Category: Career Change
Goodnight Airplane
If you’re ever at the airport late at night, or early in the morning, you may have noticed that a lot of planes spend the night at the gates. Have you wondered what is going […]
I Thought I Was Done Dealing with Teenagers
Regular readers of my blog might remember that I dealt with some immature characters while I was in airplane mechanic school. The kids in my class sometimes frustrated me, sometimes amused me and sometimes pissed […]
Another Live Story
A few months ago I did another Moth Story Slam. This time the theme was “risk.” I talked about how I went from being a Microsoft corporate grind to a line mechanic for a major […]
Nearly Wordless Wednesday
Yesterday I helped with my employer’s annual holiday party for kids in need, which included shuttling about 92 million boxes of inflatable decorations on the freight elevator. What I really wanted to do was stab […]
Remember My Writing Career?
Remember how, in addition to becoming an airplane mechanic, I was also into writing? Remember how I wrote a book? And published it myself? Well, about a year ago, I signed on with Booktrope to […]
Postcards from the South – Part IV
Continuing the story from last week, after consuming half the contents of an Applebee’s I visited the Publix for snacks to get me through the next day’s ride, then returned to my hotel room, which, […]
Postcards from the South Part I
My new job has sent me to a city, far from my home in Seattle, to learn about the Airbus 330, one of the planes in the fleet that I see frequently in Seattle. I […]
Top 5 Reasons Why Being a New Airplane Mechanic is Awesome
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I was recently hired as a full time line mechanic at a major airline. Yay! This week I’m spending some time at the mothership getting fleet training on […]
You Know You’re An Airplane Mechanic When …
You’re constantly slapping yourself on the forehead and wondering why your headlamp isn’t there to light up your food prep/book/sock drawer the way it’s always there for you when you’re working. You come to think […]
The Learning (and Fun) Never Stops
Having survived 2 years of airplane mechanic school, and two days of oral and practical exams, I thought I might be done with formal schooling for a while, but since I got hired at my […]
New Admiration for Sheet Metal Workers
This is what I have spent all my time doing this past week. Sheet metal work, especially with three dimensional forms, is HARD!. These plans: And these tools: Became this “wing.” The B, wasn’t the […]
AMAM
I debated whether I should post about sexism, because generally I try to keep a positive attitude about being a woman in a male-dominated field. And, the positive attitude is largely justified, because most of […]
The Possible Will Take a Little While
Back when I was working at Microsoft I had no free time because I was working all the time. Then I left Microsoft and looked forward to having lots of time to catch up on […]
Time is Going to Pass Regardless
In 4.5 weeks I will be done with airplane school. I mean, really, really done. Finit. It’s kind of blowing my mind because it really does feel as if I started just a few days […]
Update on Some Random Stuff
A while back I mentioned that I am going to republish Raising John through Booktrope. I am really excited about this opportunity, but I am having to rein in my excitement until I can find […]
Fixing – Not Just for Airplanes
Two things that have changed significantly since I left Microsoft and started airplane mechanic school: I have more time to do things around the house, because I no longer work punishingly long days; I know […]
As the Propeller Turns – That’s a Wrap Edition
I survived the quarter! It doesn’t sound like that much of a feat, but given the drama of the past few weeks, there were a few times when I really wanted the end to come […]
As the Propeller Turns – Stuff Gets Real Edition
I’m in the last week of my penultimate quarter of airplane mechanic school. Fun times. Here’s a sampling of occurrences since last week: Apparently I upset my classmate, Young Guy Who Acts Like a Crabby […]
As the Propeller Turns – Human Factors Edition
I have a classmate (known in other posts as Young Guy Who Acts Like a Crabby Old Guy) who flies into a rage every time I suggest that I know something he doesn’t know, or […]
As the Propeller Turns – Inappropriate Conversation Edition
Last week’s post about a day in the life of an airplane mechanic student was so popular, I’m back this week with more snippets from my favorite conversations. There was this one: Man-Child to me: […]
A Day in the Life of an Airplane Mechanic Student
(Names changed to protect the innocent and incompetent.) 6:55 – Shoulder backpack and point keyfob back over my shoulder to lock my car as I fast-walk to the entrance of the hangar where school is […]
Airplane TechTalk for the Non-Technical: Propeller Basics
I have signed up to take the first of my FAA certification exams in just 10 shorts weeks (eeep!) so expect more of these techtalk posts as I work through the material I need to […]
Airplane Tech Talk for the Non-Technical: Cabin Pressurization
Another in my occasional series demystifying the inner workings of airplanes. This week – cabin pressurization. As most people know, modern passenger planes are usually propelled by turbine engines, and usually fly at around 35,000 […]
Lives Real and Imagined
Today I visited the campus of my alma mater. I hadn’t been here since the last reunion, and being here on a non-reunion day is quite a bit different, and being here between school sessions […]
Ten Things I Have Learned Since Starting Airplane Mechanic School
1. I used to think I was unable to learn new things. You get that way as you get older. School starts to seem like a young person’s game and the brain starts to feel […]
Airplane Tech Talk for the Non-Technical: Cabin Cooling Systems
My prior duo of posts about airplane turbine and reciprocating engines was popular, so I’ll expand the series to talk about the mysterious inner workings of other airplane parts. This week, let’s talk cabin cooling. Smaller […]
Airplane Tech Talk for the Non-Technical – Turbines
A couple of weeks ago I explained reciprocating engines, especially as they relate to aircraft. But, truth be known, I’m all about the turbines. Turbine engines are what got me excited about airplanes to begin with. […]
Airplane Tech Talk for the Non-Technical – Reciprocating Engines
Today is the first test of the quarter, and since I have utterly failed at my “write blog posts on the weekends and queue them up to prevent Tuesday-night blog-post-writing panic” plan, this post is […]
Flight Test
Updated on 6/12/2014 My career shift just keeps getting better. This week I’ll be talking to a flight test manager at Boeing, so I can learn more about the role of flight test mechanic, get […]
Best Day Ever
In life, you can go with the safe option, and know that you’ll be able to predict how most of your future days will go. Or you can toss the safe option out the window, […]
As the Propeller Turns – Spring, 2014
This is one of my occasional series of posts about airplane mechanic school. You can read the other posts in the series here. Believe it or not, I’m over the hump. I’m 2.5 weeks away […]
Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast
Back in the 90s Jeffrey Mayer wrote If You Haven’t Got the Time to Do It Right, When Will You Find the Time to Do It Over? The title was based on a quote attributed […]
Happy Dreamversary, Me
One year and one day ago, I was just over a week out of Microsoft, and sitting in my first day of class in the Aviation Maintenance program at South Seattle Community College. I was […]
Aerospace Maintenance Competition
It’s over for this year. Four classmates and I competed as the only all-woman team at the annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition. It was our first time out. We competed against a roster of student teams […]
A Lot Can Happen in a Year
Last year at this time I had just said goodbye to Microsoft and was preparing to start airplane school. Today I’m competing in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition in Las Vegas. It’s kind of blowing my […]
Aerospace Maintenance Competition – Here I Come!
Next week I’m going to Vegas to participate in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition. It’s put on by various manufacturers and airlines as a way for them to do research about their products and methods while […]
Why You Should Wear Pink To Work on Airplanes (If That’s What You Want to Do)
In a few weeks I will be competing in the annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition. A year ago I didn’t even know such a thing existed. I’m nervous – I need to improve my skills in […]
As the Hangar Turns
Believe it or not, I’m nearing the halfway point of my airplane mechanic schooling. So far it has been an interesting ride. Here are some highlights from the past year. First quarter was almost all […]
“Do What You Love” – Nice Work if You Can Get It
Last week Slate ran this article. Its point is that the aphorism to “do what you love” is steeped in the oblivion of privilege and that it’s insulting to those who must, simply, work. Given […]
The Often Convoluted Road to Indie Publishing a Book
I’m finally done. Galleys proofed, cover finalized, acknowledgements made. I’m ready to publish my book! I’ll have a link up soon, but in the meantime, you might be interested in hearing what all goes into […]
More Postcards From the Hangar
Wow, time flies. Kind of like the airplanes at my school don’t. It’s hard for me to believe this, but I am one final exam away from completing my third quarter of airplane mechanic school. […]
A Novel’s Worth of Blog Posts
Dingdingdingdingding! I have reached a milestone. This is my hundredth blog post. Do I get a prize? Does the International Blog Registry hand out plaques or commemorative clocks for this achievement? No? OK, I’ll just […]
Are You Productive, or Are You Just Busy?
I have been thinking about this lately, because as I have become less busy, I have become protective of my free time, not because I require vast tracts of empty space on my calendar for […]
The Deprivation/Freedom Equation
Twenty frozen bananas cascaded out of my freezer the other day. As they ricocheted off my feet and skittered across the kitchen floor I was reminded of something I have known at various times in […]
What No One Tells You about Gaining your Freedom
During the periods in my life when I have felt overworked and overscheduled I have looked forward to a time when things would slack up a bit. I would imagine all the things I would […]
A Sense of Purpose Has Many Uses
Nothing is perfect, even airplane school. The flaw is a small peanut gallery who issue snotty remarks from the left (or, in aviation-speak, portside) rear corner of the room. I don’t know these guys, and […]
Five Weeks and Counting
I am in my fifth week of Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) school. It’s a drastic change from my previous life, but from the first day, I have had exactly zero moments of doubt. Even when […]
Dreams Can Come True
I am in my first week of airplane school and so far it seems like one of the best decisions I have ever made. I don’t miss my old job at all (sorry Microsoft!) and […]
And Now for Something Completely Different
It started furtively – I would spend secret Saturday afternoons near the airport, standing under the ILS towers, head thrown back, watching the lineup coming in to land, staring at the bellies of 737s and […]
Jennifer Lesher 