Play Nice

At Sky Harbor, wearing my favorite travel shirt.



...to remind myself as much as others.

Funny, I ran into my airport arch nemesis the other day. Actually, it wasn't that much of a coincidence as I often travel through this gate at this terminal. She works at Starbucks and doesn't seem to benefit from the caffeine high that so many Bucks employees exude at the register. This women is rather mean (and I can't totally blame her I would be too if I worked in the airport Starbucks). But, damn! Last week, I bought a chai and a water from her. She didn't see the water and so had to charge me separately for it. No problemo.

The problem happened when she was counting out change from my first transaction and because I had given her some change, she was all confused about how much to give back to me and so she sat counting the change in her hand for a minute before realizing that what I gave her amounted to her changing me a whole dollar. This dollar was supposed to be in addition to $5 change. Well, she swore that she had given me the $5 even though she hadn't. So, in total, I ended up spending about $12 on a chai and a bottle of water. Argh.

The other day though, as I approached the counter, this time to order an iced tea lemonade, I looked down at my wee chest and took it's message to heart. I even gave Ol' County McFrownerson a tip, reminding myself that good things happen to good people.

heck yes

What a fun weekend this has been! The weather finally broke here in the PHX and it's been a balmy 95 degrees today, finally making outdoor activities less likely to induce death by heat stroke.

It actually rained on Saturday. We had those funny desert showers where it pours rain for 10 minutes and then the skies open-up into beautiful half-cloud canvases of intense shadows and great light. Below are some pictures from my Saturday hike on the Peralta trail in the Superstition Mountains and my Sunday play date at Papago Park. Most of them, obviously, have been digitally enhanced or filtered in some way.


Canyon


Weaver's Needle


Lovers Rock


Lone Tree


Papago Hole


Hairy Palm Trees


TURTLES!

my spots, oddly enough

So, Amy did this quiz and I took it too. Based on your answers to a bunch of questions about your lifestyle and your dream environment. I thought the locations that came up in my quiz results were not necessarily what I would have come up with, but maybe I'm missing something.

Salisbury, Maryland
Milwaukie, Oregon
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Hagerstown, Maryland
St. Helens, Oregon
Essex, Connecticut
Portland, Oregon
Astoria, Oregon
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Morgantown, West Virginia
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Burlington, Vermont
Middlebury, Vermont
Brattleboro, Vermont
Northampton, Massachusetts
Lincoln City, Oregon
Newport, Oregon
Easton, Maryland
Silver City, New Mexico
Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii
Carlsbad, New Mexico
Makawao-Paia, Hawaii
Gardnerville-Minden, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada

I'm not entirely sure what to think of this list. I would never in a million years want to live in Las Vegas, that's for sure. I could do Vermont, Oregon or Hawaii in a heartbeat. West Virinia would be cool and you might catch me in New Mexico. I highly doubt, however, that I could be won-over by Maryland, Massachusetts or Connecticut.

It's certainly given me some things to think about.

Here's a link to the survey if you want to check it out.
http://www.findyourspot.com

Holy Annoyance!

I've currently been on hold with US Air for 19 minutes and 52 seconds. Before that I talked to a dumbass on the main line at US Air for a good 10 minutes and then got hung-up on over and over again trying to navigate the automated system for this alternate number. Before that I was on the phone with Orbitz for 35 minutes and my bank for 12. So far absolutely nobody has been able to help me with a seemingly easy task.

You see, I got double charged for some airfare I recently booked. Should be simple enough to correct, right? Apparently not. After listening to two people reading the same stupid script to me about how they only charge once and I should call my to dispute the charge, I did just that. My bank says in order to dispute the charge I have to file a fraud claim which makes my debit card inactive and takes a gazillion years to process. This is a ridonculous waste of my time! I should just suck-up the $200 loss but now I'm pissed that I've wasted over an hour of my life dealing with this B.S. I hate these corporate fuckers.

I am an Orphan Girl

Well, not really. I have parents, and lucky for you, this post isn't about them.

This post is about the band Crooked Still. I've been listening to them for ages now and I've never had the opportunity to see them live. I just love them though. They take a lot of the traditional American folk and bluegrass songs and totally infuse them with a brand new sound, unique to them.

Unlike a lot of other "newgrass" bands, their songs move so gracefully. A lot of it has to do with the fact that they're entirely unplugged; no electric instruments and no drums. This doesn't slow them down though, Gregory Liszt on banjo keeps the songs rolling along with a beat you can't help but bob your head to and Rushad Eggleston on the cello provides this amazing resonant dimension. Of course, the music would be naught without Aoife O'Donovan's smooth and sweet vocals. I just love this band and so I think you should check them out.

If you already know about and love Crooked Still make sure you check out all the bands they're affiliated with like The Wayfaring Strangers, Sometymes Why and The Mammals.

Yet Another One Bites the Dust

I was outside sweeping my back porch (aka slab of concrete) when I came across two very big, very complex spider webs. One of them was under a chair and the other was under a table. I don't know how these things get spun so quickly, it seems I'm swatting them away every week.



The web under the chair was occupied by a juicy black widow spider. This is not the first black widow to make her home in the surrounds of mine. And, I hate to say, it will not be the last. Last time the bug man was here (nary a month ago) he found 4 black widows in the backyard and in the garage.

I'm becoming quite paranoid of these deadly little creatures and have become prone to jumping at the sight almost any bug, thinking now that each tiny creature I come across in this desert landscape is reading a poison just for me. I'm not ready to die yet, people!

I guess it's time to call the bug man again. I really hate killing living creatures and it's completely against my sensibilities to spread noxious chemicals all over my home and the ground outside. It's just not right. I don't know what other choice we have though except to accept death by lethal spider bite.

If you or anyone you know has an organic recommendation for the removal of deadly spiders from the home, please let me know.