Today is my birthday. Today I turned 54. By the time you read this I will be enjoying a slice of my Almond Joy birthday cake. I have been thinking about my birthday cake for weeks. That’s nothing really. Once I thought for three years about my birthday cake. Not the actual flavor, but, the style of cake. I knew without a doubt I wanted a Peanuts themed cake for my 50th birthday. I have loved Snoopy and the Peanuts gang since I was a little girl. I remember when I was a Snoopy-loving kid, 50 seemed so old to me. I actually had a Peanuts birthday cake when I was younger. Oh, how I loved that cake. Turning 50 sounded like the perfect age to have another Peanuts birthday cake. I actually knew when I was 47 what type of dessert I would have the the next three birthdays. I may be The Rerouted Skytress, but, certain things I will not yield too when I have my mind made up. Plus, when your family has forgotten your birthday before, having a plan is actually a survival technique.

Yes, my family has forgotten my birthday a couple of times. Well, they sort of forgot. Let me explain. Once we celebrated my birthday a couple days in advance. The actual day of my birthday I was flying. I waited for my family and friends to call me that day. No one called. It was a very odd feeling. Each year after that,…before Facebook started sending out birthday reminders,….it was my test to see if anybody remembered my birthday. One year my family pretty much forgot. They finally remembered late in the evening. Not surprisingly, I didn’t get a cake that year. Another year my mom went to buy a birthday cake. The line at the bakery was too long so she left. Everyone knows the best part of a birthday is the delicious dessert. Well, at least it is for me. So, I eventually took my birthday cake matters into my own hands and my three-year birthday dessert plan was created. The first year instead of cake, I decided I would have a birthday peach cobbler. Peach cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. Since there isn’t a rule you have to have cake on your birthday….peach cobbler it was! The next year I decided I would have an ice cream cake. Ice cream cakes are such happy cakes and boy are they yummy! The third year was the piece de resistance. It was the big 5-O Snoopy and the Peanuts gang birthday cake. Good grief!! That cake was my all-time favorite.

I must say, I am delighted that my birthday is not on Thanksgiving this year. My sister Maureen and my best friend Tara get to celebrate their birthdays this Thanksgiving. Let me tell you from experience. Trying to eat birthday cake after eating a huge Thanksgiving meal is hard. A couple years ago when my birthday was on Thanksgiving I had an epiphany. I decided to make a pumpkin-cake birthday cake. If ever a two-fer dessert was needed,….it’s definitely needed on a Thanksgiving birthday. I also thought it would be hilarious to put birthday candles in the food as everyone sat down to eat our Thanksgiving meal. In my haste to be funny, I didn’t take into consideration that I was putting wax candles into hot food. Yep, the candles started to melt in the food. Wisdom doesn’t always come with age!

Anyone who knew my Dad, knew he loved a great party. Especially a birthday party. He even had a knack for throwing the occasional surprise birthday party. My Dad always remembered everyone’s birthday. He was incredible about calling or sending a birthday card to family and friends. More than anything though, he loved picking out a special dessert for everyone’s special day. My Dad taught me well. My Dad relished a cake baked with a fruit filling. He also adored a delightful chocolate mousse cake baked by a French bakery by our house. My friend Ivan calls it the Ho Ho cake. It tastes like a Hostess Ho Ho cake on steroids. It’s Devine. We still celebrate my Dad’s birthday with a special cake. I know he is especially thrilled in Heaven when we get his chocolate mousse cake. Not surprisingly, I still celebrate Ron’s birthday with a cake, too. Ron celebrated his birthdays with Carvel ice cream cakes. I never heard of a Carvel cake before I met Ron. Nor, had I ever eaten one. I assumed all ice cream cakes were pretty much the same. Until I learned otherwise. I got Ron a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake for his birthday. When he took a bite he exclaimed, “There’s cake in here!” I never knew an ice cream cake not to have cake in it. I learned after that birthday that Carvel cakes don’t have cake in them. When Ron talked about the chocolate crunchy bits inside the Carvel cakes, I thought it was one of the layers between the cake and ice cream. Boy was I wrong. We laughed about the ice cream cake with cake in it for a long time. Ron enjoyed the Baskin Robbins cake. But, I could tell Carvel cakes were always going to be his favorite. Thus, I bought a Carvel cake to celebrate Ron’s birthday after he died. This year my family celebrated Ron’s birthday with a Baskin Robbins cake. I laughed as I remembered Ron eating his Baskin Robbins cake proclaiming “There’s cake in here!” Next year I will get a Carvel cake again. I know Ron will be delighted in Heaven as we eat his favorite part of the cake….the crunchy chocolate bits.

Ron and I also had a discussion one night about paper blow horns. You know, the ones you blow into and the paper uncurls and makes a noise. Then once you stop blowing, the paper curls back up. We had no Earthly idea what they were called. But, that night I told Ron I was going to get them for my birthday party. The next day I went to the party store. I called Ron and told him the horns are officially called “Blowouts”. We laughed at the simplicity of the name. Of course, I bought several packages. I also bought birthday party hats. My family is abnormally obsessed with birthday party hats. My family doesn’t wear one hat. They like to wear several at one time. The more obnoxious the better. My family is very weird, but, endearing. They truly are the life of birthday parties. If laughter keeps one young, my family will forever be kids at heart.

I am a firm believer Almond Joy cake helps keep a person young, too. It should be noted Ron and I had a thing for Almond Joy candy bars. One day I was on Pinterest and I decided to see if there were any Almond Joy recipes. Pinterest never fails me. There were hundreds. I found a recipe for Almond Joy cupcakes. When I read Almond Joy candy bars are inserted in the cake part, it was an Eureka moment for me. I made the cupcakes. They were delectable. When I made the executive decision to use the recipe to make a two-layered cake, I wasn’t disappointed. The cake is absolutely heavenly. I don’t make the Almond Joy cake very often, though. I don’t want to grow tired of this scrumptious cake. However, 2020 definitely called for the Almond Joy birthday cake. It’s not only a birthday cake. This year it’s a COVID-19 birthday survival cake.

I find it amusing that some years I have difficulty remembering how old I am. This year I’ll remember 54 by thinking of Studio 54. Next year I will remember 55 by singing, “I can’t drive 55”. Hopefully, it will be a smart plan and I will execute it marvelously. Amazingly, I don’t have the same difficulty remembering what I had for my birthday dessert for the past several years. I guess age really is just a number. It’s not very important. A birthday dessert on the other hand is extremely important. At least it is for me. I’m sure as I savor my slice of Almond Joy birthday cake, I will be planning my next birthday delectable. Don’t be surprised if I settle on a three-year plan again. After all, my last three-year birthday cake survival plan was entirely delicious.

Last Tuesday I checked the flight status for my flight home more times than I would like to admit. I was going to have a close connection to make my earlier flight home. I was hoping either my arrival gate into Atlanta or my departure gate home to St. Louis would change. I was scheduled to run from the last gate on one concourse to the last gate on another concourse. I thought if I checked the flight status enough times one of my gates would miraculously change and I wouldn’t have to run so far. It worked. My arrival gate in Atlanta changed by one gate. Wooohoooo!! My crew and I were deadheading back to Atlanta. I proactively change my seat from the exit row to a row closer to the front of the plane. These days we are deplaning by rows. All passengers are to remain seated until the row ahead of them has retrieved their luggage and has started moving up the aisle. I was concerned if I was too far back in the cabin I would get slowed down by dilly-dallying passengers. Once again I have to worry about airplanes having too many passengers to slow me down. It’s a happy problem to have these days. Gratefully, many things have changed for the better these past few months since I have been back flying. So, I figure it is time to give you all a flight status update on my airline. I feel better flying these days. I want you all to feel better flying, too.

I am happy to report our planes are filling up with lots of face-mask wearing passengers. We have a 70% passenger load cap on on our planes right now. Many of our flights are reaching the cap. It’s true we have a lot less airplanes in the sky these days. However, it’s been necessary to bring more planes back into service these past few months because of the increasing passenger loads. We still have the center seats blocked until January 6, 2021. But, don’t be surprised if you are sitting next to someone on the two-seat sided aircraft. It’s only the middle seats that are blocked. Two- seat rows don’t have a middle seat. They are just two seats. (Some passengers are having a hard time this concept). Gate agents, Skytresses and Skyters have become magicians moving people around so they aren’t sitting next to someone they don’t know in the A-B side seats. Thankfully most of our airplanes have three seats on each side. Now you may remember a few weeks ago I told you about the millions of dollars our airline is burning each day. Yes, we are still burning through millions of dollars a day. However, instead of burning through 100 million dollars a day. We are now down to 10-12 million dollars a day. Our executives are cautiously optimistic we will be profitable again by next summer. We are all aware at my airline that things can change again in a heartbeat. Our international demand for flying is uncertain right now due to rising COVID cases and lockdowns in Europe. Our airline has had to cancel international flights due to lack of customer demand. International flights are averaging 74 passengers. I’m not a fan of international flying. But, I am less of a fan of empty airplanes to Europe. I’m going to think positive that passengers will soon be flocking to Europe after the holidays.

When I first came back flying in September the airport was still relatively quiet. The second week of October my crews and I noticed a considerable up-tick in the crowds at the airport. Many days the Altalnta airport almost looks like the Atlanta airport pre-COVID. Although we still have a ways to go, I now find myself zigging and zagging around people all the time in the concourses. My trip last week I actually had to ride the train in the Atlanta airport. It was the first time I have ridden the train since March. I have been basically flying out of two concourses in Atlanta. One of my last trips I flew out of our international concourses. My flight to Birmingham…Alabama, not England…went out of the last international gate on one of our concourses in Atlanta. It was wonderful to see some other parts of the airport. Sadly, one of the duty free stores is still closed. Numerous eateries are still closed on the international concourses, too. Other shops and eateries have limited business hours. Thankfully, not one passenger or crew has died of starvation due to the lack of food options or closed Starbucks. Well, at least I haven’t.

Just like the airports, many hotel restaurants and shops are either closed or are only open at certain hours. I’m being very conscious of what I eat these days. So, I pack my food for my layover meals. Many Skytresses and Skyters I have flown with have no qualms going out to eat or grab a drink either in the hotel or at a restaurant nearby. Interestingly, I’ve learned if you are going to grab a drink in New York, you also have to order food. This has become quite the joke amongst my fellow Skytresses and Skyters that live in New York. They have told us bars are selling carrots or a slice of pizza for a table-full of patrons to get around the Governor ‘s food purchase mandate. They also quip about the travelers coming into the state. Airline passengers are met by the military to fill out paperwork to make sure they quarantine for two weeks. However, if one drives into the state, there is no one there to meet them at the state’s border with a clipboard ensuring they quarantine. Go figure.

Last week I encountered the first hotel room without a hair dryer due to COVID . Luckily, guests could request a hairdryer at the front desk. The sign in my hotel room also stated if I needed an ironing board and iron, one would be provided if I called the front desk. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw an iron and ironing board in my hotel closet. I looked for the person in there to do the ironing, but, unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found! Our layover hotels have also changed in some cities because of the pandemic. Many hotels are hurting without the traveling business and leisure people. Hotel chains are trying to consolidate their hotel guests in one hotel to cut down on costs. I’m a true believer that change doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with some of our new layover hotels.

The biggest question of friends and family…..and the biggest concern for Skytresses and Skyters coming back to fly….is about the passenger mask compliance. I am happy to report passengers have been incredible about wearing their masks. Even after all these months. Of course, there have been a few exceptions. We have now band over 550 passengers from flying because of non-compliant face mask issues. Thankfully, this is an extremely small percentage of our passengers. Passengers are not shy either about telling on their fellow passengers if their masks are not fully covering their nose and mouth. My unofficial observation has been young women in their 20’s are the most likely to stop a Skytress or Skyter to point out the offending person. This doesn’t surprise me. We all know women are keen observers. Young women usually have better eyesight, too. Well, at least better than my old Skytress eyes.

My airline is still working with the Mayo Clinic to help keep the employees and passengers safe. At their suggestion hand sanitizer stations are being installed on all our airplanes. This is in addition to the hand wipes we hand out as passengers board and the hand sanitizer in their snack bags. The Mayo Clinic has made more recommendations for our in-flight serving procedures, too. Specifically on our international flights. We are also being asked to take a monthly COVID-19 test. The Mayo Clinic is keeping statistics of our results to better understand how COVID is affecting our airline. The Mayo Clinic is also keeping tabs on cities where employees reside where COVID cases are increasing. I received an email alerting me to the rise in COVID cases in my area. It was recommended I do another at-home COVID test. I was one step ahead of them. My latest kit arrived the other day. We still have the option to take a rapid COVID test in our crew lounge. I have yet to witness anyone getting a positive result. And I’ve watched a lot of employees utilizing the rapid tests as I kill time in our crew lounge. In the ever changing world of combating this virus, Skytresses and Skyters have new accountable items. We have been issued thermometers to take our temperature daily. This is in addition to our required temperature checks for our trips. Our airline wants the Skytresses and Skyters to take their temperatures before coming to work. Especially, if we commute. They don’t want any employees getting on a plane if they have a temperature. We have another accountable item in clear goggles. The Mayo Clinic’s data shows people wearing eye protection are less susceptible to contracting the virus. We can wear the goggles at all times. However, we are to wear the googles if we have to sit next to another Skytress or Skyter on the jumpseat. Since our flights are at capacity, it is possible that commuter crewmembers and working crew may have to sit next to each other on the jumpseat. All employees now have a self-care app to utilize every day to ensure they are symptom free to come to work. Everyone has an incentive to use the app. Money! Yes, if we use the app 20 cumulative days we get extra money in our paychecks. Yippee! I love extra money in my paycheck!

As you can see, after months of horrific news, my airline flight status is more favorable these days. I know everyone at my airline is working hard to ensure the health and safety of passengers and employees. This knowledge, in addition to some very favorable vaccine test results, has me feeling more optimistic each day. In the coming weeks, I will give you another flight status update on my airline. Remember, I thought positively and I changed my gate in Atlanta one gate closer to my gate going home. I know if I think positively I can change things for the better with COVID-19 at my airline, too. Never underestimate the things a Skytress can do. Being a Skytress is a super power!

Veterans Day is my favorite day of the year to fly. Since this is 2020 and everything seems to be out of wack, of course, I won’t be flying this Veterans Day. Normally on Veterans Day we hand out premium chocolates to all our passengers to celebrate the day. This year because of COVID-19, I’m almost certain we won’t be sharing a sweet treat on our flights. Our company usually has festivities to honor our large contingent of military veterans. These festivities have been postponed this year. Instead, celebrations will take place via Zoom. But, COVID-19 can’t stop me from writing a blog post to honor our Veterans. Sadly, it was pointed out to me years ago, that many Americans thank older veterans for their service. We are less consistent wishing younger veterans a Happy Veterans Day. I know I was guilty of this fact. I corrected the error of my ways that Veterans Day. If you are reading this blog post, and have served in the military, I want to thank you for your service and dedication to our country. You make me proud to be an American.

We can emulate many admirable traits from our Veterans.. Yes, these admirable attributes come under the headings of leadership, honor, and loyalty. But, there are other lesser known qualities we can emulate, too…..like organization skills, precision, and dedication to details. For me, a self-proclaimed organization-lover, I covet these traits I learned from dating men that served in the military. Years ago, I dated a pilot at our airline. He served in the Air Force. When I first saw his closet, I was blown away by what I saw. His clothes were spaced perfectly. His shirts were not only coordinated by color, they were also lined up based on the descending sleeve length. It was an epiphany moment for me. Then when I saw how his tools were organized, I was overjoyed. He had outlines for all his tools on his garage wall. In his 5-drawer tool chest, he had foam cutouts for where the tools were to be place. Simply amazing! I consciously tried to duplicate these details in my home. I know I did an admirable job. How do I know this? A former boyfriend I dated after the pilot told me so. When he saw my closet for the first time he said we would get along splendidly. He was a West Point graduate and had served in the Army. He was trained to be organized, too. I told him I learned my organizational skills from an Air Force guy. He winced a wee bit. But, there is a camaraderie between military people. He admired the pilot’s influence on me. I didn’t want to tell him this same Air Force boyfriend was awarded a bronze sculpture for rewriting our airline’s smoke in the cockpit procedures. He and another pilot used their military training to clear the smoke out of the cockpit when our airline’s procedures didn’t work. However, I did tell Mr. West Point, my favorite passenger of all times was General Norman Schwarzkopf. General Schwarzkopf was also a West Point graduate. Interestingly, the General”s wife, Brenda, was once a Skytress …..for TWA!!!

Mr. West Point also had me watch the mini-series, “Band of Brothers”. He wanted me to understand the brotherhood of those who have served in the military. Even though it is one of my favorite mini-series, I didn’t need to watch it to understand the bond between those who have served. I have the honor of witnessing it everyday. Especially at my airline. Whether it is interactions with my airline family or with our passengers, I see the beautiful military influence on active and retired veterans. A large majority of our pilots are veterans. When I was hired as a Skytress, it was rare to find a pilot that wasn’t military. I’m proud to say we have veterans in many departments at my airline. We have mechanics, ramp agents, customer service agents, reservation agents, and most definitely Skytresses and Skyters that are veterans. We have thousands, yes thousands, of veterans in various departments and positions at my airline. I’m proud to say many are still serving our country in active and voluntary roles. We have a dedicated group of veterans that serve as Honor Guards to meet fallen soldiers being escorted back home via our airline. We also have a group of dedicated veterans that send care packages around the world to those currently serving in the military. And when I say packages, I mean PACKAGES…..typically 70 big boxes per month. That’s a lot of boxes filled with military love!

I love to recognize military people flying on my flights. Both active and retired veterans. I always thank them for their service. Without fail, they always say it is,..or was,…an honor to serve. I am not the only one at my airline that likes to acknowledge our military servicemen and women. My heart leaps inside when a fellow employee recognizes our veterans. Many times we don’t realize what a simple act of acknowledgment can mean to someone….or a family. I learned this valuable lesson early on in my career. We were flying out of Washington D.C. early one morning. I was the Skytress In-Charge. We had many military men and women on board. I concluded my landing PA. by saying it was an honor to acknowledge the servicemen and women on our flight. I said on behalf of my crew and all the employees at our airline, we’d like to thank them for their service and dedication to our country. I prayed that wherever their military service took them….. it was a safe journey. The passengers applauded in recognition of our military passengers. As the passengers deplaned in Cincinnati, I held a beautiful wooden American flag case. I had placed the encased flag in my closet for safe keeping for a family that had just buried their son at Arlington. When the soldier’s parents were deplaning, I handed them their flag. I offered them my condolences again. The soldier’s mother stood before me and thanked me for making the PA. It meant a lot to her. She said when she saw all the military passengers on our flight, she also said a prayer that they would stay out of harms way. She hoped when I said my PA that the passengers on our flight also said a prayer for our soldiers. It would be their “gift” in honor of her son. I think about this soldier’s family more times than I can count. I pray their days are filled with peace and love.

Each branch of the military has a creed by which the servicemen and women live and serve by. These oaths are not only honored while in service, they are honored all their lives. I mentioned earlier that my company has a Honor Guard of veterans to greet the the planes escorting fallen soldiers. However, not all cities have this Honor Guard. But, that doesn’t stop our veterans in other cities from honoring those fallen soldiers. One day I was sitting in the gatehouse in Cincinnati. I went up extra early to have a moment of peace while waiting for our plane to arrive. I noticed a group of ramp agents riding on tugs towards my gate. They were coming from different directions and from different concourses. I was curious as to why they were all coming over to meet the plane. I could see the ramp crew working the flight was already in place. After the aircraft was parked, a funeral hearse pulled up to the back of the airplane. The ramp agents lined both sides of the luggage beltloader. As a flag-covered coffin was unloaded from the cargo compartment, the all stood saluting. Each ramp agent spoke with the military escort accompanying the fallen soldier after the body was placed in the hearse. I looked around the gatehouse. I was the only one to bear witness to this impromptu ceremony. I was overwhelmed with pride for our ramp agents. They may have traded their military uniforms in for airline uniforms, but, they were still serving their fellow soldiers.

The heart of a soldier is extraordinary. I had the privilege to hear a fellow Skyter’s soldier story two years ago at a company-wide meeting. Employees from various departments attended a program so we could have a better understanding of each department’s role at our airline. Yes, knowledge is power. One of the moderators was speaking about going above and beyond what is expected in your job description and the ultimate impact it will have on others. The moderator asked if anyone in the assembly would like to share a moment of unexpected kindness bestowed upon them and how it affected them. A Skyter raised his hand and told us his story. He was a medic in the military going overseas on deployment. He was on one of our airline’s military charter flights. It was late at night and all of his fellow soldiers were sleeping. He could not sleep. He had this prevailing thought bouncing around in his head and heart. He knew he and his soldiers were going to encounter difficult situations. He knew some of his soldiers were going to get hurt. He was confident that he was thoroughly trained to help and ultimately save the lives of those men and women. In practical terms, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to save everyone. This weighed heavily on his heart. A Skytress on his flight noticed he was the only one not sleeping. She invited him to come to the back galley to talk. She asked him his name. He replied with his military rank and last name. She smiled and asked him what his Momma called him. He told her. He also told her why he couldn’t sleep. She asked him if he would like to pray with her to ease his troubled mind. He told us he wasn’t very religious, but, he felt a prayer couldn’t hurt. He said she held his hand and prayed for him and his soldiers. When she was done, she took her wings off her uniform and placed them in his hand. She told him whenever he was overwhelmed with worry and concern on his deployment, he was to hold on to the wings and know she was praying for him. He said when he left the military he knew he wanted to come work for our company because of the kindness of the Skytress. We are blessed to have him as part of our airline family. He is another incredible example of the thousands of veterans that our airplane employs. His dedication to serving his fellow soldiers has parlayed into his dedication to our company and our passengers. He not only has an extraordinary soldier’s heart, he now has an extraordinary Skyter’s heart.

I know you all have extraordinary hearts, too. I know this Wednesday you will reach out to your family members and friends that have served in the military. I know you will call, text or send an email to wish them a Happy Veterans Day. This is my plan, too. I will, also, say a prayer to those that served that are no longer with us. I am certain they will hear my prayers in Heaven. You may have noticed I haven’t used an apostrophe in the spelling of Veterans Day. I take my lead from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. They choose to use the possessive case for their official spelling, “because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, it a day for honoring all veterans.” I could not have said it better. It has been my privilege to honor ALL our veterans in this blog post today. Happy Veterans Day everyone!

Do you know Canadians love Shredded Wheat? I mean LOOOOVVVEEEE Shredded Wheat! I discovered this years ago when we had meal services in the main cabin. When we flew to the western providences of Canada, we were catered with hot meals and cold meals. The hot meal selection was scrambled eggs. The cold meal selection was Shredded Wheat cereal. My first trip to Canada I was certain we would run out of eggs immediately. Who would choose to eat Shredded Wheat? Usually our cereal was Cheerios, Corn Flakes or Chex Cereal. I had no idea why whe would be catered with Shredded Wheat. Well, my stars, those passengers in and out of Canada couldn’t get enough of the Shredded Wheat Cereal! Every trip it was the preferred choice. I was always gobsmacked . The Shredded Wheat mass consumption was only one of many things that has intrigued me about Canada for years. Another intriguing thing about Canada is,… the cutest, and I mean CUTEST Customs Border Officers are in Toronto. I believe it is the number one criteria for becoming a Customs Border Officer in Toronto. If not, it is just a natural phenomenon! Those officers are phenomenally… naturally gorgeous. Not surprisingly, I have many wonderful memories of flying in and out of Canada….and not just gawking at the Customs Border Officers in Toronto. Of course, it will be my pleasure to share a few stories with you. Let’s start in the providence of British Columbia and we will work our way East to Quebec. You know they will be nice, friendly stories. Canadians ooze nice and friendly out of their bodies. Must be the Shredded Wheat.

My tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, started on a city bus with my First Officer. We had a long Vancouver layover. However, for some reason, we were laying over by the airport . The First Officer said he was going to take the bus into Vancouver. He wanted to know if anyone would like to accompany him. He spoke as if he had a plan. Apparently, I was the only one on the crew that liked a man with a plan. So, only he and I hopped on the bus. The First Officer was diligently looking over the map when our bus finally came to a stop. I sat there quietly next to him because I didn’t have a map….or a plan. The passengers on the bus asked us if we needed any help with directions. They politely told us this was the last bus stop. Even the bus driver was apologetic that he couldn’t drive us further. Amazingly, the rest of the day when the First Officer pulled out his map, people would walk up to us and ask us if we needed help. It was so refreshing. We walked miles that day. We strolled through numerous beautiful parks and neighborhoods. We gawked at the enormous cruise ships docked in the water. We sauntered by a multitude of interesting shops I would have loved to peeked in. Unfortunately, I could tell I was more interested in shopping than he was. So, we kept sauntering. We eventually traipsed into a restaurant and had a meal. And I talked. A lot. When I was a young Skytress silence used to make me nervous. Since it was just the two of us, I felt compelled to keep the conversation going. I was actually trying to think of things to talk about. Well, apparently I did a great job. The next day our crew asked the First Officer how our day was touring Vancouver. He said we had a wonderful time. He also added, “Eileen sure likes to talk.” I laughed at it then and I still do. That poor First Officer probably didn’t talk to the Captain the whole way back home. I’m sure I made him talk more than he had in years…. combined.

I told you all a wee bit about one of my Calgary layovers last week. I used to layover in Calgary a lot when I was based in Cincinnati. No layover was complete without a trip to the Calgary Tower in downtown Calgary. The tower rotates so you can see all around the city and the surrounding areas. It always humored me to see the Olympic Ski Jumping ramp in the far distance poking up out of the trees. I loved watching Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards Ski jumped off that ramp. The Calgary Olympics were one of my favorites growing up. The Jamaican Bobsled team made everyone smile in Calgary. Another thing that made me smile in Calgary …..eating with my crews! I’ve definitely had my share of dinners at The Buzzards Breath in Calgary. It was a crew favorite. One layover our Captain suggested a different restaurant he loved. He told us you could eat peanuts at your table and throw the shells on the floor….to soak up the spilled beer, of course. Apparently, Canadians are messy drinkers. Throwing stuff on the floor sounded very appealing to us. However, when we got to the restaurant the floors were pristine. We thought the Captain may have been wrong about the peanut shells on the floor. Yes, we ate every peanut in our baskets when the Captain brought them to the table. But, not one of us dropped a shell on the floor. No patrons at other tables did either. Finally, the Captain had enough of our lollygagging. He unapologetically flung his peanut shells on the floor. We all held our breath for him to be admonished by the waitress. Nothing happened. Well, actually, something did happened. People at other tables brushed their towering piles of peanut shells on the floor, too. Happily, no one got in trouble. Although, I would have loved to have seen a Royal Canadian Mountie in his handsome red uniform walk across the peanut-shell covered floor to give us Americans a talking to. Oh, Canada…..Canadian Mounties make my Irish eyes smile!

On we go to Edmonton. I was excited to finally fly to Edmonton. After all, they have one of the largest malls in the world. Besides eating, Skytresses love to shop. Sadly, I never had a long enough layover to go to the mall. Fortunately, I had long enough layovers to get together with my crews for dinner. The topic of conversation on our Edmonton layovers was always the hotel decor. It was very dated. It was if we had stepped back in time with all the shag carpet and dark woodwork. Sadly, not beautiful mahogany woodwork, either. Rather, very odd, early 1970’s woodwork. Whenever I would go to the restaurant with my crew, I always expected Mrs. Brady and Alice to bring out our meals.

If Toronto has the cutest Customs Border Officers, Edmonton has the quirkiest. I am convinced the Customs Border Officers in Edmonton brief early in the morning and decide how they are going to have fun at the U.S. flight crews expense. I remember once an officer asked me if I had a watch on. I told him I did. He then asked me what brand of watch it was. I would have laughed, only he had a very authoritative voice and he sort of scared me. Of course, my mind went blank and I wasn’t sure what he was fishing for. So, I blurted out my watch was a Timex. It wasn’t a Timex. But, I must have said it with such conviction that he was satisfied with my answer. He then asked the Skytress on my crew if she had any matches. When she said “yes”, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He asked her where she got them. She pulled them out of her flight bag and told him she got them at the hotel. He seemed satisfied with that answer, too. Amazingly, every time we left Edmonton an officer would ask us oddball questions. I love Alberta. But, Edmonton, no offense,….you are a peculiar place with nice,….but, peculiar people.

Toronto is a much more sophisticated city than Edmonton. My opinion may be skewed a wee bit because of the handsome Customs Border Officers and the plethora of chic Toronto boutiques I’ve happily wandered into throughout the years. I know I’ve written about my dream of owning the Toronto Blue Jays. Our crews used to stay at the Skydome Renaissance hotel. (now it’s a Marriott) In my opinion, staying at the Skydome was pure sophistication. It’s a stadium and a hotel! A baseball- loving, architect-genius came up with this concept! I loved how we could go to the hotel bar and stand directly behind the baseball fans in their stadium seats. The hotel would permit one crew member to stay in a guest room that overlooked the outfield, instead of our regular crew rooms, if one was available. Of course, the person that had the room had to agree to let the crew come in to watch the game, too. The crew members also had to sign a waiver like all guest that stayed in rooms over looking the field. The waiver stated no one would be naked or lewd in their rooms with the curtains open. I never had to worry about signing the waiver. There was never a room available for the crew when I stayed there. My relatives have stayed in the rooms overlooking the outfield. I’m proud to report they kept their clothes on when they watched the game! Still, the guest rooms we stayed in were still something to behold. The rooms had two levels. The lower level had the bathroom and sitting area. The sleeping area was up a flight of stairs. Pure Skytress sophistication! I always slept well in the elevated bedroom. Well, unless the guy that loved to hit his drum outside the stadium was there. Unfortunately, he didn’t actually play his drum. He just hit it. It was definitely bizarre….and annoying. He was a far cry from a sophisticated drum player. I’m sure he was most likely from Edmonton.

Here’s an interesting fact. I’ve never layed over in Montreal when it wasn’t bitterly cold. I know they have summers there. Maybe one day I will experience a warm Montreal day. Hopefully, it will be when they have their beautiful outdoor markets open. I do like cold weather. I’m just not built for Montreal cold weather. I believe the ramp agents in Montreal are some of the hardiest humans around. Interestingly, they are also the happiest ramp agents around. Working outside in the harsh weather doesn’t seem to phase them. Unlike the ramp guys, when I was in Montreal, I tried not to leave the warm underground city on my layovers. There are shops and restaurants in the underground city. I kept close to the hotel’s underground entrance when I went shopping. The underground city is confusing to me. I always had a fear I would get lost if I ventured too far from the hotel. I was, also, keenly aware of the fact I don’t speak French if I got lost, too. Once my crew and I got lost in the underground tunnels when we were looking for a restaurant outside. We wanted to eat at a restaurant one of my Skytress friends had gone to with her husband a few weeks prior. We were trying to use the underground tunnels to avoid going outside in the cold to get to the restaurant. Because we love to eat at my airline, Skytress Donna was determined to get us there using the underground tunnels. We would pop up from the underground city like little prairie dogs and Skytress Donna would look out the glass doors to the outside. Several times we did this, ….only to go back down to the tunnels to pop up in another area. Skytress Donna could see the restaurant each time we were at street level looking outside. She just couldn’t figure out what underground tunnel we needed to take to get there. So, she finally asked the dreaded question. Would we mind going outside into the subzero temperatures to get to the restaurant? Since we were now very hungry from all our failed attempts to get to the restaurant via underground, we all agreed to bundle up and proceed into the bitter cold. Now, I have to take Skytress Donna’s word that the food was delicious. I did eat my entire meal. However, I shivered too much during my meal to notice how my food actually tasted.

The last time I crossed the border into Canada was my first trip after Ron died. I flew into Toronto. I flew with my Skytress friend Kristin. She took great care of me. She was my angel on Earth. My angel in Heaven, Ron, knew about my love for Canada. Especially, Toronto. I like to think Ron smiled in Heaven when we landed in Toronto. We weren’t laying over in Toronto on that trip. We were just doing a Toronto turn. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to see the cute Toronto Border Officers. I think Ron may have laughed a wee bit in Heaven knowing this. He knew about my unyielding love for the cute Toronto Border Officers. Ron also knew I loved him more than the cute Border Officers. Yes, Shredded Wheat Cereal may make the cute Canadian Border Officers ooze nice and friendly out of their bodies. But, Ron’s Frosted Mini-Wheats he loved to snack on, most definitely made him much sweeter to me.