Stress!

Heavens above!
Who would have thought that life could go from lonely and dull to extremely stressful and hectic in such a short space of time! I am sorry if you feel I have neglected you but I believe the rest of my life feels the same too.

Firstly, I travelled nervously to the sandpit in the hope of securing my dream job out there. It was 4 days of pure torture! You can fail the process at the end of each day and are told to wait patiently for a phone call in your hotel room to let you know the outcome. I think the hotel may need to replace a patch of worn out carpet where I paced backwards and forwards endlessly until the phone rang! The good news is that after being poked and prodded, answering 750 personality questions, playing with joysticks, flying a very old aircraft in the simulator and having 7 test tubes of blood taken, they finally told me I had passed the selection process. I am delighted! It is not a job offer yet, I still have a tense wait for yet another phone call, but at least I am well over half way there!

On the last day, having had all that blood taken, I had some spare time and decided to visit a family member who lives there. In a bloodless daze and 37 degree heat I was shown the city I am due to live in. Apart from being fairly dusty and sandy, I really do think that S and I will be happy there. I know we will both miss the lush green of England but we will just have to substitute it with water sports and golf instead. In the evening I partook in a little too much bubbly, and what with the heat, the lack of blood and lack of dinner, it wasn't long before I was passed out back in my tour guide's flat. I had 4 hours sleep before being gently placed in a taxi back to my hotel, another hour there and it was time to leave the sand behind me. I have NEVER been so grateful for a business class seat. Upgraded at the last minute by the cabin crew, I was able to lay my throbbing head down and sleep at least until we passed over European airspace.

Now that I have jumped the biggest hurdle, my brain is overloaded with what comes next. In a moment of stupidity I wrote an email to S and sent it to my pilot manager. I could not believe it and still cringe at the thought. Luckily for me, my manager has a sense of humour, and once the mistake had been explained sent an email back saying he couldn't stop laughing. As if I wasn't embarrassed enough, I have a meeting with him coming up and will no doubt have the story told to all those present. That is what we call "galley FM", the never ending rumour mill that churns below every airline, making any conversation public knowledge.

So as my stress boils over into mis-sent emails, I can only sit and wait for good news to come my way. At least then, so many of my future questions will be answered and S and I can get on with planning our new life together. Fingers crossed!