Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
VOTE for CHANGE
Excitement is filling the air today as the United States faces this momentous election. My desire is our collective hope and urge for change will push this country into a new era. A new era of hope, of change, of joy, of potential.
This is a day where we may reverse the hate, fear, and terror that has fallen over the United States the last eight years. This is a day where we may again become a country that thrives in the independence, democracy, and patriotism that makes the United States an incredible country. This election day is the stuff that makes America free. This hope that we feed off of has the potential to erase the wrongs and bring about many rights that our nation deserves.
The change is electrifying this country and drawing people out to support democracy - the vote.
Let's vote for jobs, for health, for rights, for the economy, for the environment, for justice, for the right to correct the wrongs created by incompetent and horrible government. Let's vote for the one man that may change the status quo and return the United States to a democracy all can respect.
Let's hope for great change, for great inspiration. Let's hope for OBAMA! Beyond that, let's turn that hope into reality, into an inspiration, into a motivation to improve this world we live in for the good of all people, creatures, and habitats in this world.
Please go vote today and by vote, I mean vote Obama!
This is a day where we may reverse the hate, fear, and terror that has fallen over the United States the last eight years. This is a day where we may again become a country that thrives in the independence, democracy, and patriotism that makes the United States an incredible country. This election day is the stuff that makes America free. This hope that we feed off of has the potential to erase the wrongs and bring about many rights that our nation deserves.
The change is electrifying this country and drawing people out to support democracy - the vote.
Let's vote for jobs, for health, for rights, for the economy, for the environment, for justice, for the right to correct the wrongs created by incompetent and horrible government. Let's vote for the one man that may change the status quo and return the United States to a democracy all can respect.
Let's hope for great change, for great inspiration. Let's hope for OBAMA! Beyond that, let's turn that hope into reality, into an inspiration, into a motivation to improve this world we live in for the good of all people, creatures, and habitats in this world.
Please go vote today and by vote, I mean vote Obama!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Game
United Airlines has decided to charge $15.00 per bag checked on their flights. This might have seemed like a good idea to the company, but after my recent experience at the airports, I think they should review their policy.
Since $15.00 is just above a comfortable threshold to pay to not have to lug a bag and deal with lost luggage and lines at the baggage claim, most people seem to be taking two carry-ons on the plane when they ordinarily would have checked one. Unfortunately, most people don't follow the 14"x24" policy for bag size so all shapes and sizes of bags get passed as "carry-ons." Even more unfortunate, the planes really are not built to allow over 100 people to have two carry-ons. This means there is now a huge hassle trying to get bags to fit into overhead bins. This in turn delays flight take off and increases the amount of problems the flight attendants have to deal with. It also has led to the creation of "the Game."
The Game is an interesting phenomena. It begins with seat sections. Theoretically, the flight attendants call each section (1,2,3,4) in turn and the people sitting in those sections line up to board the plane. This should be an orderly operation that allows everyone to board efficiently and get the plane out on time. What really happens is this:
When the flight attendants call all passangers sitting in Section 1 to board the plane everyone stands up and starts shuffling towards the gate. The passengers not in the called section pretend to stand patiently while they really start edging closer and closer to the gate. The reason for this is that everyone wants to get on and get their bag into the overhead compartment before they are full. Inevitably, by the time Section 4 is called, all the overhead compartments are full, the plane is on the verge of being late for departure, and a flight attendant has to run back and forth frantically trying to check all the oversized bags (with no fee) of all the people that didn't want to pay $15.00 to check their bag. It's really quite a mess.
I found myself playing the game this last week when I flew to New York and back to Spokane. It's all about strategy. While on the way to NYC I didn't understand the game but by the return journey, I had this figured out. In LaGuardia, I casually lined up towards the front of the line when seating area 1 was called. As the different sections were called, I started edging closer and closer to the front of the line so as to optimize my odds at getting to put my bag in the overhead compartment. Other people tried to finagle their way to the front of the line too, but I kept in front of them. As soon as "Seating Area 4" burst from the flight attendant's lips, I was standing in front of him, boarding pass in hand and boom! I was on the plane, bag stashed overhead. Score!
My luck didn't quite work in Denver. The different sections of people filed onto the plane. As I waited, I noticed three older men were playing the game too! Shoot! The four of us were chomping at the bit, ready to race to be the first on the plane from section 4. We eyed each other, trying to size up speed, agility, and desperation to get the bag into the overhead. I, however, had the advantage. Section 4 was announced, and in a moment of indecision by the three men, I cruised in front of them and kazam! was in line to get on the plane before them. My advantage was that I am a woman, and they, being older, were trained to let women go ahead of them.
My advantage quickly ended, however, when the compartments were filled by seating area 3 and a frantic flight attendant came running at me to snatch my bag to stash as a checked bag. She looked like a chicken with her head cut off and kept repeating to get the plane off on time she needed to check my bag RIGHT NOW! I tried to engage her in conversation to see if my theory (people bring stuff on plane instead of checking them because of the fee) was correct. She didn't listen and instead spouted off, "NO! THERE'S NO $15.00 FEE! YES, YOUR BAG GOES TO THE BAGGAGE CHECK! NO, IT'S NO HASSLE! GET ON THE PLANE!" I finally gave up and just boarded the plane and enjoyed watching other people struggle with their luggage for a change.
That's the way to do it, wait till the plane's overhead bins are full and get your bag checked for free. Nothing like sticking it to the Man.
Since $15.00 is just above a comfortable threshold to pay to not have to lug a bag and deal with lost luggage and lines at the baggage claim, most people seem to be taking two carry-ons on the plane when they ordinarily would have checked one. Unfortunately, most people don't follow the 14"x24" policy for bag size so all shapes and sizes of bags get passed as "carry-ons." Even more unfortunate, the planes really are not built to allow over 100 people to have two carry-ons. This means there is now a huge hassle trying to get bags to fit into overhead bins. This in turn delays flight take off and increases the amount of problems the flight attendants have to deal with. It also has led to the creation of "the Game."
The Game is an interesting phenomena. It begins with seat sections. Theoretically, the flight attendants call each section (1,2,3,4) in turn and the people sitting in those sections line up to board the plane. This should be an orderly operation that allows everyone to board efficiently and get the plane out on time. What really happens is this:
When the flight attendants call all passangers sitting in Section 1 to board the plane everyone stands up and starts shuffling towards the gate. The passengers not in the called section pretend to stand patiently while they really start edging closer and closer to the gate. The reason for this is that everyone wants to get on and get their bag into the overhead compartment before they are full. Inevitably, by the time Section 4 is called, all the overhead compartments are full, the plane is on the verge of being late for departure, and a flight attendant has to run back and forth frantically trying to check all the oversized bags (with no fee) of all the people that didn't want to pay $15.00 to check their bag. It's really quite a mess.
I found myself playing the game this last week when I flew to New York and back to Spokane. It's all about strategy. While on the way to NYC I didn't understand the game but by the return journey, I had this figured out. In LaGuardia, I casually lined up towards the front of the line when seating area 1 was called. As the different sections were called, I started edging closer and closer to the front of the line so as to optimize my odds at getting to put my bag in the overhead compartment. Other people tried to finagle their way to the front of the line too, but I kept in front of them. As soon as "Seating Area 4" burst from the flight attendant's lips, I was standing in front of him, boarding pass in hand and boom! I was on the plane, bag stashed overhead. Score!
My luck didn't quite work in Denver. The different sections of people filed onto the plane. As I waited, I noticed three older men were playing the game too! Shoot! The four of us were chomping at the bit, ready to race to be the first on the plane from section 4. We eyed each other, trying to size up speed, agility, and desperation to get the bag into the overhead. I, however, had the advantage. Section 4 was announced, and in a moment of indecision by the three men, I cruised in front of them and kazam! was in line to get on the plane before them. My advantage was that I am a woman, and they, being older, were trained to let women go ahead of them.
My advantage quickly ended, however, when the compartments were filled by seating area 3 and a frantic flight attendant came running at me to snatch my bag to stash as a checked bag. She looked like a chicken with her head cut off and kept repeating to get the plane off on time she needed to check my bag RIGHT NOW! I tried to engage her in conversation to see if my theory (people bring stuff on plane instead of checking them because of the fee) was correct. She didn't listen and instead spouted off, "NO! THERE'S NO $15.00 FEE! YES, YOUR BAG GOES TO THE BAGGAGE CHECK! NO, IT'S NO HASSLE! GET ON THE PLANE!" I finally gave up and just boarded the plane and enjoyed watching other people struggle with their luggage for a change.
That's the way to do it, wait till the plane's overhead bins are full and get your bag checked for free. Nothing like sticking it to the Man.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Midterms
Well, it's midterms here at the University of Idaho. As a graduate student, this means realizing my conceived research schedule is deteriorating and I'm starting to pull my hair out. Maybe this is a result of shock at being in school for the first time in over a year; acting as a teaching/research assistant for 20 hours a week; and trying to balance writing, analysis, and keeping it real in what always ends up being a very short week. Midterms also means cold weather outside, and the shock of discovering it is indeed fall at school and not summer in Yellowstone.
Alas, my hard earned tan, good posture, and muscular bod from summer in Yellowstone are wilting away. As a graduate student, my office is a windowless box in the basement of (ironically) the College of Natural Resources. And, since I'm a graduate student, try as I might, I spend entirely too much time in the office and too little time breathing the fresh fall air. As a result, I am slowly turning into a wraith-student - one of those pale, huchbacked, squinty-eyed, skeptical graduate students.
But, I try to keep it real by busting out work at the coffee shop, doing yoga in the mornings at the Yoga Center, climbing, and going to the gym. It's my attempt to keep my posture from overly-eroding, my muscles from shriveling, and my mind from deteriorating into the matrix of mathematics. I think it's working.
With that, it's back to life at the fast pace in a slow paced town: spssspssspssspssspssspssspssspssspss (aka: statistical analysis).
Alas, my hard earned tan, good posture, and muscular bod from summer in Yellowstone are wilting away. As a graduate student, my office is a windowless box in the basement of (ironically) the College of Natural Resources. And, since I'm a graduate student, try as I might, I spend entirely too much time in the office and too little time breathing the fresh fall air. As a result, I am slowly turning into a wraith-student - one of those pale, huchbacked, squinty-eyed, skeptical graduate students.
But, I try to keep it real by busting out work at the coffee shop, doing yoga in the mornings at the Yoga Center, climbing, and going to the gym. It's my attempt to keep my posture from overly-eroding, my muscles from shriveling, and my mind from deteriorating into the matrix of mathematics. I think it's working.
With that, it's back to life at the fast pace in a slow paced town: spssspssspssspssspssspssspssspssspss (aka: statistical analysis).
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Another Iowan
Moscow is a pretty small world. Since it's a small, hip, liberal town in "no where" Idaho, it draws all sorts of people. And all those sorts of people seem to know someone who knew someone who was buddies with someone who decided to go to school here and found out it was a cool place and told someone to come too, who told someone else to come, who spread the word and suggested to someone else to also came to Moscow. Follow that? It's full of people from the same place who may or may not realize they actually know each other when they really do.
While walking around with my friend, Anne, who just moved here from Colorado, we discovered that our friend Caroline is one and the same. Not only that, but Caroline and Anne went to college in Tennessee together. And their moms went to school together too. And now Caroline and Anne both live in Idaho. This small world connection was made even more acute by the fact that Caroline is dating Russ, who is one of Brian's friends from growing up in Rapid City. And Russ' sister, Emily, and I have been friends since I first moved here in 2002. We all knew each other without knowing we knew each other until this fall. To top it all off, Anne and I were both talking about the same Caroline who was sponsoring a party with Russ and Emily that just happened to be the same circus party. Now, even in a town like Moscow, circus parties are pretty rare, but this was quite the circle of coincidences.
Well, today, I was sitting in the coffee shop, and this girl looked at me and said, "I think I know you. You're Nancy, right?" Yes, I am indeed Nancy. Then she said, "We used to work together in Barnes and Noble." Well, that took me back about nine years ago to working in Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which was then the height of cool. She said she's Suzy, and then I remembered her. And I remembered the fact that at Barnes and Noble, I not only worked with Suzy but I also worked with her brother, Zach, who is still, apparently, friends with my brother, Dan. And what's even weirder is that I have only met one other Iowan in Moscow, but never someone from CEDAR RAPIDS, my home town. What a small world.
And then, later today, I met another Iowan. We, Midwesterners, are flooding the west.
While walking around with my friend, Anne, who just moved here from Colorado, we discovered that our friend Caroline is one and the same. Not only that, but Caroline and Anne went to college in Tennessee together. And their moms went to school together too. And now Caroline and Anne both live in Idaho. This small world connection was made even more acute by the fact that Caroline is dating Russ, who is one of Brian's friends from growing up in Rapid City. And Russ' sister, Emily, and I have been friends since I first moved here in 2002. We all knew each other without knowing we knew each other until this fall. To top it all off, Anne and I were both talking about the same Caroline who was sponsoring a party with Russ and Emily that just happened to be the same circus party. Now, even in a town like Moscow, circus parties are pretty rare, but this was quite the circle of coincidences.
Well, today, I was sitting in the coffee shop, and this girl looked at me and said, "I think I know you. You're Nancy, right?" Yes, I am indeed Nancy. Then she said, "We used to work together in Barnes and Noble." Well, that took me back about nine years ago to working in Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which was then the height of cool. She said she's Suzy, and then I remembered her. And I remembered the fact that at Barnes and Noble, I not only worked with Suzy but I also worked with her brother, Zach, who is still, apparently, friends with my brother, Dan. And what's even weirder is that I have only met one other Iowan in Moscow, but never someone from CEDAR RAPIDS, my home town. What a small world.
And then, later today, I met another Iowan. We, Midwesterners, are flooding the west.
I Know This Is Good for Me
"Okay, all you do is edge your front leg forward, your back leg backward, until you can put you back leg on the ground. You can use a brick for support. Then, brace your body and lift up. Ta dah! You're in the splits. Your turn, chop chop!" said Erika enthusiastically at our 7:00 am yoga practice.
I edged my body into this awkward leg opener exercise. "Okay, I edge my front leg forward, my back leg backward and ta dah! God, this hurts!" I thought to myself. Edge the legs apart, Nancy! The splits are good for you!
But, man, I've never been one for ballet, and this was one stereotypical ballet move. I imagined myself graceful, elegant, preparing to dance the "Nutcracker," being a piece of elastic, being water in a river. "I am fluid. I am elastic. I can do the splits. I KNOW THIS IS GOOD FOR ME!
"Okay, now do it three times each side at your own pace," called Erika's voice. Was she serious? Three more times on each side!? My legs already felt like they were about to snap off. But, low and behold, after three more times on each side, my legs did feel elastic, rubbery, like water in a river. And, I could do Dog pose with my heels down. Huh, it must have been good for me after all.
I edged my body into this awkward leg opener exercise. "Okay, I edge my front leg forward, my back leg backward and ta dah! God, this hurts!" I thought to myself. Edge the legs apart, Nancy! The splits are good for you!
But, man, I've never been one for ballet, and this was one stereotypical ballet move. I imagined myself graceful, elegant, preparing to dance the "Nutcracker," being a piece of elastic, being water in a river. "I am fluid. I am elastic. I can do the splits. I KNOW THIS IS GOOD FOR ME!
"Okay, now do it three times each side at your own pace," called Erika's voice. Was she serious? Three more times on each side!? My legs already felt like they were about to snap off. But, low and behold, after three more times on each side, my legs did feel elastic, rubbery, like water in a river. And, I could do Dog pose with my heels down. Huh, it must have been good for me after all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
