Years go by

Another year older....meh.

Thirty three years ago at 7:36AM on March 21, 1977, a 10 lb 13 ounce baby walked out and told the doctor to "cut me so slack."  The world has been a better place since.

Kelli continued her "one upmanship" by getting an even better cake than last year. This year I had a cotton candy ice cream cake from Marble Slab with gummy bears and marshmallows. She said the employees commented on the "interesting" cake that's not one of their norms. I bet they thought it was for some fat kid....instead of a 33 year old man. Eh. It was and still is awesome. Still over 1/2 the cake left. Moderation my friends.

I have new license plates on the way. This year I am supporting the deaf and hard of hearing.

Got my annual car inspection. Since my car was new I initially had a 2 year sticker. This year was a full inspection. I assume everything would pass. Somehow my wiper blades were too worn. Really Mr. Inspector? Too worn for a car that's been in the garage more than not and has just 15,000 miles? Eh. He offered to install a new set for $30 plus labor. No thanks. I went to Autozone and installed my own for $20. Done.

Spent my birthday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Never been there before. No desire to go back. Stayed at the Wyndham airport. We arrived two hours late, just a few minutes prior to midnight.

In the hotel van was another crew. When we got to the hotel, the van driver told them too stay put and he would DRIVE them to their rooms (huge hotel!). We got out. I joked, "We have to walk to our rooms because we're the red headed step children."  We were in building "5" they were in building "4" where the crew room (snacks, coffee and computers for crews) was located.

After getting to my room I quickly noticed it was hot and stuffy.

I saw a wall unit with JUST  a fan switch. I turned it too high. It made noise. I then saw a thermostat looking device. It was set on 75. I moved it down to "45". I then tried to settle in. After 10 minutes the temp had not changed. I went back over to the wall unit. There was a trace amount of air coming out.  Packed up (after snagging the shampoo, conditioner and lotion....because I have too) and went back to the front desk.

My Captain was already there. Also a hot room. Front desk explained building "5" has a central AC unit for the entire building. It's set on full cold. There is a heater as well set on full hot. By changing the temp selector, a flap opens or closes to regulate how much of each temp of air gets too the room. The fan speed just sets how fast the air comes out. It's an ancient system.

We were both given rooms in building "4". Each room had individual AC units. Much nicer. The next day I found out all airline crews stay in building "4". They gave us building "5" because....well I don't know why. Pretty crappy.

Did very little on the 22nd. Long overnight.Sat in my hotel room for most of it.  Flight didn't leave until 4:15PM. The hotel van had 4 airline crews inside...20 people. The Milwaukee airport doesn't have a crew only line. We all had to cut in line to get through security in a reasonable time. I hate when I have too do this. Makes us all look like asses.

Somewhat normal flight back. We did a reduced power takeoff. People a lot smarter than me run the numbers and tell me what power setting will work and be totally compliant with safety. Ooof. My leg (meaning I manned the controls), it was a very exciting takeoff.....not a whole lot of runway left when I pulled the plane into the air.

Looking forward to next week.....pretty sure it's a boy. I could be wrong.

April 3rd will see me driving to the airport for a 6AM report. Not happy. For most of the last year + I have done 2PM-10PM shifts at the airport. No longer. Now 6AM-2PM. Ugh. After my shift I will be checking out the I-Pad. Kelli *might* get me one.

Our five year wedding anniversary is this Friday. We are going somewhere. We wanted to hit Boston, but the hotels raised the required points. Might go to Michigan....or Nashville. Eh.

Five years. Been shacking up for almost 8 years. Eight years.