...The eye beholds the heart's desire. A. E. Housman
our trip to california!
It sure went by way too fast. And it sure was interesting. But first, reasons why you shouldn’t fly United.
Getting there. Our plane was suppose to leave from Raleigh around 7ish Eastern time, make a stop in DC and that same plane would continue to LAX, putting us in California just after midnight Pacific time. The plane in Raleigh was 30 minutes late. (You may be able to guess why soon). I sometimes get nervous during take-off & landing. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong — so I said a little prayer. Let me tell you—it worked! When we got to DC, we had to get off the plane but we would be re-boarding shortly after. Except as soon as we got off, the stewardess made an announcement. “Flight 1234 has been delayed. The plane is currently unfit for flying. We’ll make another announcement in one hour.” …
YES — the same plane I was just on, was deemed unfit for flying. Oh, but it get better…
Three hours later, the unfit plane remained unfit and they found a new one. It’s about Midnight or so Eastern time. We are in the new plane though, ready to go. Taxing down the air strip when…an oxygen mask drops a couple rows behind us. The pilot gets on “I’m sorry folks. An oxygen mask has dropped and we just can fly a plane all the way to LA that way. We have to get it checked out… yada yada, I know this whole experience has been a real pain so far.”
So we wait another hour for a mechanic to come out, check the mask and pop it back in and of course everything’s just peachy now. We take off and I don’t sleep but for maybe an hour or so the whole way to California. I also tore one of my contacts and my spare ones are in the carry on United forced me into checking before we boarded the plane. grr…
Fast forward to 4-5 hours later. We finally get to LAX. It’s about 4:30/5 am Pacific time. I’m dead tired. Ready to collapse. We get to the baggage claim and we wait and wait and wait. I finally told rdm to just go get the car and I’d roll the bags out to the car. (We would have just done carry ons, but rdm had to bring all his books because he had to take a test while we were in California & they made me check my carry on back in DC anyway).
So it had been 15-20 minutes when rdm left. At the 30 minute mark the announcer comes on overhead “Passengers of Flight 1234. Your flight landed in the middle of shift change. 3rd shift unloaded your baggage, but obviously didn’t bring it to baggage claim. 1st shift will find it and bring out as soon as possible. Thanks for patience…yada yada yada.” Yes. LAX/United lost my luggage. I suppose the bright side is that they at least lost it within the same airport?
Well it took 1st shift (or whatever shift it was) 30 more minutes to find our baggage and bring it out. Then about another 20 for ours to come through. So far, the only good thing to come out of this disaster other than not crashing, burning and dying is that we managed to get a pretty sweet ride from the rental company. All the crappy cars were already taken, leaving some nice classy executive cars for us. We ended up with car that cost about 1/3 of my student loan debt — and it certainly was a nice ride to drive when we made trips through Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
BUT wait, it gets worse. It’s about 6 am when we get to our hotel. We had called telling them to expect us a little after Midnight. They said it wouldn’t be a problem. But that was before we knew about the unfit plane. We get there though and they tell us they are completely sold out and there are no rooms left. Nope. Not kidding. Not one little bit. I wasn’t sure whether I should have just blasted this guy because I was so angry or about to break down in tears.
And rdm used priceline to get the room and there may have been a clause about arriving on time — though this was all beyond our control. And it didn’t make sense to me why they would give a room away because it was already paid for. Ugh…it still makes me so angry.
Luckily though, they sent us to their sister hotel next door. I was a little afraid it would be a dump because I thought it said it was the Luxor (which according to my roommates is a dumpy casino in Las Vegas), but it was actually the Luxe and it wasn’t bad. We did have to pay $25 for parking for the whole 4 hours we stayed there. (I should forgo all dreams of being an attorney and buy a parking lot in LA by the way—it’s its own little industry on that side of the world). We then went back next door for the remainder of our stay.
So the first day I was not in a good mood. I’ve had bad experiences flying before. There was the time I missed my connecting flight to Germany and had to spend a night in Newark all because the President was flying in our air space. Then there was the time in London where I was suppose to board a flight in 20 minutes, went looking for the bathroom and found myself outside the airport and forced to go back through security (thank goodness I had my ticket and passport on me). But I’m pretty sure this one trumps them all. For the rest of my life, I think I at least deserve decent flying experiences. Especially since United failed to offer me anything for my troubles and my unnatural patience.
Thanks, United. Thanks.
You would think…
after four years of Spanish, I would know more than 10 words. Although it was high school Spanish and I distinctly remember going to Walmart as a class but I cannot for the life of me remember why — yay public education.
Magnolia Grill is closing :(
This has been my favorite restaurant rdm and I have been too. And I’m so so sad to see it go. And the chances of eating there are slim — I heard they were booked within hours of this publication.
Disappointed.
Stop calling yourself a Christian…it’s embarrassing.
Finally, my absentee ballot finally showed up. And tomorrow I’m taking it to the Post Office first thing — they better not screw me over, which for some odd reason they love doing.
It showed up a little late because I’m not registered as either Democrat or Republican, but rather unaffiliated and they needed to know if I was declaring for the primaries as well. I am adamant about maintaining my independent status. I don’t like being pigeon holed into either category. I share some democratic viewpoints and some republican viewpoints. But just because I may share more views with one side, doesn’t make me that one side. It’s like calling gray black. Gray is gray.
The same can be said for my religion. Actually religion is the completely wrong word. I think of myself as completely anti-religious. Religion makes me (and perhaps a majority of the world) think of negative things. Suppression of ideas. Fear of change. Ideology and dogmas. Anecdotes. (Those chain emails that no one bothers to Snopes.) False information. Misinformation. The list goes on.
But religion can be positive. It can be hope, strength, love, power, peace, etc. It’s all these positive things of religion that I prefer to bundle up and call “A Way of Life.” It’s not just about how I think and reflect on life, but more on how I actually live my life. Yes, I read the Bible. Yes, I believe in Jesus. But am I a Christian? That word makes me cringe.
It makes me cringe because of what it means to some people. When some people think of Christians, they think of hatred, inequality, inhumanity, cruelty, oppression, whispering in ears — all those negative things—those things associated with religion. Which saddens me because the entire word is based on my savior’s name. This isn’t just my generation’s fault — it’s been a standing issue. Christians v. Jews. Catholics v. Protestants. Rich v. Poor. Men v. Women. Black v. White. Straight v. Gay. And these Christians have always used the Bible as their sword for explaining away their hateful actions. But with that I have to note, that they never used the Bible as a whole, but rather in pieces — scattered verses from here and there. It’s not the Bible that is wrong, but the one holding the Bible. (Same logic as: Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.)
Now the Bible says a lot of things. And a lot of those things are inconsistent. I remember struggling with these inconsistencies when I first became devoted to Jesus. And most of those inconsistencies were from the New Testament, so I couldn’t necessarily attribute them to the “old” way. Most of them remained unexplained and I usually attributed them to good ole crazy Paul, or a very poor translation, or missing the context or even Biblical sarcasm.
But Sunday, in this new church I’ve been attending, my Baptist pastor from the South gave the most blessed and enlightening sermon I’ve ever heard. He read from good ole crazy Paul — who said Women shouldn’t speak in church. You know all that stuff about women submitting to men and knowing their place. I Cor. 14:34-35. But then he had women from the church come up and read verses about: Priscilla, Lydia, Phoebe, and two or three more. All of these women were praised by Paul for starting their own churches, for spreading the word, who were considered Paul’s missionary partners and equals. So whatever this verse says, it does not mean women are lesser or unequal. Paul may have said this — but he didn’t act this way. In fact, he acted against what he supposedly preached — but in good way.
And the Bible says a lot more that taken out of context could mean don’t you ever do this one thing or God will forsake you. Oh but wait—that’s the Old Testament way. The New Testament offers so much more. The New Testament offers forgiveness, redemption, salvation. So if you forgot to greet each with a holy kiss (2 Cor. 13:12), don’t worry you aren’t going to hell.
The Bible says a lot of things. And I’m certainly no expert. But I do think I know the most important things:
1) The Golden Rule/Commandment (that replaced the 10): Love one another. John 13:34
2) Don’t judge others for their sins — it’s a sin. Matthew 7:1
3) God knows the intents of our hearts. I Chronicles 28:9
All of this means to me that we should act with the purest of intentions and those intentions that are most Christ-like. God will not condemn us for doing something wrong as long as we had the right intent. The real question is knowing what your intents are — the slightest shadow or inkling of hate or malice or greed will make that intent impure. Are you acting with a pure heart? And what is a pure heart? It is acting with love — the same unconditional love that God shows each and every one of us. He loves us despite our faults and imperfections and sins — we all have them. But we should only be concerned with our own. If you are not following these guidelines, I think it’s safe to say you’ve missed the boat on what Christ was ALL about. Unfortunately, this describes a majority of Christians today.
My grandma used to say that the one unforgivable sin was blasphemy. I’m not sure if she is right and I have no verse for reference — but I do know that a lot of Christians out there are blaspheming the name of God. They do it every time they identify themselves as Christian (Christ-like) but yet fail to follow that Golden Rule. And God knows when they are not.
With that, we finally come to the issue on that ballot I got today: Amendment One. I’m not going to tell you how I voted (though I know it’s obvious). I will tell you I didn’t base it off of one verse lost in the depths of Leviticus or wherever. But I based my vote on love, which the Bible goes to great lengths to talk about. And what is it to love — it’s protecting a loved one from harm, watching over the ones we care about, praying for their safety, making them happy, giving them hope and joy and so much more.
Amendment One has a lot of potential consequences. And not a single one of them is good. Domestic Violence Victims could lose their protections (this one is very REAL and I’ve heard abusers threaten they’ll be back if the Amendment passes). Parents could lose their children (which should never be allowed to happen no matter the parent’s sexuality). A person who loves another deeply may not get to have a say in the final moments of their loved ones life just because they are not married. And all the potential consequences of this amendment, letting any one of them happen — well, that doesn’t sound like love to me.
So I leave you with this last little bit. Don’t call yourself a Christian. You are setting the bar to high and you will ultimately fall. And that’s just embarrassing Christ because you are giving him a bad name and running his name through the mud. It’s never about what you call yourself anyway — whether you call yourself a democrat or republican, whether you identify yourself as one religion. All that really matters is how you carry yourself and how you act within the world.
By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. ~ Jesus
Registering…
Has been my LEAST favorite part on my wedding to-do list. Mainly because it’s impossible to find a fine china set that is complete and that I’m happy with.
They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies.
—
William Penn
When I was little my aunt (my dad’s sister), uncle and my two cousins lived next door. My aunt and uncle divorced when I was in elementary school and my aunt moved away. As long as uncle lived next door, I still had a relationship with him and loved him the same.
He eventually moved away and remarried a woman who used to go to my church. I remember her well — she was beautiful and had a wonderful voice. My favorite song that she sang was “Put Angels All Around You.” After they were married, I never really saw them, but I know they were happy and in love and they continued to be wonderful servants of God.
In January, she had come back from a cruise and had lost functioning of her speech and motor skills. It was only recently that they had learned she had cancer in her lymph nodes, which they suspect started in her breast. My uncle had been taking care of her all of these months.
Yesterday, she passed away at the age of 43. It breaks my heart that he lost her and that he lost her too quickly. But we all know she is now surrounded by glorious angels, for she is certainly one of them.
my luck is running out
I’ve had this case for a couple of months now — it keeps getting continued. The original date was with this one judge who seems to have no patience and hates everything and everyone. Lately this judge has been in rare form and lot more easy going — but when it got continued the first time, I was relieved and I made sure to schedule it with my favorite judge who applies her rulings fairly and without any noticeable impatience or long-winded philosophical discussions.
So I was a little ticked off when it went before her and got continued again — not ticked off at her, I knew she would grant the continuance and based on my objection, she had no choice but to continue for only one week. I was just annoyed with the other side that said they needed to gather their witnesses (they only just had three weeks to do so — which is a fair amount of time for my case). But guess who the judge is in one week? The noticeably impatient one — my only hope is that the he scares the defendant to death. I think that’s about the only thing that is going to keep him from harassing my client…I hope.
Did I mention the only case I’ve lost was before this judge? And I’ve only had that one before him.
things i’ve been missing out on:
Jack Jones. I have a soft spot for those smooth jazzy and romantic voices that can make a girl swoon. I can’t believe I went twenty some odd years without listening to him.
“It’s real good to be back with you again this year. You and I have been a part of each other’s lives for so many New Year’s Eves that I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” ~ Dick Clark
(via hollywoodinpics)
my newest pet peeve:
People who post on facebook (or email me) false stories. Snopes it before you post it people.
oh no…
I’ve gotten my first mosquito bite of the year. Why can’t they be extinct?
When I was little, my FAVORITE game show was The Price Is Right. I loved Bob Barker. And it was the only thing on before lunchtime. After lunch Grandma got the television — she had to watch her soaps, Oprah, and the news.
(Source: kichi34)
NIGHTNIGHT by DEDDY
