I can absolutely understand why people who don't travel often hate and dread it. Today, I'm traveling via Acela from Philly to DC ... this is my 3rd trip on an Acela, ever.

Having only been to the Philly station once, I was a little nervous about making it, on time and in one piece, at 5:30 in the morning from NJ. It's only a 20 minute drive, but it's crossing a state line so in my head it's a bigger deal than it should be.

I took a wrong turn as I got into the city. With my knowledge of Philly and GPS I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare.

But there were NO signs directing me to where I should leave my rental car. Again, because I do travel a lot, my instincts kicked in and I figured it out. But honestly, it wasn't easy. I was pretty close to calling travel, cancelling the ticket and just driving to DC. But I hung in there.

To be continued ...

I could get used to this ... Consumers are not allowed to pump their own gas in the state of NJ (the only other state like this I know about is Oregon) ... full serve pricing is the same as self-serve ... Love it!

too hot in the hot tub

really? 75 degrees and humid before 9 am in NJ? i would die if i lived here. perspective has changed.

I can tell you that the woman in 19A needs to get a clue. She's eating hard boiled eggs and very pungent pickles during the flight to dallas. She's topping it off with tomato juice. I may vomit.

i will admit ...

that 2,000 SMS's a month is a bit excessive ... that's an average of almost 65 / day based on 31 days / month

continued ...

Well, there you have it. The USPS is so broke that they've filed to abolish saturday delivery service, but they can't deliver an envelope 500 miles in less than 5 days?? Ah, I love the government.

I then asked the teller if I could have had the card overnighted to me at my expense ... She told me that was a really good idea. Duh.

It might be time to switch to Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, or the mattress.

I lost my debit card the first night I was in new orleans ... it just vanished ... I cancelled it immediately and ordered a new card after I made sure I was the last one to use it.

That was a week ago. Still having no debit card I had to go to the bank today and do an old school deposit and withdraw some cash. I'm leaving to go out of town again and am a little stressed about not having the new card with me.

I confirmed with the teller that a new card had in fact been sent out ... and to my address ... It went out SIX business days. She assured me that the "normal" delivery window is 5-7 business days and that I shouldn't worry.

SIX days? Certain that it must have shipped from india, I asked her from where the new cards come.

Ready for this? Seriously?

ARIZONA.

Obviously the next question was "how did it ship? Via mule?". She advised via USPS.

to be continued ...

won't have a title ...

blog posts from my blackberry will not have a title ... i think we can deal, right?

i did it!

i linked my blog to my blackberry via SMS!

testing! hello, world!

it can all change in a blink of an eye

driving home tonight, i saw the aftermath of a suv vs a skateboarder. it might be the worst thing i have ever seen in my life ... well, sans the dead guy in new orleans, but that is another story entirely.

i wasn't going to stop, but something deep inside told me that i should ... and while it was very difficult to see what i saw, i'm glad i stopped.

as i got out of my car, the skateboarder's wife drove up on the scene with her two-year old son in the backseat of their car. you can only imagine how horrifying it was to witness her realizing that the victim was her husband.

but, i am a firm believer in that you are in certain places at certain times for a reason. i've never met the woman before, nor do i think i'll ever see her again, but in that moment, she and her son were all that mattered in this world. another stranger and i comforted her, moved her car and then i talked to her mother-in-law on the phone to arrange for her to come and pick up her grandson. it was second nature. once the grandson was safe and the woman was set to ride in the ambulance with her husband, i went home. there was nothing more to do.

again, i don't know why i stopped, but whatever compelled me to do so and then lend a hand gives me hope that most people in this world are truly good people. it's too bad the dirtbags steal the limelight and make us forget just why we're all here.

first and foremost

if blogspot had a fabulous, blackberry interface like twitter, i'd be posting all day long ... wtf?

look closely

www.textsfromlastnight.com

i have a feeling that i might be posting on this site in the very near future. or have i already? :-)

pretty woman

oh i so didn't mean to make the last post sound so "pretty woman!"

occupational hazard

i sleep in so many hotels each month that i forgot where my own bathroom was last night ... now that's just sad ...

crossroads

the past week has been filled with major, noteworthy and somewhat unexpected changes. it's strange how one person's decision can start a ripple effect that causes life-changing decisions to be made.

if everything falls in line and makes sense, could I really live in philadelphia?

odd

I find it strange that a purchase of red bull cola today prompted a pepcid coupon to spit out with my receipt. Even so, I would love to be a part of those marketing meetings!

testing ...

If I can post from my blackberry ... I may be able to post more often

i may give this up ...

i just might give the blogging up ... i suck at it now :-(

thanks, dad

very exclusive vodka ... thanks, dad!