Friday, October 18, 2013

flying high again

it hasn't happened in quite some time, but that's partially because this is my first time leaving town in three months. 

it's also the first time in a long time that i've had a lengthy layover in an airport with free wi-fi.

yes, dear reader- i'm blogging while on the move.

during my four and a half hour flight from charlotte, nc, to salt lake city, i found myself inspired by both my recent jog through the charlotte-douglas airport and the infant screaming just over my left shoulder.

before i get to my list, i feel the need to share this link. i cannot agree more with the oatmeal regarding the placement of screaming children on planes. (it's not that i don't love children. heck, i plan on having at least a couple of my own one of these days. that said, i do not love little ones screaming within close proximity for over a third of a long flight- especially when i had to get up on the wrong side of dawn to catch said flight and was really looking forward to taking a nap.)

all right.....the list:

five things i always take on airplanes

     1. running shoes (on my feet)

          ....because it is inevitable that, at some point during my travels, i will wind up sprinting across at least two concourses, because:

          1a. a half hour layover seemed doable back when i was trying to save $100 on my plane tickets
          1b. the speed limit along the highway between home and the airport was being enforced a wee bit more strictly than usual
          1c. yet again, i wound up stuck in the security line behind some poor soul who has apparently never flown before and therefore feels the need to put each of their worldly possessions in a separate bin

     2. carry ons

          .....because i'm too cheap to buy my worldly possessions their own seat on the plane and, besides, if i can't fit everything i need for less than a week into two bags, clearly i need to reevaluate my choices in footwear (and, most likely) reading material. 

     3. my ipod

          ....because it can't drown out the screaming child in the next row completely, but maybe i can mask his/her caterwauling with that of the lead singers of random hair bands of the 80s.

     4. one of my sigg water bottles

          .....because most airlines now give you maybe a shot and a half of soda, once you subtract the ice from the cup.

     5. my camera

         .....because if i ever look out from my window seat and see superman on the wing, i am so taking a picture. 



Monday, October 14, 2013

lost in translation

so there i was, minding my own business at the gas station, when the driver one pump over asked me what my shirt meant. had i been wearing my icelandic shirt, i totally would have gotten it. however, this one has a pretty common, easily recognized word on it, so his request threw me off a little.

i translated it for him and, as a bonus, i also mentioned that the back said "adios", meaning "goodbye". 

i finished pumping $30 worth of gas into my car and headed to work, where i related the story to a coworker. said coworker pointed out that the guy probably asked about the shirt in the hopes that i'd turn around and show him what was on the back. 

*

though i generally consider myself to be pretty intelligent, sometimes i'm really quite slow. :~/

*when i asked my coworker to take a photo of the shirt, i didn't expect to wind up with, like, three of the front, and twenty of the back.