Pilot's Log

( I Heard This Today On The College Rock Radio Station And Had To Share )

Politics aside, when I heard this I thought "They must have been inspired by the Doors for this one."

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I would have stayed in College for a Bachelor's Degree, rather than trying to find a career with just the Associate's.

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Getting lost over urban Pinellas County on the way back to my "home" airport.

I still qualified as a "dumbjohn" then.

FP

I was all set to take back everything I said about the Baltimore Ravens. Bah.

At least the Steelers and the Buccaneers won, and the Bulls are going to the Sun Bowl to play the Oregon Ducks.

FP

PS: Producers Are Money-Grubbing Scum.

Hey.

In the interest of broadening my horizons, today I went to the Morristown Technical Center's Aviation Maintenance hangar/classroom to talk with instructors about the possibilities. At first, I thought if I got a general Av.Maint. ticket I could maybe stretch my extant A.S. in Aviation Managment into a Bachelor's...but of course it doesn't work that way.

With courses I already have on my transcript, I would need perhaps 10 or more credit hours in things like Business Ethics and Managment Theory, and then the full Airframe & Powerplant program--to get an A.S. in Av.Maint. Management...and then move on to a B.S. program. And then where would I be as far as a career path is concerned? Could I move on with the obsolete and unused A.S. degree in my hands?

I hate having to take jobs that are completely unsuited for me...and having them waste me within a year. I know nobody's going to hire me for what I did last--Heck, if I were looking at somebody else with my record I wouldn't hire him!--so I need to find a way out.

FP

Hey.

Earlier this week I went to the University of Tennessee and got their Independent Study catalog...and was highly underwhelmed with what they offered. I like that they are offereing webcourses on a number of subjects...but several of those are equal to classes I've already taken or just don't need to advance my degree (presuming that my A.S. in Aviation Management could be built upon at UT).

I'll look to see what the Technology Center offers, but I'm not thinking I should expect--or ask for--much.

FP

Hey.

I need to relate this somewhere and this is probably the best first step.

Overnight I had this dream:

It started either over the Internet or at a Fantasy fans' convention in Texas. A group of college kids discovered that between them and their friends, they had enough resources to produce an epic fantasy movie. They put their aims in writing, signed up, shook hands, and set forth.

One of them, a master at deal-making, got the funding (and stealing an idea from Ed Wood, got some of the seed funds from churches!) and lined up Bruce Campbell as an Executive Producer (who also got to act as a major character!).

A team of three put together the story and wrote the scripts.

One of the group found design school students who created the costumes, set designs and props.

An engineering student and his classmates fabricated new camera systems for the project, which ultimately speeded up production and cut costs.

A pair of ROTC students in on the project got athletes and frat boys for action scene extras--and then trumped themselves by bringing in the Texas National Guard for the later battle scenes!

Actors came from college drama students (and their instructors) and local theater troupes.

Sets were built in sports arenas and vacant lots--and tied to one another via computer visual wizardry through the efforts of computer science students.

The title of the movie was Undying Kings.

FP

Hey.

A couple years ago, I went to www.assessment.com and filled out their MAPP survey to see what types of jobs and careers supposedly suited me. The below is what came out of it:

TOP 20 CAREER AREAS

1) ACCOUNTING, AUDITING, ANALYSIS
2) TITLE AND CONTRACTS
3) TRADE MANAGEMENT
4) TECHNICAL WRITING
5) INFORMATION PROCESSING
6) TRANSLATION, EDITING
7) CREATIVE WRITING
8) CORRESPONDING
9) SECRETARIAL
10) INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
11) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
12) CUSTOMER SERVICES
13) CLASSIFICATION
14) ENGINEERING
15) RESEARCH
16) SCIENCE
17) TEACHING
18) MATHEMATICS/DATA RECORDING
19) INFORMATION GATHERING/MEDIA
20) INSTRUCTION SUPERVISION

TOP 90 JOB POSITIONS (Out of 900 possibilities)

1) SOIL CONSERVATIONIST
2) COMPUTER SECURITY SPECIALIST
3) DATABASE MANAGER
4) PRODUCT SAFETY ENGINEER
5) NUCLEAR MEDICINE TECHNICIAN
6) RANGE MANAGER
7) MATERIALS ENGINEER
8) BIOLOGIST
9) ZOOLOGIST
10) COMPUTER PROGRAMMER
11) ARCHEOLOGIST
12) PHYSICIST
13) AEROSPACE SCIENTIST
14) MATERIALS SCIENTIST
15) SOIL SCIENTIST
16) CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
17) FIRE PREVENTION ENGINEER
18) ELECTRONICS ENGINEER
19) AGRICULTURAL INSPECTOR
20) FIRE INVESTIGATOR
21) CORONER
22) NETWORK SYSTEMS ANALYST
23) OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY SPECIALIST
24) AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER
25) CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING INSPECTOR
26) ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
27) PUBLIC TRANSPORT INSPECTOR
28) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR
29) FOOD SCIENTIST
30) ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST
31) INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
32) GEOGRAPHER
33) BOTANIST
34) COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER
35) MARINE ENGINEER
36) MUSEUM TECHNICIAN/CONSERVATOR
37) MICROBIOLOGIST
38) WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST
39) FORESTER
40) FISH & GAME WARDEN
41) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE INSPECTOR
42) TRAFFIC TECHNICIAN
43) AVIATION INSPECTOR
44) INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ENGINEER
45) MATHEMATICAL TECHNICIAN
46) OPERATIONS RESEARCH ANALYST
47) MATHEMATICIAN
48) PHARMACIST
49) ANESTHESIOLOGIST
50) COMPUTER HARDWARE ENGINEER
51) ELECTRONIC DRAFTER
52) MECHANICAL DRAFTER
53) AIRCREW/SHIP'S CREW
54) OPTOMETRIST
55) CHILD SUPPORT/MISSING PERSONS/FRAUD INVESTIGATOR
56) ASTRONOMER
57) ANTHROPOLOGIST
58) GEOLOGIST
59) HYDROLOGIST
60) POLITICAL SCIENTIST
61) SOCIOLOGIST
62) FORENSIC SCIENCE TECHNICIAN
63) ARCHIVIST
64) SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER (EARLY)
65) SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER (MIDDLE)
66) SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER (SECONDARY)
67) COMPUTER SOFTWARE ENGINEER, APPLICATIONS
68) COMPUTER SOFTWARE ENGINEER, SYSTEMS
69) COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYST
70) GOVERNMENT PROPERTY INSPECTOR/INVESTIGATOR
71) REAL ESTATE APPRAISER
72) ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
73) BIOCHEMIST
74) CIVIL DRAFTER
75) ELECTRICAL DRAFTER
76) MECHANICAL ENGINEER
77) MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER
78) SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER
79) BIOPHYSICIST
80) ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE TECHNICIAN
81) VOCATIONAL TEACHER, MIDDLE
82) VOCATIONAL TEACHER, SECONDARY
83) MARKET RESEARCH ANALYST
84) URBAN/REGIONAL PLANNER
85) CHEMIST
86) MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNICIAN
87) CARDIOVASCULAR TECHNICIAN
88) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT
89) OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
90) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

I could make snide remarks about a lot of these positions but I don't have the energy at the moment. It set me back about $30 to get this information.

The bizarre thing about my life is that I flunked High School mostly from Science. I didn't get my Math levels up high enough to get into Physics courses, so I was left with Biology and Chemistry and Geology and Astronomy--all of which I had problems with. I did much better in my College Science courses, but that's hardly any consolation. I don't think there's anything on that list that I can get a job doing right now. Either I'd have to go back to College and get a bigger degree, or find somebody willing to lower their standards for me--and I would probably balk at that prospect on ethical grounds.

More than once my folks have said that it may be that I'll have to invent a whole new industry with myself as the world's first employee in that field. I'm afraid of it coming to this.

FP