The Women Behind the Tech Guys

It's Been Awhile

2007-07-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's beeen awhile! A looonnng while.

Things have been crazy with getting ready to move next week, starting a new conference, and the talks of starting another. I had added some photos of the views from the new place. As you can see, we can't wait to move in. We are only a block and a half away form the beach right now, but apparently for my honey, that isn't close enough. I can't complain. :-)

We are getting married in Las Vegas next month. WOO HOO!! We have been together for almost 5 years, so nothing shocking should arise after the "big step." :-)

After that we are having a reception in September for the family to be held in the good old midwest. Looking forward to seeing some leaves changing colors! Not much of that here in the sunshine state. The reception will be immediately following the DIDW conference in San Francisco - so, it's going to be a long 10 days. I am sure we will be ready for some cocktails and gifts after all of that flying and dealing with San Fran. For those of you who have read my previous posts, that should make perfect sense.

Oh - speaking of new conferences and upcoming conferences. We found a great web design company. They are great to work with and they also happen to be friends. Check Digital Alchemy out! Digital Alchemy

Well, off to do some more working and packing.

Good to be back blogging!

K.P.

Go Colts!!!!!

2007-01-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

Wow. It has been a busy month, and it's almost gone! Time sure does fly as you get older.

Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts. Woo Hoo! Go Peyton. Hopefully, it is his time. What a game last Sunday. I spent as much time off of the couch as I did on the couch. Wow.

We will be traveling out of town for the Superbowl. My father has a 96 inch Digital Projection HDTV. Can't get much better than that. Poker night, the Superbowl, the gambling boats, our favorite places to eat . . . . . Sounds like a pretty good time to me. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I am more worried about the Superbowl trip weight gain than the holiday weight gain.

Busy busy around here since the technology world has restarted it's engines after the holidays. Restarted and revving. It's craziness. Good though. I think my honey is going to go crazy when there aren't enough phone calls to take up the entire day. :-)

Weather has bee great where we are with the exception of today ......Cold and rainy. Perfect movie and chili day. Perfect!

Go Peyton!!!!!

K.P.

Happy New Year 2007!

2007-01-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all. Wow, once again we have to start remembering to put 2007 instead of 2006. I have already written 2 checks with 2006 on them. Oops.

As you all know we had a house full of guests in December. This may explain the post delays.

Updates:

Christmas: Christmas Eve was pretty uneventful. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is sunny and 80 degrees outside. Christmas day was great. We decided to have friends over to the house that didn't have any family down here. It was a lot of fun. Good times. I am glad to be able to host something like that. No fun staying at home by yourself on Christmas day.

House: It is now time for the spring cleaning to start. Powerwashing, reshelling of driveway, etc. Tons of fun.

Business: In the middle of developing a new idea. Exciting stuff. Working through all of the details over the next couple of weeks.

That is it. Nothing too exciting going on around here. We all know that the technology world pretty much shuts down for the 2nd half of December so we are ready to get going again.

K.P.

"24" Season 5

2006-12-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well, 24 keeps getting better and better! We finished watching season 5 last night, after turing the ringers off I might add. This is my, our favorite season yet. Seeing the Season 6 prequel has forced us to make the decision to actually TRY and watch it on t.v. They also have an extended season 6 preview now. WATCH IT. You will see why I don't think we can wait until next December for Season 6 to arrive via DVD. Although we will still order it and rewatch of course.

K.P.

The First Night ... Snoring and Sleeping

2006-12-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

So my honey's dad and stepmom arrived yesterday late afternoon. We immediately went to our local hang out and had some appetizers, cocktails and great fun and conversation. We arrived back home to the house where we decided to do Christmas early since they are here. Everyone liked their gifts. They were great. At some point in the night, his stepmom asks US BOTH if necessary, can she come upstairs and sleep on the couch due to the level of volume in which his dad snores. We BOTH said of course. She was the first to go downstairs and I told her, in earshot of everyone, that I would leave the door unlocked for her and leave a blanket out for her. She could come up anytime. Long story short, it is time for us to go to bed. My honey lets our dog out to go to the bathroom and then comes in to bed.

We wake up this morning to his dad sitting outside on the steps reading. He has gotten up and hour earlier. All I hear is my honey say "Shit, I must have locked it!" Yes, he locked it - KNOWING that we were leaving it open for not 1, but 2 reasons. For his stepmom if she needed to sleep up here, and forhis dad to get coffee and wifi use in the morning. All was ok on the dad part, he was reading. Here is the thing. . . .at some point in the night his dad wakes up to no wife. He sees that the car keys are gone. He walks outside and SHE IS SLEEPING IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE CAR. Yes, you read that right. The back seat of the car. I am still stunned. She hasn't come upstairs yet, as I am sure she needs some actual sleep, but this is going to be a story to tell for awhile.

Great first night of vacation for them!

K.P.

Getting Ready for Family

2006-12-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

December is the constant month that all family wants to come down from up north. This makes total sense, although every year it seems as if we say to each other "why did we book them so close together?" We have family here from the 7th-12th and then the 15th-21st. Then we have Christmas Eve, Christmas, etc. Yikes! It's going to be busy.

This time of year, like every other year, the technology world pretty much shuts down for the last half of December. This makes it much easier for the above company, but my honey goes crazy wanting to get things done. Maybe his time will be occupied this year with the family. Or the Xbox 360, which ever is better. ;-)

K.P.

Remembering Ron

2006-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

A very dear friend of ours Ron passed away on Wednesday. Please excuse the post delays.

A friend that we hadn't seen since July, due to location, passed away. It is so weird to even think about going/visiting there without seeing him. Everyone wants us to come out, but it is hard not knowing details, etc. We also have family coming to visit on Thursday, so that makes it difficult as well. Understanding that it is for reasons of comfort for all others that have lost him to travel there, it is still hard not to be there. There probably won't be a service in that city since his wife lives in L.A. and had no ties there. That even makes it more difficult.

K.P.

10 Things Not To Do On Thanksgiving

2006-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here is my list of the ten things you should NOT do on Thanksgiving:

1. Attempt to cook 5 things in a single oven with 2 racks.
2. Think that you will have plenty of leftovers for yourself. (cooked a 16 lb. turkey)
3. Start drinking at 1 p.m. when people start arriving
4. Start doing shots at 5 p.m.
5. Break out the ipod after football is over
6. Start dancing to the ipod
7. Start singing 80's rock tunes with the remaining company at 1:30 a.m. ( With all of the sliding glass doors open)
8. Continue doing shots until 4 a.m.
9. Include the song "Faithfully" by Journey in the karaoke mess that you have created
10. Get out the samurai swords and use them "to the music" (then hit the ceiling fan with one while it was moving)

Just some advice if you don't want a completely useless day the day after.

K.P.

Turkey Week

2006-11-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a short work week this week thanks to Turkey Day!!! However, the dreaded grocery store trip is approaching. Uhhhh. It of course will take 3 times longer than it usually would, and of course I have no idea how many people will be attending, which makes the trip more difficult. That's ok, all smiles here. . . . I like the holidays. Now, my honey however - who is very much an "I don't like obligations"person, would much prefer to never have holidays or always have them at our house, at our time, with our choosing of people. Not that he is a scrooge or anything, he just thinks that holidays are times to be happy and do what YOU want and not fell like you "HAVE" to do something. Makes sense in a business-contractor sense. Anyway.... still haven't started on the wrapping of Christmas presents to get them sent off, but did manage to get everything separated into "where they are being sent" piles. Big accomplishment! Huge. Massive. Our entire jacuzzi tub as I said was filled, now we can actually use it again.

Happy Turkey Week!

K.P.

Watch This For A Laugh

2006-11-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

I received this video this morning and completely cracked up.

All I can say is "duh."

A little bit of funny going into the weekend.

K.P.

Christmas Craziness

2006-11-16T06:03:00.000-08:00

As we speak I have just finished up doing some research on the new "conference idea" that has been floating around the house. I am delaying the dreaded walk into the bedroom where the entire jacuzzi tub is filled with Christmas presents that need to be boxed, wrapped, ribboned, and shipped. I know that I need to start, but I am totally regretting not using the "gift wrap" option that is mostly available now through EVERYWHERE. The " I would rather do your conference call honey than start on this wrapping" conversation would go nowhere, so off I go here in a little bit. I can day dream though right???

I am lucky to have 98% of the Christmas shopping done as most people that I talk to haven't even started. You couldn't pay me to go into a mall post Thanksgiving. I would rather use my plugged in lap top in the bathtub (and accidentally drop it in there) than go into a mall.

Awhhhhh the holidays!

Cheers!

K.P.

Weekend Updates

2006-11-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

It is once again time for the weekend updates, Nothing exciting happened this weekend. It was a relaxing weekend, although filled with thought and preparation for the upcoming week. One of my honey's business partners was in town for a few days so that always means "brain drain" immediately following the visit. Nonstop thinking and talking for 8-10 hours straight tends to do that! Anyway.....

* Looks like I may have won Fantasy Football this week....WOO HOO!!
* Almost finished with that evil thing called "Christmas Shopping".... another WOO HOO!!
* Getting prepared for our most visited month for family.....December
* Got a new kitten a few weeks ago that we of course named "Bauer"...Mentioned that because he is completely nuts right now, something about right after eating food....
* Honey is meshing though some new conference ideas, great ones too. (they always are)
* It is getting cold here in the south....56 degrees this morning, yikes.... Freezin!
* Watched Season 6 Part 1 of the Sopranos - WOW, great season! I wish we didn't have to wait for Part 2 of the season to come out on DVD. It isn't scheduled to be seen on HBO until March '07.
* Only a few weeks until Jack Bauer returns to DVD via Season 5 of 24. We HAVE to schedule a WHOLE weekend for that one! Preordered today!

That's about all of the exciting stuff that has been happening here! Hope you had a good weekend!

K.P.

Britney vs. Voters

2006-11-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

It is amazing to me that while reading the news this morning in hopes of getting some answers regarding the ridiculous Democratic "takeover" that I was seeing as many if not more headlines about the Britney Spears/Kevin Federline divorce. Hmmmm..... Let's take a vote on that. I think it will be Britney who will win.

Come on people. What is important here?

K.P.

Republicans vs. Democrats

2006-11-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have already heard via Fox News today that there is "voter intimidation" going on in Philadelphia. Hispanics were standing behind voters screaming at them if they voted Republican. Now, does anyone see a problem with this? There are also reports of fraud, suppresions, etc. These are reported in Utah, Florida, Indiana and Ohio regarding voter machines. The lists go on.

We here in this household are economic conservatives geared towards the republican side of things. Even with that, voter intimidation in the favor of either side is TOTALLY WRONG. It is frustrating watching these kind of "headlines."

Ho do we really know the party that wins actually was the winner???

K.P.

I Think Tom Brady is Color Blind

2006-11-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

I am 3-6 in Fantasy Football now. I had a REALLY good chance of winning last night. HAD. Tom Brady scored me 1 POINT. Yes, that's right, 1 POINT. For those of you who watched the game, I am sure that you understand. I also had Viniatari as my kicker. What in the hell happened there? If Brady wasn't all of a sudden color blind (4 interceptions) and Viniatari acted like he wasn't playing soccer, (2 missed field goals) then I would have won.

Frustrating!

K.P.

Never Do Business With "A**H*LES

2006-11-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

We were at our favorite home away from home spot last night. We were there an extra long time due to the fact that we were talking to some people who worked there and some customers. It is unbelievable to me that so many people out there that are trying to start a business or have only been in a business for a short time, the treatment that they receive. Truly. Now, the word unbelievable isn't true - I guess I can believe it, I just don't like it and neither does my honey. This is how things should be handled:

1. Never do business with A**H*LES.
2. Do the research to find out if they are A**H*LES before doing business with them. Via reputation, etc.
3. If you know that they are an A**H*LE, and you choose to do business with them then you are the A**H*LE
4. If you don't know that they are an A**H*LE and they turn out to be an A**H*LE, then give them a NEW A**H*LE.

It is pretty much that simple. Seriously.

K.P.

Time Change

2006-11-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

I am not enjoying this time change thing at all right now. Next year however, they are changing it to 4 weeks LATER.

I think it is just a combination of all of the travel, time zone changes, etc. But both of our bodies are confused, STILL. For some reason now we are waking up as soon as the sun starts coming up. Is this the Army, are we in the Army? Uhhhh.

K.P.

Updates

2006-11-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since my last post. Things have been a bit crazy. With finishing up a busy couple months of travel, we have been exhausted! Glad to be home and here for awhile!!! Here is a little of what has been going on:

* Cardinals won the World Series. WOO HOO!!
* Airtran is the WORST AIRLINE EVER. Let me repeat that.... AIRTRAN IS THE WORST AIRLINE EVER. We will NEVER, let me repeat that one again too.... NEVER fly AIRTRAN again.
* ATLANTA is the WORST AIRPORT EVER. I think most people know this.
* We got a kitten a couple of weeks ago that was trying to play early in the morning with a strand of my hair and she got her claw STUCK in the side of my nose. Yes, STUCK. Great way to wake up let me tell ya.
* My honey's brain is DEAD this week. I feel bad for him. So much squeezed into a short period of time and now that there is nothing coming up quickly, I think his brain has taken a well needed and deserved vacation. To Italy apparently . . . all he has wanted is Italian food!
* Not big on Halloween. I am thoroughly convinced that Halloween is the excuse for women to be as absolutely slutty as possible. As long as they "should" be wearing what they are wearing, I am fine with that, fun to watch - but WOW.... I think we see less skin at the clubs. Luckily our house is a tri level and trick or treaters don't want to have to walk up the stairs. I knew there was a method to the madness.
* Started Xmas shopping. I can't believe it is November already. With not knowing what our travel plans are yet for the holidays, it is easier to have it done just in case we have to ship everything off. Tis the season.
* have the new Tiger Woods '07 game on the way for the XBOX 360. This will help him with the relaxation!
* I miss baseball, just realized that. After watching all of those games in a row, it is easy to do that I guess.

Other than that folks, it has been pretty calm!!!

K.P.

NEVER Fly Airtran, Especially through Atlanta

2006-10-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

We are in Boston this week for business. When I booked our flights we originally booked a multi city ticket for each of us because we were heading some place else after the business trip. To get decent flight times, etc. I had to book on Airtran and go through Atlanta. I ended up changing the mutli city to just a round trip, but that is neither here nor there, we were still booked on the original Airtran flight connecting through Atlanta to Boston. Here is how things went

1) Get to airport. Check in. The screen on the kiosk says that we owe $31.00. When I ask the Airtran agent why he says EXACTLY this "Because it says you do". Now, you hopefully can see where I may have been a bit pissed off. He gave us tickets, never giving us a seating choice and we are stuck with aisle and middle the whole route. Take off on time from home.
2) Land in Atlanta, 20 minutes after we landed we get to our gate
3) While looking for something to eat during our layover (which was 1 hour and 18 minutes, which was now only 58 minutes due to our delay getting to the gate) we noticed that they switched the gate that we were supposed to fly out of. The original gate still saying it was the correct one, but the screens were saying differently
4) Go all the way to concourse D via tram that almost gave us both whiplash
5) Now have 30 minutes to get something to eat before boarding. Choose Burger King. Healthy, I know. That was an experience in itself
6) Go to gate, eat at gate, start boarding
7) They board the first 3 rows. They board the last 3 rows. The board the middle 4 rows. Now everyone else can board. Of course that was an experience since it MAKES NO F**KING sense.
8) Get into our seats. My honey's seat is broken. When I say broken I mean it was like him sitting on a hill. Sideways. We ask to move, she moves us up one row to an exit row. Bonus. More leg room.
9) Again, his seat is broken. The hill thing. He is miserable. I offer to switch, but then he would be stuck in the middle. We make due
10) Sit on the runway for AN HOUR waiting to get out of Atlanta. Take off 63 minutes late.
11) Arrive in Boston 53 minutes late. Get off plane. Go to baggage claim.
12) Still at baggage claim
13) still at baggage claim, oh wait, an announcement.... "The luggage is still being unloaded from the plane, it will be another 10 minutes."
14) Go outside to smoke a cigarette. It has now been 40 minutes since we landed.
15) Go back to baggage claim. 10 more minutes. Ohhhhh, 1 bag comes out. Now count to 4 to yourself. Ohhh another bag comes out. Now count to 4 to yourself. Ohhh another bag comes out.
16) After 45 minutes at baggage claim we finally had our piece of luggage, which we would have just carried on if we didn't have to bring, you know, necessities - toothpaste, colognes, etc.
17) Cab ride, 30 minutes late at hotel.
18) Bottle of vodka, 8 cans of soda, Monday Night Football, all is good.

Note: The not so funny thing is that one of our friends was flying Airtran through Atlanta as well yesterday. We got a text message from him at 6 p.m. saying that he was stuck in Atlanta. An hour later he was stuck until the morning. This morning, you guessed it, he is STILL in Atlanta at NOON today. Yes, Airtran + Atlanta = Drinking

K.P.

Underdogs Who????

2006-10-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

All of this talk about the Cardinal's being the underdogs . . . huh, didn't look like it last night. We were out and about on Thursday night for a bit and everyone that we talked to agreed that Detroit was not only going to "win the World Series", but win it in 4 games. This is the problem with people who watch sports. They watch "their team" and pay no attention to the other teams. Although in different leagues, ESPN doesn't only talk about the American League on their sports shows. Why do people do this?? What really makes no sense to me are the reporters. How can they say such things as "Detroit will win it in 3?" In 3??? What in the hell is that?

Anyway, Cards are up 1-0 going into tonight! We couldn't be happier. We have an early flight in the morning, but that won't stop us from staying up until 11:30 to watch the game.

Go Cards!!!

K.P.

National League Champs!!!

2006-10-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

Well, the St. Louis Cardinals won last night becoming the National League Champions. World Series here we come. What an intense game last night! Whew.

My honey, like I have mentioned before, has just recently over the past couple of years gotten into baseball. This year however he is a baseball nut. Between watching baseball last night, watching him react to the game and tolerating the worse sinus headache that I have ever had - I was exhausted!!! Too cute though. The yelling at the t.v., the pitching analysis... all hilarious.

Congrats to the Cardinals!

World Series, Game 1, Saturday!!!

K.P.

Pray for the Cardinals

2006-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

There is nothing else to say other than "PLEASE pray for the St. Louis Cardinals tonight!"

Thanks.

K.P.

Oh yeah, and they should take Scott Rolen out.

Cards Up 3-2 in Series

2006-10-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!! The St. Louis Cardinals won last night in game 5 of the NLCS. The are headed back to New York tonight. They play at 8 p.m. EST. Hopefully they will win and we will go to the World Series which starts on Saturday!!

Go Cards!!!!!

K.P.

Hold the Phone

2006-10-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

So remember that post from yesterday when I said something about losing my fantasy football game this weekend . . . well hold the phone, you aren't going to believe this one! After all of Sunday's game were completed I has thought I had lost 67-72. I was down by 5 points and had no players in the Monday night game, my opponent did. He had QB Rex Grossman. Can you believe that Rex Grossman scored -7 points. That is NEGATIVE 7 points! I ended up WINNING 67-65.

Unbelievable. Truly.

Thank you fantasy football gods. I left beer and bratwurst out last night. :-)

K.P.

Weekend Updates

2006-10-16T05:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!

We had a great weekend of sports. My St. Louis Cardinals (born there) (not at the St. Louis Cardinals, in St. Louis) advanced to the NLCS for the National League. Woo Hoo! They however got spanked last night by the Mets, but the series is tied 2-2 now. My honey started getting into baseball with me a couple of years ago, now he is HOOKED! Oh and speaking of spanked, I once again got spanked in Fantasy Football this week. No need to discuss that but the move of the week for me though was starting Philip Rivers at QB - nice! Unfortunately, he could not carry my ENTIRE TEAM.

Moving on . . . . let me just say that moving a fish tank is a HORRIBLE idea. Horrible. We moved our fish tank for the first time since we got it about a year ago. Fish weren't happy, honey wasn't happy and Doberman very unhappy. She for some reason is extremely freaked out by the fish, so moving them to a new spot in the living room is taking some getting used to. I wish that there was something that would make moving a fish tank much easier. Besides taking out some of the water, did that, didn't really make a difference. The difference was something like hurting yourself to the point where you are sore compared to giving yourself a hernia. So I guess it did make a difference. My honey is not a manual labor guy, he would rather hire people to move the fish tank - swear to god. "Why don't we just call somebody?" Seriously.

Have to travel next week. Boston. Hope it isn't snowing. Hope that we don't have any weather delays at the airport. Hope that It is above freezing, which would mean that it wouldn't be snowing. Hope that we can upgrade so I don't get bruised knees from the 312 lb woman sitting in front of me when she hurls her seat back. That is pretty much all I have to say on that.

We tried to have a nice relaxing weekend to catch up and it was!

K.P.

The 6:15 a.m. Updates

2006-10-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

It's 6:15 am and I have been up since 2 a.m. My honey wasn't feeling good in the middle of the night, so I woke up with him. Unfortunately, he was the only one that could fall back asleep after being up for 30 minutes. So, I do what I always do and start on the work for the day. I am about halfway there. I have to spend another hour on the phone I am sure today trying to change a plane ticket from multi city to round trip - the ought to be fun. Really excited about that one which you should understand after reading my last post.

Good news for me!! I won my first fantasy football game this week! By 25 points may I add and guess who it was against . . . uh huh, my honey. Classic. I was 12th pick this year so my team isn't ass good as it could have been. It would be nice if I got some consistent help from Tom Brady and they would stop benching guys for the entire game just because they fumbled the ball. Geez, aren't they professionals? Anyway, I was excited about that on Sunday. Really though, I was kind of rooting for him since I was 0-4 going into this past week. He has a much better chance of winning the whole thing. Again. Just like last year. :-)

Other than the above, it has been a bit of a crazy couple of weeks. Busy travel month ending and having company in town I think are still throwing off my schedule, hence the reason for being up since 2 a.m. All is good though. I am looking forward to getting back to "normal" whatever that may be. We only have one small trip at the end of this month which is good. It is pretty bad when you don't want to travel for the holidays because you have been doing nothing but traveling for the last two months. We had to pick up our friend who was just in town from the airport and I did nothing short of begging not to have to go into the airport to pick him up. Blahhhhhhh. I gave in though. Of course. :-)

K.P.

United Airlines Sucks

2006-10-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

So here is the situation. We are flying United Airlines on Oct. 2. Upon checking in we purchase upgrades. We have a connecting flight through Chicago. Upon Waiting at the gate to board we hear the announcement "if anyone has a connecting flight, please come to the podium right away as there are major delays in and out of Chicago." We then do so, waiting in line for 15 minutes. The attendant says that there is NO WAY that we will make our connecting flight into Chicago and that by the time that we did get to Chicago, there would be no flight to home - our final destination. She then cancels out United flight and books us on an American flight. She gets our luggage tag numbers and says she is going to pull our luggage off of that flight and put it on the American flight. Also that we needed to hurry because we still had to go back thorough security, check in at the American counter, go back through security and get to the gate. All of this in 20 minutes. My honey asked about the purchased upgrades and she said that she was canceling the ticket right then and that we should not be charged for the upgrades we had just purchased since we were not using them, etc. We get to the American counter and ask if we can upgrade there, even though we already paid for the United Flight and she says NO, because the United attendant booked us on a non-refundable flight, and that wasn't an option. Anyway, today I did the whole checkbook reconciliation thing and sure enough - the money for the upgrades was deducted from our account. Yes, I took 3 deep breaths. Before I called them.

Here starts the United sucks ordeal. . .

1st Call - To information for United Airlines Customer Service
2nd Call - To United Airlines customer service. I had to press "0" 5 times before I could even get a person that I could barely understand. I then told that I am calling the right department, that his computer was having problems and could I hold while he rebooted - I said yes. About 10 seconds later, I am disconnected.
3rd Call - back to customer service, where I had to press "0" 5 times to get a person who I have to explain everything to and then tells me that I am NOT calling the right department, that I need to call the refund department.
4th Call - To the "refund department" - BUSY
5th Call - To the "refund department" - BUSY and YES it was an 800 number
6th Call - To the "refund department" - BUSY
7th Call - To the "refund department" - automated answer - press "0" at least 8 times before I am connected with someone. I then get a woman that I again, can barely understand what she is asking me. I give her all of the details, ticket numbers, explanation, etc. She is seeing EVERYTHING that I am telling her on the computer. EVERYTHING. The ticket, the upgrade purchase, the cancellation, the rebooking - EVERYTHING. She then tells me that I have TO MAIL IN THE RECEIPT. Send a letter along with the receipt and they will receive it, read it and the will be an investigation into the refund.

Are you F**CKING kidding me? She has everything right in front of her. She even had the CC number that the upgrades were purchased with. She probably even saw that our bags were lost because of them for 3 DAYS.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable!

Ok, I am done, and United Airlines STILL sucks.

K.P.

Home Away From Home Is Now WiFi'd

2006-10-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is a funny story. We of course have our favorite hang out a.k.a. "home away from home." Prior to moving here last year we had our "home away from home" there too. Now we have had BOTH home away from homes wifi'd. Hilarious. We do spend a ton of money there, so they should wifi since we probably will pay for it in a week's time. I, we, just think that it is funny that the last two places that we call our "home away from home" have wifi'd for us. Now many more Sundays will be spent up there with our friends since we can check our fantasy football scores!

K.P.

We're Back, Luggage Isn't

2006-10-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

We are finally back from this span of travel. Sorry about the delay of game on the posts. We had a great trip, both business and some relaxation afterwards. It was of course interesting. We had no problems in San Francisco for once, although if you ever want to go to a 49ers game and you are staying downtown it can be a little tricky. Traffic is a MESS getting there. There are only 3 options. Drive your rental car if you have one, take the bus, or take a cab. Well, we did not rent a car, aren't really bus people, so we took a cab. The route, well, let's just say that I think the neighborhood in the t.v. show Good Times was much better. We left early to get started with our business events, so traffic wasn't a problem, but we got a nice tour of the "scenery."

We traveled to the Midwest after San Fran. We had no problems except getting home. Hence the title of this post. We arrived at the airport 2 hours early of course. 20 minutes before our flight was supposed to take off, we noticed there was no plane at the gate. We then heard that Chicago was having a TON of rain, wind and storms. We had to travel through O'Hare to catch our connecting flight home. Wasn't going to happen. Finally an announcement came over the intercom that anyone traveling and connecting in Chicago needed to come up to the podium. This we did. There was NO WAY with the delays that we would catch our connecting flight. They then booked us on another flight on another airline that was leaving in 40 minutes. They took down our luggage tag numbers, called down and had them take our luggage off of that flight and put on the other. Originally we were on United, they booked us on American. We had to RUN back out all the way to the American Ticket counter. This is where we met the BIGGEST BI**H that you have ever seen. We then had to go back through security and oh, guess what, we had the SSSS on our tickets, so we had to go through the whole search thing. Yes, they tell us to run, put us on a flight that is already boarding and then issue us tickets with the SSSS on them. Wonderful. We are given seats, each of us in the middle but in different rows. We took care of that, sat together. The flight went good until we got in and went to baggage claim. NO BAGS. Not a one of them. Nada. Zip. Nothing. We then had to go to the American Baggage counter where we had to fill out a report. A little difficult since we had United baggage numbers and the flight that we were on STILL had not left it's original flight.

We are still luggageless now at 11:40 a.m. It is missing. With the security issues now the checked luggage contains all of out toiletries, colognes, perfumes, etc. Nice, really nice.

Have I mentioned yet that I absolutely despise O'Hare airport. There is always something at this airport. Always.

K.P.

First Class+Kids=Finlandia

2006-09-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me explain to you the most horrible situation that can ever happen during a cross country flight. Well, at least that was how it felt. We were flying US Airways to San Francisco. A cross country flight connecting through Charlotte. (great airport by the way) Via phone there were no first class seats available but when we checked in they were available, so we upgraded to first class. Long flight, long day, so this was well worth the money. The hour and six minute flight to Charlotte was great. First class was half full, good service, etc. Then came the flight to San Francisco. We boarded the plane and the first thing that we saw was that the row in front of us, both directly and across the aisle had 2 adults (parents), 2 BABIES 14 months old and a 3 year old. Wonderful, just f**king wonderful. This was originally going to be a 6 hour flight, which ended up being a 7 hour flight due to heavy traffic with weather. We tried headphones with both music and watching a movie. (with the volume up as much as our ears could handle) This could not drown out these kids. The were crying, screaming, fussing, throwing things, the parents were changes the stinky s**tty diapers right there in the seat, it was completely nerve racking. It actually drove me to have a cocktail for the FIRST TIME EVER in my flying history on the plane. The stewardess - oh excuse me - FLIGHT ATTENDANT, brought me not one but two bottles on Finlandia vodka, sympathizing with the situation. And the parents, oh my, if I heard "oh, it's ok" one more time I was going to SCREAM. Horrible parenting. Horrible. These parents needed to be... well I could say several things, non of which are appropriate, unless I was at an NRA convention... anyway all of this leads me to these questions:

1. Why are kids under a certain age even allowed to be in first class?
2. I wouldn't even THINK of sujecting other passengers who paid extra, a lot of extra money for comfort, to my screaming kids.
3. Was it wrong to sneak liquor into their "sippy cups" that they kept throwing on the floor into our row? Just kidding - calm down.

I could not even believe that this was happening. It was truly one of the worst flying experiences that I, we, have ever had.

Bottom line: Kids should NOT BE ALLOWED IN FIRST CLASS. Be aware, US Airways allows this. I would have rather been squished between Sheneequa and Bubba in the middle seat for 7 hours - IN COACH.

K.P.

Still Down With the Sickness

2006-09-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am hoping for a miraculous recovery over the next couple of days with having to leave tomorrow to embark on another conference adventure. The exciting thing for the week though is 2 NFL games at 2 different stadiums in a week. We got lucky with them coinciding with the cities that we are going to be in and falling on days that aren't reserved for business. That will be great, giving that we can breathe and all.

We are sitting here working right now and my honey has gotten sick in the last couple of days. Definitely not good. I at least am on day 7, he is only on day 2. Lots of soup, sleep, and relaxing. Traveling AGAIN, I am hoping will not make things worse for either of us. This scheduling of conferences 2 weeks apart is not helping things at all, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

K.P.

Sexiest Gadgets

2006-09-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

Here you go guys. The Top 10 Sexiest Gadgets.

We only have two of the ten however, but I think that number 10 on the list doesn't count. So we have 2 of the 9. I will have to get working on that. ;-)

K.P.

Amanda Congdon Should Be Doing This

2006-09-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

I really think that Amanda Congdon should be doing THIS rather than THAT. Just my opinion. But hey, that's what blogs are for.

I enjoyed watching her on Rocketboom and was disappointed when she left, but no need to bring all of "that" up again.

K.P.

Best Deal of the Day

2006-09-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

My honey and I have been going to this site for months now. Woot.com each day has 1 tech/electronics item available for a GREAT price!!! From plasmas to Bluetooth headphones, they have it all. Everyone that I have sent to their site, keeps going back. Try it, you might like it!!!

K.P.

10 Signs You Are A Fantasy Football Addict

2006-09-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is a sad morning. I have lost my second fantasy football game in a row. I was 12th pick in the draft, so I am having to do with my team what I can. Tom Brady not doing s**t the last 2 weeks has not helped. Having a decent QB on any other of my players teams would truly help. Unfortunately they need glasses, binoculars, a new arm, a brain, something. Good news though, my honey has won both weeks. He won by a LANDSLIDE this week. I think it should be a submission for high score. He has a great team this year. Speaking of fantasy football, I was emailed this article titled 10 Signs You Are A Fantasy Football Addict if anyone is interested.

Bowing to the Fantasy Football God . . .(and begging for help)

K.P.

Travel Causes Sickness

2006-09-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

As you know we just returned from California after attending a conference. I am so sick it isn't even funny. I am taking Sudafed, Dayquil, Robitussin and Halls. 4 flights in 5 days, totally different climates and a massive time change (sleep is off) I believe are the causes. I haven't had a cold like this in years. I am forcing him to take vitamin c so he doesn't get sick prior to the next trip that we are taking on the 23rd. Yes, back to California to do it all over again, but then some r & r afterwards so hopefully it won't be too bad. This is the first year that he hasn't gotten sick prior to the conference that we just attended. I think that it is stress mixed with the travel for him however. We have found this great stuff called Airborne. It seems to really help. Massive dose of vitamins. Tastes good too. He starts taking 1 or 2 a day prior to a trip and then takes at least one a day during travel. It did the trick for him as it has done many times in the past. I unfortunately, did not take any. Yes, he told me so. Let me say it again. YES, HE TOLD ME SO. I however do not have a problem with him being right. The whole learn from my mistakes thing. Not that I make many, but anyway . . . great stuff to take when traveling!!!

Horray for soup and over the counter drugs!!!

K.P.

Back, Busy and Bodies Confused

2006-09-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from the DIDW conference that was held in Santa Clara, CA this past week. We arrived at 11:10 p.m. eastern time last night. We of course felt as if it was only 8:10 p.m. due to the fact that we were adjusted to pacific time. We ended up stopping for a cocktail on the way home, as it was good to see everybody. This turned into a longer than expected adventure, once again due to the fact that we felt like it was actually 3 hours earlier. We woke up this morning to the phone ringing at 8:00 a.m., again feeling like it was 5 a.m. It is so hard to make the coast to coast trips. A 4 day stay there takes a full 7 days to get through with travel days a time changes involved. Yikes. We have to go back to San Fran on the 24th of this month, and aren't exactly looking forward to the body confusion again. Once you get there, it is to early to go to bed because it is only 7 p.m. and if you do, you wake up wide awake at 2 or 3 in the a.m. and have a fully scheduled day ahead of you until 8 p.m.

Needless to say were are exhausted today. He is on the phone as I am typing this post and has been for over an hour. What a trooper!!!

I think I am now getting a cold form being on the germs tubes in the air for 10 hours yesterday, not to mention the trip out on the 9th. I am fully loaded with Robitussin, Sudafed and Halls. Yummy. I am just trying to make sure that he doesn't get sick. I already completed all of my incidental reports, reimbursement sheets, etc. and am almost ready for a nap. But wait - it is only noon in my mind, and if I nap now I will end up being up all night.

Gotta love travel!!!!

K.P.

Catching Up!

2006-09-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

We have been at the DIDW conference in Santa Clara all of this week. It has been busy and I haven't had a chance to post anything. This is my "catching up" post.

The conference has been great! The socializing has been great. Last night we were with all of the guys from Ping Identity, Microsoft, IDG World Expo, etc. This conference in particular is always great because everyone is here and everyone gets to spend some social time together. Good stuff! It was great for him to see Andre Durand from Ping Identity, Kim Cameron from Microsoft, John Fontana from Network World, Jamie Lewis from Burton Group, Dick Hardt from SXIP Identity and of course Doc Searls. This is his face to face "catching up" time as well as a ton of work. He LOVES this event.

I have to tell you something though, and he is so cute. As you know, we work from home. This means working ALL DAY in shorts and no shoes. When we travel for business he all of a sudden has to get back into the "business wear" and it is kind of funny. I get the first text message about 2 hours after he has to put on pants and wingtips for the first time in 2 months. It goes something like this- "my feet hurt and my thighs are chaffed." This means going down and purchasing bandaids for the feet. Double layering the socks. Stuffing them with cotton balls and giving him my moisturizer for his legs. Truly the cutest thing I think I have ever seen, up until about hour 10, in which he has been on his feet and walking around all day. Then it gets serious. :-) And of course, then begins day two. I think you get the picture.

Anyway, the talk of the day is, as usual, Doc Searls keynote. Always informative, always entertaining. The conference ends following that.

Tomorrow brings another dreaded day of travel back to the east coast. I am especially looking forward to it after hearing all of the news regarding guys trying to open exit doors during flights, people leaving blackberries unclaimed, people leaving back packs unclaimed - all of this b.s. The 12-14 hour door to door day will begin at 10:30 a.m. pacific time. This of course puts us in late and I can look forward to a drained guy on Friday. :-)

We have to board our dog when we travel, and as you know from previous posts, this is a very busy month. Our poor baby. She is in a GREAT boarding facility though, and the bonus is that we are friends with one of the staff members, so that always helps! Looking forward to seeing our baby girl. She is an AKA registered Doberman Pinscher. She comes from 7 generations of champions, she is absolutely WONDERFUL. (and I miss her, can you tell?) (Picture at top)

K.P.

Not That I Am Political Or Anything

2006-09-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

Joke. I received this joke from my father this morning and it is CLASSIC. Well, at least I think that it is. Thought all could use a laugh on this Thursday morning!!!

The Iranian Ambassador went to the UN and had just finished giving a speech. He walked out into the lobby where he met President Bush. They shook hands, and as they walked the Iranian said, "You know, I have just one question about what I have seen in America . President Bush said, "Well, anything I can do to help you, I will." The Iranian whispered "My son watches this show 'Star Trek' and in it there is Chekhov who is Russian, Scotty who is Scottish, and Sulu who is Chinese. My son is very upset and doesn't understand why there aren't any Iranians on Star Trek." President Bush laughed, leaned toward the
Iranian ambassador, and whispered back..... "It's because it takes place in the future."

K.P.

Declaring War on the Telephone

2006-09-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

I am telling you, I am close . . . about this (.....) close to declaring war on the phone in the house. Let me just say this... when we first relocated to where we are now and we found our local hang out, I had to by a new phone for the house because the ringer on their phone (hang out) was the same as the house phone. Getting out of the house (which we work from) to relax was totally blown to bits everytime their phone rang. I kept wanting to jump up and answer it "This is . . . " Needless to say, our phone rings a ton. As we approach the busy month ahead (that I have mentioned several times) the phone has gone CRAZY. So crazy that it is now making it's own little noises sitting in the cradle to recharge. I think it is sick. Teleflu or something. I seriously want to kill it and just put it out of it's misery. I don't think that would go over so well however. At least there is this: Every time the house phone rings I count to 10, thank the cell tower gods and just realize how glad I am that our cells get ZERO signal where we live. We don't even want to THINK about how many rings would be happening then, it would be like music all of the time. Still though, I believe that war is coming. I just want him to answer the phone starting with the number call that it is for the day, just to make his point. Something like this - "86, can I help you?"

Pre-strike may happen in about a half and hour.

K.P.

Laptop vs. Flight Bookings

2006-09-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

It took me over 2 HOURS this morning to book a multi city flight through Orbitz. Understanding that it is the airlines fault, not Orbitz, it still took everything out of me not to throw my laptop.

When this year started, we had no problems getting direct flights to the majority of destinations that we travel to. A few months ago this all changed and has done nothing but gotten worse. My honey needs to be on the west coast by 4 p.m. PT and I have almost NO choices without either a 4 hour lay over, getting up at 3:00 a.m. or making 2 stops. Absolutely ridiculous. I understand that they are combining flights due to fuel charges or their monetary "standings", but come on. Any decent time of morning flight came with a LONG lay over. Even changing it to the previous day to get him there by 4 p.m. then puts us in at 11:00 p.m. By the time you get your car service, check in, your not getting to bed until at the earliest 1 a.m. Oh yes, there are red eye flights. Tried this, several times, but it seems that every child under the age of 2 traveling with the most irresponsible parents are ALWAYS on those flights. Sitting behind you, in front of you and next to you. Forget sleep. All you are doing the whole time trying not to suggest to the parents that Jack Daniels would help shut their kids up. You then get off of the plane with the appearance of thinning hair since you have been pulling it out for 6 hours. Ok, back to the topic, it is just not easy to get decent flights anymore. Our multi city ticket from A to B, B to C then C to A is absolutely nuts. There is a stop between each. Not a stop on "the way", a stop that has gone an hour past your destination and turned around to drop you off. Who designs this S**T? Just curious. Oh wait, that's right, they are the ones who get to get on whatever flight they want for free, anytime of day, to any destination. Taking away our upgrade chances most likely.

K.P.

Fantasize This!

2006-09-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the fantasy draft is over and this will be the last post regarding fantasy football for awhile. Last night, my honey got the 2nd pick and I got the 12th. (Note: I am the only woman in the league, what a coincidence) :-) Geez......Yikes. My wonderful dreams of having a great team flew out the window. Bye Bye. See Ya. Running backs were in high demand during the first round last night, higher than in previous years. On my first pick I had to choose a RB of course, after 11 higher ranked running backs were already chosen. With so many injuries and questions regarding players this year, it made it tough. All in all though, I think I just may have a good enough team to do some damage. History has shown good numbers for these guys. It was a great draft and a great time!

Cheers Guys!!!!

K.P.

WHOA . .. It's Draft Day!!!!

2006-08-31T03:59:00.000-07:00

Today is DRAFT DAY. Fantasy Football draft day that is. He woke up at 4:30, thinking about drafting. I then of course was awake too. I just got done telling him that Fantasy Draft Day should be a holiday. No work, just a day of watching football movies such as Friday Night Lights, Any Given Sunday, Remember the Titans, etc. Eating barbecue and drinking beer! All to get pumped for the draft. Good luck to all drafters out there!!!

K.P.

Working Along Side of Hurricanes & Tropical Storms

2006-08-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

We live in a part of the country that is affected by hurricanes and tropical storms. 99% of the time it is complete paradise, while the other 1% is wondering where in the hell a storm is going to go. Yesterday's ending statements during his calls consisted of something like this-"If I am not reachable by email or phone tomorrow, it is because we have no power due to the storm." Then at 5 p.m. you realize that this thing has turned into only a tropical storm and heading in a different direction, but you still have no idea EXACTLY where it is going to go. Around 7 p.m. last night we went up to our roof which is an observation deck to check out the scenery. I have included a few of "Ernesto's Wrath" pictures.

As of right now we are expecting some wind and rain starting this afternoon, so it could still be interesting regarding power.
We are lucky - knock, knock, that we have never in recorded history had a "direct" hit from a hurricane.

Dodging another bullet.......
K.P.

RSS+Blog Posts+Stealing=Bullshit

2006-08-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

I read this article that was posted on Robert Scoble's weblog "Scobleizer" yesterday.

This is total and complete bullshit. I understand it to some degree, but something should be done about it. How about a piece of software that tracks copied content? Something. I know that with certain sites that you can subscribe to such as "My Blog Log" and "Feedburner" that you can get some statistics about who is reading your blog, who has subscribed to it and when they visited. There is however no way to tell, EASILY, (if you have a heavily read blog), who has copied your content.

I would just hope that people wouldn't be losers and come up with their OWN CONTENT!

Not that I am anything worth copying, but if somebody does, I may have to call Jack Bauer, on my red phone, that I have sitting right here next to me on the wall. Really.

K.P.

24 and Jack Bauer

2006-08-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

Today I am taking a break from the usual topics to congratulate Kiefer Sutherland on his Emmy for playing Jack Bauer. I personally would just like to believe that he has always been Jack Bauer and has just been under this assumed name and life of Kiefer Sutherland for all of these years. 24 also won for "Best Drama Series."Click Here to see the big winners of the Emmy's this year!

I can't wait for this season to arrive! We have already watched and REWATCHED 1-4. We haven't watched 5 on television, as we like to watch them in the dvd, no commercials format!!
K.P.

All He Wants For Christmas

2006-08-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ladies, all of your men want one of these for Christmas. How do you think that I got the link, he sent it to me! Your Christmas shopping is over!!!! (Well, for next year maybe or 2015) Even though we live in an area where we do not go over 35 mph - MAX, I am guessing that we will just get to places much faster. (Like a minute and a half) I could proably swing the 2 front seats on such short notice, those usually aren't included in the "base price."

So, "all he wants for Christmas" has turned into - "All he GETS for Christmas are the two front seats."

K.P.

Please Never Wear These Around Your Women

2006-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is the most ridiculous thing that I have EVER seen. I was doing some research the other day I came upon these. I burst out with laughter. If I saw my honey bouncing around the house in these, I think that I would instantly pee my pants. Seriously. Who came up with this? I understand that kids may like them, but boys don't even think about wearing underwear like these until they are past the kid stage. The underwear alone are nice and all, but come on. I love how they put them on the male models too. The ripped abs, etc. This even makes it more amusing. This is SCREAMING the need for the fashion police.

Red and Blue lights flashing . . . .

K.P.

Back and Blogging

2006-08-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the airport situations weren't nearly has bad as we thought they were going to be. (Previous Post) What a relief.

This was the BEST mini vacation that I have EVER had. I know that it was great for him. For the first time in years, we went someplace with no cell phones (no signal anyway), no land lines (in our cabin), and no computers. The ultimate in relaxing. Fresh air, fishing, hiking and exploring. What a great trip. It was hard to leave such a beautiful peaceful place. Waking up to crisp cool air on the front porch with our cups of coffee, breakfast cooked in an iron skillet and no emails to check!!!

He has been talking about this place for years, and now I understand what he was talking about. The constant sounds of waterfalls from the river while we were fishing, was the best bonus you could think of. I have included some pics of this magical place. I am so glad that he got the chance to relax with so much travel and business craziness coming up!!

K.P.

Mini Vacation

2006-08-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

We are going on a mini vacation where there will be no computer access.

I will be gone from Thursday until Tuesday of next week. A little fishing, a little relaxing and beautiful surroundings.

I look forward to blogging when I get back!!!!

Offering Your First Born Child (that doesn't exist)

2006-08-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

My honey via email today, offered our first born child in exchange for getting a specific speaker to appear. We have no children together, he doesn't have any children and we don't plan on having any children, so this is extremely funny. Given that, it makes it much easier to offer. He is an extremely honest business man and although that phrase taken lightly, it always seems to get people's ears open. Why is that? Would you actually want someone else's first born child? Does it show the pure need for that particular thing? Funny, because there really is no pure "need" for that thing. It is a WANT. Is a want worth offering your first born child for? Hmmmmm, can't really think of one off the top of my head. Good stuff though.

Ahhhhh, the things that happen prior to a conference.

K.P.

Airport Anxiety

2006-08-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, all of the anticipated issues at the airport will finally be revealed. We are taking our first flight since all of the security changes have been made. Do we get there 2 hours early? 3 hours early? There seem to be some inconsistencies on this. I think it is a pretty big deal, too big to be having inconsistensices. They tell us what we can and can't bring. They forewarn us of longer security lines, but nobody can tell you when to get there. I have even gone to the website for the airport, which is still inconsistent. I am just going to guess 3 hours to be safe. I think that is what everyone is doing, which means 3 1/2 hours sounds better. My honey would prefer to be there 4 hours early ALL of the time. No, I am serious. Even 3 years ago. He has one of those "get to the airport 4 hours early or all hell will break loose" phobias. I think it is called "exorcistgettingtotheairportphobia." Never settled until he is actually at the gate - no matter how much time there is to spare. Anyway, it should be interesting. I am going to try to think of it as I am traveling at Christmas - except no gifts at the end the end of the journey. (Except a cigarette and eventually room service) (and vodka) I am hoping that all goes smoothly because we have some long cross country trips in September. We'll see.

Any advice?

K.P.

Talladega Nights!

2006-08-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

Whether you are a Nascar fan or not (and we are not), all must see this movie!!!! Absolutely hilarious. And yes, much funnier than the previews! We were laughing out loud for over half of the movie. Definitely Will Farrell's best movie so far. Need an afternoon of laughs? Go see it!!!

K.P.

Learn to LOVE Fantasy Football

2006-08-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Give your fantasy football loving men all of the time that they need to do whatever stat researching they need to! This is my 3rd year in fantasy football and let me tell you - WHAT FUN!! I am the only woman in the league. (By the way, I have never finished less than 3rd.) I have always been a huge sports fan anyway, but this gives you the opportunity to enjoy any game that is being shown. During the season, my honey and I are permanently fixed on the couch with both of our laptops open to view real time stats. The closer it gets to the draft, the more excited we both get. We are spending about 2-3 hours a week on stats. Our draft is on August 31st. Beers, appetizers and 3-4 hours of drafting. We have a league of 12 teams. Most of them all tech guys. This makes it very interesting. :-) What fun. SO, get into it with them. Trust me if you weren't a football fan before - this gives it a WHOLE NEW MEANING. Trust me, they will love it more you enjoying it with them then if you are off in another room knitting or something.

If you are not a fan, and have NO desires to watch football - here are some rules:

1. NEVER walk up during a game and ask them what the players are doing.
2. NEVER comment on their uniform colors.
3. NEVER talk on the phone to your girlfriends in the same room that football is on in - that is like playing hip hop in church or something.
4. NEVER tell them you need to snuggle while watching football. This could end up badly. Elbow to the head or chest during an exciting interception.
5. NEVER tell them how cute the QB is.
6. NEVER comment on their tight pants - this may encourage your honey to get a pair. Would you even want to see your honey in a pair of those pants no mater what their body looked like?
7. You don't have to kneel on the living room floor, along with the football players on t.v., when a player gets hurt.
8. Do not invite your girlfriends over while football is on. The only way this would be ok, is if all were in beer advertising bikinis. Thongs preferably.
9. Do not schedule a visit with your family on a football day. They will never visit, they will eat and be in the family room glued to the t.v. It WILL result in an argument on the way home.
10. Do not ask them to watch the kids while you go shopping when football is on. The 1 yr old getting "passed" back in forth in the living room could happen.

Oh and 11 - Cheerleaders are HOT so just let them look. They are on t.v. They aren't going to jump through the screen.

All I have to say is "Let there be light!!!!!"

K.P.

I Was Reading . . .

2006-08-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was reading Maryam Scoble's blog this morning and this just made me CRACK up. This one is for the ladies.

Nice Job!!

Please click hereto read her blog entry.

K.P.

Need to Carry a Laptop When Traveling?

2006-08-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

WOW. That is pretty much all I can say. I feel worse now for people traveling to/from other countries than I did earlier. (last post)

Please Click Here to view more about the laptop ban.

Also Click here to view other items that may be banned.

K.P.

And You Thought Travel Was Bad Before

2006-08-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully everyone who reads this is up on current events/news. I woke up this moring to a frustrated man who was explaining to me, as I read my news feeds, exactly what they had said on the news regarding flights and airports. The foiled terrorist plots from London have just made our travel here much worse. I am not complaining about what they are trying to do for our safety - but come on. Why don't they just go to the source and handle this? I am proud to be an American, I am happy that they are trying to keep us safe, but I think that there are better ways to do it. All of our airports are turning out to be just like the airports in "those" countries.

A trip to San Francisco, before today, was 14 hours door to door for us. 14 hours. An hour allowed for security has now turned into 2 - perhaps longer. All carryons are being hand checked, especially if not neat. NOW, we can't carry on any lugguge - well that is if we want to be clean and smell nice. NO MORE liquids of ANY kind allowed on carry ons. So our 14 hour trip, just turned into a 16 hour trip - AT LEAST. You can check your luggage, which means that you have to have carry ons and checked luggage if you need to take laptops when you travel. Can you imagine what the immediate loss of checked luggage is going to be? We have 3 trips that require flights both halfway across country and across country in the next month and a half. This just made it much more difficult. Sure, you can take nothing with you, buy it all there and then leave it. But how about your colognes, perfumes, etc? Things that aren't cheap. Not to mention finding a decent drug store anywhere near where you stay in a downtown area, isn't the easiest thing to do either. You would then be forced to buy things from the gift shop, or Zoom machines that they have in the hotels now. Do you think they are stocked up and prepared for this scenario? I don't think so. I truly feel sorry for the men and women that have to travel out of the country for business right now. They have it much worse than us.

Please click here to read more.

K.P.

The Power of Running Late

2006-08-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Why is it that people constantly run late to scheduled calls? Do they think that you have nothing else to do? Do they think that they are more important than you are? Do they think that their time is more valuable than yours? I am starting to think yes to all. Situation - there is a call that really needs to be done today. You dial in, on time, and you have already been waiting 10 minutes. While you are waiting, you have to listen to the worst "on hold" music ever. You then get an email. This email usually goes something like this. " I apologize, I am running late. Can we move the call back a half an hour?" First of all, did they not realize 5 minutes before the scheduled call that they were running late? They could have let you know before you even dialed in. This happening once or twice is fine. It then becomes extremely rude. It affects the scheduling for the rest of the day. Yes, you can always say no you can't just "move the time", that you're going to have to reschedule but guess what - they aren't "available" any other times soon. The power of running late is obviously a strong one. They have you by the... anyway, if of any importance, and I believe that they know it. Knowing it is what made them feel that it was okay to run late for the call in the first place. Yes, things happen. Yes, things can change. I am just venting today.

:-)
K.P.

Taking my own advice

2006-08-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

I took my own advice (earlier post) this weekend and we took a break. Although short, it was the best thing for him heading into a very busy month. For the first time, in awhile, there was no alarm, no phone calls to get to, no dog to deal with and no pressing email to check. We drove, therefore avoiding the often used stressful air travel. I think that he was in the best "morning mood" that I have seen in a year. Such a small thing, but it means so much. It is refreshing. The more refreshed he is, the more refreshed he will be with work and all will go much more smoothly. A simple medicine that is highly suggested!

K.P.

Why certain people are crabby during travel

2006-08-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

So here is a typical trip for smokers who travel across country for business.

6 a.m. - Wake
7 a.m - Leave for airport - car service or rental car - can't smoke in car
7:45 a.m. - Get to airport - smoke cigarette before entering airport
8 a.m. - Get into airport - can't smoke in airport
10 a.m. - Get on flight - can't smoke on flight
2 p.m. - 1st stop - can't smoke in airport
2:30 p.m. - Get on 2nd flight - can't smoke on flight
5:30 p.m. - Land - can't smoke in airport
6:00 p.m. - Get out of airport, walk 50 ft from a door - now you can have a cigarette (whoops, you don't have a lighter)
6:15 p.m. - Car service or rental car - can't smoke in car
7:00 p.m. - Arrive at hotel - smoke a cigarette outside of hotel, 50 ft away from the door of course
7:15 p.m. - Check into room - hopefully you are booked in a hotel that allows smoking.

From 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., a 12 hour period of time, due to the laws or company policies, you are basically ALLOWED to smoke (if you don't want to take the chance of missing flights) 2-3 cigarettes. Ridiculous. Most airports don't even have a smoking lounge. After all of the security changes and earlier times that you need to be at airports, they still didn't even add lounges. Let's say that you have a flight delay of 2 hours and you have plenty of time to go back out of the airport to smoke a cigarette. You are basically screwed because you couldn't take a lighter with you through security. You threw it away before you went through security when you first got into the airport. Do do you think they sell lighters or matches in the airport? Of course not, that would defeat the purpose of allowing them through security in the first place. Basically you are screwed. This is when you start praying to the gods that someone outside in front, 50 feet away from the doors, still has one for you to use.

Comments?????

K.P.

Make them take a break . . . .

2006-08-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

I am sure some of you are work-a-holics or live with a work-a-holic, and the point of the matter is - you have to take a break or make them take a break. I don't care how addicted to their job they are or how much they love it, they will ALWAYS reach a "burnt out" point. I think that it is up to us to make sure that they do take that much needed break every once in awhile. Now I know that is easier said than done, but no matter how often it is, it always helps. Take a long weekend, a week, a day, what ever you can do. Going someplace where email isn't even accessible, is an extra added bonus. This is coming from someone who encourages her tech guy to check email on the weekends. Why? Because I know that by him checking and responding to emails on the weekends helps to make the beginning of his week go MUCH smoother! We all know that Mondays are hell anyway, but try having 300-400 emails to go through on a Monday morning. (this also leads to several end of the day margaritas) Anyway, make them take a break. It will be good for them and you!

To see what else helps their work stresses, see the entry on 7/27. Therapy, pure therapy . . . .

K.P.

Things that make them upset . . . . Part 3

2006-08-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Not being ready for a call. Here's the situation....... You schedule phone calls just like appointments. You usually schedule them, on average, a week or so out. You also have to communicate with the other person to even schedule the phone call with them. 50 % of the time, THEY are requesting the call. Right? Yes, right - but somewhere, somehow, people schedule these calls and then come totally unprepared. Didn't we learn sometime around the age of 13 how to do summaries, talking points, etc? Will someone please explain why this arrogance is seemingly increasing?

It's real simple. Your hand and a writing instrument. Well, you do have to have a BRAIN to write something important down to talk about, maybe that is the problem. If you don't have the brain then use the hand and writing instrument to STAB yourself. It would save time. Anyway, we are still allowed to use writing instruments and this stuff called paper this day and age. Time is money. If you are going to use someone else's time (that is money) then at least just use the writing instrument to sign a check.

K.P.

10 Things NOT to do when . . . .

2006-08-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

10 things NOT do to when he has calls scheduled at home.

1. Dishes. No matter how careful you are, something ALWAYS slips and makes the loudest noise possible.
2. Yell at the dog. No matter what they are doing! (Just let them pee on the floor.)
3. Put away groceries. Sounds like an easy and quiet enough task. NO. Normally we could juggle canned goods, but this one time, a can of something will slip out of your hand and fall. On your foot.
4. Slam a door. No matter what windows are open, and what cross breeze is happening - even though totally accidental - this gets you the look from hell.
5. Tell them what they should say. They are TOTALLY ignoring you. No matter how frustrated you are with what you are hearing, this eventually will lead to #6
6. Use some form of sign language. When really frustrated and they aren't listening to us, we start doing this form of sign language/win lose or draw thing to get their attention. They wouldn't understand it NOT on the phone much less when they are on it.
7. Cough or sneeze. No matter how sick, no matter what type of flu that you have, no matter that you feel like you are dying - take extra medicine.
8. Answer the cell phone in the room that they are having a conversation in. Ok, no matter how much good you are trying to do by quieting the loud annoying ringtone that you have set, you still have to talk to answer.
9. Have a conversation with the UPS guy. This seems to distract them, but is much less distracting than #10
10. Walk around naked. Totally distracting.

This may be the answer . . . . .

teleacoustics kiosk

K.P.

Things that make them upset . . . . Part 2

2006-07-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so if your tech guy is involved in any way (no matter how much) on the conference side of technology, this may make more sense. Vendors. Yes, vendors. Yes, they are needed. Yes, they are wanted. Yes, they are respected. Yes, they can be a huge pain in the . . . . anyway, vendors. You have to spend money to make money. Anyone ever heard of that phrase? Sometimes I don't think some vendors have. Listen, even in the blue collar of blue collar worlds where they have flea markets YOU HAVE TO PAY to get a booth. The more you pay the better the booth, location, package, etc. How does this not make any sense?

It is kind of like driving through at your favorite local burger place that you have been going to for years. You pull up to the order taking box and say that you want a # 1. You then pull up to pay for it and say, "last time I was here it was $3.19, why is it now $3.39?" They explain, with a very reasonable explanation. You pull away. You get home and you notice that the sandwich is smaller. Not realizing that the box has changed size, now bigger, making the sandwich SEEM smaller. You then decide that because it is different and more expensive, that you will not go and order a number 1 again. The next time you order a # 2. Now the #2 is a different kind of sandwich. You then complain because the box is not changed on this one. The price is still the same therefore you realize that the whole reason you were charged more for the number 1 was because they decided to change the box. Apparently stumped, you then try to go around the order taker and speak to a manger who then gives you the same explanation that the order taker gave to you the last time. Bottomline, the corporation has been around awhile. It has grown, they have merged, there are more locations, the demand is more, boxes change, things change and you have to pay what the new charges are because that is just the way that it is. Why does this not make sense to these "business" people? They then say that their sandwich was better last time than this time and now want the old sandwich back. Do you think that is going to happen? No. I do not understand why people do these kinds of things. We are not talking about small no name companies here. We are talking about companies that have been in business for years along with the people they are dealing with on the other end of the phone. Do you think that they are just going to say ok? Do you think, like the burger place, that there aren't other people in line behind them just waiting to get their sandwich? It would be nice to live in a world where there was no one else in line behind you but that is not that way that it works. Pay for what you WANT, get what you WANT. But you can't decide what the price is, or else you wouldn't need to go to that burger place in the first place.

Things that make them upset . . . . Part 1

2006-07-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

I am not sure who all will ever be reading this, and I am not sure if you are the girlfriend, the wife, the secretary, the men who just want to know . . . or what, but this will be part 1 of things that make them (your tech guy) upset.

Time Zones. Now, didn't we ALL learn about time zones somewhere around the 3rd grade? How difficult is it to get someone in your office that KNOWS TIME ZONES? Especially if they are scheduling your calls for you. If I hear him (my tech guy) say that "they" said "oh I thought it was going to be pacific time" one more time, I think that I will scream. Do you know how rude that is? Do you know that they have things called calendars and that they have an "appointments?" Do you know that they schedule calls and appointments around the ones that they already have set in the PROPER TIME ZONES. Now guys, this, regardless if it was you in your office or your secretary, makes YOU look bad. Please FIRE anyone who can't schedule a phone call around the proper time zone. I mean they at least need to know addition and subtraction right? There you go.

K.P.

Therapy, pure therapy!!!

2006-07-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it that Microsoft is dropping the Xbox 360 $100 to compete with the new Playstation 3. (due to come out in November) Ladies, let me tell you . . . it is the best (well next to the best) therapy for your tech guy. Bad day, bad calls, bad anything - an hour on this thing and WOW, what a difference! There is nothing better at the end of the day than a little time playing Ghost Recon (military) or Fight Night 3 (boxing) to get your work frustrations out! I suggest one for EVERY tech guy household if you don't already have one. I think mine would prefer one per room, but fortunately there aren't enough cable connectors on all of the tv's.

Words of advice though - no matter what they tell you, they DO NOT like losing to you at Tiger Woods. :-)

K.P.

2006-07-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

I decided to start this blog this week after approaching a month with 2 conferences. WOW. The life of being a contractor's significant other is extremely interesting the closer you get to a conference(s). For those of you who attend conferences with your men, or who work with your tech guy, then you know what I mean.

What is VERY important I have discovered in understanding the "technology world" is subscribing to RSS feeds. I started doing this awhile ago just to make sure I understood everything that he was talking (venting) about in those "decompression moments".

I thought this would be a good way to vent and discuss ongoing issues. Although I never have anything to really vent about, I too feel his frustration when working in such close proximity every day.

A little about me . . . well I travel to each and every conference whether it be one that he/his company is throwing, or one of importance to attend. I sometimes go to the booths, listen to keynotes, and almost always do the mingle thing at cocktail hours and receptions. We work from home, so I am "involved" via ear shot during most phone calls, etc. Every single email of frustration - I am totally in on. I love the fact that I can be a "sounding board" for him, without a doubt. I think that the more supportive I am of him and the time he is spending on what he is doing, only makes him more capable of putting so much effort and time into the things that are important to him and to his business. I NEVER dissuade him from talking about work and he knows that he can talk about it whenever he needs to. We live in a beautiful place, we have a great life, and I know that a part of that great life is the fact that he gets to work in a place that is relaxing and without the day to day "riff raff" and office politics. Travel is at least every month or so, sometimes less, so the quality time of him working at "home" at his "desk" is very important.

Glad to be blogging!!!
K.P.