Baby, it's cold outside

Snowflakes the size of oyster crackers have been falling, off and on, all day here in Grand Rapids. It seems they should have closed the airport or called in the National Guard by now. That's what we'd do in Georgia anyway.

After almost two weeks of not working this week has brought me soundly back to reality. It seems all I've done is work, with a little time at home for sleep at night. It has been a very productive week though. I have 30:49 flight hours for the week. With the airlines cutting their schedules for the last few months it's been really difficult to get the number of hours I'm used. It would be easier if I didn't have another job, or if I was willing to work every weekend, but I'm hoping and praying that if I'm persistent I'll come up with the hours. I spent the entire afternoon today in front of my computer refreshing our open time pot. This is where all the unassigned trips go, as well as the trips other flight attendants are trying to drop or trade. I managed to get a few things, but it took the whole day.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday before work and scheduled my surgery for Jan. 29. This adds to the pressure of getting more flight time this month. I'm not too worried though. I have to do everything possible, and make sure my priorities are in order, but in the end there is only so much I can do. I'm not willing to give up everything just to get more flight time. I'm not giving up my trip to South Africa or Christmas with my family :-).

When we arrived in GRR I saw a man that I had met on a flight from Toronto earlier this year. It was a bizarre coincidence. Thankfully his was a smiling face, and I'm always happy to see one of those.

I finished "Three Cups of Tea" the other day. It's a book about a mountaineer who has made it his life goal to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan in an effort to improve their world. I wasn't completely sold on the writing style. There were too many three syllable adjectives. I felt it silly to describe water in the Himalayas as "alpine blue". But it is a great story and helped me view that part of the world from a completely different (better) perspective. He has been working there for over a decade and the book explains a lot about what their countries are like geographically, the politics and religion (including the Taliban), and what the lives of regular citizens look like (before and during the war). Reading books like this is one of my favorite ways to learn more about a different place. Plus, this man is doing really courageous, heroic things for the women and children there.

I'm hoping to get over 8 hours of sleep tonight. I've been struggling to stay awake since we got here around 3, and since I have to get up at 4am now is an acceptable time for bed. I thought I had gotten over the cold I had around Thanksgiving, but it's either still here, or I have something else bothering my ears, and it's been making me feel nauseated on my flights. Add tiredness to that and it's difficult for me to be a cheerful, happy flight attendant. So now I sleep.

Currently reading : Ancestor Stones By Aminatta Forna