Greetings from Minnesota. More info and pictures later.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 29, 2007 at 12:05 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
July 25, 2007
Next two and a half weeks
It's Wed night and I just flew home from NY. Tomorrow morning Patti, myself, and our three kids get on a plane and head to, with one stop over, Minneapolis. We will see friends tomorrow afternoon, then drive north a couple of hours for a family reunion on Patti's side.
We fly home, with one stop over, on Monday. Get home Monday night.
Tuesday morning I fly to San Francisco for work.
Friday I fly home, going west to east is terrible, and get home late Friday night.
Saturday night my sister Dora comes in to town.
Sunday, we drive to Lake George for a lakeside vacation for a week with my side of the family, We get together every year for a vacation in a different spot. This year it is in upstate NY with 15 members of my family. Good times.
Thought I'd share.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 25, 2007 at 09:24 PM in Family, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 24, 2007
How to Eat Fried Worms
Not a bad kids movie. A little disgusting, but kind of entertaining. Reminded me of The Sand Lot mixed with I Want My Two Dollars. It's hard to find movies that I can watch with my kids that keep me entertained. This is one.
Thought I'd share
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 24, 2007 at 09:56 AM in Movies | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 23, 2007
Michael Vick, Paul Byrd, Animal Cruelty
By now we have all heard the dog fighting allegations against Michael Vick, a…
BARBARIC!!
…quarterback in the NFL. He ran a dog fighting ring that involved terrible abuse…
BARBARIC!!
…of pit bulls and other aggressive dogs. So for some reason Robert Byrd, a long time…
BARBARIC!!
…Democratic senator from West Virginia went nuts in an empty senate chamber in Washington DC.
BARBARIC!!
He shouted a few times and scared some 16 year old pages and a few tourists. While he was leaving, the 89 year old ex-KKK leader was congratulated by some other lunatics who heard his yelling and ran in to see what the fun was all about.
Good job Senator, going out on a limb and speaking out against animal cruelty. Now please get back to other more pressing issues, like the war.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 23, 2007 at 10:34 AM in In The News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 18, 2007
Passenger Bill of Rights
Passenger Bill of Rights
I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to the airport, and I caught the end of a piece about airline passenger bill of rights. The commentator was jokingly bringing up his own list just for business travelers, like seats should not recline and the airline should call your boss if your flight is delayed and you get home at 3 in the morning.
Here is my own list.
Of course, this comes after basics that most airlines list, like being courteous to passengers, giving priority to disables passengers, being honest about ticket prices and restrictions, right to get off the plane if delays are long, given a refund for cancelled flights and the right to get paid for lost luggage . Mine are most specific.
1. If someone is not sitting within 3 rows of their bag, it goes in the hold.
I drive me nuts to get...
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 18, 2007 at 12:55 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
July 17, 2007
The Marauding Squirrels
A couple of weeks ago Patti called me during the day and said
“Someone broke into the house and ate a loaf of sour dough bread.”
Ready to get a gun to protect my family and our bread, she explained that while she was out, a squirrel broke through the screen in the kitchen window, jumped on to the counter, ripped open a loaf of bread, ran around the first floor leaving squirrel s**t everywhere, then broke through the screen in a different window to get out. She cleaned the place and called a friend of ours who works for the animal shelter. Apparently this time of year the mother squirrels force their young to get food on their own. Being teenage squirrels, they look for the path of least resistance and raid garbage cans, steal food left out from barbeques and in our case, break into homes.
We had recently started to leave our two cats in the basement when we are not home so I am kind of glad because I have no idea what two cats and a squirrel would have looked liked after a fight. Knowing our two cats, the squirrel would have walked away the victor.
The next day when I got home, I got some supplies from the wonderful Curry Hardware in Quincy and replaced the screens. Patti had cleaned and scrubbed the first floor and replaced the bread. The next question was what to do about the squirrels. I was told to leave moth balls around the window to keep them away. Bad idea. It turns out the noxious mothball smell will make humans living in the house just as turned-off as the scavengers those humans are trying to keep away. So I placed the mothballs in strategic entry points to the roof of our three season porch that the squirrels use to get into our house.
Well, we had another attack today. There was a hole in the kitchen window screen but it turns out a bottle of Advil left on the window sill fell when the little bastard tried to get in and scared him away. Maybe her away. Or, and I like to believe this version more, the cats in the basement sent a message that if the squirrel came into the house, he would get a beating he would never forget.
I need to replace the screen in the kitchen and figure out how to keep those squirrels away for good. I think a pellet gun is in my future.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 17, 2007 at 08:07 PM in Family | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
July 16, 2007
Park City, Utah
Last weekend we went to Park City, Utah, for my friend’s wedding. The wedding was on Saturday night so we decided to make it a four day weekend, without the kids, for a little vacation. It was freakin great. No joke, GREAT. No kids, 4 days of hanging out in a 4 star resort that was pretty cheap because its their off season, in a cottage, long runs in the morning, mountain biking down a 9,400 foot mountain, bob sledding, swimming and of course the wedding. Couple of things about the trip.
- Park City Utah is a ski resort community, but...
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 16, 2007 at 04:32 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Best Places to Live in America
Number 7 BABY!! NUMBER 7!!!
CNN article on best places to live in America.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0707/gallery.BPTL_top_100.moneymag/7.html
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 16, 2007 at 01:05 PM in In The News | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
July 12, 2007
Raleigh, NC
I was in Raleigh, North Carolina a couple of weeks ago for work. I kind of dreaded the trip but it turned out to be a very good time. I spent most of my time in the famed Research Triangle Park, including a surprisingly nice Hilton hotel.
I flew down on Tuesday night and my flight was delayed because of bad weather. The entire week was really warm and humid, with thunderstorms and stuff, on the east coast, so the entire flight schedule along the eastern seaboard was backed up.
I was supposed to leave on Thursday night but my 6:15PM flight was cancelled at 7 in the morning by US Air. A little strange, but my interaction with USAir turned out to be a nightmare. First, I logged on in the morning to find out what time my flight was, and that is how I found out it was cancelled. Not a word from USAir. I tried to call and could not get through. Finally, I saw something I love - an online chat option at the US Air website. So I initiated a chat and here is the transcript. I did not change a singe thing other than to delete private data. I might have been a little bit of a jerk, but why offer online chat if they can't do anything.
Thanks for using our online chat service. An agent will be with you in just a moment.
You have been connected to Janeen G.
David Dobrindt: hello janeen
Janeen G: Hello. Welcome to US Airways online customer support. I have received your message. I will be with you in a moment.
David Dobrindt: k
Janeen G: Do you have a confirmation code?
David Dobrindt: all I have is my airline res number
David Dobrindt: (I typed my conf code)
Janeen G: That flight was cxl due to weather.
David Dobrindt: (after a really long delay) hello?
David Dobrindt: right. I saw that
Janeen G: let me check on your options
David Dobrindt: so what now? is USAir going to get me out tonight?
David Dobrindt: or can you refund my ticket and I'll figure something else out?
Janeen G: when a flight is cancelled due to weather we will reaccomodate on next available flight
David Dobrindt: ok. good. so I will go to the airport and get out tonight I assume
David Dobrindt: please tell me what my new itinerary is
Janeen G: you will need to call reservations dept for your options
David Dobrindt: and I am impressed with US Air. no one notified me of the cancellation and I had to find out myself.
Janeen G: 1-800-428-4322
David Dobrindt: I did call res dept but was told the wait time was 40 minutes
David Dobrindt: I cannot leave my meeting to sit on hold for 40 minutes.
David Dobrindt: please rebook me and call back with the details. xxx-xxx-xxxx
Janeen G: we are an in bound call center
David Dobrindt: this is terrible. so USAir cancelled at 6:15PM flight by 9AM. then I had to find out on my own. now online help cannot actually help. and I have to call and wait on hold for 40 minutes. and USAir won't put me up overnight AND won't refund my flight
David Dobrindt: doing a great job
Janeen G: The cancellation was due to weather.
David Dobrindt: right. you said that
Janeen G: Yes, beyond our control.
David Dobrindt: so while the weatherman can't be accurate, USAir can predict weather 8 hours in advance.
David Dobrindt: so there is nothing you can do to help me at this point
David Dobrindt: you cannot rebook me. or give me options?
Janeen G: you will need to call
Janeen G: I can look for tomorrow
Janeen G: Just one moment please
David Dobrindt: great. and wait on hold for 40 minutes. will do. thanks for telling me the flight was cancelled. no, if I have to wait for tomorrow, I will fly another airline and eat the cost of this ticket. I am platinum on another airline and was forced to fly US Air because of scheduling.
Janeen G: I have a 530 am departure tomorrow
David Dobrindt: but you can't rebook me?
Janeen G: would you like the 530 am?
David Dobrindt: no. I want to get out tonight
Janeen G: I do not have anything tonight
David Dobrindt: wonderful. and USAir won't refund my ticket?
Janeen G: not when the CXL is due to weather
David Dobrindt: what time does the 530 get in to BOS?
Janeen G: 859 am thru PHL
David Dobrindt: no thanks. I'll go with Delta. I'll call my travel dept and let them argue with USAir.
Janeen G: on weather CXL we rebook on next available flight
David Dobrindt: and hotel expense is up to the passenger, correct
Janeen G: I am sorry there was not more I could do for you.
US Air refunded my flight and I flew on Delta the next morning at 6.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 12, 2007 at 01:32 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 05, 2007
David, starting again
Hey, it's been almost a month since I posted anything. I would like to say that I've been busy on holiday in Europe, but the truth is my site has been down. I want to blame my blog software, my hosting company and spammers, but the truth is the fault lies with my own lack of programming skills. Either way, I am back. I missed out on some great news stories to comment on, plus I need to catch up on a great trip to Park City, Utah, but for now I have the site up and running.
Oh, I lost my history of posts. I have them in HTML form but it takes a lot of work to put them back into a format that can be used in this blog. Huge pain in the backside, but life goes on.
So just wanted to say hello and to put your backpack on, I'm about to take you for a ride. Ok, that statement was kind of korny and misplaced, but I have a great Utah story, wanted to comment on Paris Hilton, need to talk about Scudder Libby and other nonsense.
Dave
Posted by David_Dobrindt on July 05, 2007 at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)