Yesterday both of us hit the gym and did some pretty insane lifting. I don't remember lifting that much or spending that much time in a gym before. Honestly, I'd rather be squashing. But I guess it's a necessary change to be able to build some good shape on my body.
Unfortunately, my batch boy fell victim to the flu bug because his immune system was weakened due to yesterday's workout. But all's well and he's doing much better now.
Today we received our college ties and flight jacket. A few other goodies are waiting on us as well. I can't wait to receive my uniform cos it will finally mean I won't have to wear those dreadful long sleeved business shirts anymore. I went for an 8km run this morning and I was still perspiring by the time I reached the classroom. Felt so disoriented and eventually that lead to being under-productive the rest of the day. It's good that I'm still experimenting with and finding out more about what works and what doesn't in my daily routine.
Perhaps the thing that I've been most excited to receive since before commencing my course here at the college is the belt with the gold buckle. It looks great, seriously. Apparently, it's issued by the tailor so we will have to wait for that.
It's 6 weeks left to college exams and 7 to CAAS papers. I think the shit has yet to hit the fan but I hope that the three of us will get through it together in one sitting.
So far I feel that I've been getting a good grasp on most of the concepts, and for the subjects that aren't as strong as the others, it helps in verbally discussing the concepts and ideas, and also in practicing the papers.
So, a brand new day awaits. No run in the morning tmr cos I think I need a little more sleep to myself, and perhaps go for a run/bike in the evening.
30 June 2013
Day 7 - Arresting the Burnout
Today the realisation hit me that I was headed towards a burnout if I didn't pace myself well or discipline myself into having sufficient rest. I suppose that for something that I've been anticipating this badly for my entire life, the motivation and willingness to pour my entire soul, body and mind into this programme is unsurprising, even for myself.
But I realised, as I was playing squash back at Cashew today, that I wasn't my usual self. I was on an adrenaline high from having spent most of the week and my weekend studying away. I mean, I enjoy the work I'm doing so much that it doesn't really take much of an effort to drain myself mentally. So I was in the courts, and my mind wasn't there at all. Nope, I don't think that it was my three-week absence from the courts that was dampening my mental processing. I couldn't read the game at my usual pace. I was losing concentration.
It was then that I started asking myself, what kind of advice would I give any student, in maintaing a healthy balance. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, vitamins, concentrated periods of study, a balanced diet, and a good environment to study in.
So that's my new aim: to do my morning runs as I did when working in FAIMS, and sleep before 12.30am everyday. Let's try this for a week and see how it goes. Bring on week 2!
But I realised, as I was playing squash back at Cashew today, that I wasn't my usual self. I was on an adrenaline high from having spent most of the week and my weekend studying away. I mean, I enjoy the work I'm doing so much that it doesn't really take much of an effort to drain myself mentally. So I was in the courts, and my mind wasn't there at all. Nope, I don't think that it was my three-week absence from the courts that was dampening my mental processing. I couldn't read the game at my usual pace. I was losing concentration.
It was then that I started asking myself, what kind of advice would I give any student, in maintaing a healthy balance. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, vitamins, concentrated periods of study, a balanced diet, and a good environment to study in.
So that's my new aim: to do my morning runs as I did when working in FAIMS, and sleep before 12.30am everyday. Let's try this for a week and see how it goes. Bring on week 2!
27 June 2013
Day 2 - The Dawning of Reality
So it appears that it won't be so easy to be able to finish what we need to. Simply put, the CAAS exams are anticipated to be pretty tough, and we're going to need a lot more than just self-study to pass the exams. Definitely a lot of practice on questions. And now, the real question that remains is, will the rest of the remaining 7 weeks to our first papers be just like it has been the last few days? Lots of self study and CBT.
A lot more needs to be covered and I need to seriously move on ahead with my topics and finish the books ASAP, to be able to leave more time to practicing questions, reviewing, and committing things to memory.
One thing I commend myself on is despite how I only slept for about 4 hours yesterday, it seems that all the habits and patterns that I spent forming about a month before course started has actually started paying off.
Didn't feel like I was sleepy in class, and I was able to study for pretty much 24 hours straight. Now all I need is some rest. Some good sleep would really be welcome.
Carol came by to visit today and the guys were really nice about it.
That's about all I can think of saying today. So tired. Need some rest to realign my thoughts and refreshen my alertness.
A lot more needs to be covered and I need to seriously move on ahead with my topics and finish the books ASAP, to be able to leave more time to practicing questions, reviewing, and committing things to memory.
One thing I commend myself on is despite how I only slept for about 4 hours yesterday, it seems that all the habits and patterns that I spent forming about a month before course started has actually started paying off.
Didn't feel like I was sleepy in class, and I was able to study for pretty much 24 hours straight. Now all I need is some rest. Some good sleep would really be welcome.
Carol came by to visit today and the guys were really nice about it.
That's about all I can think of saying today. So tired. Need some rest to realign my thoughts and refreshen my alertness.
26 June 2013
Day 1 - Settling In
I must admit this. This huge bungalow can be a little bit scary. Maybe it's cos I haven't gotten used to the new surroundings yet, or maybe it's simply because it's located in an old army camp. I'm not too familiar with the history of it, but here in Seletar, there remains only one active unit that occupies one of the buildings located somewhere nearby.
But I'm trying to keep a few lights on, the radio on, and all that, just to make the place a little less eerie. That aside, I feel like I'm also the senior citizen of the house. Boiling water for everyone, bringing the food and tissue paper in, organizing the furniture, and taking residence for being the most organized uncle in the house.
I also happen to be the oldest among my other coursemates, and that prompted them to unanimously elect me to be the course I/C -_-
They also banished the course I/C to the corner of the room, but that actually means I get my own personal space and bed (!) My coursemates are sharing a bunk bed. Funny guys, they are. We went out for a little, earlier on at Compassvale to get some stuff from the bookstore and supermarket. Boy, did we enjoy a few good laughs at the expense of another one of our coursemates who happens no to be living in with us.
Oh, did I mention, of the two rooms o the second level, we decided to share a room and convert the other into a study, which we dutifully utilised in a study session after we came back. I could really get used to these study sessions. The mugging has just started. I hope all of us make it through without much trouble and leave no one behind when we leave for JDK.
But I'm trying to keep a few lights on, the radio on, and all that, just to make the place a little less eerie. That aside, I feel like I'm also the senior citizen of the house. Boiling water for everyone, bringing the food and tissue paper in, organizing the furniture, and taking residence for being the most organized uncle in the house.
I also happen to be the oldest among my other coursemates, and that prompted them to unanimously elect me to be the course I/C -_-
They also banished the course I/C to the corner of the room, but that actually means I get my own personal space and bed (!) My coursemates are sharing a bunk bed. Funny guys, they are. We went out for a little, earlier on at Compassvale to get some stuff from the bookstore and supermarket. Boy, did we enjoy a few good laughs at the expense of another one of our coursemates who happens no to be living in with us.
Oh, did I mention, of the two rooms o the second level, we decided to share a room and convert the other into a study, which we dutifully utilised in a study session after we came back. I could really get used to these study sessions. The mugging has just started. I hope all of us make it through without much trouble and leave no one behind when we leave for JDK.
25 June 2013
Day Zero
Day Zero at SFC - Moving in and Admin.
I'll be trying to keep all my posts short and sweet because of the foreseeable lack of time that I will be granted in the near future. So starting from today it is.
Reported to SFC this morning. Our course made history in many ways. First to have such a small course (cohort) size, fully made up of private candidates, and the first to be taking on the new JAA (pronounced as 'jar') syllabus.
Nothing much, a few admin briefs, went to our accoms for the first time. We being adults, or young adults (just want to feel young here again, me being the oldest in the course), the admin side left us to our own devices. We quickly decided upon sharing one room together, and converting the other room to a study. Went back home, packed up what was needed, and came back. Returned to the accoms at 2300H. Unpacked, and now getting ready for tomorrow's first lesson on POF.
Short Reflection: I think my course mates are great guys. We are all private candidates. All very self-motivated. We want to get through this course and graduate as pilots. Doesn't matter in the end that we still don't have a job in hand yet. Doesn't matter that we are forking out a huge sum. At the end of the day, we are just guys who want to become pilots.
I'll be trying to keep all my posts short and sweet because of the foreseeable lack of time that I will be granted in the near future. So starting from today it is.
Reported to SFC this morning. Our course made history in many ways. First to have such a small course (cohort) size, fully made up of private candidates, and the first to be taking on the new JAA (pronounced as 'jar') syllabus.
Nothing much, a few admin briefs, went to our accoms for the first time. We being adults, or young adults (just want to feel young here again, me being the oldest in the course), the admin side left us to our own devices. We quickly decided upon sharing one room together, and converting the other room to a study. Went back home, packed up what was needed, and came back. Returned to the accoms at 2300H. Unpacked, and now getting ready for tomorrow's first lesson on POF.
Short Reflection: I think my course mates are great guys. We are all private candidates. All very self-motivated. We want to get through this course and graduate as pilots. Doesn't matter in the end that we still don't have a job in hand yet. Doesn't matter that we are forking out a huge sum. At the end of the day, we are just guys who want to become pilots.
14 March 2013
Lots of links to important websites
Just thought that I'd throw this in for some reading on the MPL courses offered by STAA and Oxford Aviation Academy (OAA) for Tiger (TR) and Jetstar Asia (JSA) respectively. The third link's on SQ's course in Singapore Flying College (SFC).
PPRuNe Forum; Tiger Airways Cadet Pilot
PPRuNe Forum; Jetstar (Asia) Cadet Pilot
PPRuNe Forum: Singapore Airlines Cadet Pilot
Moreboring essential information on the courses you will be applying to:
Tiger Airways Ab-Initio Programme
Jetstar (Asia) Ab-Initio Programme
Singapore Airlines Ab-Initio Programme (but of course, you aren't going to see the requirements stated on their page now because they aren't hiring)
I'm going to throw in this extra link for more reading. Capt Lim used to fly for Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and his website is pretty well known among pilot hopefuls. I've also listed his Twitter account for good measure, so that if you're tech-savvy and a Twitter user, you can consider following him. I will blog about all the benefits of using Twitter as a resource for aviation news soon.
Ask Captain Lim; and his Twitter account here.
Forums are good for catching wind on the latest happenings and developments in the industry or even better, news related directly to the courses or airlines that you hope to apply to. But alarmingly enough, I still meet pilot hopefuls who have not heard of of PPRuNe. (pronounced as pee-prune as far as I've come across with most people)
There are a good number of contributions in the aforementioned SQ forum page that I'd recommend any aspiring pilot to read it, regardless of your interest in SQ. There's even an article on the complete computer testing process. I won't reveal which page it's on for now, but that's the point. Do your homework!
Always have the CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) website at your fingertips to find out more about the Class 1 and 2 licences that you'll need as a pilot operating out of Singapore, and to find out more about the mandated 26YO rule (the bane of my life). I'll explain more about the 26YO rule soon enough.
While the ALPA-S (Airline Pilots Association of Singapore) and SFC website have long been under-maintained, the SFC one just recently went through a revamp. SFC's website used to have online issues of The Thinking Pilot, which was a publication by the cadets at SFC. I'm not so sure the cadets there still write articles and publish that, but I'll upload them somewhere just for fun reading sometime.
Ok I meant to stop typing two paragraphs ago. I have overstayed my time here.
PPRuNe Forum; Tiger Airways Cadet Pilot
PPRuNe Forum; Jetstar (Asia) Cadet Pilot
PPRuNe Forum: Singapore Airlines Cadet Pilot
More
Tiger Airways Ab-Initio Programme
Jetstar (Asia) Ab-Initio Programme
Singapore Airlines Ab-Initio Programme (but of course, you aren't going to see the requirements stated on their page now because they aren't hiring)
I'm going to throw in this extra link for more reading. Capt Lim used to fly for Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and his website is pretty well known among pilot hopefuls. I've also listed his Twitter account for good measure, so that if you're tech-savvy and a Twitter user, you can consider following him. I will blog about all the benefits of using Twitter as a resource for aviation news soon.
Ask Captain Lim; and his Twitter account here.
Forums are good for catching wind on the latest happenings and developments in the industry or even better, news related directly to the courses or airlines that you hope to apply to. But alarmingly enough, I still meet pilot hopefuls who have not heard of of PPRuNe. (pronounced as pee-prune as far as I've come across with most people)
There are a good number of contributions in the aforementioned SQ forum page that I'd recommend any aspiring pilot to read it, regardless of your interest in SQ. There's even an article on the complete computer testing process. I won't reveal which page it's on for now, but that's the point. Do your homework!
Always have the CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) website at your fingertips to find out more about the Class 1 and 2 licences that you'll need as a pilot operating out of Singapore, and to find out more about the mandated 26YO rule (the bane of my life). I'll explain more about the 26YO rule soon enough.
While the ALPA-S (Airline Pilots Association of Singapore) and SFC website have long been under-maintained, the SFC one just recently went through a revamp. SFC's website used to have online issues of The Thinking Pilot, which was a publication by the cadets at SFC. I'm not so sure the cadets there still write articles and publish that, but I'll upload them somewhere just for fun reading sometime.
Ok I meant to stop typing two paragraphs ago. I have overstayed my time here.
POTD 1
So I've got this rotating desktop background thing going on with my all my laptops.
Firstly, I've got Airliners.net as one of my 'likes' on Facebook and I follow them on Twitter as well. One great thing is how they update their feeds and tweets with the best shots shared within the community. Ive provided the links here:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/airliners.net?ref=ts&fref=ts
Tweeter: https://twitter.com/airliners_net
With that constant stream of photos being suggested to me, I just take my pick of my favourite shots and save them to a Dropbox folder. Just like that, my favourite shots are available to me across all my laptops, including my work laptop, which I rebelliously display for everyone in the office to see. HAH!
Here's my pick of the day that I'm sharing:
This is a great fisheye shot of the cockpit. Now look out of the cockpit. You'd be used to seeing pictures of stupefying awe-inspiring pictures of sunsets and all that by now. But I'm thinking a little differently. I'm guessing that the view our pilots are looking at right now are probably just about what all pilots see almost all of the time.
I was driving down to the airport to pick C (that's my GF btw, and hopefully, soon to be fiancée) just a couple of weeks back and the rain was coming down on a massive scale that day. Cheers to tropical Singapore for that. Visibility was reduced to less than 10m ahead. (metric system hell yeah!) I suddenly wished that there was a way to drive IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). oh yes, IFR, now that's a story for another day. In the meantime, you have wikipedia to read up on. C'mon! you don't need me telling you what IFR's about right? You're a future pilot! You should be reading up on stuff like that!
And I realised that I have not come down to blogging about anything about interviews at all. But what's the rush, right? SQ's still not interviewing yet. And ST Aviation Academy's (STAA) intake for April's probably closed by now. The next STAA intake's in August by the way, for those who wish to pursue that route. But ok, yes yes, I'll get to it sooner or later, hang in there!
Firstly, I've got Airliners.net as one of my 'likes' on Facebook and I follow them on Twitter as well. One great thing is how they update their feeds and tweets with the best shots shared within the community. Ive provided the links here:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/airliners.net?ref=ts&fref=ts
Tweeter: https://twitter.com/airliners_net
With that constant stream of photos being suggested to me, I just take my pick of my favourite shots and save them to a Dropbox folder. Just like that, my favourite shots are available to me across all my laptops, including my work laptop, which I rebelliously display for everyone in the office to see. HAH!
Here's my pick of the day that I'm sharing:
This is a great fisheye shot of the cockpit. Now look out of the cockpit. You'd be used to seeing pictures of stupefying awe-inspiring pictures of sunsets and all that by now. But I'm thinking a little differently. I'm guessing that the view our pilots are looking at right now are probably just about what all pilots see almost all of the time.
I was driving down to the airport to pick C (that's my GF btw, and hopefully, soon to be fiancée) just a couple of weeks back and the rain was coming down on a massive scale that day. Cheers to tropical Singapore for that. Visibility was reduced to less than 10m ahead. (metric system hell yeah!) I suddenly wished that there was a way to drive IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). oh yes, IFR, now that's a story for another day. In the meantime, you have wikipedia to read up on. C'mon! you don't need me telling you what IFR's about right? You're a future pilot! You should be reading up on stuff like that!
And I realised that I have not come down to blogging about anything about interviews at all. But what's the rush, right? SQ's still not interviewing yet. And ST Aviation Academy's (STAA) intake for April's probably closed by now. The next STAA intake's in August by the way, for those who wish to pursue that route. But ok, yes yes, I'll get to it sooner or later, hang in there!
10 March 2013
Three Quotes
Three quotes that have made my 2013 extra-productive thus far:
1. When life gets tougher, it means that you have just leveled up. - Anonymous
2. Living healthy is 20% exercise, 80% what you put on your plate. - Anonymous
3. Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas. - Eleanor Roosevelt
(I prefer to reverse the order of this quote to put it to greater effect)
Bonus quote:
4. Be educated rather than entertained. - Anonymous
When life gets tougher, it means that you have just leveled up.
Remember when computer games just used to be like that? Each boss got tougher, but it also meant that you were better equipped to defeat him. Try beating the final boss with the number of experience points you had when you first started out in the game. You're going to have a hard time.
I came across this flowchart on the internet that gave me quite a chuckle.
I'm not going to turn this into a theology/philo lecture, but truth is, I think Christians and other God-fearing men and women of their own religions have got it worked out. If you leave room for pessimism to fester, it will send you spiraling into an unrecoverable spin. On the other hand, being proactive/positive allows you to take anything that's thrown at you and turn it into a celebration of life's multitude of experiences. So that's why I'd like to continue leveling up whenever I can. And praise the Lord while I'm at it.
Living healthy is 20% exercise, 80% what you put on your plate.
Back last year in October, I sustained a real shitty injury while playing squash. I went in to retrive a ball only to twist my ankle so badly I swear I heard a crunching sound while I fell. That took me almost 3-4 months to recover. Only to get back in the courts to sprain the OTHER ankle. All that added up to almost 5-6 months in recovery and lack of exercise. My conclusion was that all the weight that I had put on after my squash competition season last year had culminated in those injuries. My ankles have never been in a good shape after all the years of sports I've played, including lots of long distance running. So being heavy and putting all that extra stress on my ankles made me more unstable and susceptible to injuries. It was an accident waiting to happen, granted the dynamic moment required of squash.
So I've been eating healthy the last month or so, apart from slowly getting myself back into the sport. And it's worked wonders so far. 5kgs lost and I'm feeling lighter. Cycling's getting easier and I'm feeling happier every time I finish a meal without feeling thirsty or bloated. The secret? Eating clean and reducing the portions. And the motivation? Aim to have a healthy and injury-free lifestyle. Looking good comes as a side effect, but one that you and I would gladly welcome.
Sometime back, I was talking to a CS, and he had this advice for me. To become a rarity amongst flight crew in their 50's, you must achieve the following:
1. Have a healthy crop of hair.
2. Have a flat belly.
Yup, just those two. You'd be surprised to find the large number of flight crew (that includes cabin crew) who are struggling to manage that in their 30's, let alone in their 40's or 50's.
Hence this is my challenge to all reading this: start with something as simple as healthy eating and healthy living. Take your supplementary vitamins if you have to, but eat clean and avoid greasy stuff. Eat clean, while getting to know your body in what are the food types it needs. Carbohydrates (and fibre), proteins, and fruits (that come with high doses of vitamins)
My general rule of thumb is any meal that leaves me looking for water after consumption is not considered clean. Take a bowl of fishball noodles for example. If it's the 'dry' fishball noodles, you'd likely be drinking water after that meal. But have it with soup instead, and you'd be able to taste the difference. I'm not one to shy away from savoury treats, but it's a good reason why it's called a treat.
Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas.
I once got unjustly sent out of class by my General Paper (GP) teacher. Her exact words to me were "get out of my class." I took it literally and left the computer room that we were in and went back to my home room to complete my other assignments. I got sent to the principal's office because of that and I argued my case till kingdom came and went. I was then sent back to class without a punishment, and my GP teacher and I stopped talking for a couple of months after that.
GP is a subject all JC students take (or rather, used to take) that's equivalent to a subject test/discussion on general knowledge. Aside from that memory of my GP teacher, I have to say that the rest of my recollections of GP classes are practically non-existent. Possibly because I was a cocky prick back then and thought that my bullshitting abilities were good enough to score me an A. I got a B.
9 years after graduating from JC, I have started reading the discussions and commentary columns in the newspapers again. I have taken to reading Times magazines again to renew my knowledge of the issues going on in the world. All because this quote hit me really hard.
Falling into the trap of gossip can be a really easy one. It's a bad habit that consumes conversations and makes them non-productive. It's brainless; entertaining nonetheless, but then this is where the last quote I've mentioned dispenses its wisdom: Be educated rather than entertained"
Of all the lifehacks that I've come across, this has to be one of the most productive. Instead of watching that re-run or "best-of" segment of How I Met Your Mother or Friends, why not watch an episode of Air Crash Investigation and take important notes for future research on aircraft systems and human factors (or pilot error)? Or sign up for a course with Coursera, to pick up from where you left off on that university lecture 2 years ago.
Productivity isn't hard to attain, but all a matter of habit. I wouldn't say that it's entirely one that makes up a pilot's mindset (who says pilots can't be lazy on their off-days?), but certainly is a habit that keeps a pilot on his toes, especially when re-education and being up to speed on events is a recurring job in this line.
Stay healthy, stay smart.
1. When life gets tougher, it means that you have just leveled up. - Anonymous
2. Living healthy is 20% exercise, 80% what you put on your plate. - Anonymous
3. Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas. - Eleanor Roosevelt
(I prefer to reverse the order of this quote to put it to greater effect)
Bonus quote:
4. Be educated rather than entertained. - Anonymous
When life gets tougher, it means that you have just leveled up.
Remember when computer games just used to be like that? Each boss got tougher, but it also meant that you were better equipped to defeat him. Try beating the final boss with the number of experience points you had when you first started out in the game. You're going to have a hard time.
I came across this flowchart on the internet that gave me quite a chuckle.
I'm not going to turn this into a theology/philo lecture, but truth is, I think Christians and other God-fearing men and women of their own religions have got it worked out. If you leave room for pessimism to fester, it will send you spiraling into an unrecoverable spin. On the other hand, being proactive/positive allows you to take anything that's thrown at you and turn it into a celebration of life's multitude of experiences. So that's why I'd like to continue leveling up whenever I can. And praise the Lord while I'm at it.
Living healthy is 20% exercise, 80% what you put on your plate.
Back last year in October, I sustained a real shitty injury while playing squash. I went in to retrive a ball only to twist my ankle so badly I swear I heard a crunching sound while I fell. That took me almost 3-4 months to recover. Only to get back in the courts to sprain the OTHER ankle. All that added up to almost 5-6 months in recovery and lack of exercise. My conclusion was that all the weight that I had put on after my squash competition season last year had culminated in those injuries. My ankles have never been in a good shape after all the years of sports I've played, including lots of long distance running. So being heavy and putting all that extra stress on my ankles made me more unstable and susceptible to injuries. It was an accident waiting to happen, granted the dynamic moment required of squash.
So I've been eating healthy the last month or so, apart from slowly getting myself back into the sport. And it's worked wonders so far. 5kgs lost and I'm feeling lighter. Cycling's getting easier and I'm feeling happier every time I finish a meal without feeling thirsty or bloated. The secret? Eating clean and reducing the portions. And the motivation? Aim to have a healthy and injury-free lifestyle. Looking good comes as a side effect, but one that you and I would gladly welcome.
Sometime back, I was talking to a CS, and he had this advice for me. To become a rarity amongst flight crew in their 50's, you must achieve the following:
1. Have a healthy crop of hair.
2. Have a flat belly.
Yup, just those two. You'd be surprised to find the large number of flight crew (that includes cabin crew) who are struggling to manage that in their 30's, let alone in their 40's or 50's.
Hence this is my challenge to all reading this: start with something as simple as healthy eating and healthy living. Take your supplementary vitamins if you have to, but eat clean and avoid greasy stuff. Eat clean, while getting to know your body in what are the food types it needs. Carbohydrates (and fibre), proteins, and fruits (that come with high doses of vitamins)
My general rule of thumb is any meal that leaves me looking for water after consumption is not considered clean. Take a bowl of fishball noodles for example. If it's the 'dry' fishball noodles, you'd likely be drinking water after that meal. But have it with soup instead, and you'd be able to taste the difference. I'm not one to shy away from savoury treats, but it's a good reason why it's called a treat.
Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas.
I once got unjustly sent out of class by my General Paper (GP) teacher. Her exact words to me were "get out of my class." I took it literally and left the computer room that we were in and went back to my home room to complete my other assignments. I got sent to the principal's office because of that and I argued my case till kingdom came and went. I was then sent back to class without a punishment, and my GP teacher and I stopped talking for a couple of months after that.
GP is a subject all JC students take (or rather, used to take) that's equivalent to a subject test/discussion on general knowledge. Aside from that memory of my GP teacher, I have to say that the rest of my recollections of GP classes are practically non-existent. Possibly because I was a cocky prick back then and thought that my bullshitting abilities were good enough to score me an A. I got a B.
9 years after graduating from JC, I have started reading the discussions and commentary columns in the newspapers again. I have taken to reading Times magazines again to renew my knowledge of the issues going on in the world. All because this quote hit me really hard.
Falling into the trap of gossip can be a really easy one. It's a bad habit that consumes conversations and makes them non-productive. It's brainless; entertaining nonetheless, but then this is where the last quote I've mentioned dispenses its wisdom: Be educated rather than entertained"
Of all the lifehacks that I've come across, this has to be one of the most productive. Instead of watching that re-run or "best-of" segment of How I Met Your Mother or Friends, why not watch an episode of Air Crash Investigation and take important notes for future research on aircraft systems and human factors (or pilot error)? Or sign up for a course with Coursera, to pick up from where you left off on that university lecture 2 years ago.
Productivity isn't hard to attain, but all a matter of habit. I wouldn't say that it's entirely one that makes up a pilot's mindset (who says pilots can't be lazy on their off-days?), but certainly is a habit that keeps a pilot on his toes, especially when re-education and being up to speed on events is a recurring job in this line.
Stay healthy, stay smart.
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