Wednesday, December 21, 2005

i heart new york

so, in case you haven't heard- the transit union workers are on strike. i'm torn- part of me hates this because hello? inconvenience and possible chaos is not that fun- the other part of me is supportive, because it must be kindof a sucky job where you don't get much respect and spend most of your day underground, seeing more rats than sunlight. but then again- most everyone is paying for part of their health insurance in some way or another and no one is getting 6% raises a year. i'm just hoping that this is not long and drawn out because people can't sit at a table and properly negotiate. i hate the mta, as i've posted before, i don't want to hate the transit workers as well- and if this thing goes on much longer its gonna be hard to keep on being sympathetic. and i don't even have it that bad. it takes about an hour to walk to work, which sucks in the freezing cold, but is doable. although yesterday i was exhausted when i got in- walking in the cold, with all the layers and breathing in that cold air, really makes me tired. but i certainly don't have it as bad as most people who live in the boroughs or surrounding area.

kpr drove me to work today, because i am a very lucky girl and we picked up a hitchhiker! sooo exciting. ok- so the guy wasn't a hitchhiker, he was just someone standing on the corner looking for a cab and he looked pretty normal, and non serial killer like (i know, i know, serial killers look just like you and me), so i told kpr we should pick him up. i rolled down my window and asked him where he was going and he said 'grand central' i said 'get in!' it was so weird and random, but seemed perfectly natural. we chatted about the strike, and traffic and such, and then when we got close to grand central he and i hopped out and he insisted on giving kpr a twenty- although it was no skin off our nose- so wine money!! hooray!

so many people are riding bikes, roller blading/skating, walking, carpooling- it's like an environmentalist's dream come true. i know its a huge hassle with all of this going on, but i think it would be interesting if the city passed legislature that limited the number of cars on the road, encouraged people to carpool, especially in midtown. we'll see what comes out of this.

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i was interviewed recently by a writer from the charlotte observer. he read my post regarding us air (they suck monkey balls) last year at christmas time.

names have been changed to protect my identity- teehee! you can go to the actual article here


Never again-- well, at least not for a while
TONY MECIA
tmecia@charlotteobserver.com

Last year, Tanya Churchill, Drew Bendler and divinemissk publicly stated they'd never fly US Airways again.

This year, all three say they're still steamed at the airline for last year's travel fiasco, and that they avoid it when they can. But in 2005, they've all flown US Airways again, or plan to.

Airline experts say they're not surprised, because leisure travelers tend to buy tickets based on price, not service.

"If it's a duck with a chair on its back and it's cheap, they'll take the duck," said aviation consultant Mike Boyd.

Here are the three travelers' stories:

Steve and Tanya Churchill of Holly Springs, outside Raleigh, told the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle they'd never fly US Airways again after the airline lost their luggage for three days -- including a car seat for their 9-month-old daughter.

Tanya Churchill says she threw away the couple's Dividend Miles cards.

This year, though, she booked on US Airways because its tickets to Rochester were $100 cheaper than on rival carriers. She's planning to check as few bags as possible.

"It was either I go US Air, or I don't go," she said.

Mailman Drew Bendler of Pennsauken, N.J., told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last year: "I'm done. I won't fly US Air again." He had waited at the Philadelphia airport from Christmas Eve until 7:30 a.m. Christmas Day to try in vain to find his teenage daughter's luggage.

This year, his daughter is flying in from Missouri on Delta Air Lines, and Bendler says he didn't even look at US Airways' fare.

Earlier this year, he did fly US Airways to Miami on a "quick weekend trip" -- with only a carry-on bag -- but only because his brother made the travel arrangements.

Last year, New York actor divinemissk wrote a blog entry, which recounted her frustrations when the airline canceled three flights to Columbus, Ohio, where her parents live. She says mean employees made her cry at the airport, and she never made it to Ohio, though her bags did.

"i hate them i hate them i hate them," she wrote. Other entries are unprintable in a family newspaper. (this is possibly the greatest quote i could ask for!)

divinemissk, 20something, says she wound up on a US Airways flight to Las Vegas this fall, though, after a previously booked flight on America West was discontinued, and it moved her to one operated by US Airways. She hadn't heard that the airlines had merged, but she says she has no plans to fly the airline again if she can avoid it.

"You lose trust like that, it's hard to gain that back," she said.

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so, apparently, i'm a crybaby (what can i say, airports make me cry), i use language unsuitable for a family paper (yes!), and i'm not very eloquent (see last quote, uggh, please, couldn't i think of anything better to say? gah.). but i'm happy to join the club of people who have been interviewed because of their blog- imagine how blogging has made journalists jobs that much easier. no longer do they have to search for people who have had certain experiences or hold certain opinions- they just have to google the idea and bam! the interview subjects just line up for ya!

Monday, December 05, 2005

ass crack girl

this person lives in our building and has the yappiest little dog on the face of the planet. Now, I love dogs, but this dog is so annoying it makes me want to, well, i don't know, strangle the owner?! the poor dog yaps all day long and cries all night long because ass crack girl (as kpr and i have come to call her, because dude- the two times i have run into her in the hall, i have seen about three inches of her ass crack- ick- also, she's not very attractive- i don't get the whole americas blahblah model thing- maybe whenever i see her she's just really stoned or hung over, i don't know- but even her portfolio isn't that impressive. kpr says that i am just jealous, but really i'm not, i think i'm much cuter than her (also more bitchy!) ). i feel bad for the dog because, hello? it's hard work yapping your trap off all day- but seriously, it is a priveledge to have a dog in our building and don't fuck it up for the rest of us. i have been temped to post a note to her door- but we have two dogs and i'm afraid that one day they will make a lot of noise- even though so far they haven't. thank god we don't live right next door to her or i would seriously consider- well, i don't know what i would do because really its not the dog's fault, it's ass crack girl's fault. don't get a little purse dog if you can't spend all day with it- its not fair to the dog if you are too busy or too stoned to care. grrr!

in other news- today is the five year anniversary of kpr & my first date! we are going to the little italian place where we ate our first meal together and i will order eggplant rigatoni with mozzarella- just like i do everytime we are there- serioulsy, i have never tasted any other entree in the place because the rigatoni is that friggin good! then we will have tiramisu and i will die of happiness. totally off my anti-inflammatory diet- but i don't care! i'll itch away tomorrow, and be all inflamed and stuff.

back to work. ughh.