Summer time. Get up at 03:30 to catch the 05:40 flight. Two hour flight with a one hour time change. Arrive in ATL at 09:15. Duty in is at 13:45 ( could not leave later because the flights are full/oversold and I cannot compete with 1972 hire dates ). Could I get the jumpseat? Maybe but not willing to take a chance and be potentially late because someone else may already have listed for it. Did I sleep on the plane? No because the guy next to me decided to read the entire Wall Street Journal; requires having his high intensity reading light on for 2 hours. Can I sleep in the quiet room in the crew lounge? Yes for about 10 minutes then someone comes in and starts snoring like a freight train or their cell phone rings three times. My inbound first flight is 2 hours late for assorted reasons. It is a five leg day that is scheduled to finish at 11:00 PM. Did I sleep the night before? No. Wifes pager is going off; kids are coming in and out until midnight. So by leg five I am officially tired. Thankfully I did not start the trip so I am not flying the last leg into Tulsa with bad weather; yes thunderstorm do develop at night in that area. We land at midnight. Hotel at 12:40 and off to bed. Yes I have had a 20 hour day. I have a three of those. Hope I never have one again. Should I have commuted up the night before? Maybe. I dont want to spend the money on a hotel. I am a FO so I dont want to spend the money I dont have. In reference to what Bill said earlier; the commute isnt whats bad it is what leads up to and after it that makes the day long.
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