Monday, March 31, 2008

SCORE!

Ladies and gentlemen...I am happy to announce that my most wonderful company is sending me to Cancun!!

I have a 20 hour layover there, then a 16 hour layover in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, and a 13 hour layover in St. Louis on Wednesday night. What a GREAT TRIP!!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Kentucky Walk

Just got back from a walk around the hotel, and came across a few interesting things:


Cattails in the creekbed next to the bowling alley...


License plates complete with red barns and owls...


And a bridal party on the way to a wedding!

Lighthearted Fun!

My flight to Louisville last night was a lot of fun! I got along great with the other flight attendants - Erika and Tracy. The passengers picked up on our lightheartedness and played along. As they were getting off the plane, I was making my way to the back of the plane - and people were stopping me, thanking me for such great service and a great flight!

That's why I do what I do...

Friday, March 28, 2008

A Good Day

Yesterday, when I arrived at the crewroom for my Noon-6PM shift, I called crew scheduling to check in. Me...being the smarty pants that I am, said something along the lines of "This is Susan, employee #XXXXX calling in for the couch, and my...what a lovely couch it is! However, could we possibly get a few Lazy Boy recliners in here?" Ha ha ha! I crack myself up! The crew scheduler made me promise that I'd try and get a few recliners for them, too.

I was on the couch for less than two hours when I got "THE CALL" - they needed me for a turn to SLC (Salt Lake City) - the C flight attendant had forgotten her ID badges at home, so they pulled me off the couch to take her place. The crew was already briefing, and they were a lot of fun! Helena had been an FA for 10 years, and Laura had been doing this for 4 years. But they were very good and very professional!

I taught them that if you wrap a banana in foil it prevents it from ripening too quickly! That's a tidbit I learned a week or so ago from another FA.

This team was continuing on to Chicago for the night, and then on to Ft. Myers tonight, with a return on Saturday. I am assuming that the FA with the missing ID badges was rejoining the trip, because I was released for the rest of the night.

In fact, I was released until my show time this evening at 6:35PM - I have a 7:35PM flight to Louisville, KY and will return on Saturday evening at 9PM. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to see what's happening at the Louisville Convention Center tomorrow - it's just across the street from the hotel!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I Spoke Too Soon

Well...it was a good thing that my bags were packed and I was all ready to go...my phone rang at 4AM, and the crew scheduler told me I had a show time of 6AM. I threw on my clothes, brushed my teeth and hair, washed my face, and took off.

I got to the airport at 5:50AM, met the crew at 6:05AM, got on the plane at 6:15AM and we took off at 7AM with almost a full flight. I was the forward flight attendant and had FIVE unaccompanied minors. It must be Spring Break, huh?

I got back to Denver at around 11:30AM - a bit on the tired side. They released me for ten hours rest...I just aggressively bid for a few 3-day trips and the B shift on the couch (Noon to 6PM) for tomorrow...and they gave me the couch! Yesterday, they wouldn't give me anything because it would put me over 75 hours. Now that I'm already over 75 hours, they gave me the couch. Go figure. I am thrilled, though, because that means I am OFF DUTY until Noon tomorrow - they won't be calling me in the middle of the night again! Yippee!

Now I understand what others have been complaining about by being on reserve. Fortunately, it hasn't been too bad for me. Let's hope that it stays that way.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Lucky?

I am back on duty tomorrow, but it doesn't look like I'll be working! That's a good thing, since I'm coming down with a nasty cold...

I agressively bid for a couple jobs and for a shift on the couch, but the jobs would have put me over 75 credit hours for the month. (I get paid 75 hours each month whether or not I work them.) Crew scheduling will make sure that all the reserve flight attendants are brought up to the 75 hour mark before they'll let some go over - cause we'll get paid extra $ for that. And if we go over the 82 hour mark, we get overtime pay!

So there's a method to their madness...but nonetheless, my bags will be packed and I'll be ready to go!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Where Has the Time Gone?

I got up on Saturday morning at 3:45AM local time (1:45AM Denver time) and headed back to Denver. When we arrived, I turned on my cell phone, and there was a message from crew scheduling - they were sending me on a turn to Kansas City!

So I convinced myself that I wasn't tired, and put a smile on my face. Both flights were pretty much full, the return flight to Denver was filled with families going skiing for Spring Break!

We got in around 2:30PM or so, and crew scheduling said those magic words "You are released to your days off..." Ahhhhh. So I drove home, said hello to Greg and Kikko, and passed out on the sofa! Then I got up and went to bed!

On Easter Sunday, we got up for breakfast, went to a service with the Bishop at our exile Church (very long story), came home and slept on the sofa! I'm off Sunday through Tuesday, and then I'm going to try for a 4-day trip to Jacksonville...that would be a treat!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Florida Fun

What a gorgeous day! I started out walking to the boardwalk along the river - it's right outside the hotel. Here's a picture of the skyline of Jacksonville, looking across the river.



Next up, I walked on Hendricks Road to my favorite consignment shop - Fifi's. And I actually found a blouse! Then down the street to Panera Bread for lunch, and then on to San Marco - my favorite little village. Here's a picture I took at the corner of Hendricks Road and Atlantic Avenue.



I went to a few other of my favorite shops - III Lions (I picked up a few things) and a little bookstore that sells Cherry Ames books for $19.95 each! After walking around the town, I headed back to the hotel for a quick break. I relaxed in my room for awhile and then headed to the bar to eat dinner - delicious! A BBQ chicken sandwich, served with fresh fruit. Yummy! Before I started eating, one of my co-workers stopped by on her way to San Marco...she had spent the day sleeping and then working out. I am not sure what the other crewmembers ended up doing. The next time I come here, I'm going to rent a car for the day and explore!

Afterwards, I went out and sat by the pool until the sun went down...we have to catch the shuttle to the airport at 4:30AM, so it's time to repack my back and start winding down...

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I Think it's Thursday

Who am I? Where am I? What day is it? Does it really matter?

The biggest issue is knowing which way to go to get to the bathroom when I get out of bed in the middle of the night. I have to stop, remember where I am, and head in the right direction.

And speaking of beds, the Westin has a catalog where they sell the beds/bedding/etc - to purchase a queen-sized bed, complete with the 300 ct Egyptian sheets, costs only $3675. I am in need of a new bed, so maybe I'll start saving up. It would be heavenly.

I'm in the crewroom at DIA right now, passing time until my next flight leaves in a couple hours. We're heading to Jacksonville, FL - I love that layover. I'll get in around 5AM local time, sleep until noon, and then go out and explore. And if it's too hot to explore too far, I'll just hang out at the pool!!!

Southern Hospitality

After flying the couch, I got to work the redeye to Atlanta last night (or should I say early this morning?)...the flight was full, and I was assigned to the forward galley for the trip. After the first beverage service, I served warm cookies to the passengers (and a glass of milk, too) as a "good night snack."

When I walked back up the aisle to get more cookies, a passenger in row 4 rang his call button. He told me that his wife was "unresponsive" and very lethargic. Oh boy...I was stumped. I got both the other flight attendants attention, and we discussed what to do. We paged for medical assistance, and fortunately there was an MD in row 1. He sat with the patient, asked her questions, took her blood pressure, etc. She had taken muscle relaxers several hours before and had eaten Mexican food earlier in the day. Then she said that she wanted to go to the lavatory.

Her husband went with her, and they stayed quite awhile (though this was not a "Mile High Club" activity)...when they finally emerged, she looked A LOT better and felt A LOT better, too. The MD told us that it was just as he suspected...she had GAS. Can you believe it?!?! I had never seen too much gas make a person act that way. Live and learn. All was well, we informed the CPT that there was no need for medical assistance in Atlanta, and we continued on our way.

Boy...did that make our flight time go by faster!!!

We got to the hotel at around 5:45AM and I couldn't sleep!!! But, fortunately, by around 6:30AM I was out. Next thing I knew, it was around 1PM. Again, we are in a very nice hotel - a Westin, and the bed truly is "heavenly." We leave the hotel at 6PM and head back to Denver. So I have made breakfast (instant oatmeal and an apple), and have had my required Diet Coke!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Couch Potato Duty - The Late Shift

There were three four-day trips on the aggressive reserve board yesterday, but I did not get selected for any of them. Instead, they went to others - who are also on reserve - but with higher seniority than me. But I did get CPD, and they gave me the shift that I requested - 6PM until midnight. I figured that would give me time at home to continue making my head MUSHY by doing paperwork, etc.

Last week when I had this shift, Kelly - one of my classmates (also on the shift) got called off the couch to go on a 24 hour layover to Cancun! She said the hotel was right on the beach and the mango margaritas were fabulous! So here's hoping that someone calls in sick tonight...!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

My 100th Flight!

Yesterday's flight from PHL to DEN was the 100th flight that I've taken with Frontier since I was hired. Hip Hip Hooray! Too bad I don't get frequent flier miles...



To celebrate, I took a picture of the plane's mascots - Klondike and Snow! If you look carefully, you can see my hand holding my cell phone taking the picture in the forward galley. Or maybe it's really a ghost...we'll never know, will we?

The flight back was interesting - I haven't been assigned many early evening flights. Everyone was super thirsty and super hungry. And we were super short of bags of chips! We had to raid the flight attendant stash and add little bags of pretzels to the mix. A word to the wise for my loyal and faithful readers...BRING YOUR OWN FOOD AND DRINK ONTO THE PLANE!

Starting next week on some flights, we will be selling special "snack boxes" onboard the plane instead of giving away small snacks. We'll see how it goes, and then all the flights will have them - as a reminder "Frontier does not accept cash, all transactions must take place using a credit card!"

I worked closely with the "B" flight attendant, Janice - she's been with the new Frontier for 14 years and was with the old Frontier for 15 years. I picked her brain about a lot of stuff, and came up with some new ideas that I want to try out! She was a great source of information and ideas!

The other flight attendant went into the cockpit for AN HOUR...but I didn't say a word to her. I spoke with a manager after the flight to ask what I should have done, and she gave me some "words" to use next time, and ways to prevent that from happening in the future. What it boils down to, is that the CPT should have not allowed it . If we had had an emergency situation in the back of the plane, we would have been in trouble. Fortunately, nothing happened. But as the manager said, they have three flight attendants assigned to the cabin for a reason. Live and learn.

I'm now off for three days! Yippee and Hooray! But no fun is in store for me...I have lots and lots of accounting to do. By the time I go back to work on Wednesday, my head will be a mushy mess.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Sheraton Suites - Philly...Revisited

Last night I had a couple hours to sit in the crewroom, waiting for my redeye to Philly...I got to visit with a couple more classmates - Ashley W. and Glenda! Before I knew it, it was time to find my crew.

Crazy, crazy crew. Lots of fun and energy - it made the redeye that much easier. But I was still glad when our day was over. I was beat!

Now I've just had a "good night's sleep" and am ready to fly back to Denver this afternoon...but, before I go, I took pictures of the room here at the Sheraton Suites. Last time I was here I raved about the two-room suite (it'd make a good apartment in NYC) and Jen said I should have taken pictures...so here they are!


The lobby...they just finished a renovation.


The sitting room with the bar down the hallway.


Another view of the sitting room.

The bedroom (too bad I didn't make up the bed).

The necessary room.

Notice how all the colors in the bathroom and bedroom are so bold! It's a very comfortable suite, the most spacious of all hotel rooms I have visited.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Mile High Club

Well, I just experienced a first on my flight from Louisville, KY to Denver, CO...NO! It wasn't ME. Another flight attendant and I noticed that one of the lavs was "occupied" for quite a long time. I remembered seeing this young, cute girl going in, but never saw her come out. Then we noticed that her boyfriend wasn't in his seat...so we put two and two together. Then a few minutes later, she comes out and quickly shuts the door, and then the "occupied" sign appeared. Hmmmmm.

So we called the third flight attendant (a male) back to join us. When the guy came out of the bathroom, the male flight attendant told him that he owes us $100 for what he just did, and if he wants a certificate it'll cost more. The kid asked how much more, and he said another $100. I couldn't even look at the kid.

I think if it ever happens again, we will stand there and clap!!!

What a Dilemma!

Here I am, sitting next to the window in my 8th floor hotel room, overlooking a bowling alley across the street and the Kentucky Exposition Center beyond that. Why am I not outside wandering around? Because it's raining, it's pouring, and I feel like snoring.


Bowling Alley (on the lower left)

Yes...it is just too wet outside to venture out. Even though there's a cool dog show going on at the Exposition Center. But, instead of going there, I went to the online local newspaper and "lifted" a few photos of what I would have seen had I braved the weather.



Aren't these little doggies adorable!?!? I saw (too late) the show schedule, and had missed the Shiba Inu show by about a half hour. Bummer. I would have gotten up and showered to go see that...but, it may have made me homesick for my adorable Kikko!

I would be a lot more adventurous if I were going home tonight...but I have a redeye to Philly (yes...back to that WONDERFUL hotel again) tonight. So I have to stay awake all night, and will get my sleep time tomorrow morning. Accordingly, I have decided to just "hang out," sleep, eat, nap, snack, and prepare for this evening's adventure.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Kentucky Bound

Last night, I "flew the couch" from 6PM until midnight. There were a couple classmates there - Kelly, E.C., Ashley - it was fun to catch up with everyone. I called in to be released, and then a couple minutes later they called me back and told me that they assigned me for tonight's flight to Louisville, KY!

It seems to be a really good crew - the CPT is a crack up...and I have flown with one of the flight attendants before. We didn't get in until midnight local time, so I have no idea what is around. Rumor has it that there is a dog show going on at the convention center. There's also a bowling alley nearby. And, of course, there's the Jim Beam Distillery...we're here until 7pm, so the possibilities are limitless! Stay tuned...

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Back in God's Country

We had an early showtime yesterday in Phoenix, and then we had about 50 minutes until we took off to go to Mazatlan, Mexico and back!

The plane going to Mazatlan was at least 3/4 full of college students on Spring Break - and boy...were they ready for it! I have to say, though, that everyone was so polite and respectful. It was fun to see! There were a bunch of guys in Row 21 from Texas (they said they were cowboys), and at least 25 girls towards the front of the plane from the University of Connecticut...Most of the UConn group were seniors - this was their "last hurrah."

The flight back was a totally different story...there were a few college students - Regis University in Denver and Ft. Lewis in Durango, CO. The rest of the passengers were elderly people "gettin' out of Dodge!" Most of the people were relaxed and happy after their vacations in the sun, but a couple people hated to come back to the cold weather in Denver.

I just wish that we had trips with overnights to Mazatlan! The only destination that we have in Mexico with an overnight is Cancun, and as you've probably figured out, those that are near the bottom of the seniority list don't usually get to see that trip! Patience, my child, patience. My time will come. After all, I got to go to Costa Rica!

After I got back late yesterday afternoon, I hung out at my "crash pad" since I went back on duty at 2:40AM. I slept on/off until around Noon, and then decided to take a chance and go home. So far, so good! No calls have come in from Crew Scheduling. At 6PM I can call and request to be "released to my days off" and that is exactly what I intend to do. I have Monday and Tuesday off, and then I start a cycle of four days on duty and three days off duty which I'll follow until the end of the month.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Arizona State University



When we got to the hotel, it was around Noon...what a nice time to get in! I had a crew meal sandwich that I brought with me, so I ate and took a short nap. Afterwards, I went out and took a short walk around the hotel area and took a few pictures. I just love the birds singing, the trees and the fruit growing on the trees!


I came back to the room and worked on the computer for awhile, and then one of my flight attendant crew members stopped by to see if I wanted to take a walk with her. Sure did! We headed a few blocks away, cutting through the campus of Arizona State University, and ended up in a little commercial district - shops, restaurants and bars. We went to dinner at a sushi restaurant - my first one!!! It was a very nice evening with nice company, too!

Phoenix Fun

What a fun flight! The flight attendant who non-reved with us from DCA was on our flight from DEN to Phoenix! She also had her cute boyfriend with her...nice guy. Tomorrow is both of their birthdays, and during the flight he had me deliver a card to her...how romantic is that! I announced on the PA that it was their birthday tomorrow, so people smiled and congratulated them.

It was fun talking to my friend. She is hoping to join Greg at the flying field one of these days. She LOVES r/c planes...and so does her boyfriend. Small world, huh?

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Today I experienced the most turbulence for the longest time ever...it was a "moving experience." The pilots teased us and told us that they were airsick, and we didn't realize at first that it was a joke...gullible, I know. I got them back at the end of the flight when I told all the passengers to congratulate the Captain and First Officer for being selected "Flight Deck Crew of the Month!" It was fun to see them react to the compliments. At one point, when the passenger flow had a break, the First Officer put on hillbilly teeth and poked his head around the corner at us...what a riot that was!

There was a 2-month old baby boy in the last row, and he was very unhappy at times. I couldn't resist - I had to hold him. He was SO CUTE. But this baby factory is closed...

It was incredible how people are so self-centered now-a-days. We had a few women who tried to get up during the bad turbulence...at first, I thought that they were throwing up, but no...they just had to use the bathroom. One got up within a couple minutes of the pilot's announcement to stay seated. It is so bad that people don't listen.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Philly

Our flight from DCA back to DEN went really well. One of my favorite flight attendants flew with us as a non-rev, and when we weren't performing our flight attendant duties we got to visit with her. It really made the flight time go quickly. During the flight, a little boy named Max came out of the lavatory and wanted to know where all the poop goes! He wanted to know if, when he flushes, if it goes out into the jetstream!

We had only a few minutes before we got on our next flight - this time to Philadelphia. We got a new captain, but the rest of the crew stayed the same. Again, the plane was almost full (good news for us!) and we were kept busy with the passengers. There was a nice crew lunch for us since we didn't have any time to grab something, and after doing a beverage service we got to settle down and enjoy it.

We got to our hotel in the early evening - we're staying at a Sheraton Suites, and boy...it is wonderful! I have a separate sitting room, a cozy bedroom, two flatscreen tvs, a fridge, etc. NICE. I wish I could stay here a bit longer...

The two other flight attendants went out with me for dinner - since there are no decent restaurants around the hotel, we were told that a limo would pick us up, take us to an Italian restaurant, and then take us back to the hotel. The restaurant was a bit pricey, but I decided that the deviled crab was worth it!

Our shuttle van leaves the hotel at 5:10AM in the morning, so I guess I'll retire to my boudouir now...

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Nice Surprise!

Last night I received a call at 9:45PM from Crew Scheduling...they were assigning me to a 4-day trip starting at 5:30AM the next morning!!!! The fun news is that my first night was being spent in Washington, DC! FINALLY...an overnight near my family. The next night will be Philly, and the last night in Phoenix.

So this morning we had a turn to Kansas City - the flights were half full and the crew is GREAT. One of the girls from my class is with me, and another girl who is great to work with rounds out our team. We had a great time on our KC flights and then kept busy on our flight to DCA.

Once at the hotel, I quickly changed and took the Metro to Falls Church. Mom picked me up and we went to Anthony's - where I had a delicious Italian meal. Then we hung out at her apartment, and Mark, Matthew and Natalie came over with Roxie to see me! The kids have gotten so tall!



It was a nice visit, and way too short - but Mom and I realized that I hadn't seen her since Jen's graduation in May, 2007! I hope to come back to VA more often...it's just kind of hard while I am on reserve.

Better get going - we have a shuttle back to the airport at 6:30AM tomorrow...

Sunday, March 2, 2008

All in a Day's Work...

While I was hanging out at the pool, I'd occasionally nod off for a few minutes. When I would wake up, this is what I'd see...



We got to the plane at around 5PM, and were supposed to take off at 6:30PM. Unfortunately, we didn't have all the passengers! They were being helicoptered in from the race track as fast as they could go, but we ended up being delayed by a couple hours. The guys (and a few girls) were happy, though - there was lots of beer and soda on board, as well as Philly Cheesesteak (and Cheesechicken) sandwiches. By the time we took off, everyone was ready to fall asleep.

The flight was almost 4 hours from Vegas to Charlotte, NC (CLT). Once there, we refueled and took off as quickly as we could. I sat in the cockpit during takeoff and landing...WOW. It was amazing. Especially the landing - there was a blizzard in Denver with very strong winds. The pilot was a really nice guy who flies with an "Easy Button" on the console. Normally after a landing, he'd push the button. But this time, he said he had to work too hard for someone so tired, and he couldn't push the "Easy Button" (which, by the way, says "That was easy!").

Anyway, I am now at my crash pad. I have 10 hours rest and then they're putting me back on call because of the snowstorm. It's a good thing I'm here. So I will go to sleep now - when I wake up, I'll probably go ahead and go back to the airport and hang out there for awhile. At 6PM, I can call them to release me to my days off, Monday and Tuesday. Who knows what's in store?

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Sin City in The Daytime

When we got in last night, at least half of the crew headed out to party with friends. I, however, was beat and headed to my room and to sleep!

This morning I woke up early and took a two hour walk to/from "The Strip" - our hotel is located about 4 blocks away from The Strip. I saw a lot of the major hotels/casinos, enjoyed looking in the shop windows of the designer stores, and looking at all the tourists!

But now I'm back in the hotel room - this is the view outside my window, and it's where I am heading next...a nice relaxing sit at the pool. I've got a good book, a Diet Coke, a sandwich, and I am all set! It's going up to 77 degrees here, there's a gentle breeze in the palm trees and the birds are singing.



Life is good.