What should we talk about tonight? I know you’re probably thinking I should talk about Christmas Eve, well, that’s what I would think if I was reading this post.

I could talk about Christmas Eve and the warmth and love and friendship and warm fuzzies, but there is Christmas Day to talk about as well and we are going to spend more quality time with those we love, so I think I’ll tell you everything in one post; one big and warm fuzzy post, kind of like my new soft as an angora rabbit, warm fuzzy slippers!

Instead, I want to talk about the fact that I can’t believe that the year is almost over! Can you believe it? It’s December 25th and in six days, it will be New Year’s Eve and we will be ushering in 2014, what? Where did the time go?

Then we’ll get to New Year’s Eve and so many people will be talking about resolutions, the gyms will be packed everyday for a few months, then Mondays. People will say, “I’m making a resolution to not make resolutions” which kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?

I stopped making resolutions years ago, and I know I am blogging every day, but…I made the decision and commitment on January 6th and by gosh, by golly, I’ve kept it and I don’t intend to stop! It’s funny, I had tried the blog a few years ago, didn’t work for me to blog every day, but I made this commitment to you and now I feel guilty if I don’t blog! I know there have been a few, last nights included, for the length, that were very short and to the point, basically begging for an apology because I just wasn’t able to blog, but it’s become second nature, I think about things to post all the time! I even took a picture at a gas station today so I could blog about it later! There is inspiration everywhere!

So…did you make a resolution last year? Did you stick to/with it! Are you going to continue into the new year? Are you going to make new resolutions? Try something new, go down a different path? I know there are some crazy ones out there, where do you stand?

Alright, even for me this is a total random musing and I should probably let you get some rest since I may have just tired you out and after tomorrow’s post, you’re gonna need it!

To those of you who celebrate “The Reason for the Season” I wish you a very happy christmas!

How would that looked…almost a full year of posts and then to miss one not far from the end, that would have been awful.

As it is 3am and my phone is giving me fits, I am going to pretend to fall asleep hope that I fool myself it might actually happen.

I will tell you more tomorrow.

For now, I will say Merry Christmas (eve) to all and to all a good night!

What a day we had yesterday.

(Couldn’t tell you about it yesterday, might have ruined it for someone…DCMs daughter, she didn’t know we were coming to Atlanta! Now she does, so it’s ok!)

First…Bad weather.
The weather in Denver was a bit chilly, went from about 40 to 20 as we were waiting for the shuttle to the airport. Dad asked if we would be delayed due to the weather and as of the time we were getting to the airport, all was clear. Famous last words, right?

As we get to the gate, flight delayed for an hour and just as that time I get a call and email from Delta, wahoo. Apparently wherever the flight was coming in from was delayed, remember a few posts ago when I said Mother Nature was more to blame than the people who work for the airline? There were a lot of names called over the loudspeaker, a lot of people needing to get to their gates or they would be spending a lot of time at the airport!

We finally board the plane and then wait at the gate, then on the runway for, oh I don’t know, a day, or so it felt that way. We finally took off and the it was Atlanta bound. Our original landing time was about nine pm, with the delay and bad weather and turbulence, and circumventing the globe or the turbulence, well, that’s what they were saying and final landing time was about eleven pm, fun, huh? Let’s just say, we watched two full movies, start to finish, Red 2 and George of the Jungle,

We finally hit that turbulence I was talking about, it was awful. I’ve been through many flights with turbulence and there were three that got to me more than ever this was the third and I didn’t quite make it and apparently, I was very quiet, DCM didn’t even know I had done it. Good thing they have those bags!

Second…Bad attitude.
We finally get to Atlanta, head to the car rental terminal, a very nice facility by the way, and make our way downstairs to EZ Car Rental, which was the cheapest for the week and let me tell you, not cheap in the least, this week was awful with any car rental companies! Before I tell you what happened I will say that EZ was not that easy and we will never be renting from them again.

First, a lot of people waiting at each rental car counter with only one person working at each, fun! It was finally our turn and what fun she was to deal with. As we were going through the rundown and policies, I asked a few questions, like why is there a $10 per day charge, in addition to the exorbitant rate for the week if one person pays for both cars. When I said the policy was kind of stupid, and she started to get a little snarky, I said I thought the policy was stupid, she said I just work here, I said I wasn’t calling her stupid, just the policy, her response “you better not be calling me stupid!” Really? What took the cake, about 35 minutes into it was when she asked for a second phone number, because apparently they can’t close the reservation without a second phone number (what if you out and out don’t have, make one up?), she stopped and asked if there was a problem with the way she was doing things, I said no and then she proceeded to tell me I was snapping at her! I said I wasn’t, I was just asking about the policy because I was curious and her response was that every time she said something I would snap and I replied that I wasn’t getting snappy but every time I asked something she would snap. I said I understand that it can’t be easy being there late at night and she said “oh no, I love my job” and so it went.

When we finally walked away from the counter I asked DCM if I was being rude or snapping and he said no, (and there have been times he told me I was in the wrong, as much as I don’t like it, so I trusted his opinion and I wasn’t being snarky! I’m just very inquisitive!) I will tell you that the two times I had to go back with issues, she was sweet as pie, huh?

So much fun, long delayed flight, bad weather and turbulence and now, an unpleasant encounter with a snarky person, oh joy!

Third…Bad parking.
We get down to the parking lot with all the cars and apparently EZ had a run on the Impala industry, not sure they had any other cars, we both got Impalas, and they each have a sun/moon roof! Love it except for the rain coming in!

DCM gets settled in his car, I go to find mine and, well…take a look at the picture and how they parked the car! Mine was the first one in line, I could have taken the last one, it would have been easy, but really?

(That’s when I called, went back in and apparently the woman behind the counter had been replaced by a Stepford wife…just saying). Went back in, got a new car and then we were finally off.

So, there you have it: Bad weather, Bad attitude, Bad parking.

I get to see Miss A and Baby A (even though they sound like exhibits, they’re not, well exhibits in cuteness!) this week and it will make everything better!

Air travel has changed so much since it began and as I was at an airport recently, I had a lot to think about.

What should we talk about first, attitude or mode of dress? Both have pluses and minuses.

Let’s talk attitude, (why do I have a certain song running through my mind?). They wouldn’t make TV reality shows, movies about airline travel if there weren’t any truth in it. Now, the attitude comes from both sides, employees and travelers, for some reason, the one group doesn’t seem to take the other into consideration, I’m sure not completely true all the time, just feels like it, doesn’t it?

For those of you who travel a lot, you’ve seen all kinds of attitudes at the airport, both good and bad. As I have always said, if you don’t like your job, get another one, if the one you have is the only one you could get, then have a better attitude and deal with it. It’s not my fault that you don’t like your job. I try to be pleasant to everyone I meet and sometimes it’s a tough one.

I know you’re stressed out if your flight is late, is it the desk agents fault? I don’t think so, Mother Nature is more likely to blame than the person who you are yelling at. Don’t forget that if you’re late, everyone on your flight is late as well, everyone has families to go to or places to be, chill out. Oh yeah, it doesn’t matter how high up in your frequent flyer program you are, the plane won’t get there any faster.

On the flip side, if you work for the airline, you need to have a little more sympathy for those traveling with you, you are the face of the airline and yes, you should be treated with respect, the same you want. You don’t know what kind if day that person has been having, what they are going through. You’re no better than they are and vise versa. Maybe the passengers are nervous, flying for the first time, think they want your attitude? Smile as best as you can and make them feel like they are guests in your home, a cramped, no leg room, teeny seat, tiny snacks, but your home none the less. Think your first one bedroom shoebox apartment!

In conclusion, please and thank you go a long way.

Moving on…let’s talk about dressing (all of a sudden it sounds like I’m talking about food!) One of my favorite movies, “View From The Top” stars Gwenyth Paltrow as a flight attendant for Royalty Air, it’s a great movie and shows everything from their point of view. There is a scene where Candice Bergan, who is a famous flight attendant, in that world, who talks about when people used to dress to travel. If you look at any old footage or movies, you would see men and women dressed to the nines to travel, suits, skirts, dresses, heels, pearls, hats, gloves, very formal.

Today, it’s another story, the only time you see people dressing for a flight is when they have a business meeting to go to. Ok, now that was a huge assumption, but when you fly, do you dress in a suit? Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in jeans? I know I am! I have worn a skirt once or twice to travel and it was nice, but normally, I wear jeans.

The other thing that’s tough, you never know if the flight is going to be warm, even if you have an air control, what if it’s not working. Then sitting next to the window gets very cold, so we seem to dress for the weather and in the winter it’s tough, once you get to the airport you’re sweating! I was in Chicago recently and it was -8, so I dressed for being outside, thermal top, sweater, knee high socks, overcoat, gloves, the whole package. I get to the airport and it is warm! So here I am in too many layers, which we have to carry through the airport, especially if you’re not checking a bag, just more to schlep around. So, you might wear short sleeves, you’re comfortable in the airport, freezing on the plane and outside, help!

I think it’s ok to not dress to the nines, but what about putting some thought into what you’re wearing. I’m all about being comfortable, but actual clothes might be nice, let me explain. I’m all for comfort when you travel, long skirts, shorts, sweats, running pants. There have been some articles recently about women wearing running or yoga pants to travel, why not? They’re comfortable, cover you up and the majority look like runners, I haven’t chanced it yet, I don’t quite look like a runner. Yoga pants as well, they cover, are comfortable and if you’re on a long flight, we need that.

It’s the shorty shorts and skirts, I don’t need to see certain body parts! Pajamas are another big one, if you’re over the age of 18, come on, well, 21/22, college graduate, I’ll give you that. Little kids are so cute when they wear their pjs, but that’s what they are, little kids! If, and I say if…you’re going to wear pajama bottoms (hopefully that’s all you’re wearing in terms of your jammies) they are in one piece, no holes in all the wrong places or at all, not frayed on the bottom or dragging the floor and looking nasty!

Today I saw something that was a definite first! It was a woman, I’m pretty sure younger than me, hair up in a top knot, wearing an adult’s one piece pajama, not sure if they were footed, she was wearing boots, red and blue striped with a sock monkey on the upper left! I don’t know if it was flannel, just looked fuzzy. In addition to carrying what looked like a fur coat, hopefully it was fake. Was she dressing for the frozen tundra? (I actually found a picture!)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380789566187

Bottom line is, well, I was going to say take some care in your appearance, you were able to afford the ticket, so you could afford to dress, but maybe you couldn’t, someone got the ticket for you. In any case, you should still take some care with your appearance, no one needs to see all your business.

A few weeks ago, I talked about pet names, some human, some fun, some silly. Tonight, I thought it would be fun to talk about what people name their wireless networks.

Do you ever look at the list of available networks in your area when you go somewhere new? Maybe the network connection drops when you’re at home and you have to search for your network to reconnect. This is something I’ve wanted to blog about, but…remember last night’s post [brain spasm].

When I look, some of the names are funny “This is not the router you’re looking for” an obvious Star Wars reference, medulla oblongata, possibly a Waterboy reference, that’s what I was thinking anyway. Some of the names are obvious, like a family name or a business, not as much fun as the silly ones and movie references and then some are just nasty, those I chose not to include. Mine in Atlanta is a shortened version of my name, something people have called me over the years. If you know DCM, you might get an idea of what ours is [not telling].

When you look at the names, do you wonder what type of person created the name? What they might be in to or what they think is funny. This post just reminds me of the old [ha ha] Arseneo Hall late night talk show and his “Things that make you go hmmm”

Here are the more fun ones that I found when I was looking today:

This is not the router you’re looking for
pinkalicious
not yours
medulla oblongata
MACattack
Navy Strong
hen house
Oh Snap!
DEA_van1
Sexybeast

So…what’s your wireless network name?