One more rant

I remembered something else obnoxious from the flight... The tray tables were completely covered in advertisements on the side that shows when you put it down.  Ahhh sensory overload while just trying to have somewhere to put my kindle and my waited-two-hours-for drink!

Rants from cruising altitude

It never ceases to amaze me how much some people love to hear themselves talk.  I sat through a three-hour flight on Sunday being forced to listen to a political discussion (aka polite argument) between a NASA contractor and a former military member.  I "tuned most of it out" (i.e. I blasted music on my headphones) but the pieces I caught were the tired old science spending vs. military spending disagreement, and why we don't just capture tides for energy because "the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine".  Wow.  The tides don't always flow, you massively interrupt tidal ecosystems, the power is difficult to store and/or transport, etc.  But otherwise, gee, you should be the next head of the department of energy.

Sorry.  I just hate it when people talk endlessly about topics they don't fully understand.  I will never understand why people can't make a few minutes of polite chit-chat with their neighbors then entertain themselves quietly for the duration of the flight.  I know I'm pretty far on the anti-social end of the spectrum, but still.

Doesn't help that the two main people involved in the conversation were sitting in the aisle and window seats, and conversing loudly over the poor bastard in the middle seat (who joined in occasionally but was otherwise drowned out by the two main loudmouths). And the loudmouth behind me, in an effort to more easily communicate with the woman in the window seat, put his tray table down and leaned on it (thus moving my seat [directly in front of him] whenever he shifted weight, gestured, etc.).  Oh and he was a foot-tapper, which on a plane with thin hollow floors means everyone else gets to "enjoy" the rhythm of his foot tapping as well.

Other disconnected thoughts:

I might die from happiness if all airlines realize it's stupid to charge for checked bags.  If I see one more person almost drop a bag on someone's head because they packed a bag to heavy for them to lift, I'm gonna scream.

Bitter old women should refrain from venting about their children and grandchildren to random strangers on the flight  I'm sorry your son has OCD and it bothers you.  You do realize it's an ILLNESS and not a way to make your life miserable, right?  I'm sorry your other son bought you a car without consulting his siblings because he didn't want it to turn into an argument between them.  I'm sorry your city doesn't want you to put a wheelchair lift on your condo building.  It probably violates code.  Anyway, it makes the rest of us paranoid about mistreating our moms/grandmas and I have the urge to go hug mine.  Hug!!

We didn't get drinks until two hours after takeoff on my first flight, since us airways decided that one person was sufficient to serve the entire full A320 cabin and the other flight attendant was selling overpriced snack boxes.  Loudmouth behind me decided it would be a good idea to flirt with the stewardess and slow her down further.  Seriously dude, shut up.

US Airways had apparently shifted the seats on the regional jet on my second flight so they could fit a few more rows of people in.  The seats didn't line up at all with the windows, and I barely had room to move.  I fly on RJ's pretty often, and they're not usually this bad.  And I'm short!  The more I fly, the worse I feel for tall people.  Sorry, Mom :)

But happy thoughts!  I'm going to be in Chicago for labor day weekend and I'm actually going to get to be around for a family gathering.  So excited!

Denver Zoo 8-12-11

Went to the zoo on Friday with Kris and Dan.  Little on the crowded side -- I think a lot of kids begged their parents for one more zoo trip before school starts -- but very nice.  Highlight of the visit was definitely the four one-year-old tiger cubs running around like crazy.

One of the cubs was fascinated by something down in the pit at the edge of their environment so he was dangling his paws over the edge.

Mama tiger was chilling up on a fence around the tree to stay out of the cubs' chaos.

And of course the big-horn sheep are always popular with me...  They had lambs!!

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Went on an awesome hike this morning with my sister Kristin and her boyfriend Dan.  I thought I'd have a leg up since I'm used to the altitude, but they kept up with me easily -- and kinda kicked my butt!

View Golden Gate 8-14-11 in a larger map

Stopped in Golden for lunch and to walk around.  Coors!

Go Bike Go

Went grocery shopping on my bike today -- I was a little worried that I grabbed too much stuff and it wouldn't fit.

I felt pretty awesome.

Local lunch

Colorado sweet corn, Colorado cantaloupe, Colorado eggs (I figured out hard boiled eggs at high altitude!) and non local tomatoes (oh well).  The sweet corn is extra awesome since I bought it from a farm stand in northeast Colorado that we stopped at between airport inspections yesterday.