Kayoh @ 190

I walked up to my favorite Starbucks in the  Phoenix airport today where my trusty, loyal and always working barista says “Hi Andrea, do you want your Cinnamon Dolce hot or iced today?”.  Um….wow. I realize that I do frequent that particular Starbucks every chance I get when I am in Phoenix (the other locations in the airport just don’t make the drinks correctly!), but it appears that I just might indeed have a problem. Or I need to come up with a new drink selection, and fast!  Any suggestions? And, no “Tall Coffee” does NOT cut it with me-I am not truly happy until I have parted with the $5 burning a hole in my pocket. Mind you, this weird must-have Starbucks fixation that I have only happens when I am working. I rarely go there on my off time. So, because I NEED this to properly do my job, wouldn’t that count as a write-off?

When the barista at Starbucks knows you by the $5 frou-frou drink you order, is that a bad thing?

There is nothing worse than hearing that a plane has gone down. Those few minutes clawing at any information you can get are gut-wrenching. Yet, somehow out on the Hudson river last week while floating along there were many people who managed to barely get wet. Call it what you will, a miracle, luck, act of God- at the end of the day we are all grateful that what was most probable to happen did not happen that day.

As I sit around the airports killing time and people watching, it is so nice to overhear conversations of thanks and gratefulness and respect- something we airline pilots have not experienced in quite some time. On one hand, it is really sad that it takes an accident like this one to earn some respect amongst the traveling public…on the other hand, I’ll take what I can get!

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!

I am finally back from a long week of working, and have decided to reflect on the past five days…..

First stop- Puerto Vallarta where if you tell people you are headed down there, they say “Are you going to get the fish tacos? They’re the best in the WORLD!”. Now, I am not a big fish eater, but in the interest of making the most of what could be the last couple months of my job, I decided to try the fish tacos that were supposed to change my life forever.  All I want to know is what the hell is everyone I work with eating that would make them think that those tacos were anywhere near the vicinity of “good”????     I only managed to get down two bites, but those two bites got back at me the rest of the day!

Next- Salt Lake City. I only had enough time there to attempt to sleep, so nothing really to report.

Newark! If you say it with flair it doesn’t sound so bad ;)  For some reason, I was actually surprised that it was a little chilly, and scolded myself for not knowing better.  This time of year, it is imperative to pack for all temperatures just in case, but each and every year I get caught with my perverbial pants down and end up buying a sweatshirt just so I can walk across the street for dinner in relative comfort (I am a huge temperature wuss! Anything above or below 73 is just awful!).  You should see my sweatshirt collection!

LA - Awwww, home sweet home.  There is nothing better than having an overnight where you can sleep in your own bed….ok going home and not having to go back to work is better, but the overnight is a close second.

Las Vegas- Viva!  Still really hot and windy, but people going to Vegas are always excited and in a good mood.

Fresno- What can I say? It’s Fresno.    Although, I did run into an airplane I used to fly….a reallly old Cessna 152  (a little two seater). No, I didn’t literally run into it, but I did have my picture taken standing next to it. This was one of the airplanes I used to have my flight lessons in, and later on in life, I taught people how to fly using this airplane. I have certainly come full circle!

Quite the interesting morning today at the Toronto airport. After clearing customs for the second time in about ten hours (and YES, I now have a Canada stamp in my passport-yaay!), my crew and I were going through security when we hear a loud crash coming from the security line next to us. I look over to see a man picking up his laptop from the ground and say “You idiot!”. The man in front of him who had accidentally knocked the laptop off the security “belt” turned around and started screaming at this man. “F you, you piece of sh-t. How dare you talk to me like that, you don’t do that!”. The other man says “You broke my laptop!”

“IT WAS A F-ING ACCIDENT YOU PIECE OF TRASH! You’d better get away from me or I’m going to punch your F-ing face in!”.  After a few more expletives, things lighten up a bit and we make it through security without a full blown brawl breaking out (thank goodness-I left my camera at home and hate to miss such photo opportunities!) As we walk away, the crew and I place bets as to whether or not these two gentlemen (I use that word loosely) will be on our flight. A bet that I win- they were not on our flight :)  After the betting had closed, I note how there we were in line at airport security when a fight breaks out and the fine security personnel did NOTHING aside from a couple of “calm down” sirs. Did I mention they did NOTHING? So apparently it is alright for two very angry men, about to go to blows, to waltz through security and get on a very confined aluminum tube without so much as a “time out”?

I shake my head and am grateful that I did not have to deal with them any further.

The trip I am on now is a delightful mix of cities and countries. I just spent the previous two evenings in Toronto, tonight I will be in Boise and tomorrow will take me to Puerto Vallarta. I love trips like this where each of the cities that I go to are so completely different from one another.

Because several of my flights on this trip include international destinations, I spend more time than usual walking between the international and domestic gates. There are usually large distances between gates (sometimes even a mile or more) that need to be covered in short periods of time, especially if you need to grab a bite to eat or use the restroom (any restroom other than an airplane lav is a welcomed treat during the day!). The distance in itself isn’t really a problem, but trying to walk a mile zig-zagging through the crowds while dragging your luggage behind you can get a little hairy. You learn how to do this “airport walk” over time with speed and grace. The one thing I never get used to, though, are the “diagonal walkers”. You know, the person you end up walking behind who is on their cell phone or is just looking around trying to figure out where they are going. The person who walks diagonally in front of you, limiting your options to get around them smoothly. I haven’t yet figured out this phenomena, but it is so prevalent in the travelers of today’s airports that there must be some link between walking and distraction that causes people to walk in a diagonal.  Would it be rude to stop somebody one of these days and ask them if they realize that they’re walking diagonally?  I’m just curious!

There are also the people who just stop in the middle of the concourse. The “stoppers” I really can’t complain too much about since we are all guilty of that one!

Also on this trip I received my first stamp in my shiny new passport!  Of course, it was from the U.S. The one stamp in my passport at this very moment is from the United States….apparently I should have asked Canada and Mexico for a stamp. Next time!