Holding Short

Hold short: An instruction given by the ATC (Air Traffic Control) to the pilot, telling him to remain at the taxiway/runway threshold (usually because of other traffic in the area) and to wait until further instructed.

In last week's meeting, Merlin brought an aviation trivia game called "Hold Short". We had fun playing... or at least I did. There were 4 of us total. There were different levels with different levels of questions, based on your rating.

The boys started fighting over whose turn it was because they forgot. Seriously, the scene at the table was:

"It was my turn!"
"No, mine!"
"No, MINE!"

Silly boys. Aviation is for girls. But we had fun and I started enjoying the meetings again. Merlin told the others what a great job I did on the Gx60.

My training hit a complete stop after this, due to financial and medical reasons. Merlin wasn't happy and morphed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde - "Do you want to be a pilot or are you just a thrill-seeker??", he told me angrily over the phone. He asked if I had given up. I was confused, nothing I had done recently indicated this. Sure, I have moments... but none recently.

I was so taken aback and wasn't sure what to say. I wrote a respectful email later, and said how I could be both a pilot and a thrill-seeker. I had spent the majority of the weekend inside, during beautiful weather, because I knew I had to make sacrifices in order to do this. Actually, I was feeling pretty good about my progress that past weekend... until the phone call from Darth Merlin.

So in the email, I told him that his attitude wasn't helping and outlined everything I had accomplished that weekend. I asked him to believe in me - that I really needed to do that for myself, but it would really help if he believed in me too.

I didn't want to go to the next meeting and found myself relieved that no meeting reminder came through my email. I messaged him - no response. I figured he must have been pissed about my response to him. 5pm - still no response, so I figured I was free. I got on my running clothes to run out of my frustrations.

I literally had one foot out the door when he texted me and said to meet in 20 minutes. I was furious. Learn to respect my time. I texted back, saying how I'm at least 30 minutes away. He doesn't reply. I waste so much time waiting for a reply that it would get dark out before I could finish my run. I was cutting it close as it was when I had one foot out the door. I grumbled, thinking he'd be upset if I didn't go and I really couldn't make it before it got dark, so I changed my clothes to regular ones and went to the meeting. DV Merlin was slowly becoming DB Merlin.

At the meeting, he did the unthinkable - he apologized in front of everyone. He told them that he thought I was doing a great job and he did believe in me. The whole meeting was kind of geared towards helping me, so I was happy.

We agreed for me to update him constantly on where I was on the videos and to email him whenever I finished a quiz (with the answers) on tests4pilots.com. He said it would be more productive and he could keep up with my progress more. Done!

I'd watch the videos at night after I got home from work and would stop watching when I got so tired, they didn't sound like they were speaking English anymore. I started taking the tests on my lunch break at work. One test was 10 questions, which he told me I needed to do more because the actual test was 60 questions. I had only gotten 15 minutes for lunch that day, so chose a shorter test. He was satisfied. I began getting feedback like "Excellent!" or "This is fantastic!" or "Good job!". Things were good.

I went to the meeting last night. Got in a run before the meeting and was quite happy to be able to fit all of my activities in. Life is good. The topics for the meeting were more geared towards the pilots, but I can still listen and learn. The meeting ended with Merlin asking how I was progressing in my studies. I was confused, but laughed and said he knew because I constantly updated him.

DV Merlin comes out and says I'm not working hard enough, as I haven't sent him a test I've taken in over a week. Actually, it was 5 days. I was too busy for lunch at work on Friday, I was out all weekend with my friends, too busy for lunch on Monday and too exhausted on Tuesday, so I took a nap. Granted perhaps I shouldn't have spent alllllll weekend out and maybe I can scale back on facebook to fit in some more study time. Still, I was taken aback from him praising me behind closed doors and berating me in front of everyone.

So the last flight we took, there was something wrong with the plane. Just an engine cylinder temp gauge - nothing critical and he was able to fix it. Even still, I asked if we should squawk (report) it anyways, just in case? He says we should, but people get upset at him if he does, so I asked if I should do it and he said no. He reported it and nothing happened. I asked a bit later if it had ever been fixed and once again, he said no. He said he didn't like having people upset at him, but was pleased that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

Last night at the meeting, he brings it up... but it still hasn't been fixed. He says he wants to show me the emails to prove he has reported it and that no one has replied to him about it. So he shows me the email and it says that I keep bugging him about it and its making him uncomfortable. This was the last straw - telling me one thing to my face and then saying another in front of others or when my back is turned is not cool.

I wrote him another email when I got home, saying I needed to suspend all CAP activities for the next two weeks. I needed to think about things. I'm tired of being treated like a yo-yo.

So, two weeks. I already think I know what I'm going to do. Doesn't make it any easier though.

In other, happier news - just heard the flight school I trained with is closing their doors at that location. Makes me feel better about the decision to leave them. See? Everything does happen for a reason and karma DOES work! :)

And there's a new movie with Denzel Washington coming out soon called "Flight". I have two free tickets to see an advanced screening of it next week, so R2 and are going to see it!