I’m not crazy about the title of this post, but I wanted it to reflect as clearly as possible what the post is about and maybe help others find it someday when they need it. When Bangs was dying and as I was struggling with her end of life decisions, I found a few wonderful articles that others had written while going through the same thing. We’re never alone in this. I also received much comfort and support from friends on Facebook, co-workers, family and the incredible staff at... Read Full Story

But What Now… holds a deeper, more poignant meaning for me these past few days. The cat who has graced my life for the past 19 1/2 years is dying. Her kidney disease which had been treated successfully for nearly 6 years or so is kicking her ass now. Her creatinine and BUN counts when way up last week, we learned when we took her into our vet who has taken such amazing care of her all these years. We took her in after she became listless and stopped eating for 2 days. They kept her on I... Read Full Story

First of all, what the heck is a dream job? Does such a concept even really exist? On March 4, 2009, Time published an article called Finding a Dream Job: A Little Chaos Theory Helps. What the article is really talking about is the element of risk or chaos in choosing a college degree these days. It used to be that a business or law degree was pretty much a guarantee of a good job and an English degree (which I have, by the way), wasn’t going to get you anywhere in this life, at least ... Read Full Story

I was caught up in airline strike a on my way to a meeting in Toronto a number of years ago. As soon as there were rumors of a strike, I looked at other options, and settled on flying to Buffalo, New York. The airline wouldn’t change my flight to Buffalo when the strike was just a rumor, so as soon as the strike was called, I switched my reservation to Buffalo. We got the last two seats on the plane. An hour later, and this would not have been an option. I rented a car, and we easily made... Read Full Story

The Hazards of Travel When one hears of the hazards of travel, people think of really awful things – plane crashes, tsunamis, typhoons or hurricanes, earthquakes, or being caught up a violent insurrection. But most hazards of travel are much more mundane: delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, a hotel that doesn’t have your reserved room, food poisoning or a broken ankle. Managing Airline and Hotel Problems Ask for what you need Most of the hazards of travel can be managed quickly and ... Read Full Story

My first luggage was a gift from my parents for high school graduation. It was a standard hardside 3 piece set in avocado green.  You can tell when I graduated from high school!  That luggage served me well for over 15 years. The airlines eventually broke the large case.  I was getting ready to do a lot of business travel, so I went out and bought a set of the old Delsey hard-sided luggage in charcoal grey – easier to spot in baggage claim than the standard black. I figured it was durable, as... Read Full Story

“Looking for Work” is the title of last weekend’s Pacific Northwest article about people who have lost their jobs and have been out of work for many months now. The subtitle is “more than jobs are lost to those laid off.” When I open to the article the headline reads “The Castaways… through months without work, time to cry, to connect, to hunt and to reimagine.” Interesting, according to my spell check, the word “reimagine” does not... Read Full Story

Few things strike the first time traveler to Asia as more anxiety provoking than bargaining. If I offer a price that is too low will I insult the seller? If I pay too much will the seller think I’m a dumb tourist? Everything seems so cheap anyway, shouldn’t I just pay what is asked? First of all, it helps to have a context for bargaining. In cultures where bargaining is done, it is a part of the social discourse. It is expected that you’ll bid back and forth and come to a mutually agreea... Read Full Story

No, this isn’t a reminiscence about viewing Van Gogh’s painting at MoMA, it’s a memory of stars. As a city person, seeing the starts is very special. There is so much ambient light that when I look in the night sky, I am lucky to be able to pick out a few constellations. When I was a child we used to go to a place way out in the country in upstate New York. My father took me out into an open field, to show me the Milky Way. I was amazed at how many stars there were spilling out in all their... Read Full Story

I’ve been wearing the same pair of flip flops for the past 4 years because I haven’t been able to find any to replace them. When I go into any of the local shoe stores, they never have what I’m looking for. I’ve even searched the web and come up short. So, I was pretty excited when I found these. The flip flops I’ve been wearing all this time are Teva’s and they are just basic black that go with anything and are comfortable enough to walk a fair distance in... Read Full Story