As I came in to the apartment after work tonight, there was a letter from a company asking for money and a small package. As I wasn’t expecting anything I examined it and saw that it was sent from one of the readers of this blog in Denmark and contained this book:
Accompanying it, was a nice little note from the sender. If you have read the comments to some blog entries, you might be able to guess who this person is and if not, well then he/she will remain unknown to you. However there is a small message I would like to give this person and it is:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I shall start reading it as soon as possible
09:17 on Friday, March 28th marked the moment when I became yet a year older and even if it was celebrated in a slightly calmer style compared to last year it was still a great day.
After getting people to where they were going at work and eating a lot of cake with my dear colleagues I headed to Uppsala for a nice Greek dinner followed by a fantastic chocolate moose ehrm mouse and tea with Ms I.
My birthday mouse!
Only thing I missed this day was to fly but my annoying cold put a stop to this!
Today’s shift at Arlanda involved a 50/50 split between terminals 4 (domestic) and 5 (international) with a wide variety of passenger types making the day fly by, even if there was still plenty of time to catch breath and chit chat with colleagues. As we were all “in the same boat” a colleague had painted easter eggs and decorated the break room.
Throughout the day, I had frequent updates from my old friend Anna working for “KR” a.k.a. the ramp services about how little she had to do. A comparison at the end of the day showed that she had been scheduled 38% of the time whereas I had 108%!! talk about an interesting case of staff planning. Thus, the last hour when we had nothing scheduled it was time to pay her a visit and as you are well aware, one should try to blend in with the culture of the place you are visiting and making an exception would be ignorant:
Now you know why your bags always take so long to arrive!
While Sweden has taken a few days off for the Easter holoday, I’ve been busy with work and of course appying to my masters prog. in September. However, it will take until July 15th before I have my final answer. The application has been submited as follows:
1. UU-P2113 – Master in Strategic Marketing Management, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala 2. UU-P2111 – Master in Management of International Business, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala
3. UU-P2112 – Master in Management in a Global Society, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala
All remaining now is to send my grades and other required documents to Strömsund where they will collect a nice layer of dust.
After a busy week at Arlanda, it is nice to enjoy some time off. The intention earlier this week was to go flying but with a TAF reading ESSA 151130Z 151221 31007KT 9999 -RASN SCT008 BKN015 TEMPO 1221 4000 SHSNRA BKN008= I decided terra firma was a better place to be.
Apart from the course completion, there hasn’t been much to write about from the airport but things should come up to speed next week with the easter traffic. Only thing I can tell you readers is; If you are going to Thailand make sure your passport is valid 6 months after your return. I would have to use my all my fingers and toes to count all the people who needed emergency passports as a result of this and it is costly start to your holiday.
Tomorrow, if the weather is somewhat ok, I will try to spend the day outside and then head to the airport to pick up Anders. who has been flying around Europe (as a passenger).
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Opened my eyes and looked at the time, could it really be 0245, closed my eyes and looked again, yes indeed it was and time to get up. Turned on the tea kettle and fell in to the shower with the water on as cold as it could get so I would wake up. After a cup of tea and being scared half to death by the newspaper falling through the door I was all set to go and strolled out to the garage to find a nice a warm Renault (thank you dad).
On my way out to the airport (16km) I did not see a single car until I reached the staff parking. Considering I had my parking permit I expected the gate to open as I rolled towards it but NO, of course it didn’t work this time either but then someone as the parking service must have seen me struggle on the CCTV and let me pass (thank you whoever that was as you might be reading this).
03:42 and all alone on the road
Just as last time, I arrived just as the bus was about to leave, so I ran to the bus stop and relaxed during the ride in to terminal five. I entered the terminal just after 4am, in time to see the preparations before the stampede of passengers arrive for the morning departures. Up to the offices and after struggling to remember the code, I finally punched the right four digits and was met by a number of colleagues all waiting to sign in for the day and receive the duties. However, my supervisor hadn’t arrived yet so I sat down and had a cup of coffee and sandwiches, catching up on the latest news on CNN. When K. arrived we went through the day and signed in to receive our first task, checking in passengers traveling on DK1981 to Banjul. This didn’t turn out to be as “by the book” as planned since the conveyor belt came to a halt, preventing us from accepting any bags. The solution was to check in passengers as they were in line and accept the bags once the belt started to move again. Luckily enough everyone took it with a good laugh and some people wished me luck when they overheard the fact that it was my first day on the job. Once all passengers were checked in we obtained new orders from the coordinator to proceed to the SAS bag drop to take care of passengers who had used the self service machines as queues were now building up. This was quite enjoyable as I had a few chances to speak French to customers resulting in quite a few smiles (I hope it wasn’t because my French was crap). As we were sitting there, a message came up granting us a breakfast break and we set off back to the office and summarized the first half of the day and were told that the next stop would be check-in for SK945 to Chicago. On the way out, we discussed the various document requirements for those heading west and other flight specific procedures. It wasn’t without envy I sent passengers to Honolulu, Los Angeles, Seattle, Burlington and Orlando (amongst others). I also encountered my course mate Anne who was next to me and we exchanged some experiences from the first hours. As this came to a close our last task ticked in but it turned out that we would have 30 minutes of idle time first and I decided to “pester” a person at LFV (the Swedish CAA) who I ran into while on my way to pick up some left behind papers at gate 8. At 1005 I rejoined K. on the “floor” to help passengers with the self service machines and once again was able to swap between languages and chat with a few of the colleagues as well as course mates who were now increasing in number after a luxurious sleep in. Just before 1100 we decided that this was it for the day and discussed the shift and was given some valuable tips and tricks for the future.Headed back to Beta and decided to have a hair cut on the way home as I was looking more scruffy. Had trouble sleeping and decided to take a long walk and have a snooze before dinner. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of sleeping until 0600
However there is a small message I would like to give this person and it is:
Posted by PC 
Posted by PC 
Posted by PC 
