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travel for tweens
Apr. 26th, 2010 11:36 amLast night, I was asking my mother whether my two younger cousins were going to go down to Florida this summer for a visit. The sisters are 13 and 16, respectively (younger one may be 14; I am not sure.) My mother indicated that the older one might be getting a job for the summer, but the younger one might still be interested.
Because my aunt and uncle are financially strapped (he has MS and is on disability; she doesn't work (she should but that's another story)) my parents pay to fly them down and back. For reasons I can't fathom, they have been flying the girls out of Atlantic City on Spirit Airlines. AC is easily a three-hour drive for my aunt, as opposed to Newark, which would be more like 45 minutes.
I mentioned to my mother that if the younger one did want to come, maybe they could fly her out on JetBlue, because Spirit sucks for threatening to charge people for carry-on. We got into a side discussion over penalizing everyone vs. enforcing carryon rules, but my mother was mostly resistant to the younger flying out of Newark because it is a big and confusing airport. If you are not familiar with Newark, then in a nutshell: Terminal C is enormous and might be confusing, but the only airline that flies out of that terminal is Continental. Terminal B is a complete unknown to me, as I've never used it. JetBlue, my parents' favorite, flies out of Terminal A, which is the oldest and smallest part of the airport. JetBlue itself only uses two of the gates, A20 and A21. When you go into security, you pick the "branch" that has your gate in it, and there are only about six gates per "branch."
So, here's the question. Do you think that 13-14 is old enough to go through Terminal A alone? It seems to me that the younger should be quite competent to find the JetBlue gates on her own, especially if Mom is there to help her find the right "branch" before she goes off to security. What do you think? Is my mom being paranoid, or do I expect too much from a young teenager?
Because my aunt and uncle are financially strapped (he has MS and is on disability; she doesn't work (she should but that's another story)) my parents pay to fly them down and back. For reasons I can't fathom, they have been flying the girls out of Atlantic City on Spirit Airlines. AC is easily a three-hour drive for my aunt, as opposed to Newark, which would be more like 45 minutes.
I mentioned to my mother that if the younger one did want to come, maybe they could fly her out on JetBlue, because Spirit sucks for threatening to charge people for carry-on. We got into a side discussion over penalizing everyone vs. enforcing carryon rules, but my mother was mostly resistant to the younger flying out of Newark because it is a big and confusing airport. If you are not familiar with Newark, then in a nutshell: Terminal C is enormous and might be confusing, but the only airline that flies out of that terminal is Continental. Terminal B is a complete unknown to me, as I've never used it. JetBlue, my parents' favorite, flies out of Terminal A, which is the oldest and smallest part of the airport. JetBlue itself only uses two of the gates, A20 and A21. When you go into security, you pick the "branch" that has your gate in it, and there are only about six gates per "branch."
So, here's the question. Do you think that 13-14 is old enough to go through Terminal A alone? It seems to me that the younger should be quite competent to find the JetBlue gates on her own, especially if Mom is there to help her find the right "branch" before she goes off to security. What do you think? Is my mom being paranoid, or do I expect too much from a young teenager?
Writer's Block: Are you incentivized?
Apr. 26th, 2010 09:56 am[Error: unknown template qotd]
Impactful: Not a word.
Verbage: Derivative of "verbiage," which means "unnecessary words." QED.
Wordsmith: Just say "edit."
Scribe: Just say "write."
Deep dive: Mostly ends up with the divers' heads up their asses.
Lean/Just In Time: Doesn't work.
Yeah, I've been in industry too long.
Impactful: Not a word.
Verbage: Derivative of "verbiage," which means "unnecessary words." QED.
Wordsmith: Just say "edit."
Scribe: Just say "write."
Deep dive: Mostly ends up with the divers' heads up their asses.
Lean/Just In Time: Doesn't work.
Yeah, I've been in industry too long.
Video games
Apr. 14th, 2010 04:55 pmWhen I was a kid, I had an Atari. I didn't have too many games for it, but my parents would get me a new game as a gift from time to time. It seems that they had a knack for picking some winners. Not only did I have a copy of E. T., which is widely considered one of the worst and most disastrous games ever made, but I also had a copy of Journey Escape, which was featured in this Mental Floss list of the 10 Most Bizarre Games Ever Made. As I had no idea who the band Journey was at the time I got the cart, and the gameplay was completely mystifying, this was not one of my favorites.
All I can say is that the games in question must have been on sale.
All I can say is that the games in question must have been on sale.
Obamas share private moment in public eye
Flanked by Secret Service agents and personal aide Reggie Love, Obama spotted his wife near the West Wing entrance and tried to get her attention. "Hey FLOTUS," he shouted, then added, "I was just looking for you." FLOTUS is the acronym for first lady of the United States.
♥
Flanked by Secret Service agents and personal aide Reggie Love, Obama spotted his wife near the West Wing entrance and tried to get her attention. "Hey FLOTUS," he shouted, then added, "I was just looking for you." FLOTUS is the acronym for first lady of the United States.
♥
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Anita Blake: Vampire Humper
Feb. 24th, 2010 01:29 pmI picked up two Laurell K. Hamilton books from the give-away pile here at work so I could list them on PaperbackSwap for some free credits. Hopefully.
Now I feel ashamed that people will think I actually read them.
D:
Now I feel ashamed that people will think I actually read them.
D:
Son of Snowpocalypse
Feb. 9th, 2010 03:53 pm12 - 14 inches expected in my area.
Good: Will probably get the day off tomorrow. If not, taking the day off. Mama didn't raise no fool. Have plenty of food, water, and candles in the house, plus Katamari Forever and a neglected quilt.
Bad: Husband is in Florida for business, which leaves me home alone for the snowstorm. It's no fun to be in the middle of a big storm and have no one to snuggle with. At least our neighbor has agreed to come over with the snowblower!
Good: Will probably get the day off tomorrow. If not, taking the day off. Mama didn't raise no fool. Have plenty of food, water, and candles in the house, plus Katamari Forever and a neglected quilt.
Bad: Husband is in Florida for business, which leaves me home alone for the snowstorm. It's no fun to be in the middle of a big storm and have no one to snuggle with. At least our neighbor has agreed to come over with the snowblower!
Poor kitty
Jan. 15th, 2010 10:01 amEvery night, Biscuit wakes me up because she wants a snack. (She usually has food in her bowl, but she is too dumb to check her bowl out first.) Usually, after having her snack, she comes back to bed and snoozes with us until the alarm goes off. Sometimes, she doesn't want to go back to sleep - she wants to play with us. Many times when she's pesty at night, I'll find a toy on the bed the next morning that she's brought upstairs to keep herself entertained. Unfortunately, keeping herself entertained means keeping us up at an inappropriate hour, so we don't encourage her to play at 3 AM even though she is cute as buttons.
One of Biscuit's favorite toys is a kitty fishing pole with a feather on the end. We had played chase last night, and then husband hung the pole up where she couldn't get it. (Or so we thought.) I had gone back to bed after a snack run when I heard "BONK, BA-BONK, WHACK, BONK BONK BONK" coming up the stairs. Biscuit had managed to pull her toy off the wall and was bringing it upstairs to us so we could play chase some more.
It broke my heart into pieces to bring the fishing pole back downstairs and hang it up where Biscuit really couldn't reach it, and then shut the kitty door so that she had to stay in the basement (once she gets going, she won't settle down again.) We can't let her think that we're going to play with her at night, or we'll never get any sleep. But wow if it isn't hard to say no!
One of Biscuit's favorite toys is a kitty fishing pole with a feather on the end. We had played chase last night, and then husband hung the pole up where she couldn't get it. (Or so we thought.) I had gone back to bed after a snack run when I heard "BONK, BA-BONK, WHACK, BONK BONK BONK" coming up the stairs. Biscuit had managed to pull her toy off the wall and was bringing it upstairs to us so we could play chase some more.
It broke my heart into pieces to bring the fishing pole back downstairs and hang it up where Biscuit really couldn't reach it, and then shut the kitty door so that she had to stay in the basement (once she gets going, she won't settle down again.) We can't let her think that we're going to play with her at night, or we'll never get any sleep. But wow if it isn't hard to say no!
Lesson learned
Nov. 23rd, 2009 02:53 pmBiscuit likes to munch on the white flower buds that sprout from our peace lily. This upsets my husband, because he likes the peace lily's flowers and Biscuit eats them before they can bloom. I suggested that he try putting some deer netting over the plant, which worked, but not for the right reason. The deer netting was supposed to keep her from getting to the plant. She just pulled the netting off and decided it was the BEST TOY EVAR.
It's the little things that matter
Nov. 19th, 2009 10:10 amI just pwnt my neighber at Bejeweled Blitz. My day is complete.
and I thought Sarah Palin was frightening
Nov. 18th, 2009 04:38 pmMeet Michele Bachmann!
An excerpt from the article:
An excerpt from the article:
Bachmann later condemned those who had made Holocaust references at the rally. But even a cursory glance at her career reveals that this rising star has long trafficked in some extreme positions. In October last year Bachmann called some of her fellow congressmen anti-American. She has said Obama holds socialist views. She has attacked global warming by saying that carbon dioxide emissions are a natural part of the atmosphere. "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas," she said. She has fed into fears of a violent backlash against Obama by saying that "having a revolution every now and then is a good thing". She has spoken of "gangster government" in a speech viewed more than two million times on the internet. She has dubbed Obama's plans to increase AmeriCorps – a government volunteer service group – as a plan to forcibly indoctrinate young people. "I believe there is a very strong chance that we will see young people put into mandatory service... there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people," she told an interviewer. Her language in opposing healthcare reform has been bloodcurdling. At a recent event in Colorado she told her audience: "What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass." She is also extremely socially conservative, strongly opposing abortion and gay marriage, and deeply religious. She has described herself as a "fool for Christ".
Old Navy wins!
Nov. 15th, 2009 09:21 pmIn an Old Navy commercial tonight, they extolled the virtues of Old Navy clothes for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Solstice.
First time I've ever heard Solstice mentioned in a commercial.
*two thumbs up*
First time I've ever heard Solstice mentioned in a commercial.
*two thumbs up*
AWWWWWWWWWWW
Nov. 13th, 2009 10:09 pmI'm sitting at my computer, chatting away, and Biscuit comes along.
Biscuit: *paws on my leg* Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?
Me: What is it, little brown butt?
Biscuit: *nose to nose with me, chirping* It's time for bed now.
Biscuit: *paws on my leg* Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?
Me: What is it, little brown butt?
Biscuit: *nose to nose with me, chirping* It's time for bed now.
I suddenly love these two
Nov. 13th, 2009 03:25 pmTRIPS TO VENUS SHAKE UP WOMEN’S ROLE IN JAPAN
[Miyuki] Hatoyama is used to being center stage, having once been an actress and singer with the Takarazuka Revue, an hugely popular all-female musical theater. She performed with them in the 1960s before heading to California with her first husband, who had a restaurant there. That's where she met Yukio Hatoyama, now Japan’s prime minister, who was studying engineering at Stanford.
What also seems to have shocked Japan, but in a positive way, is the first couple’s public intimacy, something rarely seen here. They praise each other openly in public, walk hand-in-hand, and actually look like they care.
"She blow-dries his hair in the morning, chooses his necktie, and that’s how they start the day," said Yamano. "I think that’s wonderful."
She seems to have transformed her husband’s previously rather humdrum image.
Who needs a toddler, I have a cat
Nov. 9th, 2009 09:53 pmThings Biscuit Eats That Are Not, Strictly Speaking, Cat Food:
Asparagus
Cucumbers
Papaya
Green beans
Zucchini
Tomatoes
A sip of my lychee martini
Kix
Marshmallows
From the Parenthood Practice Department
At about 10 PM, Biscuit curls up with my husband and me for the night.
1:00 AM
Biscuit: Daddy!
Husband: snrrrrrgh. *rolls over*
Biscuit: *walks over to me* Mommy?
Me: *tries to hide in the blankets*
Biscuit: *digging at blankets* Moooooommmmmy.
Me: Go away, cat.
Biscuit: *bangs on the dresser drawers* Mommy!
Me: What is it, you little pest?
Biscuit: I want a drink of water.
Me: You have a water fountain downstairs.
Biscuit: I want a drink of water from the faucet.
Me: *runs water in the sink and goes back to sleep*
3:30 AM
Biscuit: Mommy!
Me: *groans*
Biscuit: *walks all over my head and purrs* I'm hungry.
Me: Why can't you learn to go through your pet door?
Biscuit: Pet door is scary!
Me: *takes the cat downstairs and gives her the heave-ho through the pet door*
Biscuit: *munch*
5:30 AM
Biscuit: GOOD MORNING! It is time for you to be awake!
Husband and me: Caaaaaaaaaaaat. Can't you wait until 5:45?
Biscuit: No, I want to play NOW. Also you should feed me.
Me: We should get rid of the alarm clock. We don't need it.
Asparagus
Cucumbers
Papaya
Green beans
Zucchini
Tomatoes
A sip of my lychee martini
Kix
Marshmallows
From the Parenthood Practice Department
At about 10 PM, Biscuit curls up with my husband and me for the night.
1:00 AM
Biscuit: Daddy!
Husband: snrrrrrgh. *rolls over*
Biscuit: *walks over to me* Mommy?
Me: *tries to hide in the blankets*
Biscuit: *digging at blankets* Moooooommmmmy.
Me: Go away, cat.
Biscuit: *bangs on the dresser drawers* Mommy!
Me: What is it, you little pest?
Biscuit: I want a drink of water.
Me: You have a water fountain downstairs.
Biscuit: I want a drink of water from the faucet.
Me: *runs water in the sink and goes back to sleep*
3:30 AM
Biscuit: Mommy!
Me: *groans*
Biscuit: *walks all over my head and purrs* I'm hungry.
Me: Why can't you learn to go through your pet door?
Biscuit: Pet door is scary!
Me: *takes the cat downstairs and gives her the heave-ho through the pet door*
Biscuit: *munch*
5:30 AM
Biscuit: GOOD MORNING! It is time for you to be awake!
Husband and me: Caaaaaaaaaaaat. Can't you wait until 5:45?
Biscuit: No, I want to play NOW. Also you should feed me.
Me: We should get rid of the alarm clock. We don't need it.
Today's nerd funny
Oct. 29th, 2009 12:10 pmMy manager: "Have you ever worked with bilirubin?"
Me: *blankly* "Who?"
(note: "bilirubin" is pronounced like "Billy Rubin.")
Me: *blankly* "Who?"
(note: "bilirubin" is pronounced like "Billy Rubin.")
