Last Flight returning from Edmonton on Christmas EveWell, the lead-up to Christmas up here has been filled with lots of spirit as everyone gets into the Christmas mode up here. So much so that very little business actually takes place the entire month because 'Christmas is coming'. Funny I know...
One quirk up here in the lead up to Christmas is that there is a Santa float which drives around the town every night before Christmas, full of lights and Santa and Mrs Claus Bundled up to bring in the Christmas spirit. It's quite a weird thing to see the first time, as it caught me off guard. Out of the darkness, this float full of lights and blaring music drives by the house slowly. After a few days, I was able to catch it on Camera to show! The pictures aren't the greatest, but it gets the point across!
Apparently all there are 2 similar floats and they alternate on a daily basis - I haven't been able to tell them apart yet, however I think its over until next December now! While I was down south, I missed Fort Smiths 'Christmas Parade' which consisted of our fire truck, the ambulance and Police car with their lights flashing, and the two floats, complete with two sets of Santa's. I'm sure that would have been something to see!
The picture above was a nice little surprise for my roommates and I from the people I was living with last month. As they were getting a Christmas tree for themselves, they were super thoughtful and cut one down, while getting one for themselves! Sure brought some Christmas Spirit into the house after returning from a long day at work to see it decorated and lit up!
Sun at Mid-DayApart from the holiday season, there are other good things sitting on the horizon ... and I'm not only talking about the sun (which is literally sitting on the horizon). We've passed the shortest day, so days are only getting longer now. - Not fast enough though!! Also, one of the Jetstream First Officers has just left and got another job working at Voyager Airways, flying a Dash 7 on a UN contract in Africa - moving the #1 spot to the flight line, and putting everyone else waiting, one spot up! It will still be a good, solid year before I see the flight deck up here, however it is nice to see the numbers finally moving up, and hopefully it continues to decrease in a timely fashion.
Today is also the 3-month mark of me living up here. I had my review last week before Christmas, and am now 'officially' a company employee. It's funny how fast time has flown, so far!
I snapped a few pictures in the Hanger before the Christmas Holidays of one of our Jetstreams going through an inspection.
All aircrafts have routine inspections, checking and inspecting different things, depending on the different Maintenance requirements for the company and at different levels; whether it is 50, 100, 500 or 2000 hours of air time.
The Aircraft above is going through its 2000 hour inspection where it has been almost ripped bare, being and inspected and being rebuilt with a lot of care. It has been down for a month and is only about half way through its inspection. I thought it was very interesting to see how much actually goes into these different levels of inspections.
For all of those who are interested in Smokey.. All of the Rampies, including myself got this letter in our mailbox 'from the cat'. Please don't mind the spelling and grammatical errors, it must be hard to type with those old paws.
So Smokey the cat is technically my superior, and since I am currently the most junior guy on the ramp, its my duty to take care of the silly cat! Luckily for me, they are planning on changing the way the schedule works up here with a few days on, a few days off are hiring another 2 pilots to work on the ramp - allowing me to pass on the wonderful job!
That's all for now, Merry Christmas!
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