Off I Went...Into the Wild Blue Yonder!

Today, I flew to/from Washington, DC - the sad thing was that I didn't have time to jump off the plane and run to my Mom's house or to my sister Diane's house! We had 45 minutes on the ground...15 minutes to clean the airplane and then the passengers were boarding!

What a great experience today was. On the way to DC I shadowed the flight attendant who works in the back, and on the way back to Denver, I shadowed the flight attendant who worked in the front of the airplane. The three flight attendants had each worked over 10 years for our airline! What a great knowledge base for me, and trust me...I picked their brains. I got a wonderful review from them, as well as from some passengers who found out that this was my first training flight. I feel good!

What's really neat is that I really felt my Dad's presence with me today. First off, being assigned to fly to DCA was prophetic. Dad used to fly in and out of there so much that he should have had his own personal parking space! And then on the way to the airport this morning KOSI 101 played "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Now tell me, when was the last time YOU heard that song?!? I had just sung it for a classmate last week, and then to hear it this morning - someone has a great sense of humor, and I feel that someone is my Dad. And lastly, the name of the mascot of my plane was "L.J." the baby lynx. For those that don't know, my Dad's name is L.J. Svihla. Eerie, huh. No. Not eerie. It was very comforting and helped me to relax.

Watch Out World...Here I Come!

Today, we got to take our "mid-term" exam, though they didn't tell us ahead of time that's what it is considered! Thank goodness! We would have all freaked out. But we all did well. I had a case of the nerves and couldn't remember one announcement as I was presenting it - I had to stop at each line and think - too bad the instructor isn't in my car every morning as I recite it PERFECTLY. We also got tested on opening/closing, arming/disarming the main cabin door (we have a mock-up in our building), and presenting the safety demonstration. All in preparation for...

My first training flight will be tomorrow! I will be flying to/from Washington, DC (DCA)...I am so excited (and scared). I will be flying with another flight attendant student - Ashley (about half my age). We have a report time of 7:30AM, but I'm sure we'll both be there at least an hour earlier! We'll be flying non-rev, so it's possible that we might be bumped from the flight going to DC, but our instructors assure us that we WON'T be bumped from the return flight. After all, we have an 8 hour training program with the Federal Air Marshals on Saturday learning hand-to-hand combat. But if we do get bumped going there, we were told to find another place that we'd like to go and get seats on that flight (just as long as it's not Mexico, and a place where we can get back to DEN the same day).

I think the key for tomorrow is to RELAX and LEARN. We don't know how the assigned crew will treat us - sometimes they let the "newbies" do everything (except touching any of the doors), and sometimes they make us just sit and watch. Since we don't have our wings yet, we'll have to sit in regular passenger seats, but we're expected to be up and about for most of the flight...!!!

One other thing that we practiced today was serving drinks out of the cart - we walked all over the HQ giving beverages to the employees - I learned that those little cart drawers make a mess if you pull them out too far...it was not a pretty sight. Good thing that I had my name badge covered up so no one knew who I was. We also got to sample all the snacks that we serve on the plane - from the dry snacks to the warm foods served on longer flights (wraps). Delicious!

If you're flying to/from DCA/DEN tomorrow, keep an eye out for me!

What day is it?

I am having the best time of my life! The classes are stimulating, the material is fun, I get up early, am there early, and enjoy every minute of the the experience. Tomorrow, we have a few demonstration tests and a written one, and then we'll push our service carts around the HQ, wearing our Frontier aprons, serving the employees beverages from our carts! Ha! They try hard to make all our tasks fun! Then at the end of the day, they'll break our group in half - one half will attend a hand-to-hand combat course with the Air Marshals on Friday and the other half will go on their first training flight. Then on Saturday, we'll switch! We'll find out where we're going tomorrow afternoon. We'll be under the direct supervision of a current flight attendant, we will not be in uniform, but we are encouraged to perform as many duties as we can... we're all pretty excited (and nervous).

So...if you happen to be flying to/from DIA on Friday or Saturday, you might be on a flight being serviced by ME or one of my classmates!!!

I'm Sad!

Today was Human Resource's turn to teach all about our benefits (which, by the way, are incredible). But the day started off on a sad note. My 73-year old buddy, Stanley, was late to class and got released from the program. My buddies and I were devastated. He had forgotten his ID badge and headed home to retrieve it, but couldn't make it back in time. If you are late, you are out. They showed us today that they meant it. But Stanley has written me a couple email, and seems to be in good spirits. I'm just sad, because we were expecting to be able to fly with him! Plus, he was our lunch buddy. As he said, "life goes on." He very well may reapply in six months, and we'll all get to fly together yet!

I did find out that after 90 days I will be able to fly to New Zealand for $260 round-trip!!! BUT, I must get through training first...I went to dinner tonight with two of my friends - Hope and Janel - wonderful ladies that are a lot of fun. We hope to be able to fly together when we graduate. But first, we all must STUDY. So that's what I'm going to do...

Thank God it's Friday...

I am back in Colorado Springs for 48 hours, and boy...am I beat! This constant studying is wearing me out (and increasing my brain power)!

I have sad news to report...I am no longer PERFECT. Darn. Just like the first scratch on a new car, I have missed my first test question. The horror of it all.. this morning's test was 80 questions, and I got 79 right. That wouldn't have been so bad, but the one I missed was so silly and stupid of me to make such a mistake. Oh well. Life goes on.

Yesterday, we got to jump down the evacuation slide - I did it, but it wasn't my most favorite thing to do...we also got to tour all parts of an Airbus 319 - it was so cool!

I'm losing steam...so off to bed I go. I'll write more later, along with doing the laundry, unpacking and repacking my stuff!

Wow...What a Day!

I got another 100% this morning...hurray!!! But let's just say, they're going over this stuff multiple times to ensure that we know the answers...

But today was a tough one. We had an all day lecture about the different instrument panels in the airplane (those that flight attendants use), and man...I am so confused. The lecture continues tomorrow for half a day, and then we head off to a place where we'll be jumping down the evacuation slides! I sure hope I won't need to file a workmen's comp claim after tomorrow!

After that, we'll end the day at the airport climbing all over an Airbus 319 (or will it be a 318?). Anyway, we'll get to pull up the seat cushions, etc. - almost anything but set off the evacuation alarms and drop the oxygen masks. Darn. From what we've been told, everything that we're learning today will come together when we actually see it on the plane and touch it. So tomorrow should be good.


Bonnie, LuEllen, Kelly, Kim and Fabian

What'll make it even more interesting, is that a film crew from Good Morning America (the weekend edition) will be following us around all day - their reporter will be joining our class for a day, and will be interviewing us for our "stories." Hmmmm. I'm not sure I want any witnesses... I'll post when it'll air when we find out - rumor has it our 12 hour day will be condensed to a 3-4 minute story!

Time to do homework and study!!!

Yes...I am Still Alive!

Whew. What a few days it has been! On Sunday evening, I "moved into" my friend Bev's parents' house in Denver so that I didn't have to drive I-25 every day...what a lifesaver, literally. You see, I was spending my driving time memorizing stuff. And as Greg pointed out to me, I probably wasn't focusing on my driving a whole lot...so now I have a 20 minute drive in the morning - much closer than 1 hour 20 minutes! (But a lot less time to study on-the-road!)

Anyway, Monday was the BIG DAY. Separate the men from the girls, the crazy from the foolish, and what a day it was. We started out having to take our FIVE tests - one oral and four written. I got put into the group to do our oral test first, and I immediately volunteered to go first (to get it over with!!!). Well...on my first recitation, I forgot to introduce myself in my announcement as well as the other flight attendants and the pilot!!! Fortunately, after the first time you recite, you sit down with the reviewer and she tells you what you did wrong.

Then you get the option to say it again right then, or wait until the others in your group get their turn. NO WAY! So I went again right then and did it right!!! Yippee! I passed the oral test!

Next up were the four written tests...they were tough, but funny (long story). When we were done, we were asked to go to the lunchroom and wait...and wait...and wait...finally, they came and got us all. They handed back our tests in our "official folders" and I got 100% on each of them!

And to top it off, I got a 100% on my test this morning, too! YESSSSSSS! I can tell you that if I hadn't studied, I would not have passed. What an accomplishment.

We started with 44 on 9/12, had 40 on Monday morning, and had one person fail the program. She was discreetly fired after the testing and class continued without her. Bummer. But no one knew she was gone until the end of the day.

There are 5 men, 3 girls right out of college and the rest of us - lots of variety, lots of different backgrounds! I am having a blast, and am really challenging my brain more than it's been challenged in quite awhile! Watch out, world! Here I come!!!

I Am Officially An Airline Employee!

Today was the first day of my employment as an airline employee! We had a half-day today reveiwing all the materials on which we'll be tested on Monday (we have four written tests and one oral test at 8am - or should I say 0800?).

You should see me driving up and down I-25...I'm cruising along at 80 mph - not singing out loud - but TALKING out loud. I have been concentrating too hard on what I'm memorizing to pay attention to the reaction of those passing me. But by doing this, I managed to memorize a page-and-a-half announcement yesterday! I guess the old brain really does work. But I still have a lot more memorizing ahead of me! I have the next two days to study, study, study! I CAN DO THIS!

After 18 years of being a stay-at-home Mom, my wardrobe is sadly lacking. When they discussed our class dress code, everything they listed as verboten was what I had in my closet! Tank tops, sandals, flip flops, shorts, jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, sweatshirts, capris, etc. Oh boy. I have a few new pieces I've purchased and I will need to get creative over the next 30 days to abide by the Business Professional dress code...

Almost There...

I have successfully made it through the paperwork, pre-orientation, medical physical, drug screening, physical capacity test and uniform fitting (the uniform looks SO GOOD!!!) phases of my pre-employment process! Yippee!

But now, I will be really tested...it's time to exercise my BRAIN. I have several lists of airport codes and airline abbreviations, a page of airline history, and an airline announcement to MEMORIZE by next Monday. Can I do it?!? Me...who sometimes doesn't remember where I put my cell phone? YES!!! I am SUPERWOMAN!!! I've memorized all types of stuff over the past 18 years without even realizing it...when Jen's dance classes are, what colleges courses she's taking and when, remembering when to file which federal report for Greg's office...ok...I mess that one up every once in a great while...but I've done fairly well over the past 17 years!

My employment officially begins this Friday, 9/14! My training class of 44 - ranging in age from 21 to 73 years young - will meet for a half-day review of all those terms/symbols/history and announcements. Us "oldsters" in the class will have to show the young 'uns that "WE STILL GOT IT!" Fortunately, this isn't a competition - we're all in. We will all have jobs (provided we get an A on each of the 26 tests) at the end of the next 5 weeks! So we'll quiz each other, coach each other, and give support to each other - so that we have the privilege to work together high in the sky!

Stinky Day

My tale today is so sad,
cause last night I got really mad.
My dog got skunk-sprayed
then on the carpet he laid
and now the house, it smells pretty bad.

He got it all over his muzzle,
so tomato juice he had to guzzle.
I soaked the stink out
from his face and his snout
But de-stinking the house is a puzzle.

I poured this and that on the floors,
and opened up all of the doors.
Greg and Jen are not near,
I'm the only one here,
the cold air feels good on my pores!

So if you are out and about,
come on over and check it all out.
Bring a clip for your nose
and a sweet-smelling rose,
You won't stay long...there's no doubt!