SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

yesterday, at ruby hill, i had the great pleasure of serving and talking to the brazil's , husband & wife -who mentioned in conversation, they had flown on otis spunkmeyer's dc3 for joe's birthday some 15 years ago

well, of course, this ignited a wonderful exchange of mutual great memories surrounding this sky tour experience. they in fact, mentioned that during their flight, the learning channel was filming a segment for "romantic places in the bay area" -i haven't been able to find it via google search, but.. would love to see it.

they also mentioned having a rare poster, that shows the dc3, with an otis spunkmeyer hostess... of course, i can't help but wonder if it might be a picture of karin carter... wouldn't that be somethin'. they promised to bring it in for me to see next visit to ruby hill. [and you know i'll get a picture of them with the poster]

they also mentioned enjoying the champagne on the flight so much, they subsequently went to the winery in sunol (castro valley?) that created and sold it... -couldn't help but laugh... " i gargled with that champagne!" /but i had no memory of the name or label...

and all that helps explain the following re-post from my blog archives:

***** *****

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

OTIS SPUNKMEYER DC3, come fly with (me!) sandra, tvgp

when i met sir robert wilkins at the pleasanton library during steven johnson's book reading and signing


he said about his position as a media escort, that it is "one of those obscure jobs that few people have ever heard of, but that everyone wants once they learn about it"

i want it. -which is funny, because i really don't like to drive so much, but.. for certain things, i'll do what i must. i have, after all, picked my ex-husband up from the oakland airport several times, and i'm still alive to blog about it. only, when i pick my ex-husband up (which is necessary because he is also the father of our children), he always hops in the driver seat and gets us all home safely.
so it gives me great laughs to picture myself picking up some famous author at the airport:

"hello! famous author person.. nice to meet you. i'm here to pick you up..

and i made it! isn't that great. and thank God!

and so, but, do you mind driving now? -getting us out of here. airports make me nervous.

-and then when we get back to my territory, we can switch, and you can be the passenger, okay.."


anyway.. it triggered a memory in me.. this coversation with bob (and notice here, that while driving might not be my greatest strength, i do make friends easily, because he just went from sir robert wilkins to bob write before your very eyes)

anyway.. it triggered a memory in me, this conversation with my new friend, bob
because i have had many different jobs over the years, but only one that i can think of that other people coveted.

every saturday i heard the same thing from almost every person:


"how do you land this job?" "can i take over for you?" "if you can't make it for any reason.. call me. i'm happy to step in for you" "what a lucky person you are!" "and YOU GET PAID for this?"


and i would always answer with a big smile.. "not bad for weekend work, huh"


because it really was an extra special, very rare opportunity that came my way: a chance to play flight hostess for otis spunkmeyer's dc3 sky tours over the bay area.

and now, i have to ready myself and leave for work..

but when i get back, i'll tell you all about it.

***

so where was i?

ah yes,

the way this went down, was that there were no uniforms and no real training to speak of. -you just show up dressed in whatever you see fit, welcome the guests, pour champagne and offer chocolate covered strawberries and fancy hors d'oeuvres to the passengers during the flight

and the flight! was incredible!

some hour or so up and over oakland, san francisco, berkeley, circling back to see pleasanton, livermore, san jose (?), and then back to san leandro -but- all at about (14000 feet?) so the views were spectacular from every window.


and the dc3 itself: a real vintage beauty: former wwII plane all refurbished for tourist,




but maintaining its historic look and feel.


sometimes veterans would come with their spouses and family, dressed in their old military uniforms with such nostalgia etched in their expressions and pouring from their conversations

i understood it to some degree, but in honesty, was too young at the time to fully process what this experience meant to them.

that, and i was preoccupied a bit with my own survival and concerns.

it was very important to me i was a great hostess. -i really wanted to do a stellar job. make sure everyone had a great time. -be invited to come back and hostess again.
and it all sounded so exciting. and i knew it was a special treat to land this job.
-and i was recommended by some friends, and so didn't want to let them down
and all this, -anxious energy- i suppose, combined with it being my first time on the job, and first time in a dc-3, and first time standing, walking, balancing, pouring champagne and carrying on delightful conversation at the same time i'm in flight

well, i started to feel a little nauseous.


then i started to feel a lot nauseaous.

and then i started to panic.

-because, if i were to say, throw up, on one of the passengers
i was thinkin' that might not fall kindly on the eyes and ears of the pilot, the passengers or my dear friends who suggested me for the job.

and so as pale but non-chalant as i could possibly be on this intimate (#) passenger airplane, i found my way to the restroom, locked myself inside, and as quiet as humanly possible


puked my guts out.

then i washed my face, finger-brushed my teeth, gargled champagne, touched up my lipstick, pinched my cheeks to bring back some color
and went back out with a reloaded plate of fresh chocolate covered strawberries.


if anyone heard or noticed, they never brought it to my attention. i chit-chatted with the passengers, took in the mini-stories of their lives, listened to them oooh and ahhh over the spectacular views -some of them reliving memories from their war days
refilled their champagne glasses with a smile
and before you knew it, we were real smooth landing on the runway with everyone applauding.

that's me in the picture with the very beloved captain
captain..
captain dale, i think it was. /it's been a long time.
and i might not remember his name, but i do remember he was a great pilot, and he tolerated my over-enthusiastic hostessing skills with a certain tempered wisdom.

and i remember also, his co-pilot, for a few of the flights. a GORGEOUS, SEXY, red-headed female co-pilot, and i can't recall her name either, but i do remember
spending a lot of time wondering what it would be like to be her.

anyway, i can't remember how many saturday afternoons i spent as hostess for the otis spunkmeyer dc3 sky tours

i just remember it being a great time. -and in addition to the veterans who would wear their old uniforms for the flight

i remember two other passenger stand-outs.

the first was a man who was celebrating his 40th birthday. his friends had blind-folded him earlier in the day. kept him blind-folded while sticking him in a limo without any hint as to where he was going or what he was doing
kept him blind-folded all the way to and inside the airport. kept him blind-folded even as we walked up the stairs and into the plane
"do you know where you are?" his friends asked him
"am i on a roller-coaster?" he wondered with a frightened laugh
and that's when they finally took off his blindfold, and he was so genuinely, completely, utterly surprised at what they had pulled off

the other stand outs, were couples and/or families who wanted to experience the flight, but not all together in case of a fatal accident
so half the family, or couple, would go one weekend, and the other half, the next time.
and everyone always made it back safely with exciting stories to share from their separate experiences.

and i'm often asked how i got that job; such a wonderful job

and i sure wish i could provide this post with a happy ending, but it takes a bit of a sad turn for me here

because the person who is responsible for providing me with this wonderful, rare, opportunity and these great memories

the gorgeous, kind and generous karin carter; she passed on into heaven july of 2007. -born the same year i was, 1966, but had her life cut short the same way my aunt susie did: skin cancer.

and just like my aunt susie, forced to say goodbye to a husband and two young children way too soon

but if you want to witness another way blogs have been used for the greater good of humanity, you need to see the beautiful, very loving, blog created to share, celebrate and remember karin's life: http://www.karincarter.blogspot.com/

and if you're curious how i knew karin to begin with.. it was because she was the girlfriend, (and later wife), of a college friend of mine, jeff, who worked for otis spunkmeyer
whose brother i dated -in fact, was briefly engaged to- but never married.
and we lost touch and took on separate lives as the years passed
but we have quite a history, all of us -which today i remember with tremendous sentiment, lots of love and deep gratitude

"to you karin! -thank you!-"

love, sandra


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3
http://www.otisspunkmeyer.com/
doesn't look like they do this anymore... can't find mention of it anywhere.

This triggered my own memories from being a flight attendant on Otis Spunkmeyer DC-3 Sky Tours

That filled me with a dream!  Sky Tours out of Reid Hillview Airport!  That would be so awesome..   

excerpts from my memories attached here:

***

Excerpt from my blog post titled:   I surrender to the signs, Sunday sept 18, 2016

TOPIC:  Otis Spunkmeyer DC-3 Sky Tours

By, Sandra Harrison Kay    WriteousMom.com

SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com   

 

 

anyway.. it triggered a memory in me.. this coversation with bob (and notice here, that while driving might not be my greatest strength, i do make friends easily, because he just went from sir robert wilkins to bob write before your very eyes)

anyway.. it triggered a memory in me, this conversation with my new friend, bob
because i have had many different jobs over the years, but only one that i can think of that other people coveted.

every saturday i heard the same thing from almost every person:


"how do you land this job?" "can i take over for you?" "if you can't make it for any reason.. call me. i'm happy to step in for you" "what a lucky person you are!" "and YOU GET PAID for this?"


and i would always answer with a big smile.. "not bad for weekend work, huh"


because it really was an extra special, very rare opportunity that came my way: a chance to play flight hostess for otis spunkmeyer's dc3 sky tours over the bay area.

and now, i have to ready myself and leave for work..

but when i get back, i'll tell you all about it.

***

so where was i?

ah yes,

the way this went down, was that there were no uniforms and no real training to speak of. -you just show up dressed in whatever you see fit, welcome the guests, pour champagne and offer chocolate covered strawberries and fancy hors d'oeuvres to the passengers during the flight

and the flight! was incredible!

some hour or so up and over oakland, san francisco, berkeley, circling back to see pleasanton, livermore, san jose (?), and then back to san leandro -but- all at about (14000 feet?) so the views were spectacular from every window.


and the dc3 itself: a real vintage beauty: former wwII plane all refurbished for tourist,


 

but maintaining its historic look and feel.


sometimes veterans would come with their spouses and family, dressed in their old military uniforms with such nostalgia etched in their expressions and pouring from their conversations

i understood it to some degree, but in honesty, was too young at the time to fully process what this experience meant to them.

that, and i was preoccupied a bit with my own survival and concerns.

it was very important to me i was a great hostess. -i really wanted to do a stellar job. make sure everyone had a great time. -be invited to come back and hostess again.
and it all sounded so exciting. and i knew it was a special treat to land this job.
-and i was recommended by some friends, and so didn't want to let them down
and all this, -anxious energy- i suppose, combined with it being my first time on the job, and first time in a dc-3, and first time standing, walking, balancing, pouring champagne and carrying on delightful conversation at the same time i'm in flight

well, i started to feel a little nauseous.


then i started to feel a lot nauseaous.

and then i started to panic.

-because, if i were to say, throw up, on one of the passengers
i was thinkin' that might not fall kindly on the eyes and ears of the pilot, the passengers or my dear friends who suggested me for the job.

and so as pale but non-chalant as i could possibly be on this intimate (#) passenger airplane, i found my way to the restroom, locked myself inside, and as quiet as humanly possible


puked my guts out.

then i washed my face, finger-brushed my teeth, gargled champagne, touched up my lipstick, pinched my cheeks to bring back some color
and went back out with a reloaded plate of fresh chocolate covered strawberries.


if anyone heard or noticed, they never brought it to my attention. i chit-chatted with the passengers, took in the mini-stories of their lives, listened to them oooh and ahhh over the spectacular views -some of them reliving memories from their war days
refilled their champagne glasses with a smile
and before you knew it, we were real smooth landing on the runway with everyone applauding.

that's me in the picture with the very beloved captain
captain..
captain dale, i think it was. /it's been a long time.
and i might not remember his name, but i do remember he was a great pilot, and he tolerated my over-enthusiastic hostessing skills with a certain tempered wisdom.

and i remember also, his co-pilot, for a few of the flights. a GORGEOUS, SEXY, red-headed female co-pilot, and i can't recall her name either, but i do remember
spending a lot of time wondering what it would be like to be her.

anyway, i can't remember how many saturday afternoons i spent as hostess for the otis spunkmeyer dc3 sky tours

i just remember it being a great time. -and in addition to the veterans who would wear their old uniforms for the flight

i remember two other passenger stand-outs.

the first was a man who was celebrating his 40th birthday. his friends had blind-folded him earlier in the day. kept him blind-folded while sticking him in a limo without any hint as to where he was going or what he was doing
kept him blind-folded all the way to and inside the airport. kept him blind-folded even as we walked up the stairs and into the plane
"do you know where you are?" his friends asked him
"am i on a roller-coaster?" he wondered with a frightened laugh
and that's when they finally took off his blindfold, and he was so genuinely, completely, utterly surprised at what they had pulled off

the other stand outs, were couples and/or families who wanted to experience the flight, but not all together in case of a fatal accident
so half the family, or couple, would go one weekend, and the other half, the next time.
and everyone always made it back safely with exciting stories to share from their separate experiences.

and i'm often asked how i got that job; such a wonderful job

and i sure wish i could provide this post with a happy ending, but it takes a bit of a sad turn for me here

because the person who is responsible for providing me with this wonderful, rare, opportunity and these great memories

the gorgeous, kind and generous karin carter; she passed on into heaven july of 2007. -born the same year i was, 1966, but had her life cut short the same way my aunt susie did: skin cancer.

and just like my aunt susie, forced to say goodbye to a husband and two young children way too soon

but if you want to witness another way blogs have been used for the greater good of humanity, you need to see the beautiful, very loving, blog created to share, celebrate and remember karin's life: http://www.karincarter.blogspot.com/

and if you're curious how i knew karin to begin with.. it was because she was the girlfriend, (and later wife), of a college friend of mine, jeff, who worked for otis spunkmeyer
whose brother i dated -in fact, was briefly engaged to- but never married.
and we lost touch and took on separate lives as the years passed
but we have quite a history, all of us -which today i remember with tremendous sentiment, lots of love and deep gratitude

"to you karin! -thank you!-"

I have writers overwhelm, and know to release a portion of these cerebral hyperlinks in order to write current/fresh things.

and the first point I need to make, is that the very term, cerebral hyperlink,  -which I use because it seems more accurate than memory trigger   -the very term has become one.   the point I'm hoping to make is..  well, the same way, once you learn how to read a word, you can no longer NOT read the word:   I mean, just try and not read what you've just read.  it becomes so automatic, and you cant unread things..   and the same way that works, so does cerebral hyperlinks.  like, once they exist inside your brain..    but! the reason I prefer the vocabulary hyperlink vs. trigger, is because

-when you read a text passage online with hyperlinks,  the hyperlink exists, but you can CHOOSE whether or not you click on it, and investigate or read further, or SKIP over it, and keep reading the given passage; -write.    and so  -in any given day or week..  because I am 50 years old, the number of hyperlinks in my mind is..     "like, oh my good God!   I cant go one entire day without encountering one!"   and I recently wrote about trying to ignore the Otis spunkmeyer one, but then, add the champagne one, and...    no ignoring anymore.      and look here.   I mean, check this out!:   I do not even take or read traditional newspapers.  so -the only- reason I know about this little clip is because exactly as I was walking through the employee break room at alden lane, my co-worker friend, Anthony,  happen to be reading this passage out loud to a different co-worker friend. I was merely a passerby!  but...   as he read about the 1982 day in history....     well, I had just!  only days prior, maybe a week prior,  -just had the conversation with my daughter, and shared with her, that

ready to follow along?   -her dad; my ex-husband..   -his ex-girlfriend, (and I believe his true love), way before me..  -her dad INVENTED the safety seals we now see on over-the-counter medicines and other things AS A RESULT of this 1982 laced Tylenol case.    and it has been such a long time since I heard this initially...  I wasn't sure if my memory was correct, so I recently confirmed it all with my ex-husband.  yes.   -and apparently,  -the industry had big pockets + a serious need to address any/all concerns this ignited in consumers, and so..     he made a big fortune inventing the safety seals..    like, first commission check, generational wealth...



and having mentioned the cerebral hyperlink to Anthony, he gave me the clip...  and now, look at the clip!   not one, not two, but THREE hyperlinks for me..    1938, reference is what I'm reading about write now in Prague Winter..   /Prague is a cerebral hyperlink, and so is everything in the blurb..    then you have the 1982 reference already mentioned above, but doesn't stop there..   see how the word plumbing is at the bottom, entirely unrelated to today in history..  well, not for me.   PLUMBING is a cerebral hyperlink in my brain too!  and it makes me laugh.., so ive reposted it here for your entertainment:



original post 07/29/2008:


how did it start? how did it start? maybe it was jack asking how to pronounce a word he spotted on a truck parked on the corner of bernal and first:

valley plumbing

integrity before profit

yes, let's say it started like that, jack asking.. and giving it a try out loud..

"what does that word mean, mommy, how do you say it.. plumb-ing?"

lots of emphasis on the "b." -and so i start in on the explaining,

"oh, it's pronounced plum-ing. the b is silent.. why? -because there we go again with the english language.. nothing makes sense, you just have to memorize.. and for every rule they teach you, you'll see it broken the next day"

but taryn has already grabbed the ball and is rolling,

"no, jack, it's plumBer.. valley plumBing"

and i can't help but laugh.

"what do i wanna be when i grow up? why i'm wanna be a plumBER!

they put integrity before profit.. but I, I put the "ba" in plumBing!

here i am, plumBer at your service!"

and now i'm howling and jack is cracking up, adding in,

"oh! plumBer.. i'm going to school to become a plumBer"

and this little skit carries us half way to grandpa's house with the giggles, and now everytime i see the word plumber, i find myself smiling

and everytime i see the word "spring" too, -for which i have leonardstegmann to thank.

***


and now, go back and see the other picture:   recently met the restaurant manager from

   -heritage estates- is ANOTHER cerebral hyperlink..

and its all too long to post, but type midnight in the garden of good and evil,  and/or type heritage estates, or Bernie burke in the search bar of my blog here...

lastly..

when I briefly mentioned my heritage estate memories to roger, "i played the flute there!  yes..  twinkle, twinkle, little star..   in my 40's!   -but it was my own arrangement.."

and, "i saved a books life, write in front of heritage estates...    midnight in the garden of good and evil...      great book!"

roger asked me, "what did you learn from reading it?"

well, ill tell you, now, several years post reading it, what stands out.    -how,  the writing!!  the craft!! the way the characters came to life!  -couldn't put it down!     -and, as it was based on real life events..

well, there oughta be a specific vocabulary for it:   something that explains how the readers compassion for the real life tragedy gets almost usurped by the quality/craft of the writing..

every teacher of creative non-fiction writing classes experiences this...       jim ott has a great poem.. where,  -not because the quality of the writing was superb, but rather, there were errors, and he had to stop at some point noticing the errors, and take in the more important fact:  the very real life tragedies that the writer endured in viet nam

anyway,  -some low level guilt about being so entertained by this book, when I re-realized it was based on an actual murder case.  sad; sad; sad...

anyway..   what did I learn?   well, as a writer myself, and a creative non-fiction writer at that

I learned WAY MORE from watching the interview between brian lamb and the author of midnight in the garden of good and evil on cspan, than from reading the book.

and I said, lastly, already, but

this time I mean it:  LASTLY..        -had to free myself from everything above, so I can work on what I really want/need to be working on, which is

-how, computers, and the vocabulary attached, ive mentioned before... NOTHING YIELDS BETTER ANALOGIES for describing/explaining humans.

like, the term default settings..    perfect!   we come with default settings, and some can, and some cannot be overwritten..     that is only ONE of many, many, many examples

BUT! that is true ONLY FOR THE FLESH PART OF HUMANS.   okay.  

HUMANS ARE BOTH FLESH & SPIRIT

so -computers/vocabulary for flesh part of humans  -best analogies/explanations!

but for the SPIRIT part of humans...

PLANTS/FLOWERS/TREES...      !!

best analogies/explanations is the nature/vocabulary/essence of plants, flowers, trees..

and there is a lot id like to write about on this topic.. both of them:

and!   analogy is itself a cerebral hyperlink to hoffstadter and his strange loop book..  so

you can see what effort on my part is constantly required to move forward...  

I could get side-tracked at least 20 times a day!


in Jesus is a cerebral hyperlink too!'s name...    amen!