Not dead yet

Hi folks,

I'm still here! Not a lot of time or money. Resources are kinda low, but I have sunshine, a will to live and my health.

Well, actually I'm getting Megan's cold. But I'm not letting that get me down. Thank GOD for daytime/nightime & cough drops!

I haven't worked much this week, but that's okay. I have been able to spend much time with the girls. I even got to watch Katie's talent show last week. Did I tell you about that? OMG!!! She sings beautifully! It is a touching story.

For years she has been shy to let me hear her voice. She doesn't worry about friends or anyone else...but me? No way!

She banned me last year and when I insisted, she dropped out of the show.

This year she signed up and begged me not to come. But the planets aligned and I wasn't working that night. I showed up for practice and she made me step outside.

I heard her anyway through the big metal gym door.

Her friends say that when she was done singing, she imediately walked outside, where she approached me.

She asked me if I heard her. I said "yes".

She asked me what I thought. I said "you have a beautiful voice."

She started crying and we hugged. That night I was allowed to come and I video taped her.

Yikes! My computer battery is about to die! I better wrap this up. Remind me to tell you about my insult to the president of SkyWest, Jerry Atkin. Don't worry- It wasn't that bad and we are on good terms now. He even said that I am talented!

I'm either the bravest FA or the dumbest!

Beautiful Sunrise

I love this one.

Me working

Yes, I do work. This is a picture that Katie took a while ago of me in action. I think I was saying my second announcement. See how small the cabin is? Yes, that's the brasilia!

Pittsburg, Chicago, San Jose...

Last week you remember I said my next stop was Pittsburg.

Me and the other FA decided (rather late in the day) to hit the road and check out downtown. We took the shuttle to the airport where we caught a bus which took 30 minutes to get us into downtown. That didn't leave us much time, but it was enough to walk around a bit and eat a sandwiche at Paminti's (I think that how it was spelled?)
Anyway- I guess it's a rather famous place. They serve their sandwiches on paper with french fries and cole slaw on the sandwiche. I got corned beef, minus cheese & slaw. It was yummy.
I took a picture of it with my phone. I would have taken lots of pictures with my regular camera, but for the SECOND time I left it somewhere! I had forgotten it on the shuttle. Luckily, the van driver returned it to the hotel counter. VERY LUCKY ME!!! However, I did get some shots with my phone. I'll try to upload a couple for you.

Now for Chicago.
That day we only flew one leg from PIT to ORD. We were late (surprise) of course, because that's just Chicago. They don't call it the Windy City for nothing. There was a ground stop in ORD due to extreme winds coming from the north. The flight was pretty bumpy. Maybe the most turbulant I've experienced so far. No big deal though. In fact, I think I rather enjoyed it. Crazy. Once we got there, the other FA asked me if I wanted to go get some food. She is based in Chicago, so we took her car. First we stopped by her place to change clothes. Then we went to a local buffalo wings place that she knew of. We tried 3 different kinds of chicken wings. I didn't like the spicy garlic. I had a good time on that trip. It's bitter sweet to fly the 700 for me. I make friends that I know I probably won't see again. She dropped me off at my hotel and said "Bye! Keep in touch!" Yeah, I wish.

Today I am in San Jose.
Yesterday we were supposed to fly to SFO (we did that) then to Boise, LA & San Jose. However, our plane broke and we didn't go to Boise or LA. Instead we repositioned a different plane to San Jose. What a short flight that was! 16 minutes total. Since it was a ferry flight I got to sit up front again. Cool!
The only sucky thing about yesterday was that I might not get paid for those cancelled flights. As a reserve, if I don't go over my guarenteed amount of flight hours, I won't get paid for cancelled ones. So basically I was on duty for 9.5 hours yesterday and got paid for 1.5. That really blows! Let's hope I "break guarentee".

Gotta go get ready for work. Today we do the same routes as scheduled yesterday only in reverse. San Jose, LA, Boise, SFO & back to Sac.

Pop open a refreshing can of LIFE!

Introducing LIFE SODA!

Gulp after gulp of sweet & sour goodness. Gaurenteed to make you laugh, cry, scream, giggle and flirt. Might even cause moments of histeria, nausia and rage.

GO ON! Get a LIFE! You'll be glad you did.

Cold Calgary Morning

I was supposed to be off today and tomorrow, but instead I did the company a nice favor by agreeing to do this trip. It's a 4 day based out of Chicago. I'm flying on the 700 with a nice crew. Thank goodness. I always wonder if the other FA is going to be a nightmare or not. In this case, not. I will be able to have Friday off for sure. They couldn't work me that day if they wanted to...not legal.
It was nice to sleep in this morning. I'm still tired (and hungry) but I want to go running. I was called last minute for this trip and I didn't have time to pack any food. One meal a day will have to suffice. Today will be lunch. Tomorrow I spend almost ALL day in Pittsburg. I bet it will be cold there too. It was soooo hot in CA. and I was in such a rush that I didn't pack very warm clothes.
O'well. Cold, hungry...but happy anyway. I had another incident happen with MB last Sunday night. I won't go into it, so let's just say that choosing to be happy right now is more than a struggle. But DAMN IT, I'm not going to lose myself in the wreckage. Unfortunately, the girls will have that one in their memories forever.

Sinking into the vortex of a doomed passageway

I feel like a Barbie doll.

Smiling and greeting people with warmth and compassion. Then someone says...

"Hey, what's that behind you? It looks like a hole. A swirling black hole of death?"

Barbie: "Of course not sir. I don't know what you're talking about." (still smiling and almost singing the words)

Where did all that come from? Lack of sleep. I've done the same local the last 2 days. 5am report. 4 legs. SMF-LAX, LAX-ABQ, ABQ-LAX, LAX-SMF. It's a long 2 days (14 hours of flying) and to top it off, 5 hours of ready reserve. I'm not complaining...it's great pay for a local. I need the money.

I've also been picking up locals/trips on my days off. The girls come over, but somtimes they don't want to. Like tonight. I could drive up and get them, but Katie is sick (again) and Megan is just getting over it. Both of them are tired and just want to stay home. I don't blame them, but it makes for another night in my apartment alone. O'well. I'll survive.

I have 2 days off coming up. I was invited to go to Hawaii with a friend, but I just sent her a text message telling her to have fun without me. I hope she's not to disappointed. I also need to tell my dad that we are not going to SLC to visit the geneology building. We can do that another time before we go to Portugal this October.

I'm hoping my girls will want to come over then, but if they don't...that's okay. I am concerned that they feel like stretch armstrong, being pulled from both sides.

At least I can pick them up from school on my days off and see them for a couple hours.

I know this sucks, but it will all be fine. It's not a doomed vortex or a black hole of death. I don't know why I wrote that. Chalk it up to being a science fiction writer. I guess if the unreal ever entered my daily life, that would be my pain showing.

"The Experience" in pictures

Nice Spa like atmosphere!
Are you serious? United wants us to wear these...uhm....scarfs? Don't worry- you won't see us in these picnic table clothes.

"The Experience"

I am pooped.

It was a nice day though. I am currently sitting in SLC crew lounge waiting for my flight home. I flew in yesterday for a training class that lasted all day today. It's called "The Experience".

There has been a lot of hipe about it, so naturally I was interested. As soon as I got the online message that it was available to all FA's (not just the SLC based ones) I jumped and signed up for the first open class. Let me just add that SkyWest is the ONLY airline that does this. It was the brainchild of some very gifted FA's in our own company that many other airlines are striving to be able to do. We are currently rated #1 in customer service for FA's. I take pride in knowing that.

It was a day of pampering. The classroom was set up like a spa. We were waited on hand and foot. 2 massage chairs and 2 foot massage chairs complete with parafin wax hand treatments waited patiently for sore and tired employees.
It was NOT the strict classroom testing evironment I had been exposed to while here for new-hire training. Today we were treated like adults. Cell phones, eating, talking to the person next to us and potty breaks whenever we felt the urge were all allowed. Coffee, tea, water with lemon and lime never saw the bottom of the glass. We were served lunch as well as dessert. However, I couldn't eat it because of my dairy allergy...lasagna.

What was the purpose?

To teach us what an unforgetable experience feels like. We went over all areas of the service categories and uniform complience. We even took a personality test that revealed why we do what we do and how to best get along with co-workers. It also had some interesting information in regards to what kind of leader we would make. Basically, I'm a team player. I can go over this revolation (uh-hem) in a later post. Also pictures when I get the pixs uploaded. Stay-tuned.

Your safety is our FIRST priority, but service is 90% of our job and what we mostly do. This class was a great way to focus on how to best serve you...our customer.

I think I drank 10 glasses of water, 4 cups of coffee, 1 mug of tea, and ate 4 cookies, 1 brownie (yes, I made them for the class) and 2 breathmints! OY!

I was able to the eat salad for lunch.

I made some friends today too. I hope to see them out online. Most of them had read my article and 1 recognized me from that. Cool.