Then To Tijuana...I Wanna Roam...

You guys thought I forgot about this blog again, didn't you?
It's ok, I sort of did.
Oopsie.

Things have been going pretty well.  Probably should have enjoyed all of that down time because it's that time of year all Flight Attendants dread....SUMMER FLYING (insert scary music here).

So last week I worked a nice little trip on the 767 over to San Diego, had a 24 hour layover, then flew the red eye back (that part wasn't so nice).  Did I mention I had a super awesome crew too??  It was sort of the icing on the cake.

So let's just get straight to the story then....

Got into San Diego late on Wednesday night (extra late if you didn't change your watch over from EST), and went straight to bed so I could get up early and go for a nice little jog along the water before the fun began.  Gotta get those steps in!

10AM rolled around and Brett and Jamere met up with me down in the lobby to begin our adventure.  Brett and I worked with each other about a year ago when he was new(ish) and bonded over the fact that we couldn't deal with the other new FA on our trip who refused to do any work.  No really, he kept leaving the cart during beverage service to go to the front galley and eat oatmeal while Brett was stuck doing all of the work.  Yes, seriously.  Jamere is this petite, adorable new hire from Louisiana.  She has this sweet voice and gentle personality...but girl can haggle.  It was pretty amazing to watch her jump in and rep us on the other side of the border.  Plus she thought I was funny & laughed at my jokes, so clearly I thought she was a keeper.

First on the agenda was to walk the few blocks from our hotel to the trolley so we could make the 40 minute trip down to the border.  It was pretty fun watching San Diego go by...not so fun to realize we were being taken further and further from our nice side of town, as the neighborhoods started to get a little sketch looking.  Finally we made it to the border and sort of just blindly followed the other people in the direction they were all walking and tried to act like we knew what we were doing.

We didn't really know what to expect, as you can probably tell by our faces moments before we made the big attempt.  Jamere & I made it through in just a few minutes.  Brett...not so much.  After some confusion, they let him over too (while we crossed our fingers that they would let him back in).  Then it was time to walk through the scanning process.  Again, Jamere & I had zero issues.  Brett...he got popped for a random screening.  Of course we couldn't help but get the giggles.

Did I mention that this was my first time in Mexico???  How on earth have I been a Flight Attendant for 6 years and this is the first freaking time I have been to Mexico!?!?  It was very barb wirey....

We started off our trip to Tijuana by getting ripped off on a cab ride to the downtown area.  By now some of you are getting all worked up that we wandered off to TJ, but we did a *little* bit of research.  We at least knew we had to get down to the shopping area because it was the safe(r) part of the city.  Actually, Tijuana wasn't as scary as I thought.  Not that it was the most sunshine & roses place either...but at least I only worried like twice if we would get kidnapped.  And only once did I really consider it for a second.  Whatever.  A little fear & a hefty ransom (it had BETTER be a hefty ransom) never scared this gal away!

Our main objective once we got to where we needed to be was to get some food.  Which was not an easy task as each restaurant we walked past had someone outside aggressively attempting to get you to come inside.  I have never been promised so much free tequila in my life as I had in that few hours spent in Tijuana.  How we made it out sober is beyond me, but I feel like we deserved some sort of gold medal for the efforts.  Finally we settled on a restaurant and met Edgar the waiter.  Edgar had a really gross band aid on his face.  Which wasn't nearly as gross as when he came out to deliver our food and the dirty band aid was gone and instead was some open face wound thing with cream smeared all over it.  Yep.  You better believe your burrito that I checked every bite of food I took for that band aid!

The 3 of us decided to split a giant platter of mostly meats.  For a whopping $17.  There was so much food.  So much that 3 of us very hungry Flight Attendants couldn't finish it.  Seriously.

With bellies full, we waddled off to do some shopping. Jamere spoke a tiny bit of Spanish, which was pretty helpful.  Let me tell you, these Mexicans mean business.  Like, chase you down to other stores and keep lowering the prices of their wares so you will buy them and think you are just a master haggler when you say you don't have any more money on you.  By far one of the most amusing parts of the day was when this little old lady got ahold of us and dressed me like this:

Not 30 seconds after donning this obviously amazing ensemble, literally at least a dozen Asian tourists came running over to take my picture.  It was my 15 minutes of fame, to be sure.  Finally I just gave in and started smiling and posing for them.  Brett made the purchase of the day by getting the biggest, brightest hammock ever for $20.  Our back up plan was to use it as a weapon if needed.  I got the brightest woven blanket I could find & of course a poncho.

All in all it was a really fun, chill day with some cool people.  The only thing that could put a damper on it would be if say we got stuck in line to get back across the border to the U.S. for almost 3 HOURS.  3.  Freaking.  Hours!!!  It was the biggest cluster I have ever seen in my life.  Ever.  Line cutting wasn't the only cutting that I thought was about to go down!  We stood there and kept watching people get turned away from crossing into the U.S. and it was a little concerning (read: alot concerning).  No fears though, we managed to get back!  I know all of you would have missed us.

Anyways, I am super sleepy after a long holiday weekend & getting a call from Crew Scheduling at 0400 to work an MCO turn this morning.  Yes, just living that dream. So I will leave you with this disjointed blog and some pics....

"Woh, down in Mexico, I never really been so I don't really know.
And oh, Mexico, I guess I'll have to go." - Mexico, by James Taylor

My Huckleberry Friend...

Happy Sunday, weirdos!

Sitting in bed with Lottie (who is snoring), wondering why my head has to hurt even though I didn't finish that final glass of wine last night.  Getting old is the worst.

Anyways, remember in my last blog how I said to stay tuned for why I was excited for my 3 day domestic trip coming up (and you know it has to be something legit if I am getting excited to do work)?  Well, I had a layover in San Jose...which means I GOT TO SEE KATIE!!!!!

Katie is my best friend.  To be more specific, she is my huckelberry friend.  What, you ask is a "huckelberry friend"?  In the most basic terms, it means that they aren't just good friends...they are friends that have known you for years & have stuck by you & loved you NO MATTER WHAT.  I find it fitting that I use this term for her because it is taken from the song "Moonriver", which always reminds me of her due to the fact that 1) it is from "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and we both share an obsession with the movie 2) the song is sung by Audrey Hepburn, who is one of our mutual faves & someone we bonded over early in our friendship (I think of Katie every day I wake up and walk downstairs because the Audrey canvas that once hung in her apt now hangs here).  No other term could describe her better.

Katie & I met 6 years ago, when I was still working for a regional carrier named Mesaba.  Scheduling had called me at an ungodly hour to throw me on a trip and I was dreading it.  Until I walked onto the CRJ900 I would be sharing with another FA for 4 days and met this gal:

Baby Katie the day I met her

As soon as we introduced ourselves to each other, I knew it was going to be a blast.  We bonded over our mutual love of "Charlie's Angels" during our first flight & it was all downhill from there.  To date, it is still one of the best trips I have ever had in my career.  We never stopped having fun. Our crew had a long NYC layover, and our pilots had never been out in the city (whhhaaattt??), so we let them tag along on our fabulous adventure.  I could write an entire blog about just that one summer day and all of the funny stories.  Maybe another day.

Times Square

After that trip, Katie and I became buddies. We enjoyed the same things: thrifting, nail polish, pasta, hating on stupid people, baby animals, personal style, makeup, sitting on the couch binge watching trashy tv...the list could go on and on.  Through the years, Katie became my best friend.  The kind of best friend that becomes family; mostly because she decided she loved the Zell's and would be related whether we wanted it or not.  After awhile, we sort of forgot she wasn't haha.  One year I remember sitting in my hotel on Easter Sunday and texting her to see where she was at and the message back said "over at your parents for dinner".  All I could do was shake my head and smile.  Friends who bond with your family and friends on that level are hard to find.  It is to the point that she isn't just MY friend; she has her own relationships with the friends and family she met through me.  She saw me through some of the worst times of my life, especially when Cassie was sick - and always knew what to say to help my troubled mind.  Or sometimes knew that I didn't want to say anything, but would sit on the couch with me eating cupcakes, binge watching Johnny Depp movies until it seemed like a good idea to go get Kool Aid at midnight to dye my hair (because we saw it on Pinterest & clearly it was a good idea....nailed it).  I watched her go from Miss Johns to Mrs. Canlas as I stood by her side at the court house in San Francisco, signing the papers as her Witness.

In a nutshell, I cannot define what Katie's friendship means to me.  Truly, I would be lost without her.  In a world where people these days just suck, I know we can count on each other to not.  Never have I doubted that she wants the best for me always - and is honest with me, even if she is afraid it might hurt my feelings or make me upset.  To me, that's the epitome of a real friend.  It shouldn't be hard to find people like that in life, but it sure is!

After Katie married Mark in August 2014, he whisked her off to San Jose (where he is a pilot for Virgin America).  My heart burst with happiness for Katie, all the while it was breaking for me.  My best friend was moving to the other side of the country.  I told her recently that I knew we spent an extreme amount of time together, but never realized how much until she was gone.  How lucky am I though to be in this industry and know that she is just a 4 hour flight away?  Better yet, I get to see her on my San Jose & (sometimes) San Fran layovers.  If it weren't for my job, I wouldn't have probably even met her super adorable 6 month old son (Ian) yet.  If you are wondering, yes I refer to myself as Aunt Ang.  Duh.

Alright, back to the original topic at hand...my layover and the excitement I felt since I had plans with Katie.  My plane landed around noon & after a quick pit stop at the hotel to check in and refresh (and let's be real, charge my phone that I am always on), I was picked up by the Canlas crew.  They took me to check out this amazing place where you build your own bibimbap.  For dessert we grabbed macaroon ice cream sandwiches.  MACAROON.  ICE CREAM.  SANDWICHES!!!

Taking advantage of the fact that it was 76 degrees outside (that was tough to type as I am sitting here in MI staring at the slushy snow coming down outside), we then headed to the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.  Which did NOT disappoint.  The second I stepped out of the car I was hit by the heavenly smell of roses.  The rest of the day all I could think of was the tune "Painting The Roses Red" from Alice in Wonderland.  So badly wanted to yell "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS", but refrained.  Mostly so I didn't scare Ian.

Afterwards we strolled down Santana Row and checked out the shops, then grabbed some tea. By far my favorite part of the day was the fact that Aunt Ang didn't get just one smile from Ian, but 2!  They were hard won; he's a tough sell.  He has yet to figure out that I'm a sucker (just ask Laila about Aunt Ang), but once he does I am done for. All in all it was a perfect little afternoon.  The best news of the day was that Alaska Airlines has officially purchased Virgin America (again, where Mark works).  You know what this means?  Katie can use her flight benefits ("marry me and fly for free" is a real thing) to now fly to DTW!!!  This wasn't an option before since it is not a route for Virgin;  meaning it will be easier for her to come back this way...which means I GET TO SEE HER MORE OFTEN!!!!!!  Things are so lonely around Michigan without Katie. My life is always busy it seems, yet I have been very blah of late.  Sure, I have tons of friends and love all of them, but my relationship with Katie is special.  One time we joked that basically I just wanted to date the male version of her...she is my biggest fan, tells me all the time how fabulous I am (especially when I am feeling unfabulous), calls when she says she will, texts throughout the day, thoughtful, sensitive, and I can sit around in my yoga pants and no makeup with her all day and not worry what she thinks.  However, when you break it down, she filled that void for years while I took time off from dating too seriously while other (more important) things demanded my time and attention.  Right after she moved I got into a serious relationship, and it wasn't until it ended back in October that I fully understood how inseparable we really were.  Now is the first time it's has been a few months of being truly single (for any of you hot, also single guys out there reading this right now...heeeyyyy) since she moved away & I have more free time on my hands than normal...and it feels...bizarre. I knew I missed her...but lately I have REALLY MISSED HER. You see, being lonely can be an occupational hazard for a Flight Attendant.  Sure, we are surrounded by people all day long...but typically they are all strangers.  Then you get home and everyone is busy with their own lives.  Or they just assume you are out flying because you seem to never be home, so they forget to get ahold of you to do stuff.  Don't even get me started on attempting to date as a Flight Attendant.  That is a different blog for a different day for sure!  Being able to see my bestie (who totally understands the life of an FA because she lived it and can empathize with how it feels), give her a hug, and just hangout for a few hours was an amazing feeling.  I needed it.  It broke up the 3 day trip and made it seem like less of a work thing.

How things could have been so different in both of our lives if the Mesaba FA who was originally scheduled to work that trip all of those years ago hadn't called in sick.  I wouldn't have met the young lady who would one day be one of the most important people in my life.  Pretty sure I wouldn't be the person I am today without my Huckelberry Friend.

Katie's baby shower
June 2015

XJ Days

Seems about right...

Strawberry Field on our first trip together.  The first of many adventures to come!

"Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end
Waitin' round the bend
My Huckleberry friend
Moon River and me"  ~ "Moonriver", Audrey Hepburn 

Hello From The Outside...

Remember that time for a few months about 3 years ago when I blogged and it was funny??  Yeah, I forgot about it as well until I was putting off adulting today and stumbled across it (crap, the stupid washing machine just went off....go away responsibilities).  Anyways, it was interesting to go back and read from the perspective of someone who now has almost double the amount of time in this industry(and half the energy) as the woman who started this silly little blog.

SO MUCH has changed, yet hasn't at all.

It's so odd to have stumbled across this blog, as lately I have been doing some soul searching and self reflecting.  Yes, even Angie Zell can be serious sometimes.  Sort of.  I think I am going to start this shit back up.  It would be nice to rediscover that energetic woman again who found humor in everything and loved sharing her stories.  Can I be honest?  Somewhere over the last few years I lost my identity.  I mean, I am still me...just a toned down version of late.  I look back at these blogs and I see the gal I used to be: super confident, someone who took care of herself as much as she did everyone else around her, a quick witted spit fire...and I want to get back to her again (and not just because she was skinnier).  She's even more lovable than the person I am now.  ;)

Paris, 2013

2016 with my "sister from another mister" (hi Erica!!!)

Sooo....let's get things started again with a recap of my last few CRAP DAYS!  If you follow me on Snapchat, you've already heard the abridged version. Continue reading only if you are ok with some marginal griping.  You have been warned.  Anywho...

I started the first of my 3 adays (again...those are days you are on call 24/7 & basically Delta's minion) on Saturday.  Things began looking up as I was awarded the MSN illegal I preferred the day before.  Don't report until 2000, quick little jaunt over to MSN, on the ground for 8 hours, then quick little jaunt back.  Nothing to it.
Yeah, right.
I need to start remembering to knock on fuselage when I think these things.
First, getting to work was a treat since Mother Nature decided she wanted to show out with a snow storm in April.  Rude.  This meant we also had to spend extra time on the ground deicing.  Extra time on the airplane = less time in the delightful king sized bed waiting for me in WI (with no extra pay).  No sweat, 30 minutes won't be the end of me.  Then the crazy lady boarded the aircraft...and oh, was she taking her role as "most annoying passenger on the plane" seriously. She started out with having a tough time grasping the concept that I wouldn't/couldn't lift her bag into the overhead bin for her while she sat and watched, even after she informed me she took extra time to pack it extra light so it wouldn't be too heavy for me to lift.  During taxi she got up and was running all over the galley trying to find the bathroom.  Apparently she didn't hear me tell her to sit down multiple times, which wasn't half as annoying as having to get up and actually show her where the lavatory (that she was staring directly at) was.  Even that wasn't as annoying as having to call the pilots and hear their annoyed sighs in my ear because we have to pull the plane over until she sits down and buckles up.  The FAA has this crazy rule where they want you to be safe while the plane is moving and they expect us to enforce it.  Go figure.  Silly FAA!  Crazy Pants finally sat back down, only to come running back up a few minutes later, plane had just started moving again, because she apparently forgot the one task of sitting down and buckling up that we asked of her, to ask for ice water.  Sometimes I have to count to 3 and then talk...this was one of those times...so that I could politely inform her that she needed to take her seat and I would get her a water once we were in air.  She marched her bare foot feet back to her seat, and then proceeded to make a phone call.  A PHONE CALL!!!!  That's when I tapped out.  If I am not getting Flight Leader pay, the person who is can deal with that level of pain in the assery .  The FL then wanted to look this woman up on the paperwork, only to discover she had snuck into the upgraded seat she was currently occupying.  Needless to say, that took a minute to take care of as well.  Once airborn, the fun continued...while doing beverage service I handed a man a pack of pretzels and asked what I could get him to drink.  He gave the bag of pretzels the look of disgust only someone with a healthy amount of self entitlement could muster, then told me he wanted peanuts.  Now, we all know I can be a *tiny* bit of a smart ass sometimes (it's a gift), so I smiled and laughingly informed him that if I had a choice of snacks I wouldn't have just handed him pretzels.  Let's note here that this exact same scenario has happened to me at least 500 times in my flying career & the end result has always been the same: the person realizes they were silly and we both have a little giggle and move on with life.  Apparently every 501 times is the exception.  All I got was a glare as he sneered "give me your name".  Awesome.  Can't wait to have that complaint letter in my file.
That evening we stayed in downtown Madison.  Here I rediscovered my loathing for working weekends (it's been a minute).  I recall a day when a hotel and weekends meant drinking and partying until 4AM.  Now they mean trying to sleep through youngsters drinking and partying when I have to get up at 4AM.  Suffice it to say, I got zero sleep, but at least the flight home was drama free.  Thanks goodness for small favors.
Sunday the fun didn't stop.  I was assigned a super easy late evening flight to FLL, with a deadhead back in the morning.  Piece of cake.
As if.
The flight to FLL started out with a maintenance, delaying us about 30 minutes. The constant chorus of call bells ringing, heralding the sad news of work to come, should have been a warning to us.  Should have...
FLL is a pretty tough crowd in general, but apparently late evening flight on a Sunday crowd to FLL tops that.  We ran out of cookies.  On a 757.  Do you know how hard that is???  I am not even shocked though, as a typical order on that flight was: "I want a can of cranberry juice, a glass with 3 ice cubes in it, a half cup coffee at room temperature, 2.5 creams, 3 3/4 packs of sugar, a glass of water with a splash of apple juice, and 4 packs of cookies.  Oh, and make sure none of the cookies are crushed.".  It was magical.
Upon landing at 12:06AM, we were very excited to get to the hotel.  Which would have been easier if their shuttle service didn't stop running at midnight.  I kid you not.  45 minutes later, we had a cab to the hotel.  Not just any hotel though...you see, we couldn't get rooms at our regular place, and Spring Break was in full swing, so we were sent to the hooptiest part of Ft Lauderale.  The night got even better when we arrived only to find out that they didn't have any of our keys made up yet or the paperwork processed.  There goes another 15 minutes of used up patience I can never get back.  Oh, and the van only runs once an hour at the top of the hour. Which caused the other FA to have a full blown meltdown because she didn't want to get to the airport 2 hours early.  Precious.
9 hours later, I was back downstairs, waiting to catch the 10AM shuttle to the airport.  Now, FA's HAVE to be timely.  There is no choice in the matter.  Our job depends on it.  So when it hit 10:05AM and the van still wasn't there, I started to get anxious.  I am just trying to catch my 11:114AM deadhead home...they are NOT going to wait for me!  Van pulls up, driver hops out, tells me I have to wait a moment, and runs inside.  This is the part where I started to become cranky.  I could feel it flow through my veins like a poison.  I am NOT going to miss this flight back to DTW!  Van driver comes out and says we have to stop at Holiday Inn; to which I inform her we don't have time.  By the beard of Zeus, I managed to talk her into skipping Holiday Inn and we head straight to the airport.  Would have been awesome had it not been for the fact that halfway there her boss came over the radio to holler at her for the decision that I forced her into making.  Feeling terrible, I decide I am going to give her a good tip when we get to the airport.  Too bad I forgot that all of the bills in my wallet were Euro.  Yes,  I am the wanker who tried to tip in Euro.  I suck.  I made this nice van driver get in trouble and then I didn't even have cash to tip her! I felt like the worst of the worst.  Sorry Carol...hope you still have your job!
Good news (yeah, I totally changed topics real fast), I made my deadhead flight.  Hunkered down and proceeded to doze off to the land of snoring while sleeping with my mouth open (enjoy that mental image). In 3 hours I would be landing in DTW and driving home to relax.  Or so I thought.  My slumber was interrupted by one of the working crew members holding a piece of paper.  Before she even spoke I knew it was an ACARS, and I knew who it was for.  Jesus take the wheel...I was pulled to work a BNA turn when I land.  NOOO!!!  I just sat there and stared at the paperwork for 10 minutes, willing it to be some late to the table April Fool's Day joke.  It wasn't.   So now I have to rush off this plane to another plane, with no chance to eat (haven't done it all day).
The rest of the day went as follows...rush off the plane, get to the gate for the BNA flight only to discover one of my crew members is an FA at the top of my "do not fly with them ever again or risk getting fired for punching a coworker" list, and before I even have a chance to let this new level of rage settle in, she informs me I am working Flight Leader.  So let's recap...3 hours sleep Saturday night, reduced rest the night before, already cranky before getting to DTW, hangry, working with someone I try to avoid at all costs, and now I have to also be in charge instead of just zoning out and pouring some Cokes.  Great.  Super.  Love it.
You know what could make all of this better?  If I put my SkyPro on the jumpseat and the other FA pulled that same JS down without checking first and broke the rambler on my SkyPro, which would cost me money.
All of this added drama and 5 extra hours at the airport for a measly 1.5 extra hours worth of pay.  Which will just about cover the cost of the new rambler I have to get.
Let's just say that my eye started twitching on the drive home last night.  It was a long few hours.

Back at it again tomorrow to work a domestic 3 day trip.  Stay tuned for the reason why I am actually super excited for it.... :)

I can't promise I will be good at keeping up with this blog, but I am going to try my hardest.  It's long past time I owned my "muchness" like I used to and I think documenting my adventures is a step in the right direction.

Stay tuned.



"You used to be much more muchier...you've lost your muchness."  ~ The Mad Hatter