October 2009 – Page 4 – Oh Fair New Mexico

Civility is not dead, merely on life support

Posted on October 16, 2009
by Karen Fayeth
2 Comments

I believe I’ve had occasion to rant here regarding my feelings toward airplane travel.

In as few words as I can muster, I believe that flying brings out the worst in people.

Especially on those “open seating” type of airlines. Ya’ll know which one I’m talking about. People will knock over little old ladies and run their too large roller bag over toddlers in order to get to that perfect aisle/window seat.

Very rude.

And then the folks who are unable to entertain themselves for the time they will spend on the plane require YOU to entertain them.

“So, you going to Albuquerque? You from there? What’s it like? Have you ever been to Santa Fe? Is it anything like Phoenix? How come I can’t fly into Santa Fe? What’s that you are reading? Why are you ordering tomato juice?”

You know the type.

When I fly, I usually bring a book, wait patiently, take the first acceptable seat and crack that book open right away. Then I hunker down for the duration, and hope for the best.

So imagine the the peace I found on the final leg of my trip home from New Mexico.

Everyone seemed on their best behavior. “Oh, it looks like your boarding pass number is ahead of mine. I’ll just slip behind you.”

And “Excuse me, I’d like to sit there” and “Oh sure, let me hop up for you”

In my own row, I found a good spot, had a brief interaction with the guy on the aisle, and took my window seat. Soon a very polite lady arrived and said, “Do you mind if I sit there in the middle” and we made room.

She got settled quickly and pulled out a magazine. The guy on the aisle pulled out a book. I was already immersed in mine.

The duration of the flight from LAX to SFO was quite calm and really very civil.

Upon landing and when at the gate, the guy on the aisle stood up and said, in a jokey way “Well, I hope I wasn’t too much trouble on this flight.”

The lady in the middle said (to both the guy on the aisle, and to me), “You know, I’d just like to say thank you, this was one of the nicest flights I’ve been on in a while. This was a great row to sit in.”

And I smiled and agreed, “Thank you” I said to both of my fellow travelers.

Wow. People do still know how to be considerate. And polite!

Those sort of folks sure are getting harder to find!

Do ya’ll remember Goofus and Gallant from the Highlights magazines for kids? I *loved* Highlights magazine! My mom was cool enough to get me a subscription!

Geez! Well finally!

Posted on October 15, 2009
by Karen Fayeth
No Comments

Yes, yes your intrepid blogger returned from her road trip and got immersed in catching up.

It’s taken me a week to sort through the over 300 photos I took at the 38th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

But sort through I have, and if you click here you can see about 60 of them.

I’ve not done any retouching, Photoshopping, or editing of any kind. These are straight off the camera, complete with the smudge on my lens, visible in the upper right corner of many of the shots.

I’m a real pro at this! Yay. Thankfully in most shots the smudge can be easily edited out.

*sigh*

Here’s a few to whet your appetite!! (click image for bigger size)

sigh It just ain’t the same

Posted on October 14, 2009
by Karen Fayeth
3 Comments

While visiting with my godkids last week, I had occasion to lament how fast they are growing up.

The oldest of the two is soon to be ten. TEN! Wow. I remember when she was just a little preemie baby, yowling when the wind blew across her little face. She was adorable, tiny and rather sour of disposition.

Now she’s a bright, effusive ten year old, full of life and energy and fun.

She’s been facing some rather grown up issues at school, which breaks a Nina’s heart. I’d like to go to that school and give some folks the what-for.

Seeing my little girl growing up so quick made me think about a lot of things that change, drastically, as you age.

For example, I recall when goddaughter #1 was going through potty training. Her folks worked with her quite a bit to get that going. (pun sort of intended)

One evening, there were several friends visiting at the house, and goddaughter #1 came racing out of the bathroom right to the middle of the crowd. She had not a stitch of clothing on, threw her arms in the air and yelled, “I pooped in the potty!”

Well, we all applauded and congratulated and hugged her. It was a very proud group of adults.

This doesn’t happen when you are 40.

If I came racing out of the john naked, right into a dinner party exclaiming my poopy prowess, well…for sure I’d not be invited back to the party. They might even see about having me talk to a “special” doctor.

Ya get no applause for bodily functions when you get past the age of, oh say, five.

How about birthdays? When you are five, you get a pile of fun presents to unwrap, your friends come have a sleep over and when they put the cake in front of you, first you blow out the candles and then everyone giggles when you put your face right down into your cake.

RIGHT down into the frosting!

Nobody thinks it is funny when you have cake all over your face when you are a grown up. People just look at you like you’ve lost your marbles.

It isn’t fair.

Oh! And how about naps? When you are a kid, naps are required! Oh yes, much enforced! Must nap, do it now! Here is your special blanket and stuffed friend and a kiss on the forehead.

Today? A nap is a luxury. Stolen moments. Time I could have used to do something more productive.

The ubiquitous “they” say that being a grown up is a good thing.

Generally I might agree, but sometimes………..

Cost Savings Euphoria!

Posted on October 13, 2009
by Karen Fayeth
No Comments

So despite the media chirruping that the “economic crisis is OVER”, really, folks, it’s not over. Not by a long shot. Recovery is a long and arduous process.

Like, you know, gaining weight is easy, losing the weight takes work.

And so, as we continue to deal with life, and money and everything that entails, The Good Man and I have been taking a look at expenses.

How freaking grown up of us. *sigh*

The first focus of our ire is Comcast. We have only the most basic of analog packages. It’s been fine. Cable goes right into the back of the TV and there you go. But recently, Comcast required us to get a box so we can receive digital channels. (they keep deleting analog channels as a way to force us over)

Trouble is, the box screws up the signal. It pops and pixilates and blacks out. If we unplug the box and plug back into the TV, no issue. The box is a piece of #$%^.

And really, we don’t watch that much regular TV anyway, other than baseball games, and the SF Giants season is ovah.

Soooo.

We ordered a digital converter for regular rabbit eared signal, and we are cancelling Comcast.

Oooh man, I can hardly wait to make that call.

As a primer, I called AT&T yesterday. I have a long and colorful history with AT&T. (work related…long story)

We hardly use our landline phone anymore, so I whacked all extra services, left just local on our line (for 911 calls or emergency use, we can still get incoming calls) and also got assurances they’ll keep our DSL rates flat.

I cut $53 a month from the bill! That is more than HALF of what we were paying!

Woooooo! Really, it was heady, adrenaline rushing fun!

Now I’m looking at everything trying to figure out how we can save.

Can we use a smaller trashcan? That would cut the trash bill.

Can we wear extra layers and set the heater at a lower temp?

Can we reduce water use?

Should be buy a generator and go off the grid?

Should we live in a shack with no running water and an outhouse and I’ll wear a hooded sweatshirt and write my manifesto?

Wait. Back the truck up.

Let’s not get carried away.

Update: I called up Sirius radio, I love my Sirius radio, and got them to knock over $70 off my annual renewal. Amazing what “I’d like to cancel” caused them to do! Yay!