Fly Me Out! Please!
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005• • • FREEDOM
Freedom! It wasn’t cheap either.
My flight out of Pensacola was cancelled (due to overbooking), so all 27 people on that flight were sent to Mobile, AL, to fly out of there. Apparently, they were just trying to get rid of us, because it’s obvious we wouldn’t possibly make it for the intended flight in Mobile. We had to stand around waiting for the bus to get us there, then the trip itself took more than an hour. Interesting sights: 76 thousand car or RV dealerships, hurricane-mangled trees, an underwater tunnel, and Diamond’s Exclusive Gentlemen’s Club that looks like a solitary, run down Chinese buffet establishment.
When we got at the airport, the US Airways people there didn’t know what to do with us because nobody told them we were coming, and we had obviously missed the flight. So we stood around for a couple hours, missing even our connecting flights. At this time everybody wanted to throw luggages at the ticket counter but couldn’t, because it wasn’t their fault but rather the US Airways back in Pensacola. The guys at Mobile gave us brand new itineraries to get us to our destinations somehow. Only 3 of us had to stay at a hotel and leave the next morning. I was one of them.
The other two were a PCC student with scruffy beard (Danny), and an older guy. The older guy took off to the hotel without us. Danny and I waited (again) for several hours for the hotel shuttle to come get us. The hotel was quite nice, though, the nicest one in hicksville, probably. After taking a shower, the world seemed a lot better. King sized bed, big TV, big room - all to myself! But the funnest part was: all that privacy! No more roommates and MB’s yakking! No more dorm bells ringing every hour! No lights out! I don’t remember the last time I had such peace.
Next day’s flight was alright. Met another PCC student, Kristine, at the hotel. She was quite nice and pretty, and single.. and Danny was quite nice-looking and single, too! I thought they’d make a cute couple, but my plans fell apart as they both turned out to be talkers, and neither listened.
Anyways, so the Mobile-Charlotte flight was alright, but guess what? Charlotte-Harrisburg was delayed for 4 1/2 hours! What’s crazy was that as I sat there waiting, I kept hearing these announcements saying that flight this-or-that had been cancelled/delayed. All of them US Airways.
If only I could describe to you my feelings of deep relief when I finally got to Farid’s house… It was priceless.
I hope you’ve derived the moral to my story: don’t fly US Airways! Their main goals are to delay, cancel, or overbook you! This is also confirmed by several fellow travelers’ experiences. The airline is definitely a repeat offender.
P.S. I think coach class needs to have Crowne Centre-type seats that the bottoms fold up when you’re not sitting. That should free up space for easier trip to the bathroom. Granted, the fold up seats won’t make any difference if the neighbor blocking your way is asleep.
P.P.S Now that I’m at the end of the tunnel, the light of freedom is so blinding that I’m overwhelmed! What do I do now?!
Boston, Big Apple, Philly… here I come.
• • • BEING 23
I’m old. 23 is already half of 46. I’m ANCIENT!
Since school life was giving me nothing but stress, I thought I should have myself a birthday. So I picked the eighth. It was definitely a good break from the routines.
Seriously though, my birthday was a happy one indeed! Lala made me awesome cake (totally delicious).. Got a pretty balloon in my mailbox.. Beautiful lillies.. Several bday songs on my voicemail (some are "zoo" versions).. Early bday text messages from Indo (because they never think about time differences except when they’re here).. Check out my bday pictures at beachpanda.shutterly.com.
Friends are priceless. They do the nicest things imaginable for you on your birthday! …Or a week afterwards, such as the case with Timo, Denis, and Marshall’s gift of humongous cow slippers.
On a normal day, I would’ve called the rainy weather that day as "yucky and gloomy," but I was having such a blessed time that I actually thought it was the exact replica of the perfect Puncak weather. Oh my goodness, it brought back soo many memories.
Anyways, so I’m trying to get into Gerit Hall, which is this special floor at the dorms reserved for the 23+ year olds where there’s no lights out rule or anything silly like that. I’d been wondering what "Gerit" meant for years, not knowing the right spelling (Jarrod?), but I found out this semester that the word actually stands for "Geriatrics." A-ha! …But that makes me feel a bit wrinkly.
• • • ARTISTS
Check out artakiane.com. This girl Akiane is so totally talented! She’s a 11 year old Christian painter who puts artists my age to shame with her talents. Check out the website for more details.
Jack Johnson is underrated. Everybody should really have his "In Between Dreams" CD on their wish list. Even my mom loves his music.
I saw Jamie Cullum on TV doing a live performance: he’s like an ape high on caffeine! But he’s also really, really awesome! He sings/bangs on the piano perfectly even though he’s jumping around on stage (literally), running around, standing on the piano, and a bunch of stunts like that. He CANNOT sit through a single song cuz he’s so hyper. He has such good jazz beats. And energy. I recommend watching him. You will not fall asleep.
The Apprentice made me realize that the dog-eat-dog business world is so not for me. Call me conservative but I certainly can’t bring myself to badmouth/insult/tear down a coleague in front of our boss when he/she is right there sitting next to me. I also have a word for Marshal: Dude, your ego’s showing. This guy definitely qualified in every aspect, and I liked him at first, but man, he got really ugly at the end. Especially when Trump asked if Rebecca should also be hired. Would’ve cost him nothing, but the guy didn’t wanna share the spotlight at all! Spare me the "Apprentice, not Apprenti" speech, Marshal. By the way, "apprenti" is not a word.
I’ve got deep respect for Rebecca. She’s my age but I don’t have 10% of her determination and strength.
Nip/Tuck is so dismal that I got seriously depressed just watching half of the episode.
I love That 70s Show, even in all its cornyness. My faves: Eric, Fez, and Hyde.
• • • AMUSING (YET USELESS) FACTS
Ci Lanny forwarded me this. And like what Irene says when she introduces me to people: "This is Stephanie. She’s easily amused."
There are some things we all didn't know:
1. Coca-Cola was originally green.
2. The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
3. The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.
4. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
5. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
6. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
7. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!
8. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
9. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
10. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
11. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
12. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
13. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
14. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David Clubs - Alexander the Great Hearts - Charlemagne Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
15. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
16. If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
17. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? Answer - All invented by women.
18. Question - This is the only food that doesn't spoil. What is this? Answer - Honey
19. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
20. A snail can sleep for three years.
21. All polar bears are left handed.
22. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
23. Butterflies taste with their feet.
24. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
25. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
26. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
27. Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.
28. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
29. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
30. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
31. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
32. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
33. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
34. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
35. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
36. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
37. And finally, 99% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.
Note: I showed this to David and when we got to number 9, he really proved number 37! Needless to say, I died laughing.
