busted

the big story of this weekend is the snow. it seems to have stopped for the time being, but round two is supposed to start up soon until 2am. check out the city under snow from earthcam.com webcams.

accent. i would aggree; i think edinburgh has the best accent.

saw hotel rwanda last night with my roommate. it's had really great reviews, so we decided to get out of the apartment last night and check it out. it was a great film; but one of those that you don't want to be so bood b/c it's about something so awful. at least it wasn't the US that was made out to be the sole neglecter, but the entire UN that failed to intervene.

tsunami pictures. wow is all i can really say. i don't think i'd ever really be able to grasp the devistation.

i got a card from a friend i hadn't heard from in some time. a friend that encouraged me to pick up the quill and keep writing.

last night k and i went out to arlenes grocery and saw two pretty decent bands: T and Ancient Frontier. today the weather is not conducive to much other than sleeping and reading indoors. but tonight we're planning on checking out another of the music clubs nearby. probably luna and maybe mercury lounge.

visitors. for some reason, it seems everyone wants to visit in january. normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it happens to be a very busy time at work. but right now, k is visiting from germany. she was just in hawaii for several weeks visiting her sister, and is on her way back home.

subway ad of the day: the bahamas

and some pictures from the bbc.

year in review, from dave berry.

lucky day. despite an otherwise bad day at work, the vending machine gave me two cheddar sun chips for the price of one.

US Air delivered my bag tonight at about 10:30pm. They offer no way to check on the status other than their website for request, which I sent requests to 3 times:
Try #1 response:

Thank you for contacting US Airways about your baggage. We apologize that you have been without your luggage and we thank you for your patience. We have checked your file record and see that your luggage has arrived and scheduled for delivery.

The service handling your luggage normally delivers within 4 to 6 hours, however due to a larger volume of bags scheduled for delivery today, that window may be extended.

Try #2 response:

nothing

Try #3 response:

Thank you for contacting US Airways about your baggage. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.

At this time, we are unable to respond to your e-mail. Please contact the Passenger Baggage Call Center at 1-800-371-4771 for further assistance.

We appreciate your continued support of US Airways.

And 54 hours after my arrival, my bag was delivered to my door. Note that the 800 number they provide does not allow you to speak to a person, and does not allow you to be put on hold and wait for a person, they simply disconnect you. So really there is no way to check the status of your bag. This has be be the worst customer support i've ever experienced.

I suggest others, and i know there were a lot of others, who experienced this, to write and ask for your money from US Air.

i have an over 50% luggage loss rate when flying usair. of course, i wasn't alone this holiday weekend. they lost my luggage both going to and returning from pittsburgh.

merry Christmas!

you know you've been working to long when you go to the vending machine because you are hungry, reach for your change, look at the coins in your hand, and think: i don't think this vending machine supports pennies.

i finished the davinci code last night. it was a pretty good book. he had to have done a lot of research...enough to make it believable for a novel. the end had a special surprise for me as i had been to the chapel outside of edinburgh it reference. it was cool to have an actual memory of many of the places in the book: paris, the louvre, london, rosslyn.

12°F, bloody cold. scotland gets a bad rap, but it rarely gets this cold.

ironically, the subtalk subway ad of the day is for conair.

does this say anything about the western infuence in china?

tonight j and i went to arlene's grocery
and then i ate an altoid.

someone in my building was baking cookies when i got home. made me realize how close Christmas is. i'm looking forward to being home for a few days and relaxing.