I'm Off...

I didn't want to make my last blog before the holidays a negative one, so here goes something a little different...

I'm heading off to Maine and Vermont for about 10 days. I have called Delta about 4 times now to confirm that I won't get goosed like Air France did me, and it's looking good thus far.

Anyway, I cannot remember my password to Bloggerville so unless I am writing from this PC, I won't be able to access my addiction. Therefore, I will say it here and now...

I wish everyone a peaceful, content - if not happy - Christmas. I also wish everyone -and I mean everyone - have a peaceful year in 2005.

Air France

So, taking a cue from my pal at IbeJO, I'm going to test drive my very own blog-trap.

Since I have not heard back from Air France about the bait and switch deal Air France did last week, I thought I'd write and let you and Air France know, again what Air France did to mum and me. Did I mention this was Air France, not Delta, not USAir, not Northwest. It was Air France which you can find at AirFrance.com or you can type Air France in Google, or AirFrance in Netscape, or AirFrance in any search engine.

See, Air France had a special to France for two people. Since Air France lied and said I could change my companion and then Air France told me I could not change my companion, Air France would not let me fly Air France to France. The Air France folks at Dulles were ugly, rude, and not very hospitable to say the least considering the Air France folks were in my country and not France and considering I paid Air France almost $600 and Air France stole my money.

Air France has not written me back nor has Air France sent me an Air France check for the money that Air France stole from me. As far as I am concerned, Air France is a thief. No reflection on the people of France or the country itself, but Air France - corporate Air France really needs to learn a little something about customer service.

Coincidentally, I have to go to the airport this afternoon for my flight to Maine. Coincidentally, the Air France counter is next to the Delta counter. I see - I see - yes, that's right - I see the most opportune time to pass out my little flyers to all those unwitting peons standing in line at the Air France counter. Nothing slanderous, I assure, just the truth about the little theives called Air France.

Don't forget to go to http://www.airfrance.com/

A True Scrooge Moment

So, Roomie and I go shopping on Saturday. Across from the place where we were shopping is a huge parking lot that is used by the Kroger and the illustrious Ford Factory lofts (this was an old warehouse converted to loft apartments a few years ago.) Anyway, behind the Ford lofts is City Hall East. City Hall East only has a pay parking deck to service those employees.

Every year about this time, the folks from the Empty Stocking Fund set up shop between the lofts and City Hall. There is a MARTA station across the street, but other than that City Hall is on a very busy street with no parking. All that being said, guess what the good, kindhearted, Santa-like folks at Kroger and Ford Lofts were doing? They had CONVOYS of tow trucks coming and going all day, towing away the people who were there for the Empty Stocking Fund. Yup, I sat there and watched and in the course of 10 minutes, I saw four tow trucks carry away these total pieces of shit cars - after all, it's not like if you're getting handouts from the Empty Stocking Fund, you're going around in a goddamn Hummmer.

So, these people - who are so poor that they cannot afford Christmas gifts for their kids, now have to figure out a way to get to the tow yard with their kids and either pay for their vehicle or leave it there and figure out a way to get home - carrying the gifts they got from the Fund.

Now, really!! These folks are only there about 10 or 15 minutes, it's in the middle of the day, and the parking lot is huge, with plenty of open spaces. What the hell? It must be owned by Air France.

Ah, the Salad Days

As a young lass growing up in the Mega-metro culture of Augusta, Georgia, I had to find humour and nostalgia in the article by my bud, Cliff Bostock of the Loaf...

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/headcase.html

This really was a touching story considering I never could stomach going to JBs house at Christmas. The only true annual tradition we had was rolling his house and his shed (up right there in the FRONT yard) each Halloween. For you younger crowd, "rolling" is to take toilet paper and throw it into the trees - yeah, not the most mature thing to do, but at 16, it's better than having unprotected sex, right??

Of course, we had an advantage as my friend J.A. lived next door. At the time, his daddy was a state senator that still relished in the days of the KKK and the like so to him we were doing the South a favour by bastardizing the Godfather of Soul with Charmin hanging in the vegetation.

I actually experienced minor pangs of guilt as I got older, but then JB got popped for beating up his wife. I now think I should have dosed the TP with lighter fluid before I tossed it into the trees.

Good story anyway so check it out.

Bait and Switch - French Style

I truly can't remember ever being this totally pissed off. I mean, talk about not even getting a kiss.

Here's the email I've been sending to anyone and everyone regarding what should have been a beautiful trip to France and Italy... buyer beware

"In May, I bought myself and a companion a ticket to Paris with Air France. I was told that I would be able to change the name on my companion ticket. Air France sent me an itinerary and the terms and conditions of the promotion. Neither mentioned "non-transferrable" or "non-refundable". It did NOT state that I could not change the name of the companion, only that I must travel "with a companion". In June, I found out my friend could not go with me so I asked my mother to go. When we got to Dulles airport, I was told that I could not change the name of my companion and since I was not going to travel with the original person, I could not go to Paris either. I was also told that Air France would not refund any of my money.

After arguing with the Air France people, I finally gave up, but asked to have their names so I could reference them in my letter to Air France. Can you believe, nobody would give me their name? They all ran like sheep from a wolf. Obviously, I'm not the first moron to get ripped off like this.

I'm so mad, I could spit nails. I not only lost the $600 for the tickets, but I bought a ticket to DC (and had to change the return at an additional $100), I had two hotel room reservations, two train tickets, and two airport shuttle tickets - all total about $1,500!! My travel agent told me that there were 24 available seats on the plane and she could not figure out why they were being so belligerent.

I am a very experienced traveler and never would have thought that I could get screwed like this. Let your listeners know that this could happen to them, too."

That's all for now as I am getting sick just thinking about it.

The Cheesiest

Warburtons, a British "Cheeto" maker, recently polled a bunch of Brits to find out what the cheesiest line in movies was. Here are the results:

1. "Titanic": Leonardo DiCaprio's "I'm the king of the world!"

2. "Dirty Dancing": Patrick Swayze's "Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

3. "Four Weddings And A Funeral": Andie McDowell's "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed."

3. "Ghost": Patrick Swayze's "Ditto," to Demi Moore's "I love you."

5. "Top Gun": Val Kilmer to Tom Cruise: "You can be my wingman anytime"

6. "Notting Hill": Julia Roberts' "I'm just a girl ... standing in front of a boy ... asking him to love her."

7. "Independence Day": Bill Pullman's "Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

8. "Braveheart": Mel Gibson's "They may take our lives, but they will not take our freedom!"

9. "Jerry Maguire": Renee Zellweger to Tom Cruise: "You had me at hello."

10. "The Postman": A blind woman says to Kevin Costner: "You're a godsend, a savior." He replies: "No, I'm a postman."

Now, I really must protest the ranking here, although #1 should be number one. However, #10 really should be closer to the top spot. I didn't even see the movie - thank God, but please - "No, I'm a postman"?

As for cheesy TV, I've got my new guilty pleasure. It's called "Love is in the Heir" and it is hilarious. A real Iranian princess who lives in L.A. has to find true love (preferably with a prince or equally as wealthy) and earn a worthy living. The catch is 1)She's in L.A. where there aren't a whole bunch of royalty and 2)she thinks she can earn a living as a country singer. This really is a shame considering she's my age, but her parents are mega-wealthy and still support her (and her personal assistant) 100%.

Getting back to cheesy flicks, I got to do some movie-watching over the Turkey holiday. Best flicks (keep in mind, I'm behind the times with movies):

1) "Love Actually" - The has-been rock singer and Hugh Grant's Prime Minister are classic. One of the best lines in the movie is when the rock singer says, "Kids, listen to this word of advice from your Uncle Bill: Don't buy drugs... Become a pop star and they give them to you for free."

2) "Something's Gotta Give" - Diane Keaton is great and - nothing needs to be said about the classically, eternal Herr Nicholson. Best scene in the movie:

Erica: "What do you do, Harry."
Harry: "I own a hip hop label."
Erica: "Hip hop? Oh, you mean rap music."
Harry: "I know what you're going to say."
Erica: "Well, I just don't care for rap. It's crude, violent, and slightly misogynistic."
Harry: "You know, some people consider rap poetry."
Erica: "Yeah, but how many words can you rhyme with 'bitch'."

And just in time for the holiday season, "The Year Without a Santa Clause", starring this unsavory mutt:



Singing the best Christmas song of all time (a close second being the Grinch song): Sing along boys and girls:

http://www.northpolesantaclaus.com/video/heatmisersong.wav

Our New Baby

Baby Bro will soon be an only child (as mum is going to shoot me), but here she is...



Her name is Anna and she's our newest baby. You can tell by the fact that she's sitting in front of the range that she isn't really very big (she's just now about 3 lbs). During October, I had to house sit for SJ and she got sick so I brought her to our house so I could keep an eye on her. Over the course of about 5-6 days, I didn't think she was going to make it, but with a little help from Dr. George and the Powers that Be, she's now become the newest terrorist in the house.

Oddly, she's befriended Emmett the most. He weighs in about 16 pounds right now so it's pretty funny to watch her run up behind him and goose him right in the ass! Of course, he could take her out with one swipe of his six pound club for a paw, but he's actually quite gentlemanly.

Alas, Anna makes five, but she will be the last one for a very, very long time. I know mum will have a problem with it, but really - how the hell do you turn down a puff ball like this?