Saturday, we left for JFK, New York. I had put us into First on the non-rev passenger list, my reasoning being that anyone can upgrade from Coach to Business, but that I don't think you can upgrade from Coach or Business to 1st.
At the desk at the gate, we presented our IDs and the lady typed for quite awhile, then regretfully smiled and said, "I'm afraid I have to put you in Coach." I smiled, shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter; both ends usually get there at the same time."
We boarded and went to seats 19 J and H, stowed our stuff, sat down and buckled in. They were quite pleasant seats, off to one side of a galley wall and quite cozy. Richie saw the gate close and settled back in his seat.
Then a Flight Attendant approached and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, your upgrade has been complete; please move to seats 2 A and B." These are the seats at the very front of 1st on the door side. Ah, the bliss!
We shall see what happens going home. Last time we came to NY we got 1st here and the last two seats in row 44 on the way home. The back of our seats touched a bathroom wall;
there was no porthole and the engine noise was deafening. I grinned because I knew that "they" up front were swigging champagne with wild abandon while we were sharing a bottle of water.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
My Father's Gift 4/5/13
The gift is: you are somewhere, minding your own business and a stranger approaches you and begins confiding in you as if you were a friend.
Today Richie was in the pet food store and I was sitting in the car, leafing through a book on hummingbirds he'd gotten from the library.
A soft knock on the window made me look up to see a stranger desiring conversation. He had sandy, reddish hair, tousled by the wind, enormously thatched eyebrows and was wearing a white shirt under a dark blue crewneck sweater. He didn't look homeless although the jury was out on that for a nanosecond. Since he was considerably smaller than I am, I opened my door a crack.
Him: "I see that you're reading a book on hummingbirds - I once held one in my hand!"
Me (looking surprised.)
He continued, "It had flown up into a skylight in my friend's house instead of trying to go out of a door. So I got a ladder, climbed up and caught him as began to fall -- right in my hand! Poor guy was exhausted! I had a loupe in my pocket so I looked him over -- hummingbirds have eyelashes! His were gorgeous!"
Cut to Richie opening his door and getting in, looking suspiciously at this stranger at his wife's window. I said, "Richie, he held a live hummingbird in his hand!"
Richie (interested now) "Did you?" so my new friend told him all about it, tugged at his invisible cap and went on into the bank.
And I still wonder if hummingbirds do have eyelashes, but the book had to go back to the library. I'll ask cousin Wayne - he has a backyard full of them.
Today Richie was in the pet food store and I was sitting in the car, leafing through a book on hummingbirds he'd gotten from the library.
A soft knock on the window made me look up to see a stranger desiring conversation. He had sandy, reddish hair, tousled by the wind, enormously thatched eyebrows and was wearing a white shirt under a dark blue crewneck sweater. He didn't look homeless although the jury was out on that for a nanosecond. Since he was considerably smaller than I am, I opened my door a crack.
Him: "I see that you're reading a book on hummingbirds - I once held one in my hand!"
Me (looking surprised.)
He continued, "It had flown up into a skylight in my friend's house instead of trying to go out of a door. So I got a ladder, climbed up and caught him as began to fall -- right in my hand! Poor guy was exhausted! I had a loupe in my pocket so I looked him over -- hummingbirds have eyelashes! His were gorgeous!"
Cut to Richie opening his door and getting in, looking suspiciously at this stranger at his wife's window. I said, "Richie, he held a live hummingbird in his hand!"
Richie (interested now) "Did you?" so my new friend told him all about it, tugged at his invisible cap and went on into the bank.
And I still wonder if hummingbirds do have eyelashes, but the book had to go back to the library. I'll ask cousin Wayne - he has a backyard full of them.
Some Notes From a Lecture on Memory Loss
5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer's.
500,000 people in their '30s, '40s and '50s have it or a related dementia.
Every 69 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia and accounts for 70 per cent of cases.
70 per cent of people with Alzheimer's live at home where family and friends provide most of their care and pay for it out of their own pockets.
I would add that the above information comes from the Alzheimer's Association which has something of an interest in obtaining money for their programs and funding.
alz.org
500,000 people in their '30s, '40s and '50s have it or a related dementia.
Every 69 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia and accounts for 70 per cent of cases.
70 per cent of people with Alzheimer's live at home where family and friends provide most of their care and pay for it out of their own pockets.
I would add that the above information comes from the Alzheimer's Association which has something of an interest in obtaining money for their programs and funding.
alz.org
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Why I Drank A Martini Cocktail Yesterday
I don't believe in a drink at a time of stress and have only ever said, "I need a drink!" jokingly. Given yesterday, I may have been wrong about this...
As so many frustrations for me do, this started online when both Hertz and the credit union wouldn't let me in.
Hertz summarily dismissed me and after three tries at access, I said, "Tomorrow." The credit union sniffed that "We don't recognise this computer" when I have been using it for three months, possibly more. However, repeatedly yelling "Liar!" at the computer garnered no results. I was directed to click on my e-mail name and they would send a new access code, but "do not exit the credit union to open it." They instructed me to wait a moment and then press Control + N which I did -- four times because nothing happened. In disgust, I signed off, vowing "Tomorrow." And there in my inbox were four identical messages from them.
While running errands, I popped into the local Hertz substation and asked why my Gold #1 Club membership was being blocked. The guy behind the counter didn't know and rather than trying to sort it out, he handed me a brochure, pointed and said, "Call this number" and went back to the telephone and his personal conversation.
After discussing the matter at length with three different Hertz operators, I was told, "Oh, you didn't rent a car for a year, so the computer dropped you." I felt so strange -- there I was, sitting in my own dining room, holding a sheet of Hertz letterhead welcoming me to the Gold #1 Club and ... I didn't exist! I logged on as a "guest" and got the car.
I had a 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. seminar on "Memory Loss" and thank God I'd remembered to calendar it. I cut out of it at 1:30 p.m. because I had to be at a client's house for a 2 p.m. appointment. The seminar sponsor was the volunteer program within which I work and the 2 p.m. was their client. I used the 15 minute window left after driving from A to B to blow through MacDonald's for a Quarter Pounder and small fries. I ate most of the fries while waiting for the light to change at Inglewood and 190th.
When I got home, Richie was talking to his brother Charlie in New York, telling him our flights and the hotel. They finished their conversation and hung up. less than 15 minutes later, Charlie called back. He and his wife had discussed the hotel and they wanted us to know it was a "welfare hotel -- you know, where they let all of the homeless in."
While a stay there could have meant an interesting column, it also meant we'd actually have to stay there and Richie was against that. I booked us into another hotel and called the so-called welfare hotel to cancel. The very New York-accented receptionist told me that I couldn't cancel with her at the hotel because I'd booked the room through an agency and they had my money. I said they didn't because they'd never asked for a credit card and I'd never volunteered it. She said to contact them and hung up.
That's when we went out to dinner and I started it with a dirty gin martini. I must say it hit the spot.
As so many frustrations for me do, this started online when both Hertz and the credit union wouldn't let me in.
Hertz summarily dismissed me and after three tries at access, I said, "Tomorrow." The credit union sniffed that "We don't recognise this computer" when I have been using it for three months, possibly more. However, repeatedly yelling "Liar!" at the computer garnered no results. I was directed to click on my e-mail name and they would send a new access code, but "do not exit the credit union to open it." They instructed me to wait a moment and then press Control + N which I did -- four times because nothing happened. In disgust, I signed off, vowing "Tomorrow." And there in my inbox were four identical messages from them.
While running errands, I popped into the local Hertz substation and asked why my Gold #1 Club membership was being blocked. The guy behind the counter didn't know and rather than trying to sort it out, he handed me a brochure, pointed and said, "Call this number" and went back to the telephone and his personal conversation.
After discussing the matter at length with three different Hertz operators, I was told, "Oh, you didn't rent a car for a year, so the computer dropped you." I felt so strange -- there I was, sitting in my own dining room, holding a sheet of Hertz letterhead welcoming me to the Gold #1 Club and ... I didn't exist! I logged on as a "guest" and got the car.
I had a 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. seminar on "Memory Loss" and thank God I'd remembered to calendar it. I cut out of it at 1:30 p.m. because I had to be at a client's house for a 2 p.m. appointment. The seminar sponsor was the volunteer program within which I work and the 2 p.m. was their client. I used the 15 minute window left after driving from A to B to blow through MacDonald's for a Quarter Pounder and small fries. I ate most of the fries while waiting for the light to change at Inglewood and 190th.
When I got home, Richie was talking to his brother Charlie in New York, telling him our flights and the hotel. They finished their conversation and hung up. less than 15 minutes later, Charlie called back. He and his wife had discussed the hotel and they wanted us to know it was a "welfare hotel -- you know, where they let all of the homeless in."
While a stay there could have meant an interesting column, it also meant we'd actually have to stay there and Richie was against that. I booked us into another hotel and called the so-called welfare hotel to cancel. The very New York-accented receptionist told me that I couldn't cancel with her at the hotel because I'd booked the room through an agency and they had my money. I said they didn't because they'd never asked for a credit card and I'd never volunteered it. She said to contact them and hung up.
That's when we went out to dinner and I started it with a dirty gin martini. I must say it hit the spot.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Running Around
I am being forced into unaccustomed action in trip planning and my mind certainly isn't used to it. We are planning to fly to New York and I dread the flights to and from. Air travel is not by any means what it used to be. Which, 30 years ago, was rather nice. Everyone dressed up, the flight attendants were not only polite, but they were very accommodating. They walked up the aisle offering pillows, a blanket with solicitation.
Today they push food carts with wrap sandwiches ($5) snacks (a tall can of once upon a time mashed potatoes that have been magically transformed into "potato chips") or an enormous cookie - $3 for any one of these. You pay with a credit card ONLY. No cash accepted which doesn't bother me as I never have any on me anyhow. You want a blanket? Bring your own!
Adding to the stress is "Will we even get the flight that I put us on?" Very often we don't which can be the domino effect - a previous flight with fly-through passengers was late; they missed their connection onward and there they all are -- ahead of us for getting a seat.
Most recently, we flew 1st to New York. On our flight home we were seated in the last two seats in Coach. Just in front of the starboard toilet. No window except what we could see out of those ahead of us. The tail seats are bumpier than over-the-wings (my favorite) and poor Richie couldn't sleep. But it was an interesting contrast ... free-flowing champagne at the front end; a shared water bottle in the back end.
Ah, well ...win some, lose some. At least we weren't plodding glumly from one terminal to another to try yet again for a seat.
Today they push food carts with wrap sandwiches ($5) snacks (a tall can of once upon a time mashed potatoes that have been magically transformed into "potato chips") or an enormous cookie - $3 for any one of these. You pay with a credit card ONLY. No cash accepted which doesn't bother me as I never have any on me anyhow. You want a blanket? Bring your own!
Adding to the stress is "Will we even get the flight that I put us on?" Very often we don't which can be the domino effect - a previous flight with fly-through passengers was late; they missed their connection onward and there they all are -- ahead of us for getting a seat.
Most recently, we flew 1st to New York. On our flight home we were seated in the last two seats in Coach. Just in front of the starboard toilet. No window except what we could see out of those ahead of us. The tail seats are bumpier than over-the-wings (my favorite) and poor Richie couldn't sleep. But it was an interesting contrast ... free-flowing champagne at the front end; a shared water bottle in the back end.
Ah, well ...win some, lose some. At least we weren't plodding glumly from one terminal to another to try yet again for a seat.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Continuing the April Fool's Day Fun
Jack Barry remarked "Middle age is when your wife tells you to pull in your stomache and you already have..."
A woman told her granddaughter that AARP stands for "American Alliance of Rollerblading Professionals."
Jack Paar said, "Long after we're wearing bifocals and hearing aids we'll be making love. But we won't know with whom."
George Burns counters, "I'm at the age now where just putting my cigar in its holder is a thrill."
Francis Joseph, Cardinal Spellman said, "You've heard of the three stages of man -- youth, age, and 'You're looking wonderful!'"
Milton Berle - "You have to grow old before somebody will tell you that you look young for your age."
The older you are the smarter you were as a kid...
A woman told her granddaughter that AARP stands for "American Alliance of Rollerblading Professionals."
Jack Paar said, "Long after we're wearing bifocals and hearing aids we'll be making love. But we won't know with whom."
George Burns counters, "I'm at the age now where just putting my cigar in its holder is a thrill."
Francis Joseph, Cardinal Spellman said, "You've heard of the three stages of man -- youth, age, and 'You're looking wonderful!'"
Milton Berle - "You have to grow old before somebody will tell you that you look young for your age."
The older you are the smarter you were as a kid...
Monday, April 1, 2013
April 1, 2013
Today is not a good day to believe everything you see or hear.
I wondered if April Fool's Day is celebrated in Russia and the reason I wondered is that I consider it to be rather a dour nation. Russians do take the fun in -- but they do it almost from a sense of duty. "This is the day we have fun and make jokes, so let's get on it" seems to be the general attitude.
In France, typically mean-spirited, pranksters cut out little fish shapes and stick them on unsuspecting friends and strangers. Wearing a "fish" n your back means you are a fool.
As you will see as the day wears on in America, even the media gets in on the "fun" with faux headlines guaranteed to give some of us a terrible shock before we remember what day it is.
So take today with the proverbial grain of salt. It could be said that this is National Paranoia Day -- with good reason. I can assure you that Obama has not stepped down. Iceland is not threatening us with a nuclear holocaust. All of Scotland has not turned vegan. Just so you know.
As a favor to Richie's cousin, I must mention that he has lost his pet "Snuggles" and despite the fact that this cousin lives on the East Coast, he seems to believe that it's possible for "Snuggles" to have made his way out to the West Coast. As "Suggles" is a giraffe it hardly seems possible, but it you see him, please make note of where it was so that the proper people can be notified. Thank you.
LOST
Giraffe
May be frightened and hungry. He was last seen on Saturday. I am worried that he may wander a long way from home, looking for food.
Snuggles is a male giraffe. He is about 18 ft. tall with large brown spots. He is friendly and not at all aggressive although he does not like pigs.
He was wearing a blue collar with his name and address when he went missing. I had let him off of his lead and still have it.
I miss him so much. There is a reward for information leading to me getting him back. Please help.
I wondered if April Fool's Day is celebrated in Russia and the reason I wondered is that I consider it to be rather a dour nation. Russians do take the fun in -- but they do it almost from a sense of duty. "This is the day we have fun and make jokes, so let's get on it" seems to be the general attitude.
In France, typically mean-spirited, pranksters cut out little fish shapes and stick them on unsuspecting friends and strangers. Wearing a "fish" n your back means you are a fool.
As you will see as the day wears on in America, even the media gets in on the "fun" with faux headlines guaranteed to give some of us a terrible shock before we remember what day it is.
So take today with the proverbial grain of salt. It could be said that this is National Paranoia Day -- with good reason. I can assure you that Obama has not stepped down. Iceland is not threatening us with a nuclear holocaust. All of Scotland has not turned vegan. Just so you know.
As a favor to Richie's cousin, I must mention that he has lost his pet "Snuggles" and despite the fact that this cousin lives on the East Coast, he seems to believe that it's possible for "Snuggles" to have made his way out to the West Coast. As "Suggles" is a giraffe it hardly seems possible, but it you see him, please make note of where it was so that the proper people can be notified. Thank you.
LOST
Giraffe
May be frightened and hungry. He was last seen on Saturday. I am worried that he may wander a long way from home, looking for food.
Snuggles is a male giraffe. He is about 18 ft. tall with large brown spots. He is friendly and not at all aggressive although he does not like pigs.
He was wearing a blue collar with his name and address when he went missing. I had let him off of his lead and still have it.
I miss him so much. There is a reward for information leading to me getting him back. Please help.
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