neither of which have any readily apparent ground command experience, oh yeah this will end well. Not surprisingly Rummy's replacement isn't the sharpest knife as far as qualification goes and yet the war rages on...well after the Mission Accomplished debacle. Hey what ever happened to that other county...you know, Afkandahar or some damn place? Didn't they have something to do with all this way back when? Must have been my imagination at work.

Congress is slowly coming out of the republican funk they've been laden in for the past, well, ever. I see the economic life support plug that's keeping this shoe string mess alive, slowly getting a hand wrapped around it. A quick yank from the wall and it will all be over. Here's hoping before myself a few friends get placed back on the outbound planes again.

KW