The Independent View: Never stop learning

Sometimes I can’t get a good feeling about the column I’m going to submit until just before the deadline but I’ve been waiting for a quiet week with little political foolishness to submit my ideas on learning.

Remember when your mom told you not to touch the stove. Some of us learn quickly and others burn their hands. I was raised by my grandmother and she was wise. I trusted everything she said to be the truth. I never burned by hands on the stove, but did lose my eyebrows and some hair lighting the gas oven. Fortunately I had father figures (some teachers and a tough veteran uncle) who gave me some life lessons along the way. A lot of misfits in our society are a product of single parent upbringing. Sometimes it’a just a bad kid who’s out of control with medical, mental problems or problems with both.

Moving on, if you paid attention in school back when they taught you how to read, write, balance a checkbook, some history, where to look for answers on almost anything, and some knowledge of government, you could get though life pretty well. Today you have to have more skills. Knowledge of computers, automation, law, basic auto care, home maintenance, etc. Lets be honest, a high school education will get you a job, but in most cases not a career.

I was lucky. The Air Force gave me a skill (Air Traffic Control) which turned out to be the luckiest break in my life. Still I couldn’t have been as successful as I was without continued learning. I took every extension course the FAA had to offer, obtained several pilot ratings which were more beneficial to my career than a collage degree. I read every NTSB accident report published to learn from their mistakes. With all the above, there were still times when I would learn something new.

When I was about 30, I learned I was happiest when I met someone new and learned something every day. As a controller in some of the busiest airports in the nation I quickly observed most everything you were taught in controller school was almost useless. The “On The Job” training which was different at each facility was the key to success. Again, throughout all the pilot ratings, book work and testing was only a prerequisite to the actual decision making process and hand eye coordination required to operate the aircraft in a safe manner.

Talked to a friend recently who lost the engine over Lake Kaweah and had to glide to the nearest airport. He didn’t have the airspeed for best angle of glide memorized but did have the presence of mind to know tas long as the nose was above the intended landing point without stalling, he would make it. I too lost an engine near Strathmore, but had the numbers in my head to make a safe landing without bending the airplane or having loss of life. Of course keeping calm was a key factor. I have heard over and over “stay calm and fly the airplane to the scene of the crash.”

Below are some lesions I have learned, some humorous, some cold and calculating, but all important in scheme of life.

You can never have too much fuel unless you’re on fire or departing a high altitude airport with a heavy load. There are three thing of no use to a pilot, the altitude above you, the runway behind you, and the fuel left in the truck.

Measure twice, cut once. Don’t get involved in a fight unless you’re willing to finish it. If you don’t want to suffer in your 80s eat all the bacon you can find. Learn everything you can, you never know when you might need it. Time is the only thing you can’t get back. Don’t waist it. Don’t under any circumstances gamble anything you can’t afford to loose. If you must wager on something, make sure you have an edge. Trust, but verify. If something seems too good to be true, it’s probably not true.

I like to start the day reading the paper. Especially some of the comics. Recently Dilbert has been using the term Ad Hominem. This means your response during arguing is an attack on a person’s character rather than your position on the subject being argued. I served on the Tulare County Grand Jury for two years, the second as foreman. The first or second week of your service, you take a class on duties and responsibilities. The foreman class alluded to this term to help the foreman guide the jurors in the proper way to discuss rather than alienate other jurors. It was an important job since cohesion was important to reach a decision and support from others who don’t fully agree with the outcome. We also used the term follow “follow the money” on a daily basis.

Final thoughts: Keep learning! Use you turn signals Stupid!! (Ad Hominem).