The Digital Amusement Park Photo Download is finally here

I just got back from my vacation, which included a trip to Hershey Park.

And I experienced an idea whose time has finally come: the ability to purchase the digital copy of the photos that those roller coaster cameras take. The parks have been taking these photos digitally for a while; I am THRILLED to see that I can now buy it. The pricing was great. I could have paid $15 for a print (that I would have bent almost immediately) or $14 for a digital download and a keychain with the image on it. It's not a good option for people who are not technically savyy, but makes a world of sense for those of us who used computers a lot.  I've downloaded my copy, and I'll be sending it to Snapfish to make prints for my folks, soon.  W00t!

Spirit Airlines: Low Cost for Little Customer Service

My friend Joanna Pineda recently had a very bad experience with Spirit airlines. So, this article in the New York Times' Sunday Business section (March 29, 2009) caught my eye: "Don't come crying to this Airline." The article talks about the Spirit business model of ultra low cost service, which translates to little or no customer service. The word 'non-refundable' is ABSOLUTE at Spirit, apparently, and has garnered many complaints. CEO Ben Baldanza calls this a "mismatch of expectations."

I guess what I take away from this is that when you book on Spirit, online, you need to very carefully verify what you are typing. Also, they need a big, RED, FLASHING notice that explains that this money is totally nonrefundable and if the flight is cancelled don't expect any help getting a new one. Perhaps that would solve the 'expectations mismatch' that is causing all of these issues. And there will probably still be lots of people willing to spin the roulette wheel for the chance at a $9 plane ticket.

Goodbye, weather.com! Hello, Underground!

I was wading through the jungle of crap on weather.com the other day, trying to dredge out a forecast for my friend Jim. He looks over my shoulder and says to me, "You need to go to weather underground. One visit and you'll never look back."

So, I linked over to Weather Underground (wunderground.com) and I was practically blown away with the utter magnificence of this weather website.

You aren't immediately attacked by multiple ad pop-ups. It is a clean, calm interface. As soon as you type in the zip code of the city you want, you are presented with a clear, concise, well-formatted page of all the info you want. I've always had trouble finding humidity on weather.com, but on wunderground.com it was right there in front of me. The 5-day forecast is clear, and they have a super-cool feature where they compare today with yesterday (e.g., Today will be colder than yesterday). And your last 5 city searches are remembered on the left, so you can quickly check the main places you want to know weather forecasts for.

In short, Jim was right. This site is fabulous. Double-thumbs up for weather underground!!!

A quiet family vacation

In the age of theme parks, mega-resorts, and bus tours, it is nice to consider an 'old-fashioned' family vacation.

We just got back from two weeks in New Hampshire, at Lake Pleasant. My husband's family has been going there every summer starting just after WWI. (Yes, that is a I, not a II.) They have been renting small cottages at 'The Point' from the same family for the last 35 years.

Staying in one of these cottages for two weeks isn't just like travelling back in time, it IS travelling back in time. David Cahill is the current family manager of the lake-side cottages. They were originally built by his great-grandfather and grandfather, mostly in the 1930's and 1940's. They are basically one-room square cabins, with a sub-square setting off a bedroom and a bathroom. Some of them still have the original refrigerators and gas-stoves (or if they aren't original, they are mostly from the 1950s and 1960s). No AC; just lake breeze (or lack of breeze, some years). Cell phone coverage is crap, internet is nonexistent.

This kind of vacation isn't for everyone. But if you like to get away from the city or suburbs, like New England, and like the Great Outdoors, I highly recommend renting some type of cabin like these. And of course, there are cottages like this all over the country; we just happen to go here. David and his family treat my husband's family like an extension of their own; it is almost like going up to visit distant relatives each summer. Are the cabins perfect? Heck no. In fact, they all have something wrong/broken about them. But staying there for a week or two is about having quiet family time, to read and swim and row and canoe and hike.

It's a great time that I'd recommend to anyone. A couple of 'regulars' have dropped out this past year, so they have some openings. If you are interested in this fall or next summer, drop him a line at:

The Point Cottages
52 Elkins Road (PO Box 68)
Elkins, NH 03233

To Fly or Not to Fly [Part 2: The New England Experience]

Flight Problem 2: US Airways, New Hampshire (Manchester) to Washington, DC (National)

Everything seemed fine that bright blue morning when we set out for the airport. For 6 years, I've always taken the EARLY flight -- the first flight of the day -- meaning that we had to get up and start driving to the airport at about 3am. Yuck. This year, I decided to take the second flight of the day.

Bad Mistake.

We called ahead; the flight was on time.
We got to the airport; the flight was now delayed 15 mins.

Then 10 more mins.
Then 10 more mins.
Then 15 more mins.
Then 6 more mins.
etc., etc., etc.

Finally, the flight was 3 hours late.

Then, the desk confirmed that the plane was in the air and coming to us. So, I kissed my husband and headed through security. The plane arrived at the gate, and all was well for 10 mins.

Then they announced that the plane was having technical difficulties, so they pushed it back to let another plane use the gate. Then THAT plane broke and got pushed away from the gate. Then a third plane came up and YES that plane TOO broke ... but not as badly.

So, I'm sitting in the lounge, chugging a lot of water (because I'm pregnant) and here is what they announce:
"Everyone please use the restrooms. The plane does not have any operational lavatories, but we've been cleared for the 70-minute flight to Washington DC"

UGH.

So, I either choose to not go on the flight (and call my husband to drive an hour back to pick me up so we can get up the next day to do it all again), or I cross my legs and hope to survive 70 minutes without using the restroom. I choose the latter.

The flight actually went very well, until we were about 10 mins out from landing and then the Air Conditioning stopped working. So, the temperature jumped up very, very quickly. So I was sweating, ready to throw up, and had to pee. I am happy to say that I did make it, though my bladder was very angry at me for a day.

So, what do I take away from this experience?
- I will definitely fly US Airways, again. They still have the best flight schedule for the places I want to go.
- I will NOT take the second flight, again. It seems clear that only the first flights of the day have a chance to be on time. After that, given the current atmosphere of historic delays, it is too risky.
- I will NOT fly again while I am pregnant, unless I have no choice. At least in a car, if I'm really desperate, I can pull off the road and find a tree.

To Fly or Not to Fly [Part 1: The England Experience]

China labels 2007 as the Year of the Golden Pig; I believe that I shall name it as the Year of the Delayed Airplane. Recent headlines have been trumpeting the fact that airline delays are the worst in 13 years and passengers are frustrated. There has been some coverage regarding this new Passenger Bill of Rights concept, but I highly doubt that this Bill is making the people stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours feel any better. There have been hearings on the Hill regarding the issue, and even President Bush is saying that delays need to be addressed.

I travelled a lot this past summer; thus my lack of posts for many weeks. During my hiatus, I had two flight experiences, and both of them left something to be desired. I am somewhat undecided as to how harshly I am going to judge each airline over these encounters. My parents have sworn they will never fly British Airways again as long as they live based on the July experience, but I am as yet undecided. I am also undecided regarding my US Air experience. Perhaps those of you reading will have an opinion to share ...

Flight Problem 1: British Airways, London (Heathrow) to Washington, DC (Dulles)

To set the scene: My parents (in their late 60's), my husband, and I (2 months pregnant) were going to the airport directly from a cruise ship. We had no way to check-in online online for our 5:30pm flight, but as we were arriving over 8 hours ahead, we had no concern about this.

9:30AM
We arrived and immediately encountered the first issue; there were about a thousand people waiting to just get inside Terminal 4. As it turned out, there had been a
Fire Alarm earlier that morning, and there were now just too many people to fit into the building.

10:00AM
After about 30 mins of effort, we got into the building, only to discovered that British Airways was only allowing people into the queue lines -- including the kiosk lines -- based on their flight times. They told us to come back at 1pm. We had nowhere to go, so my parents huddled miserably on a bench. But being pregnant, I needed to get to some food so my husband and I painstackingly began to weave our way, with our 4 bags, through the mass of angry flyers, to the pub on the lower level.

10:45AM
We finally make it to the Pub. Ate some food. Sat.

12:45PM
We trudged back up to the4 massive lines of BA queues. BUT NOW, you can't queue until 3pm, the BA attendants told us. However, the kiosks were now available. My parents had no interest in trying to use the 'computers', so my husband and I queued up for the self-service kiosks.

1:15PM
After meandering through 10 different verification screens, our efforts were rewarded with the message:
"Go see Customer Assistance."

1:30PM
So, with our 4 bags in tow, we located and then entered the "Customer Assistance" queue.

2:00PM
After 30 minutes, it was our turn. In about 2 minutes, she declared that she couldn't help us and that we needed to get into the "Customer Service" line. No joke. Assistance and Service are two different queues.

2:02PM
So, back into the queue we go. At the same time, my parents have finally been allowed into the normal queue. So they are watching us nervously from their own line as we are playing musical-queues.

2:30PM
So, after 30 more minutes, we make it to Customer Service.
Frown.
There are no seats for you, she tells us matter-of-factly.
"We give priority to those checking in online, so I'm afraid we can't currently assign you seats. The flight is very overbooked. Here's a coupon for a coffee. Come back to this counter at 5pm."
Wait ... our flight is at 5:30
"Oh, no worries. You'll make it."
My parents were still in their line, and got the same news about 15 mins later. We let them have the chairs at the coffee shop, while my husband and I sat on the floor.
They were nervous wrecks; I wasn't feeling all that well at this point.

4:45PM
Back in queue at Customer Service.
YES! We have seats!

4:55PM
Off to Expedited security. This means that the queue is 100 people, not 1000.

5:30PM
By the time we got through, the board said "closing gates"
My husband and I ran as best we could to the gate. Then we tried to be very slow, as my parents were behind us. They made it to the gate, but my father was white as a sheet, the running wasn't really what he needed with his health issues.
white as a sheet

So, we got into the plane, and that's when we discovered the silver lining of the day. BA upgraded us from "World Travellor" to "World Travellor Plus", which had been a $1000 difference when we priced it online. Unfortunately, my husband and I had been placed on opposite sides.

Everyone looked tired and worn out; a lot of people had been running like us. Some random man sat next to me, while some woman sat next to my husband, not looking all that happy. The cabin was quiet.

I stood up, and called across the aisle, "Excuse me, would you mind changing seats with me? That's my husband; we've gotten separated."
She immediately perked up, "Oh, OH YES. YES. You're next to MY husband, yes I want to change seats with you!"

In a blink of an eye, we had each darted across the aisles to the other side.
There was about 5 seconds of silence and then EVERYONE was asking EVERYONE ELSE to switch seats, and it soon became very obvious that nearly every individual in that section had been bumped into new seats, and the seats had been assigned completely randomly. In about 10 minutes the dust had settled, and everyone seemed very happy. If we could do that ... why couldn't' the computer?

The rest of the flight was uneventful.

But ... the stress leading up to it was no fun at all. Would YOU fly BA again? My parents won't, but I'm not so sure ...