Saturday, October 27, 2007

Day Off...

I had a fun time visiting with Steve, C.J. and their kids Alicia and Tommy - they had me over for dinner and we spent a few hours visiting and exchanging stories! I look forward to seeing them again the next time I'm in their neck of the woods (or if they are in ours).

But, boy...that alarm clock sure went off early this morning. Our flight left Hartford, CT at 6:30AM and believe it or not, I felt great! The flight was only 2/3 full, so that was a nice break, and most people slept on the way to Denver. I did get to visit with one woman - she was so excited she was about to burst. She had just finished a 12-day Mediterranean cruise with her daughter and granddaughter - it was their 80th birthday gift to her (I hope my Mom didn't just read this...). Her favorite was Greece (her land of origin) and Turkey. It was really fun listening to her tell me about all the tours they took and how she was treated so special on the ship. That's one of the perks of this job - getting to meet some really nice people, if only for a short time.

Another special thing was that the gate agents in Hartford had a little "trick-or-treat" bag for each of us! Mine had a Halloween finger towel, some candy, a few trinkets - it was a nice thing for them to do. I'll have to put on my creativity cap and come up with something cute to give to each gate agent as I'm flying.

I continue to fly with people of all different seniority levels - this last crew was fairly new. And even so, one of the flight attendants was on her last flight. She needs to take a long leave of absence and was not able to work it out with the company to her satisfaction, so she was quitting. Nonetheless, she gave me some valuable tips during our travel time together, and I really did appreciate that.

The Hartford turn isn't the most desired because it's a long layover with only 10 flying hours (that's what our pay is based on). Also, the hotel is near the airport and to do anything you'd have to rent a car. Well...you guys know me! Had I not had Steve & C.J. lined up, I would've rented a car and gone to Mystic Seaport for the afternoon, or I would've figured out the bus system and gone to a mall. But I know one thing, I wouldn't have stayed at the hotel all day (unless I really was super-tired and wanted to just rest...then maybe I'd have lounged by the indoor pool all day).

But I am learning, a POSITIVE attitude is SO IMPORTANT! Let's just suffice it to say that I am being exposed to some "less than positive" attitudes, and have decided that I'm not going to let them drag me down. I am doing this because it's fun! If it wasn't, I'd quit tomorrow.

When we got back to Denver, I called crew scheduling to report in and then they released me for my day off a day early! Yippee! So instead of just Sunday off, I now got most of Saturday and Sunday! I go back on reserve at 12:01AM on Monday. Stay tuned...

No comments: