Delays... delays... we don't just make up excuses!!

I finally got a trip yesterday. After almost walking out the door to go furniture shopping with my girlfriend... I got the phone call from the 817 area code. Those 3 numbers... equal, WORK.
When I got to the plane... we weren't allowed to board due to maintenance working on an issue. After meeting the rest of my crew (finding out we were all just called out) a friend of mine wanted to switch positions, so I ended up working #5 b/c galley on the Airbus. Now if you fly this a/c you know that it is notoriously known for its mechanical problems. After 'waiting around' 20 minutes or so we got onboard.

After completing our pre-flight checks, maintenance informed us that the issue they were working on was serious! So we stopped what we were doing and relaxed. While talking for about 10 minutes... we were informed that the fix and test they had just completed failed so that the a/c was being taken out of service. (the l/h cockpit window needed replaced)

We gathered out things together... taking our time since we knew from history that nothing happens quickly at MIA we moseyed on over to the other gate.

After everyone boarded the 'new a/c' and after the request to 'arm' our doors occurred... we found out that we were missing the 'flag' that is attached to the pin that alerts one when the door is armed or disarmed. Yes, ladies and gentleman... it is a NO GO ITEM! What that means is that the FAA has certain requirements, equipment that we MUST have in order to fly and that flag just happened to be one of them.

So for our passengers... whom were originally suppose to depart MIA to SJU at 4pm we had to wait over 40 minutes to find another pin. Of course... this helped pass the time waiting for hurricane Ike's bands to pass by.

We made it to SJU and back arriving just after 2am Talk about a LONG turn! I'm still feeling the after effects of the late night!!! Meanwhile... still looking for the Glamour!!