Mike

You call that a guarantee?!?

Before I start, I want to mention that in the end.... I got a good deal!

As you have been following our family over the last few months, you will know that we are going to be collecting in NYC for Christmas.  LovelyWife and I are extremely excited about it!

About 6 weeks ago, Mike found a sweet deal on a hotel in Times Square, so the rest of us jumped on it, and we are all staying together now.

At the time, airfare to NYC from St. Louis was in the $400 range round-trip.  I've been waiting for prices to drop.  They have since settled in the $350 area.  I have 'alerts' scheduled on Travelocity to let me know when prices drop below $250, but sometimes their system is slow, and I miss possible deals.

Usually I let Travelocity tell when/where the good prices are, then I go directly to the airline's website to purchase the tickets, avoiding extra fees.  I hadn't heard from Travelocity in a while, so, while watching Game 5 of the World Series (Go Cards!), I hopped onto Travelocity and saw a lone fare for our dates to LaGuardia for $149.  I nearly sh*t myself. 

I called LovelyWife to my side and grabbed my wallet.  We opened a second tab and went to the Northwest Airlines Website to find the same fare, but it was nowhere to be found. So, back to Travelocity, where I paid the rediculously low fare and a $10.00 fee.

I went back to nwa.com and put in a claim on their website that "Our Best Fare Guarantee makes nwa.com an easy choice for travelers who purchase their airline tickets online... In addition to guaranteeing the best fare, tickets purchased at nwa.com do not include the booking fees that other Web sites charge and travelers can earn bonus miles in our WorldPerks frequent flyer program."

So, I put in a claim.... It was denied.   Way down in their fine print, (which took me three times reading it to find this), you must purchase  your ticket at nwa.com, and then find the better price on another site to get the guarantee.  What kind of guarantee is that?  nwa.com says that they guarantee they will have the best price, right?   Had I gone to nwa.com to exploit this, then most likely, I would have purchased at nwa.com and then by the time they investigate my claim, the deal would have been gone.

Has this ever happened to you?  A guarantee that really isn't a guarantee?

As I said, I got lucky and found a great fare, and took it.

--LittleMike

Guess who's home again?

... and sleeping on my pillow, as usual.

Evidently his weekend away with Justine wore him out.

Please don't feed them. It only encourages them to breed.

For some reason the latest weekend attraction here in Shadowmoss is for people who don't live near me to drive down to my end of the street and feed bread or cracked corn to the FUDs.  FUD is short for "fucked up ducks".  They are bigger than ducks, smaller than geese, and meaner than hell.  I have no idea what they are.  They are so mean that even Psycho tiptoes around them.  My biggest gripe with the FUDs is that they sleep under my truck, shit on my driveway, and attack me whenever I try to drive somewhere.

There were only five FUDs when I bought my house three years ago.  At the time I thought they were cute. Now there are twelve of them and they wander the neighborhood, like a street gang, demanding food.

I'm trying my best to not be a hermit

Bay Street, Beaufort, SC

The Beaufort River

I drove down to Beaufort last evening for their Fall Art Walk.  Unlike a typical Charleston Art Walk I didn't have to hip-check anyone into the boards to get a good look at the paintings and the photographs on display.  In fact, while the Art Walk was well attended, I didn't have to hurt anyone to get my share of the wine, cheese, and boiled shrimp.  Lots of wine, cheese, and boiled shrimp.

I didn't buy anything but I went back three times to look at a watercolor before deciding to leave my Visa card in my wallet.   Actually, before I arrived I was ready to buy a framed photograph of a kayaker on a marsh that I'd seen earlier this month but it sold before I got to the gallery.  Maybe the gods were telling me something, or maybe the gods' timing is as bad as mine is.

If you are ever in Beaufort and looking to buy "art" art, as opposed to "sofa" art, stop by Art & Soul at the top end of Bay Street and The Gallery at the bottom end.  I don't get a commission so I'm not pimping for them.  I'm just saying.

Say hello to my little friend!

I always wanted to say that but since I don't plan on killing anyone, this will have to do.

My new Canon SD800 IS replaces the Canon pocket camera that I killed in July.  The SD800 is as small as the dead camera but it packs 7.1 megapixels, has image stabilization, and cost me $60 less.

I'd show you some of the photos it takes but I had to make a deal with the devil.  Justine agreed to take Champ to Sumter, SC for the weekend as long as I let her take the SD800, too.

Camera?  Champ?

Camera?  Champ?

I win!

I can always post photos on Monday.

(I'm still in the market for a digital SLR like my brother has but for now I'm happy to have something that I can whip out of my pants on a second's notice.)

I beat Little Mike to it!

Cards win! Cards win!

Hip Hop Ice Cube

Check out Briar's boyfriend, Isaac, on Cube Fabulous.  Click on the Hip Hop Ice Cube link.

I knew there was something about the near-death experience

Nettie is back!

Autumn has finally arrived in the lowcountry

It's about time since we're a week away from November.

Four days ago it was 86 and muggy.  Summer weather, not October weather.  This morning when I took Champ out it was 38 and I could see his breath and mine. There was a thin layer of frost on the car and truck windshields.

Before Justine left for class this morning she said, "I froze last night.  If you don't turn on the heat I'm going to move into a hotel and use your credit card to pay for the room".  Sorry kid.  It has nothing to do with power conservation or preventing global warming.  I love waking up in a cold house, buried under the blankets, with Champ snuggled up next to me.  It makes that first cup of tea in the morning even more special.  And don't bother looking for my Visa card.  I've hidden it.

I may be a jerk but even a jerk has to draw the line somewhere

Every autumn I get a call from a student at the University of Kentucky, where I got my BS, and a call from a student at the University of Missouri, where I got my MS, asking me to contribute to the latest scholarship fund.  (I used to get a call from the University of New Hampshire, were I got my PhD, but evidently I've moved so many times that they've lost my phone number).

Tonight I got the call from UK.  It went something like this:

Him:  Dr. Courtney?  I'm xxx, a junior at the University of Kentucky.  I'm calling because you've always made generous donations to the University and I'm hoping that...[at that point I cut him off.]

Me:  No.

Him:  I'm sorry.  What did you say?

Me:  I said no.

Him:  You know that your donations go to...[at that point I cut him off again.]

Me:  I know where the money goes, and I hate taking it out on the students, but evidently the only thing that President Todd and Mitch Barnhart understand is money so I'm not going to give another dime to UK as long as Rich Brooks is the football coach.

Him:  You aren't the first person to tell me that.

Me:  Really?

Him:  Really.

Me:  You've got my phone number.  Call me back when Brooks is gone and I'll double the check that I wrote last year.

Him:  OK.

When the student from the University of Missouri phones I'll listen.  Mizzou is 7 and 1.