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14 december 00
----- Last year, being in a long distance relationship as I was, I racked up quite an amount of miles on my frequent flier plan. With at least monthly trips to the east coast (for some reason, she never seemed to want to come visit me out here), I found myself the proud owner of a "Silver Elite" card by mid year. I immediately found myself addicted to the free upgrades, bonus mileage earning, priority baggage handling, admission to the private all-you-can-drink-before-your-flight clubrooms at major airports, and the general "hi, I'm elite" feeling that was tempered only when I'd be brushed aside by one of the Gold or Platinum card holders, those with many more miles, and thus privileges, than myself. My "elite" status carried over through this year, although my long distance relationship did not. Less travel leaves me here, in December, 298 miles short of my 2001 Silver Elite card. So I've been checking my four applicable airlines for cheap flights I could do before the end of the year. Two weeks ago I had San Diego to Newark for $169 on Continental -- unfortunately, I couldn't leave town because the boss needed me on Sunday. Last weekend promised a plethora of travel opportunities, including Seattle on Alaska, Boston on America West, and Newark on Continental again, all for under $200. Once again, I couldn't leave town because of my prior commitment to play in church on sunday. So it was with a "cool, I can finally get away this weekend" feeling that I logged on yesterday to view this weekend's specials. Continental didn't have crap. Same for Alaska and Northwest (well, Northwest never has anything). The only airline with decent specials was America West. They even had a Newark fare for $219, but I was feeling sick and didn't want to travel _that_ far in so little time. Instead, a Long Beach to Phoenix fare caught my eye at $69. A cheap flight, a city I've never visited (aside from the airport), and a local airport where I can park my car for two days for under $10. A quick email to my notify list (the members of which I have to thank anyway for beta-testing my new blog for the past week) garnered a valuable response from Medellia recommending The Buttes Resort in Tempe, five minutes from the airport, and really cheap compared to some of the other places. In all honesty, my only real worry about this place is telling the cab driver to take me there, since I'm not quite sure of the pronunciation and might just blurt out "Can you take me to the BUTTS?" when I might wanna be saying "Can you take me to the BEE-YOOTS?" If anyone can confirm the pronunciation of that word, please let me know, lest I insult a potentially oversensitive cabbie with my request for transportation. ~~~ So I'm home from work sick again. Somehow I thought that drinking a lot of scotch at tuesday's party would make me feel and sing better, and it did, but then around noon yesterday the whole cold/flu thing came back with a vengeance, and sometime last night I developed a fever to go with it, so I'm hiding under the covers until I'm sure I'm all better. Anyone know anyplace in Malibu that delivers chicken soup? Tonight I need to be at our studio to record a few Christmas tunes for our holiday cd, so I think I'm just gonna try and sleep until then, hoping bedrest will cure my ills and leave me able to breathe. Maybe I'll just take up smoking again ... it never made me feel this bad. My best friend from high school is having a birthday today. Perhaps I should call him. 14 de cember 1999: : relaunch on the 18th 14 december 1998: kanan dume : A quick glance over my shoulder as I re-entered the highway revealed a large crane extricating pieces of the guy's truck from the hillside. He never had a chance. 14 december 1997: the stress of relaxation : Work, music, sleep, and all that other shit that makes up what counts for my life these days. [ swim back | email me | swim ahead ] |
