skydiving

My friend Erin decided last year on her birthday that she wanted to go skydiving before she turned 30. So this week was her 30th birthday we drove to Eloy on Monday only to find out that it was too windy to jump. We were all really bummed, but rescheduled for Sunday. So Sunday we again made the trek to Eloy, and this time we were successful. Erin and I requested the cutest instructors and camera men and Linnette asked for the craziest ones. My instructor or guy holding my life in his hand was Adam. And I have no clue as to the name of my camera guy cause I was too nervous when he told me and couldn't quite understand him with his accent. We signed our life away and watched a video on Monday so Sunday we were able to just roam around before it was time to get strapped up and ready to go. This was a bit scary as every couple minutes, more jumpers where coming out of the sky...the anticipation growing in the pit of my stomach. OMG am I really doing this? Or is this just a crazy dream? I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Adam introduced himself and started getting me set up for the jump. He gave me some instructions and said not to worry cause he would tell me it all over again before we jumped. Then we were all geared up and ready to go jump out of a perfectly good airplane. We climbed into a trailer and then transported to the runway. Adam and I were first on the plane and thus also the last ones to jump out of the packed plane. I watched as we gained altitude and didn't really get nervous until it was time to start scooting to the edge of the plane. Erin was the first to jump, then Linnette and finally my turn. I didn't really have a chance to even breathe before we were at the edge and out the plane. Then we were falling faster and faster, I was so excited that I screamed and screamed and screamed. One of our friends said he could hear me screaming all the way on the ground. We jumped out at 13,000 ft and he could hear me screaming from the ground. I'm glad that the camera man didn't record sound on my video because all it would be is me screaming and yelling OMG! Almost every picture my mouth is wide open cause I'm screaming. Surprisingly I wasn't screaming because I was scared but out of excitement. It felt like forever before he pulled the shoot, but I think it was only a minute or so. It was so exhilarating and time seemed to go in slow motion. Once Adam pulled the parachute, it was so quiet and peaceful. Adam asked if I wanted to have some fun and so we did tricks all the way down. Landing was pretty easy and left me wanting to jump back in the plane and do it all over again. Shortly after landing, our photo's and video were ready. The whole experience was over so quickly and left me wanting more. I'd love to jump again, but I'm not ready to go solo anytime soon(if ever). Here are some of the pictures from my jump.

Life never goes as planned

My heart is crushed because I just found out that my dream of buying my very own house has died. Long story short I helped my sister with some loans for college by co-signing and now due to those loans I can't be approved for a house loan. I thought it was going to be a simple process of her consolidating her loans and taking me out of the picture. However with the economy the way it is, this isn't an option. I have great credit and without her debt I would be approved for a respectable amount that right now could buy an awesome house. I had been looking at all these houses online and mentally decorating my new place. I was getting so excited about the possibility of having my OWN place and affording it ALL ON MY OWN! Being a single woman, making little money, I never thought this would have been an option by myself. Sure I thought that some day when Mr Right and I got married, we would eventually buy a house together. As a single woman, I was ecstatic to have the ability to achieve this statue by myself. Now I am so upset because I was going to be a self sufficient woman and achieve home ownership all on my own. I feel like not only am I missing a great opportunity for an investment in my future, but also I'm stuck in limbo. If I look at the other spectrum maybe all of these obstacles are being placed there for a reason, maybe I would be making a huge mistake purchasing a home. What if I loose my job? What if I want to be carefree and take off, this would trap me here. Sometimes I wish I could just get a glance at that crystal ball or the key to the choose your own adventure books so I could have an idea as to where each decision is going to take me. Well I have no idea as to what I am supposed to do, but I welcome the adventure and hope for the best.

The joys of sitting hot!

Sitting standby at the airport can be so much fun! It seems unreal that I am paid basically $8.50 for five fun filled hours of good old airport appreciation time. I usually end up spending more than I make due to sheer boredom. Here are some of the things I will do on a "hot" shift to kill the time.

1. Search the internet for a couple hours. (Unless the wireless internet isn't working which happens often)
2. Watch a movie or two or three. We have a tv room and recently they added a dvd player. Now if they would only upgrade the 1970's couches to something a bit more comfortable or is that asking way too much?
3. Eat. Normally I'm really good at eating out of my lunchbox, but for some reason the food I brought is never as good as the temptations in the airport. I guess on a normal trip I don't have five hours to contemplate if it will be Chilli's or Paradise bakery. After all I deserve a hot meal every now and then.
4. Sleep. It would be nice if we had an actual sleep room, but we don't so if you can manage to tune the complaining fa's out or turn your ipod up to dangerous decibls you might be able to knock out an hour or two by sleeping.
5. Read a book. I've found that I can't concentrate in a room full of distractions so if I want to read, I have to find a quiet place which doesn't really exist in this airport.
6. Walk around the airport. I get a sheer joy out of walking around and then laughing at passengers. Sometimes I'm laughing as they run through the airport frantically trying to make connections or just their plain stupididty.....Why does it seem that people check their brains when they go through the metal detector? Sometimes I feel like I have this magnetic pull to passengers that seem to want to stop right in front of me.
7. Spend money: Many gift shops, tempting pastries and coffee at starbucks, books and cards in the book store, plus the $10 place always has some enticing jewlery calling my name.
8. Call people. I enjoy catching up with friends and family, but only if I can find a private place as to not disturb others. I get so annoyed with people who are so loud on their phones and show no respect for others who might be subjected to their phone conversations.


Well I'm two hours in and now I'm going to kill some time by eating. What temptation will call my name today? Only three hours to go....

UMM can I get a sheet?

Either I have been working way too much and my patience is thin or people are just jerks.

Lately I have getting the most cranky and crazy people on my flights. I must have this signal telling people to be nasty to me or ask me stupid questions. Last week I worked this flight to Vegas and all the passengers hated me for some unknown reason. One lady with her three kids had her lap child laying in a bassinet on the tray table. I kindly explain that she is not allowed to have the baby on the tray table and she looks at me and says "well what if I drop my baby while I am sleeping?" Like this is my problem and who the hell drops their baby? Then another passenger later in the flight asks me for a blanket. I explain to her that it will cost $7 and she says fine. When I got to the galley where we keep the nap sack, I forgot and started talking to my co-workers. A half hour later another passenger requests a nap sack and I realize I forgot to take the nap sack to the previous passenger. Rushing up I apologize for my mistake and she tells me that she no longer wants to purchase. "So you don't want the blanket?" "No I waited 2 hours and I can stick out the rest of the flight" Then twenty minutes later she begrudgingly asks my co-worker to purchase it if she promises it won't take her two hours to bring it back to her. Ok lady it wasn't two hours try thirty minutes and if you were that uncomfortable, get off your butt and come back and ask for one or ring your call button. I know I made a mistake but she had no right to be such a bitch about things. Later in the flight she asked for a beverage (even though we had just finished going through the cabin but she was sleeping) I refrained from telling her it might take me 2 hours to get back to her. Then my last conflict with a passenger on our flight to Vegas happened with a first class passenger. I happened to be in the front of the cabin when Mr 4a rings his call button. I ask him if I can get him something and he tells me no just tell Nick (the first class flight attendant) that I need him when he has a second. WTF why can't he just ask me for whatever it is that Mr 4a needs? Nick comes up and gets him his meal then decides he needs to kill some time hanging out in the flight deck. (Its a long ass flight and everyone is sleeping) I hang out up front while Nick is in the flight deck in case anyone needs anything. I decided to stop by and see if Mr 4a wants me to take his food tray away. He tells me no, then a minute later when Nick gets back he immediately takes his tray and is told "Can you tell your crew members to stop bothering me" WTF I was just trying to help am I not good enough to take your trash. Mind you all of this happened on the same flight and only to me...I was working with three other crew members and only I get the crazies?

Now today I just flew from Vegas to Orlando and had another batch of mean crazy passengers. The one that really takes the cake is when a passenger asks me for a blanket and I again explain that its not free and she just stares at me and asks well do you have sheets then? Ya absolutely we charge for the blankets but the sheets they are free. WTF who are these crazy people, I want summer to be over so all of those non frequent fliers will leave and my seasoned travelers will be occupying my aircraft. Thank goodness I have a whole 32 hours before I have to get back on a plane with these crazy people.

I'm keeping my job for now atleast

After careful consideration I decided to not take the voluntary leave and let fate decide if I was going to be furloughed anyway. Luck will have it that I was saved and able to keep my job. Unfortunately about 180 of my co-workers were not as lucky and will loose their jobs at the end of July. I feel really bad for my co-workers and hope for some form of hail Mary from the Union.

So I guess for right now I will continue my working frenzy (between the two jobs) and hopefully I don't get too burnt out. Now the big question: do I go back to the possibility of buying a house or condo? Or will I be close to getting layed off in six months. I won't be so lucky if they do another round of furloughs considering I am about 18 people from the bottom.

Changes

So I found out about a week ago that I might be loosing my job effective August. US Airways is laying off 300 flight attendants in PHX and LAS and if they don't get enough volunteers, I will be involuntary furloughed. I need around 93 flight attendants above me to volunteer and then I would be the most junior reserve flight attendant in PHX. This got me thinking as to what I would do during my time off. I could be out for as little as 4 months to 16 months or indefinitely. I have been flying for over 6 years but unfortunately only about 3 here which is why my job is in jeopardy. My fist reaction was crap what in the world am I going to do? This puts a huge road block in my plans to buy a house or condo...even if I made the cut, how long will that last? Could I loose my job in six months? I can't in good faith buy a property with the chance of loosing my income. So then I got to thinking about the possibility of teaching English in a foreign country for a year. If I volunteer I get to keep my seniority and longevity during my time off. If I don't volunteer and manage to keep my job, I would never be able to get any day off that I might need thus making my life pretty miserable. I'm not sure if I can handle another four years of reserve without some type of break. After doing some research, I think that South Korea would be my best bet because they pay the best and have a low cost of living. Many past teachers have reported saving $10,000-15,000 during the year...how awesome would that be to have a huge savings account when I come back home.

I will have to quit RedLobster before I am laid off so that I can collect unemployment until I start teaching. I plan on taking the month of August off and do a bit of traveling around the states to visit my friends and family that I have neglected over the past year due to my second job and lack of time to travel.

I am scared to death to take this huge step, but I think in my heart this is the right decision. I am so stressed and hope that this is the right choice. I think this could be an awesome opportunity to travel to a part of the world I have never been plus experience a new culture. If anyone has any information on agencies they recommend, please let me know.

Trips in May

I took three trips in May for vacation and had a blast. First stop was Puerto Vallarta Mexico with Erin and Sara. We were a bit nervous about the swine flu scare but had a fantastic time at our all inclusive resort. It was nice to relax and enjoy some much needed sun and drinks with some great friends. (I am already ready for a repeat trip)

Next stop was Vegas with my brother and Dad for my birthday. It was a bunch of fun even though I didn't win (but didn't loose too much). Al even treated me to see Pen and Teller for my bday. I love Vegas and going with my family was such a treat!

Then we had Katie's graduation festivities at ASU. It was such a hot day, but we escaped the heat by staying in the concession stand area. The President gave a very eloquent speech and was worth the long wait in the heat. We had her real commencement the next day and went out to dinner to celebrate. I am so proud of Katie now hopefully she can get a job.

Later that week, Katie and I set off to Zurich Switzerland via Philly. We had a bit trouble getting on the flights and ended up missing our connection forcing us to stay in Philly. On the plus side, Katie had never been to Philly, so I was able to show her around the city. The next day we boarded a really open flight (we each had our own row) to Zurich. We arrived on Monday and found our way to a hostel with only a few wrong turns. We changed and headed out to see the city...turns out that all of the museums where closed because it was Monday. We finished our tour of the city by 1 and had no idea as to what to do for the rest of the day. We made the fatal mistake of taking a nap and so we were a bit jet lagged the rest of the trip. On the plus side we found four H&M's within walking distance and heck ya we went into each and every one. We decided to head out of Zurich the next morning and head to Interlaken. Wow it was an amazing scenic trip and we loved Interlaken. We took a bus, three trains, and three gondolas to get to the top of the mountain. Wow what a view it was breathtaking. I don't think any picture could do it justice. After two days in Interlaken, we went to Lucern for a last stop before heading home. Even though it was a really quick trip, we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed Switzerland and its beauty.

Going back to work was rather challenging and I'm already ready for my next trip.