On 2/12/14, 8:01 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/12/2014 6:12 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/12/14, 6:07 PM, Bill McKee wrote:
On 2/12/14, 3:00 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/12/2014 5:45 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
Right now, 5:43 PM, we've got a little freezing rain, but the radar
shows lotsa snow coming our way and actually, it looks it is
snowing in
LaPlata, MD, south and west of here maybe 30 miles.




I am hoping the weather forecasters up here have it right and enough
warm air is pulled in from the ocean to keep it mostly rain.

I *am not* putting the plow back on the truck !


YOu could actually get in an airplane. Go see Gregg for a few days. or
boat with Wayne. Leave the wife with the pets and snow. ;)


News is reporting most flights along the Eastern Seaboard at least down
to Savannah have been canceled. One of my Connecticut friends got an
early flight this morning out of La Guardia to Savannah, but another's
flight to Ft. Lauderdale was cancelled. Combination of bad weather and
inability to get crews and equipment where needed for scheduled flights.




Unrelated to weather but mentioning cancellations reminded me of a news
article I read today.

Apparently the small regional airlines that are contracted by the large
airlines to handle the short hops are scaling back on flights and
aircraft due to a lack of qualified pilots. There's a couple of
reasons. The first is that in 2010 Congress mandated that regional
pilots hold an ATP certificate that requires a minimum of 1,500 hours of
logged flying hours before qualifying as a commercial, passenger
carrying pilot. Previously the requirement was 250 hours and a
commercial pilot certificate only. The second (related to the first)
is pay. The regional pilots have starting wages that are close to
minimum wage. A pilot for Piedmont starts at about $21K a year and the
cost to get enough prerequisite hours has become prohibitive.

The change in requirements became effective last August.




Hell, a cab driver can do better than that.

I have a package coming to me from California via FEDEX, scheduled for
delivery tomorrow. I doubt it. It apparently got diverted from the
Memphis hub to Newark. I just checked on it, and it left Newark at 7:45,
but certainly not by air. If it is on a truck, the driver is driving
right into the snowstorm. On a night like this, that really sucks.

--
Sarah Palin is watching the Sochi Olympic Games from the front porch of
her house.