NOLA

After four weeks off, two of which were spent in Alaska, I deadheaded to New Orleans for a week of flying back and forth to Fort Worth. It's friggin' hot here! I've become a humidity wimp I guess. I made several errors during my first flight back last night, the worst of which was a missed item on the cockpit preflight. The fuel crossfeed switch was left in a non-standard position which allowed for fuel migration between the two main tanks based on whichever side's pumps happened to be strongest. About 20 minutes into the flight, I noticed it was taking alot of aileron trim to keep the airplane level. The fuel config light came on warning that there was a non-standard fuel load. We had a 2000 lb split between the left and right main tanks, which is out of limits. The solution is simple, provided you have time: just turn off the pumps on the low side, leave the crossfeed open and allow the heavy side to feed both engines. In another 20 minutes, we were back to normal and I was somewhat chagrined for the sophomoric mistake. Tried to walk around town today and get some pictures, but every time I went out it rained. I ended up trapped in Harrah's and had lunch there waiting out the showers. We stay in a very nice hotel, but the rooms have no desk or chair! This has made it a challenge to work on my monthly and vacation bids.