bore-D

Its been a slow and rather boring week. I was scheduled (I use that term lightly, as my "schedule" changes weekly and often changes with little notice at the last minute) to help out in the simulators on Wednesday, running radar for two D-school students who are coming to the area to start training next week. I can't say I was impressed by their performance, but luckily we're not paying them anything to not do well. That last part was meant to be bitter and sarcastic at the same time, a new skill I'm learning....

Back on the floor Thursday night, I worked mostly as a D-side, since there is real radar training going on at two of the four open sectors most of the time. Traffic has been light due to the cloudy weather and thunderstorms in the Midwest. Once Memorial Day hits, I'll gladly take a D-side position, but until then, I'm just struggling to stay awake. There have been a few interesting moments watching the trainees attempt to separate airplanes, but nothing spectacular. The rides have been crummy lately, and the new radar controllers often have trouble keeping control of the frequency, with all the pilots constantly asking how the rides are. With that said, experienced radar controllers can have the same problem, but we don't get nearly as flustered for the most part.

I was able to off-load my Mid shift on another controller (at his request, so he can go to the Sox game on Sunday), and when all was said and done, I had three day shifts to end the week (ooooo...ahhhhh).

The highlight of my last few days was one of the few sessions I actually got to talk to airplanes. There wasn't all that much going on at DNY sector, but I did have to hold 3 LGA arrivals over RKA. Enjoy the results here, here and here.

DM