Human

I have been busy lately. There has been a lot going on in the office and I have been working on completing the requirements for a commercial pilot licence. I have found that a lot of what has been going on is technical in nature. I'm good with it but sometimes it removes the human side of things. Measuring headings and distances while you calculate intercept angles is not a job about people.

Having said that, every once in a while, no matter how technical things get there are human moments. There are the moments where you see someone you haven't seen for a while or hear about a new achievement of a co-workers's child. These are moments that really make you smile. You don't really need to seek them out they are there. All you need to do is notice them when they happen.

It may simply be that I'm not having as many human moments as usual which makes the ones that happen stand out a bit more. At any rate, they are there. You can see it when a Elvis impersonator is chatting with a couple of teenagers on the street as you walk home. Yo can see it when the summer students are getting a briefing from the Safety Manager in the construction site you walk past every day. It happens when you chat with an acquaintance while you wait for the rain to slow down.

I've been working in a lot of the technical aspects of my job and I think I've noticed more of the human moments in life. I hope I never lose the ability to be a little awestruck by human moments.

Exams

I'm completing a Transport Canada Commercial Pilot License - Aeroplane. There are two testing components, a written test, which must be completed first and a flight test. Yesterday I completed the written test. In case you are wondering I passed, but that's not what this is about.

I completed a four-year degree and that involves writing a lot of exams. They all went the same. Somewhere between one and two hours before the exam I would start to get nervous. It wasn't so much a scared feeling, more of an anxious feeling. Once the exam started I would settle in and get it done. When it would end, I would wind down and always find myself rather tired. It happened over and over again.

Yesterday, it was like I was back in university. The same feelings at the same times. It had been a long time since I had written an exam of that nature and I had forgotten exactly how I reacted but it sure felt familiar when it all started happening again.

It seems that will always be how I react to exams. I don't see this as a bad thing. Maybe its good. I have often told people that if important events don't make you a little bit nervous then they probably aren't worth doing. That's probably true in this case.

It can be easy to slip into a comfortable routine. I was like that until I undertook this project to upgrade my pilot's licence. Now I do feel a lot more alive. I feel like there is a bit of unknown coming and challenges to face. That's a good reason to get up in the morning.

Now the exam is over, the next big rush should come when I do the flight test. I'm hoping the weather and schedule will allow me to be ready for that in early July. Once again I will get nervous before and tired after. I'm ok with it, maybe because it reminds me of when I was younger or maybe because it may open a door to a new adventure some day.

Mom, Dad, and Lucky Ron

One of the things I discovered when I moved to Ottawa was The Lucky Ron Show. It's the same show every week, nothing new or different. It's a one man country act and he plays the really old stuff. If it's from the 60s, it may be too new for him.

Yesterday, I took my parents and they had a blast.

They had flown in so, after their flight was delayed, we dropped their luggage at my place and proceeded directly to The Laff. Thankfully a friend had been holding onto seats for us in the front row because it gets busy, early for Lucky Ron. The usual characters were out. There was Dave the Sound Wizard, Handsome Johnny, and Ron's wife.

Mom and Dad enjoyed their quarts of beer while we waited and chatted. Then the show began and instantly they were whipped up in the frenzy of one of the most bizarre cultural vortexes anywhere. As I have described in previous blog posts the show contains a lot of audience interaction and singing along. Mom and Dad were right into it, even trying to throw cigarettes into his guitar during Tilsonburg. (As a side note nobody managed to get the cigarette in this week, if you do you get 2 shots of Irish whiskey.) They laughed and smiled and enjoyed some beer.

Although I go many weeks, they readily admit that its not something that they would do all the time but I'm sure they will want to go the next time they come to town.

As we hopped into the cab to come home for the night, all of us a bit croaky from being loud and boisterous, we all agreed it was a good time. That's what it's all about, having a good time, a few laughs, and some good music.