Whew! That was weird. I just came back from an orbit. I was lost in space, couldn't find my bearings. I knew what had to get done, but had no pathway to get where I needed to start.
In hindsight, 4 trips in March/April/May (5 days at Cues and Tattoos in Seattle, 10 days at GS/TT in Michigan and 8 days in Pura in Barcelona, 5 days at Tribal Fest in Sebastopol) wasn't such a good idea, especially when I'm trying to produce Devotion in June and keep you all posted on the progress after such a phenomenal KickStarter response.
So what happened was...I was talking to my Mom yesterday. We meet every Sunday afternoon when I'm in town. We have tea. I do whatever tasks she has lined up (yesterday was setting up a wireless connection - oh, the ethernet cable goes in the slot marked with a circle, not with an arrow - got it.) And we talk. We talk about all sorts of things. My Mother, Bess, is a retired librarian. She is really smart and interested in everything. She is able to carry on a conversation about almost anything if you give her a little info. She is 88 years old, an avid birdwatcher, walks every day and can take the SamTrans bus anywhere on the planet. Mom is full of enthusiasm and positivity, but can also lob a mean reality check (watch our Warren Buffet, she is not happy with your decision to mine coal in Montana.) But sometimes she just sits and listens.
Since we haven't seen each other much in the past months, there was a lot to catch up on. I found myself on a rant, trying to make sense of the fact that I was orbiting and couldn't land on the path of logic that is the balm for Capricorns. After practically going hoarse from monopolizing the conversation I finally paused long enough for her to say, "What are you going to learn about iMovie when you go to the Apple Store tomorrow?" I replied, "I want them to show me how to take some lecture footage that I've loaded into the program and walk me through the creation of a simple project from start to finish." BING!
After a few more minutes I told her that I had projects waiting at home and had to go. I drove home along Skyline Blvd, a strange semi-rural ridge that separates Daly City from South San Francisco which is shrouded in fog 90% of the time, it's also a great place to think. The phrase start to finish kept running through my mind. When I got home the house was empty because Loretta is house-sitting for a few weeks. As much as I love to come home to her company, the cat, dinner preparations and more chatting, I really needed an evening of total solitude. I sat down at the computer and completed the projects from start to finish. It was as if I had been released from the orbit and had landed back in the land of logic. I woke this morning to a renewed sense of Capricorn. I drank tea, knit for a bit while I watched a knitting video (check out Craftsy.com if the mention of knitting video makes your heart race.) I felt my brain start to focus, reached for my notebook, made a plan for the day and am here with you right now.
So that's it. You are now deputized, in the reading of this blog post, to say to me Start to Finish anytime I fail to post or complain about being too busy. I also added a Follow By Email gadget so you cane be notified when I post, which should be frequently. Please sign up and let me know, via comments, that you are out there. Tomorrow's post will be the journey of the Devotion project that I promised you back in February.
Showing posts with label Barcelona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barcelona. Show all posts
27 May 2013
21 April 2010
this is rich, pt.2
Some of you will remember my post "This is Rich." from Dec 09.
The DMV had changed the name of my city from South San Francisco to Linderville. It was time for my license to be renewed, but to go through the proper channels, i.e., via the mail, would take so long that my license would expire before I received it. So, after an exasperating yet ultimately entertaining phone call with a clerk who patiently explained that I had three options (1. renew by mail with the address change and let the license expire in the process, 2. renew by internet and have the wrong city name, or 3. go to a DMV office -the only appt available was 4:30pm on Xmas eve, my birthday and not the best time to be in downtown San Francisco!) She didn't seem to share in the irony that none of the options were viable.
So, I decided to just renew by internet to keep the license from expiring...and it did indeed come back listing Linderville, CA as my city.
Just for amusement, I checked to see where Linderville, CA is...and there is no such place.
OK, the zip code is correct so no matter.
On to today's fiasco. I am currently on hold with Expedia. On 9 Mar 2010 I booked a ticket for my trip to Barcelona 28 Apr where I am performing and teaching a Tribal:Pura event for Mandragora Tribal. Over the course of the last month Expedia has contacted me several times about "changes to the itinerary." Each time there was a glitch in communication btwn Expedia and Iberia Airlines. Each time it was worked out. Last week however, I was told that my Iberia flight had been canceled because they had not received funds.
Huh, funny that I have a copy of my credit card statement showing full payment to Iberia on 9 Mar. And, the American Airlines flight from SFO to NY is still intact. Huh.
As my sponsor, Maria, and I struggled to find another flight to Spain, I received another "urgent message' from Expedia telling me that the SF-NY flight had been canceled as well. No reason given. Just gone. Poof!
One has to assume that the plume of volcanic ash emanating from Iceland had something to do with it (and I do feel for the people left stranded, I assume my flights were shanghaied for the common good.) But apparently, the flights available through Expedia, and one would assume the other on-line travel agencies, are not in fact confirmed when the suck the funds out of your account. I think they are virtual assignments that pend on junk flights that the airlines cannot fill at the last minute. They just keep rerouting, canceling and re-booking them until you either do or don't get on the plane.
In other words, they can take them back without reason. Poof!
OK, just got off the phone with the chirpy clerk at Expedia. They have issued a full refund (to be processed over the next two billing cycles...)
Maria and are still looking for a flight to get me there next Thu for the event Fri-Sun.
Wish me luck. Don't buy from Expedia.
Maria
The DMV had changed the name of my city from South San Francisco to Linderville. It was time for my license to be renewed, but to go through the proper channels, i.e., via the mail, would take so long that my license would expire before I received it. So, after an exasperating yet ultimately entertaining phone call with a clerk who patiently explained that I had three options (1. renew by mail with the address change and let the license expire in the process, 2. renew by internet and have the wrong city name, or 3. go to a DMV office -the only appt available was 4:30pm on Xmas eve, my birthday and not the best time to be in downtown San Francisco!) She didn't seem to share in the irony that none of the options were viable.
So, I decided to just renew by internet to keep the license from expiring...and it did indeed come back listing Linderville, CA as my city.
Just for amusement, I checked to see where Linderville, CA is...and there is no such place.
OK, the zip code is correct so no matter.
On to today's fiasco. I am currently on hold with Expedia. On 9 Mar 2010 I booked a ticket for my trip to Barcelona 28 Apr where I am performing and teaching a Tribal:Pura event for Mandragora Tribal. Over the course of the last month Expedia has contacted me several times about "changes to the itinerary." Each time there was a glitch in communication btwn Expedia and Iberia Airlines. Each time it was worked out. Last week however, I was told that my Iberia flight had been canceled because they had not received funds.
Huh, funny that I have a copy of my credit card statement showing full payment to Iberia on 9 Mar. And, the American Airlines flight from SFO to NY is still intact. Huh.
As my sponsor, Maria, and I struggled to find another flight to Spain, I received another "urgent message' from Expedia telling me that the SF-NY flight had been canceled as well. No reason given. Just gone. Poof!
One has to assume that the plume of volcanic ash emanating from Iceland had something to do with it (and I do feel for the people left stranded, I assume my flights were shanghaied for the common good.) But apparently, the flights available through Expedia, and one would assume the other on-line travel agencies, are not in fact confirmed when the suck the funds out of your account. I think they are virtual assignments that pend on junk flights that the airlines cannot fill at the last minute. They just keep rerouting, canceling and re-booking them until you either do or don't get on the plane.
In other words, they can take them back without reason. Poof!
OK, just got off the phone with the chirpy clerk at Expedia. They have issued a full refund (to be processed over the next two billing cycles...)
Maria and are still looking for a flight to get me there next Thu for the event Fri-Sun.
Wish me luck. Don't buy from Expedia.
Maria
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