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There are words that stress even the toughest of business travelers. This week, on my way to Las Vegas to attend the CES Government 2006 conference, I heard “United Airlines is experiencing system-wide computer failures. There will be delays.” Followed very shortly by “For those of you traveling to Las Vegas, you plane is here. Unfortunately, you pilot and crew will not be here until 7:15.” [for my 6:45 flight] Then “You pilot and crew will not be here until 7:55.” Followed closely by “We found a crew that will be here at 7:15. Your pilots will arrive at 7:50.”

We didn’t leave until 8:30. Sigh.

BUT, I did get to watch the ULTIMATE attempt to avoid checking luggage. There was a couple behind me on the plane who simply placed their two large bags in AISLE…and acted irritated when the flight attendant asked them to move them. Nice try 🙂 I tried to take a picture, but there wasn’t enough cabin lighting for my Treo.

That scene made my evening though.

The argument for shopping at Target and Wal-Mart and the other Chinese outlets is that your dollar goes further. Hard working Americans can pay less for the basics AND get a touch of style at the same time. I’m all for that! But the reality (in my humble opinion) is that people don’t spend LESS at these stores, they just buy more items for the same amount. And what do they spend their savings on? Santa outfits for their dogs, apparently. No need to save THAT money for a rainy day.

I tried to post this picture along with the other Muskegon images, but Blogger exerted some sort of artificial intelligence editorial control and refused to load this properly. Anyhow, I think I have prevailed (finally).

This image is from Muskegon, the night we had that beautiful wet overnight snow.

Jeff and I spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Muskegon with his family. For those of you who don’t know where Muskegon is, I’ve posted a “handy” (I’m a funny man today) homemade map below. Oh those Michiganders…they are quite clever!

Like most winter visits in the U.S. that aren’t to Florida, Hawaii, or a mountain ski town, our visit was spent mostly indoors. The weather was cold, but not freezing cold. Some rain, but nothing like we left behind in SF. And one shot of harmless overnight snow to give me some photo variety.

The weather provided us with plenty of quality time with the family–particularly Jeff’s young niece and nephews. Since we only visit Michigan every six months, the kids seem to grow up ultra-fast. But boy does Christmas feel different with kids around. (I know…I think I’m the LAST person to figure this out 🙂

Food a-plenty, of course, since Jeff’s mom loves to cook for crowded tables. Two fun additions this Christmas. My mother sent us sweet potato biscuits and country ham from Edwards of Surrey, VA. (My grandmother “discovered” these last Christmas, and they are AMAZING.) And one afternoon, while we were out, Jeff’s dad introduced me to the “G&L Greek Chili Dog”—YUM!

I did get out and walk a bit with my camera in tow. Lake Muskegon was partially frozen, so I got a few nice shots of the ice and gray-ness of it all.

We watched several movies (quality down time). We actually went to a theatre to see the Narnia flick—this was the first time Jeff and I had been in a movie theatre in two years…I think we may just stick to Netflix. On DVD, we watched Madagascar, some Ab Fab episodes, Polar Express (the youngest nephew’s favorite), and Christmas Vacation (my perennial favorite Christmas movie).

We managed to find time for a bit of culture amidst our pop culture. We visited the Hackley and Hume historic homes, which were decorated in a style typical of their era. These homes were built by two business partners around the turn of the century and are little gems. Jeff’s dad took me to see an Edward Weston photography exhibit at the Hackley Art Museum. (Look for this fantastic retrospective to come to your town…99-pictures…well worth the price of admission, which was only $4 in Muskegon.) Next door, we visited the Hackley Library (another grand historic building).

All in all, a wonderful family visit and a VERY nice Christmas.

Jeff and I are back from Michigan, so expect some catch-up entries over the next several days as we download pictures and get settled. Our travels were safe and relaxing, and I’m all set to spend the next few weeks formulating well-crafted resolutions to break. (I’ve systematically broken most of my favorites, so if you have any suggestions of good breakable resolutions, please send along.)

I wanted to report that in spite of the storms and record rainfall here in Northern California, our house is standing and dry, our garden is wind-swept but green, and the cats have not had to learn to swim. In fact, the skies cleared for us as we landed, and we actually saw sun beams for a few minutes. So, all in all, we timed that just right.

I expected nasty rain or slosh or something on our drive from Muskegon to Chicago for our flight yesterday, but it was clear sailing. The rain started right after we arrived at the airport, and delayed us a bit but nothing unusual.

Even the weather in Muskegon worked out well. Yeah, the skies were gray, but we had a couple of inches of wet snow on Wednesday or Thursday night–just enough to satisfy MY snow fix, but not enough to make the roads bad for everyone else. Perfect.

Happy New Year everyone.