munitalP
Suspended
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Posts
- 3,802
The alarm woke me from the deepest sleep, it seemed like I had just gone to bed, oh well, time to get up. 0345 is an ungodly hour, I ask myself why the hell do I do this as I stumble along the hallway in the dark towards the kitchen...
I turn the kettle on, I can't be bothered making a cappuccino, too early, I'll have an instant coffee or a jasmine tea once I have showered. For a change, I packed the night before, so my 45 minutes before my driver arrived passed stress free and with a good 15 minutes up my sleeve, I relaxed with my coffee and quickly scanned my email from overnight.
At 0430 on the dot, the black 7 series pulled into my drive like a stealth fighter, noiseless and shining under the sodium vapor haze of the streetlights. Travelling along the freeway a little over the speed limit, the remarkable engineering of the BMW is underscored, the smooth silent ride only interrupted with brief banter from my driver over our standing $50.00 bet on the outcome of the soccer world cup.
40 minutes later, we were outside terminal jostling for a park. I bid farewell and joined the ranks of shuffling business suits waiting for check in at the premium line. Today thankfully my attire consisted of Armani jeans, a tee shirt and a hillfinger jumper, travel only today. I handed my card to the check in lady, told her I was off to Darwin via Brisbane to which she handed me my boarding passes, fast professional and not a word wasted. I wandered over to security, through with no problems, bomb checked then up to the lounge.
I had a coffee steamed out, grabbed an orange juice, a glass of yogurt, berry and toasted oats, and settled down and relaxed while eating breakfast safe in the knowledge that all of my friends were still asleep, I think I asked myself why I was doing this again, to be honest, I am getting tired of this lifestyle...
I am dragging my cabin bag / overnight bag as I have a overnight side trip to do on a dash 8, so 5 minutes before boarding is showing on the monitor, I meander down to gate 5 - I want my luggage above row 6 where I am sitting. I normally don't carry large luggage like this and frequently see others issues placing luggage in overheads in some proximity to their seating, I'm not interested in this game, and my case travels in the bin above my seat.
I am in 6A, a full flight, normal for the first of the day between Melbourne and Brisbane, so with little elbow room, I lean toward the window and close my eyes and am asleep before the aircraft had left the ground. I awoke on descent, and had a wonderful view of the hinterland then Brisbane as we went out over the water and landed from the east.
Once off the aircraft, I took a leisurely stroll around the terminal thinking I might buy a book (FAIL) and finally ended up back in the lounge where I had another coffee. My Darwin flight was quickly called at gate 22 so I left the lounge and went out and joined the line. I dug into my bag front pocket and extracted my boarding pass, I had online selected seat 26k for the 4 hour flight with the hope no one would be allocated the seat next to me, in recent times I have been quite lucky with no neighbors.
While standing in line, I finally looked at the boarding pass, 5k (woo hoo!), I had been op'd and I didn't even realize until that moment. A smile and a reassessment of why I do this **** - a little ray of hope that my day will get better from this point on, 4 hours in business class does that to me...
I arrived basically on time in Darwin along with quite a few other aircraft it seemed. I bee lined for thrifty to pick up my rental, then wandered over to the luggage belt where my case was one of the first out. I wandered out into the glorious Darwin weather, stripped off the hilfinger and managed a smile from ear to ear. I found the XR6 renter and pointed it in the direction of Cullum bay where my serviced apartment awaited, I so love Darwin, especially around Cullum bay area.
My apartment looked out over the marina, what a view. I showered and dressed more appropriate for Darwin, a tee and boardies then headed back out, done some shopping and bought some beer. Back at the apartment I realized again my piece of paradise wasn't being shared with my wonderful wife, yet another in a long line of events not shared with her, so on that note, and wanting to share these moments from here on in, I sent a message to my boss that he would have my resignation by email the following morning.
With that I sat back, took in the view, ordered a pizza, drank my beer and had the best night’s sleep I have had in 6 years...
The next two days were filled with meetings, numerous phone calls (!) and some quite interesting emails about me resigning from my position! Here’s the catch – I don’t think I could sustain another year of 130+ flights, constant stress associated with my position and sometimes hostile customers who have not come out of the GFC well – I don’t want this and I have chosen for what I hope to be the better.
I was supposed to have a meeting just outside of Kununurra (a diamond mine) but this was cancelled due to the customer having the flu, so I decided to get the next flight home. I am flying DJ – I need to keep my silver status, I hate lining up(!) so this was one of the few I need to do this year. I mentally and physically prepared myself for a four hour DJ flight in Y by swilling down crown lager, but after 4 bottles and standing waiting for checking in, I realized that I wasn’t the man I thought I was, I wasn’t brave enough and no where near drunk enough for this experience, so at check in, I upgraded myself to Y+.
Upstairs, I was dismayed to find the QP closed, no “lounge” and only one bar to partake a few more beers. These crowns were hitting the spot, and in no time we were boarded and I was sitting in 1F.
I have done a few Y+ flights now on DJ, and the thing that always makes me laugh is the way the FA comes up and asks if I want anything from the selection offered and in a manor fitting a conspiracy, lowers her voice and says “its all free!” – LOL, of course darl, I’ve just paid extortion for a expander seat with no legroom!
Eventually the beer takes effect and I doze – I am the only paid PAX in Y+, yet every time I open my eyes, there is someone sitting in the Y+ seats in row 1 or 2 – admittedly the FA’s would shoo them out, but this reminds me again that the demographic of the average traveler on a DJ flight seems to be the LCC frequenter, and with no forward based FA on the aircraft, this practice keeps on keeping on…
We landed on time to a blustery cold Melbourne, from 30 to 3 in 4 hours but, I don’t care. I’m home, I’m happy and effectively, a few days off being unemployed…
munitalP
I turn the kettle on, I can't be bothered making a cappuccino, too early, I'll have an instant coffee or a jasmine tea once I have showered. For a change, I packed the night before, so my 45 minutes before my driver arrived passed stress free and with a good 15 minutes up my sleeve, I relaxed with my coffee and quickly scanned my email from overnight.
At 0430 on the dot, the black 7 series pulled into my drive like a stealth fighter, noiseless and shining under the sodium vapor haze of the streetlights. Travelling along the freeway a little over the speed limit, the remarkable engineering of the BMW is underscored, the smooth silent ride only interrupted with brief banter from my driver over our standing $50.00 bet on the outcome of the soccer world cup.
40 minutes later, we were outside terminal jostling for a park. I bid farewell and joined the ranks of shuffling business suits waiting for check in at the premium line. Today thankfully my attire consisted of Armani jeans, a tee shirt and a hillfinger jumper, travel only today. I handed my card to the check in lady, told her I was off to Darwin via Brisbane to which she handed me my boarding passes, fast professional and not a word wasted. I wandered over to security, through with no problems, bomb checked then up to the lounge.
I had a coffee steamed out, grabbed an orange juice, a glass of yogurt, berry and toasted oats, and settled down and relaxed while eating breakfast safe in the knowledge that all of my friends were still asleep, I think I asked myself why I was doing this again, to be honest, I am getting tired of this lifestyle...
I am dragging my cabin bag / overnight bag as I have a overnight side trip to do on a dash 8, so 5 minutes before boarding is showing on the monitor, I meander down to gate 5 - I want my luggage above row 6 where I am sitting. I normally don't carry large luggage like this and frequently see others issues placing luggage in overheads in some proximity to their seating, I'm not interested in this game, and my case travels in the bin above my seat.
I am in 6A, a full flight, normal for the first of the day between Melbourne and Brisbane, so with little elbow room, I lean toward the window and close my eyes and am asleep before the aircraft had left the ground. I awoke on descent, and had a wonderful view of the hinterland then Brisbane as we went out over the water and landed from the east.
Once off the aircraft, I took a leisurely stroll around the terminal thinking I might buy a book (FAIL) and finally ended up back in the lounge where I had another coffee. My Darwin flight was quickly called at gate 22 so I left the lounge and went out and joined the line. I dug into my bag front pocket and extracted my boarding pass, I had online selected seat 26k for the 4 hour flight with the hope no one would be allocated the seat next to me, in recent times I have been quite lucky with no neighbors.
While standing in line, I finally looked at the boarding pass, 5k (woo hoo!), I had been op'd and I didn't even realize until that moment. A smile and a reassessment of why I do this **** - a little ray of hope that my day will get better from this point on, 4 hours in business class does that to me...
I arrived basically on time in Darwin along with quite a few other aircraft it seemed. I bee lined for thrifty to pick up my rental, then wandered over to the luggage belt where my case was one of the first out. I wandered out into the glorious Darwin weather, stripped off the hilfinger and managed a smile from ear to ear. I found the XR6 renter and pointed it in the direction of Cullum bay where my serviced apartment awaited, I so love Darwin, especially around Cullum bay area.
My apartment looked out over the marina, what a view. I showered and dressed more appropriate for Darwin, a tee and boardies then headed back out, done some shopping and bought some beer. Back at the apartment I realized again my piece of paradise wasn't being shared with my wonderful wife, yet another in a long line of events not shared with her, so on that note, and wanting to share these moments from here on in, I sent a message to my boss that he would have my resignation by email the following morning.
With that I sat back, took in the view, ordered a pizza, drank my beer and had the best night’s sleep I have had in 6 years...
The next two days were filled with meetings, numerous phone calls (!) and some quite interesting emails about me resigning from my position! Here’s the catch – I don’t think I could sustain another year of 130+ flights, constant stress associated with my position and sometimes hostile customers who have not come out of the GFC well – I don’t want this and I have chosen for what I hope to be the better.
I was supposed to have a meeting just outside of Kununurra (a diamond mine) but this was cancelled due to the customer having the flu, so I decided to get the next flight home. I am flying DJ – I need to keep my silver status, I hate lining up(!) so this was one of the few I need to do this year. I mentally and physically prepared myself for a four hour DJ flight in Y by swilling down crown lager, but after 4 bottles and standing waiting for checking in, I realized that I wasn’t the man I thought I was, I wasn’t brave enough and no where near drunk enough for this experience, so at check in, I upgraded myself to Y+.
Upstairs, I was dismayed to find the QP closed, no “lounge” and only one bar to partake a few more beers. These crowns were hitting the spot, and in no time we were boarded and I was sitting in 1F.
I have done a few Y+ flights now on DJ, and the thing that always makes me laugh is the way the FA comes up and asks if I want anything from the selection offered and in a manor fitting a conspiracy, lowers her voice and says “its all free!” – LOL, of course darl, I’ve just paid extortion for a expander seat with no legroom!
Eventually the beer takes effect and I doze – I am the only paid PAX in Y+, yet every time I open my eyes, there is someone sitting in the Y+ seats in row 1 or 2 – admittedly the FA’s would shoo them out, but this reminds me again that the demographic of the average traveler on a DJ flight seems to be the LCC frequenter, and with no forward based FA on the aircraft, this practice keeps on keeping on…
We landed on time to a blustery cold Melbourne, from 30 to 3 in 4 hours but, I don’t care. I’m home, I’m happy and effectively, a few days off being unemployed…
munitalP
