Iowa City, Iowa

On the road again...

I'm in Iowa City, Iowa tonight. It's about 25 degrees F outside tonight
with the occasional snow flurry. There isn't much on the ground but
they are expecting another storm to come through Thursday or Friday.
We're out of here tomorrow (Wednesday) so no worries.

This weeks trip is on the bankrupt airline Northwest. What a no frills,
boring plane experience. The seats are way to close together, front to
back. (They are about the same as all other airlines in "butt room".)
Our flight was 3 hours 15 minutes - no movie, no peanuts, nothing. You
could buy a sleeve of trail mix for a buck and they did offer a full
can of soda in their single beverage service (yes, single beverage
service on a a 3.25 hour flight). Other passengers were very nice and
you have to feel for the flight attendants working for an airline that
is trying to take away their retirement pensions. It just wasn't a very
enjoyable experience.

I'm not sure if the airlines remember that the plane trip should be
enjoyable - either business or pleasure travelers. Pleasure travelers
absolutely want to be having a good time. It's either the beginning or
the end of their vacation. Who wants to end a really great vacation
cramped in a tiny seat feeling the joy quickly evaporating. What a
bummer ending to an otherwise fabulous time. The ultimate killjoy
company.

For business travelers, there are a whole different set of dynamics
going on and the airlines certainly haven't tapped into this at all. My
airplane trip is either the beginning or end of a very long day. The
flight is my commute and I get the privilege of working when I get
where ever it is I'm going. On the flip side, if I'm on my way home,
it's after a full day of working - usually since very early in the
morning. It's not unusual to pull a 15 - 20 hour day including travel.

Some day an airline is going to figure out how to get it right and then
they will be incredibly successful.

First, give us a bit more room between seats so we can cross our legs
or open our laptops while on the plane. There isn't anything more
frustrating then having the guy in front of you lean his seat back
right into your lap. No room for a book let alone your laptop. With so
many business travelers tied to their computers, we could really use
electrical outlets in every seat so we can stay powered up. What about
some space for us to put up our laptops so we can work on them? Maybe
tray tables that swivel so we can get comfortable. A cup holder not on
the tray table but in the seat arm instead. The tray table is barely
big enough to hold my laptop (or book, magazine or writing pad of
paper) let alone my tiny bag of 6 peanuts and my 4 oz. plastic cup of
luke warm soda.

I love the idea of Jet Blue having all windows or aisle seats. What
good is that center seat anyway? Get rid of it and give us all just a
bit more room. Make us all feel like first class. How Wal-Mart of these
airlines to think that it all comes down to price. That's true to a
point but as Mercedes and BMW know first hand - people will pay more to
be pampered. Nordstrom's knows it. That's how they differentiate
themselves at market. Part of the problem with airlines - they're all
the same and they are all rushing to the bottom. Nobody has figured it
out - make yourself a bit different and people will pay a bit more to
feel better while traveling. The world might be just a bit nicer place
for it.

I've got a hundred other ideas for improving travel but it's 11:30 pm
and I have to be up in 6 hours to hit the road jack.
I'll be on my way to Minneapolis tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have more
inspired thoughts to share then.

My thoughts on blogging

As you can tell from the infrequency of my blogs, I'm intrigued but not committed to blogging. More than anything, I struggle with finding the time to spend blogging. Oh, I'm full of things to say but lack the time to say it. There is plenty going on - political implosions in the Bush White House, good and bad television shows to critique, house improvements to comment on - yet I can't seem to find the time. Sad when you think of it. I started this blog to share my thoughts and feel more connected to the world around me but I don't have time which has led me to feel disconnected. Hmm. Perhaps I just found the source of my disconnection. Now that I have a cause, how to fix it?

I'm writing from the small working town of Canton, OH. A town with an identity crisis. About an hour south of Cleveland, it isn't East enough to be the Northeast but not part of the Midwest either. More affiliated with Pennsylvania than Illinois but not quite enough to be part of the Eastern Seaboard. An interesting place. Nice people but not much in metropolitan amenities. They do have the Football Hall of Fame, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm here on business, of course. This is not the sort of place I would find myself on vacation - albeit alone.

Well, I guess that's enough rambling for now. The start of a new attempt to commit to blogging.

Commander in Chief

I don't get a lot of time to watch TV so I've become a huge fan on TiVo. (See previous posts). I can schedule online from anywhere and have my favorite shows waiting for me when I return. To date, there have been very few shows that I've recorded faithfully. Two and a Half Men and Desperate Housewives are clear favorites. Good Eats continues to hold the top spot on my "Now Playing" List. I haven't been attracted to a drama in years.

Recently, I took a chance on Commander in Chief starring Geena Davis and a host of other very talented actors. She plays a Vice President who is thrust into the Presidency when the seated President dies an untimely death. The first episode was about her decision to take on the job and the effects it had on the remainder of the staff, cabinet and congress. While that is interesting, the real joy of the show comes with the smart writing and the complexity of all of the characters.

Her husband was her VP Chief of Staff who is now thrust into being the "First Lady". It the first time in her career when he isn't at her side guiding her career. He's clearly not going to keep the pink office, nor busy himself with the dinner menu. It's fascinating to watch how the President has to balance being the most powerful person in the world yet has to balance her husbands needs to feel important in her life and more than just another staff attendant.

Her children have their own issues. The oldest boy gets it and the youngest is too young to be upset by the changes that are coming. Their middle daughter is going to be the thorn in her side. They have differing politics and she is going to be a handful as she tries to establish her own identity in the shadow of her Presidential mother. It written incredibly well. In the pilot episode, the youngest spills juice on her mother in the back of the limo in route to congress to give her inaugural speech. (Why would she have an open glass of juice in the back of the limo is a question that nobody seems to be asking but it was a good illustration of the roles that Madam President is going to have to navigate.) The dad, being the career coach that he is, gets short with the daughter and tells her to be more careful. Madam Pres, acting as mom, is calm and patient and looks for a solution (a scarf in this instance). There were many situations like demonstrating that this will be more than a political drama, choosing to illustrate the changes that will have to come to this family. In one scene, we see her confronted by her husband who is struggling with his role as "first lady" and decides to express his frustration. She struggles with how to handle this situation because these are the roles they must play for her to be the successful President but also knows she must attend to her husbands issues as well.

Ultimately, I was impressed with the willingness to show this woman as human and explore all of the complexities that come with being a woman in a mans world - operating far outside of the societal norm for her gender. In in inaugural scene, she is reading her speech from the teleprompter when it goes dead. You can see the joy in the face of the Speaker of the House amused by her misfortune. She pauses for a minute and then continues from memory to deliver a wonderful speech. At the end we see her mistrust of the Speaker when he leans forward and says "I'll always be right behind you". It's delivered and received in such a way that we aren't sure if he's supportive or threatening and she clearly wasn't too comforted by the statement. She is portrayed neither as a stereotypical emotional woman nor as a cold, detached business woman either. They have done a very nice job of developing her as a woman with a wide range of strengths and weaknesses and showing her need to learn to balance everything that pulling on her in all directions.

If the pilot was any indication of the quality of this show moving forward, I may have found something new to add to my "Season Pass" list.

Disney World - Day 4 of 8

Greetings from the Beach Club Villas in beautiful Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

We've been here since Thursday night and are having a truly wonderful time. We've been on a bunch of rides, seen a bunch of shows, played in the pool, at Downtown Disney, on the Monorail and spent more than our share of money on meals and stuff. All in all, it's been very relaxing. We've been taking each day as it comes and go out to play where and when we want. If there is a line, we walk on by.

Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, we haven't had many lines. There have been several squalls of rain but they don't last long and they are warm. We can handle rain especially when it's warm. No coats, just umbrellas to keep us dry. After a few minutes, it lets up and the sun comes back out. It's really been just enough to keep the other tourists away and the lines short. We haven't had anything looking like bad weather beyond those occassional showers. Other than that, it's hot and sticky but that's just Florida in late summer. No complaints. We knew what we were getting ourselves into.

So far - our favorites are the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland, Rock n Rollercoaster in Disney/MGM Studios, Fast Track in Epcot, and Splash Mountain in Frontierland. We took the monorail over to the Contemporary Hotel (one of James' favorite places). Unfortunately, it's not so Contemporary anymore and they are in the middle of giving it a facelift. We have spent some time riding the monorail (another of James' favorite things) to Magic Kingdom as well as taking water taxis from the hotel to the MGM studios. Disney really has a world class transportation system. Cities could take lessons from them.

We're staying at the Beach Club in a condo-type Villa. It's wonderful. Nice amount of space, kitchenette, washer/dryer. This is the way to stay for an extended amount of time. We picked up a few groceries the first day and make breakfast every morning - eggs and toast, or french toast, omlets. It's amazing how many things you can make with eggs, bread, butter and cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches do the trick for those late night snacks back from the park. Peanut butter and jelly round out the necessities. Of course, we're not going without. This place teems with dining opportunities. We're trying to avoid eating away our spending money. So far, so good.

A couple of notables for the guide books - Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club. They have a wonderful seafood buffet.
We also tried the Sci-Fi Drive-In in Disney/MGM Studios. This is the 2nd busiest place in all of WDW and while we had good food, it wasn't worth the hype or the 1 hour wait they were quoting. It was good once. I wouldn't seek it out again.

When this trip is done, I should put together all my thoughts of the rides and places we've been including my review. Who knows who it might help in the future. I add it to my to-do list.

Travelogue - Boulder, CO

Beautiful Boulder, Colorado. We're nestled at the base of the Rocky Mountains on a beautiful summer afternoon. After a bumpy flight from Seattle to Denver, we find ourselves staying at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa. It's a great place. The only problem is - we're on business and don't have time to enjoy all the amenities offered. The rooms are spacious with large bathrooms. I have a view of the Rocky Mountains and the University across the street. We're right in the heart of all the fun in Boulder - Pearl and Walnut Streets. They are like cleaner versions of Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. This is a great place. Relaxed and certainly a college town. Lots of kids roaming around on a Tuesday night but nobody is obnoxious or threatening in anyway. Everything is clean and well maintained. It would be a great place to come back for vacation. Next stop - Omaha, NE.

Fascinating

I've been posting for almost a month and continue to find it a fascinating experience. Even if nobody is reading these things, which it appears that they are not, it's very interesting to find myself having anything to say this often - to nobody. It's like casting thoughts and opinions out to the universe. They seem to disappear into the ether but who knows where they actually end up or the subtle ripples they might make in the ocean of life. Isn't that the way things work? You don't know what kind of impact your having on the world around you until the ever so subtle ripples grow into waves that over time alter the beaches of life. Whoa baby. I'm too sober to wax on like that.

Again, fascinating.

Stress

Stress is such a strange thing. It's completely invisible - more of a feeling than anything - but you can see it, touch it, etc. It's very real and we all suffer from it in one degree or another. It's also like a bad cold, passing from person to person unknowing.

In college, my psychology professor explained stress like dessert - good occassionally and in small doses. Anything more and it would cause havoc with your health and well being. He went on to describe the good things about stress. It makes you get up in them morning, pushes you to do your best, and helps you function inside of socially acceptable parameters. Good stressors are very helpful and allow us to lead productive lives.

Unfortunately, like dessert, I don't seem to know when I've had enough and seem to think I can keep piling it on without consequence. Some people might interpret that I am a stress-a-holic. This would be a mischaracterization. Stress-a-holics, like work-a-holics, seek it out. They need it and derive some kind of pleasure or payoff from it. This is not my situation at all. I'm more like a stress magnet. I have not yet developed that skill allowing me to repel the stresses that are flung my way and have a hard time peeling them off once they've attached. I'm a stress receptor.

Oh it gets better. Not only do I receive stresses easily, I accept them as my own unknowingly. Yes, I'm an unconscious stress receptor. Funny when you think about it. Why would I do this? Only large psychology bills will solve that one. The real question becomes not why I do this but how do I reverse my poles and start repelling the stresses that come flying my way? How do I change the direction of the stress flinging?

I"m just too stressed out to deal with it. I think I'll have more dessert instead.

The beauty of summer

Isn't technology wonderful?

It's a warm Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer and I find myself on the patio in front of a coffee shop in a major outdoor mall in the Pacific Northwest. There are people everywhere, kids playing in the fountain, the smell of coffee and suntan lotion in the air and me on my computer waxing philisophical. Strange blend of images but nothing less than the truth. It's too beautiful to be sitting inside but I have things I have to get done so I've grabbed my Powerbook and headed out to Redmond Town Center to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of summer while dialing into the Internet and getting things done.

It strikes me that Summer really is my favorite season of them all.

Fall is kind of like Anakin Skywalker. He's trying so hard to be full of the force (the summer type weather) but little by little, day by day, Fall slips to the dark side bringing rain, cold weather and short days. The nights get longer and darker and everyone slows down. We try to keep chipper with Halloween (which inevitably gets rained on or you have to wear a coat over your costume) andThanksgiving (Do we need more reason to go to bed early? The days are already shortening at a rapid pace.) but Fall isn't even cool enough to keep Christmas for it's own. The truly awesome holiday is too cool for Fall and slips just outside it's grasp into Winter.

Winter, my least favorite, starts off with a bang at Christmas but that's really all there is. It like a bottle rocket - all kinds of excitement leading up to a small "pop". Winter is kind of a dud like that. Once the Christmas/New Year holidays are over, you're left with 3 months of work and indoor activities punctuated by thunderstorms and bitter cold. Short days, long nights, and big Christmas bills to pay off. Oh, they've tried to pump up winter with "President's Day" and "MLK BD" but let's be honest. Those are just shopping holidays. Who gets the gang together to have a President's Day party? And who has money for such "holidays" anyway? I guess it could be considered a season of recovery. There is Valentine's Day but if you've ever been alone on that holiday (single or married), you know it belongs to Winter because it's really no fun.

Spring is good. Full of blooms and colors. The expanding days forcing the darkness to retreat. Coats come off and jackets are allowed to see daylight again. Everything seems to come alive and it's a bit easier to get up in the morning. The exciting thing about Spring is knowing that Summer is coming. Kids are excited in Spring because school is about to get out for SUMMER! Parents are excited because kids are about to be done with school for SUMMER! Women are excited because the Summer fashions are hitting the stores and they have hope to soon be wearing body conscious styles and great open toed shoes to their cubicle jobs. Spring is all about anticipating the big event - SUMMER!

Ah, Summer. Like a metaphor for life. Summer is Good just like Life is Good. I think Summer is the one time of year when you really feel alive. Fewer clothes, things seem to calm a bit, vacations, BBQ's and Patio parties with friends. Iced drinks, lemonade, hot dogs, ice cream. All things of Summer. Bright colors, simple clothes, little makeup. It's so warm, you have an excuse to lounge, to slow down and enjoy things for a change. Trashy novels, beach towels, sunburns. Summer is what life should be - slow, deliberate, enjoyed. Summer goes so quickly that we find ourselves slowing down to enjoy it just a little bit more than other seasons of the year. We get up early and stay up late. Sleep with the doors and windows open, run around barefoot in the cool grass, go for long bike rides in the evening just to be out and enjoy the day as it cools off into night.

So I'm off to enjoy the remainder of my summer day with a cool iced drink and a possible stroll through the fountain. Better do it now - Summer (like Life) is short and once it's gone, it's gone.

Blank

It's late and I'm struggling to get to sleep even though I feel very tired. Strange how that works. The more tired you feel, the harder it is to get to sleep.

Over the last week, I've thought of 8 great topics to write about. Usually in the middle of the night or while I'm at work and don't have time to write it down. So here I am, finally finding time to write and can't come up with a topic to write about. Nothing. Drawing a blank at this moment in time. I guess that makes this entry alot like Seinfeld - about nothing.

I could write about TV but I don't have enough entries to be a rerun. I could write about the latest book I'm reading but I have a book club for that. I could write about work, home, life, love, friends, money, etc. but I'm not feeling inspired. I guess that means I don't have much to say.

So I guess I'll say good night and challenge myself on another day.

What's on your TiVo?

Want to know something about a person?

You can try looking in their medicine cabinet or in their junk drawer but I think you can really tell something about someone by the things they have recorded on their TiVo.
Are they savers or is everything marked for erasing at anytime? Comedy? Drama? Are they Season Pass holders or do they record things on the spur of the moment? What clues do their suggestions hold?

On my TiVo box you'll find:
(9) Everybody Loves Raymond episodes.
- Since the series finale, they are suggested but boy do they pile up.
(2) Mad About You
- Sort of the Everybody Loves Raymond of the early 90's. I remember it being funnier.
(5) Inhale
- I keep telliing myself I'm going to get up early and do Yoga. I record it but dont' get to it very often. I have the box set to a max of 5 episodes so it always looks like I'm only a week behind.
(5) Whose Line Is It Anyway?
- I loved these the first 100 times I saw them. I tape them because they are good filler for those times when there isn't anything on. Occassionally I'll bump into one I haven't seen (or don't remember) and get a good laugh. You can never have enough laughter in my book.
(1) Two and a Half Men
- This is one of those series that has grown on me over the last year or so. When the show started it's first season, I really didn't get it. Playboy Malibu brat takes in his uptight anal retentive brother and his sloppy smartmouthed nephew. Of course, chock full of one liners and a mean spirited mother dishing out her own version of reality. It's grown on me in the last year. The playboy brother has softened and shows his paternal side more. The anal retentive brothers rectal stick has shortened a bit and the sloppy smarthmouthed nephew has been sharpening his wit as he grows into a sloppy smartmouthed pre-teen. The funniest episodes always involve the kid but the brothers interaction involving their childhood issues are pretty funny as well.
(1) Desperate Housewives
- A guilty pleasure for sure. I think I'm most drawn to these 4 very different characters displaying different facets of all women everywhere. It's loosely tied together by a murder mystery, a love story, and marriages in various stages - mature and loving, adultery and outright loathing and divorce. The first season wrapped up quite nicely. It will be interesting to see what they come up with to hold the 2nd season together.
(76) Good Eats
- My addiction. I love this show. Part cooking, part science, mostly entertaining. Alton Brown is the "Bill Nye the science guy" for the Food TV network. I used to have 130 of them recorded but my box was dangerously close to full so we've figured out a way to record them to DVD and free up space. I could delete all but about 6 of them right now but why? I've deleted enough to make room for plenty of other shows and I still have them at hand to watch when I'm feeling like a little nosh with a side of science.
Movies (Adaptation, About Schmidt, An Affair to Remember, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
- I'm more of a movie person than a TV person but who has time to watch 2+ hours at a time? I like to keep them on hand just in case I find myself with time on my hands. Marked in yellow, if they disappear, I won't be heartbroken. There will always be more.
(14) TiVo Suggestions
- I use these to measure how full my box is. If I'm gathering suggestions, even bad ones, I must have plenty of room on the box. I knew it was time to clean off some Good Eats episodes when my suggestions sat at zero for days at a time. I know there were things to be recorded, just no room to do it.

I don't know what all this says about me or anyone else for that matter except that I don't have as much time as I'd like to watch TV.

What's on your TiVo box?

Finally, it has happened to me

Nobody is going to get that reference, but then again, nobody (except maybe my husband) is going to be reading this anyway. It's a reference to that old 80's song -at least I remember it as an 80's song. Here's how it goes:

"Finally, it has happened to me
Right in front of my face,
My two lips can't describe it."

I can't remember the title. Guess I'll have to go check it out on iTunes.

I've been playing with websites for a while now and have been wanting to dabble in blogs for about the last 6 months or so. Finally, I broke down and figured out how to make it happen. I found blogger.com and decided to put my ISP webspace to work for a change. I pay for it, I might as well use it. Lucky for me, I live with a brilliant computer guy who is able to walk me through these things. This one was actually pretty easy. My ISP had all the info I needed right there on their website and blogger was pretty good. Of course, I'm not familiar with FTP so that was a bit of a trick but overall, a pretty simple feat to achieve.

So here I am, on my maiden post. I have a billion things to write about and know that it all doesn't have to happen tonight.
For those who might read this (mostly my husband), welcome and enjoy.

S.