IMSAFE

Damn, I miss flying. There have been a lot of adjustments and compromises that have come along with the last year’s worth of job hunting, but that one’s high on the list. I was thinking about that this evening when I’m feeling even more fricasseed than I was last night.

Maybe it’s that the holidays came in the middle of the week this year. One of the things I’ve noticed without the requirement to be in an office on a regular schedule is that the days of the week tend to blur together. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve tried my best to impose some regimentation and discipline on my schedule.

Maybe it’s that The Long-Suffering Wife has been on vacation and at home with me for the last week. Her regular work schedule has been a help to me by proxy even if I don’t have one, but that’s been gone for the last nine or ten days.

Maybe it’s some potential medical issues peeking over the horizon. I thought I was okay, but maybe it’s bothering me more than I thought.

Maybe it’s yesterday’s football game. Yeah, I’m passionate and had my hopes up, but I really do realize that it’s just a game. There are a lot of other higher priorities in life. Again, I thought I was okay, but maybe it’s bothering me more than I thought.

Maybe it’s some other issues that sort of lobbed themselves over the horizon in the last day or two. I am dealing with them and things seem to be back under control, but it’s one more thing on top of all of the above, so maybe it’s having more effect than I had thought it would.

Remember the scene near the end of “Revenge of the Jedi” when Luke faces off with Darth Vader, just before he loses his hand and Darth has his big reveal? Luke thinks that he’s ready for the battle, but Darth starts tossing equipment and debris at him. Luke fends of the first, and the second, and the third and fourth, but then they start coming faster and faster and two at a time and three at a time and bigger and faster and more and he’s overwhelmed.

I think I’m feeling just a bit like that. One thing I can handle. Two things, no problem. Three things, I’m feeling stretched thin. Four, I’m hanging on. Five, I’m in trouble. Six…

Anyway, with my brain and body feeling a bit like I’ve used way too much adrenaline in the last forty-eight hours or so, I was thinking about flying and wishing that I could go up again.

Then I realized that right now, even if I was current on my medical and proficiency, I would not be a good pilot.

Pilots use a lot of mnemonics and shortcuts to remember everything. One that’s fairly new (I think it was just starting to be used when I was doing my training about five years ago) is “IMSAFE“. It’s a checklist to take a look at the human factors in flying a plane, not just the plane’s mechanical factors or the weather.

• Illness — Are you sick? Don’t fly!
• Medication — Anything new? Anything unapproved? Anything that might make you drowsy? A plane definitely qualifies as “heavy equipment”…
• Stress — Going through a divorce? Your boss is all over your case? Your wife is expecting any day? Is your focus going to be on the plane, or somewhere else?
• Alcohol — Seems obvious, but if you’ve been drinking, you shouldn’t ever be flying!
• Fatigue — Haven’t had a good night’s sleep? New kid screaming all night? New puppy? Burning the candle at both ends? Going to fall asleep in mid-flight?
• Eating — Your schedule sucks so you grabbed a doughnut and coffee for breakfast, a granola bar and soda for lunch, and now you’re really starving and maybe a bit hypoglycemic but you’re pretty sure that you’ll be okay. Would you like to reconsider?

On that basis, I’m okay on at least three of the six and I thought that I was in pretty good shape on the other three, but given the battle I’m having at times to keep my attention span from being described as “puppy-like”, today (if I were flying) would be a classic example of when to recognize that something’s “off” and you need to step back and reconsider.

I bring this all up not just to have something to pontificate on tonight, but because this can also be a good check if everyone’s everyday life. It might not be quite as critical and you might have more slack to allow yourself if, say, you’re driving a car rather than flying a plane. But what if you’re driving for six or eight hours instead of just down to the grocery store? What if you’re driving a large truck?

Tonight I’ll do my best to get a good night’s sleep (Jessie, no 3:00 AM bathroom breaks, please!), get back on a weekly schedule, get proactive about dealing with the job thing and some of the other new stuff that I’m dealing with, and maybe make sure that I’m a little more aware of what I’m eating.

Tomorrow will be a better day. Keep it that way for yourself as well. If you have any doubts, step back and make sure you can tell yourself IMSAFE.