It was once again time for my FAA flight physical and I was nervous...

I was concerned that my schwannoma would create an issue.

So, I arrived at the AME armed and ready. I had used AOPA's wonderful TurboMedical (http://www.aopa.org/medical) to fill out the 8500-8 Application for Airman Medical Certificate. I had a letter from my family physician stating that my blood pressure and cholesterol were well controlled, along with a record of my blood pressure readings and a copy of my last EKG. I also had a letter from the neurologist which summarized his findings and stated that he saw no reason why I could not fly. Just in case, I had my full schwannoma medical history, which I left in the car. It contained all of the various reports, but I figured it was better not to bring that in, unless I had to. Sometimes too much information can raise flags and be a bad thing.

Generally, I would rather be over prepared than under prepared. This turned out to be the case. The AME still had a copy of my prior information, and was satisfied with my explanations. The fact that my blood pressure was 120/82 (which shocked me as I figured it would be high given the circumstances) probably helped.

I still am a bit nervous that one day I will find a letter in the mail from the FAA informing me that they have reviewed my file and have some concerns about the schwannoma, but if they do, I am ready - in duplicate.

In the mean time... Yippee!

I am still not happy about my mis-calculation, but...

First and foremost, I am looking at it as a relatively damage free learning experience, as well as somewhat of a wakeup call. I guess the only way you can really judge the edge of the envelope is to exceed it. I now have a better idea of just how far I can, and how far I am willing to, push the envelope; both as far as as it relates to travel planning, as well as to work/stress and my judgement / mental acuity.

In addition, I did get a bunch of work done, and while not fully caught up, I am much less behind.

And, I ended up with another first: my first upgrade on Northwest - which, according to the gate agent, is rarer than hen's teeth. Of course, since I am not much of a drinker, a first class upgrade is somewhat wasted on me, nonetheless, it was nice to have the extra room, especially on an Embraer 175, which is a regional jet, whose seats are relatively hard and cramped for a two hour flight. Plus, getting an upgrade made me feel a little bit special, which was especially nice given my emotional state.

I am now looking forward to taking Jeanie out for a nice dinner, and then going home to vegetate for the rest of the evening.

For the first time in my life, I missed a flight due to my own fault...

I am so upset with myself. I feel so stupid.

Sure, I have missed lots of flights due to weather, delays, whatever, but those were all due to circumstances outside of my control.

Today's miss was totally my fault. The bottom line was my poor planning / laziness / cutting things too close. As with most accidents, there was a chain of bad decisions that I made that ultimately led to the failure. Had any one of those links been different, I would have made the flight.

My scheduled departure time was 6:25 AM. I was flying out of South Bend, IN, which is a relatively small airport that has never been busy any time I've previously been there, so I figured arriving an hour prior to departure would be adequate - rather than the 90 minutes I usually give myself. I awoke at 4:30. I had showered, shaved and packed the night before, so I figured it would take 15 minutes to get from bed to the car. Instead, it took 30 minutes. Part of the reason I was slow getting out of the room is that I took time to check e-mail, but I didn't check in online because I didn't have a printer and I had a bag to check (neither of which would have prevented me from checking in). I should have driven straight to the airport knowing I was already 15 minutes behind schedule, but instead I decided to drive through McDonald's for breakfast, which took 10 minutes. Rather than double checking the drive time on Google Maps the night before, I assumed it would take 30 minutes. It was actually more like 45-50 minutes including actually walking to the terminal. I thought about trying to check in online on my BlackBerry while driving but decided not to. The reason this is significant is that had I checked in on-line, I could have showed up as late as only 15 minutes prior to the flight and still got on - although my luggage might now have. My flight showed as a Continental flight, so I went to the Continental counter and waited in line for 5 minutes before learning that it was actually a Northwest code share. By the time I got to the Northwest kiosk, it was 6:00 AM, and the flight had been closed five minutes earlier.

Had I changed any one of these decisions I would be boarding my flight for JAX right now rather than still being in transit to Detroit, where I will end up sitting for six hours.

I started really stressing out while driving to South Bend thinking I would miss my flight. I eventually calmed myself by telling myself that the worst that would happen is that I would miss my flight, and that wouldn't be the end of the world.

Well, obviously I was right - the world is still here, and at worst, this is an inconvenience and a disappointment that I lose 6 hours with my sweetie. To put a positive spin on things, it will give me some time (force me) to get caught up on the huge backlog of work I have.

I guess the months of 70 hour weeks are starting to take a toll. Last time I was this tired I was 15 years younger and ended up wrecking my car. I guess I had better make some adjustments before something worse happens than missing a flight and getting home 6 hours later than planned.

I know in the bigger scheme of things, missing the flight today is trivial, but oh, how I hate to screw up! I mean, I am supposed to be perfect, right? And even if not, I am never supposed to do something so dumb / slack as this.

My travel schedule has continued to be pretty brutal...

I am currently on my 9th airline leg in the past 7 days. In the past week I have been to Chattanooga, TN and to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

So, the last thing you would expect would be for me to voluntarily spend a couple of my precious hours at home away from Jeanie in an airplane.

Did I mention that I have the most wonderful wife in the world?

My night currency had lapsed a few weeks ago because I have been home so little, and most of the few hours I have had at home have been spent sleeping.

Given what little time I have been home, most wives would have pitched a fit were their spouse to suggest that they wanted to spend their one evening at home - having had spent the morning attending a CAP meeting and part of the afternoon asleep - away from home yet again, flying. But not my sweetie.

So, off I headed to the airport.

The night was beautiful - clear, smooth skies with little wind and a bright half moon. All five of my landings (two before night and three after) were acceptable or better.

Even the songs on the radio on the drive home were great.

No, I am not talking about the realization that I can enter the blog entry into the memo application while sitting in a coach seat at 30,000 feet (something I can't do with the laptop due to a lack of space) on my BB with the intent of simply pasting it into the web entry form while taxiing to the gate - although that is pretty cool...

No, I am talking about a real defining moment in my life - my first time tagged as a "senior citizen."

And no, I'm not talking about receiving an invitation to join AARP. I've been a proud card carrying member since long before I was technically eligible thanks to my dear wife being somewhat more chronologically advanced than I am.

Last week I was traveling on business in the Chattanooga, TN area. I was by myself, and decided to go to a Golden Corral for dinner. Long story short -
After reviewing my bill, I realized that I had just received my first unsolicited senior citizen discount. Did I go and protest? Heck no! Vain - not especially - I earned every grey hair on my head; cheap - absolutely - and proud of it.

Cool! Maybe I'll be a bit better about posting now that I have the BB posting option.

So, here I sit in the airport...

When it occurs to me that I could be blogging...

The BB has a browser and MT does have the ability to post direct via the browser.

Actually, now I'm on the plane and still blogging.

I'm keeping this short to see if it works...