Passport Problems.

I returned from Shannon, Ireland today at about 10:45am. I still have not taken a nap. I have no idea how I am still awake, but Ireland was beautiful (as always) and we were lucky enough to get a BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY!! (This is quite unheard of in Ireland, especially in Shannon)

So getting down to business, I have a quick little story about our arrival into Ireland.. In Ireland you are required to fill out a little information card for Passport Control if you do not have a passport from a country in the European Union (aka an EU Passport). We went ahead and passed out these forms on the plane just before landing because everyone tends to misplace them during the flight.

So picture me walking backwards, down the aisle, holding up little white cards asking if anyone needs a form. Most people who are from Ireland or the EU know that they do not need one, however everyone else cough*americans*cough don't really know what these forms are unless they fly to Ireland a lot.

I stop at row 38 or so and see a group of obvious Americans with a puzzled look on their face.

.Scene.
me: Do you need a landing card?
americans: umm..what is that?
me: you need this card for immigration if you do not have a EU passport
americans: oh
me: do you need the card?
americans: i dont know..
me: do you have an EU passport?
americans: i dont know ::major puzzled looks::
me: do you have a Eurpoean passport?
americans: uhh..what makes your passport an EU or European?
Seriously?!
me: where is your passport from?
americans: ::removes passport from their cover:: ..uhh..well..its a united states passport
me: okay, so you do not have a European passport and need to fill out one of these forms.
::hands out forms to each person::
americans: oh yeah! we aren't European..hahahaa!

Okay people, it wasnt really funny that you dont understand what I am saying..you just wasted 15 mins of my time. lol.

Anyways, I have been awake too long on too little sleep..I must go to bed! Have a good Cinco De Mayo this weekend!! (I'll be in Detroit, MI...anyone else gonna be there? Ha!)

Umm..what?

Sooo..blogger went and updated on me and now I have absolutely NO IDEA how to work on my HTML design.

Sorry this suddenly looks like a hacking/scrapbook project gone wrong. I haven't quite figured out how to fix my background so you can actually read this..

In other news...my BFFAEAEAE..(you get the idea) just found out she passed the Texas Bar Exam!! :-)

Congratulations Jessie!!!

F-F, two F's, as in French Fries..

Sorry its been a couple of days, I've actually had some really great passengers recently! My last trip, on our last leg ATL-LGA (which is usually HELL with wings!) had some of the nicest people on board! I even got a fabulous compliment by a couple in the exit row.. that I had a wonderful persona and I should keep up the good work :-). I was really just excited about being done with my trip at noon and getting to nap for a few hours in my bed!! (mm...naps...i love naps)

So, since I haven;t had any really crazy events happen lately (no complaining from me!), I'll share my story of how I tried to take out some of my first class passengers tonight:

Soooo...the trip I am currently on I have the position of Flight Leader (basically I'm "in charge", get paid a little bit extra, and take care of the first class cabin). On our first flight from LGA to ATL I had to serve a meal. As we were still climbing, I decided to start to set up my galley for our service. In the first class cabin of our plane tonight, our beverage carts are half carts (mini carts, 2 fit in one regular slot) and i pulled the first one out and set it up. As I was doing this the pilots turned the plane up a bit and the 2nd cart went flying out of the galley and into the aisle!
Luckily, I have some cat like reflexes (thank you red bull!!!) and I grabbed the cart by the handle just as it ran into the armrest of my first class passenger seated at 2C. I was so embarrased and it woke everyone up in the first class cabin :-/ I returned the cart, latched it, and then immediately sat down in my jumpseat until the seat belt sign was turned off. lol.

Oh man, I felt stupid. But then it seemed everyone forgot about it later.

Sorry this post totally stunk...I'm tired and its 130am. But I felt i needed to write SOMETHING.

oh.. PS..I picked up a 25 hour layover in San Fran...and my BFF is working :( boooo

Fat people like to fly too..

Hola!

So I recently picked up a trip with some Atlanta based Flight Attendants with a wonderful long layover in San Juan, PR! It was absolutely AMAZING and the weather was perfect! I felt like I had already started my vacation!

I was originally a little nervous I was going to have no one to hang out with (ATL base is really old senior mamas who have a reputation for doing nothing at their layovers except shopping or sleeping or just being old) but as soon as we got on the plane to San Juan the one older lady tells me she hopes theres a fridge on this version of our 757 because she brought 2 bottles of Champagne to drink on the beach! I knew instantly that I had nothing to worry about. ;-)

Moving on ( I don't want to bore you with my wonderful leisurely layovers), I do have short story about an old man on one of my flights yesterday:

So, I am sitting in the Atlanta airport, minding my own business, waiting for my plane to arrive. An old man comes over and sits across from me. He proceeds to eat a giant hot dog from Nathans. I continue to play on my cell phone. Suddenly, I hear:

"There's a lot of fat people."

Um, excuse me? Is someone talking to me? What?

I look up from my phone at the old man and say "huh?"

He responds with "There's a lot of fat people" again, as if its a completely normal thing to say to a complete stranger.

I just stare at him. This apparently makes him think I want to hold a conversation with him.

"Sitting here in the airport you can see how fat people are by watching them walk by. It's sad."

Umm...right okay. I just stop looking at him and continue playing on my phone. I desperately try to think of ways to get up and walk away without making this situation more awkward. There really isnt any other way to get out of this situation other than just leaving. So thats what i did. I grabbed my bag and walked a few rows of chairs over.

Yeah, I felt weird for a couple of hours after that LOL.

The old man proceeded to board my plane and I saw his VERY large belly poking out of his shirt...

I wish I could have responded with something really smart like "There's an awful lot of old people too."

That's all for now. I started my week of paid vacation today. Woo hoo!

I'M BACK!! (hopefully)

I am back! Sorry its been a year since my last post. :-/ Oopsies. Please forgive me. ;-)

So a fabulous *sorority sister* really wanted me to start posting my crazy stories (because I have a lot of them) and reminded me that I was gonna try to keep up with this blog thing, so I should. Lucky (for you, not me, I am currently losing precious sleep) I was awakened at my layover hotel thanks to mister asshole next door. I'll get to that story in a minute. We are gonna make this short, sweet, and to the point. Be prepared.

Today I had one leg (aka 1 flight segment). JFK to LAX.
Luckily, I got to work up front with the celebrities. (Just kidding, we only had ONE today!) But as I was picking up trash, I ran into a Jewish man (window seat) and his wife (middle seat). The convo that followed was entertaining enough for me to share it during our "galley talk" when I returned up front.
Setting: Aircraft left. Window seat. Some 30.000ft and approaching LAX.
Characters: Jewish Man, His Wife, Me, and Man in the Aisle Seat the Row Behind Them
.Scene.
Wife: (directed to me) Excuse me, can you see those mountains outside?
Me: (leaning over to look out) Oh yes, those are very pretty.
Wife: You see the mountains?
Me: Yes, thank you for showing me. Wow.
Jewish Man: They are at 30.000ft how is that possible? 30.000ft! (blabber)
Wife: (directed to husband) Shh! shut up!
Me: ::cricket chirp::
Wife: So you see those mountains?
Me: (seriously??! i thought i answered this question already) Yes.
Wife: (back to husband) See?! She can see them! They are there!
Wife: (back to me) He believes that those aren't really moutains becuase they cant be 30.000ft in the air. He thinks they are clouds in the shape of mountains.
(Seriously people, i cant even make this type of crap up!)
Jewish Man: But they are 30.000ft tall! (starts freaking out)
Me: Sir, those mountains can not be 30.000ft tall because we are above them and we are at 30.000ft.
Jewish man: Well then how tall can they be? Thats not right...
Me: Sir, I would be more than happy to ask the pilots about how tall those mountains are. they probably know.
Man In the Aisle Seat Behind them: Those mountains are about 11.000ft.
Me: Thank you. (back to Jewish man) Those mountains are about 11.000ft. We are at 30.000ft.
Wife: Thank you so much, he is just acting crazy! (she was rolling her eyes and annoyed with him the whole time)
Man In the Aisle Seat Behind them: Well I would hope that we arent on the same level as the mountains! that wouldnt be good!
::I walk away, and back up front to the galley to hide. While avoiding eye contact with the rest of the cabin::

Seriously, that is just one conversation out of the millions I had on my 5hr 28min flight from JFK to LAX. Imagine what a 4 leg day is like! bahaha!

So one more story because I am tired and its the whole reason of why I am awake and not getting rest on my layover. (not just due to the sexy man laying next to me...jk!) ;-)
This story is going to be even more to the point. I am le tired.
Setting: Hotel room at short layover hotel right next to LAX. Its a beautifully renovated Sheraton. Got a fancy room on the 8th floor with a door that connects to the room next door.
Characters: Me, Ass Next Door, Hotel Lady, Security!
.Scene.
I am just on the brink of sleepy town USA when I smell smoke. Yuck! The stench is getting worse so I call downstairs because i am pretty sure this is a nonsmoking hotel. Speak to Hotel Lady who sincerely apologizes and says they are sending up someone to check. I watch through peephole. Mom and daughter pass by and complain of a smoke smell. I lean down to the connecting door and smell the stench blowing into my room. Ass Next Door is smoking!!! UUUGHHH. Call downstairs and talk to the super sweet Hotel Lady and tell her its coming from my room next door. She apologizes even more (they are super nice here!) and says she is sending up security to deal with it. (Kick that asshole out! whoooo!) Security comes up (suits, ear pieces and all!) and knocks on the Ass Next Doors door. He answers, but before he lets security in his room what do i smell??? COLOGNE!! umm thats not gonna cover it up you idiot! Yada yada yada, he is told he will be charged a 200$ cleaning fine and told where to go around the hotel to smoke. I WIN! ( well i would have liked to have him thrown out on the curb, but ill take it.) Security then calls my room telling me all about the situation and that they will come up to spray the hallway. They ask if i would like my room sprayed as well. :-) (told you they were super nice!)

and thats my layover story. im tired. sorry if this wasnt the best post. hopefully i will try again soon. lol. yeahh...


In the meantime...cross your fingers and pray with me that I dont smell like a hooker at work tomm! :-)

Goodnight from the West Coast,
B

Sick Girl. Yuck.

I was forced to call in sick for my trip yesterday. When I use the term "forced" I mean that I had a really tough decision to make : go on my trip and possibly die or call in sick, see a doc and get better. Obviously I had to choose the later.


Ughhhh..I am so mad though. I really was trying to go to for a perfect record, but I really had no idea what was wrong with me! ( I still don't really, but at least I am starting to feel better!)

I am also really mad because I had to call in sick for my trip to AMS: AMSTERDAM!!! What the heck?! You know I had to be really really REALLY feeling like crap for me to call in sick on an international trip!

So for the past few days, I have felt like DEATH. It got so bad that I could no longer turn my head to the right or the left because it hurt so bad. My lymph nodes were swollen and my neck and upper back/shoulders were horribly achy. I am now sleeping almost 23 hrs a day and taking antibiotics with a nasal spray (apparently I had some fluid in my left ear, hence more pain on my left side).

Luckily, most of my neck pain/stiffness has gone away and I have been catching up on my sleep. Unfortunately, I really needed these days off :-/

My next trip takes me to MEM (Memphis) and MSY (New Orleans). Luckily its a very easy trip with really long layovers. Unfortunately I am going to be spending these layovers eating and sleeping. :-/ I am going to be boring. But after this 3 day, I have a meeting with my Manager and then I get to be home for a FEW DAYS!!!!!!! YAY!!! I haven't been home since the start of June, and I can't wait to get some rest and hopefully some good meals.


On my last trip I came up with some questions with other members of my crew..but I am too tired to remember/post them. I'll leave it for next time. Hopefully that's sooner rather than later...

Bad Bethany...Bad!

Sorry I didn't send an update your way for the rest of May...I have been getting..umm a bit "distracted" let's just say ;-) plus I've been super busy flying! (way too many hours were accumulated in the month of May!) I actually flew so much that they scheduled me days for "required rest" where I was not allowed to pick up any trips :( haha oops!

I'll try to bring in some updates soon...I am headed back to New Orleans tonight (aka thecitythatgetsmeintotrouble!) and could possibly have some time on my hands my second day there.

Stay tuned. I promise I haven't left forever.

B