Memorial Day 2008

This year for Memorial Day Kenyon and I were in the nation's capital - Washington D.C. It was his first visit to this city. We went downtown and saw the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII memorial, the Korean War memorial, the Vietnam memorial, the Holocaust museum and the International spy museum. Then we ate dinner at a Greek restaurant in Dupont Circle. It was a fantastic day. I learned a couple of interesting things I thought I'd share - Einstein and Sigmond Freud (of Jewish decent) both immigrated from countries occupied by the Nazi's and chose not to return...Julia Child's the chef was an international spy. I couldn't believe it, when I saw it. Julia Child's? Really? Who knew!? I certainly didn't and I certainly wouldn't of suspected her, maybe that is why she made a good spy. We even had a Presidential sighting, as we were walking across the street from the Lincoln memorial to the Einstein memorial the presidential motorcade crossed our path. We could clearly see the President and his wife in the car. It was like a little parade including the President of the United States in the middle of our day. A great Memorial Day weekend in D.C...ahh, what an unconventional life!

customer service?

I just returned from another world tour, jumping continents from Asia to Africa. I had one cancelled flight, a couple of flight delays, lost luggage, etc...all of this is becoming a regular occurance in travel. That isn't what is frustrating me, what I don't understand is the lack of concern on the part of the airline staff. It is like they are numb to the issue and simply disregard the request. After a canceled flight to Newark I was trying to figure out a way to still make it to India in time for my meeting May 14. There were options on other airlines, there were ealier flights out they could put me on. The customer service agent seemed less than moved by my plea for help to reach my destination. My employer was working with a travel agent to see what was available - they found a one-way flight for $7,000. Ummm, let me think...NO way am I paying that for a plane ticket! So, I went back to "customer service," her suggestion was I take a flight the next morning. I again explain that isn't going to get me there on time for the meeting. No response. So, I plop myself on the floor in sight distance of the agent desk and plan to get online to see if there is anything I can do to help myself. Another agent heard my plea for help and at the last minute got me on an earlier flight, which got me there in time to catch my international flight. This isn't the first time my cries for help have been ignored at the airport. It leads me to ask, what happened to customer service? Are there so many travel difficulties that airline staff have just grown immune to the need? Oh, the joys of travel...

Interesting International Facts

I recently visited Ethiopia for the first time and learned that they have 13 months in their annual calendar. What does that mean? It means they are celebrating the millenium until September. That's right Y2K. I took a picture of a tourism sign that said: "Ethiopia, giving the world a second chance to celebrate the millenium." That also means in Ethiopia I'm still in my twenties - fancy that seven years shaved off just by stepping off the airplane!

I also learned from one of the staff in Kenya that a greeting is not complete until the greeters shake hands or hug. Simply waving or saying "hello" is not sufficient and could be considered rude. So, if you are ever in Kenya, make sure to include hand shakes in your greetings.

Sold!

I haven't kept the blog updated on the saga of selling my home. To put it gently, the process was long and painful. We came close to selling many times, and none worked out for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, as of May 9 the house has a new owner. Hallelujah, one less bill! Actually, six less when you count property tax, insurance, mortgage payments, gas, electric, and home owners association dues. Now if we could just decide on different rental property for next year...

Marital Mis-Communications

Each time Kenyon and I travel to New Mexico we go to a movie with my family. Every time Kenyon says, "I don't want to see a girly-girl movie. I want to see a shoot 'em up movie." Once we went to see a family flick, last time we watched a guy adventure movie.

Last night we were at the Red Box. He couldn't decide on which movie to rent. I walked away and came back to see he had something in his hand.

"Which movie did you decide to rent?"

"Shoot 'em up."

I'm thinking he must have rented a guy movie. As we are walking to the car I open the case to find - there is an actual movie called "Shoot 'em up." I laughed. I'm sure this movie was made specifically to appeal to the male gender.

It wasn't that good, not even Kenyon liked it. There were a lot of bullets, so it did live up to the title...shoot 'em up - who knew?