Having had the opportunity to be in five different airports on five different flights over the past six days, I've been able to think deeply about this form of travel. Ok, maybe my thinking wasn't that deep, but here's a few things I've noticed.
First: I've always been puzzled by the instruction/invitation to "Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight." Really, what's there to enjoy about it?
Second: Similarly, as my mom pointed out, why do they say, "If there's anything we can do to make your flight more enjoyable, please let us know." What they can do is fairly limited. Bring you a glass of water. Let you pay for a bag of peanuts. Maybe, just maybe, give you a blanket. And that's pretty much it. (My mom thinks it would be fun to ask a flight attendant for a foot rub.)
Third: They really should not try to fit a college basketball team on an American Eagle regional jet, as they did on my flight this morning. This poor guy, he was about 6'8", and literally had to bend all the way over just to get down the aisle.
Fourth: Why do the flight attendants seem so surprised and flustered that the overhead bins fill up quickly? What did they expect when the airlines started charging to check luggage? Come on, it shouldn't be that hard to figure out!
Fifth: I can remember once or twice ever having a female pilot (or co-pilot) on a flight. In my latest travels, it happened twice. I wonder if this represents a trend?
Sixth: It never hurts to ask. This morning, I left Omaha to Chicago, and then had a separate ticket from Chicago to Newark. I was not looking forward to checking my bag, then having to get it in Chicago, go back through security, and then re-check it. Before I left, my dad suggested I ask American if they'd check it all the way through to Newark for me. Duh!! Never occurred to me to do that, but I did, and they did! And only charged me once for the bag. Thanks, American!
Seventh: Out of all five airports, I give the prize for the Most Calm Airport to Omaha (which also has free wi-fi), Best Restaurants to O'Hare, and Best Greeters (Thurman and Nico) to Newark.
Glad to be home!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Primary Presentation
Today in church was the annual primary presentation, when the children get an opportunity to sing and talk at the pulpit, sharing with the congregation what they have learned all year. Thurman has always been a stellar participant in these presentations, giving talks, singing, and reading his parts without any fear. This year was no exception. He did a great job!
And then there is Nicholas. For several months he has been wanting to talk in the microphone at church and we have told him to wait until the primary presentation and he would get his chance. He was so excited about it. Until a couple of weeks ago when they started to practice. Julee (the primary president) told me that when they practiced, that he wouldn't do his part. At home he would tell us that he didn't want to do it. Yesterday, was the full rehearsal at the church. We got there before most people did, so I took him in and let him practice in the microphone. But once people arrived, he got very shy and wouldn't do it. With a little coaxing and help, he practiced some, but still we were very unsure how today would go.
This morning on the way to church, Nico told us defiantly that he was going to do his parts all by himself, with no help. After he did his first part, everyone laughed (the 'that was cute' kind of laugh), and he sat down and covered his face with his hands. His second part, right after one of Thurman's parts, was then followed by both Greg and I talking at the pulpit. While Greg and I talked, Nico was still standing at the pulpit. And when we finished, he wouldn't get down. Literally. He grabbed the podium with all his might. Those of you who know Nico know how strong he is. I tried to pull him away with no luck. Finally, I had to pry his hands away from the podium in order to get him away and carry him back to the seat.
Look out world! Nico has seen what it is like to have a lot of attention and he only wants more!!
And then there is Nicholas. For several months he has been wanting to talk in the microphone at church and we have told him to wait until the primary presentation and he would get his chance. He was so excited about it. Until a couple of weeks ago when they started to practice. Julee (the primary president) told me that when they practiced, that he wouldn't do his part. At home he would tell us that he didn't want to do it. Yesterday, was the full rehearsal at the church. We got there before most people did, so I took him in and let him practice in the microphone. But once people arrived, he got very shy and wouldn't do it. With a little coaxing and help, he practiced some, but still we were very unsure how today would go.
This morning on the way to church, Nico told us defiantly that he was going to do his parts all by himself, with no help. After he did his first part, everyone laughed (the 'that was cute' kind of laugh), and he sat down and covered his face with his hands. His second part, right after one of Thurman's parts, was then followed by both Greg and I talking at the pulpit. While Greg and I talked, Nico was still standing at the pulpit. And when we finished, he wouldn't get down. Literally. He grabbed the podium with all his might. Those of you who know Nico know how strong he is. I tried to pull him away with no luck. Finally, I had to pry his hands away from the podium in order to get him away and carry him back to the seat.
Look out world! Nico has seen what it is like to have a lot of attention and he only wants more!!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Wheels on the Bus
Over the past four years I have become way too familiar with the NJ Transit Bus, Route #126. I would call it a love/hate relationship, but there is rarely any love. It's really more like a tolerate/hate relationship. Two or three years ago, I had several consecutive bad experiences with the bus and swore it off for more than 5 weeks. This has happened on other occasions, for less amount of time, but alas I always return to the bus. In theory, it seems like a reasonable commuting option, given we live so close to the Lincoln tunnel. In reality...well, let's just say some days are better than others. I continuously fail to learn the lesson NOT to take the bus home when I leave work after 5:30 or on a Friday afternoon.
However, yesterday, I witnessed an interesting thing happen on the bus. After waiting what seemed like an eternity in the non-air-conditioned waiting area for the bus, we all piled on. It was one of the big long buses, that has only a front door. It was standing room only, and people were PACKED in the aisles. As we slowly started to pull out of port authority, a woman standing in the very back of the bus realized she was on the wrong bus. To me, there seems like 2 reasonable options. 1) Be quiet and just stay on. or 2) Start saying "excuse me" to everyone and scoot your way up to the front to ask the bus driver to get off. Instead, this woman decided to start a game of 'telephone.' She asked the person in front of her to pass the message up to the driver that she was on the wrong bus. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched people who would get the message and then ponder if they should really bother the person in front of them to tell them this message. Overheard were things like: "I'm sure they won't let her off, but I'm passing the message on anyway." and "They don't even let people off when they are sick."
Well, the message made it all the way up to the driver, who promptly opened the door. But of course the woman was still in the back of the bus. (We still weren't out of the port authority bus terminal yet due to the traffic.) So then, she started scooting her way past everyone to the front and finally was able to get off the bus. I really hope she didn't ask for her money back.
This experience made me start thinking of some of my other more random bus riding experiences. The top two:
1) One afternoon on the way home at the 5th and Willow stop (about the fifth stop), the bus driver tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't open. He tried and tried, but they still wouldn't open. So there we were, stuck on the bus. (Ironically, this stop was right in front of Thurman's old after school care place and I was supposed to be picking him up.) One of the passengers got very upset and broke the 'emergency only' glass box on the bus, which didn't really help anything. Eventually another bus pulled up and the driver gave our driver some hints of things to try and finally we got off the bus.
2) One morning the bus I was on tried to turn from Clinton onto 12th, but a car had parked to close to the curb and the bus didn't have enough turning radius and ended up getting stuck. It was pretty early in the morning, and there were only about 15 of us on the bus. Finally, we all got off the bus and walked up about 3 blocks to the next bus stop (the second to last one before the tunnel) to wait for the next bus to come along. We had just missed a bus, and stood there waiting. All of a sudden a bus came speeding up and I was shocked to see that no-one was on it. As we climbed on, people began to laugh - it was our same bus driver and same bus. He'd managed to get free and hurried over to get us again.
However, yesterday, I witnessed an interesting thing happen on the bus. After waiting what seemed like an eternity in the non-air-conditioned waiting area for the bus, we all piled on. It was one of the big long buses, that has only a front door. It was standing room only, and people were PACKED in the aisles. As we slowly started to pull out of port authority, a woman standing in the very back of the bus realized she was on the wrong bus. To me, there seems like 2 reasonable options. 1) Be quiet and just stay on. or 2) Start saying "excuse me" to everyone and scoot your way up to the front to ask the bus driver to get off. Instead, this woman decided to start a game of 'telephone.' She asked the person in front of her to pass the message up to the driver that she was on the wrong bus. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched people who would get the message and then ponder if they should really bother the person in front of them to tell them this message. Overheard were things like: "I'm sure they won't let her off, but I'm passing the message on anyway." and "They don't even let people off when they are sick."
Well, the message made it all the way up to the driver, who promptly opened the door. But of course the woman was still in the back of the bus. (We still weren't out of the port authority bus terminal yet due to the traffic.) So then, she started scooting her way past everyone to the front and finally was able to get off the bus. I really hope she didn't ask for her money back.
This experience made me start thinking of some of my other more random bus riding experiences. The top two:
1) One afternoon on the way home at the 5th and Willow stop (about the fifth stop), the bus driver tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't open. He tried and tried, but they still wouldn't open. So there we were, stuck on the bus. (Ironically, this stop was right in front of Thurman's old after school care place and I was supposed to be picking him up.) One of the passengers got very upset and broke the 'emergency only' glass box on the bus, which didn't really help anything. Eventually another bus pulled up and the driver gave our driver some hints of things to try and finally we got off the bus.
2) One morning the bus I was on tried to turn from Clinton onto 12th, but a car had parked to close to the curb and the bus didn't have enough turning radius and ended up getting stuck. It was pretty early in the morning, and there were only about 15 of us on the bus. Finally, we all got off the bus and walked up about 3 blocks to the next bus stop (the second to last one before the tunnel) to wait for the next bus to come along. We had just missed a bus, and stood there waiting. All of a sudden a bus came speeding up and I was shocked to see that no-one was on it. As we climbed on, people began to laugh - it was our same bus driver and same bus. He'd managed to get free and hurried over to get us again.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Summer ... here today, gone tomorrow
I feel like the summer is just slipping away. It doesn't help that school is starting early this year (at least for Nico) completely screwing up my great plans for that last week before school...including sleeping in and lazing about the house with the kids.
Highlights of the summer so far:
Things to look forward to still:
Highlights of the summer so far:
- The first of many family reunion on my side of the family: Bylund Bash 2009 was a great time! We stayed in cabins at a campground in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. All 22 members of the family were there. The cousins had a great time together. My children felt particularly empowered with the ability they had to walk out the front door of our cabin and go over to see Nana, Opa or any one of their aunts, uncles or cousins. Thurman in particular enjoyed staying up late playing games with the adults.
- Sports camps galore: Both Thurman and Nico have been attending summer camps with sports themes. If you know these boys, you know they love sports! Sports covered so far include basketball, baseball, soccer, and track and field.
- Visits from family: We have been visited by Greg's parents, my sister Michelle and her family, and my cousin Scott and his wife Kristi. We invested in a new self-inflating air mattress, and are all set to host those who want to visit Hoboken. If you'd like, we'll even take you to the Malibu Diner, where all the FBI sting operations went down.
- The big inflatable slide at the St. Ann's Festival: A recent thrill in our sons' lives has been going down this huge slide at a local festival. We've visited a couple of times, and both times have included flipping and laughing and rolling down the slide (them, not us).
Things to look forward to still:
- My 20-year class reunion in Columbia, Missouri, with a short vacation in St. Louis before and Illinois afterwards.
- Hopefully seeing our corrupt mayor resign.
- A trip to the beach.
- A visit from my sister Emily.
- Celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Conversation with Nicholas
--Hoboken, NJ, Bedtime, Thursday, May 28, 2009
Me: How about I will go to your school tomorrow, and you can go to my work for me? Please?
Nico: That's silly. Mommies and Daddies go to work. Children go to school.
Me: But what about when you grow up? Are you going to be a daddy and go to work?
Nico: (long pause as he looks around, clearly pondering)....No, I'm just going to stay in bed and sleep all day.
(much laughter by me and Greg)
Me: But how will you earn money for food?
Nico: I'll just order it.
Me: How about I will go to your school tomorrow, and you can go to my work for me? Please?
Nico: That's silly. Mommies and Daddies go to work. Children go to school.
Me: But what about when you grow up? Are you going to be a daddy and go to work?
Nico: (long pause as he looks around, clearly pondering)....No, I'm just going to stay in bed and sleep all day.
(much laughter by me and Greg)
Me: But how will you earn money for food?
Nico: I'll just order it.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Five Years on the East Coast
This month marks our five-year anniversary of moving to the East Coast. Since we moved to NYC in 2004, here are a few descriptive statistics to summarize our life:
3- The number of different physical dwellings we have lived in.
3- The number of schools Thurman has attended
3- The number of different cars we've owned/leased
3- The number of different jobs Greg has had. (He likes the current one best.)
2- The number of different jobs I have had. (Ditto.)
2- The number of different cities we have lived in (unless you count North Hoboken and South Hoboken separately).
1- The number of children we have added to our family.
1- The number of neighbors we have driven away (well, it was a couple but they lived in the same apartment - next door to us).
0- The number of World Series the Mets have won.
5,472 - The number of times I've cursed New Jersey drivers.
3,212 - The number of times we've wished we had a backyard.
2,723 - The number of times I've cursed double parking, particularly in front of Biggie's.
737 - The number of days I've cursed the New Jersey Transit Bus System. Hopefully it is clear that I am using the term "cursed" loosely...
500 - The number of days Thurman has eaten a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch since starting kindergarten (this is no joke).
We have also set some new records for our family:
1. We have now lived in 312 Madison #5C for two full years. This is longer than we have ever lived in the same physical dwelling during our almost 10 years of marriage. Good thing the real estate market crashed after we bought our place, or we might not have made it.
2. We have now lived in Hoboken for 4 years, nearly Nico's entire life. This is longer than we have ever lived in any city.
3. I have now been at my job for 3 years, 8 months. This is longer than I have ever stayed at a job.
You get the point...We seem to have found some stability and consistency in our life, at least relatively speaking. But, someone in this family (Greg) is having a hard time dealing with this and keeps posting FB statuses about 'looking for change' and 'waiting for the next change.' I've tried explaining to him that perhaps the change is that there is no change.
3- The number of different physical dwellings we have lived in.
3- The number of schools Thurman has attended
3- The number of different cars we've owned/leased
3- The number of different jobs Greg has had. (He likes the current one best.)
2- The number of different jobs I have had. (Ditto.)
2- The number of different cities we have lived in (unless you count North Hoboken and South Hoboken separately).
1- The number of children we have added to our family.
1- The number of neighbors we have driven away (well, it was a couple but they lived in the same apartment - next door to us).
0- The number of World Series the Mets have won.
5,472 - The number of times I've cursed New Jersey drivers.
3,212 - The number of times we've wished we had a backyard.
2,723 - The number of times I've cursed double parking, particularly in front of Biggie's.
737 - The number of days I've cursed the New Jersey Transit Bus System. Hopefully it is clear that I am using the term "cursed" loosely...
500 - The number of days Thurman has eaten a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch since starting kindergarten (this is no joke).
We have also set some new records for our family:
1. We have now lived in 312 Madison #5C for two full years. This is longer than we have ever lived in the same physical dwelling during our almost 10 years of marriage. Good thing the real estate market crashed after we bought our place, or we might not have made it.
2. We have now lived in Hoboken for 4 years, nearly Nico's entire life. This is longer than we have ever lived in any city.
3. I have now been at my job for 3 years, 8 months. This is longer than I have ever stayed at a job.
You get the point...We seem to have found some stability and consistency in our life, at least relatively speaking. But, someone in this family (Greg) is having a hard time dealing with this and keeps posting FB statuses about 'looking for change' and 'waiting for the next change.' I've tried explaining to him that perhaps the change is that there is no change.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Happy Birthday Nicholas!
Here is Nicholas 2 days old. Look at those cheeks! Who knew that dark hair would turn into his curly blond hair of today!
Here is Nico at 1 year old. Looking around the playground, making plans for what he will do as soon as he can RUN!!! We have no classic "1 year old attack the cake picture" because the poor kid was allergic to dairy ... instead he ate sausage for his birthday at IHOP. (But he really really liked sausage).
Here is our 2 year old boy. What a charmer!!
Here is the 3-year old birthday boy!
Disney World in December...
Yesterday at his friend Kiera's birthday party. He got to be a pirate and had a smashing time!!Happy Birthday to my little baby!!
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