Archive for July 2010

Weekend in Frankfurt

July 27, 2010 3 Comments A+ a-

As you may know, my SuperHeroHusband is deployed to a Faraway Land. One of the reasons it was okay by me for him to serve away from home is because of our non-rev benefits. You know, that tee shirt that says "marry me, fly free". The current state of the industry has changed that tee shirt into "marry me, fly standby." I can't give this stuff away!

Ahhhh, standby travel. When it works, it's a brilliant benefit. When it starts to fall apart, it is defeating and frustrating.

A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to spend the weekend with Norm. We were both on the phone, looking at the loads of all three flights to Frankfurt (FRA)--where we planned on spending the weekend together--and all three flights looked beautiful for non-revving (standby travel.)

Of course, arriving at the airport changed all that...and two of the three flights to FRA were suddenly overbooked--maybe a Lufthansa (LH) flight cancelled--who knows?

See on the right side of the screen- it says:
"Seats Remaining: 0"

I was forced into a decision. The last flight to FRA wasn't looking very good--so my friend Shelby, also a Flight Attendant, was on the phone with me and helping with Plan B.


There was a London (LHR) flight that was leaving about 10 minutes before the last FRA flight, and it had plenty of seats. I'd take that flight, then hop on a LH flight from LHR to FRA.

I had to quickly go to the ticket counter, outside of security, buy a ZED ticket--a discounted, yet still standby travel ticket--to get me from LHR to FRA; go back through security and to the gate for the London flight. And hopefully not look like a sweaty mess when it was all done. (FAIL!)

It went like clockwork! Well, except for the sweaty mess part...

And, yaaaa-ay, me! I flew to LHR in First Class.

I was at LHR for about 2 hours total--just enough time to pick up this bag for my daughter Casey at the Harrod's shop at the airport. (London is "our" city.)

I flew down to FRA on LH, an hour flight--then took the train from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof, and finally, a taxi to the hotel.

Plan B worked beautifully!

Norm drove up from Stuttgart (STR) and we had dinner at the Klosterhof. This is a restaurant very close to our layover hotel in FRA that we call the "Orange Door" (anyone guess why?) It's just a good, inexpensive German restaurant that I happen to love!



The next day we took a Rhine River tour which included a cable car ride down the mountain, overlooking the river, a quaint town, and vineyards. It was lovely!

And, hot! It was 36C (97F) that day and not a cloud in the sky!

Assmanhauser Hollenberg vineyards

















































































Lunch at a cute restaurant on the River...










































Beautiful churches and vineyards...
















































On Sunday, we just hung out together--finding a good pizza restaurant and watching the World Cup play out on televisions all over the city.

With Norm back to work on Monday, I headed to the airport. I had my Plan B in place (the LH 747 later in the day!) However, Plan A worked just fine--I was given a seat in the village, and opted to go ahead and get home. The seat in Coach was a sure thing...and in the the non-rev world, you always go for the sure thing!


PS...Blogger, I still hate you...I have spent so much time trying to move pictures around and make this post pretty. As soon as I learn it, I am going over to WordPress. You frustrate me so!

Blondie

Buckle up, y'all!

July 25, 2010 7 Comments A+ a-


Dear Passenger,
Have you seen the news this summer? It’s been bumpy up here at 30,000 feet and people are getting hurt!
A flight from London (LHR) to Los Angeles (LAX) diverted to Montreal (YUL). Five passengers and one Flight Attendant were injured. The Flight Attendant had to have surgery on a compound fracture of her leg. According to the news report:
“The woman's bone was reportedly sticking out of her leg for approximately four hours before the plane was able to land."
Yeah, I just put that visual in your head...
A short hop from Reno (RNO) to Boise (BOI) on a regional jet this summer had another Flight Attendant get injured.
Turbulence gave a New York (LGA) to Palm Beach (PBI) Flight Attendant a broken back earlier this Spring.
And last week, a jumbo jet from Washington (IAD) to Los Angeles (LAX) diverted to Denver after turbulence injured 30 people.
So, speaking for Flight Attendants everywhere, what’s with not wearing your seatbelt on an airplane? What makes putting it on so difficult? And, why won’t you stay seated while the seatbelt sign is on? Do you have more information than the Captain does?
If you listen to Air Traffic Control you'll hear pilots reporting to the Controller how smooth or bumpy the air is-and that is relayed to pilots about to fly in that area. Armed with that information, the Captain may decide that it is safest for if you sit down and buckle up. This is the only way to securely attach you to the airplane-which is the safest for you.

Ding! He turns on the seatbelt sign and makes an announcement for you to strap in. Flight Attendants will perform a safety check, walking down the aisles with our heads turning left to right-like watching a tennis match- as we look at your laps and remind you to fasten your seatbelt.
Sometimes, the Captain also requests that the Flight Attendants take their seats. He knows it will be unsafe for us to be up.
So, we scurry to our ironing boards jumpseats, strap in, and stay there until the Captain lets us know it is safe for us to get up and resume our duties.
So, why in the heck are you getting up, struggling to hold on to the back of the seats as you attempt to make it down the aisle of the bouncing plane, to the lavatory? Can't it wait? When you make it to the lav area, one of us politely says “The Captain has the seatbelt sign on, please take your seat.” And, you reply, “Can I just go to the bathroom?”
What am I supposed to say? “No, you can’t go pee!” or “Of course!” I am not your mother, nor a “seat-belt nazi.” I cannot determine whether or not you will be injured if you decide to use the lavatory.
I usually just say the same thing I said before, “The Captain has the seatbelt sign on, please take your seat.” And, I just look at you, expressionless. I know, I know—I’m a bitch in your eyes when I say that.
Here are some comments taken from an online bulletin board that is only for Flight Attendants. Some of it’s not pretty—it’s a place where we can say what we want without fear of repercussion—and we do.
wetravel:
“I sure am tired of being the Seatbelt Nazi. Rather than the FAA checking to see if we use the right verbiage for the exit rows and constantly scrutinizing everything that we do, why don't they do a crack down on passengers that disobey crew member instructions. Maybe…if word got out that you could get a ticket for not observing posted signs, placards and crewmember instructions, some of this blatant disregard would cease."
Shuttle Diva:
“With regards to our own safety...I want everyone to know that the reason I was injured was due to being unable to get buckled in quickly enough because a passenger was standing in front of the jumpseat waiting for the toilet. The whole event happened in no more than 15 seconds. I was thrown out of my jumpseat and flipped like a pancake, landing on my back. If I had been able to get into my jumpseat quicker (i.e. having the area clear of that passenger standing in front of it), I would have been buckled in already & not thrown off the seat. So, from now on, I WILL be adamant about not having any passengers standing either in the galley or near the jumpseat. If they are waiting for the toilet ... whether or not the seatbelt sign is on ... they will have to stand in the aisle forward of the side facing lav. My injury could have been a LOT worse than just a bruised hip, pulled neck muscle and slight concussion. None of us need to be out of work due to an occupational injury. Turbulence is serious stuff. “
Steve in the Sky:
“I am very glad to hear that the crewmembers on the LAX flight were not injured. However, the problem with passengers not listening to us is not going to change anytime soon, unless the FAA does start fining people for noncompliance with the seatbelt sign.”
G-man:
“I am not a seatbelt Nazi or a Potty Czar myself. I remind people seat belt sign is on and they should be seated. However, under no circumstance do I allow any passenger to stand near my jumpseat if that sign is on.”
Fran:
“I always lock the lav door that's located in front of my jumpseat whenever the seat-belt sign is illuminated. Frankly, I would love to leave it permanently locked during the summer as turbulence is a given. I actually had a passenger tell me recently that he was not going to return to his seat until he used the lav. And this was after the captain told us to be seated within 10 min. as he was expecting turbulence. What the hell are we supposed to do with that?!
Lisa:
"Yes, if I have been told to sit by the cockpit, I will lock the lav in front of me. I will also tell the people who ignore the seat belt sign and my request to be seated to wait outside the galley area. One smiled and ignored me, to which I said, "Just go forward of the galley then, so if you fall, you will land on your baby (which she was holding) and not ME."
You can see that we take turbulence seriously, but ultimately, you make your own decisions. Please buckle up, and perhaps enjoy the SkyMall magazine while you wait!
Fondly,
Blondie


Blondie

Whine Cellar

July 20, 2010 2 Comments A+ a-

Mea culpa for not being around much. This month has been hectic with a little fun thrown in, too. (More on the fun later.)

Old joke: What do you call a basement full of Flight Attendants?
A whine cellar!
(And, I'm in the basement, y'all!)

You may have read my post Jumping Through Hoops, where I waxed on (okay, I bitched!) about documenting a personal emergency for work--we had water flood from the third floor of our townhouse all the way down to the first.

The insurance company had us wait 8 weeks to see if our hardwood on the second floor would "lay down." While we were waiting for the floor to do its' thing, our contractor told me to pack things up in case they had to replace the flooring. He told me to do this before he told me how long it would take before they would replace the floor. I did and have basically been living out of boxes since mid-May.

The hardwood did not lay down and we had to replace the entire second floor's...uh, floor! This was no small feat in that they squoosh everything you own into a small area of your house, rip up the flooring, then move your furniture and stuff onto the sub-floor to get at the area your stuff was just sitting on. The process of ripping up the flooring took a day and a half.

Then, I noticed the contractor's guys brought up 40 boxes of a different brand of flooring than the contractor knew we had-and our homeowner's insurance is for replacement value. We wanted the same stuff we put in here four years ago when the house was built.



So, a mini-fight ensued, with the contractor telling me that it was the exact same stuff. I love the Internet--and had educated myself and knew he was full of crap. My SuperHeroHusband, stuck in a faraway land, got involved and then a call to our truly fabulous insurance company, USAA, sealed the deal and we got the flooring we wanted and were due.

I felt really badly for the guy that had to carry 40 boxes of hardwood up the stairs, carry all the ripped out hardwood down the stairs...then the next day carry 40 boxes of cheap hardwood back down the stairs to replace it with 40 more boxes up the stairs. (Whew, I broke a sweat just writing that!)

The hardwood installation guys came yesterday morning and left last night around 10:30. Done! Finished! Complete!


Today the carpet guys are here to replace the carpeting on the third floor and stairs and the chandelier-hanging guy is here, too.

Thursday the carpet on the first floor is getting cleaned--this is just because it needs it, not the flood.






In the meantime, our home is in shambles...but knowing that there will be no more workers in my house and I can just slowly put everything back together again is priceless!

The kitties will certainly appreciate all this being done. As soon as they hear a stranger's voice--they go into hiding. This is Spikey's favorite hiding place...on the shelf in the closet behind Norm's shirts.









Now that this is almost over, I just know my husband and friends are going to miss hearing me whine and complain about the noise, dust, bad contractor, living out of boxes, etc. But, have no fear! I'll find something to whine and complain about real soon! ;)

My View One Year Ago: Who Knew?
My View Two Years Ago: Look Before You Pee...
My View Three Years Ago: Out of the Mouth of A Babe...
Blondie

My tip of the day...

July 06, 2010 1 Comments A+ a-

You know those little individual pats of butter that come with your Business Class breakfast--like this one? See the small silver and blue rectangle of dairy goodness next to the mug on the tray? Remember how rock hard it is when it first comes out of the fridge? Yes, that little pat of butter....

Never, ever pick one up off the Business Class floor because someone knocked it off their tray and left it there, then stick it in your uniform dress pocket under your apron, because you didn't want you or your passengers to step on it, then totally forget about it until a few hours later when you are about to land and you take your apron off, then stick your hand in your pocket to find a really warm, creamy mess in there.

Jus' sayin'....




Blondie

Big tease...

July 02, 2010 1 Comments A+ a-

I'm in Las Vegas for a quick layover--about 90 minutes. And just look at those machines. I can hear them calling my name. Listen, you can probably hear it, too: "Blondie, come give us your money..." Teases, all of 'em. I'm in uniform and can't play a single one.

That's just wrong...






Blondie

Two day trip, quick San Francisco layover

July 01, 2010 0 Comments A+ a-

It really weird what's been going on over at the Crew Desk these days--instead of getting my Reserve assignments at almost exactly four hours prior to check-in--they've been calling a good 8 hours prior. I wonder why? Maybe something to do with the potential merger? Any guesses anyone? Definitely not complaining, just curious...I was called at 10:30 this morning for a sign in of 6:26 p.m.

So, here's my trip:

20D 01 IADSFO

20B 02 SFOLAS
19J 02 LASLAX
19J 02 LAXIAD

TOTAL TIME 1337 FLT TIME 1225 TMA 3031
M-MEAL BOARDED-02 LAS

One leg to San Francisco (SFO), layover a quick 12 hours, then seriously earn our way back across country, one city at a time! From SFO, we stop in Las Vegas, change planes, then deadhead to Los Angeles (LAX). Then work back to Washington (IAD) and get back around midnight.

Tomorrow is gonna be brutal!
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