Kayoh @ 190

This morning, I woke up with a bug up my bum and decided to see if it would be possible to see the musical Wicked.  I have been wanting to see this one for quite some time now, and unfortunately, Wicked is in its last few months here in Los Angeles until the next time it comes to Los Angeles. All of the planets aligned for me, so hubby and I bought tickets, packed a lunch, and hopped in the car for our little journey into Hollywood to see the 1pm performance today.

All I have to say is WOW! What an amazing performance! The venue, the Pantages Theater is absolutely gorgeous in a delightful “Old Hollywood” sort of way. Howard Hughes even owned the the Pantages at one point, having purchased it in 1949. Even if you’re not that old, it takes you back. The music and storyline were fun and entertaining. The cast, magnificent. I cannot recommend Wicked enough!

Proof once again how sometimes the spontaneous version of myself can definitely pay off

Glorious Vacation! I have officially started sixteen days off. Sixteen days of catching up on reading, writing, and of course my DVR is calling out my name. I’m almost afraid to see how much of the next two weeks will be spent staring at the TV!

It is interesting to note that for me, vacations have absolutely nothing to do with actually going on a vacation. My vacation time is spent devising ways to avoid the airports. As soon as friends and family who live in far away places catch wind of my having any sort of time off, it is automatically assumed that I will jump at the chance to get on yet another airplane (this time as a passenger) to go see them just because I can. Now, I do love them all dearly, but right about now I am cherishing the time I have at home, sleeping in my own bed, no suitcases, no hotels…………ahhhhhhh, bliss!  I even plan to actually do some cooking-something I never have time for but do enjoy. If I’m really lucky, I will also reacquaint myself with the gym membership I have which, as of late, has not been used.

Oh yes, and we musn’t forget Disneyland. Of course I will have to make an appearance or two there!

Since my job now involves flying to Phoenix and sitting around in Phoenix until I get the magical phone call to go fly somewhere, I decided to ditch the monkey suit in my work locker a) so that I would be more comfortable and b) so as to blend in with the crowd.

It was quite refreshing up until the part when I was attacked by the credit card people trying to give me five billion miles and ten free flights if I would only apply for yet another credit card. When in uniform, they don’t approach us at all (yaay!), but all bets are off once I look like a normal human being again. “Miss, oh miss. Excuse me miss. Miss? Miss? MISS!!!!”. They must get the best commission ever, or I am in the wrong business. Upon further observation, I was shocked at how aggressive and flat out rude they can be to people. I even witnessed one of the evil credit card cronies tell a lady that she had dropped something just to get her to stop, and then WHAM, ambushed her.

These aren’t airline employees, but the airline name is plastered all over their little stands, and so it is quite embarrassing to me. I offer a heartfelt apology to everyone who has had the misfortune of coming into contact with the “credit card cronies”.

With unemployment on the horizon and the world economy crashing down around us, I have been attempting to cover my ears (la, la, la) and ignore it a little bit by getting out and having some fun. Now, where is there a better place to ignore life’s difficulties than Disneyland? “The Happiest Place on Earth”- who can argue with that right now? So, in my attempt to stick my head in the sand, I have been to Disneyland three times in the last couple of weeks.

Crazy!  I know, however, when you live in Orange County that’s just what you do. Considering that a walk-up one day park hopper to both Disneyland and California Adventure costs $94, it doesn’t sound so crazy that almost everyone who lives here has annual passes. We who live behind the “Orange Curtain” are incessantly mocked for this behavior, rightly so, we are an entire society of Disney-dorks.

So yes, three Disney visits…         This is my favorite time of year at Disneyland. All of the Halloween decorations are up and they have converted the Haunted Mansion into the “Nightmare Before Christmas”.  FYI, they did change it up a little bit this year!

The hubby and I have a new favorite at California Adventure- Toy Story Mania. A 3-D ride that is comprised of interractive carnival games. Men tend to do better at this game than women, but no worries, I’m working on it…..hubby be afraid!

Over the past year or so, I have noticed a disturbing trend, and because I don’t have children, I probably don’t understand but will rant anyway :)      The amount of strollers running around the park lately has more than doubled which would be completely acceptable if there were stroller-aged children occupying said strollers. But I swear I have seen ten year-olds wheeling around getting a free ride! Ok, so I’m not very good at guessing a child’s age when they are shoved into one of these things, but seriously, I would think that if the kid is bursting out at the seams, and I keep getting kicked because it is just not possible for them to contort their little bodies into a human ball, that maybe, just maybe, it’s time to make them walk.  Just a thought.

Hopefully, I will make to Disneyland again next week strollers or no strollers

Today, 57 of my fellow pilots were let go. Let go in a crazy world of corporate greed and bailouts. A world where there are no jobs unless you want to outsource yourself overseas. I feel for them and their families, and yet I sit here crossing my fingers and praying it won’t be me next.

I have spent the whole of my adult life chasing airplanes all over this great country, so now the question has to be asked….How far am I willing to go to chase airplanes?  What other skills do I possess? Should I go back to school? If so, what for?     I ask myself these questions, and inevitably end up crossing my fingers and praying that at the end of the day, I will keep my job.