Australian Airlines

Hearing: Tinie Tempah Ft. Eric Turner - Written In The Stars

Australian Airlines!! Its long overdue but finally a post to introduce the airlines of my home country. Here is the unofficial list (for a complete list please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Australia) which looks at the main players in the Aussie skies.

For all you Aussie wannabe cabin crew - good luck!

For non-Australian citizens or residents, please note that the majority of Australian airlines do not hire internationally and then base you in an Australian city as some airlines of the Middle East do.

Qantas - The Spirit of Australia

• Qantas Careers
• Qantas Flight Attendants
• QantasLink

Virgin Blue - V Australia - Pacific Blue

• Virgin Careers
• Career opportunities listing

Jetstar

• Jetstar Careers 
• Jetstar Cabin Crew

Tiger Airways

• Careers 

PPrune appears to be quite busy at the moment with Aussie airline threads. Check out some i have included below.

Virgin Atlantic (II)

Virgin Atlantic (I)

Virgin Blue

Qantas domestic

VP

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Oman Air

Hearing: Broken Strings - James Morrison

http://www.omanairblog.com/omanair/2009/10/oman-air-goes-for-the-balenciaga-look.html

Oman Air - This airline doesnt offer much by way of cabin crew information - strike that - it doesnt offer any information at all! Flicking over to their website today i noticed that if a job is posted in the vacancy section it will provide some decent details but there were no jobs advertised for Cabin Crew. Everything else on their website is general info.

The PPrune thread i found is not great but its better than nothing. Also in an effort to give you guys some kind of information i contacted one Oman Air cabin crew with some questions in the hopes that i'll be able to share this information. If i get an answer i'll be sure to post an update so keep your fingers crossed!

Oman Air Global Website

Oman Air Career page

Oman Air Job Vacancy

VP

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Additonal Emirates Blogs and Cabin Crew Links

Hearing:

Here are some additional Cabin Crew wannabe resources and forums i came across recently and some more Emirates Cabin Crew Blogs.

http://www.thirtythousandfeet.com/flightat.htm
http://wwww.cabincrew.com/ccnetwork/forum_topics.asp?FID=3
http://www.airlinecrew.net/


Emirates cabin crew blogs:

http://danielleindubai.blogspot.com/

http://getreadyfortakeofflis.blogspot.com/
http://twentysomethingflightattendant.blogspot.com/

VP

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Royal Jordanian

Hearing: Cars driving by, Merlin (my cat) purring next to me, leaves rustling in the wind.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I wish you all a wonderful & exciting 2011. For all you cabin crew wannabes...i hope that 2011 is the year you land your dream job in the skies.

With that in mind...Welcome to the first post of 2011 - Royal Jordanian!

http://www.rj.com/en/tabid/130/Default.aspx

Based in Amman, Jordan and launched in 1963 as "Alia" it was later renamed Royal Jordanian, its network spans 53 detinations world-wide and it is a member of the OneWorld Airline Alliance. For aviation uniform lovers check out their uniform gallery.

Royal Jordanian Global Website

Royal Jordanian Career Website 

Royal Jordanian Cabin Crew Info - Non-Jordanian (Female Only)

On to the basics...

Location: You will be based in  Amman

Age: 18-30 years

Height:158cm

Salary:

     - 1356 USD monthly base salary

     - 850 USD per month flying allowance (though the website doesnt say if this is an average or how it is calculated)

Healthcare: Medical care + life insurance provided by company

Travel Discounts:Annual airline tickets for you and your family (though they do no specify the terms and conditions)

To apply, all you need to do is send your CV/Resume and a full body photo to Cabincrew@rj.com

Unfortunately that is all the information i could find on their official website.

Some other links that may be useful include:

• PPrune Royal Jordanian thread
• CabinCrew.com Royal Jordanian thread

It has been very difficult finding any cabin crew blogs, i dont know if the crew are just too busy flying to keep a blog or if Royal Jordanian has a problem with it or if my searching skills are just that bad....please let me know if you have come across any!

VP

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Gulf Air

Hearing: I cant be tamed - Miley Cyrus (oh and my not so small kitten purring away...)

Gulf Air - "Guaranteed to make you smile"

image from http://www.link2portal.com/energy/company/64283/gulf_air

Gulf Air used to be a very large airline and very popular, it was almost as big as Emirates. With the launch and expansion of Etihad Airways however some of Gulf Airs  destinations were taken away and as a result the airline has shrunk significantly. Gulf Air is based in Bahrain a small island East of Saudi and North-west of Qatar. At present it appears that they are only hiring Bahraini nationals though in the past they have hired crew world-wide.

Gulf Air Website

Gulf Air Career Website
Gulf Air Flight Attendant Information

Gulf Air on Facebook

The information on this website is more scattered than other airline career sites but if you head to the FAQ page you'll be able to find the details. Also don't forget that they have the "Sky Nanny" positions available which other airlines we have covered so far do not.

Location: You will be based in Bahrain

Age: 20-30years

Accommodation: Company provided shared accommodation with 1-2 people.

Salary: Tax free salary, allowances and end-of-service benefits depending on length of employment (Unspecified)

Annual Leave: One free annual leave ticket per year

Healthcare: Company provided including dental

Travel Discounts: Available to you and certain family members travelling on Gulf Air and partner airlines
Training period: 8 weeks

I have also found the below details taken from the Gulf Airs Bahrani Nationals - Flight Attendant vacancy page (so please be aware that these may only apply to Bahraini Nationals applying)

Height: Min 5 feet 3 inches (1.58m) tall

Leave: 36 days

Status: Single with no children

Qualifications: University/College

I have had some difficulty finding cabin crew blogs or many forum sites but here is a list of sites/articles that i could find:

PPrune
Gulf Air Crew & Ground Staff (ex & current) Facebook page 

All-female Bahraini crew for Gulf Air (article)

Skytrax passenger reviews

If your a Gulf Air flight attendant and would like to share your blog, please contact me via email (see the about me page) or include your site by posting a comment.


VP

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Etihad Airways

Hearing: Airplanes  - B.O.B ft Haley Williams

Next up - Etihad Airways! Similar to Emirates, this post is on everything Etihad Cabin Crew i could pull together. Just like Mel from Tampax Towers did in the Emirates post, feel free to add anything by posting a comment or contacting me!

image from http://careers.etihadairways.com/ehire/English/FAQs.aspx

Etihad Airways - It is the national carrier of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) - not Emirates as most people beleive. It is based in Abu Dhabi one of the other Emirates in the UAE.

Etihad Global Website

Etihad Career Website

Etihad Cabin Crew Website

Their Cabin Crew jobsite has been updated since i first started writing this post. It still has lots of information cabin crew wannabes want to know. Make sure you check out the FAQ section for Cabin Crew as there is valuable stuff there and also do a job search for "cabin crew" for some additional information. Be sure to refer to information on the Etihad website before listening to what anyone else says/what you hear elsewhere. I have summarised some of the information here to act as a quick reference but make sure visit the website too!

Location: You will be based in Abu Dhabi

Age: Minimum 21 years

Height: 162cm. You need to be able to reach 214cm without shoes

Salary: unspecified - tax free

Experience Required: 2 years customer service (part time for 2 years is accepted)

Other: Ability to swim at least 25m unaided in open water, without a flotation devic

Assessment Day Schedule (taken from the cabin crew job advert on their crew website - please note that you do need an invite to attend):

August 2010

Abu Dhabi, UAE
Milan, Italy- Cabin Crew Open Day on 5th August at Radisson Blu Milan, 0830 am- 1030 am*

Athens, Greece-  Cabin Crew Open Day on 3rd August at Crowne Plaza Hotel Athens City, 0830 am- 1030 am*

Barcelona, Spain

Dusseldorf, Germany

Dublin, Republic of Ireland

London, United Kingdom

September 2010

Abu Dhabi, UAE
Copenhagen, Denmark

Oslo, Norway

Warsaw, Poland

Helsinki, Finland

Paris, France

Brussels, Belgium

Budapest, Hungary

Bratislava, Slovakia

 * Please bring a copy of your updated CV, one passport sized photograph and copy of your passport details page.

Etihad forum threads (bear in mind some information here might be outdated):

PPrune

Cabin Crew

Some Etihad Cabin Crew Blogs:

Nikita - Once Upon A Dream

Around the Globe 

A lot of these blogs talk about the travel side of the job but there are some nuggets of information for the hungry wannabe (like i used to be) which gives a personal insight in to what it is really like to live in Abu Dhabi and work for Etihad.

If anyone comes across any other website that may be useful please let me know. In the meantime good luck to all those interested in applying for Etihad, i wish you well and email me if you want to share your experience!

VP

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Emirates

Hearing: Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

As promised here is a post on everything Emirates Cabin Crew i could pull together. Feel free to add anything by posting a comment or contacting me!

image from http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/Careers_Overview/cabin_crew/default.aspx

Emirates Airlines - for those who dont know - is the most popular airline in the Middle-East and the one that most people want to join. Emirates is an airline based in Dubai, UAE (United Arab Emirates).

Emirates Global Website

Emirates Career Website 

Emirates Cabin Crew Jobsite

The Cabin Crew jobsite has a lot of information most applicants want to know, eg, minimum age, height 'restrictions', pay etc. I recommend you rely on that information first before any other source. I have summarised some of the information here to act as a quick reference but do have a look at the information provided on the website, even the FAQ page has additional info!

Location: You will be based in Dubai

Age: Minimum 21 years

Height: You need to be able to reach 212cm (standing with ur arms stretched above ur head)

Contract: 3 years non-binding with 6 months probationary period. It can be renewed for another 3 years

Accommodation: Company provided (which means free with no electricity/water/phone bills!!)

Salary: (in 3 parts)

     -  3915 dirhams (approx 1065 USD) tax free per month

     -  53.50 dirhams per hour paid between chocks off and chocks on

     -  meal allowance in the currency of the country of layover

Annual Leave: 30 days + one free annual leave ticket per year

Healthcare: Medical care + life insurance provided by company

Travel Discounts: Some available on joining, others after probationary period.

Emirates run a number of Global Open Days throughout the year in various locations, for details check out this page. There are currently several scheduled for April and May 2010. Global Open Days are usually very busy. Bring your resume and photos and most importantly you need a lot of patience. The day serves mainly as an introduction to the company and there is time later to submit your resume and say a quick hello to the recruiters.

Global Assessment Days on the other hand are by appointment only and you need to submit your resume beforehand. For that schedule click here.

Emirates forum threads (bear in mind some information here might be outdated):

PPrune

Vogue

Some Emirates Cabin Crew Blogs:

Airboy

Melisa - The Emirates Chapter

Lisa's Cabin Crew Blog

Tampax Towers
Life as i know it
Going for it
TobyTime
Pink Poodle
Dstar Duubai
Carine in the Sandpit
The Flying Kiwi
Aerobatics Ash
Shaun Wykes
Flying High
Flying at 35,00 feet
Danielles cabin crew blog

Maicon Soares An Emirates wannabe blog!

A lot of these blogs talk about the travel side of the job but there are some nuggets of information for the hungry wannabe (like i used to be) which gives a personal insight in to what it is really like to live in Dubai and work for Emirates.

If anyone comes across any other website that may be useful please let me know. In the meantime good luck to all those interested in applying for Emirates, i wish you well and email me if you want to share your experience!

VP

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Flight Attendant Wannabes

Hearing: Muse - Undisclosed Desires

I have been recently inspired to try and post some useful information for all those looking to get their wings. Being a flight attendant for me was a dream come true, to get paid to travel around the world, sleep in gorgeous hotels, have the uniform that makes people look and wish they were you or wonder about the exciting life you lead. I have mentioned in previous posts that the reality is not really like that but it never stopped me for going for my dream job, and after leaving i have no regrets. I strongly recommend for anyone interested in getting a flight attendant job to go for it! No matter what anyone says, everyone will agree that it is worth the experience and the lifelong friends you make.

So in that spirit here are a few sites to get the flight attendant job seeker - aka flight attendant wannabe - a start in their research.

One of my favourites is PPrune. It was where i met Tray and got in touch with someone who helped me get to the open day of the airline i ended up working for. It is a web forum filled with people helping each other out with info on airlines and some interview advice. Do use your common sense though as some things need to be taken with a grain of salt. The best page is the aptly named Cabin Crew Wannabes.

While the PPrune forum is good for personal info and networking you should always check what the airline has to say on their job pages. As i worked for a Middle-East airline I've got some links below direct to the Cabin Crew pages for a bunch of Middle-East airlines which are very good at hiring expats - ie, you don't have to be a citizen of that country to be hired.

Emirates Cabin Crew
Qatar Airways Cabin Crew
Etihad Airways - Main Careers Page (cabin crew recruitment schedule)
Gulf Air - Flight attendants (scroll to the bottom for links to interview dates/recruitment process/career development pages)
Royal Jordanian - Flight Attendant Careers page
Oman Air - Cabin Crew Recruitment (This was a tricky one to find. Sorry guys, only female expats accepted)
Air Arabia - Careers page (note: Air Arabia is a low cost "no frills" carrier)
Bahrain Air Cabin Crew Careers (Relatively new airline - started in 2007. Appears to be a low cost "no frills" carrier)
Middle East Airlines - They only recruit nationals (Lebanese Citizens) but I've included them here just in case anyone was wondering about them.
Kuwait Airways - The site has a link to the Careers page but it doesn't work. They do have a contact form where you can select Job opportunities from the drop down list.
Saudi Airlines - They have a career page where you need to login, but i couldn't find where to sign up! There are contacts for Human Resources though that might be handy if you are interested.

Airlines without careers pages but might be worth a look at the contact us page if your really interested:
Egypt Air
Iran Air
Palestinian Airlines
El AL (Israel Airline)
Arkia (Israel)

If any links are broken please let me know.

I will do my best at adding any more i come across and if there are any missing you would like me to add then just shoot me an email. I'll even try to post airline specific posts with as much information as i can find to help provide all future flight attendants with a good resource for their research. If you already are a flight attendant with any of the above airlines and want to share your knowledge and experience to help others achieve their dream please contact me.

I'll also try to be comprehensive and add other airlines from different continents but given the number of airlines it might take a while!!!

From one ex-FA to all FA wannabes,
VP

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A yearly thing

Hearing: Chatter from classroom next door.

I have just returned from a quick aircraft visit (B777-300). The rest of the class are in the cafeteria getting something cold to drink and I'm up here cooling off in front of the air conditioner. Summer is truly underway with temperatures continuing to climb into the mid 40s in August. The aircraft we visited was undergoing some general maintenance and unfortunately there was no ground supply or APU (Auxilary Power Unit) aircon and everyone melted within seconds of the stifling heat inside. Still theres something about being able to walk upto an aircraft on ground and being inside without the whole customer service perspective that is so wholly raw aviation and i will never get tired of it, same as i will never get tired of watching or being in take-offs and landings.

On the way there i gave A- a quick call to see how he was doing. His latest news is that he has been accepted to fly with VirginBlue back home. He will be based in Melbourne and so has to move there from Perth and i imagine the arrangements are keeping him busy. Congrats A, DJ is lucky to have you.

Well the class is slowly trickling back in and i have 2 hrs of Crew Resource Management to sit through not to mention another 2 days still to come, tomorrow Safety and Emergency and the last day First Aid. Anyways better go,

VP

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Busy, busy, busy.

Hearing:

Ive been so busy since my last post. There is so much to tell. Brothers visit, mums visit, jetskiing, Bar/Club hopping, angry motorists, Amman, annual leave, Cairo and Paris, another visit, training, spot performance assessment....but i have to go study now, got the yearly refresher training tomorrow, will update when i can.

VP

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Boeing Supy

Hearing: Wisemen - James Blunt

Yesterday i got called off standby for a turnaround flight. The only problem was that it was on a Boeing 777 which id never operated before. Id received the training but i hadnt had a familiarisation flight. I told crewing about this so they switched me from operation to observation and said they would get another crew.

Im glad i insisted on the observation flight, aside from getting familiar with cabin configuration, galley layout and service i had time to have a good look around at equipment location, the crew rest, pilot seat operation (in case of pilot incapacitation) and other stuff. Plus i got to sit in the cockpit for landing...WICKED!!! There is nothing like watching a landing from there - except maybe flying the aircraft yourself.

A pretty hectic flight. Loads of kids a huge mess at every bulkhead and one of the ovens didnt work delaying the service as they had to go back and reheat. The galley incharge was beside herself, she was relatively new so i went into help, turns out her crew werent helping out like they should. I mean the galley is supposed to be organised and have everything ready but they could see she needed help and still they dumped everything on her, poor thing. In the end it was ok, the CM knew that she tried hard and didnt give her grief about it. Hope no one who flys has to go through the same thing.

Always
VP

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Training, Istanbul and the goodbye gets closer

Hearing: Feeling way too damn good - Nickelback

Im just here in the sand pit, its my first day off after training. I was watching Gilmore Girls (dont laugh) which my flatmate E- had got me from BKK, a nice surprise after arriving home from training yesterday, anyways i digress. I didnt know my other flatmate A was home, turns out she had just spent her 4 days off in Istanbul, Turkey and showed me the photos...WOW! A- really amazing place and very beautiful. Seeing it like that made its priorty on my list of places to see jump up to be serious competition for my leave in Novemeber. Gotta do some research for that now since i have 9 days.

So training finished yesterday. After 4 days of being drilled in the finer points of first class service i know the menu back to front, can tell you every little thing on the plate infront of you and am thoroughly over it...LOL! We had 2 days of practicles which were great and the trainer thankfully was good, i was especially worried about that since i had heard nightmare stories about some trainers including one sending one guy to the grooming department cuz his sideburns were too long... ??? But i was exhausted, waking up at 5.30am is just so wrong.

My mate A- had booked me for every evening up to his last day and i was very sleep deprived from being awake so early, and trying to fit study around going to dinner with him and then not going to bed early enough. On the 3rd night i just couldnt go, i hated cancelling but i knew he had company so i slept from 6pm all the way through till 5.20am which was good cuz in my exhaustion i had forgotten to set my alarm clock. Last night however, we went for a delicious dinner and then had a baskin and robbins ice cream desert on the roof of my building overlooking the city. Today once he's done cleaning and packing im going to spend the rest of the day with him. I sort of want to spend as much time as possible with him but a also just want to stay away. Being here without a friend like him is going to be very hard and saying goodbye, i suck at them in general and always act boisterous to cover what im really feeling but still, i dont want that, i want a proper goodbye but i also dont want to cry. Ugh, i'll let you all know how it goes.

VP

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Think you have it bad??

Hearing: Locals shouting excitedly over a networked game.

In Training News:
Yesterday was final day of training and i am happy to say that i am now qualified to fly the lovely boeing 777. The 1st day invloved door familiarisation, operation and emergency scenario drills which was fun. The second was a rundown of all everything else we needed to know and an exam at the end of the day which you already know i passed. The next time im back there wont be till the service enhancement course at the end of the month.

In Other News:
You think you've got it bad?? Take a look at this photo:




Imagine living here...these are what i assume to be the homes for the cheap labour my company uses. Now before you start yelling in outrage let me point something out, my company is not the only one that uses cheap labour, in fact id be very much surprised if the majority of companies in the country didnt do the same. Not that it makes it acceptable. You would be surprised at the number of expats (mostly - and im not trying to be racist here - Indians/Pakistani) who come here to work under terrible conditions for crappy wages. They are everywhere sometimes i feel really sorry for them, i mean it cant feel good to be treated as dispensible and othertimes the looks you get from the men can make you feel like a piece of meat - not nice at all.

There are always 2 sides to everything. After speaking to a few of my fellow flighties and a friend who exprienced India in person in a "no frills" sort of way, they explained that conditions in their home country are ten times worse - lack of jobs and terrible living conditions. Here they get paid a small sum but back at home they can support a family and raise their quality of life. And here they at least get airconditioned rooms and satellite tv! So next time you think you have it bad, count your blessings and thank your lucky stars you have it better.

VP

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A much needed 4 days off.

Hearing: People chatting in the lobby.

After spending only 14 days out of the whole month so far in my own bed it was good to be home. I spent the 1st day just doing chores including a huge pile of laundry which I had no idea where it came from and in the evening curled up on the trusty old sofa infront of tv. The next couple of days was spent catching up with friends (finally) and running some errands that had been postponed and postponed again. My old lappie threw in the towel yesterday, I could hear it boot up but nothing would display on the monitor so I had to put it in to get checked, I wont know what the deal is till tomorrow, speaking of which...

tomorrow signals the start of my new roster which includes the 1st 2 days training for 777 ( which I'm looking forward to, it has really good destinations) the last 4 service enhancement and in between a very short London, 2 short Paris a Frankfurt, and 4 standbys. Unfortunately I'm disappointed again as I didn't get my requested 4 days off at the end of the month (I was planning yet again to go to Cairo since I still have the ticket from last time *sigh*). My friend A thinks its pretty lousy of them not being able to give us our request since were only allowed one a month, you'd think they could manage that. But never mind, all the best for Miss TT whose training is going really well.

VP

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My first Supy.

I survived! My first supy was to BOM and according to the rest of the crew, it was better than usual. I have to agree I was expecting it to be worse but I was pleasantly surprised. The departure was early morning and the return was just before midday. Leading upto the flight I was so nervous, trying to revise but still drawing blanks on everything...then there was this dream, you know the kind where your so paranoid about something that you see it in your dreams as a worst case scenario. In this one I confused the time of my flight, showed up without the proper uniform, didn't know what to do or where to go, couldn't remember the simplest of procedures, in short it was chaos.

The good news is that nothing of the sort happened. The crew was very nice and happy to answer any questions I had, show me how things worked and explain what to do etc. For me it was great finally just getting in there and carrying out some of the services and helping with others. It was a full flight back so they were grateful for the extra help. It was fun being onboard behind the scenes that i'd wondered so much about when I was a passenger. The highlight of my flight was being allowed to sit in the cockpit for the landing back at base. The view, the way things worked, such a different perspective on the whole art of flying, it was such a treat ending my flight with that.

One thing that will stick with me forever is that at one stage before we were taking off from BOM airport, one of the CC told me to look out the window to see where people were living. At first glance all I could see was the tarmac and grass so I thought it was some joke but then I bent down to take a proper look.... slums. My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe my eyes, I'm not so ignorant as to find it that big of a shock but seeing it for real, not on tv or in some other form but with your own eyes....and so close to the airport, the contrast of the developed airport with squalor. As I looked I noticed two kids playing between the pieces of sheet metal that was their home...I can honestly say I felt really ashamed of myself for those times when I took things for granted and for those times when I was grateful, for not being moreso.

Ahem, the mood of the post slightly changed there...

I have another supy tomorrow and then a few flights before my London layover. I have never been there before so I cant wait! The best thing is that 8 of the crew are from my training batch which is really rare but were are going to have a blast. I have to say though when our trainers found out their initial thought was OMG I wouldn't want to be on that flight - they were kidding of course. I'll definitely be posting about that trip. But speaking of training.....

For the past 7 wks training was at times intense but generally fun. We had great trainers and I was lucky enough to be in a great batch and where we all got along very well. I made some great friends and I hope to have the opportunity to fly with all of them sometime (guys, thankyou so much for being a fantastic group and thankyou for all the laughs esp. Ollie and Mz Luz). I'm still trying to get a photo of all of us from our 1st day to post here, when I do I'll post an edit.

For now I'm off to get some rest before my flight tomorrow.

From the sandy pit, VP.

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