Under the Radar

I guess I am under Crew Scheduling's radar today...YAY! I have been really relaxed, too...I even took my chances and went out shopping for baby shower gifts (next week I'm going to a shower celebrating the babies of THREE reserve flight attendants)! It was a lot of fun, and I didn't even worry about getting a call. I even went out without my uniform! Woo hoo! I'm a crazy gal!

I left off on Sunday when I had a three hour sit at DIA. Fortunately, there were lots of people to sit around and talk to, including my buddy, Jenn. It made those three hours fly by. During that time I found out that one of the flight attendants who was assigned to my trip had called in sick, and my classmate, Renate, would be joining the trip! Yay! She wasn't real happy about it, because she had just flown in from SLC and crew scheduling gave this to her. She said she now had a 13 hour day...I told her that my day was going to be 14 hours...I win!

The third FA was Vicky - a really nice lineholder from DFW. We had given her a "ride home" during my trip last week. Our flightdeck crew was really great, too.

As expected, most of the passengers slept from SFO to MKE, and we were all EXHAUSTED when we headed to the hotel at 6AM. Surprisingly, I slept only until around 11AM and then headed over to the mall to walk around and pick up some lunch. I had planned on meeting the crew at Happy Hour in the bar from 4:30PM to 6:30PM, but I ended up taking a nap, instead!

It's too bad I didn't go, because the First Officer, John and Renate got invited to go to the Milwaukee Brewers baseball game by a guy who had 40 tickets! All they had to do was pay for their ride there. At the game, the FO and Renate moved down to row 16 instead of sitting in the nosebleed section (the FO has "a way" about him), and then he invited himself to a tailgate party in after the game! It was Renate's first tailgate - she's from Switzerland and I guess they haven't picked up on that yet. Anyway, I felt bad that I missed out, but when you can't stay awake, I guess I was better off taking a nap!

I did wake up in time, though, to see "The Bachelorette" and "Nightline" afterwards, that was talking all about "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" series. Unfortunately, I found it very hard to go to sleep! Argh!!! I really didn't sleep THAT LONG!

Our flight back to DEN on Tuesday morning was great - the passengers were happy, my co-workers worked well together - it was a really good trip. There was a non-rev FA on board who had been with Midwest Airlines for 20 years. She's now a Frontier flight attendant, BELOW me in seniority. We talked for quite awhile...

Once in Denver, I heard those MAGICAL WORDS, "You are released to 10 hours rest." I would be back on duty at 9PM, and there are no flights they could assign me to, so I knew I had the rest of the night off. And then today, there have been no phone calls!

Back on duty on Saturday for SIX DAYS! Stay tuned...

A Full Moon

Last night, there was a full moon. I probably don't need to say anymore. But I will.

1. Crazy lady who was unprepared for taking three little girls on a flight. She kept the youngest (less than 2 years) awake all day so that she wouldn't scream on the flight...and what did she do? Scream. She did not have toys/food/drink for these poor girls and was highly offended that we didn't serve milk. Though we found some from a previous flight...our normal 1hr45min flight took 3hr and she told me that was all our fault. Nevermind the fact that a 200mile wide thunderstorm was in the way. She let me know her disgust as she left the aircraft - she spewed venom at me while the caterer, cabin cleaning crew, mechanic, and scout all stood there listening with their mouths open. I wish I'd had some marshmallows to toss into their mouths!

2. During deplaning (prior to the BAD MOM), several passengers told me what a wonderful job I did. Who should I believe? (Just a rhetorical question...)

3. A guy came on board and put both bags in the overhead. I told him that one needed to go at his feet. He DEMANDED to see it in writing. He paid extra for stretch seating and that included buying space in the overhead. Huh? He wanted a refund of his money, so I offered to escort him off the plane to the gate agent's desk and get him that refund AND a seat on another flight. He declined and sat down, with his bag at his feet.

4. The B flight attendant has the exact same birthday as me! Same day. Same year. Born about an hour or so after me! She's a grandmother to six and will be a great-grandmother in about 8 months. I think I got a late start in life.

It was on the van ride to the hotel that we saw the full moon. Then, and only then, was I able to understand why all this nonsense happened today. It was time to accept that it happened and MOVE ON. The real fun has yet to begin - I fly back to Denver this afternoon, sit for three hours, and then fly back to San Francisco. But that's not the fun! I then get to fly OVERNIGHT to Milwaukee.

I hope that the looneytoon passengers sleep through the flight! All normal passengers are welcome to stay awake and chitchat with the crew!

Junior Assigning

Today I received three phone calls from Crew Scheduling, all trying to get me to throw on my uniform and drive like a maniac to get to DIA within 2 hours, with the promise of more $ than usual. It's called 'junior assigning.'

What the deal is, if I answer my phone, I HAVE to accept the assignment. So I have learned to let my phone go to voicemail when I am on duty if I don't recognize the caller. However, if I do answer, I can get out of it if I've been drinking. But, that would've been hard to believe when they they called me today at 8AM.

If I wasn't starting five days on duty tomorrow, I would have jumped at the opportunity to make some extra $, but we are short-staffed (contrary to what management believes), and I already know that they are going to use us up and spit us out until the end of the summer. SO...I have to look out for myself.

Accordingly, I bid on a 4-day trip that starts tomorrow. I'll do a turn to St. Louis and then have a 15 hour overnight in San Francisco. We'll return to Denver on Sunday and I'll have a 3-hour sit before I head back to San Francisco - but this time I won't stay. We'll fly a "red-eye" to Milwaukee, arriving at 6AM on Monday morning. Then I'll get to stay at the hotel until Tuesday morning.

Rumor has it, that I'll probably get another trip tacked on to the end, since I'm on duty on Wednesday, too. Stay tuned - I am going to take notes and share the weird things that happen during the trip that starts tomorrow...

Back in the Airplane, Again...

It was so nice having a break from flying, and getting to relax up in Breckenridge!

I started back to duty with a 4-day trip that I bid on - and I got it! I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to KNOW what you're doing during your duty days, versus waiting for that doggone phone to ring, possibly giving you only two hours to get to the airport. I truly lucked out!

The 4-day trip took me to Canton-Akron (where we have a new hotel that's within 1/2 miles of a movie theater and a Target), Phoenix (where it was hotter than a witch's patootie), and Houston (not only hotter than a witch's patootie, but more humid than an indoor swimming pool). Fortunately, my crew was great! I was flying with one of my classmates - Rosalyn, and we had Stacy - another really nice lady. Stacy and I enjoyed iHop for breakfast in Phoenix (you gotta enjoy the little things in life), and then in Houston I went to Denney's with Janel, my former classmate who's now an Air Traffic Controller.

After brunch, Janel and I headed to her new house - where I got to meet her two kids...Mikey (a black lab) and Minnie (a Boston terrier). They are adorable and loving! She's got a nice guestroom, which will be great once she gets some furniture for it! So on my days off, when I'm looking to run away for a few days, I know where to go.

Janel & Mikey

Minnie

After this trip, I had a few days off and then I picked up a couch sit on Saturday, 7/17 from 4PM until 10PM. However, I got a call at around 5:30PM telling me that I'd be taking over for a flight attendant who was coming in from Salt Lake City. It seems that she had injured herself the previous day leaving Denver, and was now a hurtin' little puppy. Super Stew was there to save the day!!!

Again, I had a great crew (except for the pilot)! It was a most interesting trip, though...our first night was spent in Indianapolis. We arrived at around 1AM and our van driver told us that he wasn't sure he'd be able to get us to our hotel which was located in the city center. It seems that the city was on lockdown, and all roads were blocked. It was the annual BlackExpo, and some idiot decided to open fire in a crowd of people, shooting 8 by the mall that's near our hotel, and then opened fire two more times at other locations. He shot 10 in all, none seriously, and they were all young black men. They had not yet caught the shooter, hence the roadblocks.

Our hotel was filled with dressed up partygoers - I had to question the style of some womens' dresses...we thought maybe they were hookers. And the number of mens' pants that were down around their thighs...I could've had a heyday running around yanking down pants! There was a big party going on downstairs, and I asked the front desk if we could join them. She looked at me as if I had dog poop on my face and said, "No, I don't think so." But by then it was almost 2AM and I needed to get some sleep. So no fun for me! I call that discrimination! There were lots of partygoers in the hallway on our floor, and they showed no signs of going to their own rooms to sleep. Thank God for earplugs!

The next day, we had a late flight back to Denver and then on to San Francisco. I was working the middle of the plane during all these flights, Megan was in the back and Phillip was in the front. They were great. However, our CPT was not one of my favorites. He did not look at me or speak to me during the entire 3-day trip, even though I wished him "good morning"! Just because I wrote him up for theft the last time we flew together! Sheesh. He still hasn't brushed up on his "team-playing" skills, and he forgot to give us "sterile" as we were approaching Denver - meaning that all three of us could have been injured if we had noticed we were almost on the ground. Let's just say that I think he is an idiot - so wrapped up in himself, not caring about his team at all. At least this time he paid for the food that he got off the cart.

Megan and I hung out with the first officer, John, in San Fran. We talked a bit about the CPT (John didn't seem to think he was that bad), and about our jobs. It's always interesting to hear other people's stories of how they ended up flying with our airline.

The next day, we had a turn to Dallas and then we were off duty. I, however, got to come back again the following day to sit on the couch again from 4PM until 10PM, but this time all I did was three pre-boards. Lo and behold, at 10PM I was released until 8AM and my phone didn't ring at all!!! Yahoo! But I was so wound up, I wasn't relaxed at all that day...I kept expecting a call!

Today's my second official day off, and it started with a call from crew scheduling at 8AM - they wanted me to fly within two hours. I had just gotten out of bed, was still in my jammies, and hadn't eaten breakfast yet. I did not answer my phone. And I don't plane ot answer today if they call again. Granted, the pay would have been at time and a half, but I want to enjoy this day. But I think things are going crazy in Denver - MKE was shut down last night due to flooding, crews are stranded all over the country, and they are really short in Denver. If they'd swap out this day for another day off, I'd pitch in and help, but I have five days of duty starting tomorrow, and I know full well that they're going to use me all five days. So this would make it six, and I am not that super-human! Hahahaha! So the phone is off, I'm getting ready to do laundry, and do some yardwork today!

Variations

I had a couch sit on my first day of duty - I bid for the 4PM to 10PM shift and got it! Then the next day crew scheduling called to tell me that they changed the shift to 2PM to 8PM...hmmmmmm. I have since found out that I did NOT need to call them back and come in at 2PM. But what if they had called and given me a trip? I believe that takes precedence...I guess I had better sit down and read the Flight Attendant Handbook.

Before I left at 8PM, I found out that I had been assigned a 3-day trip for the last three days of duty. Yay! No short calls for me...! I had a late morning show time the next day, so I went ahead and printed up my crew lists and schedule. But when I arrived the next day, another of the senior mamas on the trip dropped out and I had another reserve - Janice. She was so much fun! My kind of humor.

We had the first night in Kansas City, MO and the second was in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, our layovers were a bit short, so we couldn't do much. We flew on both A320s and A319s. The CPT and FO were easy to work with - thank goodness!

When I returned to DEN at 10:30AM, I was released to my VACATION DAYS! Woo hoo! I had five days of vacation and two days off. Yay!

I spent several days at home, attending fireworks displays and doctor's appointments, and I'm now at our cabin in Breckenridge for a few days. It is nice and quiet here - perfect for relaxing!