Turnin and Burnin

Sunday, I had the pleasure of working the EWR-IAH-EWR turn on the fancy Boeing 777. We are all well aware of my true feelings towards turns - I have an extreme distaste for them. I picked this particular trip up for a few reasons:

1. I had to get my line value as close to 55 hours as possible; I had 9 hours to play with and open time was not looking good.

2. I would be working first class aisle

3. Sunday, quiet morning crowd, back by 4 then off to Mo's for dinner/sleep over.

In the end, I'm not sure if it was worth it.

When I arrived at the gate, a prompt 10 minutes early, there was no aircraft to be found. It had to be towed in from the ballpark, and arrived about 20 minutes late. The entire Texas Southern football team was going home on my flight; they had just lost to Rutgers (for their homecoming game!) 0-42. I did my best to behave, especially because the dean and athletic coach were seated in my cabin. I was so upset that I didn't have my Rutgers pin on my apron. Its on there now.

We arrived in IAH 45 minutes late, quickly were cleaned and boarded. Once we finished boarding, they announced that there was a problem with one of the cargo doors and we were now indefinitely delayed. I was mildly concerned because I didn't pack anything; I just had my manual. No clean underpants, no pjs, no nothing. Instead of worrying, I ate, took a nap and before I knew it, it was time to board again. The flight going back was smooth, and we arrived in EWR two hours late. I ended up going right back home and won't see Mo til Thursday.

It's days like this that make me thankful to be internationally based and I will most definitely be avoiding turns. They're just not worth it. I left my house at 4:15 am and got home 16 hours later. While the turn was worth more than a day of substituting, the 4th grade was just as well behaved and is 8 minutes from my house. When my best friend J told me she was thinking about quiting if she didn't get the leave, I wasn't really sure why. I felt her pain on Sunday. I am so thankful to be in the international base, a fancy line holder, but most importantly, to be going to ROME tonight!