Jetway Jesus

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, then things got a bit hectic. Oops. Major apologies to my devoted followers. (Followers=1 person who googled something and somehow ended up at this blog)

So, my most recent "reserve" days made me appreciate the little "miracles" that we flight attendants perform each and every day (and don't even know it!). Ha!

Every day flight attendants board and unboard planes with hundreds of people over and over again. Among some of these very special people are our friends who need a little extra help getting down the jetway and to their seat on the plane. They are boarded with a WHEELCHAIR. They request one, get to board early, have someone carry their baggage, and also have one waiting at their destination right there at the boarding door ready to wheel them directly to their next flight or transportation. It's a pretty sweet deal.

On one of my recent flights to RSW (Ft. Myers) we had TWELVE wheelchairs. Yes people, I said TWELVE!! (This is a very high number of wheelchairs people!) Most flights which start with 3 or 4 wheelchair boardies, usually end with maybe 1 or 2 wheelchairs needed at the end of the flight. How does this happen you ask? Some call it the "miracle" but most refer to it as "Jetway Jesus"! I perform miracles throughout the flight, dontcha know?


Typical sequence of events:
-Arrive at plane
-Board wheelchairs/extra assistance pax
-take off, inflight, regular stuff that takes too long to type
Prior to landing:
-notify pilots of # of wheelchairs needed at destination
-pilots tell the airport # of wheelchairs needed
-wheelchairs dispatched (hopefully correct #)
-look up, find, and chat with each wheelchair pax to tell them that we have a wheelchair for them, wait for everyone to deplane, we will get them when the chair arrives in the jetway
-land
-pax deplane
-look around the plane and realize the plane is empty, AKA we performed miracles inflight and our wheelchair pax can now walk hence the "Jetway Jesus" miracle.

Case in point: People order wheelchairs so they can board first and get people to carry their bags. Really annoying to the people who roll those wheelchairs up and down the jetways each day, and really annoying to the people who actually NEED the wheelchairs and dont get one bc they are being dispatched to people who dont need them. Ugh.

I really think it must be all that special fresh air we recycle in the plane at 30,000 ft. :-)


"Hallelujah! Jetway Jesus has performed his miracle again!"

Ultimate Glamour

The life of a flight attendant is pretty glamorous. I'm not going to lie, I LOVE the special treatment:
-I get to skip passengers in line to get through security
-I get to skip passengers in line to go through customs (most places)
-I get to stay in fabulous rooms, in fabulous hotels, with fabulous BEDS!
-I usually get major discounts in bars, restaurants, and stores by just showing my Crew ID
-I get to visit friends I haven't seen in years!
-I never have to worry about getting to/from the airport on layovers because a car service picks me up and drops me off
-I get to lay out at the pool all day if I want to in a sunny city and get PAID for doing it :-)


There's lots of other fun things as well. But then you have times that are NOT so fabulous, such as last night.
I sat in the JFK flight attendant lounge for 4 hours on International Standby, packed and ready to go, primped and in my uniform, and didn't get called for a trip :( . Then I had to take the bus back at 11pm and drag my suitcase back to my pad.
Yuck.
3 Standbys were called while I was there: 1 sent to Madrid (jealous!), 1 sent to San Francisco (not as jealous), and 1 sent to London (I will flying there on the 8th!). The rest of us were released :( boo.

Luckily, my good friend from my training class was sitting standby too and we got to hang out and catch up. :-) Hanging out with friends on standby (and making new ones!) makes my raise the rating level of last night closer to FABULOUS.

I am sitting on International Standby tonight again too, so hopefully I get to go somewhere highly Glamorous! :-) (Please let someone call in sick on the four-day Madrid trip!!!)

*B

ps: one of the great things of living with a bunch of flight attendants: the random things you find around the apartment. Exhibit A: A pen from a hotel in Kuwait. REALLY?! haha!

IM BAAAAAACK!

So I started this blogging thing, and it obviously quickly turned into a non-blogging thing. (See only a couple of posts below from 2010) But apparently I have some people who actually ENJOY checking out my awesome Facebook status's that I tend to update every five seconds, if possible. So I figured I would attempt this blog thing since I do have some pretty good stories already from my soon to be around-the-world travels.


Now the decision, start at the beginning or start from now? Hmm..

 Fun places I have already been:
 Jacksonville, Pensacola, Atlanta, Memphis, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Rochester, Minneapolis-St Paul, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, Mexico City, and probably some others that I really can't think of at the moment.

 Tip of the night: Don't ever make fun of your Flight Attendant for not remembering where they are going, where they came from, or where they are currently. It really is difficult to keep it all straight!

Getting Crafty In Here..

hi all...

So, I now only have to go into the studios for company class in the morning and then I'm done for the day. I guess I should take advantage of this because soon it's going to be Nutcracker time and I won't even have time to breathe. We have a "mini-performance" on Saturday morning at The Summit. Luckily, I am not in this part of Snow White so I get to go home and work at Yeah! Burger. YEAH! I need money $$$.

Last night I found some awesome crafty blogs! I decided to use my new-found-freedom (no rehearsals) to make some of these easy (and cheap!) Halloween decorations! :-D

Here's a pic of my amazing creations:

Paper pumpkin, Mummy-fied candle holder, and a cool eyeball candle holder! The pumpkins came out so cute and they were so easy! (Did you also notice I FINALLY figured out how to use Picnik?!)

I forgot that I was supposed to go pay the power bill after class this morning. I must remember to do this tomorrow. Plus deposit Jordan's check into that account.

Watched GLEE last night, umm apparently I was the only person totally NOT impressed with this episode. I thought it was horribly sad :(. Very depressing. However, I was most depressed when in the last 30 or so seconds of the episode my satellite signal for Fox decided to go out. So I missed the ending.

I'm pooped from my crafting. Hopefully I will get an appt for the chiropractor tomorrow as well.

-B

Design?

Sorry. It has been a while. 

Yesterday we were on tour in Rainsville, AL. Yes, it is in the middle of nowhere Alabama. 
 

I am exhausted. I had to go in to take class for an HOUR. Yes, just an hour. No rehearsal. Ugh.
 

I want to work on my design of this blog but I can't quite figure it out yet.
 

OH! Today was the first time I ever posted on Craigslist! Strange. I put up an ad for the Alabama Ballet's Yard Sale tomorrow. I am really hoping we make some good money. Apparently we need that money to pay for hotel rooms in Anniston this year. Grreeeaattt.
 

Gnite. I am going to bed. Yes, I know it is only 9pm central time. Blah
 

-B

Still Unemployed....

Soo.. to update from last post...I am still unemployed:

-On Thursday, that guy Jason from Tutti Frutti (the manager, by the way) called me at 10:59am (I was in ballet class so I missed the call) left me a message saying that he had actually lost an employee in the last couple of days and wanted to know if I was still available to work. Well, I got in my car at 11:15am and listened to his message. He wanted me to call him on his cell phone and let him know. So at about 11:16am (after check the I had written down the correct number..twice) I call his cell phone. He did not answer his cell phone. Of course. So I left a message saying that YES I AM AVAILABLE TO WORK and my cell number so he could return my call. I waited around all day thursday with my iphone glued to my hip, literally! It is now monday and I STILL have not heard back from him. A$$.

Moving on...

I ended up driving home late Thursday night back to ATL. My moms birthday was on Friday. :-) quite funny because we basically spent the ENTIRE day sleeping!  We have both been feeling horrible. She says its a ragweed allergy because "ragweed is really bad this year". Yeah, whatever. I'm totally messed up. My sickness keeps mutating into other forms. By Sunday it felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head and my head was going to explode from the inside out. Luckily I picked up some Mucinex D from the lovely Pharmacist at Target and am feeling sooo much better. But I am really sick of being sick. Ugh.

So I stopped by Yeah! Burger because Amy called me and said my last paycheck was ready. I told her about my unemployment situation and she reiterated the fact that I can work for her anytime. Even if its just for a day or two over the weekend :-) So maybe I'm not EXACTLY unemployed...

Jordan, Sam, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings on Sunday to join the Steelers Club in watching the Steelers game. They FINALLY won in overtime. Ha! Jordan was super psyched. I brought my tissue box with me. It sat on the table at the bar. Fun times.

Oh yeah. Saw Grown Ups on Weds at the dollar theater. VERY happy I only spent a dollar for that movie.

Alabama Ballet season started today. Almost died. Tired of blogging. I'll prob blog tomorrow. I've got lots of time on my hands due to my joblessness.

-B

Unemployed..

So to give info on my title, I am officially unemployed. Apparently the job I THOUGHT I had, I actually DID NOT have. Apparently they are still doing "interviews" and I have yet to be called. When I drove over there with Cortney a week ago I realized it would be way too far for me to drive anyway. Blah.

I went ahead and filled out an application (which I attached my schedule and resume to as well), which I dropped off at a new self-serve frozen yogurt place in SoHo. (That is South Homewood for all you folks that don't know about our hip lingo here in B'ham.) The manager said they were basically fully-staffed, but after I told him I was able to work weekends (and basically whenever, when I wasn't performing) he seemed more open to looking at schedules. He said he would look at the schedules to see if he could fit me in after he saw how fully prepared I was with an application and all that. So hopefully I will get a phone call soon.

Just thought I would update about my AWESOME almost-week in Tallahassee, FL:

Monday

-Cortney and I leave (late) to B'ham with my little civic almost exploding it was so full.

-Unload in my apartment

-Grab grub at Newk's

-Hit up Target and resturant to fill out an app

-Drive to Tally

-Make it to Tally

-Cortney sees Anchorman for the first time

Tuesday

-Head to Alligator Pointe with Jason, Cortney, and Penny

-Penny learns to swim!

-Eat at Jim N Milts

-Hit up Potbelly's with peeps

Wenesday

-Eat brunch at Denny's Late Night (May The Diner rest in peace!) with Cortney

-Walk around campus

-Meet little and glittle at Kappa house and get a tour with Cortney

-Hit up the Cake Shop for some cookies and cupcakes!

-Kappa Family Dinner @ Carrabas with Cortney and Jason

-Get fro-yo at Fusions with Colae

-Drinking games to Old School at Jasons

Thursday

-Beach Day again! :-D

-Dinner at Monks

-Visit Colae and friends at her house and out to Crew

-Introduce Cortney to the strip where people thought I was a freshman!

Friday

-I totally cant remember what we did before 4pm ha!

-Hit up Potbelly's happy hour :-D

-Grab Publix Chinese food (plus tailgating food) and Taco Bell for dinner! ha!

-Luke arrives in Tally and Jason joins him for a night while Cortney and I stayed in and watched tv on the pullout

Saturday

-Tailgating with Sarah, Melody, Caroline, Houston, Jason, and Cortney!

-12noon game at Doak vs Samford

-Marching Chiefs pay tribute to Glee at halftime! it was awesome!

-Noles win! 59-6!

-Cortney and I eat at Logans

-Trevor, Trey, Amy, Luke, Jason, and Cortney all hang out at Jasons and play games

Sunday

-Grab bagels at Bruggers

-Leave tally and head back to ATL

The trip was so much fun! Except now we all have to go back to real life :( tear.

I arrived back in Bham on Monday and we had a cook-out by the pool for Labor Day with some of the other Alabama Ballet dancers. Then Jordan and I joined Alynn on a trip to the Fair in Pelham, AL. Wow, what a trip hahaa! I got cheese fries and they were uber yummy!

Well, I am going to get some meds and head to bed. I really have not been feeling well :( sore throat and really tired. Later cyber world!

-B