There was delicious food and flag cake and fireworks, so pretty much the recipe for a perfect 4th of July. We ended up not going to the fireworks show but instead making our own little show. We also enjoyed the view from our friends' huge backyard, where we could see 4 or 5 different shows going on across the horizon. Lovely and perfect.
I bought Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith 6 months ago. I followed the first instruction, "crack the spine," immediately and it bothered me so much I put the book away. The perfectionist in me couldn't handle that bent spine sitting on my bedside table.
Today I dug it out and decided to play. Things got a little out of hand when I decided the page wasn't burning fast enough and encouraged it to go a little faster. I burned through 4 pages of the book, but I managed to get everything back under control AND keep the smoke alarm from going off. SUCCESS. I suppose the only thing that would have been better is if I'd been forced to douse the book in water to save my apartment.
Today we toured DFW Airport, AA's biggest hub. It was spectacular. We saw everything, from the baggage transport belts in the underbelly of the airport, to the view from the air traffic control tower, which is awesome.
We've spent the last few days touring airline-related places: the maintenance base, the flight academy and SOC (systems operation control, from where they literally run the entire airline), and today, the airport. After all these tours, I can tell you: it is amazing that you can quickly and cheaply get to somewhere else in one piece. It is amazing that your baggage can quickly and cheaply get to somewhere else in one piece. It is a downright miracle that 99% of the time, you and your baggage get to the same place.
I had so much fun making my video tour the other night that I decided to do another video blog highlighting some of the many free things I have received since beginning work at AA. I made a charming, witty and very interesting video, doing an excellent job of looking at the camera and not myself on the screen (ps: much harder than you'd think!), only to discover that my webcam appears to not be recording sound. BUMMER. But I'm rolling with it and forgoing the vlog idea and will instead leave you with this:
The average American Airlines employee has been with the company for 17 years and I'm pretty sure it's because of the high quality and large quantity of freebies.
