Posted on March 10, 2024
First things first. We have arrived in Florida, and it was the smoothest landing I’ve ever experienced in all my years of flying. Kudos to the pilot.
I wish I could say the landing made up for the challenges of getting here, but I’d be exaggerating. I will say that for all the issues during our travel day – wonky website that refused to print our boarding passes, three delays in taking off with two and a half hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac, turbulent weather, and the seat belt sign that never turned off – the ground and flight crews of Flight 938 were amazing.
The wheelchair we’d ordered was there accompanied by a most pleasant man to push it. The delays in takeoff were handled professionally; at one point free beverages were offered (this from an airline where everything except a trip to the bathroom is pay-as-you-go), and during the time we sat in the plane we got – believe it or not – free pretzels and water. I didn’t see a rude flight attendant at any time, in spite of the fact the crew had already flown from Florida earlier in the morning and this was a return flight. They’d been up longer than any of us.
Often things are the other way around: the airline’s website works great, boarding passes can be accessed from an app on your phone, and the flight leaves on time. But the human element can be detached. Just employees doing their jobs.
On the basis of one flight with Allegiant, I don’t want to make any broad generalizations. We’ll see how it plays out when we go home. But I shall say that for all the grousing I’m doing about the airline, its people are a definite redeeming element.
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Posted on March 9, 2024
As we plan our upcoming trip to Florida, I’m reminded of the many other trips I’ve taken over the years either with Earl or my sons and their partners. Most of them have been chronicled in my blog, as this upcoming one most likely will be too. But for today, here is a post from March 13, 2014, ten years ago. It is called “Splurge.”
I leave today for a week in Costa Rica with my son and his partner. Because neither of my sons lives close, it’s always a project to get together. It requires the kindness of the weather gods plus multiple airline transfers with the risk of cancellation plus keeping one’s luggage in tow. It’s always worthwhile though.
This current trip was planned last November when the three of us – my son, his partner, and I – began closing their company. In the time it was in existence, the corporate credit card accumulated an incredible amount of points. And we certainly didn’t want them to go to waste. Or expire.
So we decide we’d use them for a final get-together in Costa Rica on the company dole. When we return we’ll cancel the credit card, close the bank account, and then need to find creative ways to bridge the distance between Michigan and New York State.
As of today, there are 2201individual blogs divided into various categories at annebrandt.com. Were I a newspaper columnist who wrote three times a week, I’d be about fifteen years into my career. Looking at some of the previous entries, many are still relevant.
So maybe you, appreciated reader, will stroll around the website, while I try to come up with a new idea that’s of interest on a daily basis. It can be a challenge.
See more 10 Minutes in category Changing Scene, Travel
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Posted on March 8, 2024
Earl and I are taking a trip soon and using Allegiant Airlines as our airline carrier. It’s one of those companies that advertises ultra low-cost, non-stop flights to selected cities. I’d never used it before, because I have used a travel agent for thirty years to book my airline travels.
But because Allegiant requires that you book online, I attempted to make these reservations myself, not even dreaming that Debbie, my agent, could help. Long story short, I am incapable of making airline reservations online in an economical manner because I’ve never learned how to do it. So Debbie bailed me out. At no commission, because Allegiant won’t work with a travel agent. I owe her one.
However, she wasn’t able to stop daily emails from Allegiant with all kinds of goofy suggestions. Like “Traveling lite is overrated” as an incentive for travelers to check extra bags online and avoid an added fee at the airport. Earl and I have always traveled lite and never found it overrated.
Another Allegiant tack is to tell travelers if they don’t print their boarding passes online, there is a $5 fee per pass if an agent has to print it for you. And another is that water costs $3 on board. By the time this trip is over, it will not fall in the “ultra low-cost” category.
We haven’t taken the flight yet, so I’m reserving comment on that part of the experience. But so far, I’m underwhelmed.
See more 10 Minutes in category Changing Scene, Politics, Travel
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Posted on March 7, 2024
Two days ago my blog was about the battle between Canadian geese and Anne Brandt (Me), who was grouchy and whined publicly about the situation and the need for help. I may appear mild-mannered, but I have high expectations and want things handled in a prompt fashion. In the case of the Canadian geese, it’s imperative!
I’m pleased to report that the whiner (Me again) was heard, and the breach in the fence was fixed yesterday. Perhaps it was the appearance of the eleven geese that triggered results; perhaps it was my panic. Regardless, the fence is fixed.
And this morning two very frustrated geese spent almost an hour staring at the breach that is no longer there, pecking at the replaced fence, and generally – if I may anthropomorphize them – scowling and swearing. Anne Brandt was ecstatic.
The geese will return a few more times to make sure they didn’t misunderstand, and then they’ll go elsewhere to nest. And Anne Brandt will have a wonderful summer, as will all the other pond residents, whether they realize they came thisclose to catastrophe or not.
Anne Brandt isn’t grouchy anymore.
See more 10 Minutes in category Small Town Life
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Posted on March 6, 2024
We are Costco members who have the top tier credit card. It’s a Visa that is honored at other establishments besides Costco. And every time we use it – which is often – we get a rebate that accumulates over the year and returns to us in the form of a check to use at Costco. For 2023, the amount was hundreds of dollars.
Earl and I planned to visit Costco as soon as our check arrived with our February credit card statement. We look forward to what is basically a “free” shopping spree, and we already had our lengthy grocery list started.
But a derailment happened. The mailman delivered our February statement a couple days ago, while I had already printed it off the internet. So I didn’t think twice about shredding the one that came in the mail. That is, until I realized I’d shredded our rebate certificate as well. (A photocopy not acceptable.)
Grrrrr!
I called the number on the back of my credit card, hoping to talk with a customer representative, and had visions of spending a ton of time getting to a human to request a replacement. How surprised I was that one of the menu options for the automated attendant was “Issues with your rebate certificate.” In just a few minutes, I was issued a replacement. No fuss, no muss.
It occurs to me that I must not be the only Visa member who’s lost, misplaced, or shredded the precious rebate. In fact, it must happen enough that I don’t even have to speak with a human to replace it. I give Costco Citibank Visa kudos for making the replacement process smooth. Even if it is automated.
See more 10 Minutes in category Dining/Food, Technology
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Posted on March 5, 2024
You’ve been warned: I am grouchy. I could wait until tomorrow to blog under the assumption that I’ll feel better. And I probably will, since I don’t hold grievances tightly. Still, things I thought were handled have become unhandled.
There is a breach in the fence that surrounds the pond we live on, and this is a serious matter. The fence was installed a few years ago to keep geese from nesting on the water in spring and then staying through summer to raise their offspring. During those few months, they become an incredible nuisance. They eat the lawns, poop on the patios, squawk all times of day, and are impervious to the business end of a broom. They’re also federally protected, which means you can’t shoot them on a private pond, no matter what.
Once a couple geese find a great nesting place they return year after year after year along with their offspring. Who then have offspring too. Yesterday there were two geese checking out the pond. This morning there were eleven.
The breach needs to be fixed asap or we’ll be back where we were before the fence was installed. But only my husband, one other resident, and I lived here back then. So others aren’t as frantic about this issue as I am. Getting it resolved is an issue in itself, which is why I am grouchy this morning.
See more 10 Minutes in category Annoyances, Flora/Fauna
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Posted on March 4, 2024
Yesterday’s essay on baseball contained a serious mathematical error. And since baseball is all about statistics, I feel compelled to correct it. I noted that the MLB package Earl and I purchased each season enabled us to watch a game for $7.50, instead of the astronomical amounts it costs to go to a major league baseball field.
My math was completely off because I divided a wrong number into another wrong number. I woke in the night fretting about the miscalculation and redid it. It turns out that it costs a little more than six cents per game to view from our armchairs.
Probably nobody cares except me. But baseball has always been about statistics, so I wanted to start the season right.
According to MLB, “For more than a century, statistics have been a staple of the game of baseball. Arguably no sport has a closer relationship with the stats that chronicle its every play.”
Most people, even those who think watching the game is akin to watching paint dry, are familiar with the terms home run, stolen base, and strikes. But that’s only the beginning. The real afficionado knows about caught stealing percentage (CS%), reached on error (ROE), and walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP).
And the game’s fanatics, whether they get to watch for six cents or hundreds of dollars, will also know that the study of the statistical analysis of baseball is called Sabermetrics. If you want to learn more about this, go to Wikipedia for an extensive history or find the 2011 movie “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.
Then you’ll be set for Opening Day.
See more 10 Minutes in category Things to Ponder
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Posted on March 3, 2024
From the end of the World Series somewhere in the fall (It keeps getting moved.) until the end of March Earl and I are in exile. It’s a long season to be without our mutually favorite sport; and as hockey, football, and basketball all take their turns we become more and more glum.
But this is March 3. Pitchers and catchers showed up for spring training almost a month ago, and it’s less than a month to Opening Day which is scheduled for March 28. It doesn’t matter who you’re rooting for on that day, because all 30 major league baseball teams play somewhere and the next season of hope begins. There are volumes written about that hope. One of my mother’s favorite was a poem called “Casey at the Bat.”
Earl and I always purchase the MLB package on Xfinity, which means we have access to all the games for the entire season. That’s 2430 games. The package is $150 to buy a seat at the Altar of Hope. It’s not a bad deal if you’re a baseball fan. In fact, it is $7.50 a game to watch on TV. Try seeing a game live for that!
Play ball!
Posted on March 2, 2024
The Sandbar has been a local establishment long before Earl and I came to town in 2001, but we’d never been there until tonight. I had no preconceived notion of what to expect, although I’d been warned by our dining companions that it could be loud. Even though we got there early, it already was.
We chose a table in the corner, hopefully the better to hear one another and avoid the multiple TVs on multiple channels that marked The Sandbar as a sports bar. My back was to the screens, so it didn’t faze me.
We ordered water, drinks, and dinner and listened to the loud and quiet take turns as customers came and went. Loud won most of the time, and we had to lean over the table to shout at each other.
Still, in our quest for great dive bar hamburgers, Earl was not disappointed. In fact, he rated The Sandbar right up there with the Chatterbox, the gold standard around here.
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Posted on March 1, 2024
It’s not a crisis on the level of governmental intervention, but it is a personal antidote to the problems of the world right now. While Hungary, Israel, the United States, and other sovereignties duke it out, I’m studying cubes.
Not Rubik’s or office cubicles. Not ice or watermelon pieces. Rather, those small tissue cubes like Puff’s® or Kleenex®
I’ve been a Puff’s® devotee since its inception in 2010. Yes, Puff’s® has been around long before then, but that was when the cube was introduced. I love the cube, although it’s more expensive in many ways than the larger family sized box. I’m a sucker for the design.
But . . . one day Earl, who does our shopping, came home almost apoplectically apologetic that he couldn’t find a Puff’s® cube and bought a Kleenex® cube instead.
That was a couple years ago. Since then I’ve concluded that Kleenex® is as good as Puff®. But here’s another thing to be wary of: the number of tissues in each cube differs, which impacts the per tissue price.
The two empty boxes on my desk are proof. The Puff® box says it has 48 two-ply tissues while the Kleenex® one says 85 three-ply tissues. On the face of it, the latter seems like a better deal.
But, according to the internet, the most economical thing to do is to use toilet paper for your nasal concerns. A roll of toilet paper has almost four times as many sheets as a box of tissues and costs about half as much.
That’s nothing to sneeze at.
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