Work from Home? Well, Sort of
With so many of us working from home, we find ourselves with new Work From Home (WFH) "co-workers", be they children or pets. We'll stay away from the kid discussion - it's just too real right now. True story; I was on a video call with a colleague. He's a newish dad. The call starts and newish dad places the toddler in the center of the bed, assuming that equidistant spacing on all sides from what is effectively a cliff when you are a baby is just good parenting sense. So far so good.
We made it about 10 seconds into the call when said toddler abruptly left the frame, on her way to careening off of the bed. I suggested we end the call and schedule it for another time, as I could see Newish Dad aging before my eyes. So let's blow off some steam and introduce you to another, perhaps (slightly) less stressful WFH co-worker, the pooches and kitties of Air Planning! And yeah, there's always someone that owns a snake. More on that later.
Meet Maddie!
Maddie wants to be called Mad Dog and that's her right. Her human is Jeff Baer, who works in business development, helping clients discover the magic of Air Planning and all things air charter. Mad Dog has a keen sense for which air charter companies are the best, judging by her monitor. She appears a little bemused as to why there isn't a dog bed by the desk. After all, Jeff gets a chair. C'mon Jeff. Do better!
Here's Tessa!
Tessa is going strong at 6 years old and has been with Air Planning for 28 (dog) years, an incredible career. Her human is Nicolle Williams, one of our most experienced Senior Account Executives. Tessa's biggest strength is that she doesn't let her lack of opposable thumbs keep her from getting the job done. Her one area where she could improve is not sitting directly on files or in front of screens when she needs attention.
Harrison!
Harry is as happy-go-lucky as they come, and would buy the whole office coffee if he wasn't paid in dog treats. His human is Scott Bickford, one of the oldest dogs of this company. Harry's biggest strength is his positive attitude. His biggest area for improvement would be timing. Harry needs to set boundaries between work and playtime. The odds of him laying on your keyboard is directly proportional to the importance of the work being attempted.
Awwww - Hey Cooper!
Cooper is one of our interns. He says business jets taste better. His human is Haley MacDonald, a Senior Account Executive who has been with us for a dog's age. Cooper is learning the ropes of air charter. When he feels like Haley's job, along with running after (and apparently online teaching) her boys is too much stress for her, he barks until she goes outside with him. He does this basically all the time. It's too early to give Cooper a review of strengths and weaknesses. He's just a puppy. Hang in there Haley!
Sweet (if you earn her respect) Zoey!
Zoey is Harry's older sister and they share their human Scott. She's the most tenured canine at Air Planning and is 77 years young! Zoey does not suffer fools, and specializes in the heavy long-haul large group air charter. She's a serious professional that wants to be heard. She has become known across the air charter industry as Barkimus Maximus, given her proclivity for jumping in on conference calls unannounced, invitation-be-dammed, to offer her opinions. She has no weaknesses.
Winnie and Mily and Phoebe Oh My!
Winnie is a bit high maintenance around the home office, insisting that she be held like a puppy. The dude in the sunglasses working on his core strength is our director of business development, Aaron Yust. He seems to enjoy pet photo ops. Aaron has two other WFH coworkers -read on!
Phoebe is our air charter on-site coordinator. She knows exactly what kind of damage that toy could do to an aircraft engine if left just lying about. Good girl Phoebe, good girl!
Mily is a pretty kitty that runs our air cargo charter operations, given her love of boxes. She is particularly good at package inspections, and may even nap in an air cargo shipment or two from time to time.
A Snake, a Cat and a Dog Walk Onto a Private Jet...
There's really no punchline here, sorry. Boyce and Mia insisted on a formal corporate photo. Mia looks like she is contemplating a hostile takeover, while Boyce is clearly not happy about his invisible fence collar. Too many long lunches buddy, you did it to yourself. Their "two-leg" is Kassie Parker, one of our veteran Senior Account Executives, who also apparently owns an Orange Ghost Ball Python, as every mom should.
WARNING - SNAKE PHOTO FOLLOWS !!
CAUTION! (I added this for my wife)
Eww
Don't scroll any farther if you don't like snakes...
Ok, you were warned
Kaa (ah Not So Much)
There's one in every company. That guy you just aren't sure about. Kaa has been trying to slither into a business development or sales job for some time now. If you are looking for reptiles that work as air charter brokers, we'd be happy to refer you some other companies. Kaa keeps suggesting changing our logo to a serpent, with the tagline "Don't get squeezed." That doesn't even make any sense Kaa. Everyone is afraid to tell him his ideas are terrible, lest he visit our homes off-hours. Yikes!
Wait, is That Ted Nugent?
No, that's our 24/7 duty officer Jason Thomas. He belongs to Riley and Diesel. Poor Riley is really stressed out about that bow, or maybe needs to check on a departure. Diesel used to visit our HQ when he was a pup. In retrospect, we should have made sure he was a bit better at house training before starting his career. Jason claims that the outfit was for a 4th of July party, but since he works off-hours this could in fact be his business attire for all we know. Rock on Jay!
We Have the Best Pack in Air Charter
Like so many of you, the Air Planning team is making it all work. Juggling online math lessons, doggie bathroom breaks, and taking care of our air charter clients is just another day at the remote office. We are so fortunate to have such a great pack. Woof Woof!