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{"id":1072,"date":"2019-09-20T17:21:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T22:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2019-09-20T17:21:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T22:21:28","slug":"new-horizons-part-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1072","title":{"rendered":"New Horizons &#8211; Part Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The End of Flight Training and the Start of College<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the weeks droned on\nafter my brother\u2019s untimely death, Kaz and I settled down in our new home.&nbsp; After taking some time off on bereavement leave,\nI went back to work at the ATC Center and resumed logging hours for my\nCommercial Pilot license by flying out of Hooks airport in northwest Houston\ntwo to three times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In spite of my chaotic\nworking and flying schedule Kaz and I found ample time to begin enjoying our\nlife together now that the pressure of ATC training was well behind us.&nbsp; Since money was no longer a problem for us, we\nwent on frequent furniture and household accessory shopping trips and on one of\nour excursions even bought a small upright piano.&nbsp; While growing up on Okinawa Kaz had learned\nto play so she was anxious to refresh her musical skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the\nrequirements needed to earn a commercial pilot rating was to fly a certain\nnumber of \u201cround-robin\u201d flights.&nbsp; These\nwere nothing more than one-day round trips to airports to which I had not yet\nflown into; a few of them were to be completed with a flight instructor on\nboard.&nbsp; It was after one of these\nflights, accomplished on a cold and rainy day in November of 1971, which\nfinally forced me to make a decision that would bring my quest for a commercial\nrating to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The flight plan for\nthat trip called for me and my instructor to depart David Wayne Hooks (DWH)\nairport in northwest Houston early in the morning and fly to Oklahoma City\n(OKC) via a refueling stop in Dallas (DAL).&nbsp;\nThe return flight called for me to navigate to and land in Lufkin, Texas\n(LFK), then proceed directly to, and land at DWH.&nbsp; On different legs of the flight I would be\nrequired to change altitude several times, use dead-reckoning techniques and\nVOR tracking alternately and practice simulated engine out procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The weather on that\nday was marginal for VFR flight, with occasional fog and scattered rain\nshowers, and the median temperature hovered just slightly above a chilly forty\ndegrees.&nbsp; The prevailing winds were\nsteady out of the north blowing at a brisk eight to ten knots, and the inflight\nforecast for DAL, OKC and LFK showed similar conditions with no chance for\nimprovement as the day went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During my exterior preflight\ninspection my gloves and jacket got more than a little wet as a low layer of\ngray and gritty clouds opened up temporarily and dumped a fair amount of rain\non me and the already soaked tarmac.&nbsp;\nBecause the cramped cockpit offered very little room for extra movement,\nI was forced to remove my outer wear outside the plane just before climbing\nonto the wing and clambering over the passenger seat finally dropping into the\npilot\u2019s seat.&nbsp; During my preflight\noutside the aircraft my head, shoulders, and upper back had gotten\nuncomfortably damp\u2014and, as I settled into my seat my cold shirt stuck to my back\nsending a tooth chattering chill down my spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I energized the\nengine and watched the flight instruments spool up and come to life a feeling\nof dread came over me, and a dark thought flashed across my mind:&nbsp; <em>I really\ndon\u2019t feel like doing this today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steeling my will\nagainst the feeling of dread that had suddenly taken control of my emotions, I\ndistracted myself by intensely concentrating on performing all the procedures\nnecessary to get the aircraft off the ground and into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I applied power,\npushed the right rudder to turn the nose wheel in the direction of the taxiway,\nand released the brakes.&nbsp; The taxi-out,\nrun-up and takeoff roll were uneventful, and the \u201cfun\u201d didn\u2019t start until I\u2019d\nclimbed through a thousand feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the actual\nrain producing ceiling was well above eight-thousand feet and the visibility\nwas in excess of five miles, the flying conditions were still rated as\nVFR.&nbsp; But around twelve hundred to\nfifteen hundred feet above the ground there lay a thin \u201cscud\u201d layer of thin and\nwispy gray clouds that were producing atmospheric instability above it causing\nwind shear and light turbulence.&nbsp; Since\nour planned cruising altitude was set at sixty-five hundred feet, we found\nourselves in moderate turbulence (commonly referred to as \u201cchop) for the\nentirety of the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it never got any\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although I considered\nmyself a good pilot, for some reason all my flying skills seemed to abandon me\nthat day.&nbsp; For the life of me I couldn\u2019t\nhold a steady altitude\u2014often finding myself three to four hundred feet above or\nbelow my filed flight level.&nbsp; My\nnavigation was spotty, causing me to miss waypoints sometimes by two or three\nmiles, and once I almost let the plane\u2019s engine completely quit by failing to\nrecognize the symptoms of severe carburetor icing before applying carburetor\nheat to clear the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My landings at the\nvarious airports were nothing short of incompetent\u2014either flaring the airplane\ntoo high and floating halfway down the runway before finally landing long and bumping\ndown on the main gear, or flaring too late causing a hard neck-snapping smack\nnearly driving the gear all the way through each wing.&nbsp; They say a successful landing is one you can\nwalk away from, but that day I wasn\u2019t too sure that any of mine qualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a mercifully\nsmooth landing back at DWH late that evening, and after receiving a less than\nglowing flight review from my instructor, I finished tying down my aircraft and\ndragged my sore and stiff body to the parking lot.&nbsp; Sitting in my idling car trying to warm up I again\nforcefully swallowed the bitter bile taste that had been pushing up from the\nback of my throat for the entire day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cruising out onto the\nsmooth black asphalt highway, I was overwhelmed by the softness of the ride and\nthe ease with which I was able to maneuver my more than four thousand-pound\nsedan.&nbsp; For the past twelve hours I had\nbeen struggling to maintain control of a machine weighing less than two thousand\npounds as winds and turbulence had all but tried to take that control away from\nme and send us spiraling back down to earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I drove home that\ndark and wet evening, I played the day over and over in my mind, and by the\ntime I pulled into my garage I had decided on what needed to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I opened the door\nfrom the garage, Kaz was right there to meet me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHi honey!&nbsp; How was your flight?&nbsp; I was starting to worry because you so\nlate.&nbsp; Everything go OK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, it was OK, I\nguess.&nbsp; Actually, it could\u2019ve gone\nbetter.&nbsp; But I\u2019m home now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She reached up and gave\nme a tight hug and a kiss.&nbsp; \u201cI really\nmiss you today.&nbsp; It was so bad weather I\nthought maybe you cancel flying and come home.\u201d&nbsp;\nShe turned and hurried into the kitchen.&nbsp;\n\u201cLook, I made chicken soup today because it so cold,\u201d she said, looking\nover her shoulder.&nbsp; \u201cYou want to change\nclothes and come eat?&nbsp; I bet you hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah, I\u2019m a little\nhungry\u2026\u201d&nbsp; I swallowed back a sudden rise\nof bitter bile.&nbsp; \u201cActually, let me go\ntake a quick shower first, then I\u2019ll eat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, good.&nbsp; While you shower, I get table ready for you.&nbsp; Isoide kudasai!\u201d&nbsp;\n(Hurry, please).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After my shower I did\nfeel just a little better, but I was still shaky.&nbsp; I brushed my teeth extra hard and tried to\nget the bitterness out of my mouth with some vile-tasting Listerine.&nbsp; All the while I was trying to figure out how\nto break the news to Kaz about the decision that I\u2019d reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It felt good to get\nout of my wrinkled clothes which I\u2019d been wearing for almost fourteen hours,\nand the hot water helped relax the nerve-stiffened muscles in my neck and\nback.&nbsp; Soon enough I was back in the\nkitchen wearing a comfy pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou want crackers\ntoo?\u201d&nbsp; Kaz asked cheerfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure!\u201d&nbsp; I was starting to feel more human and the hot\nrich broth and tasty chunks of chopped chicken breast made the dark bitter\ntaste in my mouth all but disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo,\u201d Kaz said between\nheaping spoonfuls of soup, \u201ctell me how you did today.&nbsp; I think maybe a little bumpy with the wind,\nno?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s an\nunderstatement!&nbsp; It was awful.&nbsp; It was as if I had never set foot in a\ncockpit.&nbsp; My flying was worse than when I\nfirst soloed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh no!&nbsp; That too bad.&nbsp;\nYou didn\u2019t crash though.&nbsp; I worry\nabout that sometimes, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I think my\nflight training may have to end after today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kaz\u2019s spoon stopped\nhalfway to her mouth and she set it back in the bowl while turning to look at\nme with questioning eyes.&nbsp; \u201cUh, what you\nsay?&nbsp; No more training to fly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know if\nI have what it takes to continue on the path that I\u2019ve been on.&nbsp; See, don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I love to fly.&nbsp; But I love to fly when I want to fly and\nwhere I want to fly.&nbsp; Today I would\u2019ve\nchosen to stay grounded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWha\u2026I don\u2019t\nunderstand.&nbsp; What you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, so like\ntoday.&nbsp; From the get-go I didn\u2019t want to\ngo up.&nbsp; The weather sucked and I sure as\nhell wasn\u2019t in the mood.&nbsp; We\u2019ve been\nreally busy at work and I just felt that I didn\u2019t have that edge that I need\nwhen I\u2019m the cockpit.&nbsp; So, coupled with\nmy lack of enthusiasm and the shitty weather\u2014plus the pressure of the long\nround-robin flights to large airports that I\u2019m not familiar with\u2014I was just not\nmentally or emotionally prepared to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe whole day I was\nway behind the airplane.&nbsp; Instead of\nhaving a plan on what I needed to do I found myself reacting instead of being\nproactive with the airplane.&nbsp; A couple of\ntimes I almost lost control on final and on my landings, and once I almost lost\nthe engine due to carburetor icing.&nbsp; I\u2019ve\nnever done that before.&nbsp; I\u2019ve always been\nable to listen to what the airplane was telling me and act before something\nhappened.&nbsp; Not today!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh\u2026that bad.&nbsp; But you made it all the way, didn\u2019t you?&nbsp; And you came home.&nbsp; So, that something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah, well my\ninstructor didn\u2019t even bother debriefing me after we landed back at Hooks.&nbsp; He just told me to go home and get some rest\nand we would talk about it tomorrow.&nbsp; I\nknow I\u2019ll probably have to do the whole round-robin all over again.&nbsp; He was just so quiet the whole trip\u2014like he\nwas just waiting to have to take over before I killed us both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, I guess\u2026I don\u2019t\nknow.&nbsp; I thought about this all the way\nhome and I think since I\u2019m happy being a controller I should just drop the\nformal flight training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo\u2026what about the GI\nBill.&nbsp; They still paying you for your\ntraining, right?&nbsp; What happen then if you\nquit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, my benefits are\nstill there.&nbsp; If I drop out of flight\ntraining, I guess I could use what\u2019s left to finance going back to college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think so.&nbsp; It would work a little different though.&nbsp; Instead of the VA paying the flight school\ndirectly for my flying hours they would pay me instead for the college hours.&nbsp; Then I pay the school.&nbsp; Anyway, I think that\u2019s how it works but I\u2019ll\ncheck to make sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou know Frank, I\nwant you to be happy.&nbsp; And I thought you\nwere happy flying.&nbsp; But if you want to\nstop flying and go to college you should do.&nbsp;\nI mean as long as you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not that I\nsuddenly don\u2019t like flying.&nbsp; But let\u2019s\nsay I go all the way and get the training and flying hours necessary to become\na commercial pilot.&nbsp; Then do I quit the\nFAA?&nbsp; I don\u2019t know that I want to do\nthat.&nbsp; I love being a controller\u2014just\nlike I love flying.&nbsp; But I don\u2019t want to\nsomeday regret that I gave up a career that I love to work in another career\nthat makes me do things I may not want to do.&nbsp;\nYou know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo again, I want to\nfly when and where I want to fly.&nbsp; And if\nI don\u2019t feel like it, then I don\u2019t want to be told to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, that make sense\nto me.&nbsp; So, after you quit the program\nyou gonna fly again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure.&nbsp; But it won\u2019t be as often since we\u2019ll have to\npay for the flying hours on our own.&nbsp; But\nI hope you understand how I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOf course!&nbsp; I rather have you home on your days off\nanyway.&nbsp; You always gone and I miss not\nseeing you.&nbsp; You work too hard, you\nknow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, it was\ndecided.&nbsp; The next day I called the\nflight school and told that I was planning on withdrawing from the program and\nthat within the next few days I would drop in to sign the necessary\npaperwork.&nbsp; Of course, they tried to talk\nme out of it, but I stood my ground as I knew that this was the right decision\nfor me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within a month I had\nmade the proper inquiries and was enrolled at Sam Houston University in\nHuntsville\u2026about thirty miles north of Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Guam!\u00a0 A Plum Job, For Sure<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A couple of months\nlater, as I was walking up to the sign-in desk just outside the control room\ndoors to start a 2 pm to 10 pm shift, I decided to spend a couple of minutes\nlooking through the large black binder containing ATC job vacancies all around\nthe country.&nbsp; The binder was one of those\nthree-ring jobs about two inches thick and it was attached by a light metal\nchain just to the right of each area\u2019s sign-in log.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had looked through\nthis binder before, curious to see what controller positions were open at the\nvarious facilities within the FAA, but since I was still a young and\ninexperienced controller and happy to be working in my hometown, I wasn\u2019t\nlooking to transfer anywhere. I mainly read it because I was just fascinated by\nthe number of open FPL positions that were being advertised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just as I was closing\nthe binder my eye caught sight of a word on one of the vacancy announcements\nthat I would never have associated with any air traffic position:&nbsp; Guam!&nbsp;\nI checked my watch and saw that I still had about five minutes before I\nwas required to check in with my floor supervisor, so I quickly thumbed the\nsheets until I came to that particular announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reading hurriedly, I\nsaw that the vacancy was for a facility on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, M.I.\n(Marianas Islands), called Guam CERAP.&nbsp; It\nexplained that Guam CERAP was a combined ARTCC\/RAPCON (Radar Approach Control)\nFAA facility located on an Air Force base, and the FAA was soliciting\napplicants to fill a vacancy for a GS-12, ATCS (Air Traffic Control Specialist)\nposition.&nbsp; Since I was already a GS-13,\nand I had no idea how a Center and a RAPCON could possibly be combined, I\nalmost quit reading.&nbsp; Then some\nitalicized print caught my eye:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cSelectees\nwill be authorized free transportation for their immediate family, authorized\nfree household goods transfer; authorized free shipment of one (1) automobile;\nreceive free on-site housing for the term of the assignment; authorized\nper-diem at the rate of 2.5 times their salary from date of selection until\nestablished in on-site housing, and be granted a tax-free 25% post differential\nwhich will be added to their monthly salary.&nbsp;\nThe selectee must sign a contract agreeing to serve two years at this facility\nand will be guaranteed full return rights to his\/her home region and facility\nwith no loss of service time at the end of that period.&nbsp; If the selectee, at the end of this contract\nagrees to sign a new two year contract, he\/she, and family, will be provided\nwith fully funded travel vouchers for common air carriers, and will be granted\nsix weeks of leave to return to their home of record (home leave).&nbsp; Per-diem, at the rate of 2.5 times their\nnormal salary, will be paid, in addition to salary, during the six-week home\nleave period.&nbsp; The new two-year contract\nwill be signed prior to departing on Home Leave and will commence upon their\narrival back to the Guam CERAP.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Well\u2014<\/em>I thought<em>\u2014that 25% post differential pretty much maxes out what I presently make\nas a GS-13.<\/em>&nbsp; Looking at my watch\nagain I saw that I was running a little short on time, so I closed the binder\nand hurried to my area to check in.&nbsp; When\nmy first break came up I returned to the binder, removed the Guam position\nannouncement and headed for the nearest office copier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pulling into my\ndriveway a few minutes before 10PM, I was hoping Kaz would still be up so I\ncould show her what I\u2019d found.&nbsp; I entered\nthe semi-darkened house and found her in the living room, wrapped snugly in her\nrobe and curled up on the couch reading a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHey, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re\nawake.&nbsp; I want to show you what I found\nat work.\u201d&nbsp; I pulled out the copy of the\nannouncement from my jacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat that?\u201d she asked\ncuriously, putting the book down and sitting up, suddenly interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, it\u2019s called a\n\u201cvacancy announcement\u201d, and it shows where ATC jobs are open.&nbsp; This one says there\u2019s a vacancy on Guam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGuam?!&nbsp; They have Center on Guam?&nbsp; No, I don\u2019t believe it.&nbsp; Guam too small.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, it\u2019s not a\ncenter.&nbsp; It\u2019s what\u2019s called a CERAP.&nbsp; That\u2019s a center and a radar approach control\ncombined.&nbsp; I\u2019m not sure how that\u2019s\npossible, but this announcement says there\u2019s on there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhy they have a\ncenter there anyway?&nbsp; It\u2019s small\nIsland\u2026smaller than Okinawa, and it\u2019s in the middle of the ocean.&nbsp; No, I don\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHere, read it\nyourself,\u201d I said, handing the copies of the announcement to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHmmm\u2026\u201d she said\nsoftly while reading it inquisitively.&nbsp;\n\u201cHey, it say here it only GS-12!&nbsp;\nThat no good.&nbsp; You already GS-13,\nright?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell that\u2019s true.&nbsp; But if you look a little further down it says\nthat they will pay an extra twenty-five percent.&nbsp; Plus, free housing and transportation.&nbsp; That alone will make it more than what I make\nnow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHmmm\u2026\u201d she said\nagain.&nbsp; \u201cYou know, if we go to Guam it\nmuch closer to Okinawa and I can go visit my family sometime.&nbsp; Living here in Houston I think we never have\nenough for airplane ticket to Okinawa.&nbsp;\nRight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think so.&nbsp; I\u2019m not sure how many miles it is from Guam\nto Okinawa, but it has to be closer\u2014that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, you going to try\nto go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt this point I have\nno idea what the first thing is that I need to do.&nbsp; I guess I could talk to the front office\ntomorrow and find out what the procedure is.&nbsp;\nThey may not even want a rookie like me\u2014maybe they\u2019re looking for some\nolder controllers.&nbsp; But for now, I just want\nus to talk about this to see if we really want to try to go somewhere like\nthat.\u201d&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrank, it\u2019s up to\nyou.&nbsp; This is your career and I don\u2019t\nwant you to lose what you have.&nbsp; For\nme?&nbsp; Sure, I like the idea of being\ncloser to my home, but we don\u2019t know anything about Guam.&nbsp; Maybe you better find out more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, I\u2019ll do some\nchecking tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following day, and\non my very first break, I walked up to the administrative wing to seek out some\nguidance.&nbsp; Houston ARTCC is a large\ntwo-story building, with a deep basement floor, and the actual center control\nroom in the rear wing and on the first floor.&nbsp;\nControllers, radar and radio technicians all parked in the rear parking\nlot where access to the control room and lower levels\u2014where the techs worked\u2014was\nfast and easy.&nbsp; The second floor was used\nfor training\u2014classrooms, a mock control room, and instructor offices took up\nthe majority of the space, with a few rooms set aside for storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The front wing, first\nfloor only, was unmistakably the gem of the whole building.&nbsp; A glass and chrome front entrance fronted\nonto Airport Boulevard\u2014the main thoroughfare that terminated at the departure\/arrival\ngates of the Houston Intercontinental Airport (now G.W. Bush International),\ntwo miles north.&nbsp; Entering through the\nmassive front glass doors, one would be presented with a mirror-like black\nmarble-floor hallway extending right and left.&nbsp;\nTo the left was a beautifully designed, and glass encased, cafeteria;\nwhile to the right was situated the massive administrative area.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If one were to look straight\nahead once inside the doors, you would be presented with a lush view of a\nmassively overgrown, and stunningly lush solarium.&nbsp; Complete with tropical plants, a water\nfeature, and anchored by three medium-sized pin oak trees, the solarium was\nbordered by the four glass-encased hallways and completely open at the\ntop.&nbsp; It was breathtakingly beautiful at\nfirst glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since I hardly ever\nhad a chance to enjoy this view\u2014always entering and exiting the building\nthrough the rear wing doors\u2014I paused momentarily to take in the beauty of the\nlarge solarium.&nbsp; Small but numerous\nflights of jet-black starlings were launching themselves upwards from the pin\noaks this sunny morning on their quest to feed before returning just before\nsunset to roost and chatter loudly among themselves in the trees\u2019 low-hanging\nbranches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Returning to the task\nat hand, I pulled myself away and continued my search for the facility chief\u2019s\nadministrative assistant.&nbsp; Her name was\nHelen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Helen was the head of\nall the administrative assistants, and the chief\u2019s right hand \u201cman\u201d; she had\nbeen at Houston Center since its inception in 1965.&nbsp; She had transferred over, like of lot of the\ncontrollers and supervisors, from the old San Antonio Center where she\u2019d been\nin the same position.&nbsp; Of all the\nglassed-in administrative offices, Helen\u2019s was the largest, except maybe for\nthe chief\u2019s\u2014his was larger but completely walled in and windowless.&nbsp; Helen\u2019s office walls were gaily decorated\nwith scaled-down replicas of the U.S. and Texas state flags, and on the top of\nthe oversized oak bookcases below them were at least two dozen framed pictures\nof family, friends and probably a few favored retired controllers and\nsupervisors.&nbsp; The common theme for each\npicture was that Helen was prominently featured\u2014usually in the center of the\ngroup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a now accepted\nmember of the Houston Center controller workforce I quickly learned that\nalthough the facility chief was the leader of the center, it was Helen who\nwielded the real power.&nbsp; Stories still\ncirculated in the control room how several unfortunate controllers had been\nunduly terminated, even after the chief had assured them otherwise, after Helen\nhad interceded and provided additional negative administrative evidence.&nbsp; She was one not to be trifled with, I was\ntold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was probably in\nher mid-fifties, slim and petite in stature, with a pair of extraordinary and\npiercingly perceptive clear blue eyes.&nbsp;\nHer hair, bright blond, parted on the left, and always styled in a\nhelmet-like bouffant accentuated with a flip just above her shoulders, framed\nher doll-like face perfectly.&nbsp; Her makeup\nwas always impeccable, carefully painted on, and spoke of many hours spent in\nfront of an illuminated cosmetic mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her voice resonated in\na low alto register, hinting of at least a pack-a-day habit of her favored minty\nKool cigarettes, and it was heavily accented in a west Texas drawl.&nbsp; Her favorite word was, \u201choney\u201d\u2014and depending\non her mood, she used it as either a gracious compliment or a cutting insult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finding her at her\ndesk busily shuffling through a stack of papers, I quietly walked into her\noffice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHi\u2026uh, excuse\nme.&nbsp; I\u2019d like to ask a question\u2026\u201d&nbsp; I stammered as I entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh!\u201d she said, and I\nwondered how one word could be phonetically twisted to sound so\u2026Texan.&nbsp; \u201cHi honey.&nbsp;\nCome right on in!&nbsp; I was just looking\nat something or other here.&nbsp; What can I\ndo for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThanks.&nbsp; Well\u2026\u201d I raised the vacancy announcement\nsheet to show her what I had.&nbsp; \u201cI\u2026I was\njust wondering if I could ask you for some advice and maybe a little help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure \u2018nuff,\nhoney.&nbsp; What\u2019cha got there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I found this\nposition vacancy announcement in the jobs binder and was wondering what the\nprocedure was to put my name in for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s see.&nbsp; Give it here, honey.\u201d&nbsp; She squinted her eyes and scanned the\nsheet.&nbsp; \u201cOh, this is a vacancy for\nGuam.\u201d&nbsp; She put the put the vacancy\nannouncement down on her lap and looked up at me with a little smile on her\nlips.&nbsp; \u201cSo, what you\u2019re looking at here\nis what is referred to in the agency as a \u201cplum\u201d job.&nbsp; You know that don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUh\u2026no ma\u2019am.&nbsp; I don\u2019t know what that is.&nbsp; All I\u2019d like to know is how I would go about\nin applying for this position.&nbsp; If you\ncould help me with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHoney\u2026it\u2019s called\n\u2018bidding\u2019.&nbsp; When you put in paperwork for\na job vacancy it\u2019s called \u2018bidding\u2019, not applying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK.&nbsp; So, what would I need to bid on that\nvacancy?\u201d&nbsp; She looked at me intently,\ncocked her head slightly, and smiled at me sweetly. \u201cHoney, how long you been\nhere?&nbsp; A couple of years, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes ma\u2019am.\u201d&nbsp; I wondered what that had to do with anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, like I said\nbefore\u2026this here job is a plum position.&nbsp;\nIt\u2019s meant for controllers who\u2019ve put in their time and paid their\ndues\u2014so to speak.&nbsp; You could throw all\nthe paper you want at this vacancy and as soon as the Western-Pacific Regional\noffice saw your lack of time in the agency all that paper would go in the\ntrash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUh\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, this is what I\u2019m\nsuggesting, honey.&nbsp; Forget about this job\nin Guam and just concentrate on doing the best job you can here at Houston\nCenter like we all do.&nbsp; Besides, I don\u2019t\nthink you want to go through all the effort of filling out all the necessary forms\nyou would need for them to consider you just to have them chunk it in some can\nsomewhere.&nbsp; Besides, I\u2019m way too busy to\nhave to do all I would have to do knowing that it would go nowhere.&nbsp; Now, is there anything else I can do for you\nhoney?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I stood there for a\nfew seconds not knowing what to say.&nbsp;\nThen, a little flash of anger shot through my brain and I decided to\nthrow all caution to the wind.&nbsp; \u201cYou know\nwhat, ma\u2019am?&nbsp; If you won\u2019t mind\u2014and I\nunderstand what you\u2019ve just said\u2014I\u2019d still like to submit my bid on this job.&nbsp; I may not get it, but at least they\u2019ll know\nthat I\u2019m interested in the job.&nbsp; And let\nme apologize in advance for any extra work I may be causing you, but like you\nsaid, we\u2019re all here to do the best job we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her soft blue eyes\nsuddenly turned steely.&nbsp; \u201cWell,\nhoney!&nbsp; If that\u2019s what you want to do,\nthen so be it.&nbsp; I\u2019m here not only to push\npapers but also to give advice, but if you\u2019re not willing to take it then I\nguess we\u2019ll both just have to waste our time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThank you, ma\u2019am, I\nappreciate it.\u201d&nbsp; And with that, she\npushed her chair back and stood up.&nbsp; Smoothing\nher tightly fitting dark gray skirt with one hand while primping her helmet-like\nbouffant with the other, she turned and walked to a large black filing\ncabinet.&nbsp; After retrieving several forms\nfrom the cabinet, she walked back and handed the pile to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFill in all these\nforms with the information requested and refer to the vacancy number on the bid\nform where that information is requested.&nbsp;\nReturn all to me as soon as you can so I can file them as necessary.&nbsp; Any questions?\u201d&nbsp; She cupped her chin in the palm of her right\nhand while supporting her elbow with her left and stared at me intently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo ma\u2019am.&nbsp; Thank you for your help.\u201d&nbsp; I said humbly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFine honey.&nbsp; Now get along, I have work to do.\u201d&nbsp; And she turned away from me and returned to\nher desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It took me two days to\nfill out and sign all the forms.&nbsp; Not\nwanting to face Helen again, I stuffed them into a manila envelope and\ndeposited them in the Center\u2019s internal mail chute the following day when I\nwent to work.&nbsp; I thought I\u2019d hear\nsomething in a few weeks and kept checking my mail slot at work, but after a\ncouple of months I came to the realization that Helen had probably been right\nall along, so I just put all thoughts of Guam out of my mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">One Year Later\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was literally\nminutes into my 3PM to 11PM evening shift and was busy working an extremely\ncomplex Galveston Low Altitude radar sector when I felt a tap on my right\nshoulder.&nbsp; Thinking that my supervisor,\nBob Wold, had finally seen that I was close to sinking, and that he\u2019d\nthoughtfully sent a \u201ctracker\u201d to assist me on keeping a lid on the exploding sector,\nI dutifully slid my chair over a few inches to let him plug in to the radio to\nstart helping me sort through the beehive of airplanes I was working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When nothing happened\nfor a few seconds I looked over my shoulder and was surprised to see Bob\nstanding there with his hands resting on his hips.&nbsp; \u201cYou got a second, DeLeon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo, not really.&nbsp; I\u2019m going down the crapper.&nbsp; You got a tracker coming?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo.&nbsp; I\u2019m getting you relieved off the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat?!&nbsp; Did I have a deal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo!&nbsp; You\u2019re doing fine.&nbsp; I just need to get you off the sector \u2018cause\nthe chief wants to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe chief?!&nbsp; What the hell does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t know but\nright now, you need to look back at your radar\u2014you\u2019re just about to run those\ntwo fuckers together there just east of Hitchcock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I looked back and saw\ntwo of my many radar targets flashing a collision alert.&nbsp; They were on converging courses, both\ndescending to seven thousand feet, and both heading to the Houston southeast\narrival fix named Hitchcock.&nbsp; I had been\nplanning to vector one of them behind the other just before Bob broke my\nconcentration.&nbsp; I keyed my radio<em>: \u201cN7235L, turn left fifteen degrees, radar\nvectors behind converging traffic\u2014a Super King Air, ten o\u2019clock seven miles, crossing\nleft to right, also at five thousand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cBonanza 35L, roger\u2014turning left fifteen, looking for\nthe traffic and requesting direct Hitchcock as soon as possible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cRoger, Houston altimeter 2997, expect direct Hitchcock\nas soon as practical reference that converging traffic.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cRoger that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK,\u201d Bob said.&nbsp; \u201cI feel much better now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYeah, me too.&nbsp; Where\u2019s my relief?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRight behind you\ngetting the picture.&nbsp; Give him the\nbriefing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once my relief\nbriefing was complete, I unplugged my headset and stowed it in my assigned\nheadset cubby hole. &nbsp;I asked Bob again\nwhat the chief wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow the fuck do I\nknow?\u201d he said playfully.&nbsp; \u201cMaybe he\nwants to personally give you a big bear hug for saving those two little\nbastards over Hitchcock a few minutes ago.\u201d&nbsp;\nHe smiled; his Lucky Strike cigarette glued to his lower lip spitting\nblackish-gray ash onto his coffee stained tie as he talked.&nbsp; \u201cSeriously, I have no idea.&nbsp; But get your ass in gear and go see him now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh, and if he offers\nyou some jellybeans from the big fishbowl, he keeps on his desk, you can bet\nyour ass is in big trouble.&nbsp; He only does\nthat when he\u2019s getting ready to severely chew somebody out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, I\u2019ll keep that in\nmind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After checking in with\nHelen, who seemed to be in an unusually surly mood, she directed me to have a\nseat while she went into the chief\u2019s office to announce my arrival.&nbsp; Oddly, she hadn\u2019t called me \u201choney\u201d when I\nwalked in\u2014in fact she only made a grunting sound as she pointed to an empty chair\nand gestured for me to wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A minute or so later\nshe emerged and curtly said, \u201cHe\u2019ll see you now.\u201d&nbsp; I got up, walked past her and entered the\nchief\u2019s office.&nbsp; With no windows the\nlarge office was cloaked in semi-darkness with only a floor lamp and an oblong\ndesk lamp to help pierce the grayness hanging over the room.&nbsp; Walking in from the overly bright\nadministrative area made the office even darker, and the lingering stench of\ncigar and pipe smoke added to the dankness of the stagnant air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">L.E. Andersen was a\nlarge, portly man, who somehow seemed small sitting behind his massive dark oak\nexecutive desk and was almost swallowed up by an equally massive high-backed\nbrown leather executive chair.&nbsp; Pushing\nhimself forward off the chair he reached over the desk with his right hand\nextended while carefully keeping his smoking Half-bent Dublin pipe carefully\nshielded with his left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHey Frank!\u201d he said\ncheerfully, \u201cWelcome to the bridge\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThank you, sir,\u201d I\nresponded cautiously, trying not to notice the large goldfish bowl full of hard\ncandy sitting prominently on the desk between us.&nbsp; I took his warm smooth hand and returned the\nfirm grip and shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHell, son have a sit\ndown there on either one of them seats.&nbsp;\nPaid a lot of money for them things and they hardly get any wear.\u201d&nbsp; He gestured to two large black leather\nwingback chairs flanking and facing each corner of his desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThank you, sir.\u201d &nbsp;I took a step to my left and eased down into\nthe plush cool leather.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He sat back into his\nchair and methodically tapped the ashes from his pipe\u2019s bowl into an etched\ncrystal ashtray.&nbsp; \u201cWell now\u2026\u201d he said,\nwhile concentrating on his pipe and watching the burnt black tobacco ashes\ntumble out of the pipe\u2019s bowl.&nbsp; \u201cHow you\ndoing out there?&nbsp; I hear you\u2019re one of\nour best young controllers.&nbsp; Least that\u2019s\nwhat your supervisor and area manager tell me.&nbsp;\nAlso, you\u2019re from right here in Houston, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes sir, I am.&nbsp; Born and raised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow \u2018bout that.&nbsp; Good man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOh,\u201d he said\nsuddenly.&nbsp; \u201cWhere are my manners?&nbsp; How about getting yourself a handful of these\njellybeans here?\u201d&nbsp; He reached out and\npushed the large bowl across the desk\u2019s shiny glass top towards me.&nbsp; I felt my innards tighten up a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUh, no thank you\nsir.&nbsp; But I appreciate it.\u201d&nbsp; I managed to say through the rapidly rising\nlump in my throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAh, well. &nbsp;Suit yourself. Guess I\u2019ll have some myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He daintily picked out\na small handful of the colorful candy and popped a few into his mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I guess you\u2019re\nwondering why you\u2019re here, hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes sir, I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure, you are.\u201d&nbsp; He sucked loudly at the candy and smacked his\nlips.&nbsp; \u201cWell, first off I wanted to ask\nyou if you know a guy named Bill Hoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBill\u2026Hoy?\u201d&nbsp; I asked slowly while trying to remember if\nI\u2019d ever run across someone by that name.&nbsp;\n\u201cNo sir, I don\u2019t think I know anyone by that name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK.&nbsp; Well Bill and I were in the Navy together a\nlong time ago.&nbsp; Great guy!&nbsp; Hell of a drinker and quite the ladies\u2019 man.&nbsp; Of course, he\u2019s married now, and the wife\nclipped his wings but good.\u201d&nbsp; He chuckled\nand checked his pipe to make sure it was all the way out.&nbsp; \u201cAnyway, even though we haven\u2019t laid eyes on\none another in a damn coon\u2019s age we still stay in touch you know.&nbsp; Oh, \u2018bout once every six months or so we call\none another to shoot the shit and see what\u2019s what in the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While he droned on\nabout his friend, I couldn\u2019t help but sink a little deeper into my growing\ndiscomfort and confusion.&nbsp; Why the hell\nwas I here?&nbsp; Surely, I\u2019d done something\nwrong\u2014and serious enough to have him call me in and announce my punishment\npersonally.&nbsp; After all he had offered me\nthe dreaded candy, so I was sure this was going to cost me a GS grade or\ntwo.&nbsp; His voice fading further away I\npushed my memory to see if I could come up with the incident that had brought\nme to this point in my career.&nbsp; I\nwondered how we were going to pay off the furniture and Kaz\u2019s new piano if I\nwas dropped back to a GS-12, or even a GS-11.&nbsp;\nGod, what if he was getting ready to fire me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell anyway\u2026hell, I\u2019m\nway off the subject!\u201d&nbsp; He said loud\nenough to bring me back. &nbsp;\u201cWhat I wanted\nto say was, well me and Bill were on the phone late last night talking about\nour facilities and your name came up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy name?\u201d I\nasked.&nbsp; \u201cI don\u2019t understand\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYup.&nbsp; See, Bill is the chief way out there on Guam\u2026and,\nof course because of the horrendous time difference we always end up talking\nlate at night.&nbsp; Anyhow, he mentioned that\none of my boys had put in some paperwork some time back to transfer over to his\nfacility.&nbsp; Of course, that surprised the\nhell out of me so I asked him who that might be.&nbsp; And guess what?&nbsp; It was you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The word Guam, thrown\nout so randomly, took me completely by surprise\u2014and I\u2019d almost forgot that I\nbid on a job there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou bid on a\ncontroller job there\u2026let\u2019s see\u2026I think he said\u2026\u201d he pushed some papers around\non his desk.&nbsp; \u201cOh yeah, about a year\nago.&nbsp; Is that right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally coming to my\nsenses, I confessed.&nbsp; \u201cYes sir, that\u2019s\nright.&nbsp; But Helen told me\u2026\u201d&nbsp; I wanted to tell him about her saying that\nthat job was a plum one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell ain\u2019t that\nsomething!\u201d he said loudly, rocking back on his massive chair and popping a few\nmore jellybeans.&nbsp; \u201cI told him he had to\nbe mistaken, that nobody here\u2019d want to go to Guam, but I checked this morning\nand found you that you in fact had thrown some paper at that job!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAh, yes I did.&nbsp; But that was over a year ago.&nbsp; And I thought\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, that now begs\nthe obvious question, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou obviously wanted\nto go last year, right?&nbsp; So, the question\nis, do you still want to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI, uh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My mind was spinning,\nand my heart was thumping.&nbsp; What if I\nsaid yes, and I came across as not liking my job here?&nbsp; How would that affect my future?&nbsp; But then, what if I said no?&nbsp; Maybe he\u2019s testing my loyalty.&nbsp; Maybe\u2026maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes!&nbsp; Yes, I still want to go!\u201d&nbsp; The words came spilling out as if I had no\ncontrol of my own tongue.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, there you\ngo.&nbsp; What about your wife?&nbsp; Do you think you may want to ask her first?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo.&nbsp; Even without asking her, I know she\u2019ll want\nto go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He sat there studying\nme for a few seconds.&nbsp; Finally, he said,\n\u201cOK, look I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anything I can do.&nbsp; After all, Bill is my friend all right but\nhe\u2019s the chief at Guam.&nbsp; If you want, I\ncan make a call and see what he thinks, but I doubt that I\u2019ll have any\ninfluence on any decision he\u2019ll want to make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, that\u2019s\nfair.\u201d&nbsp; I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFine!&nbsp; All right well look, I\u2019ve kept you away from\nyour sector for long enough.&nbsp; I just\nwanted to get your take on this, so the next time I talk to Bill I\u2019ll let you\nknow one way or the other\u2014but I wouldn\u2019t get my hopes up.&nbsp; In fact, don\u2019t even tell your wife we\ntalked.&nbsp; Nothing will probably come of\nit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Three Weeks Later\u2026.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had been attending morning\nclasses at Sam Houston University in Huntsville on Tuesday and Thursday, and\nsince Mondays were my first day off, and Thursdays I started my shift at 2 pm,\nthe school schedule was working out just fine.&nbsp;\nAfter the first week of classes, I found out that one of my friends at\nthe center, Jim Tharp, was also taking classes on the same days so we got\ntogether to split the fifty-mile one-way drive between us.&nbsp; He had just dropped me off around noon on a Thursday\nwhen Kaz met me at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have very two very\nweird phone calls today!\u201d she announced nervously as I walked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat weird calls?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, one is some ship\ncompany.&nbsp; They want to know when we will\nhave our car in California!\u201d&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat?! What ship\ncompany?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey say something\nabout \u2018bear\u2019.&nbsp; I don\u2019t know.&nbsp; But the other is some furniture moving company\u2014Atlas,\nI think\u2014and they want to know when they can come to pack our furniture!&nbsp; Is this have to do with Guam?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWait!\u201d I said,\nputting my books down on the kitchen table. &nbsp;\u201cThat can\u2019t be right.&nbsp; I don\u2019t even know if I\u2019ve been selected to go\nto Guam.&nbsp; Besides, if I had been selected,\nI would\u2019ve been told by the administration by now and given orders.&nbsp; So, I don\u2019t know what this is all about.&nbsp; Are you sure you got the right information\nabout what they wanted?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes!&nbsp; They want to know dates!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, we don\u2019t have any\ndates.&nbsp; But I\u2019ll talk to Helen when I get\nto work today.&nbsp; I think maybe it was just\nsome kind of wrong number.&nbsp; I just talked\nto the chief a couple of weeks ago and if he\u2019d heard something they would\u2019ve\ntold me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo Frank!!&nbsp; They say your name and they say my name.&nbsp; Maybe your name is common American name but\nmine is not.\u201d&nbsp; I had to agree that she\nhad a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After arriving at work\nlater and checking in on my shift, I peeked into my work mailbox to see if\nthere was anything that resembled travel orders, and I found nothing. Just\nbefore I plugged into my assigned sector, I asked my supervisor if he could\nmake sure I got a break before the administrative section in the front office\nwent home.&nbsp; They usually cleared out by 4PM,\nso I wanted to make sure someone was still in the office so I could ask about\nthe calls Kaz had received.&nbsp; He said he\u2019d\ndo his best to get me off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On my break I hurried\ndown to the administrative wing to pay a visit to Helen.&nbsp; I found her rearranging a stack of booklets\nas I came through her open door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHi Helen.&nbsp; I hope I\u2019m not bothering you, but I have a\nquestion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd what is that,\nhoney?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, my wife told me\nshe got a couple of calls earlier today while I was in school\u2014one from a\nshipping company in California and another from a moving and storage\ncompany.&nbsp; They both asked for dates on\nwhen we planned to have our car in California and the other on when they could\nexpect to arrive at our house to pack up our furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, so what\u2019s your\nquestion?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUh\u2026well\u2026am I going\nsomewhere?&nbsp; Because if I am, I don\u2019t have\nany orders.&nbsp; At least I didn\u2019t find any\nin my mail slot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWasn\u2019t that you who\nwanted that job in Guam?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes.&nbsp; But I\u2019ve received no notification that I\u2019ve\nbeen accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDidn\u2019t you just tell\nme your wife got a couple of calls yesterday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure.&nbsp; But if I\u2019ve been selected for the job in Guam\nshouldn\u2019t I have orders\u2014or at least something that tells me when I\u2019m supposed\nto be going?&nbsp; How do we know what to tell\nthe moving companies?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTell them whatever\nyou want.\u201d&nbsp; I was flabbergasted with her response,\nso I decided to try a more forceful tack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDo I have orders to\ngo to Guam or not!\u201d&nbsp; Helen, who had\nturned away from me to continue her paper shuffling, looked up at me angrily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cListen!&nbsp; I don\u2019t have time to deal with you right\nnow.&nbsp; As soon as we do get something,\nyou\u2019ll find it in your mail slot.&nbsp; Now if\nyou don\u2019t mind, I\u2019m busy with more important things, honey!\u201d&nbsp; And with that she motioned to me with a\ndismissive wave of her hand, stood up and walked out of her office.&nbsp; I was left there alone wondering what I\nshould do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I began to turn\naway to follow her out, I felt a hand touch my shoulder.&nbsp; A little shocked, I turned to find one of the\nother lower-ranked administrative assistants named Linda looking at me\nsympathetically.&nbsp; \u201cListen,\u201d she\nsaid.&nbsp; \u201cWhy don\u2019t you step into my office\nfor just a little bit so we can speak privately?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK.\u201d&nbsp; I followed her into a small office further\ninside the administrative area and saw that it even though it was smaller, it\nwasn\u2019t walled with transparent glass walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cListen, I couldn\u2019t\nhelp but overhear what you and Helen were talking about\u2026and promise me that you\ndidn\u2019t hear this from me,\u201d she began.&nbsp;\n\u201cOrders for your reassignment actually came in about a week ago, and I\nthink Helen shelved them somewhere.&nbsp; I\nasked her yesterday if she\u2019d notified you and she blew me off.&nbsp; Told me to mind my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat?&nbsp; Why would she do that?\u201d&nbsp; I asked.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Linda looked at me curiously\nand said, \u201cI think you know the answer to that.&nbsp;\nShe never wanted you to get that job\u2014and I\u2019m surprised she even filed\nyour paperwork with the Western Pacific Region.&nbsp;\nBut I guess she thought you\u2019d never even be considered.&nbsp; But look, here\u2019s what I suggest you do.&nbsp; Go back to the control room and talk to your\narea manager.&nbsp; You work for Marshall\nMoyle, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK perfect, tell him\nyou talked to Helen about your orders, but she denies knowing anything about\nthem.&nbsp; I guarantee you Marshall will get\nto the bottom of this pretty fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, thanks.&nbsp; Look, I don\u2019t want to get Helen into any\ntrouble, but I don\u2019t understand why she would do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe does what she\nthinks she can get away with, and she\u2019s really hated by all the other\nsecretaries.&nbsp; But you know, she has a lot\nof power with the chief, so we all keep quiet.&nbsp;\nIt\u2019s opportunities like this that we all wait for just to try to make\nher look bad.&nbsp; See, I was in the office\nwhen your orders came in and saw how Helen reacted.&nbsp; We all know she\u2019s angry because you forced\nher to submit your request last year after she tried to talk you out of it, and\nreally pissed because L.E. arbitrated on your behalf with the chief on Guam.&nbsp; She thinks you don\u2019t have the seniority to\nget this kind of a job.&nbsp; But please don\u2019t\nsay anything about this to anyone.&nbsp; You\ngot what you wanted, so let Marshall deal with it from now on.&nbsp; Just let it play out.&nbsp; She can\u2019t go against an area manager\u2026especially\nMarshall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really appreciate\nit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, now off with\nyou.&nbsp; Go out through the side door so\nHelen doesn\u2019t see that you were in my office.&nbsp;\nI think she\u2019s in the coffee shop, but just to make sure.&nbsp; OK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On my way back to my\nsector I asked my floor supervisor if I could speak to Marshall.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat about?\u201d he\nasked, a little suspiciously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I just want to\nask him a question.&nbsp; It\u2019s nothing about\nthe operation here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIs it personal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, as long as it\u2019s\nnothing about ATC.&nbsp; If it is, I need to\nknow what it\u2019s about.&nbsp; But you\u2019re gonna\nhave to wait for a little while \u2018cause I gotta tell him you need to talk to\nhim.&nbsp; So, for now go and relieve the\nDaisetta sector.&nbsp; I\u2019ll get you off when\nhe\u2019s ready to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I didn\u2019t get to talk\nto Marshall until about an hour before my shift was over when I was told to go\nto his office just outside of the control room.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marshall was one of\nthe more senior area managers.&nbsp; He was\njust under six feet tall, thin and wiry and sported a perpetual tan\u2014probably\nbecause when he was not working, he could always be found on his boat fishing\non Lake Conroe.&nbsp; His facial features were\nsharp and angular and reminded me of a dark-toned Humphrey Bogart.&nbsp; He preferred to dress in dark brown or gray\nleisure suits, and like most men during that era, always had a lit cigarette\ndangling from his fingers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I knocked quietly at\nthe half-opened office door and he waved me in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHi Frank.&nbsp; What can I do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I began to explain\nabout my submitting a bid for a job last year when he raised his hand and\nstopped me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIs this about Helen\ngiving you a hard time today about some travel orders?\u201d&nbsp; I wondered how he\u2019d found out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell yeah, kind of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know all about\nit.&nbsp; You\u2019re working a day shift tomorrow,\naren\u2019t you?\u201d he asked, taking a long drag off his cigarette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes.&nbsp; I come in at seven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOK, check in with the\narea manager when you arrive\u2026I won\u2019t be in until three\u2026but the problem should\nbe resolved by then.&nbsp; Just tell him I\nasked you to stop by.&nbsp; Anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo.&nbsp; I don\u2019t think so.<br>\n<br>\n\u201cFine.&nbsp; Have a good evening.&nbsp; Close the door when you leave.\u201d&nbsp; I had been told that Marshall was a man of\nfew words, and that he had immense sway within the facility, but his brevity on\nthis issue left me totally puzzled.&nbsp; How\ncould this issue be resolved overnight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I got back to the\nsector, my supervisor asked me how the meeting had gone.&nbsp; I told him it was short, and he responded\nthat I had visited with Marshall longer than he\u2019d anticipated.&nbsp; \u201cMust\u2019ve been a real complex problem,\u201d he\nadded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next morning\nbefore checking into my area for my sector assignment, I walked up and checked\nin with the area manager on duty.&nbsp; Before\nI could say another word, he told me to go back out and check my mail\nslot.&nbsp; I did, and in it I found a thick package\ncontaining my reassignment letter, travel orders, a welcome letter from the\nWestern Pacific Region, and various documents that required my approval and\nsignature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align:center\">***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two weeks later, Kaz\nand I had booked air travel from Los Angeles to Guam via Hawaii, contracted our\nhouse for sale by a government agency, had our household belongings packed and\nshipped off by Atlas Moving and Packing, and arranged to have our car at a pier\nin San Pedro, California, for subsequent shipment to Guam aboard a Golden Bear\nShipping Lines cargo ship.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was granted three\nweeks travel from the US, and six weeks per diem after we arrived on Guam.&nbsp; With all that time, and since our 1972\nMercury Grand Marquis was still relatively new, we decided that it would be\nnice to drive leisurely to the West Coast and have it shipped from there,\nrather than having it shipped from Houston.&nbsp;\nThat decision would prove to be troublesome and cause us a not-so-small\ninconvenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, as they say, that\u2019s\na story for another time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NEXT:&nbsp; Guam \u2013 Part One<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The End of Flight Training and the Start of College As the weeks droned on after my brother\u2019s untimely death, Kaz and I settled down in our new home.&nbsp; After taking some time off on bereavement leave, I went back to work at the ATC Center and resumed logging hours for my Commercial Pilot license &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1072\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">New Horizons &#8211; Part Seven<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1077,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}