flying – Page 2 – Serenity Through Sweat

Tangible

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about something I struggle with both personally and professionally, the nature of a tangible finished product.

I think all of us feel a sense of pride and purpose from a completed project. There is something about our own creation, something new where before there was something old, or even nothing, that fills a hole inside all of us.

Even the simplest of tasks can produce a spectrum of emotion inside and generate the momentum necessary for a positive day. But it is easy to overlook so many of our tasks because the world we live in has moved away from the tangible.

An early birthday celebration for Speedy

As a pilot I struggle with this concept. On a given three or four day trip I will fly hundreds if not a few thousand people. Each of them have a story, a reason for traveling, and connecting them from point A to point B is an important and fulfilling endeavor.

But, at the end of a long day of flying sometimes it is hard to remember where I even went. There is nothing to show for my day’s work, just another hotel room and another day’s worth of missions ahead. The service I provide is very real and valuable, but it lacks a tangible nature that serves as a validation and a reminder of worth.

Fitness has a lot of the same characteristics. Miles run or biked, kettlebells swung, pull-ups rep’d, they are all valuable and worthy endeavors. Oftentimes though we are left only with a puddle of sweat and delayed onset muscle soreness as our only reminder of the work that was done.

I think that is why I feel a special sense of fulfillment when I complete a project around the house. To build, to create, to progress through a planned project, producing something new, scratches an itch that is left unattended by my other endeavors.

My wife requested a new bench for our kitchen table. The project was a relatively simple one, and we were able to involve the whole family in one way or another. The result is nothing special, but it is functional, matches the existing table, and is more resilient than it’s predecessor.

Beyond that it is a tangible creation, a useful household item shaped by family hands, and a reminder of the fruits of our labor. The bench project has been a nice change of pace from a expiration based service job and a a fitness journey that is mostly solo (especially during covid).

I hope that we are all able to find serenity in both the tangible and the intangible as they ebb and flow through our lives.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Exposure

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about exposure. Not in the sense of contact with a disease, but rather contact with each other and with our ideas.

Regardless of your risk aversion and where you fall on the stay at home spectrum, all of us have been seeing a lot less of each other recently. Technology has made this the best time ever to have to be quarantined, but there are still considerable side effects from our lack of exposure to one another.

Just like or immune system grows stronger by exposure to various microbes, our minds grow stronger by exposure to ideas. Obviously books, the internet, and most forms of media are still up and running, but humans are social creatures who are meant to interact. A large portion of those interactions has been removed, and thus a large portion of the ideas we share with each other.

I didn’t realize how much I was missing this exposure until I got back to work. I was far from solitary confinement, in fact as a pilot, this was probably the most consecutive nights I’ve spent with my wife ever. But all of the other human interaction and exchanges had been removed.

Most of the captains I fly with are at very different points in their life. Most have grown kids out of the house, some have grand kids. Most differ politically, religiously, and seldom enjoy the same hobbies as I do. But spending time with them, being exposed to their ideas, their story, and their experience, is helpful if I am willing let it be.

Sometimes it is seeing a situation and thinking, I hope I don’t handle it that way when I’m a captain. Sometimes it is an attitude or character attribute to be admired or one to be avoided. Sometimes it is a political or scientific idea so crazy you just have to laugh. The only way to test your own ideas and grow a more robust perspective, is to be exposed to those things in others listening openly and earnestly.

I’m grateful to be getting back to flying, and while my wife and I are both anxious about the additional social interactions, (especially with speedy still only three months old), I’m very grateful for the exposure.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

TLAR

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. As I get back to flying after a long layoff for paternity, I find myself falling back into a work routine and relying on my years of training. One of the cornerstone lessons all the way back from my private pilot’s license is TLAR.

TLAR is an acronym for “That Looks About Right”. The idea is with any situation in aviation we have target metrics but we also have a sight picture of what we should be seeing. So you might have a target airspeed +/- 10 knots, a target altitude +/- 100 feet, and a target heading +/- 5 degrees. To go along with those metrics you have an idea in your head of what the situation should look like, again with a +/-.

Tuesday morning causeway miles before work

TLAR gives you the ability to say even with the metrics within limits, if it doesn’t look about right, let’s reset and try it again because something might be off. Let’s get to a safe altitude and configuration, and assess what happened and even if there isn’t a problem that can be identified, safety was prioritized, and the only cost was a few minutes and some jet fuel.

In fact most of the procedures written in to our policy manual include verbiage something along the lines of “pitch or power settings not consistent with situation” as a criteria to discontinue the maneuver. Basically, if it doesn’t look right stop, and then, assess and re-establish.

What makes TLAR work is repetition and training. If you see the same picture over and over again, and you know what adjustments to make to change the picture, you can make decisions about when something looks right and when it doesn’t.

TLAR is a fantastic tool with low cost, and quick utilization time, for all sorts of social, work project, and family scenarios, if you can have the presence of mind to employ it.

I grew up telling everyone I would have a wrestling mat in my living room, and that glorious day has arrived

From a fitness standpoint, I can look at pace, heart rate, and percieved effort level, and adjust for variables such as sleep, nutrition, prior workload and weather, in order to get a picture of my workout. If say my pace or heart rate is way off normal, and one of the variables can’t explain it, (I ate well, slept well, not over worked, and weather is normal) maybe there is something wrong, and I can use that picture to adjust my training accordingly.

I can use the same sort of assessments looking at El Duderino’s behavior. Not that it is perfect or always within our expectations as parents, but rather is it about right given he is a toddler, stuck at home during Covid-19, who just became a big brother and is now sharing attention. Adjusting for variables and conditions, you can look at the vast majority of his behavior and say that looks about right, and quickly point out when behaviors no longer line up with the expected picture.

When a behavior doesn’t pass the TLAR test, I start out giving him the benefit of the doubt, examining variables and conditions first, and then asking him about. More often than not, he knows the established rules and when he has violated them. He knows when is behavior looks about right and when it doesn’t, but being 2 ½ years old, he doesn’t yet have to presence of mind to stop and correct in the moment.

Having the training and knowledge to understand what “looks about right” for a given situation, and the presence of mind to stop the operation and reset as necessary is what TLAR is all about. TLAR is a skill, and like most valuable skills, it requires repetition and dedication. It is also another valuable tool in the tool belt of Serenity.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Travel Tip Tuesday: Teton Seat Cushion

All alliteration aside thanks for joining me for another edition of travel tip Tuesday. This week I’m talking about the Teton seat cushion.

As someone who spends a lot of time in decidedly uncomfortable aircraft seats (our cockpit seats are less comfortable than coach) this thing is a real lifesaver.

Trying to get a workout in after a full day of work is hard enough, adding a sore back and legs in to that equation isn’t necessary. On the other side working out in the morning and then trying to recover on a stone hard seat is equally no bueno.

This was a Christmas gift from my wife and after two four day trips with it, I notice a huge difference in how I feel after a day of flying. Super bonus, it is an added insulated layer for those aircraft that spend the night in Minneapolis when your Florida butt is not conditioned to sit on those overnight frozen seats.

I haven’t gotten a chance to use this outside of work, but I can already think of plenty of other places where it will be great, camping, tailgating, and I’m looking at you, gym bleachers at a Jiu Jitsu or wrestling tournament.

This also packs down to about the size of a small water bottle and can easily be attached to the outside of a bag with a carabiner clip on the draw string.

Next to a 32oz Nalgene for size comparison

If you find yourself a little achy after your next flight, or you spend your weekends in uncomfortable gym bleachers for your little one’s activities I would highly recommend the Teton seat cushion.

I am in no way affiliated with Teton sports, and am not receiving any compensation for this post. It is available at

TETON Sports Seat Cushion; No More Hard Stadium Seat Pain; Office Chair; Car https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009L1MXE0/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_r4sfEbKW21526

Thanks for joining me for another Travel Tip Tuesday, stay sweaty my friends.

Travel Tip Tuesday: Zendure passport

All alliteration aside, welcome back to travel tip Tuesday where I break down some things I’ve learned while living out of a suitcase.

This week I want to talk about one of my favorite travel accessories the Zendure passport. I am in no way affiliated with this company and am receiving no compensation for this post. I received this as a gift from my wife and I don’t leave for a trip without it.

The Zendure passport has 4 USB ports plus the option to plug in another charger

When I travel for work I have an iPad for charts and work documents, a backup battery so I can run that iPad all day in the plane, my cell phone, and then a set of wireless ear buds for workouts. If you spend any time in a hotel, good luck finding enough places to charge all this stuff, plus not forgetting it when it’s plugged in all over your room. The Zendure passport has 4 USB ports so everything can charge at the same time and in the same place. It also has a built in surge protector and 4 different power adapter settings so you can use it anywhere in the world.

4 different adapter settings for use wherever your journey takes you

My wife bought this for me when it was a Kickstarter product but they have their own store open now at https://zendure.com/collections/power-adapters/products/passport-30w-travel-adapter-white

If you have ever found yourself frustrated with your charger situation on a trip I highly recommend checking out the Zendure passport. Thanks for joining me for Travel Tip Tuesday, stay sweaty my friends.