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In 2000, I left a nicely paying programmer’s job to become a pilot. OK, what was I thinking? I know what I was thinking, I wanted to live my dream of being an airline pilot, eventually.

Before I made my decision to the world, i.e., my close friends, colleagues, and my boss, I did a lot of research. But before I knew it, I had made of my mind. I was  going to take the plunge regardless of what my friends said and regardless of what the economy was doing. I was going to make it happen.

Granted the economy was a little better off then. Pilots at regional airlines were upgrading fast, getting their 1000 hours PIC and moving onto the majors. It was a good time, or the good ‘ol days as they say.

Then 9/11, and the world crumbled as well as my airline career. Poof! It was gone. Or so I thought. Actually it was just suspended but at the time I didn’t know it. I always joke with my friends that I should have gone back into programming and maybe, just maybe, my life would be better than it is now. It’s a grass is always greener kind of thing.

But I didn’t quit. I couldn’t! The desire to fly was still to strong. I couldn’t walk away. The resolve to become a pilot was so strong that I never thought that anything would get in my way. I could live through the dip. I couldn’t express it at the time, in fact I didn’t even know that it was there, but it was. Looking back I see it but at the time, I didn’t. So after a couple of months, I did what I had to do to get a job flight instructing again. Suddenly the clouds parted and I was back doing what I loved. Back on track.

All through it I somehow knew that everything was going to workout.

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Tax season is here AGAIN! Can you believe it? Didn’t we just do these things?

But maybe this year I can take a little of the pain out of it by showing you a tool that could help you get more money back this tax season. And save 10% while doing it.

Now, if you do your own taxes, then you know how long it takes.

If you don’t do your own taxes, it still takes a long time because you still have to get the documents together for your tax preparer.

Either way, you are always wondering if you are getting all the deductions that you deserve and whether you are getting all the money back that you deserve.

To help make sure that you do get all the money back that you deserve, there is a website called EZPerDiem.com which I’ve been using with tremendous success, to get more money back on my tax returns, for the last couple years.

(Click here for a quick video showing you how it works.)

So, how do they do it?

Now you may or may not know this, but if you are a pilot or a flight attendant, your company, if they pay you per Diem, may not be paying you everything that you are due.

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It was a day like any other day at work in the CRJ700. We were parked at the gate in Portland, Oregon, and the passengers were boarding. We were flying to Salt Lake City today and I had two flight attendants. Things were going normally.

We had our pre-flight briefing and discussed such things as entry procedures, evacuations, flight times, weather, etc. and then everyone went back to work.

My first officer was busy preparing the airplane and I was busy looking over the dispatch release. Looking at the weather in Portland, the ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) was reporting 1/8 mi visibility. The release didn’t have a takeoff alternate so I called dispatch and got one. They said the weather was good in Eugene and that I should go there if I can’t get back into Portland.

I also looked for NOTAMs (Notices to Airman) that might affect us. Nothing really stood out but the glideslopes for 16R and 16L in Salt Lake City weren’t operating today. Nothing to worry about right now. The forecast said the weather would be VFR (Visual Flight Rules) when we got there.

We had to do a manual manifest because our ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) was deferred. The ACARS usually provides our performance numbers for us but it wasn’t working today.

Eventually the first officer and I ran our originating checklist, looked over our clearance, and discussed the weather in Portland. The weather was going to be a threat that we had to address.

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When you show up to work to fly airplanes and you basically do nothing, it would have been better for you not to come at all.

I say this mostly to commercial pilots, both first officers and captains alike, that fly people around.

If you show up and do what you’re told but lack the intiative to do that “next” thing, you hurt the whole airline industry because someone else could be flying the airplane and adding more value.

It’s easy to just show-up and sit there without doing nothing rationalizing that at least you are not doing anything bad. Many pilots blame the company and the airline industry for their woes and justify their lack of proactive actions as a way as getting back.

Not doing anything is the same as taking it away and hurts the pilots, your job, and your company. Doing more adds value to your profession and the airline industry.

The next time you go to work, try these simple things:

1. Dress the part

2. Get off your phone and say ”hello” to passengers as they board

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As a student pilot, private pilot, commercial pilot, or airline transport pilot (ATP), one of the first things you learn is how to handle an emergency.

One of the first things you learn flying a piston airplane when landing is the acronym is GUMP — Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Pumps.

If you loose an engine, there is another checklist.

High oil pressure, yep, there is another checklist.

And the list goes on…

Early in your flying career, you can remember the sequences and procedures. You are expected to accomplish them on your phase checks and your checkrides.

But then you move up to a turbine airplane or a regional jet or even something bigger and though you can remember a few checklists, you can’t rememberthem all. The systems are too complicated. You need a handy reference book, a quick reference handbook or what we call, the QRH.

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