Insane Random Ramblings

They think they’re so slick but they didn’t get over on me. I had to buy some frequent flyer miles so my account wouldn’t go dormant. I hadn’t flown in almost 18 months and that’s the new threshold for keeping your account active. I have enough for a trip to the Caribbean or Europe (but probably the Caribbean) and I was not about to let those miles expire.

I purchased 1000 miles and they gave me a bonus of the same amount. So how did they try to get me? Well my account was set to expire on the 18th. I bought miles on the 12th expecting them to be credited within 3 days. They charged my account on the 13th but held the miles. I had to call customer service and they told me the miles would be credited around the 18th or 19th, the day after my miles would expire. Ummm nope that won’t work. I had the customer service rep credit them right then while I was on the phone. Now I have a new 18 month window to play with.

I see I have to keep an eye on them and keep them in check. You won’t be snatching my miles Mr. Airline. Nice try though.

Not a lot though. Probably 1 or 2 thousand or so. I have to fly or earn miles every 18 months to keep my miles active. I haven’t flown in that long and I won’t be flying before the end of summer. I have almost 60,000 miles in that account and I don’t want them to expire. I plan on using them for a really nice vacation within the next 2 years.

I could buy something through the airlines shopping service. I mean I don’t really need an excuse to buy a new 55″ Samsung HDTV but I’m trying to hold off on that until my one of my tv’s dies. They’re both going strong so I won’t be buying a new tv for a while. There are also certain things I don’t like to buy online. I don’t like having heavy things shipped because of the cost so I buy them in store.

The miles could take up to 6 weeks to post after my purchase so I’ll be better off just buying a small amount of miles. I need to make sure the miles post before the end of the month because I don’t want to lose any of the ones that I have. Looking on the bright side of things those miles will bring me closer to my dream vacation in a year or two.

And I’m am so ready for it. I’m exhausted and I really need a rest. I haven’t really had any days off this year except for sick days and the few holidays that we’ve had. I haven’t had more than 3 days in a row off since last year. I don’t want to think about anything while I’m off either. I may do some shopping for Fall and Winter clothes, Halloween invitations if I decide to have a small get together and things like that. I will go visit some of my family but I don’t know for how long.

I want to rest on my vacation and I hate to say it but my family can sometimes stress me out more than my job.

I haven’t decided yet. My regular week of vacation is the week of my birthday and I’m planning on going home for a couple of days. I want to visit with my family that I don’t get to see that often. My moms birthday is a week and a half before my vacation so I may go home that weekend as well.

I’ll probably drive for the longer vacation since I’ll have a chance to relax after the trip. I’m not too sure about taking my phone though. I don’t think there are a lot of cell towers  for my provider on my route. I don’t want to get out in the middle of nowhere and not have a signal. I’ve had a accident in the past and I’m paranoid about that. I may borrow one of my friends’ phones.

I guess I had better make my decision pretty soon. I want to still be able to get a reasonable ticket for my short weekend. That’s if I have enough money to do both. I guess I should balance the old checkbook before I start making too many plans.

I was really glad to talk to my car cousin the other night. She’s doing really well and I’m extremely happy for her. This is her final year of school so she’s busy with the prom and her senior trip among other things. She also told me that she wants to come and visit me before she leaves for college. I need to start looking for travel deals once she gives me the exact dates that she wants to come visit. I told her that I don’t want her thingo plan anything for at least a week before she leaves for college. I want to make sure she has enough time to get all of her last minute things for school.

I can’t wait until she visits though. It’s gonna be a blast.

I don’t have any days left at work. I was sick twice this year and missed 5 of my 6 days. Then I had to use my personal day to take care of some business for school. If I take the day after Christmas off, I won’t get paid for it. Not only that but I can’t afford the ticket home either. If I can’t go home, I surely can’t afford to go shopping for home theater seating. I can’t really afford anything this holiday season. I’m even short with my school budget so I really need to start bringing in some extra cash.

If I’m stuck here by myself, what in the world am I going to do all day to occupy my time?

I really wanted to go out of the country. Somewhere like Mexico or Costa Rica. My vacation is a present for myself for finally graduating school. That means the trip won’t happen until at least May of next year because I won’t graduate until the end of April.  I already know I won’t have any extra money until then.

I seriously doubt that I’ll be able to afford something expensive though. I really love cruises so that may be a option. The only bad thing is that I’m probably going to go by myself. I’m tired of not being able to go places because nobody wants to go or they back out at the last minute. So I’ll have to pay the single supplement which is usually double.

I’m pretty open to places to go though. But I know now is the time to start planning.

Well I’m flying to NJ and I’ll catch a ride with someone to the spot where the reunion is being held. I know my friend Geneva has a GPS in her car so I hope to get a ride with her. The reunion is in the boonies in a area where no one is familiar with. They chose that spot because it has a lake for the kids to go swimming. I just hope somebody tested out the water to make sure it’s a safe swimming area.

I really wanted to drive so I would have my car but I don’t mind flying either. Now I just need to figure out what I’m taking and I’ll be good to go.

Since I never did a Chicago recap, my list today will be: The top 5 things I liked about Chicago.

1. Diversity. I grew up in NJ and Philly and there is all kinds of people there. In Pittsburgh you basically have black and white and that’s it. There are a few people of other races scattered around but not many.
2. The shopping! There were so many stores that we don’t have here. We don’t have Nordstrom’s or Neiman Marcus, not yet anyway. We also saw Brighton, Chanel, Tiffany’s and Van Cleef & Arpels. Not that I could afford to shop in any of those places but it was still nice to window shop.
3. The people. Most of the people were really nice to us. We didn’t do a lot of the typical tourist things and we tried to blend in with everyone else. So it was nice to see how everyone interacted with one another.
4. The transportation. There are 2 train systems 1 for the city and 1 for the suburbs. Then there’s the buses that run in the city. You can always get around and the prices are fairly reasonable.
5. The activities. There is so much to do. The shopping, the city landmarks, the Navy Pier. You have your pick of activities and you’ll never be bored.

All in all I really liked Chicago and would love to go back for a visit. With their harsh winters I couldn’t ever see myself moving there.

I’ll have my thoughts on the city and what we saw later. It was a good time I just wish we had longer to stay in the city. I have a quiz today so we had to come back for that. Nevermind that I’m not even ready for the stupid quiz!