And I’m soaking wet. Hard to take pictures in the windy rain. Seriously, it blows sideways.
Brief stop in Killarney for lunch. Hoped to head to castle (Rossmore maybe) but if we can’t appreciate the view and still have a rainy drive ahead it’s not really worth it.
Having fun though, even with all the rain.
Hanging out at Chili’s drinking a margarita waiting on ‘breakfast’ a burger. Who stops serving breakfast at 10?
Checking in was a pain since every customer rep told us to stand at the boarding pass line. Turns out we should have trusted our instincts and stayted at ticketing. The supervisor was a jerk but didn’t charge for our tiny pound or so overages. Thankfully
Next up San Fran to Dublin. Catch up with you tomorrow from Ireland.
Or more importantly…I survived my free Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts. Voting was a piece of cake. No parking, but no lines. They found me right away, checked me off and sent me (and my CA Props cheat sheet) on my way. I can’t stand those shakey voting booths, but it is a super easy process.
With my “I Voted” sticker I headed on over to one of the local Starbucks with the line wrapping around the store. Really, I think the last time I saw this place so crowded, they were hosting the area job fair. They were ready though…had hot cups of coffee ready to hand you as soon as they saw your sticker. I will say, it’s the first time I’ve tried their Pike’s Blend and it was much smoother than their other coffees, but still a tad bitter for my tastes.
From there, I headed down the parking lot to the Krispy Kreme. Their parking lot was insane, but there wasn’t much of a line. It was funny to see so many folks enjoying their patriotic donut with their Starbucks coffee (especially since they have a Coffee Bean at this location). But boy howdy, an original glazed donut with frosting and sprikles is just TOO much. If it wasn’t for the caffeine, I’m sure I’d be napping by now.
Did you know that in NYC and Seattle, they’re giving away free silver bullet vibrators or Maverick sleeves (for men) over at Babeland? And here in Beverly Hills, you can get half off of Botox. Now that’s another way to feel good after voting!
Who knew that 8GB on an iPod just wouldn’t be enough? I mean it sounds like it’s plenty of room. Maybe it is…for other people. But it turns out I had to delete a good chunk of my iTunes library (mostly my husband’s stuff and it’s all in his iTunes library). On top of that, I still had to leave a bunch of stuff off the Nano’s play list.
Totally not what I was expecting. I still need to make a little room for some teleseminars and podcasts. I guess that’s the price we pay for such a modern convenience. I mean, if this was just 10 years ago, I’d have to choose between which CDs to take and let’s be honest, that would take up WAY more space. So I guess there’s no point in complaining.
I do feel better about what’s left to do. Turns out there’s not that much left. Tomorrow I’ll vote, get my brows down, pick up the dry cleaning and finish the actual packing. If there’s time left (I’m sure there will be) and I’m so inclined (no comment) I’ll also give a quick vacuum through the place. We come home to enough cat hair, no sense making it worse by not vacuuming up the old stuff, right?
I left figuring out our travel arrangements to the hubby. Looks like we’ll park at his office and then taxi to LAX. That should work out just fine, though it will be on early morning considering we have the stop the pupster off first thing.
And now, I really, really need to get that Press Release taken care of. later.
We leave first thing Wednesday (man is that going to be a crazy long day). Tuesday, being Election Day I figure the husband will be glued to the TV all night. Needless to say, I figure we have to basically have everything gathered and be pre-packed before bed on Monday.
Of course, there’s still stuff that needs to be done…
I think that’s it. It’s totally doable, just a pain in the ass. Funny how it’s always the little things that take all the time and effort when going out of town.
It’s officially day one of NaBloPoMo. No, I won’t be counting off each and every day. I just wanted to let you know that November 1st it all starts. So while I sit and wait for the cat sitter to arrive, I’ll get in a quickie post.
How about a brief introduction for those newbies that might pop in? Eh, better yet, just head on over to my About LA Blogger Gal page over there on the right (see the linky?) and check it out yourself. Just know that I’ll be on vacation for part of NaBloPoMo (again, this year) so I can’t promise a new post every single day. But I will what I can to get it done (hopefully, with the time change, time will be on my side).
November 1st is also the day that our 50 Days of Giveaways officially begins over at ConstantChatter. But since I need to have plenty to post about while I’m gone, I thought I’d hold off on posting our press release here for a bit. No biggie anyway since every contest will run for 4 weeks. So there’s plenty of time to enter, regardless of when I post the specific details - but I will post it all in a day or two (probably the day we fly out).
I’m so thrilled that it finally looks like fall is here. We’ve been overcast and grey with spots of rain, both yesterday and today. Mind you, we’re still forecasted to be in the mid-70’s, but cooler weather is just around the corner (as we leave, of course). First morning in a long time that I can really enjoy my morning tea. Love that!
Okay, quick post is over. Must love the cat (and the jealous dog) a bit before the stranger arrives. Hope to see you throughout NaBloPoMo. And remember to leave comments (activating Comment Luv) so others can follow you back to your own blog.
I can’t even believe I’m considering this, but I think I’m going to do NaBloPoMo again this year. I really enjoyed the daily posting last year and well, I think I’m up for it. I’m not crazy, right? I mean it’s fun. And a great way to meet new bloggers.
Mind you, I’ll be on vacation for essentially 12 or so days (10 days + recovery time), but since I have to log in anyway to check on the ConstantChatter contest event (over 50 days of giving) I may as well take a moment or five and post an Irish photo or two or something, right? I mean, two birds, one stone, kinda sorta like, right?
Actually, the hubs broke it to me gently that I’ll need to log on to the contest site daily to officially “launch” each day’s new contest. He seems to think that I’ll want to check stats, but to be honest, I’ve never really been that kind of stats girl. But yeah, should make for a fun vacation either way.
Bet you’ll never guess what I’ll be doing every day during lunchtime - LOL.
Anyone else jumping on the NaBloPoMo board this year? Care to join me in the challenge? Don’t worry, you can make up your own rules. In theory, it’s just 30 posts in 3o days. I guess if you were dealing with insomnia and a creative streak you could write all 30 posts in one day. In my case, I’ll be taking advantage of pre-publishing some posts and posting photos while I’m on vacation (I had to do that a time or two last year as well). Then again, without the pre-pub, the air travel itself will cause me to lose a day.
And don’t worry, if you miss a day or so, no one will come after you, chastise you or make you feel bad. It’s all just for the helluva it. Make it up as you go along.
30 posts in 30 days…you can do it.
Come on…it’ll be FUN!!!
A while back I ordered a two pairs of Obama car magnets (one set for me, one set for the hubby). One magnet was the simple “Obama” and the other was a round, “Vote for Change”. The hubs and I were coming back from dinner and passed me car and dammit, my Obama magnet is gone!! They stole it!
Of course, I have no idea who they might be. But either way, that’s just rude. I paid good money for my magnet, and we can’t have any signs on our windows or in our yard (or the landlords would probably freak) so it’s the least I could do. Seems they no longer carry the magnets - maybe that’s why someone took mine.
Luckily, I still have one more “Vote for Change” magnet since it didn’t fit on the hub’s car. Guess I’ll just have two of those then. It still works considering the election is in mere days now.
Oh and great news…while checking my winter coat pockets looking for my winter gloves I found my Shure ear buds. Woohoo!!! I lost those babies, um…back in February or so I’d guess. Glad to have them back in time for the Ireland trip. They’re so much more comfortable than the standard iPod buds.
We have a blocked phone number. Not that we need a blocked number, but when we first moved in we used to get phone calls from computers in the middle of the night (probably polling the register or something) and short of changing our number, all we could do was block our number & block any unlisted number calling in (same service). Which of course means that when I want to call out, I need to remember to unblock the number so people will recognize the number and actually answer the phone.
Needless to say, imputing all those numbers often leads to mis-dials. No biggie, I either hang up when the voice mail kicks in and I’ve realized I made a mistake or if someone should answer I give a quick “sorry, wrong number.” It happens. We all do it. Nothing to be ashamed of.
My question to you though, is do you call back the missed call or hang up that you might get? Me, if I see a number I don’t recognize and there’s no voice mail, I just assume it was a wrong number and carry on with my day. Again, it happens.
Today though, while lying on the couch trying to deflect rest off a migraine that hadn’t yet fully developed (was avoiding meds since I’m not a fan of how they tend to wipe me out) a guy that I’d accidently called and hung up at his voicemail called me back.
It went something like this…
Me: Hello?
Him: Who is this?
Me: Um, it’s Kat, who is this?
Him: I show that someone called me from this number.
Me: Yes, I misdialed.
Him: Oh.
Me: Bye.
Was he really that important that he’d think that anyone that calls him obviously wants to speak with him so badly that they don’t leave a message or call back, so that he must call them back to find out what they wanted? Why? Really, who does this? And what’s with the attitude? If you’re in the type of business where you need to call back those missed calls how about “this is So&So, I had a missed call from this number” NOT “who is this?”
The only time I’ll call someone back when they don’t leave a message is with my friends or family since they probably felt that it wasn’t worth leaving a message. Not with unknown numbers or strangers. Though I did call the financing department of a dealership once to let them know that they called the wrong number. And another time I called back an old lady that was trying to get a company to stop charging her. In both cases, I figured they’d want to know that they’d left messages that wouldn’t be received by the party they wanted to reach.
I remember during my pre-wedding days in Vegas with my friends before the actual wedding day. I was trying to call my friend’s cell, but I apparently had the number wrong (and might have accidentally, if not drunkenly, called a couple of times during my 5-day stay)….
Me: Hi, is Matt there?
Her: Who is this? (in a rude tone)
Me: It’s Kat, may I speak to Matt?
Her: Who are you?
Me: Um, is this 555-5555?
Her: Who are you?
Me: Is Matt there?
Her: Tell me who you are.
Me: Um, I’m looking for my friend Matt, is this 555-5555?
No: Who are you and how did you get this number?
Me: Sorry, this must be the wrong number *click*
Not that I’d know if it was the right or wrong number since she wouldn’t answer the simple question of 1) if there was indeed a Matt there and 2) if I had actually dialed the right number (turns out I forgot the area code…did I mention this was mere days before my wedding and alcohol might have been involved?!?!). But really, what was with the attitude? I couldn’t be calling for her man if his name wasn’t Matt (and I’m assuming it wasn’t since she didn’t react to the name itself). And honestly, do you need to know who I am and how I got your number if 1) I’m not calling for you or anyone at your number, 2) I was obviously a wrong number and 3) if she had caller ID she could see that it was an out of area call? People are just weird with their phones.
So how do you handle wrong numbers? Do you just hang up on them (as the caller or the receiver)? Do you apologize? Do you try to track down any missed calls that didn’t leave a message? What’s the scoop?
Holy cow, where have these past two weeks gone?!? I can’t believe that we’re leaving for Ireland in less than two weeks!!! I totally don’t feel ready yet. I mean here we are going to a different country and outside of booking our lodging, I have no idea what we’ll actually be doing (um…besides drinking and taking pictures, that is!)
Let me just say, it was awfully ambitious of me to think that I could 1) run a month’s worth of breast cancer survivor stories over at ConstantChatter, 2) run a two-month long, giveaway-a-day extravaganza again over at ConstantChatter, and 3) shop, plan and pack for a 10-day international trip. What the hell was I smoking?!?!?! And of course, every other day the hubs thinks of yet another thing I need to take care of before we leave.
I haven’t read a blog in about three weeks now. I’ve yet to post anything in my biz blog for over a week now (so bad, so bad). I haven’t written a biz newsletter (I blame the hubs for this one since he has to finish my “design” using the new HTML-based provider). I haven’t washed clothes for two (going on three) weeks. I haven’t vaccumed in probably just as long. Luckily, I have cooked some pretty good meals and done the dishes.
But lordy, even our weekends have been busy with plans. This Sunday we’ll be at the Kodak for BB King’s Monk Institute thing (rumor has it Edge & Bono will be hanging with BB and doing “When Love Comes to Town” - can’t wait!). I’m really looking forward to the party afterwards, even if I probably won’t get to meet or even see BB, Bono or Edge. I never saw Sting at Herbie’s Monk Institute thing last year. I’ll be sure to bring my camera along though just in case.
Okay enough time wasting here. I still have to get the first 21 days worth of contests pre-published and launched by Wednesday of next week. If I take on 5 a day, I’ll be done by Monday…here’s hoping. That will leave me a couple more days to pre-publish some blog posts (for my biz and the ConstantChatter blog) and to pack. It could happen.
