NIAGARA FALLS

The other day while flying out of Newark (EWR), to Toronto (YYZ), we had to fly at 10,000 feet to make an on-time departure due to thunderstorms in the area. Even though we didn't see any of the storms, air traffic control let us go at the lower level to get us out. It was a nice little sight seeing trip, and here's a shot of Niagara Falls I was able to take when we flew past Buffalo, NY. One of these days I'm going to have to go look at this beautiful waterfall up close. Incredible, isn't it?

MONSTER AIRBUS 380 IN TORONTO

During my last trip, I finally got to see the world's largest passenger airplane, the Airbus 380. This plane is HUGE as you can see from the planes parked beside it. Only a few airports in the USA are large enough to handle this monster. Of course, an OIL nation is one of the first to be flying this behemoth. I think it'd be hard to fly a plane that takes one to two hours to board as the lavatory's would need to be cleaned before you even left the gate. ;-) , on the ramp in Toronto (YYZ).

MARIA AT THE BEACH

Today Maria and I decided to go to Hollywood Beach which is only a 5 minute drive from my condo. It was absolutely GORGEOUS at the beach.......until we went and found a parking ticket on my car for $30. It seems we parked in a "Beach Patrol" spot that is never used by ANYONE, not to mention the "Beach Patrol" (and it is located BETWEEN other parking spots, so it catches a LOT of so-called "illegally" parked cars) . I have now decided that I will spend my money and time at South Beach since they seem to be more "people friendly" than Hollywood will EVER be. As much as I love the little town of Hollywood, Florida, where I live, the city planners and directors have so much money for the "parking police" that they've run quite a few locals off with their obsession of ticketing overdue cars, and now I'll join them in patronizing Miami, instead of Hollywood. I hope the parking attendant is proud of her new accomplishment. Sad, isn't it?

MY OFFICE AT NIGHT

I've done quite a bit of night flying lately, so I decided to take a shot of my "office" at night for everyone to see. I'm flying in a B737-900ER (extended range) and the First Officer said he'd watch the controls so I could take a few pictures. Pretty neat, eh? Night flying is so calming..........and the sights are incredible. Lightning presents us with quite a few visual "shows", and of course the sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking. I think being a pilot was a wise choice for me!

I'VE WAITED 51 YEARS FOR THIS!!!

Well, yesterday, August 5th, was my 51st birthday. Yep, I had to wait 51 years for this day to arrive.........and I got to work ALL day long. Hmmmmm, what's wrong with THAT???? :-) Anyways, I had a great birthday and flew with some wonderful crews. On the flight from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN) to Newark (EWR), one of the flight attendants, Nadia Bravo, brought a brownie with a candle up for me. Was pretty neat! Maria got me a laptop, my mom gave me a GPS, and my sister and brother some well needed $$$, and I also got several texts and calls from friends. Thanks for remembering me everyone!! Here's to another 51 years!!