Cheers

********September 6th

This is my second week, albeit shortened, at the Residence Inn. The moment I walked in, they knew my name, but they had a hard time pronouncing it. My last name is quite a clusterfuck of letters, like Coach K from Duke/Men's Olympic Basketball Team although it isn't that bad, nor is it Polish. Anyway, I was really surprised that they knew. The entire time I was there, even when leaving right now, "Goodbye Mr. Potsie." It really is the little things.

I got in on Tuesday and a card was waiting for me. It was my birthday yesterday, and my wife sent me a card from my son of 7 months. It was one of the best welcomes I could have had. I brought it in yesterday and have it displayed at my desk. I guess I'm one of "those guys" now...one of  those situations where you'll never know until you are in that person's shoes. Now that I'm a dad, I find myself looking at online articles where you are supposed to do XYZ in order for your kids to be brought up right, and make sure they don't start drinking too early, and if they don't put their shoes on in the proper order, I'll have raised a serial killer. I suppose I just don't want to fuck up. Yeah...I'm swearing a lot in my blog today. My bad. Shall we talk about posies and tulips? They're fun!

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Why is it that birthdays get so mehhh when you get older? My coworker will be turning 33 soon and she is ready to party like it is her 24th. I haven't gotten excited about a birthday in forever. I thought 30 was going to be a big one, but my family was struggling a bit financially, so I put the kibosh on anything big. I did get my son during my 30th year, which is all I wanted, so I suppose it worked out in the end. Who needs a party where we stay up all hours when we can have a perfectly healthy baby boy screaming at all hours keeping us up instead?

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I completely forgot to check in! This is a first ladies and gentlemen. I will now be checking into my flight to see what seat assignment I can procure. Let's see how Potsie fares:

Oh well. I have a decent aisle seat in the front of the main cabin. I suppose I can't really complain.


ON TO THE TRAVEL!!!!!

Security is still empty. It better fill up soon so I can point my ever large nose up at people. Or is it down? I don't recall. Either way, you peasants should be thankful to be graced with my presence in the security line at all.

Check this article out about the TSA Pre-Check. I signed up for GOES and I'm supposed to have an interview next month, although since I have status with American, I don't necessarily need it for domestic travel. Even though this chap is on a special list with Delta, AND is square with the GOES program, he still got ushered into the regular line. That sucks pal.

http://overheadbin.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/30/13568373-tsas-precheck-program-reveals-promise-and-problems?lite

I find myself not getting frustrated with TSA, but with other travelers who look like deer in headlights. Security hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. It still sucks but we all have to deal with it. If you have a valid argument, fine...otherwise take off your damn shoes and keep the line moving.

It's interesting to see so many familiar faces week in and week out. I don't recall if I wrote about it, but 5 or 6 weeks back, some dude got picked to have his carry-on looked at by TSA before boarding. I ended up sitting next to him on my flight and chatted him up a bit. I see him on almost every single one of my flights on Mondays. Last Thursday, I sat in the same exact seat that I did 4 weeks back. The same guy that was on my flight 4 weeks ago one seat in front was once again, 1 seat ahead of me. I remember him because he got bumped into first and I stole his seat a month ago. I wasn't as lucky this time around.

The one thing I don't understand about getting bumped to first class on my flight is "why use the 500 mile upgrades?" If I buy a full fare economy, I get bumped into first class for free, if there is a spot. Otherwise, I need to use vouchers to get bumped in. So if the flight is 1200 miles, I need to use 3 500 mile vouchers. The thing is 1200 miles isn't a lot. My current flight is less than that...so why waste it? The flight is so short! I'd rather save my vouchers for a long haul. Sure, maybe i'll only have enough for 1 leg, but 1 leg in first class and 1 leg in economy for a long flight is better than first class on multiple <2.5 hour flights.

That's just my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. I just hope the dude in front is there today and decides to use vouchers again. His gain/loss is my gain.