Category Archives: LiveJournal

Ducks in a Row…

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LiveJournal 11/8/2003 –

Paris is coming… we fly away on 11/13/03 at 4ish from Chicago. So far we’ve got most of what we talked about done:

1) Cat sitter is set for the 15th, maybe we can talk her into also stopping by on the 18th too…
2) Metro and Museum passes are bought, all we need now is to wait for shipping
3) Train tix have been bought, I had to spend an extra $20 for last-minute ordering, gah!
4) Hotel is all set
5) Airfare is all set

All we have to do now is set up a schedule of what we want to visit and actually GO and I have to get travelers cheques from AAA.

Paris Travel Plans

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LiveJournal 10/22/2003 –

Since we’ve passed the point of no return for France we’re starting to consider what it takes to get out to Chicago to get our flight and then get back from Chicago to Kalamazoo. As it turns out we can catch the train into Chicago on the 13th, have lunch there, then get on the plane to Paris at 5:30. Getting back is a whole ‘nother thing. On the 18th the only train leaving Chicago does so at 6pm. I’m not willing to land at 4:45 to catch a train at 6:00 when you’re talking about Chicago. So factoring in travel I have to take another day off from work – all in all it’s no big problem it’s just a wee pirahna nibbling away… 

Paris Flights

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LiveJournal 10/22/2003 –

Well, we’re past the point of no return on our trip to Paris. Earlier today Scott bought the airplane flight and the hotel reservations and we’re all set to go. My passport has even arrived, even though it’s currently trapped in a US Postal Carriers truck pending a pickup tomorrow. 

Flight: American Airlines flight 42 (Non-Stop)
Depart: Chicago-Ohare, IL (ORD) – TERMINAL 3
” Thu, Nov 13 at 5:30pm
Arrive: Paris de Gaulle, France (CDG) – AEROGARE 2 TERMINAL A
” Fri, Nov 14 at 8:35am
Seats: 29J, 29H (Boeing 767 Jet)
Meal: Dinner / Continental Breakfast
______________________________________________________
Flight: American Airlines flight 41 (Non-Stop)
Depart: Paris de Gaulle, France (CDG) – AEROGARE 2 TERMINAL A
” Tue, Nov 18 at 2:30pm
Arrive: Chicago-Ohare, IL (ORD) – TERMINAL 5
” Tue, Nov 18 at 4:45pm
Seats: 11G, 11E (Boeing 767 Jet)
Meal: Lunch / Snack/Brunch

Lodging:

Hotel Saint Jaques: 35 rue des Ecoles 75005 Paris France

Passports

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LiveJournal 10/14/2003 –

So this is a story of running-out-of-money-me. Didn’t expect that buying a passport required cash only, $172.30 whoosh kaboom. The man did say that it would be ready in 7-10 days and I have to get Scott his passport as well. I don’t have enough money left to do that and I don’t have enough money to buy anything else until 10/20/03, when I get paid. Once that happens then I’ll have enough money again and get scott his passport – and if we do it on 10/20/03, he should get it no later than 10 days past, 10/30/03. Lucky for us our trip doesn’t start until November 13th.

It’s the hidden costs that nibble you to death…

Perfect Halloween Costume

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LiveJournal 10/13/2003 –

Perfect Halloween Costume:

One surplussed flight suit
One used and broken parachute, with the chute wadded up next to it
Various small twigs in your hair
One convincing lost-but-hunted look

—

“Ding-Dong” 
“Trick or Treat… ummm”
“My my my, what are you supposed to be?”
“AWOL Ma’am, hungry too… spare some candy?”

—

Then just to round it out you’d stage 3 friends carrying fake hollywood hatchets and they’d wear Dubya, Dick, and Rummy masks… running after you after you got the candy… they chase you off, they trick or treat, and then follow you.

It’s a group trick-or-treat! YAY!

Paris Hotels

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LiveJournal 10/10/2003 –

Found out to our chagrin that apparently Expedia.com has some of the best rates for all the travel search engines on the ‘net. We’ve nabed two potential “Paris Vacations” defined by their hotels.

Option One – The Best Western Aulivia Opera – $1,155.08

This is a three-star hotel close enough to the center of the city to please Scott and I, and cheap enough to not break the bank for our first Paris visit. On the map it’s around the Marais section and unless we find out that it’s infested or run by zombies is ‘good enough’.

Option Two – Jolly Hotel Lotti – $1,453.32

This is a four-star hotel that caters primarily to the Italian and Tourist crowd, while it has a REALLY good placement being just 800m from The Louvre it does give a little affront to being parsimonious about this whole trip. 

So – not knowing if anyone else has visited Paris and have any suggestions (please make them if you’ve got them), these are my two selections. Is it worth the extra $298.24 to get an extra star and not have to metro and/or walk from Marais to the center of the city – or is it too much?

New York Regents Diploma

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LiveJournal 10/9/2003 –

New York State is going to lower the standards for the NYS Regents Examination System because it’s “too hard”. I got my little Regents seal on my diploma after years of studying (easy to study when your a high school pariah) and I took my Chemistry Regents Exam after a night of violent sickness – took it in the nurses office with a giant jug of pedialyte to remain conscious and balanced – passed out 3 times during the exam BUT even still, I achieved a 93% on that exam. I know that the little sticker meant nothing to anyone but me since attending a SUNY school was a foregone conclusion for a New York State resident and you could attend any of those schools with what, at the time, they termed “A local diploma”. I still have it with me, my high school diploma – with my shiny gold-leaf seal, and I value it highly mostly because I had to suffer to get it. Now they are going to be handing out those seals left and right to kids not as bright or as well taught as I was (another benefit to attending a “farmers school in the boonies” was my teachers didn’t have any qualms about screaming at students or setting their desks on fire while they were properly chained to said desk while it burned… 

Just makes it cheaper and less shiny now… Education isn’t about fun, it’s about suffering… and learning all you can from that experience. I fear I might be getting a little older because I was just about to say “Kids, these days… arrrrg!” which is something my grandparents have said.

Paris Immunizations

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LiveJournal 10/7/2003 –

Just got back from the Sindecuse Health Center and did my part for God and Country, got the “International Travelers” talking to. Most of it was what I was expecting – use common sense and expect theives! But of course realized that Hepatitis B is a concern when visiting West Europe, so sitting down with the wonderful nurse at Sindecuse we covered what to bring… I was pretty much right, Immodium, Pepto, Clairitin-D and Advil. Like most of the docs they were a little taken aback by my allergy to Acetominophen but took it in stride. 

I’ve got the first of 3 injections for Hepatitis B Immunization, the next one is November 7th, and the third in my series is April 7th. I also got another 10-year booster for Teatanus/Diptheria. That’s the one that hurts. When I was a kid it didn’t hurt at all and frankly it doesn’t hurt now… just a little on the weak side I suppose – dead in my left arm eventually once it kicks in. 

The nurse I had was smart with the needles… wipe-poke-pump-wipe-bandaid. The dead HepB virus went into my right arm, the dead Teatanus went into my left arm.

Now I sit back and let my immune system have a jamboree with all the new floaty bits…

Immunizations

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LiveJournal 10/3/2003 –

It appears as though our pitched slide towards Paris is hastening. So far I’ve accomplished acquiring a source of credit to ease the financial surprise of such a trip, we’ve got a great travel package set up that we still have to secure – I’ve got a chat set up Tuesday at 2:15pm to talk to the local docs about what I can expect in my travels and to catch up in my immunizations if I need any – all that’s left is passports, securing the travel package, and securiing the cash (about $500) to have for “spending money” while there… luckily for me Paris is urban and ‘first-world’ enough not to require much in the way of surprise immunizations – at least I’m hoping.

Paris France, Magical Underpants

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LiveJournal 9/28/2003 –

Okay okay okay, trying to fly to Paris France for less than $450/person *and* avoid the hell that is New Yack Shitty is appearing to be damn near impossible. Amusingly however it appears that if you fly Northwest out of Chicago it’s 50 bucks cheaper than if you fly out of Detroit – even though Northwest is hub-a-rific for Detroit and the flight actually passes THROUGH Detroit – save 50 bucks by crisscrossing Michigan – Gah…

As if I had the money.

However if I bite the bullet and enter the confines of New Yack Shitty, one can get to Charles DeGaulle International for the low low price of 334 dollars, however one must pass through Philadelphia to do it. 

WHY?