*troll title Suri Hati Mr. Pilot.

I once had a chance of having a small talk over coffee during morning break at a working group workshop with the first Malaysian female fighter pilot, Captain Emilia (no, not Earhart). 

She is now retired from Air Force and serving the civil side in DCA. 

I was surprised when she told me she said no when her son wanted to be a pilot. She told him to consider other option. Despite the high-flying very reputable handsomely paid profession,
why would a mother who is a pilot herself would say no to it?

I initially thought she was concerned with the risk
(silly me, she IS the first Malaysian female fighter pilot and her son requested to be the commercial airline pilot - what comparable risk I'm talking about???)

People have the perception of being a pilot as awesome and cool, but just like the rest -
it is just another job (high-paying ones). However, it is not all rainbow coloured unicorns.
She described of being confined in the cockpit hours on end when she finally realized that she didn't want to spare all her working life in that cramped space. Well yes flying is fun and awesome until you have collected thousands of flight hours and the age is catching up,
the control panel is the last thing you would want to face up all day. She even pitied her friends who are aging and still desperately (not passionately) flying.

So, why - I asked.

Because flying is all they know - and the pay has been so good you wouldn't look elsewhere
even if you feel too old for it. It's too late to catch other skills and even if you do have any other special skill, you wouldn't be paid that well. So technically, they are trapped in the cockpit and the profession. (Aren't most of us?)

It reminds me of our cool lecturer Colonel Ramli who taught us Flight Mechanics & Dynamics. We were so impressed with his flying ability but he cut it out by saying as a matter-of-factly
"After some time (when you get used to it), it is similar to driving a lorry!"
- his way of saying it isn't that complicated and he was not boasting even a little bit.

Real pilots don't say things like "I ada lesen kapal terbang, takkan la I takde lesen motosikal"
or "I tak takut tinggi lah, kalau tidak I tak la jadi pilot...  I bawak kapal terbang tu lagi tinggi."

Someone pretty much good at being the flight attendant instead :P
No offense FAndom.
(May be the scriptwriter is the one at fault :P)


#bukanpilot #bukansuriharimrpilot

...since I last went on duty travel - I think it's about time that the task cycle is approaching. I dread the idea of having all the things in my to-do list being put on hold - means right about now I should get my hands on them instead of this blank post page (I knowww).

But this is also my happy place.

I have right.

To be happy ;P

The last trip was early this year to... (checking my IG feed because I can't hardly recall that honestly) Delaware for highly customized/personalized aircraft modifications review in Aloft AeroArchitects (previously known as Pats Aircraft Systems).

Guess who was it for!

We stayed nearby Rehoboth Beach and it was not a fun beach resort (if that's what you're thinking) since it was winter with subzero temperature! The hotel we were staying was like 15-20 minutes walking distance from two blocks of factory outlets but we couldn't even endure two minutes of standing outside the building let alone attempting to walk in that weather!

Yeah, no picture to convince you anyway :P

But the best part was the seafooooddd!!! Had crab cake first time in my life and I think it had fulfilled any form of crab craving in my lifetime. And I had huge skinned prawns on daily basis just right from Walmart frozen section at a bargain. Just pour 'em all in the Brahims (or the other way round) - great. comfort. food. in freezing weather. 

Now October is ending. Can I skip winter travel, boss???

I need space in my luggage. 

And it's not meant for winter clothing.

A couple of days ago, this photo popped out in my FB memories timeline dated 3 years ago.

Wow, it feels like it has been more than that! 

It was one of my first few trip when I was assigned under my current unit.

The trip was intended for aircraft type validation exercise where we had 4 days meeting with Eurocopter (now known as Airbus Helicopter) in Marignane nearby Marseille in France for AS350B3 Écureuil (Squirrel) helicopter.

That photo was taken just outside my hotel in Aix-en-Provence.

It was old phone resolution, hence the quality :P

I've been to other part of France (Airbus center in Toulouse), yes some of the man are good-looking, but in Marignane - they look soooo. much. better! I was smitten at every corner of the road and in their every presentation session just feasting my eyes to the great God's creations.
(I wish Blogger has some embedded emoticon so I can put in how my face looks like as I'm writing this!)

So, when I returned, our office pantry clan asked me about the best part of the trip - and of course I said it. The goooood-looking man of Marignane. Haha. They are hunky and handsome,

and the best part was they kiss each other's cheeks when they meet.

I was describing it excitedly and I got various reactions!

"Of course they are - they are descendant of Nabi Yusuf AS."

"You know why they kiss each other? ~
They are the descendant of those Nabi Luth AS was sent for."
"Hello, there's no culture in the world that have men kissing each other even on the cheeks,

if they are not family members!"

OMG!!!

But in my defense, I do honestly think it's a cultural behaviour and they are really loving bunch of people - to love their friends and colleagues that much to have pecks on each other's cheeks! One holding spanner and the other holding screwdriver - kissing on the cheeks when they bump into each other! Just like how we ladies do it.  They didn't look like the 'suspecting ones' as they did it to some close friends. And everybody is doing it, young and old. 

Anyway, the second best part was of course Eurocopter assembly lines. They brought us to two buildings next to each other where they have the 'squirrels' in the first one. The place was newly renovated to accommodate their new process upgrades (lean concept) where they have multiple assembly stations in sequence for the product (helicopter) and the product moves as it completes the assembly line/cycle. With the efficiency of the lean process, they managed to increase their production rate significantly. 

The second building housed the bigger helicopters named 'dolphin' (AS365 Dauphin) where they have their conventional assembly process in which a few helicopters sit in their respective location and the processes move around it. Admittedly it was messy and the difference is obvious, but eventually the line will be upgraded to lean process as well.
They also have some obscured area where they build military helicopters.
It was highly confidential we didn't get to have a peek.

Nonetheless, imagine this - a bunch of handsome hunky men assembling helicopters. 

I told you!

...WITH MY NEW BLOG LAYOUT!

Sometimes I forgot how simple thing can make me this happy.

Yes, I do feel like pouring out more often now.

I think I'm done with the code tuning, it was kind of messy initially having forgotten
'the how' and also how rewarding it feels  getting things worked out. Some cool widget has to wait until it'll be good to run it. I guess it will stay like it is for the next seven years

(or forever because I'm never deleting any layout I did in the past).

I was searching for free responsive minimalist layout when I started this and upon downloading, a prerequisite question prompted out - "What is your biggest challenge in blogging?"

And I answered - "The guilt feeling spending time writing despite my endless to-do list!"
There you go. Like honestly.

But I think I gotta sorts all the things in my head by letting them out. It always occur to me that all the repetitive lightbulb moments should have been documented here (just to clear of my head of certain topics) . But what about those bunch of reports, requirements, reviews, emails replies, chores and errands that are chasing after me???

Here I go again.

p.s. : Just for the record - yellow or this golden tint is never my favourite colour. But it worked sooo well with my favourites B&W!

p.p.s. : Told you pink is not my thing, but it just work wonders (for my old layout).

Well, scientifically all the colours mixed together is WHITE, sir.

Here's to a new start. Happy New Year. Salam Maal Hijrah.