Off to a good start

I'm back to business travel.  And my first flight was an upgrade from coach to first class!

On Monday I got to the airport a little later than I planned.  The security lines were very long and moved at a slow pace.  I knew the gate and it was near security so I was not too concerned.

I was not anticipating an upgrade because this was my first flight in several months and it was just a smaller regional jet.  By the time I got through security it was past the start of boarding...Delta starts boarding way early.  I stopped at the ATM and Caribou Coffee.

When I got to the gate boarding had started as expected.  I didn't know where they were in boarding so went up to the gate agent and handed my boarding pass.  She said "Oh, there you are." and took my boarding pass and gave me the first class seat!  Sweet!

The flight was uneventful which is always what you want.  There was a full breakfast even.

I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina.  It looks like I'll be traveling here for a long time.  The weather is muggy and warm...so not what Minnesota has been like for the past several weeks.  It was 72 degrees this morning which is warmer than it has been back home since August.

Apple pie #1

Okay, it may not look pretty but there is nothing like a home made apple pie.  Especially with an apple and currants from my own garden.

It's just one apple and a mess of a pie crust.  One of what could be many because there are lots of apples.

Subaru Forester

Surprise!  I'm not traveling but I have a vehicle review.  Dave probably thought I forgot.

On our Spring Green, Wisconsin road trip we took Dave's brand new Subaru Forester.  The new 2011 Forester is much more a crossover vehicle than the old girls-of-a-certain-nature wagon.

It tool nearly the entire trip before Dave would relinquish the wheel.  Like I said it is brand new so he was enjoying the drive himself.  Driving the hills and turns of rural Wisconsin must have been fun, Dave.  I finally got to drive once we were securely on the interstate.

None-the-less the Forester drives smooth and Dave's V6 model has tons of power.  This version of the Forester stands higher than a standard wagon though not as high as my Ford Escape.  This version also has a nice wide stance with a good feel to the wheel and suspension.  There is lots of glass making road trip a treat as passenger or driver.

I'm not ready

My outdoor thermometer says it is 38 degrees.  I covered the tomatoes and peppers and geraniums.  May get to 60 today but warming up over the weekend.

Annual Spring Green, Wisconsin road trip.

Last weekend was the annual Spring Green,  WI - American Players Theater trip.
This year Rose, Dave and Jeff drove from Minneapolis. And Michael and Megan drove from Iowa. The weather was amazing and gorgeous.

Rose was challenged to find a hotel with available rooms even having started several months ago. No hotel was available in Spring Green so we ended up in Dodgeville, about 18 miles away. We've stayed in Dodgeville before but never at the Don Q Inn.

As you can see the Don Q Inn has a very special feature... this Boeing Stratofreighter in the front.

And that's kind of just the start of it.  We enjoyed our stay at the quirky Don Q Inn.

The show at APT was The Critic by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. On my gosh! The production was hysterical. At one point in the second act, I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.

Finally

I finally made a complete run around Lake Calhoun. It is 5 kilometers just like my race a few weeks ago but I hadn't been able to run around Lake Calhoun without walking part of it.

So today I ran around clockwise instead of conter-clockwise.  Don't know why but I made the full 5K and, for me, fairly easily.

But they looked cute....

Frankie and Uno looked so cute on the table.  But the  picture makes them both look like devil's agents.

Qwest...now known as Century Link

I found out from my brother that my home phone was not working.  I don't generally take incoming calls on my landline and primarily only use it for work conference calls.

I couldn't call the operator (0) to get help.  I get my phone bill electronically so went on line to look for a service call number.  Luckily I found it fairly quickly.

I called the technical services number and the agony was off and running.  There was no way to speak to actual person....no way.  It was a completely computerized voice prompt system.  I tried the zero, zero, zero technique....nope.  I tried the "agent", "agent", "agent" technique.....nope.  You are required to answer a series of questions and press 1 or 2.  I ended up with a problem ticket...I guess....it wasn't really clear.  The voice said my phone would be fixed by end-of-day 8/31.  This was on Monday.

I didn't really know what to expect.  Finally, yesterday, 8/31, a couple of guys showed up.  My cell phone rang about 4pm.  Guy said he was in the back to fix the phone.  Okay.

I head to the backyard.  There's two guys in shirts and jeans in a black pickup trunk.  Nothing says anything about "telephone company."  I considered asking for identification but figured they're in the backyard, let 'em at it.

They ended up replacing the wire from the pole to the house.  Then reconnected one wire to the box on the outside of the house. Said they were done.

I checked the phone.  There was now a dial tone.  I tried calling the home phone from my cell phone.  The recorded message that the "system was not available due to telephone facility problem" was still there.  I told the guy as he was getting in his truck to leave.  He said it was a computer thing and he'd contact the systems people to turn off the message.  I went for my run.

I got back about half hour later and the guys were back.  I guess it turned out to be something else.  The guy said it was my answering machine.  The my answering machine had a message that said the system was down because of the telephone company!!!??? Really!!!??  I don't think so.

Finally they said they needed to come into the house to check.  That meant I was going to get charged.  Okay, Okay.  We all know my house is old....like over 100 years old...and so is the phone wiring.  They get at the spider web of wires in the basement.  Oh, there's a short.  It is this one line...the one I'm using so I'll have to move my phone.  I don't think so!  I tell him to fix it!  I'm already being charged for them coming into the house.  We are now 3 hours into this ordeal.

He replaces the jack in the sun room...the only one in the house I use.  And I guess they replace some of the wires in the basement because they leave a wad of wires on the floor.  They high-tail it out almost before I can check if it is really working.

I just could not believe this is what is called "service" from the phone company.  Of course, I can't tell anyone there because you are not allowed to talk to actual person.