Finally, I got offered a job by Ameriflight for a First Officer position on the Embraer 120. I must say, it didn’t take long as I asked about the posting about 2 days ago. Our chief pilot called me while I was flying a UPS run up and down the Mojave desert region. I guess my hard work as a part of the FO program paid off. It does lift a tremendous weigh off my shoulders as I was reaching the end of my contract and seriously running out of money. The industry is still a sinking ship and the opportunities to get hired are very limited. With 30000 pilots on the streets, the competition is fierce. I was offered a class date starting on February 16th, which left me less than a week to get ready, but the I was overjoyed and looking forward to the next step. It was a 4 week process which took place at Flight Safety International, in Atlanta. I had never really spent anytime there but it is obvious that this time around was not going to give me much free time to play tourist and I was ok with that. I spent the first 2 weeks studying the new airplanes and its systems. Sometime more confused than anything else, but with some hard studying every night, I had no problem passing the written test. After this, I went on to what we call paper training, where during countless hours, I reviewed the flows for every procedures in front of a poster representing the cockpit of the airplane. When time came to jump in the full motion simulator for the week long training, it made the transition a lot easier. This was my first experience in a Level D simulator and I was definitely amazed. Thanks to hydraulic stands, the box moves realistically, continuously giving the pilot the impression that he is sitting in the actual airplane. It is an efficient tool where every mistake can be made without facing the worst possible outcome. If you crash, Ctrl + alt + del and you are right back up in the air. I am simplifying here but you get the picture. Finally, on Friday the 13th, came the time for my check ride. It was a non event, as I felt ready and very comfortable during both the oral and the flight portion. Now I have one week to go back to Burbank, finish gathering my things, and drive my car across the country to Cincinnati, where I will now be based. Heading east, I will have my life in my trunk, and in my wallet, my first type rating.