i have to go where?

My dumb luck doesn’t seem to extend to work. I was good for one day and was assigned airport alert at 1055, which means I was covering NRT, PEK, etc. Well, genius here who does not operate well in the mornings left my blackberry home by accident. This wouldn’t have been a big deal if I would have brought my second phone or my computer but I left them because if I were sent to Central or South America they would be taken. So I get a call around 1130 to monitor a flight, I am sorry, do what? So I go up to the gate to find out the flight to LAX isn’t leaving until 1400. So I walk back down to the crew room and pass the domestic reserve that came in right after me. I asked her what she got and almost strangled her when she replied, Honolulu. I call back to scheduling to pick up an AMS and figure out what the hell I am really supposed to be doing. They put the LAX trip on my line so I had to work domestic. LAX wouldn’t have been the worse thing to happen to me as I have a plethora of men to choose from, however I didn’t have anyone’s numbers. So I am on the pay phone to Carol almost crying at the clusterfuck of my day when my name is announced over the pa. I call and go back to the crew room. I was the second to be called again and this time they gave me a flight that left at 1600 to PHX. I flipped out once more and cursed my fortune. Well the ol’ flight didn’t end up leaving until 1900. At least the crew, minus the fat-ass working first calls was cool.
It was our FO’s birthday so we made him some crew juice and ordered up some apps for our quick overnight. I knew it was time to leave when the quite, shy FO ended up telling all of us that he was a swinger. Weirdness aside we started our three-leg day with sit time in IAH and AUS. Getting home at 1230, I realized how grateful I was to be international. I have no idea how I survived the year I did in domestic.
While heading for the gate in PHX and going to get a salad, I ran into my good friend Chris whom we have done a couple of trips together and had an absolute blast. I ran and jumped on him declaring he just made my day so much better. As we were chatting, he says hello to people passing. Then he tells me that it was Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi. We set off to hunt them down and say hello. We found them at the Brookstone store and finally I walked up and introduced myself.
“I was such a huge fan growing up”
A: “of me or Steffi?”
“Both, your both great but I had you plastered all over my walls”
A: “I am sorry bout that” he said with a grin
“I am not, you are hot” to the amusement of his wife
Small chitchat and a couple more handshakes later, we walked away. I was shaking from the experience of meeting one of my childhood idols.

cdg to man

Sitting here in Manchester, glad to have a familiar place which I can rest and get caught up on my sanity. The trip prior was Paris and it was awesome because I worked first class galley, the crew was awesome, and I didn't have to deal with any passengers. Ended up shopping on the Champs Ellysses and hanging out in the crew room drinking wine till the late hours. The flight home was fun and the relief pilot was super hot so the aisle guy and I spent our time staring at his body and taking photos of him while he slept. Lucky for me, wine gave me enough courage to kiss him the night prior! No one to kiss here in jolly ol' England so I think I will call it a night and hit the hay.

three plus volunteering please

As if having two jobs isn't enough for me, I added volunteering to my life this month as well as getting a job at my favorite watering hole. During my week off "work" I walked pooches in the day and in between trained or volunteered in the morning with the opposing during the evening. All this and finding time for a date with Chris. It was sort of a relief to go back to flying and just have to hang out in Paris all day shopping!
So, Brother Jimmy's...well I am officially the fill-in girl since my schedule is so damn sporadic. I feel in love with the Westside Jimmys during my six day training period. I will be able to be either a hostess or waitress but that whole seating table bit throws me for a loop. My niche is defiantly with people and serving, shocking! The very first day of waitress training, one of the tables was three guys interning for the summer in NYC from U of O.
I haven't worked a shift yet but imagine as soon as I can tell someone what is happening in my life tomorrow and the new store opens up that I will be busy working away.
I am honestly getting tired of flying, the not knowing, the supervisor up my ass all the time, and the feeling of being held captive.
I am really hoping to be granted the leave of absence and be able to enjoy NYC fully, just as I did during my crazy, wonderful week of last.

my all-star week

I had planned my whole summer around volunteering for the All-Star week with landed at Yankee Stadium this year. Months ago I put in my application, then went to an interview, and finally got the letter of acceptance. I was assigned to work FanFest in the Javits Center which many have proclaimed (myself included) to be baseball heaven on Earth. We were given a tour the evening prior to the opening and it was amazing. Our uniform consisted of a red baseball hat, bright yellow polo, and the ultimate topper of a MLB fannie pack...yes, you read correctly! No worries because all of us looked like dorks. I accented my outfit with khaki shorts and red velvet tinnies. My assignment was to work the You Call the Play booth where you could make a dvd with your favorite play and your voice doing the announcing. Instead I got stuck at the Cover Photo which was broke for the first hour so I spent the time watching the Home Run derby and eating free Taco Bell from the neighboring booth.
The next day Chris and I went to enjoy as baseball fans and spent some time actually playing. The Home Run Derby was fun but the damn ball dropped too fast and made me look like an idiot while ol' softball man was hitting them out of the park. On Monday I worked a private party and thus had to decline tickets to the actually Home Run Derby but I did get to work my assigned booth and we had loads of fun goofing around. The last day was Tuesday and I got to work the main attraction The Diamond where legends came out to do clinics with kids and give autographs. Even though I was a day off from Jeter and Bernie Williams, it was sure great to see David Wright, hottie!!
So the perks to this giving of my time included the cool uniform, tickets to Fan Fest, the ability to volunteer next year in St. Louis, a commemorative baseball, the joy of hanging out in such a cool venue, and getting to go to a party and the game.
I was invited to Tao' by my friend Reach to a private party and while trying to grab his attention in the dj booth to thank him, I look to the left and see Shaq. I met him later in the evening and his hand enveloped mine plus half my arm. Amazing party!! Can't even describe how fortunate I feel with my dumb luck.
Even more dumb luck...you remember the guy who ticket I inadvertently scalped a while back? Well he stopped by Fan Fest to see me and offered me a ticket to the All-Star game. I jumped on the chance and come Tuesday around 2000, I was standing in Yankee Stadium watching in awe as baseball greats walked onto the field. Hands down, one of THE BEST MOMENTS in my life Even though the game was the longest all-star game in history, I survived thanks to 2 seventh inning stretches, a beer, and my absolute love for the game.

i'll have a third please

As if having two jobs is not enough, I have just started a third. My local watering hole is opening a new joint and I have been hired to be a waitress/hostess. My training began today followed by orientation for the new place.

a kiss

Aries
March 20 - April 19
Unfortunately you can't measure love the way you would the stock market, dear Aries. And it's all right if that scares you a little, because you know that you have to work at something if you want to make it happen in your life. We all need to have the courage to try new things. So, yes you will find love in your life, but as to whom you will 'invest' with and how much you will 'invest,' you won't find out until the big day. Be patient, you won't be disappointed.

Given my history with blind dates and bad dates in general I was willing to try it once again when my local bartender and friend Larry asked to set me up with his friend. I didn't ask any questions about my upcoming date, I just said yes. He called me and we set up a date and then he actually called me later in the week when he said he was going to. We met at an Irish pub on Mother's day after my flight from OSL. I was nervous at first but then fell into talking to him over Guinness about work, movies, and sports. I called it a night after a couple hours due to exhaustion. He left for Mexico and took over the pooch patrol. We made plans for dinner prior to my departure for Turkey but I had to change it to coffee.
I've got to tell you, he isn't my type and there was no fireworks. But I am realizing that "my type" is no good for me and who have I actually had a relationship with in five years? No one. So I stuck with it. About a month after our first meeting we had our third date bowling and an irish bar. Something that night shifted for me, I became comfortable and less pre-occupied. While we were at the pub, Guinness in hand, Yankee game to the right, Celtic game ahead, live band to the right, I told him that I was pretty close to heaven. Then he kissed me. I was like, oh...OH!
Come to find out, he had the same reservations about me during our first two dates. But he admitted to feel the shift as well that evening.
We ended up spending the fourth of July together first at his softball game, lunch, and then I took him to Lance's party. And then last night I took him on a date to an outdoor cafe and then to a bar with board games. We spend hours playing connect four, checkers, and jenga. Hands down one of my best dates. And the thing is that I am myself around him, no front, no games, me. I have no idea what to think about it, I know that I am not sick to my stomach or worried about whether I can call him or any of the usual bullshit that goes with dating.
I guess a kiss can change everything.

cph

With my crazy schedule lately, I have been unable to find 15 minutes to hit the tanning bed, sometimes the thought of it overwhelms me. Luckily I have been building a nice tan thanks to open roof busses in London, a glorious day at Wimbledon, gay softball tournament in Central Park, dog walking, and today in Copenhagen.
I had my fingers crossed for a good trip knowing that people would call in sick for the holiday weekend. And low and behold, here I am in Scandinavia! Although it was an early check-in I was able to nurse my hang over from the evening prior where I celebrated the 4th of July in my new tradition of a penthouse party. I actually brought friends along this time and was able to enjoy the fireworks with Chris, who is slowly finding a way to my heart.
Besides the back galley gal who wore driving gloves the whole time, the loud ISM, and the other gal who I schooled on the beverage cart, it has been a great trip. We even got to take a nap on the way over (which helped out the hang-over as well). My room is right up against the bank of the river and boast fantastic views of Christiana.
I can’t begin to tell you how beautiful this city is. Gorgeous buildings everywhere you turn and gorgeous people to boot. I wandered for hours before setting off to find the statue of the Little Mermaid. After a wrong turn and thirty minutes of walking, I found the damn thing and got my photo with it. I headed back to go to the Tivoli gardens that were featured in my 501 MSD book. It was a prettier version of Disneyland with outrages prices so I just wandered about and then said what the hell and rode a giant swing set.
Back in my room and looking forward to my bed while across the bank Copenhagen Jazz Fest is playing live. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this job when trips like this occur!

strawberries and cream please

For the second time in three days, Carol and I were off to London. This time on the 777 headed to LHR. We ended up taking the Tube into the city (which is way more complex than it needs to be) and then after a quick catnap headed on the tube once more to Wimbledon. A couple other crewmembers joined us as we sat on the Hill and watched Venus play on the big screen and then checked out the grounds were legends once walked, played, and won championships.
Although we had a three hour bus ride back to the airport, ground delay because the police shutdown all departures at Heathrow, it was a pretty great trip, especially for Carol who sipped champagne and enjoyed first class. She has become quite spoiled lately!

trip from hell

Good thing the crew was so great. And I was glad Carol was there to actually witness some of the stories, which happen to me. To start off we were four hours delayed due to hydraulics and a plane swap. The crew just sat together and made the most of our time joking around. Well once we boarded the plane, the pain in the ass people started. Everyone on that flight was mad at us and so rude that after our service we just ignored them. Horrible, horrible people. One lady told me I missed her meal on purpose and had a shit fit when all the was left was chicken, She yelled at me, then the lead and then the other guy until the back galley (straight from Harlem) went and straightened her out. The other lady we hated was 14F who tried to take another seat then bitched about it not reclining then was mad because we didn’t know about her connection on another carrier. Another guy refused to put his elbow in for the carts so we made it a game to hit him every single time. Because Carol was with me I had to go through regular customs. I was taking off my sweater and breathing a sigh of relief when ol’ 14F came marching up to me and asked if I was still working. “I am finished working” I said. “That’s been everyone’s attitude the whole flight, the other girl told me that you have been working for 12 hours and got paid for 6” “She is right and I am done working and ma'am a crew’s attitude is a reflection of how passengers treat us” “Well I am going to write a letter” “Knock yourself out lady!” All the while Carol is telling me to stop and I went and told customs that they need to hold that lady because she was mean. What a bitch!!!
And oh, on the way home I had to break up a fight between two grown men one of which (the instigator) was wearing a "Holy Ghost" tee-shirt. Real godly of you jackass!