Toes in the Sky

I'm Back!

2011-12-12T18:08:00.001-07:00

My last post was on 11/28/11 - where the heck has the time gone?

I had a quick three day trip at the end of November running into the beginning of December - but I was a bump on a log and was a slam-clicker. Believe it or not, I skipped going to the casinos in Vegas, and the next night in Chicago I chose to stay in the hotel instead of partying with my crew downstairs - if I didn't have such early show times, I would have come out and played...especially in Chicago, where I have a TON of family.

Technically, when I left Vegas and headed to Chicago, I was on reserve status again. Yuck. And I had the next two days on reserve - the first day I was supposed to do an overnight to Kansas City, but let's just say, that for the first time in four years I slept through my alarm and actually missed my show time! Never before had that happened. I called Crew Scheduling to let them know that I "blew it," and asked if they still wanted me at DIA. They took a couch-sitter and put that person on my trip, and then I got to sit the couch from 6AM until Noon.

And then, of course, they sent me on a turn on Sunday - one that had a very early morning show time. That made four days in a row of early show times - one as early as 2:15AM Denver time! And guess what happened?!?!? Yes, I got sick with another sinus infection! That's the way it's always been in my life...if I stay up all night or don't get enough sleep, my body is unhappy, and a sinus infection takes over. Bummer.

Fortunately, I got an appointment the next day with my allergy doctor's nurse practitioner, and she gave me some antibiotics and I was told I'd be ok to go back on duty two days later. WRONG. I had so much gunk running down my throat, lots of pressure in my head, and there was no way that I could go back onto an airplane and be cordial and welcoming! I'll go back to work on Thursday, 12/15, and in the meantime, I've come to realize that I AM ALLERGIC TO RESERVE duty! I've got a five day stretch to go before Christmas and then five days afterwards, and then reserve will be over for another year! Halleluiah!

So, what do you think about Alec Baldwin? What an ass. We don't have first class, so I doubt he'd ever lower himself and fly on one of our airplanes. No great loss, huh? Yes...it's true that only one cell phone won't make a difference with the communication service. But what if all 162 or 138 people had a phone, laptop or Kindle turned on and searching for internet signals? I believe that would interfere with the plane's communication systems. Pilots have reported interference with their equipment - these electornic devices may be the cause. But obviously, Alec is too important to listen to and follow the FAA requirements. And calling the flight attendant a former 1950's gym teacher?!?!? I wish she could have retorted back to him that he's a fat bum who doesn't deserve a beautiful daughter (he called her a pig several months ago).

It's time to enjoy the last couple days off...before having to jump back into the reserve pool!

I'm Tired

2011-11-28T12:00:00.001-07:00

I had to wake up at 2:20AM (Denver time) in Dayton, OH to get ready for my 5:20AM shuttle to the airport. I made a BIG MISTAKE and fell asleep while watching TV when I got into my hotel room yesterday. When it was time for bed, it was VERY HARD to go to sleep - I'm paying for it now.

This morning's flight was easy as pie. Everyone was in a great mood, we left DAY early, and we arrived in DEN even earlier! But I wanted to pass on some comments I heard from other crewmembers on the crew bus to the parking lot this morning.

- A passenger asked the flight attendant for a diaper for her baby. When the flight attendant said she didn't have any, the passenger asked if she could ask all the other passengers if they had one. How/why does one travel without being properly prepared for their baby, their own personal hygiene needs, etc. Really?

- On a flight from Branson, MO to Salt Lake City, UT approximately 99% of the plane were passengers who were at least 100 years old. The flight attendant removed the big fluffy coat from the overhead bin, and asked whose it was. A little old man said it was his, and said, "I'm entitled to my overhead space." The flight attendant tried to explain the the passenger about putting the larger roller bags in first, and then followed by putting the coats in the overhead. The passenger looked at the flight attendant, pointed his bony, crooked finger at her, and said, "SCREW you!" His wife hit him and told him to shut up, while the other old ladies expressed dismay from having heard such insulting language! Whatever happened to treating women with respect? The same flight attendant said that when she later asked him what he'd like to drink, he pointed that long bony, crooked finger at her, and said, "I don't want ANYTHING from you!" Really?

The Difference a Day Makes

2011-11-27T19:43:00.001-07:00

On the second busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday, my flights were on time (if not early), and everyone seems to have been in a great mood! Halleluiah!

On the way from Seattle to Denver, we had the Akron University Girls' Basketball team, who had just won their game. And then from Denver to Dayton, we had Miami University's Hockey team, who had just won a tournament. Lots of happy, but tired athletes today.

The nastiness of the infamous three passengers last night is all but forgotten. Today, passengers approached me off the airplane while I was walking from one gate to another, or waiting for the hotel van, and told me that I was so funny or that they loved the chocolate chip cookies that I served! It makes me happy.

I flew with another brand new flight attendant this morning from Seattle to Denver - she, too, agrees that this is the easiest job in the world. She has such a good attitude, she's easy-going and happy - I told her that she is an awesome addition to our company. We need to get rid of the tired and worn out flight attendants and bring in more like the lady I flew with this morning. It's so refreshing!

And here I am in Dayton, OH for the night. I had hoped to go out walking once I got here, but it's rainy! I forgot that it rains for hours and hours here (well, anywhere in the east). I'm so used to storms that blow in, rain hard, and then blows right back out! So instead of taking a long walk, I decided to turn on the boob tube and I promptly fell asleep! Now it's past 9PM and I have to be up at 4:25AM. Argggh! But I have one leg home tomorrow...and I'll probably promptly fall asleep on the couch when I get home!

A Long Day

2011-11-26T20:20:00.001-07:00

I am on the 4th day of 6 days of flying, and until today, it had been wonderful! I actually got to go out to dinner with my baby girl and her hubby on her 23rd birthday! We went to one of the most wonderful steak houses that I'd ever been to...The Old Homestead. I had an 18 oz. filet mignon, and OMG. It was incredible! But, as always, it's so tough to leave my daughter in NYC. You'd think that I would be used to it by this time.

Our flight from LaGuardia to Denver was fairly uneventful. Most everyone slept, which made my job even easier! While we were inflight, the boys needed to come out of the flight deck for a potty break. And guess what? They couldn't get out of the flight deck! The door was "stuck." They tried and tried, and we finally called them to ask what the heck they were doing! That's when they told me to push against the door. I did so, and almost lost my footing as the door swung open. Well, once we were on the ground, that broken door caused our flight to be delayed!

The bad news is that the part we needed was in Arizona. Then there was talk of downsizing us to an A319, but then we'd have to kick 19 people off the flight and how would we choose? So they decided to wait for another plane to come in and we would take that new plane - we left 3 hours late. People started boarding the flight with an "attitude," and I told them not to be mad at us! It was a mechanical, clean and simple. Things happen.

I thought the flight went really well - there were some very nice people on board who took the time to tell me how great we all were, that I had a great sense of humor and that my sound effects during my safety demo are great! As his reward, I gave the gentleman a dozen chocolate chip cookies! But towards the end of the flight, I came across a row of people who were VERY UNHAPPY. There was a couple with a baby and a guy sitting next to them. The baby cried most of the flight, so the parents were frustrated and the guy was irritated beyond belief. They all told me that they hated my airline and would NEVER come back. I expressed my sorrow to them. The guy felt that it was horrible that we did not have the part in Denver that was needed to fix the plane. Well...that's what happens when your company gets bought out by another. Things change. The couple was pissed because their kid had been inconvenienced for 6 HOURS. There weren't enough ticket agents, so it took forever to get their bags checked, and get through security. And their poor child was exhausted. And he screamed. And screamed. And then he screamed again. But it was all OUR FAULT. Haven't these people ever heard of Benedryl?

Anyway - as I left those angry passengers and walked back to the forward galley, lots and lots of passengers told me how great of a job we did, especially considering the circumstances. That was JUST what I needed to hear! We continued to hear more of the same during the deplaning. EXCEPT for the mom of the screaming baby. All she wanted was my name. Lovely. Just lovely. I seriously doubt that she'll be writing me a complimentary letter.

So, to blow off steam, I walked to our hotel - I walked at my own pace and just enjoyed the cool, crisp evening. I plan on writing my report about the "incident" just in case she follows through and complains about me. I can hardly wait.

When I got to my room, the last thing I wanted was to be around more people - so I ordered ROOM SERVICE! I don't normally use it, but I really did not want to be around people anymore. So I've now finished my clam chowder, creme brulee and Coors Lite! Yummy yummy yummy! But soon it will be time to go off to bed - we have a van scheduled at 5AM. Tomorrow, we'll fly back to Denver and then continue on to Dayton, OH - the place where I was scheduled to spend 49 hours over Thanksgiving! Thank God I got out of that and was able to spend an amazing day with family.

So now I'm taking my last sips of beer and it'll soon be time to go to sleep!

Pay it Forward...

2011-11-21T23:22:00.001-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find this handmade card in my mailbox today - it's from the girl whose plastic box went missing. I sent the box and its contents to her - and she was sweet enough to send me this card!

Front of Card

Inside of Card

So...to those co-workers who told me that I'd never find her missing plastic box, I say, "You won't be successful if you don't try."

Random Thoughts...

2011-11-20T23:55:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to have a bunch of days off in a row - I had originally planned to go with Greg to a jet rally in Mesa, AZ but he decided not to go because of a "plane crash" issue - and I decided to go visit a good friend in California. This good friend is suffering from cancer. The big C. It's nasty. I came in on Friday morning, and she had had a chemo session on Thursday. She had gotten a "new cocktail" and it was hitting her hard. My job was to get her to sit down and do nothing. Fat chance.

This woman has a very busy life, and she's not going to let cancer (her third battle with it) get the best of her. She has multiple businesses that she owns and she essentially has two full-time jobs in addition to her own businesses. On Friday, she was bouncing here and there, doing work in her home office, answering calls, running to the toilet, then answering more calls. She finally settled on the couch.

Cancer is nasty. The treatment is nastier. Her whole body was aching. Her newly shaven head was throbbing. I made a pasta dinner and a salad - she enjoyed them, but then lost both a little while later. On Saturday, she was still aching. I kept her on the sofa most of the day and forced her to relax. We watched movies - "The Little Black Book," "Sister Act," "Eat, Pray, Love" - and tons and tons of detective/crime shows. So many murders...so little time. I am convinced that she's studying up to be a serial killer, and I'm sure she will NEVER get caught.

Today she was feeling a bit better, so we ventured out to a flea market where she sells stuff, and stayed for a little while - it was chilly and starting to rain, and she does not want to get sick. Her immune system is nonexistent right now. Then we spent the rest of the day at the house. She's feeling a lot better today, but dreads her next chemo session tomorrow.

She is very fortunate to have a "surrogate daughter" who practically lives with her - the daughter's mom died a couple years ago from breast cancer, so she knows exactly what to do and loves keeping my friend company. My friend also has a son nearby, but he's tied up so often keeping the businesses running, attending to his own wife/child, and like me, he probably doesn't know what the heck to do. Her other son lives on the east coast, just started a new job, is newly married and is unable to come out on a regular basis. I'm sure it is very tough on him.

What do you do for someone who is so sick? My whole purpose of going was just to keep her company and hang out. I brought magazines, my laptop, and just kind of hung out. I've become a demon on "Words with Friends" on FaceBook. I did tell my friend that I have no clue what to do for her. And she never really did tell me any specifics. I was just THERE.

I'll be leaving in the morning - time to get back to my bills, etc. and get ready for my next trip that leaves on Wednesday. I will be flying Southwest again - last time I checked there were lots of seats available so I should be able to get home just fine.

I've been doing a lot of praying, and requesting other friends to pray for my friend's recovery, too. Why is there cancer in the world? I tried to keep my friend positive and happy, which was a lot easier to do today than it was the first two days of my visit when she was feeling so sick. And these treatments - chemo. Makes one sick to their stomach. And then radiation, what will most likely burn and blister her skin. Really? I guess those treatments are still more beneficial than the alternative...

On to a better topic - I got the reserve schedule for December that I expected. Woo hoo! There were seven of us who dropped down from being lineholders, and for the month of December will be at the mercy of crew scheduling. Oh boy. I did not get all the days off that I requested - I'm in the process of trying to trade days. I get only 11 days off a month while on reserve (this month I have 15 days off), so I need to use them wisely. I did get 12/20 through 12/26 off. That's when Jen and her dog Liza come home, followed by her husband James and his mom Deniece who arrive on 12/23. I'm excited that Jen has chosen to have a tradition of a "Colorado Christmas." And I will be able to fully participate and prepare for it! That makes me very happy.

THE LAST PARAGRAPH WAS CENSORED AND
REMOVED FROM THIS BLOG.

Back Home Again...

2011-11-17T09:14:00.003-07:00

I made it through the 4-day trip unscathed (almost). Sometimes it's difficult to bond with a crew - there are so many personalities. Especially when the crew likes to stay up until 3 or 4am while hanging out at the bar! On this trip, I was SO EXHAUSTED the first night - I'm not sure why - so I didn't join the crew downstairs. On the second night, I wanted to get a good night's sleep so that I could be "fresh" to meet up with my good friend, Sheila. But I heard that the B flight attendant went out to a bar, and it was a very uncomfortable situation. What USED to be a crew hangout was now a gangsta' rap bar - he was the only white, and no one would talk to him, call a cab for him, or call the hotel van. I am very glad that I did not venture out with him! Our last night was too short of a layover to do anything - thank goodness.

But it's interesting to watch the dynamics of the team. Let's just say that I did not feel accepted by the Captain - was it because I didn't come down and party until 3am? If it was, then that's just too bad! I don't like hangovers and I could barely stay awake on the plane! I got along fine with the First Officer and the A flight attendant, too. But the B flight attendant was puzzling to me. He was a "glass is bone dry" kind of guy. Someone would make a comment about our company's recent 3Q webcast, and he would just turn the hope and promise upside down and make it into something negative. Those kind of people just drain me. But this time I actually confronted him! It turns out that he has "short-timer's syndrome" - he'll be quitting in June.

On another of my flights, I got high praises from three passengers! Two ladies sitting by a window saw what they thought to be their bags sitting on a belt loader on the ramp. They called me over, I relayed the information on to the gate agent, and supposedly the Captain went downstairs to check things out - but he didn't actually go over to the bags. That would have rested these ladies' fears. But no, he just spoke with a ramper - at no time did they see anyone take a second look at the bags. Really? How much time would that have taken? Instead, I had to calm their fears and tell them that we needed to "trust the system" and "I'm sure everything will be alright." During the flight, I gave them each a customer service card with my name and employee number. I told them that if the bags were not at the baggage carousel to be sure and give customer service my information - I'd explain what I tried to do in Denver. As they, and the woman sitting behind them, got off the plane I was thanked profusely for my attempt to calm their fears. I haven't heard anything, so I am hoping that the system worked and they were reunited with their bags!

I sometimes wonder why other flight attendants don't get these kinds of requests - or is it that they get them and they ignore them. I guess I'm pegged as someone who cares. That could be a good thing, but I realize that it could be a very disruptive thing, too. It makes me feel good to be able to figure things out, to let them know that the airline has the best intentions.

I did get to experience one of the great benefits of this job - I got to visit with a very dear friend of mine on my Atlanta layover. We have been friends since we were 9 years old in the 4th grade - that's about 46 years ago! And the last time I spent any time visiting with her was 16 years ago! Every once in awhile we'd chat via email or talk on the phone, but when we got together we just picked up where we left off! She is a true forever friend.

For December's bid, I actually voluntarily dropped back down to Reserve. Yes...I did it voluntarily. There is no way that I would be able to get Christmas off while holding a line, so I made the hard decision to be abused by Crew Scheduling for a month. Jen, James, Liza and James' Mom, Deniece, will all be coming out to Colorado for Christmas, and I wanted to be here. The line assignments came out yesterday, and sure enough, I got reserve. There were eight of us lineholders who dropped down, and I am #6 from the top. That means that I should have Christmas off, as well as the days surrounding it. I'll look at it this way - I'll have lots of time to read while sitting on that sexy black leather couch! Hopefully, I'll miss all the craziness of the month by being off on the days it'll occur. I feel strongly that this was the right move for me - I want to be with my family.

Ups and Downs (No Pun Intended...)

2011-11-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

I'm on the third day of a four-day trip, and I'm ready to be home. I don't think the captain is fond of me - but you know what? I don't really care.

Yesterday, we were boarding our flight from Denver to Atlanta, and I had a bit of a problem with a nasty passenger. This guy had placed a couple straw hats in the overhead bin and then went to the back galley to schmooze with the B flight attendant. I removed the hats and asked the passenger to hold onto them until the roller bags had been loaded into the bins. the guy started getting upset, and told me that there wouldn't be any space left if he waited. He also said he has just taken four flights, and this was the FIRST time someone moved his hats. I apologized and explained that I needed the space, but would be glad to put them up later. That wasn't good enough for him.

During this time, a couple passengers placed smaller bags in the overhead bin, and I told the man that there was some space for his hats. He called me a control freak, and told me that he didn't want me telling him where to put his bags. I asked him to quit being difficult, and he talked back and asked me not to be difficult. I didn't think he was being serious, but then when I told him again to put the hats in the overhead, he started yelling at me and he dropped the f-bomb. That was it. I was done.

I called up front and asked for help. The captain came back, got my story, and took the passenger off the plane. He asked if I'd be okay with the guy back on the plane. I said as long as he behaves himself and apologizes to me.Well....he was interviewed by a bunch of Denver police, the gate agent later told me that he expected trouble from this guy, and then the police let him come back on the plane! Really?

Once he was back on, he didn't say a word to me. No loss. When he went back to the bathroom, he slammed the door going in and slammed it when he came out. He was just obnoxious. But no one would kick him off. It really frustrated me.

Then today, I got to visit with a very close friend of mine who I've known since I've been in the 4th grade - we hadn't seen each other since 1977 - it was definitely a high!

The Search for the Plastic Box

2011-11-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

When I returned from Vegas yesterday morning, I turned on my cell phone - no messages. So I headed over to the General Office (GO) to see if I could smooze my way into getting the "plastic box" from Lost & Found. The front desk woman, Deborah, put me in touch with the guru of the Lost & Found, Dennis. Yes, he had the box! Within 5 minutes I had it in my hands - I was so excited that I almost cried!

Before I left the GO, I decided to look inside the box to see the seashell necklace...it wasn't there! Oh no! All kinds of scenarios starting flying through my head - someone stole it, it was never in there in the first place. I was heartbroken. Just as the girl said, there were lots of MAC cosmetics. There was also a bracelet made of plastic beads and a leather strap bracelet.

I called the girl on her cell phone with the good news/bad news and asked her to call me back.

That was yesterday. I haven't heard a word. Does that mean that she found the necklace elsewhere in her luggage/purse and she's too embarrassed to tell me? Or is she too upset that the necklace wasn't in the box?

I may never know. I'll send her stuff to her today...knowing that I tried my hardest.

Good Things Happen to Good People

2011-11-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Back in September I had an amazing thing happen...I was on my way to see Jen and James to celebrate James' 30th birthday. I had a very large Bed Bath & Beyond bag filled with stuff - a wrapped gift for James, my work sweater, a doggy coat for Liza that I got at a craft fair, a loaf of Jen's favorite bread, several dozen chocolate chip cookies to give to the firemen by Jen's apartment, and an airline blanket sealed in a plastic bag. And guess what I did?

I lost it. I carried it to/from St. Louis, and then all the way to New York City. BUT, I left it in front of the LaGuardia Airport terminal when I loaded my bags onto the hotel van. I realized it on the way to the hotel, and the van driver drove me back to the airport as soon as we got everyone off at the hotel. We literally got back to the hotel within 10-15 minutes of when I left the bag, but it was gone when I got back. I was so sad.

I showed up at Jen & James' apartment the next morning empty-handed...well, I did stop at McDonald's and bought Egg McMuffins for all! But I was so down that I had lost everything. It was all replaceable - but I couldn't believe I'd been that stupid. I kept beating myself up. That was on Saturday.

On Monday evening when I called Greg to say hello, he told me there was a message on our answering machine. It was a woman calling from Connecticut...she told me that she had picked up my bag at LaGuardia, tried to turn it over to security, but they would not accept it. So she took it home with her. Her goal, she said, was to reunite the bag with its owner. I must have left a paper in the bag with my contact information - thank God that I did!

I called her back the next morning and we had a nice chat. She wanted to drive the bag back down to Manhattan, but I didn't want her to go out of her way. Instead, she offered to mail it to Jen & James' apartment - the place it was intended for. And guess what? She did! I later sent her a card with some cash for reimbursement for postage, and I included a few Colorado goodies. It was amazing to know there are still good people.

So now it's my turn to pay back that kindness. Last night, a girl in her late teens/early 20s got on my flight to San Diego. Her eyes were puffy and red, and tears were still streaming down her face. Unfortunately, I was tied up with another passenger who had left her cell phone in the waiting area...but during the flight, I learned that the girl was distraught because she lost a small plastic box. In it was MAC makeup and a necklace made of shells.

The makeup was no big deal to her - but the necklace was very special. Her Dad had passed away only days before, and the necklace was one that her mother had made for her father, and he wore it all through college. Her Mom had just given her the necklace as a remembrance of her Dad.

For some reason, this girl tugged at my heartstrings. I think it was because the loss of her Dad was so fresh, and I still miss my Dad so much. I told her that I would do whatever I could to try and find that box for her.

So this morning, when I had a short layover in Denver, I found one of the gate agents that had worked my flight to San Diego. I told her the story, and she did a little research for me before I left on today's flight to Las Vegas. She found someone who found a small plastic box in the gate area, and that this person turned it over to the Frontier Lost & Found this morning. She included the phone number for that office!

So when I arrived in Vegas, I called the number. But unfortunately, when you call, you're told to send an email or leave a voice message. So I did both - it was after 4pm in Denver when I did, but I'm hoping that tomorrow morning they read/listen to my messages and call my cell phone to tell me that they have the box. Then I'll run home, box it up, and send it to the girl. And, of course, I'll call her to tell her it's on the way.

Please keep your fingers crossed - I'm hoping that it'll all work out. I know how much the momentos I have of my Dad mean to me - I'm hoping to give that shell necklace back to her Daddy's little girl.

Is it Really November?!?

2011-11-03T09:27:00.000-06:00

Obviously I'm not doing such a good job of blogging these days...I guess I've been too busy on Facebook playing Words with Friends! I guess I do have a bit of a competitive streak in me after all.

I can't remember when I posted my last entry (and I too lazy to go and look), so bear with me if I repeat myself. I've pretty much had "a line" at work since July - it's truly "a whole new world." I know when and where I'm going ahead of time, I can plan my life around my schedule, I can swap, drop and trade trips - it's awesome! HOWEVER...I'll be voluntarily going back on reserve for December so that I can be home for Christmas. Jen, Liza, James and his Mom will all be coming for the holidays, and it'd be horrible if I wasn't home to share it with them!!! So...in less than a month I'll get to know that sexy black leather couch again, I'll be called in the middle of the night to take an early morning flight to Kalamazoo, MI (no...we don't fly there), and I'll be worked to death because all the senior mamas decided to take the day off. Heaven forbid they work what's on their schedule! I dread it...but I will make the best of it!

I've tried to get at least one long overnight in DCA (Washington DC) and LGA (New York City) each month - it's been fun to have lunch with my high school girlfriends, to visit with my in-laws, and of course, to visit with Jen and her hubby, James, and my granddogger, Liza! I see them most often - at least once or twice a month! It's worked out well!

Twenty-seven years ago TODAY Greg and I walked down the aisle together at St. James Church in Falls Church, VA. I can't believe it's been that long. We've had lots and lots of fun times, some really sad times, we've each grown and changed, but we're still hanging in there!

Something really cool happened on one of my recent trips (but I can't remember which one...) - I was sitting in the Captain's chair in the flight deck (he was taking a potty break), and a little ways in front of the plane there was a flaming star (meteorite, space junk, whatever) falling and then it burned out. Wow! The First Officer saw it, too! It was SO INCREDIBLE to see. And, of course, when I came out of the flight deck and told the other flight attendants, one of them asked if I'd gotten a picture! Well...

I've been in Vegas a lot recently - first time for fun, and then the last two times on layovers. The second time I was there, I was with a very generous captain. He had been treating us to snacks all during our 4-day trip - McDonald's snack wraps, ice cream, Arby's Cheddar Beef sandwich, breakfast burritos - you name it. When we got to the Hard Rock Casino, we all went our separate ways to play our favorite games. I lost pretty quickly (I had won over $300 the previous week by putting $20 in a penny slot machine), and as the other ladies lost their money we gravitated back to our sugar daddy...oops, I meant captain. We all took turns on his video poker game, and then headed over to a blackjack table where we took over the entire table! The captain gave us each four $5 chips, the dealer gave us tons of helpful hints, and we each won some money! It's fun playing with someone else's money! Soon it was curfew time, and the captain said we could keep our winnings, but we gave him all the chips we had - I think we made him a little bit of money. It was so much fun! What a great crew!

There is such a difference between a good trip and a bad trip, and the crew has a lot to do with that. We don't need to spend 100% of our free time together for it to be good. But we do need to be able to get along and work together. Not too long ago, I flew one leg with a male flight attendant, and he kept calling me a "control freak" - I finally got mad and told him that HE was the control freak and that he needed to quit calling me names! When I mentioned this to another FA, she told me that he is one of the biggest control freaks that she's ever worked with! If I never work with that guy again, it'll be too soon!

I'll try to post more as I go along - I've had some really wonderful experiences with crews that I want to remember, and this is the best way to do that.

Earthquakes and Hurricanes, oh my!

2011-08-28T11:17:00.000-06:00

Gosh, it seems like Fairbanks was so long ago! I had my week's vacation after that...I don't remember what I did! During those days, though, I celebrated my birthday! Oh wait, I DO REMEMBER part of what I did! I went to VEGAS! Over 1 1/2 years ago, I purchased tickets to see Celine Dion in Vegas before she ended her summer run. Jen and James met me there and we had a wonderful weekend! It was VERY HOT. And while we were there, it RAINED! And boy, when it rains, IT RAINS. Very heavy, for about 10 minutes or so, and then it was gone. Unfortunately, it causes flash floods in some areas, but nonetheless, the locals all ran outside and were so happy!

While we were in Vegas, some major family drama erupted. Very damaging family drama. I'm feeling destroyed by this. Very nasty things were put into writing that were directed at me and Jen, and it is so very hurtful. But, as usual, we're being told to "turn the other cheek" and just move on. I have no cheeks left (face or butt...well, I WISH I didn't have as large of butt cheeks as I do... but that's a whole 'nother story). Anyway, I am not a believer of "cutting all ties" or "never talking to someone" ever again, but I'm feeling that's what's happening to me. The sad thing is, is that NO ONE will stand up for me. NO ONE. Status quo, unfortunately.

The following weekend, I had a layover in NYC and was able to meet Jen and James for brunch in their city! We went to an "upscale" Mexican restaurant, and it was delicious! After a short visit, it was time for me to go back and hit the skies again. My next night was in SLC, and I did a whole lotta nothing while I was there.

When I got back home on 8/22, I couldn't go to sleep right away. So I stayed downstairs playing on the computer. At approximately 11:45PM I heard a very weird noise and a weird shaking or "rolling." It turns out that there was a 5.3 earthquake centered near Trinidad, CO. Wow! The next morning I did a "walkabout" around the house to see if there was any damage to the house, and I found that our garage floor is now cracked. Lovely. I will have to call the insurance company (yes...we've had earthquake insurance ever since we bought this house).

With the earthquake behind me, we prepared for the hurricane - I was scheduled to fly in/out of DCA and LGA during the hurricane. Hmmmm. I wasn't too thrilled about that. First, however, I had an overnight in DCA. Fortunately, we were a day or two ahead of the storm, so I was able to enjoy a nice visit with Greg's parents and one of my longtime girlfriends, Kathy. It was so good to catch up! We visited for awhile, went out to lunch at the Olive Garden, and then it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready to fly back to Milwaukee and then on to LGA.

We (the crew) were not happy about the pending LGA trip. Mainly because, the city of New York was shutting down the entire MTA (subway and bus) system at noon on Saturday. I was really bummed - I had planned on another brunch with Jen and James, and we were going to meet up with my sister, Nancy and a longtime family friend, Sister Barbara. They were going to be in town to have lunch and see "Jersey Boys" - but everyone's plans got changed. Broadway canceled all its shows for Sat/Sun, Nancy and Sister Barbara canceled their day trip to NYC, and since the MTA was shut down, I had no way to get to see Jen and James. Our return flight was scheduled to leave at 5:49PM on Saturday night, and then the flight got canceled because the City was closing the airport at noon. Fortunately, our company put us on a flight out of NYC at 11:59AM - thank goodness! We had over 20 crew members that were being "evacuated." We were originally scheduled to go to Denver, but we eventually got there via Milwaukee! I had already decided to stay at a friend's condo north of Denver - because I was starting another 3-day trip the next day. So I got to settle in for a quiet evening with a much shorter drive.

I was so glad that this 3-day ended. It started out just fine, and then little-by-little, things started going wrong. The other two flight attendants were "picking" on me. I'm not sure what I did to tick them off, but they thought that having me do all the work was funny. One of the flight attendants fit the stereotype of a flight attendant - she was inseparable from another crew member, and she let passengers know when she thought they were attractive. A little bit of flirting is fine, but practically throwing yourself at someone is a bit harder to take. I even asked her if she wanted me to leave (she was flirting pretty heavily with the passenger in seat 1D, and yes...he was cute, but she was over-the-top), as we were getting ready to take off! Sheesh. Talk about feeling like a third wheel.

Today's trip will be with two of my classmates, so hopefully it will be much better because we'll all work well together. I just wonder who our Captain and First Officer will be. My fingers are crossed.

I am very happy that no one that I know was injured or lost any property due to either the earthquake or the flood. Let's hope that the natural disasters stop for awhile!

The Fun Continues!

2011-08-10T19:48:00.000-06:00

On day 2 of our adventure, we called the Discovery III Riverboat to see if they had any space for us to take the 3 hour riverboat cruise, and they said that they had a few seats, but that it didn't look promising. Not satisfied with that answer, the three of us showed up at the dock and ended up getting complimentary tickets for the tour (a $54 value). Go back to the link in the last post and look at the pictures that I added to my album.

It was a very interesting cruise. We had several times where we stopped in the river and talked with someone on the shore. The first guy was Dave Monson who owns the Trail Breaker Kennel - his wife was Susan Butcher who won the Iditarod 4 times! She passed away 5 years ago this month from cancer. It was fun watching his demo of having a dog sled team pull him in an ATV (with the engine pulled out). They are fast! I also enjoyed watching the dogs hang out on the tops of their doghouses. Our Kodi, a miniature husky, likes to do the same thing!

There was also a float plane that took off and landed, and then took off again alongside the riverboat. We passed many beautiful homes - and these are not summer homes! People up here stay here ALL YEAR. And it can get down to -60 degrees! Yowza!

We also saw a beaver doing his thing, a couple of owls just sitting on a log alongside the river, and then we spent a couple hours at the Chena River Village. At the village they showed us the typical clothing that the Athabascan wear, the different types of animal skins, and they had beautiful gardens to look at, buildings we could go into, and a pen with a bunch of sled dogs - all huskies - where we could lean over the fence and pet the cuties.

It was a fun morning! I spent the rest of the day relaxing, blogging, and taking a nap! We leave here tonight at 9:30PM and will be back in Denver at 5:30AM. Once I'm back, I'll be off work for a week for vacation!

Next adventure? I'm meeting Jen and James in Vegas on Friday, and we're going to see Celine Dion on Saturday night - her second-to-last night in Caesar's Palace!

Fun in Fairbanks!

2011-08-10T01:11:00.000-06:00

This is my third time trying to get to Fairbanks, Alaska for a 48 hour layover...and I made it!!! One of the wonderful perks of this job.

We arrived last night at around 9:30PM, but you wouldn't have known it - it was still light out...kind of an early dusk feeling. One of the other flight attendants called ahead to make sure that we were assigned to the cabins at the hotel - they're right near the Chena River. The cabins are so cute!!

Here's a link to my photo album on Facebook - I tried downloading the pictures to this blog, but let's just say that it was a pain in the neck...! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2342076914086.137627.1314851818&l=119af651e0&type=1.

The captain and first officer brought fishing poles and they've disappeared off the face of the earth. So the flight attendants decided to go out and have fun sightseeing. So this morning we met up after breakfast and started looking for a rental car. What we didn't know is that the Army is holding some sort of exercise this week, and all the small, medium and large cars are all gone...for every rental company. There were some SUVs available as well as some pick-up trucks. We decided on an SUV - we felt it was overkill, but it was either that or sit at the hotel all day.

We started out heading to the North Pole, Alaska. It was really cute. All the stores, restaurants, etc. had candy cane striped poles holding their signs. The street lights were candy canes. The nearby Church was St. Nicholas Catholic Church. We stopped at the Santa Claus House to see what we could spend our hard earned money on, and I'm proud to say that I spent nothing. Yay! I saw a couple ornaments that I liked, but they weren't exactly what I wanted. So we took a few pictures, visited with Santa's reindeer behind the store, and headed on down the road. We were disappointed that Santa wasn't there yet - we had an hour to wait. So we moved on.

Our next stop was at a couple overlooks along the Tanana River on the way to Delta Junction. The scenery was just gorgeous. It was overcast and a bit drizzly, but we still managed to get a few great photos. We were looking for animals along the way, but all we saw was a German Shepherd!

We finally arrived at the Visitor's Center at Delta Junction. There were lots of cool displays, as well as lots of cute gifts. But again I resisted. I found the state bird of Alaska outside of the Visitor's Center - in fact, there were two of them.

It was time for lunch, so we headed back towards Fairbanks and stopped at Rika's Roadhouse in the Big Delta State Historical Park. Rika was a strong woman back in the early days and had a roadhouse that served the men who worked on the Alaska State Highway and worked on the communication systems for the military during WWII. Most of the original buildings are still there, and are now filled with antiques for our enjoyment. There is an operating restaurant that we stopped at, and I had the most incredible crab/corn chowder bisque and strawberry rhubarb pie! Delicious!

Afterwards, we drove down the road a little ways and watched as some men were working on the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline. They were tethered to the pipeline (over the river), and were adding pieces to the pipeline. It was interesting to watch as their co-workers brought a piece of metal from the yard, loaded it onto their speedboat, drove to a spot beneath the pipeline, and the guy tethered to the line lowered a line with a hook on the end. The guys on the boat attached the metal, the worker above pulled up the metal and then attached it to the pipeline. It was also fun to read the threatening signs posted near the pipeline!

As we headed back to Fairbanks, we were disappointed that we hadn't seen any wildlife! Then right outside the fence along Ellison AFB, we saw a moose! Yay!

Once back in Fairbanks, we went to "downtown" to see what it looked like. It wasn't horrible, but I think Anchorage had much nicer shops. We also walked over to Golden Heart Park and looked at the First Unknown Family statue that was erected in 1983. It was very beautiful and honored the first Inuit family. On our way back to the hotel, we dropped off the SUV and now we're without transportation, sort of. The hotel shuttle is supposed to take us wherever we want to go within Fairbanks - so we'll see what happens.

We had thought about going to the infamous Salmon Bake at the Pioneer Park - they have an unlimited buffet of Salmon, Cod and Prime Rib. Had they also had crab legs, I would have gone. But one of my co-workers doesn't eat fish, and I wasn't totally convinced that it was worth the cost...so we decided to eat at the hotel. Instead of having an Alaskan specialty, I ended up with a delicious grilled cheese sandwich!!! It was so good. After dinner, I took a walk around the local area while taking pictures (the sun had FINALLY come out), and then retired to my room.

We should have another full day of fun tomorrow before we have to take the van back to the airport at 9:30PM. It's been a fun visit, and I look forward to coming back again (and reserving a car beforehand!) - it will be a fun time!

This is the Life!

2011-08-04T16:37:00.002-06:00

It's Thursday afternoon, and I've spent approximately the last 30 hours relaxing at my cabin in Breckenridge, CO. Nice. Very nice! Normally, I come up alone during the summer (Greg likes to come up in the winter to ski, and I used to come up with Jen until she left for college), but this time I brought two of my Frontier co-workers and one of their husbands.

We've been spending our time eating, drinking, talking, swinging in my hanging chairs, Erik went fishing, and Jenn went hiking. It's been so relaxing!

I fly again on Sunday when I do a turn to Louisville, KY and then spend the night in Chicago. Unfortunately, it's a relatively short layover and it's mostly in the morning on Monday, so I doubt I will get together with anyone. Then later that evening after I'm back in Denver, we'll head Fairbanks, Alaska for 48 hours. Unfortunately, the friend who was supposed to go with me a few weeks ago cannot come this time. So I invited my lovely daughter, Jen. But the day after the trip ends, she and I and her husband are meeting in Las Vegas for a concert. Jen wasn't thrilled about flying cross country twice in two days, so I think she'll pass on this adventure. I've invited a neighbor to join me, but she's already got plans, too. Alas, I will be going alone. One of the other flight attendants is bringing her husband, and maybe I'll be able to tag along with them.

No matter, I will have an absolutely WONDERFUL TIME during my first visit to Fairbanks, Alaska.

My last two trips were really good - I got along well with the crew, everything went well on the flights, the hotels were nice, and the layovers were just right. I'll be putting in about 97 hours this month, which includes a week's vacation during my birthday. The goal for this month is to relax and take it easy!

Finally!

2011-07-30T20:38:00.000-06:00

I canceled my Saturday follow-up doctor's appointment because it was pointless. Why pay $25 to be told what I already know? Better yet, why go to a doctor who will tell me to make my own decision as to whether or not I go to work and how many days I am off? I want someone to tell me WHY all this keeps happening!!!

My regular doctor had done blood tests on me, and I got a call telling me that all the tests came back normal. That was so frustrating to me!

I was scheduled to go to Fairbanks, Alaska for 48 hours on a few days later, but had to cancel that trip. Arrrggghhh. I so wanted to go. But I really was still feeling lousy. So I called in sick, and decided to take the bull by the horns! I researched local allergy doctors, asked my doctor who she thinks is the best in town for allergies, and then made an appointment. Fortunately, I was able to get in fairly quickly!

I had 67 scrapes on my back and 21 shots in my arms...the final decision was that I am allergic to NOTHING! That was good news, but SO FRUSTRATING. If I have no allergies, why am I still getting sick? So the doctor ordered a CT scan of my sinuses, ordered me to do a nasal rinse twice a day, and gave me two kinds of nose sprays. The CT results came back the next day and revealed that I had an infection! Yay! Finally, a possible answer as to why I've had a post nasal drip since 4/15/11. Yippee! He then gave me an RX for an antibiotic for 21 days, and a recommendation to eat Activia each morning! So far, so good - I actually feel human again! Yay!

On a side note, when I told the doctor my issue with septic shock back in May, he said he's heard of that kind of reaction to Bactrim before...so now I'm back to thinking that all that ICU stuff was due to a bad drug reaction. That helps with all the uncertainty I've had as to what's happening to me!

Since I've been feeling better, I went back to work. I did a three-day trip to Minneapolis (went to Long Tall Sally - a tall girl store - at the Mall of America) and actually found pants that fit as well as a pair of shoes! The next night was spent in Seattle, and the highlight of that trip was having the hotel's delicious clam chowder for lunch before I had to report for duty. The final night of the trip was in Grand Rapids, Michigan at a very nice hotel. It was a short night, so I didn't do anything other than sleep! The crew on this trip was GREAT! On a couple of the flights, we were on a 320 and needed an extra flight attendant. The first one was MEAN and yelled at us over stupid things. Then we warned the second one that we didn't want to be yelled at! If she couldn't be nice to us, we wanted her to just be quiet. It worked!

I'm now on the last night of a 3-day trip that I picked up. I started out on Friday morning very early (4AM) and worked the first flight to LaGuardia in the morning. After that one leg, I was done for the day! I had made plans with Jen and James to go to dinner and a Broadway show - and that's exactly what I did! We had dinner at Southern Hospitality - a restaurant owned by Justin Timberlake. The BBQ pulled chicken is to die for, along with the BBQ baked beans and corn bread. I wish I had placed a double order and taken some home with me! It was a late night, and I had an early show this morning. Darn. I didn't want to get up. But I had to fly back to DEN and then on to San Francisco. Unfortunately, I was too tired to go out and do anything...so I sat down, intending to do some work on the internet, and I promptly FELL ASLEEP! After about an hour, I woke up - my hands were still poised above the computer keyboard! So I got up, had some dinner and now I'm getting ready to call it a very early night! The captain and one of the other flight attendants have family here, and I have a cousin who lives in Half Moon Bay, CA - but I have no idea how far away that is. Maybe next time I will give my cousin a call and see if she's available for lunch.

Next up, I am off until 8/7 when I fly to FAIRBANKS, Alaska for 48 hours! Yippee! I was able to trade my trip for a FAI trip, and I am so excited! This being a lineholder thing is pretty awesome! I can trade trips, drop trips, and even pick up trips off the tradeboard. A bit of control in my everyday life and I'm LOVING IT.

I am actually starting to fall asleep as I write this, so I am going to call it a night and go to bed!

Not Again!

2011-07-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

I am sick again. At least I didn't end up in the ICU this time. I now have bronchitis - I was able to do my double Portland overnight trip. It was a great trip, aside from the fact that I felt horrible.

I enjoyed spending time with my former employee, Laura, on my first afternoon in Portland. She took me downtown where we had dinner at Jake's - delicious fish and chips! I love how they've taken old buildings and found new uses for them. Laura is a published author of walking tour books, so on a future visit I hope to have the time to have her take me on a guided walk!

The second layover was a bit longer, and I stayed put. The furthest I ventured out was to the "Hot Pot Sushi Spot" - a sushi restaurant that has a conveyor belt with the selections passing by you! The color of the plate determines the price of the sushi - you just take the plate off the conveyor belt, eat it, then grab another. At the end, they'll add up your plates and that's what you pay! I have to see if we have a restaurant like that here in Colorado Springs! Of course, I had to finish off the meal with a visit to Yo! Yogurt next door. Then I went to bed at 6:30PM. Yes...you read that correctly. I drugged myself up so that I could sleep. The previous night, all I could hear was the rattling and rasping of my chest - and that was with earplugs. This night I wanted to sleep. And I did!

I left the trip earlier than the rest of the crew - they had a 2 1/2 hour sit in Denver and then a Las Vegas turn, and I got to go home. And not a moment too soon! I was feeling horrid. I called my doctor's office using our "secret code" - and I got an appointment for the next day. The girl who answered the phone offered me an appointment for August 15. I told her I'd be dead by then.

My next trip was a 3-day starting tomorrow - I was looking forward to going to Minneapolis, where I was going to spend Friday morning at the Mall of America trying on anything and everything in my size! It's probably a good thing that my doctor grounded me! Then Friday night I had a short layover in Los Angeles - not even enough time to run over to Trader Joe's for my Multiseed Soy Crackers. Yummy!

I have a follow-up at the doctor's office on Saturday - that visit will determine if I get to go to Fairbanks, Alaska on Monday for a 48 hour layover. I have mixed feelings - I want to be 100% healthy before I go, and I'm not sure that I'll be able to pull that off by Monday. I was bringing a friend with me on the trip, but now there are only 2 empty seats. There are too many variables right now...I just want to feel better!

Back to Portland - the second night, my hotel room faced Mt. St. Helen's. Awesome! Laura told me all about how you can go up to the top of the crater, but have to watch your footing - someone stepped into some ash that was deeper than expected and he fell into the crater. Yikes! What a way to go! I also took an incredible picture of Mt. Hood as we were flying into town, and maybe one of these days I'll post it to this blog and to Facebook.

My last flight back to Denver with the crew was on an Airbus 320, which means that we have an extra flight attendant. Our fourth was a girl named, Kelly - but I call her "Sunshine." She calls me "Number 1." After we did the safety demo, the passenger in 12C told Sunshine and Kari that they needed to do their safety demos more like me - fluid hands, animation, etc. I don't think Sunshine appreciated the comment, but Kari told me all about it! Hahahahaha! I just wish the guy would write a nice letter saying how wonderful I am. Ha! It's a good thing I don't do this job for the written accolades! I do it because I am good at it, and I have fun! Even when I feel like ca-ca.

Well, I guess that's all there is to say for now. I need to find out my flying fate. My last paycheck was for a whopping $12.50 and that won't go very far. I need to catch up! But I can't do it if I can't breathe!!!

The Wait is Over!

2011-07-06T22:49:00.000-06:00

I was released from medical leave on June 11th. My June schedule was blank, except for my vacation that was scheduled for June 23-30. The head of the Crew Planning Department told me that I needed to pick up an additional 19 hours and 18 minutes of flying from open time to complete my June schedule. Wow - that's just like being a lineholder!

Then I was told that I missed the deadline to be included in the July bid, and all my classmates ACTUALLY GOT LINES! Woo hoo! I asked the head of Crew Planning what my situation is, and he said that I could choose to be on reserve, or I could BUILD MY OWN SCHEDULE with at least 60 hours from open time. OMG. I'm officially a lineholder! It only took 3 years and 10 months. I am in shock.

So I picked up 60 hours of trips off of open time, then I picked up a trip or two off the trade board. Then I swapped a trip or two for other trips in open time, and right now I'm waiting for someone to give me a 48 hour layover in Fairbanks, Alaska for a 3-day. But she hasn't approved the trade yet...I'm not sure what she's waiting for. A friend wants to go with me, but I will need an answer soon in order to for my friend to get time off from work.

After I did my 4-day, I focused full-time on Jen's wedding. All the events - bachelorette party, bridal shower, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception, and brunch went off without a hitch! My little girl was absolutely beautiful!

Jen modeling her gown for the photographer in the bridal suite before the ceremony.

Casey (the best man) escorting me to my seat before the ceremony.

Brittany (the bridesmaid and cousin of the bride) coming down the aisle.

Valerie, the maid of honor (and bride's best friend).

Greg escorting his daughter down the aisle.

The outdoor ceremony with Pike's Peak in the background.

After the guests left and Jen and James left on their honeymoon, it was time to go back to "normal life." I had a three-day trip scheduled starting on 7/1 and had an absolute blast on the trip! Why? I had a great crew. The A flight attendant (Nichole) was one of our new hires that helped push me up the seniority ladder, the B (Bridgette) was a wonderful lady I last flew with back when I started and the CPT and FO were very nice - Chris and Jason. We all just hit it off and had lots of laughs!

As usual, the passengers picked up on the fact that we were enjoying our jobs! We got lots of compliments...but wouldn't it be nice if just one of those people put it in writing?!?!? We also had our share of screaming babies/toddlers. I managed to quiet a couple by telling the kids, "Shhhhhh! You are waking up the babies!" One mom, however, told me that her kid was ONLY 1 and doesn't know any better. She said that she just lets him scream! Are you kidding me? I told her that none of the passengers sitting around her want to hear her child screaming for all or even a part of the trip! I was shocked. Fortunately, the kid was awesome and did not make another peep!

Our first night was spent in Nashville, TN - we got there really late in the evening and got to sleep in the next morning. I knew that there was an Irish Dancing competition at the Gaylord Hotel downtown, but I chose to stay in my nice COLD hotel room, looking out the window at the crowded swimming pool. I really don't remember how I passed the time...but it flew fairly quickly.

Our next night was in Seattle, WA. Again, we arrived late, but this time we had a morning show time. Not my favorite! I used to be a real morning person, but after having been on this job for 46 months, I really prefer going to bed and waking up without an alarm clock. BUT, that was not to be. We flew back to Denver, and then had over a two-hour sit until we did our "victory lap" to Indianapolis. Let's just say that NONE of us wanted to do that trip, but we had no choice. So the CPT and FO asked us to rate their landings to break up the monotony of the victory lap. I gave the landing in IND a 9.8 - it was pretty awesome! Then I gave a 9.8 for the landing back in DEN, too. We actually arrived 30 minutes early, and while we were waiting for a gate, the CPT called us and asked us to give him the scores. So I wrote a note saying, "It was a tie! You both were awarded 9.8". But then I had a change of heart...I sent another note deducting .5 points from the second landing due to the fact that we were still sitting on the taxiway waiting for a gate! You could hear the CPT and FO laughing at the first note, and then REALLY laughing at the second note! It turns out that they had a wager going...they're flying together all this month, and the loser had to bring the beef jerky and sunflower seeds for their next trip! I think the FO won.

I don't fly again until Saturday, and then I'll do two layovers in Portland, OR. It is SO NICE knowing when I'm flying and where I'm going! I've even gotten in touch with a former employee from my Yellowstone National Park days - we're going to have an early dinner on Saturday night!

Soon, we'll get to bid for our August line. I have been playing around with bidding for individual trips that I'd like as well as days off that I'd like. It will be interesting to see what I end up with since I'll be at the bottom of the lineholder list! Stay tuned!

I Wasn't Kidding...

2011-05-19T21:50:00.000-06:00

Less than two short weeks ago, I headed to NYC to be with Jen when she had her first wedding gown fitting. We had to postpone the fitting appointment because I could not get into the shower to ready myself for the appointment. Instead, later that day, Jen and James took me to the ER at a local hospital (St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital) - I was admitted to ICU early the next morning and got to be "pampered" for a day and a half. Sponge baths, foley catheter, bed pan, IVs in both arms, IV in my neck, NINE bags of fluids, countless antibiotic drips...it was just delightful.

The diagnosis? Sepsis - a potentially life-threatening condition, in which your immune system's reaction to an infection may injure body tissues far from the original infection. As sepsis progresses, it begins to affect organ function and eventually can lead to septic shock — a sometimes fatal drop in blood pressure. Early treatment, usually with large amounts of intravenous fluids and antibiotics, improves chances for survival.

On my second full day, I was moved to a room on the Medical floor and got to enjoy the hospitality for another couple of days - hospital food, crazy patients who try to knife themselves and others, roommates who sleep with ALL the lights/TVs on, all-night IV drips that prevent a person from getting more than 15 minutes sleep at a time, and groups of doctors who roam from room to room checking on the progress of their patients.

I presented an interesting case. Was my sepsis due to an allergic reaction to Bactrim, an antibiotic prescribed by my Colorado doctor? The Infectious Disease doctors did not think so. My entire body turned beet red when I checked into the ER, and stayed that way until the day of my release. There was no itching - just an intense looking "sunburn." Along with that, I had nausea, acid reflux, and no appetite. The doctors seemed to think that my sinus infection, made worse by a stomach flu virus, caused my body to crash. My blood pressure dropped dangerously low - 80/45 and I was fed those 9 bags of fluids along with lots and lots of antibiotics.

I got released after four days of hospitalization, spent a few days on Jen and James' couch to build up my strength, got to attend the wedding gown fitting (Jen is going to be a BEAUTIFUL bride), and then managed to grab the jumpseat on a flight back to Colorado on Saturday.

Why did this happen? How can I prevent it in the future? I have no answers. Kind of scary, huh? I have heard, however, from three others who have had allergic reactions to drugs in the past, and they all had the same sunburn-type rash that I did! Also, I had blood drawn yesterday and all the tests came back normal, including my liver function test. That is GOOD NEWS. My doctor still wants to do a CAT scan of my liver/spleen based on the recommendations of the doctors in NYC, but it appears that all else is good. I just need to finish recovering my strength...and I'll be as good as new!

I'm Allergic to My Job!

2011-04-30T11:06:00.000-06:00

Yes...you read it correctly. I am allergic to the job that I love. Fortunately, I'm only seasonally allergic. Thank goodness. It appears that I have developed allergies late in life, I'm exposed to lots of different environments every week, and I experience pressure changes constantly. Unfortunately for me, those allergy irritations have usually turned into bronchitis before I get treated. On my last flight (LAS to DEN) I started getting a really bad headache in the back of my head as we started preparing to land - it continued to grow and I thought my head was going to explode! It turns out that we all have sinuses in the back of our heads!!! I do not want to experience THAT again! So far this year I've been to the doctor twice, I've followed all her suggestions for allergies, I'm mad and I'm fighting back! (I'm also on sick leave on the couch until the gunk clears out of my head...)

Our newest class of flight attendants has graduated! Yahoo! Twenty-seven new flight attendants have joined us here in Denver. Hopefully, we'll soon "feel" their presence - I'm up to 99 hours for April, and I worked every duty day except one.

That reminds me of a recent conversation in the crewroom - a senior mama was upset because the company is setting the bidding threshold for lines at 95 hours. So that means that everyone is getting assigned that many hours, even if they normally work more/less. The kicker is that they can't drop any trips if the "flight attendant grid" is in the red (not enough flight attendants to cover the couch sits and on-call at home). And lately, the grid is ALWAYS red. However, the new flight attendants may help that situation. Anyway, the senior mama was crying to us - 4 reserves sitting on the couch - telling us that she NEVER works 95 hours! I interrupted her and told her that the reserves have been working between 90-110 hours each month for the past FOUR MONTHS. She then told me that I "just didn't understand" - she getting assignments to places she didn't want to go on days she didn't want to fly. Wah wah. I just looked at her and said, "And what do you think RESERVES get to do? Sheesh. She should seek her comfort elsewhere.

Even though people have told me they would, no one has written in a complimentary letter for me yet. Instead, they tell it to my face. One of the best recently occurred the other day - I parked the cart next to a guy in his 20s as I served a couple rows in front of him. I decided to show off my two-handed pouring style, and he asked me, "Do you like your job?" I looked at him and wondered if this was a trick question..., "I LOVE my job! It's the best job in the entire world!" He then replied, "I can tell - it shows!" What a nice compliment! I'm just "being myself," being silly, but yet being serious when the need calls.

That brings back a memory - in my previous life I was an internal auditor for a food & beverage company. I never sat behind the same desk for more than a couple weeks in a row - I was constantly traveling from one place to another. One of my visits was at Zion National Park. Now, remember that I had all this silliness bottled up inside of me, probably since I was a baby, but this professional job I held didn't let me express that silliness...until one night at Zion. Each auditor was given a little cabin to stay in, and in the middle of the night, I stole all the toilet paper from my room and toilet papered a car that was parked a short ways away. I thought it was a park ranger's car that I was teasing. BUT, the next morning at breakfast, I found out that it was the Head of the National Park Service's car! Oops. No one ever knew, because I was always such a "good girl." But now I'm letting that silliness out.

Since I'm higher up on the seniority list at work, I bid for mostly weekends off in May. Wow. Even if I don't have plans for each weekend, it'll be nice to actually be off from work on the same days as my husband and friends. Woo hoo! At the very least, I'll be able to set up some nice trades, using weekend days as my trading "bait." Life is good!

Home, Sweet, Home!

2011-04-19T19:30:00.001-06:00

It's pretty hard to remember to keep up this blog - at first, there were lots of new things to write about. Then I started traveling and I had funny, or stupid, stories to write about. And then slowly as the months passed, the reserves started working harder and harder. Our days of sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring were over. We started working on every single duty day...usually 19 or 20 a month! And to top that off, when we would work, crew scheduling would try and squeeze every last drop from us and work us between 14 and 16 hours! Exhaustion set in, and when I got to a hotel or home, I glanced at Facebook and email, and then went to bed!

But I'd like to announce that a NEW DAY IS DAWNING! A new class of flight attendants is graduating this week and about 27 of them are being assigned to Denver. WOO HOO! That fact reflected in my May schedule...I was no longer 35 from the bottom of the reserve list. I was more like 62 from the bottom, so I took my chances and bid for weekends off! And guess what? I got every single day off that I bid for. Oh my God.

There is another class starting on May 2 and another on May 28 - after those two classes graduate, I may be a lineholder! And what does that mean? That means that I can bid for the days off that I want, I can put in preferences for the position (A, B, or C) that I like to fly on the plane, I can avoid certain types of flights, and I can maybe even request a few trips that I'd like to fly. I'll be very junior. But what I'm hoping to do is get a schedule, drop everything I don't like, and then pick up trips that make me happy. I'll KNOW IN ADVANCE what I'm doing, where I'm going, and I won't have to answer calls from crew scheduling any longer! Halleluiah!

However, when it comes to the holidays, I very well may drop back down to reserve so that I can have the holidays off. Ah...to have a normal life again. Is it a dream?

For those who are wondering, I still love my job. It makes me happy. I am very good at it. I get to be me, act silly, but still convey messages about safety, help people who aren't feeling well, entertain passengers with stories, etc. I recently flew with two Milwaukee-based flight attendants who had been with the company about a year. It was so refreshing! They are still in the "I love my job" phase, and it showed. The passengers are upbeat and happy, the flight attendants are upbeat and happy, and everything goes really smoothly.

That's unlike what it's like to fly with DEN-based flight attendants. Most have had about 3 years experience now, and there are a lot of burnt-out flight attendants. I've witnessed rudeness, yelling, negativity, bad attitudes - all on the part of flight attendants. Then I have to work doubly hard to keep myself upbeat and happy. Recently, a more senior flight attendant came to me during a flight and asked, "Do you really love this job this much, or are you just acting?" And I could honestly tell her that I really do love this job.

With the new hire classes, my friend EC's new program on virtue, how can one NOT love it? Sure, there are things that can go wrong, but if you don't take it personally, just sit back and relax a little and enjoy the ride, it really isn't that bumpy!

So...as I head towards the end of April, flying at least 100 hours for the third month in a row involuntarily, I know that a better, slower life is just around the corner - I can hardly wait!

Opposites

2011-03-17T22:43:00.000-06:00

I just got assigned to a high hour 4-day trip starting tomorrow afternoon...so it'll be awhile before I'm back home sitting at my desk. So I decided to jot down a few thoughts before I hit the road...

Opposites. Or should I call it "full circle?" What I'm referring to is life. Back when we were young'uns, our parents took care of us. And now that we're aging, we are the ones taking care of our parents. Mom used to encourage us to get out of the house and go play outside, and now we're encouraging Mom to get out of the house and play outside! When my Dad was ill, my sister took care of all his needs - just as my Mom had taken care of her when she was a baby. All this is truly a part of growing up that I don't like. I want Mom's quality of life to stay good - I want her to have friends, have lunch dates, go to club activities. But she has to want to - we can't force her to do anything since she's an adult.

Opposites. In the early days of our marriage, we had issues with my husband's side of the family. Miscommunication, misunderstanding, and hurt feelings. Somehow we worked through all that and didn't hold grudges. But now the miscommunication and misunderstanding is occurring on my side of the family! I'm afraid to say anything, make suggestions, or say what I really feel. It's so sad. We're preparing for our only daughter's wedding, and instead of everyone being happy for us, we keep running into roadblocks and hurt feelings. Why can't we all get along?

So...I'm having to distance myself and not take these comments and actions personally. And I'm trying to help my daughter understand why things are being said and done, and why people aren't excited and happy for her. But I'm afraid that it's going to harm her future relationship with everyone. It's so sad. But I've got way too many other things to worry about...why can't we all get along?

Lots of great things will be happening soon at my company! One of my training classmates is working hand-in-hand with upper management to change the environment of our company. We are striving to be a company of integrity, where everyone does the right thing even when no one is watching. There are new procedures being instituted, trainings being held and unfortunately, there's lots of griping. Some of that griping is on the internet where anyone/everyone can see. Why would someone do that? Does he not care that management might see what he's said? I was tempted to bring his ranting to the attention of management, but I figured he doesn't need any help hanging himself. So sad. But it's so hard to work with him.

So I will keep doing what I do best - having a good time welcoming our passengers, working with the crew, and just enjoying the heck out of my job. There's lots weighing me down, but the trick is to not let anyone else see that. I keep silently praying and hoping that all goes well - a happy smile is what the passengers want to see...not a worried half-smile.

I am looking forward to this trip - it has late show times, so I can "Sleep in" and wake up on my own. Ahhhhhh. I can hardly wait. First we'll do a turn to St. Louis, then we'll overnight in Seattle. I'm looking forward to a nice bowl of clam chowder in the bar - so good! Then the next day we'll head back to Denver and then on to Detroit for the night. I looked up a friend from high school who now lives in Detroit, but she's already made plans for the day I'll be there. That's okay - I'll hang out at Bob's Big Boy for breakfast! The next day, we'll fly back to Denver and then go back to Seattle for the night...and maybe another bowl of clam chowder? Then on Monday, our last day, we'll go back to Denver and then we have a round-trip to New Orleans! Too bad it's not an overnight! I have one day off on Tuesday, and then I'll be back on for five more days!

It's late, I'm tired, so I guess I'd better sign off for the night...Goodnight!

March Madness

2011-03-13T15:09:00.000-06:00

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...!

Rest and Relaxation

2011-01-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

Crew scheduling's new motto is, "work 'em until they drop!" It is against their rules to let us have duty days where we used to sit at home waiting for the phone to ring. Now...I had three days left on my schedule and they gave me a three-day trip. It was a good one! Hmmmm...let me see if I can remember where I went. Oh yes! I did a Milwaukee turn and a Phoenix overnight. The next night I did a Dallas overnight, and then we did a Phoenix turn...and I was released to my two days off. The three flight attendants stayed the same during the entire trip, but we kept swapping CPTs and FOs but that was okay.

After my two days off, they gave me a REALLY WEIRD two-day trip. I started out deadheading to Milwaukee (flying as a passenger instead of working the flight), then I worked a turn to LaGuardia and spent the night in Milwaukee. The next morning we deadheaded back to Denver. Weird. The passenger sitting next to me commented on how our planes seem to be filled with other Frontier crewmembers!

Fortunately, I was released to my three days off at 10AM. Yahoo! There was a union membership meeting for a couple hours and then a reserve roundtable meeting. I went to both, and the first one didn't have a lot of new information to report. But the second meeting was a great opportunity to share our feelings about having been on reserve for 3.5 years. We gave a lot of constructive criticism and a lot of good ideas. All this for the union contract that won't be created for another 3-5 years. In the meantime, we're holding on as best we can under the current work rules.

But now I'm off for a few days, and I actually got to go to the cabin in Breckenridge for a couple days with my hubby - believe it or not! We haven't been up here together in FOREVER. He's out skiing, and I'm hanging out with the doggies. It is snowy and cold here, and SUNNY. Yay!

Delays, Delays and More Delays

2011-01-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I THOUGHT I'd be back in Denver at 7:30AM on Monday morning. It didn't quite happen that way.

We had a 5:05AM van time at the hotel - at about 4:50AM, I took a quick look at my schedule to see if crew scheduling had given me a turn once I returned to Denver. They didn't, but what I did see was that our 6:30AM flight time for IND-DEN was now listed at 8:30AM.

Instead of going downstairs, I called the CPT and asked if he was aware our flight was now at 8:30AM. He wasn't. So he told me to stay in my room, called whoever it is that he calls to find out what the heck is going on, and then he called me back and tried to reach the rest of the crew. We were now going to take the 7:15AM van to the airport. Yay! The First Officer had to go downstairs to tell the other two flight attendants to go back to their rooms, while the CPT called the limo service to reschedule our ride.

We actually did leave the hotel at 7:15AM - but we still had another 2 1/2 hours of sitting around in the airport and on the plane. It seems that we were waiting for a part, and it didn't arrive until around 9:40AM. Why the heck couldn't we stay at the hotel until that time? And why didn't we get word about this from crew scheduling? We should have been told the night before so that we could have gotten a good night's sleep! It turns out that the part had to be driven from Milwaukee to Indianapolis. I just don't understand.

However, I did enjoy my crew. I fully expected to be given a turn afterwards, but was released to my days off. Woo hoo! I just finished those and got to sit the couch from 6AM until Noon today. It was delightful! I'm now waiting to see what crew scheduling has in store for me for the next three days...♥

Winter Craziness

2011-01-09T19:00:00.003-07:00

I had a very nice couple of days visiting with Jen, James and Liza before they headed back to NYC. However, on their last night, crew scheduling struck again...

There was a Spokane stand-up that needed a crew - it was scheduled to leave Sunday night at 8PM. I received a call in the afternoon from crew scheduling trying to junior assign me to the trip. If I had answered the phone, I would HAVE to take the trip. I didn't want to leave on my day off, even though it would have been at overtime pay. So I let voice mail pick up the message.

A few hours later, I get another call from crew scheduling. This time they're telling me that I've been assigned to a Spokane turn, with a show time of 2:00AM. Are they kidding me? My duty start time is 12:01AM, and they're wanting me to hop in my car, drive to DIA, and work a flight? Huh? To fully understand, I call the Inflight Manager on Duty. Let's just say that I didn't hear what I wanted to hear.

So I kissed my family goodbye and headed to DIA. The other two flight attendants were just as bad off as I was. The flight was just a little more than half full - when we got to Spokane and all the passengers deplaned, we turned off the lights and set up little beds for ourselves for a quick hour's nap.

I was woken up by crew scheduling calling me. They said that when I was back in DEN, I was being assigned to a PHX overnight. Let's just say that they kept giving me trips, taking them away, and then giving me others. Finally, I was given a PHX overnight. For real. For sure. No more changing it.

Once in PHX, I get another call from crew scheduling - by this time, I had been awake for 36 hours, aside from the hour's nap that I took on the plane. This time they told me that I was going to do a CUN turn when I got back to DIA. Are they kidding me?!?!? I tried to get them to give it to someone else, but no luck. So I waited until I saw how I felt the next morning, and THEN I called in FAT. Otherwise known as "fatigued."

On Monday, I worked a 13.5 hour day, and they were wanting me to do the same for Tuesday. What am I? A super hero or something? Ha!

I already had Tuesday scheduled off, and then managed to get assigned to the C couch on Thursday (4PM until 10PM). While sitting the couch, I found out that I was awarded a 4-day trip that I'm currently working now - at first we did a turn to ATL, then we had a layover in SLC. Yesterday, we left SLC and flew back to DEN. After that, we went on to San Diego for the night. And now we are in Indianapolis! I surely get around.

The crew I am working with is good, and I'm enjoying getting to know them. But I'm also hoping to be released when I return to Denver tomorrow morning at 7:30AM. HA! I laugh because it is snowing in Denver as I write this. And it's supposed to be snowing when I leave here in the morning.

Before I sign off, I do have to say that my ATL-DEN flight on Friday was weird. Totally weird. There were at least 50 Auburn fans - Auburn is playing Oregon on Monday in the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, AZ. These people were crazy!

And there was a family of 4 that acted weird, too. Of course, they were not seated together and the gate agents were letting us take care of the situation. There were two young girls, a younger boy and their mom. I settled the boy and mom together in one row, and the two girls in another row a couple rows back. Well...those little girls were probably the worst behaved girls I have seen in quite awhile! They were in jammies, were barefoot (even when going to the bathroom), and each and every time I walked by (especially when my hands arms were full). They wanted headphones, they didn't want to sit there, they wanted to know how long the flight was going to be...and the last time I "serviced them" I was collecting trash. One of the girls asked for, "Ice cold water" and I told her to wait until I was done. I was in the back when I finished and stayed to chat for a few minutes. Then the little girl shows up, tells me I had promised her a nice ice cold glass of water....Sheesh! Unfortunately, my employer does not look too kindly on employees drop-kicking children back to their seats. :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Little did I know that all hell was breaking loose in Denver on the 30th! We got back to DEN from SNA about a half-hour late, but then our MCI overnight got delayed about 3 1/2 hours due to a combination of mechanicals and weather. We FINALLY arrived in MCI at around 2AM local time, and found out that our 17 hour layover was being reduced to 8 1/2 hours (the minimum according to the pilots' union contract). Our SAN turn for the 31st was re-crewed, so my fellow flight crew got released when we returned to DEN at noon, AND they got full pay for the flight that got re-crewed.

But...since I'm STILL on reserve, I got assigned to sit on the couch for FIVE HOURS and then do an LAX turn. I was NOT a happy camper when I found out. But after holding a "pity party" for myself, I decided that I was going to have a GREAT DAY...and I did!

The other two flight attendants on my LAX turn were wonderful, friendly, easy to talk to - it was so nice! And I had some crazy passengers on board, too! One entire row of passengers absolutely LOVED me - they thought I was funny! So I gave them comment cards with our website address so that they could make a comment to the company. As everyone was deplaning, another passenger came up to me and told me that I should be teaching flight attendants how to be flight attendants! Wow. That one left me speechless! It was the perfect way to end 2010.

The flight back to DEN was also a good one - I even had one passenger give me a drumroll as I poured the 6th and final drink for his family, without having to ask for any hints as to what they ordered! I stretched my mind to its limit! Woo hoo! When we returned to DEN, the shuttle bus to the parking lot just leaving, but he made a u-turn to come get us! Wasn't that sweet! Seeing how it was -2 degrees in DEN, we really appreciated it.

The drive home was a mix of "tipsy drivers" and icy roads, but I managed to get home unscathed. The only problem I faced was that my windshield washer fluid was frozen - thank goodness there wasn't a lot of crud being kicked up by the drivers in front of me. At one point between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, the outside temp dropped to -12 degrees! Ouchie wow wow!

I have today and tomorrow off, and I fully expect crew scheduling to call and try to junior assign me (force me to take a trip but with time-and-a-half compensation), but I want to stay home and enjoy the last two days at home with my little girl, her fiance, and my grandpuppy! So I will not be answering my cell phone or home phone unless I know 100% it is you calling!

Happy 2011...

Yummy yummy for the tum-tum-tummy!

2010-12-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am still sitting on that luxurious bed in my hotel in Orange County, CA - but I did get off it long enough to take a hotel van ride to Trader Joe's and back! I had to look around, but I finally found my Multiseed Soy Crackers - 35 crackers = 110 calories. You can't beat that!

I just got a call from the Captain - we are leaving the hotel at 3PM instead of 2PM. The plane coming in from Denver just left. It was delayed about an hour due to the blowing snow and ice in Denver. But they are now off the ground and on their way!

This is such a nice hotel - we're in the suites section, so we have a bon-bon sofa, a cocktail table, a small eating table with two chairs, a small fridge, sink, microwave, desk, armoire with a tv in it! There's also a nice jetted tub in the bathroom...I have to remember to bring my sea salts with me...

This has been a great morning - and now I've got time for a quick nap!!!

California Dreamin'

2010-12-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

As I write this, I am sitting on my luxurious bed in Orange County, CA. I will soon be getting up and heading to Trader Joe's to pick up my favorite soy cracker in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! We're leaving this afternoon and heading back to Denver...and then on to Kansas City tonight! Provided, of course, that the "blizzard" that is on its way doesn't change those plans. We'll see! After the east coast getting slammed, I feel that Denver is overdue for a blizzard.

My v-file at work (my folder in a filing cabinet - we each have one) had several holiday greetings from my fellow flight attendants, a cute little "glow in the dark" hand sanitizer, and a yummy bag of holiday snacks! But...it was missing some trinkets that a fellow FA left there for me that he had picked up in DAY. So sad. A few months ago another friend left a NYC MetroCard in my v-file, and it was gone before I got there. And just a couple weeks ago, a fellow FA found a hole in her plastic bag of food that she had placed in the crewroom refrigerator - some of it had been taken. Really? I'm thinking that we all need to contemplate the following quote - "Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one's looking." I wish we could weed out the bad ones and then we'll all be one big happy, HONEST family again! :) A girl can dream, can't she?

Last night's flight to Orange County was interesting. Great crew. Weird passengers. One guy came on and I asked him, "How are you doing this evening?" and he replied, "Not well at all. I have the flu and I've already thrown up a couple times." Really? Is he kidding me? I told him that he shouldn't be flying if he's ill - I'm fully expecting to get the flu in a mere 3 days from now. :( And, of course, those will be my days off. Butthead. I told the Captain about this guy, and he wanted him off. So we set the wheels in motion. A gate supervisor came on board just a few minutes before departure, and when I told him what was going on, he told me that he can't remove a passenger from the aircraft for being sick. WHAT?!?!?! Excuse me? He spoke with the Captain, who was just as upset as I was, and then spoke with the passenger. Get this...the passenger tells the supervisor that he is a DOCTOR and he'll be alright. A DOCTOR? With no brain, obviously. I gave the supervisor a mask to give to the passenger, and asked him to tell the passenger to wear it during the entire flight. And did he? Nope. I think some passengers check their brains at the security checkpoint.

Towards the end of the flight we had some severe turbulence, and not everyone was in their seats (the seatbelt sign had just been turned on for our initial descent). I saw one older lady in the aisle and passengers around her were holding on to her. When I got back to her, she requested a bandaid...she had bruised her hand somehow during the turbulence, and a small cut was bleeding. She was a sweet thing. So I bandaged her up and sent her on her way. The Captain had not seen/heard that that turbulence was coming, so he called back to us after it happened to make sure that we were all okay. I think my feet did leave the floor at one point, but I was fine, as were my co-workers. And this was over CALIFORNIA, not nearing Denver as it usually is.

One of my co-workers this flight is Tui - the really nice FA from the "Undercover Boss" episode. He is very involved in our new "Culture Club" - trying to get that "family feeling" back for all of our airlines that are now one. It's a long road, because we each have our own planes, our own work rules, and our own pay scales. We also stay in different quality hotels (though I hear that is changing), and we have different uniforms. I was so glad to hear that E.C. (one of my classmates) is involved in the group! I have high hopes that the group will head in the right direction. To announce the group, the marketing department created a video about "Why We Fly" and it perfectly described me. I would post it here, but it is on a company website and can't be shared.

I guess I'd better get moving, make some breakfast, and head over to Trader Joe's!

Random Thoughts

2010-12-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

I have learned that a 4-day trip with early show times is hard. The same with an early couch sit one day, a 3-day trip with early show times, followed by a DCA turn with an early show time. That's what I did last week!

This week, I started out with the Noon-6PM couch. And now I'm on a 4-day trip with show times that are pretty early - except for today's. I have to be downstairs for the van to the Detroit airport by 5:15AM, which is 3:15AM Denver time. OUCH. But after flying back to Denver, I will be flying on to Ft. Lauderdale. Nice, huh? I lucked into that trip.

It's been interesting around the crewroom. The company is using a new scheduling program, and January was the first month. Tons of flight attendants are angry because their schedules aren't what they wanted. But if you listen closely, those same flight attendants will admit that they DID NOT do the online video training, nor did they attend one of the training classes. Hmmmm. Sounds to me like they got what they deserved! I have no sympathy. At least they got a line. There are 6 low seniority flight attendants who actually got lines this month - some of them didn't even know it until I told them on Facebook! Lucky ducks!

For the first time in our company's history, we received a Christmas bonus! Yay! But there were still unhappy people - it wasn't enough, why did they have to take taxes out, how come I only got half, etc. etc. Can't people be happy about their good fortune?

Since it's the holidays, I've been wearing my "holiday" apron when I do service. Years ago, someone got me a snowman apron from Old Navy. So I wore it for the first time last week - the passengers love it! It's a fun way to celebrate!

There are lots and lots of unaccompanied minors on our planes. The flight coming in from Ft. Lauderdale had seven and we had three. Tis the season. But it's so sad when it's a little 5 year old...the older ones know how the game is played, and they know what they're entitled to and how to go about getting it. :)

Since I am starting to fall asleep as I type this, I guess I'd better take advantage of the situation and call it a night...4:30AM will be here before I know it!

Exhaustion

2010-12-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

I got to sit the couch on Sunday from 6AM until 2PM - at least crew scheduling told me that I was staying late early on during my shift. I slept for 2 hours when I got there at 5:30AM, ate a McDonald's sausage McMuffin with egg, walked around the concourse for awhile, visited with friends, slept another 1 1/2 hours, and then it was time to go home!

The fun began when I got called later that day. Crew scheduling assigned me to a nice 3-day trip starting early the next morning. But when I looked at my destinations, I realized that I'd be flying coast-to-coast two days in a row!

I started out in Denver and did a round-trip to Portland, OR with one crew. Going there, the overheads were filled with suitcases, bags and coats, and the seats were filled with passengers. On the way back, the seats were still filled, but they carried much less onboard. I love those kinds of flights! When we returned to Denver, the rest of the crew was done for the day, but I stayed on board waiting for my next crew that was coming in from Minneapolis. One of the flight attendants was my good friend, Jenn! It's always nice to be able to fly with your friends - it doesn't happen often enough!

But the sad thing is that we flew to New York's LaGuardia, and I had to leave on a 7:20AM van to go to the airport with yet another crew! Meantime, my current crew didn't have to leave until early in the afternoon. Bummer! But after flying coast-to-coast, I sure earned a good night's sleep!

On today's flight, I returned to Denver, lost two flight attendants, and then gained another two - and on we went to Seattle for the night! Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the company, we had only 80 passengers on a 162-seat plane. Sad, but I needed the break! On the flight from LaGuardia to Denver, I spoke with a young woman who seemed very interested in becoming a flight attendant! She was on my next flight to Seattle, too, and I got her email address so that I could correspond with her and let her know when Frontier starts hiring again (if ever).

There was also a guy from NYC who had a fun time teasing me and the other flight attendants about us being from Colorado - and after talking to him and giving him a can of soda and seconds, what does he do? Get up and go to the bathroom before we reach the gate - at a time when the Captain would have to NOT move the plane because someone was out of their seat. Of all people... :(

I also met a woman on the last flight who told me that she used to be a flight attendant many years ago. And next she told me that, "...way back then they used to weigh us every week. Obviously, they don't do that any longer." Hmmmmm. I think I should be offended!

Then I had a couple try and take advantage of Frontier. Our company policy is to give free TV to any soldier, in uniform or not, as long as they present a military ID. The husband said that his wife had not yet gotten her TV. It wasn't indicated on my paperwork that she was supposed to get it, and I asked them to show me a receipt. They couldn't, but then she mentioned how she was in the military. She showed me an ID card, but kept her fingers covering part of the card. Interesting. It didn't look like the typical ID card, so I asked to take a closer look. Well...she is a contractor for the Army - in other words, she works at the commissary! I told her that she is NOT a member of the military - she insisted that she was! I then told her that my hubby had been in the military for five years, and that she is NOT a soldier. Her husband later apologized me for the "misunderstanding." Shame on them. Here we are doing something nice for our service members, and she decides to take advantage and tries to pass herself off as something she's not. Tsk tsk tsk. Bad karma will follow them.

We got to Seattle and headed to the hotel in 40 degree temps - after sitting in the room for a little while and sipping a caffeine-free Diet Coke (my afternoon drink of choice), I decided it was time to head downstairs to the bar for my bowl of New England Clam Chowder. YUMMY. It was SO DELICIOUS. I could have had another bowl. Nice.

Now it's time to start winding down. I'm exhausted after flying coast-to-coast two days in a row. Tomorrow I fly back to Denver - and wonder what I'll end up doing. I am still on duty on Thursday, so they could give me a two-day trip. But I won't know until after I return to Denver. This is one of the bad sides of being on reserve...not knowing what the future holds.

Speaking of which, a rumor I heard has been confirmed by a reliable source. I was told that Frontier does not plan on hiring any flight attendants in 2011. I am so very bummed. I had been told in October that we'd be hiring early next year, and that there was hope for me to get off reserve. But today's rumor conversation blows that out of the water. What do I do now? Continue the life of a reserve flight attendant? Quit and get my life back? I just don't know. I don't want to leave, but I really wish I had more control over my life. What to do? What to do?

In the Nick of Time...

2010-12-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Just when I was starting to melt down, due to the stress of everyday life and being on reserve for 3+ years, I get handed the golden egg - a 15.5 hour layover in Orange County, CA! This is one of the nicest hotels that we stay at, there are palm trees, and the weather is nice. Not to mention the Trader Joe's and In-N-Out within 3 miles!

Originally, I had hoped to see my daughter's future mother-in-law, but she was tied up with work - imagine that. Tied up on a weekday with work! Then I realized that my BFF from my Chicago days lives within 5 minutes of the hotel...so I gave her a call and left a message. She called back and hopes that her work schedule allows her to get together for brunch! These SoCal ladies sure work alot!!!

So it's now after midnight, I'm sure, and I made the mistake of turning on the TV...and there's Taye Diggs dancing in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." Mighty fine! But I'm going to have to turn it off and go to sleep!

I am off duty for three days after I get home...and then the stretches of five and six duty days at a time start. Let the holidays begin!

Back to LaGuardia!

2010-11-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

This month has been pretty slow from a reserve flight attendant's point of view. I sat the couch FIVE times - and those were all within 17 days. But...I'm not complaining. It's so nice having a break from the non-stop flying that the poor reserves have been subjected to over the past several months. And...December is coming!

After my Ft. Lauderdale mini-vacay, I had a couple days off and a couple couch sits. Then I lucked out and got a three-day trip for my last three days of duty in the month of November. And it was a good trip, too! We started out flying to Milwaukee, and then flew to New York's LaGuardia for a 17 hour layover! And you know what I did during that layover, don't you? I got to trek to Jen's apartment to spend a little time with her and my grandpuppy, Liza! THESE are the perks of this job that I love.

Now I'm in my Seattle hotel room - it's cold and rainy outside, warm and cozy inside! We'll be leaving in the early afternoon to head back to Denver...and to my FIVE days off!

On this trip, I am the B flight attendant - not my favorite position, I've learned. Part of the reason is that it is so isolated from the passenger and the flight deck crew. I prefer to be in "the thick of things." It keeps me entertained and keeps me going!

Every once in awhile, a passenger or two will come to the back galley to visit. Most flight attendants do not like these "visitors," but I usually welcome it. Last night I visited with a Mom and her almost nine-year-old daughter. The Mom would love to be a flight attendant, but she is only 5'1". Bummer. We kidded around about ways that we could "stretch" her out for the measure portion of an interview! I think she's make a great flight attendant.

And, of course, my fellow flight attendants provide all sorts of entertainment. Trying to guess, "what's coming next" from a flight attendant who doesn't necessarily follow "the rules" when it comes to providing service, to those ladies/men with fun stories to tell! It surely keeps a person entertained! And, of course, I've been known to tell a fun story or two...

At the Beach...

2010-11-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

In the living room, looking down the hall.

The view you'd see if you sit on the toilet!

Looking from the hallway into the living room.

The view when you sit on the sofa.

The view as you look down the hall towards the entrance.

Well, what can I say? THIS is why I do this job. Even though I am here for only 14 hours, I got to enjoy the sun, fun, sand, sea and surf for a couple hours before it got dark. And the room I got this time was AWESOME. Two of the four walls are floor to ceiling windows. Nice.

It was an adventurous trip getting here - our original plane had a fuel leak in one of the engines. One of the ramp people saw it, and we were sent back to the gate. Thank God. That could have been disastrous. The mechanics could not find the fuel leak source, so we ended up getting a new plane. But before that, the Captain got on the P.A. and told everyone what was happening - because of that, everyone stayed pretty calm. They also realized that we weren't going to fly on any plane that wasn't safe.

Prior to this trip, I got an overnight in Orange County - I went with another flight attendant to Trader Joe's and In-N-Out burger. Delish! I had a good talk with the other flight attendant - Erika. She was just elected our first AFA (Association of Flight Attendants) Union President. She's got a good head on her shoulders.

I recently learned that one of my classmates from training and another in the class after me have left the company. :( And then I found that another of my classmates is leaving the company in early December. How sad! I guess they just can't wait any longer for the company to start hiring new flight attendants so that we can get off reserve.

In the meantime, I will be happy to take the Ft. Lauderdale trips, the 24-hour New York City layovers and the 18-hour Washington, DC layovers!

Physically Healthy, But Maybe Not Mentally...

2010-11-06T18:10:00.001-06:00

I ended up going to the doctor's office again, and this time I saw my regular doctor. And she gave me drugs because I had bronchitis. And she told me to stay home for another five days. That meant that I wouldn't be back at work until Monday, November 1st.

I wasn't thrilled, because I had been biting at the bit and wanted to hit the road again. It ended up happening before I expected...I had to make an emergency trip to Virginia to deal with an issue at my brother's home in southern Virginia. I spent three days talking, listening, and ended up having to seek some help from our company-sponsored counseling service. I was just a bit overwhelmed. And I still am.

The one thing I know for a fact, you can't change what you don't acknowledge (thank you, Dr. Phil).

After three days of mixed emotions and confusion, I headed to NYC to check in early for my dogsitting assignment. Jen and James had been invited to a wedding in Baltimore (that they're attending right now as I write this), and they asked if I could dogsit for Liza for the weekend. If I didn't have free flight benefits, that would not have been an option. But this is just what I needed...a nice, relaxing time with my grandpuppy.

Today was the first full day that they've been out of town, and Liza and I decided to sleep in until 6:45AM. Yahoo! We've gone on "potty walks" several times, I went out to the Saturday Flea Market, watched people on Broadway by Macy's, looked at the Christmas windows at Macy's (isn't it TOO EARLY for Christmas windows??!?!?), and got a few groceries (the new Lean Cuisine pasta "steam-in-the-bag" is delicious).

Tomorrow, I am have a late lunch/early dinner with one of Jen's friends whom I also know. Other than that, I'm going to enjoy the last bit of peace and quiet...ahhhhhhh.

Under the Weather...Again!

2010-10-22T17:43:00.000-06:00

I haven't flown since 10/11-12 when I went to Minneapolis for a night. Why? Cause I'm grounded. Not by the FAA, but by me. My head has been stuffed since 10/13 and I've got an AWESOME cough! Woo hoo! It's fun to sneak up behind someone who's been a butthead to you, and let out a deep resonating cough! People actually run away from you!

But I do have to say that before I came down with this latest malady, I had a wonderful few days in Florida with family and friends at my niece, Lindsey's, wedding at Walt DisneyWorld.

Opa walking Lindsey down the aisle.

Lindsey and Greg taking their vows.

Walt DisneyWorld has their wedding planning down to an art. Everything was beautiful, went smoothly, and the wedding cake was DELICIOUS. Probably the best wedding cake that I've ever tasted!

Jen was able to join us at the wedding of her cousin, and she and Lindsey's sister, Brittany, got to spend some quality time hanging out in the parks! Greg and his parents spent the day after the wedding at Epcot, and I found myself some nice shade and spent the day relaxing!

When I came back from Florida, I got assigned to an overnight in Minneapolis, MN. I LOVE the hotel there, and was able to hitch a ride on the hotel van to go to the Mall of America. And guess what I did there? I went to the new "Long Tall Sally" store - the new version of the "Tall Girl" store. It was SO NICE to fondle the clothing, try things on that were too long for me, and just see things up close. Ahhhh. It is the ONLY store in the USA where I can try on tall clothing. We had an early morning show for Tuesday, and I got released at 7:30AM - WOW! An extra day "off!"

On Wednesday, I had my annual recurrent training from 8AM until 5:30PM at the General Office in Denver. Only one other reserve flight attendant was in my class - my good friend, EC! We both passed the door drills, the emergency equipment review, the CPR and self-defense testing...we're ready for another year, hopefully NOT on reserve! The Director of Inflight spoke to us during lunch, and told us that there will probably be a new hire flight attendant class in May, 2011. I had grabbed ahold of EC's hand before this "announcement," hoping that she was going to give a date in 2010. So I was kind of disappointed. Oh well...life goes on.

As usual, I had fun during training - it's a nice reminder of WHAT I'm supposed to be doing, and now that I'm really comfortable in my job, I always have some extra space in my brain to pick up and remember something that I had forgotten!

After my training day, I had four whole days off! BUT...I was sick as a dog for all those days. Then on my first duty day, I went to the doctor and got a note excusing me from work for the next six duty days. Today is day five of those six days. I'm doing a lot better than I was...but my head is still stuffy, my cough is amazing and I'll be going back to work on Monday.

I'll be spending my last few days of sick leave repacking my suitcase, doing laundry, maybe even raking leaves if the weather (and my breathing) cooperate. I'll also do a bit of TV watching, while muting ALL the political campaign ads. I'll be so glad for all this to be over!

Six Days of Travel

2010-10-05T11:16:00.000-06:00

On Friday, I had a modified C couch sit, meaning that I had to report at 2PM instead of the usual 4PM. When I arrived, crew scheduling told me that I (and the other two couch-sitters - including my buddy, Dennis, who makes flying so much fun!) had an overnight in New York! Only problem - we wouldn't arrive until 1:30AM. No big deal. AND we were deadheading home on the 5:30PM flight, meaning we didn't have to work it...just sit and sleep! Woo hoo!

Of course, I immediately contacted Jen to see what she was doing on Saturday - she and James had plans to attend the "Beauty and the Beast Sing-a-Long" movie at the AMC theater in Times Square at Noon. So guess what I did? First I went to the apartment to play with Liza - she's such a cutie patootie! Then on to the theater!

The girls sitting next to me were celebrating a 20th birthday, so they were pumped. When the movie FINALLY started, we had so much fun singing along. And guess what I sang all the way back to the hotel? "A Whole New World!" Ahhhhhhh.

And I have made a decision. It is MUCH HARDER to sit on a plane as a passenger than it is to work that flight. I tried to sleep the entire way back to Denver...didn't quite work, but I tried.

A few hours after I got back home in COS, before I went to bed, I happened to notice that I scored an actual FOUR-DAY trip! I wasn't going to have to sit at home and wait for that doggone phone to ring! Yay! So I called crew scheduling to let them know that I had seen the trip, and I went to bed. One of the only problems is that I was starting to feel sick. Bummer. So I made sure that I had my Zicam, Tylenol, Sudafed, and ibuprophen...and off I went!

First up, I had a turn to Nashville - I was happy because I was flying with my buddy, Bruce! Yay! We always have a lot of laughs. Next up, we had an overnight in Salt Lake City. Bruce was planning on having Mexican for lunch the next day, and I was planning on joining him. BUT...I had a horrible night of sleep, and I was sick, sick, sick with a bad cold when I woke up. I stuck with my medication routine, slept most of the day, and Bruce offered to bring back a Mexican meal for me! What a sweetheart!

I rallied enough to do well on our flight back to Denver, which was about an hour and a half late due to San Francisco airport traffic issues. The passengers weren't thrilled, and of course, they were worried about their connections. I think a few might have had to be rescheduled, but most may have made them. There were a couple 20-something guys who complimented me on how nice I was, and that I'm the best flight attendant they've ever flown with. So I kindly asked them to "put it in writing!" Ha ha.

The sad thing is that Bruce left the trip, and wasn't going with us to Dayton for the night. And after he left, things started going downhill quickly. We were already late, so the crowd was restless. The scouts brought on our first passenger and her hubby - she was unable to walk and needed to be assisted by an aisle chair. As soon and they got her and her husband settled in their seats, she starts throwing up. A lot! The scouts were still there and were able to catch most of it, but the C flight attendant brought them more bags, and when she did, she ran forward to where I was, trying really hard not to barf. She ended up running off the aircraft. In the meantime, more passengers were boarding, and I called the gate and told them to stop boarding!

The CPT told us to decide what we wanted to do. We unanimously decided to get her off the plane - supposedly she had just spent time with her grandson, who brought home some germs. Her husband assured me that she had nothing else left in her body. But she looked so white and sickly. AND they did not want to get off. So we called the paramedic - he agreed that she shouldn't go to DAY, but she signed a waiver saying she was still flying. Well...that didn't fly with me, or with the passengers sitting around her that told me that she needed to get off! What's a girl to do? So I told the Gate Supervisor that the other passengers were concerned and complaining.

The woman's daughter and son-in-law were brought down the jetway, and as soon as the paramedic left, we brought the son on board. He got off literally one second later and said, "They're getting off." Halleluiah! I felt bad for them, but relieved for me and the rest of the passengers.

There was one guy sitting in the row behind them, and he was nasty nasty nasty to me. Mostly because, when the sick woman was still on board, the husband handed me a large bag filled with BARF. I am not allowed to handle that without taking precautions (it is infectious waste), so I told him "One moment" as I went up front to get some plastic gloves. When I got back, the nasty guy behind them had grabbed the bag and taken it to the flight attendant at the back of the plane - she wouldn't touch it, either! She told him to place it in the lavatory trash can. But he was mad at me the entire flight, and let me know it. His bad karma will definitely catch up to him in life.

However, it wasn't all bad. We had a soldier on board who was returning home after being away for 10 months. I announced that he was on board and that he was HOME after we landed, and everyone clapped for him. His mom was the ramp supervisor for Frontier, and she was waiting for him to arrive. So when we got to the gate, and the agent opened the plane's door, I just stepped aside as the mom ran in and hugged her son! The other flight attendant and I just burst out crying, and everyone started clapping again. It still gives me goosebumps!

A great ending to a long day...

Outstandingly Breathtaking...

2010-09-29T21:48:00.000-06:00

After returning to Denver from St. Louis, we flew a turn to Seattle. As we were getting ready to land, I noticed all the passengers leaning over to look out the aircraft left windows. What the heck were they looking at?

Mt. Rainier as seen from the airplane's window.

Our plane's winglet with Mt. Rainier in the background.

Absolutely gorgeous.

What a wonderful thing to see! And to top that off, when we got back to Denver, I got released to my day off! How can life get any better?

Last Minute Trip

2010-09-28T19:35:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I started out by sitting the couch at DIA at noon. I had my lunch, magazines, a book, and lots of plans to catch up with friends. At 12:30PM, crew scheduling calls me off the couch to start a 3-day trip. The flight attendant on the first turn of the trip (to Minneapolis) showed up to work not feeling well early that morning, and as they got back to Denver she felt even worse. So she called in sick, and I had 35 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart!

That is a prime example as to why the airline has us sit "ready reserve."

It was a fun crew - Fred and Chris up front, Brenda and Kelly in the back. Lots of teasing, lots of joking. You have to keep it light when you are flying to Los Angeles...sometimes there can be strange characters on board. But yesterday was fairly normal, the flight went well, and we got into LAX in the early afternoon. I felt the ocean calling to me, so I changed my clothes and hopped on the trolley that'd take me to Manhattan Beach. What I should have thought of is that it had reached 114 degrees that day in Los Angeles, so the beach wasn't necessarily going to be a "cool" place to hang out.

So when I got to Manhattan Beach, I decided to eat an early dinner at a restaurant called the Kettle. Jen and James went there the last time that they were in Los Angeles, and Jen raved about the Tortilla Soup. Even though it was hotter than hell outside, she said it'd be worth it! So that's where I went.

Chicken Tortilla Soup from The Kettle Restaurant

After I was done with dinner, it had cooled off a bit outside, so I walked down to the beach and pier. It was so absolutely beautiful! I spent time walking in the sand, walking on the pier, and doing A LOT of people watching. It was the perfect afternoon!

The sun was setting, but no one seemed to notice.

A beautiful day on the beach.

Looking south from the pier.

The aquarium at the end of the pier.

After walking around awhile, I headed back to the trolley pick-up point. It's a really nice system - the trolley picks-up at around 5 or 6 different "stops" around a bunch of hotels near the airport, and the first stop is Manhattan Beach. Then after you leave Manhattan Beach, there are two additional stops before returning to the hotels - both are malls. One is an indoor mall and the other is an outdoor mall - with lots and lots of stores and restaurants to choose from!

However, I chose to return to the hotel because that 5AM van was going to be ready for us before we knew it!

After returning to Denver, we kept the same plane and prepared to fly to St. Louis, MO. We got a new first officer, Juan, but kept the other crew members. There were a bunch of siblings sitting in the back of the plane - they had all just flown in from Oregon, Washington, Utah and Minnesota, and were all gathering to spend time together in Missouri. It turns out that one of their sisters recently passed away, so they were going to spend some quality time together before another one passed on. What a great idea!

Fortunately, it wasn't as hot in STL as it was in LAX, but I still didn't feel like sightseeing. The rest of the crew had met the night before to have an early dinner at the happy hour in the hotel bar, but I had chosen to go to the beach. So tonight I decided to be social, and I met the rest of the group in this hotel's bar. They had the most awesome tomato bisque soup...yummy! We had a great time laughing, telling stories, just hanging out. And we were done at 6PM...because our van time is 4:55AM tomorrow! (Which, is really 3:55AM Denver time...)

Tomorrow, we'll fly back to Denver (and everyone but us will be sleeping), and then we head to Seattle and back. When I return at around 2:30PM, I hope to hear those magic words, "you are released to your day off!" Keep your fingers crossed!

Where Has September Gone?

2010-09-26T11:13:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a lot of flying this month...but the little that I did was GREAT!

I had to sit the couch twice, but on my way to the airport for the second sit I got a call from Crew Scheduling telling me that I'd be heading to Houston later that evening. Cool! Houston is one of my favorite layovers because I have friends there, AND it's one of my favorite hotel rooms.

Well...a tropical storm was blowing through Houston, my friends weren't available, and I got an inside room which overlooks the lobby. Needless to say, I got a lot of TV watching done! I believe I watched a marathon of "LA Ink."

The big question about this trip was whether or not we were going to make it back to Denver in time for our next flight - to ANCHORAGE! Yahoo! Only one other flight attendant and I were going on to ANC, so we started figuring that the airline would recrew our positions...we made up time in the air heading back to DEN, and lo and behold, the plane was loaded and ready to go when we got there! They waited for us! Mitch and I settled in to our positions and then we took off.

The plane was probably 2/3 full of men in various form of hunting and fishing gear. The hunters told me that they were going after bear, and the fishermen all had their poles safely tucked into the overhead bins.

We arrived in ANC late at night. Last year, in August, it was still light outside. But this time, in September, it was dark. Our return flight would be leaving about 24 hours after our arrival, so we had time to do some fun stuff. I gave my friend, Connie, a call when I got the trip and she had the morning and early afternoon available to show me around town. We went to a little town called Palmer, enjoyed a delicious lunch and did a little bit of shopping/browsing at a couple of the town's shops.

On the way back to ANC, we stopped at a Russian Orthodox Church that had a very unusual graveyard. Each grave was topped by a small house that contained some of the deceased's valuables. It's amazing how the native tribe still maintains those "houses," which were painted in bright and beautiful colors.

Connie and I made one more stop before she took me back to the hotel - there's a beautiful place called Kincaid park that overlooks the Inlet. It's where she usually takes people to see moose, bear, and other assorted wildlife, but that day they were all hiding!

Connie and me in Kincaid Park.

A sign in Kincaid Park that could not go unphotographed.

When Connie dropped me back at the hotel, I figured it was too early to take a nap in preparation for our all-night flight back to DEN, so I decided to take a walk...around a lake...! If you look at the following map, our hotel is located in the lower right corner - it's called the Millenium Hotel. That's where I started.

The world's largest floatplane lake.

One of the many floatplanes that I saw during my walk

I don't believe that I have ever seen as many floatplanes as I did that day. Each "dock" had a little house holding the flight equipment, and the floatplane was tied up next to it. Some were surrounded by cute little picket fences (a woman's touch, no doubt), others were plain with no little house, and others looked like they had sleeping accommodations. During my walk, I'd see guys coming to the lake after work, locking up their cars, readying their planes for flight, and then leaving their dock and taking off on the water!

There were also quite a few hangars and "parking lots" for other planes without floats. There was a taxiway around parts of the lake that led to a runway - I lost count of the number of planes that took off that way during my walk. It's definitely a different lifestyle that what I'm used to.

After that trip, I had a few days off and then got assigned a 20 hour layover in Kansas City, MO. Again, it's a very nice hotel...but there is NOTHING to do nearby. This time, we arrived early in the morning and I got ambitious. I had heard that there was a mall nearby - Zona Rosa. I decided to walk there, and then have the hotel shuttle bus pick me up later in the afternoon.

Well...let's just say that it wasn't the nicest walk I've ever been on. The road you walk on paralleled the highway, there was no scenery to speak of - the most exciting thing was looking at the trash that had been thrown on the roadside as I cautiously stepped over it. I wish I had brought a baggie with me, and I would have collected some of it...but since I hadn't, I just looked at it, tried to figure out what some of it was, and then moved on. It was also VERY hot and VERY humid. And...of course, it was around noontime.

Silly me...I didn't follow directions and took a road across the highway and ended up at a Target shopping center (with a JC Penney, a Famous Footwear, and several other stores). I asked for directions to Zona Rosa, and instead of sending me back the way I had just come, they sent me the opposite way and instructed me to cross under the highway. That's when I came upon a WalMart shopping center (with a Lowe's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and a Borders, and several other stores). Not where I wanted to be.

I needed to get to Zona Rosa's Barnes & Noble, because that is where the hotel shuttle would be picking me up at 3PM. So I kept trudging along, and FINALLY found what I was looking for. Zona Rosa had a ton of "high-end" boutiques (read as EXPENSIVE), and by that time all I was interested in doing was sitting inside in AIR CONDITIONING, drinking WATER. I'm guessing that my diversion turned my walk from a 4.5 mile trek to at least 6 miles or so. Thank goodness I had my MBT shoes on, gently shaping and firming my buttocks and calf muscles!

I got released upon my return to DEN the following morning, and then got assigned to a stand-up to Spokane that night. The perfect ending. I hate stand-ups, but if I have to do one, the best time to do it is on your last day of duty. That's because you HAVE to be released to your days off when you return. And that's exactly what happened.

On my first day I accompanied my hubby to his surgery appointment for his right hand. Surgery took a lot longer than last time, and that was because the condition of his hand was a lot worse than his left hand. There was a lot of arthritis in his thumb joint (which has now been replaced), as well as a lot of scar tissue surrounding one of his nerves. He also had the carpal tunnel surgery done at the same time, so in time, his right had should be almost as good as new. Well...maybe not that good...but at least it'll be a lot less painful than it has been.

I was supposed to start six duty days just a couple days after his surgery, but I opted to take sick days instead. Since this was Greg's right hand, it took him a little longer to get used to doing things without it. Plus, I was concerned because this surgery was a lot more in depth than last time...

I'm now at the end of my next set of days off, and am scheduled to go back to work for three days. I've been reading my friends' updates on FaceBook, and have truly missed not being a part of their trips and traveling fun. However, I truly have NOT missed driving to/from Denver. I really look forward to the day (maybe early next year?) when I have control over my own schedule and fly a comfortable amount of hours, with a minimum number of round-trip drives to Denver...or maybe even round-trip flights from COS to DEN. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Sitting on the Sexy Black Leather Couch...

2010-09-04T19:48:00.000-06:00

My three-day trip to LGA and SLC was great! I had several hours with Jen and Liza - though we did not make it to Central Park. It was too hot and humid! So we stayed inside at her apartment, and ordered in lunch. Very short, but very sweet.

I slept when I got to SLC - I was so tired for some reason and just needed to sleep. And that's what I did. It was great!

I had a great cabin crew on the SLC overnight, but one of the flight attendants on the LGA overnight was a bit different. She was nowhere to be found at show time, and when she did arrive she had a long story about the hotel van. The other flight attendant in the back used to fly with her all the time, and said, "she always has such creative stories." Hmmmm. The thing is, she was the CPT's pet, so nothing will ever be said to anyone in charge.

Speaking of which, has anyone ever heard of a guy getting a "kitchen pass" from his wife? A co-worker told me that a CPT hit her with that line a couple weeks ago - he wanted to know what she could do for him! OMG. How disgusting is that?!?!? She had gone to the flight deck to give the first officer a potty break, and this is what the CPT said to her. She replied, "So...where are you taking the kids for vacation this year?" Good comeback for an uncomfortable situation!

Speaking of uncomfortable situations, when I was on the NYC subway the other day heading to Jen's apartment, a strange looking man boarded my car and said to me, "Are you rich?" I just looked at him and laughed! Then he started hitting on the young girl sitting across from me. At first she listened to him, and then she went back to her book. Finally, he gave up and got off at the next stop - when a woman walked on, he said to her, "Stay good looking, cause if you don't you'll be ugly!" I wonder how long it took him to come up with that comment.

Today when I arrived at DIA to sit the couch, I walked from one end of the A concourse to the other to get a bit of exercise, and I saw some of the strangest looking outfits! First, there was a family of five - the older couple were dressed like "Dr. Quinn - Medicine Woman," as were the younger couple, pushing a stroller with a young'un. And, of course, I later saw one of the couples in the leather-goods store on the concourse! The other strange-looking person was going to Detroit. He was very tall and very thin, dressed all in patchwork leather. He had lace-up boots, and his leather pants were tight, tight, tight! His outfit was topped off with the kind of hat that Robin Hood would wear - complete with a foot-long feather! If I had had my camera, I would have snapped a pic - but how do you do that without them seeing you and punching you in the face?

I am off duty in 15 minutes. I started out with two others, but they were both sent on trips. So sad. So I cleaned up the crewroom, organized the "Lost and Found," and did all my online training courses (one was due before I go to my annual training, and all the other courses were due by the end of this year)!

I fully expect to be sent somewhere, sometime...I just don't know when or where. As a co-worker said to me today, "I'm finding that meditation, medication and alcohol are helping me tolerate being on reserve." So true, so true.

Days Gone By...Good Things to Come

2010-08-29T20:04:00.000-06:00

I was having too good of a time to blog!

Nancy totally spoiled me when I visited. We got fresh quiche and cheese for lunch, had a great time floating in her pool, dinner at the Wharfside Restaurant in Pt. Pleasant, followed by funnelcake on the boardwalk. Awesome.

On Sunday morning, we went to early mass, and then she dropped me off at the train at Bay Head for my trek back to NYC. When I arrived at Penn Station, my original plan was to take a bus to LGA...however, it was raining. The thought of having to change buses three times to get to LGA was overwhelming, so I took a taxi. Big mistake. There was a big accident and we got stuck in traffic, and that meter was creeping up and up and up.

When we finally got to LGA, I found out that the US Airways flight to DCA that I had hoped to catch a ride on was full, AND there were 22 non-revs. Hmmmm. It did not look good for me. The gate agents recommended that I try Delta's commuter flight. Interesting fact - that flight is operated by Shuttle America, a subsidiary of Republic Airways - our parent company. BUT I have no flight benefits on their flights since it's under contract to Delta. But I have Delta flight benefits...go figure. Diane and Mark came to the rescue and gave me a Delta buddy pass, getting it into the computer system within one minute of the flight closing. YAY!

Diane & Mark's new home is absolutely gorgeous! Mom has her own "space" - and it is beautiful! I got to spend a few days hanging out with them and relaxing. Of course, Mom beat me at "65," but I whooped her hide at "Dummy." And then Mark came along and beat us both at "65." Natalie and I also got beat by Mom playing "Scattergories." Oh well...I left with my tail between my legs.

On Wednesday morning, we decided to try out the commuter shuttle bus to get back to DC, and it worked like a charm! I paid $5.75 to go from California, MD to Metro Station (note to self - get off at Le'Fant Plaza next time), and then I took Metro to DCA. I got the last seat on the first Frontier flight back to DEN - a window seat - and I slept for the entire 3 hour 20 minute flight!

I started duty again on Friday, and guess what I did? I got assigned to the C couch - usually from 4PM until 10PM, but it got changed to 2PM until 8PM. When I checked in, though, they told me that I was doing a turn to Orange County, CA and would get back to DEN at 11PM. Lovely. The flight there was almost full, and the flight back had 61 passengers. Fortunately, it went by quickly.

Yesterday, no one called me at home - and that was a good thing. I realized that I had a sinus infection, so all I did was sit on the couch and sleep all day. It was delightful! I watched several of my DVR'ed TV shows and slept through some of them, too.

And as I write this I am once again on the couch at DIA. I got the 4PM until 10PM shift again, and I actually picked-up a three day trip starting tomorrow afternoon! I'll spend Monday night at LGA (with a 19 hour layover!!!) and Tuesday night at SLC (with a 17 hour layover). Nice, huh?

So right now I have a playdate with my new grandpuppy, Liza on Tuesday morning in Central Park! YAY! I am VERY EXCITED to see her (and Jen, too) again!

All Aboard!

2010-08-21T05:33:00.001-06:00

How 2010ish of me - I am blogging on a train from NYC to Bay Head, NJ. Woo hoo!

I have been on vacation/days off since Tuesday, 8/10/10. I spent the first week hanging out around the house, doing odd jobs such as weeding the yard, doing bookwork, lunching with friends, etc. Then on Tuesday, 8/17/10 - my birthday - I treated myself to a trip to NYC to see my little girl, her fiance, and my brand new grandpuppy!

I got on the flight with no problem - I was #1 on the non-rev list, and got assigned to a seat in stretch seating. I SLEPT the entire flight. Ahhhhhh. I think I was tired. Then I took a taxi to Jen's apartment, and the adventure began!

We've gone on short puppy walks, long puppy walks, to the dog park, had lots of delicious lunches and dinners, and lots of just hanging out. It has been delightful!I got Jen to go to the doctor to see what they had to say about her cough and her migrane - it turns out that she has bronchitis! Now, how the doctor knew that is a mystery to her and I, because all the doctor did was look in her ears and nose, listen to her chest, and that was pretty much it! Also, the doctor donned a face mask, complete with a clear plastic eye shield, when she heard that Jen had a cough. It was so weird. But at least she wrote an RX for an antibiotic and a heavy-duty cough syrup so that Jen could get a good night's sleep.

We ended the visit with an awesome pedicure at Dashing Divas, compliments of James (it was my birthday present). Thanks, James! It was a very nice visit, as I continue to get to know James and enjoy watching the both of them handling parenthood with their new puppy!

I am now on my way to Bay Head, NJ, where my sister Nancy will pick me up. We'll spend the day together, she's taking me to dinner for my birthday, and then tomorrow after Church I'll head back to NYC and on to LGA to catch a shuttle flight to DCA - then I'll spend a few days visiting with my Mom, my sister and her family.

From what I hear, things have slowed down a bit at work - I am already at 83 hours credit for the month (which includes my vacation, sick days and actual days worked) - and I've actually worked only 9 days. Nice, huh? It was a grueling 9 days, but I survived!

To The Flying Public

2010-08-14T14:15:00.000-06:00

This about sums it up. I couldn't have said it any better if I'd written it myself.

To the Flying Public: We're sorry

(Author Unknown)

We're sorry we have no pillows.

We're sorry we're out of blankets.

We're sorry the airplane is too cold.

We're sorry the airplane is too hot.

We're sorry the overhead bins are full.

We're sorry we have no closet space for your oversized bag.

We're sorry that's not the seat you wanted.

We're sorry there's a restless toddler/overweight/offensive smelling passenger seated next to you.

We're sorry the plane is full and there's no other seats available.

We're sorry you didn't get your upgrade.

We're sorry that guy makes you uncomfortable because he 'looks like a terrorist'.

We're sorry there's a thunderstorm and we can't take off.

We're sorry we don't know when it will stop.

We're sorry you're crammed into a space so small that if you were an animal PETA would protest.

We're sorry a Super 80 has no music or video entertainment for your 3 hour flight.

We're sorry we ran out of your favorite soda.

We're sorry there's no more sandwiches.

We're sorry that Budweiser costs $6.00.

We're sorry we don't have diapers for your baby.

We're sorry we don't have milk for same baby.

We're sorry you can't hang out by the cockpit door waiting to use the bathroom.

We're sorry you can't hang out at the back of the airplane.

We're sorry you have to sit down and fasten your seatbelt.

We're sorry you have to put your seat up for landing.

We're sorry we don't know when we're going to land.

We're sorry we don't know whether your plane to (substitute any city in the world) will be waiting for you when we land.

We're sorry we've been diverted because we ran out of gas waiting to land.

We're sorry for these and so many other things that we have absolutely no control over but which we are held accountable for EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Please understand. Flight attendants are not the enemy. We share your space. More than anyone – we want to have a nice, pleasant travel experience.

There is a reason behind everything we ask you to do. It may be a FAA Directive. It may be security related. It may be a company procedure.

We don't just make stuff up. We don't spend 8 weeks at the flight academy learning how to pour a Coke. There are many things that flight attendants are watching for constantly on every flight FOR YOUR SAFETY.

It's not because we're bored or so controlling that we just enjoy telling people what to do. I, for one, would like to have one flight where I didn't have to repeatedly tell people to put their seats up for landing. Seriously. Can't you just do what we ask sometimes? Without the glares, eye rolling and disdain? For the record – putting your seat up for landing may not seem that important to your personal safety. However, it is very important for the person sitting BEHIND YOU. If you have ever tried to get out of a row where someone has their seat back you know it can be a challenge. Try grabbing your ankles (emergency brace position) or getting out that row quickly with smoke in the cabin.

Understand a little better now?

Many of the things we ask passengers to comply with are FAA directives. Like carry-on bag stowage and exit row requirements. When we can serve drinks (in the air) and when we can't (after the aircraft door is closed or on an active taxi-way). We are only allowed to move about the cabin during taxi out for safety related duties. We can't get you blankets then, or hang coats, or get you drinks. It's not because we don't want to. It's because we are held personally responsible if we fail to comply with FAA directives. Meaning that the FAA can fine us personally up to $10,000 if we fail to comply or enforce an FAA Directive. Like no bags at the bulkhead. No children in the exit row. No one moving around the cabin during taxi. Perhaps now you know why flight attendants get a little testy when people move about the cabin when they're not supposed to. It's not the company that gets in trouble for that. It's us.

Personally, I wish the airlines would show worst case scenario safety videos. Like what happens if you walk through the cabin during turbulence. There could be a guy who has just fallen and smacked his face on the metal armrest and now has a bloody, gushing broken nose. Or an elderly lady who now has a broken arm because someone walking to the bathroom fell on her. Maybe a passenger with a broken neck because somebody opened an overhead bin during turbulence and a suitcase fell out and onto the person sitting beneath it. These things can easily happen in a fast moving, unstable air environment.

Please just trust that we are looking out for your best interest and stop fighting with us about everything we ask you to do. It is exhausting.

Finally, please, please direct your hostility and frustrations in the direction where they will be most effective: The customer service department. They are the ones equipped to handle your complaint and implement procedures for CHANGE. Think about it. Complaining to the flight crew about all your negative travel experiences is about the same as complaining to the office janitor because your computer isn't working. It may make you feel better to vent about it – but it really won't fix anything. More than anybody we are already aware of the lack of amenities, food, service and comfort on the aircraft. Please share your concerns with the people in the cubicles at corporate who need that information to make better decisions for the flying public.

It's frustrating that so many people are in denial about what the travel industry is about now. The glory days of pillows, blankets, magazines and a hot meal for everyone are long gone. Our job is to get you from point A to point B safely and at the cheapest possible cost to you and the company. So be prepared. If you are hungry – get a sandwich before you get on the plane. If it's a 3 hour flight, anticipate that you may get hungry and bring some snacks. If you are cold natured – bring a wrap. Think for yourself and think ahead. Otherwise, don't complain when you have to pay $3.00 for a cookie and are left with a crusty blanket to keep you warm.

We hear often that the service just isn't what is used to be. Well, the SERVICE we provide now isn't what it used to be.

When I was hired, my job was to serve drinks, meals, ensure that safety requirements were met and tend to in-flight medical issues. Since 9/11 my primary job is to ensure that my airplane will not be compromised by a terrorist. 9/11 may be a distant memory now to many, but be assured that EVER DAY a flight attendant reports to work he or she is constantly thinking about 9/11. We feel a personal responsibility to ensure that something like that never happens again. We can never relax. We can never not be suspicious about someone's intentions. It is difficult to be vigilant and gregarious at the same time. Especially when most of us are working 12 hour days after layovers that only allow 5-6 hours of sleep. Not because we were out partying and having a grand time on the layover – but because the delays that you experience as a passenger also affect us as a crew, so that what was a 10 hour layover is now 8 hours which doesn't leave a lot of time to recover from what has become an increasingly stressful occupation.

Despite everything, I still enjoy being a flight attendant.

I am writing this letter because I do still care about my profession and about the public perception of flight attendants. In the increasingly challenging travel world it is becoming more imperative than ever for people to just be decent to each other. I can go through an entire day without one person saying anything remotely civil. I will stand at the aircraft door and say hello to everyone who enters and maybe 50% will even look at me and even less will say hello back. I will try to serve someone a meal who can't be bothered to take their headsets off long enough for me to ask them what they want. Most of the time the only conversation a passenger has with me is when they are complaining. Is it any wonder why flight attendants have shut down a bit? After suffering the disdain of hundreds of passengers a day it's difficult sometimes to even smile, much less interact. We are human.

We appreciate the same respect and courtesy that passengers do. The next time you fly, try treating the flight attendants the way you would like to be treated. You may be surprised how friendly your flight crew is when they are treated like people.

What Really Happened?

2010-08-13T09:47:00.000-06:00

Now that the media circus surrounding Steven Slater's dramatic slide to unemployment has died down a bit, more information is coming out. Passengers who were on the flight are being interviewed, the timeline is being changed, and observations are changing. He may not be the hero that I had hoped he was. Darn.

I'm now officially "on vacation" for seven days - I've already had three days off so far. However, nothing has gone as planned. Originally, I was supposed to be leaving MD to come back to CO right now, but I ended up getting sick and staying home, instead. Then next week, I was going to go to Breck with a fellow flight attendant for a few days, but then Jen changed her plans and was coming into town. But now her flights are getting fuller and fuller, so maybe I'll end up in Breck, after all? Or maybe in NYC? Who knows? And during my last four days off, I'm going to try to go to MD. It's a good thing that I am flexible, huh?

I do know that I have to get my husband's bookkeeping done, weeds pulled in the yard, and assorted other stuff around the house. Fun, fun.

But what I SHOULD DO is chuck it all and head to some warm sunny beach with palm trees! Ahhhh. I can feel myself relaxing already. Does anyone have a friend who has a house on a beach with a spare guestroom? :)

Steven Slater

2010-08-12T12:54:00.000-06:00

I have had lots of people ask me my opinion of Steven Slater, the (soon-to-be-former) jetBlue flight attendant who blew a slide, took two beers, and essentially slid right out of his job into unemployment.

He is my hero.

I say this because he did what lots of us would LOVE to do. Granted, he did go too far...and for that, he'll most likely lose his job. I don't think he should go to jail, though.

What about the female passenger who assaulted him? Why isn't anything being said about her? She deliberately injured a flight attendant! We've been told that is a federal offense! She should be held accountable, and she, too should be subject to the media attention being given to Steven.

Fortunately, passengers like that are a definite minority. If it was otherwise, I don't think I would have lasted in this job as long as I have (almost three years now!). Here's a sampling of what I've experienced:

1. Bags set on the ground and the passenger tells me it's too heavy for them to lift and put in the overhead. My response - "You bring it, you sling it. Maybe some nice gentleman would be happy to help you." Usually followed up with, "My company doesn't allow me to pick up passenger bags any longer. We've experienced to many OJI claims because the bags are too heavy and there is a weight limit of 35 pounds for carry-on bags. If you lift it, I'll be happy to assist you by guiding it into the overhead."

2. Seatbacks and tray tables down as we prepare for take-off and/or landing. Eyes roll when I ask for them to comply. My response, "In case of an emergency evacuation, your seatback and/or tray table will prevent those behind you and/or next to you from being able to get off the aircraft." Usually the passengers around the eye-roller will ensure that he keeps his seat forward and/or his tray table stowed.

3. Passengers needing to get up to go potty, but the seatbelt sign is still illuminated. I am not allowed to give permission. All I am allowed to say is "The seatbelt sign is still illuminated, and federal regulation requires that passengers remain in their seats until the captain turns off the fasten seatbelt sign." One guy just wouldn't let it go recently, so I told him, "Maybe you should have gone before you got on the plane." His wife hit him and said, "That's what I told him!" The guy seemed to take the harassment well, so I went on to say, "Maybe you should consider wearing Depends!" Again, the wife hits him and says, "That's what I told him!"

4. Passengers who come on board with more than the allowed number of carry-on bags (2). First of all, the gate personnel should not allow them to board the aircraft without checking bags to reach the allowed number. Then, when I tell them that the larger bag may be placed in the overhead, but all the other items must be placed under the seat in front of them, I inevitably hear, "Well, I can place this, this, and this on top of one another and take up the same amount of space as a roller bag!" My response, "That's not the point. You are allowed one bag up and one bag down." Followed, of course, by, "but I paid for this overhead space!" My favorite flights are those that the gate personnel check ALL the large bags - the boarding process is a breeze, no one fights over bin space, and everyone is happy! One of these days, I'm tempted to take the flight attendant duct tape and seal all the overhead bins.

5. Passengers who don't want to take care of their kids. There are those that don't bring enough food, drink and/or toys and expect us to have everything on board to entertain their child. We charge for our food, we do not usually have milk, and we have a very limited supply of crayons. When I was recently scolded by an irate mother at the end of the flight that, "back in the day flight attendants used to do whatever was necessary to help mothers of crying babies," I responded, "back in the day when I was a mother, I brought my own food/drink/toys to keep my child entertained." I could've added that I did not allow my child to tear up the in-flight magazines, the Safety Information Card and/or the Cabin Services Guide, and either throw the pieces on the floor or hide them in the seatback pocket. Also, I cleaned up any mess that my child made in my row before I left the aircraft...we've had to scrape stickers off of the seats/walls/traytables, vacuum smashed cookies, and disinfect seats that are used as changing tables. I wonder what these peoples' homes look like.

6. Speaking of trash, it's not just kids that are offenders. Gum-chewers love to put their chewed gum on the underside of their armrests, between the pages of the in-flight magazine, and on the back of the seat in front of them and then they press the Safety Information Card against it. It happens an average of once or twice PER FLIGHT that I've been on! I cannot count the number of times that we go up and down the aisles during each flight, either pushing the trashcart or carrying trashbags, and there's always one or two people who give us NOTHING. Then when we have to clean the plane to fly back out, we find their food wrappers, cups (still filled with liquid), AND their newspapers stuffed into the seatback pocket. Really?

7. How about showing some respect, and take the time to get dressed before you come on my plane? Guys...pull up your pants so that your whitey tidies (or Spongebob Squarepants boxers) aren't on my seats. Ladies, cover up the cleavage. Do I really need to see everything you've got? Keep your pajamas and slippers at home in your bedroom, and please please please be sure to shower! It's not pleasant when people with BO come onboard, and everyone around them has to hold their breath for a 2-hour flight.

These are only seven examples of things that I've personally experienced. I haven't mentioned the passengers that call us names (some are obscene), poke us with their fingers, hit us trying to get our attention, or yell for us. Fortunately, if it's a really bad situation we have the ability to get the passenger taken off the plane, but if we've already taken off, there's not much you can do.

And as for the other 98% of the flying public, they're happy to assist in writing witness statements to support our actions, to subdue unruly passengers by sitting on them while taping their hands and feet together, and sometimes they even cheer when a jerk passenger exits the aircraft! There's always someone coming up to us after an "incident," commending us on our handling of the situation and thanking us for removing the offending party or for "putting them in their place."

This is an addicting job. The great things that happen far outweigh the negative. But I can see how a little too much of the negative can cause a flight attendant to temporarily "lose it," especially when they've worked the job for 20 years. And, as for those who say that flight attendants shouldn't be "losing it," - then please come onto our aircraft as our guests, treat us with respect, and we will be happy to treat you the same. Keep in mind, we ARE only human.

Counting the Days...

2010-08-08T18:51:00.000-06:00

I had a really fun day off - even though I actually drove up to Denver! Three of the flight attendants from the class ahead of me are pregnant and are all due in September, and we held a triple baby shower for them - it was SO NICE to hang out with some of my FA friends outside of work. The girls are all so beautiful!

Also, I heard back from the CEO of my company regarding my concerns about being worked to death. He actually said that NO ONE ELSE had contacted him regarding the reserves being worked nonstop. I had told him that as a result, I was now sick, and was probably going to add to the understaffing problem. So I sent out the word to the other reserve FAs to contact the CEO and let him know that what we're going through is wrong.

At 3:30PM on the day of the shower, I aggressively bid on a three-day trip, and even though I have TONS of hours already, and I didn't bid until 2 1/2 hours after the bidding opened, I got awarded the trip! Go figure.

So off I went on Saturday afternoon to DIA - and as I've come to expect, the drive to DEN was horrendous. I've learned that I have to leave extra time for my commute - but this time the highway was BEAUTIFUL until I got north of Castle Rock. After that, the traffic came to a standstill. Unfortunately, the roads in the area had been built since my map had been published...so I had no idea how to get from point A to point B. But I did it anyway! I followed cars as they left the highway by going up the entrance ramp and then heading west. Then I headed north. I figured that as long as I kept the mountains to my left, I should eventually get to where I needed to go...and it worked! In the process, I saw some beautiful homes in the Castle Pines area. Nice!

Eventually, I made it to DIA, with about a 1/2 hour to spare. It sure is a good thing that I give myself extra time! When I checked in, I saw that the A flight attendant had changed since I was awarded the trip - I was disappointed, because I wanted to chat with her about her habit of calling in sick so close to the show time. But she had called in sick again! Hmmmmm. Maybe this is one of the ladies that should think about retiring... Instead, I got to fly with Jon - a really nice guy in the class ahead of me.

As I prepared for our departure, I saw that I missed a call from the Director of Inflight. She left me her cellphone number and said that I should call her if I wanted to talk...it'd have to wait until we arrived in Tucson for the night!

I had a great crew, the time flew by fast, and before we knew it, we were in our hotel rooms and I made "the call." All is well. Rosie called me to let me vent, and to let me know that she's seen my schedule and it really is horrible. She gave me some insight - it turns out that our new parent company likes to keep the staffing levels fairly low, so junior assigning is a very common thing (where crew scheduling calls you, and if you answer the phone, you HAVE to take the trip - so we've learned to NEVER answer our phones if we don't recognize the number). Knowing this new situation makes me sad...

We had an early show this morning to fly back to DEN, with only 37 passengers. Then we switched planes and flew a full boatload to St. Louis for the night. We got in in the early afternoon, and I got to go up to Bandanas, a nice BBQ restaurant up the street from our hotel. They have an awesome baked potato topped with BBQ...so good!

Then I went back to my room and pretty much passed out!!! But now it's time to put my jammies on and go to bed! We have another early show in the morning when we go back to DEN and then on to Orange County, CA for a 45 minute layover. I'm hoping that when I get back to DEN in the early afternoon, that I will be told those magic words, "You are released to your days off!" Woo hoo! Rest and relaxation, here I come!

Who, What, and Where Am I?

2010-08-05T12:21:00.000-06:00

After spending three nice days at home, the poop hit the fan.

I have been flying, driving, sleeping and crying during the last five days. Fortunately, not all at the same time. I am exhausted, as are my fellow reserve flight attendants. Normally, we have 106 reserves and we usually work an average of 75 duty hours each month. Due to flight attendant retirements, maternity leaves, and OJIs, we have 76 reserves. As of yesterday, my fifth day on duty, I have 51 DUTY HOURS. Of those hours, 35 have been FLYING.

Fortunately, the crews have been great. Everyone has worked well as a team, we're keeping the atmosphere light and happy, and things have been going well. My flights/destinations have been too numerous to mention, but there have been some memorable moments.

On our flight from Denver to Tampa yesterday, we were delayed due to a broken airplane. So we were moved to a new gate and a different airplane. During boarding, the CPT got all excited and told me that he just saw a celebrity get on the plane! Woo hoo! I couldn't figure out how I missed seeing Dwayne Johnson or Sandra Bullock boarding the plane! When I asked who it was, passengers coming onboard told me that it was Edgar Hansen! Who? The deckboss of the Northwestern, from the Discovery Channel's show, "The Deadliest Catch." Who? He slept the entire way, and was traveling with his wife and son.

I told the CPT that I would get him a celebrity "meet and greet" at the end of the flight. And I did! First, I asked his son if it'd be okay, and then later I asked his wife. Edgar slept through the ENTIRE flight, so I never could ask him directly. However, as he was walking up the aisle, I asked him if the CPT could have a picture with him. He was very gracious, shook the CPT's hand, and posed for a cellphone picture. The CPT about peed his pants! Unfortunately, the picture is in the CPT's phone, and I didn't ask him to send it to me. But here's a picture of Edgar on his boat...

Edgar Hansen from the Discovery Channel's "The Deadliest Catch"

Our return flight to DEN, we experienced bad weather - a common occurrence in the summer. The CPT had us clean up the cabin early, and then made an announcement for the flight attendants to be seated IMMEDIATELY. Well...Gloria and I were in mid-cabin as the plane dropped. I had been holding onto the overhead bin railing, so my feet stayed on the floor, but I went down onto the floor to prevent getting thrown around. The passenger to my right was freaking out. She grabbed my arm and was rubbing it. I softly talked to her as we rode this "roller coaster." Unlike anything I had ever experienced. People were screaming, but it was strangely fascinating to me. I really wasn't scared. After about 5 minutes, all was clear and we made it up to the forward galley and sat down.

And...of course, instead of being released from duty, I got sent on another trip - this time to Houston. We got in after midnight and I went straight to bed! We'll leave the hotel in an hour, so I guess I'd better get out of bed and get ready to go back to work. I know that they can't work me tomorrow, because that'd make 7 days in a row, and the FAA allows only 6 days at a time. But, there is a chance that they'll send me on another turn that gets back before midnight.

Keep your fingers crossed that I get to enjoy my day off.

Under the Radar

2010-07-28T18:27:00.000-06:00

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

2010-07-25T10:58:00.000-06:00

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

2010-07-23T17:53:00.000-06:00

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...

2010-07-23T11:03:00.000-06:00

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

2010-07-07T19:14:00.000-06:00

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!

Days Off Are Da Bomb!

2010-06-28T23:05:00.013-06:00

After putting in 78 hours of work in so far this month (60 hours of flying time), I had five days off in a row! Woo hoo! Time to have some fun!

So where did I go? Come on! You know me...I went to NYC! Getting there was going to be a challenge, because everything was booked, oversold, with lots of non-revs. My first choice flight to LaGuardia had three seats open, but 14 non-revs...and I was #10 on the list! But somehow, some way, I ended up with a cabin seat! AFTER the gate agent gave me that seat, I rewarded her with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! I also had enough for the CPT, FO and all three flight attendants. I think they appreciated the early morning treat - it goes well with coffee.

I don't remember much of the flight. I put my headphones on, turned on my TV, and slept THE ENTIRE WAY. Given that the flight left at 7:00AM, that was a good thing cause I was tired!

When I got to Jen's apartment, I just kind of hung out, watched some TV, napped, and just relaxed. On Friday, she and I did a bit of shopping - she needed khakis and white button down shirts for her new job at the museum. That night, James took us to a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood - the Pad Thai Noodles and Chicken were delicious!!!

Late that night, Jen's friends Jenn and Stacy arrived from Baltimore - they came in for the "Main Event"...Wedding Dress Shopping at Kleinfeld in Manhattan. One of Jen's NYC friends, Liz, joined us as well, and we had a wonderful time shopping for a wedding gown. Kleinfeld is the store where "Say Yes to the Dress" is filmed. They had a sign that they were filming on Saturday, but we did not see any cameras. But we did see all the bridal consultants from the show. Our consultant was Judith - a very nice lady with 25 years at Kleinfeld. Jen showed her some pictures she had printed from the internet, we walked through the gowns displayed for the designer Lazaro's trunk show, and we ended up with three gowns for Jen to try.

The first was nice, but nothing exciting. The second one was much better, but still not "the one." The girls and I had seen the third one in the showroom, and when Jen saw it, she fell in love. It was a size 0, so only a toothpick could have tried it on, so Judith held it up in front of Jen and we all pretty much started crying. It's simple, elegant and gorgeous. That was at the 1/2 hour mark. It was that easy. The best thing is, is that Lazaro was there and made a personalized drawing of the dress for Jen! Jen's first dress fitting will be in 10 MONTHS!

Saying "YES" to the dress was relatively easy!

Stacy, Liz, Jen, and Jenn After a Successful Wedding Gown Search

We celebrated by getting some cupcakes, then having lunch at a Cuban restaurant. Later, we played "Apples to Apples" on Jen's 11th floor patio - there was a nice breeze up there that made the hot, muggy day bearable!

Our next event was to meet Dan's family - Dan is one of Jen's good friends, and his family lives in NJ. His parents and I are Facebook friends, we "chat" every so often, and we've been dying to meet! They were coming into the city for Dan's Off-Broadway debut in "Yearbook - A High School Musical." But first, we all met at the Olive Garden in Times Square for dinner! We got a Mafia Room all to ourselves and enjoyed a wonderful meal with great conversation and good friends.

Momma Moore and Momma Navas Finally Meet!

The Navas Family - Sandy, Luis, Judy, and Dan

Jen's Friends - Liz, Stacy and Jenn

Next up was Dan's musical. Let's just say that he stole the show. It was held in a very small theater, with the audience consisting of friends/family of the cast members. I liked the ensemble songs, but not all the actors were as good as Dan. I think he's got a bright future - he has the talent and the personality to succeed!

The following day, James joined "the girls" for brunch at Serendipity, where the frozen hot chocolate is TO DIE FOR. We also visited Dylan's Candy Bar to pick up a few sweets to take with us to the Pride Parade that was being held down 5th Avenue. I got to attend four years ago when Jen attended CAP21, so I had "been there, done that" already. But it was definitely interesting to see this year's parade...

Men Dressed up like Little Girls

Men Dressed up Like Sailors

Men Dressed up as Ice Cream Cones

And Men Dressed up as All Sorts of Things!

Sadly, I had to leave that evening so that I had a day at home to pull my act together before it was time to be back on duty on Tuesday. I decided to fly out of JFK on JetBlue - all went well until I got there. The flight was delayed by an hour. Then two hours. Then our gate changed. Then we were delayed another hour. Then our gate changed again. We finally took off FIVE HOURS late. All the cabin seats were full, so I got to sit on the flight attendant jumpseat - thank goodness! My only problem is that it was now 12:30AM and I had to stay awake for the next FOUR hours of flying!

Fortunately, the crew was very gracious to me, and we talked about all kinds of things during those four hours when they weren't doing their duties...we compared airlines, procedures, benefits, and we even discussed serial killers! Before I knew it, we were on the ground in Denver and I got to drive home. It was now 3:15AM and I SHOULD have just taken a cat nap in the car. But Noooooooooo. I had to just start driving. I did stop a couple times to get a donut or a bottle of water or just to walk around. I was exhausted. I finally got home at 5:15AM and I don't even remember crawling into bed!

It was a great trip - we got a lot accomplished, and I'd play "The Non-Rev Game" again if it meant I could do it all again!

Incredibly Beautiful

2010-06-19T14:37:00.002-06:00

After I left NYC, I had a quick turn to Jackson Hole, WY. The flights to/from were just around an hour and we had about 40 minutes on the ground. Oh how I wish we had longer! Seeing those majestic peaks brought back all kinds of warm fuzzies - I lived in Yellowstone National Park for 7 months back in the early 80s, and I traveled to Jackson Hole a couple times.

A view of the Tetons from the airplane passenger window.

Another view of the beautiful Tetons.

I absolutely love this picture.

On the ground in Jackson Hole, WY.

While we were hanging out at the airport for 40 minutes, I tried to convince the CPT that we had a mechanical. But he didn't buy it. I just wanted more time in this beautiful place. A LOT more time.

The Tetons in Jackson Hole, WY

Can you imagine waking up to this scene every morning? From what I understand, it snowed there the previous day! Sounds like it is very similar to Colorado weather. The passengers boarding the plane commented on how it's FINALLY pretty weather...I lucked out!

So Close...But Yet So Far

2010-06-17T19:34:00.001-06:00

Here I am, at the Crowne Plaza by LaGuardia. Only a short 15 minute $30 cab ride from Jen's apartment. Arghhhh. I wish money were no object. Only a one hour $2 bus/subway ride to Jen's apartment. I wish worrying about being on time in the morning wasn't an issue. Oh well.

We just got into town, we have less than 10 hours until we leave. I won't sleep the entire time I'm here...but there's really not much time to do anything else. I tried to convince my co-workers to come with me to Times Square - a shared cab ride wouldn't be as bad, but they all wanted to get their beauty sleep.

Otherwise, it's been a good, but long, day. I spent last night at my friend's parents' house, which is about 30 minutes from DIA. I think I slept okay - cause I remember dreaming, but I also remember lying there tossing and turning, wishing I could sleep. So...that might explain why I'm so wiped out now.

When I got to DIA, I decided to check out who I was flying with, and one of the senior mamas that was on the trip was no longer there, and my classmate Crystal was! Yay! She's such a positive, beautiful woman - I love being around her. She's newly engaged, so we compare wedding planning notes! So finding out that she was on the trip started the day off right!

First we did a turn to Las Vegas, and it's always fun to tease the passengers about winning, losing, having fun, relaxing - all the reasons that people go to Vegas. The group going back to Denver was more subdued - broke, tired, hungover, sunburned. But it was a good crowd.

Our next flight was to LGA on a 320, so a senior mama joined us - and she is so, so sweet! I had a smart-mouthed guy in 2C with a big-(fake)-boobed girlfriend with curly hair (with purple streaks). He kept reclining his seat when he wasn't supposed to, and asked me, "what does it matter?" I explained, but obviously it's all about him, cause Crystal had to ask him several times, too. But his girlfriend kept him happy by straddling him with her boobs in his face every time that she needed to go potty. Fortunately for the CPT and FO, she was up and about when they came out of the flight deck and had a potty break - they got to enjoy the silicon valley, so to speak.

Speaking of our CPT, he is spoiling us rotten. He picked up sweet rolls for all of us at Starbucks when we were in Vegas, and then in Denver he picked up a McDonald's wrap for us to enjoy on the way to LGA! Nice! And now he just invited us to join him downstairs for a cocktail...but we're all going to be party-poopers because our van is at 7:20AM - his isn't until at least 5PM. Lucky! Our CPTs and FOs get nice 20 hour layovers here, but us FAs only get 10. That needs to be changed!

All in all, it's been a great day. I'm exhausted, but in a good way. I look forward to climbing into that luxurious Crowne Plaza bed and falling asleep! Tomorrow's flight back to DEN will be at least 4 hours, and then we have to do a turn to Jackson Hole, WY - I would LOVE to get off the plane and stay there for awhile! If anything, I hope to at least have time to look out the windows at the Tetons! Oh, how I miss them!

Good 'til the Last Drop!

2010-06-16T23:20:00.002-06:00

I feel like a coffee commercial. Being squeezed and squeezed until the last drop comes out of me. I have nothing left.

But I have been awesome. Smiling, thanking or welcoming aboard - the job gets done no matter how exhausted I am!

Today, I was woken up by a phone call at 6:30AM giving me a 2 hour short call for an LAX turn. Fairly uneventful, except for the return trip - I almost had to have two girls pulled off the plane...one was asking guys to sit on her lap, and take her banana. Nothing major, but it was all so sleazy. I suspected that she might be drunk, but she was okay and she calmed down after the gate agent spoke with her.

When we got back to DEN I turned on my phone and there was a message telling me that I had a MKE turn on my schedule. And lo and behold, I turn my phone on after arriving at DIA from LAX, and there's a message assigning me to a MKE turn. OMG.

And then when I call in to be released, I get assigned to a two-day trip that has a showtime of 8:55AM. BUMMER. I was so exhausted that I don't have the energy to drive home - so I'm staying with my friend Bev's parents. And speaking of which, I had better go to bed, because I'm exhausted and I don't know if what I'm writing is making any sense...

Fun with Connie and Melissa!

2010-06-12T18:26:00.004-06:00

What an awesome group of duty days...I sat the couch on Monday from 4PM until 10PM (that really wasn't very awesome...in fact, it was hot and yucky in the crewroom so it was actually kind of miserable), on Tuesday I got to stay home and do nothing, and then on Wednesday I got assigned a fantastic three-day trip with a wonderful crew!

On Wednesday, we had a turn to Los Angeles and then an overnight in Indianapolis. I was very excited about IND because one of my classmates, Casie, from Flight Attendant training recently moved to IND and is based in MKE. I let her know that I was coming, our schedules were both open and we got to meet for lunch! And guess what? She brought her sweetie, Daniel with her! We ate lunch at a delicious restaurant called Palomino and then had dessert at Johnny Rocket's in the mall. It was so good to sit down with them and talk - I especially liked getting to know Dan - he's a cutie!

Me, Casie and Daniel in front of the monument in downtown IND

There was also a lot of excitement going on around the downtown monument - the annual Strawberry Festival! For $6 you could get strawberries, shortcake and ice cream, sit outside listening to live music and enjoy the beautiful weather in IND! But I had already had a chocolate malt...poor planning on my part!

On Thursday afternoon we few back to Denver. On that flight we had Jim Colburn, the Director of Operations for Frontier Airlines on our flight - it was fun to talk with him and gather as much information as we could. He said that new things will be announced in the next 60 days, but he couldn't tell us what they were. (I sure hope the news is that we're hiring a new flight attendant class in Denver...but that'd be too good to be true, I'm afraid!)

After Denver, we headed to San Francisco. I was really getting to know my crewmates - Connie was in the back of the plane and she is a very intuitive and lovely lady, full of good advice (I had to write some of it down so I'd remember it all)! And Melissa who worked the cabin is a beautiful woman inside and out. I entertained her with some of my stories, I LOVED her story of how she met her hubby, and we discussed how she resembles Taylor Swift! She was also my partner in crime after we arrived at the hotel - she and I and the CPT went down to the bar for some snacks and beverages, and we enjoyed a couple hours of good conversation. Another crew came in right before we were leaving - and my classmate, Crystal was one of them!

Connie, Melissa and me!

Connie is a bit on the psychic side...it was fascinating to hear what she had to say!

Melissa left us after our return to Denver after leaving SFO - she has 25 whole days off! I wish I could do that every once in awhile...but she'd already worked 90 hours so far this month! Sheesh!

CPT Shawn - a really nice guy to work with.

Our First Officer Mark - he's a nut, as you can see.

After we returned to Denver on Friday, we had a couple hours sit until our "victory lap" to IND. When we got to our plane, we found out it was broken and was moved to the hangar. Next, they gave us a new plane but none of the TVs were working! Uh oh. By this time, the afternoon storms had blown into Denver, and boy...they were fierce! There were at least three tornado warnings that shut down the ramp and airport, and we finally left for IND almost three hours late!

But we had another bigwig on board - Don Osmundson, the VP of Flight Operations for Republic Airways Holdings, Inc, our parent company. The entire crew got to ask all kinds of questions and he gave us straight answers - I like what I heard. Very fair, very nice and very committed to keeping the Frontier way of life going! He actually said that any flight attendant either here or in MKE who doesn't want to do things the Frontier way are invited to leave our company! Boy...I sure hope he follows through on that! It told him about some of the issues in MKE - he was unaware of these issues - and he promised to start working on them immediately. Please impress me Don, and let's see some changes!

By the time we got to IND, the DEN-bound passengers weren't in the greatest of moods. A large percentage of them were going on to other destinations and had already missed their connections. But Frontier did give them hotel vouchers for the night at a Fairfield Inn. Nice place. Once we were up in the air, we heard that more storms were blowing through Denver. I had a few destinations where the connecting flights were being held for us...but our arrival time went from 11PM to 11:10PM to 11:30PM to 11:45PM. Some of those flights' departure times moved back, too, so some passengers were in luck!

We had someone going on to Salt Lake for a wedding today - she had to be at her hair/make-up appointment at 8AM for her sister's wedding - I don't think she made it. We had a passenger going to Los Angeles and then on to Palm Springs by car to be with her best friend who was dying - she was already booked on the first flight out in the morning...I sure hope that she made it to her friend's bedside in time. There were others going on to Spokane, Seattle and even Colorado Springs. They all had their stories and I tried to keep them informed the best that I could.

As people left the aircraft, they thanked us profusely for staying upbeat, happy, and keeping them informed of what was going on. It had been a long night, but yet people had smiles on their faces as they left our plane. We had done a good job!

When it looked like the three Colorado Springs passengers wouldn't be making it, I offered to let them ride with me, since I was driving that way anyway! They were so excited. It was a grandpa who was 70, his ex-wife of 30 years, and their granddaughter who had just graduated from a local high school - they were returning home after a trip to another grandchild's graduation in IND. We enjoyed good conversation during the drive home, and I dropped them off at the grandpa's apartment in downtown Colorado Springs at 2AM.

So all in all, I had a close to 15 hour duty day. I was exhausted by the time I got home. And I start six duty days tomorrow. What was I thinking?!?!? (That I wanted a bunch of days off in a row so that I could go to NYC later this month, that's what I was thinking!) And, of course, as luck would have it, I'll be gracing that gorgeous sexy black leather couch from 6AM to Noon (but I betcha they'll extend me to 2PM cause they're predicting we'll be short of flight attendants)...I see some serious couch sleeping in my future!

Is it Over Already?

2010-06-06T21:19:00.002-06:00

I've had four lovely days at home. I did a lot of nothing. But today I finally got out of my desk chair and did a bit of spring cleaning in the yard...and at the end of the day what do I see? Kodi relaxing on a lounge chair next to the stream. Poor doggie. He worked so hard today!

Back to work tomorrow - I get to sit on that sexy black leather sofa from 4PM until 10PM, and then I'm on duty for the following four days. I wonder where I'll go this week?

Think Positive (even if it kills ya...)

2010-06-02T11:10:00.002-06:00

I finished my 4-day trip this morning, and I did not hear those glorious words, "You are released to your days off." Instead, I heard, "Don't hate me, but we're putting you on the couch until noon."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it was A LOT better than hearing that I'd been assigned to a LaGuardia or DC turn! So I joined the other three couchsitters (even though I saw only two of them), pulled out my computer, and I've been hanging out on the couch ever since.

My overall feeling is that we need to compromise. I just heard that we're keeping the purple in our uniform...YAY! I was afraid we were losing it, and I didn't want to - it gave our uniform a nice look. So that was my positive today.

As I've said in the past, I'm not a union kind of gal, but since one's been voted in, I guess we have to make the best of it. I want to be sure that all the things that are important to us are included in our first union contract...but I really don't want to be a union member...what a dilemma.

I know there are those people who are thinking that the union is going to bring us "hope and change." I hope it's better than the "hope and change" that we got a year or so ago...my husband's business has slowed tremendously, but our bills haven't. Hope and change, my foot. :)

Unexpected Mini-Vacation Photos

2010-06-01T19:36:00.002-06:00

I'm finally getting around to posting the photos that I took during the recent mini-vacay that I took to San Diego. My coworkers, Bruce and Suzette, joined me in a fun afternoon at Old Town and Ocean Beach. It was SO MUCH FUN!

The fountain at Casa de Reyes - notice the oversized margaritas!

Suzette and I enjoyed a nice Mexican lunch.

Suzette and her lunch.

An almost-empty margarita.

Me and Suzette at Ocean Beach on the pier.

Bruce and Suzette on the Ocean Beach pier.

No trip to Ocean Beach is complete without a photo of a palm tree!

Some of my Friends

2010-06-01T19:20:00.003-06:00

Every once in awhile I remember that I have a camera in my bag, and I'll bring it out while I'm sitting the couch.

This first picture is of two of my classmates, Nancy and LuEllen. We've been sitting on that reserve couch since we graduated in October, 2007. I'm really sad, because as of today, LuEllen has transferred her base to Milwaukee. We'll still see her as she commutes to/from work, I'm sure. But she won't be on any of our trips, nor will I see her smiling face as I sit the couch. So sad.

Nancy also commutes, but by car - she even has a crash pad in Denver. But I'm sure that she is getting tired of being on reserve, just like I am.

And lastly, there's Karen (on the left). She is a true nut. She can dance, and keeps me in stitches most of the time! It's people like these three ladies that help me to love my job as much as I do!

My Life in Pictures

2010-05-31T22:35:00.005-06:00

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

2010-05-27T18:29:00.002-06:00

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

2010-05-20T17:56:00.003-06:00

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

2010-05-18T08:34:00.003-06:00

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?

2010-05-15T09:46:00.002-06:00

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?

2010-05-13T07:05:00.003-06:00

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

2010-05-05T10:39:00.002-06:00

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?!?!?

2010-05-02T16:33:00.002-06:00

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!

Super Stews to the Rescue!

2010-04-26T08:00:00.003-06:00

There I was, sitting on the couch at DIA minding my own business. I got there at 4PM, spent the first hour and a half visiting with my buddy Jenn, then a bit of time visiting with the other couch-sitters.

Then my cell phone rang...

It was crew scheduling. They were pulling all three of us off the couch and sending us to Dallas for an 18 HOUR LAYOVER. Score! It's warm and sunny in Dallas. It's cold and snowy in Denver. It was a tough choice, but I did what I needed to do.

Once again, I was needed. And I answered that call! :)

Lazy Days

2010-04-24T09:47:00.003-06:00

Four days off in a row! What luxury. I had hoped to do lots of yard work...but that didn't happen because the weather decided to not cooperate. We've had rain, wind, snow, hail, tornados, and more wind.

I managed to keep busy anyway - I had lots of appointments crammed into three of the days - probably a good thing that the weather was bad. Tonight, we have a wedding reception to attend! That'll be a nice end to my days off. I'll try and get assigned to the later couch shifts tomorrow so that I don't have to get up so early.

I have spent lots of time on the computer in the past couple of days trying to rearrange my May schedule. I am currently about 41 from the bottom and got about half of the days off that I requested. Of course, the days I didn't get are weekend days - and one of the days is Mother's Day! Everyone I asked to trade said no, and just as I was giving up hope, someone traded that day with me! A co-worker just broke her foot and will be going on medical leave for the next two months or so - she offered to trade the day with me before they yanked her schedule...and it worked!

Now I'm working on getting one more day off - what's the big occasion? I'm going to try and non-rev to North Carolina to attend my niece's college graduation - Greg's already got the days marked off, and we've got the dogsitter all lined up. And right now, *knocks on wood* the flights look pretty good!

I've also got a block of weekdays off later in the month for when Jen comes home - we're going to visit several wedding venues here in Colorado Springs. It sure will be nice when I get a line, because instead of just 11 days off, I'll have maybe 11 days of duty with 20 days off! A girl can dream, huh?

Hooray for Days Off!

2010-04-20T11:21:00.002-06:00

This past Friday I got to sit at home waiting for the phone to ring, and it never did. I bid for the Noon-6PM couch for Saturday (and got it), so that I could go to the Unemployement Bash 2010 held at Bar Louie in Denver. The soon-to-be-unemployed crew schedulers were throwing the party, and I wanted to at least stop in and show my support. So, at 6PM I headed over there and met my friend and co-worker, Jenn.

At the party, we FINALLY got to put faces with the names/voices! Bernie, Barb, Delease (sp?), Matt, Weston, Tischa, and Monte. And I got to put the name with the face for Bobby, the manager! We sat around telling stories, learning what their plans are, and thanking them for all their hard work. We also told stories about the strange stuff that the new crew schedulrs are doing - for instance, while we were at the party they called Jenn at 8PM telling her that she had a showtime of 8:10PM for a stand-up that night. The rules are that they have to give us 2 hours notice...10 minutes isn't quite 2 hours. And all this happened in front of Weston.

I'm sad to see them go, but I know it'll take a bit of time to get the new kids trained and on the same page as us. I sure hope it happens quickly!

On Sunday, I started a new three day trip. The first night was spent in Canton, OH and the second night was spent in Detroit. The sad thing is that we get a new Captain and First Officer every leg. I really don't like that, and I'm not sure why we are doing it this way. But we made the best of it! I had a nice crew going to CAK, and got to visit a bit with Amber, who is pregnant and recently lost her Mom. On my Detroit trip, I got to fly with Karen - she was in the class before mine and she is a nut. I didn't do anything at either hotel or city...just reading and relaxing. Both days our van show time was 5AM, and that's EASTERN time...so it was 3AM Denver time. I guess you could say I was a bit tired.

When I arrived in Denver this morning at around 7:45AM, they released me to my days off and I don't have duty again until Sunday! Yay! I've got alot of yard work waiting for me... :)

Back to the Couch!

2010-04-15T09:22:00.004-06:00

Today is Thursday. And it's back on that sexy, black leather couch for me! Instead of leaving my future to fate, I bid on the 4PM-10PM shift first, and then the Noon-6PM shift second, figuring at least I'd have part of the day knowing that the phone will not ring. Today's my lucky day, because I got my first choice!

I came across a quote by Warren Beatty this morning that pretty much sums up why I'm doing what I'm doing.

You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play.

That's what I experience when I do this job. Yes...I've got lots of responsibilities, but mostly I just get to have fun! Whether it be on a plane or on the ground, in the crewroom or in a layover city. Sometimes I get to laugh continuously for hours! How cool is that?

But right now, it's kind of a sad couple of days at Frontier, because our crew scheduler jobs were moved to Indianapolis recently, and those employees who chose not move with the jobs are leaving the company today and tomorrow. A couple of us reserve flight attendants threw them a luncheon last month - I sent out a notice to all reserve flight attendants and collected money, another planned the meal and ordered the food, and another picked up the food and set up the luncheon. It was the least we could do to show them how much they've meant to us.

I think the worst job in the company is crew scheduling. They're the ones who get to call the reserves at 4AM telling them to be at the airport to take a flight at 6AM. They're the ones who tell us that we have to do an overnight after we've just finished an east coast turn. They're not usually a well-loved bunch of people. All you need to do is read comments on Facebook, or be within earshot of a flight attendant in the crewroom to hear what they really think of being sent out yet again.

But, crew scheduling also gets to call us and tell us that we're going to Costa Rica or Cancun for 24 hours, and sometimes they get to tell us the we're released to our days off when it's only 7:30 in the morning, thus giving us another almost full day off!

I can see where the job would be very fulfilling - being able to make things run like clockwork, using the reserves in the most effective way - and I figure that there's more of the good than the bad...otherwise why would people keep doing the job?

Anyway, only two crew schedulers decided to make the move - so now it's our job to break in the new hires and hope that they'll be as much fun, playful, serious, accurate, and kind as the last batch.

You will be missed! See you in the skies!

The Future of Frontier!

2010-04-13T18:01:00.002-06:00

Before I catch you up on the last 10 days, I have to tell you about today's exciting news! Several months ago, our company was purchased by Republic Airways Holdings (RAH), who had also purchased Midwest Airlines. Things have been a bit rocky - we took over several of Midwest's flights, becaues their planes were returned to the manufacturer and their flight crews were furloughed. The gate crews aren't always the nicest to us, because they think we responsible for the Midwest crews being out of jobs...but the fact is, that Midwest does not exist.

Anyway, an announcement was made today that starting today, the Frontier/Midwest routes, flights, etc. will be called FRONTIER! We get to keep the animals on our tails and winglets, and we will serve fresh chocolate chip cookies (a Midwest staple) on all Frontier flights starting this summer. The most exciting thing, I think, is that the focus will be on GROWTH. I love that word. Because if we grow, then we'll need more Denver-based flight attendants. And when we add new flight attendants, my seniority will go up and I will no longer be on reserve! Wahoo! I just hope it happens SOON.

Now back to this last block of six duty days - I drove almost 800 miles to/from work! Last Wednesday I sat the 4PM to 10PM couch at DIA, and then at 9PM I got a call to go to a gate and get on a flight to Los Angeles! I had enough time to text Jen to tell her I was going, and while I was in the air, she contacted her future mother-in-law and gave her my cell number and the name of my hotel. I called Deniece when I landed and we made plans to meet for brunch on Thursday!

I am happy to say, that not only am I gaining a son-in-law, but I'm also gaining a friend! We had a lot to talk about, and a lot in common! We spent a couple of hours at a nearby Denny's, eating and talking. I look forward to seeing her again the next time I am in Los Angeles.

On Friday, I got to sit the couch (again), but this time from Noon until 6PM. There were lots of fun people to talk to and the time pretty much flew by! Then on Saturday, I got to stay home until around 6PM, when I got a call assigning me to an Oklahoma City stand-up (a flight where we're on the ground less than 7 hours - you go to a hotel, but it's not a good night's sleep...it's more of a nap). We waited and waited and waited, and then found out that we had no CPT, and the flight was cancelled at 11PM. Lovely. I got to drive back home. The bad thing is, is that I'm paid only when I fly or sit the couch. So...my trip to/from DIA was for free!

On Sunday at around noon, I got a call assigning me to another stand-up - this time to Seattle. This time, the flight was delayed for 2 hours! So we got to the hotel at 1:30AM and the van was picking us up at 5AM. There was no rest for the weary. The good news is that I was released to my days off when I returned to DIA, so I got an additional 1/2 day off. Yahoo!

That leads me to today - I've been getting all kinds of errands run - that's what usually happens when I have days off. Eye doctor, computer guru, grocery store, post office. Tomorrow holds more of the same! Then it's back to work on Thursday for another block of six duty days.

On the Go!

2010-04-02T09:40:00.005-06:00

Here are a few of the photos that I took in Costa Rica...

The view off of my hotel room balcony.

The courtyard at the hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Another view of the courtyard - with its big tree - at the hotel.

The swimming pool in the courtyard.

Another view of the beautiful courtyard.

A cow in the courtyard!

The cow in front of Denny's.

The turn to DCA that I did on Tuesday was long, but I had a fun crew so it went by very quickly. However, I was EXHAUSTED. When I turned my phone on in DEN at 3:45PM there was a voicemail waiting for me...I had been assigned to a Tampa overnight leaving at 4:30PM. My entire body turned to mush. There is no way that I could muster the strength and energy to walk to another gate and fly for another several hours! So I called crew scheduling back and told them something that I've never said before...I am FATIGUED. Now my schedule shows "FAT" on it...I'm still wondering if I should take that personally. I had to talk with a manager and then submit an online report - but had I done that trip, it would have brought me up to a 13 hr 35 min duty day. Normally, I'd be able to handle that, but seeing as how I was still sleep deprived from my SJO trip, I decided that I just couldn't do it.

I drove home, pretty much said hello to Greg and then went to bed! I slept for ELEVEN hours. Something tells me that I really was tired. Those eleven hours were unaided by drugs and alcohol. That was my body telling me something.

I spent the rest of Wednesday hanging out at home, getting little projects done, and gradually going further and further away from home running errands. I was still on call, so I figured I'd be called in to do a turn...but the phone never rang. :) Thursday was my day off, and now it's Friday and I'm back on duty until midnight on Saturday night. Last night, crew scheduling assigned me to an overnight in San Francisco that has a show time tonight of 8:15PM. We'll have a 10 hour layover in SFO, then a 2 hour sit in DEN, and then a turn to Las Vegas. I'll get back to DEN at around 10PM, and it'll be midnight by the time I get home.

I am off Easter Sunday for the first time in 3 years! I invited the Littlewoods over for lunch/dinner - we used to get together with them every single year for Thanksgiving and Easter, but stopped when we started traveling on the holidays and when I took this job. Greg still gets to see them, but it's been a long time since I've sit and visited with them. So I look forward to seeing them at our home.

I took the easy way out for Easter dinner - I went to the Honey Baked Ham store and picked up a boneless ham and a couple of side dishes. I'll make one more before they come over on Sunday. By doing this, I have greatly reduced the stress in my life over having company over for a holiday!

Cougar vs. Puma

2010-03-30T05:51:00.002-06:00

We had an awesome time in Costa Rica!

Our flight arrived at around 5AM - most of the passengers slept the entire way...so it was a pretty easy flight, and the other flight attendants helped to make the time go by rather quickly. When we arrive, I took "a nap" until about noon, then ventured outside to visit the grocery store next door. During my first visit to CR in January of 2008, I discovered a "salsa" called Lizano - it's delicious on potatoes, steak, and maybe rice & beans. I bought several bottles on that first trip, and when I ran out, I bought several bottles online at a much higher cost! So I was delighted to be able to "stock up" again.

The grocery store is located next door to the hotel - it's always fun to look around and see familiar products with "different" packaging...after buying my salsa, I headed across the street from the hotel to pick up some lunch at "Subway" - it was fun ordering in Spanish, but not-so-fun knowing that there was a security guard outside the door. In fact, most all the businesses and parking lots around the hotel had security guards. Not an environment that encourages walking around!

I brought my lunch back to the hotel, put on my suit and new cover-up (which I bought in Ft. Lauderdale), and sat poolside for a few hours. Very nice. The hotel was full of kids - some sort of soccer tournament as well as a large group of high school violinists. But by this time, they'd all gone to their games/concerts, so it was nice and quiet at the pool. I saw the FO in the computer room before I headed out to the pool, and one of the other flight attendants, Sandy, came out to the pool after I'd been there for a couple hours.

It clouded over, so I headed back to the room and started to update my Flight Attendant Manual...not the most exciting thing, and I ended up falling asleep and taking another nap! But I woke up in time to go to the "Happy Hour" at the hotel bar - from 5PM until 6PM they give out free beer and a few other type drinks - as usual, I could not keep up with the FO and Sandy...in fact, I didn't even try! A guy named Dave came over to our table and started to hit on me and Sandy - he was with his friend Jack, who was sitting at a nearby table with an aging "hooker" (or at least that's what we thought) - she was about 10 years older than me, had on a really short skirt, high heels and a low cut blouse with big boobs. OMG. But Dave came over to us because he was tired of looking at her boobs, but not being able to understand her!

Afterwards, we headed to a restaurant next door to the grocery store. As we left the hotel, Dave went up to Sandy (who is also tall) and told her "I've always wanted to be with a tall woman..." Puleeze! Couldn't he come up with a more original line?

At the restaurant, I ordered paella - a seafood/rice mixture (it was so delicious!!!) and the FO and Sandy and I continued our conversation. I looked up, and there was Dave and Jack walking into the restaurant to join us. Hmmmm. Dave's story started changing from what he originally had said - but both he and Jack are Vietnam Vets who meet other Vets once or twice a year somewhere in the world. Both of them live in Ft. Lauderdale - Jack is an entertainer and Dave supposedly owns a flight training school.

The conversation was very animated. That's where the title of this blog comes into play - we discussed how old men can pick up young girls, but not be given a name. But an older woman picks up a younger man and she's called a cougar! Then I learned that a married older woman who picks up (or stalks) a younger man is called a puma! Stealthy, sleek and quiet. Hahaha! Sandy was single, but she's engaged, so at first, we called her a puma-in-training. Then we decided that since she has silver hair, she should be called a silver fox!

We had an enjoyable dinner, that is, until I came across a little leg several inches long in my meal...and it had suckers on it - octopus! Yech. So I buried it under the rice and continued to eat the other items! By this time, it was around 7:30PM, and we decided we'd better call it a night since we had an early van the next morning...as we left the restaurant, we ran into the CPT and the other flight attendant, Kelly - they had gone ATVing to a waterfall! What fun!!! I wish that they had told the rest of us about that, cause we would've all gone. Oh well...next time!

The flight home was looooooooong. Over five hours. But that's the way it goes. I don't remember much after I got home - cause I fell asleep on the couch at home on/off for a couple hours. I looked at the computer every once in awhile to take a peek at my schedule - and finally at around 8PM I saw that I was given a turn to DCA for Tuesday. Oh oh. I ended up repacking a little bit and then hitting the hay! No rest for the weary, huh?

SCORE!!!

2010-03-27T22:36:00.001-06:00

I got a call at 6:15pm telling me that I was going to San Jose, Costa Rica for a 23 hour layover. Woo hoo!

The only thing wrong with that, is that it is a redeye trip and I won't have enough time to take a nap before I go...but I will survive!

We'll get there at around 5am, I'll sleep for a few hours, then maybe have a massage or hang out by the pool. It'll be awesome...tropical and relaxing.

Adios!

Mindless Wonderings

2010-03-27T11:18:00.003-06:00

I've not got much to say today. I'm at home, in a nice warm house. My hubby and dogs are in Breckenridge in our nice warm cabin. Well...actually, the hubby is skiing on the slopes of Keystone right now, so he's probably a bit cold.

Anyway, I don't have much to say - I'm waiting for crew scheduling to assign me to a trip. Today is day 2 of 6, so I know I'm going somewhere sometime. But who knows when. In the meantime, I have some random thoughts I'd like to share...

1. Why were my toenail clippers confiscated by TSA at the Phoenix Airport on Wednesday morning? Granted, they had a couple slide-out attachments - one looked like a bottle opener, and the other was a blade...but I am almost 100% certain that it was a dull blade, meant to clean out the gunk under your toenails. But no...it was a lethal weapon that was taken from me after a young kid searched through my toiletry bag, my make-up bag, and my miscellaneous personal items bag. It was thoroughly embarrassing. I requested a supervisor and she said just because I'd "gotten away" with carrying these for the past 2 1/2 years doesn't make it legal. I guess I'll now use my toenails to overtake an unsuspecting flight deck crew when they least expect it. Oh...and one other question...if my toenail clippers are so dangerous, why are knitting needles allowed on planes? Betcha can't answer that one!

2. Why is it that when I pass a vehicle on the highway, that the vehicle speeds up to my speed, thus forcing me to increase my speed so that I can pass them and return to the right lane? Is it a macho thing that guys have about not wanting women to be faster than them?

3. Why is it, that every single time I go into any of the lavatories on the aircraft, that there are paper towels partway pushed into the trash? Is there some reason that they aren't pushed all the way into the trash bin? Will you get all kinds of germs on your hands if you actually touch the lid of the trash bin so that the paper towel goes all the way into the bin before the lid swings shut?

4. Why is it that people ignore someone greeting them as they enter an aircraft? I am now to the point where if I'm the A flight attendant (in the front), I will tap them on the shoulder if they do not respond to the greeting. I especially enjoy doing this to teenagers (and their parents enjoy it, too).

5. Why are those pants worn so low? Does the person really think that I care whether they're wearing boxers or briefs? Do they think they look sexy as they shuffle along as their pants go lower and lower as they walk? And why do they get upset when I tell them to pull their pants up before they sit on my airplane seat? Honestly...what would their grandma think about them showing their undies in public?

6. When will the Colorado State Patrol start enforcing the "Slower Traffic Must Use the Right Lane" state law? Lately, I've noticed several more signs with this message - does this mean that a "crackdown" is nearing? And why is it that people feel entitled to stay in the left lane ALL the time? I am religious about moving over to the right lane after I've passed - when I lived in Germany and drove 95mph in a Subaru Justy on the autobahns, I was rarely in the left lane. Mainly because you could end up with a Porsche or BMW ramming into your tailpipe at 120mph if you didn't get out of that lane! Maybe we should hire some Germans to come out here and use those same techniques to teach Americans how to abide by the law.

Well...I guess that's it for now. I have tons of things that I SHOULD be doing as I wait for crew scheduling to call me and give me a couch assignment, a trip to someplace exotic, or a turn to/from a location in Florida where we'll need 20 wheelchairs upon arrival. So, until next time...

Home, Sweet, Snow-Covered Home

2010-03-26T18:01:00.003-06:00

I got home Wednesday evening after spending an enjoyable morning at iHop (not Denny's as I had originally thought - shows how observant that I am) with the Captain and First Officer. I even took a nap after brunch and was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready to head back to Denver.

The flight back to Denver was one of the best ones that I've experienced yet in my 2 1/2 years! Everything just clicked. I got along great with the crew, the passengers were super friendly, complimentary, calm, understanding - it was so much fun! I was laughing, cracking jokes, and having a grand time. THIS is why I do what I do!

Thursday was my lone day off, and I packed all kinds of errands into it - the bank, the grocery store, the eye doctor's glasses clinic, Target, etc. etc. etc. I figured that I'd get the 6AM couch for today, so I needed to get everything done.

And sure enough, I got that 6AM couch! But at 8AM this morning, they pulled me and Pedro off the couch and sent us on a turn to Seattle. It turns out that the original crew was stuck in Kansas City with a broken airplane. The third 6AM couch sitter got sent out at 7:30AM to do a DCA turn. That left them with no ready reserves from 8AM until Noon. Ouch!

The turn to Seattle was very uneventful and laidback. Everyone was so nice and calm - no drama. Pedro is one of my favorite flight attendants (he's from Puerto Rico), and he's the nicest guy. I didn't really get to talk to the CPT or FO very much - they rushed onto the plane and off we went!

And now I've been released from duty until 1AM. Unfortunately, it is snowing AGAIN. I am so sad and over snow! I'm watching it come down as "popcorn" snow now, and it's actually accumulating on the grass. Yech. I sure hope that crew scheduling doesn't call me any time soon! All I want to do right now is SLEEP! I started falling asleep behind the wheel (never good), and now I'm falling asleep at the computer. Maybe I'll take a nap...

God Bless Duct Tape

2010-03-24T09:18:00.002-06:00

Yesterday did not go exactly the way that I had planned...

We had a 2-hour layover in Phoenix which turned into 7 hours because of the Denver blizzard. The plane that we were supposed to take back to Denver came in late...we busted butt to get it cleaned and turned around. But then we sat and waited and waited and waited for the "go ahead" to start boarding the plane. It FINALLY came. So we loaded up. Within a few minutes, the CPT made the announcement that F9 has canceled our flight to Denver. So all the passengers left the aircraft and we sat there on the plane trying and trying and trying to contact someone in management to "release" us for the night. It turns out that the next plane from DEN-PHX got canceled, and they were supposed to stay overnight - we wanted an okay from F9 to take their hotel rooms. But it took quite awhile to get that approval. Each of us got on our cellphones, calling anyone who might help us. I called the Inflight Mgmt office, thinking I'd get the "manager on duty," but I guess we don't have one any longer. We finally got into our rooms at midnight.

Of course, we aren't the only crew that got stranded somewhere...one friend is stuck in Dallas, one is in Vegas, one got diverted to Kansas City, and the luckiest one has to stay in Costa Rica for another 24 hours! Awwwwww.

My CPT called this morning and told me that we'll be leaving the hotel at 2:30PM. I pulled up my schedule, and it shows that I had a nice 24-hour layover in PHX! A bit misleading, I'd say. I won't be home until tonight, and hopefully all the roads will be cleaned by then.

The sad thing is, is that today was a day off for me. I've already asked Crew Scheduling if I get a different day off instead, and the answer was no. Today, I had an appointment with my eye doctor to get my glasses replaced/fixed...I called a little while ago to reschedule for tomorrow, but the office was closed today due to weather. So that means that I doubt I'll get in tomorrow. Thank God for duct tape.

We spent our 7 hours in the PHX airport yesterday eating junk food, ready trashy magazines, telling stories, watching the "Flight Status" on the F9 website (it was the only way we knew what was going on...), just hanging out. Passengers would come over and ask us if we had any "insider information." Unfortunately, we were just as clueless as they were.

So...I think I'll treat myself to breakfast at Denny's, take a walk, and then I'll get ready for our 2:30PM van to the airport. I just hope that no one judges me with my duct-taped glasses!!!

A Day in the Life

2010-03-23T09:46:00.003-06:00

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!

Springtime in the Rockies

2010-03-20T17:57:00.002-06:00

As I expected, I got released from duty when I returned from DFW. However, it was snowing in Denver...in Castle Rock...and pretty much all the way to Colorado Springs. I have decided, though, that not many people know how to drive in snow/ice.

To those who were going 25 mph in the left lane and were too afraid to pass the car in the right lane - GET OFF THE ROAD! If you're that scared, please move to the right lane, pull off on the first exit, and find a nice warm place to hang out until the roads have been cleared!

To those who are driving below the speed limit, are in good control of your vehicle, but then slow down considerably when they reach a hill - DON'T DO THAT! You need that momentum to keep your speed to get up that hill. Don't you feel the back end of your car skidding a bit as you try to get to the top of that pass?

To the speedster who likes to ride my bumper - GET OFF MY ASS! I won't be slamming on my brakes, cause that's when you lose it and spin out. But, I will slow myself down in any way possible if I need to, and if you run into the back of me, then I'm going to sue the pants off you, and I'll become a very rich woman.

Please, please, please follow the rules of the road. And right now, the law states that you should be in the left lane ONLY when you're actually passing another vehicle. Otherwise, you're just clogging up the roads. This is especially important when the roads are snowy/icy.

Fortunately, I was able to squirrel my way in and around the traffic, got away from the clumps of cars and into the open spaces, and I got home safely. :)

After sleeping in until 7:30AM, I've been procrastinating at home - I actually did go out to fill up my car with gas (I like to be prepared) and buy bananas and bread for my hubby. I am such a good wife.

There were only a few trips on the Aggressive Reserve board for tomorrow - one 4 day trip, a couple 3 day trips, a couple 2 day trips, a day off, and the usual ready reserve couch sits. I have 3 days on duty starting tomorrow, but I didn't bid on anything. And guess what I got assigned? The 6AM ready reserve couch sit on that sexy black leather couch! I really don't mind, cause it means that my drive to DEN will be a breeze! No traffic, the roads are all clear now, and once I get to DEN, I'll be able to continue my night's sleep!

So it'll be early to bed, early to rise for this flygirl!

The Good News and the Bad News

2010-03-19T13:05:00.002-06:00

The good news is that I am finishing up five days of duty! The bad news is that I'm typing this entry on a new laptop computer. It turns out that my old one officially "drowned" in that NYC rainstorm. So sad.

The good news is that I started this five days of duty on Monday with a 6AM-Noon couch sit (I really don't mind it because there's no traffic at 4AM and I usually can nap on the couch), and the bad news is that at 11AM I got sent on a turn to Orlando because a flight attendant injured herself during the boarding process and the CPT took her off the flight (a bag fell and injured her shoulder). So instead of going home at Noon to visit my computer guru, I did not get home until 9PM after a close-to-14-hour duty day.

The good news is that I sat at home for the next two days! But the bad news is, is that I was waiting for the phone to ring! I would venture out on an errand every once in awhile without bringing my uniform and bags...I guess I like living on the edge!!!

The good news, again, is that I was at home, but the bad news was that I was coming down with a cold. Bummer.

The good news is that I got assigned to a trip for my last two days on duty! I got sent on an SLC turn and a DFW overnight, but the bad news is that my cold hasn't gone away, and I think the B flight attendant thinks I'm deaf when we're in flight. Really, I'm not...huh? What did you just say?

My final good news is that I had a very good night's sleep, stayed in bed a lot longer than I usually do, so I had lots of weird dreams, but I also got a lot of rest. I've been watching a bit of TV (Bubbiah , La-a's baby IS YOUR BABY *followed by lots of screaming*), talked on the phone a bit with Greg, and ate a meal or two while preparing for our 4:05PM van back to the airport, and my return for my day off (the rest of the crew has 3 more days on this trip).

My final bad news is that anywhere from 5-10" of snow is expected in Denver today, so I have my doubts as to whether or not I'll be able to make it home tonight, seeing as how the highway departments have eliminated snowplowing from their budgets (or so it seems). I'm hoping that all those snow reports were false alarms and that Denver will get only a dusting. I'll soon find out!

Back to Work!

2010-03-14T14:20:00.002-06:00

It has been a glorious seven days off! Woo hoo!

On Monday, Jen and I met at Washington Reagan Airport (DCA) where my sister, Diane, picked us up and drove us to her home in Leonardtown, MD. We spent the next couple of days eating, visiting, playing cards, eating, relaxing, and did I mention eating? It was a nice visit with Mom, Diane, Mark, Matthew and Natalie (and all the animals EXCEPT Caicos the crazy conure who tried to murder me in warm blood).

On Wednesday, Diane drove us back to Arlington, VA and dropped us off at Greg's parents' home. While there, we went to the mall, spent a bit of money, went out to eat, relaxed and talked. On Thursday morning, Greg's Dad drove us back to (DCA) where we hopped on a US Airways flight to NYC. Jen was happy to be back with her fiance.

We spent the next few days hanging out at Jen's apartment - the weather in NYC was cold and rainy...so I was happy to stay indoors.

I had planned on leaving sometime on Saturday, but both Frontier flights were not looking good - just a few seats and LOTS of non-revs. Instead, I decided to take the JetBlue 9PM flight out of JFK which would get me to DEN at around midnight. After spending the first half of Saturday relaxing, watching tv and doing laundry, this is how the rest of my day progressed:

1. Said goodbye to Jen and James at 6PM and headed to the E Train Subway at Port Authority.
2. Stood on the subway platform until 6:45PM waiting for a train to show up when I heard an announcement that the E train is delayed in both directions.
3. Decided not to risk it, and went back aboveground and caught a taxi to JFK for the set fee of $45 plus $5 for tolls. After the Midtown Tunnel, traffic slowed considerably. The cabbie asked if I had checked the status of my flight, so I texted Jen.
4. Jen called and told me that my JetBlue flight was CANCELLED. So I told the cabbie to turn around and take me back to Manhattan's Penn Station, and I had Jen purchase a train ticket for me to get to Washington DC's Union Station - the first Frontier flight out of DCA on Sunday morning had 22 open seats.
5. When we arrived at Penn Station, the cabbie used my extra bag strap to lift my bag out of the trunk, and broke the latch.
6. The cabbie and I negotiated a fee for the failed round-trip to JFK - $60 plus $10 tolls. OUCH.
7. I go to the self-serve machine and print out my train ticket. Then I notice there are tons of people standing around. I hear an announcement that all New Jersey Transit trains are indefinitely delayed due to a weather-related power-outage. The 7:55PM train to DC arrives and departs on time, as far as I can tell - but my ticket was for the 9PM train.
8. As the 9PM train approaches the station, an announcement is made that ALL TRAINS heading west out of NYC have been "indefinitely delayed" due to the power outage.
9. I head back to Jen's apartment by foot - it's pouring rain and I walk the 6 blocks or so and am soaking wet when I arrive (even though I had an umbrella). I change into my jammies, pull out my laptop from my bag, and see water dripping from it. It is then that I realize that both my suitcase and carry-on are drenched, and that they are not waterproof. With fingers crossed, I turn on my computer...the power turns on, but the screen doesn't. Oh, oh.
10. After feeling intensely sorry for myself, I go to bed. I had a difficult time sleeping and got up very early to take a taxi to LGA to try and get on the Frontier flight that was showing it was oversold by 1 and had 5 standbys (I was #3). I was betting that some of these travelers might have forgotten to set their clocks ahead.
11. I GOT ON! I even had three seats to myself (until a woman decided to invade my space)! Uneventful flight home, drove home in fog/snow flurries the entire way, but arrived home safe and sound.

Whew! I get a feeling that someone or something did not want me coming home on Saturday. I'm not sure why. But no matter what I tried, I failed. But I finally made it. Now I look forward to visiting my computer guru tomorrow to see if he can revive my poor little laptop.

Great Trip!

2010-03-06T19:12:00.003-07:00

The return flight from FLL to DEN was a tough one...to give you a hint, there were 10 people who were heading to Aspen. Yup. A bit of entitlement was in the cabin. It was a lot of "me, me, me" during the flight.

Then next up, we flew to Seattle for the night. The passengers were a lot more relaxed and happy, and not so demanding as the previous flights. The overnight was not too long...but I got a good night's sleep. When I woke up, though, I couldn't quite figure out where I was. And it was only Day 3!

Our return to Denver this morning went well, but the highlight of my day was today's flight to ATL. Our flight was delayed almost an hour because the plane we were using was coming from Costa Rica and had been diverted to Houston. No one seems to know why that happened. But we were glad to finally get on the plane and welcome our passengers.

That's when the fun began. There was a nice old couple who were a riot from when they stepped on the plane! They'd been married 13 years, he was 85, and it was his third marriage (and first real wife). He was a real flirt! He even gave me a kiss on my cheek as he left the plane!

There was another guy on the plane who commented to me as he left the plane, "Boy, you really love your job, don't you?" I smiled and replied, "I sure do!" And he told me, "I can tell! Keep on smiling! You're a real people person!" I told him that this was a big career change for me - that I used to be a CPA. He was shocked and told me, "What a change! This is such a better place for you to be!"

Now we've got a short layover here in Atlanta...and I should be going to sleep. But I'm watching "What Not to Wear" and I wanted to get the comments down that the passengers shared with me today - it makes me feel awesome when people see and appreciate the effort that I put into my job!

We go back to Denver in the early morning...and I'm wondering if I'll hear those magic words, "You are released to your SEVEN days off!"

SCORE!

2010-03-05T07:28:00.002-07:00

I got sent to Ft. Lauderdale last night...the bad news is that we switched hotels last week, and that we're no longer at the incredibly beautiful Il Lugano. The good news is, is that we're at the Courtyard Marriott, right on the beach. So...I think I can handle that!

The first two pictures are of my hotel room (obviously). There are sliding french doors that would turn this room into a two-room suite. It's small, but it's very nice. I feel like I'm in a southern plantation.

This is my view out my window - I must be facing north. Nice to see so many beautiful palm trees!

And here's another view. We're here for a few more hours, and then back to Denver and on to Seattle for the night.

I did learn why we're in such a nice hotel here...it's because the passengers were a whole new breed! Needy, needy and more needy! Oh my gosh. Practically every time I would walk up/down the aisle doing beverages, food, collecting trash, just strolling, SOMEONE would want SOMETHING. And they'd want it at the most inconvenient time - a cart full of trash, and they'd want a soda RIGHT NOW!

A Summit (frequent flier top level) Member in the front row, who should know better, wanted to keep her purse with her and not put it in the overhead bin for take-off and landing. So she put it behind her back...I told her that, "no...it must go into the bin" she pouted and pursed her collagen-filled lips. As we were deplaning, she tried to "cross the line" into the forward galley before the doors were opened, and when we told her to "step back," she told us we were bossy! OMG. Bossy? Really? Who uses that word in this day and age? I told her that we're just trying to follow FAA rules and that we needed her cooperation. Sheesh. She pursed her puffy lips, showed no emotion on her Botox-filled face, and strutted her size 0, black-jean clad liposuctioned buttocks off our plane. Don't mind me. She was my age and I guess I'm just jealous...NOT!

Well, since I have only a few more hours here (I slept a bit later than I had expected to), I'm gonna head outside and take a nice stroll on the beach...we're off to Denver and then Seattle tonight!

Change in Plans

2010-02-27T14:55:00.002-07:00

Well...the flight from Indianapolis to Cancun FINALLY took off, almost three hours late due to a "I'm just kidding around" passenger who accused a flight attendant of being inebriated. Not good. It turns out that the entire flight crew was drug tested, all were cleared, and the flight went on it's merry way. I am waiting to hear if the passenger who thought he was being funny got to fly today.

As a result, the flight will be delayed when it returns to IND. That means that we'll be delayed taking that plane back to DEN. Crew scheduling has already re-crewed the flight from Denver to San Antonio so that it will stay on time. Bummer. The rest of the crew will still do their turn to Orange County, CA tomorrow, but it was taken off of my schedule. It shows that I'll be back in DEN around 9PM and then there's nothing on it for the rest of today and tomorrow.

I went to the local CVS to pick up some shampoo and buy a few Easter basket things - it was cold outside! I walked around a little bit, but decided to go back to the room and watch one of my Netflix movies - "Milk Money." It was improbable, but cute. I've also been trying to watch the last episode of "The Bachelor," but my connection or the site or something is so slow...they'll say a few words and then stop, then say a few words and then stop. I guess I'll have to watch it when I get home.

Before I go and start getting ready to go back to Denver, I wanted to relay an experience I had in the flight deck during my recent flight from DEN to MCO. During a potty break, as I was sitting in the flight deck in the CPT's chair, ATC contacted us to let us know that another aircraft was ahead of us, traveling towards us, and was 1000 feet below. I watched that plane get closer and closer, and in a matter of minutes, we were flying over it. WOW. It sure didn't seem like 1000 feet! Awesome, just awesome.

Attitude is Everything

2010-02-27T09:57:00.002-07:00

What an interesting trip this has already been. Our PHX turn was not the best - everything was rushed, crazy, mixed-up...just nuts! One of my problems was that the other FAs aren't as "particular" about food/beverage inventories as I am. Things were being taken off carts, run up on the other cart's machines - no controls whatsoever. I expressed my frustration to the C, and then he in turn talked with the A. On our next leg to IND, things were much, much better. Whenever anyone wanted items off my cart, they used my machine, and my ending inventory was actually correct this time! Halleluiah!

When I met the C flight attendant, I found out very quickly that his glass was "half empty." He seemed like a really nice guy, but was really, really negative. So I made it my goal to turn him around a bit and to stay on the positive side of life...at least during this trip!

In a recent letter from our new CEO, he mentioned something he had heard in a sermon on Lent. The thing he should focus on is LENT - Let's Eliminate Negative Thinking. Boy...has that struck a chord with me. It sums up what I've been doing for the past 2 1/2 years. Why focus on the negative? I've found that when you do, negative stuff keeps on happening! When I focus on the positive, good things happen and my attitude changes for the best. Who wants to be around negative thinkers? It's not always easy...but it's definitely worth the effort.

I've been wasting time this morning catching up on my online newspaper - as I left my neighborhood yesterday, there were police cars, an ambulance, and fire trucks at a townhome down the street. As I drove by, people were outside the townhome with medical masks on their faces...I read this morning's local paper to see if there was an article about what happened, but nothing was mentioned. Was the home's occupant sick? Or maybe dead? Or maybe filled with cats and dogs that were never let outside? I guess I'll never know.

While reading the paper, my cellphone rang - it was Crew Scheduling. They asked me how long it'd take me to get ready to go to the airport and fly to Cancun and back. Huh? It turns out that we have a crew that left the hotel this morning to fly to Cancun. Before the flight took off, one of the passengers questioned the sobriety of one of the flight attendants. So that FA was taken to the clinic to be tested, and CS thought that maybe I could get out there and help the flight stay on schedule.

As I was getting ready to jump in the shower, CS called again to tell me "never mind." That the entire crew was being drug tested. Bummer. That means that Cancun flight is gonna be delayed. And from what they told me, the passenger is now saying that they were "just kidding" about it! Not a good answer. Our bad news is that that is our plane tonight that we are supposed to take back to Denver...CS told me I might want to call my CPT and give him a heads-up.

So that's what I did. It was around 11AM local time, and I woke him up! Ooops. But I felt he needed to know - if we're gonna be delayed, I'd rather hang out here in the hotel longer instead of having to sit at the airport waiting for a plane! Also, our shuttle service needed to be contacted, etc. What a mess. Unfortunately, you just can't kid around about stuff like that any longer.

I guess it was a good thing that I got ready to jump in the shower - I realized that I left my little shampoo bottle in my hotel room in MCO. Bummer. But at least now I can throw on some warm clothes and brave the freezing IND weather to find my shampoo at the local drugstore or mall. So I guess that's what I'm going to do now!!!

Getting Ready to Fly Again

2010-02-25T19:08:00.002-07:00

Yesterday's trip to MCO (Orlando) went very, very well. I had an awesome flight deck crew, and a fellow flight attendant who actually does her job the way that the company wants her to! Wow. Our flight going to MCO was almost full, and this morning's return flight was ab0ut 2/3 full (but had crotchety men). The hotel, a Holiday Inn, was just as nice as usual - and I love the gift shop, because they carry caffeine-free Diet Coke!

When I got back to Denver, I was released to 10 hours rest. Just a little while ago I checked my schedule to see if crew scheduling gave me a trip for tomorrow...and my schedule showed that I had the next three days off!!! What a surprise! But...I knew that was too good to be true. So I checked back a little while later, and *poof* I now had a 3-day trip that starts tomorrow in the early afternoon.

This trip will take me tomorrow on an afternoon turn to Phoenix, and then an evening flight to Indianapolis where I'll have a 17 hour layover. Nice! So...I guess I'll reorganize my lunchbox and get ready for tomorrow's trip.

Bon voyage!

I KNEW There Was Something I Forgot to Do...

2010-02-24T11:35:00.002-07:00

Oops. It's now 2/24. I kind of forgot all about blogging...that's what five days off will do to you! By the way, I didn't even make a DENT in my taxes - I could sit on a shrink's couch, pay lots of money, and MAYBE figure out WHY that's such an overwhelming debilitating deal to me. But I won't.

Anyway...let's catch you up on my incredibly wonderful exciting life! I had five glorious days off - sleeping in late, playing on the computer, doing a bit of accounting work, watching a bit of TV...to be honest, I don't think I accomplished much of anything. It just felt good to not have to do anything!

I started a block of six days of duty on Sunday - Valentine's Day, and as expected, I got to sit on that sexy black leather couch at DIA from Noon until 6PM. But this time I was going to make it a bit more exciting. I stopped at Safeway first, picked up a few packages of small KitKat bars and emptied them into a little red vinyl bag that I carried around with me for the rest of the day. When I arrived at the employee parking lot and walked through security, I handed the guard a candy bar and wished him a "Happy Valentine's Day!" He was taken aback. He thanked me, and then a few seconds later, thanked me again, saying how much it meant to him! I did the same for the driver of the shuttle bus that would take me to the terminal. Again, I got a big smile.

For the next six hours, I proceeded to give KitKat bars to anyone who neared the sexy black leather couch that I was adorning. A couple of my friends, not to mention any names, would reach out and grab a KitKat as I tossed one to a newcomer. It happened more than once. But I had a TON of KitKats to share. I also took a walk around the concourse with another couch-sitter and she and I handed out KitKats to all the gate agents, security guards and scouts (people who push the wheelchairs and drive the carts) that we came across. It was a lot of fun!

But after that excitement, it was time to go back home. I sat at home with a quiet phone for two days - very unusual. I did manage to work on the books here and there (when I put this down in writing, I realize how many days I have wasted...shame on me).

On Tuesday evening, I was watching the Open Time board and saw a couple trips pop onto the board. I waited for them to get assigned, but the trips stayed on the board for two hours. I finally called crew scheduling, and asked if they were going to assign those trips...I had a sneaky feeling that I was next in line for a trip. And sure enough, I got one. They told me that they had been really busy, but I told them that when a trip has an early show time (7:15AM), that means I have to be on the road two hours in advance, and that means I needed to get to bed NOW! I'm still waiting to hear what their justification is for letting the trip sit on the board so long.

But...the trip was awesome! I was A in the front of the plane - we did a turn to Salt Lake, and then we had an overnight in Las Vegas, arriving at around 2PM. It was a beautiful day in Vegas, so I changed clothes and walked over to the strip. It was really weird being there alone - the last time I was there was for Jen's 21st BD...but I managed to walk around for an hour or so, then headed back to the room to eat dinner and go to bed early - this trip had some VERY early show times!

The following morning, we headed back to Denver and had a bit of a sit before heading to Chicago. I knew that a couple of my Chicago cousins had just returned from Florida, and my girlfriend Joan and I had been trying to get together and hadn't been successful yet...so I got in touch with Joan to see if we could have an early dinner on Thursday night. Sure enough, she was able to come out and pick me up after work, we had a deliciously unhealthy meal at Grand Duke's, a Lithuanian restaurant a few miles from the hotel, and enjoyed some really good conversation! But it was another early night for me...

There must have been some caffeine in either the meal or the Lithuanian beer that I drank, because I had the HARDEST time sleeping that night. And we had a VERY early show time of 4:40AM (3:40AM Denver time). Ouch. But I managed to drag myself out of bed and appear to be normal to the rest of the crew. It was a long day. Fortunately, our CPT and FO were nuts, and joking around with them and the other FAs helped to keep me awake and alert. We flew back to Denver, and then to Chicago (yes, again) and then back to Denver, before we called it a day!

I then had a few days off - still procrastinating on the taxes - but getting laundry done, errands run, etc. I do have my priorities straight, you know. We had an 80th BD surprise party we attended on Sunday - it was a very nice party held during the Cheyenne Mountain Conference Resort's weekly Sunday brunch - mimosas were flowing, a full buffet full of delicious food, and an awesome dessert table with the most gorgeous dessert I've ever seen - a teacup made of chocolate, filled with delicious chocolate mousse, surrounded by a vanilla creme with chocolate swirls. It was beautiful. And good. Yes...I ate ever ounce. I almost licked the plate.

That pretty much brings me to this new duty block of six days. I started off yesterday by sitting on that sexy black leather couch from Noon to 6PM, but they pulled me off and sent me on a Salt Lake turn at 2PM...it was a good trip - very nice crew, and the time went by very fast. I was back at DIA by 7PM and got to head home for the night.

I just got a call from Crew Scheduling and should be getting dressed and eating lunch instead of typing this...but I'm heading to Orlando for the night. It's only a 10 hour layover, so I won't be able to hang out and relax or anything, but it's a really nice hotel and I'm in position A.

So, until later...

Seeing the Future

2010-02-09T08:36:00.002-07:00

I just finished another block of six duty days...this time I got to sit on that sexy black leather couch twice, got to sit at home waiting for that phone to ring twice, and then got sent out to Seattle for an 11 hour layover, followed by a Dallas turn.

The biggest challenge through all of this was staying positive. No one knows what the future is for our "branding" (i.e. Frontier Airlines) and all our animals! I've heard a rumor that we'll have an official announcement by March 1, but I've seen nothing in writing from management. There are tons of rumors floating around that the our planes will no longer have DirecTV, that we'll have DirecTV and WiFi, that the Airbus aircraft will be phased out, that we'll be furloughed, that we'll be cross-trained on the Republic planes...the list goes on and on. I heard that there were 11,000 applicants for the flight attendant positions in Frontier's Milwaukee base, and that they'll be hiring 60-80 at this time. I heard that the opening of our base in Milwaukee has been postponed to May 1, instead of the announced April 1. I've heard that a decision by the National Mediation Board could come as early as last week, and that we'll all be Teamsters soon...or maybe AFA Workers soon. NO ONE seems to know ANYTHING.

So, in the meantime, all I can do is to do my best. I will smile at the passengers, welcome them aboard our aircraft, I will serve them their beverages with a flair (trying not to spill on them as I do so), I will address their concerns about delays, assuring them that if we're delayed due to weather that most likely ALL the other flights will also be delayed due to weather, and I will keep a smile on my face...even when I want to strangle that woman in 15D who has rung her call button one too many times! Not to mention the ladies who brought on board what appeared to be a 5 foot long African Fertility stick, complete with feathers and intricate paintings. I was summoned to the front of the plane to give my opinion on whether or not I could fit it into the already filled overhead bins...but I am a miracle worker when it comes to arranging and rearranging those bins. I got it in. But I wanted to scratch some eyes out when one of the ladies commented how she didn't want her stick to be scratched or damaged being in an overhead bin with other items...I have just one word for her - UPS.

I still love this job. But all the uncertainties, innuendos, rumors, changes in procedures, attitudes of co-workers, and pompousness of passengers can get pretty tiresome. But I've now got FIVE DAYS OFF in a row - instead of jumping on a plane and travelling somewhere where there is a sandy beach, palm trees, and a Mai Tai with my name on it, I'll be settling in to do my taxes. Yech. A necessary evil, I admit. These days off will also re-energize my spirit. And maybe someone in management will see fit to answer a few of my questions...

Heading Home

2010-01-31T13:40:00.003-07:00

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

2010-01-30T21:49:00.002-07:00

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...

2010-01-27T14:28:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-21T07:44:00.003-07:00

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!

2010-01-18T10:47:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-10T23:38:00.002-07:00

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'

2010-01-08T07:49:00.003-07:00

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!