The Randomness of March

For being so depressed about the sorry state of work at my airline with our restructuring, I actually have a fantastic schedule for the month.  I held a Honolulu replacement schedule, and was able to trade around the days off that I needed.  For the beginning of the month I plotted myself a Santiago and a Frankfurt to fill up my schedule and then picked up another Santiago layover and a Madrid.

The second Santiago trip was fun because we are back to having 35 hour layovers instead of 10 hour day layovers where we do nothing but sleep at the hotel.  I was happy to be flying with my good Democrat friend Beth.  She is always a blast to hang out with.  I flew the four day Madrid trip with her in November and we did a day trip to Avila.

I didn't take my camera with me when we went to dinner the first night, but we had a nice First Officer named Pat who took us around downtown and showed us the fun places to hang out.  We ended up over doing it a bit, but still had fun.  I think we finally called it a night at 3 a.m. and I remember speaking Spanish with a group of Colombian insurance salesmen who were staying at our hotel for a conference.

The next day we went and walked around in the hot Santiago sun (temps were in the 90's) and when you aren't feeling 100%, it really zaps you.  We enjoyed a nice greasy lunch at a place called Schoppdog and then as we were making out way back to the hotel we passed a random Chilean woman dancing with a wine bottle and flag balanced on her head.

My next random photo was the following weekend at the drug store in Mainz, Germany.  I was looking for some Kinder chocolates for my mom called Hungry Hippos and right next to the candy were some rather vivid condom packages.  Apparently flavored Billy Boys are all the rage and not cheap either, at €10 (that's like $20 bucks!).  I guess the flavoring makes them more expensive.

And my third random shot of the month was my crazy co-worker who went thru someone's trash piled outside their flat as we walked back to our hotel in Mainz and rescued an old wooden sled.  She hauled that thing 5,000 miles back to Dallas!

The Lenten Journey for 2012 Begins

February 22nd marked the beginning of the 2012 Lenten season.  I decided to take a break from Facebook again as I have done the past 2 years with my friend Jenn Smith.  I also opted to give up desserts.  Of course now my blog entries will not update to my Facebook page as I have disabled that feature, so I doubt that anyone will even read this.

Last year during Lent, my friend Bruce came to town on a business trip.  I had given up alcohol so it was quite a boring visit since Bruce and I really only like each other when we have drinks in our hands.  He ended up coming out here that week again, but this year I could hit the sauce with him!

Being that Bruce is a good Presbyterian, he came with me to Ash Wednesday services at St. Andrew along with Ladyfriend, and my friends Carol and Bobby.  I made Bobby go with me last year to get "Ashed".

We enjoyed a lovely meal at the Abbey, a local pub off the square that Bobby and I frequent because he can get Guinness on tap.  The last time we were there, I learned that our waitress had gone to the same high school as I did back in Tampa (albeit 10 years later).  It would have been cool if she were working that night so Bruce could meet her and feel as old as I felt, but she has apparently moved on to another bar on the square called Hooligans.

After dinner, I went thru my first test of dessert abstinence when Bruce insisted we go to Beth Marie's for some of their famous homemade ice cream.

In grand tradition, Bruce and I enjoyed some scotch, some gin, some ouzo.  I think we called or texted our friend Jonathan at 3 a.m, but I don't have much of a memory of that.  Some things never change!

More Tokyo

My last trip of the month took me back to Japan.  It's a trip I might do two or three times a year, so to do it twice in a month was a nice treat.  I wasn't with my friend Gail this trip, but I overlapped by three hours with my friend Sandy, Gail's buddy bidder.  Sandy was heading home a few hours after I arrived, so I visited with her and had a beer while she was getting ready to fly home.

I ended up eating at the crew cafeteria that evening and chatting with one of my co-workers who was new to the base.  It's always nice to make a new friend.  It was too cold to go into town and it was snowing, so it wasn't really something I wanted to get out and walk around in.

This was my first time flying position 5 on Tokyo, which is the First Class galley position.  I had done it to Europe, but never to Japan.  As you can see from my carts, I did a fantastic job!

I love love love flying with the gal on the left, Mary Clair.  She is originally from Barbados, which is one of my favorite layovers!  She has designated me an honorary Bajun (natives of Barbados).  She's very laid back and has a great sense of humor!

We had an extra Japanese meal left over, so I nabbed it for myself (the perks of being the cook I guess).  The main dish was Teriyaki Cod and Tamago (sweetened egg).  I don't know what half the stuff was, but it was good!