Forget the holiday song, it’s right now, as August makes its slow slide into the cool, crisp and brisk days of Autumn/Fall. I love finally being able to shut off the air conditioner, and actually wanting to leave the house more than a few times on the weekend. I don’t pay much attention to the forecast, so I had planned a day in, picked up some groceries and drink ingredients and searched through the Olympic broadcasts for the swimming and gymnastics events. I had never really seen Michael Phelps swim before, his skill is nearly unnatural but amazing. And the mens team qualifier for gymnastics made me wish for the death of sportscasters. Those athletes were giving amazing performances and all the announcers could talk about was how they nearly didn’t make the team and how they weren’t sure they were up for this. I would have put it on mute except that hearing the energy of the crowd in the arena was exhilarating.

Walking to metro this morning felt so nice, I was almost able to forget that it was Monday. Actually for a while it felt like Tuesday. There must be a name for that phenomena where you really do feel like it’s an earlier or later day than it is. I gave my mother a call this morning from the office to check on her. She e-mailed me that someone hit her car last Tuesday. She’s fine, the car is drivable, but the damage is about $4000 which sucks since she’s dealing with the other driver’s insurance company. I also picked my co-worker’s brain for nearby getaway spots. It’s very clear that I need a vacation, even if it’s only a long weekend and maybe the baby steps should be day trips. I’m still open to ideas and suggestions as I know nearly nothing about making vacation/travel arrangements, but I haven’t been anywhere in too long. It’s definitely time.

Bah! Star Trek: The Experience is closing!

Star Trek: The Experience, Las Vegas’ premier interactive attraction will conclude its historic 11 year run at the Las Vegas Hilton on September 1, 2008.

Since 1998, millions of guests have gone boldly into the 24th century to battle Klingons, Borg, and other hostile aliens. The original complex featured the Klingon Encounter, an interactive adventure and ride. In 2004 Borg Invasion 4-D was introduced and the Secrets Unveiled Backstage Tour was unveiled in 2005, making Star Trek: the Experience the stomping grounds for fans around the galaxy.

Well that kinda sucks, but I suppose it was bound to happen. Even I’m a little weary of the faux-constancy of Star Trek. I love watching the shows and the reruns, but an exhibit that can’t really progress and is “off the strip” was doomed to eventually become unprofitable, and even the in-costume Ferengi there would tell you there’s no point in that!

pics and memories after the jump»»

I’m no good at traveling, I rarely take vacations sometimes because I either don’t want to go on my own but mainly that I have no head for making the arrangements. Trying to wrangle good air deals and good hotel deals (in a good hotel no less) just drive me batty. I’ve been pretty consistent in the cities I fly to which are visiting parents, a friend in New England, a friend on the West Coast and the once in a blue moon trip to Vegas. I’ve only kinda noticed the airlines going through trouble lately, and since my flights are usually between large airports, I haven’t paid much attention to it.

For American travelers, the shift means that they can no longer bank on scheduling flights to reach their destination within a single day, said Robert W. Mann Jr., an industry consultant in Port Washington, N.Y.

– NY Times: Airlines’ Cuts Making Cities No-Fly Zones

The article is primarily about air service being discontinued in smaller cities’ airports, and many of those residents were already used to driving up to 2 hrs to get to the airport. I will never fly into Savannah again because the drive to get to either grandparents’ house felt almost as long as the flight would be from DC. And I read about airlines starting to act like banks, bilking you out of your money via micro-fees. It makes you wonder where the industry is headed.

My friend has been a little flaky regarding a trip to Barcelona. We’ll have a place to stay, and I’ve asked my father about buddy passes to make the flight. It all sounds good, in theory, but I doubt that he understands his flakiness means that the responsibility for planning our holiday is on my head and that’s just a big mistake. And the recent story about JetBlue making a passenger sit in the toilet makes me wonder if the buddy pass is such a good idea too since you’re technically considered “lower” than employees in the booking system.

Whatever happened to the glamour and fun of air travel? Your vacation used to start the moment you left the house, now it doesn’t seem to start until an hour after you’re back on the ground. Maybe I just need to find a job where some travel is involved and it’s all handled by my company!

Dear Metro,

Please stop trying to shift us all over to SmarTrip cards if you admit that using one to ride the bus leaves you wide open to get screwed up.

Thanks,
urban bohemian

A few months back our office told us that they were finally entering the modern era and giving us transit benefits. There was a little dog & pony show and lots of incorrect and redacted information, etc. but overall it seemed like a good plan. I signed up for it in March, which meant my benefits would be available in April. In one of the group meetings the representative insisted that we wouldn’t have to do anything and the funds would be applied to our account. This is incorrect, however even going through the appropriate procedure, I wasn’t getting the funds downloaded to my SmarTrip card. So I decided to poke around and find out what was going on. I left an e-mail to my HR reps to ask for a POC for our benefits company and then contacted WMATA themselves. Here’s where it gets interesting.

Sandy, a genuinely nice customer service agent, confirmed that my card was registered and I told her my problem and she asked me when was the last time I used it. I told her just this morning and she said that nooooo, they showed my last use in Feb 2006. Wha-huh?! I told her that my current card was a replacement for a non-functioning card and that I’ve had it for quite a while. I rattled off my past 3 addresses and eventually she confirmed that I got it when I lived on Hobart St, which means I’ve had a SmarTrip for ages. There was a lot of time on hold and a lot of keyboard tapping and lot of “Hm..” on both sides of the call, but she was able to give me detailed directions on what to do next. I had to go to a station manager and get an internal code from my card.

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The same scene over and over again. Long lines, frustrated travelers and no assistance from the clearly over-worked airlines employees. Tell me again why we ALL have to fly at the same time of year to see our loved ones when anytime would do?

Also there’s nowhere to sit down. Oh, joy.