I don't want to pack. I have to pack for two separate trips and it's overwhelming to the point of not doing anything at all. I did just have the brilliant realization that I don't have to fit it all in my suitcase for the next four days, which helps a little bit, but not enough. I'm doing a four day tomorrow, then going immediately to Maine to go rafting, and then hopefully after that going to Martha's Vineyard to say hello to Joy.
Today I did a dayline. I had some really stupid people on my flights. I had a lady get on and ask me where 12A was. I said "It's row 12", and I pointed to the number over row 1. She then proceeded to go through the cabin and stop and look at each row number as she went past. I don't know if she thought we were going to sneak 12 in after 6 or mix the numbers up for kicks or what. Then another lady got on. I was already unimpressed by the vast amount of fast food that her family was dragging on board with them, so when she said "Is row 10 in the front?" I couldn't even dignify it with a response. Once again, we in the civilized world number things for a reason. And in our civilized world counting typically begins at 1 and proceeds upwards IN ORDER. When I went through the cabin I got to her and she was holding her seatbelt and repeating over and over that she didn't know how to work it. Once again, for all of you people who laugh when we do the demos, some people can't seem to figure it out. They check their brains in their bags. They were also smelly people. Not the "I don't wear deoderant" kind of smelly. Just the "I don't shower or wash my hair regularly". Can you tell I had an amazing day? I had four different sets of smelly people today. One was plain old BO smelly, one group of 4 was curry smelly, and the other two were the generally unwashed kind. It's very sad to me to see/smell that.
I did have some friendly people, but my first round trip was to Nashville and very short so I really only had half the customer interraction. I had a man start talking to me while I was serving. He said he liked my name and had wanted to name is daughter Grace or Constance(????) but his wife vetoed it. Then he asked me when my birthday was. He said his wife is in to birthdays and star signs. He said he could usually guess when people's birthdays were, but evidently he still didn't peg me as an Aquarius. He also told me that guys that were born in late September were good matches for me. Funny that I know several born then and am not a good match with any. I told him he was out of his mind and his wife should stop wasting her time on that crap... Not really :-P Then there was the creepy starer in 1D. One of the first lessons in Man School needs to be that looking is flattering but staring is just gross and creepy.
I started reading the first Harry Potter today. I figure 10 years later (or whatever it is) I should get with the times. So far so good.
Currently reading : Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) By J.K. Rowling
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
the start of a new week
Tomorrow is the beginning of another week of flying. Unlike my easy three day week last week, I'll actually be flying 5 days this one. Imagine that - working every day of the week! Sometimes I envy people who go home to their own beds every night and have nice normal lives. Sometimes I pity people who sleep in their own beds every night and have nice normal lives.
This weekend was way too short. It was nice being off during the day on Friday, which isn't my norm, but I worked at the amphitheater for some play that night, and did a dinner catering last night. The catering was ridiculous. It was for some lady's 60th birthday party and her daughter, who had organized it, was sooo demanding. I almost snapped when she started telling me how to serve sodas... If there's anything I know something about, it's serving sodas (unfortunately).
My brakes have decided to leave me. I've been meaning to get them fixed for a long time, but it's hard to negotiate leaving my car somewhere for long enough to get them fixed. I'm taking it in while I'm away on Tuesday, but all weekend I had to get chauffered around. It was kind of nice cause I don't like driving sometimes and cause then I got to spend time with whoever was driving me around. J did the honors yesterday and took me to my haircut. Then we went to Jersey's pool for the afternoon. Today the parents did the honors and we went to check out a potential house. We aren't sure about how much work the house would need, but I'd almost get it for the land around it. It reminds me of our Roscoe Rd house (property-wise) which was the most beautiful area we've lived in. Who knows if anything will come of it, but it's interesting.
Tonight I did laundry, made my room walkable, and watched True Life about these two girls who are compulsive shoppers. It made me feel much better about my money problems. Nothing like looking at people whose lives are disasters to feel better about yourself. That's all for now. I'm going to try to rise and shine and get stuff done before work in the morning.
This weekend was way too short. It was nice being off during the day on Friday, which isn't my norm, but I worked at the amphitheater for some play that night, and did a dinner catering last night. The catering was ridiculous. It was for some lady's 60th birthday party and her daughter, who had organized it, was sooo demanding. I almost snapped when she started telling me how to serve sodas... If there's anything I know something about, it's serving sodas (unfortunately).
My brakes have decided to leave me. I've been meaning to get them fixed for a long time, but it's hard to negotiate leaving my car somewhere for long enough to get them fixed. I'm taking it in while I'm away on Tuesday, but all weekend I had to get chauffered around. It was kind of nice cause I don't like driving sometimes and cause then I got to spend time with whoever was driving me around. J did the honors yesterday and took me to my haircut. Then we went to Jersey's pool for the afternoon. Today the parents did the honors and we went to check out a potential house. We aren't sure about how much work the house would need, but I'd almost get it for the land around it. It reminds me of our Roscoe Rd house (property-wise) which was the most beautiful area we've lived in. Who knows if anything will come of it, but it's interesting.
Tonight I did laundry, made my room walkable, and watched True Life about these two girls who are compulsive shoppers. It made me feel much better about my money problems. Nothing like looking at people whose lives are disasters to feel better about yourself. That's all for now. I'm going to try to rise and shine and get stuff done before work in the morning.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
if only work was always like this
I love doing three day trips. It was crazy and wonderful to realize yesterday, on day two, that today was the last day of the trip.
We just got back from Nassau. It was a nice overnight and instead of avoiding it like I've done before, I think I'll try to go back. I usually don't do international overnights if they're less than 14 hours or so (Nassau is 11), but since the airport is small and customs is a joke I think I can deal with it. The hotel is actually a Wyndham Resort and is really nice. My crew and I sat on beach chairs on the beach last night for an hour or so and just enjoyed being near sand and water. I'd love to see more of the area. The water was beautiful and we came in as the sun was going down which made it to die for :-P. I love the blackness of the people and how everyone is so relaxed and friendly.
The night before we were in Key West where the people aren't as much black as they are ridiculously tan. The locals all seem to have their brains fried, and you can see every imaginable (and some you'd rather not imagine) type of person. Three of us went out and about and had a jolly good time. For once, it was below 1000 degrees and the humidity was only 97% instead of the usual 125% person. I am evidently a beast because I sweat so much (thank you, Captain).
My prime disappointment with this trip has been that at both hotels, which are known for their king beds, I got full or queen. I know this may seem silly, but I love those beds so much. I feel towards king sized beds like I feel toward showers - a kind of unusual degree of love and enjoyment :-P. There's just something fabulous about knowing I can lie in any direction and still be completely on the bed. Oh well... Maybe next time.
If anything else amusing has happened in the last few days, I don't really remember. I have another 2.5 hours to entertain myself before I do one more round trip to Burlington, VT - then home!
We just got back from Nassau. It was a nice overnight and instead of avoiding it like I've done before, I think I'll try to go back. I usually don't do international overnights if they're less than 14 hours or so (Nassau is 11), but since the airport is small and customs is a joke I think I can deal with it. The hotel is actually a Wyndham Resort and is really nice. My crew and I sat on beach chairs on the beach last night for an hour or so and just enjoyed being near sand and water. I'd love to see more of the area. The water was beautiful and we came in as the sun was going down which made it to die for :-P. I love the blackness of the people and how everyone is so relaxed and friendly.
The night before we were in Key West where the people aren't as much black as they are ridiculously tan. The locals all seem to have their brains fried, and you can see every imaginable (and some you'd rather not imagine) type of person. Three of us went out and about and had a jolly good time. For once, it was below 1000 degrees and the humidity was only 97% instead of the usual 125% person. I am evidently a beast because I sweat so much (thank you, Captain).
My prime disappointment with this trip has been that at both hotels, which are known for their king beds, I got full or queen. I know this may seem silly, but I love those beds so much. I feel towards king sized beds like I feel toward showers - a kind of unusual degree of love and enjoyment :-P. There's just something fabulous about knowing I can lie in any direction and still be completely on the bed. Oh well... Maybe next time.
If anything else amusing has happened in the last few days, I don't really remember. I have another 2.5 hours to entertain myself before I do one more round trip to Burlington, VT - then home!
Monday, July 14, 2008
On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed.
The advertisement at the top of my myspace page just now said "Music lessons= happiness". It made me laugh. Let me tell you, when I took music lessons they brought me more stress and tears than very many other things.
Tomorrow is my Monday. The thing that makes me happy though is that my trip this week is only 3 days. It also makes me happy that I'll be in Key West tomorrow night and Nassau Wednesday night. I don't know what it is but three day trips seem so much shorter than four days. I almost feel like I don't need to pack anything (but I am anyway).
Today was a fun day off. I got to have lunch with J before he went to work. It's hard to beat Chick-fil-a and a good looking man. But then I hung out with Michal and Mama the rest of the afternoon. I also went to the library and checked out the first Harry Potter book. I haven't read any of them and feel so behind the times. Michal had her second lesson learning to drive a manual car. She is doing quite well, though sometimes it makes me laugh a little to realize I'm teaching my baby sister to drive. She is already driving an automatic around which is strange enough. Then we did some shopping which just wore me out. I ran over a snake on the way home, thinking it was a piece of tire, and it made me feel bad and gross.
There has been lots of other stuff going on but I haven't felt like writing. I'm trying to do a better job of keeping up with my friends and family. I realized the other day how little I know about most of my friend's (and some of my family's) lives right now and it really bothers me.
I ran yesterday and intend to do so at least several more times this week. I also talked to my bosses today about some money issues and got more that I thought might be owed me so is another thing going well. It seems like life is a constant struggle for balance. If you are doing well work and money-wise, it seems you neglect relationships. It's hard to do all the good things you want all at the same time. I focus on eating well and exercising for a while, and then I fall completely off the wagon. I am good about calling people and writing and then I get distracted for months. I wonder why we're that way? Now I'm going to focus on getting a good night's sleep so I can be refreshed when I get to Key West tomorrow.
Tomorrow is my Monday. The thing that makes me happy though is that my trip this week is only 3 days. It also makes me happy that I'll be in Key West tomorrow night and Nassau Wednesday night. I don't know what it is but three day trips seem so much shorter than four days. I almost feel like I don't need to pack anything (but I am anyway).
Today was a fun day off. I got to have lunch with J before he went to work. It's hard to beat Chick-fil-a and a good looking man. But then I hung out with Michal and Mama the rest of the afternoon. I also went to the library and checked out the first Harry Potter book. I haven't read any of them and feel so behind the times. Michal had her second lesson learning to drive a manual car. She is doing quite well, though sometimes it makes me laugh a little to realize I'm teaching my baby sister to drive. She is already driving an automatic around which is strange enough. Then we did some shopping which just wore me out. I ran over a snake on the way home, thinking it was a piece of tire, and it made me feel bad and gross.
There has been lots of other stuff going on but I haven't felt like writing. I'm trying to do a better job of keeping up with my friends and family. I realized the other day how little I know about most of my friend's (and some of my family's) lives right now and it really bothers me.
I ran yesterday and intend to do so at least several more times this week. I also talked to my bosses today about some money issues and got more that I thought might be owed me so is another thing going well. It seems like life is a constant struggle for balance. If you are doing well work and money-wise, it seems you neglect relationships. It's hard to do all the good things you want all at the same time. I focus on eating well and exercising for a while, and then I fall completely off the wagon. I am good about calling people and writing and then I get distracted for months. I wonder why we're that way? Now I'm going to focus on getting a good night's sleep so I can be refreshed when I get to Key West tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
flying hiiiiigh
I'm sitting in Atlanta. We just got back from Montreal and have a 3 hour break before we go to Burlinton, VT for the night. I'm happy cause that's one of my favorite overnights. I wish we were spending 17 hours there instead of in Providence, RI tomorrow night. Someone is sitting a few chairs down from me in the lounge snoring. It amuses me. I should be sleeping because I am le tired, but alas, I am not.
Last night in Montreal I started week 8. This week is a 28 minute run in between two 5 minute walks. I ran four times last week, and am determined to run at least 3 times this week. I have set a weight goal for the end of the month. I'm excited to reach it.
Monday night I went with Jamie to the Dave Matthews concert at Lakewood. It was my first DMB concert. I was impressed by several things. First was obviously the band. It's nice to see a group where all of the musicians are so talented and work so well together. I'm sure this is part of why DMB is so popular. It seems most of the time you have one or two people who have the talent and keep things going, but they are all amazing. Second, I was amazed by how much weed people were smoking. I seriously thought I was going to get stoned just standing there breathing. Third was the crowd. It seemed like Jamie and I were the chaperones for a frat party. I haven't seen that many drunk/stoned children in a long time. Everyone was very enthusiastic though. We stood for at least 3 solid hours. The place was packed. We had a great time. I have to thank Susan for not being able to stay in Atlanta all weekend and thereby making it possible for me to be Jamie's stand-in date :-).
Last night in Montreal I started week 8. This week is a 28 minute run in between two 5 minute walks. I ran four times last week, and am determined to run at least 3 times this week. I have set a weight goal for the end of the month. I'm excited to reach it.
Monday night I went with Jamie to the Dave Matthews concert at Lakewood. It was my first DMB concert. I was impressed by several things. First was obviously the band. It's nice to see a group where all of the musicians are so talented and work so well together. I'm sure this is part of why DMB is so popular. It seems most of the time you have one or two people who have the talent and keep things going, but they are all amazing. Second, I was amazed by how much weed people were smoking. I seriously thought I was going to get stoned just standing there breathing. Third was the crowd. It seemed like Jamie and I were the chaperones for a frat party. I haven't seen that many drunk/stoned children in a long time. Everyone was very enthusiastic though. We stood for at least 3 solid hours. The place was packed. We had a great time. I have to thank Susan for not being able to stay in Atlanta all weekend and thereby making it possible for me to be Jamie's stand-in date :-).
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Back in the saddle
I'm back at work after six wonderful days off. I'm still exhausted and am looking forward to the wonderful hotel room in Key West this evening. I got home from Buenos Aires about 5:30 Sunday morning. I went home and went to sleep and was so tired and asleep that even in my dreams I was tired and couldn't move. I got up and had lunch with the parents but was feeling pretty lousy. I was coughing and my whole body hurt. Not sure how much of the aching was due to spending 10 hours on a plane. That night I had my usual fever breaking dreams and woke up with wet sheets from all the sweat - so I'm assuming whatever I had went away then. I'm still kind of achy, but not nearly as bad.
Yesterday I hung out at the pool with J. The weather lately has been amazing and almost makes you forget how brutal Atlanta can be. After that we went running, shopping and cooked supper. It was a really nice evening and we got to sit on his balcony and watch the reflection of the sunset off the buildings in Buckhead. Such a beautiful night.
When I travel I have the problem of not writing during the trip, and when I get home it's so much to write about that I never do. I did that with Puerto Vallarta, but don't want it to happen this time, so I'll try to write about it in bits and pieces.
My first impression of Buenos Aires was from the back of a taxi. I feared that I would die before we ever reached the city. Roya and I arrived in Buenos Aires around 7:30am. We'd had a nice flight (both in Business) and were ready to take on the world. Her friend, Alfredo, met us at the airport and we got in the cab to go to the hotel. Because of the traffic it made a 30 minute ride almost twice that long. I spent a lot of the trip looking down or anywhere except at what was in front of us. In Argentina there is total disregard for the lines on the road. Everyone is weaving back and forth. If you pull up at a light where there are three lanes, but there's room to squeeze in between two of the cars, they'll make four lanes. The driver would come up behind and between semis like they wouldn't squish us completely flat if we got in their way. Roya tried to video it but it was so stop and go and unpredictable that it was difficult. I'm glad to say that we survived, but I think that it was the most scared I've ever been in a car in my life.
Yesterday I hung out at the pool with J. The weather lately has been amazing and almost makes you forget how brutal Atlanta can be. After that we went running, shopping and cooked supper. It was a really nice evening and we got to sit on his balcony and watch the reflection of the sunset off the buildings in Buckhead. Such a beautiful night.
When I travel I have the problem of not writing during the trip, and when I get home it's so much to write about that I never do. I did that with Puerto Vallarta, but don't want it to happen this time, so I'll try to write about it in bits and pieces.
My first impression of Buenos Aires was from the back of a taxi. I feared that I would die before we ever reached the city. Roya and I arrived in Buenos Aires around 7:30am. We'd had a nice flight (both in Business) and were ready to take on the world. Her friend, Alfredo, met us at the airport and we got in the cab to go to the hotel. Because of the traffic it made a 30 minute ride almost twice that long. I spent a lot of the trip looking down or anywhere except at what was in front of us. In Argentina there is total disregard for the lines on the road. Everyone is weaving back and forth. If you pull up at a light where there are three lanes, but there's room to squeeze in between two of the cars, they'll make four lanes. The driver would come up behind and between semis like they wouldn't squish us completely flat if we got in their way. Roya tried to video it but it was so stop and go and unpredictable that it was difficult. I'm glad to say that we survived, but I think that it was the most scared I've ever been in a car in my life.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
It must’ve been love, but it’s over now
I said that I would write from Buenos Aires so here it is. I'm packing to leave. It's been an amazing trip. We haven't stopped going since we got here. I'm exhausted, but have had the time of my life. I'll write all about it either on the 10hour flight home that I hopefully make tonight, or when I recover from my sleep deprivation.
Monday, June 23, 2008
You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
If you ever have a friend who really wants to have a child and you don't think they're ready make them watch episode after episode of John and Kate + 8. I know it's children in excess, but just watching it stresses me out. It's like having a daycare 24/7 and not getting paid for it. It also seems to me that John and Kate can't stand each other. Good birth control in my opinion.
Today I'm in Grand Rapids. Last night was Augusta. Yes, it's as thrilling as it sounds. I'm back on the 50 which hasn't been terrible, but I'm realizing that I work better when I have someone else to work with. I've been really tired, which hasn't helped me be a super fun fantastic flight attendant. Tomorrow I have five legs. Then I go to my car, dump my work clothes, get my play clothes, and fly to Buenos Aires. Right now I'm still too busy and tired and anxious about getting both Roya and I in first class to be excited. Okay, maybe I am a little bit.
This past week was a whirlwind. I worked a lot, had recurrent training, saw lots of out of town friends, had a real date, and worked some more. Adri and Mo were in town from MA so we went to the laser show at Stone Mountain. I might just be a big party pooper, but I think it's kind of cheesy. I don't like cartoons either though, so that might be part of the problem. It was still lots of good fun seeing everyone and the weather was perfect for being out under the sky. Jamie and Susan also both wandered in from their respective hick states to add to the festiviti. We crashed Adri's house on Friday night and had a 1477 and apartment family gathering.
I had a passenger yesterday who has flown over 2 million miles on Delta since the early 90s. He told me he's been in planes that have been struck by lightning 3 times. I was shocked and amazed. Shocked cause I've known people who've been struck once, but never three times. Amazed cause I have been curious what happens and obviously he wasn't damaged or killed.
Today I ran again. I was really on a roll for a while there. Then the running got harder and the weather got hotter. I've really flaked out. Now I finally finished week 6. It's only taken me a month. It was a 5 minute warm up with a 25 minute run. That's the longest I've run, without stopping, in a long time. Maybe ever. I ran super slow, but I finished it, and now I can at least move on to week 7.
My goal now is to be asleep by 8 or so. Now What Not To Wear is on so I'm not going insane. I'm going to work on a budget - finally. I think that realistically I can have my debt paid off by the beginning of December. Now that the end is in sight it makes me more motivated to do it (hence the microwave meal I just ate).
Hopefully next time I write it will be from about 5000 miles away.
Oh yeah, the concert I worked Saturday night was Kenny Rogers. There were some ladies there who had been to over 1000 KR concerts! It was really sad. I can't imagine who has nothing better to do with their lives than go to his concerts. It was extremely cheesy and his super hot wife came up on the stage with his twin 3 year old boys and they sang some rap song... I can't believe people paid lots of money for that. After the amazing pre-concert that Jamie and Jonathan put on Kenny just didn't impress me :-).
Today I'm in Grand Rapids. Last night was Augusta. Yes, it's as thrilling as it sounds. I'm back on the 50 which hasn't been terrible, but I'm realizing that I work better when I have someone else to work with. I've been really tired, which hasn't helped me be a super fun fantastic flight attendant. Tomorrow I have five legs. Then I go to my car, dump my work clothes, get my play clothes, and fly to Buenos Aires. Right now I'm still too busy and tired and anxious about getting both Roya and I in first class to be excited. Okay, maybe I am a little bit.
This past week was a whirlwind. I worked a lot, had recurrent training, saw lots of out of town friends, had a real date, and worked some more. Adri and Mo were in town from MA so we went to the laser show at Stone Mountain. I might just be a big party pooper, but I think it's kind of cheesy. I don't like cartoons either though, so that might be part of the problem. It was still lots of good fun seeing everyone and the weather was perfect for being out under the sky. Jamie and Susan also both wandered in from their respective hick states to add to the festiviti. We crashed Adri's house on Friday night and had a 1477 and apartment family gathering.
I had a passenger yesterday who has flown over 2 million miles on Delta since the early 90s. He told me he's been in planes that have been struck by lightning 3 times. I was shocked and amazed. Shocked cause I've known people who've been struck once, but never three times. Amazed cause I have been curious what happens and obviously he wasn't damaged or killed.
Today I ran again. I was really on a roll for a while there. Then the running got harder and the weather got hotter. I've really flaked out. Now I finally finished week 6. It's only taken me a month. It was a 5 minute warm up with a 25 minute run. That's the longest I've run, without stopping, in a long time. Maybe ever. I ran super slow, but I finished it, and now I can at least move on to week 7.
My goal now is to be asleep by 8 or so. Now What Not To Wear is on so I'm not going insane. I'm going to work on a budget - finally. I think that realistically I can have my debt paid off by the beginning of December. Now that the end is in sight it makes me more motivated to do it (hence the microwave meal I just ate).
Hopefully next time I write it will be from about 5000 miles away.
Oh yeah, the concert I worked Saturday night was Kenny Rogers. There were some ladies there who had been to over 1000 KR concerts! It was really sad. I can't imagine who has nothing better to do with their lives than go to his concerts. It was extremely cheesy and his super hot wife came up on the stage with his twin 3 year old boys and they sang some rap song... I can't believe people paid lots of money for that. After the amazing pre-concert that Jamie and Jonathan put on Kenny just didn't impress me :-).
Monday, June 16, 2008
The rest of the story
I know I already blogged once today, but I'm much more awake now. I just got home from having dinner with some of my buddies. It was a good time. It's nice that the older we get, the more open we're able to be with each other. I often dream about what it would be like to be able to be completely honest with everyone about everything. I'm not talking about telling someone their pants really do make them look fat. I mean being able to tell anyone anything about myself and not be worried about what they think. In thinking about this I realize that I probably would have to draw the line somewhere. Some things I don't tell people because I'm ashamed, and if I stopped being ashamed of anything then I feel that would be bad. But other things are good to tell. If for no other reason than for someone to learn from and have a good laugh at my stupid mistakes.
That being said, it was nice to be able to tell my parents something terrible and stupid I did and them not banish me from their house :-D.
I will now tell the drug test story. If you're offended by stupidity, alcohol, drugs, or vomiting you might not want to read it. I would like to preface this by saying that throughout my college years, and especially while I was living in Europe, I was constantly exposed to weed. People offered it to me but I was never interested. It might've been because alcohol was still a new thing to me and enough for me to deal with. It might've been that I'd been raised to think that drug use is not a good way to spend your time or money. That it's not good to let something control your mind. I also saw that all my friends that smoked were dreadfully dull when stoned. All those reasons made me never interested. That is, until one night about 3 years ago when I was sitting around being bored and stupid and drinking and someone offered me a joint. I took it but just took one puff on it, and as Bill Clinton claimed, I don't think I even inhaled. I didn't feel anything spectacular, and that was the end of it. Or so I thought.
During this time I had applied for a job at my current airline. Things began moving at an unexpected pace and within 5 days of my first interview I was going for my second one. After the second interview they gave me some paperwork and told me to go for a drug test. Everyone had already told me that once they drug test you it means you have the job. Then they'd always joke and say "Unless you fail the drug test (thigh slap. ha ha.)" I didn't think I had anything to worry about since it was about a week and a half earlier, but I called said weed provider just to confirm. I was then informed that it can stay in your system for up to 30 days. This is the part where my day starts to get really terrible. Anger, panic, worry, and tears all ascend on me like the plague.
The next person I call is Adri. If she doesn't know an answer, she can find it. I also call Jamie, who at this point I was still only on phone internet basis with (look how far we've come :-D). He's another answer finder. He also works in the same type of field where clean drug tests are a good thing. Between the two of them I'm directed to GNC where I purchase one of those detox drinks. (Side note here: doing stupid things is expensive.) It's about a gallon and grape flavored. I've also purchased a big bottle of OJ and cranberry juice - items also said cleanse one's system.
[Just so you know, as I write this I question why I'm actually telling anyone what an idiot I am. But it's been a while and now at least I can laugh at my own stupid mistakes. I think so anyway...]
I begin drinking these different concoctions. The detox bottle said you have to pee at least 3 times before you take the test. I'm still in my interview finest and am now trying to figure out how I'm going to drink all this and then kill enough time for it to pass through me. It's not as easy as it seems. I went to the thriftstore down the road and wandered for a while and peed some. I was feeling terrible physically. I was feeling terribly mentally cause I was so worried about passing the test and so ashamed of myself for doing something so stupid. My stomach finally took over and decided that enough was enough and my really expensive detox drink, as well as what seemed like gallons of OJ and CJ came back up. I can't imagine what someone would've thought as the lady in the business clothes pukes in the thriftstore parking lot in the early afternoon. I must've been a sight to see :-P.
The puking helped me realize that the nonsense had gone on long enough and I better just take the test. As we can see, I passed and now that is all just a distant, silly memory.
I would say that the moral of the story is not to smoke weed. If for no other reason than because you never know when you'll have a major job interview and need to be drug tested. And if you do, the grape flavored drinks are absolutely disgusting. I also learned that my stomach cannot hold several gallons of liquid and evidently my organs cannot process fluids as quickly as I drink them.
This may be shocking and appalling to some of you. Some may not be surprised. I hope at least you're amused, and can take comfort in the fact that I suffered for and have learned from my mistakes. :-P
I will amend this by saying that Jamie and I were actually real life friends at this point. He reminded me of this because shortly thereafter when I was doing my first trip I went to his house at 6am cause I didn't have a suitcase and used his. it's hard to keep up with how long this joy ride of a friendship has been going on :-).
That being said, it was nice to be able to tell my parents something terrible and stupid I did and them not banish me from their house :-D.
I will now tell the drug test story. If you're offended by stupidity, alcohol, drugs, or vomiting you might not want to read it. I would like to preface this by saying that throughout my college years, and especially while I was living in Europe, I was constantly exposed to weed. People offered it to me but I was never interested. It might've been because alcohol was still a new thing to me and enough for me to deal with. It might've been that I'd been raised to think that drug use is not a good way to spend your time or money. That it's not good to let something control your mind. I also saw that all my friends that smoked were dreadfully dull when stoned. All those reasons made me never interested. That is, until one night about 3 years ago when I was sitting around being bored and stupid and drinking and someone offered me a joint. I took it but just took one puff on it, and as Bill Clinton claimed, I don't think I even inhaled. I didn't feel anything spectacular, and that was the end of it. Or so I thought.
During this time I had applied for a job at my current airline. Things began moving at an unexpected pace and within 5 days of my first interview I was going for my second one. After the second interview they gave me some paperwork and told me to go for a drug test. Everyone had already told me that once they drug test you it means you have the job. Then they'd always joke and say "Unless you fail the drug test (thigh slap. ha ha.)" I didn't think I had anything to worry about since it was about a week and a half earlier, but I called said weed provider just to confirm. I was then informed that it can stay in your system for up to 30 days. This is the part where my day starts to get really terrible. Anger, panic, worry, and tears all ascend on me like the plague.
The next person I call is Adri. If she doesn't know an answer, she can find it. I also call Jamie, who at this point I was still only on phone internet basis with (look how far we've come :-D). He's another answer finder. He also works in the same type of field where clean drug tests are a good thing. Between the two of them I'm directed to GNC where I purchase one of those detox drinks. (Side note here: doing stupid things is expensive.) It's about a gallon and grape flavored. I've also purchased a big bottle of OJ and cranberry juice - items also said cleanse one's system.
[Just so you know, as I write this I question why I'm actually telling anyone what an idiot I am. But it's been a while and now at least I can laugh at my own stupid mistakes. I think so anyway...]
I begin drinking these different concoctions. The detox bottle said you have to pee at least 3 times before you take the test. I'm still in my interview finest and am now trying to figure out how I'm going to drink all this and then kill enough time for it to pass through me. It's not as easy as it seems. I went to the thriftstore down the road and wandered for a while and peed some. I was feeling terrible physically. I was feeling terribly mentally cause I was so worried about passing the test and so ashamed of myself for doing something so stupid. My stomach finally took over and decided that enough was enough and my really expensive detox drink, as well as what seemed like gallons of OJ and CJ came back up. I can't imagine what someone would've thought as the lady in the business clothes pukes in the thriftstore parking lot in the early afternoon. I must've been a sight to see :-P.
The puking helped me realize that the nonsense had gone on long enough and I better just take the test. As we can see, I passed and now that is all just a distant, silly memory.
I would say that the moral of the story is not to smoke weed. If for no other reason than because you never know when you'll have a major job interview and need to be drug tested. And if you do, the grape flavored drinks are absolutely disgusting. I also learned that my stomach cannot hold several gallons of liquid and evidently my organs cannot process fluids as quickly as I drink them.
This may be shocking and appalling to some of you. Some may not be surprised. I hope at least you're amused, and can take comfort in the fact that I suffered for and have learned from my mistakes. :-P
I will amend this by saying that Jamie and I were actually real life friends at this point. He reminded me of this because shortly thereafter when I was doing my first trip I went to his house at 6am cause I didn't have a suitcase and used his. it's hard to keep up with how long this joy ride of a friendship has been going on :-).
My eyelids should diet. They’re so heavy...
I just got home from doing a nap. I should probably take a nap since I only slept 5 hours, but I haven't managed to get to that point yet.
I had a productive, busy, hard working weekend, but it was nice. I worked at the amphitheater Fri and Sat and saw some people from the previous concerts. I really like working there and I like the people I serve. It also helps that most of them are really generous. Some lady tipped me for taking her beer bottle up to the bar and popping the lid off of it. I was worried cause when I got in the car Saturday night I counted my money and thought I had lost a twenty. I checked around in the car and even drove back to see if if was where I had parked, but it was gone. Then yesterday when I got in the car to leave my parent's house it was sitting right next to my seat... It made me happy. I hate losing money.
I got my phone replaced a couple weeks ago because the camera on mine had broken and it was still under warranty. Since then I have discovered the key to making my battery last. It seems my phone works much better when it isn't full of pictures. Now instead of barely lasting a day, the battery lasts several days. It's amazing.
Father's day was really nice. My mama, Michal, and I made a big salad with all the good stuff on it that my daddy loves. It was so good. Then we sat around and talked all afternoon. I told them the real story behind my ASA drug test. Now, three years later, it's funny. I'll write about it when I'm not so tired. I figure since my parents know then it doesn't matter who else knows. Church was also really good. There is hardly a Sunday that I leave there without feeling like I learned something and/or was challenged.
I have recurrent training this week so I'll be home every single night. It's weird. Tomorrow I work really late and already have stuff going on most nights, but it's still kind of nice to not be on the road.
I had a productive, busy, hard working weekend, but it was nice. I worked at the amphitheater Fri and Sat and saw some people from the previous concerts. I really like working there and I like the people I serve. It also helps that most of them are really generous. Some lady tipped me for taking her beer bottle up to the bar and popping the lid off of it. I was worried cause when I got in the car Saturday night I counted my money and thought I had lost a twenty. I checked around in the car and even drove back to see if if was where I had parked, but it was gone. Then yesterday when I got in the car to leave my parent's house it was sitting right next to my seat... It made me happy. I hate losing money.
I got my phone replaced a couple weeks ago because the camera on mine had broken and it was still under warranty. Since then I have discovered the key to making my battery last. It seems my phone works much better when it isn't full of pictures. Now instead of barely lasting a day, the battery lasts several days. It's amazing.
Father's day was really nice. My mama, Michal, and I made a big salad with all the good stuff on it that my daddy loves. It was so good. Then we sat around and talked all afternoon. I told them the real story behind my ASA drug test. Now, three years later, it's funny. I'll write about it when I'm not so tired. I figure since my parents know then it doesn't matter who else knows. Church was also really good. There is hardly a Sunday that I leave there without feeling like I learned something and/or was challenged.
I have recurrent training this week so I'll be home every single night. It's weird. Tomorrow I work really late and already have stuff going on most nights, but it's still kind of nice to not be on the road.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did
I don't know any songs about Providence. But I am lying in bed, evidently just like Brian Wilson did - though I'm not sure if he was lying in bed with his laptop.
Yesterday was a day that makes you glad you work for an airline, and makes you hate working for an airline. I spent the first part of the day lounging in Albany, NY. I ran, which made me feel good, but wasn't easy since it's been about a week. The weather in Georgia has been ridiculous for being outdoors. It was cooler in NY but not as much cooler as I would've liked. The change of scenery is nice though. We got back to Atlanta around 7 and were supposed to have a 2.5 hour break. Our plane was late and there was terrible weather surrounding the airport, so long story short, we left the gate about 1:15 late, then took off about 2 hours later. We were in good company though with about 30 other planes hanging out on the runways trying to leave as well. We finally made it to Providence at 2:30am. Hotel around 3:15am.
I've been realizing more and more lately what a role we flight attendants have in making passengers happy or miserable. I knew this before, but after flying with angry people two weeks in a row and now happy people two weeks in a row, it's reinforced. The last few days I've flown with a lady with a crazy deep Texas accent and a British guy. Both have an amazing sense of humor and people always leave the planes happy - even if it's 2:30am. We actually had a fun time on the flight. My crew is great and it makes all the difference in the world. I also seem to be sending off some kind of vibe cause all the old men are really loving me lately :-P.
Last night on my flight I had a lady that I've known since I was born but probably haven't seen in 15 years (Marianne Dias). She was on her way up to visit her daughter, Jenny, who gave me my first short haircut when I was little. I didn't recognize her (I'm not normally on the lookout for long lost friends at 11pm), but she gave me a note cause she wasn't sure it was me. I also met a girl yesterday who is on her way down to Rio for the summer. She said she was planning on going to Buenos Aires at some point so I told her when I'd be there and she might meet us there. These are two examples of why my job is great.
I'll be in Providence until tomorrow morning. I have recurrent next week and have some homework to do before then so that's probably what I'll be doing. And watching the food network. I kinda like these days of forced relaxation.
PS. Since I didn't blog yesterday on the day of, I will wish my wonderful older sister Christine a happy birthday month.
Yesterday was a day that makes you glad you work for an airline, and makes you hate working for an airline. I spent the first part of the day lounging in Albany, NY. I ran, which made me feel good, but wasn't easy since it's been about a week. The weather in Georgia has been ridiculous for being outdoors. It was cooler in NY but not as much cooler as I would've liked. The change of scenery is nice though. We got back to Atlanta around 7 and were supposed to have a 2.5 hour break. Our plane was late and there was terrible weather surrounding the airport, so long story short, we left the gate about 1:15 late, then took off about 2 hours later. We were in good company though with about 30 other planes hanging out on the runways trying to leave as well. We finally made it to Providence at 2:30am. Hotel around 3:15am.
I've been realizing more and more lately what a role we flight attendants have in making passengers happy or miserable. I knew this before, but after flying with angry people two weeks in a row and now happy people two weeks in a row, it's reinforced. The last few days I've flown with a lady with a crazy deep Texas accent and a British guy. Both have an amazing sense of humor and people always leave the planes happy - even if it's 2:30am. We actually had a fun time on the flight. My crew is great and it makes all the difference in the world. I also seem to be sending off some kind of vibe cause all the old men are really loving me lately :-P.
Last night on my flight I had a lady that I've known since I was born but probably haven't seen in 15 years (Marianne Dias). She was on her way up to visit her daughter, Jenny, who gave me my first short haircut when I was little. I didn't recognize her (I'm not normally on the lookout for long lost friends at 11pm), but she gave me a note cause she wasn't sure it was me. I also met a girl yesterday who is on her way down to Rio for the summer. She said she was planning on going to Buenos Aires at some point so I told her when I'd be there and she might meet us there. These are two examples of why my job is great.
I'll be in Providence until tomorrow morning. I have recurrent next week and have some homework to do before then so that's probably what I'll be doing. And watching the food network. I kinda like these days of forced relaxation.
PS. Since I didn't blog yesterday on the day of, I will wish my wonderful older sister Christine a happy birthday month.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Giant steps are what you take walking on the moon
Considering the amount of sleep I've gotten in the last few days I'm ridiculously tired. It's thundering outside. Hopefully it will rain and cool things down. The heat might have something to do with how tired I am. I also ate a bunch of pizza and icecream a while ago. Talk about falling off the wagon - I've been eating junk, spending money, and not exercising. It's amazing how easy it is to lose concentration on your goals.
I went to the foot doctor today and found out that genetics suck and I get to have surgery on my foot some time this year. Joy has already had it so I'm not concerned about the actual surgery at all. The problem is that, due to the nature of my job, I'll have to take 6-8 weeks off of work. I was pretty sure it was going to happen but now that it has been confirmed I can start figuring the rest out. I'm hoping to do it around the end of the year so I'll be in recuperation over the holidays. This will also give me time to prepare for it physically and financially. Good times. I'm not worried about it though. God has always taken care of me in the past and I know He will continue to do so in the future. It's kind of exciting to me to think about having that much time off work. I just need to find a side job that I can do while sitting or save a lot of money now.
I ran across a good friend from Europe on facebook last night and it's made me remember so many things. I don't usually miss things, but there were a lot of good times had with this person while I was in Madrid. It's hard not to feel a little pain in my heart when I think of it and how it is now so long ago.
I'm waiting for my laundry and trying to think what I should be doing to get ready for my trip tomorrow. And trying to stay awake. Knowing me, I'll be really sleepy until it's actually time to go to sleep. Then I'll be wide awake.
I went to the foot doctor today and found out that genetics suck and I get to have surgery on my foot some time this year. Joy has already had it so I'm not concerned about the actual surgery at all. The problem is that, due to the nature of my job, I'll have to take 6-8 weeks off of work. I was pretty sure it was going to happen but now that it has been confirmed I can start figuring the rest out. I'm hoping to do it around the end of the year so I'll be in recuperation over the holidays. This will also give me time to prepare for it physically and financially. Good times. I'm not worried about it though. God has always taken care of me in the past and I know He will continue to do so in the future. It's kind of exciting to me to think about having that much time off work. I just need to find a side job that I can do while sitting or save a lot of money now.
I ran across a good friend from Europe on facebook last night and it's made me remember so many things. I don't usually miss things, but there were a lot of good times had with this person while I was in Madrid. It's hard not to feel a little pain in my heart when I think of it and how it is now so long ago.
I'm waiting for my laundry and trying to think what I should be doing to get ready for my trip tomorrow. And trying to stay awake. Knowing me, I'll be really sleepy until it's actually time to go to sleep. Then I'll be wide awake.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Lazy Sunday evening
This is the second night in a row I have been doing nothing at my own house. It's pretty cool. I forgot what it was like. I was supposed to cater yesterday but I pulled something in my shoulder Friday, aggravated it working Friday night, and woke up yesterday with a really sore neck and shoulder. I decided that recuperation was a necessity. After I got my hair done yesterday I came home and sat in front of the tv with my laptop and some Publix sushi. It was awesome. Then I fell asleep on the couch around 5:30, woke up at 9:30 enough to move to my bed, and stayed there til this morning. Once again, it was awesome.
Today was an equally leisurely day. It's too hot to do anything that isn't leisurely. It's so hot, I sweat while I'm showering. I did strenuous things like go to church, eat lunch with my parents and Michal, load music on Michal's ipod, go to Starbucks with Isabella, and wander around Ross and Target. I found the perfect shade of hot pink nail polish. Well it better be perfect since I spent 15 minutes deciding.
I've also decided that I am doomed to be a boring dresser. The only interesting pieces of clothing I own were passed down to me by someone else (Amie or Molly). I try to get things that are interesting or unusual but always end up with the same old solid color things like white tank tops.
I guess a boring wardrobe suits me since I seem to be limited to super comfortable, super boring footwear. I wore shoes with one inch heels Friday night and my foot still hurts. It made me realize that the only shoes I wear anymore are my Teva and Clarks flip flops, Clarks work shoes, and running shoes. I have an appointment tomorrow with the foot doctor to see if I'm doomed to have the same surgery that Joy had the pleasure of experiencing.
I think I'll go to sleep now so I can stop feeling like I should be cleaning my room.
Today was an equally leisurely day. It's too hot to do anything that isn't leisurely. It's so hot, I sweat while I'm showering. I did strenuous things like go to church, eat lunch with my parents and Michal, load music on Michal's ipod, go to Starbucks with Isabella, and wander around Ross and Target. I found the perfect shade of hot pink nail polish. Well it better be perfect since I spent 15 minutes deciding.
I've also decided that I am doomed to be a boring dresser. The only interesting pieces of clothing I own were passed down to me by someone else (Amie or Molly). I try to get things that are interesting or unusual but always end up with the same old solid color things like white tank tops.
I guess a boring wardrobe suits me since I seem to be limited to super comfortable, super boring footwear. I wore shoes with one inch heels Friday night and my foot still hurts. It made me realize that the only shoes I wear anymore are my Teva and Clarks flip flops, Clarks work shoes, and running shoes. I have an appointment tomorrow with the foot doctor to see if I'm doomed to have the same surgery that Joy had the pleasure of experiencing.
I think I'll go to sleep now so I can stop feeling like I should be cleaning my room.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
From the Inn by the Bay
I'm in Portland, ME again. Second time in a week. I love this town. I love the old buildings and houses. I love that it's near the water. Today is rainy and cool. I've been watching seagulls out my window. I love that there are people out walking everywhere. I think the closeness of this area is something I really like about it. I went running this morning. I ran down Spring St. past a lot of restaurants and shops. I feel like I'm part of the life happening around here, even though I'm just running through. Again, I managed to plan (or not plan) my run so on the last 2 minutes of my first 10 minute run I was headed up a huge hill. I had to walk to the top, but did the whole second 10 minute run. I thought about turning around so I could keep running, but once I got to the top of the hill I was glad I didn't. There was a park at the top that looked out over the bay. I could see the boats and islands. The rainyness of the day seems to make everything greener and brighter. There are also a lot of flowers blooming up here which looks and smells wonderful. Once I got to the top of the hill I found a trail that went down to the edge of the water so I could run along and look at all the boats. This type of life, small city on the water, is so different than any that I've lived. I'm still surprised by how many homeless people there are here. After I ran Shane picked me up and we had lunch with Amy. I'm so thankful I was able to swap my trip and be up here.
I'll probably write more during my 3 hour break in Atlanta.
I'll probably write more during my 3 hour break in Atlanta.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Nobody cries, there’s only butterflies... hahaha
Sometimes it feels like I'm never going to get a chance to slow down and relax. It's silly cause I will. I know I will. I should be able to tomorrow afternoon when I'm in Portland. But right now all I can think about is getting up early for work for the next 5 days, doing 18 flights, and then catering two days after that. My room is once again barely walkable and I can't be bothered to do anything about it. The main thing is I'm really tired. Once I get a good night's rest tonight I'll realize it isn't all so overwhelming.
I got to spend a very lovely day with Peter and Michal. We drove (or sat in Atl traffic) up to Lenox and wandered around and shopped and looked at all the strange people. Then we went to Krispy Kreme and had some doughnuts hot off the.. doughnut maker? We also made a stop at the Stewart Avenue thrift store and then looked for hookers on the way home. We didn't see any. I guess it was too early. It was good fun with half the Holby litter. Since we spent about half the day in the car I was able to get caught up on all my pop music, since that's all Peter will allow me to listen to in MY car :-P. I feel so educated now.
Last night I catered a backyard party for some people on the south side of Ptc. Their house, yard, and pool were amazing in a very unpretentious way. After we set up the food and I sweated off about 5 lb in the blazing heat, we sat in the kitchen and watched them hang out for about 3 hours. Then we packed our stuff back up and left. They were very nice and we both got tipped almost what we made for the whole evening last night. All for doing nothing. Sometimes the catering is a lot of work, but then you have nights last night that are easy and relaxed and lucrative and it all evens out.
I'm going to sleep since I haven't even packed my bag and have to be at work in 11 hours. I know the first part of this sounds complainy but I'm really quite happy and blessed. I'm just a little tired, by my own doing, right now. Tomorrow I'll be in Portland for the whole day and it's going to be beautiful.
I got to spend a very lovely day with Peter and Michal. We drove (or sat in Atl traffic) up to Lenox and wandered around and shopped and looked at all the strange people. Then we went to Krispy Kreme and had some doughnuts hot off the.. doughnut maker? We also made a stop at the Stewart Avenue thrift store and then looked for hookers on the way home. We didn't see any. I guess it was too early. It was good fun with half the Holby litter. Since we spent about half the day in the car I was able to get caught up on all my pop music, since that's all Peter will allow me to listen to in MY car :-P. I feel so educated now.
Last night I catered a backyard party for some people on the south side of Ptc. Their house, yard, and pool were amazing in a very unpretentious way. After we set up the food and I sweated off about 5 lb in the blazing heat, we sat in the kitchen and watched them hang out for about 3 hours. Then we packed our stuff back up and left. They were very nice and we both got tipped almost what we made for the whole evening last night. All for doing nothing. Sometimes the catering is a lot of work, but then you have nights last night that are easy and relaxed and lucrative and it all evens out.
I'm going to sleep since I haven't even packed my bag and have to be at work in 11 hours. I know the first part of this sounds complainy but I'm really quite happy and blessed. I'm just a little tired, by my own doing, right now. Tomorrow I'll be in Portland for the whole day and it's going to be beautiful.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Something good this way comes
I'm sitting here in the lounge in ATL, eating my high sodium, non-refrigerated, microwave meal (don't be jealous) wishing I was going home instead of going to DC. We don't even get to spend a decent amount of time there. We just finished our third leg of the day. I've been very cheerful these last few days (trying to compensate for my other FA who is a bit testy at times), but it's running out. I've gotten some good swaps for next month and I'm quite pleased about that. I hate that I missed most of Joy's time in town, and am afraid I'll miss Peter's as well. Joy headed off to Martha's Vineyard for the summer today.
I ran this morning, which was a good way to start the day. Syracuse is a far cry from Tallahassee. It was kind of cold when we got there last night but this morning when the Sun was out it was perfect. I ran through some neighborhoods that looked like a combination of New England and the 70s. They all had beautiful little lawns and flowers everywhere. The first street I ran down was Patricia Drive :-D. I even saw a few fighter planes taking off while I was running.
I'm off to find my plane and head up to DC. Maybe someone amazing will be on my flight (besides me of course :-P).
I ran this morning, which was a good way to start the day. Syracuse is a far cry from Tallahassee. It was kind of cold when we got there last night but this morning when the Sun was out it was perfect. I ran through some neighborhoods that looked like a combination of New England and the 70s. They all had beautiful little lawns and flowers everywhere. The first street I ran down was Patricia Drive :-D. I even saw a few fighter planes taking off while I was running.
I'm off to find my plane and head up to DC. Maybe someone amazing will be on my flight (besides me of course :-P).
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Nothing but clouds in the Little Rock sky
I feel like a slacker. It's 12:23 local and I've done nothing with my day. Of course, I was still in the airport 12 hours ago. We got to here 2 hours late because of maintenance. It's hard to keep that in mind and remember that I'm not such a slacker, I just have a weird schedule. I was hoping to get up and run this morning since I haven't since last week, but it looks like it's been raining anyway.
This weekend was very full and fun. Peter got here on Friday. I got to see all of my younger siblings a few times. Michal turned 15. Went to a Braves game. Catered a wedding. Went out in Atlanta. Had good food in the Highlands and at the parents house.
I just left and had lunch with my crew. It was a pizza buffet which my stomach almost instantly hated. Good times. The captain paid though so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. My crew is pretty nice, but it seems like half the things I say they just kind of look at me. It's crazy that by the time I start my work day today most people will be home from their work days already.
I'm going to spend the rest of my time watching them deny my swaps in open time. I did manage to trade a 4 day for a 3 day, which gives me an extra day off next month, but there's still much more swapping to be done.
My life, and consequently my blog, is boring today.
This weekend was very full and fun. Peter got here on Friday. I got to see all of my younger siblings a few times. Michal turned 15. Went to a Braves game. Catered a wedding. Went out in Atlanta. Had good food in the Highlands and at the parents house.
I just left and had lunch with my crew. It was a pizza buffet which my stomach almost instantly hated. Good times. The captain paid though so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. My crew is pretty nice, but it seems like half the things I say they just kind of look at me. It's crazy that by the time I start my work day today most people will be home from their work days already.
I'm going to spend the rest of my time watching them deny my swaps in open time. I did manage to trade a 4 day for a 3 day, which gives me an extra day off next month, but there's still much more swapping to be done.
My life, and consequently my blog, is boring today.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Madder than mad
Today feels like one big freaking train wreck.
It started off with me oversleeping. I set my alarm for 8:45. This would give me time to clean around the house, run, get ready for work, maybe do some laundry, and not be rushed. I think largely because of the Benadryl I took last night for allergies, I absolutely could not wake up until almost 11. I still had 3 hours before I had to leave. Around 12:35, after cleaning my room for a while, I got dressed to go run. I slacked this weekend and have been feeling bad about that. At that point I saw my old work shoes sitting on my bed. This is when I realized my good work shoes, that I left at Jersey's house a week and a half ago, were still at her house. The old shoes hurt my feet too much to wear another week. So I had to drive all the way into Ptc to get her apartment key. Then I drove 5 minutes back toward me to her apartment, got the shoes, drove 5 minutes the other way to return the key, then drove 15 minutes back home. By now I have just about an hour before I have to leave for work. I haven't showered or packed. Thankfully I cooked food last night to take with me so that was all ready. Plus I had poppyseed chicken left over from last night to take. Yum... I survived the morning drama and made it to work but without accomplishing anything else at all. Disappointing.
I got to work and had an uneventful flight to Milwaukee. On the way back we ended up holding for about 35 minutes due to severe weather passing through Atlanta. On approach we got to see an amazing lightning display. I don't think passengers enjoyed it.
The next flight should've been pretty simple. It was 36 minutes in flight. You board, take off, cruise for a few minutes, and land. But no... Everyone was mad cause they had had really rough flights into Atlanta. Of course I made the weather so you should be mad at me for it. Then it took us almost twice as long to taxi out as it did to fly down here (and that's after we cut in line). It was really bumpy so we couldn't get up the whole way and everyone wanted everything. Oh well... We were less than an hour late, which is good considering how many planes are probably still taxiing in Atlanta. I sat next to a nice lady from Portland, OR who gave me her address and phone number and told me to come visit her.
All's well that ends well right? Wrong. We finally make it to the hotel after a ridiculously long van ride. My FO brought her boyfriend and she's sitting on his lap next to me since there isn't an extra seat. My flight attendant has a bad attitude cause he thinks that everyone is against him cause he's black. Maybe they are. I'm obviously not very sensitive to that sort of thing. He also assumes cause we're both flight attendants that I'm going to be on his side when he gripes to me about things...
We finally get to the hotel. I sign all of us in and go to my room at the far end of the hall on the fourth floor. The key doesn't work. I go downstairs and get two more. They don't work either. Finally I get another room and it's on a different floor from my crew and a handicap room. Whatever. I don't care at this point. By the way, the hotel looks like a nice one, but it doesn't seem to have air conditioning. Neither did the taxi ride over. Just windows all the way down as we drove 48 mph down the interstate.
I put my stuff in the room and go down to the other end of the hall to get some ice to put my food on since they "ran out" of rooms with a frig or microwave. This also bugs me since we're going to be here for 2 nights. I don't want to have to buy all my food. I get to the ice machine and there isn't any ice in it. Arg. So I go back up to the floor I was .. down to the end of that hall and finally get some ice. I was going to take the trash can and just fill it with ice, but there was trash in it. Isn't that a pretty obvious thing to clean when you clean a room? I finally get some ice and open my lunch bag to get my food out. This is when I realize I LEFT MY FOOD ON THE PLANE. I'm sooo mad. My poppy seed chicken. My jambalaya. My sugar snap peas that I purposely only ate a few of them so I could have them for the rest of the trip. And I'm sure the cleaning crew tonight will throw it all away. I'm heartbroken. So now I have a big bag of ice for a Diet Coke. It better be ice cold when I drink it tomorrow.
After that I come sit at the desk to write a blog about how mad I am. (At least the internet works.) I sit down in the chair and put my foot up again my leg and realize there's gross sticky stuff all over my heel and now on the inside of my pajama pants. The look and smell makes me think the inside of a fig newton (I guess that would be a fig). How the crap did I get fig on my heel? I'm so over this place and I've only been here an hour.
On top of all this, allergies have been killing me. I've been rubbing my eyes until they're sore, and then I rub them more. When I rub them my contacts get lost in the far regions of my eyeballs. Then I find them and they fall out and all my make up is gone. My throat itches. My ears itch. My nose itches. I'd pick my nose in public if it would help.
Hopefully tomorrow is better. Hopefully the sun will come out and I can go to the pool or something. I'm finished with my rant.
It started off with me oversleeping. I set my alarm for 8:45. This would give me time to clean around the house, run, get ready for work, maybe do some laundry, and not be rushed. I think largely because of the Benadryl I took last night for allergies, I absolutely could not wake up until almost 11. I still had 3 hours before I had to leave. Around 12:35, after cleaning my room for a while, I got dressed to go run. I slacked this weekend and have been feeling bad about that. At that point I saw my old work shoes sitting on my bed. This is when I realized my good work shoes, that I left at Jersey's house a week and a half ago, were still at her house. The old shoes hurt my feet too much to wear another week. So I had to drive all the way into Ptc to get her apartment key. Then I drove 5 minutes back toward me to her apartment, got the shoes, drove 5 minutes the other way to return the key, then drove 15 minutes back home. By now I have just about an hour before I have to leave for work. I haven't showered or packed. Thankfully I cooked food last night to take with me so that was all ready. Plus I had poppyseed chicken left over from last night to take. Yum... I survived the morning drama and made it to work but without accomplishing anything else at all. Disappointing.
I got to work and had an uneventful flight to Milwaukee. On the way back we ended up holding for about 35 minutes due to severe weather passing through Atlanta. On approach we got to see an amazing lightning display. I don't think passengers enjoyed it.
The next flight should've been pretty simple. It was 36 minutes in flight. You board, take off, cruise for a few minutes, and land. But no... Everyone was mad cause they had had really rough flights into Atlanta. Of course I made the weather so you should be mad at me for it. Then it took us almost twice as long to taxi out as it did to fly down here (and that's after we cut in line). It was really bumpy so we couldn't get up the whole way and everyone wanted everything. Oh well... We were less than an hour late, which is good considering how many planes are probably still taxiing in Atlanta. I sat next to a nice lady from Portland, OR who gave me her address and phone number and told me to come visit her.
All's well that ends well right? Wrong. We finally make it to the hotel after a ridiculously long van ride. My FO brought her boyfriend and she's sitting on his lap next to me since there isn't an extra seat. My flight attendant has a bad attitude cause he thinks that everyone is against him cause he's black. Maybe they are. I'm obviously not very sensitive to that sort of thing. He also assumes cause we're both flight attendants that I'm going to be on his side when he gripes to me about things...
We finally get to the hotel. I sign all of us in and go to my room at the far end of the hall on the fourth floor. The key doesn't work. I go downstairs and get two more. They don't work either. Finally I get another room and it's on a different floor from my crew and a handicap room. Whatever. I don't care at this point. By the way, the hotel looks like a nice one, but it doesn't seem to have air conditioning. Neither did the taxi ride over. Just windows all the way down as we drove 48 mph down the interstate.
I put my stuff in the room and go down to the other end of the hall to get some ice to put my food on since they "ran out" of rooms with a frig or microwave. This also bugs me since we're going to be here for 2 nights. I don't want to have to buy all my food. I get to the ice machine and there isn't any ice in it. Arg. So I go back up to the floor I was .. down to the end of that hall and finally get some ice. I was going to take the trash can and just fill it with ice, but there was trash in it. Isn't that a pretty obvious thing to clean when you clean a room? I finally get some ice and open my lunch bag to get my food out. This is when I realize I LEFT MY FOOD ON THE PLANE. I'm sooo mad. My poppy seed chicken. My jambalaya. My sugar snap peas that I purposely only ate a few of them so I could have them for the rest of the trip. And I'm sure the cleaning crew tonight will throw it all away. I'm heartbroken. So now I have a big bag of ice for a Diet Coke. It better be ice cold when I drink it tomorrow.
After that I come sit at the desk to write a blog about how mad I am. (At least the internet works.) I sit down in the chair and put my foot up again my leg and realize there's gross sticky stuff all over my heel and now on the inside of my pajama pants. The look and smell makes me think the inside of a fig newton (I guess that would be a fig). How the crap did I get fig on my heel? I'm so over this place and I've only been here an hour.
On top of all this, allergies have been killing me. I've been rubbing my eyes until they're sore, and then I rub them more. When I rub them my contacts get lost in the far regions of my eyeballs. Then I find them and they fall out and all my make up is gone. My throat itches. My ears itch. My nose itches. I'd pick my nose in public if it would help.
Hopefully tomorrow is better. Hopefully the sun will come out and I can go to the pool or something. I'm finished with my rant.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sweet Caroline oh-oh-oh
I know that many of you spend your days wondering what us Holbees do when we gather together. You may think we discuss literature and poetry - twas brilig in the slithey toves. You may think we discuss travel and the world - our brother lives in China. Or you may think we discuss religion and politics. I hate to disappoint you, but all we are is one big mutual admiration society. I tell Joy how pretty she is. She tells Michal what a good athlete she is. She tells my mama what a good cook she is. She tells my dad how smart he is. And on and on it goes. Some would think it'd get tiresome always hearing how wonderful you are, but it really doesn't. It's actually quite lovely. Then I start thinking about all the friends I have and am blown away by the fact that I have not a single terrible person in my life :-D. I love it.
I didn't blog last week, but it was mostly due to the fact that I had lousy or no internet on my trip. Then I spent a whirlwind weekend in Louisville for Joshua and Brittany's wedding and visiting Jamie. I got home last night and haven't slowed down since.
The first day of my trip was spent in Oklahoma City. It was surprisingly hot. I did day 2 of week 5. This is the first week where all three days of running aren't the same program. Day 2 was two 8-minute runs, which is the longest I've gone so far. On Wednesday I was privileged to see Amy and Shane in Portland. It was the most beautiful day I've had up there. I usually bring bad weather with me. They've moved us to a hotel that is downtown near the port so there are plenty of places you can walk to which is really nice. The next day I was in Montreal. The weather up there was also beautiful. I was exhausted from staying up too late with the Whites so all I had the energy for was a run. I wasn't sure I could make it because it was day 3, which is a 20-minute run, but I survived. It helped that the sidewalks were busy so I couldn't really run that fast. It's good mentally to keep extending the time. I'll work on speed later. I went to sleep at 7:30pm that night :-P.
I got off work on Friday, after doing 5 legs that included a Louisville round trip, just in time to get my violin and my weekend clothes from my car and rush over to the gate, to wait and hope I got on the flight. It was delayed forever cause of maintenance but TanJoe and I finally made it on. Once we got there Jamie took us to Louisville's finest where we heard a really awesome band play a really fun variety of music. I did a crossword on Tuesday that was themed songs named for women. One of them was "Sweet Caroline" so after hearing that song play in my head for a week it was great to hear it live. The rest of the weekend continued in that vein. The wedding was lovely and I was thrilled to find out that I had not forgotten how to play the violin.
I got back yesterday in time to go up to Buckhead for my cousin's graduation party, come back down here for dinner with some friends, and crash. Today was shopping and cooking and picking up Joy who is back from Spain and seeing the rest of the family. Hopefully I'll write some blogs coming up that aren't just about what I've been doing. We'll see. For now, I must sleep.
I didn't blog last week, but it was mostly due to the fact that I had lousy or no internet on my trip. Then I spent a whirlwind weekend in Louisville for Joshua and Brittany's wedding and visiting Jamie. I got home last night and haven't slowed down since.
The first day of my trip was spent in Oklahoma City. It was surprisingly hot. I did day 2 of week 5. This is the first week where all three days of running aren't the same program. Day 2 was two 8-minute runs, which is the longest I've gone so far. On Wednesday I was privileged to see Amy and Shane in Portland. It was the most beautiful day I've had up there. I usually bring bad weather with me. They've moved us to a hotel that is downtown near the port so there are plenty of places you can walk to which is really nice. The next day I was in Montreal. The weather up there was also beautiful. I was exhausted from staying up too late with the Whites so all I had the energy for was a run. I wasn't sure I could make it because it was day 3, which is a 20-minute run, but I survived. It helped that the sidewalks were busy so I couldn't really run that fast. It's good mentally to keep extending the time. I'll work on speed later. I went to sleep at 7:30pm that night :-P.
I got off work on Friday, after doing 5 legs that included a Louisville round trip, just in time to get my violin and my weekend clothes from my car and rush over to the gate, to wait and hope I got on the flight. It was delayed forever cause of maintenance but TanJoe and I finally made it on. Once we got there Jamie took us to Louisville's finest where we heard a really awesome band play a really fun variety of music. I did a crossword on Tuesday that was themed songs named for women. One of them was "Sweet Caroline" so after hearing that song play in my head for a week it was great to hear it live. The rest of the weekend continued in that vein. The wedding was lovely and I was thrilled to find out that I had not forgotten how to play the violin.
I got back yesterday in time to go up to Buckhead for my cousin's graduation party, come back down here for dinner with some friends, and crash. Today was shopping and cooking and picking up Joy who is back from Spain and seeing the rest of the family. Hopefully I'll write some blogs coming up that aren't just about what I've been doing. We'll see. For now, I must sleep.
Monday, May 12, 2008
let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height.
It seems like these weekends are gone before they start. Here it is, another Monday. Another week of work about to start. I am fortunate that my work week doesn't start until tomorrow, but mine ended on Saturday, so I guess we're even.
I catered a wedding Saturday night. We thought we were going to get blown away by the tornados that were coming through. Then we thought we were going to get washed away by the rain. But everyone survived. It poured until about 10 minutes before the wedding started and only sprinkled a little after that. (It was outdoors and the reception was under a tent.) Nearly every wedding I attend confirms my desire to either not have a wedding or to have a highly unusual wedding. I hate all the frou-frouness. I hate the exorbitant amount of money spent on a day that usually becomes more stress than fun. I've also decided that cutting the cake is the most pointless tradition. I hate cutting cake on my birthday, so if I ever get married, I'm not cutting the cake. Someone else can do it.... When we got there, they asked us if we could put all the sodas and waters in a fishing boat that was propped up on sawhorses. They should've gotten the groom's cake from the first wedding we catered. It had a guy in a fishing boat on top of it.
I just got back from my first run of week 5. I was a little nervous since it was 3 5-minute runs and I struggled on the 5-minute runs last week, but it went pretty well. I'm fortunate because the weather that came through this weekend brought a nice cool breeze so I wasn't suffering from anything besides running. I love this time of year. The sky is that beautiful bright blue, and everywhere I go I can smell honeysuckles and other wild flowers growing. It's amazing that God made plants that smell that good just grow wild for our smelling pleasure.
I feel like I have a lot to do today. It's my last day of freedom and I need to squeeze as much as possible in it. But now it's already 1pm and I haven't really done anything.
I got to see more of my family this weekend than I have in a long time. My mama got back from visiting Joy in Spain and Israel was in town at the end of a business trip. On Saturday night after I catered we (Jamie, Jersey, Adam, Israel, and me) decided we wanted to do something. Anything. Since I'm sick of the options down here in PTC and it was kind of late to go up to Atlanta we decided to go to what used to be B52s by the airport. It's a fairly decent place to go grab a bite, hang out, have a drink, watch people. We got there and noticed something was different. For one, there was a huge number of very white, European looking/dressing people there. For two, they weren't playing any hip hop and three, there were lots of white people dancing. Then they started playing music with unitelligible lyrics. Not unusual except remember, they weren't playing rap or hip hop. The more unintelligible the words were, the more the white people jumped around and danced. I finally went over to the dj to ask what the name of the song was. He started talking to me but I couldn't understand anything. Then he asked what language I spoke. English. Asked where I lived. Atlanta. Why? Umm... cause I'm from here. Turns out he, along with about 80% of the other people there and the owner of the place, was Czech, and they were playing Czech music. Oooohhhh... It's all so clear now. It was really fun though. I felt like I was back in Prague or some other eastern European nation. We had a good, interesting time. I have to say that it was far more than I hoped and dreamed for that night :-).
Yesterday, even though it was mother's day, my mama wanted to celebrate Israel's birthday (a month and a half late). I was happy cause what she made was better than what I would've thought of, and I've been wanting a real, home-cooked meal for a long time. I'll have to cook for her next week. We spent the day in the yard kicking a soccer ball, throwing a frisbee, and trying to fly a kite (since it was so windy). We never got the kite above our heads. It was kind of difficult when the wind couldn't decide which way it wanted to go.
I need to go shower and get on with my day. I just re-read this, and it's pretty disjointed, but I had a lot to say. Sorry. Hope everyone's Monday is wonderful.
I catered a wedding Saturday night. We thought we were going to get blown away by the tornados that were coming through. Then we thought we were going to get washed away by the rain. But everyone survived. It poured until about 10 minutes before the wedding started and only sprinkled a little after that. (It was outdoors and the reception was under a tent.) Nearly every wedding I attend confirms my desire to either not have a wedding or to have a highly unusual wedding. I hate all the frou-frouness. I hate the exorbitant amount of money spent on a day that usually becomes more stress than fun. I've also decided that cutting the cake is the most pointless tradition. I hate cutting cake on my birthday, so if I ever get married, I'm not cutting the cake. Someone else can do it.... When we got there, they asked us if we could put all the sodas and waters in a fishing boat that was propped up on sawhorses. They should've gotten the groom's cake from the first wedding we catered. It had a guy in a fishing boat on top of it.
I just got back from my first run of week 5. I was a little nervous since it was 3 5-minute runs and I struggled on the 5-minute runs last week, but it went pretty well. I'm fortunate because the weather that came through this weekend brought a nice cool breeze so I wasn't suffering from anything besides running. I love this time of year. The sky is that beautiful bright blue, and everywhere I go I can smell honeysuckles and other wild flowers growing. It's amazing that God made plants that smell that good just grow wild for our smelling pleasure.
I feel like I have a lot to do today. It's my last day of freedom and I need to squeeze as much as possible in it. But now it's already 1pm and I haven't really done anything.
I got to see more of my family this weekend than I have in a long time. My mama got back from visiting Joy in Spain and Israel was in town at the end of a business trip. On Saturday night after I catered we (Jamie, Jersey, Adam, Israel, and me) decided we wanted to do something. Anything. Since I'm sick of the options down here in PTC and it was kind of late to go up to Atlanta we decided to go to what used to be B52s by the airport. It's a fairly decent place to go grab a bite, hang out, have a drink, watch people. We got there and noticed something was different. For one, there was a huge number of very white, European looking/dressing people there. For two, they weren't playing any hip hop and three, there were lots of white people dancing. Then they started playing music with unitelligible lyrics. Not unusual except remember, they weren't playing rap or hip hop. The more unintelligible the words were, the more the white people jumped around and danced. I finally went over to the dj to ask what the name of the song was. He started talking to me but I couldn't understand anything. Then he asked what language I spoke. English. Asked where I lived. Atlanta. Why? Umm... cause I'm from here. Turns out he, along with about 80% of the other people there and the owner of the place, was Czech, and they were playing Czech music. Oooohhhh... It's all so clear now. It was really fun though. I felt like I was back in Prague or some other eastern European nation. We had a good, interesting time. I have to say that it was far more than I hoped and dreamed for that night :-).
Yesterday, even though it was mother's day, my mama wanted to celebrate Israel's birthday (a month and a half late). I was happy cause what she made was better than what I would've thought of, and I've been wanting a real, home-cooked meal for a long time. I'll have to cook for her next week. We spent the day in the yard kicking a soccer ball, throwing a frisbee, and trying to fly a kite (since it was so windy). We never got the kite above our heads. It was kind of difficult when the wind couldn't decide which way it wanted to go.
I need to go shower and get on with my day. I just re-read this, and it's pretty disjointed, but I had a lot to say. Sorry. Hope everyone's Monday is wonderful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)