The Bull Og

Beginning July 1, 2008, you may not use a cellular telephone while driving unless hands-free equipment is used.

Now, about people wearing headphones while skiing/snowboarding…

Or, “Learning to check in online the night before”

Got in to Chicago Monday morning around 7:30 and volunteered to get bumped from my 8:30 flight (which they had oversold by 20) in exchange for getting on the next flight and getting a free ticket. When it was time for the next flight, I went to the counter to check my status and they didn’t even have me on the list. I went to customer services to find out what happened and came to find out that my information had never been processed. After much discussion with the agent and her supervisor, I got a seat on the flight at 9:45.

Around 9:25, I went to the gate and handed my boarding pass to an agent in order to board the flight but was then informed that my seat had already been assigned and I would not be able to fly. I was given a choice: either wait approx. 6 hours for a seat on the next-available flight to SFO or be routed through Los Angeles. I opted for the latter.

At 12:30, I arrived in Los Angeles and around 1:30, I went to get on my 2 o’clock flight when I noticed a message on my cell that the flight had been cancelled. I spent another 45 mins waiting in line at
the customer service desk in order to get rebooked for the flight at 2:54.

I finally made it home at 5.

In hindsight, I only had a “Departure Management Card” for the 8:30 flight in Chicago which, asking around, seems to indicate that I was never supposed to even get a free flight because I was never supposed
to get a seat to begin with.

From Is Suburbia Turning Into Slumburbia?

“Now with high gas prices, long commutes, a bad job market and a new attraction to walkable urban living, it’s just a matter of time before suburban fringes begin to absorb [...] people.”

- Christopher Leinberger (The Option of Urbanism?)

“Indeed, the fact that Americans are embracing walkable neighborhoods is a good thing for their waistlines, their pocketbooks and the planet.”

- John Norquist, former mayor of Milwaukee, WI

Went to the ballet at the San Francisco opera last night and I have a couple of bones to pick.

1. Pizza

   One of the great things about the Vienna State Opera is its proximity to numerous pizza stands. You go hungry after work to the opera (or ballet) and need something quick and cheap to tide you over.

2. Cheap tickets

   We sat in the balcony in the cheapest seats for $25 a piece, tickets which in Vienna would have gone for 9 Euros. (Ok, by today’s conversion rate, that’s som ething like $13.) C’mon kids, let’s do a little for encourage the 24-35 year old crowd to come out and enjoy the fine arts.

3. Clapping

   Sorry for this rant but people, the ballet is not a circus. You do not need to clap after every solo performer finishes whatever they’re doing. Please let m e and others enjoy the piece by holding your applause until after the music’s over; if there were dancing bears balancing on balls they’d come and eat you if you make noise like that.

4. Decoration

   The hallways of the opera are barren! Please! Maybe a couple of portraits of regular performer would be nice.

Phew. My tirade is over. By-in-large, we had a great experience. The Eden/Eden piece was awesome.