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New season, new reason
Okay - it wasn't a great Christmas. After I got home, I discovered that several packages from Amazon (which should not have arrived until early January) had arrived early. And apparently a little ... let's call them demon elf... decided to open the boxes on my front stoop and help themselves to several items including a slick little messenger bag I'd ordered for a friend and several CDs I'd ordered for my Husband.

Merry Christmas!

Airplanes!
I flew a lot - I actually traveled a lot. In 4 days I visited Chicago 3 different times and also spent a lot of quality time at the airport. I've noticed that these times of heightened security and holiday madness mix for a nice recipe for disaster or hilarity or hilarious disaster - your choice.

I don't think people know how to fly
Here's the thing - air travel is somewhat easy and somewhat affordable. However, I'd guess your average American probably doesn't fly more than a couple of times per year - tops. It's still expensive, it's a bit of a burden, and I think it's still scary for a lot of people.

I'm pretty average. I fly a couple of times a year for business and a couple of times of year for vacation and maybe a couple to visit the family. I think I fly a fair amount, more than most - but still not a lot. (I've got friends who have to fly every month for business, then do personal and vacation travel on top of that.)

But most people really don't know how to travel. They show up with huge suitcases and try to drag them onto the plane (ain't gonna fit in the overhead, sister). They carry on too many bags. They don't understand that we're all in this together and we're all just trying to get to our destination.

For example - I saw (on 2 different occasions, with 2 different people) small, styrofoam Wal-Mart (proudly emblazoned with the big logo and a $2.97 sticker) cooler used as carry-on luggage. I guess it's just the right size to hold your NASCAR t-shirt and a tall boy.

I sat in the window seat of one leg of my flight. When I was seated, people were already in the row (the aisle and the middle) and when I made my move to enter one woman stood up and moved. The other woman (middle seat) did not. She sat there and was like, "Go ahead." So she got a face full of butt. What did she think would happen? On a good day you get like 8 inches of movable space....

I cannot figure out how to buy one of those "Economy Plus" seats on United. It's the same seat as coach, it probably costs more but it's in the front of the plane. See you want to be there... If you're not there then you're in the back of the plane with 45 screaming kids and the dude who sits in the middle seat and squishes everyone but spreading his legs wide and taking up all the arm rests. Apparently his "equipment" needs plenty of breathing room, otherwise he'll expire.

My flight attendant on the last flight from Chicago to Boston was openly hostile. He didn't give our row of seats any drinks or pretzels. Look, we need those to live. I had about 10 minutes to eat in Indiana, which didn't work very well (avoid the Fox Sports Bar! - like you needed to be told) and then grabbed a quick bite to eat in Chicago. We asked for our drink and the guy winged some pretzels at us. Even Mr. Spread Eagle was a little alarmed, so he pulled his legs in (a micometer) and shook his head.

In the end, we all made it. And so, another Christmas has come and gone and frankly - I'm thinking of canceling it next year.

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By: Alyssa | Monday, December 29, 2003 at Monday, December 29, 2003 | |

Not so merry

The little dog was a gift from my parents. I'd pestered them, and it seemed like a good idea. I was going through some rough teenage stuff and was happy to have the little furball.

I remember we picked up a newspaper and did a little looking at ads. For some reason we weren't getting a mutt from the pound, but a gen-u-ine purebred pooch. We thought we'd look at several puppies before choosing. But you know how that goes, the first one you see is the one you bring home.

And that's what we did. I picked the runt of a Pomeranian litter. She was very, very tiny. A little red poof that we called Jazzy. I'd read somewhere that dogs respond well to names with the "ee" sound at the end.

She slept in a tiny basket because we were worried we'd trample her. She seemed to be fond of the baskets, as over the years that's where she chose to sleep.

But time passed and she grew up - so did I. She was still a little red poof. I went to college, moved away, got married. She slept in the basket and became the close companion of my Dad.

I came home last night. She's old now. I know she's over 12. Little dogs don't live all that long (like their large-breed counterparts). She was in a basket, looking poorly. I knew. We all knew. I petted her for a while. We had a wordless talk. After a while, we all went to bed.

This morning she was in the basket. In the same spot - where she hadn't really moved for a couple of days. My parents took her to the vet while I tried to help get things ready for the big Christmas festivities of the morning. We prepared for the worst, and it came a few hours later.

Her heart was huge - pressing against her lungs and her esophagus, she couldn't breathe very well. She was dying. My parents did the right thing. Then they came home, we tried to hold it together. The grandkids were on their way....



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By: Alyssa | Thursday, December 25, 2003 at Thursday, December 25, 2003 | |

The countdown begins

I've tried to be festive about Christmas. Every year I think, "this year won't suck." I think the kids will be cool, I'll have a good meal, the people will think my gifts are fun. You know, like that creepy Hallmark commercial where the woman thinks her party will be a big hit because of the singing snowman couple. It's like that except not as sad and sentimental.

I simply believe it will not suck. I'm usually disappointed every year - but I think this year the streak might be over.

Bad Santa

I'm not a big holiday movie fan but I've seen both "Elf" (fun, family-oriented holiday delight) and "Bad Santa" (for grown-ups only - really, really, really hilariously funny). I have to say, they're both good. If you've got to take the kids out to see something then by all means "Elf" is for you. But, if you've got an adult-age set on Christmas night and you're not sure what to do (besides watching the World Poker Tour marathon on the Travel Channel) you should see "Bad Santa."

I'm not a big Billy Bob fan, but I do enjoy the Bernie Mac and the whole thing seemed ridiculous - I was game. I was actually shocked by a couple of the scenes. I gasped in shock and laughter. At one point I think my husband actually wheezed because the laughing made it hard to breathe. It's good, mean fun.

Very mean.

Happy Holidays!

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, December 21, 2003 at Sunday, December 21, 2003 | |

It combines my two loves...

Have you seen Celebrity Poker yet? It successfully combines my two interests - celebrities and poker. It's fascinating and every week I've been utterly surprised at who has come out on top. Really.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, December 16, 2003 at Tuesday, December 16, 2003 | |

Rainy days and Nor'easters...

Once again, another year has passed and I marked the event by spending lots of quality time at the mall with my husband. He seemed thrilled, apparently he caught up on his reading whilst I shopped at Sephora. It was a zoo of course, it always is. But the previous weekend had meant most of New England was snowed in and so we didn't get much Holiday shopping done.

Well, that's all changed. Kinda.

We had another snowstorm this past weekend, but because it's December and not February, the bulk of the precipitation came in rain, on top of snow. It's a delightful combination.

Apparently we've got another big storm brewing for tomorrow. So what does this all mean? Clearly Mother Nature has a grudge against New England. I've only shoveled a few times and I'm already over winter (which doesn't officially start for another 5 days).

We really need to move somewhere that's warm. Sadly, we couldn't get jobs - but we'd be warm.

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By: Alyssa | at Tuesday, December 16, 2003 | |

Don't shovel angry

Last night I had the feeling that events were really conspiring against me. It started simply enough - I was just trying to get home. I've been fighting off a flu-y/cold thingey for about 3 days so I just wanted to get home, eat a little food and zip off to sleep.

I left work and trotted down to the Green Line stop near my office. I stood around and waited, and waited, and waited. The platform was brimming with people. No trains were coming, no trains were visible down the tunnel and people were starting to get tetchy.

I hiked back up the stairs and out into the cold night air. The Red Line stop is just a few blocks away; I could easily hike it. Well, on a good night. But tonight it is 3 days after the big snow and many people still have not cleared sidewalks. I hike and hike through giant snowdrifts, across streets and avoid being mowed down by a couple of mini-vans. I head to the Red Line station.

I wait and I wait. Finally a fully packed train comes along. I can't fit on, so I wait some more. At this point, I figure - the worst is over. I might be home by 6. Sure, that's a fully 30 minutes more than it usually takes to get home, but what can you do. My head hurts, my throat is sore and I'm starting to feel hot. The next train comes along quickly, we all climb aboard and hope for the best.

We make it about two stops to Kendall Square. At Kendall we sit for a few seconds, then it becomes obvious that smoke is pouring out of part of the train. The conductor tells us the train is out of service and everyone must deboard the train. So the platform fills with hundreds of people trying to get home - at rush hour. I'm still too far from my house to hike back, maybe if the weather had been better and the roads and sidewalks less treacherous. Still - I'm so close.

We wait and wait and wait. After about 30 minutes the remaining passengers from the Smokey Train are able to push their way on board (me included) and we get moving again. I make it to Harvard Square and wait. For the bus. I wait and wait and wait. People are milling around waiting. They grumble. I wait. After another 20 or 30 minutes, a bus arrives and we all climb aboard.

I hold my breath, I'm not sure we'll make it all the way. There's a chance the bus could roll over or run down an old lady or something else horrific. I wait. Finally, I'm dumped off unceremoniously at a snowdrift that is now passing for my bus stop. I trudge through the snow, angry and frustrated and look down at the 4x6-foot drift that is the street corner where I wait for the bus. I've been narrowly missed trying to catch said bus several times that day.

I stalk home, fuming, and grab a shovel. My neighbors are fairly good about clearing the sidewalks. Well, at least they are after the first snow. If it snows again, all bets are off. But no one ever clears the crosswalks or the corners so that you could actually cross the streets. Hundreds of pedestrians (myself included) are left to walk in the street. Usually, I don't mind. But tonight, I am filled with righteous indignation. By law, the neighbors are required to clear the street corners to allow others to pass.

I fume and start shoveling. My husband tries to lure me back to the house. I refuse (loudly and with profanity). I shovel. I shovel and shovel and shovel and shovel until my shoulder aches and my back throbs. I shovel through what is now a giant snow glacier. I pound and kick and stomp to free hunks of ice. I shovel. A woman walks along and notices what I'm doing.

"Wow, that's really nice of you - no one really does this enough," she smiles.
"Yeah," I reply angrily.
"Well, thanks for doing this. Someone should buy you a coffee," she says.

I look up at her for a moment. I'm standing in a mostly clear path, having done a considerable amount of damage to the giant snow glacier/bus stop. The adrenaline and anger slowly ebb away.

"I think you're right," I say and head back to the house. I buy myself a drink.

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at Wednesday, December 10, 2003 | |

Big Snow

Yep - we got it. The snow started around midnight on Friday and didn't really wind down until about 8 PM on Sunday. So what happens when you've got two adults and a small, smelly cat locked together in a house together for a full weekend?

Precious little really. I baked, we napped, we shoveled, I made weird food with stuff in the pantry, and we watched a lot of TV and read books. I think I've slept more this weekend than I have in the past week. It was okay.

Deeps probably shoveled more than he should have. I drank an obscene amount of hot beverages and we watched way too many hours of HGTV.

Now this was not quite as bad as the President's Day weekend 2003 Blizzard. For that blizzard we got a little over 2 feet in a very short period of time. This storm, the December blizzard (as it has been dubbed by the news) was also a big snow producer, but the wind was the biggest problem. Basically, the high winds meant that we had blizzard conditions for most of the weekend.

So today the city digs out. I try to figure out if the bus will ever arrive to take me to work and we all remember that just last weekend, the house didn't look like someone dumped 2 feet of snow on it.

In other news
The computer, she lives. And no data was lost. Huzzah!

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By: Alyssa | Monday, December 08, 2003 at Monday, December 08, 2003 | |

The day the computer died

I just threw out the last of the Thanksgiving remnants; I was pulling together the holiday lists and checking off items quickly. I was on fire.

Now, not so much.

I was out with some friends last night when my husband called from home. He asked me a few weird questions about the computer. Finally, I got him to tell me what was up. Apparently, the computer has died.

Now, this is upsetting. It's not the end of the world. But then I started thinking about the computer and what could be lost. I haven't backed up anything in a couple of months.

It's all easy enough to replace except for my bookmarks and worse, my scripts. I've been working on several projects over the past year. I had just decided to chuck one thing I'd been working on and go back to review a script I'd finished over the summer. I decided I was finally ready to do the big second draft. But now... it may be gone.

I guess it hurts because it happened so suddenly. New Girl, as I've called her since I brought the might tower home, is not even a year old. She's been very stable and reliable. We haven't had any problems. We haven't had weird things happen - she doesn't make scary noises or hang up on you. She's just there, gently purring in the desk.

It's all so sudden. I hope I'll be able to recover my work. I hope New Girl comes home soon.

The only bright side to this situation is that my husband insisted on buying the 3-year supplementary service agreement. At the time I gave him a hard time, but now he's the family hero!

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, December 04, 2003 at Thursday, December 04, 2003 | |

 
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