Tagged

Here are the rules: each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!
Where to start??

1. I am a fanatical Texan. The guest bathroom in our house is complete with everything Lone Star State. For my one year anniversary with Southwest I received a stained glass wall hanging that is full of Texas artifacts. The bathroom is rounded out with a state flag shower curtain. Even my pickup is Lone Star red!

2. I hate painting. Holly loves to spice up the house with painting and accents. I do it out of husband obligation, but I really dislike it. I love the result just not all that blue tape and clean up.

3. I have a goal to see every one of my distant friends this year. I am off to a slow start, but I think I will still make it.

4. My driving routine to work is very regimented. I go the same way every morning and a different way every afternoon. I turn on the radio change stations and turn it off at very specific points. If an accident causes me to change my routine it is very disruptful to my day or evening.

5. If I wasn’t married and lived alone I would be like Hugh Grant’s roommate on Nottinghill. I consider myself pretty well kept, but I know it is all Holly’s doing.

6. I love the Chapel. I attend Plano Bible Chapel. It is significant to me that we don’t call ourselves a church. I love the fact our founders and elders value that difference. I love my Sunday school and especially the people who teach it. I love my pastor and his enthusiasm and passion for effecting change in peoples lives. I love just being in the company of the people of the church.

7. I know a secret about a blog-world friend, but I can’t tell. I am however open to bribes…

I tag Holly, Seth, Jonathan, Paul and Sarah. Sorry but everyone else is taken so I second the tags on Ethan, Armand and Jelanie!

Main Landing Gear Warning Light

It was a normal flight, for the most part. I was riding as a crew member from Fort Lauderdale on a packed plane to Houston and then on to Love Field. Our early arrival into Houston Hobby was well received by the passengers. I always like being early and I like to see the passengers happy when it is announced. As we landed we learned that we had an aircraft swap. There goes the time savings.

We went to our new gate to board our new plane and it was late. Every board showed delayed, so something crazy was going on somewhere. The crew and I board the plane, go through the pre-board checklist and start to re-board passengers. We takeoff with no problems. After we reach 10,000 feet I jump up and start to pass out peanuts. I get three rows of peanuts passed out when the captain calls the flight attendants. Normally this occurs when he is going to request the FAs sit down due to turbulence. I stop passing out peanuts and head to my seat, in anticipation. Right then the captain comes on the intercom and says that we have a ‘Main Gear Warning Light’ and that we are returning to Houston.

Now there are precious few things that you don’t want to go wrong on an aircraft. Almost every system on a passenger airplane in the US has two and three backup systems. This fact has made air travel in this country the safest in the world. The last thing you want to hear on an airplane is that the one system you need to land without incident has a warning light.

Thankfully all the readings in the cockpit showed that the gear was functioning properly and that the light was faulty, but those were some intense minutes. The other thing that was odd was that the flight crew knew that the system was operating as normal, but the passengers were not informed of anything other than a warning light. The FA stated that for the most part the less the passengers know the easier it is to handle any situations that arise. I found that very interesting.

Well we landed at Hobby without incident. We then transferred our passengers back to the original plane that we had left at the old gate and headed on our way to Love field. I was originally irked that we were taking off late. After our incident it made me ignore the fact that I was getting home 2.5 hours later than scheduled and glad to know that I work for an airline that values the safety of passengers so much that they don’t ignore warning lights just to get a flight on time or make money.

Imus in the Mornings

by Justin

I don’t know Imus. I have never even heard of him till last week. I am quite sure, based on what I am told, I wouldn’t enjoy listening to him. I do, however, have a problem with him being fired.

The problem I have is the discourse of racism in our country. Imus said “nappy headed hos” or something like that to cause him to get fired. No sooner than he said it did the NAACP, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were on a plane to protest.

My question is why isn’t the NAACP, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson protesting at the record company’s door step or the phat pharm corporate headquarters? Why are they not protesting the MTV awards show?

The answer is simple, they are not white.

I am sure I am racist in some form or fashion. I am sure that I have discriminatory beliefs and actions. I do however try not to be hypocritical. If they want me to respect the NAACP or even begin to listen and learn about a “new civil rights era” in this country, then it is time to clean their own house. Till then, stay our of mine.

It is time for a change is discourse in this debate. It isn’t white vs. black, cacasion vs. African American or even you vs. me. It is all of us trying to learn from each other. It is about us all holding each other to same standard. If you call your friend, brother or even your mother a ‘ho’ and it is an endearing term, then don’t be shocked when I call them the same thing.