Monthly Archives: August 2007

Back in Town with Less Hair!

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The flights were so full on Friday that I flew back Thursday afternoon to make sure I could work my Friday night shift. So I missed the SAN Spirit Party but got to help with the New Hire Luncheon, which is always fun. We stayed near the ocean and the USS Midway, within walking distance to a great outdoor mall called Seaport Village. As expected, the weather was fantastic. Due to time constraints, we had to save the zoo for another time. It’s nice to have an excuse to go back. 😉

My tennis buddies Luke and Peter, who work with Jenny and came on the trip, and I had decided to shave our heads after completing our obligations on this trip. We finally did it Friday evening at Peter’s house. I’d wanted to do it for years but never followed through until now. I’m still adjusting and rubbing my head in shock, but I think I like it. =) Think about it – no more combs, no hair gel, no fixing your hair in the morning, and no dropping $20 a month on haircuts! It’s perfect!

Alaska Pictures with New Technology

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I finally uploaded the Alaska pictures. Thanks to a great tool called Adobe Photoshop Elements, I turned the pictures into a Web gallery with thumbnails and a slideshow option. Let me know what you think! I’m working on adding captions as well.

Jenny and I plan to leave Wednesday for a short trip to San Diego. She’s helping run a luncheon for new hires and then selling new-hire sponsorships at the Southwest Airlines spirit party on Thursday. I’m going along to help. I haven’t been to San Diego in many years and look forward to a great time. We hope to visit the famous San Diego Zoo while we’re there. The weather is forecast to be PERFECT!

Back to Dallas

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I finally made it back around lunchtime on Tuesday, a little late but intact! I took tons of pictures, but I want to find a more convenient way to display them on here, so check back later. Alaska is BEAUTIFUL in ways that pictures can’t entirely convey. The Juneau area sits along the shore and surrounded by tree-covered mountains, islands, and glaciers. On Friday Dad and I visited Mendenhall Glacier, a big river of ice that literally flows down from the nearby snow fields and terminates in the silt-tinted Mendenhall Lake. Saturday and Sunday we fished for halibut and salmon. I’m not a huge fisherman, but I did have some success and even won the Big Fish of the Day contest for Saturday with a king salmon. We actually had better luck with the halibut than with the salmon. On Monday morning Dad and I went bear-watching on Admiralty Island, seeing a few bald eagles, a lone bear fishing and a skittish mama bear and cub walking along a creek. Then we flew out to the snow fields near Juneau where glaciers are born. I’ll add some more detail when I post the pics.

The flights to Juneau and back were memorable. Although we departed late on both Alaska Airlines flights outbound, I was very impressed with the aircraft (Boeing 737-400s and 737-800s) and the inflight service (two drink services on each flight with free light snacks and a breakfast available for purchase on one leg). I got stuck in SEA coming home since my cockpit access for other airlines was temporarily broken. I had no idea that red-eye flights would be so popular at this time of year! I slept a few hours on a padded bench in the airport and rode home on American in the cockpit of a 757, which was great fun.

Tennis and Alaska

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It’s a great sport. I’ve started playing once a week with some friends of mine from the Southwest People department. We all played some in the past, so we’re neither horrible nor heirs to Federer’s throne. It’s great to be back on the court regularly. I make a few horrible shots for every great one (ask the guys about my serve that went over the fence), but fortunately I enjoy laughing at myself. Between my running and almost-weekly tennis, I’m gradually getting into better shape.

I’m set to leave for Alaska on Friday morning and have a long list of items to pack on Thursday. My new digital camera came in a couple days ago, and I love it! I’m not sure I’m smart enough to use all its different features, though. Good thing some poor tech writer put together a semi-detailed manual! The forecast for Juneau looks great – nice and cool, sunny, with little chance of rain. I’ll try to post some pictures after I get back.

People, Interrupted

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I’ve been noticing something lately: people in general, including myself at times, are really bad about interrupting each other. Sometimes it’s coincidental and unintentional – people simply start talking at the same time and continue until one or both stop out of courtesy. Sometimes a person is telling a story when a listener (such as myself on many occasions) jumps in with a question or comment that interrupts the story. It’s less annoying when the interjection is on-topic, maybe a clarifying question or an “active listening” comment that assures the storyteller that the listener is indeed listening. But some people (listen up, b/c you DON’T know who you are) jump in with completely off-topic comments that derail the discussion and attempt to move it somewhere else entirely. Some people are so bad about this, you aren’t sure they were even listening to the conversation they derailed. Your homework for the next few days is to pay attention to the conversations you hear: both what others say and what you say. Is it an actual conversation or merely a cacophony? Do the speakers seem to respect each other and value each other’s opinions, or is each person simply itching to jump in and enlighten the group with his/her own comments?

In other news, if you want to see an outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role, rent The Last King of Scotland and watch Forest Whitaker at the top of his game. The movie is about Idi Amin, the charismatic but brutal dictator of Uganda in the 1970s.

I’m set to leave for Alaska next Friday for a couple days of salmon fishing and bear watching with Dad. I finally ordered a new digital camera with a good zoom, hoping it will arrive in time for me to take it on the trip. This trip will involve many firsts: first visit to Alaska, first attempt to fly standby on another airline (Alaska Airlines), first attempt at salmon fishing, and first ride in a floatplane. Should be fun!

The Genius of Half-Price Books

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I wish I could buy stock in Half Price Books. They buy much of their inventory from the general public, suckers like me who keep bringing them used books, CDs, movies, and magazines that we don’t want anymore. The employees “appraise” them somehow and offer us money, generally a small fraction of their eventual resale price. Since we’re getting rid of the items anyway, any money in return is better than nothing, so we accept their offer. Even better, while the employees appraise our
items, we wander around the store finding new things to buy. We get a voucher for the stuff we brought in and apply that money to a new purchase. Yesterday I brought in a heavy box of old magazines and young adult books. They offered me $10, and I used it to buy a single book for $13. It’s a win-win, but they definitely got the better end of the deal: a big pile of merchandise to sell and $3 versus my single book. It might be slightly easier for them to just print Benjamins all day, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

IBC has released the details of the Water is Basic 5K: Saturday, October 13, 8:30 am. I’m already putting together a team. So far we have myself, Jenny, Mom, Dad, Lisa, both Jenny’s parents, and Jenny’s sister Katy, so we’re up to 8. I’m hoping for both brothers-in-law and some others! It’s going to be a great event, and we want to raise tons of money to drill wells in Sudan, so spread the word!