Wine an Cheese Night....Cabin Attendants are an Unruley Bunch....Duty Day Leads to a Near Econo Miss....Stick it Where the Sun Don't Shine

Last night was my first "Wine and Cheese Night." Something that, in theory, should be quite fun, and if done properly would be a great activity for the crew to get together and blow off some steam. However, its nothing more than the bar staff setting up a table with different wines and cheese on it. The wines are the crap-list of Berringers and Merlots that the guests, generally being versed in wine (or at least have deep enough pockets to just buy the most expensive), tend to snuff their yuppy noses at. The cheeses are little more than the traditional cheddar, swiss, and pepper-jack that you'll find at your poor cousins graduation party. While the premise of the night was a waste of time, the night itself was salvaged by the conversation of the winos in attendace, and the steady influx of Milli Vanili and Debbie Gibson music videos pooring over the television.

Paul and I also got a new cabin attendant this week. The idea behind the attendant is basically the same as a maid in a hotel. Its nice, you never have to vacum, clean the bathroom, or make your bed. Thumbs up there. Then each pay period you are expected to "tip" these people for their services rendered. However, I have a hard time giving anything (outside of a middle finger and scathing remarks) to someone who is rude and fails to do the job that I am supposed to be tipping them for. This guys is basically a jerk. Its not a way that goes into great description, but there are sometimes in our lives that "jerk" does just fine. He rarely does his job, and when he decides that he's ready, he'll knock on the door to tell us that its time to leave. Sorry pal, that's not how this works. And I say "pal" and "this guy" not out of disrespect, but because he didn't even have the curtosey to introduce himself to us.

One thing that's always fun at any new job is learning the ins and outs of the equipment that you'll be using to perform your daily tasks. When you're a "technician" its expected that you'll be able to handle the equipment to which you are assigned, and if not there should certainly at least be someone on the team who is capable of teaching you this new skill. Not always the case I've found out. I was recently told on my last duty day to patch in audio from broadcast to the observation lounge. Now I had no clue how to do this, so I of course asked, and I didn't get the same answer from a single person on my team. The answers I did get ranged from patching from the IRIS System in the theater, to simply lining a mic up with the intercoms. Though there is tell floating around that there is an actual way to do this, though I have yet to discover the fabled system tool. The frustration from this (and the rest of the BS through out the day) nearly lead to anther "Econo Foods" incident. Luckily, I was in the middle of the ocean, so that made it pretty tough (if you don't know the Econo story, leave a comment and I'll post it).

I was begining to think that when someone tells you to "stick it where the sun don't shine," that they were talking about Alaska, but I guess asses across the globe heard about this and put a word in with the guy upstairs because they have retained their title, at least for the time being, and I think Alaskan's are happy about this, "The Stick-It State" wouldn't look too good on their liscense plates. Since Sunday, the weather has been beautiful every single day. Clear sky with temps in the upper 60s and 70s! I didn't think such a thing was possible.

And lastly, I watched what will probally be my only Green Bay Packer game of the season Thursday (@ G.B. vs The Chargers), and I have to say that I was quite entertained, especially for a preseason game.

That's it for this week. As always, leave lots of comments and e-mails, I thrive on that stuff these days.

peace out yo!
~SBJ