The Queen says hi!

Despite my whining about seat assignments, we ended up together on the plane. The first leg of the trip was on a tiny jet but the Boeing 757 wasn’t bad at all. It was an overnight flight, but we didn’t get much sleep on the plane, so we’ve been catching up here.

Once we landed, it was Friday here. We had a hired car to take us up to Stacy’s house in Upwell, and we visited with Stacy and the girls. After lunch we took a walk up the road and I took photos while Annabelle played a bit in the play park. Then we went and explored the Church yard and I took pictures of the gargoyles and gravestones.

Later we checked into our bed and breakfast (Bury House in the village of Little Downham) which is a lovely place with a nice room. After getting settled, we walked down the road to The Plough, which is an quaint English pub that serves Thai food. Roger mentioned that lots of pubs are closing, so it’s possible they added the restaurant portion to supplement their business.

On Saturday, we went to Ely and walked around the river, through town and up to the Ely Cathedral, an 11th century construction called “the Ship of the Fens” because it could be seen on the hill out across the marshy wetlands that surrounded it. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.

We visited the market and the yarn shop and toured the Cathedral until we got kicked out because there was a mass going on. Oops. Mom and Stacy and the girls headed back to Upwell, and Stephanie and I visited a pub – The Lamb – and had dinner and a pint. I have British Beef and Ruddles Ale Pie – which is not as odd as it sounds – just a beef pie with gravy made with ale. Very tasty.

Sunday, Roger and Stacy drove us all up to Sandringham, the queen’s winter home in Norfolk. We took a tour of the grounds and the children’s play area, then saw the house and the museum. The queen said hello, of course, and that we were her favorite guests and should come back often. (that is completely not true.) It was a long day, so Roger and Stacy and Mom and the children went home and we stopped back in Ely for pizza and a nice glass of wine before heading back for and early evening in.

Here are a few of the photos I have so far.

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links for 2010-05-12

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Continental Airlines seat assignment problem

So we booked our flights to England back on April 3rd, and at that time requested seats all in the same row – three people traveling together, seats in the same place – makes sense right?

In double-checking our flying information today, we discovered they had moved our seats and placed my mom about 10 rows behind us on one of the flights, and several rows away on 2 others. I called Orbitz customer service (where we had purchased our tickets) and after an hour an a half on the phone discovered that the only way we can get in the same row is if we have medical identification saying that we must all be in the same row together for medical reasons.You can also learn about contact center as a service here as they help you in getting services.

You have got to be kidding me. Really? Seriously? Three people traveling together can’t sit together unless they have a medical need? What bullshit is that?

When did poor customer service become a matter of course for airlines? I can’t think of any flight I’ve been on in the last 10 years that hasn’t had some problem with it. I would gladly pay for an airline that gets it right if anyone can point one out to me. It’s not surprising to me that people purchase private jets when they can afford them, because what person in their right mind would put up with this kind of bullshit if they didn’t have to?

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links for 2010-05-11

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Johnny Weir Skating Clinic at IWSA

Back at the end of April, Stephanie was able to participate in a skating clinic conducted by Olympic Skater Johnny Weir, sponsored by the Indiana/World Skating Academy. It was downtown at the Pan Am Plaza rink where Stephanie takes lessons and often skates. Johnny did different sessions for different skill levels, and then went through basic moves at their level with them, did some demonstrations, and then had each skater perform a move or jump they were working on for him so he could give them some advice on how to improve it.

It was a fun session, and the skaters were really excited to be on the ice with an Olympic-level skater. He was nice (but we knew that already) and very cool as a mentor. He really pays attention to the skaters, listens to what they’re saying, and was genuinely delighted at what they could do. He seemed really entertained by the little kids on the ice. I know that he plays around with the Diva image, but he was far away from that the whole time. He clearly adores the sport of figure skating. Stephanie said she was excited by what she learned from Johnny. She has a regular coach, but getting different viewpoints and perspective on what she’s doing can help snap some core concepts into place.

Now let’s talk about Johnny’s skating for a sec, because it was awesome to see him skate in person. When you see him skate up close, it’s like watching poetry. So graceful, so fluid – absolutely, effortlessly in control of every inch of his body.

Johnny Weir Skating Clinic

Above is an example, although it’s hard to catch in still pictures – pure grace, and joyous to watch. He’s absolutely my favorite male skater.

Here’s a slide show of my photos of the event – you can also see them on Flickr.

Continue ReadingJohnny Weir Skating Clinic at IWSA

links for 2010-05-06

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