Infrequent Flying

Monday, October 26, 2015

When we were at training in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago, my colleague asked me why I have my laptop webcam covered.

"Are you afraid the boss is watching to make sure you're working?" he laughed.

Ha. Well, that, and I work in my nightgown on Wednesday mornings and hackers could turn on your webcam at any time.

Hey. You never know.

Our trip to Minnesota, which was pretty nice, started with two frustrating American Airlines flights. See, it turns out, if you aren't a frequent flier, you pretty much have to check your bag. This is because 3/4 of the plane is full prior to the first group of "regular folk" boarding. We had no idea.

First flight (to DFW), I had to walk way past my seat to find overhead storage. I walked past bin after bin of oversized bags and UNDERsized bags. You're supposed to put undersized bags under the seat in front of you. The flight attendants should be making people do exactly that, but they weren't. Someone should have also been checking to make sure people weren't shoving giant duffel bags or guitars and other "too big" in-plane baggage into overhead bins. GAH.

And people in the back should not be allowed to put their luggage in the bin on row 10. Bring it with you to the back! Inconsiderate jerks.

Second leg (to Minneapolis), there was NO room for my carry-on.

Flight attendant #1 (with an chiding glare): You're going to have to check that. Go up front and just outside the plane, they'll check it.

Flight attendant #2 (on my way out of the plane): Are you checking that? You'll have to hurry.

Lady, I didn't want to check it. You all should be falling over yourselves apologizing that I HAVE to check it. Per the ticket I purchased, I'm allowed a personal item and a carry-on.

Bag checking lady outside the plane (shaking head): It's really late to be checking this bag.

Okay, seriously?

Me: I didn't want to check my bag. If you guys wouldn't charge people to check bags, the plane wouldn't fill up with them. Also, if you would enforce the rules you have about bag sizes, there would be space for every person's carry-on.
Bag checking lady: *silence*

On the way home at the end of the week, I checked my bag through, for $25, just like AA wanted me to. American has made traveling a miserable experience for those of us who don't travel often. That's just sad.

I do have an amusing story from Minneapolis. I was texting outside during a break from our class and noticed that there were piles of dog poop on the ground. Like, EVERYWHERE. I wondered why so many dogs were walking there and why no one was cleaning up after them. Then I looked closer.

These were gigantic piles of BIRD POOP. What kind of... pterodactyl... makes poop that big and dog-ish?!

Geese. Flocks of them. They flew by the window during class. Super huge, especially in groups.

Google image search "goose poop." You'll see!

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Cheers to You, Oenophile!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Just got an email that opens with, Cheers to you, Oenophile!

How dare you, Sir.

(What the heck is an oenophile anyway?)

:)

And so, friends, this is your word of the day!


Sunday Stealing: Swiped Meme

1. Did someone die in that last movie you watched?
We watched The Age of Adeline last night. Someone did die. Good movie, but I hated the parts where the Twilight-Zone-ish guy narrated the past events as if they were news stories. The audience doesn't need the explanation. We're watching the scenes from the past. WE GET IT.

2. Are the trees pretty colors outside for you now or at all?
A couple of trees are yellow and orange, but not many. Most of our trees in the neighborhood are evergreen or just drop their leaves in fall. The Bradford Pears are beauuutiful for about a week, but I think they've dropped their leaves at this point.

3. Have you ever made a bad first impression on someone's parents?
Only Jeff's. Just one of the things that happened the weekend I met them- I spit a grape across the table during dinner. Yep.

4. When's the last time you video recorded something on TV?
The last thing that the DVR recorded was The Chew on Friday.

5. What is a career you wanted to have when you were younger, and still kind of want to have now? 
I would love to be what I studied to be- a radiation safety officer. I'd have to move away from Austin to find a job and it's been too long since I got my degree to really get into it at this point.

6. What are your views on sunflowers?
Sunflowers are gorgeous! I still remember sunflower fields in Kansas, from the year when I was in kindergarten there.

7. What is your favorite incense or candle scent?
apple

8. Caramel apples or candy apples?
Definitely caramel. I hate candy apples. Too sticky and crunchy.

9. Have you ever walked into a wall?
Nope. I have walked into a few doors though.

10. Would you ever or do you make your dog wear a bandanna?
If I had a dog, I would make it wear a bandanna.

11. Do you find dandelions when they're gone all white pretty?
Yes.

12. What makes you laugh?
Donald Trump being a contender for President.

13. The scariest moment of your life?
Driving up the side of the hill/mountain to get to the Malerwinkel Guest House in Schönau am Königsee. Good grief. Steep, very skinny "road" with a deadly dropoff on the side. And people walking down, who expect you to move towards the dropoff to let them skim past you on the inside! Skeery!

14. What’s the coolest thing you’ve bought lately?
iPhone 6S Plus

15. What’s the worst you’ve had to do because of losing a bet?
Sadly, I've never bet anything that interesting!

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You've Been Endorsed

Saturday, October 24, 2015

LinkedIn endorsements are the silliest things. They could be meaningful, if people took them seriously, but people just hand them out. I think it's because they show up in LinkedIn as a suggestion and people just do it to tick that box.

If you have 37 endorsements for Content Strategy, but one of them is from your mom, it just highlights the fact that people deal out endorsements like Halloween candy.

Let's keep it real. If you're a family member or one of my pals, and I've never worked with you, I probably know little about what kind of a manager you are or how skilled you are in Good Clinical Practice, but I could endorse you for things like:

Bartending
Parallel Parking
Pictionary
Grilling
Couponing
Sense of Humor
Parenting
Karaoke...

Off to endorse some people!

Sunday Stealing: 25 Fun Meme

1. If you were trapped in a room with the person who asked this for 24 hours, what would you do? The answer cannot be romantic or sexual.
Why not romantic or sexual? Well since I just pulled this one from the blog, I'll pick... Kimberly! I hope we're trapped in a room in the Four Seasons. With her, I would play cards and look at old photos!

2. If you could learn any language instantly, what would it be?
Spanish

3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Billy Budd *snort*

4. Favorite song lyric?
How 'bout...
You make me smile like the sun
Fall out of bed, sing like a bird
Dizzy in my head, spin like a record
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile


5. Favorite album?
One of my all-time faves is Evanescence's Fallen. All great songs.

6. Which time of day would you say is best for you work-wise?
7-10 a.m.

7. Favorite city that you’ve visited?
Las Vegas

8. Favorite city that you haven’t visited?
Rome

9. If you could donate $10,000 to charity, what charity would you pick?
MD Anderson

10. What is one book you wish you could get all your friends to read?
Billy Budd

11. What is one movie you wish you could get all your friends to watch?
Love, Actually

12. What do you think people assume about you from first glance?
that I'm a geeky science chick

13. If you could play any musical instrument, what would it be?
guitar

14. What is your favorite item of clothing?
my casual jeans

15. Who was your first follower on your blog? Do they still follow you?
The first person who knew about my blog was Eva. She catches up now and then!

16. If you could create one thing, what would it be?
a cure for cancer

17. Favorite superhero?
Thor

18. If you were to write an autobiography, what would you title it?
Just Keep Swimming

19. If you were to have a band, what would you call it?
KK and the Blowfish

20. What is your favorite card/board game?
"The Card Game"

21. What was the first IM service you used? Who was the first person you talked to on it?
AIM. Kerstin was probably the first person I talked to on it.

22. If you could give a friendly hug to any one person, who would it be? Cannot be your romantic/sexual partner if you have one.
Jen. She just had her baby this week!

23. Have you ever won any sort of contests? What kind?
I've won several contests- mostly in writing.

24. Who was the last person you hugged? Cannot be your romantic/sexual partner if you have one.
Jen. I hugged her before she left work for maternity leave.

25. If you could be skilled in any one activity, what would it be? Cannot be romantic or sexual.
Again it can't be romantic or sexual? This survey is very limiting. Um... I would be skilled in grilling.

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Sunday Stealing

Sunday, October 4, 2015

5-0 Aggies tied with LSU for #1 in SEC West! Whoop! We're off next week, which is good. Gotta prepare for Bama!

Remember, friends don't let friends wear crimson. ;)


Sunday Stealing: Q&A Meme

1. What would you pick as a major, if you could go back to college and do it again?
Well, my life would be very different had I had a different major, so I wouldn't wish to change any of that really, but a nursing or pre-med degree would have been more closely related to my career.

2. Who is the one celebrity with whom you would most like to have an in depth conversation? 
I'd love to get very 'in depth' with George Clooney. But kidding aside... yes, George Clooney. He's not just a pretty face.

3. If you could make a living doing ANYthing, what would that be?
Taking bubble baths.

Joe Manganiello's wardrobe assistant? :)

Okay, I would love to help people go through their clutter and donate/sell things they don't need and organize the rest. The more cluttered, the better!

4. What’s your all-time very favorite dessert? 
New York style cheesecake

5. How many pairs of jeans do you own? 
three

6. What is your favorite flower, and why?
Tulips, because they are so beautiful, and not the typical, overdone rose.

7. What book has most changed your life?
Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul. Are they making the Chicken Soup series anymore? So great. This book really touched me with shared stories of victories and successfully overcome obstacles I had also experienced in my own life, as well as ones less familiar, which inspired me with their positivity.

8. What is your least favorite vegetable? Is there any way you can be persuaded to eat it?
Squash. No.

9. If you could take a nonstop first class flight to any destination, where would you pick to land? 
Rome

10. If your 15 minutes of fame included a stint on American Idol, what song would be your trademark solo?
"Sober" by Kelly Clarkson


11. If you could pick one former friend (who has remained elusive in this wild Facebook world) to reunite with, who would you unearth?
Tiffany! She's a high school and college buddy, now a famous pediatric oncologist, with no time for Facebook.  Would LOVE to catch up with her.

12. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expenses paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit?
Washington DC

13. Name three of your guilty pleasures. 
show tunes, chocolate, The Real Housewives of NYC/Jersey/OC

14. The best kind of cookie is: 
chocolate chip with pecans

15. What do you value most in other people? 
honesty

16. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise?
many many things, yes

17. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited?
Hawaii

18. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? 
feeler

19. Name three things you are thankful for right now. 
Lolo having some improvement in her leg pain from new meds, time away from the office day-to-day on a business trip this week, cooler weather

20. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race?
Yep, in Brownies a billion years ago.

21. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart?
Of course.

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Drinking Tips

Saturday, October 3, 2015

I have a little hint for you today for making drinks involving dry drink mixes. We drink protein shakes for breakfast made from a dry mix. I always used to put the mix in the cup first, but I ended up with gunge in the bottom of the cup. no matter how well I mixed. Lauren said I needed to put the liquid in first. It works far better for avoiding clumps! If you get the swirl going fast enough, you'll avoid the powder flying everywhere. Leave space in the top of the container for this reason. Or use a shaker.

This week I saw something about mixing dry hot chocolate mixes this way as well. The manufacturer said to put the powder on top of the liquid and stir it in. (Although I do NOT drink hot chocolate. I would not, could not on a train. Not in the dark. Not in the rain... Blech.)

I researched the topic online and have seen professional mixer articles that say put the powder on top of the liquid. Then, I happened upon the tried and true, the ultimate powder into liquid  tip:

Put the powder into the cup. Mix just a little liquid to make a homogenous paste. Then pour the remaining liquid into the paste. Ahh HA. This probably works best, although it takes too long for breakfast, so I'll stick with the powder on top method.


Saturday 9: Straight Up (1988) 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

1) In this song, Paula sings about being in a dream. Did you dream last night?
Yep, I dreamed that our cat, Maya, had become a miniature pig. She was presented to me as a "new pet pig," but I recognized her face. Creepy.

2) When Paula enrolled at California State University, she planned on studying broadcasting and becoming a reporter. Think about your career aspirations when you were 19. Did you follow through and stay on track or, like Paula, did you veer off and find success elsewhere?
When I was 19, I was on track to be a radiation safety engineer at a hospital or a nuclear power plant. I veered off during grad school and got into clinical research.

3) For a while she was a "Laker Girl" and performed at L.A. Laker games. Do you have a favorite NBA team?
No, but I was a Rockets fan growing up in Houston.

4) Paula was once married to Brad Beckerman of Stillhouse Spirits, a company that specializes in whiskey. What's your favorite alcoholic beverage?
Mexican Martini

5) Paula has been dancing since age 8 and, as you can see from the video, Paula moves very well in heels. Tell us about your most comfy shoes.
They are orange wedges. Not juicy "orange wedges" from Florida, but pretty high heeled wedges that happen to be orange. SO CUTE. And the most comfy shoes I own.

6) Paula admits it was her passion for jewelry and that inspired her to design her own line for QVC and Avon. What is your favorite thing to go shopping for? 
earrings

7) She advises young girls to "keep the faith and don't lose your gut instinct." How about you? Are you more logical or instinctive?
instinctive

8) In May, Paula traveled to Austria for The Life Ball, a fundraiser to help those afflicted with HIV/AIDS. When is the last time you left the country?
this past March- to Germany

9) Paula Abdul is a spokeswoman for Avon's "Go Check Yourself" campaign for breast health awareness. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Do you know anyone who has been touched by this disease?
Me! 23 years cancer-free!

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