19 Comments
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Dar's avatar

Thanks for taking the energy to share your helpful information. I'm going to need these tips at some point. (Now, if I can be assured that a pilot is not cognitively impaired by sars2, I might feel better about safety in general.)

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Kira Stoops's avatar

Oof. It's the air traffic controller shortage for me! But fortunately I've lived to fly another year!

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Beth Stoops's avatar

This is my biggest concern around flying, but with some obvious exceptions, I honestly think MOST West Coast Airports can function without air traffic control if they have to, especially during the low traffic hours. You'd be surprised, but there are actually commercial operations at uncontrolled (non-towered) fields in the Western US. Just not enough traffic to justify the tower, or not enough to justify it full-time.

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Kira Stoops's avatar

Did I research and see that PDX has fully staffed air traffic control, yes!

Did I let it slide that BZN does not, wellllll...

Haha, gulp, I wish I didn't know that...

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Beth Stoops's avatar

Bozeman is class D; that means they close during non-peak hours and the airport is a towerless field. They are never fully staffed, and never have been. What happens in the air is planes talk to each other, fly an established approach and while it can be goobered up, it's not the easiest thing to goober up.

However, YOUR controllers are actually funded by Bozeman, not the fed. So your field is a lot more secure than most!

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Grace Fierce's avatar

"I'm not saying if you try hard enough and believe in yourself, you can do it (or even that you should want to)."😭🙏🏻

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Beth Stoops's avatar

I think the wisdom of this particular series (if not the general plan of action) can get applied to other activities that you WANT to do. You may not get to do them exactly how you want to do them. You may not get to do them as cheaply as you want to do that, but with help and creativity, by god, you can do a little of it.

That's not to say I don't think people should think about new things they can do with their limited capacity, just that we should exhaust the possibilities to cling to what you love first.

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Kira Stoops's avatar

Yes, I had this thought too...nobody needs to start traveling sick if they didn't love it well! But there are many "mini golf" versions of the things we love. They aren't satisfying, but they're something.

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Molly Freedenberg's avatar

Genius helpful funny tips as always. Obsessed with you.

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Audhdpainter's avatar

I've just managed a holiday, because yes sometimes we do need a change of scenery! I wrote a few of my tips in my post too! 💖

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Kira Stoops's avatar

WOW WOW WOW—those waterfalls look incredible! It was my first time rocking a lanyard too. :)

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Audhdpainter's avatar

Yes, they were insanely beautiful! 💖

I wore a badge with 'my disability varies' or something like that too which I think was probably helpful too, as I usually look well! Rosie cheeks especially when actually I'm feeling grim!

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Amy - The Tonic's avatar

My private jet is in the hangar for the foreseeable future because OMG DID YOU READ THE VANITY FAIR ARTICLE ABOUT HOW UNSAFE IT IS TO GO PRIVATE?! (because there’s a pilot shortage and the remaining pilots take a lot more risks than commercial pilots to get impatient richy rich people where they want to go, like flying through dense fog and crash landing into mountainsides, not even kidding).

I only wrote this comment to prove that at least one person reads your entire post ✈️🫶🏻

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Kira Stoops's avatar

GOODNESS. And you're a gem. We'll keep the private jets en hangeur for now!

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John saxon's avatar

I am a 52 year old male and I can’t fly struggling to walk about 150 yards have to use a walker very low emune system and my asthma puts me in intense care every time I go to hospital so if you can fly please don’t winge to me about it because I am so tired of people telling me about what happens on the plane ✈️❤️❤️❤️

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Kira Stoops's avatar

I "can" fly...with a bunch of intensive supports that I will be discussing in future posts.

150 yards is further than I can walk. My immune system is completely cooked too. I'm sorry for your troubles. Health is the hardest thing to live without.

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John saxon's avatar

I totally understand and agree with you if I ever get to travel I would definitely want to see you in my top three places to visit my love ❤️❤️John

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Beth Stoops's avatar

Are you in a wheelchair for more intense non-vehicle commutes? If not, it really sounds like you'd benefit from considering that.

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John saxon's avatar

I have a really bad blood pressure issue so that’s why I can’t fly but I’m hoping that with my new medication it will let me fly over and visit with you for a little bit and you can show me around and maybe I will get into your story on here

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