For today's article I am going to talk about my weekend and how my full-time job affected it. My primary duties at my full-time job include loading/offloading equipment and pallets onto military aircraft. I will start with my happenings on Friday and end it on Monday.
Friday
I normally work a scheduled shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday. I took Friday off thinking I could have a four day weekend since Monday was a federal holiday here. I found out on Wednesday that I was needed Friday night.
Since I had the day off I did some delivery driving to earn some extra dollars. I did this for about 8 hours in total. Once that was done I went into my full time job to work overtime.
I started there at 6:00 p.m. and got off around 1130 p.m. We always show up at work for aircraft an hour prior to their arrival time. We had two aircraft to work. The first one we had to download 3 pieces equipment and 8 pallets. Downloading aircraft is almost always easier. This task took us about an hour.
The second mission arrived while we were finishing the first aircraft. This was a high priority mission. If any of you watch the news you may have noticed U.S. President Joe Biden had travel plans overseas. One of our missions is to support Air Force One with one of our own aircraft. Our plane serves as a back up to the back up basically. I can tell you of this now because it's in the past.
This was an upload of 8 pieces of equipment and 2 containers the size of a pallet. This is one of our hardiest loads we do. A lot of chains are thrown and used to tie down equipment. Most of the equipment requires shoring (stacks of wood under axles) to ease the weight of equipment on the aircraft floor so it doesn't bounce during flight. These stacks have to be tied down with cargo straps.
This type of work is very challenging to the body regardless of how old you are. Just carrying chains around is no fun. The larger 25k capacity chains weigh 25 lbs each. I usually lug four at a time to a piece of equipment. I'll brag a little bit I have done as many as 6 💪. There are winches that bring equipment onto the aircraft but we still have to do some pushing to get the equipment in the correct position. This equipment is heavy ranging from 9000 lbs to 18,000 lbs.
It took us 3 hours to load this aircraft. When done we all talked about how nice it will be to relax and enjoy a three day weekend now. The aircraft wasn't scheduled to depart until 5 in the evening the next day.
Saturday
Well a decent day here temperatures felt warm considering it's still February. I woke up a bit sore with some bumps and bruises. I felt much better after a nice warm shower. I decided to go delivery drive after I took care of some household choirs. I drove from noon until I got a call from a co-worker around 7:00 p.m.
My co-worker didn't have a good news. The aircraft we loaded the night before had hydraulic issues and was deemed broke. We needed to be into work 8:00 p.m. to download.
Once at work it was nice to see all the chains were taken off and put away by the aircrew. Oh a sigh of relief, we were not pleased to be back but that was nice to see that task done. It took us almost two hours to download. Whenever we load an aircraft and have to download it so it can be loaded onto another aircraft we call this a "tail swap." We found out another aircraft was due in at 1:30 a.m so we had to be back 12:30. Everyone went home except me I live the farthest away. I didn't want to waste fuel to go from/to work plus I was hungry so I went to Taco Bell and brought back to work to have a late dinner.
Sunday
We all are back to work and head out to the flightline to await the arrival of our aircraft. Sleep deprivation is starting to show on some of us. We all spot the aircraft on final approach. Not once but three times the aircraft flies over head. Past experience tells me this is not good. No one really wants to say anything because we all have this jinx fear 😂
The aircraft lands and the aircrew tells us they are having issues with the nose landing gear. It's very probable this aircraft may be broke before even loading. It was a good 90 minutes before it was deemed broke. When will the 3rd aircraft come in? After sitting around another 3o minutes we were told it may be up to 24 hours.
I got home at about 4:00 a.m. and got to sleep around 4:30. I get a call at 6:50 a.m. that the aircraft will be arriving at 7:30. Oh no, that means I have to leave now. I popped in my contact lens and brushed my teeth and was out the door.
We get into work and the aircraft arrived a little before 8:00. It took us about 3 hours to load. We all looked tired and all we could think about was going home to get rest. Unfortunately I know it wasn't going to happen for me. Once we finished loading we went back to our work center to wait for the aircraft to depart. It had a shorter ground time which we refer to as a "quick turn."
I got home shortly before noon. I didn't get much time to relax because I had to take my son to basketball practice. His practice was at 12:30. I just waited at the school for it to get over. I was thinking I'll take a little nap while waiting. It didn't happen right away. I spent some time reading some articles here and a little discord time. I started to dose off at both activities and put my phone down. I slept for about 20 minutes until my son knocked on the door. It was now about 2:30.
He wanted lunch so we stopped at Burger King and went through the drive thru and brought home. Once we finished our late lunch he took a shower because he was going over to a friend's house. That involves me to give him a ride. It was around 4:30 when I dropped him off at his friends house.
I got back home about 4:45 and did a few things. I don't even remember what I did 🤣 I do remember going to bed around 8:00 and slept until 4:00 a.m.
I love my job but I hate the strange hours I work sometimes. It gives me a great satisfaction to do things that ultimately gives a mission objective a great chance of being successful. Being a transporter, troops can't accomplish their goals if they don't get there or have the things they need. It's a physical job already but losing a lot sleep is no fun on top of it. A lot of the overtime is unscheduled or is on short notice. The extra money is great but not the hours I work sometimes, it really can play hectic on my body. Sometimes time is better than money especially when your working when you should be sleeping. This was the end of my overtime, I had a full day of Monday to look forward to.
Monday
I felt well rested when I got up but again my body felt banged up. Forearms, shoulders, and legs were feeling used the most. Another warm shower helped me recover some. I filled my body with a simple breakfast. I had a bagel and coffee. It was another warm day and the snow on the ground was starting to melt. I decided to make a snow man. It looked pretty good for a short while. I had to canvas the lawn for snow. It's funny thinking about because it felt like I was cleaning the lawn of it's snow, haha.
Once I finished I forgot to capture a photo right away. So what you get is a sickly looking snowman . After I finished I went back inside the house to do some choirs. I than decided to get a car wash and get a haircut.
I don't know why but I had a feeling like I was treating myself. A simple haircut would normally be no big deal but today it charged me for whatever reason. Maybe it was because I had a full day to myself. Afterwards I went to do some delivery driving. I only did about 6 hours worth.
This is all I have for you. Thanks for reading and until next time. Take care and be safe.
You seem like a hard-working and genuine chap who stands up and gets the job done owning your part of the mission...and I like the realness you brought to your post, and of course the cool content.
My friend @erikah brought this post to my attention and I'm grateful as it was good. Better yet however, is the fact you brought passion, personality and effort to it and, by default, the blockchain, which I am committed to. I threw you a vote and have sent this post to curangel so you'll get some more.
I'll be keeping an eye on your account (your posts) and look forward to reading some more.
Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed. A lot of onlookers appreciate what we do and consistently ask if there are openings. It's good pay and is pretty cool seeing all the different airframes we work.
Btw thanks for huge delegation. I write and try to motivate others. I one day hope to be bigger curator here. But before than I need to be sponge and learn more about things here.
You'll get there, no worries. Let me know if you need any help.
Thank you much :)
You're welcome for the delegation and votes, I like to support people here and there and look for those applying PPE (personality, passion and effort.)
I'll remove the delegation at some stage and give it to someone else, but for now it may help you vote some others and build relationships. I started with nothing mid-2017 and know how difficult it can be, so like to help people here and there.
Appreciate it once again. I have the generous bug in me as well. I love to help those deserving as well. I completely understand the delegation. A good gift that can be taken back and re-gifted. Such a great tool in this community to give opportunity.
I figured I had you pegged right. You'll do ok here I think. ✅
Many thanks Galen, I really appreciate it!
I just found this dude right now as well, excited but don't want to get too excited for fear of disappointment lol. Wanted to figure out how to send him your way but looks like Erikah achieved that, good stuff!
A sad reality huh?
If you see people you think might be worth my attention tag them in a comment on whatever my latest post is. I'll see the comment.
Cool thanks man!
Yeah, I've seen a few promising users that fizzled out. Hope we don't have another one here, fingers crossed! Military though, so that usually means some good work ethic and determination. Not guaranteed but hopeful!
Military can mean good operational tempo for sure, and this guys seems pretty legit. Only time will tell.
I wonder though who takes care of your son when you are at work?
And you need some unwinding after that heavy work..
He's at that age where he doesn't require much.
, 16 y/o. Your right about unwinding but I tend to be addicted to being a workaholic. We have some nasty weather coming in the next few hours that will force me to not be as busy when I get off of my full-time job :)
Oh. Big enough to handle himself...
👍
Uff really hard work and demanding... it's difficult to find some balance sometimes but try to sleep more when that can be possible. When will there be more holidays there?
Yes sleep is a commodity for me at times. The next holiday isn't for another 3 months which is Memorial Day at the end of May. This period is longest time with out one :(
You have a very interesting job my friend. I suppose that the equipment and everything they hold on the pallets are tied to some steel hooks on the plane, right? You say that it takes 3 hours to load the plane, how many men do they usually occupy in this job? Working in logistics is interesting, but quite hard. I worked in that department for the army of my country for a year, but performing administrative tasks, inventory and stuff.
Military life is beautiful, the only thing I don't like about it are its schedules, which are always unexpected, but otherwise, everything that happens there is really interesting and amazing. Unfortunately I couldn't serve in the military, due to health problems, but I really would have liked to dedicate myself to the communications division, I'm a specialist in that.
It is always pleasant and light to read you, I see that you are having a good reception of your publications, and I am very happy for that, brother!
The pallets go in a rail system. They are designed with notches in them and automated locks that are part of rail system fit into the notches securing them.
There were six of us working. A total of 40 chains and devices were used to secure the equipment. Also 24 cargo straps were used to tie down shoring, tongues of equipment, and for addition restraints. Why do I I know the numbers? I have loaded this particular package many times, haha.
My friend you would have been a great communication specialist. They work an assortment of things, many different departments in the communication field.
Thank you for your appreciation of my little success so far. I owe you a lot for your time helping me understand. I'm absolutely amazed how things work here. Take care :)
So the planes have to be very large, probably Hercules type or similar, to be able to carry so much weight.
I hope one day I could be part of the reserve or something like that, because although I'm 54 maybe I can help in some way, as long as it doesn't require physical effort because my legs can't take it anymore.
It's nothing my friend, when you're a dolphin or a whale I hope you remember to give me 100% upvotes hahaha =D
The one I loaded is large but thier is one that is twice it's size. This one can hold 18 pallets . Pallets are 88 inches X 108 inches. The larger airframe can hold 36 pallets. The larger aircraft is in my 1st picture. That aircraft can hold a few tanks and than some. It would still have no issues getting off the ground. Hehe whale or dolphin long long way light years.
Its capacity to load several tanks is very impressive and I also find it interesting to study how the engines of these planes work. I think I'll go take a look at this, honestly it looks like something I'd like to learn from.
Here is the pallet rails of the C-17 aircraft. There are two locks on each side of pallet. You can see one by the letters AD. There are also two lips that go over the top of pallet on both sides. You can see the lip to the left of the ratchet part of the cargo straps
Hey thank you very much for the photo! It's really amazing. The carabiner seems to be made of bronze. The floor has a special carpet or texture, I would like to know what it is made of, is it some kind of polyurethane or something?
Sorry if I overwhelm you with so many questions, answer when you have time, there is no rush.
They say that work keeps a man alive, but this seems too strenuous and difficult.😊 Kudos to you, you are very hardworking!
The good thing this isn't an everyday occurrence. It may happen a dozen times a year. We are expected to get some more manpower in the form military. That should lesson the overtime for me and another civilian I work with. About 15 years ago we had no military manpower and I worked every after hour aircraft. Plus the workload was twice what it is now.
Tough job, big bro! Ironically, I just finished watching Gerard Butler's movie "Plane" and saw that aircraft! Hats off, brother. You're rocking and rolling!
Thank you, I haven't seen that movie. Is it worth watching?
sorry for the delay, big bro. Yep, it was badass. You gotta see it :)
No worries. I hope to see it at some point. Kinda got a long list of things I want to do if you know what I mean 😂
Your job looks really interesting. Not something you see every day
There's more also that's only the end part. The other part is processing everything and figuring out the weight and balance to see if aircraft can fly safely. All fun stuff I enjoy doing :)
Enjoyment is a must
That job does seem pretty darn cool! I would love to do something like that I think, even the hectic hours but downtime is indeed very important so I get where you're coming from on that front.
I enjoy the feeling of getting an important job like that as well, though I've never had something as important as supporting that type of group of people, but I do support others in my own way in my work and get a lot of enjoyment out of that type of stuff.
While those weekends of work are indeed wild, it does feel good to get them here and there. My worst scenario myself was having to work 24 hours straight. I was working a 12 hour shift that I picked up but I was also the on-call person. I asked my boss to get someone to cover my call shift because if someone called out for the other half, it would be miserable to work 24 hours.
Sure enough they called out and I ended up working 24 hours. It was miserable but a valuable experience for me. I've only done that once and thankful that it was only once but those situations are good learning opportunities for what not to do if you can prevent it. Needless to say, my boss didn't let anyone who picked up that type of shift, also be on call.
24 hours is crazy I've only done 19 hours straight. I've been up more than 24 hours because of it. Sure I have worked hours like I described here over the course of my career. I don't always work these crazy shifts though. If anything it's usually only 1 crazy day at a time not 3 days.
It really is a fun job regardless of who it's for. The preplanning is fun it's like Tetris putting cargo on planes but with formulas though. We call it load planning
I really adore your personality. A very hardworking one with a big heart! You really deserves that haircut though :) You look so good.
By the way, take some o rest too, you deserve it by the way. God bless you and may you receive all the goodness of this world Keep safe my friend :)
Thank you friend. The weekend is almost here and no birds (airplanes) in the radar :)
I hope you get some sleep and relaxation as well. Take care and be safe 💚 🤗
You are so industrious. Imagine getting less sleep just to go to work. You really a determined person Sir. Your everyday was so loadedbut you still managed all your works and activities well. I am proud of you Sir.
Thanks I'm glad it's not like this all the time though.
A very hard working man indeed,salute to you sir!
Thank you Chelle :)
I have to say a big thank you for this post. These are things you only see if you have access to that area, which the majority of us don't have. I've seen some loading at some of the airports, but not often. Besides, you don't see the cargo area of a plane, as a passenger.
Sorry for your weekend, it can be frustrating to be called in all the time at crazy hours, but it's the job. The haircut suits you by the way and I know what you mean by treating yourself. Sometimes I feel the same :)
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed. I wish I got some pictures from this weekend but we were too busy and tired. I have plenty of photos of these type and will take more and post them with applicable blogs in the future.
Your right it is part of the job. Just wears on me, been doing this for awhile and I'm not a spring chicken anymore. Even though it's draining I still have high job satisfaction because we much are contributing to the mission. It gives a sense of pride and accomplishment.
It's good to hear as there are so many sour people because of their job these days. Trapped in a situation they hate and can't leave. It's good to see someone happy :)
Looking forward to those posts 😎
You are a hardworking guy just like my dad 🙂
Thank you for the compliment. So good to hear your father is hardworking. I'm sure your mother and yourself give him that motivation to be that :)
You're welcome 😊 I think so hehe.
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This is really inspiring 😌
Thanks glad you enjoyed :)
Great post @coolmidwestguy - very interesting read. Glad we connected.
Thanks that was a draining weekend of labor. I yawn now thinking about it, lol.
Can imagine. Hope you had a couple more restful weekends since
Oh no none like that since. Thank goodness those type of hours feel like the take years off your life