Family class tops business class anytime

I did a lot of traveling this summer.  Some for work, some personal.  Vacations, family, conventions.

Early in my career, I thought travel was romantic. The people in my newsrooms who got to go on trips were doing cool stuff.

It certainly can be a great perk, but traveling for work is also tiring. And it takes me away from family, friends, routine.  I'm not alone in that feeling.

One of the sweetest things I saw on my trips this summer was a woman who appeared to be a pretty senior exec -- you know how it goes, fashion, nails, hair. All giveaways. All first class.

She wandered down the aisle in her power suit with the rest of us. The only difference was she was holding on to the hand of a 6-year-old boy.  It was June. School was out. She had a meeting somewhere, but she also had a little one who was out of school.

The sweet part came when she got to the row in front of me. She leaned down and quietly asked the man in the middle seat if he'd swap tickets with her so she could sit next to her son.  He said sure, got up, retrieved his bag and exchanged tickets.  That's when he realized she was sending him back up to First Class where her corporate-funded seat was.  She was trading a middle seat back in the cattle car to sit with her boy.  Her young son who was on a very cool field trip with his mom.

What did you do on your summer vacation?  That little guy watched videos and chatted with his mom all the way from Chicago to L.A.  What did she do? She got the job done and had an adorable plus-one for all her adventures.

Smells take me right back to a perfect moment from childhood

This street scene in Fairbury, Nebraska, looks a lot like the town I remember driving into one dawn in the 1960s.

Twice this week as I drove to work - past Matt's Big Breakfast in downtown Phoenix - I smelled a smell from childhood.  This smell was not like remembering Pixie Sticks or Sugar Daddy's or mom's meatloaf.  I smelled something that took me back to one particular day on one particular family road trip.

As I cruised by Matt's Big Breakfast, the air was filled with what I can only describe as the smell of burnt coffee mixed with maple syrup.  

When we were little, my brothers and I had a 5-year stint in Bellevue, Nebraska, a suburb of Omaha right next to Offutt Air Force Base, aka SAC Headquarters, where my dad spent his days.  We spent our days running wild, playing in a big open field at the end of the runway, riding bikes, going to school and listening to The Beatles and The Supremes.

 Every once in a while my Mom would drive us nearly 500 miles from Bellevue to Aurora, a suburb of Denver, to visit my aunt, her sister.

There we would sit in the kitchen listening to stories about the family, my aunt smoking Kents, playing a fast game of solitaire. Or we'd sit on the back porch, shelling peas. My aunt and uncle were transplanted farmers who had the biggest, bestest vegetable garden in this suburb.  

But that smell...  that smell came much earlier. 

On the morning of our drives to Colorado, my mom woke us up way before daylight. She'd hustle us into the car, pile us into the big back seat and hand us a box of donuts.  The donuts were not necessary; we fell fast asleep, the car and the world were still dark and we knew there were pancakes in our future.

  

That smell...   On this one trip, in this one small Nebraska farm town that has stayed so vividly in my mind, I was already awake as we pulled in. It was daylight, but only just. We were quiet in the backseat; we hadn't started any competitions yet; counting windmills, spotting cows, thumb wrestling. 

We pulled up on what felt like the edge of a town so small it really may have been the center. We were headed to a coffee shop for breakfast, such a big kid thing to do.

As we pulled in, my chest was filled with the excitement of an adventure ahead, the comfort of being in Mom's big boat of a car and heading to see family. We'd hit the road and now we were stopping for breakfast. All was right with my world.

And the air was filled with the smell of burnt coffee mixed with maple syrup.

To this day I have no idea what the smell really is. It doesn't matter.  That smell is love.

Robin, Phoenix

Linger Lane. Mindful Manor

Linger Lane, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Some days it's easy to let my mind wander toward where I've been and where I might be going.

I've pretty much lived for work and love and travel. And family. And as a result, I've got lots of good memories.

But great memories can sometimes lead me down a path of folly, wondering "Hey, what's next? Where'm I going next? Am I missing opportunities? Can I recreate the good times?"

Hold on a minute. The here and now is pretty darn good. I've got family and love and work and travel. I've got good times. And the future will take care of itself.

“I am all the ages I've ever been.”
- Anne Lamott 

And here I am in all my ages somewhere along Dreamy Draw Drive.  I guess I'll linger here a little longer.  

When Aloha means 'Thank god we're still here'

Sometimes the best part of a vacation is the anticipation. You might say that was the case this Christmas when Sue and I flew to Hawaii to celebrate her birthday. But you'd be wrong.

We started planning in the summer, booked the flight and hotel in August and bought tickets to a luau and made reservations for Christmas dinner soon after.

We were so excited. Ready for a break from work and to spend a few days in paradise. I was looking forward to showing Sue my old haunts from when I lived in Hawaii in my 20s.

Then we had one of those hiccups that happens because we're not in our 20s anymore. A little health issue stopped us in our tracks for a day or so at the beginning of our trip.

Was this vacation going to be all anticipation? No. It turned out to be just fine. We did everything we'd planned -- just did it at a slower pace, with a little less gusto.



Robin, back home in Phoenix

Strolling Waikiki Beach

Strolling Waikiki Beach, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

All at once, Waikiki can be so beautiful and so insanely busy.

Just 100 yards from this spot is a quiet beach and a calm spot to swim. It was one of my favorite spots to hang out and swim after class when I went to the University of Hawaii.

But the tourists flock to this spot where they can rent boards and buy sodas.

One thing I like about this photo is that you can't hear the noise. Another is that it's fun to see that even though the beach is chaotic, everyone seems to be lost in their own private world.

Robin, Honolulu (at least for today)

I give you Hawaii

I give you Hawaii, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Diamond Head is a girl's best friend. Mele Kalikimaka!

Is our plane here yet, Dad?

Sky Harbor morning:
Loved seeing this dad and son waiting for their plane this morning.

Sometimes kids humanize everyone around them, business travel game faces on.

This little one was adorable .... well, of course, he wasn't sitting behind me, kicking my seat.. ;-)

Robin, Tempe

Cheap but not unpleasant: CheapHotels.com

I went to New Orleans for work recently and stayed at the very lovely Royal Sonesta Hotel.

I used CheapHotels.com to book a room for two nights, bringing down an online quote on the hotel's Web site of $210 a night to $140 a night. A sign on the back of the bathroom door indicated that they'd really like to charge much more.

The hotel was beautiful. Full of convention-goers. It is not peak tourist season and I suspect the hotel was happy to have me, another paying guest.


All very nice, but the Perfect Moment came at the end of my stay. When I checked out of the hotel, I asked at the desk whether I could get a receipt for the full account. The desk clerk looked away from me and said in a voice dripping with disdain: "You'll have to call Cheap Hotels Dot Com."

Well, honey. If you didn't charge so much for your lovely rooms, I would have booked directly with you. Thank you for the hospitality. And don't forget, the customer is always right.


Robin, Tempe

Frontier Airlines opened up my world

When I was a kid and my mom was raising four of us on her own - ages 5 to 13 - she got the best job in the world.

My mom worked as an executive secretary for the maintenance VP at Frontier Airlines. A big, big deal.

Not only was she gainfully employed and well-respected among her peers, but SHE GOT FREE TRAVEL!

At about 12 years old, I started carrying an ID card that said my mom was an airline employee. I was able to walk up to the gate, flash my card and fly standby to anywhere Frontier Airlines flew .. and with advance planning, anywhere almost any other airline flew.
Of course, I took my mom along. And sometimes a brother or two. In fact at 13 or 14, I hopped a flight to Paris with my oldest brother and my mom for a whirlwind tour of Europe. This was what we knew as a "FAM" trip. We got to "familiarize" ourselves with a partner airline and ... uh, Europe!

Because of her job at Frontier Airlines, my mom was able to give us the world.

My mom continued to work there until we all became too old for those flight benefits, but by that time, I had "familiarized" myself with cities and countries and people from Rome to Bangkok.

Frontier Airlines has had a turbulent time in the past couple of decades... employee ownership, bankruptcy.. and it goes on the auction block today. Dallas-based Southwest offered $170 million for the airline yesterday.


People in Denver are upset at the possibility of losing the hometown airline with the cool animal paintings on the tails.

Whatever happens to Frontier, I will forever be grateful to the airline and my mom. I will always have the world.


Robin, Tempe, Arizona

Who's cuter? Jimmy Fallon or Simon Baker

This super big blowup couch Jimmy Fallon uses to learn surfing is cool. But my Perfect Moment in this clip was hearing Simon Baker speak in his sexy Aussie accent. =)


... here's a more serious look at the Jimmy Fallon charm.
NYTimes:
Starting Off Well, Fallon’s Charm Seems to Be Carrying ‘Late Night’


And here are more Jimmy Fallon show clips.

The Death of a South African Journalist

We started this blog last year because we wanted to share some of the great moments in life. We wanted a chance to share stories about perfect moments, whether they are the birth of a child, the perfect catch, or an amazing day spent lazing away on the couch. Perfect moments.

Well, today I want to share some sad news. This week a young journalist that I met last year on a trip to South Africa died in a crash. Her name was Lungile Dlamini. She was an amazing young woman, and would have told amazing stories as a journalist.

I met Lungile on my first night in Johannesburg after I had checked into a dorm room for my stay at Wits University. I was having trouble logging onto a computer, and she was kind enough to try and help me, this stranger from America.

There are two things I really remember about Lungile, her amazing smile, and her committment to becoming a journalist. Over the next two weeks I got a chance to spend time with Lungile, and I tried to absorb her passion for journalism.


I talked one of my students into doing a story on Lungile, as a 21 year old person in the world with a lot to say. We were just able to get the story shot before we had to get back to the states, and I am so happy we got Lungile, and her smile and her passion on tape. Emily Graham put together the story, and she has now posted it on YouTube.

Lungile believed in telling people's stories, and she believed in the goodness in people. Both attributes that I hope will live on in all of us who were fortunate to have known her. As well as those of you who will meet her for the first time in this story.

Susan Green, Tempe

Old haunts and rainy days in New York

Four days. And three trips to the ATM. Then it was time to head home ... get a job ... or win the power ball.

We used to live in New York and right over the river in Weekhawken... a little town not only really fun to say but also the closest suburb of Manhattan (even if it is in New Jersey).

Now we go back for short visits, quick trips to do some business, see friends, and get recharged.

Funny how a place so big and not really my own can bring such comfort.

I grew up on the road as an Air Force brat and then in a bedroom suburb of Denver for the really disorienting teenage years.

But I worked in and around New York for 16 years. Perhaps those were the years I really grew up.

Whatever the draw, I love going back to New York.. of course I really mean Manhattan.. to just wander.

We did that last week on a rainy weekend. Food, music, friends. Those were the goals ... and RAIN.

Ok, ok. The perfect moment? Breathing in the dirt-and-rain smells, watching my sweetie's happy eyes when she got to stop at Gray's Papaya for a bite and taking a snap of the place we had our first date.



We giggled as we remembered sitting close, watching 'All the Pretty Horses,' trying not to accidentally touch hands. We stood across the street from the theater laughing about the electric charge that crackled between us even on that first movie date.

... and crackles still eight years on.

Robin, Tempe

It's Launch Day!

Big day for my students, not only did one web site go live today with stories they have been working on, but two of them went live!

The first website is a compilation of the stories we produced from our trip to South Africa this summer. Our goal was to tell the stories of the refugees battling to stay alive, and find a place to call home.

We were so fortunate to be able to meet some amazing people, who not only invited us into their homes, but into their lives. We were able to capture their voices and bring them to you.

I hope you will visit this amazing site.

And something else I am so proud of. My students are part of the newly launched ABC News on Campus program.


Five universities across the country were chosen to participate, and we were one of the five schools. It's an opportunity for these students to tell the news they are interested in. I am so proud of how hard my five students worked to help launch this website and I hope you will visit to see some of their amazing stories.

I love it that I get to work with these young men and women who are proud to call themselves journalists, and who teach me something new every day!

Susan, Tempe

Another Twitter MIA

Let's just hope Rosie is still gently down that hill.

We're all outstanding in our fields

When you are having one of those days when work just kind of sucks and you think your job is a dead end, I have found a job that will make your life seem really good.

While in South Africa, we were driving along this road near the border where there were orange farms.

As we were driving about every 20 yards we would see people just standing in the field...

We finally stopped, curious about what they were doing.

When we asked them, they told us their job is to run off the baboons when they tried to steal the oranges.

That's what they did day in and day out, stand in these fields and run off the baboons.

Compared to this, most jobs aren't so bad. As a matter of fact, some days standing in a field smelling orange blossoms, and looking out for baboons doesn't sound so bad!

Sue, South Africa,
near the border of Zimbabwe

Up is down, left is right, oops, another roundabout!

So, I don’t know if this really qualifies as a perfect moment, but I survived the experience, so I am going to say it qualifies! This is a continuation of my amazing experience in South Africa. As you hopefully know by now, we took a group of students from Arizona State University to South Africa to work on a project about the refugee crisis. Well, once we got there and broke into groups, we found we did not have enough drivers, so guess who got the keys!

Now, I consider myself to be a pretty good driver, an occasional lead foot, but, I have never had an accident, so I was feeling pretty confident. That is until I got into the wrong side of the van. Oh yeah, you got it. I forgot that South Africa does that thing, you know, that thing where they drive on the “wrong” side of the road! Oh, and to add to the challenge, like the wrong side of the road wasn’t enough, but it was also a stick shift!

Thank god my dad thought it was his job to teach al his kids how to drive a stick...
before we could even get behind the wheel of the automatic sitting in the garage! So, after getting into the “right” side of the car, and figuring out how to start the stick without it jumping over the curb, I turned the ignition. Then I reached to my left side for the seat belt. Wrong! It was on the other side, just one more thing to get used to.


So ok, I got the seat belt together, figured out where the mirrors were, and then had to get into reverse. Geez Louise, how the hell do you reverse in this van when you can’t see?

After finally figuring out that you have to actually pull up on the stick to get it into reverse, and then using all eight of my students to be my eyes, we safely reversed out of that narrow spot, and took off down the road. Not too bad for someone who hasn’t driven a stick for years. But then, reality settles in, especially when a car comes toward me in my lane! It took me a second to realize that I had no ownership of this lane, that I owned the other side of the road!

So, it took me awhile, but I finally started getting the hang of doing everything backwards. I was feeling pretty confident, and a little full of myself, that is until I met my first roundabout! Now, these things are tough enough when you are on the “right” side of the road, but when things are all opposite, it’s not even fair. So, here I was trying to figure out how to do it backwards and from the other side. I sat there nd I sat there, sort of like the kid trying to long jump, you know what I am talking about when you kee shifting forward, and shifting forward but can’t quite make yourself go forward.

Well, after the fifth honk from behind, I took the plunge. Man, oh man, was it scary. I felt like cars were coming from all directions, and all I was doing was staring straight ahead. All I wanted was off this merry go ride! I just remembered what my friends in New York City told me about driving in chaos, “don’t use any mirrors, go straight towards where you want to go and eventually they will move out of your way”. Advice I was about to try. I just pointed that van at the next sort of offramp road and shot through. I couldn’t believe it worked! They actually moved out of my way. Well, luckily I only had to deal with two more roundabouts on this trip, and both I was able to get into and out of without being hit or hitting anyone else.

Now, I actually made it through the trip without getting a scratch on the van, even while dodging baboons on the road! Yes I said baboons. But hey, I got through it all without a scratch. I can’t say that for my colleague who also drove the van. He had a little trouble with that “wrong” side of the road thing, and lets just say he had a little mishap with the left side mirror. He also ended up with a very pretty black and red scratch along the side of the van. But, he did stop long enough to pick up the outer covering of the mirror, so it shouldn’t cost that much to fix right?

When I went to turn the van back over to the rental company, I was able to convince them that a little elbow grease and some wax should remove that scratch real easy, and he’s only going to get us for the mirror. But, as far as I am concerned, I made it through the driving challenge without a scratch, and kept my clean record. A perfect two weeks!


Susan, Johannesburg, South Africa

Coffee, friends and new-found freedom

I had a most interesting experience this morning. I exercise 3 mornings a week at a senior facility about 5 miles from my townhouse. I usually stop at my sister’s for coffee and conversation, but since she was out of town, I went directly to my other favorite place -- Starbucks.

After ordering my tall latte and a scone (after all, I did exercise) I was sitting alone, writing a grocery list, enjoying myself when two African American ladies walked past me and took another table across the room, and then they ordered. After picking up their goodies, they passed my table again and the younger of the two stopped and spoke to me.


My mouth was full and I was afraid I didn’t respond properly, but I did mumble that I was "just fine,” my usual response. So when I was ready to leave, I looked for the trash can closest to their table so I would have a purpose to speak to them again...


After introducing myself and saying how nice it was to have a stranger speak to me, they graciously asked me to be seated.

In my sometimes overly chatty manner, I gave them a brief history of myself, and then asked the young lady called “Gee” only one “Gee” not “Gee Gee”. Where she worked, and she said she had had a long career at Qwest, but had just retired ... their request, not hers.

But the freedom did give her a chance to do a little traveling, and she just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit a friend who was employed in the Bush Administration. It was Gee’s first visit to our Nation’s Capitol, and she was privileged to have a very special tour of the monuments, Arlington and the Capitol. She had a lot to say about patriotism, and how beautiful and impressive the monuments were.


I told both of them of my experiences in D.C. and how I never tire of going there. She told me of the newest museum, one she hadn’t had a chance to visit this trip…the ”Newseum”, which of course gave me the opportunity to enlightened them about how Joan and I had been there last May and how much we enjoyed the tour and especially being on the terrace on the 6th floor to view the magnificent view of the Capitol and all the museums and how proud we were to be Americans. They both agreed.

Gee’s friend seemed to enjoy our conversation and told us she is ready to make that trip with Gee. We visited a long time.

What a lovely encounter I had on Saturday, the day after Independence Day. A Perfect Moment? I think so!!!

Joyce, Aurora, Colorado