Booked!

Home from Boston, surrounded by the piles of arcs I collected, my mind has turned to summer.

This summer, my niece, my twin sister’s only child, graduates from high school and turns 18 in the same week. I got to thinking I’d like to be there for those two big events and checked flights. Prices were very good.

So, in conversation with my sister last night we talked it over. As the Superintendent for elementary schools in her district, her time can be flexible, even though school will still be in session if I were to arrive the last week of June. We looked at the calendar and talked things over. I went online while we were talking and found nonstop, round-trip, PDX to YYZ  flights on Air Canada for $422, a very good price. We talked it over and I though tempted to book it right away, I decided to sleep on it and book it in the morning if I still felt confident.

I am now booked to go and I feel very happy about it.

It makes me amazed, how easy all this is to do now. It used to take days or weeks to make these kinds of plans.You’d make a plan. Then you’d have to go see a travel agent. They’d give you some options. You’d think them over and decide. Later, you’d get your paper tickets. It is all so different now.

I started shopping for my own tickets when I lived in Colombia. Once my Spanish was good enough, I skipped the travel agent and would just call the airlines directly. I can’t remembered how I paid, but it must have been by credit card over the phone. I still have my Lonely Planet guidebook  Colombia: A Travel Survival Kit   ©1988.

The inside covers refilled with notes, including flight information I scratched down while on the phone with Avianca.

It is a ratty old book now, but it is a storehouse of memories.

A Sticky Situation

My company left yesterday. Not without a little drama. First, when we checked their flight the night before the departure, it was cancelled. A lot of time on the phone with United Airlines later, a new flight was arranged that was even more convenient than the first. Alas, when they got to Chicago, the 2nd leg had been cancelled. They were rerouted to Montreal where they had to spend the night in the airport before getting and Air Canada flight at 6:30 ET this morning. Yes, that have landed in Toronto and are now on their way to the basketball tournament in Stratford, Ontario that will keep them from home until Sunday night.

I had the confirmation number and was following their progress throughout the United  Airlines website and on Facebook.

While they wrangled with air transportation, I read The Gumazing Gum Girl! Chews Your Destiny by Rhode Montijo.

The opening chapter is entitled “A Sticky Situation”.

The main character, Gabby, is not caught in the web of intercontinental travel on the verge of stormageddon. Instead, she is a gum-loving girl who, in fact, wakes up with I’m in her hair. This incident compels her mother to give a terrifying ultimatum: NO MORE GUM! Walking to school, Gabby finds one last piece and defies her mother’s order. She blows an enormous bubble that touches electrical wires, explodes and becomes covered in gum. Gabby is transformed into

Funny pictures and simple text make this a great read that seems to be the start of a new series.