My Life in Pictures

I had a nice, relaxing visit in Dayton, OH. I went to brunch at "That Brunch Place" a few blocks from the hotel - it was probably the ONLY place open within the downtown city limits.

After I was done eating, I walked to the riverbank and took the following pictures.

A random statue of a baseball player in Dayton, OH.

The Wright brothers.

The County Seat in Dayton, OH - decorated for Memorial Day 2010.

Strange-looking stone creatures guarding a door in Dayton, OH.

The kids are enjoying the street fountain at the Riverscape Park in Dayton, OH.

Days Off

I had an unexpected day off at the end of my 3-day trip - I sat at home waiting for the phone to ring, and it never did! Yay! My daughter had a revenue ticket from LGA to DEN, and then she flew non-rev from DEN to COS so I didn't have to drive to DEN. Double Yay! In fact, she was the only non-rev boarded - she had higher seniority than a US Airways FA. So sorry, but I'm glad I have seniority over someone!

Starting on Monday I had four days off - the primary goal of my daughter's visit was to select a venue for her wedding. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be...we visited two the first day - one was a beautiful outdoor venue that we both loved. The other was a dedicated facility which was very nice, but just not quite right...

The next day, we went to the Garden of the Gods Club and saw their breathtaking view. And then we saw that same view from their "just-in-case-of-bad-weather" covered patio - ahhhhh. Peace of mind. The cocktail area and dining room were exquisite. Beautiful, intimate and perfect for our needs. We were ready to sign on the dotted line. But first, we had another venue to visit - the Broadmoor. As expected, it was over-the-top - both in facilities available, pricing, and scenery. But it was too too for our tastes - too formal, too public, and too expensive!

We contacted GOGC and have reserved Sunday, June 26, 2011 for the big day. It'll be an evening event - wedding ceremony on the lawn and then reception to follow. It's going to be beautiful!

In the meantime, I see that we are very low on reserves at my airline. They're asking for "will-fly" attendants (those who are on days off, but who are willing to fly). If I had more than 11 days off a month, I might consider helping out. But I value each and every one of my days off! We had nine flight attendants who are transferring to Milwaukee on June 1 and two that are transferring to Denver. If we are so short of flight attendants (and it's usually on Wed/Thur/Fri), why don't we have a new-hire class or transfer more flight attendants from Milwaukee to Denver? I guess I'll never know.

I have a list of 12 lovely ladies who I've been in contact with - they are all interested in becoming Frontier Flight Attendants! So all I need is a time/date for a hiring event and they'll be on their own!

My days off are rapidly coming to a close. I have to take my daughter to Denver to catch her flight to LGA tomorrow morning. I am (patiently) waiting for Crew Scheduling to assign the trips/couch for tomorrow. They've had almost three hours to assign the 8 or so trips and couch sits, but it's still not done. I did see that several trips for this evening materialized on the board...is it that dreaded Memorial Day Diarrhea? The Holiday Headache? or perhaps the Tequila Tummyache? Time will tell...

Expect the Unexpected

I figured that I'd get a couch sit for Wednesday, as did my flight attendant friend, Kelly. So we both bid for the A couch - 6AM until Noon. And guess what happened? I got sent on a Phoenix turn which got back at 11:10AM, and Kelly got sent out on a Las Vegas turn and a Dallas overnight! So much for our plan to sit and chat for six hours!

The Phoenix turn was great! The other flight attendants followed the rules, worked as a team, and the time just flew by. When I got back to Denver, I got assigned to the couch until 2PM, and at that time I was sent home.

Of course, I got an assignment for Thursday - a three-day trip with overnights in Houston and Portland, OR! Again, the flight attendants work well together and things are going smoothly. Our flight deck crew leaves us in Denver tomorrow, and we continue on to Portland with new ones. This evening as we checked into our Houston hotel, the bartender told us that they were having a "Mexican Night" in the hotel bar from 5-7PM on Thursdays. So we decided to come down as a group and imbibe in "building our own nachos." Delish!

But now it's time to start winding down and getting ready for our early show tomorrow morning...and then on to Portland, OR where we have a 19 hour layover!

As a side note, our flight attendants voted for a union today. Oh boy. Not sure what it means for us, since it will take a long time before we have a contract...

Unexpected Mini-Vacation

When I last wrote, I was getting ready to walk out the door of my hotel room in San Diego and get on the van back to the airport. Just as I was opening the door, crew scheduling calls me and asks, "What's the weather like in San Diego?" Not sure why they were asking, I replied, "Ah...what's going on?"

That's when they told me that there was a mechanical on our plane, and that a Republic flight will be coming instead. But they'd like us to stay another day and work the early morning flight back on Sunday. Darn. A full day in San Diego! It's a tough job, I know.

My classmate, Suzette, and I headed out on the Light Rail to Old Town, where we settled in at an outdoor Mexican restaurant. There was a nice breeze, the sun was shining, music was playing - it was awesome. The chips were seasoned and the salsa was HOT, but the enchiladas were delicious! We stayed at the restaurant a bit longer than planned so that our third flight attendant, Bruce, could join us. After he ate some lunch, we took a bus to Ocean Beach - a village on the Pacific Ocean.

It was a bit overcast and chilly by then, but it was so nice to walk on the pier and see the local color. By that, I mean a drunk woman (who was evidently topless before we got there) who was stealing the American flags from in front of the businesses - she'd grab one, and start singing patriotic songs. At one point, she was stopped by a store owner, the flag was taken away, and then she started chasing a guy who was on jumping stilts. What a riot!

Later on, we were walking on the beach, and several police cars and lifeguard trucks pull onto the beach. A couple lifeguards tackle the same woman in the water, lead her out and handcuffed her! I betcha they were gonna let her sober up in jail.

It was a fun, relaxing day. We headed back to the hotel early so that we could get a good night's sleep. When we got back to DEN the next morning, I got released for 10 hours rest. Then later on, I noticed that they gave me a turn to Los Angeles for Monday, and they released me from duty until my show time of 3:45PM! That was awesome! That gave me most of Monday to work in my yard and not have to worry that the phone would ring.

The turn last night could have been really good, but the A flight attendant was not my favorite. The C warned me ahead of time, and said that the A was a really good attendant, but was a bit on the gruff side. Well, I wasn't impressed. The A came back to my galley before boarding and took 1/2 my water bottles (even though she had at least nine bottles up front), and she took all my napkins. Huh? During service, she needed some alcohol and when I asked her if she was going to put the sale on my cash machine, she said "NO!" and huffed back to her galley. I yelled after her, "Thank you!" On the retun flight, I had to go up to the forward galley to retrieve some of my water and napkins so that we didn't run out. We serve 2/3 the cabin, but she wanted all the supplies! A bit of a hoarder, I would guess.

She had an attitude. She was a good flight attendant as far as serving beverages and picking up trash, but as far as following procedures, she was a rebel. She did her her way. I really wish that there was some sort of secret shopper program in place so that management could see how she did her job. But since there's not, I'll just make a note in my notebook that on this date/flight that I was "short" alcohol on my machine because FA A refused to record the sales on the correct machine. That's all I can do.

I've now got one glorious day off, and of course, it's overcast and chilly outside. I had hoped to start working on my backyard...I am so far behind in trimming and spring cleanup. But instead of doing that, I'm going to do laundry, have lunch with the girls at Red Lobster, and enjoy a quiet afternoon at home!

Who's in Charge?

Crazy, crazy day. After sitting at home all day Thursday (no complaints from me!), I got to sit the C shift on the couch on Friday - 4PM until 10PM. We did a preboard on a flight to St. Louis, and the original crew was so happy and thankful that we were there and that they could leave as close to on time as possible! They and the flight deck crew all thanked us! :)

Then a couple hours later we got to preboard a flight to San Diego. What a mess. I asked the gate agent where the original crew was coming from, but she was too busy to be bothered to answer my question. She had been the only person at that gate for FIVE HOURS, and she was a bit overwhelmed. Boarding went smoothly, the flight deck crew arrived and asked crew scheduling if we were going to be their flight attendants. Nope. They were to wait for the original crew.

The plane is all boarded, the paperwork is printed, and the gate agent is trying to close the aircraft door. I told her no...that the original crew is on its way. She was shocked - I told her that I had tried to tell her earlier, but she wasn't listening. So she goes back to the podium to try and find four passengers who didn't make it, and give them an opportunity to board.

Finally, crew scheduling calls the flight attendants on the cell phones to tell us that we're taking that flight. But they didn't tell the captain! Normally, it's the other way around. So I called the gate agent to have her come down so we can close the door, and she said that the original crew just arrived. I told the captain, he said to tell them to leave, I called crew scheduling, they told me that they were staying and I was to leave. The captain told the original crew to leave, they left with smiles on their faces (cause they are pay protected and get to go home while being paid), and I called crew scheduling to let them know. They tried to call the other flight attendants, but they weren't answering their phones. So they finally told me that we were going. What a flippin' mess.

So we got about 10 hours in a nice hotel with excellent beds in San Diego - a good night's sleep, and we'll soon be back on our way to Denver with a new flight deck crew. I don't mind doing last minute stuff...but I'd like it better if everyone was on the same page. I'd love to know what the passengers were thinking during this entire mess...

Where's the Sun?

Yesterday was my first day back on the job...I had a great six days off! We flew US Airways to CLT (Charlotte, NC) on Friday and had to rent a car to get the rest of the way to Raleigh! We asked another non-rev if she'd like to join us for the ride...because there was NO WAY we were getting on one of the six flights that day! She and Greg talked most of the 2 hour drive, and I took cat naps on and off.

Our niece, Brittany, graduated with a BS degree from Meredith College on Mother's Day. It was a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful setting. The geese even flew in formation over the graduates! And our niece, Lindsey, announced her engagement to her boyfriend, Greg. So sweet!

But it's back to the grind. I was actually looking forward to sitting the couch in Denver from Noon until 6PM...but that happiness went *poof* fairly quickly. I called crew scheduling at 1124 to check in, and guess what? They didn't answer the phone for 14 minutes! While I was on hold on the crewroom phone, I used my cell phone to call all of the crew scheduling numbers - I ended up on hold for each call. Finally, I called the Inflight Manager's office to let them know that I couldn't get through.

After 14 minutes on hold, a crew scheduler with an unrecognizable name answered the phone. I had to tell her twice that I was calling to check in for the couch. Then I asked why it took 14 minutes to answer my call. She responded, "We have to take the calls in the order we receive them." I didn't have a good reaction to that comment, because in 2 1/2 years it's NEVER taken that long to get an answer at crew scheduling. I pointed out to "unrecognizable name" that, had it been closer to my check-in time, I could have gotten a late show! But that did not seem to concern her.

It turns out that this is happening a lot. I submitted a report to "the powers that be" and actually got a response within a couple hours. The manager of crew scheduling was very apologetic, and said it was totally crew scheduling's fault. They have the ability to put their phones on "unavailable," and all four schedulers did it at the same time when I called, even though one phone is always supposed to be open. He said the schedulers were counseled and it'll never happen again.

Even though the situation was resolved, I felt bad that it even happened. Whatever happened to common sense? I'm feeling very "out in left field" now that our schedulers are in IND and we're in DEN. They don't know what time it is in DEN, they don't know the weather, they don't know the situations...

The B couch was called at 1220 to report to Gate 25 at 1225 to preboard a flight to DFW. We looked at our schedule board and the flight wasn't even arriving until 1252! So we are at the gate at 1252 as the plane arrives, but the next crew is already there. As we're leaving, I found out that the gate next door had no crew and was waiting to board their flight - I'm thinking that crew scheduling told us the wrong gate! But we had no way of knowing! We should have been sent to Gate 27 to preboard the flight to SAN!

If this were a once-in-awhile occurence, it'd be no big deal. But it's happening ALL THE TIME! We get to gates and there is no plane, the crew is already there, or the plane is already boarded! Why is the communication so bad? So lacking?

I just wasn't handling it well yesterday. One of my classmates is transferring to MKE and I asked her lots and lots of questions about her plans - how was she going to do it? Was it going to save her money? Where was she going to live in MKE? She has her reasons for switching, the biggest of which is to FINALLY GET OFF RESERVE! I have to agree with her 100%. I would pay money to get off reserve, but I don't think switching to MKE would work for me. What's a girl to do?

With our old management, things went like clockwork. Sure, there were errors every once in awhile...but under our new structure, I feel like we've been hung out to dry. I did realize, though, that management may not be aware of what's going on, so we need to tell them. But FAs feel that all their problems are going to be miraculously fixed by bringing in a union. I've got news for them...

I guess I just need to be put on a plane - then everything's okay. The joy of the job comes back. I have fun with the passengers and the crew. I get to stay in nice hotels. I have time to myself for peace, quiet, reading, walking, shopping, eating, and visiting with friends. I need to hold on those and keep my chin up so that I don't drown in my own sorrows. IT WILL GET BETTER!

Four-Day Trip

I just returned from a four-day trip that went really, really well! It was so nice not sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring...

The Atlanta overnight was good - but none of my Atlanta friends could come out and play - maybe next time!

The next night was spent in Sacramento, and the flight there was a bit more eventful. We had a passenger complain that one of the flight attendants bumped his left arm THREE TIMES as he held a cup of coffee, spilling some on his right hand. Now, I don't know about you, but if that had been me, I would have said something after the first bump! Also, I would have switched the coffee to my other hand, and/or I would have gotten my body out of the aisle! Sheesh. I can smell a lawsuit...I didn't see any evidence of a burn, but I filled out all the required paperwork, we called the inflight medical service, and we had some GORGEOUS paramedics waiting for us at the gate. Oh la la!

Once at the hotel, I raced over to the local mall for some lunch and shopping, but really wasn't in the mood to buy anything. But I did have a FRESH corndog and homemade lemonade - it was so delicious! After awhile, I headed back to the hotel, checked out the pool, and settled myself in my room to catch up on last week's episodes of Glee and Parenthood. I even went to bed at 8PM!

When we left Sacramento, one of the flight attendants made one comment - "there must be an empty trailer park in Sacramento." OMG. That was so true. Very strange people came onto our aircraft. Including a 20 month old girl who was "terrified" to fly (now how did she develop that fear, I wonder). She didn't just cry. She screeched. It actually hurt my ears and the ears of everyone around them. I talked to her and told her that screeching wasn't allowed on the aircraft, but when I walked away, she went right back to it. There was a 10 week old little girl with her dad in the seat in front of them - and he was having his own crying baby problems. Our screaming children flight was sometimes in stereo!

Our landing was an interesting one. We were down, then we were up, and then we were down again. The wind in Denver was horrendous. At the end of the flight, and old woman made a nasty comment to me on her way out about the screaming flight, and I replied, "Sometimes it happens!" Then she went on to tell me that the "flight was just miserable." Lady, it could have been a LOT MORE miserable, if you know what I mean.

Because of the high winds, we were delayed leaving the gate on our way to Austin. We had to put into practice the new "Passenger Bill of Rights" - including giving the passengers water after sitting around for an hour and a half. We didn't have a full flight, and most everyone was pretty calm. The backup was due to all runways except for two being closed in Denver due to the winds. It would not have been pretty taking off on those runways.

That evening, I walked to a restaurant with the CPT and FO - we went to the Iron Cactus. I had jumbo shrimp wrapped in jalapeno cheese and bacon. Delicious!

I'm now back at home, because crew scheduling released me to my days off! Woo hoo! I am back on duty next Wednesday!!!

Barbaric?!?!?

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all so much for following the blog of this barbaric flight attendant. Your loyalty is very much appreciated.

I was told that I was barbaric on a recent flight from LGA to DEN by two men of middle-eastern persuasion, shall we say. We were obviously suffering cultural differences when they refused to listen to me on board the aircraft and I subsequently had them removed before we left the gate.

It seems that wealthy men of middle-eastern persuasion do not like their Louis Vuitton bags to touch any other bag, nor do they like their bags to be handled by said female. Not only am I barbaric, I am also rude. For making them move their bags so that others may place their fully-loaded rollerbags into the overhead - oh...did I mention that one of the Louis Vuitton bags was empty? And it had to have an overhead bin all its own?

The younger of the two was so upset that he got in my face as he expressed his displeasure. His voice and the voice of his dad carried throughout the entire aircraft. When I was called rude for the upteenth time, and they would not cooperate with me, I told them, "That's it! You are off the aircraft!" Fortunately, the CPT allowed the flight attendants to make the decision. The gate agents ushered the two men and their poor embarrassed property, oops...I meant woman, off the aircraft. But not before the dad said to me, "I'm going to send you a book on etiquitte." Oh no he didn't!!! I replied, "Just be sure to read it before you do!" Touche.

If they would not listen to me about bag placement, how do I know that they would listen to me in an emergency at 37,000 feet in the air, or even just listen to me at all during a four hour flight? Nope. I don't get paid enough to do that. Off with their heads! Oops. No, that's what THEY do.

I was very happy to get home after that trip, even though I had only one day at home. But that turned into two days, because they did not give me a couch shift for yesterday (SHOCKING!) and I sat at home waiting for the phone to ring. Well...let's change that. I had my phone with me and my car packed, as I drove all over Colorado Springs looking at possible wedding venues for Jen's nuptials next summer. I was doing "drive-bys" to see which were worth making appointments at when Jen is in town in a few weeks.

Then I lucked out and picked up a 4-day trip on Aggressive Reserve yesterday - I got an Atlanta overnight, a Sacramento overnight, and an Austin overnight. When I get home on Wednesday at 7:30AM, I hope to hear those glorious words...,"You are released to your SIX days off!" It's so much nicer to be on a trip, instead of sitting at home, or driving around town with the car fully loaded.

The only downside to this trip is that it's all early morning show times. So it'll be off to bed early for me tonight! This layover in Atlanta is around 12 hours, but tomorrow's layover in Sacramento is over 19 hours. Even though the hotel stinks (literally), it's right next door to a really nice mall with ice cold movie theaters! We'll see if I have the energy to walk across the parking lot, or if I'll just park myself at the pool and enjoy a nice relaxing afternoon in the California sun!