Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Major Weekend Accomplishment

In a crazy fit of parsimony, before the relocation to the burbs, I canceled all the good cable channels. While this saved us a little bit of money, we lost HBO and Showtime. When the cable came back in the burbs, I stuck to my cheapskate guns and got the bare minimum HD package (the 52 inch flat screen just looks terrible in regular definition), which included Starz for free.

Starz unfortunately does not offer the same caliber of original programming that is available to those of us with a discerning TV watching palate. (Camelot straight up sucks.) I became tired of watching the same 10 episodes of whatever show was on HGTV. I switched over to watching repeat episodes of Iron Chef America. Still, the upcoming seasons of Dexter, True Blood and Entourage have been calling my name, as has the new series, Game of Thrones. Thus, I succumbed to the siren song of the cable upgrade. Fortunately, the evil empire that is Comcast Xfinity was offering some decent 1 year promotional pricing that included a free DVR. Sign me up!

Thus, CPM and I spent quality time this weekend by watching the entire last season of Dexter. This is not an activity that should be undertaken by anyone with a heart condition. At several points during our two marathon viewing sessions, I found myself pacing around the living room, or sitting on the couch, heart racing, hands shaking in fear. Good lord, how has he not been caught yet?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Some Pictures and Class

We spent 10 days or so on Oahu. This was our sixth trip to Hawaii. We love it there. Yes, yes, expensive, blah blah blah (it's actually not that expensive when you have no kids). Yes, yes, really far. But it's worth it. All pictures are here.

Beach Gazing
Hawaii 2011

Beach Dogs
Dogs on Beach

Rich People's Stuff
Pinhole Sailboats

A Coconut
Coconut Close Up

My Dream House


***

I woke up to the sound of clinking silverware...

I was in first class, flying to Chicago from Honolulu. My mind took a moment to register this fact. My mouth was really dry, but I was laying flat on my "bed." I was covered by a real blanket. I had eaten a delicious dinner (fresh salad, cheese ravioli in a mushroom cream sauce), dessert (a freshly made ice cream sundae), and then passed out after drinking (possibly) an entire bottle of white wine. Surreal.

How did this happen?

Ah, well this entire vacation to Hawaii was based on some really cheap round trip tickets snagged thanks to Air Fare Watchdog. Of course, when you add in the lodging expenses for 10 nights, car rental, dining, shopping, etc., you've actually spent a whole bunch of money at the end of the day. Still, the tickets were incredibly cheap. Thus, when you are checking in for your return flight at the self service kiosk, and the screen offers you the chance to upgrade to first class for what is really not a lot of money in the scheme of things, your spouse tells you to do it, and you do it. Because you have a 9 hour flight home ahead of you, a flight that is taking you away from paradise and back to your job and your real life, and it will be nice to spend that 9 hours not crammed into a tiny seat like a veal calf, but luxuriating in actual space, edible food, and flight attendants who will simply refill your wine glass as soon as you've sipped it below half way full, without being asked for more.

That's how that happens.

And I'm not sure that I can ever fly coach again.