Tuesday, March 23, 2010

A Day in the Life

I left off as I was getting ready for a good night's sleep before reporting to duty on Sunday morning at 0600. Well...I think I should scratch out that "good night's sleep" comment. I slept from about 10PM until 1:30AM and could not get back to sleep, no matter what I tried! Arggghhhh! Finally, I went downstairs at 2:30AM and checked Facebook and email before getting dressed and leaving the house at 3:45AM.

As I had predicted, it was a GLORIOUS drive to DIA. No traffic, wide-open roads, cruise control, a Diet Coke, and...a sausage McMuffin with egg! What a treat to realize that the McDonald's that I pass is open 24 hours a day! I would love to make that a regular stop on my drive to work, but this was a once in a blue moon kind of treat! And it was DELICIOUS.

When I arrived in the crewroom, I did my usual "cleaning up." I picked up all the papers, napkins, empty water bottles, and such and threw them all away. Then I cleaned up the messes on top of the file cabinets, pushed in all the chairs at the tables and computer stations, and checked to see the status of the inside of the microwave oven - I was shocked! It was clean!

I then called Crew Scheduling to "check-in," then I laid down on one of those sexy, black leather couches and took a nap. At 0630, CS calls to tell us about a flight to Billings that one of us was going to take, and the other two were going to pre-board. It made NO SENSE because we DON'T FLY to Billings! Then CS called a little later sending us to preboard a flight to Tucson. After that, one of our couch-sitters had to fly away - but they sent her to Omaha instead of Billings. Then CS called a little later to give me a "heads-up" that I was going to be sent to do a preboard for a Cancun flight, which I thought was a turn, but turned out to be a 24 hour layover! Ouch. It seems one of the flight attendants forgot her passport and had to turn around and get it. I would have GLADLY stepped in and taken her place!

Anyway, the gist of all this rambling is to let you know that there was no way we could all continue to SLEEP on those sexy black leather couches!!! I even told this to Barb in CS! How are we supposed to get our rest if they keep calling us! Fortunately, Barb has an awesome sense of humor (for someone who will soon be losing her job because all CSers are being moved to Indianapolis or are being laid off).

Another thing I tried to do while on the couch was help the other reservists understand why CS does what it does. That no one is holding a grudge against us, and that they're just doing their job (which I wouldn't want to do for all the chocolate in Switzerland!). I don't know if I convinced anyone, but I sure tried!

Our six-hour couch sit got extended until 2PM, giving us an 8-hour sit. At one point, we had at least 8 reserve flight attendants sitting on the couch! Go figure! And by that time, the phone wasn't ringing anymore, so we were just hanging out, talking, laughing, moaning, groaning, and having a bit of fun!

When I finally got home, I was EXHAUSTED. And then things went from being exhausting to horrid and I had a horrible night. All I'll say, is that everyone should be kind to those that they love. Think about what you're saying BEFORE you say it. Present your words in a kind and loving manner - presentation is a gigantic issue! Just remember, life is way too short to be unhappy, and when you hold grudges, the only person you're hurting is yourself. So move on and continue to love and learn.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 8:45AM to my phone ringtone playing "They're coming to take me away, ha ha, they're coming to take me away, ho ho!" Oh, oh. that means that crew scheduling is calling. Fortunately, it was for a trip that had a 12:25 show time, so I had a couple hours before I had to leave the house. So, of course, I caught up with the latest on Facebook and email (I am SO FAR BEHIND in my email...), and before I knew it, it was time to get ready to go!

Yesterday, our crew flew from Denver to Phoenix - those passengers were happy because they were all heading out for Spring Break and some fun in the sun! We had a 2-hour layover in PHX and we sat around listening to CNN talk about Obama(doesn't)care (don't even get me started), and then we were boarding our next flight to Milwaukee! This time, we had a plane full of people going back home...most were not happy, but almost all were suntanned/burned!

It was a good, but quiet group. We did have one guy who started pouring his own drink during service, using his own alcohol...very clever, but very illegal! Fortunately, the C flight attendant was handling that situation...I got to serve all the fresh food and snacks for purchase, and then later on, I got to serve the warm chocolate chip cookies (free). I know everyone else thinks they're a pain in the buttsky, but I actually like doing it! The number of "please" and "thank yous" from people who refused to look at me as they entered the aircraft was amazing!

We got to the hotel at around 10PM, and I should have changed and gone downstairs to join all the other crewmembers hanging out in the bar, but I was just too exhausted. Today, we're flying back to PHX (we'll have happy people), we'll have a 2-hour layover there, and then we'll fly back to DEN (and everyone will be sad that they're heading back to snow).

And then I'll be off for Wednesday and Thursday! Woo Hoo! My first order of business is to go to my Eye Doctor. My glasses snapped in half at 3:30AM on Sunday morning...not good. Word to the wise - duct tape does awesome things!

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