American Airlines

I haven't flown American for 3-4 years, but when I changed my flights to be home when Sullivan had his tubes put in his ears, the rescheduled Southwest or Delta flights were over $800 and I thought I had reallly messed up. I finally found a combination of Frontier and American that was under $500.

The Frontier portion was fine, but Frontier no longer offers complimentary drinks. If you want something to drink you need to have $1.99 unless you are a preferred member of their frequent flyers club. The plane left on time and arrived on time and I had a bottle of water. The return flight on America was not so pleasant. I drove from Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas which is about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive. I had checked in on line, so only needed to print my boarding pass and check my bag. I arrived at the kiosk 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and could not print my boarding pass. I asked the clerk why I could not print my boarding pass and she said because the system closes 45 mintues before the flight is scheuled to leave, so in essence, I had missed my flight. She checked and there were no other flights available to get me home. She lectured me on being 'late' and said it was not American's problem I was late. I said, "The plane isn't even boarding yet and you say I can't have a boarding pass?" Well, I certainly could not check my bag, so I'd just have to wait until morning. Fortunately, I had a small suitcase that could be carried on and I could reorganize my purse and briefcase so I would only have two items and did not need to check my bag. She finally decided she could print me a boarding pass for a different flight to get me through security and then I could see if I could make it to the gate in time to board. I hustled to the gate, made it thought security and headed out. I made it to the gate.....in time to discover departure was delayed and they would not even begin boarding for another 15 minutes. I finally made it home and pretty much on time.

Late Again

I'm sitting in Denver where, once again, the flight is delayed. I can't remember when I last had an evening flight leave on time. It used to be 10 to 15 minutes, but lately it is 1-2 hours. I thought it was a Southwest issue, but tonight I am flying Frontier. They are saying it is a mechanical problem. I really don't want to end up at Marc and Susan's with a canceled flight.

Update: We left about an hour and a half late. I made it to the hotel in Las Vegas (without using the the GPS) by midnight. I thought I would be dead this morning, but it is 6:30 and I am awake and bright eyed and ready to head to Kingman AZ for two days. Sometimes the time change is a good thing.

Blue Hydrangea

Here I AM!

After reading Hillary's multiple posts yesterday, I feel guilty about my recalcitrance. So here goes a little something.

Yesterday I stopped at Target on the way from the nursing home to the hotel to get some Diet Coke and cash. There was this little lady shopping who was pulling a bright blue little canvas container on wheels. It had mesh windows and when I ventured a peak, I saw a brightly colored parrot who had accompanied her to do her shopping. It would never occur to me to take my bird shopping. I wonder if they chat in the car?

Too Fancy for Me!

April Fool's day was a very long day and had it's interesting and frustrating moments.

I started off headed to Prairie Village to work, after which I was headed to the airport to fly to Phoenix.

I had been experiencing a weird eye thing since Friday, when I had noticed a flashing light when I looked to the right. It happened a few times, then quit, but following that, the vision in my right eye was messed up. It was like my glasses were dirty and blurred my vision. I kept cleaning them, but it wouldn't clear up. I could squint and blink and it might be better for a few minutes, but overall was irritating. I had decided I definitely would need to see the eye doctor when I returned in 10 days. However, on the drive to Prairie Village, the film on my eye was worse, to the point that at times I couldn't read the street signs with my right eye. The left eye works fine, but it's hard to keep the right one closed all the time. I even thought about how to rig up an eye patch to cover the right one up. I finally decided that waiting 10 days to see what was going on was not a good idea. I only have two eyes and I like both of them. I called and was able to get an 11:15 appointment with the eye doctor.

I drove onto the facility and went in to tell the DON that I wasn't going to stay and described my eye thing to her. She said, "Sounds like a detached retina to me". Hmmm. I hadn't thought of that. I went back to the car, got my phone and googled 'detached retine' and there were all my symptoms in a nice list, EXACTLY!. And I had to wait two hours to see the doctor.

The good news is that I do not have a detached retina, but I do have "posterior vitreous detachment", which means, when I saw those flashes of light, the gelatinous filling in my eyeball pulled away from the back of my eye. It's a normal part of aging. Wonderful, I'm normal. The film does not go away, but apparently you get used to it? So it was on to the airport at 7 and on to Phoenix.

I arrived in Phoenix at 8:30 PM their time, (10:30 my time) and when I picked up my car in space H-8, it was a fancy BMW SUV. I loaded my stuff, then attached my Ipod to the Auxiliary connection and could not figure out how to get it to play. I pushed buttons, turned buttons, and hit buttons, but could not get it to play. I finally decided to drive to the office and ask someone to show me, but then couldn't figure out how to get the car in gear. The shift doesn't move, it clicks, and I could not get it to the right gear. I finally was able to hit drive and drove up to the office. A very nice lady who appeared older than me, (but I'm not much of an expert on appearances, since I think I look about 40) came out to help me and admitted she didn't have a clue, but was very pleasant about it. While talking to her I finally twirled the button and my Ipod started playing! After several attempts I was able to get the car in reverse and backed up, turned around, found drive and headed to the exit, where, I found out I was in the wrong car. The one I was supposed to be driving was a Dodge SUV in space M-8. And after I had finally figured everything out. April Fools on me!

Back to the starting point, unload, reload, attached the Ipod and put it in gear. Everything works just fine.

Working Part Time

I was on the phone earlier today with a colleague trying to coordinate some dates in May. She asked if I though we had over hired consultants lately. I answered I really didn't know. My workload was pretty much stable and no one was bothering me.

Then she said, "Well, you went part-time."

What?

No one told me I was part-time. Then I laughed. Seems she heard about me saying I was going to work part-time this year--three visits a week (which is the requirement for full time work). It is just that the last three to four months of 2012, I was doing 4 and sometimes 5 visits a week. I figure they hired another consultant because I was only doing my three and sometimes four visits. I have been busy and doing more that I want, but I haven't yet reverted to the craziness from last year.

I know I haven't  been blogging lately and I have been thinking about what I want to include. I have decided to start blogging interesting stories about people, residents and families I encounter. Maybe it will end up being a book!

I Won, for the very last time

Every January is the time of the Annual Meeting for Polaris which includes a Monday thru Friday with all consultants and marketing people in a room from 8 AM until 5 PM. It's a long week of discussion, education and preparation for the next year.

Evenings include a reception on Monday, two free evenings, and the employee banquet. Awards are announced at the banquet. Since I began employment with Polaris I have won an award every year. This year was no different, except that I won TWO. I won for 'Most New Business Referrals' AND 'Consultant of the Year'.

This will be the last year I am recognized with awards, as I will no longer work THAT HARD. And anyway, the top of the dresser upon which the awards are displayed is full.

Excuses

I have had computer problems, I just don't complain.

For quite some time, my computer has not work efficiently. Molly and Hillary both have informed me that my computer was ineffective. Actually their description was a bit more eloquent. 

Overall, my computer was slow and frequently would freeze up, requiring me to shut it down an re-boot. Over time the period of time it worked gradually decreased until I would have to re-boot every 10  minutes or so, which significantly slowed my productivity and enthusiasm for Internet activities. I spent more time re-booting than actually on-line.

After several attempts with the 'help desk' who would run programs on my computer and tell me everything was Okay, I gave up and COMPLAINED. The result? I have a new computer, which is great, but moving all the information over and getting the book-marks current has been time consuming. I have finally accessed the site by which I can create new blog entries.

Stay tuned for more.