Do I Have to Leave?!?!?

The hurricane passed with just high winds and rain, and once it was gone, people started coming out of the woodwork (or wherever it was that they were hiding). I had stayed in my room updating this blog and working on Facebook, and then I went out and took a walk to grab some lunch. I ended up at McDonald's! The hotel prices were just too ridiculously high...

As you can tell, a lot of people got "cabin fever" while the hurricane was passing by, so we all headed to the hot tub when it was all over. But one big problem...it wasn't hot. It wasn't even warm this time. It turns out that the resort had turned off the heater, and the tub won't be hot again until tomorrow. Bummer.

Here's a nice picture of the hotel after the storm - no damage at all. The staff was even putting the deck chairs back out onto the patio.

When I came back from my walk, this is the first thing you see as you walk up the driveway to the main entrance. Nice, huh?

The beach swim-up bar survived, but the actual bar area got a bit flooded. Also, sand washed in onto everything. They've got a bit of a task ahead of them!

If the baby pool had been a tad warmer, we might have had more room in the hot tub. But because of all the cool rain that had fallen, all the pools were colder than normal.

After we made dinner plans, I headed back to my room to shower. When I looked out my balcony windows, I saw the most beautiful sunset. Incredible.

We chose the Laguna Grill for dinner tonight, based on the recommendation of a young woman who we met in the hot tub. She said it's her favorite place. And boy, was it good! The food was delicious, it was presented in a very sophisticated and artistic way (I should have taken pictures of it), and again, we sat on the back deck next to the laguna. However, this time we did not see the alligator swim by.

I enjoyed the parmesan scallops, Aaron got the tuna, and the other three got the special - grouper. To top off the meal, we ordered one creme brulee made with Bailey's. My oh my. It was so delicious!!!

When we got back to the hotel, we sat and enjoyed one more cocktail, as we talked about how great this trip was. I was very very lucky to get assigned to it, and I hope I get to fly with these ladies and gentlemen again.

A Change in Plans

We had a quiet night in Kansas City, and the anticipation of going to Cancun excited all five of us! But...the CPT told us that our plans could change. He informed us that there was a tropical depression heading to Cancun, and it would probably hit sometime on Sunday.

Well, you all know me...I'm not one to let a tropical depression get in the way of my fun! We checked into our hotel at around 10AM on Saturday after a relatively quiet flight to Cancun. We stay at the Omni Resort, right on hotel row in Cancun. For some delightful pictures (when the sun is out), go to http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/CancunHotelAndVillas.aspx.

This time, I was given a room that faced north, looking out over Laguna Nichupte. The last time I had a layover here, my room faced south, looking out on the Caribbean Sea.

You can see that things looked a bit gloomy yesterday - it was overcast, and it would rain on and off during the day. Also, the winds would kick up but they were relatively warm, so it was no big deal.
Originally, we had planned to plant ourselves at the swim-up beach bar, but the Caribbean Sea had other plans - it was breaking waves at the edge of the concrete patio, and the hotel workers closed the bar for safety reasons.

We knew that when the hotel workers started putting away all the outdoor chairs, trashcans, and portable plants that they were taking this storm seriously (as they should!). Then we notice that the storm shutters have been closed on several of the windows of the restaurants and some of the cottages.

Also, the workers dismantled all the umbrellas, decks, stands, etc. that were in the sand, and pulled them onto the grassy area one level above the sea.

The surf out there is the worst I had seen in quite awhile. The waves are crashing onto the sidewalk area, probably sweeping all the sand out to sea (again).

Here's another view of the sidewalks leading down to the beach. Notice the red flag, indicating that it was not safe to go swimming. Duuuuuhhhhhhh!

Even though it's not bright and sunny here, it's still so relaxing and beautiful. The temp was very comfortable to sit outside, to walk around in, and to sit in the hot tub!

So, being a resourceful crew, we did what we had to do. We found a covered outdoor patio outside the restaurant, and proceeded to fill up with libations and appetizers for several hours.

When the rain started pouring down hard, we retreated back to the outdoor table. Helena and FO Aaron enjoyed a Tecate or two.

And Cheryl and CPT Kosta shared a few laughs and several limes! We told "war stories" from our flying experiences, we toasted those flight attendants who have departed this earth, and we toasted to good crews and good layovers!

Here we have a group photo of Helena, Aaron, Cheryl and Kosta right before we headed to our rooms to prepare for our evening's festivities.

Here's a view from where we spent most of the day - kinda tough to take, huh? It was warm, a bit breezy, and not too terribly humid.

After regrouping, showering, changing, etc., we met in the hotel lobby and walked across the street to an outstanding restaurant called the "Captain's Cove." Wow. The food there was so delicious! CPT Kosta treated us to dinner - that was such a nice surprise! I enjoyed the crab cakes - delicious! Mostly crab, and not so much filler. Others had the grouper and crab cake combo, red sea bass, and I can't remember the strange thing that Aaron ordered. We had a lovely evening sitting on the outside covered deck, facing the laguna...right as we were ending our meal, we looked over the railing and there was an 8 foot alligator swimming right below us! Mind you, this was not a captive alligator. This is one that lives in the laguna. I don't think that I will EVER attempt to swim in the laguna...

After a very enjoyable meal, we asked around to find a good disco where we could dance. After hiring a cab, we headed out only to find out that none of the places were open - it was only 9PM. So we ended up at Senor Frog's...I know, I know...touristy as all get out, but it was our only option. Outside, there was an old VW Van painted in psychedelic colors that you could get in and pose, and then there was an adult swingset by the font door! But Aaron wouldn't move from in front of me, and I didn't want to slam my foot into his gut (or worse), so I did not give it my all. Inside, there were lots of tourists of all ages, lots of tequila shot conga lines, lots of contests for free shots, and lots of younguns. Fortunately, every once in awhile they'd play a song that you could dance to...and I mean actually dance. But I was a minority there - everyone seemed to really get into dirty dancing and that's just not something that I'm into.

They did start playing Wild Cherry's "Play that funky music, white boy..." and I ran out and was dancing up a storm. But they only used that song as a lead-in to the "White Boy Dance Contest." They selected four middle-aged white guys and brought them up onto the stage. One at a time, they gave each a shot of tequila and then had them dance. Our Kosta was one of those guys, and he did an admirable job. But...there was one white guy who outshone everyone. His prize? A Senor Frog's hat.

There were assorted wooden signs on standalone poles that the waiters would position next to unsuspecting guests - at one point, I had the "Likes White Trash Boys" sign pointing at me. I purposely did not bring my camera to dinner/dancing because I didn't want to have any incriminating evidence against anyone, but I would've liked to have had a picture of me next to that sign. I could have posted it on Greg's Facebook wall.

After a couple hours of fun, we headed back to our hotel for the evening, since we had a 0945 van time in the morning. At midnight, the CPT calls me and tells me that the flight that was supposed to come get us from Kansas City was cancelled due to the hurricane. Awwww. Too bad. So no more 0945 van. Instead, we'd take a van at 1600 on Monday for a flight back to Denver (which we will deadhead and not work)! What a tough layover this has turned out to be!

I have internet access (obviously), I have a DVD I need to watch, I brought lots of books, and food in my bag (but no microwave - I guess cold soup never hurt anyone!). I just took a quick walk around the property - I think the major part of the hurricane has already passed. The Caribbean Sea is very angry with large, crashing waves, flooding the beach bar. But otherwise, it's rather nice outside. I may go hang out in the hot tub again this afternoon...I'm livin' the dream!

Four-Day Trip

Yesterday, I sat the couch at DIA from Noon until 6PM. I had expected to sit and chat, and maybe play cards, with my classmate Kelly K. But when I checked in and was updating my Flight Attendant Manual, I realized that I had a bigger job to do...update the Announcement Book! You see, we have a small book that is posted on the Inflight website that contains all the announcements that we make while you are trying to sleep and/or watch TV. I kind of took it upon myself to update that book whenever a new revision comes out. Well...we just had a big one that pretty much redid all the announcements. So instead of chit-chatting with my buddy, I spent the six hours on the couch updating the announcement book. I hope it is posted to the website soon...

Last night before I went to bed, I checked my schedule and saw that crew scheduling assigned me to a four-day trip. Today, I flew to/from Kansas City from Denver, and we liked it so much that we flew back to Kansas City and are staying the night. In the morning, we are flying to CANCUN. Woo hoo!!! We'll get to stay 23 hours there and then deadhead (fly as passengers) on the way back to Kansas City on Sunday. However...there is a tropical depression heading to Cancun which looks like it'll hit on Sunday. So, we may end up having to stay in Cancun an extra day. Time and weather will tell.

What an awesome trip this is. The crew is very, very nice - and that really does make or break a trip. I think we'll all be hanging out together in Cancun...I just hope it isn't raining too hard. From what I understand, a very senior mama called in and is now on FMLA. That's not usually a good sign. But her loss is my gain, and for that I am very grateful.

If we leave Cancun as planned, we'll head back to Kansas City, then fly back to Denver, and then spend the night in San Francisco. Unfortunately, it's the short layover, so I won't have any time to look up my cousin, Jackie.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don't end up in a hurricane, but also keep them crossed so that not all of our layover in Cancun is in cloud cover and rain!!! (It'll still be gorgeous, even if it is...)

25th Wedding Anniversary

How do you top the fabulous trip that Kelly, Fadia and I had in Tucson?!? Well...Kelly got assigned to an Orlando turn and then was released to her days off. Fadia got assigned to a Cancun turn, but still has a few duty days on. And I got assigned to a Milwaukee overnight. Fortuantely, I had another great crew - Ellen and Jen - that kept me highly amused during our flights to/from Milwaukee! I spent a couple hours at the Brookfield Mall next door to the hotel, and then I went to bed EARLY since our van to the airport was picking us up at 4:30AM.

I heard those magical words when I returned to Denver, "You are released to your days off!" Glorious, magical, sweet words. I drove home and was walking in my door by 9:30AM. Nice.

The only trouble I have is that on my first day off, I'm kind of in a "dead zone." I walk around the house in a stupor, trying to reacquaint myself with my to-do files, my computer, the shower and the laundryroom. And then, of course, there's the required nap. But I didn't get one yesterday! My loving hubby put me to work!!! Can you believe it?!?! Our garage freezer went on the fritz, and we had to "uncover" it so that a repairman could see if it was salvageable. That leads me to a story...

There were about 6 file boxes of "stuff" that I've had in the garage for approximately 10-15 years, and Greg has been trying to get me to do something with those boxes. Throw them away, sort through them, whatever - just get them out of the garage. So how did I spend my day? Sorting. I took those boxes and sorted them down to one file box and threw the rest of the stuff away. The dates on documents were from 1995 through 2000. Oops.

So Greg finally got those boxes out of the garage, the freezer was fixed (sort of - it's making a really weird noise and is probably on its last leg), and I did not get my nap. Instead, I finished payroll. I got a few things at the grocery store. Made California Pizza Kitchen pizza for dinner (I know...I'm Martha Stewart, aren't I?), watched a couple episodes of "Six Feet Under" (I'm now on Season 3) and went to BED.

I woke up this morning to a gloriously sunny day...it's our 25th Wedding Anniversary! I remember that day from 25 years ago vividly. What a fun day. Lots has happened since then. Lots of time has gone by. We're still together. We've each grown up (well...at least one of us has...the other one is still playing with toys). But we're still in love.

We're going to dinner at the Edelweiss Restaurant tonight - the little German restaurant that Greg and I went to to celebrate our 1st Anniversary so many years ago. And we'll have another celebration later this month when we travel to Vegas to celebrate Jen's 21st birthday with her and a couple of her friends.

So I'm going to enjoy my day by doing laundry, running errands - the usual things I do on my days off, and I'll look forward to a nice evening of veal weiner schnitzel!!!

Tucson with Fadia, Kelly and a Mustang Convertible

Since I last wrote, I had a couple days off and then a Detroit turn on Friday. When I got back and called crew scheduling to sign out, they told me that I would be going to Tucson the next day...they said I'd be "deadheading" (in uniform, but riding as a passenger) to Tucson on Saturday morning and then working the morning flight home on Sunday morning. When I checked my schedule, I saw that I was FINALLY flying with one of my classmates, Kelly, and another of the reserve flight attendants, my friend Fadia! SCORE! Now THIS is why I became a flight attendant...to have fun with friends on layovers in nice places!

This morning we all met at DIA, had a leisurely flight to TUS and then went to the rental car desk to wheel and deal ourselves into a good deal for a car. We ended up with a white Mustang Convertible with a GPS system. FUN FUN FUN!!!

Me and Kelly with our Mustang convertible!

Kelly and Fadia eating cactus in Tombstone, AZ

We decided to take the car, set the GPS for Tombstone, AZ and go!

Of course, we had to attend one of the gunfighting shows. Kelly and Fadia are patiently awaiting the start of the Six Gun show - complete with $2 margaritas!

Here's 'Bat Masterson,' our MC, telling us about some of the scenarios we were going to see.

and 'Bat Masterson' looking sexy...

and a picture of me with part of the cast (I'm blowing the smoke off my gun and not trying to shoot myself in the head, just in case you were wondering...).

After the show, we headed down the street to the Bird Cage Theater where this gentleman was pointing out all the gunshot holes in the walls, ceiling and pictures in the lobby of the theater.

It was called the "Bird Cage" theater because the "ladies of the evening" entertained their guests in small rooms overlooking the theater, sort of like small bird cages.

Downstairs, there was the gambling parlour.

Here's a picture of me and Kelly hanging out in the gambling parlour.

In one of the girl's rooms next to the gambling parlour, you could photograph a mirror and see one of the girls in the mirror...

A lot of people were dressed up in period costumes...

...and some other costumes that we didn't quite understand.

Kelly found a nice looking guy to hang out with.

Before this picture was taken, I had gone over to this guy and leaned in as Fadia and Kelly took my picture giving him a kiss on the cheek. What I didn't know, was that a cowboy one door down was watching, and he "activated" this guy as I was kissing him - his arms and legs started moving, scaring the "poop" out of me!

Next up, we headed to the Boothill Grave Yard where we wandered around the grave markers as we read the circumstances of some of the deaths. I found these markers particularily interesting...

On the way back to Tucson, we decided to take the "scenic route" - and we enjoyed the scenery changes. It was interesting to see how the vegetation changed every so often, from cactus to trees to a combo of both. It was fun driving with the top down, but as that sun went down, we got a bit chilly and had to put the top up.

We used the GPS to find a Mexican restaurant on the way back to town, but the directions for the first restaurant we picked led us to a residential neighborhood! Then the next two or three restaurants that we tried were all fast-food Mexican Restaurants with drive-through windows. That wasn't quite what we were looking for. Finally, we found a nice place that had awesome enchiladas that I enjoyed very much!

Finally, it was time to head back to the hotel...but first, we had to figure out how to turn on the headlights of the car!!! We looked and looked and looked. We figured that if we could figure out how to put the top down, we should be able to figure out how to turn on the headlights...after we figured that out, we had to figure out how to open the gas tank, and then how to turn the map lights off! It all sounds so simple, but it was a challenge for us poor flight attendants just out for a good time in a fun car! We finally dropped the car off at the airport and walked to our nearby hotel - on the way there, I just had to take one more picture...

People Say the Darndest Things . . .

I got the Noon to 6PM shift on the couch at DIA on Sunday, and got to experience some lovely winter driving conditions on the way home. My usual 1 hour 40 minute commute turned into 2 1/2 hours as I enjoyed slippin' and slidin' my way back to Colorado Springs.

At 5:30AM on Monday, my phone rang and rang - I had no clue what was singing to me (it was playing "They're coming to take me away, ha ha, they're coming to take me away, ho ho, he he, ha ha, to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time..."). It was my cell phone! But before I could get my act together, our home phone rang waking Greg up. Oops. Anyway, it was crew scheduling assigning me to yet another trip.

This new trip (a Dallas turn and a LaGuardia overnight) brought me up to 91 hours for the month...and anything over 82 hours is overtime! Woo hoo! I'm not sure why I'm being loaded with hours while there are some co-workers who have worked only 52 hours. Go figure.

My trips went well, the crews were very nice, but the LGA overnight was entirely TOO SHORT! I would have loved to have seen Jen, but it was pretty much impossible when I was on the ground only 9 hours, and I needed to sleep for at least 7 of those hours!

But I did shake my head in amazement at some of the comments I received from passengers this morning.

One in particular still sticks in my mind...I had finished serving beverages and taking the food cart through the entire cabin. As I was walking through doing the second beverage service, passenger 3E asked me if I was ever going to offer her a sandwich. I told her that I had already brought the food cart through the cabin, and that she did not say she wanted anything. Then she said to me "You didn't ask me! You served the people next to me, but you didn't ask me!" Again, as it happens every once in awhile, I was dumbfounded and didn't really know what to say. So I apologized and told her that I was sorry, but there were not any sandwiches left. Then I moved on to bigger and better things. I suppose she expected me to ask every single person whether they wanted food, just the way that I offer beverages. But I have found that all I need to do is make the announcement that I'm coming through the cabin, what I have on the cart, and to have their credit cards ready. Then as I walk through the cabin, those interested will flag me down, usually waving their credit card.

There was one other passenger who I wanted to slap upside the head... We left LGA a bit late (which is very usual for LGA, but especially so today because it was rainy). The closer we got to Denver, we realized that the passengers connecting to the Salt Lake City flight needed to be let off the aircraft first. I made an announcement and the captain made an announcement. There were only 3 people going to SLC, so it should have been very straightforward. But this large group of people from the back came rushing to the front of the aircraft, led by a little old lady. I asked her if she was going on to SLC and she said no. She did tell me that she had a bus to catch, though, and must be on her way. Shame on her! I told her that 49 other people on the aircraft had planes to catch, and that we were trying to help the SLC passengers get to their flight. Tsk tsk.

But what I guess I forgot was that for those two little old ladies, it was "all about THEM." Fortunately, for every little old lady with a bad attitude, there are 20 other passengers who are as sweet and kind as can be.

Days "Off Duty" Are Delightful!

Before I get into my most recent days off, I'll share a few pictures from Frontier's Emergence Celebration that was held at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum on Thursday, 10/15/09. It was an awesome celebration!

The purpose was to celebrate the fact that on 10/1/09, Frontier Airlines emerged from 17 months in bankruptcy! We're the first airline to do that in approximately 10 years. What a feat! What was even cooler, was that our creditors were the ones who picked up the tab for this party! Just goes to show how well everyone worked together to keep us afloat!

During the evening, there was a video presentation, where we all sang along to the new Frontier commercial "We're Still the One," as well as listen to speeches by Sean Menke our CEO (and new Chief Marketing Officer at Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.) and our new CEO Bryan Bedford. As a show of appreciation, Sean's name and his wife's name were painted on plane #204 as a thank you for all the hard work he did leading us through the bankruptcy process.

During the evening, I roamed around and visited with classmates - Renate and LuEllen are pictured above with me. I also visited all the food stations, sampling delicious snacks, each with their own "theme."

I was also very happy to see a lot of furloughed flight attendants there. Ben (pictured above with Renate) was one of them - I sure hope that they are recalled SOON. We need them.

Greg drove up from Colorado Springs for the evening (the event being held at an airplane museum peaked his interest), and he had a chance to see some of my classmates for the first time since graduation two years ago, and was able to put names with faces.

Back to my days off...

This is the view from the 2nd floor balcony at my sister's townhouse in Leonardtown, MD. I'd sit there in the evening while I tried to catch up on my email (the Verizon signal was really weak on the first floor where I'd sit and visit with my Mom). Off in the distance is Breton Bay, a beautiful body of water within walking distance of the townhouse.

The townhouse is located in a small community - it's their temporary home while they try and decide where to live next. Mom lives on the first floor and has her own bath and patio, and Diane and her family occupy the top two floors. There's even an elevator that they can use when they need to move heavy items around or are too lazy to take the stairs!

And, of course, since Diane's favorite holiday is Halloween, she just HAD to let everyone know that she's in town! You are looking at spider webs stretched across the front of their unit, as well as ghosts flying around from the balcony. She's being very stifled this year...most of her Halloween decorations are back in VA in a storage container. Just wait until next year...hopefully, they'll be settled into a new home with lots of land, and the infamous Svihla Graveyard will live once again.

I got to hang out with Mom in "Mom's World" - she's got a nice set-up, complete with a fridge and a microwave. She keeps her freezer stocked with ice cream and her fridge stocked with sodas for Matthew and Natalie when they get home from school. It's really nice to see Matthew hanging out with Mom while he does his homework at her kitchen table. I think Mom really enjoys that.

Mark is much closer to work now (when he's in country), and he's able to be home a lot more. He even made dinner on my last night! Blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs. Delicious!

On one of the days, I drove Mom down to Larry & Brenda's office in Poquoson, VA - it took us 3 hours by local roads, but it was a very nice drive. Larry took me on a tour of his office building (the last time I saw it, it was under construction), we met all their dogs, and then we went to lunch at a delicious German restaurant.

Mom was especially happy to see Larry - he's recently had some serious health issues, so it was good to see that he was looking better.

And, Larry being Larry, he continued to call me "Bony," a nickname he assigned to me many many years ago. Back then, it bothered me, but now I'll take it as a compliment!!!

They have three dogs at the moment - their newest is Lulu, a shelter rescue. She seemed to be black lab and pitbull mix.

Then there's Bosco, a German Shepard mix who is also a rescue.

And Jasmine - who loves to pose for pictures!

They're good dogs, and seem to really enjoy being around Larry's patients. After lunch, Mom and I headed back to MD, so that Larry and Brenda could head home so Larry could rest.

While I was hanging out at Diane's home, we went to look at pieces of land that were available in a subdivision, and we also looked at model homes, floor plans for other model homes, and did a lot of dreaming, planning, and even put down a deposit to hold a lot for them! Woo hoo! They are going to have so much fun planning out what they want - including a detached garage for Mark's first wife, and a mother-in-law apartment for Mom. It's going to be an exciting time for all of them.

On my last night in town, Diane and Mark took me to "Fat Boy's Bar" - an interesting experience, for sure. Lots of playing pool, drinking beer and listening to live music. And the interesting thing is, is that the age group was pretty much around my generation!

Diane was very accommodating by picking me up and dropping me off at Washington National Reagan airport...approximately the same distance from her new place as my home is from DIA. It was a great visit, and I hope to be able to spend some time with them again in the near future.

75 Hours and Counting...

When I finished the Las Vegas turn yesterday, I was assigned to a Dallas overnight. The original crew was stuck in San Diego because there was a "marine layer" over the airport which prevented all take-offs and landings for a couple days in a row. So the flight I was assigned to was delayed at least an hour while crew scheduling tried to reassign flight attendants. I ended up getting to fly with one of my classmates - Hawaii Kelly, and another of my friends - Fadia. The CPT was nuts and the FO fed off of the CPT's nuttiness. It made for a fun trip.

It's interesting to watch the dynamics of people being presented with the inconvenience of a late flight. While I was standing at the gate, a woman came up to the gate agent and told him that the plane delay was "totally unacceptable" and that she was traveling with two children, and they had timed their trip so that the children would sleep on the plane. But now "all that was ruined." She wanted food vouchers, she wanted the plane to leave immediately, she said that she can't believe that "weather in San Diego is affecting our flight to Dallas being late." She expected that "the weather in Bangkok would probably affect our flight next." What an idiot.

Fortunately, the gate agents were very forthcoming with information in the gate area, and told them that all the flight attendants were coming in off of other flights just so that we could take off and get to Dallas on a timely basis. So as people came onto the plane, they thanked me for pitching in and helping out! Some asked when my day had started, and I told them 4AM - it was now almost 3PM and my day wouldn't be finished for another couple hours. Most were very appreciative.

Our flight back to Denver this morning left at o'darkearly. And the passengers found a whole 'nother reason to be upset. Tons and tons of carry-on bags were brought on board. Before everyone had boarded, we had run out of overhead space and the rest of the roller bags had to be checked. As passengers came on board, they saw open bins and started complaining to me. But the spaces that were left were too small for roller bags...but that didn't matter to them. THEY wanted THEIR bag in the overhead. They are lucky that I had nothing to do with their baggage tickets...I would send their bags on to LGA, with or without them!!!

I think the solution to all this is to start charging for carry-on bags and let checked bags be free! Think of it...everyone is allowed one small complimentary bag - one that will fit UNDER the seat. Anyone bringing a bag that is too large for the space under the seat will be charged a $20 fee. Maybe even more. That would eliminate the extra time needed to board the planes. People would come on to the plane, go to their seat, and place their bag under their seat.

Instead, they come onboard, get stuck at the front of the plane, have to readjust their carry-ons so they can fit down the aisle, then they bash people in the heads with the shoulder tote or backpack they're wearing as they walk down the aisle, and don't get to see the scowls and sneers from the people they attack. When they finally reach their row, they throw one bag on their seat, then search for a flight attendant saying "my bag is too heavy for me to lift, you need to do it for me" or "I have an injured shoulder, so you need to lift my bag" or some such thing. After they struggle to get their bag stowed, they decide they need to use the lavatory before we departure, so they push their way to the back then push their way back to their seat. Then they settle into their aisle seat, and get pissed off when their window and middle seat passengers arrive - requiring them to get up again. Bummer.

Anyway, we got back to Denver safely at around 7:40AM. The CPT and FO had to do a turn to San Diego and then they'd be done. Fadia called crew scheduling and got assigned to that same turn. When I called crew scheduling, they looked at the 75 hours I had already worked this month and released me to my days off...!!! Yippee!!! I told the crew scheduler that I loved her. Kelly got released for the day also, but she's still on duty for a few more days. She's expecting "a call" tomorrow.

I've now got FIVE WHOLE DAYS off. I'm flying to DCA tomorrow, and my sister Diane will be picking me up at the airport and driving me to her new home in Maryland. I'll stay there with her and her family, and my Mom, until I have to fly back to Denver on Saturday morning. It'll be fun to hang out in their townhouse, and maybe do a bit of exploring in their new neighborhood.

Minnie Appleless

The overnight in Tucson went very well - the CPT neglected to call the hotel to come pick us up...but the hotel is only a short walk away. So we hoofed it, checked in, and settled in for a good night's sleep. I ate dinner right before I went to bed. DO NOT DO THAT. I had a horrible dream right before I woke up, and my face had what looked like long scratches on one cheek - but they were indentations from one of the seams in the pillow, I guess. Sheesh. No more bedtime snack for me!

Today we returned to Denver, then did a trip to Minneapolis. Things went real well. On my return flight to Denver, there was a guy in the fourth row aisle seat who did not know how to fasten his seatbelt. He also was holding on very tight to a latched box. He also looked a bit middle eastern. Hmmmmmm. At one point, I struck up a conversation with him, asking him what was in the really cool box - he opened it, and instead of it being the bomb that I feared, it was a video camera, a camera and some accessories. Whew! Crisis averted. The guy also had the sweetest southern accent! Boy...I pegged that one totally wrong! On his way off the aircraft, he thanked me for being so nice...if only he knew.

Our flight to Minneapolis wasn't quite as exciting, but I did get to try out the "crying kid hint" that a previous flight attendant shared with me. There was this 12 month old wailing at the top of her lungs - her parents shared with me that they had been traveling for 38 hours - from Australia! Poor kid. No wonder she was so unhappy! So I handed her a plastic cup, making a really big deal about it. Before I knew it she had forgotten all about being cranky and fussy, and she relaxed enough that she finally fell asleep!

Four-fifths of the crew decided to hang out in the bar watching the USC vs ND college football game, and at first I wasn't going to go. But then I thought, what the heck, and I went down and joined them. As we talked, I realized that Jason, the First Officer, was one and the same guy that I had an indepth discussion with a few weeks back, and he ended up telling me that "I make his head explode." So we continued on with the discussion. I am trying to understand his point of view, but just can't quite "get it." And, as usual, there was another wedding reception going on, but I didn't make as much of an effort to try and crash the party...the 5:05AM van is going to come pretty early and I need to hop in bed and get to sleep!

The captain, Bob, had gone out earlier on a "date" with an old friend that he hadn't seen in a long time. We watched from the bar window as he got into her SUV and shook her hand before they drove off to dinner. He said it was an old friend, but I teased him when he came back and said that it appeared to be a Match.com first date, and not the old friend that he insisted it was.

Nonetheless, it was a fun evening. We fly back to Denver in the morning and then we do a turn to Vegas. Last week, the passengers slept on the way there and the crowd was pretty subdued on the way back, too. So it might be a pretty easy day. However, I wonder if they'll send me home like they did last week and let me have a quiet day with no assignments on Monday...keep your fingers crossed for me!

Here we go again...

I had Tuesday and Wednesday off. I don't remember much of what I did, except for reuniting with a friend that I hadn't talked to for about 18 months or so. It was good to see her again - I had missed her.

On Thursday, I had recurrent training at the General Office. It went well - it's always good to be reminded of things that you should be doing...and afterwards, I went to our company's Emergence Party. What did we emerge from? Bankruptcy! So about 6 or 8 of our creditors threw us a party! We are one amazing animal. We are the only airline that has emerged from bankruptcy in the recent past! The party was well attended by over a 1000 people. It was held in an airplane hangar on Lowry AFB which is now an airplane museum. Greg even came up for the event! It was an awesome event. I'll post some pictures when I'm not so tired...

And...of course, I got called last night by crew scheduling and told that I was going on a DCA turn today. And when I got back, I found out that I'm going to Tucson tonight and Minneapolis tomorrow night. Didn't I just do this trip?!?

My DCA turn went well - we were on the Airbus 320, so there were four flight attendants. We were on Mustang Sally, aircraft 203...and the aft flight attendants were helpless. Their coffeemaker is screwy, and has no place to put the coffee filter, so it has to be placed inside the pot during the brewing process. The B flight attendant didn't want to do that, so she had me make coffee for the entire plane. That would have been fine, but I had horrible luck with one of my machines - I would turn it on, it would act like it was brewing coffee, and then it'd turn off. But the pot would be empty. Argghhhh. And then, of course, I had all four pots filled with regular coffee and then someone would request decaf. Argghhhh.

I survived. I'm now on the couch in the crewroom seriously thinking about taking a quick nap before heading to my next flight...I am really excited about going to Tucson again - it was so beautiful! But I really would like to be staying longer, and maybe being there during daytime.

My CPT just came around looking for me...so now it's time to go!