Monday, 6 July 2009- Twitter Catastrophe
Shortly after my shift ended, I received a text message welcoming me back to twitter. I thought it strange because I hadn’t activated my profile. It didn’t turn out to be Carolyn, who had stepped up after the FnF incident and recreated a profile for me to come home to when I was ready. I became even more alarmed as I read comments made by some twitter friends who, ironically, I didn’t want to leave high and dry, and therefore sought out yesterday on Facebook and issued a friend request to bridge the gap. I had also made the mistake of using this transition time to change my name to Lee which I had been mulling over in my head for a few weeks but never suggested over the twitter stream, so I can see how it may have appeared as a red flag to those that I invited. One of my twitter friends that I conversed with on a daily basis had made a comment that shortly after he accepted my friend request, I called and left a message. This disturbed another key twitter friend who trusted me, who then made a comment that he would ignore my friend request. Reading these comments devastated me. I feared that someone was trying to hurt me. The possibility that the phone call and text message were from the same person, alarmed me to no end. Other twitter friends removed me from their Facebook friends as well. I went into shock and serious panic. I couldn’t believe that all these people who trusted me, and who I trusted back, now no longer trusted me. I felt extreme embarrassment. Other individuals that I sent friend requests to did accept my friend request. I seriously felt it was my responsibility to send them a message asking them to reconsider friending me as I had a questionable reputation and was a threat to his security, especially those with connections to those I have offended. I knew that was irrational thinking…
In this devastated state of mind, I called Carolyn and she comforted me. I reactivated my twitter profile, and simply said “I am confused”. I made comments to two of my twitter friends who were most disturbed by my sudden disappearance from twitter and equally sudden emergence into their facebook worlds under a new name. I was welcomed back by another one, but being hurt and confused, asked what was up with the rumors. I was hurt by his doubt in me, but also wanted to protect him from any attacks by being associated with me- remember, the bottom line I was confused. He mentioned Gimli’s informing those interested, of the circumstances surrounding FnF’s last words to me. I then whittled my 200 followers down to 20. I let go those that I didn’t converse with much, as well as those that I enjoyed tweeting with a lot, but shared friends in common with those who doubted me. I hoped those might choose to follow me back. I felt like 20 was still too many.
Comforting was when a student pilot friend in Europe asked me not to remove him. He said he enjoyed my tweets and admired my enthusiasm in wanting to work for the airlines. Enthusiasm isn’t enough. I told this friend that I had a dug a hold six feet deep and buried my dream of becoming a flight attendant or working for an airline in it, and therefore be prepared for a less interesting twitter stream from me. Again, thoughts of the text message and mystery caller claiming to be me, was disconcerting. I felt like I had a price on my head.
These are some thoughts I tweeted while I was riding the bus to work:
“When I slept in a homeless shelter four years ago, I could walk the streets with my head held high. I helped out my fellow homeless neighbors, tied quilts and made tote bags (from airplane seat covers donated by Delta, LOL) for a church service project, and held a part time job. Now it seems every other gesture of kindness that I proffer, fails, though some haven’t. I have been more selfish this time, constantly dodging attacks from an invisible enemy bent on hurting me. Whether it’s Jackie or Jeremy, or Akbar, I don’t know. I stopped caring. A large part of my troubles were aggravated further by my reactions to these guerrilla attacks. The only mystery I want to solve is who used my phone number to associate with their profile? Four years ago, choosing to sleep in a homeless shelter was one of the best actions I could take for my circumstances. Back then, I was alone, supported only by my belief in God. Now I stumble around with my head bowed in the shame of failing many.”
I also want to thank Elliott for calling me back and offering friendship and advice, and Marty who invited me to reach out to him if I needed to talk.
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Monday, July 6, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday, 4 July 2009- BWI Scare is Catalyst for Leaving Twitter
Saturday, 4 July 2009- BWI Scare is Catalyst for Leaving Twitter
I saw an airport employee who had on a previous date given me permission to sleep in the Observation Deck. I asked if I could again sleep there, I told him I had been in Baltimore for the day and was heading back to Germantown in the morning. I thought I had gained legitimate permission to sleep there again after talking to him tonight. But an hour after entering, I received a rude awakening from the airport police. They grilled me on my business at BWI, I explained it exactly as I had to the other airport employee, but under duress. I was still waking up and getting my bearings. In the end they asked to see my ID, rather, demanded it. I put on my glasses first- that was the other problem, it was dark and I couldn’t see. They called in my name. Then they asked what I call the fatal question- if I was homeless. I said yes. I tried to explain that I was only homeless two nights a week. I never felt so intimidated by police, not even when I had the hot car incident. They didn’t tell me directly that this was a warning, but I took it as such.
I won’t step foot at BWI unless I have a flight or am meeting friends. I couldn’t sleep for an hour after that. To make things worse, the bus doesn’t pick up until 9:40 on a holiday schedule. I am officially gun-shy of airports. I don’t want to risk a trespass charge. That would totally ruin any chance or desire I would have left of working at the airport or for an airline. This incident was also a catalyst for me closing my twitter account later in the day, on top of starting to feel depressed and extremely embarrassed. Twitter was a big contributor to my depression. I followed about a dozen or more flight attendant friends, who when they got together complained about their job, and I felt like I could never belong to such an exclusive group- was I trying to fool myself? In addition to this, I received the bad news that any prospect of moving to HOU was shot, largely in part thanks to this “Roger” who called and sabotaged my opportunity, and also thanks to the economy, the business I was going to work for would be put on the market very soon.
I really wanted to simplify, and these speed bumps presented an opportunity to reorganize my plans. Alaska was beckoning me, although after much research, I learned it wasn’t the untamed last frontier that I grew up thinking of it as. I became all the more discouraged after city after city’s Chamber of Commerce website made the prospect of successful relocation at this time extremely bad. I was pleading for any twitter soul to call me, and was to the point of streaming tears at Panera, and couldn’t wait. I was aware of a physiological factor that was aggravating my depression, but couldn’t compartmentalize it as the sole factor. Feeling overwhelmed, I quit twitter with no notice to anyone.
Carolyn called me before her shift started. She told me her neighborhood fireworks celebration got off to a bad start when a group of people were struck by lightning. The lightning left one fatality, and she had to write a report because it occurred on her watch. Yikes. It makes you reflect and think about your lifetime some. I am sure I am going to live to be at least 80, and I hope not much longer after that. I don’t want to spend twenty years thereafter holed up in a senior citizen’s center. Right now I am truly living- having experiences most will never have with an attitude about it that gives a greater insight into the meaning of life. Jackie and Jeremy’s critical and judgmental opinion of me is shortsighted and insignificant to my life-choices and lifestyle.
Free of twitter for the evening, I listened to aviation podcasts on my shift and organized photos on my laptop.
I saw an airport employee who had on a previous date given me permission to sleep in the Observation Deck. I asked if I could again sleep there, I told him I had been in Baltimore for the day and was heading back to Germantown in the morning. I thought I had gained legitimate permission to sleep there again after talking to him tonight. But an hour after entering, I received a rude awakening from the airport police. They grilled me on my business at BWI, I explained it exactly as I had to the other airport employee, but under duress. I was still waking up and getting my bearings. In the end they asked to see my ID, rather, demanded it. I put on my glasses first- that was the other problem, it was dark and I couldn’t see. They called in my name. Then they asked what I call the fatal question- if I was homeless. I said yes. I tried to explain that I was only homeless two nights a week. I never felt so intimidated by police, not even when I had the hot car incident. They didn’t tell me directly that this was a warning, but I took it as such.
I won’t step foot at BWI unless I have a flight or am meeting friends. I couldn’t sleep for an hour after that. To make things worse, the bus doesn’t pick up until 9:40 on a holiday schedule. I am officially gun-shy of airports. I don’t want to risk a trespass charge. That would totally ruin any chance or desire I would have left of working at the airport or for an airline. This incident was also a catalyst for me closing my twitter account later in the day, on top of starting to feel depressed and extremely embarrassed. Twitter was a big contributor to my depression. I followed about a dozen or more flight attendant friends, who when they got together complained about their job, and I felt like I could never belong to such an exclusive group- was I trying to fool myself? In addition to this, I received the bad news that any prospect of moving to HOU was shot, largely in part thanks to this “Roger” who called and sabotaged my opportunity, and also thanks to the economy, the business I was going to work for would be put on the market very soon.
I really wanted to simplify, and these speed bumps presented an opportunity to reorganize my plans. Alaska was beckoning me, although after much research, I learned it wasn’t the untamed last frontier that I grew up thinking of it as. I became all the more discouraged after city after city’s Chamber of Commerce website made the prospect of successful relocation at this time extremely bad. I was pleading for any twitter soul to call me, and was to the point of streaming tears at Panera, and couldn’t wait. I was aware of a physiological factor that was aggravating my depression, but couldn’t compartmentalize it as the sole factor. Feeling overwhelmed, I quit twitter with no notice to anyone.
Carolyn called me before her shift started. She told me her neighborhood fireworks celebration got off to a bad start when a group of people were struck by lightning. The lightning left one fatality, and she had to write a report because it occurred on her watch. Yikes. It makes you reflect and think about your lifetime some. I am sure I am going to live to be at least 80, and I hope not much longer after that. I don’t want to spend twenty years thereafter holed up in a senior citizen’s center. Right now I am truly living- having experiences most will never have with an attitude about it that gives a greater insight into the meaning of life. Jackie and Jeremy’s critical and judgmental opinion of me is shortsighted and insignificant to my life-choices and lifestyle.
Free of twitter for the evening, I listened to aviation podcasts on my shift and organized photos on my laptop.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Red Line Metro Crash- Too Close for Comfort
June 22, 2009
Strange day today. My Blackberry is officially dead. Useless. INOP. It lived to just hours after the crash of the two Metro trains on the Red Line. Earlier this morning I discovered the Fire Panel going off at the other building. I called non-emergency to see if they knew what the alarm indicated. Instead they sent over the fire department. I tried to help the Fire Department find the electrical room on the main floor, but that wasn’t my jurisdiction, therefore, I knew nothing. We ended up figuring out where the trouble was, and I ended up being told that next time it goes off to ignore it. Some job I have…
I spent some time online at Panera Bread before hopping on a bus or two to Shady Grove to ride the Red Line to Silver Spring, back to Shady Grove, and then back to Silver Spring. I slept the whole way. I arrived at Silver Spring at 1:45 according to my tweets(ATMT). I caught a bus to take me through Langley Park and then rode back to Silver Spring, arriving at Silver Spring once again, at 3:41 (ATMT). I then decided to take a bus to Twinbrook Station, and then Metro to Shady Grove instead of direct Metro from Silver Spring to Shady Grove, get my drift? When I arrived at Twinbrook at 4:40, I received a tweet from Breaking News that two Metro trains had collided on the Red Line. I immediately tweeted that I wasn’t on the Red Line, although I was just about to board it at Twinbrook. I figured that was going to be slow going, so I hopped aboard a Ride On Bus to Rockville and then one to Shady Grove.
I stopped at the Fox Den and unearthed my old cell phones and then headed to Taco Bell for a Cheesy Double Beef Burrito before going to work
This is how I tweeted my travels today.
FoxWhisperer Plugged in at Panera, trying out an orange scone. Wasn't quite what I was expecting... Can't stay long, got errands to run. =)8:29 AM Jun 22nd from web
FoxWhisperer Okay, crew, I'm leaving Panera. Tweet with you later!9:25 AM Jun 22nd from web
FoxWhisperer Yay! I slept well, only to find myself in Silver Spring. Where should I go from here? Eventually I need to get back to Gaithersburg.1:48 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Just crossed Sligo Rd. I once caught a snake and named it Sligo. =)3:18 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Back at Silver Spring Station. Had a nice tour of Silver Spring and Langley Park. Now on to Twinbrook Station via bus, then the Fox Den!3:41 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Yuck! This bus driver is trying very hard to induce motion-sickness in its riders!3:57 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer This bus feels like it's riding on rims.4:01 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Guys I'm not on that train! But I am waiting for the Red line- not any more though.4:40 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer RT @abc7 Breaking News: Two Metro trains have collided on the Red Line in Washington DC. Number of injuries unknown at this time.4:44 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Opted to take Bus 46 from Twinbrook Station where I had originally intended to catch the Red Line to Shady Rockville and then Shady Grove.4:58 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Condolences to those injured, trapped, or those who perished. :-(4:58 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Feeling a little bit solemn and shook up.5:06 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer There's a lot of conflicting reports about casualties and fatalities. Not much is sure from what i am reading.5:11 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer See my tweet about Silver Spring about 2 hours ago. I didn't want to walk through the construction area to the train, so I decided to take5:34 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer the 3:50 bus to a more convenient Metro stop. I COULD have been on that train, or the very next one!!!5:35 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Fortunately I missed it altogether.5:37 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer At the Fox Den now.5:54 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer That's terrible! one of our train operators was among the two confirmed dead. :-(6:09 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I'm hungry, I want my Cheesy Double Beef Burrito!6:46 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I hope all the DC peeps of my twitter crew are all okay. I'm sad to hear that the operator was one who perished.6:47 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I can't stop from wondering what could have happened.6:48 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
Strange day today. My Blackberry is officially dead. Useless. INOP. It lived to just hours after the crash of the two Metro trains on the Red Line. Earlier this morning I discovered the Fire Panel going off at the other building. I called non-emergency to see if they knew what the alarm indicated. Instead they sent over the fire department. I tried to help the Fire Department find the electrical room on the main floor, but that wasn’t my jurisdiction, therefore, I knew nothing. We ended up figuring out where the trouble was, and I ended up being told that next time it goes off to ignore it. Some job I have…
I spent some time online at Panera Bread before hopping on a bus or two to Shady Grove to ride the Red Line to Silver Spring, back to Shady Grove, and then back to Silver Spring. I slept the whole way. I arrived at Silver Spring at 1:45 according to my tweets(ATMT). I caught a bus to take me through Langley Park and then rode back to Silver Spring, arriving at Silver Spring once again, at 3:41 (ATMT). I then decided to take a bus to Twinbrook Station, and then Metro to Shady Grove instead of direct Metro from Silver Spring to Shady Grove, get my drift? When I arrived at Twinbrook at 4:40, I received a tweet from Breaking News that two Metro trains had collided on the Red Line. I immediately tweeted that I wasn’t on the Red Line, although I was just about to board it at Twinbrook. I figured that was going to be slow going, so I hopped aboard a Ride On Bus to Rockville and then one to Shady Grove.
I stopped at the Fox Den and unearthed my old cell phones and then headed to Taco Bell for a Cheesy Double Beef Burrito before going to work
This is how I tweeted my travels today.
FoxWhisperer Plugged in at Panera, trying out an orange scone. Wasn't quite what I was expecting... Can't stay long, got errands to run. =)8:29 AM Jun 22nd from web
FoxWhisperer Okay, crew, I'm leaving Panera. Tweet with you later!9:25 AM Jun 22nd from web
FoxWhisperer Yay! I slept well, only to find myself in Silver Spring. Where should I go from here? Eventually I need to get back to Gaithersburg.1:48 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Just crossed Sligo Rd. I once caught a snake and named it Sligo. =)3:18 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Back at Silver Spring Station. Had a nice tour of Silver Spring and Langley Park. Now on to Twinbrook Station via bus, then the Fox Den!3:41 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Yuck! This bus driver is trying very hard to induce motion-sickness in its riders!3:57 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer This bus feels like it's riding on rims.4:01 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Guys I'm not on that train! But I am waiting for the Red line- not any more though.4:40 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer RT @abc7 Breaking News: Two Metro trains have collided on the Red Line in Washington DC. Number of injuries unknown at this time.4:44 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Opted to take Bus 46 from Twinbrook Station where I had originally intended to catch the Red Line to Shady Rockville and then Shady Grove.4:58 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Condolences to those injured, trapped, or those who perished. :-(4:58 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Feeling a little bit solemn and shook up.5:06 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer There's a lot of conflicting reports about casualties and fatalities. Not much is sure from what i am reading.5:11 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer See my tweet about Silver Spring about 2 hours ago. I didn't want to walk through the construction area to the train, so I decided to take5:34 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer the 3:50 bus to a more convenient Metro stop. I COULD have been on that train, or the very next one!!!5:35 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer Fortunately I missed it altogether.5:37 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer At the Fox Den now.5:54 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer That's terrible! one of our train operators was among the two confirmed dead. :-(6:09 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I'm hungry, I want my Cheesy Double Beef Burrito!6:46 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I hope all the DC peeps of my twitter crew are all okay. I'm sad to hear that the operator was one who perished.6:47 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
FoxWhisperer I can't stop from wondering what could have happened.6:48 PM Jun 22nd from mobile web
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tweet-Up at SMF
I love Twitter and apparently so do many of the folks I follow and who follow me. I feel especially lucky to have connected with men and women in aviation, folks who get excited about contrails like I do, folks who believe spending a day at an aviation museum and an airport is having a fulfilling day.
While I was in California for Veronika's birthday, I had arranged to Tweet-Up with four new friends. Elliott flew down to Sacramento from Seattle. He is @AlaskaAir, the customer service/social media representative for Alaska Airlines. He loves meeting people, and was one of the earliest birds on the Twitter scene. As for me, if Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles hadn't have landed their US Airways A320 in the Hudson River the 16th of January of this year, I still would not have the foggiest idea what Twitter is. I understand why so many people I talk to on an average day don't know Twitter or what a tweet is, but that makes the interaction I have with my Twitter Crew all the more magical.
In addition to Elliott, a husband and wife duo drove down from Reno. The husband currently flies Oriental routes for a US legacy carrier, and the wife is the director of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational, an annual competition held in Reno, Nevada that attracts beautifully restored vintage aircraft from abroad.
My friends from Reno offered to pick me up in Elk Grove on their way in to Sacramento, which was a way out of the way for them to go especially after the lengthy and windy mountain highway through the Sierras. As a token of gratitude, I gave them a bottle of Merlot. Upon presenting it, they presented me with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, with the Swift club's label attached.
The logistics worked out perfectly, for we arrived at the museum within a minute of Elliott's arrival. It was quite a meeting, it felt more like a reunion to me, for we knew a lot about each other and talked about Twitter memories.
Inside the museum, my eyes were drawn to a sky blue Pitts hanging from the ceiling. While I've been in airline limbo,waiting for an airline to come swoop me off of the ground, and turn me into a Cabin Queen, the Pitts represented the aerobatic arena of aviation that I was feeling attracted to. It baffles me that I think I can grasp the proper responses an aircraft requires in all kinds of attitudes when I haven't even flown straight and level for a full hour, not to mention I need A LOT more practice taxiing, and haven't performed a single takeoff or landing alone. All I can hope is someday that all this book knowledge will translate into skill.
My favorite display was the C-47 that we were actually able to enter. I got to sit up in the cockpit, and @atp4tr explained some of it's features. @elliottp and I took pictures of each other sitting in the cabin.
For lunch, we went to Sacramento Executive Airport and ate at the restaurant there. @Captain_Ron flew in to have lunch with us. After lunch, we parted. @elliottp drove me to the skating arena where Veronika's birthday party was being held. It was definitely too loud to hold any kind of conversation. After a little while, Elliott left to go meet some other friends.
What a fabulous day!
While I was in California for Veronika's birthday, I had arranged to Tweet-Up with four new friends. Elliott flew down to Sacramento from Seattle. He is @AlaskaAir, the customer service/social media representative for Alaska Airlines. He loves meeting people, and was one of the earliest birds on the Twitter scene. As for me, if Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Skiles hadn't have landed their US Airways A320 in the Hudson River the 16th of January of this year, I still would not have the foggiest idea what Twitter is. I understand why so many people I talk to on an average day don't know Twitter or what a tweet is, but that makes the interaction I have with my Twitter Crew all the more magical.
In addition to Elliott, a husband and wife duo drove down from Reno. The husband currently flies Oriental routes for a US legacy carrier, and the wife is the director of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational, an annual competition held in Reno, Nevada that attracts beautifully restored vintage aircraft from abroad.
My friends from Reno offered to pick me up in Elk Grove on their way in to Sacramento, which was a way out of the way for them to go especially after the lengthy and windy mountain highway through the Sierras. As a token of gratitude, I gave them a bottle of Merlot. Upon presenting it, they presented me with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, with the Swift club's label attached.
The logistics worked out perfectly, for we arrived at the museum within a minute of Elliott's arrival. It was quite a meeting, it felt more like a reunion to me, for we knew a lot about each other and talked about Twitter memories.
Inside the museum, my eyes were drawn to a sky blue Pitts hanging from the ceiling. While I've been in airline limbo,waiting for an airline to come swoop me off of the ground, and turn me into a Cabin Queen, the Pitts represented the aerobatic arena of aviation that I was feeling attracted to. It baffles me that I think I can grasp the proper responses an aircraft requires in all kinds of attitudes when I haven't even flown straight and level for a full hour, not to mention I need A LOT more practice taxiing, and haven't performed a single takeoff or landing alone. All I can hope is someday that all this book knowledge will translate into skill.
My favorite display was the C-47 that we were actually able to enter. I got to sit up in the cockpit, and @atp4tr explained some of it's features. @elliottp and I took pictures of each other sitting in the cabin.
For lunch, we went to Sacramento Executive Airport and ate at the restaurant there. @Captain_Ron flew in to have lunch with us. After lunch, we parted. @elliottp drove me to the skating arena where Veronika's birthday party was being held. It was definitely too loud to hold any kind of conversation. After a little while, Elliott left to go meet some other friends.
What a fabulous day!
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