I've been thinking for a while now about giving an update on here, since the last time I blogged we were still living in AZ, and I hadn't done my powerplant practicals yet. Now we're in Idaho, and my practicals seem like ancient history. Suffice it to say, I passed practicals, and I did it in a single day, no less. So now I'm working as an aircraft mechanic in southern Idaho. Or, rather, I'm getting my REAL education in aircraft maintenance. I started work on the 29th of Sept, and quickly discovered that my 15-month maintenance education was almost completely useless, when it comes to actually maintaining actual aircraft. The last couple weeks have been ENORMOUSLY frustrating and difficult, but I'm learning quite a bit (it feels like I've learned more in the past 2 weeks, than I did in 15 months at Cochise). It's hard to go from being top of your class, to feeling completely clueless and useless when it really matters. I'm still in the "trial period" of my job, which only makes me all the more conscious of every mistake I make and the depressing number of times in a day when I have to admit I have no clue how to do a project. I'm sure someday I'll look back at this time and laugh, but right now it's certainly doing an amazing job of keeping me humble.