diablo

The smell of lilacs fill the air. The warm breezes caress my skin. The sounds of multiple languages in awe of the iconic monument fill my ears. After a two hour walk around Paris, I paused to enjoy a from age crepe while the sun set behind my and the Eiffel tower stood in front of me preparing for the evening. To think, I had to drag myself out of bed to enjoy these moments.

The journey over was not a pleasant one as I was assigned to work in the back with one of the most awful flight attendants I have ever encountered. She yelled at me and rolled her eyes, asked me if I was domestic which I about slapped her for that one. Horrible, horrible woman who not only fought with me but with passengers and with another crewmember. She was named Diablo at the end. I told her that I preferred a cart to pick up service items with and she grunted and told me that she was going to pick up instead. I told her to knock herself the fuck out, and then I throw in the towel on working. I am keeping her name on my board as a do not fly with.

Paris is lovely but the flights, let me tell ya, not always worth it.

paris

The smell of lilacs fill the air. The warm breezes caresses my skin. The sounds of multiple languages in awe of the iconic monument fills my ears. After an two hour walk around Paris, I paused to enjoy a fromage crepe while the sun set behind my and the Eiffel Tower in front.

a box of triscuts

My days off were in line to go to Dubai to visit this new wonderment of the world as well as my friend, Turiya. I awoke at 0630 because the flight the night before was full and proceeded to JFK. An hour or so on the subway took me to the air train and then to terminal 4. I checked in for the flight which mysteriously oversold in the wee hours of the night and was told to come back at 1030 for the verdict. I didn't get on. So there I stood in one of the largest airports in the world pondering where my rollerboard filled with summer clothes and I should go. From terminal 4 to terminal 1 to terminal 3 then terminal 6, I searched out a sunny destination which was boarding soon and not flying to Florida. No luck. I went back to the subway with a couple of blisters from my fabulous heels and stopped to find out if the flight to PDX was open. An hour and forty minutes later, I was at my home airport, my own turf and awaiting my flight home. I ran into a friend who got me into the exec lounge and had a few cocktails prior to my flight. A first class seat inabled my rest on the quick flight into Oregon.
I was able to "spread the love" on this visit by staying with different friends each night. Some may call me a nomad with my suitcase in tow, I just call it the usual routine. The first night I stayed at Hotel Duffin, the next was spent at fireman and yoders residence, the third on an air mattress at Mr May's and the fourth at Porter's home. Tonight I return to the pearl to have an easy access to the aiport which is almost impossible to get a ride to.
It has been a fantastic visit, although not planned it has been well received by my soul. I saw a lot of my friends, the piece of the puzzle missing from NYC, and in the spreading of love took my box of crackers (a pressie for Turiya) on a tour of a couple airports and a lot of homes.

pope walk

I am heading home on this glorious spring day, airtrain to train, train to the E, the E to the 6, and then walk home. This is my routine which usually takes an hour and half. Well, the damn E train is held for some damn reason so after sitting there for 10 minutes, I connected to the B one stop and then swapped to the F. I ended up on 63rd and Lex, which for some reason I thought my run into the train I needed but no. Up three flights of stairs to street level, I decided to embrace the day and just huff it home. Along the way there were tons of NYPD and road closures. It was while I was on 66th, I realized the Pope was hanging out in the neighborhood. I ended up getting the low down from the officer who stopped me to take a pic of my "Oregon Girls Rock" t-shirt or maybe just my boobs, and he told me the main man of the Catholic world was finishing up at the UN and then headed this way. I decided to make my way home instead of standing around waiting to get run over by the Pope-mobile.

practice italian under the buddha

I somehow managed to have a whole day to myself, no visitors, no flying, and no dog walking. I didn't know even what the hell I should do with myself until I remembered I needed to finish my envelope day of me. It was a gift from my mom for my birthday with little journeys such as getting coffee, flowers. mani/pedi, etc. So I set off to pamper myself. The phone of course rang while I was getting a manicure for a couple emergency walks so I hopped down south and took care of them then returned to my me day. I came home, got dolled up, and headed to the Hudson Hotel for a cocktail. Two champanges and people watching later, I headed to Tao` for some sushi. I ordered at the bar as it is impossible to get a table without a week's reservation, and the guy next to me started chit-chatting away. The next thing I knew, I was at there table under the Buddha have cocktails with a bunch of watch manufactures or something. I didn't really get what was going on but the rest of my dinner and dessert was free and I got to practice some Italian because my would-be suitor was from Florence!!
p.s. not hot and nothing came of the evening except a story

nothing but two feet and a metro card

I sold my car Tuesday, my baby, the first car I bought brand new. I hadn't driven it in months and while driving it back to the city with Carol in the passenger seat, I experienced the usual road rage. I don't even like driving but there was something about giving the keys to the buyer permently which made me sad.

Carol is in town for the week, actually she just let the island to try and catch a flight home. We have had a nice time and I have been spoiled shitless with nice dinners and the usual mom kindness.

4-12

Trip 4 Day 12
Well I will have to say that my body has finally thrown in the towel and is used to only spending every third night its own bed. I am wrapping up my marathon of flying here in ol' GLA, one of my favorite hotels and favorite little countries. I say that I deserve a nice trip after the crap of the last three. The only spoiler on this trip is the crazy "new people don't know anything" pusrser with large hair. What's funny about her is that she doesn't know anything about the plane we are on, and opps...if you hadn't been such a bitch, I would lend you a hand. Instead I just pretend to be as dumb as she thinks I am. Her aside, the crowd I had up in first class was so much fun, it's nice to have a good group. Majority of them were traveling together and were diplomats of Scotland. I even got a pin from them and my photo taken with everyone. There was one lady (not with the group) that showed me her briefcase upon boarding and told me to kill anyone that came near it as it was valuable manuscript. Ok lady! What was odd is that she was personally escorted off the plane once we arrived. I didn't recognize her name so either she was the transporter or penned under another name.

Carol arrives today to enjoy my upcoming time off. Little does she know that she is signed up for walking pooches both days! Should be good fun as I am taking her downtown to check out Wall Street, etc. And then she will stay and go with me on my next journey.

strange

I have a friend who is a flight attendant and she hates it.
Oh, yeah?
Don't you hate sitting in a strange pub in a strange city talking to a stranger?
"Not at all, you just described why I love this job."

it just gets better and better

So here I am in BRS, hoping to visit the city of Bath as found in my 501 must visit locations book, yet I sit here in my room. I got over the fact that my day off had been taken away and that I had to not only dog walk but work a flight. I missed the initial call from scheduling at 0830 even though the phone was right near my head. I got up at 0930 and began my day. On my way to walking the pooches, I found the highlight of the last 48 hours, a place that only serves Mac and Cheese. Yes, I sat down and carb'd up to walk them dogs and climb the two five story and one three story walk ups. Beth called my day, the buns of steel day.
I made it to the airport with the practice of yoga breathing through rush hour and people shoving and hitting my roller board. I boarded the plane an began to work, luckily I am first class galley so I was very happy in my position and my aisle gal is great as well. Fast forward six hours and we are beginning our descent. But oh, no what's that...we are being diverted to BHX because of fog. I won't drag you through the four hours we sat on the ground not knowing anything with a plane full of people we couldn't let off. The weariness of being up for 24 hours was too much for me so I yelled at each crew member and told them I wasn't doing a damn thing. Finally we took off and unfortunately our jump seats were facing the customers so for an hour, it was everything I had in my to keep my eyes open. Six hours past the time we were supposed to be at the hotel, we arrived and I have been in bed ever since.

movies...uhm..no

So what happens when I get only an hour of sleep the night before working a nine hour flight? It takes three cups of coffee to wake up and to function properly, well that didn't happen all day. While we were waiting for the aircraft, I was informed that the inflight entertainment was on the fritz. I thought I had the magic touch but found out after we took off that I didn't have any touch at all. So picture an eight hour flight with nothing to entertain anyone, in the middle of the day. Adults turned into children with their wining and content asking of "how much longer?", "where are we?". And every time I, or another crew member passed by 8C she had some dumb question for us. "I have 40 minutes to connect to Boston"...I told her good luck with that knowing full well she won't make it. "Can you ring my husband?" How would you like me to do that ma'am. "Don't you have phones in the cockpit?" I just walked away at this point. "Can you save the pull tabs from the soda cans?" This one didn't get asked to me, because I would have told her where she could shove those. The saving grace of the flight were the two rows of hotties. The other people, well let's just say if I need to evacuate the plane, I would save the row of hotties first.

To top off my trip, I was met by the lady with the clipboard instructing me to go the clinic for a drug test. An hour later after blowing in a tube and peeing in a cup (hard thing to do on demand), I called to block in and was given the news that my break started right now and I would be working again tomorrow.

travel guides

I have been mighty homesick lately, I am not sure if it comes from the sudden quiet that is around me or just that I haven’t been home in a while. There is usually only one day a week that I feel ache of Oregon but this week I have felt it many more times. It took me forever to get home from my last trip and when I did, I collapsed on my bed after my shower to wake up fourteen hours later. The rain dripped on my windows as I checked my schedule to find I had airport alert for the evening. I had anticipated working because of a gut feeling and on the way to the airport; I got a call for LGW. I will admit that I have become a bit spoiled lately with really great trips and need to keep in mind that I have to pay my dues every once and a while. I was glad to have my favorite position but traded a girl who didn’t want to be the purser.
So here I am in the oh-so-familiar hotel room at the airport. I am grateful that I brought with me, my favorite birthday gift…Rosetta Stone Italiano! I have been practicing a way. And even recited “la donna magino” as I ate my soup for dinner and lei beve as I sipped my latte.
The only thing that has relieved my homesickness on this trip was looking at travel guides at the bookstore. The places which still await me keep me going strong.

cgn

There is just something about Germany. The people look good, the hotels are a step forward in anticipating needs and everything is very well designed. I would have to give props and say that about the whole country that I have seen thus far. I mean they drive Mercedes as taxis here for Christ sakes!
I have spent my afternoon walking about the city which hugs the Rhein River, the gorgeous city of Cologne. I was awaken by the familiar sound of John Denver and upon answering I was asked if I would like to go to Oslo, London, Dublin, or Cologne. I politely asked for Cologne since I had never been and am very pleased with my choice. I worked first class galley and am also flying with a classmate. He hasn’t changed much since training as he was already trying to be the purser’s pet. Nice guy, good heart, speaks German and is taking me around in about 20.
While walking around the cobblestone streets this afternoon amongst the hordes of both tourist and locals shopping, it occurred to me that I don’t relate as much to the German side of me. I am officially: 3/8 German, 3/8 Irish, 1/8 Welsh, and 1/8 Norwegian. I seem to think of myself more as an Irish gal and seem more at home while there. I can’t speak much of Wales since I have never been but I did have a Welsh teacher in jr high, Mr. Preston whom I didn’t relate that much to either. Loved him but didn’t see myself as a distant cousin or anything. Germans seem (on the outside) clean cut; abide by the rules, efficient people. As I was approaching the crosswalk to continue shopping, I joined the group of people and felt compelled to wait with the mass for the light to turn green even though there was not a car in sight. I wondered what the hell these people were waiting for; let’s get the hell to the other side. But maybe it’s their patience that lays the foundation for the peaceful atmosphere that I so love when I travel to Germany.
I just realized that if you dump Wales into the UK slot with London, I was asked to choose between all my heritages as trips. How weird is that? I choose Germany, maybe I do feel connected…

thirty-one

The times were just as I anticipated with Rob...good friends hanging out in our high school mentality. The conversation topics are a bit more adult these days and we have our minds made up about more that a couple of things, but the beer drinking and silliness still remains.
I popped into to his quaint hotel down the road and we began our journey with a stop at Jack Russell's Pub because we liked the way it looked. After three Guinness (or Guinni as we dubbed them) we headed to my watering hole to eat some ribs. I was greeted by the normal Monday night crowd and had a silly good time taking photos and having beer chugging and burping contest. I only won the latter. Frambroise and Milano cookies replaced champagne and strawberries as we toasted to the change of the calander day. I passed out a few minutes later.
25 MAR
The sunshine made a glorious appearances and warmed the city all day long. I wore my favorite things and headed back to his hotel with my birthday Starbucks and my ipod. When he asked what I wanted to do for the big day, I just had the simple answer: a picnic in Central Park please. So that is what we did. I brought a bottle of Spanish wine for me Belgian beers for him and the rest of our feast was fresh from the deli. We must have laid out for three hours just talking and enjoying the sun. I could not have asked for more.
The West Village was calling us down to Chumleys' (which was closed) so we ducked our heads into the White Horse Tavern, another NYC institute and continued our buzz from the park. Dinner was by suggestion at Jane Tavern and was ever so delightful. A quick change of clothes and a little dolling up on my part proceeded our trip under the East River to Brooklyn. We met up with his sister and her beau to continue in our fun of the day. The bartender gave us fake mustaches so we spent a good half an hour giggling and taking goofy pics.
A long ride home was capped off with yet another beer and a slice from the hospitable Mexicans running a late night pizza shop.

approaching the thirty range

The last day I am 30. Hmmm. It doesn't seem different than any other day other than the fact that the sun is out. Perfect day for walking pooches. As I was skipping across First Ave on St Marks, jamming to my ipod, a conversation with Amy occurred to me. She says that I fit into this city perfectly. When she thinks about New York, she thinks about chaos and just getting things done. I wonder if I arouse a sense of chaos to anyone else? I know that I feel like I am caught up in chaos every once in a while..who the hell am I kidding? I run around like a headless chicken most of the time. But it works for me. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I have become a "fly-by-the-seat of my pants" kinda gal. It's fun to be spontaneous and not having perfect plans in your head all the time leads to less disappointment.
No real agenda when making this post but I guess, I realized something about myself without even trying.
Here's to a new year of self discovery and spontaneity!

taxicab tv

The great thing about having an out-of-town guest, other than the company, is to see NYC through their eyes. On the cab ride from Penn Station on the first day, I caught myself being more interested in the news cast than looking at the city. My goal with Yoder was to show here classic New York mixing in tourist things as well as real life. She may tell you there was too much real life as I had things to do and could only devote one whole day to sight seeing. I will tell you what though, we covered Manhattan.
I am sad to admit that I have already become a jaded New Yorker when it comes to ideas that first come to mind of those visiting. I had not been south of Canal Street since my visit with Matt over two years ago. Our game plan was to go as far south and work our way up till we dropped. We covered: the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, the Bull, Wall Street, Ground Zero (still brings tears to my eyes), the West Village, SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown. We stopped for lunch, a sweet at Ferrara, beers at friends joint and then rounded out our day with Times Square. Twelve hours from door to door. A New York slice ended our day and we hit the hay.
Next day, it pouring down rain and although it was a completely miserable day we were troopers and made our way through Central Park. We dog walked and then practically ran home to dry off and take a nap. After we got dolled up and grabbed dinner and a few drinks before making our way to Pink Elephant to watch my friend do a little spinning. Of course I had to round out our evening at my fav, Cafeteria. As I was getting up to use the bathroom, this guy told me how much he loved my dress. He wanted to buy it. I asked him what I was going to wear. He then offered his shirt and this sounded like a great idea to me. We swapped and I had to ask him for his boxers since I wasn’t wearing panties. Suffice to say, I have new man’s shirt and got a good giggle out of Amy.
So the next day, I had some business to take care of as well. After a breakfast at the coffee shop, we headed down to Chelsea. Sidenote: It is always good to make sure things are how they should be in one’s body so I in light of the crap which occurred in January, it was time to get tested once more. So off to the free clinic we went. I filled out my card and grabbed some NYC condoms (mostly likely the ones Carol was referring to on Valentines Day) and waited. Ironically I was number 69 to be helped. The whole process took a lot longer than anticipated but my time was spent watching a very informative video and people watching. Good stuff! I would recommend it visitors anytime.
After the thrilling hours of the clinic we headed up town to check out the classic sights we had yet to see such as the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Saks, St Patrick’s Cathedral, and Fifth Ave. We went to the Top of the Rock right as the sun was setting and even though the wind was blowing 50 miles an hour we hung out until dusk. And even as a New Yorker, I was in awe.
One more walk on our last day and lunch at a café. She returned to Portland and I crossed the pond to Glasgow. Where gratefully, I have caught up on my rest and almost kicked this cold.

st patty's day

I told the boys up front, "petal to the metal, I have some Guinness to drink." Yes, it was St Patty's Day officially in Italy and my green hair scrunchy was the only thing preventing me from getting pinched. I was sooo excited to be spending my holiday in NYC as I was stuck in LAX last year. What added to the excitement was a visit from my good friend Yoder. I waited for her plane to arrive and started chatting with some gentlemen. Next thing I know, I am upstairs having a beer with these guys having good laughs.
The parade had already ended but the remnants of Irish bands and firemen stilled wandered my neighborhood. We got ready as fast as possible and headed to the old watering hole for a starter beer. We ended up talking to everyone in sight and was thoroughly entertained by three guys in particular. I had the idea that if it was this much fun uptown, downtown would be a hoot as well so we packed it up and headed south. We visited two more bars and neither of them compared to our time at BJ's. We decided to go back and on the way there, looked at each other and knew we were spent. Yep, these party girls were in bed by midnight. We did give it a good Irish go.

mxp

My availablity was wide open for a call to work. Two days on the weekend and a “roll-able” day made me a prime suspect for a trip. I mentally had prepared prior to landing from my BRU trip and went to bed fairly early. I hadn’t heard anything so I called in to request the purser position thinking that I might as well embrace the inevitable. My phone was checked several times during the late morning hours and finally while I was wandering through Ricky’s, it rang.
“Honey, I am sending you to Milan”
“AAAHHHH”
“You are going to be in a speaker position”
“Yes! I need to practice my Italian, so perfect!”
So here I sit, waiting to go out and willing the rain to hide for my visit. The flight was exhausting! I was once again my favorite position and had a couple of people on the flight I could do without however my saving grace was 5B. So all the “what the fuck are acting liking this for” would dissipate when I got to his row. Turns out, he and his seatmate are morning talk show guys. They were good fun.
Then there was another guy, maybe an only-child, the way he plead for attention from each of us during the waiting, boarding, taxi process, he would just say stupid stuff. Well unfortunately I had to look right at him while sitting in my jump seat. He proceeds to get in a one-side conversation about this flight attendant he knew that used to be a teacher and he can’t believe how she through away her life and education. And it weird that she changed industries, to which I (fed-up) asked him if he thought were all waitress prior. He kept going on about no ambition, etc. Asked me what I did prior. Finally, out of disgust and lack of something appropriate to say, I told him that he was digging a hole with me and he needed to stop. What an asshole! I stared at the wall during landing but he still managed to pop off a bit. I hope these Italians eat him alive! : )


My day in Milan was fantastic. Roxanne, a fellow crew member and I walked down to the Duomo area looking at the shops with impeccable clothing and shoes. We stopped at a wine bar for an afternoon glass of Chianti and some accompanying noshes. After receiving our palms, we reverently stood in awe of one of the most gorgeous churches I have ever seen. A pastry vendor caught our attention and I feasted on some chocolate, hazelnut goodness.
Carol told me to pick up a little something fabulous and after falling in love several times in Versace, Gucci, and Dolce, I found a perfect shirt in Armani.
Dinner with other crewmembers followed and even though it was pouring down rain, I wore an adorable dress and heels. Just because it was Italy, my favorite country in the world, Italy.

good seeing to

Once again airport alert was good to me. I was just getting in the mindset to go home after 3 plus hours of sit time when the bat phone rang and sent me to BRU. I printed up the pairing to find my friend Shawn was on the trip. Then I get on the plane and a guy wants to trade me for for FC aisle. So I got to work with a great crew in my favorite position to a new destination.
We debriefed for a bit then a quick nap followed. A map of the city in hand I went off on my adventure. I was told I needed to see the statue of the kid taking a piss, so I kindly asked the hotel man where I could find such statue. It ended up being like a HR Cafe that I overshoot but see tons of good things in the meanwhile. I managed to find some people from the NW and ended up chatting with them in front of this tiny statue which I don't understand why it is such a big deal There are gorgeous buildings everywhere you turn and I can only image how beautiful this city is come summer.
Experiencing things for which a country or city are know for it my favorite thing to do when I travel I had a whole wrap sheet of things to try. First was the Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce, next come one of the 320 different types of Belgian beer, the Belgian fries were next, and I also managed to have some Brussels sprouts. Sadly, I didn't get a chance for a Belgian chocolate but I may steal one from my mom's collection before I ship it off.
We meet as a crew to welcome a new pilot on his first flight and we all went to a Thai place. We spent hours laughing and eating some delicious Thai while the Irish owner Michael told us stories. He was explaining how he was going home to give his woman a "good seeing to". We all thought was hilarious and made him say several times.
A nice flight home with no drama and although my bag was heavy from all the beer I brought home, I sit here cheerfully thinking once more, what a great life I lead.

aa to the power of three

I was kicking myself for not rolling out of bed earlier. This morning at the crack of dawn, I was up once more and gave a thought to go for a run and watch the sunrise but my leg muscles screamed no and kept me in bed. Finally I fell back asleep and didn't get up till 1130. This is the third airport alert I have been assigned this month but didn't mind this time because of the flights I am covering and the fact I need to work the system to ensure I am free come St Patty's Day. I was stressing that I would not be able to make the train in time and it took a little self talk to realize I already let go of control of the situation. Still my NY attitude was with me as I followed the stream of people through the 51st Street station. It was there, on the escalator that I saw a kid wearing a U of O jacket that the calmness prevailed. I gave the kid a high five on the way by. And just as a reminder that your are always supposed to be exactly where you are, I saw a guy in an Oregon Track sweatshirt as I exited the airtrain.

embracing the morning

I have woke up early the past two mornings and I am not sure why. Perhaps it's my body rejecting DLST or just that I am getting old and wake up with the sunshine. Yesterday I milled around for a few hours not wanting to go outside because of the cold. I ended up taking a five hour nap instead of doing anything remotely productive. Today was the opposite. I looked outside to see people running and thought, "hell, I can do that". Fifteen minutes later I was out the door with my ipod attached. I ran down the East River park and when I can to a dead end, I turned west and walked up to Central Park. There were tons of runners and dogs playing in the cold morning air. I just wandered around by the castle and up around the resevivor and when a good song would come on, I would run stopping only to admire the views of the city and think of how lucky I am to live here. That this gorgeous park is only a mile away from the house. And finally that I haven't wasted my day in bed.