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on a jet plane

Mom and Dad spent 6 or 7 hours in Houston due to an unplanned delay. My Dad actually wanted to wear shorts for the flight because he was concerned that it would be hot in Houston. Of course, the AC helps with that. He probably would have if he's known how long he'd spend there. Oh, the joys of travelling to Roa*noke.

It's about time to buy Thanksgiving and Christmas tickets. I'm about 500 miles short of a free ticket which will save me $600 + . I notice that prices actually seem to be down this year, wonder of wonders. B is coming to the 'noke for New Year's. I'm excited that he'll get to see where I'm from. I'm going to his place for Thanksgiving. Even though it's about the same distance away, it's about a thousand times easier to get to, so it's a better destination for the 4 day break.

2:15 p.m. - Oct. 10, 2007

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sprinting

Sprint. I am eagerly looking forward to washing my hands of them, though the plans that other networks offer are for more expensive for the same service. As a novice cellphone user - Sprint was my first - I thought all cellphones had terrible coverage. I figured my house was in a blind spot. Ha. Then my brother visited and I experienced a moments of talking on his Verizon phone. It was amazing. Night and day!

The other problem with Sprint is their customer service. They were voted the company with the WORST customer service last year - beating all the airlines and a million other organizations with bad service. They are unbelievably bad. I've literally never experienced anything like it. My latest gripe is being locked out of their website for weeks, being unable to pay my bill (online) and then getting charged a late fee. Frrr.

8:45 a.m. - Oct. 09, 2007

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old favorites

Another day. My stress levels have been sky high lately, well more than lately - for a while. Work keeps me at a high level of stress. My parents are visiting, but I'm struggling to keep below the breaking point. I spend half an hour reading before I go to bed, and that keeps me sane. I'm re-reading my old favorite, The Blind Assassin, again. It's not speaking to me as much as it once did. I wonder if that's because I've read it too many times or because I've changed, or my life has changed. I think my engineering job has sucked away some of my appreciation for beautiful language, and my steady relationship has left me happier with less appreciation for tragedy.

Tonight, I plan to take them to the movies. I'm taking tomorrow off, and we may go to Rainier. It's been a wet visit so far.

8:07 a.m. - Oct. 03, 2007