Bite Me!

Went last week to my 'One on One' at the Apple Store and had a discussion with my teacher about my favorite website. Ted.com  Ted has a conference every year that I have so longed to attend but it's a bit costly and certainly the airline business doesn't pay enough for me to attend. One of the teacher's customers had just been to the conference and she told him about Bill Gate's talk. Both my teacher Josh and I agreed that although we both love Apple products, Bill Gates has set the world on fire. Anyway, at the TED conference, he actually let loose a jar of mosquitoes into the audience. He had showed a map of the countries where malaria is a major killer and they are all poor countries. He was just  trying to even the score and naturally the mosquitoes were malaria-free!  Too funny and such an example of guerrilla marketing. His foundation is fighting malaria and his talk is inspiring. I have mentioned him in an earlier post when he was a passenger on one of my flights. He is good buddies with Warren Buffet, another personal favorite of mine who has advised him in his philanthropy efforts. Gotta' love people trying to make a difference!

Shoes & Stem Cells

Now it may appear I'm on some sort of a shoe obsession but I don't usually notice shoes that much, unlike my pal Rebecca who claims that "Shoes make life more fun!" and has the shoes and experiences to prove it. That said, you can see that Rebecca must have influenced me because I seem to be taking more note of shoes these days!  The shoes pictured here belong to a scientist that completely changed my image of the scientific community. I was commuting to work on a 6am flight. Didn't have to work until that night but flying space available, didn't want to chance a later flight. Had no makeup on and flat shoes and as luck would have it, got seated in first class next to the owner of these incredibly stylish shoes. This picture which I asked him to send me, does not do them justice. The gentleman, Chris Airrless; is a brilliant Phd and the head of  CA Stem Cell .  He is also a flight instructor, and bears a slight resemblance to the motivational guru, James Ray. (James, you could take some fashion advice from Mr. Stem Cell.) He was so charming and said he thought me a female counterpart to Sir Richard Branson. Obviously, the man can "talk the talk" as far as women goes and what I admired even more about him was the high regard with which he spoke of his wife. (Ladies, you knew a man like this would be married!) His wife is a blogger and I suspect might have influenced him in his clothing selection. His shirt also did not fit the culture, I have come to picture of your typical scientist. The potential in Stem cells provide hope to those with ALS, SMA and cardiovascular disease. To top it off, an article about his company was published that day on the front page of my hometown newspaper, The Orange County Register. My close friend, Allison and I were journalism students in high school and have that newspaper on a pedestal in our hearts.  

Cowgirl Airplane Cupholder

Creative genius with huge style points given to this passenger for her water bottle holder!  Turbulence! Not a problem since you can stabilize the boots with your feet. For those of you with embarrassing foot odor ( you know who you are), I recommend some thick socks if you're going to give this a go. That was not the case for this beautiful Oklahoma cowgirl who had just visited California for the first time. Met her on a flight from San Diego to Dallas. She had obviously had a very special time with her sweetheart who sadly was being deployed to Iraq.   

There is always someone who doesn't pay attention to the safety demonstration.

One of my flying partner's from our heydays' at the long gone Hawaii Express sent me this photo which has been bouncing around the internet. The successful ditching of USAir's flight into the Hudson River made anyone who has ever been a part of the flight attendant profession so proud. While our job has it's share of mundane tasks, we all have the training and have proved ourselves in plenty of practice scenarios so we are ready to conduct an evacuation should the need arise during any takeoff or landing. Kudos to FA's Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent for directing a textbook perfect event and of course the expert piloting skills of Capt Sully and FO Jeff Skiles for making it possible for there to be an intact aircraft to get out of in the first place. 

"Life is Like a Roll of Toilet Paper."

 "The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes! says a friend from my inner circle in his best Forest Gump voice. Here we are ripping off another sheet and what I now know for sure is each moment must be relished. Got to get it right in life because don't want to waste time on retakes. Make only new mistakes and take big smart risks to eliminate regrets. Life truly is a fabulous adventure.  Make this year count.

Legacy Airlines Offers Selected Passengers the Ultimate Spa Experience!

It seems the only airline stories one hears these days are those of miserable service and higher costs for everything. My personal experience contrasts with those tales of woe. At Legasy, I have pampered and been pampered with Fijian coconut oil skin treatments. Here's how you can live the high life! You need to bring from home: 1 small vial of coconut oil (up to 3 ounces are allowed as carry-on) , and 2 plastic bags (recycled  from the grocery store). When offered an inflight beverage, ask for a packet of sugar and you are ready to begin.

Revel in the envy of your seat partners as you apply the fragrant oil to your palms followed by the sugar packet. Rubbing your hands together creates a wonderful exfoliate scrub and the smell is great for masking stale airplane odors. Place your hands in the plastic bags for 10 min. Follow up by a trip to the lavatory and wash your hands with warm water. Be sure and allow enough time before the fasten seat belt sign is turned on in order to complete the task.

Where Else But in Hobbs?

Earlier in the year, I  took this picture of  NMJC found in lovely Hobbs, New Mexico. There are not many who would call Hobbs a lovely place...even the Hobbs natives. It is a grassland area,  decorated liberally with oil pump jacks.  Often, there is the smell of oil in the air, air that is frequently filled with dust.  My view of Hobbs is admittedly rose colored due to my personal experiences such as one on this very campus. The campus is nicely landscaped and has a perimeter road of exactly one mile, perfect for running.  My friend Marty had just moved to town and we decided to go for a walk with her Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Snickers.  I suggested we go to the NMJC campus.  We walked through the campus admiring the plantings and are approached by security. "Busted!" I mutter to Marty figuring dogs and non students are probably not welcome. "Hi officer!" we say and explain we definitely pick up after the dog and got quite a different response than expected. Officer JJ inquired about us and said he would be happy to give us a tour. He said the dog had to remain outside but the computer center was open to us. The President of the school encouraged citizens to use the facilities since "their tax dollars helped provide them". It is very state of the art and since that time have attended an event at the other college in town "The College of the Southwest".  Marty & I met the President of that school and were equally impressed with the public accessibility and the commitment to higher education afforded the Hobbsans.