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My Favorite Things: View to a Thrill

Thrilling view of the mountains east of Orange County, CA.

I was an adult at the time. In fact, I was the general manager of a multimillion dollar company, for crying out loud. But there I was, seated in an aisle seat on a plane, fuming. Not because the flight was delayed. Not because they didn’t serve my favorite drink or not have my first choice of a meal. I was upset because I couldn’t get my beloved window seat and the man…nay…loser, seated in the window seat, kept the shade closed, thus denying my ability to see out. To make things worse, I was over the wing, so when he did eventually open the shade, I couldn’t see a thing. Damned wing!

It was like I was 6, not 30!
Now that I fly all for a living, I’m not that way at all. I do still enjoy the times I get to fly in a window seat. I can sit there for long periods of time just gazing at the landscape below, watching rivers snake, boat wakes on lakes, and all the lights when flying late. Sitting in a window seat is great! But if I’m not at the window, it doesn’t increase my heart rate. 
Even on the ground, I enjoy seeing what’s going on.
It also used to frustrate me when flying over cloud coverage because I couldn’t see the towns and cities and fields below. I do, however, love flying through skies with tall, billowy clouds. Being a huge Star Wars fan with a vivid imagination, in my mind they aren’t clouds we are flying around, but huge star ships hovering above foreign planets!
I’m leavin’ Las Vegas, yeah, yeah.
Even on the jumpseat, I enjoy trying to steal a view. One of the things I dislike about working on the 737 is how our view out of the door portholes are so limited. One can’t see at all out of door 1 Left when sitting in the jump seat. It’s also difficult to see out of the portholes on the 767. They are distorted and angled down; made more for ensuring safe egress in emergency situations than sight seeing.
I no longer fume over not sitting at the window. When working, I’m often tired when I fly in a passenger seat, and I’m just ready to take a nap. The window seats are great for sleeping, in that I can prop myself against the aircraft wall. It’s much better than being in the middle, crammed between other people, or in the aisle, where the cart goes back and forth and one tends to get bumped a lot by passengers and even crew.
Porthole view of IAH airport, Texas.
Yes, I’ll take that window seat whenever I get the chance. It’s nice to be out of the way, but there is nothing like being able to get that wonderful view; the cloud formations, the waterways, the mountains and forests, the cities and towns. I hardly ever take for granted the wonderful views of sunsets and the chance to view things from above. Another thing I tend to do is count people I see on the ground before touchdown. Sometimes it’s hard to find them, especially if flying into an airport surrounded by businesses.
There is nothing quite like some good tunes on my MP3 and a great view from my airliner window seat. It’s my favorite!
Flying over airports is my favorite!
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Adventures in Life: My Penguinmas

The littlest Penguin! I was so cute!

I had the funniest birthday call of my life today. I’ve always said that my brother is one of the funniest people I know. He called from work to wish me a happy birthday, the third person to do so to that point. I told him about missing the call from Mom and Dad first thing this morning. You see, when they called, it came up as unavailable roaming, so I didn’t answer. (I actually sort of forgot it was my birthday when I woke up!)
A few hours later, the phone rang again and it was unavailable, but I chose to answer. It was Mom, asking if my phone said it was unavailable. Upon hearing that it was, she got flustered and announced that she would call me right back, but then flung a quick, “Oh, and happy birthday!”, at me before hanging up. Within a minute the phone rang once again, and there was Mom, asking what it said. “Unavailable.”
Jason asked, “What did Mom think she was going to do to change what your phone said?” He next mimicked her talking to her phone, “Hello, this is Linda calling my son, Penguin. He knows me…”
Earth to Penguin!

I’m dying laughing. “I know, right?” I banter back. “It’s OK…I’m his mother…Leela calling my son Penguin…”

Mom calls herself, “Oh Revered One,” but Jason thinks it’s more like “Oh Reversed One”. So with this new detail of imagined interaction between Mom and her phone, I said that she told her phone she was “Oh Known One,” hoping that my phone would know who was dialing.
Somehow, we got on the topic of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry talks about the agreement we have with pigeons. They get out of our way, and we don’t bother them. But every now and then, the protocol is broken and chaos ensues. I was about to fall out of my chair in stitches! Our imaginations have always done us justice for a good laugh! Thank you, Brosef.
Next, my grandmother called and as she has done every year for the past 47, she gave me a wonderfully upbeat birthday greeting. She then launched into the story of she and my grandfather being present when I was born. I don’t get this story every year, and I’m not sure how she goes about selecting the years I get it, but it’s always nice to get the refresher.
“I got the call that your mother was in labor,” she starts, “and I had to call Poppy at work, who rushed home right away. We then drove to the hospital and were able to be there when you were were born. Later, we went to your dad’s apartment and Poppy pulled me close and said, ‘Come here, I want to see what it’s like to kiss a grandmother!’” My Poppy, he was a romantic!
She’s so cute, and wants to know what I’m doing for my birthday. This one wasn’t super exciting. I’m on call at work, but knew I was not going to be called, so I had a few chores to do around the house; vacuuming, arranging, laundry, cat boxes, etc. I had a coupon for Hooters, so I told her I’d be going for free wings for dinner. She was happy to hear I was doing something fun.
Another highlight of my day was the call from my Aunt, Glenda. I don’t hear from her as much as I’d like and she has the most wonderful, sultry, sweet southern accent of anyone I know! She lives in Dallas and I’ve only seen her once in the past 10 years. It’s so sad, and I promised to work on that. Now that I’m back in Houston, I need to just drive up for a visit! It was so nice to hear her voice and know that she thought of me today.
A few friends

Most of my wishes came to me via my only social life, currently…the dreaded Facebook! I did also hear from a very dear friend in LA and a few other close friends who wanted to let me know I was thought of.
Best birthday phone calls…ever!
The kink in my day involved my new kitty, Cusco. I was cleaning the cat box, and I’ve found out in the few months that I’ve had him that he’s the kind of cat who is fascinated with watching me clean his box. He watches with great interest, but today, he got right in it.
“Cusco!” I said, “I’m still cleaning that. Can’t you wait? OK, well, I guess not,” as he started in on number one. I waited and tried to look away, to give him some privacy, but he didn’t seem to care one way or another. I know I would want my human to give me that courtesy.
After scratching around, I could tell that he was now about to issue number two.
“Oh, come on! Cusco…really?” He ignored me as he found the prime position for doing his business. Unbelievable!
Kitty Cusco

When he was finally done, I started to finish my task in scooping the cat diamonds when I noticed in his fresh deposit, disgusting little whitish worms. Ugh! I got a small plastic baggy, knowing the vet would love to inspect it, and called for an immediate appointment.
After a very positive visit with the vet, I got him settled back in at home and left for dinner. I’d not been to Hooters in a long time. I used to go there often and I had received a birthday gift from them for free wings. I sat with my nice, cold Blue Moon and posted on line about my enjoying wings and a lap dance. The wings were spicy and the lap dance was my napkin, but that was the best action I’ve had in a while!
Young Batman Penguin

It was good day and I don’t feel any older. (Not that I really could! How the hell did I get this old, any way? That little boy I used to be is still lurking inside me constantly trying to get back out. I think he wants to watch Batman and play with Legos and Star Wars toys!)

My birthday…It was a Penguinmas Miracle!
Jedi Penguin