The Long Ride Home

I flew to Kansas City, MO last night in a full plane - everything went well, the crew was friendly, and the hotel was very, very nice. Today we didn't leave the hotel until 6:30PM, so I had lots of time to do a lot of nothing...

I slept late in the wonderful bed in my hotel room

I watched "Never Been Kissed" on HBO

I made oatmeal using my coffeemaker

I worked on my November schedule

I studied and filled out my ballot for the election

I went to the fitness center and walked on the treadmill for an hour

I ate lunch/dinner out of canned goods (and later found a microwave in the lobby...too late)

I showered and got ready to go back to the airport

I took a picture of the antique chandelier in the hotel lobby

The return flight tonight was interesting...there was a thunderstorm in the area, and as we were climbing, there was lightning everywhere. Then a fellow flight attendant asked, "Have you ever been in a plane that has been hit by lightning?" That did not make me feel good...

As I mentioned in the title, the drive back to Colorado Springs took longer than usual. At first, I thought it was snowplows spraying the roads with anti-freeze solution. But then I realized that there weren't plows in front of me, but a bunch of police cars. The closer I got, I realized that it was a motorcade - police cars were blocking both lanes and not allowing anyone to pass, a bunch of buses, and several limos - motorcycle cops were preventing people from entering the highway until the motorcade passed, and police cars were on every overpass making sure that everyone was behaving themselves. When I got home, I surfed the net and found out that Biden is making an appearance in Colorado Springs in the morning. I am disappointed that the cops didn't let me pull in front of Biden's limo - I wanted him to see my "Go Sarah Go" bumper sticker.

Neighborhood Sights....

Yesterday was a GLORIOUS day...so I whipped out the camera and found the following:

Around the corner from my house I found this nice fellow eating fruit that had fallen from the tree...

In my own yard, I found lots to photograph:

Today is overcast and chilly...not a speck of sun to be seen! So instead, I'll look at my photos and remember the beautiful day!

Pretty Leaves and Puppy Love

Fall here in Colorado is gorgeous. Not quite as multi-colored as the East, but the colors that we do have are brilliant...

The weather here has been perfect for the last couple of days - so I've taken the boys to their favorite place...the Dog Park! Here's a pic of part of the gang that was there yesterday. Kikko is in the front, and you can see Kodi's head on the far right.

Then when we get home, the boys are pooped. But inevitably, Kodi is raring to go again soon, and tries to get Kikko to get up and chase him.

Well, that didn't work, so I guess he decided to just kiss him...

New Photos

I am cleaning out my camera and cell phone, and have added photos to my previous post "What a Great Trip!"...

By the Skin of my Teeth!

I can't believe it...I was almost late this morning! I got the 6AM shift on the couch (I bid for it because I was already up in Denver for an annual training class yesterday - more about that in a minute), and I called in on the "official phone" at 5:58AM. OMG! I have NEVER cut it that close before - and I had even spent the night in Denver last night!!! Poor planning on my part. I stayed at the Geyer's house, went to bed a 9PM (it had been a long day), and got up at 5AM. I guess I should have made that 4:45AM. Oh well. It takes 20 minutes to drive, and then 10 minutes for the shuttle bus to the airport. Whew!

About yesterday - each year, we must attend a full day of training. The FAA has a large say in determining what we review, etc. and unfortunately, if I told you all that we did, I'd have to kill you. So I won't. I like my family and friends too much. Instead, I'll tell you that three of my classmates were there, too (there were 15 total students) so it made it fun to visit inbetween activities. I picked up the things that I had either forgotten or had never learned...so it was a great day. But I was sure tired!

I have five hours left on the couch...and then I get to go home and spend the rest of this beautiful fall day with my husband and two little stinky boys!

Hold your nose!

It happened again...my poor Kodi came into the house, and his normally white fur was yellow with skunk spray. Poor guy. Fortunately, Kikko avoided the confrontation.

Jen suggested that we invent a skunk repeller - does anyone have any ideas?

Oklahoma City...again!

I got a three-hour call-out to do a turn to OKC this afternoon - and what a great time I had! I flew with my classmate LuEllen and a flight attendant from the class held before mine - Fadia.

At first, I was worried that it was going to be a looooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggg trip - Fadia was not happy about being on reserve, pay cuts, etc. and felt that we need a union (pardon me for swearing). I about jumped out of my skin. I won't go into details, but by the end of the flight, Fadia was laughing and happy - so was I, and LuEllen, too!

Our flight to OKC had a bunch of Germans from Bavaria - I spoke a bit of German with them, told them that I had lived in Stuttgart for four years, told them to behave themselves (they wanted Fadia to sit with them), said "bitte" when they said thank you, and told them "Tschuss!" when they left. One guy was in lederhosen and had a Bavarian shirt - it brought back a lot of memories.

The CPT Marik and the FO Jason were also very nice - we had an hour layover in OKC, so I went onto the concourse and brought back Eskimo Pies for everyone! The CPT and FO were like little boys, they were so excited!

Our flight home was FAST! We landed 38 minutes early...and I got home by 9:30PM and was able to see the boys before they all went to bed! Now I've got three days off...

What a Great Trip!

I flew with the same First Officer (Steve) and "B" Flight Attendant (Cindy) for the entire trip - fortunately, both were easy-going and laid back, as well as a lot of fun to hang around! Our first round-trip was to Oklahoma City, OK - our CPT (Dick) was a really nice guy and wished that he was coming with us for the entire trip, and our "A" Flight Attendant (Nicky) felt the same way.

But they were both replaced when we returned from OKC. That's when we met our new CPT (Rick) and our new "A" (Cara). What a great team we made! We started out flying to Salt Lake City, and the only excitement that I experienced on that trip was that there was a row of 20 somethings that were passing little plastic bags to each other - when I collected the trash, they deposited the empty bags into my trash bag. I looked at one, and it was a shot of VODKA! So I went to that row, leaned down to the girl on the end and told her that I could get her into A LOT of trouble...i.e. the police meeting the flight in SLC, but that I was going to pretend that I didn't see anything. She was completely freaked out and apologetic.

Next, we ferried the empty plane to Logan, UT. We had a couple hours to wait until the Utah State football team came on board - but Steve (who lives in Logan) told us we were getting lunch...! We went into the jet center's conference room, and there was Steve's wife, Janiel, their 3 year old daughter Shelby, and Janiel's Mom...setting up a spread of food! What a nice treat that was!!! And on top of all that, Janiel had a small loaf of zucchini bread for each of us! It is rare to be treated in such a nice way!

The football team and all their "hangers-on" were okay - it was really hard to walk up and down the aisles because of the size of these guys, and various body parts were spilling into the aisle!

They were polite, but were getting a bit impatient with all the "hurry up and wait" that was happening...We flew them to San Jose, CA where they played San Jose State yesterday (Utah State lost 30-7...ouch). The guys were staying at the same hotel that we were, so that cancelled any plans that I had to go to the hot tub!!! Instead, I took a nice walk around the area - Yahoo, McAfee, eBay, Paypal - we were surrounded by software companies and their buildings! Great America was right across the street, but it was probably closed during the week.

Yesterday was a hard day...I got a lot of sleep on Friday night, so I was rested and refreshed for our flight back to Denver that left at 6:30AM. What I wasn't prepared for was a drunk passenger! Unfortunately, I did not discover this until after we were on the taxiway. The guy smelled of alcohol, and his eyes were unfocused, and he was sitting in the exit row! So we called the CPT to let him know what we discovered, reseated the drunk so he wasn't a threat to safety, and the rest of the flight was uneventful. He slept almost the entire way, except when the drink cart was parked next to him - then he guzzled water like there was "no tomorrow." The CPT alerted the gate crew for the drunk's continuing flight, so they could make a determination as to whether or not he should be allowed on board. The drunk must have stayed up all night drinking so that he'd be sure not to miss his flight!

Back in Denver, we had a two hour sit during which I wrote up my report about the drunk. I also got to see a few of my classmates and chat for awhile. We got a new "A" flight attendant (Ron), also, and he was a doll. At first I was afraid he was a "senior papa" and would be aloof, but he and I had a really good time talking during our "victory lap" to Los Angeles. It turns out he's a former jazz/modern dancer (and he's straight), and he actually knew of the musical "In the Heights" where Jen works!

There was a passenger on the flight to Los Angeles that could be a double for Steve Carell (from The Office), if, in fact, it wasn't him. I don't think that it was.

The return flight from Los Angeles was the hardest - EVERYONE had too much stuff that they were bringing onboard. Row 1D was nasty to me when I told her and her seatmates that nothing could be on the floor during takeoff/landing, and at landing they all tried to "hide" their bags with their jackets - I made Ron deal with them and put their stuff in the overhead! I was whipping bags out of the overheads to make room for the roller bags, moving stuff around, shoving stuff back in...I'm good at it. And I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I don't have to gate check any bags! However, on 11/1/08 we start charging to check ANY bags...it is going to be A MESS.

All in all, it was a great trip! I'm still on duty today and tomorrow, but *knock on wood* no calls came today, and I hope that tomorrow is quiet, too! Cause I'm tired, in a very good kind of way!

Three Day Trip

I just got a call from crew scheduling...I have to be at the airport in three hours for a three-day trip. I'll fly to Oklahoma City tonight, then back to Denver in the morning. Then here's where it gets interesting...I'll fly from Denver to Salt Lake City, then it looks like I'll take an empty plane to Logan, UT and sit on the ground for a few hours, then fill the plane up with most likely football players (it's a charter) and take them to San Jose, CA - and that's where I'll spend Friday night. Then on Saturday, we'll return to Denver, sit for a couple hours and then do a turn to Los Angeles.

Weird thing is, when I get back at 5:30PM on Saturday, I still have two more days on...and the old question arises...should I drive home and hope that that's it? Or should I stay up in Denver, assuming that they'll be giving me another trip?!?

Now repeat after me..."I will be spontaneous! I will be flexible!"...and I will have fun!!!

Doing the Right Thing

I had a turn to Omaha yesterday afternoon/evening...after I "checked in" at the airport, my Inflight Manager, Mitch, came to see me in the crewroom. That's never happened before, so I was momentarily freaked out. But he was there to tell me that my dealings with the "disabled woman" from my Indianapolis flight was handled 100% correctly. Thank goodness. You know, it's a good feeling to know that using your common sense pays off.

I missed out on my monthly Church potluck dinner last night, but heard all about it at lunch today with the host and hostess - Fred & Mary Lou. It was a very fun meal at one of my favorite restaurants. It sounds like it was a very fun evening that I missed out on!

Tomorrow's schedule just came out, and I did not receive an assignment - tomorrow is the first day of six duty days...so I will have some time at home to catch up on paperwork!!!