Day 1

22 August 2011

It takes me 30 minutes from my door to the door of the classroom with 6:30AM traffic.
NPR says Kadaffi isn't going to last long.

I got to class early, so I sat in the parking lot and drank coffee.
Quiet morning. Still. Calm. Optimistic.  Unsure. Curious.

Determined?
All is quiet in the classroom now. Humans are strange. This type is, anyway... Homo 'Merikanus.

Start smoking again? No. Just shut up and drink your coffee.

The instructor walks in and writes "Ground Operations" on the whiteboard with a faded green marker.
We all open our notebooks. Skulls full of mush. Monkeys ready to be launched into space.

First we talk about the program and how long it has been around. Then we are given interview forms to fill out for another person in the class. We then introduce them. I've seen this ice-breaker technique used before, but it seemed to work pretty well with this group.

I learn that I need to work on my penmanship because I'll have to fill out lots of paperwork.

We talk about the tool list and take a tour of the facility. We discuss books, career options as an AMT, and we spend a lot of time talking about safety. We discuss the particulars of safety when it comes to individual shop machines, and then we take a safety test. 

I learn that licensure costs not only the expense of the course, but exam expenses as well:
General, Airframe and Powerplant written tests all cost $150 apiece.
The O&P (practicals) for each of those three cost around $150 apiece.

$900 just to take the test. Mark that up to things I didn't know.