Unions had a point in the beginning. It was workers banding together and saying “hey, we deserve to be safe and to earn a living wage.”

Since then, a lot has changed. Working conditions are monitored by government agencies. Workplace injuries are the responsibility of the employer, so there’s more incentive to keep things safe. Minimum wage means employers can’t just shaft people who are down on their luck. Thousands of other labor laws mean employers have to follow strict guidelines for discipline and firing.

To make a long story short, unions are no longer necessary. The government intervened to correct all of the problems that unions were created to fight.

Unions have evolved over the past few decades. Now, unions are powerful political lobbies. They are lucrative businesses with a bottom line of their own. Union members pay dues and line the pockets of union bosses who claim they’re just there to defend the workers.

Nowadays, union strikes are completely ridiculous. SEPTA, the transit authority in Philly, just had a transit strike. SEPTA offered the local 5,100 TWU 234 members an average increase of 3% guaranteed for the next 5 years, increased pension funding, and NO increase to healthcare costs, and GET THIS… a $1,250 bonus to workers just for taking the contract. The union said no, and went on strike.

Now, keep in mind, there is currently a deep recession. SEPTA wasn’t able to run, which put the city of Philadelphia on foot. That meant that the 89% of the people in Philly who still have a job were stranded. Many had to miss work, or were late, or had to walk 2 hours… a total mess.

The union claims it’s not about greed, that SEPTA made money last year so the workers are entitled to a bigger slice of the pie. To me, that’s the definition of greed, but hey – I am one of those people who has to actually EARN my paycheck.

But I digress.

10.2% of Americans have NO job. The average SEPTA driver makes $24.00 an hour, plus benefits AND pension. Could you live on that? I could.

Most Americans will not get any raise this year, including COLA, because there wasn’t any inflation. In fact, most Americans will just be happy to have a job when it’s all said and done. If you lose your job right now, it takes an average of 6 months to find another job. And those figures don’t include discouraged workers or underemployed.

So to summarize – in a time of economic crisis, the transit workers union 234 decided that guaranteed raises on top of their already too high pay, plus a signing bonus, plus pension, plus cheap healthcare – that wasn’t enough for them.

The school down the street from me is getting a facelift using “bailout” funds. Naturally, the local electrician’s union decided to go on strike, and like lemmings, all of the other unions walked off the job as well. All that “not crossing a picket line” crap.

There are millions of unemployed Americans who would happily take those jobs at those wages. I think it’s time for the “scabs” to inherit the Earth. I’m ready for unions to die the death they so richly deserve.

But let me back up and start at the beginning.

As many of you know, Rachel (who I will not be linking due to the fact she’s had problems with Internet stalkers) got engaged a few months ago, and the wedding was the 10th.

As is my custom, I reserved non-stop flights on US Airways for Jenna and I, since they are the only airline to fly direct from KC to Philly. Jenna flew in a few days early to do bridesmaid stuff, which I assume includes getting lap dances from male strippers and drinking a lot, although that has neither been confirmed nor denied.

I was set to fly in on Friday. Well, as is US Airways’ custom, they promptly (haha) delayed my flight due to a “mechanical problem.” They assured me it was nothing major, but that the plane that was on it’s way to KC had to be diverted to Pittsburg and have an emergency landing. That’s not exactly what I would call “minor” but perhaps in airline terms it’s not that bad. They said the plane was on the ground in Pittsburg but should be back in the air soon. So it looked as the the delay would be about 2-3 hours.

Three hours later, they announced that not only was the plane not in KC yet, but that the plan was still grounded in Pittsburg and they were looking for a replacement plane because they couldn’t fix the first one. Nice. So an hour or 2 later, they finally find another plane and it leaves Pittsburg to come to KC… another 2 hours.

We finally leave KC more than 6 hours late, which is remarkable because normally they’d just cancel a flight that late. I arrived in Philly, picked up my car, and drove to Conshohocken (I’m not making that up). Fortunately, the Marriott has room service and pay-per-view.

Saturday morning I woke up to Jenna calling me and informing me that Kelly drive (the one that runs by boathouse row) was shut down because they were having a regatta. I’m not making that up, either. Apparently it’s normal to have rowing events in November. So I spent a couple of hours talking to people to find out how I was actually going to get to the event and park.

I finally left my hotel and drove into town, circled for about 30 minutes looking for a parking spot, and then found a street spot about 5 feet from the door to the boathouse. I know… it was the first time on the trip something had gone as it should.

Then we settled in for the wedding and reception. Here are some lovely pictures taken with my uber-cool camcorder that also sports a 1 megapixel still camera. Sorry the pics look like surveillance photos taken from 2 miles away. I swear I was actually at the wedding.

The Jenna and Rachel striking a pose.

Jenna crying during the ceremony.

Pete and Jenna on the balcony overlooking the Schuykill and downtown Philly.

Yes, the groom and groomsmen did wear kilts.

Anyhow, Sunday we went to visit Jenna’s family and I took the opportunity to watch football on the very large plasma screen. Jenna’s evil plan to get her family to move to Kansas City seems to be moving along quite well.

Monday we drove all over town and finally got to the airport and flew home, this time only delayed about 40 minutes. Useless Airways.

That would be the understatement of the century.

Jenna had the best week EVER. It was the most wonderful vacation she could have ever had.

I… well, I’m completely exhausted. Today I told her I was going to need valve replacement surgery when we got home.

Social situations are physically exhausting to me. It doesn’t matter when, where, or how familiar I am with them… I’m completely unable to relax and enjoy myself.

This week… let me give you the rundown:

Saturday, fly… one of my least favorite things to do.

Sunday night, 2nd and South in downtown Philadelphia…. penthouse party with around 200 people.

Monday, lunch and socializing with friends of Jenna’s family.

Tuesday, buffet and karaoke in the smokiest bar in the United States.

Wednesday, into the city to visit with friends and go shopping, then a dinner with yet more friends.

Thursday, my day off to recoup and catch up on some work.

Friday, to the Philadelphia museum of art, then to dinner.

Interspersed with driving in THICK, ANNOYING traffic in less-than-ideal weather conditions… and I was the only authorized driver on the car.

And Saturday… we fly again. During the Chiefs game. The first Chiefs playoff game in several years, against the team I love to hate, the Colts.

There was only one bright spot… and that was I got to spend the entire week with the Jenna. And that makes everything ok.

Except I’ll still be needing that valve replacement surgery.

Pete

Tomorrow night we’ll be in a penthouse on 2nd street downtown, overlooking the Delaware where the Philadelphia fireworks are done. It’s the best seat in the house, and I get to try out my new camera which actually has a fireworks mode. Should be fun. I’ll post the results, good or bad.

We’re also planning on visiting the Franklin Center so I can finally see the liberty bell. I’ve been here a bunch of times and still haven’t managed to see the most famous landmark in the city.

I’m also going to try and use this week to get back “on the wagon.” I’m weaning myself off of Pepsi… my stomach will thank me, I’m sure. My head is really ticked about it at the moment, though.

I’m working concurrently on 7 website designs. My hobby is becoming more and more time-consuming. I always thought it would be great if I could start turning jobs down… and I’ve definitely reached that point. I also have several major projects in play at my real job, and 2007 forecasting to do for the other business I’m working on.

Frankly, I’m swamped.

In unrelated news, I received my approval letter from the attorney general’s office. I am now approved to pack heat. When I get back to KC, I plan to go out and purchase a Glock 27 as my carry gun. I’m quite excited about the prospect.

Also, the Chiefs play tomorrow. Apparently if they win, three other AFC teams lose, and the Chargers go down in a plan crash, we have a chance at going to the Superbowl this year. Who knew?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the execution of Saddam. The big news today was that he refused to wear a hood. Good. I think the people whose families he murdered should GET to see his eyes pop out of his head. I think it’s awesome.

Of course, I also support showing US executions on cable, so this should come as no surprise to you.

That is all.

I spent last week in sunny Philadelphia with the Jenna. We had to get the rest of her stuff out of storage and make the drive back to Kansas with the Penske truck.

Strange Interlude

Ode to Penske

I love Penske
And I hate Uhaul
Uhaul trucks stink
Like a bathroom stall

But Penske rocks
With brand new trucks
For 5 full days
for 800 bucks

God bless Penske

End Strange Interlude

We stayed with her parents while we were in Philly, so I got to spend lots of time watching the 50″ plasma. Ahhhh. The way to and from we stayed in Marriots, so I could earn Marriot points, because I’m trying to collect as many as I can before I die.

I also discovered the TastyKake while I was out there. I’m now totally addicted to chocolate cupcakes from Tastykake. They rock WAY more than Hostess cupcakes. You can buy a case on the website for 64 bucks… that’s 216 cupcakes if anyone’s wondering. My only question is if I can eat 216 during their 3 week shelf life. Probably so.

Anyhoo, we got back to KC alright and unloaded the truck. It was eleventy-jillion degrees and 134% humidity, so I actually drank water. I know! Isn’t that strange? I also did permanent damage to both my hand and my kneecap. I squished my hand between a doornob and a solid oak couch, and I then proceeded to drop an appliance dolly loaded with a solid oak couch on my kneecap, which is now black. It’s totally hot.

Israel vs Lebanon: Who Cares?!

In other news, Israel is bombing the crap out of Lebanon. (Incidentally, if you’ve ever ridden in a LeBaron, the logo looks like it says “Lebanon”) I of course am a huge fan of anything that involves nutty Arab Islamic extremists being carpet bombed. You know you live in a craphole when you have a known terrorist group that is also a successful political party in your country.

Yes, Lebanon sucks. As does Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and all of those other countries over there too unimportant to mention. I find it funny that tiny little Israel, completely surrounded by psychotic Arabs, has managed to defend itself for the past several decades. Of course, that has a lot to do with the fact that we sell Israel every piece of technology we come up with.

A lot of people wonder why we help Israel. Well, it’s very simple. There’s no good reason. Yup, and no, I’m not anti-semetic, nor anti-semantic. Personally I think that Germany should be doing most of the defending of Israel, considering their checkered past with the Jews. After all, it wasn’t America that killed millions of Jews.

Now granted, Germany doesn’t exactly have the best technology in the world, but it’s certainly better than anything those nutty Arabs have come up with. Most of them are using cold war era Russian crap.

But frankly, I don’t see any point to defending Israel or providing her weapons. They are a nuclear power already, and if we cut them off, we’d probably be doing ourselves a huge favor. It’s about time some of the other superpowers step up to the plate and do something. Why is it always up to America to do everything, and take the heat for everything?

I say, screw the rest of the world. We’re taking our toys and going home.

And if you try to come to our home and hurt us, we’re going to tactically nuke you until you are deceased.

Saturday the 31st, Jenna and I left our house at 4:30 AM to go to the airport. We caught our flight to Philly via Detroit. We took an airline that believes in making people wait on the tarmac so long they fear they’ll miss their connection, and then get there just in time. I won’t mention any names, but they fly North and West.

Detroits airport is quite possible the worst designed airport in the world. And this is coming from someone who’s flown through Chicago Midway dozens of times. Detroits airport is roughly 26 miles long. One single big honking terminal that’s one straight shot. We landed at gate 33. We needed to go to gate 69. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? Wrong. We walked for 5 minutes and only made it to gate 39. Would it kill the Detroitians to maybe think about having more than one terminal? Whatever.

So, we arrived in Philly around noon, got our car, drove to Schwenksville, and ate at Mocha’s. It sounds like a coffee shop, but it’s not. It’s a Cheesesteak place. Yum. I could only eat half of the “Regular” size. Apparently the “Large” is mucho grande.

After lunch, we drove to Jenna’s folk’s house and hung out there for a few hours. Jenna got in a catnap while I watched Denver punish the San Diego Chargers. Yay. And I got to watch it in HD on a 50 inch plasma. Ha.

Finally around 8, we drove to Manayunk to pick up Rachel and Glenn. Since I don’t drink, it seemed logical that I be the designated driver. I had rented a Chevy Cobalt. It’s tiny, but it has a lot of pep. We piled into the car and drove downtown, hoping to find a place to park on second street. Yeah, right. We parked at Rachel’s work about 20 blocks away and took a cab.

The party was quite enjoyable, even considering everyone but me was drunk and I don’t like being around drunk people. The party was in an 8th floor penthouse (top floor), which had a sunroom that was on the roof. At midnight, we went out onto the roof to watch the fireworks on the Delaware.

Special thanks to Rachel for taking all of the above photos (except the ones she’s actually in) with her beautiful new Olympus digital SLR. (I know, my jealousy was totally transparent)

During the party, my toes were crushed by a large drunk woman who staggered backwards and stepped on my foot. My toes were bleeding most of the night. Then while I was sitting there, a drunk blonde tripped and fell onto my lap. Fortunately Jenna did not walk in at that moment, which is surprising considering my luck. At the end of the night, the host and hostess of the party threatened to kill me should I hurt Jenna, and then proceeded to shake my hand and kiss me on the cheek, respectively. Then they invited me to come back next year. I guess that’s a good sign.

Jenna talked only to people she knew all night. I, however, didn’t know hardly anyone, so I made the rounds and met about 80 people. It’s not like me to be social, but it beat the alternative… boredom.

So after the party, we went out to catch a cab back to the car… That was about as likely as catching the avian flu from your dog. Every drunk-ass person in Philly was on second street trying to hail a cab. It was enjoyable watching people stumble around, watching guys try to hold up their floppy drunk girlfriends, etc. We finally got a cab back to our car, and drove back to Rachel’s. Rachel was in the process of packing for her move, so there wasn’t much in the way of furniture at her house. However, being awake for 26 straight hours allowed me to sleep no problemo.

In the morning, we drove back to Jenna’s parent’s house and hung out for a little while, and then went to visit with Jenna’s mom’s best friend, whose name escapes me at the moment. Fortunately, Jenna’s mom’s best friend’s husband, whose name also escapes me, had a TV and wanted to watch football. I got to see the Chiefs humiliate the Bengals, and then got to watch Flutie drop kick an extra point. Life was good.

Monday we slept in, hung out and watched TV, and then went to visit Jenna’s friends Tom and Suzie.

(The faces have been censored in accordance with Point 12 of the Disclaimer)

Tom and Suzie thought it would be fun to order pizza and play games, so we ordered some papa johns and played Trivial Pursuit. Jenna whooped us all, after telling us she was terrible at the game. I know it’s because she’s a good guesser, but she won, regardless. After that we played Tri-Bond… I’d never played before, and I was not good at it. Jenna, Tom, and Suzie decided that any time they got a wrong answer, they’d drink a shot of Jack. Let’s just say Jenna drank a LOT. I got incredibly ill from the pizza, or else I’d have won the game.

I didn’t think I liked board games, but I actually had a lot of fun (aside from the intestinal discomfort). I think it’s because I enjoy competition in any form.

Tuesday was moving day for Jenna. We woke up bright and early (an hour later than we were supposed to) and went to pick up the truck from Penske. It was frickin huge, and I feared having to park it. However, it ended up being no problem… everyone was back to work Tuesday so there was plenty of room on the street. We put all of her stuff in the truck and took it to her parent’s. Her brother helped us unload, and we quickly took the truck back so we could pick up Rachel at her mom’s place and driver her and Glenn to the airport.

Rachel transported the final load of stuff to her mom’s, including her Jeep, and then we drove back to Manayunk in the Cobalt to get her luggage. Lots of luggage. We stuffed the trunk, put bags on our laps, and then to top it off, we put Rachel’s bicycle in on top of her and Glenn’s legs. It was more packed than a Honda Civic transporting illegals in San Diego. Still, we made it to the airport on time and said our farewells. Make sure you go visit Rachel’s Site to hear her updates on her move.

After we dropped them off, I insisted Jenna take me to the King of Prussia mall, since I’d only been inside for 30 seconds on a previous trip. We walked around, looked at jewelry mostly, and then went to TGIF for some steaks. Yum.

Wednesday morning we packed up the car and went over to visit Jenna’s grandparents. I got to hear her grandpa’s story from WWII where he had to house fight. Yikers.

And, finally we drove back to the airport, and back to KC we came. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we went to my parents house for our annual “24 Marathon.” We love the show “24″ but can’t stand the weekly suspense. We wait until the DVD set comes out, my dad buys it, and we watch the entire season in one weekend. Jenna’s hooked on the show now, so I guess she can stay. (*smooch*)

Monday night after work, I started back to school. As you know, I’m working on my MBA. My classes this semester are both math-oriented… Service Operations Management, and Supply Chain Logistics. Fun fun.

That concludes the update. Now, let me say a few words about…

——————————————————————

…Alito.

Yeah. So, since when do people on the “Supreme” Pizza Court not get to have personal beliefs? Doesn’t EVERYONE on the court, in congress, and in the country have personal beliefs? I think so.

Let me break this down for you.

Abortion should never have been an issue for the Supreme Court… or any court. State legislatures had all passed laws regarding abortion prior to Roe v Wade.

States are allowed to pass laws outlawing things that are “immoral.” (i.e. murder, rape, robbery, assault, and abortion) That’s the point of having laws… to outlaw activities that society deems inappropriate. Someone’s belief that robbery or rape is a-ok does not take away society’s right to ban such activities.

The states were unilaterally overruled by the Supreme Court, effectively destroying 250 years of laws, case history, and regulations in one fell swoop. The basis on which they took this action? Privacy.

Privacy. A right not granted by the Constitution. We took away a baby’s Constitutional right to life to protect a woman’s privacy. The Supreme Court is in place to make sure laws live up to the Constitutional test. Issues not addressed in the Constitution are to be regulated by elected representative government in the legislative branch. Go read your HS Civics book if you don’t believe me.

By the same token, Rape should be made legal by the court. What right does the government have to dictate what a person can do? By taking DNA samples to prove guilt, you are violating the person’s right to privacy. Murder should be legal. (I mean, in more ways than just abortion) What makes an infant any less important than anyone else? What puts a woman’s privacy above anyone else’s privacy?

Alito has beliefs. Just because they don’t jive with your beliefs doesn’t mean he can’t do the job of Supreme Court justice. Everyone on the bench has beliefs.

Duh.

September 2nd I posted an entry excitedly looking forward to the weekend of Jenna’s move. I couldn’t have imagined just how long it would take to recover from the trip. For background, let’s just say I had a vicious sinus infection that I had been fighting for some time, and I knew I had to fly. For those of you with sinus problems, you know what I’m talking about.

My day September 3rd started out very early. I got up at 4:30 AM to finish packing, and my mom and sister came at 5:45 AM to pick me up. They were kind enough to take me to the airport so that I could return the rental close to home rather than at the airport. I arrived at the airport around 6:30 AM, completely green because of all of my sinus drainage and lack of sleep. I tried to eat, but that made it worse. I finally got on the plane and flew off to Chicago. My layover in Chicago was about 2 hours, and by that time, my head felt like someone had a compressor attached to my ears and nose. I knew I still had to survive another flight. So, I drank about 6 gallons of water, and boarded the next flight. I arrived in Philly without incident, but completely shot from all of the sinus pressure.

Jenna met me at the airport, and we headed to the Avis counter. We got in line behind half a dozen people, and the line behind us ended up so long it went out the door, so we were feeling pretty good about things. Sadly, Avis took roughly 30 minutes per person, so it was still a healthy wait. We finally got up to the counter and got our beautiful Trailblazer. We added Jenna as a second driver, because I didn’t feel like driving the entire way to Kansas. Then we went outside to see our rental:

It was a sweet, albeit sloppy handling drive. Jenna hopped right behind the wheel and took charge. We drove to Rachel’s house and proceded to haul about 5 metric tons of Jenna’s stuff up the steps from the basement. The combination of sinus pressure, basement dust, and hauling crap around in the heat after not having slept the night before… added up to being miserable and sick. So then we drove to the hotel so I could check in. It was a pretty nice place:

Anyhoo, as soon as that was done, we drove to Jenna’s parent’s house. I was trying to drink more water and take medications for my aching head, and the medicine was making me ill. Somehow, I sucked it up and went on inside. Jenna’s mom asked if we wanted to join them at church, and of course, we did. After church, we went back over to her parent’s and had dinner, followed by some home made desserts by her Grandma. MMMM. Dessert.

Alrighty then. So then it was about 9:00 PM, at which point I had been awake for 16.5 hours. That meant, time to go to a party. I neglected to take my camera to the party, so I stole a picture off the Internet that sort of represents Rachel’s neighborhood:

So, there I am, barely awake, sicker than a dog, and just getting started at a party. I was drinking Cherry Coke, and that seemed to be helping, but what I really needed was to lay down and rest my eyes for half an hour. So, Rachel was kind enough to let me crash in her room while the party went on downstairs. Jenna came up with me to tuck me in, and in a feat of incredible strength, tore Rachel’s door from the hinges. The cat was locked in the room with me, so we stuck the door back into the opening and hoped for the best. Over the next 3o minutes, at least 8 people opened the door resulting in huge crashing noises. Apparently they thought it was the bathroom. I finally gave up on my nap and went down to the party.

Rachel’s man was there for the party, visiting from London, so I had the pleasure of meeting him. He was highly entertaining and funny, perhaps because each time I saw him he was drinking beer… or perhaps he’s always like that. You’ll have to ask Rachel:

So, anyhoo, at the conclusion of the party, we headed to the hotel to get a very short number of hours. We knew the longest leg of our trip would be Sunday, and considering it was 3:00 AM, we knew we needed to sleep as much as possible. The next morning we had to swing back by Rachel’s to pick up the final piece of Jenna’s belongings, Chasey:

Once we had Chasey, it was time for some more goodbyes, and then it was time to hit the road. It was a tad frustrating that after a night where everyone had been drinking except for me, I was the only person suffering hangover-like symptoms on Sunday. That meant Jenna got to drive the first leg. The leg out of Philly:

Jenna had already said goodbye to her beautiful apartment a few days before:

Which meant that I got to drive the leg where we actually entered Chicago. On the way there, we stopped in Cleveland (The mistake by the lake) for some quality steaks at Longhorn Steakhouse. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of driving around in Chicago, let me show you this sample map:

Chicago does not have what I would call a “conventional” approach to city planning. They basically just put roads wherever the drunken construction crews want to. They have 30 lanes of highway going the same direction, but it’s not all the same highway… they have 4 highways running exactly parallel, so that when you go around bends you can’t tell which signs apply to which highway. Then you get off the highway and it REALLY gets messed up.

Our hotel was on water street. You would think that would imply proximity to the water. You would be wrong. We drove around Chicago for nearly 2 hours, getting multiple sets of directions, as it seemed no one in Chicago actually had any idea where downtown was. Eventually, through what could only be classified as “Divine Intervention,” we found the hotel:

The hotel turned out to be very nice, and the next morning, it turned out that the view from the 30th floor suite was pretty darned nice, too:

Sadly, we had more driving to do, so we rushed right out promptly at noon. We headed across the midwest to Des Moines (Motto: We’re no worse than New Jersey), where Jenna and I stopped for dinner at the Olive Garden… my favorite:

Thankfully, once we were in Des Moines, we knew we only had about 4 more hours to go. Four hours of blissful driving through Iowa and Missouri. It’s hard to say which state sucks more. Probably Missouri, because it’s a lot trashier.

We finally arrived in KC late Monday night, and still of course, had to unload the stuff. That was fun. I was happy to reunited with my dogs, and they were happy to be alive after having eaten one of the cushions on the couch. Grrr.

But the story doesn’t end there. Oh no.

Much has happened since the move. Last weekend, Jenna and I drove to St. Louis for the Cardinals game. Busch stadium is getting torn down after this season, and I wanted her to see it once before it was gone. I may not have mentioned it before, but when it comes to baseball, the Cards are my team. My dad is from St. Louis, and 3/4ths of my extended family live there, so it was just natural, considering how bad the Royals suck.

Here are Jenna and I in our prized homeplate seats:

And one of Busch stadium, since it’s all but razed:

After the game, we went straight over to the Arch, because Jenna hadn’t seen that, either. We went in, hopped the first ride to the top, spent a few disoriented moments looking out the windows, and then headed back down before we both yacked. Once back on solid ground again, we paused to take a picture:

So that’s it for the travel for a while. I know I’m too tired to do any more.

That doesn’t mean I’m not too tired to get up on the weekend and cook breakfast for Jenna:

Jenna and my little sister have really hit it off, and yesterday they had a tea party. Yes. You heard correctly. They got little tea food, and tea drinks, and they MADE hats. Jenna’s turned out very nice, so I thought I’d share it with you:

Ok, that’s all I’ve got on the personal update. Things are going great, and after this entry, I’ll be back to my angry ranting about society.

TTFN,

Pete

I flew out on Friday afternoon. After barely catching my flight, I was a tad stressed out, but things went off without a hitch, and Jenna met me at the airport. We went from there to the Hertz place, which of course refused to add Jenna as a driver because they suck and don’t take Visa checkcards. So they’ll take a credit card from someone who might have 30,000 in debt, but they won’t take a checkcard, and that’s REAL money. Duh.

So I got to be the designated driver… even when there wasn’t any alcohol involved.

On the way back to Jenna’s apartment, we stopped at her favorite restaurant by her house and got Philly Cheesesteaks, and she got to open her present:

I also got to meet the DJ she used to work for, Cisco. After threatening to kill me should I ever hurt Jenna, she and I headed to the Wawa for some hoagies for later, and picked up some movies.

Saturday we went to King of Prussia where I purchased clothes to wear that night. As Jenna would attest, I’m not the most fashionable person in the world. I am quite capable of dressing for business, but dressing for nightclubs, etc. is not something I’ve ever developed a talent for. Probably because I don’t go to nightclubs. Anyhow, after spending a ton of money at GAP, Jenna was satisfied that I wouldn’t look like a hick from Kansas.

Saturday night was spent at a birthday party for one of Rachel’s friends. It was mother hot in there, but I managed to find a vent to stand by, and that improved the experience greatly. I got my girlfriend drunk on Cosmos, and tried to get Rachel drunk on Diet Coke, to no avail.

After a couple of hours at that party, and after much debate, we decided to go to “the Cloud” which is the bar where Jenna used to work. All of the brave and/or drunk people got up and sang karaoke, while I sat in a puddle of Coke, trying not to let people see my backside. Jenna did Sweet Child o’ Mine, and Son of a Preacher Man (which of course I happen to be). Rachel did a couple of songs… I knew both of them, but now I can’t remember what they were. Cisco was the KJ at the Cloud that night, and he came over and bought me a shot of Jack, which made me both sick and funny. At least I thought I was funny. For more on Saturday night, check out the pictures at the gallery (pages 6-7 of Incredipedro).

After an incredibly long and exciting drive, we finally made it back to Jenna’s about 4:30 AM. Poor Rachel had to work Sunday, so I hope her Diet Coke hangover wasn’t too bad.

Let’s see. Believe it or not, we got up fairly early on Sunday and watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I need to see it again. After that, we went to visit Jenna’s family. I assured them that after moving Jenna to Kansas, I’d make sure she visited home regularly whether she wanted to or not. They seemed to like the idea.

After a fantastic meal of marinated steak, garlic bread, and macaroni, we headed back home again, and got a couple more movies. I don’t think we made it through them, because we had neglected to do much sleeping the night before.

Monday morning we got up and watched the second movie, and before we knew it, it was time for us to head downtown. Jenna wanted me to meet her boss and coworkers before she left, so I went in and met everyone. Little did they know I would be the cause of an absence the next day. (insert evil chuckle)

After stopping by her work, we took the rental car back and said our goodbye’s. We thought. Jenna hopped the train back to city center, and I went to the gate. After 90 minutes of delays, the said… uh… this flight is cancelled. I ran to the ticket counter and managed to be 3rd in line (out of about 140 people). Then I stood there. For 45 minutes. Behind two people. OMG.

ANYHOO, I called Jenna from the line, and she told me she’d wait at city center and we could catch the train home together. Every flight, including flights with other airlines, even with multiple layovers, was completely overbooked Monday evening and Tuesday morning, so they put me on a 3:45 flight Tuesday. So I went on to city center and met up with Jenna. The good news was I got to see her again, the bad news was, we had been on the way to the airport since 2, and we weren’t going to get home until 10. What a day.

Anyway, we watched Mallrats, which made me laugh like a sissy girl, and then we passed out. Jenna had work in the morning. Until the morning, when she decided that she couldn’t send me off on the mass transit system alone. She called in, I got to hang out with her for a few more hours. Yay. (Sorry Jenna’s Boss)

We took the hike to the station from Jenna’s apartment… a good 3 miles on a BIG EFFING HILL!!! I’d driven it many times, but that was my first time walking it. My girl has been doing that on her commute every day for 2 years. My girl is a trooper! I would have quit after approximately 1 day, give or take a few hours.

We got to city center again, and this time saying goodbye was much harder for some reason. She put me on my train, and I was off to the airport once again.

I got to the gate to check in, and they said “Oh, that flight’s been cancelled, sir.”

W. T. F.

All I want to do is go to Kansas City. We have 2 million residents, at least 600 of them stuck in Philadelphia international aiport. What gives?! I asked about later flights… none. Everything was overbooked. They told me they could fly me through Dallas. Uh… no. They started looking at other airlines, and they were all overbooked on everything, too. Apparently a lot of people want to come to Kansas. You know what they say… everything’s up to date in Kansas City.

After walking to ticket counters in 4 different terminals (the stupid airport only has 6 of them) I finally had what appeared to be a workable plan, which included a stop in Chicago. Not the direct flight I had paid for, but at least I could get home.

Instead of arriving in KC at 5:30, I would be arriving here at 11:45 PM. Then wait for the shuttle. Then go find the car. Then drive an hour. But I made it, and the pups were happy to see me. It felt good to be home, but I wish Jenna were here already. Waiting isn’t fun anymore.

Two more weeks, baby!

Pete

It’s amazing how fast time goes by when you’re having a good time. Jenna and the pups bonded really well, and Liv is already obeying better than she was before.

I hate the part at the end of our trips where we have to say goodbye, even if it’s just for a couple of weeks. I miss her so much.

Today I leave for the Rocky Mountains. Not sure what I’ll end up doing, but at least I’m not at home. I’ll be updating on the road this week, and adding some photos from the trip. Talk to you all soon.

Pete

Yeah… Jenna had snuck up on me. We hung out on Saturday evening, then Sunday morning we got up early to go have breakfast with my mom. They seemed to get along, although I was somewhat distracted by my french dip… yes… french dip for breakfast. Bite me. After that, we took our trek to St. Louis for her to meet the extended family at our annual barbeque. She was an instant hit with the family, and really seemed to get along well with my Grandma.

At the end of the evening we played a couple of games of Hearts, which was girly and stupid… then we played Texas Hold’em. Now that’s a game. I sucked in the first game, but then I realized it was because I’d neglected to put on my sunglasses. I faired much better in the second game. Apparently my eyes can’t lie.

That night, Jenna got ill, undoubtedly from the St. Louis style barbeque, which involves burning the crap out of the meat. I, of course, couldn’t go back to the hotel without stopping by the White Castle. I had some belly bombers while Jenna got sick.

Monday we were going to go to the Arch and riverfront, but Jenna was still sick, so we just drove home. Last night we watched movies and played with the pups, and I made her my infamous tuna noodle casserole (I swear, I let her choose what I made… I would never purposefully make that for a sick person).

And that brings us to today. This morning I got up and made coffee on the off chance that Jenna wakes up before I get home from work. Yup… I’m at work for a couple of hours this morning.

Anyway, more to follow, I’m sure. The week has only just begun.

Pete