Winged Whimsy Weekly

Well, its that time again where I share with you my favorite snapshots from the week. I confess, some weeks I dont have too much of a camera bug, but I think I still got a few good ones.

But first, I'm going to whine a little about Christmas. One of the unfortunate side effects of my job is if I don't fly very much, I still get paid a salaried amount, but without any of the nice per diem pay for overnights on trips. In addition, I don't have any opportunities to get money from crew cash (the credit card applications we get paid $50 each for on acceptance). So, my upcoming paycheck looks pretty pathetic to say the least. What's worse is normally the check on the 15th is our big boy, which we rely on for financial legroom (read: Christmas presents for others).

I realize I'm complaining when I get to sit around, do practically nothing all month and still get paid a salary, but there definitely is a trade-off you know? I'd rather be working my butt off and making a decent check than sitting bored out of my mind in Charlotte and getting bupkis.

*sigh*

With all that aside, I had a fabulous week (and by week I mean month) of doing next to nothing.

Darcy got a Twinkie making machine. He mixed all the secret ingredients (for the Twinkie and the filling) and made some delicious treats which we took to a holiday party. We're doing the same thing for another party we're going to tonight and it should be just as fabulous!

The results of our toils: fresh, homemade Twinkies. Believe me, they're even tastier than the manufactured kind!

On a shopping trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Darcy became acquainted with the likes of a massaging chair. I was afraid he'd never move again.

Can you see what those clever BB&B employees spelled out? Made me giggle.

On one of the miraculous days that I actually flew to Philly, I saw real live snow on the ground. As a bonafide Southern girl, this is practically a phenomenon. Exclamations were made. Unfortunately I couldn't jump out of the plane and go make a snow angel.

Holiday dinner and gift exchange at Mt. Vernon Restaurant with old friends

Probation & Prestige (Charlotte, NC)

Greetings, everybody! Sorry for the lack of posts here lately. I've had a great deal going on, and not just in the great blue yonder. Sometimes it takes a little while to breathe and reboot, and while I missed updating you on my wayfaring shenanigans, I definitely needed the break.

With that said, a great deal has happened since I last told you about the {Greek festival} Belle and I attended here in Charlotte. Rather than try to mash it all together in one post, I'll do several updates this week, in the order they transpired.

First off the list, Belle and I had recurrent training! As I mentioned previously, recurrent training is basically a day-long review of all the emergency procedures, drills, equipment operation, and medical training we completed {back in Phoenix}. Since we only graduated in March, we weren't terribly anxious about passing. What we didn't expect was to meet the lady who has not only been a flight attendant the longest with US Airways, but also of any other airline! Her name is Bette Nash, and she's {somewhat of a celebrity}. She started with Eastern airlines in 1961 and has been flying ever since. In other words, she is the senior mama of all the senior mamas! Back in her day, you were only hired as a flight attendant if you had a nursing degree, were stunningly beautiful, single and under the age of 28. After you were married, or got "old", you had to quit. How times change!

[caption id="attachment_704" align="alignnone" width="500"] Bette when she was my age, way back in the 60's. Picture courtesy of Post-Gazette.[/caption]

She was doing her recurrent training as well ( though she's been doing it so long its a wonder she doesn't just teach it herself!) Even though she's in her 70's (or maybe early 80's), she's still sharp as a whip, spirited and very funny. Belle and I asked to have our pictures taken with her, and she happily obliged. I was such a fan-girl! If I can manage to do anything for 50 years, I'll feel like I'm winning at life.

[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignnone" width="642"] Carmen SanDiego and the famous Ms. Bette Nash[/caption]

A whopping 5 days after our recurrent training was the end of our flight attendant 6 month probationary period. It's hard to imagine half a year has passed since that fateful graduation day, where we counted our lucky stars for making it through 4.5 weeks of training. Now we are finally full fledged, union represented flight attendants! As one senior mama whimsically told me one flight, now we'll basically have to murder someone to get fired. I don't know how true that is, but it was a comforting thought. What I do know is with this job, time flies like nobody's business and its still hard to believe I moved to Charlotte and am jetting all over the world. It's almost exactly a year since I applied to be a flight attendant, thinking it would be fun but I'd probably never hear back about my application.

[caption id="attachment_708" align="alignnone" width="642"] We made it![/caption]

At the probationary meeting, my supervisor let me read the letters from passengers over the months that I received in regard to the good job I was doing. One was from an elderly lady who took her first flight with us, and said I had taken good care of her and calmed her fears. Little things like this are so encouraging. I asked my supervisor for more information about commuting and getting a line, and he seems to think the proposed merger with American Airlines will help a lot with moving up in the ranks. We'll see whether that happens or not!  It was also really fun to see the other flight attendants from our class; we all were delighted to see each other make it to the 6 month mark and prove our mettle in the airline world.

Until next time, catch me if you can!

—Carmen

 

Winged Whimsy Weekly

Hello again, all!

I have another crop of winged whimsy to share today. Belle and I completed recurrent training yesterday, which is essentially a day-long review of all the emergency procedures, drills, equipment operation, and medical training we completed back in Phoenix. You can expect a post about this soon, as well as one about my upcoming Final Probationary Meeting on the 11th. After this final meeting with our supervisors, I will finally be a full-fledged, legit flight attendant with all the rights and privileges of our union and rank. During probation, we were under constant supervision over how well we had learned our job, as well as our general performance (on time, thorough, etc). I'm proud to say I have had no negative feedback in the last 7 months (whoa, has it really been that long?!) and I anticipate making it through to that final meeting with flying colors (fingers crossed).

In the mean time, here's what I've been up to this last week.

 

[caption id="attachment_683" align="alignnone" width="640"] Belle and I attended a Greek festival here in Charlotte[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_688" align="alignnone" width="704"] I hung out with some Greek soldiers....[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_694" align="alignnone" width="642"] and watched some traditional Greek dancing[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_692" align="alignnone" width="642"] We waited in line for around an hour to get these Gyro Pitas. They were absolutely worth it, but I didn't get to take a picture of our tasty food because I basically inhaled it when they handed it to me.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_691" align="alignnone" width="642"] There were these guys.....[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_693" align="alignnone" width="642"] We went inside the beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral and enjoyed looking at the candles.[/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_684" align="alignnone" width="642"] It's the best time of the year! Starbucks pumpkin spice latte's are the first indication of Fall. Oh, how I've missed them![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_685" align="alignnone" width="642"] This was in one of my hotel rooms. I can't decide if its a swan, a duck, or some kind of snake.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_686" align="alignnone" width="642"] Rocket scientist barbie![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_687" align="alignnone" width="642"] some delicious fresh fruit and veggies at the Charlotte Farmers Market[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_697" align="alignnone" width="642"] I also scored some stylish jewelry at the local antique shop, Sleepy Poet.[/caption]

 

 

Winged Whimsy Weekly

 

It's almost Fall, which means in the airline business a lot of sitting around. People don't go on as many vacations in the Fall (until around Thanksgiving time) so there are less flights, which means my travel-happy self has been flight-less for the past week. Fortunately for me, we get paid a set amount no matter how much we work. We can always make extra $$ if we need it by picking up trips off the trade board from line-holders who don't like a trip they got or want to work less that month. However, I've been using the opportunity to do more forays into freelance writing, since it's location independent income. When I'm not attempting to be productive, my roommate Belle and I have been going to parks, chasing food trucks and perusing antique shops here in Charlotte.

[caption id="attachment_666" align="alignnone" width="642"] Freedom park in Charlotte is where we sat, next to a pond, and read our Kindles. Good times.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_669" align="alignnone" width="642"] Afterwards we checked out an antique store called the Sleepy Poet. It had everything you could imagine from furniture, to old typewriters, to jewelry....on and on. I definitely will be coming back![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_667" align="alignnone" width="642"] Would you believe it? They had an old Showbiz Pizza sign. I was {thisclose} to buying it. SO MANY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_668" align="alignnone" width="642"] Descending into Chattanooga for a short visit. This is about the point where I start to get extremely happy.[/caption]

 

Wings, Cake and Couch Surfing

At our graduation, we had a beautiful ceremony, got our wings pinned on us, did a dance and song we choreographed as a class for the occasion, had a piece of cake and then were immediately shipped off to Charlotte. Everything was timed down to the minute, and when we were seated on the flight across the country, there was a certain sense of shock. All that had transpired in the last month and a half was over, and we were real life, freshly minted flight attendants.

Or, almost.

We still had to attend 2 days of training and orientation in Charlotte. There were 2 additional types of aircraft we needed to be trained on, and the lot of us had to figure our where we were going to live. Without exception, this has been the quickest I've had to make plans and settle down. Fortunately, Belle, Jasmine, Aurora and I knew we were going to live together, but we had no idea where.

The airline gave us 5 "settling days" after orientation in Charlotte to go home and get our lives together, and find a place to live. During this time, they provided hotel accommodations as needed, but the rest was up to us. My prospective roommates were confident we'd find something, but I was skeptical.

5 days? To completely settle in, and be ready to fly the next duty day? Even if we were really familiar with Charlotte that would be a major hustle. And what exactly would we find? Would it be decent, or would we be so desperate not to be homeless that we'd end up in some dump? I hated to leave Charlotte to go home when there was so much left to do, but I hadn't seen my family and friends since I left for training.

The 2 days of E-190 express and A-330 international flight training whizzed by. By now, learning all the ins and outs of a new plane and being tested on our proficiency was second nature. We got to know our union representatives, and met our supervisors. We learned what would be expected of us. We said goodbye to our classmates who were going to be stationed in Philly or DC (this was far more difficult than I expected), and headed out.

Going home was everything I'd dreamed of and more. Darcy met me at the airport and surprised me by calling to say he was on the way, but then came up behind me at the baggage claim and gave me a huge hug. That guy. :) The next morning I met up with my Chattanooga friends and since it felt like Spring for the first time this year, we went out on the deck and had homemade sangria and guacamole. It was almost as if nothing had changed. When I recounted what happened at training and my operational experience flights, it  felt like I was talking about an alternate lifetime or a parallel universe. When I left Chattanooga, I thought I would relish the opportunity to exist under entirely unfamiliar appellations —but coming home, I realized just how refreshing it was to see my friends, to sit on the same deck, and catch up on the latest gossip and news. The only thing that had really changed was I'd know exactly what to do to save them if we were on a jet and an engine blew out.

Instead of flying back to Charlotte and using my shiny new flying benefits, I loaded up my little car with the remainder of my belongings which I had set aside as "necessities", and drove the 5 1/2 hours to North Carolina. I really enjoy driving, so it wasn't a big deal. What was actually tiring was the next day when Belle, Aurora, Jasmine and I crammed into a vehicle and drove all over town asking the same questions. Do you have 4 bedroom apartments? If so, when are they available? How much of a security deposit? Do you offer discounts for preferred employers?
If it hadn't been for those 3, I think I would've given myself a nose bleed. Nobody had apartments available right away, so we'd have to either invest in a hotel room or stay with friends who lived in Charlotte. And that's exactly what we ended up doing. I never knew how grateful I'd be to sleep on a floor with just a blanket when it meant not having to pay for another hotel, and move all our belongings yet again. Despite the inconvenience of living out of your luggage, you learn to pack like a pro, and know exactly what you need at your finger tips, and how to fit it all in a 21" rollerboard.

Finally, after much contemplation, we decided on a 3 bedroom luxury apartment located only 10 minutes from the airport. It's a breathtaking gated community with "sparkling pool" and "state of the art fitness complex". We don't have any furniture yet, but sleeping on an air mattress is an upgrade at this point. Pictures of my new room soon, I promise. Though you may be tempted to laugh because of the plastic bins my clothes are in. You'd think I lived in a refugee hut, rather than a luxury condo.

Once we settled in, we cooked dinner, had some wine and ate on our living room floor. We had learned how to set up shop in a completely new town, and hadn't gone insane. It's a good life.

Until next time. Catch me if you can!

-Carmen