Current mood: betrayed
So if you didn't know, the window of my mustang was smashed in and my macbook stolen. If you know me then you know 2 things: 1) all of my belongings are in my car & 2) my macbook is my single most important material belonging.
I made a police report. They need the serial number. This is very informative to owners of all electronic devices to pay attention. I don't have my serial numbers being as I live in the air and on the road. All of my other belongings are in a storage unit in Nashville. So yea. This story is filled with a lot of bitterness but I promise you that it is an informative blog and also serves the purpose of entertaining.
I called the famous 1-800-MY-APPLE to retrieve my serial number. I was told and have always been under the understanding that MAC is very customer service minded. Today my opinion has been changed. The following is the non-quoted dialogue that went on between me and my apple service care agent.
MAC: Thank you for calling My Apple, Technical Support. How can I help you?
ME: Yes, my macbook was purchased online about 2 years ago and was recently stolen out of my car and the police officers are asking for the serial number on it so they can look for it. How do I go about getting that?
(She verifies my name)
MAC: One moment please...
(static music)
MAC: Ma'am? Apple policy states that we cannot give out any customer information. So there is no way I can help you.
ME: What? Um... I have to get the serial number. The police are asking for it. Do I need to get a warrant for it? I am here, I can verify who I am. I paid almost $2,000 for that serial number. I want it. It's mine.
MAC: Apple Policy says we cannot give out customer information. There is nothing I can do.
ME: Can I speak to your supervisor?
MAC: One moment please...
(static music)
MAC: Ma'am. There is nothing I can do. I'm sorry for your loss.
ME: I understand customer privacy, but your policy doesn't make sense. When I worked at a bank we had very strict policies as well but if a person can verify who they are then that information is theirs. Now I paid $2,000 for my serial number. I am not asking for someone else's serial number. I am asking for the one I paid for. I don't know if you go home and write your serial numbers down for your tv and computer but I don't... and you have it. I want it.
MAC: Maybe the police officer can call on your behalf and get the information?
ME: The officer didn't pay $2,000 for the number. I did.
MAC: Just have the officer call our security number.
ME: Is there a specific number I should give him to call?
MAC: No ma'am. Just have him call this number you called and he will be connected to the proper people.
ME: So, you are telling me to have SAPD call a 1-800 number and go through all the automated options to get a serial number that I paid for?!
MAC: Yes ma'am.
ME: Unbelievable. I feel like I'm dealing with a third world country.
MAC: Again, I am sorry for your loss. Have a good day.
So, I called the detective on my case. He was as flabbergasted as I was about the whole conversation. He called them and then called me back. He told me that they directed him to an automated response giving him an e-mail address to contact. So he e-mailed it and no lie it told him that they would get back to him in SEVERAL days!
This isn't even a joke. So I urge you to take pictures of everything you own and write the serial numbers on it and put it in a very safe place. Get renters insurance.
My own personal theory is that Apple just wants everyone to have the newest of everything. I had just been eyeballing the new eco-friendly mac. It's so beautiful. and BAM my computer is gone... that's a little ironic, don't you think?
I'm attaching 3 cartoons that prove my theory. Yes, a cartoon can prove my theory
Showing posts with label nashville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nashville. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
passion
I was sitting on the plane the other day... I had just finished the biography of Che Guevara & was starting the biography of Nelson Mandela. As much as I am not a communist I do love the way Guevara & Mandela led people. They had so much passion that it was contagious to people around them causing the people to follow them. That's a quality I want.
Back to the part where I was sitting on the plane... I was thinking how to apply my new literature to my life and how I could volunteer my time to help others. I am shady about donating money to charities because they are required by law to only use a percentage to their charity & they get to keep the rest. Then I was wondering where I could volunteer my time... but no charities in San Antonio struck my interest. So I was thinking about what my passions are. Music.
I love music. I love being backstage. I love organizing. Everything about a live show is amazing to me. It makes me happy. So I was thinking how I could put the three things together. Music, charity, & leadership. That's when my idea hit me. It hit me so hard that all the ideas in my head flooded to life and I almost couldn't contain it. I just needed to call people and let it flow.
I've always thought I had some amazingly talented friends. I've thought about starting a company with all of them... but money and work and friends doesn't always work out. So what if everything was one hundred percent non-profit? No money was involved. No paychecks, no greed. What if everyone just donated a little bit of their time for one common purpose?
This is where the Underground Music Revolution was born... on an airplane heading to Texas sometime in October of this year.
I have lived in Nashville & been around the music scene for about the last 2 and a half years. I've seen the most talented people get looked over by major labels and I've seen the worst bands ever get signed. My personal belief is that labels are only good for financial support and for who they know. The rest of what they do is bad. They front money to bands who have never seen that much money & get them all excited. The young bands sign papers and don't even have a clue that they just sold themselves to the devil.
See, after a label signs a band the label gets a say in the artistic side, they can change an artists appearance, name, sound, etc. Then do you think after the artist has made it bigger that they see much more money? Nope. Some bands can get as little as 6 percent of profit from gross sales. Do you remember how they fronted the band that advance in the beginning? Well now its time for them to repay it too. It's an ugly thing those greedy corporations. They forgot their passion of music and now their only "passion" is counting zeros on their paychecks.
one source: http://www.futureofmusic.org/contractcrit.cfm
So what can we do? I believe that we can work without labels. I have a few friends, and my friends have friends, etc. We all know people... just like the labels. We all have money... not anything near what the corporations have, but if some of that money goes to graphic designers, photographers, wardrobe, hair & make up, music attorneys, managers, promoters, etc. Well heck! I know all those same people too... People that still have a passion. An old fashion romance for what music could be. People that are tired of listening to the radio & hearing the same awful 40 songs over & over.
Passion is contagious.
So where do you come in? Everyone is a dire necessity for this revolution to work. Anyone can do something whether you are a part of the "music business" or not. Whether you hold fundraisers or donate your talent... you are needed... you are appreciated... and we support you too.
Our goals are to help artists who are talented but have been looked over. Artists who have passion just like us & good character that would repay the revolution tenfold when the time comes around. An artist who just needs a push and will explode when people hear. You don't have to like the music of our artist that we happen to be working for at the time. You just have to like what we do enough to support us and spread the word... maybe you will want to host your own fundraiser... or make a donation.
Personally I organize people. I make things happen. I also collect the tops of soda cans. I have other flight attendants that do it for me as well. It's something small but it's worth more than just recycled money. It raises awareness to every person who asks me why I'm collecting a tab... and it gets about $8/lb. It isn't much but its something. There is nothing too small.
Our revolution surpasses politics, race, religion & genre.
Back to the part where I was sitting on the plane... I was thinking how to apply my new literature to my life and how I could volunteer my time to help others. I am shady about donating money to charities because they are required by law to only use a percentage to their charity & they get to keep the rest. Then I was wondering where I could volunteer my time... but no charities in San Antonio struck my interest. So I was thinking about what my passions are. Music.
I love music. I love being backstage. I love organizing. Everything about a live show is amazing to me. It makes me happy. So I was thinking how I could put the three things together. Music, charity, & leadership. That's when my idea hit me. It hit me so hard that all the ideas in my head flooded to life and I almost couldn't contain it. I just needed to call people and let it flow.
I've always thought I had some amazingly talented friends. I've thought about starting a company with all of them... but money and work and friends doesn't always work out. So what if everything was one hundred percent non-profit? No money was involved. No paychecks, no greed. What if everyone just donated a little bit of their time for one common purpose?
This is where the Underground Music Revolution was born... on an airplane heading to Texas sometime in October of this year.
I have lived in Nashville & been around the music scene for about the last 2 and a half years. I've seen the most talented people get looked over by major labels and I've seen the worst bands ever get signed. My personal belief is that labels are only good for financial support and for who they know. The rest of what they do is bad. They front money to bands who have never seen that much money & get them all excited. The young bands sign papers and don't even have a clue that they just sold themselves to the devil.
See, after a label signs a band the label gets a say in the artistic side, they can change an artists appearance, name, sound, etc. Then do you think after the artist has made it bigger that they see much more money? Nope. Some bands can get as little as 6 percent of profit from gross sales. Do you remember how they fronted the band that advance in the beginning? Well now its time for them to repay it too. It's an ugly thing those greedy corporations. They forgot their passion of music and now their only "passion" is counting zeros on their paychecks.
one source: http://www.futureofmusic.org/contractcrit.cfm
So what can we do? I believe that we can work without labels. I have a few friends, and my friends have friends, etc. We all know people... just like the labels. We all have money... not anything near what the corporations have, but if some of that money goes to graphic designers, photographers, wardrobe, hair & make up, music attorneys, managers, promoters, etc. Well heck! I know all those same people too... People that still have a passion. An old fashion romance for what music could be. People that are tired of listening to the radio & hearing the same awful 40 songs over & over.
Passion is contagious.
So where do you come in? Everyone is a dire necessity for this revolution to work. Anyone can do something whether you are a part of the "music business" or not. Whether you hold fundraisers or donate your talent... you are needed... you are appreciated... and we support you too.
Our goals are to help artists who are talented but have been looked over. Artists who have passion just like us & good character that would repay the revolution tenfold when the time comes around. An artist who just needs a push and will explode when people hear. You don't have to like the music of our artist that we happen to be working for at the time. You just have to like what we do enough to support us and spread the word... maybe you will want to host your own fundraiser... or make a donation.
Personally I organize people. I make things happen. I also collect the tops of soda cans. I have other flight attendants that do it for me as well. It's something small but it's worth more than just recycled money. It raises awareness to every person who asks me why I'm collecting a tab... and it gets about $8/lb. It isn't much but its something. There is nothing too small.
Our revolution surpasses politics, race, religion & genre.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Coffee Interuppted
November 3, 2008
Current mood: awake
I'm sitting in the flight attendant lounge next to the industrial sized coffee machines which have a sign taped to them. "Out of Order." As I sit here sipping my hot chocolate I see the flight attendants walking by with faces of disappointment... some with scowls. I wonder how many customer service complaints we will get today and how many will be directly linked to the coffee outage in the flight attendant lounge. If I were management I'd get right on that.
I got into Atlanta last night from San Antonio because I had to be signed in by 6:40 the next morning... which means I'd be "couching it". I always have the hardest time falling asleep here. The lights are blaring & so is the television because half of our flight attendants have hearing problems... or they just don't know how to work the tv. When I sleep here I usually maybe get a rough 3 hours of sleep. Sometimes I see friends the next morning & I wish I didn't. I'm not a morning person & I don't drink coffee... not a good combo.
I don't really mind it that much... I like to complain about it though. I get a lot of work done when I sleep here. No distractions when I work... only distractions when I sleep. I catch up with old friends, pay my bills, organize my music & pictures, and network online.
I really cannot believe that I have worked here this long so far. Time really flies when you fly. My lifestyle has completely changed this year although the goals have been the same all along. Get back on track. I used to have a cute apartment outside of Nashville with a fireplace that I would light even at the slightest hint of frost. I used to go to work 8-5 and then do my online work then go to live shows with my best friend in Nashville. I had 2 cats to come home to and a steady schedule. I have never been a schedule kind of girl.
Nowadays I have everything in storage. I sleep on couches & hotels. I am sometimes in 4 different states in one day. I don't pay rent. I don't pay utilities. I get to see all my friends all over the world... schedule permitting. I have a drivers license from Nashville & an area code from Texas... from when things used to be a little different.
Besides the obvious perks of my job... I have the best perk ever. I love to people watch. People are so funny. Co-workers are the most entertaining people to watch... some are stressed, tired, grouchy & others are too perky for their own good. They must have sat next to the industrial sized coffee machine when it was functioning.
Current mood: awake
I'm sitting in the flight attendant lounge next to the industrial sized coffee machines which have a sign taped to them. "Out of Order." As I sit here sipping my hot chocolate I see the flight attendants walking by with faces of disappointment... some with scowls. I wonder how many customer service complaints we will get today and how many will be directly linked to the coffee outage in the flight attendant lounge. If I were management I'd get right on that.
I got into Atlanta last night from San Antonio because I had to be signed in by 6:40 the next morning... which means I'd be "couching it". I always have the hardest time falling asleep here. The lights are blaring & so is the television because half of our flight attendants have hearing problems... or they just don't know how to work the tv. When I sleep here I usually maybe get a rough 3 hours of sleep. Sometimes I see friends the next morning & I wish I didn't. I'm not a morning person & I don't drink coffee... not a good combo.
I don't really mind it that much... I like to complain about it though. I get a lot of work done when I sleep here. No distractions when I work... only distractions when I sleep. I catch up with old friends, pay my bills, organize my music & pictures, and network online.
I really cannot believe that I have worked here this long so far. Time really flies when you fly. My lifestyle has completely changed this year although the goals have been the same all along. Get back on track. I used to have a cute apartment outside of Nashville with a fireplace that I would light even at the slightest hint of frost. I used to go to work 8-5 and then do my online work then go to live shows with my best friend in Nashville. I had 2 cats to come home to and a steady schedule. I have never been a schedule kind of girl.
Nowadays I have everything in storage. I sleep on couches & hotels. I am sometimes in 4 different states in one day. I don't pay rent. I don't pay utilities. I get to see all my friends all over the world... schedule permitting. I have a drivers license from Nashville & an area code from Texas... from when things used to be a little different.
Besides the obvious perks of my job... I have the best perk ever. I love to people watch. People are so funny. Co-workers are the most entertaining people to watch... some are stressed, tired, grouchy & others are too perky for their own good. They must have sat next to the industrial sized coffee machine when it was functioning.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
hello again... it’s me
Current mood: bouncy
so! I haven't blogged in forever. I've just been traveling, reading, designing, & doing wedding stuff... not my wedding stuff... but my little's sisters. Pictures are all up on her page and it was an amazing wedding and now we have a new addition! new addition being the groom... not a baby on the way... no waaay... not yet anyways. :)
So anyways... there is A LOT going on in my life. I've been doing everything above that I said... plus branching out into some new ventures that will be announced later as things are more solid. as if i needed more ventures :) got plenty of ventures... and adventures.
I'm finally starting to get back on my feet after working this crazy job. Just if you didn't know... It's official that I have no address. I moved from Nashville... everything is in storage. On my days off I go to TX and refuse to actually live there since I've already done that twice but I couch surf on my best friend's couches since my sister is a newlywed and well... that's just not fair to anyone. :)
So I tried to open up a PO Box in San Antonio but little did I know that you must have proof of residence to do this. Why would I need a PO box if I had a residence? So I asked the lady what I would do if I did not have a residence but just needed a place to send my mail to. She gave me a snotty look and directed her attention to my mister (a.k.a. my boyfriend) and said, "is she kidding?" I told her my story and why I didn't have a home and she just told me flat out that I don't qualify. Apparently homeless people don't get mail. :( So my mail goes to a friend of a friend’s house. ugh.
Besides the homelessness and hectic schedule and new "ventures" I am starting to financially catch up on life... Next month I can actually contemplate paying a credit card bill from 2 years ago. (Don't even ask about my credit.) So I called this one card that loves to call me about 10 times a day. I just wanted to see what the damage was and what my options for next month are... The Lady tried to convince me to give her $500... right then... yeah. No. I told her I'm tired of eating ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches but next month I might be able to do something... I told her the most I could offer right that second was $100. She put me on hold to talk to her boss... He gets on the phone. He is a jerk. He tells me that I HAVE to give him $500... I tell him that it's impossible to give what you don't have and that again... $100 is what I can give him. He gets mad at me and we bicker back and forth and he gets angry and he tells me to just forget about it and hangs up. Now if I tried to give you $100... would you take it? I still don't understand what happened.
Ok so life is interesting. My boyfriend has been an amazing support to me and keeps me sane. He's a crazy one which another reason we get along so well...
Another quick story. My boyfriend said something let's just say... not so smart the other day... and I laughed at him (like a good girlfriend) and he retorted back. "So I'm dumb. Blog about it." haha that makes me laugh... a lot. Then my mister sent me this link of something I should make:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Laptop-Compubody-Sock/
He said if I owned this we might have never met. Since we met by sitting next to each other at the airport and comparing computers. haha..
Anyways... that's all I have for now... I'll try and be better about blogging. For sure. :)
PEACE LOVE AND FRIED CHICKN!
so! I haven't blogged in forever. I've just been traveling, reading, designing, & doing wedding stuff... not my wedding stuff... but my little's sisters. Pictures are all up on her page and it was an amazing wedding and now we have a new addition! new addition being the groom... not a baby on the way... no waaay... not yet anyways. :)
So anyways... there is A LOT going on in my life. I've been doing everything above that I said... plus branching out into some new ventures that will be announced later as things are more solid. as if i needed more ventures :) got plenty of ventures... and adventures.
I'm finally starting to get back on my feet after working this crazy job. Just if you didn't know... It's official that I have no address. I moved from Nashville... everything is in storage. On my days off I go to TX and refuse to actually live there since I've already done that twice but I couch surf on my best friend's couches since my sister is a newlywed and well... that's just not fair to anyone. :)
So I tried to open up a PO Box in San Antonio but little did I know that you must have proof of residence to do this. Why would I need a PO box if I had a residence? So I asked the lady what I would do if I did not have a residence but just needed a place to send my mail to. She gave me a snotty look and directed her attention to my mister (a.k.a. my boyfriend) and said, "is she kidding?" I told her my story and why I didn't have a home and she just told me flat out that I don't qualify. Apparently homeless people don't get mail. :( So my mail goes to a friend of a friend’s house. ugh.
Besides the homelessness and hectic schedule and new "ventures" I am starting to financially catch up on life... Next month I can actually contemplate paying a credit card bill from 2 years ago. (Don't even ask about my credit.) So I called this one card that loves to call me about 10 times a day. I just wanted to see what the damage was and what my options for next month are... The Lady tried to convince me to give her $500... right then... yeah. No. I told her I'm tired of eating ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches but next month I might be able to do something... I told her the most I could offer right that second was $100. She put me on hold to talk to her boss... He gets on the phone. He is a jerk. He tells me that I HAVE to give him $500... I tell him that it's impossible to give what you don't have and that again... $100 is what I can give him. He gets mad at me and we bicker back and forth and he gets angry and he tells me to just forget about it and hangs up. Now if I tried to give you $100... would you take it? I still don't understand what happened.
Ok so life is interesting. My boyfriend has been an amazing support to me and keeps me sane. He's a crazy one which another reason we get along so well...
Another quick story. My boyfriend said something let's just say... not so smart the other day... and I laughed at him (like a good girlfriend) and he retorted back. "So I'm dumb. Blog about it." haha that makes me laugh... a lot. Then my mister sent me this link of something I should make:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Laptop-Compubody-Sock/
He said if I owned this we might have never met. Since we met by sitting next to each other at the airport and comparing computers. haha..
Anyways... that's all I have for now... I'll try and be better about blogging. For sure. :)
PEACE LOVE AND FRIED CHICKN!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
2008 Olympics-- Just a war between China and the US without bombs.
Current mood: accomplished
So I spent a week in Nashville with my boyfriend and my friends from Sweden and my best Nashville friend, Lena. We had so much fun but you know how I love to procrastinate packing... I hate packing. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...
So we waited until the last day to pack... I really didn't think I had a lot of stuff... apparently I've accumulated quite a few things in the last 2 years since the day that I showed up to Nashville with just the things that fit into my mustang.
There was no way that we could finish packing in the one day so Rick moved his flights back one day and I had to cancel going to Ireland... which was sad but much needed since I had to be out of my apartment that next day. We spent 2 solid days packing and cleaning and moving everything into storage. Unfortunately I had 2 cats that liked to lay on every piece of furniture I owned so my cat allergic boyfriend had a very hard time breathing. We thought we were gonna have to take him to the hospital one night. He was wearing a face mask to help him breathe but cat hair had gotten inside the filters. Poor guy! There is no way I could have moved and gotten everything done without him.
So I officially have no residence and no ties to Nashville except for my storage unit. I also have no place in Atlanta but the airport. So I'm gonna see how long I can go without paying rent to help me catch up on things... Maybe 2009 will bring me an address... I'm not complaining at all because I have tons of places I can go and sleep... and I fly for free so I can go anywhere at anytime... but it's nice to have a place of your own where you can dance in your underwear while singing along to Backstreet Boys & Brittney Spears at the top of your lungs into your hairbrush... oh wait... i don't do that... I'm a grown up now... but I'd like to have that option, maybe... :) I realize how important it is to have a place to retreat to alone... to create, to write, to think... It's been a very emotional week for me. Some days I feel defeated... some days I feel empowered. Life's a roller coaster... especially when you are a girl... cause we tend to be a little more sensitive some times...
All my ties are finally cut with my ex husband too cause my name is off everything he had and I have my own last name on everything again. This is a very good thing. It's easy to forget I was married cause I'm emotionally unattached from it even though I know I am still healing... but I get constant reminders every day of those three years of marriage and 4 and a half years of commitment. For example today... I'm sitting at the San Antonio airport and behind the gate agent's counter there is a pillow that says "peace"... this is no ordinary pillow... this pillow is THE pillow that was hand made for me and given to me as a wedding present... What are the odds that it's sitting underneath the San Antonio airport ticket counter today? I am pretty sure I had either sold it at a garage sale or gave it away to the Salvation Army. I will just use it as a sign that I'm moving on and am better without my old life and old reminders. I did promise myself I would never move back to this silly city but everyday my ties get stronger and stronger here.
September is going to be a good month... busy as anything but good. I got the days off I needed to go to my little sisters wedding in Michigan... I'm so excited about that! I got the days off to come to San Antonio for my sister's reception in Texas and also the day off for my boyfriend's birthday. So I'm happy. I also picked up a trip to Africa. It's six days away from the U.S. and I get to spend two nights in Dakar, Senegal and one night in Johannesburg, South Africa. I never dreamed in my life I'd get to go to Africa! I'm so nervous but so excited! I was hoping to go to Chile this month because it is our Independence week... but that isn't going to happen... Maybe next month... summertime is best anyways because all the fruit and veggies are so fresh and cheap. YUM!
I've been so lazy with my Hebrew lessons and with my writing... Now that the move is out of the way I am hoping to somehow get back into the swing of things. I'm starting my myspace things up again and this fall I will start working for my favorite singer/ songwriter Reese Browning again. I forgot how much I missed music. It's my passion for sure... I have to remember that flying is a job and a life-style but it isn't my life. I don't want to end up like these old women who have nothing else but flying.
Anyways... that is just a little update from me... I've been off work for two weeks and start back up at 5:30 am tomorrow morning on domestic standby... yuck! Hopefully I will get a good trip...somewhere sunny for a long layover. Crossing my fingers for Hawaii as always. :) Life is good... I wouldn't trade it with anyone else for anything... well maybe on the days that I feel homesick... wherever home may be... but that only lasts a minute. :)
I'll be back with more updates soon. All my love!
julieKristine
So I spent a week in Nashville with my boyfriend and my friends from Sweden and my best Nashville friend, Lena. We had so much fun but you know how I love to procrastinate packing... I hate packing. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...
So we waited until the last day to pack... I really didn't think I had a lot of stuff... apparently I've accumulated quite a few things in the last 2 years since the day that I showed up to Nashville with just the things that fit into my mustang.
There was no way that we could finish packing in the one day so Rick moved his flights back one day and I had to cancel going to Ireland... which was sad but much needed since I had to be out of my apartment that next day. We spent 2 solid days packing and cleaning and moving everything into storage. Unfortunately I had 2 cats that liked to lay on every piece of furniture I owned so my cat allergic boyfriend had a very hard time breathing. We thought we were gonna have to take him to the hospital one night. He was wearing a face mask to help him breathe but cat hair had gotten inside the filters. Poor guy! There is no way I could have moved and gotten everything done without him.
So I officially have no residence and no ties to Nashville except for my storage unit. I also have no place in Atlanta but the airport. So I'm gonna see how long I can go without paying rent to help me catch up on things... Maybe 2009 will bring me an address... I'm not complaining at all because I have tons of places I can go and sleep... and I fly for free so I can go anywhere at anytime... but it's nice to have a place of your own where you can dance in your underwear while singing along to Backstreet Boys & Brittney Spears at the top of your lungs into your hairbrush... oh wait... i don't do that... I'm a grown up now... but I'd like to have that option, maybe... :) I realize how important it is to have a place to retreat to alone... to create, to write, to think... It's been a very emotional week for me. Some days I feel defeated... some days I feel empowered. Life's a roller coaster... especially when you are a girl... cause we tend to be a little more sensitive some times...
All my ties are finally cut with my ex husband too cause my name is off everything he had and I have my own last name on everything again. This is a very good thing. It's easy to forget I was married cause I'm emotionally unattached from it even though I know I am still healing... but I get constant reminders every day of those three years of marriage and 4 and a half years of commitment. For example today... I'm sitting at the San Antonio airport and behind the gate agent's counter there is a pillow that says "peace"... this is no ordinary pillow... this pillow is THE pillow that was hand made for me and given to me as a wedding present... What are the odds that it's sitting underneath the San Antonio airport ticket counter today? I am pretty sure I had either sold it at a garage sale or gave it away to the Salvation Army. I will just use it as a sign that I'm moving on and am better without my old life and old reminders. I did promise myself I would never move back to this silly city but everyday my ties get stronger and stronger here.
September is going to be a good month... busy as anything but good. I got the days off I needed to go to my little sisters wedding in Michigan... I'm so excited about that! I got the days off to come to San Antonio for my sister's reception in Texas and also the day off for my boyfriend's birthday. So I'm happy. I also picked up a trip to Africa. It's six days away from the U.S. and I get to spend two nights in Dakar, Senegal and one night in Johannesburg, South Africa. I never dreamed in my life I'd get to go to Africa! I'm so nervous but so excited! I was hoping to go to Chile this month because it is our Independence week... but that isn't going to happen... Maybe next month... summertime is best anyways because all the fruit and veggies are so fresh and cheap. YUM!
I've been so lazy with my Hebrew lessons and with my writing... Now that the move is out of the way I am hoping to somehow get back into the swing of things. I'm starting my myspace things up again and this fall I will start working for my favorite singer/ songwriter Reese Browning again. I forgot how much I missed music. It's my passion for sure... I have to remember that flying is a job and a life-style but it isn't my life. I don't want to end up like these old women who have nothing else but flying.
Anyways... that is just a little update from me... I've been off work for two weeks and start back up at 5:30 am tomorrow morning on domestic standby... yuck! Hopefully I will get a good trip...somewhere sunny for a long layover. Crossing my fingers for Hawaii as always. :) Life is good... I wouldn't trade it with anyone else for anything... well maybe on the days that I feel homesick... wherever home may be... but that only lasts a minute. :)
I'll be back with more updates soon. All my love!
julieKristine
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Ike & Tina
Current mood: aggravated
It’s like Ike & Tina...
It’s a love/hate relationship with Nashville.
Please bare with my rant for a minute... I love watching live music but the scene is crazy.
Boys in their girl jeans or just looking like they crawled out of the seventies in their vintage... they want to be Jimmy Paige so badly that it hurts my teeth just looking at their greasy long matted hair.
My friend Wes Floyd is awesome. He leads the pack of DaisyCutters... They don't care about the scene. Usually in Nashville everyone is a musician so they don't barely clap at a show... they don't stand against a stage... They linger in corners judging the main act and would steal the opportunity to be in the main acts place if they could. Nashville has more talent in one speckle of the honky-tonk than the mainstream radio will play in the next 10 years... I've battled with how music works... it kills me how so many of these kids who are so talented will never make it because they don't know the right people, or they don't have enough money, or they don't play by the rules of the scene, or they just don't have the right look… or even because their lyrics are too deep for mainstream radio. What kills me about Nashville is that we all know each other from the millions of shows we go to... but the scenesters put on such a "I’m too cool for school" show that they won't even acknowledge that they know you sometimes... I've known some of these kids for 2 years and barely know a thing about them... they look like they just crawled outta bed snorted some heroine cause they are all so dang skinny too... Anyways... Wes Floyd is a pretty cool cat... he is nice to everyone and he doesn't play the Nashville game... people came out to see him and pushed against the stage and danced and jumped around... I've never seen any local act be able to do that besides Luna Halo... Maybe it was because they were dressed like cowboys and indians. :)
The other great thing about the Ville is that I have a slew of numbers I could call to go out with me... but no one to call when I needed a flat tire fixed... stinking boys and their art but no skills. :) Speaking of this flat tire... let's get back to my real story.
I had spent some time in San Antonio, got my hairs did by Stephanie and flew over to Atlanta and hopped in my car for the best road trip ever... just me and my itunes on the ibook... not the ipod cause that got lost somewhere between Atlanta and Panama City I think... :(
I made it into Nashville pretty late and was so happy to see my kitty and sleep in my own house and bed! The next day I planned to wake up early to go do a long overdue errand...
I've been living in Nashville for almost 2 years... and I still have a Texas drivers license with my old married last name and I was fat. I've been trying to get a new license for awhile and every time I go to the DMV in Nashville which happens to be in the ghetto then somehow I am missing some document and can't stay. UGH!
So I woke up kinda late but made it out the door and stopped in to visit my friend Rachel at work and surprise her. We talked forever and I sat in the office where I had been fired by the witch and I was soo glad to be out of there. I also learned that the witch had quit and got a new job and had recently been fired from that job... wow. what goes around comes around? hmm.. So I realize that on my way to the DMV I forgot my passport since I don't know where my birth certificate was... So I had to drive all the way back home again to get it. I noticed my tire was low and I made a mental note to fill it up as soon as I got out of the DMV. I'm driving along the back roads back to the DMV with all proper documentation and BOOM! POW! KABAM! My tire blows out... I'm in the middle of nowhere. I pull over. It's hot.
I had to call my good friend Reese in Mobile and my ex boyfriend Gabe cause they were the only ones I know that had any previous experience with cars... both said they would talk me through how to change the tire. Both asked me where my car manual was... which was NOT in the car of course... umm... yea... so I'm wearing 4 inch heals and capris and I'm dressed up cause I'm gonna take a AWESOME drivers license picture since I'm not that fat married girl anymore... I am NOT dressed to change a tire... especially for the first time... So I take a deep breath and start to unscrew the thingy to get the tire out and see if the jack is underneath... I hear some cars pull over... Thank the LORD I am a girl... and thank the LORD I was wearing heals. :) 2 guys in separate cars pull over... I am prepared just in case they are bad guys... I mean... I am a flight attendant... so anyways... the one guy was a car mechanic... a car mechanic wearing a hairnet... but good thing too because I have special tires on my car and there was no way I would have had the tools to change those... so the guy has it done in like 10 minutes. I was sooo grateful. He followed me to the gas station and put more air in my front tires for me... All I had was $11 so I gave it to him and thanked the man wearing the hairnet.
I attempted the DMV thing AGAIN... I get there and she tells me that my comcast bill was NOT good enough as proof of residence because I don't have the complete cable package because I don't have a home phone. I flipped out! I told her that I've been living in that city for 2 years and I don’t work there... and I am never ever there... she told me that I could go to the bank and get a statement printed and then stamped and then initialed... how does that prove where I live?! I dunno! So I did that... I was livid... I was sure that the next thing she would say was that I didn’t have enough money in my account to have a TN drivers license. haha
Anyways... I finally got back AGAIN and waiting and got my license... they hand it to me... it's the ugliest effing picture I’ve ever seen. I look like my chin was growing the biggest pimple ever because there is a red dot on there... and then I look and she messed up and put the wrong birthday on there! SCORE! New picture! So now there is a decent picture and I have the stupid license! It's about time. Next time I am going where all the illegals go and have it the same day... they don't require ANY documents. :)
So lets talk about that evening... sweet Jimmy Gnecco. Last year I waited for Jimmy Gnecco in the 18 degree weather outside for THREE hours in line... It was totally worth it... and I reject cold weather... I absolutely hate cold. This time we had bought pre-tickets and got inside and it was sweaty hot. Like bad. He just likes to make us suffer. My friend Breann, a fellow flight attendant joined me and Stephen Boatright and my favorite and only Belarusian, Lena... my partners in crime. :)
We listened to Jimmy enchant us with his amazing voice... Gosh. The next day we slept in.... packed up my apartment a little and I don't remember what else but we went to see Wes Floyd play... Which is where I started this little/long blog. :)
Skip ahead... It's Thursday and I don't know if I have to go back to work Friday night or Saturday because I am on call on Sat, Sun & Mon. If they give me a late sign in on Sat then I get to sleep in my bed one more night... if they don't give me anything then I have to be there by Friday midnight... which is the worst. So Friday around noon when I finally woke up... I checked my schedule and low and behold there was a rotation posted... 8am Saturday standby... that's as bad as it could get... which means I have to still leave Friday night... the only other option would be to take the first flight out in the morning and get there by 8:17 and be 17 minutes late... that is no good. So I hurried and got my laundry done, did the dishes, packed my suitcase, showered, went to the grocery, packed some more moving boxes and hopped in Lena's car with Breann to be dropped off at the airport. WHEW!
I promised Bri a good time at the Atlanta lounge... AKA my temporary home away from my "homes". So we ate Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches and hot chocolate courtesy of my great boyfriend and we watched PS I love you on my MacBook... so far so good... except we go to sleep and the cleaning crew comes in and decides to make life miserable. They dragged the metal chairs across the floors and I know they were swinging them around... I know this because it sounded like the end of the world in percussion. I refused to open my eyes because I knew I would absolutely loose it on one of them... and they probably know how to fight better than me. There are about 5 flight attendants sleeping in there... I try and wait out the racket so I can get at least 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up and get dressed for standby... They start vacuuming around my head and bumping the couch on purpose with the vacuum. I started doing my yoga breathing to help me calm down... I kept my eyes shut tight to avoid hurting someone... They were in there forever and I barely got one hours worth of sleep. I was not a happy girl. I come down to the A lounge by 8am and I supposed to be on standby until noon... at 9am my friend Devin texts me and says he's in the airport so we go upstairs and visit him and his friend before they board to take off to Honduras.
Right as I am going downstairs back to the A dungeon I get a call from scheduling telling me that I have a flight. So I go downstairs to check the rotation and its a Salt Lake City turn... which just means I go to salt lake and back again and be back in ATL by 7:30pm... no biggie except I'm so tired that I am starting to feel ill to my stomach from exhaustion.
Our flight is delayed due to them upgrading the B757 to a B767 so that everyone could get on... The flight was going good until this wacko jacko wannabe in her 40's tells us that she lost her luggage on board and she needs to find it so she can run off the plane to catch her connection... we understand so a flight attendant proceeds to ask her questions so we can find her mystery luggage. FA= flight attendant & WJ= wacko jacko.
FA: "Where are you sitting?"
WJ: She looks at all her boarding cards... about 3 or 4 of them from previous flights and just baffled says "I dunno"
FA: "Ma'am... what seat did you just stand up from?"
WJ: "I cant remember"
*sigh*
FA: "What does your suitcase look like?"
WJ: "It's black with a polka dotted pink ribbon on it.
FA2: "No ma'am... that's MY suitcase."
WJ: "oh. Well I think my suitcase might be orange then."
FA: "Lets just go look for it."
They look forever and cant figure out where she put her suitcase... we make PA's asking passengers if they knew who this lady was or if they remembered seeing her with her luggage somewhere.
After the WJ looked in every overhead bin 3 times and looking at every tag on every bag over 3 times... and after concerned passengers ask us why this lady is flying alone... she finally finds her bag... guess what? It's over the seat she was sitting in... and guess what? It's blue.
I just don't have enough patience for that stuff.
We land... we board again to go back to ATL... everything is normal until they announce that the weather is bad in ATL and we don’t have enough fuel to keep circling the airport so we head to Nashville to refuel... only me... I swear.... only me would they linger my comfy bed in front of when I had one hour of sleep... I could SMELL my house I was so close. Some passengers just wanted to get off in Nashville because that was their final destination anyways... but we weren’t allowed because that would delay us even more... In Nashville my flight leader tells me that there is a passenger in 17A that only speaks Spanish and if I could go explain to him in Spanish what was going on... well he ended up being from Chile... Temuco to be exact... so it was like finding a long lost family member...even though we had never met before... we talked about all the good Chilean things. :)
Finally back in the air and we got to Atlanta at 10 something pm... more than 3 hours from the time when I was supposed to originally be in.
So I am tired... tomorrow I go to Guadalajara... which I’m not too excited about... but whatever... I am about to attempt sleeping at the A lounge tonight... I'm scared...
I will see you in the air.... peace out!
It’s like Ike & Tina...
It’s a love/hate relationship with Nashville.
Please bare with my rant for a minute... I love watching live music but the scene is crazy.
Boys in their girl jeans or just looking like they crawled out of the seventies in their vintage... they want to be Jimmy Paige so badly that it hurts my teeth just looking at their greasy long matted hair.
My friend Wes Floyd is awesome. He leads the pack of DaisyCutters... They don't care about the scene. Usually in Nashville everyone is a musician so they don't barely clap at a show... they don't stand against a stage... They linger in corners judging the main act and would steal the opportunity to be in the main acts place if they could. Nashville has more talent in one speckle of the honky-tonk than the mainstream radio will play in the next 10 years... I've battled with how music works... it kills me how so many of these kids who are so talented will never make it because they don't know the right people, or they don't have enough money, or they don't play by the rules of the scene, or they just don't have the right look… or even because their lyrics are too deep for mainstream radio. What kills me about Nashville is that we all know each other from the millions of shows we go to... but the scenesters put on such a "I’m too cool for school" show that they won't even acknowledge that they know you sometimes... I've known some of these kids for 2 years and barely know a thing about them... they look like they just crawled outta bed snorted some heroine cause they are all so dang skinny too... Anyways... Wes Floyd is a pretty cool cat... he is nice to everyone and he doesn't play the Nashville game... people came out to see him and pushed against the stage and danced and jumped around... I've never seen any local act be able to do that besides Luna Halo... Maybe it was because they were dressed like cowboys and indians. :)
The other great thing about the Ville is that I have a slew of numbers I could call to go out with me... but no one to call when I needed a flat tire fixed... stinking boys and their art but no skills. :) Speaking of this flat tire... let's get back to my real story.
I had spent some time in San Antonio, got my hairs did by Stephanie and flew over to Atlanta and hopped in my car for the best road trip ever... just me and my itunes on the ibook... not the ipod cause that got lost somewhere between Atlanta and Panama City I think... :(
I made it into Nashville pretty late and was so happy to see my kitty and sleep in my own house and bed! The next day I planned to wake up early to go do a long overdue errand...
I've been living in Nashville for almost 2 years... and I still have a Texas drivers license with my old married last name and I was fat. I've been trying to get a new license for awhile and every time I go to the DMV in Nashville which happens to be in the ghetto then somehow I am missing some document and can't stay. UGH!
So I woke up kinda late but made it out the door and stopped in to visit my friend Rachel at work and surprise her. We talked forever and I sat in the office where I had been fired by the witch and I was soo glad to be out of there. I also learned that the witch had quit and got a new job and had recently been fired from that job... wow. what goes around comes around? hmm.. So I realize that on my way to the DMV I forgot my passport since I don't know where my birth certificate was... So I had to drive all the way back home again to get it. I noticed my tire was low and I made a mental note to fill it up as soon as I got out of the DMV. I'm driving along the back roads back to the DMV with all proper documentation and BOOM! POW! KABAM! My tire blows out... I'm in the middle of nowhere. I pull over. It's hot.
I had to call my good friend Reese in Mobile and my ex boyfriend Gabe cause they were the only ones I know that had any previous experience with cars... both said they would talk me through how to change the tire. Both asked me where my car manual was... which was NOT in the car of course... umm... yea... so I'm wearing 4 inch heals and capris and I'm dressed up cause I'm gonna take a AWESOME drivers license picture since I'm not that fat married girl anymore... I am NOT dressed to change a tire... especially for the first time... So I take a deep breath and start to unscrew the thingy to get the tire out and see if the jack is underneath... I hear some cars pull over... Thank the LORD I am a girl... and thank the LORD I was wearing heals. :) 2 guys in separate cars pull over... I am prepared just in case they are bad guys... I mean... I am a flight attendant... so anyways... the one guy was a car mechanic... a car mechanic wearing a hairnet... but good thing too because I have special tires on my car and there was no way I would have had the tools to change those... so the guy has it done in like 10 minutes. I was sooo grateful. He followed me to the gas station and put more air in my front tires for me... All I had was $11 so I gave it to him and thanked the man wearing the hairnet.
I attempted the DMV thing AGAIN... I get there and she tells me that my comcast bill was NOT good enough as proof of residence because I don't have the complete cable package because I don't have a home phone. I flipped out! I told her that I've been living in that city for 2 years and I don’t work there... and I am never ever there... she told me that I could go to the bank and get a statement printed and then stamped and then initialed... how does that prove where I live?! I dunno! So I did that... I was livid... I was sure that the next thing she would say was that I didn’t have enough money in my account to have a TN drivers license. haha
Anyways... I finally got back AGAIN and waiting and got my license... they hand it to me... it's the ugliest effing picture I’ve ever seen. I look like my chin was growing the biggest pimple ever because there is a red dot on there... and then I look and she messed up and put the wrong birthday on there! SCORE! New picture! So now there is a decent picture and I have the stupid license! It's about time. Next time I am going where all the illegals go and have it the same day... they don't require ANY documents. :)
So lets talk about that evening... sweet Jimmy Gnecco. Last year I waited for Jimmy Gnecco in the 18 degree weather outside for THREE hours in line... It was totally worth it... and I reject cold weather... I absolutely hate cold. This time we had bought pre-tickets and got inside and it was sweaty hot. Like bad. He just likes to make us suffer. My friend Breann, a fellow flight attendant joined me and Stephen Boatright and my favorite and only Belarusian, Lena... my partners in crime. :)
We listened to Jimmy enchant us with his amazing voice... Gosh. The next day we slept in.... packed up my apartment a little and I don't remember what else but we went to see Wes Floyd play... Which is where I started this little/long blog. :)
Skip ahead... It's Thursday and I don't know if I have to go back to work Friday night or Saturday because I am on call on Sat, Sun & Mon. If they give me a late sign in on Sat then I get to sleep in my bed one more night... if they don't give me anything then I have to be there by Friday midnight... which is the worst. So Friday around noon when I finally woke up... I checked my schedule and low and behold there was a rotation posted... 8am Saturday standby... that's as bad as it could get... which means I have to still leave Friday night... the only other option would be to take the first flight out in the morning and get there by 8:17 and be 17 minutes late... that is no good. So I hurried and got my laundry done, did the dishes, packed my suitcase, showered, went to the grocery, packed some more moving boxes and hopped in Lena's car with Breann to be dropped off at the airport. WHEW!
I promised Bri a good time at the Atlanta lounge... AKA my temporary home away from my "homes". So we ate Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches and hot chocolate courtesy of my great boyfriend and we watched PS I love you on my MacBook... so far so good... except we go to sleep and the cleaning crew comes in and decides to make life miserable. They dragged the metal chairs across the floors and I know they were swinging them around... I know this because it sounded like the end of the world in percussion. I refused to open my eyes because I knew I would absolutely loose it on one of them... and they probably know how to fight better than me. There are about 5 flight attendants sleeping in there... I try and wait out the racket so I can get at least 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up and get dressed for standby... They start vacuuming around my head and bumping the couch on purpose with the vacuum. I started doing my yoga breathing to help me calm down... I kept my eyes shut tight to avoid hurting someone... They were in there forever and I barely got one hours worth of sleep. I was not a happy girl. I come down to the A lounge by 8am and I supposed to be on standby until noon... at 9am my friend Devin texts me and says he's in the airport so we go upstairs and visit him and his friend before they board to take off to Honduras.
Right as I am going downstairs back to the A dungeon I get a call from scheduling telling me that I have a flight. So I go downstairs to check the rotation and its a Salt Lake City turn... which just means I go to salt lake and back again and be back in ATL by 7:30pm... no biggie except I'm so tired that I am starting to feel ill to my stomach from exhaustion.
Our flight is delayed due to them upgrading the B757 to a B767 so that everyone could get on... The flight was going good until this wacko jacko wannabe in her 40's tells us that she lost her luggage on board and she needs to find it so she can run off the plane to catch her connection... we understand so a flight attendant proceeds to ask her questions so we can find her mystery luggage. FA= flight attendant & WJ= wacko jacko.
FA: "Where are you sitting?"
WJ: She looks at all her boarding cards... about 3 or 4 of them from previous flights and just baffled says "I dunno"
FA: "Ma'am... what seat did you just stand up from?"
WJ: "I cant remember"
*sigh*
FA: "What does your suitcase look like?"
WJ: "It's black with a polka dotted pink ribbon on it.
FA2: "No ma'am... that's MY suitcase."
WJ: "oh. Well I think my suitcase might be orange then."
FA: "Lets just go look for it."
They look forever and cant figure out where she put her suitcase... we make PA's asking passengers if they knew who this lady was or if they remembered seeing her with her luggage somewhere.
After the WJ looked in every overhead bin 3 times and looking at every tag on every bag over 3 times... and after concerned passengers ask us why this lady is flying alone... she finally finds her bag... guess what? It's over the seat she was sitting in... and guess what? It's blue.
I just don't have enough patience for that stuff.
We land... we board again to go back to ATL... everything is normal until they announce that the weather is bad in ATL and we don’t have enough fuel to keep circling the airport so we head to Nashville to refuel... only me... I swear.... only me would they linger my comfy bed in front of when I had one hour of sleep... I could SMELL my house I was so close. Some passengers just wanted to get off in Nashville because that was their final destination anyways... but we weren’t allowed because that would delay us even more... In Nashville my flight leader tells me that there is a passenger in 17A that only speaks Spanish and if I could go explain to him in Spanish what was going on... well he ended up being from Chile... Temuco to be exact... so it was like finding a long lost family member...even though we had never met before... we talked about all the good Chilean things. :)
Finally back in the air and we got to Atlanta at 10 something pm... more than 3 hours from the time when I was supposed to originally be in.
So I am tired... tomorrow I go to Guadalajara... which I’m not too excited about... but whatever... I am about to attempt sleeping at the A lounge tonight... I'm scared...
I will see you in the air.... peace out!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Managua, Nicaragua
Current mood: optimistic
ATL/BWI/ATL/MGA
So my day started off with a bang. I didn’t sleep well and kept waking up confused of where I was and afraid I’d oversleep. I woke up at 6amish finally. I had a sign in at 10am. I met my crew and headed to the plane... My flight leader was a little high strung and I can deal with that until she did what she did. ugh! Before I get ahead of myself let me tell you how I started the day off with a bang. I was on my plane getting ready for the passengers to board and I check my safety equipment and get my little galley ready for this 2 hour flight to Baltimore, Maryland. There was a hot pot of coffee that was brewed in the galley but I wanted to get rid of it so I could brew a fresh pot when we got in the air. So I poured the coffee down the drain and kept on going about my business. As we start to board the captain comes in from outside checking the plane and takes me to the side and asked me if I poured hot coffee down the drain. Immediately everything I remember being warned about from training flooded back into my head and I remembered them saying never to do that because it will scald the captain or whoever is down there. Lo and behold I had hit a ground guy with my coffee! I was horrified! He said the guy was ok... but never to do that again... No worries... I will never ever do that again! Gosh!
So as passengers get on board we get some people that have tickets that say 19A, B, C & row 18 and row 7. Well on the regular Boeing 757 there are none of those rows... so the wrong 757 had been configured into the computer. So we had some angry passengers that had to go back up to the gate and get their tickets redone. This made us kind of late. It also made my high-strung flight leader even worse. She sent me to the back of the plane because of the wrong seats and told me to stay back there and help since it was about to be a nightmare. Well as I predicted it wasn't a nightmare... Everyone boarded and everything was fine in the back... She calls us in the back and tells the other girl that she needs me up front ASAP because she is getting hit hard.... I knew she was exaggerating already. So I made my way to the front and miss THANG tells me in front of passengers and the captain that she needed me up front because she "just can't do EVERYTHING alone" and she made it sound like I was the slacker. Psh... jerk. So she's already on my bad list. Then she yells at me that we need the overhead bins closed ASAP so we can depart on semi-time. So I hustle and get it all done...
... It starts to rain... literally...
The weather starts getting black and ugly.
We play the safety video and Ms. THANG again makes me angry when she asks me if I know how to run the machine... I may be new but I do know how to run a freaking VCR! DANG! Well then we taxi out and get word that the airport is closed due to weather and we are staying on the plane... and when the airport finally does open again then we are number 40 for take-off. Woah! So we hand out free headsets and go through with waters and show a movie. We hear that we are going to be sitting on the ground for awhile and people are being NASTY to us... so we do a full beverage service and they all expected free alcohol... sorry. no. We don’t control weather... if it were mechanical and the captain says yes... then that's a different story. So 3 hours later we finally takeoff... We get to Baltimore and immediately board... Guess what... the airplane was configured wrong again... so about 8 angry passengers have to get off the plane and get new seats. They were NOT happy! We close the doors and surprise! We are delayed on the ground again... At this point we don't know if we are going to make our flight to Nicaragua... none of us want to go... We are tired and we haven’t had a break or food. We've been dealing with the rudest people and we are just as irritated as they are. So yea... We stay on the ground on the runway for about an hour... We our almost out of drinks and snacks... we have just enough for when we get in the air so we go through with waters to keep the big babies hydrated. I was thinking we should just let them dehydrate and pass out and maybe it would be quieter. :) So, more free headsets and more movies. We finally get up in the air and make it to Atlanta. We had some very nice passengers that told us we made their day and we did a good job considering the circumstances... then there are others who just stomp their feet and hope that they get what they want... since when do they control weather?
When we get to Atlanta we had to go all the way to the E concourse and run to the Nicaragua flight that had been delayed 4 hours to wait for us... it's 9pm at this point. We have been working non-stop for 11 hours. We are tired, irritated and hungry. We get to the gate and get a HUGE applause and cheer from the crowd... apparently they had been filled in on our situation. It was funny but just a little embarrassing. When we get on the plane and start boarding we are informed that it is up to us if we want to go because we will be right at our 16 hour duty day by the time we arrive to Managua, Nicaragua. They also tell us that if we don't do this trip or get out exactly by 10 pm then the whole flight will just be cancelled. Of course none of us want to go... we did the math and at the last minute just decided to suck it up and go. I've never fell asleep so many times sitting upright before in my life.
There is only one other time that I can remember being that tired and it was when I first started waiting tables at the Piano Bar in Nashville and I had never waited tables before and they had us work 18 hour days... You get so tired that you just want to cry... sometimes you do cry. And yes... I AM a girl! Whatever. We finally get to Managua and its 2 am Atlanta time... and 12 am Managua time... the flight in the morning is scheduled to leave at 8:30 am... which means that we won’t get 8 hours behind the hotel door... which doesn't make us happy and its not what the rules say... We have to have a required 8 hours behind the door... SO.. they delay the morning flight by an hour and a half so we can at least get some sleep. I passed out as soon as I go to the hotel and off the phone with Rick... I was so tired.
It was all worth it when I woke up and looked out my window... I heard a familiar sound of parrots... I used to live in Costa Rica when I was 10. We had parrots and there were wild parrots always flying overhead... So I look out my window and see the ocean and the palm trees and see the parrots chasing each other and playing in the trees. It made me miss living in Costa Rica a lot. Brought back ALOT of childhood memories.
Back to the airport and we get on our flight with a few angry passengers because they were delayed and we are off... We had limited customs forms and I only had some Spanish customs forms... which means I had to help all the Americans on the flight to translate the form and fill them out. This one Jerk-hole asks me in a tone if we are heading to America and if the main language of "AMERICA" was still English. I told him yes but that we had a screwed up last 2 days and we are short on forms and I would be more than happy to help him fill it out and translate it. He gave me some attitude. I just rolled my eyes when he couldn't see because that makes me feel better. :) This crazy passenger walks to the very back of the plane from the first row of economy to get some rum and coke. He was really nice and we joked around with him... He gets his rum and walks all the way to the front of the plane again... a little later he asks my other crew member if he can order a wheelchair when we land in Atlanta because he can't walk. um... ??? What a crazy man.
Anyways... I'm landed... I think I sprained my ankle and my worst nightmare has come to pass...no high heals! Now with my job it’s almost mandatory that I wear at least some sort of heal so I need to go shoe shopping... I'm heading to San Antonio for a minute and tomorrow I go to Los Angeles then Guadalajara, Mexico. I have one more trip after that then I am making a secret little stop over in Nashville... I have to pack up my apartment... and I'm getting a head start before August when Hanna and Elin and Cale and Rick all come up. We are having a week-long pijama party in August. It's going to be fun. :)
peace out babies!
ATL/BWI/ATL/MGA
So my day started off with a bang. I didn’t sleep well and kept waking up confused of where I was and afraid I’d oversleep. I woke up at 6amish finally. I had a sign in at 10am. I met my crew and headed to the plane... My flight leader was a little high strung and I can deal with that until she did what she did. ugh! Before I get ahead of myself let me tell you how I started the day off with a bang. I was on my plane getting ready for the passengers to board and I check my safety equipment and get my little galley ready for this 2 hour flight to Baltimore, Maryland. There was a hot pot of coffee that was brewed in the galley but I wanted to get rid of it so I could brew a fresh pot when we got in the air. So I poured the coffee down the drain and kept on going about my business. As we start to board the captain comes in from outside checking the plane and takes me to the side and asked me if I poured hot coffee down the drain. Immediately everything I remember being warned about from training flooded back into my head and I remembered them saying never to do that because it will scald the captain or whoever is down there. Lo and behold I had hit a ground guy with my coffee! I was horrified! He said the guy was ok... but never to do that again... No worries... I will never ever do that again! Gosh!
So as passengers get on board we get some people that have tickets that say 19A, B, C & row 18 and row 7. Well on the regular Boeing 757 there are none of those rows... so the wrong 757 had been configured into the computer. So we had some angry passengers that had to go back up to the gate and get their tickets redone. This made us kind of late. It also made my high-strung flight leader even worse. She sent me to the back of the plane because of the wrong seats and told me to stay back there and help since it was about to be a nightmare. Well as I predicted it wasn't a nightmare... Everyone boarded and everything was fine in the back... She calls us in the back and tells the other girl that she needs me up front ASAP because she is getting hit hard.... I knew she was exaggerating already. So I made my way to the front and miss THANG tells me in front of passengers and the captain that she needed me up front because she "just can't do EVERYTHING alone" and she made it sound like I was the slacker. Psh... jerk. So she's already on my bad list. Then she yells at me that we need the overhead bins closed ASAP so we can depart on semi-time. So I hustle and get it all done...
... It starts to rain... literally...
The weather starts getting black and ugly.
We play the safety video and Ms. THANG again makes me angry when she asks me if I know how to run the machine... I may be new but I do know how to run a freaking VCR! DANG! Well then we taxi out and get word that the airport is closed due to weather and we are staying on the plane... and when the airport finally does open again then we are number 40 for take-off. Woah! So we hand out free headsets and go through with waters and show a movie. We hear that we are going to be sitting on the ground for awhile and people are being NASTY to us... so we do a full beverage service and they all expected free alcohol... sorry. no. We don’t control weather... if it were mechanical and the captain says yes... then that's a different story. So 3 hours later we finally takeoff... We get to Baltimore and immediately board... Guess what... the airplane was configured wrong again... so about 8 angry passengers have to get off the plane and get new seats. They were NOT happy! We close the doors and surprise! We are delayed on the ground again... At this point we don't know if we are going to make our flight to Nicaragua... none of us want to go... We are tired and we haven’t had a break or food. We've been dealing with the rudest people and we are just as irritated as they are. So yea... We stay on the ground on the runway for about an hour... We our almost out of drinks and snacks... we have just enough for when we get in the air so we go through with waters to keep the big babies hydrated. I was thinking we should just let them dehydrate and pass out and maybe it would be quieter. :) So, more free headsets and more movies. We finally get up in the air and make it to Atlanta. We had some very nice passengers that told us we made their day and we did a good job considering the circumstances... then there are others who just stomp their feet and hope that they get what they want... since when do they control weather?
When we get to Atlanta we had to go all the way to the E concourse and run to the Nicaragua flight that had been delayed 4 hours to wait for us... it's 9pm at this point. We have been working non-stop for 11 hours. We are tired, irritated and hungry. We get to the gate and get a HUGE applause and cheer from the crowd... apparently they had been filled in on our situation. It was funny but just a little embarrassing. When we get on the plane and start boarding we are informed that it is up to us if we want to go because we will be right at our 16 hour duty day by the time we arrive to Managua, Nicaragua. They also tell us that if we don't do this trip or get out exactly by 10 pm then the whole flight will just be cancelled. Of course none of us want to go... we did the math and at the last minute just decided to suck it up and go. I've never fell asleep so many times sitting upright before in my life.
There is only one other time that I can remember being that tired and it was when I first started waiting tables at the Piano Bar in Nashville and I had never waited tables before and they had us work 18 hour days... You get so tired that you just want to cry... sometimes you do cry. And yes... I AM a girl! Whatever. We finally get to Managua and its 2 am Atlanta time... and 12 am Managua time... the flight in the morning is scheduled to leave at 8:30 am... which means that we won’t get 8 hours behind the hotel door... which doesn't make us happy and its not what the rules say... We have to have a required 8 hours behind the door... SO.. they delay the morning flight by an hour and a half so we can at least get some sleep. I passed out as soon as I go to the hotel and off the phone with Rick... I was so tired.
It was all worth it when I woke up and looked out my window... I heard a familiar sound of parrots... I used to live in Costa Rica when I was 10. We had parrots and there were wild parrots always flying overhead... So I look out my window and see the ocean and the palm trees and see the parrots chasing each other and playing in the trees. It made me miss living in Costa Rica a lot. Brought back ALOT of childhood memories.
Back to the airport and we get on our flight with a few angry passengers because they were delayed and we are off... We had limited customs forms and I only had some Spanish customs forms... which means I had to help all the Americans on the flight to translate the form and fill them out. This one Jerk-hole asks me in a tone if we are heading to America and if the main language of "AMERICA" was still English. I told him yes but that we had a screwed up last 2 days and we are short on forms and I would be more than happy to help him fill it out and translate it. He gave me some attitude. I just rolled my eyes when he couldn't see because that makes me feel better. :) This crazy passenger walks to the very back of the plane from the first row of economy to get some rum and coke. He was really nice and we joked around with him... He gets his rum and walks all the way to the front of the plane again... a little later he asks my other crew member if he can order a wheelchair when we land in Atlanta because he can't walk. um... ??? What a crazy man.
Anyways... I'm landed... I think I sprained my ankle and my worst nightmare has come to pass...no high heals! Now with my job it’s almost mandatory that I wear at least some sort of heal so I need to go shoe shopping... I'm heading to San Antonio for a minute and tomorrow I go to Los Angeles then Guadalajara, Mexico. I have one more trip after that then I am making a secret little stop over in Nashville... I have to pack up my apartment... and I'm getting a head start before August when Hanna and Elin and Cale and Rick all come up. We are having a week-long pijama party in August. It's going to be fun. :)
peace out babies!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Atlanta: Day One
Current mood: animated
So today was my first day being a flight attendant in my new base of Atlanta. I felt like it was my first day of school and I was in the wrong grade. Atlanta is a pretty senior base. The oldest flight attendant that still flies is based in Atlanta... I believe that she is 80 years old! Um. Hello! Do YOU feel safe having an 80 year old flight attendant?! She just got her 50 something Delta pin. Let me put this in perspective for you. My seniority number is 14,055. And even after me there have been at least 500 more people following me. All these double digit flight attendants are based in Atlanta. So needless to say I was a very young looking flight attendant compared to my co-workers.
So I trek across the concourse back and forth figuring out where the heck I am supposed to go... I have about 2 hours of sleep under my belt and I grabbed the 5:40am flight out of San Antonio this morning to make my flight. I thought I might get a nap in... but I had to do my hair and make-up once I figured out where I was going so I didn't scare the passengers. I know I was lookin pretty rough this morning. I go into my briefing room and I am the only girl on the crew... not only the only girl... I am the only person who doesn't know what the 50's & 60's were like first hand. They were very nice though... and very understanding that this was going to be my first Atlanta flight and my very first International flight. As I walked through the concourse with one of my crew members, he would point out the old flight attendants and just laugh and point which ones just needed to give up and retire. That was a fun concourse game. We were Mexico City bound and I was excited. Keyword... "was".
We were first heading up to Raleigh/ Durham and back again on the B757... after that we were going to Mexico City. Well in the middle of the second flight we get rerouted. Welcome to Atlanta... the home of the reroute. They tell us that instead of going to Mexico that we are going to Orlando. Have I ever told you how much I hate Florida flights? But I saw we got a 20 hour layover... this is good. The flight wasn't bad at all... in fact it was so fast. So we got to Orlando.
Let me tell you about our hotel. It's a resort that is 14,000 acres... or something like that. It's very big. So it is late and I order room service that I cannot really afford but I'm hungry. And I plan on working out tomorrow and swimming so I need my energy. :) Well I needed to get cash so I called for the golf cart to come pick me up to take me to the ATM... yes... this place is that big. I get cash and rush back to beat my food to my door and I tried giving my friendly little golf cart driver chueffer a tip... he wouldn't take it... even after multiple attempts... so I finally thanked him and left... I got my delicious dinner and watched a movie and worked on my myspaces and texted my favorite person... life is good. I hear a knock at the door... I look out the peephole and it's my little golf cart driver.
Normally I wouldn't open... or I'd just keep the lock on... but he seemed harmless enough and I pride myself in having the best judgment of people... haha ok... so that is DEFINITELY a joke... being a divorcee at 23 and choosing the best friends who steal from me when I am not looking.... or try to sleep with my husband or end up being involved with witchcraft... so yea. I have great people judgement. :)
ANYWAYS... I opened the door and golf cart guy has a plate and bottle water. He just hands it to me and tells me in his broken English that since we as flight attendants take care of them that they should take care of us. I promise you that I was just thinking about what kinda crap I could buy outta the vending machine for breakfast. :) So I now have a lovely plate of rasberries, blueberries, a banana, banana nut bread loaf, and bottled water. All of my favorite things. How amazing is that?!
Besides the fact that my 3 wise men crew is so fun and my dreaded Florida flight ended up pretty great... I get to tan and swim and work out in the morning and then fly only one single flight back to Atlanta tomorrow. THEN! Then I am supposed to go to Mexico City again. We shall see. I have to get used to being rerouted now... being that Atlanta is my new base... Sometimes I am not very flexible... but I will learn I'm sure. The best part of Atlanta besides having better flights is that I can go home to Nashville more and sleep in my "own bed"... and I can go to San Antonio more often to the city that is determined to not leave me alone... what a crazy thing.
So today was my first day being a flight attendant in my new base of Atlanta. I felt like it was my first day of school and I was in the wrong grade. Atlanta is a pretty senior base. The oldest flight attendant that still flies is based in Atlanta... I believe that she is 80 years old! Um. Hello! Do YOU feel safe having an 80 year old flight attendant?! She just got her 50 something Delta pin. Let me put this in perspective for you. My seniority number is 14,055. And even after me there have been at least 500 more people following me. All these double digit flight attendants are based in Atlanta. So needless to say I was a very young looking flight attendant compared to my co-workers.
So I trek across the concourse back and forth figuring out where the heck I am supposed to go... I have about 2 hours of sleep under my belt and I grabbed the 5:40am flight out of San Antonio this morning to make my flight. I thought I might get a nap in... but I had to do my hair and make-up once I figured out where I was going so I didn't scare the passengers. I know I was lookin pretty rough this morning. I go into my briefing room and I am the only girl on the crew... not only the only girl... I am the only person who doesn't know what the 50's & 60's were like first hand. They were very nice though... and very understanding that this was going to be my first Atlanta flight and my very first International flight. As I walked through the concourse with one of my crew members, he would point out the old flight attendants and just laugh and point which ones just needed to give up and retire. That was a fun concourse game. We were Mexico City bound and I was excited. Keyword... "was".
We were first heading up to Raleigh/ Durham and back again on the B757... after that we were going to Mexico City. Well in the middle of the second flight we get rerouted. Welcome to Atlanta... the home of the reroute. They tell us that instead of going to Mexico that we are going to Orlando. Have I ever told you how much I hate Florida flights? But I saw we got a 20 hour layover... this is good. The flight wasn't bad at all... in fact it was so fast. So we got to Orlando.
Let me tell you about our hotel. It's a resort that is 14,000 acres... or something like that. It's very big. So it is late and I order room service that I cannot really afford but I'm hungry. And I plan on working out tomorrow and swimming so I need my energy. :) Well I needed to get cash so I called for the golf cart to come pick me up to take me to the ATM... yes... this place is that big. I get cash and rush back to beat my food to my door and I tried giving my friendly little golf cart driver chueffer a tip... he wouldn't take it... even after multiple attempts... so I finally thanked him and left... I got my delicious dinner and watched a movie and worked on my myspaces and texted my favorite person... life is good. I hear a knock at the door... I look out the peephole and it's my little golf cart driver.
Normally I wouldn't open... or I'd just keep the lock on... but he seemed harmless enough and I pride myself in having the best judgment of people... haha ok... so that is DEFINITELY a joke... being a divorcee at 23 and choosing the best friends who steal from me when I am not looking.... or try to sleep with my husband or end up being involved with witchcraft... so yea. I have great people judgement. :)
ANYWAYS... I opened the door and golf cart guy has a plate and bottle water. He just hands it to me and tells me in his broken English that since we as flight attendants take care of them that they should take care of us. I promise you that I was just thinking about what kinda crap I could buy outta the vending machine for breakfast. :) So I now have a lovely plate of rasberries, blueberries, a banana, banana nut bread loaf, and bottled water. All of my favorite things. How amazing is that?!
Besides the fact that my 3 wise men crew is so fun and my dreaded Florida flight ended up pretty great... I get to tan and swim and work out in the morning and then fly only one single flight back to Atlanta tomorrow. THEN! Then I am supposed to go to Mexico City again. We shall see. I have to get used to being rerouted now... being that Atlanta is my new base... Sometimes I am not very flexible... but I will learn I'm sure. The best part of Atlanta besides having better flights is that I can go home to Nashville more and sleep in my "own bed"... and I can go to San Antonio more often to the city that is determined to not leave me alone... what a crazy thing.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
crashpads
Current mood: grumpy
so here are my thoughts on crashpads.
they are not bad... for the most part when things runs smoothly.
most everyone is very nice.
i've made more lifelong friends. i
've seen some old friends.
i've taught my ways and learned theirs.
i do not like sharing a bathroom with so many people... especially one toilet.
i do not like the water pressure in a shower that is too small for me.
its a good thing i am not bigger... because my toes wouldnt be washd cause you can barely reach your toes its so small in there.
i also don't like when the power goes out for at least 6 hours.
i don't like sharing a mirror with 4 girls that have to go to work and are already late.
i don't like pretending im asleep at 5am when people are getting ready to work and i've only been home for an hour.
i don't like not having a key and having to wake someone up to let me in at night.
i don't like people in the morning. i am not a morning person... my delta smile is not so fresh in the morning...and im not a very nice person in the morning.
i dont like when people take out the trash and make you feel bad cause you aren't doing it... even when they have someone that they pay to do that already.
i don't know how these girls have been doing this for so long... i like the bed and the food...
thats for sure. i'm pretty excited about my atlanta transfer so i can go home now instead of sleeping in weird places. that's pretty friggin great!
you will be seeing me more in nashville and san antonio... not much though cause im keepin a low profile... but i'll be around when you least expect it.
so here are my thoughts on crashpads.
they are not bad... for the most part when things runs smoothly.
most everyone is very nice.
i've made more lifelong friends. i
've seen some old friends.
i've taught my ways and learned theirs.
i do not like sharing a bathroom with so many people... especially one toilet.
i do not like the water pressure in a shower that is too small for me.
its a good thing i am not bigger... because my toes wouldnt be washd cause you can barely reach your toes its so small in there.
i also don't like when the power goes out for at least 6 hours.
i don't like sharing a mirror with 4 girls that have to go to work and are already late.
i don't like pretending im asleep at 5am when people are getting ready to work and i've only been home for an hour.
i don't like not having a key and having to wake someone up to let me in at night.
i don't like people in the morning. i am not a morning person... my delta smile is not so fresh in the morning...and im not a very nice person in the morning.
i dont like when people take out the trash and make you feel bad cause you aren't doing it... even when they have someone that they pay to do that already.
i don't know how these girls have been doing this for so long... i like the bed and the food...
thats for sure. i'm pretty excited about my atlanta transfer so i can go home now instead of sleeping in weird places. that's pretty friggin great!
you will be seeing me more in nashville and san antonio... not much though cause im keepin a low profile... but i'll be around when you least expect it.
Monday, May 5, 2008
so here I am...
I was heading on my way to New York from Nashville on May 2 to fly a 5am rotation for that next morning. Well we had a crazy night the night before... and I'm not even going to go into that story... but definitely top 10 in the weirdest nights in my life... so we fell asleep very late... very short sleep and I had to fly out at 1:50 to New York with a 40 minute stop over in Cinci-Nasty. Of course by noon I hadnt showered or even packed or eaten anything... I barely made the flight.
I've been trying to drop that rotation for 3 weeks... It was just a fast turn and I'd only get paid for about 3 hours of work and it was going to consume all my time... but no one would pick up that trip. So I get to Cinci and grab some nasty pizza really quick and my phone rings...
It's In-Flight Scheduling.
They tell me that my trip just got dropped. I was like YES! No LaGuardia sleeptime for me tonight!
but why couldn't they have called just one hour earlier when I was still at home in Nashville?
Well you know and I know that my life has no 'point b'. So I quickly cancel my flight from Cinci to LGA and try and figure out a few options.
1) Head straight to San Antonio early and I can go to church on Sunday with my parents.
2) Head home to Nashville, get some sleep catch my friend 27 and friends for another night out, and clean my house then head to San Antonio
3) Head to Austin and drive into San Antonio the next morning and surprise my parents at church
4) Head to Atlanta and get halfway to Texas and see my GA friends...
Well I missed the last flight out to SA by like 5 minutes.
and the flights to nashville were full... and my friends in atlanta had plans... and i couldnt get ahold of my girl in Austin... so I temporarily freaked out.
Finally I heard from Lynn and she was down for pickin me up in Austin and driving me down to SA the next morning..
Suweet.
I got first class down to Texas and slept for a minute. Lynn dropped me off at 1604 and 281 starbucks and my other friend picked me up to take me to church.
So I do have a point B... it's just never a normal things like everyone else's.
My mom was so surprised that she cried. That was pretty cool to surprise her. I was not so excited to step foot back in that church again... which is why I brought the moral support of my friend... I conquered it head on and saw all the people that most hurt me in the last 3 years (they were all sitting behind me)... My hands were all shaky and sweaty and we did our fake smiles like nothing has ever happened between us... I'm so not a fan of fake. I'd rather tackle things caveman style cause I'm not good at expressing myself verbally either... only by writing... which is why i text and aim...
So now I am just chilling, working on myspaces, visiting my parents, visiting friends and that's nice. I'm lookin forward to getting back to work and fly my butt of for 2 weeks straight... probably more... im sure... but we shall see what is gonna happen. I'm trying to take things one step at a time... and trust that God is going to take care of me and all my bills...
my very wise friend told me that God wouldnt have brought me this far... I believe him.
I've been trying to drop that rotation for 3 weeks... It was just a fast turn and I'd only get paid for about 3 hours of work and it was going to consume all my time... but no one would pick up that trip. So I get to Cinci and grab some nasty pizza really quick and my phone rings...
It's In-Flight Scheduling.
They tell me that my trip just got dropped. I was like YES! No LaGuardia sleeptime for me tonight!
but why couldn't they have called just one hour earlier when I was still at home in Nashville?
Well you know and I know that my life has no 'point b'. So I quickly cancel my flight from Cinci to LGA and try and figure out a few options.
1) Head straight to San Antonio early and I can go to church on Sunday with my parents.
2) Head home to Nashville, get some sleep catch my friend 27 and friends for another night out, and clean my house then head to San Antonio
3) Head to Austin and drive into San Antonio the next morning and surprise my parents at church
4) Head to Atlanta and get halfway to Texas and see my GA friends...
Well I missed the last flight out to SA by like 5 minutes.
and the flights to nashville were full... and my friends in atlanta had plans... and i couldnt get ahold of my girl in Austin... so I temporarily freaked out.
Finally I heard from Lynn and she was down for pickin me up in Austin and driving me down to SA the next morning..
Suweet.
I got first class down to Texas and slept for a minute. Lynn dropped me off at 1604 and 281 starbucks and my other friend picked me up to take me to church.
So I do have a point B... it's just never a normal things like everyone else's.
My mom was so surprised that she cried. That was pretty cool to surprise her. I was not so excited to step foot back in that church again... which is why I brought the moral support of my friend... I conquered it head on and saw all the people that most hurt me in the last 3 years (they were all sitting behind me)... My hands were all shaky and sweaty and we did our fake smiles like nothing has ever happened between us... I'm so not a fan of fake. I'd rather tackle things caveman style cause I'm not good at expressing myself verbally either... only by writing... which is why i text and aim...
So now I am just chilling, working on myspaces, visiting my parents, visiting friends and that's nice. I'm lookin forward to getting back to work and fly my butt of for 2 weeks straight... probably more... im sure... but we shall see what is gonna happen. I'm trying to take things one step at a time... and trust that God is going to take care of me and all my bills...
my very wise friend told me that God wouldnt have brought me this far... I believe him.
Monday, April 28, 2008
my life... is this for real?
My friend texted me today to tell me he felt like me when he was standing on a corner of a bus stop waiting for his ride that never came.
Bad luck?
Bad Kharma?
I dunno.
"everything is a test"
that's what we told ourselves every day in Delta training.
I'm almost one month into flying and I'm not sure how many more tests I can take.
Anything that could happen to you... well, it probably already happened to me... twice.
I'm wearing 2 different socks because I lost the other pairs of both socks along the way.
Hi. My name is Julie... and here is my violin.
Can I play it for you?
It's 2:30am at the Newark International Airport in New Jersey. This has been one of my new homes. I am learning all the secret corridors in these places. Again... here I am eating my overpriced ramen noodles for dinner and waiting for my 6am flight.
I get to go home tomorrow! I'm pretty excited. I think that most of my... let's call it a mini depression... is coming from being home sick... not having a steady schedule... being malnutritioned and dehydrated (that's all according to my wise friend as well).
The rest of my reason for my "depression" is money. It's the biggest portion.
Did you know flight attendants don't make any money?
Did you know that I qualify for FOOD STAMPS?!
Did you know that there are flight attendants who are already on these food stamps?
holy crap.
I get paid every two weeks... now granted my whole time in training we got paid minimum wage... that's $5.85 an hour I believe... so my last check was part training and part flying... I think... I hope that it never looks like that again... Let's just say... It didnt even cover my cell phone bill. So without getting technical on my money problems, let me tell you that the $300 check went towards transportation and food... for 2 weeks... cause its expensive in New York. So... who wants to pay my rent, cell phone, car, car insurance, water, cable, electric, and buy me new luggage? I'm pretty sure no one does... I don't even want to.
Now here's the irony... the part where the situation actually has my bad luck sealed in my name...
I have $15 in my account. You can't pull $15 out of an account unless you are at a bank. I have $5 in my pocket. Tomorrow I get into Nashville and to get from the airport to my house is a $15 cab ride. What the crap?! So I'm either hitchhiking or walking. It's probably only 15 miles away anyways... Then I know that there is a check in my mailbox waiting for me... everything is fine after that. But to get from point A to point C you need point B. My life always misses out on point B.
Another example of my irony.
I needed to get from the LaGuardia aiport to Jersey City, New Jersey at 1am. There are 3 trains involved. I actually had the money this time... so where is the irony in this point B? My wheel fell off of my suitcase. I had to catch the M60 bus to get to the N train to go to 34th street. Walk to 33rd street and catch the path train and walk about 6 blocks to my friends house dragging a suitcase minus a wheel that sounded like I was being followed by a freight train.
Do you think that this gets me down? Nope.
I'm laughing right now... on the inside of course because I have to be quiet cause everyone around me is sleeping...
but I laugh because I know it will all work out in some weird way that is my life...
I will somehow get a ride home tomorrow and have a crazy story to tell you... like how I hitchhiked on a motorcycle and towed my wheel-less luggage behind me... or how I just parachuted from the plane a few minutes early to land on my front porch... shoot. I dunno... but that's my life!
I tell all my friends... I cannot offer you much in life... but I can promise you this... if you hang with me... there will be adventure. I make that an oath... There will never be a dull day with me.
If you have ever driven in a car with me... or gone to the grocery store... or even parked my car with me... it won't be boring. Thats for sure!
One day I will write a book about all my missing Point B's... or all the adventures that you didnt expect to have with me... like the time I actually did hitchhike on a motorcycle with 2 other friends and 2 other motorcycles... or the day where I was supposed to drive Kevin Max to a show and I couldnt parallel park so we had to get out and trade seats so he could park my car at his own show in front of the line of fans waiting to get in... or the time when I slept at an airport but didnt really sleep... oh wait... that's right now.
Well... wish me luck on my travels home... and if my cell phone is shut off between now and who knows when... well... send me an e-mail. :)
xxoo
JulieKristine
Bad luck?
Bad Kharma?
I dunno.
"everything is a test"
that's what we told ourselves every day in Delta training.
I'm almost one month into flying and I'm not sure how many more tests I can take.
Anything that could happen to you... well, it probably already happened to me... twice.
I'm wearing 2 different socks because I lost the other pairs of both socks along the way.
Hi. My name is Julie... and here is my violin.
Can I play it for you?
It's 2:30am at the Newark International Airport in New Jersey. This has been one of my new homes. I am learning all the secret corridors in these places. Again... here I am eating my overpriced ramen noodles for dinner and waiting for my 6am flight.
I get to go home tomorrow! I'm pretty excited. I think that most of my... let's call it a mini depression... is coming from being home sick... not having a steady schedule... being malnutritioned and dehydrated (that's all according to my wise friend as well).
The rest of my reason for my "depression" is money. It's the biggest portion.
Did you know flight attendants don't make any money?
Did you know that I qualify for FOOD STAMPS?!
Did you know that there are flight attendants who are already on these food stamps?
holy crap.
I get paid every two weeks... now granted my whole time in training we got paid minimum wage... that's $5.85 an hour I believe... so my last check was part training and part flying... I think... I hope that it never looks like that again... Let's just say... It didnt even cover my cell phone bill. So without getting technical on my money problems, let me tell you that the $300 check went towards transportation and food... for 2 weeks... cause its expensive in New York. So... who wants to pay my rent, cell phone, car, car insurance, water, cable, electric, and buy me new luggage? I'm pretty sure no one does... I don't even want to.
Now here's the irony... the part where the situation actually has my bad luck sealed in my name...
I have $15 in my account. You can't pull $15 out of an account unless you are at a bank. I have $5 in my pocket. Tomorrow I get into Nashville and to get from the airport to my house is a $15 cab ride. What the crap?! So I'm either hitchhiking or walking. It's probably only 15 miles away anyways... Then I know that there is a check in my mailbox waiting for me... everything is fine after that. But to get from point A to point C you need point B. My life always misses out on point B.
Another example of my irony.
I needed to get from the LaGuardia aiport to Jersey City, New Jersey at 1am. There are 3 trains involved. I actually had the money this time... so where is the irony in this point B? My wheel fell off of my suitcase. I had to catch the M60 bus to get to the N train to go to 34th street. Walk to 33rd street and catch the path train and walk about 6 blocks to my friends house dragging a suitcase minus a wheel that sounded like I was being followed by a freight train.
Do you think that this gets me down? Nope.
I'm laughing right now... on the inside of course because I have to be quiet cause everyone around me is sleeping...
but I laugh because I know it will all work out in some weird way that is my life...
I will somehow get a ride home tomorrow and have a crazy story to tell you... like how I hitchhiked on a motorcycle and towed my wheel-less luggage behind me... or how I just parachuted from the plane a few minutes early to land on my front porch... shoot. I dunno... but that's my life!
I tell all my friends... I cannot offer you much in life... but I can promise you this... if you hang with me... there will be adventure. I make that an oath... There will never be a dull day with me.
If you have ever driven in a car with me... or gone to the grocery store... or even parked my car with me... it won't be boring. Thats for sure!
One day I will write a book about all my missing Point B's... or all the adventures that you didnt expect to have with me... like the time I actually did hitchhike on a motorcycle with 2 other friends and 2 other motorcycles... or the day where I was supposed to drive Kevin Max to a show and I couldnt parallel park so we had to get out and trade seats so he could park my car at his own show in front of the line of fans waiting to get in... or the time when I slept at an airport but didnt really sleep... oh wait... that's right now.
Well... wish me luck on my travels home... and if my cell phone is shut off between now and who knows when... well... send me an e-mail. :)
xxoo
JulieKristine
Friday, April 25, 2008
Airport Diaries- The glamour of it all
Current mood: relaxed
*I wrote this last night with no internet access at the airport...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
So yesterday morning I woke up in Tampa after a 24 hour layover. It was fabulous! The hotel was nice, the pool was amazing, the weather beautiful and sunny! I sat by the pool for 2 hours and loved my life... I walked over to the mall and just walked around and got a free milkshake. It was a really nice day! I had a great night sleep in a real bed... it was almost normal... almost glamorous... except the part that I skipped out where I washed all my underwear and socks and shirts in the sink by hand and laid them on the balcony in the sun and in the bathroom... when my last shirt didn't dry before I had to leave, I laid it on a towel and pinned it down with some heavy cups and rigged the blow dryer to blow it just right so that I didn't have to hold it and it would move the shirt until it dried the whole thing. It was pretty funny and I promise you that I almost video blogged it.
My crew and I hopped on the shuttle and head over to the airport to start our long day. 9:45 am until 9:30 pm. Whew! So we went from Tampa to La Guardia. The little shuttle driver started our day off with a bang when he got in a screaming match with the security gate and refused to show him his ID. As soon as we got our coffees we got the paperwork and the day was starting off JUST right... the paperwork informed us we would be having one prisoner on board escorted by 2 armed undercover officers, one airborne peanut allergy, one dead person in cargo w/ the family of the deceased on board, one unaccompanied minor and 12 wheelchairs. DUDE! Everything we learned in training was on that paperwork. HA! The airborne peanut allergy was the most irritating because we cannot serve peanuts at all on the flight... even our food for sale had peanuts... the trailmix, the m&ms, the cliff bars, etc. How stupid! The prisoner was handcuffed with a sweatshirt over the cuffs to prevent passenger freak out. Any flights to and from Florida always have a million old people who they let pre-board cause it takes them eternity to get on the flippin plane. I'm not a big fan of decrepit people cause they smell weird, they aren't very nice and they are kinda demanding and slow. So anyways... the flight was fine... just slooow. Then we get to La Guardia and head back down to Florida... West Palm Beach to be exact... and then back to La Guardia... I was just pretty tired and not sure where I was gonna sleep... And we got into NY at 9:30ish... I had checked for Atlanta flights so I could see my friends since I had one day off before I had to be back in NY to be on call... and the last atlanta flight was at 9pm. boo. So when I got off the plane at 9:30 I asked the gate agent if there were any flights going anywhere... cause who knows... maybe I'd know someone there and I could sleep in a different state on a couch or something... it was better than the airport again... so she said that there was one delayed flight to Atlanta. I was like WOAH! The boarding door was closed and we ran and they let us on! Heckya! So I called my friends while I'm walking down the aisle of the plane and told them to pick me up in an hour and a half. Suweet success! So I got a good night sleep, some good food, good company and came BACK to NY to get here before midnight. Now I'm in La Guardia... There is no wi-fi. The crew lounge is locked (of course) and the other crew office is cold and bright and there are old ladies in there that snore. I bought an over-priced ramen noodles from the vending machine and haggled in spanish with the cleaning crew on break for a fork and now I'm sitting in the ground transportations lounge with my phone plugged in because its almost dead.
I have 3 options.
1) Sleep here.
2) Go pick up a key to my friends house from his work downtown and then go to the bronx and have a comfy place to sleep. That's kinda far and I have no idea what trains to take... and the bronx at night... umm...
3) Go to Jersey on the public transportation that I have been on and I am familiar with and have a comfy place to sleep. um yes.
So I'm going to Jersey.
P.S. It took me 3 hours to get to Jersey...
I have a 5am check in at Newark tomorrow so Im gonna sleep there tonight at the airport... The cool thing is I have a day layover in LA so I get to see a friend so randomly and then to Atlanta to sleep... and theeeeeen I get to Newark at night so I sleep there again and catch a 6am flight to Atlanta then to NASHVILLE!!! for 6 days off! ... well technically off but I have a heckalot of things to catch up on...
*I wrote this last night with no internet access at the airport...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
So yesterday morning I woke up in Tampa after a 24 hour layover. It was fabulous! The hotel was nice, the pool was amazing, the weather beautiful and sunny! I sat by the pool for 2 hours and loved my life... I walked over to the mall and just walked around and got a free milkshake. It was a really nice day! I had a great night sleep in a real bed... it was almost normal... almost glamorous... except the part that I skipped out where I washed all my underwear and socks and shirts in the sink by hand and laid them on the balcony in the sun and in the bathroom... when my last shirt didn't dry before I had to leave, I laid it on a towel and pinned it down with some heavy cups and rigged the blow dryer to blow it just right so that I didn't have to hold it and it would move the shirt until it dried the whole thing. It was pretty funny and I promise you that I almost video blogged it.
My crew and I hopped on the shuttle and head over to the airport to start our long day. 9:45 am until 9:30 pm. Whew! So we went from Tampa to La Guardia. The little shuttle driver started our day off with a bang when he got in a screaming match with the security gate and refused to show him his ID. As soon as we got our coffees we got the paperwork and the day was starting off JUST right... the paperwork informed us we would be having one prisoner on board escorted by 2 armed undercover officers, one airborne peanut allergy, one dead person in cargo w/ the family of the deceased on board, one unaccompanied minor and 12 wheelchairs. DUDE! Everything we learned in training was on that paperwork. HA! The airborne peanut allergy was the most irritating because we cannot serve peanuts at all on the flight... even our food for sale had peanuts... the trailmix, the m&ms, the cliff bars, etc. How stupid! The prisoner was handcuffed with a sweatshirt over the cuffs to prevent passenger freak out. Any flights to and from Florida always have a million old people who they let pre-board cause it takes them eternity to get on the flippin plane. I'm not a big fan of decrepit people cause they smell weird, they aren't very nice and they are kinda demanding and slow. So anyways... the flight was fine... just slooow. Then we get to La Guardia and head back down to Florida... West Palm Beach to be exact... and then back to La Guardia... I was just pretty tired and not sure where I was gonna sleep... And we got into NY at 9:30ish... I had checked for Atlanta flights so I could see my friends since I had one day off before I had to be back in NY to be on call... and the last atlanta flight was at 9pm. boo. So when I got off the plane at 9:30 I asked the gate agent if there were any flights going anywhere... cause who knows... maybe I'd know someone there and I could sleep in a different state on a couch or something... it was better than the airport again... so she said that there was one delayed flight to Atlanta. I was like WOAH! The boarding door was closed and we ran and they let us on! Heckya! So I called my friends while I'm walking down the aisle of the plane and told them to pick me up in an hour and a half. Suweet success! So I got a good night sleep, some good food, good company and came BACK to NY to get here before midnight. Now I'm in La Guardia... There is no wi-fi. The crew lounge is locked (of course) and the other crew office is cold and bright and there are old ladies in there that snore. I bought an over-priced ramen noodles from the vending machine and haggled in spanish with the cleaning crew on break for a fork and now I'm sitting in the ground transportations lounge with my phone plugged in because its almost dead.
I have 3 options.
1) Sleep here.
2) Go pick up a key to my friends house from his work downtown and then go to the bronx and have a comfy place to sleep. That's kinda far and I have no idea what trains to take... and the bronx at night... umm...
3) Go to Jersey on the public transportation that I have been on and I am familiar with and have a comfy place to sleep. um yes.
So I'm going to Jersey.
P.S. It took me 3 hours to get to Jersey...
I have a 5am check in at Newark tomorrow so Im gonna sleep there tonight at the airport... The cool thing is I have a day layover in LA so I get to see a friend so randomly and then to Atlanta to sleep... and theeeeeen I get to Newark at night so I sleep there again and catch a 6am flight to Atlanta then to NASHVILLE!!! for 6 days off! ... well technically off but I have a heckalot of things to catch up on...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Welcome to your new job!
let’s talk about my last 2 days...
Tuesday night... 4 hours of sleep.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6am... took a cab to the airport in Nashville...
where the driver was from ghana and invited me and my friends to come stay with his family in accra whenever we fly there. :)
then waited with a terrible cold to fly non-rev with continental which is a sky team alliance member so i can fly with them for free... and it was the only direct flight from nashville to newark.
ANYWAYS... you know those days when you wake up and you just KNOW that it was gonna be a bad day?
So the gate agents at continental call me over like 5 minutes to boarding and ask me for these documents that i didn’t know i was supposed to have..
and told me that i needed to go back through security and get them and come back. so there was no making that flight. I had choice words for them.
i went back to the delta concourse and the lady was as confused as i was about these mystery documents... so she booked me on a jumpseat from nashville to atlanta and atlanta to newark... nicest lady ever.
so i go to atlanta and the flight attendant on that flight was one of my fellow classmates... his very first flight. ironic. i slept like 5 minutes.
then i run to make my next flight and made some new friends on the flight and slept some more and had some crackers which was the first thing i had eaten in 24 hours cause all i had was $25 in my pocket and that was gonna be for transporting to the airport and to my friends house in jersey... well...
my sister is amazing and wired me money to the newark airport ... so i could eat and get around. nice.
SO. I get to Newark, change clothes, get the money, im now sweating and tired and irritable cause i havnt eaten or had a good sleep and only half the challenge is complete because now i have to get to my friends house in jersey...
ive never been to jersey.
ive never ridden a train.
check. check.
i got a little lost and had to turn around and finally got to my friends house at around 8 or 9 and got some delicious chinese food.
at this point all i knew is that i was on call starting at midnight and that i needed to check my schedule at 8pm. so I got to the house and checked and low and behold delta hates me because they scheduled me to be on standby at JFK at 5:30am in the morning until 10:30am... which means i just sit there until they decide to use me. So the next hour or so my friend calls and makes a route for me which means we have to leave his house at 2:45 am to catch the train to catch the shuttle.
at about 10pm i shower, get everything ready and finally get to sleep at 11 with alarms set for 2am.
Meanwhile my little angel friend steamed my uniform and shined my shoes, brought me cough medicine cause i couldnt sleep and even took me on the train at 3am and dropped me all the way to the shuttle. i seriously dont know what i would have done without him.
so 2 subway rats and a hot chocolate late i barely make it to the sign it at 5:30am. NO one was there... it was like the rapture happened and I didnt get the memo.
but as long as i was signed in i was in the clear. so i just sat in a chair and waited and fell asleep in my chair. people came in and out to sleep and snorers and talkers and then came the shushers.. but i just waited... 10:30am and i didnt get called out... so I signed out and got clearance to leave and made my trek back to jersey with detailed step by step instructions from my friend and i made it. with food in my belly and myspace work almost done... i’m gonna take a nap until 8pm and check my little schedule again and then pray there is nothing on it so i can sleep some more.
so! my body hurts and im tired but i have had quite some adventures.
naptime. see you around. xxoo
Tuesday night... 4 hours of sleep.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6am... took a cab to the airport in Nashville...
where the driver was from ghana and invited me and my friends to come stay with his family in accra whenever we fly there. :)
then waited with a terrible cold to fly non-rev with continental which is a sky team alliance member so i can fly with them for free... and it was the only direct flight from nashville to newark.
ANYWAYS... you know those days when you wake up and you just KNOW that it was gonna be a bad day?
So the gate agents at continental call me over like 5 minutes to boarding and ask me for these documents that i didn’t know i was supposed to have..
and told me that i needed to go back through security and get them and come back. so there was no making that flight. I had choice words for them.
i went back to the delta concourse and the lady was as confused as i was about these mystery documents... so she booked me on a jumpseat from nashville to atlanta and atlanta to newark... nicest lady ever.
so i go to atlanta and the flight attendant on that flight was one of my fellow classmates... his very first flight. ironic. i slept like 5 minutes.
then i run to make my next flight and made some new friends on the flight and slept some more and had some crackers which was the first thing i had eaten in 24 hours cause all i had was $25 in my pocket and that was gonna be for transporting to the airport and to my friends house in jersey... well...
my sister is amazing and wired me money to the newark airport ... so i could eat and get around. nice.
SO. I get to Newark, change clothes, get the money, im now sweating and tired and irritable cause i havnt eaten or had a good sleep and only half the challenge is complete because now i have to get to my friends house in jersey...
ive never been to jersey.
ive never ridden a train.
check. check.
i got a little lost and had to turn around and finally got to my friends house at around 8 or 9 and got some delicious chinese food.
at this point all i knew is that i was on call starting at midnight and that i needed to check my schedule at 8pm. so I got to the house and checked and low and behold delta hates me because they scheduled me to be on standby at JFK at 5:30am in the morning until 10:30am... which means i just sit there until they decide to use me. So the next hour or so my friend calls and makes a route for me which means we have to leave his house at 2:45 am to catch the train to catch the shuttle.
at about 10pm i shower, get everything ready and finally get to sleep at 11 with alarms set for 2am.
Meanwhile my little angel friend steamed my uniform and shined my shoes, brought me cough medicine cause i couldnt sleep and even took me on the train at 3am and dropped me all the way to the shuttle. i seriously dont know what i would have done without him.
so 2 subway rats and a hot chocolate late i barely make it to the sign it at 5:30am. NO one was there... it was like the rapture happened and I didnt get the memo.
but as long as i was signed in i was in the clear. so i just sat in a chair and waited and fell asleep in my chair. people came in and out to sleep and snorers and talkers and then came the shushers.. but i just waited... 10:30am and i didnt get called out... so I signed out and got clearance to leave and made my trek back to jersey with detailed step by step instructions from my friend and i made it. with food in my belly and myspace work almost done... i’m gonna take a nap until 8pm and check my little schedule again and then pray there is nothing on it so i can sleep some more.
so! my body hurts and im tired but i have had quite some adventures.
naptime. see you around. xxoo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
