Sometimes I Forget....

So heres the thing I've discovered about me...
I'm tired...
Remember how I said I've flown 100,000 miles....
That being said, I forget tons of junk!

- I forget where I park my car at the airport...
- I forget I DID NOT park my car at the airport (I took the train and then paniced as I had my keys but no clue where the car was...)
- I forget to pack my toothbrush
- I forget to pack my deodorant (both of these quite frequently :( )
- I forget to eat or if I've eaten
- I forget to put my mascara on so my eyes look like really freaky (that just happend today)
- My favorite - I very often forget what city I'm in
- I forget where I've been
- I forget where I got my rental car from (I've often drove my car into the wrong rental car lot - Avis when its Hertz, vice versa)

I could go on - but I think you get the idea that I get completely discombobulated when I'm travelling. Oy - its just gotten worse. I think its the frequent lack of pure oxygen on those airplanes :)

Well, tomorrow I'm off to....... dang --- WHERE AM I??!!!!

A Tribute To The Emerald Isle

Heres what some more digging pulled up from my desktop... This was another trip to the UK -- a stop in Ireland by the Cliffs Of Moher and a visit to an Irish pub in the town. And this was like a Wednesday night! Crazy!

And to continue my tribute to the Irish ... you have to watch this SNL clip.... Its a house makeover spoof that will bust your gut! :)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/97772/saturday-night-live-the-irish-home-makeover

Top o' the mornin to ye!

Is This Sad?

Two quick realizations...

I went onto the United website earlier today just to check on something and, greeting me, was the status message which has now flipped from Executive Premier to 1K. In essence, I have completed 100,000 miles or equivalent segement travel this year. I actually am a few miles short of 100,000 which makes the next statement even more sad -- I have acutally flown more flights than I have miles this year.... I've spent more time getting on and off and back on a plane than I've actually spent consistently on one. Because of this sad fact, United has chosen to bestow on me the "Congratulations, You Have No Life" status. Thank you. Thank you. Oh - and please don't make excuses for me -"Alison, its because you do SO much international travel". Here's the deal - I have only flown to St Thomas and Hungary this year. Last year I flew to Israel, to Japan, to Hungary and to Romania -- and I still never reached the 1K status. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite proud of my accomplishment and of the fact that I've been exposed to more germs and bacteria than I could manage to procure while standing on earth and that my face will probably fall to my knees sometime in the next few years and that I have more travel advice than Rick Steves and that I know the best restaurants and coffeeshops in every airport from here to Fargo, ND.... Sigh....

Secondly - I just went to check in for my flight tomorrow and I was - its happening - directed to the Continental website. They're taking over... or I guess, technically merging.... I have no clue whats going on - I'm not even really sure where to go tomorrow - I guess I'll find out. They're supposed to be doing all these changes and I'm very frightened because I don't cope well with changes.... I couldn't even get extra leg room on the Continental flight - yuck - I hate being with the regular people.... Sigh.....

Oh - you can send me hand sanitizer and surgical masks in lieu of congratulatory gifts.... :)

An Encore By Popoulat Request

Here is a another little find from a few years back - posted by the request of someone who wanted to see more Calvin :) - jist of it is.... Bailey is seemingly not quite enthusiastic of leaf piles whereas Calvin loves them.....

Calvin's MAMA

Here's another video clip I stumbled upon as well as the post below....

This is Calvin's angry "MAMA".... for those who don't believe he can say it. Sometimes it comes right away and sometimes you have to work at it :) Sorry you have to look at it sideways as I can't seem to flip it....

I FOUND THEM! But Its Not Really What I Was Looking For...

Its amazing what happens when someone asks you for something you haven't used in a while.... you go looking for it and, along the way, you find other little things that you've not seen in a while that have no relevance to the other little thing you're looking for - but then, sometime later after looking through a billion OTHER unrelated little things you still haven't found the original little thing you set out looking for....

I had done these videos a few years back when we were in England -- never was able to e-mail these clips, but I can finally share them! Yay! God save the Queen and all that stuff... it was crowded and we got verbally abused by a Cockney accented, billy club yielding bobby.. but, somewhere in the distance, we managed to see the shapes of what was the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Can you imagine this going on in front of your house everyday... Eei-yai! I guess it doesn't pay to be royalty after all if you can't get these guys to be quiet....

A Hike In The Alps

Driving out to the Alps - the mountains just across the Austrian border in Germany.


The base of the mountain - the Obersalzburg Documentation Center housing an old Nazi bunker and the base Kehlstein where Hitler's Eagles Nest is built.


We start the hike up the mountain towards the house -- there is completely NO markings and no map to follow and none of those silly Germans spoke English so it was a guessing game all the way!


We made out the name Ofnerboden so we figured we were good when we saw this sign - just where to go from there. Hike hike hike -- for a LONG ways....


And we were finally overjoyed to find the sign for Kehlstein pointing towards Eagles Nest!


The tunnel leading to the elevator that puts us up to the Eagles Nest

The brass elevator that Hitler used...

Finally up at the top! We were FREEZING by this time!

Trying to warm up inside with some hot German food.

Inside Eagles Nest

A few additional pictures from back at the Trapp Lodge....

A church out in the Alps in Germany....
Stay tuned for more Salzburg pictures...