Ack!! More snow is due tonight and tomorrow. Haven't we had enough already??? The last two storms, back to back, were killer (and yes, this was in addition to that huge storm from December that messed up our travel plans).
We still have piles and piles of snow in the streets, in our driveway, on our roof, in parking lots. We saw this absolutely huge pile of snow in the Acme shopping parking lot, took up probably at least twenty parking spots. Parking at my train station lost about 20 spots (which means I have to get up extra early to make sure I get a spot).
They say that this is the second biggest winter Philly has ever had (at least since records were kept). It could even become the biggest, if we keep getting these big storms. These last three snow big snow storms were three of the top 6 storms Philly has gotten ever, and we got all three in one year! Usually Philly just gets one big storm a year (and by big, I mean between 6-12 inches). So far, Philly has recorded over 72 inches of snow this winter. The upcoming storm is predicted to drop another 6-12 inches.
In general, I like snow. I didn't grow up with it, so I still love watching it fall. I love playing in it. I love taking snow days off of work. The problem, however, is shoveling the stuff out of the driveways and dealing with the kids. When the kids are older, it won't be as much of a problem, but right now its hard. Elise is just a little too small to really play around and enjoy it, she can't keep her mittens on, she can't walk in it when its deep.
The other problem is school snow days. I don't mind the school being closed when its really snowing, or even the day after a big storm that went all night. We didn't get dug out of the second storm two weeks ago until after noon. But that was Thursday. We had been home for two days now and so on Friday, when most of the digging out had occurred, the streets were driveable, the weather nice, I had to go to work. So did Stef.
However, our daycare was closed because the school district was closed. The school didn't want to heat up the building for one day, when it was going to be closed again for three more days because of President's Day holiday. My babysitter was unavailable because she was still only two weeks removed from brain surgery, and would be out of commission for at least another month. Her two older daughters also had been home for two days and had to go work on Friday to make up for the time off. Basically, everyone had to work except teachers. So I had no choice, I had to bring my kids to work with me. Stef, who had missed client meetings for two days, was going to be out all day meeting with said missing clients.
Going to work was awful. I should have just driven and parked in the city, forking over $28.00, but our tax refund still hadn't come in and we had just shelled out $100 to get our driveway and sidewalks snow-blowed and cars dug out (yeah, we got hosed, we might buy our own snow-blower, but they are $900). So I was feeling cheap and decided to just take the train in, since the kids ride for free. What a mess. Instead of a train every 5-10 minutes, it was one train every 30 minutes and they were absolutely packed (because everyone had to work after being home for two days). We waited at least 25 minutes in the cold for a train and only made it on because two other people got off when they saw I had kids. It was brutal standing the entire time. When we got to the train station, for some reason, only one door on the train opened, I got pushed and fell, catching my leg between the platform and the train. Nice big bruise on my leg.
Finally got to work, and of course, after being cooped up for two days, the kids were not too quiet. I tried to keep them as quiet as possible, with DVDs and crayons, but they still wanted to run around too much. I had hoped to go home early, but I had a lot to do at the office that I couldn't do at home, so it took almost a full work day to get everything done. I know my bosses were not happy I had the kids with me, but I didn't have much choice. Totally unusual circumstances all around. One can only hope we don't have to go through it again.
The next storm is scheduled to hit sometime tonight. I expect tomorrow to be yet another 'snow day.' I'll bring home what work I can. Hopefully the storm will end early enough that it won't mess Friday up too, but frankly, I anticipate that it might be a very long weekend. After that last week with two storms, I'm really ready for spring to come.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ode to Reading
One of my favorite authors died on Sunday, Dick Francis. Francis was a steeplechase racer in England, who after retirement wrote mystery novels. I was first turned onto his novels when I did a semester of law school in London, England. A college friend of mine was visiting London with her family and she was a big fan of his books. Turns out, he was going to be in London signing his latest book, but she was going to miss it. So she asked if I would pick up her signed book and bring it home with me (definitely cheaper than shipping). I did so, but being a mystery book lover, naturally I read it first.
I was hooked. The first novel I read, The Edge, involved a transcontinental train ride of racing horses across Canada. All of his novels involved something to do with racing, plus usually one other subject, like painting, trains, photography, art, wine, banking. That's what made his novels so enjoyable, he thoroughly researched the second subject of his novels so that I always learned something new.
I read The Edge while I was about half-way through the school semester. I spent the remaining couple of months scouring used book stores in London picking up a bunch more paperback Dick Francis novels. There were quite a few. Once I got home, I began to buy his books each year as they came out. I always looked forward to the next novel, since it combined two of my favorite topics, horses and mysteries.
I understand that the majority of the novels were actually co-written (or at least co-researched) with Francis' wife. When she died in 2000 the novels stopped for several years. I heard that he was no longer writing. However, in 2006, the novels started again when Francis' son, Felix joined in. The books were a bit different, but still good. Unfortunately, Francis' health continued to deteriorate, so there was only a couple more books, and it is entirely likely that Felix wrote the majority of the text, following the "Francis' formula." I anticipate that Felix may continue to write more books, hoping for his father's following (like Frank Herbert's son has done with Dune - with mixed results, imo).
Francis is one of the few authors that I will buy books. These days, I tend to just borrow books from the library. Its cheaper and takes up less space. I've thought of getting a Kindle, but while that solves the space problem (I already have four very full book cases), libraries are still cheaper than Kindle books at $10 a pop. Plus, I know that if I buy a book, I have something tangible, whereas I'm still wary of losing downloaded information with a computer glitch (which is why I still prefer to buy CDs over MP3s and print my photos, even if I also keep back up copies on disc). If I do break down to buy a Kindle (or similar), it will likely be because its smaller and easier to carry than a book.
But for authors that I really love, I'll buy the books. These days, that includes PD James and Martha Grimes (also discovered during my time in London), Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Laurell K. Hamilton. I've also been a fan of Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" series, but reviews of her last book in 2007 suggest that she's not writing them anymore (she is 97 afterall). I used to buy John Grisham, but his last several fiction books weren't all that great, so I've just been renting them from the library.
I had a few science fiction/fantasy authors I followed religiously as well, but they too are waning: David Eddings (died), Melanie Rawn (ill with cancer), Anne McCaffery (now taken over by son Todd). Katheryn Kurtz and Harry Turtledove are still writing, but I've not read many of their recent books. To be honest, I think the science fiction/fantasy genre is starting to get really played out, a lot of recycling of the same old plot lines and ideas. To be sure, Kurtz and Turtledove's recent books (or at least the summaries of them) sound very much like rewrites of their older books, just with some new names, which is why I haven't sought them out recently.
All of my favorite authors are aging and frankly, there's not really much new out there that's of interest to me, at least in fiction. I've actually started reading more non-fiction books lately, though, as I said above, mostly library rentals. My co-workers have started an in-office library, so I'll try out some of the books there, see if anything or any one interests me like before.
Its just as well I have less books to read because I have less time in which to read them. Most of my reading time is on the train home from work (riding to work, I read the newspaper). Once I'm home, I don't have too much free time, between fixing meals, cleaning up, spending time with the kids. The hour or two I have after putting the kids to bed, I tend to catch up on shows I've recorded on the DVR. I don't even read during commercials these days, I fast forward through them. Usually the only time I spend an entire evening reading a book is when the library due date is quickly approaching, or I'm on vacation.
I do want to keep reading and I hope that my kids pick up the reading bug like I did. I had hoped to give my old Nancy Drew books to my girls when they are old enough, but unfortunately, my collection (1-55) somehow disappeared through my various moves in California and never made it to Pennsylvania. I guess we'll just have to track down copies of the books, either used or at libraries. I do still have my old Piers Anthony books, plus the Harry Potter books, which I hope they will like. My love of books means I am never board. Once the girls learn to read, I'm hoping it will be the same for them.
I was hooked. The first novel I read, The Edge, involved a transcontinental train ride of racing horses across Canada. All of his novels involved something to do with racing, plus usually one other subject, like painting, trains, photography, art, wine, banking. That's what made his novels so enjoyable, he thoroughly researched the second subject of his novels so that I always learned something new.
I read The Edge while I was about half-way through the school semester. I spent the remaining couple of months scouring used book stores in London picking up a bunch more paperback Dick Francis novels. There were quite a few. Once I got home, I began to buy his books each year as they came out. I always looked forward to the next novel, since it combined two of my favorite topics, horses and mysteries.
I understand that the majority of the novels were actually co-written (or at least co-researched) with Francis' wife. When she died in 2000 the novels stopped for several years. I heard that he was no longer writing. However, in 2006, the novels started again when Francis' son, Felix joined in. The books were a bit different, but still good. Unfortunately, Francis' health continued to deteriorate, so there was only a couple more books, and it is entirely likely that Felix wrote the majority of the text, following the "Francis' formula." I anticipate that Felix may continue to write more books, hoping for his father's following (like Frank Herbert's son has done with Dune - with mixed results, imo).
Francis is one of the few authors that I will buy books. These days, I tend to just borrow books from the library. Its cheaper and takes up less space. I've thought of getting a Kindle, but while that solves the space problem (I already have four very full book cases), libraries are still cheaper than Kindle books at $10 a pop. Plus, I know that if I buy a book, I have something tangible, whereas I'm still wary of losing downloaded information with a computer glitch (which is why I still prefer to buy CDs over MP3s and print my photos, even if I also keep back up copies on disc). If I do break down to buy a Kindle (or similar), it will likely be because its smaller and easier to carry than a book.
But for authors that I really love, I'll buy the books. These days, that includes PD James and Martha Grimes (also discovered during my time in London), Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Laurell K. Hamilton. I've also been a fan of Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" series, but reviews of her last book in 2007 suggest that she's not writing them anymore (she is 97 afterall). I used to buy John Grisham, but his last several fiction books weren't all that great, so I've just been renting them from the library.
I had a few science fiction/fantasy authors I followed religiously as well, but they too are waning: David Eddings (died), Melanie Rawn (ill with cancer), Anne McCaffery (now taken over by son Todd). Katheryn Kurtz and Harry Turtledove are still writing, but I've not read many of their recent books. To be honest, I think the science fiction/fantasy genre is starting to get really played out, a lot of recycling of the same old plot lines and ideas. To be sure, Kurtz and Turtledove's recent books (or at least the summaries of them) sound very much like rewrites of their older books, just with some new names, which is why I haven't sought them out recently.
All of my favorite authors are aging and frankly, there's not really much new out there that's of interest to me, at least in fiction. I've actually started reading more non-fiction books lately, though, as I said above, mostly library rentals. My co-workers have started an in-office library, so I'll try out some of the books there, see if anything or any one interests me like before.
Its just as well I have less books to read because I have less time in which to read them. Most of my reading time is on the train home from work (riding to work, I read the newspaper). Once I'm home, I don't have too much free time, between fixing meals, cleaning up, spending time with the kids. The hour or two I have after putting the kids to bed, I tend to catch up on shows I've recorded on the DVR. I don't even read during commercials these days, I fast forward through them. Usually the only time I spend an entire evening reading a book is when the library due date is quickly approaching, or I'm on vacation.
I do want to keep reading and I hope that my kids pick up the reading bug like I did. I had hoped to give my old Nancy Drew books to my girls when they are old enough, but unfortunately, my collection (1-55) somehow disappeared through my various moves in California and never made it to Pennsylvania. I guess we'll just have to track down copies of the books, either used or at libraries. I do still have my old Piers Anthony books, plus the Harry Potter books, which I hope they will like. My love of books means I am never board. Once the girls learn to read, I'm hoping it will be the same for them.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Turbo Thermo
Another one of my rare rave posts, yay! See, I don't complain all the time.
This is a rave over a kitchen appliance that my French mother in law owns. Its called a Thermomix and its absolutely wonderful. Its an appliance about the size of a food processor or a mixer. What it is, though, is a food processor, a mixer, a blender, a bread maker, a steamer, a sauce maker, all in one. It takes the place of all of these appliances and then some.
What's wonderful about it is that it will stir your soup, sauce, mashed potatoes (after you simply slice in the potatoes, and add butter and milk) while it cooks them, so you don't have to. Instead of having to hover over a saucepan constantly stirring the hot cocoa, soup or sauce, or cooking the potatoes then mashing/mixing them yourself, the Thermomix does it all for you. It stirs and cooks at the same time. It doesn't have to cook, so you can still use it to mix cookie dough or cake mix. The latest model has a steamer attachment on the top, so you can cook your veggies or fish at the same time the sauce is cooking below. This saves you from having to "time" things just right to have the sauce done when the veggies are done.
Its a very versatile machine that won't take up all of your counter space. Sounds wonderful. There's one problem, however. Its not that the machine isn't sold in the US. One can order it from Canada with a US power cord/adapter. One does wonder why such a wonderful machine is generally only available in Europe and Canada. Well, I'm pretty sure there's one reason. Cost. The Thermomix is quite expensive. Not just a few hundred dollars, but in fact $1,400. Eeouch!
I was totally in shock when I heard that my mother in law spent 900 Euros for her Thermomix. Its really hard to see how its worth it. Definitely wonderful machine, and takes the place of several other appliances, but really, how much is that worth? A food processor, mixer, blender, steamer, altogether cost what $500 for top of the line items? Maybe $700. That's still another $700 for the convenience of having them all in one, plus being able to cook at the same time.
Still, someday I'd love to have one. Certainly won't be any time soon at that price. Unless it comes to the US massproduction, the price probably won't ever go down. Someday, I just hope to have more discretionary funds.
Here are some links to check it out.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124112844457074685.html
http://www.thermomixcanada.ca/en/
This is a rave over a kitchen appliance that my French mother in law owns. Its called a Thermomix and its absolutely wonderful. Its an appliance about the size of a food processor or a mixer. What it is, though, is a food processor, a mixer, a blender, a bread maker, a steamer, a sauce maker, all in one. It takes the place of all of these appliances and then some.
What's wonderful about it is that it will stir your soup, sauce, mashed potatoes (after you simply slice in the potatoes, and add butter and milk) while it cooks them, so you don't have to. Instead of having to hover over a saucepan constantly stirring the hot cocoa, soup or sauce, or cooking the potatoes then mashing/mixing them yourself, the Thermomix does it all for you. It stirs and cooks at the same time. It doesn't have to cook, so you can still use it to mix cookie dough or cake mix. The latest model has a steamer attachment on the top, so you can cook your veggies or fish at the same time the sauce is cooking below. This saves you from having to "time" things just right to have the sauce done when the veggies are done.
Its a very versatile machine that won't take up all of your counter space. Sounds wonderful. There's one problem, however. Its not that the machine isn't sold in the US. One can order it from Canada with a US power cord/adapter. One does wonder why such a wonderful machine is generally only available in Europe and Canada. Well, I'm pretty sure there's one reason. Cost. The Thermomix is quite expensive. Not just a few hundred dollars, but in fact $1,400. Eeouch!
I was totally in shock when I heard that my mother in law spent 900 Euros for her Thermomix. Its really hard to see how its worth it. Definitely wonderful machine, and takes the place of several other appliances, but really, how much is that worth? A food processor, mixer, blender, steamer, altogether cost what $500 for top of the line items? Maybe $700. That's still another $700 for the convenience of having them all in one, plus being able to cook at the same time.
Still, someday I'd love to have one. Certainly won't be any time soon at that price. Unless it comes to the US massproduction, the price probably won't ever go down. Someday, I just hope to have more discretionary funds.
Here are some links to check it out.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124112844457074685.html
http://www.thermomixcanada.ca/en/
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Associate, pt. 2
Last month, I posted my rant about the beginning of a Grisham book, The Associate, regarding how stupid the plot set up was made. How some guy is somehow convinced that he was going to be charged and convicted of rape when he, as a drunk fratboy, was passed out asleep and couldn't even be seen on a video recording of the alleged rape committed by two other drunk fratboys of a drunk frat groupie, who had previously slept with pretty much everyone in the frat. This guy, a supposedly very bright law student, whose own father is a 'scrappy-type' lawyer, would be convinced of this, and not tell anyone who could conceivably give him proper legal advice, was incredulous.
I had hoped that the resolution of the plot line would improve. My hopes were in vain. The rest of the book sucked as much as the beginning. Definitely Grisham's worst piece of fiction. The remaining characters had no development or background, they are just made as "filler" to the story. A significant amount of time is devoted to one of the alleged frat boy rapists, and then that character is disposed of "off-screen." We aren't even provided with the opportunity to read the details of his pivotal conversation and last day.
The protagonist engages in a relationship with another woman, who is merely a cardboard cutout for all the character development she is given. She too is disposed of rather "off-screen" such that we have no interest or reason to care why she left the "big law" firm.
Resolution of the rapist plot line is ridiculous. We're led to believe that the victim involved, who supposedly is all concerned with justice and having her name cleared, was naturally, only interested in the money settlement. When the failed blackmail is all over and the protagonist leaves the firm, there's no repercussions (although he technically did nothing actually wrong to the firm). We are not told if the video is ever released, if the other alleged rapist ever has issues about it with his family. All we're told that now all of a sudden, the protagonist doesn't care if the video is released on youtube, because it would only show him as a drunk fratboy, like millions of other drunk fratboys. Why would blackmail work in the first place if the protagonist was only worried about the victim seeing the video to cry rape again, and she was clearly willing to settle for money? Just call the blackmailer's bluff, let him post the video, then settle with the victim. Pretty much the same result, just no book for Grisham.
And the end is completely unresolved. Once the bluff is called and the protagonist tries to capture the blackmailer to charge him, the guy escapes with no explanation as to how he does so, or how he learned of the capture attempt. There's a vague suggestion that someone else in the firm is also a spy for the blackmailer, but no development is given to this suggestion, no attempts made to find him/her, no investigation. We are never told who the blackmailer was, or for whom he was working. In that respect, it almost seems like this book was the first half of a story and the second half will be in another book. I'm not sure I'll read it.
I had hoped that the resolution of the plot line would improve. My hopes were in vain. The rest of the book sucked as much as the beginning. Definitely Grisham's worst piece of fiction. The remaining characters had no development or background, they are just made as "filler" to the story. A significant amount of time is devoted to one of the alleged frat boy rapists, and then that character is disposed of "off-screen." We aren't even provided with the opportunity to read the details of his pivotal conversation and last day.
The protagonist engages in a relationship with another woman, who is merely a cardboard cutout for all the character development she is given. She too is disposed of rather "off-screen" such that we have no interest or reason to care why she left the "big law" firm.
Resolution of the rapist plot line is ridiculous. We're led to believe that the victim involved, who supposedly is all concerned with justice and having her name cleared, was naturally, only interested in the money settlement. When the failed blackmail is all over and the protagonist leaves the firm, there's no repercussions (although he technically did nothing actually wrong to the firm). We are not told if the video is ever released, if the other alleged rapist ever has issues about it with his family. All we're told that now all of a sudden, the protagonist doesn't care if the video is released on youtube, because it would only show him as a drunk fratboy, like millions of other drunk fratboys. Why would blackmail work in the first place if the protagonist was only worried about the victim seeing the video to cry rape again, and she was clearly willing to settle for money? Just call the blackmailer's bluff, let him post the video, then settle with the victim. Pretty much the same result, just no book for Grisham.
And the end is completely unresolved. Once the bluff is called and the protagonist tries to capture the blackmailer to charge him, the guy escapes with no explanation as to how he does so, or how he learned of the capture attempt. There's a vague suggestion that someone else in the firm is also a spy for the blackmailer, but no development is given to this suggestion, no attempts made to find him/her, no investigation. We are never told who the blackmailer was, or for whom he was working. In that respect, it almost seems like this book was the first half of a story and the second half will be in another book. I'm not sure I'll read it.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Coming Home
Ok, so here's part two to my airline rant.
It starts out ok. We get to the Marseilles airport and checked in for our flight to Amsterdam. We're on a KLM/Air France flight. All goes pretty well, no real complaints.
We arrive in Amsterdam. My first issue was with airport layout. I know this isn't really the fault of the airline, but rather the airport. Trying to find information about our connecting flight to Philly was nearly impossible. We had to walk a significant distance before we finally found information as to where we had to go to check in for the connection. As it turned out, our two gates could not have been further apart. We literally walked the entire length of the Amsterdam Airport, I'd say it had to have been close to a mile.
While we were walking, I was trying to keep an eye out for this "Children's Corner" which we were told by a friend was supposed to be a real great place to hang out with one's kids while waiting for your flight. I was told there were signs for the place, but I never saw one on our long walk. I did grab a map, which seemed to indicate there were several of these "Children's Corners" which was a bit confusing, but I never saw any actual signs in the airport.
We finally get to the place to check in for our flight to Philly, and after waiting in line a while (because naturally US Airways had only one check in person), we're told the flight will be 3 hours delayed because it was coming in late. So now, instead of arriving in Philly at 3:30, we were not scheduled to arrive until 5:30 or possibly even 6 pm. Not happy, especially hubby, who was going to work the next day (I took it off, since I knew I'd have to unpack, do laundry and grocery shop).
At least this time, however, we got food vouchers, 15 Euros each. Good thing, since the food in the airport was quite expensive. We used two for lunch and I used the other two to buy a lot of snacks for the plane (which ended up being quite a good idea). With now 5-6 hours of wait time ahead of us, we went in search of food and the elusive Children's Corner. We walked, and walked, and walked, and hunted, and hunted and hunted. Could not find the place. We asked several airport employees. No one knew where it was, even after looking at the map. The only one we found easily was this very small play area at a McDonalds, which clearly wasn't what our friends had described.
Finally, when we were close to giving up, we found the place. It was smaller than I had been led to believe, but it did have stuff for the kids to climb on and slide down. It wasn't really meant for kids younger than 4, since none of the ladders were conducive to young kids. I had to supervise and help Elise quite closely to make sure she didn't fall when she wanted to climb up to go down a slide. The kids played around for a bit, but there were quite a few kids and it got to be too many and my kids were clearly hungry and tired and started crying. So we left and got lunch at McDonalds. I really wanted to eat somewhere else, we can get McD's anytime, but it was easy since there wasn't really a lot of other options for sit down eating places where we could have kids (and not totally annoy other people). Good thing we had the vouchers, I would have choked to paying 7 Euros for a Big Mac, Fried and Coke (costing roughly $11.00 US).
We head over to the airplane gate and go through the "extra" security for flying back to the US. There was even more due to the terrorist that flew from Amstersdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. They not only ran us and our carry-ons through the x-ray, but patted us down and unpacked our carry-ons completely (which made a mess of some of the stuff I had packed).
Then we're led into this walled off waiting area to sit for at least another hour. What annoyed me most was that even though there was a restroom in the area, it had no baby changing area. So I had to change Elise's diaper on floor. Clue to airport people. If you are going to force people into a separate area to wait for a plane for an extended amount of time, give them full amenities.
The plane finally arrives for us to board and we get on. Unlike our flight to Europe, this time we were separated 2 and 2. I took Elise, hubby took Camille. We were several rows apart. Both Cami and Elise sacked out pretty quickly. It was good that Elise slept through dinner because even though we had ordered special kids meals, only Cami got hers. The flight attendant held up the kids meals shouting "kids meals!" and while Cami got hers, who knows who got the other one, likely some enterprising parent. All I know is that when I got the flight attendant's attention, she said she had no more kids meals and Elise would have to eat the regular meal. Since she was still sleeping, I just told them to hold it.
Unfortunately, I also had no such option. I had ordered special 'low cal' meals for hubby and I, but again the flight attendant didn't know anything about those, so we had to eat the regular meals. I usually don't mind too much, although overall airplane meals have gone down in quality, but these were the absolute worst. Half the meal was still frozen, the other half overcooked. It was gross. As I said above, good thing I bought lots of snacks.
Oh, and as per usual, it seems that whenever we fly back from Europe, we get the crappy airplane with the overhead movie screens, rather than the individual screens. Always annoying since I'm usually sleeping on the flight to Europe, but wide awake on the flight home. The weren't playing any good movies, so I skipped buying the headphones and just read my book and listened to my ipod. Just as well, since Elise woke up half-way through the second movie and once she was awake, I had to give her my full attention.
My other gripe about the airplane is the usual. We were in a 3 seat row (and I still don't understand why we couldn't get our seats closer together), with Elise and I having a window/middle seat. I have the worst luck on airplanes, especially being a larger than average person. Naturally, the person behind me kneed me the entire flight (and twice actually stuck his feet between the seats), the person in front of me reclined his seat fully, and the person next to me was also larger than normal, forcing me to take up half of Elise's seat to have any measure of comfort, which was slim. Once Elise was awake, it was terrible trying to keep her in line, while being squished and bumped on nearly all sides. It was especially hard when we got extra turbulance and I had to force Elise to sit in her seat with the seat belt on. She kept wanting to stand up and watch the 20-something behind me make funny faces. Said 20-something also yakked yakked yakked the whole flight (which at least I didn't have to listen to when I had my ipod on).
At least the flight went faster than planned, so we landed just before 5:00 p.m. Got through immigration quickly and even got our luggage fast. So at least we got home safely, which means it was a good flight, even if it was probably the worst I've ever been on.
It starts out ok. We get to the Marseilles airport and checked in for our flight to Amsterdam. We're on a KLM/Air France flight. All goes pretty well, no real complaints.
We arrive in Amsterdam. My first issue was with airport layout. I know this isn't really the fault of the airline, but rather the airport. Trying to find information about our connecting flight to Philly was nearly impossible. We had to walk a significant distance before we finally found information as to where we had to go to check in for the connection. As it turned out, our two gates could not have been further apart. We literally walked the entire length of the Amsterdam Airport, I'd say it had to have been close to a mile.
While we were walking, I was trying to keep an eye out for this "Children's Corner" which we were told by a friend was supposed to be a real great place to hang out with one's kids while waiting for your flight. I was told there were signs for the place, but I never saw one on our long walk. I did grab a map, which seemed to indicate there were several of these "Children's Corners" which was a bit confusing, but I never saw any actual signs in the airport.
We finally get to the place to check in for our flight to Philly, and after waiting in line a while (because naturally US Airways had only one check in person), we're told the flight will be 3 hours delayed because it was coming in late. So now, instead of arriving in Philly at 3:30, we were not scheduled to arrive until 5:30 or possibly even 6 pm. Not happy, especially hubby, who was going to work the next day (I took it off, since I knew I'd have to unpack, do laundry and grocery shop).
At least this time, however, we got food vouchers, 15 Euros each. Good thing, since the food in the airport was quite expensive. We used two for lunch and I used the other two to buy a lot of snacks for the plane (which ended up being quite a good idea). With now 5-6 hours of wait time ahead of us, we went in search of food and the elusive Children's Corner. We walked, and walked, and walked, and hunted, and hunted and hunted. Could not find the place. We asked several airport employees. No one knew where it was, even after looking at the map. The only one we found easily was this very small play area at a McDonalds, which clearly wasn't what our friends had described.
Finally, when we were close to giving up, we found the place. It was smaller than I had been led to believe, but it did have stuff for the kids to climb on and slide down. It wasn't really meant for kids younger than 4, since none of the ladders were conducive to young kids. I had to supervise and help Elise quite closely to make sure she didn't fall when she wanted to climb up to go down a slide. The kids played around for a bit, but there were quite a few kids and it got to be too many and my kids were clearly hungry and tired and started crying. So we left and got lunch at McDonalds. I really wanted to eat somewhere else, we can get McD's anytime, but it was easy since there wasn't really a lot of other options for sit down eating places where we could have kids (and not totally annoy other people). Good thing we had the vouchers, I would have choked to paying 7 Euros for a Big Mac, Fried and Coke (costing roughly $11.00 US).
We head over to the airplane gate and go through the "extra" security for flying back to the US. There was even more due to the terrorist that flew from Amstersdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. They not only ran us and our carry-ons through the x-ray, but patted us down and unpacked our carry-ons completely (which made a mess of some of the stuff I had packed).
Then we're led into this walled off waiting area to sit for at least another hour. What annoyed me most was that even though there was a restroom in the area, it had no baby changing area. So I had to change Elise's diaper on floor. Clue to airport people. If you are going to force people into a separate area to wait for a plane for an extended amount of time, give them full amenities.
The plane finally arrives for us to board and we get on. Unlike our flight to Europe, this time we were separated 2 and 2. I took Elise, hubby took Camille. We were several rows apart. Both Cami and Elise sacked out pretty quickly. It was good that Elise slept through dinner because even though we had ordered special kids meals, only Cami got hers. The flight attendant held up the kids meals shouting "kids meals!" and while Cami got hers, who knows who got the other one, likely some enterprising parent. All I know is that when I got the flight attendant's attention, she said she had no more kids meals and Elise would have to eat the regular meal. Since she was still sleeping, I just told them to hold it.
Unfortunately, I also had no such option. I had ordered special 'low cal' meals for hubby and I, but again the flight attendant didn't know anything about those, so we had to eat the regular meals. I usually don't mind too much, although overall airplane meals have gone down in quality, but these were the absolute worst. Half the meal was still frozen, the other half overcooked. It was gross. As I said above, good thing I bought lots of snacks.
Oh, and as per usual, it seems that whenever we fly back from Europe, we get the crappy airplane with the overhead movie screens, rather than the individual screens. Always annoying since I'm usually sleeping on the flight to Europe, but wide awake on the flight home. The weren't playing any good movies, so I skipped buying the headphones and just read my book and listened to my ipod. Just as well, since Elise woke up half-way through the second movie and once she was awake, I had to give her my full attention.
My other gripe about the airplane is the usual. We were in a 3 seat row (and I still don't understand why we couldn't get our seats closer together), with Elise and I having a window/middle seat. I have the worst luck on airplanes, especially being a larger than average person. Naturally, the person behind me kneed me the entire flight (and twice actually stuck his feet between the seats), the person in front of me reclined his seat fully, and the person next to me was also larger than normal, forcing me to take up half of Elise's seat to have any measure of comfort, which was slim. Once Elise was awake, it was terrible trying to keep her in line, while being squished and bumped on nearly all sides. It was especially hard when we got extra turbulance and I had to force Elise to sit in her seat with the seat belt on. She kept wanting to stand up and watch the 20-something behind me make funny faces. Said 20-something also yakked yakked yakked the whole flight (which at least I didn't have to listen to when I had my ipod on).
At least the flight went faster than planned, so we landed just before 5:00 p.m. Got through immigration quickly and even got our luggage fast. So at least we got home safely, which means it was a good flight, even if it was probably the worst I've ever been on.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Getting There
So, the first leg of our trip was getting from Philly to France (Marseilles was our airport). I'll preface this by explaining why we were on US Airways to begin with. Typically, we have taken European airlines to fly to France, usually either Lufthansa or Air France. When I first began to check ticket prices, everyone was about the same, which meant we'd do L or AF (since European airlines give far better service, more inclusive in the price). However, due to economic factors, my husband couldn't confirm his time off for Christmas right away. In fact, even when I did finally buy the tickets (because seriously, we had waited far to long, imo) he still hadn't confirmed his time off, but I told him that fine, we'd visit his family without him. He did finally kinda-sorta get the time off (at least no one complained). By the time I finally bought the tickets, the European airline prices had gone up and US Airways had gone down. By buying with US Airways, I saved nearly $1,000 over 4 tickets, so that was a no brainer.
We've never had problems flying to Europe. Its long and sometimes the flights are a little slow, but we've always had these long layovers in Europe (4-5 hours), so its never been a problem. Weather has also always been good, Philly usually has cold, but clear weather through the holidays, not getting snow until January, or even February. Unfortunately this year, was the exception. On the day of our flight, Saturday th 19th, the predicted 2-4 inch snow fall turned into a 22 inch snow blizzard.
Our flight to Amsterdam wasn't until 9:15 pm that night. All day long, we're checking the internet and despite so many other flights canceled, nearly all the night flights to Europe were listed as "on time." I called once in the morning, and was told the flight was going out. I tried again later in the afternoon, but was put on hold for more than 3 hours and never got through before it was time to leave for the airport. The computer still said the flight was leaving "on time."
So we pack up the car, the kids and get our neighbor (who was going to drive our minivan back home and pick us up in two weeks) and head out. We drive to the airport in a nice little snow storm. For the most part, it wasn't too bad, enough traffic on the roads to help keep them clear. When we got to the airport off-ramp, it was clear that hardly anyone was coming to the airport, the road was full of snow. Somehow we made it through to the terminal. I jump out of the minivan, go inside and ask a US Airways rep if the 9:15 Amsterdam flight was still going out. I was told yes, along with many other flights to Europe that night. So we unload the car and send our neighbor on his way.
We check in, get our boarding passes and go eat dinner. We then get to the gate and by 8:00 it still says we're going out "out time." We're supposed to start boarding at 8:30 and when nothing happens, I get worried. I walk up to the gate counter and sure enough, as I get there, they make the announcement that the flight has been canceled. Apparently, they had "hoped" the weather would improve, but it didn't. Now I'm pissed. All day long, the weather has been terrible and they've been canceling flights. Did they seriously think that the weather would improve at night? It never improves at night. I was seriously mad that they could have reasonably believed the flight was going out.
We have no choice but to rebook the flight. Of course, by this time, so many other people who had previously canceled flights had already rebooked, so there was very little left. In fact, the CSR initially told us that there was nothing before Christmas Eve, 5 days later. No way were we flying on Christmas Eve. I push, I bring my two young kids up, the CSR says well, I think I can do something earlier, but I "don't have the rights codes. I have to get a supervisor." Excuse me, there's a serious possibility of flight cancellations and no supervisor is around? He calls and calls and finally gets one. The supervisor rebooks us for the next day, a flight to Munich at 6:30 pm. that will have 'plenty of open seats' because the originating flight from Chicago earlier in the day is already canceled.
From Munich, we can then secure a 2 hour layover and a new flight to Marseilles, landing around 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday. We have to call the next day to get this Munich to Marseilles flight because its actually with a different airline than we had originally booked with (I can't recall if we originally were flying Air France to Marseilles or Lufthansa). At the moment, the CRS could only book us on the 7:30 p.m. Munich to Marseilles flight, which is with our original airline, but that's an 11 hour layover, so clearly we wanted the earlier flight.
So we're set for the new flight, but its now after 10:00 p.m. and there's no way I can call up my neighbor to come pick us up. It was hard enough driving with some daylight earlier in the snow storm, I can't ask him to drive at night in the snow storm. Naturally there's no help with hotel or food, no vouchers from the airline or the airport, despite their telling us, assuring us, we'd fly out that night. If we didn't have kids, hubby and I could have slept on the floor of the airport, but with the two kids, we thought it best to get a hotel room. So I get a list and start calling. I have to be careful, I can't call a super cheap hotel because we have no transportation to the hotel. Generally, only the more expensive hotels provide airport shuttle. I try some of the less expensive hotels, but they are all booked up. The only place I find is the Hilton at $200 a night.
We get to the hotel and sleep, well sortof at least. We have no jammies, the airline kept our bags, promising that they'd be rerouted to our new flight. So we sleep in our clothes. I did pack a change of clothes for the kids, in case they spilled something in the airplane, so they can change the next day. I also had a change of underwear, but nothing else. We get up the next day and head to the airport, having to check out by noon. So back at the airport to wait around another five hours and eat expensive airport food. Good thing I went to the bank before the flight (we already had Euros from hubby's parents' prior visits - which saved us exchange fees).
I called the airline about the Munich to Marseilles flight while still at the hotel. The CRS on the phone is all confused because he keeps saying our Philly to Munich flight was canceled. I keep having to tell him, no the Chicago to Philly originating flight is canceled, not the Philly to Munich extension (hubby is confirming this on his pda). Oh yes, he says, I see that now. It took several times to get him to figure that out. Finally he clears that up and works to rebook our Munich to Marseilles flight. Again there's there issue of a different airline being involved, so he has to ring off to work that out and call us back. Eventually that does work out, we're on the 10:30 am Munich to Marseilles flight.
We get to our gate and wait and wait and wait. Another flight is scheduled for our gate for 4:00 (it had already been delayed for 2 hours). That flight gets canceled because not enough flight crew showed up. Good sign there, those passengers are pissed. A flight to Miami gets scheduled for that gate, for 6:00 pm. I head up to the gate counter. How can our flight to Munich go out at 6:30 when there's a flight to Miami heading out at 6:00? Do we have a new gate or are we delayed? Sure enough, I'm told that we're still scheduled to go out on time at this gate. How can this be, can you check? No, there's no one I can call and check, I just go by what the computer says. Really, there's no one you can call? Nope. Great communication.
Sure enough, by 6:00 when the Miami flight leaves, we're suddenly told our flight is delayed to 8:30. They have to get our plane out of the hanger, to the gate, loaded up and then we can go. Our flight crew is already there (hooray!). I head up to the gate to say we're going to miss our connection. We get rebooked on the much later Munich to Marseilles flight (yes, we're looking at sitting around in the Munich airport for 8 hours if we actually land at 10:30). Any food vouchers for this delay? Of course not, because "its weather related." I don't believe this, because our plane is supposedly already at the airport, has been there all day. They could have gotten it out of the hanger and ready earlier. That's not weather delay, that's incompetency delay, which should be reimbursed.
Our flight continues to get delayed, now to 9:30 p.m. We're board crazy in the airport and still no offer of food vouchers. We spent 3 meals in the airport for 4 people, that's a lot of money. The kids are driving us nuts because they're board and tired (I packed a few extra toys for them, but one can only do so much with sitting around for 8 hours) Finally we board the plane at 9:30 and the pilot informs us that the reason we were delayed is because snow plowed off the runways was put in front of the hanger and so they had to dig out the hanger. So yeah, incompetency yet again. And does US Airways provide any sort of apology or compensation? Nope. Not even free headphones (pay up $5). We passed, since by this time, we're all tired and cranky, so we just sleep on the plane. The kids didn't even eat dinner, they sacked out almost immediately.
We finally land in Munich around noon local time, so we have 6-7 hours before our flight to Marseilles. At least Munich has a nice airport, they had a pretty Christmas village in their courtyard, some good German food places to eat and shops. We had to buy diapers because I was running out, even though I packed extra in the carry-on. We take our time eating and doing a little bit of shopping (the kids got some pretty music boxes). We get our new boarding passes and are told again that our bags are in Munich and going with us to Marseilles. We board on time, thankfully, and head out.
Our plane lands in Marseilles near 10:00 p.m. We get to the baggage claim area, and guess what? Of course, no bags. Yup, our bags went to Amsterdam from Philly on their earlier flight. They'll ship our bags down to Marseilles and deliver them to us over the next two days. So another two days with the same clothes. At least we're staying at the in-laws, so we can get them washed. We get there by midnight, have a super late dinner and head to bed.
One bag was delivered the next day, but the other two took another day. At least everything arrived, only one item was broken, but it was easily fixable with glue. Needless to say, US Airways did not make a good starting impression.
We've never had problems flying to Europe. Its long and sometimes the flights are a little slow, but we've always had these long layovers in Europe (4-5 hours), so its never been a problem. Weather has also always been good, Philly usually has cold, but clear weather through the holidays, not getting snow until January, or even February. Unfortunately this year, was the exception. On the day of our flight, Saturday th 19th, the predicted 2-4 inch snow fall turned into a 22 inch snow blizzard.
Our flight to Amsterdam wasn't until 9:15 pm that night. All day long, we're checking the internet and despite so many other flights canceled, nearly all the night flights to Europe were listed as "on time." I called once in the morning, and was told the flight was going out. I tried again later in the afternoon, but was put on hold for more than 3 hours and never got through before it was time to leave for the airport. The computer still said the flight was leaving "on time."
So we pack up the car, the kids and get our neighbor (who was going to drive our minivan back home and pick us up in two weeks) and head out. We drive to the airport in a nice little snow storm. For the most part, it wasn't too bad, enough traffic on the roads to help keep them clear. When we got to the airport off-ramp, it was clear that hardly anyone was coming to the airport, the road was full of snow. Somehow we made it through to the terminal. I jump out of the minivan, go inside and ask a US Airways rep if the 9:15 Amsterdam flight was still going out. I was told yes, along with many other flights to Europe that night. So we unload the car and send our neighbor on his way.
We check in, get our boarding passes and go eat dinner. We then get to the gate and by 8:00 it still says we're going out "out time." We're supposed to start boarding at 8:30 and when nothing happens, I get worried. I walk up to the gate counter and sure enough, as I get there, they make the announcement that the flight has been canceled. Apparently, they had "hoped" the weather would improve, but it didn't. Now I'm pissed. All day long, the weather has been terrible and they've been canceling flights. Did they seriously think that the weather would improve at night? It never improves at night. I was seriously mad that they could have reasonably believed the flight was going out.
We have no choice but to rebook the flight. Of course, by this time, so many other people who had previously canceled flights had already rebooked, so there was very little left. In fact, the CSR initially told us that there was nothing before Christmas Eve, 5 days later. No way were we flying on Christmas Eve. I push, I bring my two young kids up, the CSR says well, I think I can do something earlier, but I "don't have the rights codes. I have to get a supervisor." Excuse me, there's a serious possibility of flight cancellations and no supervisor is around? He calls and calls and finally gets one. The supervisor rebooks us for the next day, a flight to Munich at 6:30 pm. that will have 'plenty of open seats' because the originating flight from Chicago earlier in the day is already canceled.
From Munich, we can then secure a 2 hour layover and a new flight to Marseilles, landing around 12:30 p.m. local time on Monday. We have to call the next day to get this Munich to Marseilles flight because its actually with a different airline than we had originally booked with (I can't recall if we originally were flying Air France to Marseilles or Lufthansa). At the moment, the CRS could only book us on the 7:30 p.m. Munich to Marseilles flight, which is with our original airline, but that's an 11 hour layover, so clearly we wanted the earlier flight.
So we're set for the new flight, but its now after 10:00 p.m. and there's no way I can call up my neighbor to come pick us up. It was hard enough driving with some daylight earlier in the snow storm, I can't ask him to drive at night in the snow storm. Naturally there's no help with hotel or food, no vouchers from the airline or the airport, despite their telling us, assuring us, we'd fly out that night. If we didn't have kids, hubby and I could have slept on the floor of the airport, but with the two kids, we thought it best to get a hotel room. So I get a list and start calling. I have to be careful, I can't call a super cheap hotel because we have no transportation to the hotel. Generally, only the more expensive hotels provide airport shuttle. I try some of the less expensive hotels, but they are all booked up. The only place I find is the Hilton at $200 a night.
We get to the hotel and sleep, well sortof at least. We have no jammies, the airline kept our bags, promising that they'd be rerouted to our new flight. So we sleep in our clothes. I did pack a change of clothes for the kids, in case they spilled something in the airplane, so they can change the next day. I also had a change of underwear, but nothing else. We get up the next day and head to the airport, having to check out by noon. So back at the airport to wait around another five hours and eat expensive airport food. Good thing I went to the bank before the flight (we already had Euros from hubby's parents' prior visits - which saved us exchange fees).
I called the airline about the Munich to Marseilles flight while still at the hotel. The CRS on the phone is all confused because he keeps saying our Philly to Munich flight was canceled. I keep having to tell him, no the Chicago to Philly originating flight is canceled, not the Philly to Munich extension (hubby is confirming this on his pda). Oh yes, he says, I see that now. It took several times to get him to figure that out. Finally he clears that up and works to rebook our Munich to Marseilles flight. Again there's there issue of a different airline being involved, so he has to ring off to work that out and call us back. Eventually that does work out, we're on the 10:30 am Munich to Marseilles flight.
We get to our gate and wait and wait and wait. Another flight is scheduled for our gate for 4:00 (it had already been delayed for 2 hours). That flight gets canceled because not enough flight crew showed up. Good sign there, those passengers are pissed. A flight to Miami gets scheduled for that gate, for 6:00 pm. I head up to the gate counter. How can our flight to Munich go out at 6:30 when there's a flight to Miami heading out at 6:00? Do we have a new gate or are we delayed? Sure enough, I'm told that we're still scheduled to go out on time at this gate. How can this be, can you check? No, there's no one I can call and check, I just go by what the computer says. Really, there's no one you can call? Nope. Great communication.
Sure enough, by 6:00 when the Miami flight leaves, we're suddenly told our flight is delayed to 8:30. They have to get our plane out of the hanger, to the gate, loaded up and then we can go. Our flight crew is already there (hooray!). I head up to the gate to say we're going to miss our connection. We get rebooked on the much later Munich to Marseilles flight (yes, we're looking at sitting around in the Munich airport for 8 hours if we actually land at 10:30). Any food vouchers for this delay? Of course not, because "its weather related." I don't believe this, because our plane is supposedly already at the airport, has been there all day. They could have gotten it out of the hanger and ready earlier. That's not weather delay, that's incompetency delay, which should be reimbursed.
Our flight continues to get delayed, now to 9:30 p.m. We're board crazy in the airport and still no offer of food vouchers. We spent 3 meals in the airport for 4 people, that's a lot of money. The kids are driving us nuts because they're board and tired (I packed a few extra toys for them, but one can only do so much with sitting around for 8 hours) Finally we board the plane at 9:30 and the pilot informs us that the reason we were delayed is because snow plowed off the runways was put in front of the hanger and so they had to dig out the hanger. So yeah, incompetency yet again. And does US Airways provide any sort of apology or compensation? Nope. Not even free headphones (pay up $5). We passed, since by this time, we're all tired and cranky, so we just sleep on the plane. The kids didn't even eat dinner, they sacked out almost immediately.
We finally land in Munich around noon local time, so we have 6-7 hours before our flight to Marseilles. At least Munich has a nice airport, they had a pretty Christmas village in their courtyard, some good German food places to eat and shops. We had to buy diapers because I was running out, even though I packed extra in the carry-on. We take our time eating and doing a little bit of shopping (the kids got some pretty music boxes). We get our new boarding passes and are told again that our bags are in Munich and going with us to Marseilles. We board on time, thankfully, and head out.
Our plane lands in Marseilles near 10:00 p.m. We get to the baggage claim area, and guess what? Of course, no bags. Yup, our bags went to Amsterdam from Philly on their earlier flight. They'll ship our bags down to Marseilles and deliver them to us over the next two days. So another two days with the same clothes. At least we're staying at the in-laws, so we can get them washed. We get there by midnight, have a super late dinner and head to bed.
One bag was delivered the next day, but the other two took another day. At least everything arrived, only one item was broken, but it was easily fixable with glue. Needless to say, US Airways did not make a good starting impression.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Unfriendly Skies
Well, after our latest trip to France, I've about written off US Airways as an airline of choice, to the extent there is much of that anymore with code sharing anyway. I've certainly decided that while flying used to be a pleasure, something I looked forward to, now I endure it with gritted teeth. Seriously, the person who invents the teleporter will be someone who has to fly (and economy at that). Even the European airlines have earned my grimace, though they are still better than what we endured over our last trip, both coming and going. Too tired to really go into details tonight, will post more in the coming days. I'll just say that for our next trip, I will remind my husband of what happened the last time he procrastinated in clearing his vacation days at work, forcing us to use US Airways because tickets on the European airlines had risen more than $200 apiece.
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