March Madness

Where in the world is Susan? I have been all over in the past month and a half - too many places to mention individually. So...I'm just going to write down some thoughts.

I am still on reserve. Fortunately, a hiring event was held last month for two days, and people have actually been hired and start a training class on March 28th! The big question is this...where will they be assigned? DEN or MKE? And I don't think we'll know the answer until the class starts. But there's hope. And hope is a good thing.

We have a new thing called the "Culture Club" - a team of three men who are trying to guide the top management into realizing that the current management style is NOT working, and that a mutual respect, high moral standard type of style. On Friday, our CEO wrote a letter talking about the new program and how he hopes things go. And, believe it or not, a fellow flight attendant made a not so nice comment on Facebook. I replied and said that I liked what Bryan said. But...I was pretty much attacked, and then deleted, and then UNfriended. I did make the comment that if people aren't going to "buy into" the style of management, maybe they should quit and find a company that more closely matches their beliefs. And I'm not talking about any weird, cult-like beliefs - the main focus is on integrity. Doing the right thing, especially when no one else is watching. I know I'm in the right place. The question is, how do I deal with those that aren't.

I have been working on every duty day for the past couple of months. We are understaffed, even though we're being told otherwise. I worked over 100 hours last month - my paycheck was great, but I'd really like to spend more time at home. My "to-do" list is getting longer and longer. The interesting thing is, is that not everyone is working so many days...

Currently, I am in NYC dogsitting my favorite (and only) granddogger, Liza! Jen and James are in Vegas for the weekend attending the wedding of his cousin. Liza and I have spent lots of time at a doggie park next to the USS Intrepid along the Hudson River. It was so fun watching Liza play with all the other doggies. She'd tease them and get them to chase her! When the larger dogs would come in, she'd try and get them to chase her, too! At one point today, she had a dog toy with a treat inside, she was sitting under my bench, and a large dog came over to see what she was up to - but Liza gave out a couple loud barks, and the big dog ran away! It was so funny!

I spent a little bit of time today visiting the Brain Exhibit and the Butterfly Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History - when I got there I realized that I forgot to load the battery into my camera! Bummer! I could have taken some AWESOME pictures of the butterflies. So I guess I'll just have to go visit the exhibit again! Sounds good to me!

I rode the bus to/from the museum and I got to do a lot of observation of NYers. The little old ladies - they got on the bus, sat in the handicapped area, dropped a bag that was on their lap, and yelled out in a loud NYer voice, "SHIT!" The young black girl with the earbuds in, the iPod on full blast - so loud that you can hear the song she's listening to without sitting next to her. The young Asian guy who jumped on the bus, sat down, and finished dressing - putting on cufflinks, tying his necktie - wherever he's off to, it's obvious he's late. The old gentleman who is pushing his wife in a wheelchair - she's all bundled up for the cold weather, bent over, and seems to be "out of it." But her hubby is taking care of her - getting her on and off the bus. Lots of different types of people, all busy doing their own thing. Kind of lonely, though. Don't you think?

In order to have this nice stay in NYC, I've pretty much screwed myself for the rest of the month. I have 5 and 6 day blocks of duty, separated by only one day off. Ouch. I'll have to do as best as I can. So here goes...!