Leaving on a Jet Plane · 5:58pm May 17th, 2018
I'm at the airplane station
That was what the young, naive Silver Glow called airports.
Anyhow, I got to the airport about five hours early, because I'm paranoid about missing my flight, and also because I always seem to get selected for random searches or my bag's too heavy (I brought an extra bag in case of that) or I wind up getting lost and circling around the airport for two or three laps because I can't remember which terminal I'm flying out of even though they put up plenty of signs.
Also, since I'm at the airplane station, I have limited (to no) WiFi, so don't expect images.
I was going to use the time to write some of the next chapter of OPP, in the goal of not spending six months between chapters. But being in a state of mild paranoia that my flight is going to leave without me or it's going to wind up getting lost and dropping me off in Farbanks instead (or Atlanta, since it's a Delta flight). Maybe I'll get to the hotel and they'll have forgotten that I made a reservation, or all of my credit cards and my cash will be declined at the hotel . . . .
Basic low-grade paranoia. And none of these things will happen, and the airplane will fly to the right airport like they do and Delta won't have lost any of my luggage and the shuttle van will pick me up and take me to the hotel and maybe I'll even get upgraded to the room with the view of SeaTac airport.
A man can hope.
The point is, I can't concentrate well enough to get myself into a 'writing something serious like OPP'. After I get done with this here blog post and maybe figure out how to post it, I might write something serious that's not OPP, or something silly like Filly Anon does something [I just had a dozen ideas all at once, and they were all rejected because “I already did that in another story”].
Great, now I'm paranoid I'm running out of ideas, too.
Oh also I have this gnawing fear that Somber is going to punch me in the face for no reason.
<opens a bag of Ruffles Salt and Vinegar chips to stave off hyperventilation>
My usual packing style is starts off organized and then turns into panic. I like to make sure to pack underwear and socks first because of this; that way, if I forget anything at least I've got underwear and socks.
So last night, as I was driving back from Meijer with a few last-minute items, one of my buddies and former co-workers calls me. He's been messaging me and calling me sort of out of the blue—we really haven't talked in at least five years, probably more. He moved to Florida and then moved back to Michigan and we said that we were going to keep in touch but we didn't . . . the usual story that anyone who's over twenty will probably understand.
Long story short, he's working as a manager at a Firestone, and he wants me.
None of the guys that he's got at the shop now are qualified or willing to work. They don't have the certifications that they need, they sit on their butts, etc.
I told him that I probably wouldn't be interested; I'm paid really well at the shop I'm at, and it's only Monday to Friday, 8-5. Plus, it's really close to my house. Plus, I like our customers and respect the owner. [As for the manager, remember yesterday that Estee was mentioning itchy hands? Yeah.]
There would be some advantages, of course. Things like health care and a retirement plan (assuming I stayed there long enough). But there's also corporate, uh, stuff, and a long commute.
I didn't tell him a firm no. A sincere offer would certainly be something I could use to negotiate a pay raise here, if I wanted to, or any other perk I might think of.
And I got the impression that they were so desperate that I might be able to get a generous offer.
A very generous offer.
All of y'all who've been around here for a while know that I'm not exactly the most mercenary person on the site. I do what I like, I want to earn enough money that I'm not living in a cardboard box and eating cans of beans, and as long as those basic needs and funds for conventions are in place, everything else is just gravy.
Let's just say that he's offering enough that I could feasibly start chartering private jets to the conventions I go to.
And now I'm starting to get tempted.
While we're on the subject of change, once again it occurred to me that many people reading through Onto the Pony Planet are thinking that Starlight is Starlight Glimmer, not “background cheer pony” and then “Starlight” and then “Lucky Star” and next whatever Hasbro thinks of.
I could change it.
I generally hate retconning stuff; it doesn't seem fair to my readers. Sure, I'll correct dumb spelling errors that my pre-readers missed either because they're only human (or more likely because I made a major change about ten seconds before posting it because I'm kind of a jerk like that). Renaming a significant character is far more of a change, though, and one that I really don't want to do . . . but I also don't want any new readers that I pick up to get confused.
The easiest possibility might be to change her name to Star Light.
So if any of y'all have thoughts on that front, let me know!
As I was sitting here trying to figure out which laptop had enough of a charge to use, and if I could access the airport Twi-Fi at all (turns out my tablet can but my computer doesn't want to), I got a call from my bank.
Those of us who are responsible adults know that it's generally not good news when you get a call from your bank.
This time though?
Bank error in my favor.
When I got the loan to fix my roof, they made a mistake.
It's not ten billion US dollars (which is too bad, really, since that would resolve the question about whether or not I should change jobs); on the other hand, it's enough to buy a literal fleet of S-10s like my old blue one.*
At least, that's what I gather from what they're telling me on the phone.
After EFNW, I'll have to go to the bank in person and find out for sure what got screwed up and how.
And remember how I was mentioning being paranoid about my credit cards suddenly not working? When I saw who was calling, I thought that they were going to tell me that they'd detected fraud on my card and it was canceled, or that my bank account was overdrawn and they were sending someone out to break my legs. 
______________________________
*Granted, my old blue one only cost $80, so it wouldn't be a major investment to accumulate a fleet of them, at that price.
I'm about an hour away from boarding my plane, and depending on the winds and the pilot's decision, there's every chance I'll be able to look out and see my house as I pass over it. Maybe I'll take a picture from the air—that's always fun. Might find out that the roofers wrote something up there . . . or maybe I'll see it's on fire. One never knows.
And then, I'll be bored. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to not only bring my laptop (duh), but I've also got Working, by Studs Terkel. It's been a long time since I wrote a “Spuds Terkel” story, and maybe this'll be the push I need. I've already got a bit of inspiration about a pegasus working the desert, bringing fresh water to dump in the water towers to feed the train.
You'll be okay, have fun at your convention.
You would get along with my brother, he is also the kind of guy to go paranoid over all the little thing that could go wrong.
Not that I don't understand where those feeling are comming from, I usually try to play it on the safe side of thing too. Just with less panic and more confidence I guess.
I kinda miss taking a plane, it's fun even if I get motion sickness, like, really bad.
Too bad it is so expensive.
I think Starlight is named just fine. There is no rule about character not being allowed to share a name.
Of course Glimmer is the first pony we think of when you tell us about a unicorn named Starlight, but it become quickly clear she is not the same pony. At least, I think it does.
I'm pretty sure it was a card you could draw at Monopoly. Gave you 200$ if my memory serve me well.
ps: And you've done it, the song is stuck in my head now, I hope you are pleased with yourself!
I miss Silver Glow... Her story was beautiful and amazing.
I would say take the job. You probably would have the ability to move up and get your own shop to run if your good enough. I do hope the bank error goes in your favor and all goes well for you his weekend.
Ahh Silver glow. It's been a while. I'm actually going to reread a portion soon. I'm heading to one of her destinations and I want to see where she went when she was there.
I totally get the paranoia. I was pretty bad at my last flight. It was my first time flying in over a decade and my first time solo. I also wasn't the one booking (it was a business trip) so I had an extra level of paranoia from that. Plus they had me on a fairly tight schedule so I couldn't show up super early for everything.
keep in mind that you're going to have to work with them if you take the job. might end up being worse. If the money's good enough it may be worth it though.
Hope the convention goes well.
Silver Glow must have requested more camelbacks.
I'd say no.
1: Your Starlight already exists.
2: We know she's not Commy Horse.
3: Sometimes people have the same name, and that's okay! (I know most stories don't do that so as to not risk confusion, but it would be a neat little bit of world-building to at least acknowledge the phenomenon.)
So... You got the possibility of an assload of cash?
4862772
Agreed, especially as to that third point. My "christian name" is John, and I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on how common that name is, especially in the southeast U.S. (there were five in my homeroom class in middle school!) Perhaps you could just have someone refer to her by a nickname once in a while, that should please all parties reasonably well.
It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression "As pretty as an airport." Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort. This ugliness arises because airports are full of people who are tired, cross, and have just discovered that their luggage has landed in Murmansk (Murmansk airport is the only exception of this otherwise infallible rule), and architects have on the whole tried to reflect this in their designs.
-The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
Reminder that Towel Day is coming up. All you hoopy froods get ready.
And on the rare occasion I have to travel, I take Amtrak. Nice views. Plenty of legroom. No automatically being treated like a criminal. Besides, my state is still dragging it's heels on issuing RealID-compliant drivers licenses which might prevent being allowed onto planes.
4862777
"No offense."
Passing donkey: "None taken."
I'd say that Star Light would work. Or maybe some kind of blatant lampshade: "Time travel spells? No, I don't know any of those. I'm not even a unicorn! And I certainly don't have any unresolved foalhood-friend issues.
"
Man, your airport offers complimentary Sparkle/Scratch shipping? You lucky dog, I can only get Braeburn/Cherry Berry at mine.
I doubt that would stop Filly Anon; why should it stop you?
I'd give serious consideration to that Firestone job. Good health care and a retirement plan get increasingly important as one gets older. You'd be valued like a rockstar there, it sounds like. A long commute sucks, but if the job really pays a lot more, you could think about buying a new house close to where you work over time.
It's good that your loyal to your owner, who as I recall has always done right by you. You've also done right by him, and put in plenty of years of good service. If your honest and help him look for a replacement, you can leave on good terms.
I'd just give Starlight a last name and make sure to use it in the first reference of a chapter/scene (possibly going to edit it back in a few times.) Like, Starlight Skies, so that way everypony thinks she's a unicorn or a pegasus!
Did you fly from Detroit, or did you start somewhere else in Michigan?
4862862
Or the owner might offer a giant raise to keep the Admiral.
My first thought is to put a small disclaimer/clarification regarding Starlight at the bottom of the story description, but that might confuse people who haven't started reading OPP yet. The easy solution would be to put the clarification in the author's notes at the end of the first chapter she appears in... but people are weird and not all of them start at the beginning or something, you know? (The chapter-by-chapter view counts always puzzle me.)
So clearly the only solution now is to turn every instance of Starlight's name into a link to the wiki page or an image or something that clearly indicates which pony she is or which pony she isn't, right?
From there you could either do nothing; you could makeonelink go somewhere more interesting and let the mystery of which link it is and where it goes drive us to click every one; or you couldsayyou did that, but not actually do it and risk someone blabbing which link it was and where it went because proving that you didn't do that is harder.That seems like a reasonable compromise.
If you're worried about new readers, just add something where she's introduced, that kind of pokes fun at that. (Still haven't read it
) But like, just have the character she's talking to be like 'your name sounds awfully familiar, did you used to run a cult?' lol or something along those lines.
That's the best Monopoly chance card!
That sounds cool. You ever see the old films about water-filling long-distance non-stop trains? It's pretty cool. They have a really long section of track, say half a mile or whatever, and in between the rails there's a trough of water. The fireman turns a crank on the tender, and it lowers a scoop into the water, and fills the tank. I can't find the exact youtube vid I'm thinking of, sadly. It was a training/educational film from the 50s or thereabouts.
I still want a story of the Star family, for no particular reason. Just putting that out there, for Star Star and Starly Star.
Bon voyage. *insert SG emoticon here*
4862741
I did! And I didn't even get punched in the face by Somber.
4862747
It's always the weird little stuff, too. Although I have had the experience of missing a flight (through no fault of my own), so. . .
I'm lucky in that I rarely do. Once on a boat, but that was on the North Sea, and it wasn't a very big boat.
To my mind, it's not unreasonable. I think that it was somewhere around $500 for my two flights, which wasn't that bad. I could have done cheaper if I wanted either not direct flights, or was willing to leave at some ridiculous hour in the morning.
Agreed, but I have seen a few people in the comments just assuming that it's Starlight Glimmer.
It was indeed. I got significantly more than $200. Then again, it was my money all along, so. . . .
4862750
I miss her, too. Sometime in the future it will be time to get back into her head one more time, and I'm looking forward to it.
4862757
Man, I don't know. There's a lot of baggage attached to that job, and I'm not sure it's something I want to deal with. And the commute would suck. Still, I'm not going to say no just yet; I'll see what they actually have to offer and take it from there.
It turns out that the bank error did, more or less (it's complicated, to say the least). And I did have a good time, even if I didn't win the Iron Writer competition.
4862763
Which one, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm getting better at it; over the last couple of years, I've gotten to fly quite a bit after a decade of not flying anything other than in my brother's Cessna. But it's still a confusing experience in many ways, and I'm not a huge fan of the experience.
That's true, but it's a bit different from the technician side of things versus what he thinks from the manager side. It's hard to say for sure, though. I've certainly worked with toxic mechanics in the past, and that's not always fun. But then, my current manager isn't exactly a pleasure to be around, either.
Good times! I even got Titanium Dragon to admit that I was a pretty good writer, even though I had to resort to bribery to get my one good review from him.
4862772
I'm actually not sure if they sell camelbacks there.
Those are all compelling reasons. And I suppose that if anyone misses that they're not the same horse, that's not my fault.
Maybe I could come up with a full name for her and use it at some point, for anyone who wasn't sure. Well, assuming that Earth ponies have full names . . . canon isn't entirely clear on that.
4862777
Basically, yes. Although it was mine all along, and they just screwed up. And it's really my fault for not catching it, which I certainly should have.
4862783
Yeah, and there must be ponies that have the same name, or parts of the same name. Even with their non-conventional (to us) naming scheme, there are only so many words, and unless there is actually some pony law that no two ponies can have the same name, it's bound to happen.
That's another good possibility, although I'm not sure what that nickname would be. Star is the most obvious, but if I really thought of it, I could probably come up with something else.
4862795
Amtrak isn't bad, and I do prefer it to an airplane when possible. But for longer trips it's more expensive, which is one consideration, and for shorter trips it's generally really inconvenient. I could take Amtrak to Bronycon, but I'd basically have to either drive to Chicago first, or else intercept the train somewhere along its route (Toledo, I think, would work). and then use other transportation from DC to Baltimore. . . and even then, it would be faster to drive the whole distance myself.
For all the things that are wrong with Michigan, we've got suitable IDs. Probably because so many people go to Canada somewhat frequently.
4862827
I could do that in some later chapter. Although in the current continuity of my story, Starlight Glimmer effectively doesn't exist (obviously, she does, but in OPP Twilight's still a unicorn).
That's not good shipping at all. Everybody knows that Cherry Berry/Comet Tail is the correct OTP.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/3/13/1385753__safe_cherry+berry_comet+tail_cart_duo_earth+pony_pony_speed+lines_unicorn_vegetables_wrecked.png
I try to not write the same story twice, that's why it would stop me.
4862862
Yeah, those things are plusses; on the other hand, given how Firestone tends to go through managers, it might not wind up being a long time job after all. That store in particular has historically had a rather high turnover. And while I could buy a new house, if I was going to do that, Lansing probably isn't the place I'd want to be.
It's hard to say. He is sometimes temperamental, but he's a good guy just the same. I don't know how much luck he'd have finding a good replacement, though. The shortage of good mechanics is starting to be an issue, it looks like. Which, in the long run, is probably good for me in terms of career prospects going forward.
4862933
That's a good idea, as well. I could do it way back in the chapter where she's first introduced, since I assume anyone who's been following along all this time knows she's not Starlight Glimmer.
4862938
I flew from Detroit. Lansing was also a possibility; it's closer and the airport's a lot quicker to get through, since it's small, but there weren't any direct flights. I'd either fly from Lansing to Detroit or Minneapolis and then do the second leg from there. I think that it was also a bit more expensive overall.
Grand Rapids was also a possibility, although that's somewhat farther to drive, and there also weren't any direct flights that I could find.
4862996
That's also a possibility.
4863112
Yeah, I think that would be kind of weird. It would have to be a specific mention . . . she of course comes up in the blog post, but not everyone reads those.
I could, but that's not an ideal solution, either. A lot of people don't click those links, as evidenced by the people who commented on the fact that "like" in OPP or "run" in SGJ were hyperlinked to blog posts celebrating high word counts (1m in SGJ; 2m in OPP).
4863127
If I do anything, that'd probably be it. It's an easy change, and everyone who's used to her won't be too jarred by it.
4863140
That would have been easier if there had been a Starlight Glimmer when I started writing the story, or if the continuity of the story took place after the events of Our Town. Heck, in OPP, Twilight hasn't earned her wings yet.
It's even better when it's real money.
Yeah, the Pennsylvania RR and the New York Central used them on the most competitive routes. They had their problems, like freezing in the winter time or the fireman not pulling the scoop up at the end of the track pan. I think they were used in Europe, too. All things considered, it was a somewhat clever solution to a problem, but it was its own engineering challenge. For starters, the track had to be straight and level wherever you planned to install this, and IIRC it was mostly on Northeast routes that they used it. I have to imagine in the winter time that ice could be a problem, too.
I once read about some poor hobo who got encased in ice because he was riding on the back of a tender and got drenched when the fireman overflowed it. He couldn't get off the train, since they were still moving at speed. . . .
4863490
Maybe Starlight's family isn't really good when it comes to naming ponies. That would actually be funny. Especially if I pulled a few more off the AI list, like Starlich, Bitter Star, Star Sandlime, and of course Derdy Star.
4867291
Colorado Springs. I thought about doing something my last visit, but I was there for under a day and didn't have transportation.
That's good. I can see why people don't like it, but it's way more convenient than driving lol. The private plane has got to be nice (even though it's a smaller plane), my last flight was on small regional jets and was really cramped (I couldn't even stand up all the way in the cabin).
yeah, the perspective might be a it different. I'm not sure I'd classify either of those as toxic, especially not being qualified. That's more of a lack of experience.
that's great
4867433
Ooh, Peggy's hometown! I bet there's a lot of stuff you could pick apart
The Cessna(?) he used was super-tiny. It was nice in that you could go wherever you wanted on your own schedule (weather permitting), but it wasn't exactly comfortable. And since I was in the copilot's seat, I had to be very careful to not touch anything.
Oh, sure, lack of experience is one thing, and I have no problem with that. Heck, I worked with a manger once who said right up front that he didn't know anything, and he wouldn't unless we told him. I was thinking more people that are overtly a
holes.
He said: "Admiral Biscuit (very comfortable t-shirts, also a writer who constantly surprises me with how good he is, which is silly, because you think I would have learned by the third time)"
4867339
That's a good point about turnover at a place like that. Unless your buddy owns the franchise, there's some risk there.
4867474
lol. I'm not looking at it like that, just visiting some of the same areas. I need to go back and re-read the section so I can even remember what she did.
The big thing for me is less people. Nowhere near as crowded. And yeah, have to make sure not to touch anything.
It's always good when people know the limits and when to get another opinion. I'm just going on what you mentioned, so i don't really know the situation.
Why in the hell was he on the tender?
Poor bastard.
4867313
How about 'Derdy'?
...
I'll see myself out :b
4867385
I was joking originally, and now I'm not sure why I thought it'd be funny at all.
Anyhow, the people who just assume it's Glimmer probably can't be helped. If I recall correctly, you've given us bits and pieces of her appearance and personality and whatnot as she interacts with the others and/or Dale just makes observations. I can't think of any in-story reason for her not to be named Starlight, and her being a totally different character should be enough for most of us to realize that she's... well, a totally different character.
If the people making assumptions are starting in the middle of the story, I could see the name "Twilight" bringing to mind images of one alicorn princess of friendship. Similarly, she's still a unicorn and acts like it so I'd like to think we can all figure that out, but if people are either ignoring or skipping the context, there are all sorts of things that could go wrong with their understanding.
If there's another possibility for why people jump from Starlight to Glimmer, I'm too tired to think of it right now. In my experience, Starlight Glimmer was well established before I got around to reading Celestia Sleeps In, and I had no difficulty whatsoever not mixing up the Starlights. Honestly, I hadn't even considered that it could be done until I read this blog post.
The phrasing here made me picture this completely differently, before I realized you meant circling on the ground.
Dang! I knew what you do pays pretty well, but dang.
4867575
Yeah, and he doesn't. The good news, I suppose, is that mechanics tend to do better, especially now that there's some difficulty in finding qualified ones.
4867615
IIRC, there were two trips out to Colorado Springs for Silver Glow. The one in late summer, and then the one around Thanksgiving where they went snowboarding. I can't remember all the places they went off the top of my head, though.
Honestly, in some of those little planes it's as tight as in the steerage-class seats on a Delta plane.
Better view, though, and I bet the pilot of a Delta plane would never ask me if I wanted to try and fly it.
A lot of the culture really comes from the top. If they hire people who are arrogant jerks that assume that all mechanics are uneducated scum, than that's what they wind up getting because the good people leave for greener pastures. If they actually have qualified people, though--the ones that recognize that the mechanics are the ones who are earning the manager's paychecks--then it can be a pretty good job. And there are some nice things about the corporate 'no exception' rules. Like, at Firestone if a tire is damaged outside a certain area or filled with fix-a-flat, it's not repairable, end of story. At my current shop, it's a 'try it and see what happens' type of thing.
4867620
I'd assume it was a passenger train, since those are the only ones in the US that I know of that picked up water on the fly, and I'd assume that was the only place he could sneak aboard where nobody would notice.
And yeah, that'd be a pretty lousy way for your free ride to end.
4867754
Now I'm half tempted to have her little sister call her 'Starly.'
4868172
That's a good point. I've just had a few people comment and get confused. Then again, I had a few people get confused about the gender of a character in one story even after it was made abundantly clear, so I suppose some people are just sloppy readers and the only solution would be to change her name to NOT STARLIGHT GLIMMER or something along those lines.
Or I could have her full name be Starlight Glister.
Yeah, that is one other problem with the story staying more fixed in time than the show is, but that can't be helped. Dale does mention on occasion that Twilight is a unicorn, which ought to be enough of a hint for people.
Alright, that's reassuring, and so I can assume that people who do mix it up are just idiots, and I can't think of a way to easily fix that.