A flight department isn't all about Caribbean sunrises and fine restaurants. There's a lot of work that needs to be done before we even get near the airplane to jet off to our resort locations. My motivation is to keep everything running smoothly for the bosses, and also to avoid federal prison should we get audited by Transport Canada. Together those are fairly powerful influences, so I got down to work today.

For example, this is what I have done today:

1. Searched for more details regarding a new avionics package for one of our aircraft. The hard part is that it has to be upgradeable for the future, and that adds an order of magnitude more complexity to the project. As long as I can sneak an Xbox into the installation, I'm a happy guy.

2. I coded and paid nearly 3 inches of stacked invoices. Three hours later I did the exact same thing again due to a screwup in the accounting department, but this time I used Roman Numerals 'cause I'm mean. We spent $MMDC,LXXXV.XLV on hotel rooms in September, nearly $DCC more than in August. Now that I think about it, this might explain the severed horse head I found on my desk this aftrnoon.

2a. I drank a lot of coffee and thought about taking up smoking tobacco.

3. I updated contact information with various suppliers and aircraft charter coordinators, identifying myself as the new point-of-contact for my flight department.

4. Called customer support and resolved a technical issue with our flight planning software.

5. Called different customer support people and resolved a technical issue with our online flight-booking software.

4a. I called the original customer support people various expletives when our flight planning program displayed the same incorrect behaviour after it had supposedly been 'fixed'.

6. I filed maintenance invoices and work orders for both our aircraft.

7. I called our aircraft mechanics and discussed various upcoming maintenance projects, and coordinated the dates of said projects to fit within our flight schedule.

8. I went upstairs to accounting and apologized as I noticed the error mentioned in 2. was caused entirely by me. I brought a flower I pulled from our office garden and everything, but I guess some people have serious anger issues.


9. I did some minor housekeeping on our Ops Manual in anticipation of an upcoming amendment. I also added a couple of things in there just for giggles. I can't wait until the first person notices that our SOP's now state that "All flight crew shall conduct their duties while dressed as polar bears" and "All communication with passengers shall be done in rhyme"

10. I spoke on the phone with 3 different people who want 3 different charter quotes. No big deal there, but gosh I sure love the people who have never chartered a jet before. They say they want to go to Vegas for the weekend, and are shocked, SHOCKED when I tell them it will cost a wee bit more than going commercial. Then they get hostile, call me a crook and hang up. I hate being called a crook by some skinflint who wants a jet for the price of a Greyhound bus ticket.

11. I called Jeppesen Maps in order to fix the fact that they mail us an extra copy of all our maps and charts. That wouldn't be a big deal, but they also bill us for the extra, unneeded copy and that's not cool.

12. I ate lunch and took the car to get the oil changed. On that note, I tried Mr. Lube, Jiffy Lube, Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart, and none of them will touch a hybrid car for an oil change, so I had to get it done at the Honda dealership. $85 later, I stumbled out of the dealership with fresh oil in my car and a fresh hole in my bank account.

13. Continued to unpack my office cubicle after moving it to another part of our office. Our parent company continues to expand greatly, so space is at a premium. My new cubicle is, shall we say, more cozy than my previous one.

14. Ordered our 2007 US Customs decal online, so we can legally fly across the border next year.

15. I scheduled interviews for a job opening within our fight department.

16. I looked forward to the next time I get in the air.

17. I went through all our old training records and removed old outdated exams and such. Not much fun there, except for the part when I noticed on a license that one of our pilots' middle name is Clarice. I hope he likes the dress I'm buying him for his upcoming birthday.

18. I bought some commissary supplies for our commissary locker in the hangar, and for my kitchen shelves. Wait, forget I said that last part. I also got some bottled water with our logo on it, which turned out to be a LOT cheaper than I had initially feared. I know it sounds like a stupid little thing but it's actually pretty damn cool. I visited the planes and made sure they were fully stocked with blankets, engine oil, customs cards, blah blah blah. We have a guy who does this once a month, but I feel like our 2 jets are family, or at least pets, and I enjoy the occasional afternoon of quality time with them in a calm setting.

So how was your day?