This trip is something of a treat in a way, as it is a five day trip, usually a four but Monday and Tuesday's trip gain the extra day.It sure makes a change from the nine 24 hour layovers i did in a row.
Very very hot here, i went to the pool and managed 15 minutes before i could stand the heat no more, it gets up to 110 during the afternoon and as the pool is sheltered from any breeze it must be 120.
I walked to the shopping mall and walked into the Express sale, i though the items i chose for $29.99 were a bargain but when i went to pay they had an extra 40% off so i got all three for $50.00. New summer shoes for $15.99, well pleased, i also tried nothing on until i returned to the hotel and all fit perfectly.
My September roster was published yesterday so had a look via the internet when i got to my room, i have a three day Vancouver and three days means in total so that is a 24 hour stopover and night sector home, a four day Los Angeles, and a five day Mauritius, now that flight is vile, full of honeymooners all asking for upgrades, day light flight home, no one sleeps, and call bells going off left right and centre, not looking forward to it at all but if the Union start strikes in September i may lose it so heres hoping, not that i like strikes but once a scab always a scab and i would hate to be labelled with that title so i will stay at home as requested by my union, they seem to know how to attack things and keep a low profile leading us to believe nothing is happening but too many moles around leaking info back to BA so they pounce when the time is right.
So nice ot be in touch with old friends via Facebook, we often think what are those people doing now, or where are they in the world and facebook allows us to stay in touch and see their photos, profiles, comments, i love it and will be the first to admit i am an addict, love Farmville.!!!
Facebook can also be an enemy, people can read things in a way they choose too and you cannot sense emotions and mood when reading so there has been some fall outs but i have been lucky, the only people i have deleted are the weak!
I have my annual flying exams for three days next week, 11th 12th 13th August, not looking forward to that and never do, i will have done them 22 times already in my career and nothing changes, i think what people do not understand is the flying protocol, it is like driving a car you need a licence for each aircraft type you fly on and to get the licence you have to pass the exams on door operation, emergency equipment location, fire fighting drills, all aircraft are different so i could not jump off a 747 and then work on an airbus...i have two licences Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777-200.
Wish me luck!!
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Ba's got talent
BA's Got Talent Final
Friday 01st October 2010
Olympus Hall
10 Contestants, One Goal, To Be the 2010, BA's Got Talent Winner.
This action packed evening all in aid of the chosen charity ‘Comic Relief’, will have 10 British Airways employees competing for a grand prize of £750 and a chance to perform at a British Airways Charity Event.
Chico will be judging the competition with two other judges, followed by a charity raffle with great prizes and then a performance by a special celebrity guest.
Tickets are £10 with under 5's FREE.
I cannot believe i am in the top ten, however i will just go on my own, mum and dad will be on their cruise until October 4th and will not be able to support me, ah well, i will sing even better hoping they can hear me!
Friday 01st October 2010
Olympus Hall
10 Contestants, One Goal, To Be the 2010, BA's Got Talent Winner.
This action packed evening all in aid of the chosen charity ‘Comic Relief’, will have 10 British Airways employees competing for a grand prize of £750 and a chance to perform at a British Airways Charity Event.
Chico will be judging the competition with two other judges, followed by a charity raffle with great prizes and then a performance by a special celebrity guest.
Tickets are £10 with under 5's FREE.
I cannot believe i am in the top ten, however i will just go on my own, mum and dad will be on their cruise until October 4th and will not be able to support me, ah well, i will sing even better hoping they can hear me!
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Why?
I ask myself this question a lot, Why??
Why is it i appear as the life a soul of the party but put me alone somewhere and i sob uncontrollably, maybe i have a fear of being unable to show my emotions openly, or don't like people to see me upset as i hate all the, cuddles, rubs, conversations, and remarks like " don't worry it will be fine".
I always say the time you cannot bare to listen to Radio one, and you switch to Radio 2 you are getting older, i love smooth radio, magic fm or radio 2, other stations play music now which i have no idea what it is.
Today was an embarrassing day, i went to the Apple Store in New York for an I-pad as much cheaper than in uk and all i needed was a travel adaptor so convert the voltage when at home. I got to the check out and my boxed i-pad and cover was placed in front of me, the bankers card was however declined after two attempts, i stayed at the check out and called th bank number on reverse of the card, after entering card numbers, asked questions like mothers maiden name, date of birth, address, postcode, i failed to name a Direct debit amount and date that it comes out of my account so the Nice Indian man in some call centre in Bombay cancelled my card so i can now buy nothing and need to go home to my branch with two forms of I.D. so the card can be reactivated, such a pain in the arse as i was only spending just over £300, you would think i was spending thousands.
The cashier in apple store did say it happens a lot as when someone steals a card their first port of call is the Apple Store so everyone around was looking at me like some credit card fraudster!!
I got out of their, one half of me was embarrassed and upset the other was angry,i will now try the apple store in Arizona next week, that will confuse Barclays.
Why is it i appear as the life a soul of the party but put me alone somewhere and i sob uncontrollably, maybe i have a fear of being unable to show my emotions openly, or don't like people to see me upset as i hate all the, cuddles, rubs, conversations, and remarks like " don't worry it will be fine".
I always say the time you cannot bare to listen to Radio one, and you switch to Radio 2 you are getting older, i love smooth radio, magic fm or radio 2, other stations play music now which i have no idea what it is.
Today was an embarrassing day, i went to the Apple Store in New York for an I-pad as much cheaper than in uk and all i needed was a travel adaptor so convert the voltage when at home. I got to the check out and my boxed i-pad and cover was placed in front of me, the bankers card was however declined after two attempts, i stayed at the check out and called th bank number on reverse of the card, after entering card numbers, asked questions like mothers maiden name, date of birth, address, postcode, i failed to name a Direct debit amount and date that it comes out of my account so the Nice Indian man in some call centre in Bombay cancelled my card so i can now buy nothing and need to go home to my branch with two forms of I.D. so the card can be reactivated, such a pain in the arse as i was only spending just over £300, you would think i was spending thousands.
The cashier in apple store did say it happens a lot as when someone steals a card their first port of call is the Apple Store so everyone around was looking at me like some credit card fraudster!!
I got out of their, one half of me was embarrassed and upset the other was angry,i will now try the apple store in Arizona next week, that will confuse Barclays.
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
BA the truth!!! ( as copied pasted from a newspaper read my millions)
Without its staff, BA is nothing extraordinaryCompared with our biggest competitors, BA cabin crews are not well-paid. Money wasted in disputes could have gone to us
I've been a BA cabin crew member for 21 years. BA has consistently stated that its costs are so high that it cannot keep paying such inflated wages and benefits and still make a profit. Indeed, it says cabin crew's remuneration needs to be cut to the market rate of other UK competitors, plus an additional 10%.
In the war of attrition against us, our CEO published blatantly inaccurate figures about our salaries on the company website to support this argument. The figures bore no relation to reality, but I found myself having to justify my salary at every party, during every flight and in every conversation. People believe what they read, so I decided to investigate.
Just like the untruth that "very few cabin crew went on strike" according to Willie Walsh, when it has now been confirmed over that 70% took industrial action, the published cabin crew salaries present a gross inaccuracy.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reveals the true figures. BA cabin crew are already the lowest paid personnel within the company. The average salary cost for pilots is £107,600. Cabin crew costs are 72% lower. The average maintenance and overhaul personnel salary cost is £39,800. Cabin crew costs are 25% lower. The average ticketing and sales personnel salary cost is £34,600. Cabin crew are 13% lower. And, the salary costs for pilot is some 40% higher than the average market rate of UK pilots.
The company compares our salaries with Virgin, easyJet and other UK carriers. But on every internal training course I have ever done, BA make it clear we are a global, full service, premium airline.
Comparing our salaries with our biggest competitors, namely, Singapore and Emirates, BA's proposal for the "new fleet" salaries of £11,000 basic plus £2.40 an hour is not an attractive one. By contrast, Singapore pay £20,792 (not including the annual supplement of one month's salary or the profit share), flight pay and health and pension packages
CAA reports also show that BA cabin crew expenditure has been dropping since 2006 while easyJet and Virgin salaries have increased. For example, from 2006 to 2008, BA salary costs have fallen from £24,709 to £23,654, while easyJet's have risen from £20,818 to £28,998.
Virgin also offer more favourable staff travel perks – 10 free tickets per year for any friend as against BA's one after eight years and two after 20 years for two nominees. BA's pensionable pay is on basic pay only. After some 30 years of service, many staff will retire on less than £12,000 per year.
Between 2006 and 2008, BA passenger revenue increased, with 2008 being BA's most profitable year ever. Yet, according to Walsh, in June 2009 company cash reserves were so low that he asked staff to work for nothing.
One year on, the BA board has awarded itself a remuneration package of £14m (for 11 members) and wasted £1.4bn on facing down strikes rather than reaching a negotiated settlement.
BA charges the most expensive prices in Britain, yet regards its cabin crew as instantly replaceable without it affecting the quality of the brand. The standard of recruits will drop, staff morale will be low but the ticket price will remain high. Customers and shareholders will suffer the most in the end, as there will be nothing to differentiate BA from any other airline
I've been a BA cabin crew member for 21 years. BA has consistently stated that its costs are so high that it cannot keep paying such inflated wages and benefits and still make a profit. Indeed, it says cabin crew's remuneration needs to be cut to the market rate of other UK competitors, plus an additional 10%.
In the war of attrition against us, our CEO published blatantly inaccurate figures about our salaries on the company website to support this argument. The figures bore no relation to reality, but I found myself having to justify my salary at every party, during every flight and in every conversation. People believe what they read, so I decided to investigate.
Just like the untruth that "very few cabin crew went on strike" according to Willie Walsh, when it has now been confirmed over that 70% took industrial action, the published cabin crew salaries present a gross inaccuracy.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reveals the true figures. BA cabin crew are already the lowest paid personnel within the company. The average salary cost for pilots is £107,600. Cabin crew costs are 72% lower. The average maintenance and overhaul personnel salary cost is £39,800. Cabin crew costs are 25% lower. The average ticketing and sales personnel salary cost is £34,600. Cabin crew are 13% lower. And, the salary costs for pilot is some 40% higher than the average market rate of UK pilots.
The company compares our salaries with Virgin, easyJet and other UK carriers. But on every internal training course I have ever done, BA make it clear we are a global, full service, premium airline.
Comparing our salaries with our biggest competitors, namely, Singapore and Emirates, BA's proposal for the "new fleet" salaries of £11,000 basic plus £2.40 an hour is not an attractive one. By contrast, Singapore pay £20,792 (not including the annual supplement of one month's salary or the profit share), flight pay and health and pension packages
CAA reports also show that BA cabin crew expenditure has been dropping since 2006 while easyJet and Virgin salaries have increased. For example, from 2006 to 2008, BA salary costs have fallen from £24,709 to £23,654, while easyJet's have risen from £20,818 to £28,998.
Virgin also offer more favourable staff travel perks – 10 free tickets per year for any friend as against BA's one after eight years and two after 20 years for two nominees. BA's pensionable pay is on basic pay only. After some 30 years of service, many staff will retire on less than £12,000 per year.
Between 2006 and 2008, BA passenger revenue increased, with 2008 being BA's most profitable year ever. Yet, according to Walsh, in June 2009 company cash reserves were so low that he asked staff to work for nothing.
One year on, the BA board has awarded itself a remuneration package of £14m (for 11 members) and wasted £1.4bn on facing down strikes rather than reaching a negotiated settlement.
BA charges the most expensive prices in Britain, yet regards its cabin crew as instantly replaceable without it affecting the quality of the brand. The standard of recruits will drop, staff morale will be low but the ticket price will remain high. Customers and shareholders will suffer the most in the end, as there will be nothing to differentiate BA from any other airline
Monday, 19 July 2010
Work
Another flight loomed and i checked in, 11 strangers met in the briefing room for the BA193 to Dallas, 3 hours later on the flight i was to find out that there were only three strikers on the trip and 8 scabs.....it is like throwing deer in a compound with lions for nine hours and ask them to get along, it is not going to happen, we bite our lips, hold our tongues, say nothing in case the intimidation card is dealt. At one point a heated discussion had to be stopped as two strikers were not agreeing with two non strikers and visa versa.
However, i did my job as i am supposed too, passengers were all happy, we operated with the new First Class cabin which is really "sharp".
Flight crew/cabin crew relations were strained, no first class food was offered, they received crew food and deli paper cups, usually china! This was not my doing but the decision of the Psr.
I am now in my hotel room, after yet another cry, i am alone, locked in and safe, i have no one at home to discuss this with, or should i say no one who knows how to make me feel better.
I was asked today by a total stranger that after 25 years do you still love your partner, my honest answer was "yes i do!", my life would be very empty after 25 years with the same person, no one is perfect and he is all but perfect but i love him for who and what he is and nothing else.
Well i will sign off now after another rant and hopefully things will improve in the future, i still love my job but current situations are making the job very difficult, we need this sorting, we need BA back and we all need to return to the jobs we are paid to do and settle back into normality.
This is something i pray for each day!
However, i did my job as i am supposed too, passengers were all happy, we operated with the new First Class cabin which is really "sharp".
Flight crew/cabin crew relations were strained, no first class food was offered, they received crew food and deli paper cups, usually china! This was not my doing but the decision of the Psr.
I am now in my hotel room, after yet another cry, i am alone, locked in and safe, i have no one at home to discuss this with, or should i say no one who knows how to make me feel better.
I was asked today by a total stranger that after 25 years do you still love your partner, my honest answer was "yes i do!", my life would be very empty after 25 years with the same person, no one is perfect and he is all but perfect but i love him for who and what he is and nothing else.
Well i will sign off now after another rant and hopefully things will improve in the future, i still love my job but current situations are making the job very difficult, we need this sorting, we need BA back and we all need to return to the jobs we are paid to do and settle back into normality.
This is something i pray for each day!
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Difficult life!!
I always seem to go through a great period in life then all the troubles of the world seem to pile up on my shoulders at the same time making me powerless and weak!
First off Megan the dog started to have chronic diarrhoea on Sunday, she had a reprieve on Wednesday, then Thursday seems to have her all loose again, i will see how she is once i get home and maybe a trip to the vets is in order.
Then on this trip only 3 out of 11 crew were on strike and the 8 scabs are all spread all over the different cabins so there is no escape, even the CSD is a scab, the atmopshere is not good and the tension is mounting, i try and get on with my job and try and bite my lip, not an easy thing for me to do.
Then i heard the letters have arrived at our homes for those who have to do Standby at Christmas, i text home with no reply so that is telling me i am one of the chosen ones, i loathe working Christmas as when your parents get older these are cherished times in the calendar and to be away from them is not easy, i have always vowed i will lock myself in a hotel room and speak or socialise with no one. if i cannot have Christmas at home i refuse to enjoy it with a bunch of strangers or possibly even scabs!!
I am in Muscat now typing this, Oman is hot, 46 degrees outside, we fly to Abu Dhabi from here, a 30-40 minute flight then stay on ground for an hour, load more passengers then fly to London Heathrow which will take about 7 hours landing at 0620 in the morning so should be home by 0800.
Just had my 2125 ( local) wake up call so will have to go now and get the eau de boeing uniform on ready for the longhaul home, just two days off then Dallas, which i have applied for unpaid leave to avoid but not heard anything yet.
Nite nite folks!!
First off Megan the dog started to have chronic diarrhoea on Sunday, she had a reprieve on Wednesday, then Thursday seems to have her all loose again, i will see how she is once i get home and maybe a trip to the vets is in order.
Then on this trip only 3 out of 11 crew were on strike and the 8 scabs are all spread all over the different cabins so there is no escape, even the CSD is a scab, the atmopshere is not good and the tension is mounting, i try and get on with my job and try and bite my lip, not an easy thing for me to do.
Then i heard the letters have arrived at our homes for those who have to do Standby at Christmas, i text home with no reply so that is telling me i am one of the chosen ones, i loathe working Christmas as when your parents get older these are cherished times in the calendar and to be away from them is not easy, i have always vowed i will lock myself in a hotel room and speak or socialise with no one. if i cannot have Christmas at home i refuse to enjoy it with a bunch of strangers or possibly even scabs!!
I am in Muscat now typing this, Oman is hot, 46 degrees outside, we fly to Abu Dhabi from here, a 30-40 minute flight then stay on ground for an hour, load more passengers then fly to London Heathrow which will take about 7 hours landing at 0620 in the morning so should be home by 0800.
Just had my 2125 ( local) wake up call so will have to go now and get the eau de boeing uniform on ready for the longhaul home, just two days off then Dallas, which i have applied for unpaid leave to avoid but not heard anything yet.
Nite nite folks!!
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Health
I have managed to get my Blood Glucos levels down to 7.7, they still should be between 3 and 6 but better than 16.5 that i was faced with only months ago.
Now my cholesterol is too high and i have to take a simvistatin tablet at bedtime to control that and my diabetes medication is 3 a day now instead of 2.
I think once you hit 45 life is a downhill struggle with illness,the body seems to be fighting years of abuse, stress and everyday problems that affect us.
Such a shame that i have to now deal with this for the rest of my life.
If the people who's behaviour only knew they were the cause!!!
Now my cholesterol is too high and i have to take a simvistatin tablet at bedtime to control that and my diabetes medication is 3 a day now instead of 2.
I think once you hit 45 life is a downhill struggle with illness,the body seems to be fighting years of abuse, stress and everyday problems that affect us.
Such a shame that i have to now deal with this for the rest of my life.
If the people who's behaviour only knew they were the cause!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)