120 Hours of "On Call" Duty

This morning at 12:01AM I started 120 hours of "on call" duty. Sounds like a lot, huh?

One of the neat things that I found out at the Reserve Forum this past week was that I could call crew scheduling during my "on call" times and request an hour or so "off call" to do such things as...take a bath, go to the doctor, run to the grocery store, take a walk, etc. The possibilities are limitless!

I know it doesn't sound like much to you, but to me...it's amazing. Why, you ask? Let me tell you...

Let's say I am "on call" and I need to run to the north end of town to pick up something special that Greg has ordered (use your imagination here). Before I leave the house, I have to make sure that my suitcase is packed with enough clothes (and underwear) for the number of days that I am on call - then I have to put the suitcase in my car.

Then I have to look in my "on board bag" - I need to make sure I have my flight manuals, airport IDs, wallet, sunglasses, and camera in that bag along with my magazines, books and sudoku book. Oh yes...and don't forget my laptop and my latest Netflix movies! That bag then needs to go into my car.

Next, my lunchbox needs to be packed. Since I am currently doing "a lifestyle change," I need to make sure that I have all the meals I need for the number of days that I can be called. I have found that I can stow three days of meals in my lunchbox, so I have learned to put the meals for the additional days I'm on call in a soft cooler that I'll stash in the freezer in the crewroom if I get called to the airport. As I eat the meals in my lunchbox, I'll just run to the crewroom between flights and pick up another days' worth of food (providing no one has stolen it from the freezer). The only thing I keep forgetting is to bring an ice bag or blue ice block to keep my meals cold... even though I usually have plenty of ice available to me on the planes and in the hotels, I sometimes forget to bring something to put it in! Plastic bags from the airplane and dry cleaning bags from the hotel usually leak, and I end up with a dripping lunchbox. The lunchbox and cooler need to be put in my car.

Most importantly, I need to make sure that I have my full uniform with me - including my shoes. I now keep all my uniform pieces in a hanging bag near the back door - ready to grab as I run to my car. The hanging bag needs to be put into my car.

NOW I am ready to put myself in the car...oops! Wait...I forgot my water bottle. Let me fill it with ice and water, hook it onto my lunchbox, and close the trunk. Wait! If it's before noon and I haven't yet had my two allotted Diet Cokes, let me run into the garage refrigerator and grab a couple! (We no longer serve Coke products on our planes, much to my dismay...)

I can pretty much guarantee you that if I DIDN'T do all these steps, I'd get a call from crew scheduling that starts with the dreaded words "I have a two-hour call-out for you..."

It takes me 1 hour and 40 minutes (with no traffic and in good weather) to get from my driveway to the telephone in the crewroom. It takes 10 minutes to change into my uniform, which leaves me a 10 minute cushion for my drive to the airport. So, instead I've chosen to grab my stuff, rush to the airport and have a 20 minute cushion to allow for unforseen circumstances and changing into my uniform in the crewroom. I've done it twice now, and it's worked like a charm, compared to the several times that I had 10 minutes or less (as low as 3 minutes) to run to the phone and check in when I dressed at home.

Stress. I'd like to leave home without it.