Happy Holidays, and griping

Happy Holidays everyone, all, err, 3 of you that read the site. I did one post at the beginning of December, and now Im capping the month off with one post at the end. Because December is a bastard of a month, and it drains the creativity and opinion right out of a person. And all this blog IS is opinion, hopefully written creatively.

But there must be a bright side. I was on 4 different airplanes in the last week, and my baggage was lost three times. I had a flight outright canceled (please go away. Go get your baggage at baggage claim and hit the ticket counter to get on another flight. Then re-enter security...) and had the new flight delayed by 3 hours. A flight that was damn near 25% 2 year olds and under. One poor mother was flying with a 3 month old, which just didnt seem like a good idea for anyone involved.

I had my tiny little pen knife confiscated. Its been in my carry on bag for 10 passes through security with nary a word, but they got it this time. Its a nail file and a scissor (both allowed), but the tiny little blade is prohibited. My bad, but I miss that knife.

Im worn down and jet lagged, and its a good thing its the end of the year, because Im done with traveling for this year :).

Good things? Well, Ive reconnected with several friends and family that I hadnt seen in ages, in one case, not for 5 years. I have a list of New Years resolutions, and I might even be able to keep some of them. I really like my iPhone, and it was times like this most recent FUMTU travel period that really caused a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I used it.

Actually, Im going to expand on that iPhone bit, because Im a pretentious git of a Mac lover... or not, but hear me out. Ive always wanted multi-function phones, and Ive messed around with all kinds, from the earliest Palms and Treos to this most recent wave of iPhone wannabees. And the iPhone is definitely the current winner. I watched The Princess Bride on it while waiting for a flight. I listened to a sampling of my extensive (*cough*) music collection. I watched music videos. I used it to browse the web without paying $8 for Sea-Tacs wireless (hello? Sea-Tac? O'hare and Atlanta both have free wi-fi. Whats up guys? Even SPOKANE has free wi-fi!). I used it to call American Airlines and get a new flight without standing in line behind 45 other disgruntled and vocal about it fliers. That last bit right there any phone could do, but it did all the rest and that, and it did it on just one battery charge. That battery lasted for nearly 8 hours of video, music, web browsing, and phone calling (never mind texting), and still had juice in it when I got home. Thats a nice warm feeling, right there, and it made the whole experience much nicer than it could have been.

And about my crack about 25% children on a flight. I just spent the last 4 days up to my eyeballs in 2-4 year olds. There was barely any time when I wasnt surrounded by screaming, crying, snot, quarreling, and constant demands on attention. And it was all good, not because they where "my" kids (related to me, and thus excused due to carrying on the genes...), but because I like kids, and these kids are well-behaved compared to some. And yes, listening to one kid after another wake up and begin fussing or crying on a 4 hour flight is no picnic. But thats not why I dread flying with children. It isnt the children that make that flight unbearable, its the so-called adults who cannot control themselves that do. Its the 20-something ADD male with a bizarre form of tourettes, a form that forces him to loudly mutter his thoughts and feelings to everyone around him. I now WHY he does it, hes looking for one other person to buy into his feelings, thus validating them, so that he can then escalate his actions. He was sitting across the aisle from me, and I dont think he shut up the entire flight, even when the kids did. Its the 40-something I hate kids because everyone expected me to have them women sitting next to me who kicked the chair of the kid in front of her (a 6-9month old infant in its mothers arms...), loudly and repeatedly shuffled her magazine, and sighed constantly. No, its not the children that make such a flight a living horror, its the adults with less self-control than a pack of 2-4 year olds, and worse, no real adults to reign in their misbehavior. When you have to tell a 20-something to sit down and shut up when he tries to accost an 18 year old mother flying alone with her 3 month old child, you know that the world is a bitter and cruel place.

So, I got that out of my system. On to resolutions.

1. Get into cardiovascular shape. Ive been old enough for a while now that this isnt just a good idea, its becoming life-threatening. There are numerous barriers to my doing it, and they dont all boil down to "Im lazy and dont want to make the time". I _was_ running for an hour every day, but that lead to a CT scan and a huge needle stuck into my hip, so some other alternate needs to be found. Im thinking bike riding.

2. Learn to play the drum. Not a drum set, though I think Id like to learn that to. A hand drum. My dad gave me a drum the size of an end table for Christmas, and Id like to do it some justice. Ive always wanted to learn the drum, and this year is going to be the year.

3. Finish the costume suit. Additionally, I have an idea about how to make it easier to make various SIZES of a suit like that, without having to hand craft new molds for each new suit. And I think I can even build the thing that does the sizing with my own three hands. Getting that done this coming year would be a huge win.

4. Build a steam engine and/or a stirling engine.

5. Build an armature with electric motors.

No, Im not going to add things like "be nice to people" or "work towards world peace". Those are not things I resolve to do on a yearly basis. Those are things I work to do all the damn time, which is a good thing too, cause otherwise Id REALLY suck at it.

See you all in the new year, and good luck on your own resolutions.