A few days ago, I was on a trip that just wasn’t going well. I’m normally pretty resilient when it comes to handling changes at work, but these just wore on me. I had schedule change after schedule change. At one point, I was ready to walk out of the hotel and we were stopped by scheduling (fortunately). Didn’t leave for another 10 hours after that. And so on and so forth. When all was said and done, I wound up missing my whole first trip on my August bidline due to a grand total of 2 days of delay on my last trip from July. <\/p>\n
In the midst of all that, I reported for work in the lobby in Leipzig. It was about 2:00 a.m. and I was heading back to the U.S. I wasn’t in a particularly good mood. When I checked out, I asked if there was any coffee available, knowing full well the answer would be “no.” Much to my surprise, the gal behind the desk cheerfully offered to make me a cup. <\/p>\n
I sat down to my cup of coffee, complete with a nice tray setup, and thought to myself, “this really makes me happy.” I know, I shouldn’t find happiness in a cup of coffee in the middle of the night, but I did. <\/p>\n
Just then, I spotted a familiar face. Another World pilot showed up in the lobby, also reporting for work (he was leaving later than me). The last time I saw him was in Anchorage over dinner with some friends. It was a small-world moment, the details of which I’ll keep to myself, but it was another one of those things that made me happy.<\/p>\n
And during the course of the conversation, he shined the light on my arguably bad attitude. I complained about the unreliability of my schedules. I commented that I’ve had 3 bidlines since getting checked out and have, so far, done a grand total of two flights as scheduled. Not a very good track record (the first month I did exactly none of my bidline). He replied with, “but aren’t you guys really busy, you know, getting lots of volunteer time?” He does have a point, there. Here he is complaining about not having enough work and I’m complaining that I’m not getting exactly what I want. I guess the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence… and I’m on the other side of the fence.<\/p>\n
So I came home 3 days early. While that should have made me happy, it really didn’t at first. I bid the line because it paid well. I lost 3 days of pay. So I set out to see if I could do something about that. I had a really great solution figured out, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Now, I’ve got another solution in mind and I think it has a lot better chance of happening. The upside to this latest one? I get to stay home through Sunday, and then work 4 extra days next week, more than I lost, and get extra days off pay for all of them. While I would have preferred the first trip (Australia and Alaska), I’ll be happy to make up way more than I lost with only one net extra day of work and keep my Sunday off.<\/p>\n
I guess I can’t have everything, but a friendly host offering cup of coffee at 2 a.m., a visit with a familiar face, and a Pretty Good Deal at work makes me happy. <\/p>\n
V-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few days ago, I was on a trip that just wasn’t going well. I’m normally pretty resilient when it comes to handling changes at work, but these just wore on me. I had schedule change after schedule change. At one point, I was ready to walk out of the \u2026 Continue reading