Peeking Into First Class

Snuk a peek behind the curtain to see the upper crust in rows 1-5.  Oh, I am so naughty.

Mikey. Pay no attention to the people behind the curtain.

Mike Borfitz
www.The-Big-Run.com
www.Borfitz.aero
www.AvQuality.com

Sent from my cell

Seattle Boogie

SeaTac Airport has 3 security lines, South, Central & North. I walked to the airport to get the blood flowing & saw the South security line extended past the ropes.  Same for Central. Shit.  North had maybe 30 people. YIPPEE a good start!  On the plane, relaxing, didn't say MOO as I was boarding. A good sign.  

I work for Aviation Partners Boeing, they make all the winglets you see on Boeing airplanes.  This will be my first flight on a plane with these things installed.  I glanced out & saw the winglet on the right wing, it's HUGE!  The SeaTac tower is, I dunno, 250 feet tall and this winglet dwarfs it. Amazing.

Mike Borfitz
www.The-Big-Run.com
www.Borfitz.aero
www.AvQuality.com

Sent from my cell

Ready to Rock & Roll!

I'm sitting in my meditation (aka comfy) chair, ready to walk to the airport & git outta Dodge.  Not feeling as excited as one might think, maybe because I'm more pumped about the arrival than the departure.  

I'm kind of an ancient traveler, flying to different destinations for nearly 60 years and the cattle car mentality we have today is no event, it's a burden of our time that must be endured.  OK, I've made aviation my professional life and I love airplanes & all other flying things, including baseballs & rocks when they're in the air, but air travel is a trudge.    I do my best to get into travel mode, a partial system shut-down, but sometimes as I cross the threshold of the passenger door & glance around for the airplane data plate, I udder (pun intended) a very quiet M-M-M-M-OOO.

Mike Borfitz
206-714-8797
www.Borfitz.aero
www.AvQuality.com

Sent from my cell

Oh, I've been too quiet for too long, guess I've been in my cave for the last year or so.  More on that later.  For NOW, however, I'm back and hope to start blogging a bit more in the very near future.  This pic is my 1941 Harley UL Flathead, nicknamed "Mosey" because that's the way we travel together.  This is no crotch rocket, and when I start my pal and saddle up, we just mosey along.  The photo was taken on the eastern foothills of the Olympic Mountains in Washington.  I was going to run around the peninsula but got to Ocean Shores and ran in to marine fog & very low ceilings.  Fog as in - you can see the droplets, and 55 degrees, while back in Seattle it was 80-90 and clear clear.  Ah, the great Northwest is a diverse place indeed. 

So as of this moment Mosey is in Yuma AZ, with my friend Bob, who we call The Wizard because he seems to know all there is to know about getting, and especially KEEPING, old Harleys running.  Bob was in  Seattle delivering a car to a customer so we loaded our bikes up & said goodbye to Bob.  I'll be flying down on Sunday with another friend, Ron, who has a 1932 Harley with a '37 engine, also in the trailer.  Ron is pretty adamant that it's a 1932, which really is the case, but I like to needle him so I average the two years and call it a 1934.5 bike.  I'm really glad Ron has a good soul, he takes it well.

We'll all hang out in Yuma for a bit then Ron and I will head north about a week from today.  Bob and his wife Paula may decide to join us for at least part of the ride, which will double the fun. 

Stand by, I really hope I can keep the blog going over the next 3 weeks.

On Being a Rookie Retiree

It's 3 AM and I'm sitting here trying to get myself motivated to do some work on a contract I've taken up. My Big Plan all along has been to retire & work my butt off for about 4 years then RETIRE retire without any financial worries. Thing is, I think many of us have been programmed to worry about finances and the most successful retirees are those who have managed to settle in and relax into their mostly fixed income. Maybe I've practiced that in my work life. About 10 years ago I decided to quit reaching for that stupid brass ring and enjoy myself in the workplace.

Suddenly I found myself having a lot more fun.

But retirement is different, of course. For starters, I'm WAY too young to retire. If I don't look in a mirror I'm still 35 and have 20-30 years to go before I can hang up my mouse and be done. On the other hand, I find myself looking at life very differently over just the last five years or so. The reality of time has shifted from a limitless, wide open expanse to a finite box that will hold whatever I have left in my life. AND, the good news is, I'm OK with that. I still have some things I'd like to do in my life and I have them sorted and prioritized - although if you were to ask me I couldn't give you a list. At least today's list is different than yesterdays, and tomorrow's will certainly be different than today's. And so on. What I really want to do is relax and enjoy myself in comfort.

. . . . . . and maybe go somewhere on my bike. Then do it again.

My pretty retirement plaque.

My pretty retirement plaque.  Thing is, it's signed by Randy Babbitt, who was drummed out of the Corps for getting a DUI.  That happened on December 6, 2011 but my certificate is signed December 31.  My boss pointed that out when he gave it to me, wondered if I'm legally retired.  I shall now go to my grave (many many years down the road) in wonder ...

Retirement is Very Real

Oh, I'm just coming down from my retirement party and it's very real now, my "official" career is in my past.  I had a most wonderful send-off and spent some time with people whom I care for, very deeply.   Professionally, I feel like a kite who's cut his own string. Personally, I feel like I'm being born with my eyes wide open.  I haven't blogged for some time now. Maybe it's time to start again.  Maybe I have a journey to share.  Funny how journey & journal are spelled so similarly.
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