The Phone Book Saga

No. I haven't been flying again, yet. I've been stalling, because I've been trying to figure out different methods of making extra money to pay for the lessons. I've submitted applications and resumes for jobs at the airport, and other things. But one thing I'll NEVER do again....

...Is try to make a few extra bucks delivering phone books.

Nope.

Never.

I am STILL sore from this last weekend.



Dex was very nice, exclaiming about how much a person can make in a couple of days, etcetera. Of course they never go into the nitty gritty or the tiresome details. My route I chose was $168.74 upon completion and then "telechecks". (To make sure you actually delivered and didn't just take them all and make a huge bonfire.)

My route consisted of ~640 drops. ~1401 phone books. (One Boise phone book and one Treasure Valley book per drop, some businesses got more.)

I'm an eternal optimist for the most part, so this didn't seem that bad to me. It sounded to me like the hardest thing was going to be bagging them. Nathan warned me, but I guess I didn't listen. I didn't think about how hard delivery was going to be.

Two loads in the Dodge, one Thursday, one Friday to pick up the book bundles.

Bagging all evening Friday.

Delivering took us from 10-5 on Saturday, and then again from 9-3 on Sunday.

I think it worked out that after gas, time, and having to divvy it up between three people, it came to roughly... ~$1 an hour per person. Yikes. Mingle that with the pain, and the effort of all the walking, yes, it's coming out NEGATIVE. I can't fathom how one person could manage. It was hard enough for Nathan, Ariel, and I.

I also found out that the only gas reimbursement I'll be receiving for my particular chosen route was... :drumroll: ...2 cents per drop. ~650 drops x .02 = ~$13. That doesn't cover half of what the cost of gas was.

Well, it's a lesson learned, and at least I can now say that I now have the experience of knowing what it's like to be that person delivering those phone books to my door.

So if you're looking to make some extra bucks, and you see that ad from Dex, don't go there.

First Cross Country

Monday, December 31st

Finally, back on the horse again! It's been a month!

I went over Chapter 9 with Ryan last week, on Wednesday. I also got to spend some time in their simulator learning the VOR and DME equipment. It was weird to get used to. We had then planned on going on the cross country on Friday. On Friday, however, it was snowing like crazy. So, we called it off and settled for Monday.

Monday ended up being a gorgeous, sunny day. With snow on the ground everywhere, it was like a dream to be up in the air. I had thought it was going to be difficult to get back in the plane again, remembering the checklists and how it felt. However, it really turned out better than expected. I did forget to throw on my shoulder belt until we were holding short on the runway, and I did forget the fuel pump and landing lights a couple of times over the course of the trip, but overall, it turned out pretty well.


Look, I finally got a picture of both of us in the plane! Man those Lightspeed 30-3G's are huge. But they sure are comfortable!

The trip was supposed to take us to Gooding, right? Before we left, my instructor called them to ask about the surface conditions on the runway. When he hung up his phone, there was a smirk on his face as he turned around. I asked him "What did they say? I don't like the look on your face!" He said "That's for me to know, and you to find out." I asked him if we were going to cancel, and he said we were still going to go.

In the air I spent some time learning the VOR and DME equipment again, which fell into place better in the plane then they did when I was in the simulator. I can tell they'll get more familiar as I use them. I also found it's difficult to unfold a sectional and look at it while flying and maintaining altitude. Much like trying to unfold a map and drive your car at the same time. But, I can't just pull my plane off the side of the road. Here's the video of what we found.

I didn't get video of the touch and go in Twin Falls, I was pretty focused on the two diverts I made. I also had to navigate around some puffy clouds on my way back to Boise. I got some footage of them, but overall the video is boring. I might upload it later, though.

Here's a couple of pictures of the foothills as we're coming back to Boise.

On approach to Boise, Ryan covered up my airspeed indicator and told me to land that way. I think it ended up being one of my smoothest landings I've done, ever. And all because I wasn't focusing on the speed, but rather what was going on outside, and what the plane sounded like.

Here's the video of the approach and landing back into Boise.

All in all, it was a very nice trip. I look forward to the next one.


Oh, by the way, they caught the thief who stole from them. As time went on, Cammie kept looking for her tablet PC, because she wanted it back. Finally, with enough time for Google to cache the information, she found a link to a guy selling it on a website. He had claimed that someone broke into HIS house and stole everything (the cords, and cables) but left the laptop. Uh huh. The one mistake the guy made was that he used the same user name on every forum he went to. In this fashion, she was able to just search for his user name on Google, and track all the other items, like the headsets and other laptops.

On one forum, his user name tracked him to some pictures of a plane that he flew. And, that plane tracked him back to Jetstream, downstairs. It turns out - he was unhappy with how his check ride had gone. So, apparently, he thought he'd get revenge by breaking into the place and stealing their, and our equipment. Nice. I don't know what kind of mindset you have to have for that.

Hope to go flying again soon! I'm sure it'll be by the end of next week.