Haven't flown in almost two weeks. The weather has stabilized. Just regular snow....none of that crazy 24 inches stuff. Airports and airlines can handle regular snow. Although I despise snow, I can live with it. Winter schedules are adjusted for deicing time and stronger west to east winds. No big deal.
Since it's been very regular....I haven't been needed. I've sat airport standby quite a few times.
I got an email from a former supervisor when I worked for NCR (National Cash Register) that he is going to apply to my airline.
Several years ago (2001-2005) I worked for NCR fixing computers, printers and kiosk at various retailers (I know where every Wal-Mart, Starbucks and Lowes are located in a 50 square mile area!). At the time my supervisor had his Single Engine Instrument rating. I had nothing. I was very envious. I recall him joking every now and then that he was quitting as he got a job at an airline.
Fast forward to now. I am at that airline. He quit NCR and has been flying traffic watch for a few months. Just recently he met the minimums to be hired by my airline.
The interview process has changed a bit since I interviewed. I reviewed the gouges at Will Fly 4 Food and they are VERY similar to what I went through.
I'm looking forward to him getting the job and seeing him around the crew room....oh and having yet another pilot BELOW me on the seniority list. Yep it's all about me.
At around the same time I was working for a supermarket chain (Harris Teeter), in their IT helpdesk dealing with computer and cash register issues - I would dispatch guys like you when we couldn't solve the problem remotely. (And I'm sure you had choice words for guys like me when you got there and everything was working fine! Heh.)
ReplyDeleteAt the time I remember noticing that Wal-Mart had IBM equipment - did they switch? Or did you work on IBM gear also when required? I thought NCR and IBM were arch-rivals in POS gear... (Harris Teeter was an IBM 4680/4690 shop... fun stuff.)
Fun fact. NCR fixes more IBM POS equipment than IBM. Reason? Wal-Mart. NCR used to also fix (and still might) IBM POS equipment at Starbucks and Lane Bryant. The IBM stuff was much easier to work on than the NCR stuff. It seemed like IBM POS systems were designed by an engineer while NCR was designed by the marketing department.
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