Heading Home

After a very nice evening with friends, I slept in a bit today! Then I decided to go out and explore. There's a great mall next door to the hotel - the only thing it is lacking is a movie theater. I walked all around the mall, then went out the door at the opposite end and checked out a fantastic grocery store! It had lots of unique items, lots of fresh food - but the only thing I couldn't find was a plain old salad bar! Oh well.

Next, I ventured across the highway and found a Bed, Bath & Beyond, a Michael's and a bunch more stores. Down the street was a Walgreen's, where I stopped and picked up a few items. There were tons of restaurants - a sushi bar, Pizzaria Uno's, Chipotle, a steakhouse, an Italian place, McDonald's, Claim Jumper - I could go on and on!

But, back to the hotel I went where I "borrowed" a microwave that was sitting in the hallway and heated up my tomato soup! Such a good girl...

Gotta go - the van will be here soon to take us back to the airport. Today we're heading to Las Vegas for 40 minutes and then back to Denver and my TWO DAYS off.

Bumpy Ride

I got to sit the couch on Thursday from 4PM until 10PM - we had a couple of pre-boards...one was a false alarm (the crew was there before their plane arrived), and the other pre-board was legit. I helped everyone get on and settled before the CPT and FO arrived with the flight attendant that I was standing in for.

Right after I returned to the crewroom, crew scheduling called and told me that I had been assigned a 3-day trip starting the next day. I was kind of bummed. Not that I had gotten the trip, but that the trip didn't start until the next day! That meant a drive back home that night, and then back to the airport 12 hours later! I would have stayed with my friends who live near the airport, but I had forgotten a luggage strap at home and couldn't imagine doing a 3-day trip without it!

My crew is really very nice and easy-going. We flew from Denver to Milwaukee first, and then had a 2-hour sit in Milwaukee. We decided to go to the crewroom, but it was small, hot, dark and kind of depressing. The other pilots there were not at all happy, the FAs seemed to be depressed, and my Verizon wireless internet reception was really poor. So off I went to sit in the concourse to get away from the negativity and closer to the wireless reception!

Next up, we flew to MCO (Orlando), stayed there for 43 minutes, and then headed back to MKE. It was interesting how needy some of the passengers were. I don't know if it's because they don't fly a lot, or if they were just genuinely clueless...the return flight was very bumpy, and we had poor little kids getting sick. There was one up front, and one in the back. The poor kid in the back covered his clothes with vomit. It was gross, but the Mom and I managed to get him cleaned up (she did almost all of the work, I just provided her with bags, paper towels and napkins). When we landed in MKE, the hotel was not expecting us, and we ended up sitting on the hotel van for almost an hour before we headed to the hotel - they were waiting for another crew to come in from Las Vegas. We finally got to the hotel at 12:30AM.

I woke up the following morning at around 9AM, and then fell back asleep. The hotel front desk woke me up at 10:45AM, telling me that our van time changed...no big deal - I just had to be in the lobby 15 minutes earlier than I had expected.

Our flight today was to Tampa and back. We had a guy in row 1 who vomited the entire way. Right before we landed, his wife requested medical assistance at the gate. But later I heard from the CPT that the guy refused to go to the hospital. Go figure! He had lots of medical problems, and his wife was concerned that the vomiting was linked to one of his other problems. I guess we'll never know, huh? Coming back from Tampa went alot smoother. We were not full, the passengers were laid back and relaxed, and everything went smoothly.

When I got back to the hotel, I found out that one of my classmates, Sherri, was also going to be at the hotel! I got there at around 10PM, and she arrived just a little bit later. We met up at the bar with her crew - and I found that her CPT was my FAVORITE CPT - Gary! He's the ONLY CPT that I hug. Anyway, we had a nice time hanging out, telling stories, and just relaxing this evening. Sherri's crew and my crew are all heading to the airport on the same van tomorrow. They're doing the Orlando turn and we're going to Las Vegas and then back to Denver.

It was a really nice night hanging out with friends at the Milwaukee hotel...

Back Home...

The rest of my visit in NYC went really well.

We had an impromptu birthday party for Greg on Friday night - Dan joined us, and James and Jen made dinner. We also had birthday cake that Jen made, and James got Greg a small bottle of scotch that he presented to Greg when he arrived at Jen's apartment! Greg sure needed it! It was a fun evening of eating and then playing Wii "Deal or no Deal."

On Saturday, we roamed around the American Museum of Natural History (where James works as the New Media Specialist), saw the "Journey to the Stars" show, and enjoyed the Silk Road exhibit. Afterwards, James treated us to lunch at Patsy's Pizza - man...it was delicious!!! Then, just to make sure that Greg realizes how nice Jen's new apartment is compared to her old one, we went to James' apartment on the Upper West Side. Let's just say that it brought back a lot of memories from Jen's old place. Small and dark. Her new place is a palace compared to where she used to be.

Saturday evening, I cooked a meatloaf for dinner and we watched "Blazing Saddles," which Jen had never seen.

All in all, it was a very nice visit. It gave Greg a chance to see where Jen lives and learn a bit about her life in NYC. It also gave us another opportunity to get to know James! He's so wonderful to Jen...

I went back on duty on Tuesday...and I've been at home waiting for the phone to ring. Much to my surprise, I did not even get a couch sit (yet)! That's very unusual, considering the way things had been going. But we recently welcomed back 21 of our furloughed flight attendants, and this is not traditionally a high-travel season, so there aren't as many trips on the board.

But that's okay. I have my bags packed and my work clothes are ready to jump into. In the meantime, I'm doing little projects here and there, and trying not to start any big projects that I won't be able to drop and pick up later.

But, I do have to admit, every time my phone rings, I jump out of my skin!

The Rewards

So far this month I've had four ready reserve couch sits, two turns and one three-day trip. Also, I was able to swap duty days with fellow reserves, and I ended up with SIX DAYS OFF! Woo hoo!

So what did I do? I jumped on a plane to NYC, and here I am! I arrived yesterday and spent a quiet evening settling in at Jen's apartment. We had a quiet dinner in, watched a movie, and hit the sack. Today, Jen has a morning meeting, and then we'll probably meet James for lunch.

Tomorrow is Greg's birthday, so he is hopping on a plane tomorrow morning and will be here in time to have a piece of birthday cake (or Magnolia cupcake)! Then we'll spend Saturday wandering around The American Museum of Natural History and then have a nice dinner out.

I'll either go home on Sunday with Greg, or I might stay one more day and leave on Monday. It all depends...

What a Difference a Week Makes!

I really enjoyed my three days off, and spent them "regrouping," organizing, and just plain 'ole relaxing. And, of course, the next block of duty days (6 days this time) started with a sit on that sexy black leather couch at DIA. But this time, I was assigned to the C shift, which was from 4PM until 10PM.

We did not get any assignments while there, and MAN...did that time move slowly! As expected, the next day I was at home and did not get any calls. And then, as expected, I got the A couch on the third day...some things are so predictable.

Now last week, as you might remember, I melted down when I was short-called on Sunday morning. Well, this week, they called me on Saturday to assign me to a trip on Sunday morning. What a difference that was!

Yesterday, I got to sleep in, well...sort of), got up, ate a leisurely breakfast, took a leisurely shower, got dressed, and had a leisurely drive to DIA to start my 3-day trip. Ahhhhhh. No stress, no mess, no tears. So much nicer!

We had our toughest day yesterday - we did a turn to Sacramento and then an overnight in St. Louis - it was a full day of flying. Today we will return to Denver and then go on to Sacramento for the night. And tomorrow, we'll return to Denver - and that should be it *knocks on wood*.

My crew is very nice - our B is pregnant, and it is fun talking with her and hearing her plans for delivery. It brings back a lot of memories. The other flight attendant is a former teacher, and every once in awhile her "former life" pops out, and she is a riot!

The passengers were very nice - I had a nice chat with a couple from Wisconsin, or, as they put it "God's Country!" They were flying back from Sacramento where they had been visiting some of their grandchildren. He told me that he had gotten out of prison the day before...Alcatraz! They told me that they have 14 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Awesome! Several of the grandchildren are "special needs" adopted kids, and none of the great-grandchildren are products of "marriage" - their parents are just living together. I could tell that Grandma wished this was different! It was fun getting to chat with them.

The weather here in St. Louis is kind of overcast and cold, so I've opted to stick around the hotel, work on the computer, read and relax today. Our van time is 5:45PM, and then it's back to Denver!

The Ups and Downs of My Job

I finished my early morning couch shift on Friday - it went by so quickly because I got to visit with Angie and Mark! It was so good to chat with them and catch up! Before I knew it, I had only an hour left.

After I was released at noon, I decided to not bid on anything for the following two days - all I saw on the board were three "stand-ups" - two to Seattle and one to Sacramento. I just couldn't get myself to volunteer to work one of those.

But at 6:30PM, crew scheduling called and assigned me to an early morning turn to DCA. Lucky me! But unlike that morning's show time of 6AM, I didn't have to be at DIA until 6:30AM - WOO HOO! It was a really good trip on the A320, and I got along well with the A flight attendant (I was C). And man, did we make time coming back! We arrived about 50 minutes ahead of schedule! When I returned, I was released to my 10 hours of rest.

So Sunday morning comes, I shower, dress, and wait "for the call." When it hadn't come by 10AM, I started thinking daring thoughts - "should I go to the grocery store or maybe venture out to Sam's Club?" It's a good thing that I didn't.

At 10:27AM, crew scheduling called me and told me that a flight attendant had just called in sick, and that I had to be at DIA by 12:25PM - a two-hour call out!!! Yuck yuck yuck yuck. And on a Sunday afternoon, where it's absolutely gorgeous and 50 degrees outside. I recruited a million camel fleas to infest the sick-caller's armpits, and then I rushed to get to DIA.

On my way there, I was feeling VERY sorry for myself. I was furious. Doesn't one know that they're sick more than 2 hours before their show time? Is it really that hard to call in even 15 minutes earlier, so that the poor reserve doesn't have to risk her life going to work? I called crew scheduling to check on the time that the flight attendant called in sick - 10:26AM. I hope she got a late sick call, because she should have called a minute earlier. I hope they throw the book at her...shame on me.

Anyway, I was so upset that I had gotten short-called. I had the best pity party that I've had in a long time. By the time I arrived at DIA, I was wallowing in self-pity. I met the crew, and they all seemed nice enough. Sara, #8 on the seniority list, asked if I'd be C and she'd be B, but I told her no because I needed to stay in the back and brood.

She was a great sport and very nice! She made an awesome C - and kept cracking me up. I didn't get to talk to Jill as much (our A flight attendant at the front of the plane), but when she came back for a few minutes, I loved listening to her stories! They had me in stitches, and my frown turned upside down!

I'm still not crazy about the fact that someone called in sick with less than 2 hours to show time. If she's legitimately ill or had a family emergency, then that's one thing. But to call in sick because it's a beautiful day and she decided to play hookey???? Watch your armpits, baby. The fleas are looking for ya!

Sittin' and Waitin'

Just as I had hoped, I was released to my one day off when I returned from Orlando! Yippee! That turned my 1 day off to 1 and a half days off by the time I got home. Nice. Of course, I spent that 1/2 day sleeping on the couch, catching up from the sleep I lost while traveling.

And I am happy to announce that on my day off on 1/5 that I actually got to go to a Bunco party! I have been trying for 19 years to join a Bunco group - but the only group I knew about was evidently above me in "social standing." I served as a substitute several years ago - it was held at one of the mansions at the top of the Broadmoor. Very elegant. Lots of alcohol and food. I had a wonderful time, but was never invited back. Was it something I said or did? Was my soap not strong enough? Oh well. I have moved on and accepted that it's just not meant to be.

Recently, I was surprised that one of my good friends, Coleen, told me about a Bunco group that she's joined - and their next meeting was on 1/5 at her house. YAY!!! The other ladies were awesome - so very nice and not at all social-climbers. Let's see, there was Ellen, Diane, Lynn, Sherry, Yona, Jenny, Jan, Coleen, Tina, me, and Karen. YAY!!! I remembered all their names! We ate snacks, drank margaritas, and played three rounds of Bunco, followed by one game of "Left, Right, Center." I won nothing, but it was so much fun having a "ladies' night out."

I was starting five days on duty the following day, so I bid for the Noon-6PM shift on the couch since there weren't any trips available that matched my schedule. It was an okay shift - I didn't do much except for cleaning the microwave, straightening up the tables, chairs, and computers, and then pre-boarding one flight to DCA. The only thing that I HAD to do was the pre-boarding. The rest was all "busy work" that I did for myself. At the end of my shift, I heard those magic words, "you are released to your 10 hours off."

Then yesterday, the phone did not ring ALL DAY. Nice. I worked on a couple different projects, ran to the grocery store, and then bid on the A shift (6AM until Noon) for today (since there was nothing else to bid on). So...here I sit. Some of my former neighbors will be on the concourse today - so I'll spend some time sitting with them while they wait for their flight to Nashville!

The talk on the couch, of course, is who will be moving to Milwaukee to man our new base starting on 4/1/10. Of course, the senior mamas wouldn't move - they're set in their ways and don't want new adventures. I've heard that several reserves are considering it - those that have no ties in Denver, or those who commute from other places. It just wouldn't work for me.

I have found that the MKE airport is 94 miles from my friend's home in Wheaton, IL - and I currently drive 91 miles each way. But all the MKE flights will be turns to start. So that means that I'd be driving back/forth everyday. And then having to commute to/from Chicago/MKE from Colorado Springs. Nope. That'd make this too much like a job!!!

So I will do my time on the couch, smile and keep a good attitude, and ignore the naysayers and "the sky is falling" flight attendants. And, of course, I do all this because this is STILL the easiest job in the world, and it's awesome when the crew members and passengers are all on the same wave-length.

One last tale before I sign off - when my flight from Orlando landed in Denver, I escorted an elderly gentleman who was pretty much blind to his wheelchair at the doorway of the aircraft. As we walked, he mentioned how tall I was, how I could probably beat him up, and that maybe I'd be interested in spanking him! What a lucky girl I am!

Happy New Year!

I enjoyed my four days of relaxation (12/27-12/30) and then won a bid to do a stand-up to San Jose for New Year's Eve. I did it on purpose, believe it or not...by being awarded that trip, I got to stay at home most of 12/31, thus spending time with Jen and her boyfriend, James, who had flown in late the previous night.

We all went to lunch together, and then they headed to the cabin in Breckenridge for the night. Later on, I headed to DIA for my flight. All went well - as one of the passengers boarded, a nice-looking blonde-haired woman, I wanted to stop her and say, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" Fortunately, I didn't. She was very pleasant during the flight, not at all demanding. After awhile, I realized that it was probably Tatum O'Neal. When I got home, I Googled her to hear her voice, and sure enough, it was Tatum. She has a very distinctive voice.

We got to the hotel at 11PM local time and I sent a New Year's text to Jen and James and then went to bed. Our van time was 5:15AM, which was pretty good for a stand-up. When I got back to Denver I was released to my one day off...and since I got home at Noon on New Year's Day, I ended up having 1 1/2 days off! Woo hoo!

All four of us went out to eat on New Year's Day night, and enjoyed authentic Fish and Chips at the Golden Bee at the Broadmoor. What a delicious meal! Then we went to see Sherlock Holmes. I can't say that it was as good as the meal. But everyone else seemed to enjoy it. It was too action-packed, too violent, etc. for me. I would much rather see a nice romantic comedy!

On my day off, I hung out with Jen while Greg and James went out to breakfast together to "talk." Then Jen took James out for the day to show him the sights of our fair city.

Unfortunately, both of them had to leave today...but instead of Jen flying on Northwest via Minneapolis, she managed to get on one of our direct flights to LGA! An Aspen flight didn't arrive in time, so the plane took off with available seats. Woo hoo! Then James took off a couple hours later on JetBlue to JFK - we had a nice lunch and chat before he left.

Now I'm sitting in the crewroom waiting for my showtime to arrive - I'm flying to Orlando this afternoon, spending 10 hours there, and I'll be back in Denver at 10:30AM tomorrow. I sure hope that they release me to my one day off!!! That'd be awesome!