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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Triple Ds

During my last trip, we had a three hour break to kill in JFK. We, the crew consisting of two flight attendants and two pilots, stayed on the plane and hung out. We all had iPhones, so the four of us sat in First Class, caught up on emails, texted, youtubed, facebooked and googled...and enjoyed each others company.

I do love my iPhone but I'm not very good at smartphoning. :-(
Is there an App Store at Kenwood Town Center?
How did we waste time before the smartphone?

It's fun to be with people who really know how to effectively use their smartphones. John, Chris and Katy (my Captain, First Officer and the other flight attendant respectively) really know how to work their phones with ease and grace. I, on the other hand, fumbled around looking for my glasses, hmming and hawing and continually asking "How do I.....?" Eventually, I ran out of iPhone skills and picked up my knitting.

The Captain is the crew member who sets the tone for the whole trip. Some Captains are all business, some are more laid back, some are resentful of the state of affairs in the airline industry and some are just plain weird. Capt'n John has been with Comair for 31 years. He is number 4 on the pilot seniority list and still enjoys his job. His attitude is that all of his crew members are professionals and should act accordingly but we may as well have a good time while were doing our jobs.  Bless his Heart!

Capt'n John is passionate about searching for the best dining options available for wherever he is and he's generous about sharing his findings... and making sure that his crew never goes hungry or thirsty. He has an App that he put on my phone called GateGuru, that is a great resource that posts security wait times, airport food, shops and services and airport maps for over 115 airports across the US, Canada and Europe. He also put a link for TV Food on my phone so I can find restaurants that have been featured on the Food Network and Travel Channels.

Capt'n John loves his "Triples Ds". For those of you who aren't fans of the Food Network, that stands for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. During the trip he worked his trusty iPhone searching for "Triple Ds" in Boston. He worked his iMagic and arranged for a fabulous and memorable meal at Rino's Place in East Boston. He made our dinner reservation before we took off in JFK for Boston and was told that it would be a 3 hour wait--perfect timing! He then arranged for transportation and luggage storage all via iPhone and tipped our van driver handsomely.

Forty minutes after landing in Boston and five minutes after the hotel van dropped us off at Rino's, our table was ready! The restaurant has 14 tables and the 13 other tables were so engrossed in their meals that they barely noticed the Flight Crew in full uniform entering the restaurant. I loved the atmosphere, I loved the food, I loved the friendly wait staff and I really enjoyed the company of my fellow crew members (I would have felt silly if I were the only one in uniform). All of my expectations of this "Triple D" were exceeded from the Limoncello Shrimp and Asparagus appetizers to the Tiramisu and peach sorbet desserts! The portions were larger than huge--the homemade raviolis were bigger than my hand!

I took pictures of the fabulousness that was served but my iPhotography is terrible!
Capt'n John's Watch and iPhone

Clean Plate Club
The first photo is a great action shot of Capt'n John taking a photo of our food covered table. The second photo is what was left of the tiramisu. Someone needs to come up with a phone camera that I can use and a smell-o-vision app so you can get the full experience.

This four day trip was one of the rare trips that makes me love doing the whole flight attendant thing. When you have a good crew, good weather and an iPhone, it doesn't even feel like you're working. What other job could I have that pays me to have such enjoyable adventures while still on the clock?

What a wonderful and blessed life I have. I get into uniform and I get to see, dine and experience places that most only see on TV and I get out of my uniform and spend time doing what I am most passionate about- knitting and hanging out with Knitwits. I AM living the dream! 



P.S.  Thank you all for the concern that you had for my family members in Japan. According to my mom, everyone is accounted for and doing the best they can. Let's not forget how fortunate we are!

3 comments:

  1. You are so fortunate but, so are we, for having you in our lives.

    I am so happy to hear the family is accounted for. My prayers go out to you and the family for their safety.

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  2. Didn't realize you had family still in Japan. Glad they are safe, and continue to pray for their country.

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  3. Great article . I just wanted to say I too have family in Japan and they are doing like you said as best as they can. The Japanese people are tough, resililant and self sufficient. My heart goes out to this country. I knew you had family over there, and I am glad everyone is ok.

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