Quote Of The Day

"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years." Barack Obama.

Yep, still outraged.

America's Cancer

I still read the news and the blogs, and follow the insanity that is the W administration and the havoc they are wreaking on America. But I haven't blogged about it because I'm suffering from outrage fatigue. It all seems too much some time.

And I'm not the only one. DK's recent post pretty closely captures my feelings at this point. But I'm not quite ready to believe in the total conspiracy theory yet. For some reason I'm thinking that something's infected our country, our government, and it's cancerous and eating away at the very soul of our country and the principles it was founded on. Oh, I'm sure there was a conspiracy to fire the US Attorney Generals. And I'm sure there are others. But I think that when those in power will use that power solely for their own good, and to acquire more power, regardless of law, rule, or historical precedent and with no one to stop them (aka a Republican Congress) then the cancer spreads. Was there some neat detailed plan to alter any government document referring to global warming? Probably not. But somehow the government was infected and as the cancer spread through the various departments it evolved and changed on it's own. Let's block the Plan B drug because we can and it would empower women. Let's build huge detainment centers in Texas for immigration purposes. Let's spy on Americans. Let's torture people. And it seems like the cancer has spread to the Supreme Court whose recent decisions seem pretty bad.

The American body is fighting back. There are some glimmers of hope. Some court rulings regarding the tribunals. The continuing investigations into the US Attorney General firings, the recent revelations about Dick Cheney, the Abramoff scandal, the wire tapping, the secret prisons, all help the country get better. It's like light kills this particular form of cancer. And the more the people, and the media, ask the questions, the more we can help America get better, to fight the cancer.

Andrew Sullivan uses the term "Christianist" to describe a certain group to conservative christians who want to force their beliefs and opinions on the United States. I want to create a term for the people who are actively subverting our government (i.e. bogus voter fraud investigations, illegal wire tapping, authorizing torture), using it for personal gain (Ney, Cunningham, Stevens), or to advance their political agenda (global warming, Plan B) against the better good of all Americans. Right now the only word I can think of is Traitor.

National HIV Testing Day

I forgot it was yesterday and I wanted to write something about it. I'm going to get tested again at the end of July when I go to have my blood work done for the thyroid surgery.

A reader at Father Jake's pointed out the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition litany:

Gracious God,
You are merciful and loving,
Hear our prayers on behalf of all who suffer with AIDS:
Grant them peace in their hearts,
Wisdom in the choices they make,
And courage to face the days ahead.

For all who live with the disease of AIDS,
Grant them the gift of your love,
Hope for their future,
Friends to comfort and sustain them,
The will to live,
And faith that resurrection is a promise for now
As well as eternal life.

For all who minister to the needs of persons with AIDS,
Grant them compassionate hearts,
Tenderness and patience in their daily tasks,
And dedication to their ministry to all who suffer.

For all whose loved ones are affected by AIDS,
Grant them hope each day,
An awareness that love is forever binding,
The knowledge that Christ shares their suffering.

For all who have died of AIDS,
Grant them rest eternal;
May light perpetual shine upon them,
May we always remember them in our hearts.

Amen.

It's Simple People!

As you enter the plane, the rows start with the number 1 and go up. Like counting. Like you learned in kindergarten. But keep walking because you sure as hell aren't sitting in first class. When you get to the main cabin, the "A-B-C" seats are on the left, and the "D-E-F" seats are on the right. In every single row of the plane. It's quite an easy system to master and should require very little if any thought. Keep moving. There's no need to look left, then back, than right, then left again. What does your ticket say? Where is your seat? Unless your ticket says your seat is -12Q it should NOT take you 15 minutes to get you big fat ass in a seat.

And don't even get me started with people who bring very large carry on items. No, I get the simple day trip and I've got my small roller. But the people with two large rollers. No, I don't want to use the overhead compartments at all. Please feel free. I'm short and don't need the leg room under the seat in front of me. I like to sit upright, like a robot, in the middle seat, for over 4 hours. It's like Gitmo on a plane. Thanks.

So needless to say I'm back. Yes San Diego was nice. But I work too hard and didn't really go out to do anything. Plus I was with a guy who works for me so I felt bad ditching him. And then add in the detox and it wasn't like I was going to be bar hopping anyways.

The good news is that I'm like 2 weeks away from my grand vacation to Europe. Paris for a couple of days, Amsterdam for a couple of days, and then I catch the cruise out of Copenhagen going to Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and ending in Stockholm.

Ugh. This means I have to get on a plane again soon. Not thrilled at all.

A "Double Double Protein Style" Please

So it was a balmy 59 degrees this AM in San Diego. But, the marine layer did burn off and it was just gorgeouse this afternoon. If only I weren't here working. Oh well.

I managed to fly cross country without succombing to carbs or Nutrasweet. And today we hit In & Out Burger for lunch. I agreed only after they told me that I could get a burger with no bun, just wrapped in lettuce. So I got the Double Double Protein style and it was actually pretty good. But I had to sit there while they all ate their golden, delicouls, oh so savory french fries. Fat boys don't get french fries.

This evening I kind of splurge and got fried calamari and the fried seafood plate. I'm sure I'll be suffering for that later. And despite my request for no fries, they piled them on. But they did manage to bring me my caesar salad. Then after dinner we stopped by Vons to pick up some water and some peanuts.

And now it's back to work. I really need to come here and take some time off as part of the trip. Oh well, no rest for the weary.

Detox Day 4

So I'm on day 4 of my little detox regime. The first couple of days weren't bad. But last night I was jonesing for a glass of Crystal Light Raspberry Ice Tea. Really badly. But I persisted and added some lime and lemon to my water. Yep, I'm living now!

So I checked out the new cafe on 17th St last night. Hmm, maybe it was just their first weekend, but the service was kind of slow. And while the Southwester Chipotle Salad with Chicken sounded amazing, it was actually a little disappointing. I just expected more. More salad. And more chicken. Of course, I was starving, so maybe that's why I was disappointed.

I didn't go out last night, or Friday night. Just feeling really tired. I wonder if that's because I'm purging caffeine from my body. I don't know, but I feel worn out right now and I hope I can sleep on the plane to San Diego.

Now, I wore shorts to church today so I really have no moral high ground to speak of. But there was one guy there in a sleevelss shirt. WTF? Ugh, and after the service he put that weird cowboy hat thing on that was so trendy a couple of years ago. I guess I'm old school, but I don't think you put the hat on until after you leave church. And there was some twink who was there who was wearing a very weird bandana as like a sweat band on his head. It was a grey hanky if that means anything. I can only hope that he was coming back from some all night clubbing thing and thought about going to church while the drugs were still kicking. Because if he woke up and thought this was appropriate church attire, he was sadly mistaken. I guess I'm just a little bit conservative that way.

Anyways, off to San Diego for work. The weather report?

The Challenge!

So I was working out at the gym with a friend (and yes I need a good nickname for you!) and we were talking about things, work, life, etc. Work sucks right now. Suxs donkey dick as Jimbo would say. And part of me just wants to go on my cruise and forget all of this crap. And part of me doesn't want to go on the cruise because I'm still huge and being surrounded by hot men will only make me feel worse. This naturally lead into the now very tired discussion about how I sabotage my diet efforts, that I eat when I'm stressed, and that I put work over my health, etc. Yikes, I'm tired of hearing myself complain!

Anyways, we started talking about diets and how we both needed to stop eating & drinking some of the bad things we do. And I made some sort of comment about living on Diet Coke and he said that I had to stop all of that diet soda stuff. That Nutrasweet was bad and part of the reason I was having a problem losing weight. Now, I don't drink that much Diet Coke, but I'm addicted to Crystal Light Ice Tea (Raspberry, Peach, and Lemon). Like I drink 2-3 gallons of it a day.

So anyways, the challenge is to go nutrasweet (or any artificial sweetner) free for the next seven days. The challenge starts tomorrow so I'm savoring my last couple of glasses of ice tea before the purge begins. Anyways, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Erase Hate

So Sunday I drove out to Merriweather Post Pavillion to go see the True Colors concert. First I have to say, that even though it takes a while to drive there (50 minutes-ish), I was flying the whole time. Not stuck in bumper to bumper traffic like if you head out to the Nissan Pavillion. That place just blows. Now normally I avoid outside concerts, especially in the summer, because the thought of being jammed packed into some venue with everyone reeking of the beer sweating out of their bodies just makes me ill. And trust me, I smelled it Sunday night. But I managed to block it.

In addition to it being a good cause, HRC and PFLAG, I was really excited to see Erasure. Sure Margaret Cho was funny. As was Rosie O'Donnell. And The Gossip rocked pretty hard. But the Dresden Dolls and Debbie Harry? Ugh, pass. And we had Rufus Wainwright. I'm just not sure about him. But the main attraction for me was Erasure.

Erasure is one of the four music groups that I listened to in my formative years. The others? Pet Shop Boys. New Order. And Depeche Mode. New wave was the fall back for those who couldn't go all the way into the goth world. It was kind of like Goth-lite and was more socially acceptable to be into New Wave, as opposed to Goth. Plus with most of the New Wave artists being British, you could sort of cling to that. Oh, it's not gay, it's British.

Yep, New Wave was where the shy, not yet out, pre-gays could hang out. And I remember dancing at the Odyssey in Colorado Springs on New Wave Thursday nights. My parents could never understand why I would go out on a Thursday night, but not on the weekends.
Looking back it was all kind of amusing.

The funny thing is that at first I didn't even know that Erasure was gay. When I was in the Navy in Japan I heard about them playing in Tokyo, so I managed to get a ticket and rode the train up to see them. After getting lost in a part of Tokyo I had never been to before, and begging directions in my pidgin Japanese, I made it to the concert. Surrounded by an interesting mix of Japanese and expats in Tokyo, we watched as Andy Bell strutted out onto the stage wearing big feather wings, a golden harness across his chest, and gold hot pants that included a gigantic horn that jutted out from his crotch. Yep. He's gay. But the music was amazing and I had a great time.

Sunday night brought all of that back. They only played about six or seven songs, but I think I knew every one, and I especially like their new song: "I Could Fall In Love With You." But I think I'll leave you with "Hideaway". Enjoy!

Better Know A District!

Well, despite my attempts to keep track of Stephen Colbert's 427 part series called "Better Know a District", it looks like I need to take a step back and see what I really know about my District.

On Thursday I had to go see my endocrine-surgeon at the Washington Hospital Center. Umm, the what? I didn't even know it existed. I'm good with the Georgetown Hospital, Sibley Hospital, and George Washington Hospital. And yes I'm vaguely aware that Howard University has a Hospital, but WHC? First I'd heard of it. So I leave work and I drive up into North DC. Wow, this is no longer the Shire. And I'm kind of fascinated by the different neighborhoods that I wander through due to a bad combination of Google Maps and road construction. But once I make it up there, I realize that the WHC is just part of a HUGE hospital complex to include the VA Hospital, plus some other ones. It was very impressive. But a pain to navigate, much less find parking.

My appointment with my Dr went fine. I'm going to wait to go under the knife until I get back from my various vacations planned for this summer. I'm not going to let a little thing like cancer stop me from my gay and fabulous vacations lined up for this summer. So that's good. Plus that gives me time to arrange for Mom's visit etc. So that's all good.

The funny thing is that it took me an hour to get from my office to WHC. When I left, I asked for directions home and it took me about 10 minutes. So weird. And I'm still amazed that I didn't even know WHC existed. I live about 99% of my life in a strange 5 square miles that includes both Dupont and Rosslyn. And for me to leave my little comfortable section of DC is quite uncommon. But I do need to get out more and see more of the District. But that would require me to have a life, and that's a different discussion for a different day!

Post Pride Ponderings Brought To You By The Letter "P"

So my weekend was as expected, slightly disappointing with a couple of redeeming points.

The call to the parental units went okay. I had to tell my Dad twice that I wanted to speak to him and Mom at the same time. They don't play on the phone together nicely. There was no histrionics, but lots of concern. And I'll probably have Mom come out whenever I have to go under the knife.

I had really wanted to go out dancing Friday night, but I got told by TwigBoy that BeBar has a microscopic dance floor, and then the rain came, and staying home and nursing my depression sounded so much better.

Saturday, after the gym and a little pool time, I had a Pre-Pride Parade Party. So like 6 people RSVPed to my invite. And like 12 people showed up! Which was great since I hadn't seen some people in while. But I came dangerously close to running out of food. The beverage de juer was Fresca and Vodka. Very summery and light. And then we walked down to 17th to watch the parade. SuperLawyer had brought his children and there were a couple of times we had to distract them from some of the not quite appropriate scenes passing by. But overall it was fine. I was very glad to see that St. Thomas' had a big contingent in the parade and that Bishop Chane was there as well. My church rocks.

After the parade, and after losing some of my compatriots to the local drinking establishments on 17th St, we headed over to Levantes for dinner which was actually quite nice. But between the food and the previous alcohol consumption, the lure of my nice warm bed was too much for me. So no dancing for me.

Sunday, I went up to Woodley Park to have lunch with a high school friend who is here for a conference. He had come to my party, but we hadn't had a chance to really catch up, so it was good to have some quality time with him. Afterwards, GreekBoi and I went to the Pride festival. And that was fun. We hung out for a couple of hours and then I headed back to do some work.

So that was my weekend.

Oh, so I'm totally digging Fall Out Boy's: Thanks for the Memories! Kind of a weird video, but I'm loving the song:

Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma

So I found out yesterday and I go through cycles where I think of it and then where I push it to the back of my mind. I'm really too busy to be sick. And I'll just say sick instead of the C-word.

The good news is that it's the second most common kind of C-word. And one of the most curable. I've been doing a lot of research online in my spare time. And of course a part of me is going, "Finally! I can be the drama queen I've always wanted to be."

Talked with my sister who I just adore. She was good.

Going to call the parents tonight and talk with them. Not a conversation I'm looking forward to.

If you haven't made it over to Joe's to read his Pride blog entry, you must. It's amazing. And despite the C-word, I'm going out tonight dancing because there's a Madonna party and atleast I'll know all of the songs. Plus, I do think I need to get my groove on.

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue!

So last night I went to the Kennedy Center to see the ballet. One of my Navy friends who works at the White House got us some tickets. And not just tickets, but tickets for the Presidential Box. So when the President is out of town (he's currently doing the G8 thing trying to sabotage any real climate change initiatives), they are up for grabs by White House folks. So she got a total of 4 and invited me to come. Well of course my plan to leave work at 5PM is just pipe dream, and I'm cursing the traffic in DC at 630PM as I'm trying to get home. I was supposed to be at the Kennedy Center, at 645PM, in a suit. I get home, throw on a dark blue sports coat that sort of matches the dark blue pants I'm wearing and race to catch a cab. Only 15 minutes late I arrive sweating like a pig. So attractive. The ladies (all Navy Officers) are all dressed to the nines. So we make our way up to the second floor where we are quickly stopped by an usher. Access to this level is very restricted. And then our tickets have to be checked again before the open the red velvet rope (!) to let us enter the Presidential Box. Let's just say it's very nice. A little sitting room for you to have some pre-show drinks. The Navy runs the Presidential Mess so it's fully stocked with little splits of champagne, sodas, water, peanuts, and candies. So we proceed to kick back some of the champagne. It was pretty nice.

Well the show starts and we've got the first 4 seats in the box. There's a couple who has joined us also, but they are in the second row of seats. The first ballet is Scottish Symphony or some such thing and while the ballerinas are in tights and tutus, the bellerinos (?) are in pseudo traditional Scottish garb to include kilts. Well with all of the spinning, it was clear that they were not truly going Scottish. Which I think is a good thing. I'm thinking going commando and doing ballet is an accident waiting to happen. So the first dance ends and we go back to our sitting room for more champs and all of the girls are talking about the dancer who fell. And I'm like, someone fell? Well the other couple comes in and sure enough the woman makes a comment about the falling dancer and the husband is just like me, "Someone fell?" So apparently us guys just didn't get it.

There were two more dances and then the finale, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I'm sorry, but what kind of name is that!! Anyways it's sort of an American ballet piece set in prohibition and it's all about a gangster who's supposed to shoot the lead dancer. It was very flapper/vaudeville-ish. Complete with jazz hands! But funny. Of course by the time it was over, I was more than balleted out. So I came home and promptly crashed!

Anyways, it was fun and definitely a Washington experience.

Why?

Why does the GEICO gecko speak with a British accent?

So at the gym today there was a guy wearing a shirt that was so tight I could see his six pack abs. I wanted to kill him. Is that wrong?

The Brit's Translate for W

I saw this on Dan Froomkin's Washington Post Blog and loved it:

From the President's speech in Washington yesterday:

'In recent years, science has deepened our understanding of climate change and opened new possibilities for confronting it.'

"Translation: In recent years, my refusal to acknowledge the reality and seriousness of global warming has turned me into a laughing-stock and contributed to my record low poll ratings. So now I have to look interested.

'The United States takes this issue seriously.'

"Translation: Al Gore takes this issue seriously, his movie was a hit, and it's causing me no end of grief.'

'By the end of next year, America and other nations will set a long-term goal for reducing greenhouse gases.'

'Translation: By the end of next year, I'll be weeks away from the end of my presidency and this can be someone else's problem.'

'To develop this goal, the United States will convene a series of meetings of nations that produce the most greenhouse gasses, including nations with rapidly growing economies such as India and China.'

'Translation: We will look as busy as we can without doing anything.

'The new initiative I am outlining today will contribute to the important dialogue that will take place in Germany.'

"Translation: The new initiative will put the brakes on the much more robust proposal the Germans are putting forward. As long as dialogue continues, we won't have to abide by any decisions."

So sad, but so true.

Mind-Funk

So I got into a really bad funk yesterday. Well, really it's been building for a couple of days. Work is stressing me out big time. First of all, why do people insist on trying to cram five days worth of work into a four day week? What's the point of a holiday if you're going to kill yourself when you come back. And I've got so much work to do that I don't know where to start. And that semi-paralysis means the work is piling up more and that only stresses me out more.

Then I had to go into the hospital for a FNA and was feeling kind of sorry for myself. It's probably nothing, but it felt weird and just didn't contribute to my great mood yesterday.

So I bail from work early (which sadly means I put in only 8 hours) and go home to just lay down. Which doesn't help. So I try to eat my way through my emotions. I say try because apparently the "Everything but Mushrooms" pizza I ordered from Stoney's included anchovies. Egads! Well, the pizza was ruined. Even after I had picked off the evil little fishes, it was still inedible. I had one piece and thought I was going to hurl. I did managed to suck down some cookies from Whole Foods, so I had that whole bloating thing going for me.

I try to work some more, but I'm basically in shut down mode mentally. So I crank up my Tivo and watch some Stargate Atlantis. Which is some nice mind candy. In one of the episodes I watched, one of the characters needs to relax, to meditate, so he can "ascend" or else he dies. And he can't. He's your type A to the T and after laying down for a milli-second he bolts up and says, "I can't let go!" And wow, I'm so there. And I know it's not healthy at all.

Anyways, the funny thing is that this AM I woke up and I actually felt okay. Not stressed out, not wigging about the gazillion things I've got to do. Just sort of calm. Maybe I'm in a weird state of denial. Maybe I'm in the eye of the storm and it will pass and I'll be back in the maelstrom of my life. I'm not sure. But in the meantime, I'm just going to go with the flow and see how long it lasts.

Care to take any bets?

Memorial Day 2007

To all those serving in uniform, at home or abroad. Thank you.

To all those who have been hurt or injured defending America. Thank you.

To all those who have lost loved ones in the service of America. Thank you.

May we one day have . . . .

Good Morning!

So it's 5AM and I'm at the Colorado Springs airport to start the journey back to DC. Yep, 5AM. Ugh! But the COS airport is kind of nice and it has free wireless which rocks! Hint: DCA, ORD!!

So last night I achieved a significant milestone in my life. I beat my Mom at Scrabble!!! Seriously, I think this is the first time I've ever won. My mom's an old english teacher (and if she corrects my grammer one more time I'm going to . . . . ) and a cross word puzzle fiend, so she usually clobbers me. So that was fun.

Coming home isn't that bad. It's all about eating and napping. Two things I enjoy quite a bit. Mind you, it's not necessarily good for your waistline, but I do love a nice post-brunch nap. If I could only figure out a way to nap every day I'd be in heaven. And yes it messes up my sleep pattern but my sleep pattern is messed up anyways.

My dad has a saying, "You can tell a (insert Mom's maiden name), but you can't tell them much." He's says that when Mom is stubborn and doesn't listen to his advice. Umm, hello kettle, meet pot. I tried, several times, to convince him that climbing on top of the deck was not a good idea but he wouldn't listen to me. He's frakken 78! So I held the ladder prepared to catch/break his fall if he fell. He didn't. Then I climbed up. The waterproofing stuff he has is not going to work and I think I've gotten a promise from him that if the skylights continue to leak to get professional help. But we'll see.

Anyways, it's back to DC.

Home for the Holiday!

Yep, I'm in Colorado right now. I have seen the rentals since my touch-and-go at Christmas, so I thought I would come out for a quick visit. Interestingly enough, we were both in Chicago on Thursday but at different terminals. I was on United, they were on American. I landed about 2 hours before them and then took advantage of the free internet at the COS airport to get some work done before they landed.

So far, so good. Yesterday was a nice lazy day. I spent about half the day trying to fix Mom's PC. It's AGONIZINGLY slow. And it's a bit better, but I think she needs to bring in a real IT guy to look at it. And I showed Dad how to download his digital photos to his PC. It's baby steps around here, okay?

Today I'm actually going to be doing some house work. Pulling a dead ivy off the side of the house. And then climbing up on the roof of the deck to cauk the sunlights. My dad doesn't want me to do it, saying he'll do it instead. I'm sorry, but if anyone is going to be climbing on top of the roof, it's going to be me. My insurance is better than yours and my bones will heal quicker! He's just crazy that way.

Amazingly enough I've been having some conversations that border on gay issues, and she seems okay with it all. But we'll see.

She's off to Altar Guild right now at Grace CANA. We were talking around that last night and she said that the altar guild is decimated and she feels like she has to go, regardless of what is happening in the church. And I'm okay with that. We both agreed that there are a lot of people, especially older people like my parents who don't understand what is really happening are just collateral damage in this situation. It really is sad.

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Partial Orthodoxy

So I’ve been blog surfing a lot of religious blogs to keep up to speed on the turmoil going on in the Episcopal Church (TEC). Obviously I like some of the more liberal blogs, such as Father Jakes, but I also read some of the more conservative ones, such as Titus One Nine. As much as I like reading the blogs, it’s the comments that intrigue and fascinate me. It’s interesting to hear other people’s comments and their perspectives. But considering the fact that we are all Christians, the animosity and vitriol being put forth in some of these comment driven conversations is quite sad and upsetting.

Lately I’ve see a term that keep popping up on some of the more conservative blogs, and that’s “reappraisers.” That’s the term used to describe some of the more liberal Episcopalians and definitely those who support the full inclusion of GLBT members in the church. And trust me, it almost leaps off the screen as a curse word the way it is used by some bloggers.

But here’s the deal, for all that the conservatives decry the “reappraisers”, they really aren’t totally orthodox either. They’ve done some form of reappraising themselves one way of the other. If you’re truly an orthodox Episcopalian (or any religion) and believe that every word in the bible is the word of God, then you don’t believe in evolution. You don’t lie. You don’t touch pig skin. You don’t wear two different types of cloth. You don’t commit adultery. Women are considered property. Owning slaves is okay. Etc. There’s a lot of rules and proscriptions in the Bible on how you should live your life, so I won’t list them all, but you get my drift.

So unless you are truly living according to the literal interpretation of the Bible in ALL ways, you’re a reappraiser. You may do work on Sunday. You may covet they neighbors Lexus. You may have gotten a divorce at some point in your life. So I would argue that all of those conservative Episcopalians who throw the term “reappraiser” are a little bit hypocritical.

Hypocrisy is one thing, and we all have done it from time to time, but bigotry and prejudice are another. For the conservatives who claim that homosexuality is a sin and that it precludes the full inclusion of GLBT members from the church, I want to know why? Why is this particular rule in the Leviticus Codes so important over the rest of them? Are people who eat shellfish not fit to be clergy because the Leviticus Codes also say that’s a sin? Why are you elevating this one rule to prevent a group of people from serving God? Explain that to me. Please.

2 for 22 and Other tales

So, for the record, I guess I do understand in an abstract way that southern California does have some weird weather including cold and grey Mays and Junes. And I did live in SOCAL from July-December in 1989 when I attended Basic Surface Warfare Officer school, but when I think of leaving hot, humid, DC and going to SOCAL I think of sun, beach, and warm weather. But as usual facing cold reality was well . . . cold. ;-)

So the first night I land and go to my ultra-chic hotel in the heart of the gas lamp district. It's probably 9ish, so after midnight east coast time. I pull in and the valet comes up to take the car. I'm tired and I give him the keys and go to check in. At the reception desk, I ask how much the parking is: $30. YIKES! Sure I got a great priceline deal on the hotel, and I can expense the parking on my travel claim. But it just seems wrong. The next day I find a parking lot two blocks away. How much for overnight? $8!!! Yep, I walked 2 blocks and saved the government $22. I know, big deal, but still.

So the roof top bar was nice and everything, and the little open fire pit things were good to ward off some of the chill, but the view was kind of crappy if you actually looked down. If you looked over the ledge, you had a great view of the parking lot. Nice. But I did have a drink or two there. It's also a good place to meet someone for an assignation.

So United. I've signed up for the EasyUpdates or some such crap where they will call you to let you know that you're plane is on time or late or whatever. This morning for example, at 6AM I got a call on my cell phone saying my flight was on time. So that's a good thing. One less thing to worry about, but to be honest with you, I hardly ever check to see if my flight is on time. I usually head to the airport anyways. If the flight was delayed, would I not go to the airport as soon? If the flight was cancelled, would I not go to the airport at all? Hell no, I'd be pacing up and down the airport trying to work the 1-800 number, the check in desk, or whatever to get where I need to go. Anyways, I land in Chicago and my flight to DCA has been cancelled. I go to the customer service desk. The two other flights to National are overbook and they've booked me on the first flight out in the AM. Umm, try again. Dulles? If I must. So I'm wait listed for a 4PM and 6:30PM and confirmed on the 915PM flights. I get on the 4PM flight, business class! Get to Dulles, no luggage. Then it's the usual logistics hassle to get home. ON MY HOME PHONE IS A CALL FROM UNITED SAYING THE FLIGHT'S BE CANCELLED!!! Yeah, no shit sherlock! So you'll call me on my cell to let me know the flight is on time, but if the flight is cancelled you call my house? While I'm in the middle of a trip? You people just make it hard for me to like you. If I didn't have a gazillion frequent flier miles on United I'd switch to another carrier. But they pretty much all suck these days.