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<a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/videos/Emily/Emily022804/video.htm" target=_blank>Click here </a>for the latest emily video
UPDATE: there seems to be some kind of technical problem with the video. If it stops playing in the beginning, then try again another day. I am going to work on it. - DD, March 2.
Dear Delta,
I used to write such nice things about you. I would talk you up like you were the super hero of airlines. Like you were something special. A friend. But now I hate you. I hate hate hate you. I used to love you, but you have fallen out of favor and now I hate you. And the reason is your entire fault. It was not me this time. It was not something I did, but something YOU did. It is all because if a little thing you decided to enter into our lives call ?Zone Boarding?.
What the f*** were you thinking when you started Zone Boarding. I think you should take the dips**t who thought up this gem and beat the living crap out of him. Just so we are not miscommunicating, let me make sure we are in agreement on Zone Boarding.
I, as a frequent business traveler, purchase very expensive tickets on Delta. Recently, it has been very expensive tickets on your ?low cost? airline, Song. Song, which is an acronym for ?sorry, only DAVE DOBRINDT has to wait to board?. I have been purchasing tickets to Orlando, Florida, a direct flight from Boston which takes 3 miserable hours. I have a client in Orlando and buy the ticket, probably three times as much as the person sitting next to me who is going to Magic Kingdom with his family and flies Delta once every 5 years when he goes to Disney, and twice as much as the slob next to me going to Orlando to visit his parents and play golf. I buy the effing ticket three days before I fly because everything in my work is last minute and I pay out of the nose because of it. I am a Sliver medallion and fast approaching Gold. Not a big deal for those who ARE Gold or Platinum, but much higher up than the Disney guy. And what do I get for this loyalty because, and believe me, it IS loyalty. I can fly any airline I choose. In fact, Delta isn?t even a PREFERRED airline for my company but I choose to ANYWAY. How stupid am I.
So there I am, ticket in hand, silver medallion tattooed on my forehead, all dressed up, laptop, one small black pull bag with the absolutely minimum of what I need, headphones to drown out the idiots next to me, gearing up to sit in my aisle seat and work because unfortunately that is far better than anything else I can do on a plane that will pass the time. And WHAT do I receive as a thank you from Delta. I am put into a ZONE that lets me, lucky me, board the very, very last on the plane. I am not f****** joking. There are six Zones. I am Zone six. I like aisle seats so I can do work, and I guess if you are in an aisle seat, Silver medallion and named David Dobrindt, you board last. Great idea! Reward the business travelers by not letting them get on early with their preferred status. If there is anything I hate about airline travel, even more than the idea of crashing, is boarding late. I have two bags. TWO. One briefcase, and one travel bag. I HATE getting on last, especially when I get to the gate early, and not able to put my bag directly above my seat. I HATE it. Do you hear me, HATE it. Getting on last is the ONLY thing that gives me anxiety about traveling because EVERYONE is looking at you while you struggle to find some spot to put your bag. You would think that Delta would try to keep the business travelers happy. Well, Delta, let me tell you something. I am not happy? Wait, there is one more thing I forget. What kind of food do I get with my $400 dollar ticket?? Huh?? I am given the option to purchase a $3 snickers bar. I do not even get a f****** BAG OF PRETZELS. Oh, sure, I get a cup of soda. But they hand out menus like I just sat down for my anniversary dinner and wheel an apple cart around filled with shit to buy. I CAN?T EVEN GET FREE PRETZELS.
So let me recap. I buy a seat that is three times as much as Delta, oh, excuse me, SONG, advertises on TV. I get to board as the plane is taxing down the runway, and then get s**t for food. Delta, I hate you. I used to love you, but hate you. I really do. Please stop this and get down on your hand and knees and beg me to come back. Because I got my two flights for a free round trip anywhere in the country and am going to try some other disaster for a while.
Goodbye.
I was in my hotel room the other night, watching ESPN, when I saw something as rare as an alcohol free weekend at the John Daly house ? Nomar Garciappara doing an interview. There he was ? sitting at a table, outside in the warm sun, reporters and cameras all around him, talking openly and freely.
It was unbelievable. Nomar hates the media. And I am sure he still does, but because the Red Sox treated him like a pińˇ´ˇ on Cinco de Maya during the off season, he needed to let the world, and more importantly Red Sox fans, know he is upset. The Red Sox management team played a risky game and lost by very publicly trying to get Alex Rodriquez and ship Nomar out of town and he didn?t appreciate it.
Hey, personally I get upset when I am not invited to lunch so I know where he is coming from. Imagine if you worked for a large company, for this example let?s say Microsoft. You start right out of college. You get underpaid and watch your friends, all who do the same thing as you, get paid much higher salaries from IBM, EDS, and Apple. During the first 8 or 9 years you are with Microsoft, you are their BEST employee. You are in fact one of the best workers in the industry. You win awards and everything. Then one day you are on vacation and read in the paper that Microsoft is trying to sell you to some start-up software company in the Midwest to make room for a star employee, who is grossly over paid, from IBM. Microsoft talks about you as being inflexible in dealing with your salary, and in fact offers you LESS than what they offered you a few months earlier to stay with them. And then, after the star employee from IBM decides to stay with IBM, Microsoft realizes with a deer-in-the-headlight look that they might have been a little insensitive.
Would you like it? Me either. And Nomar didn?t like it. So he finally said something of substance to the press and it was ?The Red Sox didn?t treat me well, and Nomar ain?t happy?. Can?t wait to see how this one plays out
Welllllllll....things just got a little more interesting. Stay tuned for more.
Update
"You'd almost have to feel sorry for the Red Sox if it wasn't for their own shortsighted nickel-and- diming routine that cost them the greatest player of this generation, maybe the greatest player since -- dare I say it -- yes, Babe Ruth."
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/ny-heyman0215,0,7937130.column?coll=ny-homepage-right-area" Target=_Blank>Read the entire article here.</a>
"When you told one of the kids working behind the counter at the huge Red Sox souvenir store across from the ballpark that the Yankees were going for A-Rod, he looked up and said, "No way."
"Way," he was told.
In a loud voice, the kid said, "Why?"
"Why are they getting the best player in baseball?"
The kid shook his head. "Why do they always do this to us?""
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/164625p-144230c.html" Target=_Blank>You can read the rest of that article here. </a>
Now let's just hope it actually goes through.
<u>Update:</u> Tuesday, Around 11PM
I'm all jacked up on talk radio and local sports media, and chocolate. Since the Alex news broke I have basically listened to WEEI (local Boston talk radio) non stop. I have heard all the local yahoos take a break from buying scratch off tickets and 30 packs of Bud Lite, I have heard from Boston, Providence and New York media personalities weigh in on this and I have listened to some mild comments from friends and such. My two cents.
1. The Red Sox screwed up. They screwed up by putting Manny on wavers. They screwed up by trying to get ARod, nickel and diming Texas with him, letting Nomar know he is not wanted, and making the Yankees aware that Hicks wants to get rid of ARod at any cost.
2. The Yankees got lucky with Boone playing hoops, despite his contract not allowing it, and blowing out his knee and giving Georgie a reason to get another infielder.
3. Yes, it?s true the Yankees have a lot of money. I get it. Enough. Stop bringing it up. That has, and always will be, the back pocket argument by any Red Sox fan. The only thing different with this ARod mess is that the Sox tried to get him and failed. The Sox have deep pockets, second to only the Yankees, and were not smart enough to pull the trigger.
4. Speaking of deep pockets, ARod, as I understand it, is costing the Yankees 16 million a year. 16 MIL. 16 million dollars which is less than Jeter. Less than Manny. Less than Pedro. He is costing the Bronx Bombers less than two idiots on the Red Sox, one of which you tried to get rid of without expecting anything in return. That, to me, is great accounting. Hicks paid the Yanks 67 mil so they would take ARod off the table. Am I the only one to see this as a great deal??
5. Getting rid of Soriano hurt, but hurt like kiss. Are you telling me that anyone is going to miss his homeruns and stolen bases when the league MVP and one of the best players TO EVER PLAY THE GAME is replacing him. The only real difference is someone will have to pay him huge bucks next year and take on his suspect defense.
6. Jeter will not stay at short stop. Everyone has been saying it and I agree. For now, ARod will do better at third because Jeter can?t play third. Second, sure. But for my money, Georgie, and let?s be honest, Cashman is just the guy shouting out commands with a bullhorn, will trade Jeter for a stud pitcher when the Yanks fail to win the World Series next year. Everyone knows that great pitching wins the prize, and with Giambi, ARod, Sheffield, Posada and whoever else they get, trading Jeter for the next Clemens makes a lot of sense.
7. Who knows how this season will turn out. ARod could be a mess. As good as the Yanks are, they are not Brosius, O?Neill, Martinez, Wetland, Girardi, Knoblauch (yes, Knoblauch), Bernie and the other guys I associate with the great run that started in 1996. And who knows what the Sox will do. Curt and Pedro are two HUGE egos, Faulk is no Mendoza, they have a lot of guys in contract years, will Nixon and Ortiz and Mueller have great years. Who knows. Torre could get fired if the Yanks go on a losing streak. Anything could happen. All I know is there will be 19 games this year that will feel like miniature ALCS game sevens, with hopefully the same outcome.
<a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/videos/Emily/video.htm" TARGET=_blank>Click here</a> to access a movie I made about Emily. It's about 3 minutes long. The movie is pretty basic because I am still new to the program I use to create the movie.
Turn up your volume because it has music.
If you don't have Flash player, it will automatically prompt you to download it and you will have to reboot.
Plus, not sure how this will work over dial up.
David
<u>Update:</u> <a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/videos/PattiandDavid/Intro/video.htm" Target=_blank>Click here </a>to access another movie of Patti and I. This one is about 5 minutes long.