Somehow this blog has turned into a news article commentary. This was not the original intent.
I had a dream the other night, in which I was asleep, and having a dream. A metadream, if you will.
Anyway, in my dream within my dream, I was on an airplane, and it crashed. I then woke up, within my dream. In reality I was still asleep at this point.
When I woke up I was on an airplane. That is, in my dream, I was on an airplane and dreaming that I was on an airplane, and I had crashed.
After I woke up, the plane proceeded to crash.
That is to say, after waking up (within my dream) from a dream in which I was involved in a plane crash, I was again involved in a plane crash.
At this point, I woke up for real. no more dreaming, everything back to normal. When I woke up, I found myself on an airplane. Which then proceeded to crash.
Actually, scratach that. I woke up and went to work. I have no plans to board a plane anytime soon.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Like, OMG
Miley Cyrus on Twilight:
"'I think it's like [a] cult... I think it's a cult,' Miley told Sirius XM's The Morning Mash Up in an interview that aired on Tuesday. 'I think it's bad. I think it's like, just people get too into it.'"
She's using some big words there; looks like she's been steadily building her vocabulary.
Perhaps I'm being unfair; I guess the target audience, average age 7, needs to be able to comprehend what is being said. Ironic though that she should issue a comment about people "geting too into" something.
"'I think it's like [a] cult... I think it's a cult,' Miley told Sirius XM's The Morning Mash Up in an interview that aired on Tuesday. 'I think it's bad. I think it's like, just people get too into it.'"
She's using some big words there; looks like she's been steadily building her vocabulary.
Perhaps I'm being unfair; I guess the target audience, average age 7, needs to be able to comprehend what is being said. Ironic though that she should issue a comment about people "geting too into" something.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Fines for Funds
On fines imposed against Airlines for leaving passengers stranded on the tarmac aboard a plane...
"Continental Airlines and its regional airline partner ExpressJet, which operated the flight for Continental, were each fined $50,000. ExpressJet spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said the airline can avoid paying half the fines if it spends the same amount of money on additional training for their employees on how to handle extended tarmac delays.
The department imposed the largest penalty — $75,000 — on Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which was acquired by Delta Air Lines last year."
Okay, so hundreds of people were unable to disembark for hours, and the government collects money from airlines for causing such inconvenience? Now, I can understand if the government ordered such an amount of money to be disbursed among those that were on board, but why should the government pocket this money? I don't understand what justifies this; were government officials in discomfort as they slept through the night not knowing this was happening somewhere hundreds of miles away?
"Besides the fine, Continental also provided a full refund to each passenger and 'offered each passenger additional compensation to tangibly acknowledge their time and discomfort,' the department said."
This is fair enough. If the government is going to pocket $175,000 then they had better put it to good use. I mean, are they doing this to make our lives better, or to gather some extra department funding?
"Continental Airlines and its regional airline partner ExpressJet, which operated the flight for Continental, were each fined $50,000. ExpressJet spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said the airline can avoid paying half the fines if it spends the same amount of money on additional training for their employees on how to handle extended tarmac delays.
The department imposed the largest penalty — $75,000 — on Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which was acquired by Delta Air Lines last year."
Okay, so hundreds of people were unable to disembark for hours, and the government collects money from airlines for causing such inconvenience? Now, I can understand if the government ordered such an amount of money to be disbursed among those that were on board, but why should the government pocket this money? I don't understand what justifies this; were government officials in discomfort as they slept through the night not knowing this was happening somewhere hundreds of miles away?
"Besides the fine, Continental also provided a full refund to each passenger and 'offered each passenger additional compensation to tangibly acknowledge their time and discomfort,' the department said."
This is fair enough. If the government is going to pocket $175,000 then they had better put it to good use. I mean, are they doing this to make our lives better, or to gather some extra department funding?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Retailers Face Impossible Demands
Today, an article about how Black Friday ads are full of "dirty secrets."
First, a man complains that the fine print says how quantities are limited.
Now look here, America is a capitalist society. Retailers aren't cutting prices because they're in a jolly holiday spirit and feel like giving everyone a discount. They're trying to lure consumers into stores and make money. The reason why companies provide "customer service" is not because of humanitarian reasons, it's because they want you to come back for more business. If you can't even grasp that simple concept you might as well move to North Korea or something and see how you like it there. If something is advertised on a Black Friday and it's actually a good deal, I don't expect it to be left on the shelves half an hour after the store opens. I suspect I might not be able to grab it even if I'm standing in line at 4:00am. That's just how this game works, so stop the bickering.
"'I am old school,' said Johnson. 'If a retailer is advertising a juicy deal and they are not prepared to have in sufficient quantity, don't advertise it. Or give consumers a raincheck.'"
Right, you're old school. Get in tune with the times. This is not the "good old days" where people wore top hats and rode in horse carriages. It's not even the other "good old days" where the TVs advertised in the Black Friday ads were black and white and not 1080p.
Imagine, for instance, if next year, all the retailers got together and said, there will be no Black Friday deals this year because some people find that it is unacceptable to place quantity limits on items. You'll hear the same people arguing that retailers are anti-consumer for not offering discounts to shoppers for the holidays.
A man then complains about something called "derivative models."
"Dworsky cautions that retailers usually don't advertise these models as derivatives. 'There's no way the average consumer will know that the TV model they are buying is not the standard one unless they are savvy enough to compare their model numbers,' he said."
Consumers, it's time to get savvy, then. Fortunately there's a novel invention called the internet which will give you all of this information if you bother looking. This is not the "good old days" when each manufacturer only offered one TV model.
He then complains about some deals being offered online, but the manufacturers won't disclose which ones. Again, retailers would rather you come to the store than shop online.
And then a word of caution for those shopping online.
"Case in point: Sears. Last year, one of Sears' hottest Black Friday doorbuster deal was on a Kenmore washer-dryer pair for $600.
Even though the retailer advertised that deal to be in 'limited quantities,' the company decided to honor every customer order made on that deal last Black Friday.
Big mistake. The manufacturer could not ramp up production fast enough. Some customers waited months before their order was shipped. Others were sold a substitute model, that was 'comparable or even better' for the same deal price, said Sears' Aiello."
Right, so people like old-school man at the beginning of the article complained, so Sears goes the extra step to actually sell at a lower price even beyond the limited quantity that they had on hand. Perhaps they were in a jolly holiday spirit. The result? More complaining, this time because they sold things they didn't have.
So let's recap. If you're going to put something on sale, it shouldn't be in limited quantities because consumer advocacy groups will complain. However, you damn well better make sure you don't sell beyond the unlimited quantity that you don't have because then consumer advocacy groups will complain.
I used to work in retail. It's a job where most people complain at you because "the customer is always right."
First, a man complains that the fine print says how quantities are limited.
Now look here, America is a capitalist society. Retailers aren't cutting prices because they're in a jolly holiday spirit and feel like giving everyone a discount. They're trying to lure consumers into stores and make money. The reason why companies provide "customer service" is not because of humanitarian reasons, it's because they want you to come back for more business. If you can't even grasp that simple concept you might as well move to North Korea or something and see how you like it there. If something is advertised on a Black Friday and it's actually a good deal, I don't expect it to be left on the shelves half an hour after the store opens. I suspect I might not be able to grab it even if I'm standing in line at 4:00am. That's just how this game works, so stop the bickering.
"'I am old school,' said Johnson. 'If a retailer is advertising a juicy deal and they are not prepared to have in sufficient quantity, don't advertise it. Or give consumers a raincheck.'"
Right, you're old school. Get in tune with the times. This is not the "good old days" where people wore top hats and rode in horse carriages. It's not even the other "good old days" where the TVs advertised in the Black Friday ads were black and white and not 1080p.
Imagine, for instance, if next year, all the retailers got together and said, there will be no Black Friday deals this year because some people find that it is unacceptable to place quantity limits on items. You'll hear the same people arguing that retailers are anti-consumer for not offering discounts to shoppers for the holidays.
A man then complains about something called "derivative models."
"Dworsky cautions that retailers usually don't advertise these models as derivatives. 'There's no way the average consumer will know that the TV model they are buying is not the standard one unless they are savvy enough to compare their model numbers,' he said."
Consumers, it's time to get savvy, then. Fortunately there's a novel invention called the internet which will give you all of this information if you bother looking. This is not the "good old days" when each manufacturer only offered one TV model.
He then complains about some deals being offered online, but the manufacturers won't disclose which ones. Again, retailers would rather you come to the store than shop online.
And then a word of caution for those shopping online.
"Case in point: Sears. Last year, one of Sears' hottest Black Friday doorbuster deal was on a Kenmore washer-dryer pair for $600.
Even though the retailer advertised that deal to be in 'limited quantities,' the company decided to honor every customer order made on that deal last Black Friday.
Big mistake. The manufacturer could not ramp up production fast enough. Some customers waited months before their order was shipped. Others were sold a substitute model, that was 'comparable or even better' for the same deal price, said Sears' Aiello."
Right, so people like old-school man at the beginning of the article complained, so Sears goes the extra step to actually sell at a lower price even beyond the limited quantity that they had on hand. Perhaps they were in a jolly holiday spirit. The result? More complaining, this time because they sold things they didn't have.
So let's recap. If you're going to put something on sale, it shouldn't be in limited quantities because consumer advocacy groups will complain. However, you damn well better make sure you don't sell beyond the unlimited quantity that you don't have because then consumer advocacy groups will complain.
I used to work in retail. It's a job where most people complain at you because "the customer is always right."
Friday, November 20, 2009
Persecution in New Jersey
There has been an outcry in New Jersey over a proposal that would levy a fine every time a student gets sent to detention. Argue against it all you want, but I think this is a brilliant idea. I mean, I never got sent to detention in my K-12 years, despite there not being a fine. It's not something particularly difficult to avoid.
What is not acceptable, however, is the following line: "You get detention for like forgetting you're ID and stuff. It makes no sense," student Dan Lopez said."
There should be a fine against the writer of the article for being unable to use the proper your/you're. This is actually a rare instance where "you're" is inappropriately used; typically the problem is "your" being used in the place of "you're."
Or perhaps this comment was provided in writing, in which case I would suggest denoting it with a (sic) or something.
Now, I'm not familiar with the way things go in New Jersey schools, but why one earth would anyone be checking ID in the first place? Either there is a Holocaust going on, or the student didn't bring his ID on a day he had been told to do so. If it's the former, a fine for detention is probably the least of the parents' worries. If it's the latter, try remembering to follow directions next time.
What is not acceptable, however, is the following line: "You get detention for like forgetting you're ID and stuff. It makes no sense," student Dan Lopez said."
There should be a fine against the writer of the article for being unable to use the proper your/you're. This is actually a rare instance where "you're" is inappropriately used; typically the problem is "your" being used in the place of "you're."
Or perhaps this comment was provided in writing, in which case I would suggest denoting it with a (sic) or something.
Now, I'm not familiar with the way things go in New Jersey schools, but why one earth would anyone be checking ID in the first place? Either there is a Holocaust going on, or the student didn't bring his ID on a day he had been told to do so. If it's the former, a fine for detention is probably the least of the parents' worries. If it's the latter, try remembering to follow directions next time.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Why We Travel
I pretend that I'm well-travelled. In reality, I've been to far fewer places than I'd like to believe, particularly when it comes to the realm outside the Southwestern United States and certain parts of Japan.
This means that on Lonely Planet's list of the top 10 countries to visit in 2010, I've only been to... One. And it's the U.S.
Anyway, I'd make comments on the destinations if I had actually been to any of them, but since I haven't, I'm going to talk about the article itself. Specifically, on Malaysia.
"Malaysia often gets criticised as being mild in comparison with its grittier neighbours, Thailand and Indonesia. It's true, natural disasters and coups only seem to happen across its borders, the roads don't have too many potholes, buses and trains have air-con and plush seats, and hotels are of international standard."
So what they're saying is, if you're a masochist, don't go to Malaysia. Realistically speaking, though, do people go on holiday hoping to be shot, come down with a case of Ebola and food poisoning, and then drown when the typhoon hits?
I have some paid vacation time that I can use, so maybe I'll go to Iraq and if I'm lucky, I'll be kidnapped by insurgents and beheaded on the internet.
This means that on Lonely Planet's list of the top 10 countries to visit in 2010, I've only been to... One. And it's the U.S.
Anyway, I'd make comments on the destinations if I had actually been to any of them, but since I haven't, I'm going to talk about the article itself. Specifically, on Malaysia.
"Malaysia often gets criticised as being mild in comparison with its grittier neighbours, Thailand and Indonesia. It's true, natural disasters and coups only seem to happen across its borders, the roads don't have too many potholes, buses and trains have air-con and plush seats, and hotels are of international standard."
So what they're saying is, if you're a masochist, don't go to Malaysia. Realistically speaking, though, do people go on holiday hoping to be shot, come down with a case of Ebola and food poisoning, and then drown when the typhoon hits?
I have some paid vacation time that I can use, so maybe I'll go to Iraq and if I'm lucky, I'll be kidnapped by insurgents and beheaded on the internet.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Words of the Times
It has been announced that the New Oxford American Dictionary has named "unfriend" its word of the year. Which, I suppose is perfectly fine, as it is something not previously in the dictionary and a word that is increasingly used today.
In fact I unfriended about twenty people the other day, because I didn't actually know them at all. I receive random friend requests from all over the world and I used to just hit "Confirm" but I decided that was a stupid idea. So I removed the people I've never talked to, and I've been ignoring all other such requests for quite some time now. Actually, I haven't actually clicked "Ignore" so they keep accumulating. I currently have 93 friend requests on hold from people I don't know.
Anyway, either I'm really out of tune with the times (very probable) or someone at the Oxford University Press has been hanging out with people that use eccentric lingo, because pretty much all of the other finalists are words that I've never heard in the past.
Hashtag (n) - The hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged.
Fair enough, I don't use Twitter.
Intexticated (v, past tense) - When people are distracted by texting while driving.
I live in California, where people drive everywhere and text all the time (though legally, not at the same time) and I have never heard anyone use this frankly embarrassing word.
Sexting (n) - The sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone.
Same as above.
Freemium (n) - A business model in which some basic services are provided for free.
I can just picture the typical American consumer demanding that things be provided for free. That doesn't mean I've heard the word before.
Funemployed (n) - People taking advantage of newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests.
Now, I'm sorry, but why didn't you just quit your job earlier? These people are living off my tax dollars? Again, never heard it used anywhere.
Birthers (n) - Conspiracy theorists challenging President Barack Obama's U.S. birth certificate.
Okay maybe I just haven't been following the news. I know the Japanese Prime Minister and his wife both claim to be aliens.
Choice mom (n) - A person who chooses to be a single mother.
Umm... So she says, "I'm filing for divorce because I'd rather be a single mother than a married mother"? Or is it a way of feeling better after guys turn her down because she has children from a previous marriage?
Deleb (n) - A dead celebrity.
Okay now that's just idiotic.
Tramp stamp (n) - A tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman.
This is actually the only one I've ever heard used outside of this article, aside from "unfriend."
It strikes me that none of these is actually a completely novel word, just a combination of others, and mostly what a second grader would do. Portmanteaus, if you will, but not particularly sophisticated ones.
In fact I unfriended about twenty people the other day, because I didn't actually know them at all. I receive random friend requests from all over the world and I used to just hit "Confirm" but I decided that was a stupid idea. So I removed the people I've never talked to, and I've been ignoring all other such requests for quite some time now. Actually, I haven't actually clicked "Ignore" so they keep accumulating. I currently have 93 friend requests on hold from people I don't know.
Anyway, either I'm really out of tune with the times (very probable) or someone at the Oxford University Press has been hanging out with people that use eccentric lingo, because pretty much all of the other finalists are words that I've never heard in the past.
Hashtag (n) - The hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged.
Fair enough, I don't use Twitter.
Intexticated (v, past tense) - When people are distracted by texting while driving.
I live in California, where people drive everywhere and text all the time (though legally, not at the same time) and I have never heard anyone use this frankly embarrassing word.
Sexting (n) - The sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone.
Same as above.
Freemium (n) - A business model in which some basic services are provided for free.
I can just picture the typical American consumer demanding that things be provided for free. That doesn't mean I've heard the word before.
Funemployed (n) - People taking advantage of newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests.
Now, I'm sorry, but why didn't you just quit your job earlier? These people are living off my tax dollars? Again, never heard it used anywhere.
Birthers (n) - Conspiracy theorists challenging President Barack Obama's U.S. birth certificate.
Okay maybe I just haven't been following the news. I know the Japanese Prime Minister and his wife both claim to be aliens.
Choice mom (n) - A person who chooses to be a single mother.
Umm... So she says, "I'm filing for divorce because I'd rather be a single mother than a married mother"? Or is it a way of feeling better after guys turn her down because she has children from a previous marriage?
Deleb (n) - A dead celebrity.
Okay now that's just idiotic.
Tramp stamp (n) - A tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman.
This is actually the only one I've ever heard used outside of this article, aside from "unfriend."
It strikes me that none of these is actually a completely novel word, just a combination of others, and mostly what a second grader would do. Portmanteaus, if you will, but not particularly sophisticated ones.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
An Alarming Situation
I drove to a local shopping center for lunch today. As I parked my car and walked, I heard a fire alarm going off. So I went inside and got a burrito at Chipotle.
Do fire alarms actually have a point? I mean, a smoke detector could be useful if a fire breaks out while you're asleep. But when a fire alarm goes off at a shopping center, certain assessments are made before running for the door:
1. Is there smoke to be seen anywhere?
2. Are there people screaming and running away?
Invariably, the answer is "no," which is why I proceeded to walk into the building where the alarm was telling me to "exit the building."
Perhaps one day, this will kill me along with all the other skeptical people at Chipotle.
Fire alarms, however, are useful for cutting lectures short in school. If you're sitting in a lecture hall, you can't tell if the other side of the building is on fire, so everyone has to evacuate. I used to rejoice on the rare occasions that the fire alarm would go off in the middle of a dreary lecture.
One time, someone set off the fire alarm at a building to attempt to force the professor to reschedule an exam. That didn't go particularly well because everyone just had less time to complete the test.
Vehicle theft alarms fall into the same category. I hear them go off more often than fire alarms, but never because the car was actually being stolen.
Statistics show that on average, there are just over 500,000 structure fires in a year, and about 1.2 million cars stolen per year in the U.S. In other words, one is about twice as likely to have his car stolen than be in a building that is on fire.
However, I come across a car alarm going off about once or twice a week, as opposed to once or twice a year in the case of fire alarms. Now, some of this is inevitably due to user error. I know I've set off the alarm of my car by accident several times, but I stop it right away. Sometimes, though, you come across the alarms that go off for a minute or two, stop, then go off again. And again. And again. And again.
This is particularly annoying if you're in your car in a parking garage trying to catch a brief nap before your next class. Feelings of violence and hatred are normal.
Car alarms have so many false positives that I don't even look in the direction of the alarm anymore.
I'm actually not sure what the point of this post is anymore, so I'm going to stop.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Purple is the New Red
The new Yahoo! front page has some good ideas that have been implemented quite poorly.
Integrating applications such as Facebook to enable a quick glance from the front page is a brilliant idea. Integrating the competitor's mail system by throwing in a Gmail application? Even better. This means if I have an account with both (which I do), I can view everything on one page.
One thing that really annoys me about Google is its inability to remember my language settings, even if I'm logged into my account. This means if I'm on a computer with a Japanese operating system, everything is displayed in Japanese, as if I've suddenly lost the ability to read English. It's at its worst when it comes to maps, because all street names are also displayed in Japanese, and it's not necessarily correct. Kind of like how my satellite navigation is unable to properly say many street names.
Anyway, back to the new Yahoo! page. I've been hitting "Return to Yahoo! Classic" for a while now because I didn't like the layout of the new page, but they've taken that option away and I'm left with no choice. To be honest, I still don't really like the new layout.
Now, I think the "My Favorites" bar at the left is fine, except it only allows for a limited number of favorites to be displayed on the front page. Ideally, I want to be able to display as many items as my heart desires, without having to click to go to the next page. Furthermore, the bottom third is wasted with "Recommendations" which do not interest me at all. There needs to be a way to get rid of these and replace them with something more useful.
On mouseover, each "My Favorites" application overlays a smaller window that displays the relavant information for that application. For example, if I hover my mouse over the "Mail" icon, it displays the contents of my inbox. However, it is far too sensitive because if I'm just moving my cursor across the window, it will open something up and then I have to go close it to see whatever it is that I wanted to see in the first place. I don't think it's necessary to have everything open on mouseover; I think on mouse click would be just fine.
I think it would also be nice if I could drag and drop the icons instead of having to go into a separate "edit" page to rearrange them. Also, new additions to the list should be added at the bottom, not at the top.
There is also one glaring problem with the Facebook plugin: it's littered with spam from applications that I would otherwise block.
I remember when Yahoo's company color was red. Apparently these days, it's purple.
Integrating applications such as Facebook to enable a quick glance from the front page is a brilliant idea. Integrating the competitor's mail system by throwing in a Gmail application? Even better. This means if I have an account with both (which I do), I can view everything on one page.
One thing that really annoys me about Google is its inability to remember my language settings, even if I'm logged into my account. This means if I'm on a computer with a Japanese operating system, everything is displayed in Japanese, as if I've suddenly lost the ability to read English. It's at its worst when it comes to maps, because all street names are also displayed in Japanese, and it's not necessarily correct. Kind of like how my satellite navigation is unable to properly say many street names.
Anyway, back to the new Yahoo! page. I've been hitting "Return to Yahoo! Classic" for a while now because I didn't like the layout of the new page, but they've taken that option away and I'm left with no choice. To be honest, I still don't really like the new layout.
Now, I think the "My Favorites" bar at the left is fine, except it only allows for a limited number of favorites to be displayed on the front page. Ideally, I want to be able to display as many items as my heart desires, without having to click to go to the next page. Furthermore, the bottom third is wasted with "Recommendations" which do not interest me at all. There needs to be a way to get rid of these and replace them with something more useful.
On mouseover, each "My Favorites" application overlays a smaller window that displays the relavant information for that application. For example, if I hover my mouse over the "Mail" icon, it displays the contents of my inbox. However, it is far too sensitive because if I'm just moving my cursor across the window, it will open something up and then I have to go close it to see whatever it is that I wanted to see in the first place. I don't think it's necessary to have everything open on mouseover; I think on mouse click would be just fine.
I think it would also be nice if I could drag and drop the icons instead of having to go into a separate "edit" page to rearrange them. Also, new additions to the list should be added at the bottom, not at the top.
There is also one glaring problem with the Facebook plugin: it's littered with spam from applications that I would otherwise block.
I remember when Yahoo's company color was red. Apparently these days, it's purple.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Customer Relations
Roughly three hours after my previous post, the blog got a hit from someone searching blogs on Google for "Continental Airlines." The origin? None other than Continental Airlines headquarters in Houston, Texas. I hope my comments will be passed on to higher levels of management.
Too bad they didn't leave a comment.
Dear Customer Service: If you do come back here and see this again, I have to say I appreciate the free WiFi access I was able to obtain at Newark.
Too bad they didn't leave a comment.
Dear Customer Service: If you do come back here and see this again, I have to say I appreciate the free WiFi access I was able to obtain at Newark.
Travels
When I go on holiday, it usually consists of waking up really early, driving really far, and lots of hiking. Then, when I come home and it's time to go back to work, I'm more exhausted than I was before setting off. Physically, anyway.
This was not the case on my latest vacation. I had a $250 certificate from United Airlines because they had previously cancelled a flight and wanted to apologize for the inconvenience. So this was a trip for the sake of using that certificate, and visiting a couple of friends.
As a result, I flew to the East Coast pretty much without purpose. There is a benefit in doing so, which is that without plans, just about anything is an option. The downside is that there is nothing to do if I can't think of something interesting on the spot. After all, I didn't go to New York to see the Statue of Liberty. In fact the only reason why I even saw the Empire State Building is because it's rather big and you can't not see it.
All of this resulted in a vacation like none other I've experienced. I stayed one night in Washington, DC, where I had booked at the Sheraton Hotel. This marked the first time I'd chosen to stay at a hotel because I don't really believe in paying more for a hotel when a motel will do, especially when traveling alone. However, it still happened to be the cheapest option. At any rate, because the bed was so large and comfortable, I actually ended up spending most of the first afternoon taking a nap, and then I slept in the next morning. Most people don't fly 2,500 miles to have a nap...
Typically, my vacations are road trips. I enjoy driving around, and I find a road trip to be much easier and more convenient and flexible than flying somewhere. However, without a car, I am forced to get around using either my feet or public transport. Then again, it's not like I would actually want to drive in New York City, just like how I hate driving on the Las Vegas Strip, and how I wouldn't fancy driving through Tokyo.
The Las Vegas Strip, however, is short enough to traverse by foot. In Tokyo, one is never more than a five-minute walk from a station. Neither is the case in DC or New York, but whatever. Ignoring the ticket vending machines in Washington that I was never actually able to figure out, and the fact that trains don't come nearly as freqently as they should in either city, I only have one major gripe. It's not the fact that there appears to be no published schedule in New York, because I found it rather amusing that people were peering down the tracks to see if a train was anywhere in sight. No, it's about trains that don't go where they're supposed to.
Allow me to elaborate. I needed to get from Penn Station to Fulton Street Station in Lower Manhattan, so I hopped on the A-train displaying "A // Fulton St. Local" on the LCD displays on the side. Little did I expect that such a train would not be stopping at Fulton Street, or indeed traveling on the A-line at all. No, instead it went down the F-line, and I found myself deposited in Brooklyn. This marked the first time ever that I had been lost on public transport. The train that eventually took me to my destination was one that said, "Not in service."
I complained to some friends about this and they said it happens a lot, especially on weekend nights and that I should have paid attention to the in-car announcements. Now, I'm sorry, but when I get on a train that says it's going to a particular place, I damn well expect it to actually take me there regardless of whether it's a weekend, night, both, or neither. Besides, how am I supposed to figure it out before I get on the train when there is no schedule to be seen and the train comes down the track marked "A"? The in-car announcements really aren't any good since they are barely audible and not spoken until after the train departs. It didn't help that this was Halloween night and the trains were full of rowdy partygoers.
Apart from that incident, though, an overall positive experience. Made a new friend, had amazing food, took lots of pictures, the lot. And then it was time to go home.
My return trip would leave out of Newark-Liberty International Airport, on a United Airlines flight that would take me to Chicago-O'Hare, then connect to another United flight that would take me to John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana). This was all part of the $250 certificate deal, and while it would take longer than a direct flight, Santa Ana is much closer to home than LAX, so I had chosen that.
And then United Airlines delayed the flight to Chicago, which would cause me to miss my connection. I inquired, and United Airlines was unable to accomodate me and rebooked me on a direct flight from Newark to Los Angeles on Continental Airlines. Unfortunately they did not give me another certificate for the inconvenience.
A direct flight meant that I had much time to kill at the airport. Had I known this, I would have spent a bit more time in New York, and I probably would have flown out of JFK instead. At this point, though, nothing I can do, so I went to the pub.
I had never flown on Continental Airlines in the past, but my perception was that because its tickets always tend to be more expensive than others, it would be a slightly more upscale experience. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Earphones are free on Continental Airlines. This is not the case on many other airlines these days. I have my own, so I never buy them. However, use of the television is not free. Plainly, this is ridiculous. JetBlue may charge $2 for headphones but at least they don't charge $6 to watch the television.
Food is also free on Continental Airlines, even for domestic flights. This is not the case on many other airlines these days. The idea of a cheeseburger that comes wrapped in a plastic package is not particularly appetizing, but fair enough.
My biggest complaint, though, was the legroom. It simply did not exist, so I was essentially standing. I don't expect much out of coach, but if I sit up straight and my knees are still touching the seat in front, this is a problem. It also means no one can recline seats because the knees of person behind make this physically impossible.
Coupled with the two kids in the row in front that would not stop whining and asking every fifteen minutes how much longer it would be, this was possibly the most uncomfortable flight of my life. It got so bad that the parents of said children were forced to shell out $6 to turn the TV on.
Anyway, enough bickering. I had fun and I think I've come back with a much more positive outlook. But the next vacation is going to be a road trip.
This was not the case on my latest vacation. I had a $250 certificate from United Airlines because they had previously cancelled a flight and wanted to apologize for the inconvenience. So this was a trip for the sake of using that certificate, and visiting a couple of friends.
As a result, I flew to the East Coast pretty much without purpose. There is a benefit in doing so, which is that without plans, just about anything is an option. The downside is that there is nothing to do if I can't think of something interesting on the spot. After all, I didn't go to New York to see the Statue of Liberty. In fact the only reason why I even saw the Empire State Building is because it's rather big and you can't not see it.
All of this resulted in a vacation like none other I've experienced. I stayed one night in Washington, DC, where I had booked at the Sheraton Hotel. This marked the first time I'd chosen to stay at a hotel because I don't really believe in paying more for a hotel when a motel will do, especially when traveling alone. However, it still happened to be the cheapest option. At any rate, because the bed was so large and comfortable, I actually ended up spending most of the first afternoon taking a nap, and then I slept in the next morning. Most people don't fly 2,500 miles to have a nap...
Typically, my vacations are road trips. I enjoy driving around, and I find a road trip to be much easier and more convenient and flexible than flying somewhere. However, without a car, I am forced to get around using either my feet or public transport. Then again, it's not like I would actually want to drive in New York City, just like how I hate driving on the Las Vegas Strip, and how I wouldn't fancy driving through Tokyo.
The Las Vegas Strip, however, is short enough to traverse by foot. In Tokyo, one is never more than a five-minute walk from a station. Neither is the case in DC or New York, but whatever. Ignoring the ticket vending machines in Washington that I was never actually able to figure out, and the fact that trains don't come nearly as freqently as they should in either city, I only have one major gripe. It's not the fact that there appears to be no published schedule in New York, because I found it rather amusing that people were peering down the tracks to see if a train was anywhere in sight. No, it's about trains that don't go where they're supposed to.
Allow me to elaborate. I needed to get from Penn Station to Fulton Street Station in Lower Manhattan, so I hopped on the A-train displaying "A // Fulton St. Local" on the LCD displays on the side. Little did I expect that such a train would not be stopping at Fulton Street, or indeed traveling on the A-line at all. No, instead it went down the F-line, and I found myself deposited in Brooklyn. This marked the first time ever that I had been lost on public transport. The train that eventually took me to my destination was one that said, "Not in service."
I complained to some friends about this and they said it happens a lot, especially on weekend nights and that I should have paid attention to the in-car announcements. Now, I'm sorry, but when I get on a train that says it's going to a particular place, I damn well expect it to actually take me there regardless of whether it's a weekend, night, both, or neither. Besides, how am I supposed to figure it out before I get on the train when there is no schedule to be seen and the train comes down the track marked "A"? The in-car announcements really aren't any good since they are barely audible and not spoken until after the train departs. It didn't help that this was Halloween night and the trains were full of rowdy partygoers.
Apart from that incident, though, an overall positive experience. Made a new friend, had amazing food, took lots of pictures, the lot. And then it was time to go home.
My return trip would leave out of Newark-Liberty International Airport, on a United Airlines flight that would take me to Chicago-O'Hare, then connect to another United flight that would take me to John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana). This was all part of the $250 certificate deal, and while it would take longer than a direct flight, Santa Ana is much closer to home than LAX, so I had chosen that.
And then United Airlines delayed the flight to Chicago, which would cause me to miss my connection. I inquired, and United Airlines was unable to accomodate me and rebooked me on a direct flight from Newark to Los Angeles on Continental Airlines. Unfortunately they did not give me another certificate for the inconvenience.
A direct flight meant that I had much time to kill at the airport. Had I known this, I would have spent a bit more time in New York, and I probably would have flown out of JFK instead. At this point, though, nothing I can do, so I went to the pub.
I had never flown on Continental Airlines in the past, but my perception was that because its tickets always tend to be more expensive than others, it would be a slightly more upscale experience. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Earphones are free on Continental Airlines. This is not the case on many other airlines these days. I have my own, so I never buy them. However, use of the television is not free. Plainly, this is ridiculous. JetBlue may charge $2 for headphones but at least they don't charge $6 to watch the television.
Food is also free on Continental Airlines, even for domestic flights. This is not the case on many other airlines these days. The idea of a cheeseburger that comes wrapped in a plastic package is not particularly appetizing, but fair enough.
My biggest complaint, though, was the legroom. It simply did not exist, so I was essentially standing. I don't expect much out of coach, but if I sit up straight and my knees are still touching the seat in front, this is a problem. It also means no one can recline seats because the knees of person behind make this physically impossible.
Coupled with the two kids in the row in front that would not stop whining and asking every fifteen minutes how much longer it would be, this was possibly the most uncomfortable flight of my life. It got so bad that the parents of said children were forced to shell out $6 to turn the TV on.
Anyway, enough bickering. I had fun and I think I've come back with a much more positive outlook. But the next vacation is going to be a road trip.
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