So I went to Herndon, VA, for a class at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) this week, and had a great time meeting new people from across the country and reconnecting with people from the ATCSCC. We had people from Chicago, New York, California, Detroit, Florida, and Georgia in the class, as well as people from American Airlines and Continetal Airlines, and even the United States Secret Service. It was a lot of fun sharing information about how we do things in Atlanta, and even more fun telling people about TMA and other things going on in the system. I even reconnected with friends from the Air Transport Association and the National Business Aviation Association, which was good.
I visted Washington Center (ZDC) a couple of times while I was up here, trying to develop relationships and get a feel for what they are going through in their Traffic Management Unit. They were good visits; I learned a lot about how they were using TMA for multiple airports and for how things are going there.
Well, I got stuck by the big snow storm of the month in the DC area. 2 feet of snow was supposed to fall while I was there, and it started today around 10:00am. I bought some groceries so I could survive, but ate a good lunch at Longhorn across the street before it closed early. Talked to my parents, my family, and surfed the web, then posted on Facebook and here on Blogger. Just a relaxing time while watching and listening to HBO :-)
The snow continues to fall outside; the news is talking about more than 2 feet of snow by morning, which is incredible. The satellite at the hotel is hit and miss, making movie watching an interesting experience in chunks and digitized pictures, which is kind of funny in HD :-)
Oh, well, the FAA is covering me, so I'll be fine. It was funny to work out the deal with the hotel: the room and the car cost $207 per day for the week I was in class, which met the "gov't per diem" for the daily rate, but the two extra nights I am staying at the hotel cost me $79 per night, which just seems strange. Oh, well, it's a Federal Gov't thing...
Friday, February 05, 2010
Stuck in the snow in VA
So I went to Herndon, VA, for a class at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) this week, and had a great time meeting new people from across the country and reconnecting with people from the ATCSCC. We had people from Chicago, New York, California, Detroit, Florida, and Georgia in the class, as well as people from American Airlines and Continetal Airlines, and even the United States Secret Service. It was a lot of fun sharing information about how we do things in Atlanta, and even more fun telling people about TMA and other things going on in the system. I even reconnected with friends from the Air Transport Association and the National Business Aviation Association, which was good.
I visted Washington Center (ZDC) a couple of times while I was up here, trying to develop relationships and get a feel for what they are going through in their Traffic Management Unit. They were good visits; I learned a lot about how they were using TMA for multiple airports and for how things are going there.
Well, I got stuck by the big snow storm of the month in the DC area. 2 feet of snow was supposed to fall while I was there, and it started today around 10:00am. I bought some groceries so I could survive, but ate a good lunch at Longhorn across the street before it closed early. Talked to my parents, my family, and surfed the web, then posted on Facebook and here on Blogger. Just a relaxing time while watching and listening to HBO :-)
The snow continues to fall outside; the news is talking about more than 2 feet of snow by morning, which is incredible. The satellite at the hotel is hit and miss, making movie watching an interesting experience in chunks and digitized pictures, which is kind of funny in HD :-)
Oh, well, the FAA is covering me, so I'll be fine. It was funny to work out the deal with the hotel: the room and the car cost $207 per day for the week I was in class, which met the "gov't per diem" for the daily rate, but the two extra nights I am staying at the hotel cost me $79 per night, which just seems strange. Oh, well, it's a Federal Gov't thing...