Another year gone by
The holidays are always a challenge for me. This is primarily because I'm a real Grinch about Christmas, but I also recognize that it's important to spend time with friends and family celebrating all that I have to be thankful for. New Years and my birthday just remind me that I'm older, so that can be a drag too. So I guess I really like Thanksgiving the most.
This season was more or less like others in the recent past. Travel to Carmel, Asheville, spend time in Lexington with our friends here... This year included a trip to Kansas for my cousin Tim's wedding. We would've preferred that it was in Miami, but what can you do. They're a beautiful couple and it's great to see his life coming together so well. A few more weeks of training and they'll put his name on a Cobra helicopter and ship him to North Carolina. Sadly, that also means he's also that much closer to getting shipped off to "Afghani-Paki-really-really-bad" or wherever the "Global war on terrrrr" takes him.
Ella's real estate business has really picked up in recent weeks. This is an unexpected but welcomed change of pace from the end of '08. Thankfully, she's got mostly buyers these days. No realtor in the US wants to list a home for sale right now. She does have one on the market right now, and it's a real challenge. The sellers are one of these families that has trouble understanding the concept of "market value." Just because you think your home is worth a million dollars doesn't make it so. Just because you've taken out 2 mortgages and a home equity line on your house doesn't mean that a buyer is obligated to bail you out of the financial hole you've dug for yourself. You're paying your realtor 6% to sell your home - listen to the advice they give you! There's a reason you hire a professional for this job!
Work has slowed down recently as I've reached the end of this project in Des Moines. I only had a minor role on this one, but in this case, that was preferable. I'm still impressed with Des Moines, but I'm glad we got out of there before the real winter hit.
After much haggle and hassle, I have managed to retain my "Platinum" status with Delta air lines. Traveling as much as I do these days, this is a necessary evil. It means I've flown over 75,000 miles with them in 2008. It entitles me to a discounted membership to their Crown Room Club. I like to think of the crown room as my personal insurance policy for all the times that I'll get stranded in an airport during they year (by Delta, no less). I get to use the "frequent traveler" security lines. I get free upgrades to business class, all year. I don't have to pay to check my bags. It means I can fly standby on an earlier or later flight if my travel plans change. Woo hoo.
Some of the guys I work with get platinum status at hotels too. In most cases this means they spend 75 nights a year away from home. That's a lot. I can't imagine living in a hotel for 2.5 months a year. Most of my trips are only three nights away from home, and I hope to keep it that way.
My next project is most likely to be in Chicago. I really miss that town so I'd enjoy spending some evenings there on the company dime. There's an outside chance I could be going back to San Francisco too, which is of course another favorite town of mine. I narrowly avoided spending the next two months in Buffalo, NY. That would not have been fun.
Ella and I have some new furniture in our party room. We've lived in this house for about 3 years now, so it's about time we got around to getting some furniture for this room. We're going with a travel theme. I've got 4 of my own photographs I want to frame and put on the walls. The last piece of furniture that remains is a bar - we really want a bar. Shouldn't every party room have one? The dogs don't like the new leather sofa at all, mostly because we won't let them on it.
This season was more or less like others in the recent past. Travel to Carmel, Asheville, spend time in Lexington with our friends here... This year included a trip to Kansas for my cousin Tim's wedding. We would've preferred that it was in Miami, but what can you do. They're a beautiful couple and it's great to see his life coming together so well. A few more weeks of training and they'll put his name on a Cobra helicopter and ship him to North Carolina. Sadly, that also means he's also that much closer to getting shipped off to "Afghani-Paki-really-really-bad" or wherever the "Global war on terrrrr" takes him.
Ella's real estate business has really picked up in recent weeks. This is an unexpected but welcomed change of pace from the end of '08. Thankfully, she's got mostly buyers these days. No realtor in the US wants to list a home for sale right now. She does have one on the market right now, and it's a real challenge. The sellers are one of these families that has trouble understanding the concept of "market value." Just because you think your home is worth a million dollars doesn't make it so. Just because you've taken out 2 mortgages and a home equity line on your house doesn't mean that a buyer is obligated to bail you out of the financial hole you've dug for yourself. You're paying your realtor 6% to sell your home - listen to the advice they give you! There's a reason you hire a professional for this job!
Work has slowed down recently as I've reached the end of this project in Des Moines. I only had a minor role on this one, but in this case, that was preferable. I'm still impressed with Des Moines, but I'm glad we got out of there before the real winter hit.
After much haggle and hassle, I have managed to retain my "Platinum" status with Delta air lines. Traveling as much as I do these days, this is a necessary evil. It means I've flown over 75,000 miles with them in 2008. It entitles me to a discounted membership to their Crown Room Club. I like to think of the crown room as my personal insurance policy for all the times that I'll get stranded in an airport during they year (by Delta, no less). I get to use the "frequent traveler" security lines. I get free upgrades to business class, all year. I don't have to pay to check my bags. It means I can fly standby on an earlier or later flight if my travel plans change. Woo hoo.
Some of the guys I work with get platinum status at hotels too. In most cases this means they spend 75 nights a year away from home. That's a lot. I can't imagine living in a hotel for 2.5 months a year. Most of my trips are only three nights away from home, and I hope to keep it that way.
My next project is most likely to be in Chicago. I really miss that town so I'd enjoy spending some evenings there on the company dime. There's an outside chance I could be going back to San Francisco too, which is of course another favorite town of mine. I narrowly avoided spending the next two months in Buffalo, NY. That would not have been fun.
Ella and I have some new furniture in our party room. We've lived in this house for about 3 years now, so it's about time we got around to getting some furniture for this room. We're going with a travel theme. I've got 4 of my own photographs I want to frame and put on the walls. The last piece of furniture that remains is a bar - we really want a bar. Shouldn't every party room have one? The dogs don't like the new leather sofa at all, mostly because we won't let them on it.
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