It’s been a minute since I’ve last been on the ol’ blogosphere. But this past year and some change I’ve been working as an airline caterer. Fun job, good benefits, pays very well (especially if you have a CDL and a few years of Commercial Driving under your belt-which I do, seven years strong now), and that’s just the good part! And sadly, this gig (where I’m at) currently has more bad points than good.
–But that’s anywhere these days!
The bad points: Despite professionalism as a CDL driver, you are prone to injury (and I’ve had a lot of them), no life outside of work, drivers come and go as if they’re walking through a revolving door, which means mandating OT even on days that you don’t work overtime, and the biggest kick-in-the-you-know-what-of-them-all is no flight benefits! That’s more than enough to make any sane person wanna quit!
But after 30 plus years on the work force (I started working at 15, I’m 47 now), it took some time for me to learn how to adjust accordingly. In other words, take the good with the bad, the bitter with the sweet, you know the deal! But with that said, being a photographer (who’s heavily inactive, BTW), I take my little iPhone 13 Pro Max and sneak as many pics of the tarmac as well the jets (and I’ve catered many of them, too)! Not to mention the sunsets every other evening.
But I’m gonna get down to the nitty-gritty of what I do! As an airline caterer, we’re assigned a truck and back it into the uploading dock. And depending on the size of the vehicle that we drive, we load up anything within the region of 1-6 flights!
So once we approach gate-where we’re gonna cater a flight-we call for a guide and let them know that we need a guide to approach the jet. I also have to mention that paying strict attention to the guide’s instructions are a definite must! Period. The rule is no physical contact between the truck and the jet! If there is, and it’s caught in time, that one thing, but if becomes even remotely routine, that’s a problem! I was not present when this particular event had happened, but one driver and a guide had gotten fired because the driver hit the fuselage of the plane and the guide either inadvertently misled the driver, or the guide let his guard down and wasn’t paying attention! In either case, when a driver is being guided either to a plane to cater it, or leaving a plane when they’re done catering it! It is imperative that the communication between driver and the guide are crystal clear! One wrong move could be your last. Period!
Before I go any further, I want make clear that I’ve worked for two catering companies this past year and some change. Gate Gourmet (which totally sucked), and Do & Co (named after Turkish billionaire Attila Doğudan). I don’t wanna go too far in on the latter, but for now, I’ll take the latter over the former any day! Now that I’ve got that out way…
We cater both Domestic and International flights. I’ll take the former over the latter on this as well. At Gate Gourmet, all we did was International! And that was a pain in the butt. Once you got guided to a plane, you had to wait until you were cleared by security to board the plane and be searched (imagine having to go through that 2-3 times a day)!
You could see why I didn’t last long there! But that’s another story for another time.
But with this company, I do mostly Domestic flights, and I’m fine with that. I also must mention that as an airline caterer, you have to have a ramp seal (which grants access to the air field), and a Customs seal (which grants access to an International flight). With that said, having done IT (International) flights in the past day in and day out, I’ve only been doing the inbound flights. In other words, the flight came in from another country, but not only do we cater the flight, but we take out the trash as well in orange trash bags (we don’t carry out trash on Domestic flights). But even the IT inbounds are a pain in the butt! Once we approach the gate, we have to wait for dispatch or the control tower to let us know whether not the gate is “Customs Cleared” for catering, but the beauty of that is when the drivers cater an IT inbound, we convert it from International to Domestic. The biggest drawback is that if we have a series of flights that leave at a certain time, and yet that IT flight has to be done first, there’s no telling how long it’ll be until you can cater the flight! Again, it’s a hassle. That’s why I-despite having a Customs Seal on my badge-am in no hurry to work an IT flight! True, there’s good money in it, but I prefer sanity over a few extra dollars in my pocket knowing that any extra money we get, we’re gonna pay it back to Uncle Sam come April 15!
So many things that I could say about what I currently do. This is a good job, but if you’re like me, and wanna enjoy life outside of work, you might wanna review your territory! But again, taking the bitter with the sweet, having done aerial work in the recent years, I can truly say that I’ve had some adventures. Having worked for Hertz, Gate Gourmet, and Do&Co, outside the air field and on the air field. I can truly say that I’ve worked a huge majority of DTW (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne)! I’ve catered Delta, Frontier, American, Spirit, Lufthansa, Royal Jordanian, and Air France. I’ve catered jets as small as the CRJ9000, and as large as the 3500 (and trust me, the 3500 galleys are like a maze)! I was above ground anywhere between 6-50-plus feet in the air! Again, one wrong move is all it takes, and you’re done! I’ve heard about the horror stories about flight attendants and caterers who fell to the ground from the jet’s cabin door open, as well as from the trucks being in the air. Heck, I almost fell off the plane while catering 10-15 feet above ground (another story for later, if I’m up for convo). Thankfully my quick reflexes (and recent weight loss) was able to break the fall!
Fun job, but a very dangerous job indeed! We’re up there with the utility workers, firefighters, even the Cirque Du Soleil acrobats! The common thread is we’re in the air, literally!
A few more images… Enjoy!
jvlivs.wordpress.com 
Thoughts & Opinions, Part I
I’ve first came across this now deleted Reddit thread by way of a very popular YouTube channel. And for the better part of 2021 I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts on it. And seeing that this years is just weeks away from closing permanently (despite December just starting), I figured now would be an appropriate time to share this link and give my thoughts, opinions, and even some experiences along the way.
This may take some time to read, but I’ve taken the liberty of posting the article and breaking it down with a commentary of my own. Feel free to read the article in itself with the link posted above, as well as the comments following the thread.
Without further ado, here’s the article (w/ commentary) as promised:
My ex [M37] got his act together after we divorced and it infuriates me [F34]
TL;DR — Got divorced nearly 3 years ago. He [M37] turned his life around, I’m [F34] struggling.
My husband and I were together for 10 years, married for 6 of them.
That’s common these days…
No kids.
Also common given the world’s condition today…
We eventually grew apart – that is to say, I grew up and he didn’t. He wanted to live the life of a teenager well into his 30s.
Okay, that’s the first red flag right there! Four years strong into this courtship, that should’ve been an indication that something was not right with this individual! And BTW, most men live as teens into their 30s. I’ll explain later on!
The last 2-3 years together were horrible. After his dad passed away, he gained all this weight and lost his job.
Now I can relate to this fellow’s plight. Long story short, he kinda had his “Job” moment! A chain reaction of unforeseen events that overtook him for a time. I’ll delve into that later as well.
I tried to help and support him but he would just wallow in self-pity. He stopped pitching in around the house.
Well, in all fairness, these were fresh wounds, as it were. He needed some time to process these events as they unfolded. Eventually he’d snap outta this funk, let’s read on…
He spent all his free time smoking weed and dicking around on the computer.
Now obviously he’s been doing this prior to his father’s unfortunate passing, but again, maybe he needed some extra time to process the events that he’d gone through.
He had to sell his junk car to help pay our bills.
Perhaps, IJS, perhaps this was leading to an eventual wake-up call for him. He sacrificed his only means of personal transportation to help keep the house afloat.
Eventually I’d had enough and we got a divorce in 2015.
Google search 4 the day: walk away wife syndrome
We’ve essentially been ‘no contact’ since it was finalized.
Okay. So this means (on both sides, mind you) a fresh start, a clean slate. Now the both of you have more than enough time to get yourselves together individually, period!
Last Friday I happened to bump into him downtown and he’s a completely different person.
That’s to be expected. Being raised by divorced parents myself, that the transformations were virtually unnoticeable, let’s continue.
He lost all the weight he put on and had actually toned up some. He was wearing a tailored suit (he had one ill-fitting suit for weddings and funerals when we were together) and a nice watch.
Hey, good on the man for his transforming himself and cleaning himself up to the point where he upgraded his entire lifestyle!
He may have gotten hair plugs or something because his thinning hair wasn’t as pronounced as before.
FTR, I don’t have hair plugs, I do have a slight widow’s peak, but that’s it. If I ever lose my hair, it’s getting shaved completely off!
He told me he bought a condo nearby within walking distance of his new job – a well-known tech firm in our town.
Again, kudos to this cat. He made a complete U Turn to the point where he was almost unrecognisable. And apparently he’s making a well above average income, to our knowledge, anyway…
Our encounter was brief and he was nice to me. He even apologized for how our relationship had soured and wished me “all the best”.
Now this is the definition of what a “real” man signifies! He kept it simple as well as kept it real, and was very cordial with his ex-wife, he even went so far as to take full responsibilityfor the marriage being a failure (in other words he ACKNOWLEDGED his wrongdoings), and even wished her well! I mean, what more did she expect?!?
It’s been 4 days since I saw him and honestly I just get angrier the more I think about it.
Why does it upset you that this man whom you basically threw to the wolves is now leading the pack, as it were. You basically kicked him when he was down after he’d lost his dad, his job, and even sold his junk car to help worth the bills. Now he’s in a much better place. Without you in the picture! You pretty much sold your shares ahead of time, my dear.
I gave 10 of the best years of my life to this man and got nothing from it.
Um, those first four years of that relationship was your “crap or get off the pot” opportunity. You made the conscious decision to stay with him. No one put a gun to your head to do this. You wilfully submitted yourself to this. So you share some of the blame in this as well.
We never had kids.
That was a good thing, I grew up in that environment, and no child should go through that, period.
He never had much money. When we divorced, I started from square one.
So did he.
Now he’s “Mr. Successful” while I’m struggling.
Now I don’t believe in luck, karma, or twist of fate, but I’d make an exception in this case! Seems like the tables have turned…
My job is very stressful and I’m making less than I was 5 years ago. I live alone and money is tight.
Guess what: Not his circus, not his monkeys. Remember, you made the decision to leave, you made the decision to bail out on him at his weakest, the man had hit rock bottom, and when he needed you the most, you walked out! You were the catalyst, and he reaped the benefits of the changes that transformed him after your leaving him! Again, what goes around comes around.
I’ve been having some intestinal / digestive issues and doctors can’t seem to diagnose what’s wrong with me.
If the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong, perhaps it’s the grudge/vindictive spirit that you’re still holding on to after all this time. Just let it go. You still have your whole life before you. Obviously, he learned from this whereas you apparently have yet to learn from this (perhaps you attitude has changed since you’ve posted that thread). Occupy yourself with more wholesome things. He’s a memory now, don’t concern yourself with his current state of affairs. In other words, to quote Hank Williams “If you mind your business, you’ll stay busy all the time!”
I guess I just want to know why he couldn’t have been better to me, why I was never worth the effort.
Again, you were the catalyst. Very seldom can a person be both the catalyst for change and be the same person that reaps the benefits simultaneously. I wish I could answer this one more logically…. Perhaps it was bad chemistry, his wake up call was selling his hooptie, your divorcing him, and eventually cleaning himself up. So that time he had he invested it in himself. You now have that same chance! Now with your current health issues, that’s a wake-up call for you! And to top it off, as mentioned earlier, he reconnected with you some time later and acknowledged that he was the one responsible for the marriage falling apart! I mean, what more do you want? That was an opportunity right there to take you square one and rebuild! You still have the ball in your court. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t drop it by crying over spilled milk. It’s water under the bridge now…
Okay, now that I’ve gotten my little “commentary” out of the way, I’m gonna do my little T&O on this article.
Here’s my T&O!
I have been in this situation more than once in my lifetime, and I’m gonna start by saying that from observation, this is definitely one-sided (or one-dimensional). To my knowledge, his side of the story remains to be made known. With that said, I’m just gonna say that I have seen and experience the “walk away wife syndrome” before (although I wasn’t married at the time), and in some instances things improved, but in other cases, had gotten worse, such as the woman’s thread that she deleted (or was removed, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, Reddit is real fickle these days).
Most of the time it’s always the woman who walks away when a man is at his lowest. Hit basically had “hit the wall”, as it were. His mistake was that he stayed there a little longer than he should have. But she had pretty much discarded him leaving him to fend for himself. I mentioned earlier that he had a “Job moment”. If you remember Job in the Bible, he had gone through a series of events that left him in a state far worse than death itself. Some may debate that, and they’re entitle to their opinion. But I didn’t bring that up to get into a “religious spat”, I brought it up as an observation. This man had gone through a similar fate. He lost his job, his father had died, he gained weight, he sold his car to pay the bills, all these things were just piling and piling up on this man and this woman didn’t have the decency to show one ounce of compassion for her husband’s welfare?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the wedding vows include “in sickness and health”, “til death due us part”, “for better or for worse”?!? Apparently she missed that. It ain’t fine print, people!
This marriage sounded more like a business transaction gone sour to me!
As mentioned on several occasions, she was the catalyst! Her leaving-if it wasn’t entirely a wake-up call, it was part of one! Perhaps selling his car and her leaving him was what precipitated that chain reaction of change. And I meant to continue earlier (got distracted for a minute) that I have seen and experienced having a woman walk out on me when the chips were down, just to find someone else that the grass wasn’t as greener as they thought it would be. Just water your own grass, or in the words of Henry Ford “chop your own wood, and it’ll warm you twice”. And in most cases, when a man asks why wasn’t he worth the effort, the woman walks away writing him off, whereas when a woman asks that same question, it’s usually after her part in his story is over! She walked away with nothing to show for it but bitter memories to the tune where it affected her physically and psychologically. And when her husband improved, it got under her skin to the point of jealousy (that’s what it sounded like). But just like an investor looking into stocks that appear to do well, but flounder a bit before eventually bouncing back, but the investor bails and sells their shares. Sounds similar to the bitter ex wife? I think so. But what she failed to look at (at the time) was the opportunities that laid ahead for her to start anew with no hesitation. The commenters on the thread sided with the ex-husband (some commenters were brutal towards the ex-wife), but ironically there were some who encouraged the lady to move and work on herself. The takeaway? Stop letting the situation occupy space in your head. And as far as living as a teenager into your 30s is concerned, as long as it’s moral, legal, and ethical, what’s the issue?!? I’m in my mid-40s, and I still engage in collecting HotWheels, Matchbox, and Johnny Lighting cars as well as models, designing my 2nd bedroom/office into a “shrine” of road signs as well as automotive paraphernalia such as decals, emblems, etc., or his video games. At 46, the only major gaming that I do is on my iPhone or iPad mainly because we currently lack the space to have an actual gaming system let alone the games that you have to buy separately, but there’s no reason why any man shouldn’t have any hobbies to either relive his childhood, or something to keep his mind sharp while he still has a sharp mind. Just something to think about.