Heartbeat

MARDI GRAS IN ROANOKE, VIRGINIA

Magnolia

Miss Cincinnati

I once told a guy in a bar that I was "Miss Cincinnati" and he believed me. (I am from Dayton) Of course, back then I was in my early 20's. And, it wasn't such a big fib. Maybe "Miss Universe" would have been an obvious lie. I'm not really beauty queen material. I once wore a blond wig and sunglasses and paraded through my dormitory, freshman year of college at Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University, introducing myself as someone else to everyone on the hall. I was convincing. It was hilarious. It just goes to show you. You can be anyone you want to be (within reason). I couldn't be Condoleeza Rice, although, I truly admire her. I couldn't be Michelle Obama, although I truly admire her. I couldn't be Indira Gandhi or Golda Meir or Madeleine Albright or Sophia Loren. But, I could totally reinvent myself and give myself a new name. I could be someone undiscovered. Maybe I could transform my entire image. I think it would be an interesting experiment to change my identity and try to live it out for awhile. Maybe move to another town and start all over? I don't have a reason to do this. But, I often fantasize about the experiment. It would be a journey, an exploration, a challenge. But, frankly, it's a crazy notion. I like to get inside my own head sometimes.

The Price of Gasoline-Who turned the Snow Globe Upside Down?

I've been trying to compress my travel. I plan my stops so I can optimize my gas mileage by only running errands that are on the way to my final destination. This works in theory. In reality, nothing is direct. And, life is unpredictable. How would I know that twice in less than three days friends would call with emergencies. And, my husband would say, "Are you running a taxi service?" ...Well, kind of..but, in a strange way, I felt good that I could help and guilty for thinking about the cost of the gas. How can I leave a friend with a sprained ankle to drive herself to the doctor and then to every drugstore in town in search of crutches. How could I decline the request to pick up the co-worker who locked herself out of her house at night and needed a ride to the same assignment I was going. I was already almost to the destination and had to drive back across town to pick her up. What can you do? You can't say no. And, people are appreciative. My friend with the crutches took me out for a nice lunch. And, I know good things will happen for me because I did something good for someone else. Friends are friends for a reason. You know they'll be there when you need them. Friends care about each other. I'll just buy one less cup of expensive coffee or spiced chai and get another gallon of gasoline. Fuel is fuel no matter where you put it...in your body or in your car. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice one luxury item for another. And, since when was it okay to charge almost $4.00 for a cup of coffee just because it has a little foam on top or a drop of syrup? We accepted that and enjoyed it. Now we'll just have to accept the price of gasoline because otherwise, we won't be able to get our cup of coffee. Until we can find alternatives to our bad habits, we'll have to live with them, I suppose. I'm not happy about this fact. I wish I had the answer to the crisis America has become: the devalued dollar, the cost of housing, the high school drop out rate, illiteracy, the cost of health insurance, and obesity to name a few. Are we becoming the next third world? Who turned the snow globe upside down? It's not pretty anymore.

Traveling NoWhere

I love to travel. At least I used to love to travel. I decided it's not the traveling I enjoy. It's the being there I love. Getting there is like trying to navigate a rocky obstacle course wearing flipflops. You get all tripped up and fall, get banged, bruised and tear up your soles.
And, flying is just a great big hassle. What used to be the easiest, most direct, efficient way to get from place-to-place has become the least efficient, least reliable way to go.
In less than three weeks I've been involuntarily bumped from a direct flight causing me to miss a huge family wedding party, lost a built in dolly to a nice piece of English luggage on a direct flight, been delayed more than 4 hours on two flights in one day and lost 5 pieces of family baggage.
I had to spend over 12 hours in the airport with my family including my hyperactive son, had to purchase several overpriced, terrible meals including a very very disappointing grilled chicken Caesar salad that was no more than some romaine lettuce in a plastic box with packaged caesar dressing and packaged croutons at a Sam Adams restaurant at the Atlanta Airport. It was worse than a fast food salad and cost almost $9.00. And, it was tiny.
Two small ice creams and a shake for my family (I had nothing) cost almost $15.00 at Ben & Jerry's. I could have purchased 4 cartons of Extra Creamy Breyers for this same amount. And, $2.00 for a small decaf coffee at Seattle's Best...no flavor; plain old coffee.
Three slices of pizza and a chicken panini sandwiches, and two sprites cost over $20.00 for lunch. Crazy.
And, we missed our connection due to the four hour delay and had to fly to an airport an hour away. When we arrived it was late, dark, deserted. We waited an hour for a limo to take us to our home airport where our promised luggage was no where to be found; nor was their anyone from Delta to help us out.
What's fun about this. I'd just destressed on vacation and it all came flooding back....the frustration the annoyances...the toxicity of the dysfunctioning airline industry. And, I feel sorry for the people who work for these organizations. They seem so calm and contained. They seem very helpful and empathetic...but, they can do very little to solve the issues. "You must return to the airport to file your claim," the woman with the Indian accent says very kindly on the telephone. So, in the middle of my workday I have to go to the airport, pay for parking, go inside, wait in line, and file a claim. They type for long periods of time on their keyboards, squinting, typing, squinting, typing. "It's been reported. We'll let you know what's happened to your five pieces of luggage. You can check our website for updates." Who has time for all of this? Did I say I enjoyed traveling...excuse, me...I changed my mind.