Do You Like To Go Fast?

Confession: I love to go fast. The faster the better. The only thing that comes close to that feeling is to watch speed. NASCAR, street racing, Indy Cars...it's all cool. Which is why I have all those little buzzers (radar detectors and what not) in my car. I make a point to watch the spedometer and I regularly check my rearview. Still, I get tickets now and then, which adds one more thing to my list: watching for cheaper auto insurance. I'm actually a very safe driver - as long as I can use cruise control; the problem is that I can't tell how fast I'm going unless I have my eyes glued to the spedometer. And that isn't safe. So I employ cruise as much as possible...and keep an eye out the back window.

On The Road Again...

One of the interesting bits of being a freelance writer is that you can work from the home office most of the time...but then there are articles, content or other things you need to travel to write. So I'm always on the look-out for great deals on hotels, flights and rental cars as well as information for the various shows and conferences themselves. I found a really cool site for an upcoming construction trade show and conference (two birds, one stone and 2 articles already accepted) with information on everything from industrial hand wheels to lighter equipment. Very helpful site and already in my favorites as a resource.

Summers are always very busy for me, because I cover a lot of trade shows and conferences as a freelancer. I'm not on the road yet, but I'll be on the road again very soon. And I'm glad I can do a lot of the research beforehand!

The Poster Children for Traveler's Aid...

DH and I should just bit the bullet, contact some huge ad agency on Madison Avenue in New York and have our picture put on a poster, warning everyone about the evils awaiting when you travel.

When we lived Way Out West, I can't tell you the number of times we were stuck, got bumped or laid over in Chicago. Not a big deal? We fly on average twice a year -- everytime we flew through Chicago, something bad would happen. So, now that we're in a larger area, we avoid Chicago like the plague. Imagine our surprise last Friday morning when Kansas City International Airport mysteriously turned into Chicago O'Hare......

We woke up before the butt-crack of dawn to catch our 6:40am flight to Cleveland...only to arrive at the airport to find out that our 6:40am flight was actually a 6:40 PM flight. The ticket agent frowned, said she was sorry, slapped a couple of standby stickers on our bags and sent them back.. she put us standby on all the flights leading up to the PM flight. Are there any other flights to Cleveland this morning? Any other airlines? Anything else we can do? She shook her head. DH headed to the phone to call his parents to let them know we were delayed. We checked the boards, no other direct flights to Cleveland, but we did see a flight to Detroit leaving in 30 minutes on another carrier. We were desperate, but still, we could drive from Detroit to Cleveland in a couple hours... the day wouldn't be wasted in an airport. We decided to try it. The flight had two empty seats, and the agent could even get us connected to Cleveland and we'd only be an hour behind schedule. Now the search was on for our luggage. We left him to it, fully expecting to get to Cleveland with only the clothes on our back. But that's what malls are for, right?

So, we run to the gate. We're flagged for extra security. We're patted down, they use the wands, make us take off our shoes. DH is done first, he runs for the gate, tells them I'm coming... I'm still getting patted down. No beeps or anything, why is this taking so long? I'm started to get nervous...trying not to sweat so they won't think something is off with our last-minute switch of airlines and flights... when the search woman tells me I can go. I can go! Butterflies and flowers are raining down over my head. I feel like hopping or skipping to the gate and down the ramp...Then DH grabs my wrist and yanks me from my thoughts. We have to hurry, the plane is supposed to be pushing back right now. One shoe on, one off, jacket hanging from my elbows, all kinds of things sticking up from my purse because of the search, I get on the plane.

So today, as I'm packing up for our wild summer trip - in an RV, no less - I'm packing extra everything from bandages to electrical plugs. And phone numbers. We now have phone numbers for everything possible from emergent care and our doctor's to a motorhome towing operation. Because, with our luck, we're going to need it!

And I'm still wondering - does anyone else have these problems when they travel? Are we the poster children for travelers aid? Or is this fate, giving me another idea for a story.............

Cool Kid Gift!

The hubster, bebe and I headed down to our large park for a walk yesterday - and a huge soccer tournament broke out! It was so funny because we were walking along one minute and the next about fifteen soccer teams started running the track with us in their warmups. Bebe, of course, thought it was great and jabbered along as we got passed by a bunch of pre-teens. We were on our third lap - the kids only ran a half-lap before they headed in for stretching - when I saw one of the mom's pull a bunch of differently color and decorated balls out. I just had to know what was going on so after our walk and before the games started I asked. Turns out they were personalized soccer balls for the kids because, not only did a soccer tournament break out in the middle of our walk, but it was the final tourney of the season. So the kiddos all got the balls as mementos of the season. I thought that was nice.

A Wedding Story...

I agreed to be the wedding hostess for another wedding at our church last weekend. Two reasons this time. 1) I really like doing it. It's fun helping the brides get ready and this couple was so sweet! and 2) because I'm working on a trio of wedding related articles for a regional magazine...so this was perfect fodder. I took notes, shot extra snaps and made sure my subjects, er, the bride and groom, didn't mind my using them for potential stories. They were thrilled. One of the funny things that happened was that the best man had no pants! Seriously! His tux was delivered with jacket, tuxedo vest, shoes and even the shirt...but no pants! The official photographer had a good time taking 'candid' shots of that, let me tell you. Thankfully, the formal wear shop had someone working late and they hurried the pants over. I bet the bride and groom don't forget that one!

Pow! Right in the Eye!

I think I mentioned a day or two ago that our nephews were in town for the weekend. We hit the local amusement park one day and the other we took out the jetskis for a little tubing -- amazingly enough the water Way Up North is actually warm enough to tube already. Anywho, as I was spotting for Nephew #2, the hubster swerved, I lost my balance and Whammo! A shot of water right in my eye. I barely got my balance back before he swerved again and another shot of water - right in the eye. Good thing I wore my sunglasses out in the water. They aren't exactly full-fledged safety glasses but they do protect from water! After those two swerves I decided it was my turn to drive.

Being Self-Employed...

...isn't all sweetness and roses. Sure there are benefits - I don't have to live by the alarm clock, I can wear my jammies all day if I want and nobody cares if I sit down to work right while I'm still sweaty from a workout. But there are drawbacks, too. I don't get to talk to real people or hang out over the watercooler gossiping about a favorite show. And I don't have a great, cheap benefits package.

So I decided to check out different companies to see what kind of packages were out there. In my search I found this site which offers life insurance quotes. It's really quick and simple to use. You just have to enter in some basic information - gender, age, height and weight. The quote also asks for some basic history - like are you a smoker, have you been diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes. Simple! I was looking for coverage for my husband and myself since his policy through work is not great. Once I entered in our information, I had 20 or so quotes in all different ranges - and all with good deductibles, co-pays and low monthly costs. Perfect! If you're looking for cheap insurance, this is the place to go!

Bummer! No Free Pass!!

So one of the writer's conferences I'm attending this summer is in Florida. Not in Orlando but close enough that we could stay a couple of extra days and hit the Orlando theme parks and a couple of other areas. I checked out our platinum pass for our local park, which isn't Disney but is a huge corporation and does collaborate on discounted passes with parks outside their organization. Except for Disney. No discounted tickets and no free passes. We still may make a daytrip over there post-con, depending on the weather and hurricane season.

Oh, My Lovelies!

Got a nice little surprise from the UPS driver this afternoon - my Amazon books arrived! We have a great bookstore here in town, but their reference section is limited, so I often order from Amazon (both paper books and e-books). This particular shipment is great because two references for fiction arrived (yay!)... I also picked up a book from the local library sale over the weekend - the Careers Encyclopedia. That is an interesting book! )Okay, off the Internet and on to reading!

Scary Moments!

Our nephews were in town last weekend and we took them to a local amusement park one day. We'd only been there a few minutes when we realized that one of the roller coasters had stopped mid-way up the first big hill -- and that it wasn't moving. We were totally transfixed, along with everyone else. And then we got really nervous because two of the park EMTs started up the hill on foot - with a portable oxygen concentrator. Turns out on of the riders got really nervous and started having problems breathing, and the coaster couldn't go back into the chute until the other cars were pulled off the tracks. So the EMTs were called in. They got the rider calmed down and walked him back down the hill. Show over. Wow! What a scary moment!

The Best Treatment...

Had a meeting this morning with a local dermatologist for a piece on acne treatments that I'm writing for a national glossy - my first major assignment, very excited! I'll post a link when the piece goes live online and when the mag is available, but have to share just a little bit from it.

As we were talking about treatments like ProActive or pronexin, the doctor said that, while these things work they actuall work by drying out your skin. His advice? Stick with more natural treatments. 1) keep your hands off your face. hand have a huge amount of grease and oil and stuff that you pick up throughout the day. resting your hands on your face transfers the gunk into your pores, clogging them and creating zits. So, off with your hands! 2) drink and eat more natural foods. stay away from processed foods - including chocolate, soda, bolonga, etc. eating fresh fruits and veggies rather than processed foods keeps your body working for you. 3) wash your face. he said he was amazed at the number of young people who don't wash the face. after a shower, using a facial soap, lather the skin and wipe away gently.

According to the doc, those are the steps you need.

Advice from my instructor

I've been meeting with a personal trainer a couple of times each week since the beginning of winter...with good results. Last week we were chatting afterward about an article I'm working on (muscle memory) and got a little off-subject because, with summer basically here, we both noticed an increase in the number diet pill ads running on local tv and radio. During early evening TV we've both noticed an increase of medical/weight loss commercials on television. Maybe it's a yearly thing, but it seems that for every hour of programming I watch, there are at least 10 minutes of weight loss/medical commercials for everything from fat burner advice to gastric banding. I know everyone wants the perfect body and I'm not denying that some pills and surgeries can help. But I have to wonder how many people really, really try the diet and exercise way and how many give up because it's 'too hard' or 'too time consuming'? My results are good. Sure, they are slow, but I'm willing to keep working at it.

Whoops! Missed the Expiration Date!

Opened the kitchen medicine cabinet today - filled with things for oven burns, vitamins and the like - and realized that my container of multi-vitamins is past the expiration date. There's $10 down the tubes! I was shocked, usually I'm way early on the expirations, but I haven't felt the need for vitamins with the rejuvenated and alternating workout schedule lately. In fact, can't remember the last time I actuall took all natural vitamins - I know, that's a bad thing! I'm a big believer in vitamins..ever since I started taking my little Fred Flintstones back in pre-school! So, adding another thing to the grocery list this afternoon. Okay, carry on with your day.